"Oh, darling, you look precious!" Jerry exclaimed, clapping his hands together. He looked over her up and down on all sides, nodding approvingly. "Can you see well out of that mask?"
Raven looked about the room through the silky white and black mask. "Yes. Well… kind of."
"It was difficult for me to find a material that was opaque that you could still see through."
Raven squinted, trying to make out details of everything around her better. She could see, it just wasn't clear. She had fuzzy black and white textures messing her vision as she looked through the slim fitted mask. But she liked it; it made her feel mysterious.
"Come over to the mirror, precious. Have a look"
Raven turned to where Jerry stood as he gestured to a full body mirror next to him.
Hips swaying from the high-heeled boots, she walked over and looked. A smile crept up her hidden face.
Staring back at her was the heart-masked woman with the neon and blue raver outfit she had always dreamed of. She kept staring. She loved it.
"Well?" Jerry asked with anticipation.
"It's perfect!" Raven said, giggling slightly. Oh how very exciting.
"Oh, I'm glad you think so."
Marie stood next to Jerry, smiling. "Are you going to show Mau5?"
Raven cocked her head, thinking. "Nah. He has to wait til the show."
Marie chuckled. Then there was a knock at the door.
"Yes?" Marie asked, now standing in front of it to guard it shut.
"MAY I COME IN?" Thomas's voice echoed from outside.
Marie turned back to Raven. "Is it alright if he sees?"
"Sure," Raven nodded. She stood in the middle of the room, hand on hip. She felt like a straight up badass in her new costume.
Thomas entered and he was immediately drawn to the bright colors. The words 'wow' scrolled on his visor. "YOUR TOUR COSTUME CAME OUT GREAT."
"Thank you." Raven said, grinning. Of course, no one could tell.
"YOU MIGHT WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU GET ENOUGH DANCING PRACTICE WHILE WEARING IT. ITS MORE DIFFICULT THAN YOU THINK."
"Don't worry, I plan on it." Raven replied. She was curious how Thomas would know what its like wearing a costume. "How would you know how difficult it is, by the way?"
"I'M A ROBOT. I DIDN'T ALWAYS WEAR HUMAN CLOTHES." He gestured to his black, leather get up. "IT WAS DIFFICULT TO MOVE MY ARMS AND LEGS WHEN I FIRST PUT THEM ON."
Raven nodded, agreeing.
"IF YOU ARE DONE HERE, I WOULD LIKE TO INVITE BOTH YOU AND MARIE TO THE STUDIO. GUY AND I HAVE PRODUCED A NEW SONG AND WOULD LIKE TO PREFORM IT FOR YOU." The word 'music' appeared where his eyes should be.
Oh really… Raven thought. She had not heard a full song by them. She was very curious now.
...
Raven quickly dressed out of her costume and packed it away. The silver robot then led them through the twisting hallways into the big open room of their studio. The giant, black pyramid was lit up and guy was already standing up on top. A heart appeared on his golden helmet when he noticed the company.
"YOU READY TO HEAR SOME MUSIC?" He asked, as his partner walked around the back of their stage to join him.
"Always." Marie shouted back up, beaming at them.
Thomas's body emerged next to Guy and he pointed near the two girls. "Have a seat."
Raven turned to see a small set of theatre chairs lined up nine by six. She and Marie both took a seat in the front row.
As she watched the two metallic robots tweak their knobs, she began to wonder where the other DJ was. It wasn't like him to be away from everyone-
She suddenly felt a soft poke on her left shoulder. She turned and looked up.
"Hi there," Mau5 said softly, grinning down at her. He hopped over the front row of seats and sat down next to her. "You're going to love Thomas and Guy's music~"
"Is it anything like yours?"
"Oh yes, I'd say so. Of course, they have their own signature touch to it."
"What do they call themselves as musicians?" Raven asked curiously. She didn't even know if they had a 'group' name, seeing as they didn't get out very much.
"Daft Punk." Marie replied.
Raven's eyes light up. Ahhh… so that's what that meant on the back of their jackets. She remembered seeing the name, but never thought much of it. It appeared to be nothing more than just a clothes brand or something.
The music started pretty catchy and poppy. It was a happy, electronic sounding melody. Slowly, as the music began to build, the lights dimmed and brilliant patterns of colors began to flicker around the black pyramid. Raven felt a grin growing on her face. She felt a rush of energy zip up her spin; it was the kind of feeling you got when you heard a chord or series of chords that you really liked. She could tell already this song was going to be good.
The lights completely faded to black, except for the small dancing colors around the two DJs. As Guy continued to keep the steady melody flowing, Thomas lifted a mic to his face:
"ONE MORE TIME~"
The large spot lights on the floor burst to life with colors of orange, red and blue and began to circle the ceiling slowly, just as the music's bass intensified.
Amazing. She never imagined that they would be the type to sing. Thomas had a good voice; she'd give him that.
She watched as the robots' hands moved about quickly over their sync boards, clicking sounds, waving the synths , and hitting pedals. They were a perfect team, fully on time with each other.
"ONE MORE TIME~ WE'RE GONNA CELEBRATE~ OH YEAH~ ALRIGHT~ DON'T STOP THE DANCIN'~"
Her feet were tapping to the catchy tune. She liked this a lot. She liked Daft Punk's music.
"ONE MORE TIME~"
As soon as the music began to slow pace again, the sounds of just a deep keyboard filled the room. Calm. But so very much alive.
"MMMMM~"
She shivered. It worked perfectly… With Thomas's robotic tone, the singing flowed so smoothly with the synths and sounds.
Those chills of energy flowing through her; the rush that felt like tiny prickles all over her skin, were returning. Her heart was beating heavily. This music was feeding her so much emotion. She then remembered Thomas and Guy saying how Mau5 had waves naturally produced in his music to send signals to people. They also mentioned that they had it too… Oh yes, they certainly did… in fact, it was very strong.
"OHH~ I'M JUST FEELIN'~ CELEBRATION… TONIGHT~"
Raven closed her eyes as the lights became a soft blur of purple and blue.
"CELEBRATE~ DON'T WAIT TOO LATE~ MMMMM-NO!"
She swayed her head as Thomas's voice captivated her in a trance. She listened and took it in deeply.
"WE DON'T STOP-AH~ YOU CAN'T STOP-AH~ WE'RE GONNA CELEBRATE~ ONE MORE TIME…. ONE MORE TIME…. ONE MORE TIME~"
Yes. One more time.
The music began to grow again. She reopened her eyes and she could see both Thomas's visor and Guy's helmet glowing a bright white.
"A CELEBRATION~ YOU KNOW WE'RE GONNA DO IT ALRIGHT-AH~ TONIGHT-AH~ HEY! JUST FEELIN'~ MUSIC'S COMING FEELIN' ON ME~ ME! YEAH~ COME ON! ALRIGHT, WE'RE GONNA CELEBRATE…"
Raven held her breath just as the music slowed again.
"ONE MORE TIME… CELEBRATE AND DANCE OF FREE~ MUSIC'S COMING FEELIN' SO FREE. CELEBRATE AND DANCE SO FREE. ONE MORE TIME. MUSIC'S COMING FEELIN' OF FREE-"
Thomas continued to build the lyrics as his hand began to turn more pedals. Guy bobbed his head as the same melody from the beginning began to flood in. The lights were intensifying once more.
Raven almost felt like the sound of the bass and rhythm, along with the brightness of the performance in front of her were pressing her firmly against the back of her seat. She felt her hand clenching the armrest as the excitement built.
"ONE MORE TIME. MUSIC'S COMING FEELIN' OF FREE. CELEBRATE AND DANCE SO FREE. ONE MORE TIME~"
A hand rested softly on her clenching hand. She only looked down at if for a second and realized it was Mau5's. She did not bother looking up at him… she only stared at his hand as she continued to absorb the emotion feeding to her through the sounds.
As she continued to hear the pulsing brilliance of Thomas's echoing voice and the dancing beats of Guy's work, she felt some whiskers tickle the side of her left ear. Her eyes still remained fixed on the large hand covering her own.
"Ready to tour, lil Raven?" Came his whispering voice.
Raven felt a small grin on her face. "You bet I am."
She finally looked up to see Mau5 grinning at her with delight. She couldn't help but smile back.
She felt bad however… Truth was, she really did feel excited to tour and dance to this kind of music. But what she was more looking forward to was the chance of escaping…
Just gotta hope we'll make a stop somewhere and England… then I might have a chance of being home free.
…
A Week Later. Tour. Day one.
Low energy from lack of sleep. Raven sat in the front booth of a small trailer car, holding her head up on her arm as she stared sleepily out the window. It was one of those trailer cars that had the tented windows so no one could see in… she liked that.
A group of men that were hired were almost finished with packing up all the equipment. This included sound systems, lights, sync boards, cables… yeah, the usual.
Mau5 clicked the button on the portable microwave, which opened the door. He'd then close the door and repeat, very amused.
"Loooook~ we have a microwave to take with us!" He was very excited. Her guess was he had never traveled in one of these trailers before.
Raven turned over to him and smiled. "Silly rat."
He quickly turned to her, his ears perking and his large smile becoming a sudden frown. "Meee? I'm no rat."
Raven chuckled. "I'm just teasin' you."
His frown slowly faded and he quickly then forgot the comment. He went back to his amusement with the microwave.
Raven sighed softly and leaned her head back against the wall. Her head made a loud thunk against the plastic coating. "Ouch.." She mumbled.
"Aw, Raven, are you sleepy?"
"Yeah… I didn't rest much."
"How come?"
She shrugged slightly. "Nervous about tonight."
Mau5's grin became idiotic. "You'll do just fine."
Raven gave a weak smile, as her eyes heavily blinked at the floor. She wished this damn thing had soft pillows or something to lie down on. Guess the government was too cheap to provide them with top quality travel.
"Want to lay down?" Mau5 offered.
"I would but it's not comfortable. I can just stay awake."
Mau5 quickly leaped up and sat down next to her in the double booth. "Lay down on me~"
Raven gave him a skeptical look. "Uh, I'd rather not.."
"You need to rest before the show. Otherwise you'll be too tired to dance."
She looked at him. He seemed pretty serious. His mouth had formed a solid line on his face, as he looked at her hard with his milky white eyes. Her gut wanted to resist, but from the looks of him, she had a feeling he wouldn't except 'no' for an answer.
"Geez, fine, fine," Raven mumbled. She slowly leaned down to her side and rested her head on his lap. Before she settled herself down she made sure to add: "I swear, though, you do anything to me while I'm asleep, I'll kick your ass."
Mau5 only giggled to himself, his tail curling with delight. "Rest, Raven~" He hummed to her.
Raven had barely closed her eyes for a minute, when the side door of the trailer opened. Guy poked his head in. Raven picked her head up and stared at him, feeling a bit embarrassed by the situation.
Guy only gave a smiley icon on his face, but it then quickly vanished. "OKAY, MAU5. EVERYTHING IS PACKED UP. READY?"
Mau5's ears curled. "Mhmmm~"
"NOW, REMEMBER, IF YOU GET INTO ANY MORE MISCHIEF, YOU'LL LOSE YOUR PRIVLIGE TO TOUR COMPLETELY." Guy shook his head slowly, the image of a finger waging skeptically appeared on his helmet.
"I know, I know~"
"JAMES AND DANIEL WILL BE TRAVELING WITH YOU TO MAKE SURE YOU DON'T INTERACT WITH ANYMORE HUMANS. BE GOOD."
"I will, I promise, Guy."
Guy still stared up at Mau5, making sure his word was reliable. Then he nodded. "GOOD LUCK, BOTH OF YOU. WE'LL SEE YOU IN A FEW DAYS." He closed the door shut and a few seconds later, the trailer's engine kicked on.
Raven looked up to Mau5. "A few days? Are we not touring that long?"
"No.. we are. But I told Guy and Thomas we would meet up with them after we finished touring the major cities in France first. Then, we'll hit England, then Spain and then Germany. And I think that is all for this tour…"
Raven felt her heart leap. Yes! They'd be in England in a few days. Or so she hoped. Either way, she was getting closer to her chance of freedom.
"C'mon, now, back to sleep with you~" Mau5 softly touched her head with his palm.
Raven sighed, eager for that chance. But she obeyed just this once and let the vibration of the trailer and her exhaustion numb her to unconsciousness.