Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone who provided reviews, encouragement, concerns, and just down right annoyance at my having taken too many liberties with their beloved anime. I tried to send messages back to everyone who took time to comment both publicly and in private. Before we get started, remember the disclaimers and story warnings in the Prologue.
Now, on with the show . . .
"We're The Band"
Chapter 2: Eruption and Love
Gym Floor
The students milling about in the crowd moved in a Brownian motion understood only by other teens, but three specific girls stood near the stage as they waited for the festivities to start.
"What's taking them so long?" huffed a tense Asuka – the most dangerous kind of Asuka.
"I don't know. I told them that we're ready for them. I'm kinda worried about how they're going to use my voice," responded Hikari eyeing both Asuka and the restless crowd at the same time. Hikari, in truth, was really tense. The boys had been pretty tight lipped about what their introduction was really going to be. At various times over the last couple of weeks, all three girls had learned small pieces of the introduction and had tried to pry more out of the boys with no success. Even Asuka's considerable control over Shinji had produced nothing more than "It's supposed to be a surprise."
"Your voice?" asked Asuka with an arched eyebrow.
"Yeah, Kensuke asked me to record a voice over saying something about needing a 'recognized voice of school authority'," fidgeted Hikari.
"Hmmph," was Asuka's only reply as anything else was overcome by events . . .
Stage
The stooges moved to their stage locations and Shinji looked at them and said, "Let's do this."
Nodding his head, Kensuke triggered the intro script.
Tokyo-3 Junior High School Dance Club
The lights dropped and the stage spots began to fire in random sequences. After a moment of the visual onslaught, pulsing electronic music from pre-Second Impact American Professional Basketball arenas roared across a sea of upturned student faces rapidly looking around the gym to see everything at once. A slight smile formed on the face of a bemused Rei who had a random thought that all of the students looked like baby birds at feeding time in the nest with their mouths opening and closing rapidly looking around for their mothers with worms.
Suddenly, Hikari's pre-recorded voice boomed out – amplified and modified by Kensuke's audio software, "WELLLLCOOOMMEEE BACK, Students of Tokyo-3 Junior High School! We hope you enjoy tonight's entertainment, and without further ado, Tres Clowns."
Quick Cut to the NERV Command Center
"Quick everyone! They're starting!" yelled Aoba over the NERV command net. He was now streaming the video on a standard NERV feed making it available to all workstations within NERV.
The pulsing electronic intro boomed from the command center speakers as a predatory gleam manifested in a certain guardian's eyes.
Tokyo-3 Junior High School Dance Club
Unnoticed in the electronic barrage of the introduction, the stage curtains had opened. In the dim light Tres Clowns had readied themselves. As Hikari's voice died away, the intro script waited patiently for its next queue.
A thunderous couple of notes from Toji's drum kit, then all of the stage lights bathed them in a blazing white with the gym lights going off completely. These opening notes were instantly recognized by the older faculty members – at least the ones who had a life back when they were teens – it was Van Halen's "Eruption", the quintessential guitar opening. All heads in the gym turned to the stage in shock as Shinji began the guitar hit's opening chords. Rei, Hikari, and Asuka shared a quick shared glance – this was NOT the opening that they had talked about on the set list. They had never discussed "Eruption" as a possibility. Asuka remembered that Shinji used to play some of the harder riffs as warm-ups but couldn't remember ever hearing him play the entire solo.
The first couple of bars roared from his amplifiers and Shinji stood nearly motionless. As the opening bars melded into the high speed, baroque feel section, Shinji began to work the stage as Asuka taught him . . .
Flashback
Asuka had watched Shinji practice for the last thirty minutes. He had the music down, but he just wasn't very entertaining. Watching him speculatively, Shinji suddenly looked up and had that same fear in his eyes when he knew he was in for a beating but didn't know what for. Snapping her fingers, she knew what was wrong.
"Shinji-kun, you play well but you're not performing. Work the stage and the audience. Geez, haven't you ever seen a music video before?" announced Asuka.
Shinji looked back at her, unsure if he was relieved at not being on the receiving end of another slap or upset at being criticized. He chose correctly and relaxed in relief of another beating avoided, but still had a confused look on his face, obviously not understanding what Asuka was talking about.
"Mein Gott. Watch. If I sing the passage you were just working on but stand still, it's boring right?" To which Asuka, in her clear soprano, did just that. "But, if I dance a little or even move a little to the music, it's much more entertaining, right?" And again, she demonstrated.
Shinji clearly understood, but the newly grown vertebrae, while still hardening, provided some support for the following sly comment, "But, Asuka, you're always interesting to watch."
"Hentai," she said without much energy behind it, "Flattery will get you everywhere, but do you understand?" sighed Asuka after a quick kiss to the cheek. At Shinji's nod, "So, show me." And he did, for the rest of the afternoon.
End Flashback
As the first passage worked towards conclusion, Shinji grabbed the whammy bar and hit the big waahs rocking in time with the changes in pitch he was creating. Oddly, he had yet to look up at the audience. He hit the tense silent area in the middle of the solo, and this broke the crowd in the gym out of their stunned silence.
Rei, Asuka, and Hikari were driven to center stage, front by a tide of screaming teenage girls and awestruck boys. In fact, the only thing that silenced the high pitched screaming (you know the sound that can only be generated by a young girl and heard by dogs), was Shinji looking up and starting the second passage of the solo.
His right pinky had yet to release the chrome whammy bar which flashed in the stage lights as the notes ripped from his strings. Shinji began to move closer to the front of the stage and as he reached the edge, he released the whammy bar in a flash and began to hammer on the fret board creating the haunting, classical sounding section. Quickly capturing the whammy bar again, he cranked out the last fading notes of the Eddie Van Halen's famous "Hey, I was just warming up" solo.
As the sound died away, a quick scan of the faces witnessed to this display said volumes.
Rei: approval and a bit of confusion having never really been exposed to something like this.
Asuka: Pride and love, but just a hint of annoyance that Shinji had kept the intro a secret.
Hikari: Relief that the stooges hadn't done anything embarrassing with her voice
NERV Command Center and the students and faculty of Tokyo-3 Junior High: wide-eyed shock
But, everyone caught the transformation of Shinji from shy student to rock band front man and the message had been delivered from his guitar as surely as a Viking war trumpet:
Hear ye all, near and far, the Axe God cometh and that right soon.
The sonic reprieve was short lived as Kensuke triggered the next MIDI program and a pulsing electronic dub quickly grew in volume and with some quick changes to his effects pedals, Shinji began the opening chords of Van Halen's "Why Can't This Be Love" and as Toji began the driving drum licks, Shinji stepped up to the microphone and in a surprisingly powerful voice belted out:
Oh here it comes again
That funny feelin' again winding me up inside
Every time we touch
Hey I don't know
Just tell me where to begin cause I never ever
Felt so much
No I can't recall any love at all
Baby this blows 'em all away
During the first verse and chorus, Shinji's eyes had scanned over the crowd of students jumping up and down in time with the music. An interesting dynamic was emerging. Shinji's inner strength, normally only present during playing his cello or in Eva, was again lighting up. This emotional charge hit everyone who was looking up at his face as he looked at the crowd searching for something, and it generated wildly different reactions. Among most of the boys, a feeling of awe and a little jealousy washed over them. It was an almost primitive reaction to an Alpha male establishing dominance, and they were acknowledging his supremacy, however temporary, during the music.
For the girls, it was almost like he had made eye contact with each one of them, and that he was now singing to them personally. In fact, this triggered another round of screaming and another crush towards the stage.
Rei, Asuka, and Hikari had heard this before. They had felt it before during practice sessions. But, what they weren't prepared for was the reaction of the crowd. They knew the boys were good, but this was just amazing.
For Shinji, however, he was oblivious to most of this. He was really looking for one face in particular. Eyes drawn right down front to a mass of fiery hair, he locked eyes on a familiar set of startlingly blue eyes, and it was then that Asuka knew. He was, really, only singing to her, and this brought a blush to her cheeks.
It's got what it takes
So tell me why can't this be love
Straight from my heart oh tell me why
Can't this be love
I tell myself
Hey only fools rush in an only time will tell
If we stand the test of time
All I know
You've got to run to win an I'll be damned if
I'll get hung up on the line
In the NERV Command Center, the volume of the concert had been turned up to nearly deafening levels. Aoba and Maya had triggered off some spontaneous dancing - Aoba having harbored a secret crush on Maya, and Maya a secret love of Van Halen tunes.
Misato had leaned back in her chair enjoying the live concert, her mind running various teasing scenarios for a certain brown haired boy.
No I can't recall any love at all
Baby this blows 'em all away
It's got what it takes
So tell me why can't this be love
Straight from my heart oh tell me why
Can't this be love
It was during the instrumental section that the emotions within Rei bubbled over. The feelings were all new to her and she was no longer able to keep tight reign on them. An excited, "SHINJI-KUN!" erupted from her startling both Hikari and Asuka who both stopped dancing and turned their heads to stare at Rei as if she had grown a second head.
This eruption did have an unintended consequence. The virus had spread throughout all of the younger girls and they began to all scream "Shinji-kun!" much to Asuka's consternation.
Shinji momentarily stepped back from the stage edge as a forest of hands erupted, reaching for him screaming "Shinji-kun! Oh, Shinji-kun, look at me!" He decided to move back to the center where a clearing in the forest centered on Asuka, Rei, and Hikari. Besides, the emotional high he felt was really fueled by one person and he instinctively returned to that source.
From the drum riser, Toji had watched this with the same kind of morbid fascination someone watches a toddler taking their first steps and beginning to wobble. You know they're going to fall and that you should reach out to steady them, but you don't because you're wondering if they're going to miraculously recover. Oddly, he felt relieved as Shinji moved away from the temptation of the forest of hands and back to where his girlfriend was. Toji didn't necessarily like Asuka, but for his friend's happiness, he knew where Shinji needed to be and what he should be doing. He leaned into the microphone suspended over his riser to sing the backup chorus.
Kensuke watched all of this with just awe. He had harbored a secret hero worship of Shinji for a while, but this was almost more than he could handle. However, he did notice some faces looking at him in a speculative manner. Hehe, maybe I'll have some groupies of my own . . .
But, within NERV, a pair of hands steepled inside a curtain of purple hair and a nefarious giggle emerged along with an astonishingly girlish, "Oh yes, Shinji-kun."
It's got what it takes
So tell me why can't this be love
Straight from my heart oh tell me why
Can't this be love
Tell me why can't this be love
Baby why can't this be love
Got to know why can't this be love
I wanna know why can't this be love
As the final notes died away in the amplifiers, cheering and applause erupted from the crowd of students in front of the stage and polite clapping from the staff around the walls of the gym. A few catcalls and whistles could be heard in the Command Center, but mostly just the ringing in the ears from the volume levels.
Shinji put the stand microphone back by Toji's riser and put on the headset mic.
"Hi everyone. Thanks for the generous response. That was "Eruption" and "Why Can't This Be Love" from Van Halen. Thanks to Misato for finding the tunes for us." Taking a quick sip from the water bottle Asuka had left for him, Shinji continued, "We're Tres Clowns, and before everyone despairs that we're going to only play tunes from forty years ago, we've got something more like a dance tune for you. So, grab someone to dance with."
As the band started to ready for the next tune, a boy moved to where Asuka, Rei, and Hikari had obviously been solo dancing to the band in front of the stage. Sliding up between Asuka and Hikari, he put a hand on the stage and asked Asuka if she wanted to dance. A variety of reactions came from the circle of friends. Shinji's face became stoic as he moved towards the edge of the stage and Toji was enraged at someone pushing his new girlfriend out of a prime spot to watch the concert. Shinji nodded to Toji, and with that Toji began counting off "Dance, Dance" by Fall Out Boy. Just as Asuka wound up to smack the interloper, the first notes of the tune began to roar from the amplifiers like an angry Eva, and Shinji's foot landed on the interfering boy's hand causing his knees to buckle from the pain. Unfortunately for Asuka, this took his head out of the path of her hand and her slap missed. The boy looked up with pleading eyes at Shinji as Shinji ignored him for another couple of bars idly grinding his foot into the boy's hand. Shinji then turned a hard look at the boy, a look very much like his father would have delivered. The boy nodded and Shinji released his hand. Taking the opportunity to flee, the boy melted back into the crowd as Shinji delivered a wink to Asuka as he moved on to work the stage.
This little exchange was noticed by many of the girls triggering off some "whispered" exchanges. It was also noticed by the entire command staff at NERV.
"Do you think?" remarked Hyuga.
"No . . . it couldn't be . . . could it," sputtered Aoba.
Maya ignored both of them and went back to dancing to the thundering beat. To show her contempt, she ratcheted the volume back up drowning out the rest of the speculation.
Author's Note: I'm a big believer in what I heard from a record executive on a talk show. This guy was talking about N'Sync and other boy bands and that while lambasted by critics, record companies would always market boy bands. Why? "Because as long as there are teenage girls with hormones, there will always be a demand for boy bands." I tried to show a little of that dynamic and the fact that it really isn't dependent on a style of music.
So, since they only have a short set, I'll actually mix a couple of songs a chapter. Not every song has meaning or drama, so I'll just leave those out of the narrative other than mentioning which ones were played. The end of this chapter was an example – other than the incident with the boy, there wasn't much meaning in the song, so I just noted that they played it.