"Tell me who you are!"
"You must be a star!"
"But are you my shining star?" They both laugh as they finish up the two guitars perfectly "The answer to that is yes! We did it Lammy! And just in the nick of time to." The chainsaws fall apart in their hands, their use fulfilled "Haha talk about cutting it close! Now let's see our guitars!"
Lammy playful chuckles at Parappa's unintentional pun "It's rather nice! I think we actually ended up making ones that were better than the first! And this is after FIVE years of absolutely no practice! Guess all one really needs is a good ol guitar maker friend to keep you motivated!"
"You can say that again!" Parappa picks both of the guitars up and hands one of them to Lammy "You remember the rest to make it work with electrical equipment?"
"We're gonna find out." She along with Parappa begin working on the new wooden creations "So what is it you want me and Katy to do with these?"
"Play a song."
"Well yeah, that much is obvious. I mean what song and what for?"
"The song is a simple one that I'm sure Katy will help with along the way. And it's for the battle the two groups will be having...or rather, the lack thereof."
"Oh?"
"See I'm gonna be hiding the speakers around the area they'll be meeting at, while you two hide at the opposite sides of the field with your appropriate amps. Then you two will begin to play the song I have in mind which will envelop the whole battlefield."
"Just our guitar playing?..."
"Well no!" He pulls out a microphone from his pocket "I'll be singing with this! It's an portable waterproof microphone my dad made me. In case I ever wanted to sing again out in the open. I've been carrying it around ever since I came out of the hospital again to see if I could get my mojo running again. And boy was that a good idea cuz it also has a built in translator! Meaning I can be singing like this and the Tempo's will STILL understand me! Of course understand me or not, it'll be hard to resist a funky tune when you've been so starved for music. Also here!" He detaches two small nodes from the bottom of the mic and hands it to her "These are headpiece mics for the two of you! I want you both to sing with me! They also have a built in voice translator! Now we'll be singing the song as you two also provide the music, together it should 'hopefully' get the two groups to stop fighting and 'possibly' embrace each others as friends and become lovers of music again!"
"And you think the Tempo's will just cooperate and sit still as this goes along?"
"Nope. That's where the final step comes in. I'll be helping PJ create traps made from the trees here that will disarm the Tempo's, leaving them with no other option but to listen!"
"And if they resort to hand to hand?"
"Well if they're STILL stubborn in going for a battle, then we just knock em over!"
"Knock them over?"
"Yeah! All the Tempo's are RIDICULOUSLY heavy! If they topple over, they're like a turtle! They can't get back up unless helped!"
"That would leave them rather docile at that point...hm…" She finishes up her guitar "Will...you be ok? I assume since you'll be lead singing...you'll have to be smack dab in the MIDDLE of the battlefield won't you?..."
"Ahah...yeah...for this to work I'll have to be the center of attention yes…" He runs behind a tree and reappears a minute later wearing his armor again with his shield "But I have this so I should make it there simple enough! And once they're all incapacitated, then I'll have nothing to worry about except that I don't mess up my part." He runs back behind the tree and reappears with his regular clothes back on.
Lammy simply glances at her guitar, not wanting to look at him. The confidence she was sporting was quickly waning at the thought of him purposefully tossing himself into danger again "Y-You sure that'll be enough?..."
Parappa quickly notices that Lammy's beginning to lose her moxie and tries to think up a better way to word his next reply "Uh...yeah! This shield can stop whatever they throw at me! If they even get the chance to throw anything at all! And the armor is almost as durable! And very heatproof! So contact with them won't be a bother either! Plus they're all rather big clunky and slow, and me bein a little guy kinda gives me an already unfair advantage against em!"
Lammy takes a deep breath and gives a stoic "Ok." She stops fiddling with her guitar as she gives it one last glance "I'm done with mine." She hoists it over her shoulder and walks over to Parappa "Need help?"
"No I almost got it...there! Here! Give this one to Katy!"
"Will do, now go to PJ already and get the last bit of preparations done with so we can see this through already." As she walks off, she stops for a bit before turning back to him. She bends over to whisper into his ear, the sudden action catches him off guard as he begins heating up "I'm choosing to go against my better judgement and believe that you'll be fine. Currently? My stomach's punching itself and I should really be huddling on the ground clutching it in an anxious struggle right about now, but no. I believe in you one hundred percent." Parappa hears a soft giggle, but what she says afterwards wasn't exactly as uplifting "And if you do end up getting somewhat scuffed up, i'm afraid this new guitar will meet its end!"
"W-Why's that?..." She doesn't reply, she simply taps the guitar lightly on his head, immediately he gets the picture "A-Ahahahaha!...T-That won't happen!...T-Trust me I-I'll be fine!..."
She stands back upright, smiling as she faces him "I know you will! You're not a liar after all. Just wanted to spook some motivation in you to guarantee it!" She walks off, once she's out of sight, Parappa collapses onto his hands and knees. His entire body as red as a tomato.
"With motivation like that, how could I be so cruel to let her down! H-Hahahaa…" steam begins blowing out of his ears as sweat ejects from his forehead like a sprinkler. That was...intense...a bit TO intense, even for her standards!...H-Hehe...I guess I motivated her much more effectively than I thought...n-not that it was a BAD thing...just caught me off guard is all...y-yeah that's it...phew… Parappa shakes his head before getting back up "Alright time to go check up on PJ and Matt!" with a second wind, he runs off.
Meanwhile, once Lammy noted she was fully out of sight and mind, she herself collapsed onto the ground, her own body a tomato imitation as she clutches her stomach. What did I DO!? What got over me to make me do...THAT...Ohhhhh….oh no...g-gonna hurl… Her face turns blue and green as she holds her mouth shut, she manages to stop herself from vomiting, but swallowing it back down wasn't exactly a better ending "Bleghhhh...g-gross...oooohhh...oh man he's probably all tense about it now...I probably terrified him!..."
"If anything, it's sure to keep him on his toes so that he doesn't get hurt at all!"
"W-Wha-huh?! K-Katy? W-What are you doing here?!..." She stumbles back onto her feet and backpedals into a tree.
"I was watchin over my two besties! Getting along, motivatin one another, makin guitars, assertin your dominance in the relationship!"
"A-Asserting my w-wha-..." steam ejects out her ears with a train whistle as her eyes turn to spirals "Y-YOU HEARD T-THAT?!..."
"Cat ears are just as effective as dog ones~"
"H-How much did y-you hear?!"
"Oh just...ALL OF IT!~" She grabs Lammy's hands and bounces up and down with her "Ooooooh! Lammy that was amazing! You just all stoic and taking control of the situation! And he clearly noticed! And it struck ALOT of things in him! One of which may even be heavy interest!~"
"A-Ah...e-e...I...oooo...uhhh…" Literal sparks fly out of Lammy's head as if she was a machine that was beginning to malfunction.
"L-Lammy?..."
"H-Hahahahaaaaaaaa…" she collapses onto Katy, unconscious.
"U-Uh oh...L-Lammy wake up!...w-we gotta practice the song Parappa wanted us to play the music to!" She shakes her unconscious friend, to no avail.
"F-Five more minutes mamaaaa…" is all Lammy manages to mumble out.
"Oh no…oh nonononono...I might have single handedly just ruined all of this..." she stampers in place from panic "Nonono...what do I do now…" she calms down and sighs "I guess I gotta wake up early when she comes to so we can practice then...no...she doesn't know it and she can't just learn it that quickly...guitar or not...but maybe she can with a song she already heard?..." She groans from her own disdain "I'm sorry Parappa...but at the very least you'll know the song that I have in mind…Come on I gotta get you to bed..." she walks back to camp with Lammy reclining on her shoulder.
Matt finishes handing over the equipment to Parappa "Man I was suspicious at first, but i'm glad you actually decided to agree with us. Safety is the best option here. And it's nice that you're trying to keep the kids calm during this!"
"Yeah they really rubbed off on me...hahah…" I feel sick with myself...lying to both the kids AND Matt…
"I could tell! Especially with how Dacite and Mica latched onto you!" He chuckles "It's certainly nice seeing you having fun again, I miss this cheery Parappa."
You're making me feel worse, please stop being nice to meeee….I don't deserve it right about now… "Yeah well...I think everyone has, but I was rather worried if I could go back to that? I feel like it'd be hard. Now I see it was dumb of me to think that way. Once I started playing with the kids here I guess it just reignited one of the old reasons as to why I wanted to do this in the first place all those years ago!"
"I could tell. Haha. Well is there anything you'd like me to do now?"
"Uh...yeah! Where's the battle gonna take place? I wanna steer clear from that place so I don't get the kids into any danger. I also don't wanna attract the Tempo's over with the sound of the music."
"Smart thinking. Well from what Pallet found out. They'll be fighting in that main clearing over there! Apparently it's where they go to fight whenever it's a big BIG dispute." He scratches his head "Funny how they have an organized place for battle...goes to show how long they've been at it...I don't know if that's funny or sad…" he chuckle awkwardly.
"Yeahhhh...well anyway, Paula needs your help with Sweety! Since PJ will be helping me set these up!"
"Why not just ask me to help you?"
"Well PJ's a teddy bear! That'd probably keep the kids distracted enough as I set it up!"
"Huh...didn't think about that...Alright!" with that said, Matt heads off to the hut where Paula and Sweety are at.
"Ugh...it's for the greater good Parappa...he knows it just as much as you do!...At least he will know it once it's all over...now to set these up with PJ!...He should still be waiting outside!" He runs out with the gear in tow to spot PJ still waiting for him while reclining sideways on the wall, yet Parappa feels something off "Yo PJ, got the things, ready to set up?"
PJ simply gets off the wall and turns to look at Parappa, but Parappa quickly notices that his face is blue as if something was wrong.
"PJ?...Yo man what's wrong?..."
He sighs as the two tiny heads poke out from behind his legs, revealing Dacite and Mica.
"...A-Ahah...y-yeah these are meant to set up a party for you kids while the others fight the Tem-"
"Mister PJ already told us the truth."
"PJ why?!"
"I'm sorry man...i'm a teddy bear...it's in my blood to be there for anxious people or kids for whatever they need...and these kids wanted to know what we were really doing…"
"Seriously...ugh...well I can't say that you're wrong…Anywho why did you two wanna know what we're doing?..."
"We felt something was up when you told us to head back! And we were right! So we wanna help!"
Mica nods to what Dacite says.
"No way, we already have everything set and settled and I don't wanna add any extra steps that may cause complications! And you aren't changing my mind!"
"We'll tell Mister Matt and Sir Pallet if you don't."
"Welcome aboard!" Parappa's eye twitches as he's forced to say these words. The girls throw their arms in the air as they shout yay, or in Mica's case, implying that they said yay as they run back to their shelter. Oh boy...can anything ELSE go astray? "Well PJ...before anything else intrudes...let's just begin setting up…"
"You found out the place from Matt?"
"Yeah...so let's go hide these things already…we still have one more thing we gotta do afterwards…"
"That being?"
"Traps!"
"...Why?..."
"Tempo's aren't just gonna sit quietly sucking on their thumbs while we just let the plan go in action! So we set things that bust their weapons as well as tip them over!"
"Tip em over? Oh yeah, I think I recall Matt saying they're top heavy. So that means they won't be able to get back up?"
"Bingo. Now come on, let's lug these things over in that direction!"
"Alright then."
The two hide the speakers all over specific points in the battlefield where they're guaranteed to not be disturbed while also being able to envelope the entire field with the eventual music "So I should probably mention these things won't last long once turned on to be used."
"I kinda figured, but with Matt's help they should at the very least last way longer than our chainsaws!"
"Well you're not wrong, but Parappa, you gotta make it all count. You only have enough for one song that can't be too long or flashy. No do overs. It's gotta be one and done or else they'll end up falling apart mid use and that'd be really bad for you."
"I know I know, it all came to mind when I thought it up in the first place...but if that's the case then maybe I won't be able to play this new song...I'll have to think up a new one on the spot…"
"Is the new one really that long?"
"It's not so much long it's just that I wanna entice a group reaction out of the Tempo Tantrums and the Mood Stones!..."
"Ah, I get what you mean. Yeah that would take more time than you got. Unless it was a song that just had that...I dunno how to word it." He taps his chin until he manages to come up with something "That classic Parappa flow."
"The new song had that!...A-At least...I would hope it does…"
"Then how can you rely on that song if not even you're sure it does?"
"I dunno...I guess It was me fooling myself into thinking that, 'hey, since i'm out of that funk, why not test my return to the scene by fixing the problem here?', but in reality it's just not meant to be..." It's probably for the best… He sighs dejectedly "I'll save the song for another day I 'spose."
"Well don't shoot yourself down entirely...sheesh your bad moods contagious…hold on…" He pulls out some shades from his shirt pocket and places them on "There, now I can stomach the negativity just a bit more. Look, that new song of yours is probably better off for something else when you fully have the confidence to unveil it. Right now probably isn't the best time if unity is your main objective man."
"Hm...You're right. That would be for the best. Guess I should tone down my forward excitement just a smidge. Of course now I need to think up a different song to sing…"
"Oh I'm sure that'll come to you before you know it! It always has before when you started singing on your own WITHOUT a teacher." He sets down the final speaker "Now...what about the amps?"
"Lammy and Katy have that part. They'll be setting up at the opposite ends of the field."
"So the entrances to the battle?...You sure they'll be fine?..."
"That's what the traps and me are for! Besides everyone will more than likely focus me down since I'll be smack dab in the middle of the battlefield!"
"Hoo boy...you better take care."
"I will! Lammy already gave me enough motivation for that...h-hehe…" Parappa recalls the friendly little..'realistic' lie Lammy made as it forces a shiver that begins at the tip of his head to the ends of his feet.
PJ simply stares at him with a worried expression "What...happened? Should I be concerned?"
Parappa glows red once more "N-Nono! That won't be necessary! H-Hahah!" He tries to force his eyes to look at PJ, but to no avail as they keep darting in every other direction.
"I...will just let this slide...for now." he crosses his arms "Ok so they'll be there and you'll be here. What are we gonna make the traps out of?"
"We innovate! Here we have the big ol' trees here to help make battering rams that'll knock em over easily! And we should be able to make things that can break their weapons to!"
"Well that's fine and all, but with axes it'll take forever to cut down enough-"
"KICK!" Parappa kicks through the trunk of a tree, knocking it over in one fell swoop.
"...Or that...that works…" PJ facepalms "Your brute deforestation tactics aside...where do you plan on holding up the traps?"
"In certain angles around the area that will cover the speakers and the girls should the Tempos try and be crafty." He kicks down another tree "We just gotta hang a good lot of these up and around and set a trigger tripwire or have some that need to be manually set off by us."
"Very well...as for disarming them. I don't think wood will be strong enough to break their weapons-"
"PUNCH!" Parappa smashes a nearby rock, turning it into shards of pointed stones "Owowowow...hands still healing...but you get the picture."
"Yeah...might wanna resort to kicking the remaining rocks…"
"Noted. Anyway I gotta hurry. It's getting really late and if I don't keep up with my sleeping, the girls will probably strangle me."
"I will to now that you bring it up. Doctor's orders and all that."
"Yeah yeah. Relax man I'll be fine! Just gotta hurry is all." He stomps another rock and kicks another tree over "But I won't get anywhere if I stay here talking!"
"Your legs are gonna hate you by the end of this…"
"Then why don't you help? Tamanegi taught you to…"
"Ehhhh…..I mean he taught all of us, but no one really ever took it to such a calibre like you and Paula did so I...will innovate in my own way."
"Exactly."
"Oh shut up." PJ begins rolling one of the felled trees away "I'll begin turning this and the other ones you make into proper Battering Rams, you just help with telling me where I gotta put em. As well as what things you plan on turning those pointy rocks into."
"Don't expect me to bring to many since I plan to knock over as many as we can get with just one. So I'll expect really only eight or nine of these? Any stragglers will just have me, Mica and Dacite tip em over like cows!"
"Just be careful, something in my gut is just worrying me. Since we passed those torches by the entrance of this area, I just felt...off...as if SOMETHING'S gonna tip em off…"
"With pessimism like that, of course things will go wrong! Don't worry. They're not here to know what we got in store!"
"I hope you're right…"
As time passes, the duo set up the nine battering ram traps as well as created sharp stone projectiles that will be aimed to snap the invaders weapons into pieces, nullifying any use they'll manage to get from them.
"And that...should be it! We're golden!"
"Phew...oh man I keep forgetting how much effort your little ideas always cost me." He stretches his back until he hears a crack "Ugh...ow…"
"Haha, it's good exercise for you! And I know you need it badly!"
"I prefer hibernating."
"Daily? Yeah, no."
"You can't tell me what to do for my benefit!"
"PJ you and I both know that's a lie. But even still, if I can't, Sweety sure as hell can!"
"...you play dirty…"
"Gotta take care of you as much as you take care of me."
"Fair point. I should've expected as much." As PJ says this, Parappa playfully and lightly punches his stomach "Hey!..."
"Sorry, just makin a lil point is all!" He chuckles as he rears away from his friends grasp.
"Didn't have to be rude about it!"
"Think of it as payback for teasing me!"
"Yeesh, you were never petty enough to tease back. What provoked that in ya?"
"Beat's me! All I know is it felt right to do. Ease up and all that."
"That is probably the worst excuse you have ever said yet."
"Maybe so, but you'll never get a straight answer outta me!" He spins until he's facing the village "Now I gotta go find a haystack and hit it! Night man!" with that, he runs off.
PJ simply stares, dumbfoundead "To think someone can both grow up, and show how childish they really are in the same few sentences…" He can't help but break into a small laughing fit "Man...did you ever really change? It's like we're all still fifteen and you're JUST starting up as a rapper again." he shakes his head with a smile on his face "Not that I mind, but I can't help feeling that this is how the rest of our life will end up being...and you know? If that's the case, things won't be so bad! I really should ask Leo how you are in the future if he still remembers. It'll be nice to get some confirmation." He takes a look at the traps he and Parappa had set up "Oh man...I hope this works…" He walks off to the village to resume taking care of Sweety as well as to catch some shut eye himself.
("I SAID LEMME OUT OF HERE!...'") Ma-san continues to kick around to try and break out of a sack she's been put in.
("I'm sorry lass…")
("DETO!? THE HELL YOU FAT F-")
("I'm being forced to do this i'm afraid…")
("THE WORD NO EXISTS YOU HYPOCRITE!")
("Ah yes, say no and cost the lives of many innocent children. How easy it is to make a decision like that.") Ma-san doesn't reply, her fuse simply begins to burn a hole in the bag ("I have no other option…please forgive me...") Before her fuse can cause her to break free, she's then let out in front of Ur.
("Oof...urgh...oh...what a pleasant sight for sore eyes…")
("Nice to see you again as well you little...ragamuffin…")
("Ugh even your passive aggressive comments are old timey for my tastes…what do you want…")
("Many things really! Mainly your compliance to what I have in mind! Second off the three girls you ran off with.")
("Comply with you? I don't think so anymore...and as for the brats? I wouldn't tell you even if I knew.")
("Oh?...what do you mean by that?")
("Stubborn trio ran off once I got far enough away…")
("Well that makes things unfortunate...complications aside we still have you!")
("Lucky. Me.") Her fuse dies down ("What could you possibly want with me now.")
("Well my little dynamite on legs, it seems your intrusive pal has caused a bit of a forced encounter between us and the Mood Stones now.")
The recollection of Parappa's actions simply causes her to huff in anger as her fuse releases a puff of smoke, to which Ur notices.
("And I think you'd want to meet up with him again to air out your aggressions!")
("What aggressions…") More smoke comes out, this time much more hectic.
("Oh, I wouldn't know since I don't really know either of you well! But it's certain you want to...go talk to someone who overspoke with a certain topic-") Her flame flickers ("Overstepped his boundaries-") Her body turns reddish orange ("And all the while as he made a fool out of you. Be it intentional or not! But most likely so!") A spark lights up in her eyes, her fuse disintegrates as shes begins yelling in anger.
("GAAAAAAAAAAAAH! JUST REMEMBERING ALL THAT...FROM THAT STUPID MUTT...I JUST WANNA….JUST WANNA-!")
("Show him a piece of your mind?~") Ur holds out the two maces Ma-san had left behind, to which she immediately snatches out of his hands.
("All that and then some…") steam comes from the handles of the maces as she grabs them.
("Atta girl! Now I think it's best you come with us in the morning to meet him! Just wait back at our camp until we're ready to go!") Ma-san storms off angrily in said direction, each step she takes leaves an ashen footprint on the ground ("Mymy how heated!")
Deto walks up to Ur after witnessing all of that go down ("Using the lass's own temper to pollute her mind into following your way of thinking?! Yer a sick man Ur…")
("I didn't add anything that wasn't already there!") He chuckles ("This means that she is clearly from the Dino-Mights! Those fools were always so quick to go off at any little thing. And that girl is no different! Makes it easier to integrate her with us! And it would fill my heart with burning joy to see what havoc she can cause! Especially against her own 'friends'! Haha!~") Before Deto can speak up, little flame spirits fly up to him.
("Ey, ey! Listen up! We found out that the Mood Stone's new lackeys have begun secretly planning something!")
("Oh?...Do tell~")
The night was quickly over and the sky was soon filled with the burning false sun as it tried rising in the distance. It was earlier than what the natives usually awoke at, but that was necessary given what was needed to happen.
Parappa quietly snuck out of the hutt as to not wake up Matt. "Alright...now to go and check up on Lammy and Kat- Oof!...Sorry I wasn't watching where I was go- Katy? Well hey there you are!"
"Oh!...h-hey Parappa! You're up early!" Please don't ask about the song….
"Yeah...I had to wake up early cuz I had to tell you and Lammy something…see it's about the song."
Why me… "Oh yeah, me and Lammy where all on the idea of practicing it...buuuuut…" come clean, there's no weaseling out of this. "I decided to pick a different song!" That's not a lie, but it's also not the truth...come on me…
"Really? That's great to hear!"
"Yeah it- what now?"
"Yeah turns out the song I had in store...probably not the best idea for this situation...so I needed to come up with a new one. And that's why I'm here! To discuss what it could've been with you! But it seems you're just two steps ahead! Man guess it ain't so bad having you and PJ be like a second set of Parents after all!"
"A-Ahahahah! Yep! I thought the same and I already know what song it'll be!" TELL HIM THE TRUTH YOU COWARD! "So since we all should know the song, I figured it'd be easy teaching it to Lammy, but we still needed some time to practice! So I came over here looking for you to tell you about it!" I am literally the worst...whatever! He doesn't know my blunder and fate actually tossed me a save! Even though I really don't deserve it...but that aside! I guess since I'm already on autopilot in accepting the credit, might as well keep burning this bridge down… Katy whispers to Parappa what song he should sing to which a bright smile grows on his face.
"That's the PERFECT choice! Man you're pretty much seven steps ahead of me at this point!"
"Y-You're to kind!~..." No kidding… "You'll have to remix the song just a teeny bit so it fits the setting better, but other than that, I was just doing my part to assure success!...h-hahaha...now if you excuse me, I have to wake up Lammy and get started."
"Carry on!" She quickly runs off the second he finishes saying that "Well she wasted no time...Expect nothing less from her!" He giggles as he walks off to find PJ.
The awaited time draws closer as the preparations come to a close. Katy's prediction of the song being easier for Lammy to learn was correct as she picked it up in no time flat, with some minor inconveniences still lingering thanks to last night, but regardless she is fully prepared now. PJ decides to scope around the traps one last time, but notices that the torches by the entrances are mysteriously gone. He swallows roughly, and begins fixing some things up. Parappa speaks with Mica and Dacite over what they're to do should there still be some Tempo members still standing and causing a commotion. This all goes down smoothly as they all begin the final step, as the battle soon starts with both sides entering from their respective corners.
"This is it." Parappa says as he grabs his microphone tightly, he looks back at the two girls who reply with a thumbs up, he gives his own thumbs up back as he pulls down the helmet's visor.
"Let's see how this plays out now…" PJ says as he looks at the newly arranged traps as well as giving Lammy and Katy a different area to be positioned at, be he hasn't been able to inform Parappa.
"Here goes nothing..." Katy says as she watches the Tempo's enter from their entrance, waiting for her opportunity to go out.
"H-Here we go…" Lammy says as she waits for all the Mood Stones to enter from their entrance before she goes out.
During this, Matt is still in the village along with Paula and the much more stable Sweety.
"I'm gonna get some air, being in a hut is rather sweltering...call me back if you need help alright?"
"Sure thing Matt, but I think Sweety's doing just fine."
"I am! Thanks for helping me...Sorry for the lying…'
"It's fine for us at least since you're doing fine now! But PJ might be a bit more knuckleheaded on the matter."
"That's for sure...where is PJ anyway?"
"He should be with Parappa over at the place where the kids are at, so I'll go get him!"
"W-Wait Matt!" Paula tries to stop Matt knowing that no one is actually over there.
"I'll be back quickly! Just wait here!" He storms off leaving her in the dust as she trips onto the ground.
"Oh this can't end well…"
"Why's that?" Sweety says as she glances over the panicking fox.
"Oh dear...wellllllll…" This certainly took a turn for the worst...
Matt manages to arrive at the child shelter rather quickly, but upon reaching the place, he stops in his tracks "That's odd...they should've started by now...why is it so quiet?..." He knocks on the door and is immediately greeted by a child.
"Hello!"
"Hey there! Uh...Parappa and PJ wouldn't happen to have started already right?"
"Started what?"
"Performing?..."
"Oh, they haven't done that. Because they're not even here! You sure they said they'd do that?"
"Yeah that's what they told me-" Gears start spinning in Matt's head as he recalls things Parappa told him, such as where the battle would be taking place "No." he glances over to the direction of the battlefield "No…" He can feel the word 'Sucker' being etched onto his forehead mentally as he quickly turns around and books it "NOOOOOO….." he heads off to get his armor.
"Ok...that's the last of them it seems...it's now or never!" Parappa runs out into the battlefield to give the signal and begin the plan, but he is immediately cut off by bumping into Ur.
("Hello there you small nuisance!")
"W-Wha- Y-You?!"
("Seems like my intel was right! You were planning something!")
"H-How do you know about that?!..."
("Never you mind that! All you need to know is that I know exactly what you're planning! Such as you hiding a trap right HERE!") He pushes aside a tree, but there is no tree ("WHAT?! Well there's still the two others who are helping you! Such as one hiding OVER THERE!") He throws a flaming weapon at a tree, it disintegrates, but there was nothing there either ("HOW?! THE INFORMATION THAT I OBTAINED WAS SUPPOSED TO BE COMPLETELY CORRECT!...") He looks at the small sprites in his hands who simply panic.
("B-But we heard and saw everything! T-They were there-") They don't get a chance to finish their pleas as Ur crushes them in his hands. As this happens, PJ watches as he's hidden up in a tree branch out of sight, chuckling to himself.
("You've made a fool out of me here...BUT I WILL HAVE THE LAST LA-")
"NOPE!" Matt dives through Ur's legs again, tipping him over, however.
("NOT THIS TIME!~") He falls over onto Matt with his weapon held out, Matt didn't have the time to get up off the ground to avoid the attack, and on panicked instinct, he simply closes his eyes. He opens them once he notices that nothing had happened and instead see's Parappa with his shield, holding back both the weapon and Ur's weight as they both press down on him.
"MATT...GET UP AND RUN...NOW!..." He struggles in place with holding everything up, but the sight triggers a bad memory in Matt's mind.
"P-Please...not again…"
"I CAN'T...KEEP HOLDING HIM UP...FOREVER YOU KNOW...HURRY UP AND MOVE…"
"No...not again…"
"IF ONLY ONE OF US CAN GET LUCKY HERE THEN I RATHER IT BE YOU!..."
"Lucky?..." The word simply triggers more bad memories into Matt's Psyche.
"You were lucky to get out of that unharmed young man!"
"I don't...feel very lucky…"
"Oh? I know it must hurt to see your friend take the brunt of that building collapsing. But in the end he made it so that you all could be the lucky ones! That's something to be qualified as lucky. Being blessed with a friend who cares that much."
"But...i'm not lucky...i'm not...we all should have made it out ok…"
"Be thankful he made sure you did."
Matt shakes in fear as he still does not get up.
"MATT...COME ON…" There is no reaction aside from Matt looking towards the ground, mumbling incomprehensible words "MATT...I'M SERIOUS!..." He only sees teardrops hit the grass "MATT!"
Matt balls his hands into fists as he begins yelling and slams his body against the shield, helping Parappa push Ur back, surprising both of them "I...WON'T...RUN...AGAIN!"
"Matt?!"
("W-WHAT IS THIS?!...")
"I'm not lucky…" He stomps his feet firmly into the ground "I'm NOT lucky." He begins adding more force into the shove as Ur's feet leave the ground "I'M...NOT LUCKY!..." Parappa stares at the fear, regret and conviction in Matt's face. He simply replies with his own yelling.
"BUT YOU ARE NOW!" With the combined adrenaline rush in the two of them, they fling Ur into the distance. He crashes in a tree, his weight and body flames cause it to collapse over him. Keeping him pinned.
("GAH…")
"W-We...did it...h-hahaha…"
"Matt where did that strength come from?!" Matt doesn't reply, he just collapses onto the ground unconscious. His face tear stained yet sporting a victorious smile "M-MATT!..." Mica and Dacite run up to Matt's side and note that he is fine. Just passed out from an emotional overflow.
"He'll be ok! He just overworked himself! At least he fainted AFTER he saved you!"
"Yeah…"
"We'll take him back to our village to rest! Now hurry and get to it mister! The fight's gonna get worse if it carries on!"
"R-Right!" The duo pick up Matt and carry him off as Parappa runs into the battlefield "Guess it's just me left to disarm everyone else…" He takes a steady breath and furrows his brow "But i've never been a quitter. All I gotta do is keep on believing!" He triggers the stone traps that launch projectiles through the remaining Tempo's weapons, destroying them upon impact. Parappa notices that the trap was not in the same location as prior, but decides to shrug it off. After this, some of them immediately toss their arms up as they surrender. The other simply try to attack Parappa, who outmaneuvers them as he leads them into the line of the battering ram traps "PJ! NOW!" but nothing happens. Parappa looks up to notice that the traps had move. "U-Uh oh…" He keeps on running trying to keep out of their grab range. The stone traps break more and more weapons, but there are fewer Tempo's who choose to surrender as the stay in a mob chasing him "These aren't where we originally put the weapon breaking traps...what the heck?!..." Suddenly multiple battering rams begin flying down and knocking over the waves of Tempo's leaving only a handful left, followed with a subtle sigh of relief from PJ. Half of them flat out surrendered on the spot while the other half began running off to deal with others instead.
"Oh no you don't!" Parappa follows the runners and begins tripping the lot onto the ground until all that's left on their feet are those who lost their fighting moxie.
"Dear friend what's with this you've done?! You've...immobilized them all?..." Pallet says as he stares at the disorganized Tempo's.
"There's a reason for this Sir! And you'll see right now!" Parappa stands in the center of the field and turns on the microphone. The feedback noise is the signal for the girls to begin.
"Music?..."
"It's more than just that Sir!" As the sound rises, Parappa begins.
"EY ALL WHO CAN HEAR MY VOICE!
You know who you are! Why ya fightin, why ya hatin?
There's something else y'all could be doin that'd be just elatin!" He actually manages to get their attention as they all begin looking towards him.
"Yo yo y'all! I'm wondering how y'all are feeling right about now!
Bet you all miss the feeling of happiness.
Well this here young hero from zero should be able to show you.
That it's not hard to believe in the better. I know all you can to!"
Both groups simply look at one another then back towards Parappa, completely curious by the offer he's making within his song. At this point the guitar and bass begin picking up as the speakers begin echoing Katy's voice.
"All we need is music, runnin round the city everydaaaaay!~ You got to stop and listen to the beat, move your funky feet! Hooo-ooooaah yes!"
"Representin' one time for your mind!" Lammy quickly joins in as the back up vocal for both her and Parappa.
"All of us really just wanna have some fun, I'm so happy!"
"I'm so happy!"
"Just fun and games, no fightin and gang names!
Positive vibes that vibe all the same! Seeing all the people who wanna change their ways~ Wanna just play with the kids who want to play this instant, but it's hard to do when everyone's so militant!" Both groups begin to feel the remorse of his words as they recall that the young are forced to bear all this back and forth fighting. As this happens the Mood Stones begin helping the toppled over Tempo Tantrums back up.
"They can't stay out late, don't wanna make the big man mad. Nothing like the days of my past when we were all so glad!
Saturday morning I was up at 6 AM, so I can watch JET BABY with all of my friends! Katy, Sunny, PJ who's my DJ. Ma-san, Matt, Paula and Lammy who rock out like a freeway!
Look out for each other when we go out to play,
whether a concert, or on the school grounds,
or under a shady tree soda pop cooling down.~"
"That's my friends!"
"Friendships can't be dismissed, I gotta redeem, relieve, receive and believe!
So I, gotta believe in this, friends till the end, but not like Chucky, here we give ya a free show! count yourselves lucky!~"
"Having fun!" the three begin singing together.
"We havin fun, it's all about having fun!"
"With the funk!"
"Hey, all we need is fun!"
"Having fun!"
"Having fun with the funk, the fun with the funk! "
"With the funk!"
"Wooooo-ooohooooooo!...~"
"Having fun!"
"We havin fun all about havin fun!"
"With the funk!"
"With the funk, you know we gotta keep it going!~"
"Having fun!"
"Yeah, cuz we having fun!"
"With the funk. With the funk! With the funk!"
"All we need is music, runnin round the city-"
"Uh-huh.~"
"Everydaaaaaay!"
"That's right"
"Come on and have some fun with me, we gotta have some fun here today cuz that's all we gonna have!"
"Hoo!"
"All we need is music, come on now, all we need is music.~"
"Yeah!"
"Come on now, all we need is music, we gotta move it, move it, yeaaaah. Hoooo-ooooh~"
"Let's take a walk down memory lane, I'll break it down so you can remember my name, it's the P-"
"P!"
"A-"
"A!"
"R A, double P A, th reachin for the stars!"
"Hoo!" The two groups who were listening, began motioning along with the rhythm from instinct alone, they weren't trying to harm each other at all, rather dance with one another.
"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice scream, me and the MilkCan's always scream for ice cream!
A nice dream turn reality, that made me feel like Superman, was seeing MilkCan become a super band!"
"Hooo!"
"Anything can happen, if ya just believe!~"
"All we need is a little bit, a little bit something! A little, a little fun to keep us going, all day, cuz we are havin, havin, havin fuuuu-un! Come on everybody sing!"
"Having fun!") Both groups now start to sing along with the trio.
"A-hah, we having fun gettin down with the funk!"
"With the funk!")
"We having fun getting down with the funk!"
"Having fun!")
"It's all about fun, it's all about fun!"
"With the funk!")
"We got the funk, you know we got the funk!~"
"All we need is music, runnin round the city everydaaaaaay!~"
"Yeah~"
"Come on and have some fun with me, we gotta have some fun here today cuz that all we gonna have!~"
"Hoo!"
"All we need is music…."
"Practice makes perfect."
"Uh-huh~"
"Anything you want in this world, you gotta earn it!"
"That's right!"
"Don't expect it, if you don't deserve it!"
"Come on now, all we need is music, yeaaaaa-ah!"
"Hoo!")
"Here we taught a lesson, you need to try and learn it! Stop fightin, Stop yellin and keep away from hatin by bein all stealthy!
Hard work is the best way to get wealthy.
Flint and fire, stop making things all dire,
Hand and hand, and face to face, just dance as the true desire!
Pops taught me always a strive, Mom's taught me to give thanks for my life! Keep my head high, never do drugs never tell lie and check to make sure I zipped up my fly!" Every gives a quick laugh at the last line Parappa sings.
"Yeah!"
"Let's not forget, give a quick recap!
Sing it all with me, and we'll call that a wrap!
I gotta redeem, relieve, receive and believe!
But not just me, y'all can follow my words and you to can achieve!" The conjoined group roars with replies that they knew on instinct and heart alone.
"We gotta do what?!")
"You gotta REDEEM!"
"You sure about that?")
"You gotta RELIEVE!"
"We gotta do WHAT?!")
"You gotta RECEIVE!"
"But most importantly?")
"YOU GOTTA BELIEVE!~" Upon uttering these final words, everyone who was there could swear they could feel a shockwave, or rather an intangible force, that struck all of them. It wasn't painful or anything bad. No. Instead they all felt...unchained. They looked towards one another not as enemies, but not as friends either just yet. They just stared at one another as if things could be different "Thank you everybody! I hope you all enjoyed this little eye opener! And I also hope you lot realized that fighting each other over music and using it as an excuse to hate and fight one another for other reasons as well...well it ain't right. All you need is music as the ties that bind! Y'all were stubborn enough to FIGHT over it when clearly you all had the biggest thing in common!" They all stare at him before staring at each other once more. As if they were all making an internal decision. With the song fully done however, the amps and speakers collapse into pieces, their job fulfilled.
Before Parappa can speak up again. Ur yells as he storms forth to the middle of the field to meet up with Parappa, but stops a good distance away from him ("YOU!...YOU INFERNAL HOUND...YOU RUINED ALL MY WORK!...") He would've continued his raging banter were it not for a noise in the distance causing his scowling face to turn into a sly grin ("Ah but what does it matter...in the end...I will still have the last laugh!")
"Wha?..." Parappa's ears pick up something approaching, and just like that. A burning red blur zooms across the battlefield ko-ing Tempo and Mood alike. Everyone panics when they assume they're the next target, but they all stop when a loud CLANG is heard. Upon calming down, the sight in the middle is now Parappa holding his shield up to block a string of repeated strikes from Ma-san "M-Ma-san AGAIN?!"
("DON'T EVEN TRY TALKING, MUTT!") Parappa barely glances over and see's fumes escaping from Ma-sans fur as well as small sparks emitting from everywhere around her, the heat nearly unbearable to be next to, especially in heavy metal armor.
"Why not?...Clearly you're rather...upset for lack of a better word...and I want to fix it!..."
("FIX THIS!") The speed and strength of her strikes increases, the shield Parappa is holding is beginning to crack from the pressure.
Lammy and Katy try to sneak around everyone to near the two close and meet up with PJ who jumps down from the tree he was hiding in, stopping the two.
"PJ what the hell?!"
"You really don't wanna get in between that…"
"B-But we have to s-stop the fight!"
"You do that and I'm sure Ma-san will cave your skulls in… Let Parappa fix this!"
Katy stampers in place before sighing "He's right...Parappa is kind of the reason this is happening to begin with...if anyone can stop it it'll be him, himself…"
"K-Katy you CAN'T b-be serious!...Ma-san could s-seriously injure him! And o-once she calms down and s-sees what she did. S-She'll go ballistic on h-herself next!...I wanna stop b-both of them f-from any harm!"
"You think I don't?!...But right now...as much as I don't want to...we...have to listen to PJ and put our faith in Parappa's next actions…"
"Ohhh...ooooohhh…" She clutches her stomach in pain, unable to continue watching.
The strikes don't stop as Parappa refuses to do anything in retaliation aside from talking "Ma-san! T-This is what I was talking about! Y-You're letting your emotions get the better of you like I did!...You're gonna regret this if you keep going!..."
("ARGHHHH! ENOUGH WITH THAT!") She causes more cracks to appear in his shield ("WHAT I DO IS NONE OF YOUR CONCERN! NOW WHY AREN'T YOU FIGHTING BACK?! DO YOU TAKE ME FOR A FOOL?! THINK YOU'RE BEING CHIVALROUS FOR NOT DOING ANYTHING BACK?") The strikes keep on, but still no retaliation ("YOU'RE AN IDIOT! A FOOL! I'M NOT AN OVERLY EMOTIONAL SPONGE THAT JUST TAKES A BEATING LIKE YOU! I'M NOT SOME DYSFUNCTIONAL MESS WHO JUST LET THINGS HAPPEN IF IT BENEFITS ANOTHER AND NOT ME IN THE END, ESPECIALLY IF IT COSTS ME MORE TO DO SO! JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!") Parappa flinches upon hearing this, he soon caught on that this is just Ma-san's way of venting out her own pain from the accident. Although he would've preferred less aggression, this was the Ma-san way, so he dealt and respected it accordingly. This however just served to make her much more angry, causing her to also be more vocal ("DO SOMETHING YOU STUBBORN MUTT! DO YOU GET JOY FROM THIS?!") This started to get Parappa angry as well. Why even get angry over the way I choose to handle things?...Is she also upset over my lack of proper self care?... or is she just feeling guilty…?
("STOP BEING PASSIVE...THIS IS WHY YOUR SORRY EXCUSE OF GIRLFRIEND LEFT YOU!") Katy, PJ and Lammy all flinch as they hear Ma-san shout that out.
"Ooooooh...that was probably the worst thing she could have said…"
"Exponentially so…"
"N-No kidding…"
Parappa's eyes widen, and0 in an autopilot motion, flicks his shield upwards knocking Ma-san over. This launches the maces that were in her hands away. One of them falls towards him as he catches it midair within his grasp, sizzling in his hands, he then holds it to her as she tries to sit up rubbing her head. ("Feh...finally...whatever...just do it…")
Parappa sighs as he puts the mace down "You know feeling guilty is one thing, but provoking me into striking you just so you feel like it's an even trade off for all that I did to keep you all safe...that's not ok…"
Ma-san huffs angrily as she looks off to the side, not wanting to look at him in the slightest ("I don't need you treating me like a fool for how I want things handled…") she gets up, crosses her arms and looks away ("It's not fair…I can't even have this as a means of cementing my thoughts…") Parappa looks at the grass around her feet. Aside from the smoke emanating from the sizzling ground thanks to her heated state, there are also teardrops by them. Ma-san was never one to cry, and to see her do so right now was excruciatingly baffling.
"Why even go through this?"
("I don't know...Those kids got me thinking about stuff...and I guess I felt it wasn't fair for you to do all that and get nothing out of it...I couldn't understand it...and you just shrug it off and feel alright as usual...that irked me...I don't count us helping you get out of that state as a means of payback as it was more so a motivational boost if anything...But you never asked for anything...never opted to do anything...in favor of it being fair...you just let it be...and would do so again should it ever even happen again…")
Parappa lifts up the visor on the helmet "What I got out of it was knowing that the people I care for got to get out of it pain free!"
("And what about you?!")
"I guess it made it worth it? Didn't expect it to have such an emotional impact on you all to a point that I made you all feel so...helpless...then again I also didn't expect to...well you know...nearly kick the bucket…" He tries to laugh, even awkwardly would've been something, but he can't muster out anything "I just know that I'd keep on making sure you lot get to live out your days alright...heck I'd do that for the world if I could, but I'm just one guy."
("THINK OF THE POSITION YOU'D CONSTANTLY BE PUTTING YOURSELF IN?!")
"If it makes everyone end up safe and happy, I'd do it." Every Tempo tantrum and Mood Stone member that hadn't been knocked out simply listens on as well, but all this does is trigger Ma-san anger again.
She angrily grunts as she turns around to face him, she however is shocked as she sees him handing the mace he had back to her. She quickly grabs it and points it to him ("I should beat you over the head with this right here and now…I want to make you feel the pain you made me feel just watching this all go down...I'm not like the others who know how to vent or express with this kind of thing...I refuse to let things get the better of me...but this...it just wasn't anything like the other things I could easily bottle up...this was different and it wasn't fair...I hated it...it hurt...and now I want you to know what that was like...")
He tosses the shield aside and smiles at her before speaking up ("Would that make you happy?") The sentence just internally breaks her as the mace simply falls apart in her hands from her squeezing it to tightly. She falls onto one knee as she begins bawling like a baby. Parappa walks up to her and kneels down, holding out a hand ("Don't cry...I can't really apologize for this as I don't feel like I even have the right to? But I still wanna make up for what I ended up causing…")
Ma-san closes her eyes, not wanting to look at him or hear him.
Parappa sighs, but tries again "I...don't really know if I can make up for this, but can't you at the very least let me try? It really hurts me seeing you cry...you never do that! So seeing you do so now is just...heartbreaking...at least let me help you stop that…"
Ma-san looks up to him, after a small air of silence, she reaches out to grab his hand. However.
("I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF MY PLANS FALLING AT THE SEAMS!") Ur throws Ma-sans other mace that had fallen to him, the target wasn't Parappa however, he aimed it at Ma-san.
"WATCH OUT!..." Parappa grabs her hand and tosses her behind him as he takes the impact head on, it knocking off his helmet in the process "GAH…"
("PARAPPA…!")
"PARAPPA!" the trio say as they try to run up to the duo
Ur takes the moment to dash across the field to strike him down as he's defenseless ("YOUR WAYS END HERE!") He raises his guitar made blade and slashes down towards the knocked down Parappa, who can barely react due to still being dazed, only manages to stand up. Things start going into slow motion for the gang as all of them close their eyes, afraid of what would happen next, afraid of what they would end up seeing. Would history really be so cruel as to repeat with the bad ending? They didn't know, all that was known was simply the sound of a blade piercing metal.
The same...mistake?...no…
Luck works in mysterious ways…