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The End of the Circus: A Tale of the Yizibajohei
Omake: Diamond Punk Candy
by Regina Magia
Walk This Way (1975), written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry
Shinjuku in Tōkyō proper (ten kilometres east of southeast from Tomobiki), the fourth Friday of November in 2012, an hour before lunch...
"...as the jubilation many within Tomobiki feel at the final removal of Redet Lum and all who came to this world from elsewhere in the local cluster in her wake still washes over the Moroboshi home, this particular reporter can declare that she is now happy to spend the rest of Labour Thanksgiving Day in the company of her friends, relieved to note that the family that helped empower her sometime ago is forever free of the grasp of a woman who thought she could own the Universe..."
The image of Asakura Kazumi making her final on-scene report concerning the aborted second Tag Race then vanished. "Well, it's official," Tetsuya Tamiko said as she put her Personal Administrative Assistant down. "Those Oni jackasses are gone...and they ain't coming back!"
A wild whoop of joy escaped the other girls in the private studio not far from the Millennium Tower in Kamuro-chō southwest of Shinjuku Station. "Music to my ears!" Uchida Minako said happily. "I mean, I've always been open to Terrans and non-Terrans interacting...but not when Earth's getting invaded!"
"I say we have a celebration concert," suggested Odagiri Kiriko, earning nods from the drummer and bassist of Diamond Punk Candy — known among both fans and detractors alike on Yiziba by the battle-group name "Ramlato Buotuto Guota" — the band the three girls and two friends had formed less than a year before their actual Giftings as Named metahumans of the World of the Forge.
"Great idea, Kiri-chan," said Kijima Noriko, the band's vocalist, as she got up from the small living area set off to one side. "We can invite some of the other Gifted who are in the area."
"I'm down with that," Sierra Hull, DPC's turntable master and the only non-Japanese member of the band, said as she gave a thumbs up from where she lay on the couch. It had been the Nashville native's suggestion to integrate aspects of hip hop like record scratching into their music when the band came together three years ago when the four natives of Shinjuku had befriended the daughter of one of Sony Mobile's programming specialists from across the Pacific. It had been an idea that had turned out pretty well for DPC when they broke out into the local music scene.
The young twenty-something girls had met Tariko Katabarbe during a performance at a nightclub in nearby Itabashi after Takino Tomo, Kagura Michiko and Mizuhara Koyomi — then about to enter Azuma Senior High School where they would be joined by Mihama Chiyo and Kasuga Ayumu — got their Gifts. As the four younger girls were having a snack at a yatai outside the nightclub's main doors, Tariko's "girl in danger" radar kicked in just as some of the power wires under the stage where the band was performing started a fire. As smoke filled the crowded dance floor, Yomi used her telepathy to calm people down and get them to evacuate the nightclub while Tomo and Kagura charged in to carry out Tamiko and her band mates, then even when so far as to retrieve all their gear.
After the Mistress of the Mind-Dive made sure none of the patrons or staff understood what happened, Tamiko asked the future Trickster of the Show, "Where the hell can we get cool powers like that?!"
Tariko happily explained what she had done for nearly a decade.
Naturally, the members of DPC got the chance to sample her sinful black forest cake that allowed the musicians' souls to sync with the Great Crystal of Power thanks to a very high infusion of meson.
Within a week, DPC held their first "music jam scene" at the Barkeep's galaxy-famous tavern located on the northern side of Habitation One. And much to Tariko's personal shock, both the Extreme Archaist and the Preacher — two of the most socially conservative Yizibajohei alive today! — thought that concert quite interesting even if they had never heard Terran hip hop rock before.
Noriko had become the Siren of the Polar Mountains, Tuoum ("Treble"), a woman who could pitch her voice into the high ultrasonic range, easily affecting FISS-types with the high frequencies she could unleash that could stun them before they could bring her to harm.
Minako was now the Celebration of the Stage, Tuolato ("Lustre"), a light-manipulator who could blind anyone with sensitive eyes via direct blasts of energy into one's face whenever things got too intense.
Tamiko had absorbed the Gift of the Monarch of the Bush Hunters, Suo Myuo ("Wolf Queen"). One of the many who could manipulate ki to create energy claws like the famous Tolose, the band drummer could use her powers to beat multiple percussion instruments at once.
Kiriko was now the Dancing Ballerina, Lemim ("Footloose"). A telekinetic who was the Yizibajohei equivalent of a ballerina teacher in her first life, she used her Gift to perform some incredible dance moves on the stage, which drove fans of the band crazy with the passion of her performance.
And Sierra became the new incarnation of the Roadhouse Cooler, Ruoae ("Swagger"). The band's turntable master was a mid-level FISS-type who could serve as the heavy hitter of the group in fight scenes as well as playing multiple records on stage.
Since that day, DPC's time was largely split between practising, performing at local venues all across the Kantō basin and playing "silent hero" in the back streets of Tōkyō...
...though, much to the surprise and concern of many others, they didn't enjoy as many fight scenes as some other Terrans-turned-Yizibajohei around the world.
"Alright," Noriko then declared as she grabbed her microphone and moved to take her place in the middle of the stage at the group's private studio, prompting the others to join her. "Let's get practising." As the others in the band assumed their places, she asked, "Walk This Way?"
"Sounds good to me," said Sierra as she took her place.
"Okay, then...one, two, three, four!"
Tamiko brought down her sticks while Sierra did a quick record scratch, the echo of that screeching over the large speakers at both sides of the stage. Kiriko followed up with the opening riffs of the Aerospace classic. As the others launched into the song, Noriko twirled her mic before singing...
"Backstroke lover always hidin' 'neath the cover
'Till I talked to my daddy," he say.
He said, "You ain't seen noting
'Till you're down on a muffin,
Then you're sure to be a-changin' your ways..."
When the chorus came, the other girls joined in...
Walk this way!
Walk this way!
Walk this way!
Walk this way!
Walk this way!
Walk this way!
Walk this way!
Walk this way...!
Ah, just give me a kiss!
As her band mates played, Noriko smiled to herself.
Sure, fight scenes got your adrenaline going...
...but there was nothing quite like rock music!
Not a thing!
Like this!
Fin...
WRITER'S NOTES
This takes place a couple hours after the end of Book One of the main story.
