Band War Reach Out, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Disclaimer: Guess what I'm gonna say. If you guess, ahem: "It's still on my Christmas list," either you've read everything I've written or you are a psychic, in which case you wouldn't have guessed anyhow, so if you are a psychic and you made that prediction... well that's just not fair to the rest of us. Ahem. Mad Authoress Rant is now over. It is safe to come out now.

Recap:

"We wanted to wait until you woke up."

There was silence in the room for a second.

"You didn't think I was going to, did you?"

"Well?" asked the once-pharaoh impatiently.

"Atemu... don't be angry. Please don't be angry, but you were just so out of it..."

"Okay. Fine. But really, we need to decide what we're going to do."

Mai approached him cautiously. "We need to base that on whether or not you'll be singing. How's your throat?"

"It's better, actually. I can actually talk without it hurting."

"Could you scream?"

"No. Not yet, anyway. But I could sing in front of a large audience, if that's what you're getting at."

"All right. So..." She turned to the rest of the band. "How about..."

"REACH OUT!" Malik screamed, accompanied by Bakura.

"Yeah! Let's do Reach Out!"

"Whoa there you two... geez, I've never actually seen Bakura hyper... what happened? But anyway, could you do Reach Out, Atemu? It's kinda hard, I mean, we wrote it a few months ago and I swear your voice seems even deeper since then, can you do the high notes without too much strain on your throat? Because if you're still sick you want to go for something a little easier-"

"Geez Mai, give the poor guy some space to think!"

Mai smiled. "Sorry 'Temu."

He grinned. "Nah, I'll be able to do that one."

"Okay, then it's settled!"

"Wait, I don't know it," said Ryo softly.

"Oh yeah... Bakura and Atemu, could you two teach it to him?" Mai asked.

"Sure."

"As soon as I can get out of the hospital. By the way Jii-chan, do you know when that is?"

Sogoroku answered him, "It should be as soon as they run a few tests to make sure you're all right, and you have to LOOK better as well. And faking won't work with these doctors." He eyed the boy warily.

"Don't worry Jii-chan, I actually feel better now."

"Good. Then you should be able to go home by tomorrow."

The Next Day, in the Mazaki Basement:

"Okay people, can we ACTUALLY have order here? PLEASE?" Malik screamed above the dull roar in the room. "Geez, it's a good thing I don't sing too much. Is this how much 'Temu's throat hurts after HE yells into that mic?"

"Did you say my name?" the mentioned pharaoh asked, coming to stand by Malik.

"Yeah, I did. Could you get their attention? We need to start, and Ryo has to make sure he's memorized everything."

Atemu grinned. "One silent room, coming up." He cleared his throat. "An ancient destiny shall now awaken. It is our duty to save all of mankind."

Complete. Utter. Silence.

"Okay, let's start. Thanks 'Temu."

"Any time," the shorter boy replied, cracking a smile as he walked over to the microphone set up in the middle of the basement.

"Ready to start, everyone?"

Malik clicked his drumsticks to a strong beat as the band assembled, all in their respective places. Malik was, as usual, in the back. Isis and Ryo were back and off to the right, a mini-section of higher voices and playing, and Rishid and Bakura were back and off to the left, a similar mini-section of tougher, stronger voices and playing, with Atemu and Mai in the center.

"One, two, a one two three four-"

The song took on a slow, flowing tempo as Isis tenderly struck ringing notes on her keyboard, slurring them into well-crafted, soft triplets, then weaving in a lower, more sturdy ostinato as she slowly shaped the tune into a deeper, more melancholy cry. Atemu and Mai readied themselves to sing as Ryo, Rishid, and Bakura crept in on the strings.

Do you ever wonder why,
The in the world there is no harmony?
Or ever asked yourself,
If you are what you want to be?
Have you ever felt at peace,
Just thinking to yourself?
Or do you require,
Is it necessary,
To burden someone else?

Has no one ever taught you,
To love just for the heck,
That love is not strangling,
At someone else's neck?
Has anyone ever said to you,
That what you're doing is wrong,
That to be complete,
You don't compete,
Just have faith, and ride along?

Has anyone ever told you,
To reach out, reach out?
Has anyone ever advised you,
To speak out, speak out?
Has anyone ever told you,
To live the moment you're in?
'Cuz hate, it hurts,
And sorrow, it burns,
And that's not a way to win-

...Saturday Night, Half-Japan Competition...

And why does it hurt,
When lies fly around,
When the grey wolf calls,
When the newborn bawls,
When hate is the only sound?

You know why,
You just won't say,
Because the truth,
It scares you,
And you know,
That if you stay the same,
That nothing could prepare you-
For the impact of love.

So just hold your love close to you,
Don't let it slip away,
And peace will be with you,
Each and every day,
Listen to what I say-

The band now took to alternating leads and supports as they chased each other in musical circles, flying on the notes of a full-force cannon of seven unique sounds.

(Reach) Reach... (Reach, Reach-)
Out... (Out, Out)
(Speak) Speak... (Speak)
Out...
Let your love (love) out,

And never worry a-gain.

The background music died down nearly instantly as Atemu and Isis sang the last line, each at the highest they could possibly sing without killing themselves, which for Isis was very high and for Atemu was very deep. Mai went through a harmonic, drifting scale to accent the end of the melody as their voices all broke off to a complete hault after a precise number of beats.

The sold-out audience practically jumped to its feet in thunderous approval as the elated members of Crimson Love packed up and trooped down from the stage. Isis and Mai hugged each other tightly as Rishid and Malik double-teamed poor Ryo, Bakura and Atemu soon joining the two in glomping the pale boy to death.

"Great job, Ryo!"

"You're definitely one of us now!"

"Awesome!"

They filed back into their seats as a hush fell over the auditorium. Crimson Love had been last to perform, and now every band was anxiously awaiting the result. It was no longer a judged performance, but an electronic audience vote. After a few minutes, a tall man in a suit and tie stood up on the stage.

"IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY VOTED, PLEASE CAST YOUR VOTE NOW! LET THE COUNTDOWN START!"

The crowd watched the hands on the hall's giant clock count down to midnight, roaring along, "TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN! SIX! FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE!" The cavernous hall erupted in cheers as the clock tolled midnight. The man onstage glanced at the electronic device in his hand, then picked up the microphone from its holder.

"IT IS NOW MY PLEASURE TO ANNOUNCE THE THREE WINNERS, THE TOP TWO OF WHICH WILL COMPETE IN THE JAPAN-WIDE BAND WAR FINALS!"

More cheers came from the audience, and then the room quieted down. The very pressure and anticipation in the air twisted Atemu's stomach about violently, making him feel slightly sick.

"THIRD PLACE GOES TO FIRE GURLZ!"

Atemu watched as the all-girl rock band made their way onto the stage to accept the man's trophy, happy yet unsatisfied.

"IN SECOND PLACE, EVER AFTER!"

A punkish band shot up from the seats in front of Crimson Love and ran up to the stage, their lead singer gratefully accepting the second place trophy and a small card, the ticket to performing in the next round of competition.

"AND LASTLY, TAKING FIRST PLACE IN THE HALF-JAPAN FINALS OF THIS BAND WAR, CRIMSON LOVE!"

Malik punched the air and again jumped on Ryo as they made their way up to the man amidst tumultuous applause; it was obvious where the majority of votes had been. The man handed Isis a gold trophy and shook each of their hands. When he came to Atemu, he gave the boy a discreet nudge and held his electronic vote tally chart so Atemu could barely read it as the two shook hands. The pie wedge for Crimson Love filled over eighty percent of the screen. Atemu smiled his appreciation and the man winked as the ex-pharaoh followed his friends off the stage, heart soaring with glory.

Now there was only one round and three other bands between Crimson Love and the national title.

I left a half-decent ending to the chapter! Yay me for actually using an ending that isn't corny!

Wow, I'm flattered Bradybunch4529! Thanks so much! Don't you just love Anzu and Atemu together? I think they're the best couple in the anime world! Well, Atemu (finally) got to sing, hope you liked it! Peace out!

Sorry I wasn't really on the ball with updating, Ninqe. But I got some of Christmas Dreams up... my goal is to finish that one by or a li'l after Christmas, so sorry about the wait for the post. Yeah, I'll bet that the doctors in the hospital who didn't already know him by name do now! Maybe I should send him there, just one more time... nah, I'll save that for Cry of the BM. He's dying in that one anyway, so what the heck, eh? We can be drabblers together! YAY FOR MINDLESS DRABBLERS! We talk about anything and everything, and are never lacking of opinions! YAY! GO US!

Queen Insanity, I'm glad you thought it was cool! My stuff is all getting a bit too angsty though, and it's starting to worry me... ah well. Life goes on. I sometimes hate to have relatives come over, it depends on -ahem- which relatives they are and whether or not I'm missing a good episode of Yu-Gi-Oh or a soccer game. -growls- So yeah...

You're right norestar-angel, what's not to like about cliffies? .

dragon shadows, the last one may have been fast, but this one... ick. All of a sudden I'm like... "Whoa! I haven't updated Band War in like... a long time! To the compy, to update Band War!" So sorry about that, hope you liked this one. And wadda ya mean, I'm killing all the main characters? That's only in Cry of the BM, and it's only Atemu then! Way to accuse people, lol. But yeah, I can see where that's comin' from, hehe. I feel very evil right now... heh.

Thanks, Ksaturn. I'm glad you like it. I'll read Dream, but it might take a while because a LOT of people are asking me to read their fics for some reason. But I'll be sure to leave reviews a plenty!

I know, Black-Caracal, lol. Sorry I didn't update very soon... hehe. But I was on a roll with Xmas Dreams and I didn't wanna lose the momentum and amazing lack-of-writers-block, so I had to post a chunk of that first. Forgive me.

Whoa, this one got a ton of reviews! I'm wowed! THANK YOU WONDERFUL REVIEWERS... and all that jazz. See you all next update, which will -I hope- be sooner than this one! Bye bye!