Chapter 50: Finale – Rhythm Emotion

Oh geez, oh boy. Can you believe it?! I can, since I, The Draigg, wrote it! Now, before I dazzle you all with the grand finale of the concert, you should be advised that I don't own a thing: not RWBY, or any media I put in here. I'm just piggybacking on other's successes. Now, with all that out of the way, let's start this ending!

"Here you have it, everybody! I present… Team RWBY!", Weiss called into her microphone. Ruby suppressed a small wave. She really wanted to do that, but then it wouldn't mesh with the mood they were shooting for.

Several people in the front row whistled, and the rest of the student body cheered and waved their arms in the air. They were practically eating excitement out of Weiss' hands now.

"Now, I just want to say, we all love you for coming out here tonight, and seeing all of us. But before you go, let's just leave you with one more thing!", was Weiss' transition into the song.

The lights dimmed, and bright red lights pulsed to the early beat of the song. Unseen to everyone, Weiss tapped her foot to the beat of the song. She hoped that the rest of her team was ready for this.

Just as the singing was about to start, the red lights mixed with the bright white lights. The stage was now bathed in a light-ish red color. Now, the final song had begun. Weiss began to sing the first verse.

"I just feel "Rhythm Emotion"
kono mune no kodou wa
anata e to tsudzuite'ru so far away"

During the instrumental portion, Blake made her way to the forefront of the stage. This was her part of the song. And she couldn't possibly feel any better about it.

"mou kizutsuite mo ii
hitomi wo sorasazu ni
atsuku hageshiku ikite itai"

"akiramenai tsuyosa wo
kureru anata dakara dakishimetai"

It was now that Weiss and Ruby made their way to where Blake was standing, since the both of them were going to sing the verses now. Ruby was feeling pretty confident about this. She could sing. Her voice had been finally found.

"I just feel "Rhythm Emotion"
ayamachi mo itami mo
azayaka na isshun no hikari e to michibiete
I just feel "Rhythm Emotion"
kono mune no kodou wa
anata e to tsudzuite'ru so far away"

Blake took this time to move a little back further on stage. Yang's part was coming up. Now that she thought about it, Yang didn't even know what she was singing. At least Blake had a passing understanding of the language, and Ruby and Weiss looked up the lyrics.

"sou... shinayaka ni ima wo
suhada de uketomete
motto "yasashisa" mitsuketai yo"

"subete ga kirameite'ta
osanai hi no kiseki torimodoshite..."

As her vocal part was finished, Yang dramatically pointed to Weiss and Ruby. They danced forward and sang the chorus again. Her part in this song was over, other than just looking good on stage. And damn, she looked fine. Yang could practically feel half of the male student body undressing her with their eyes. If only they knew that she was nearly going to vomit from nervousness.

"I just feel "Rhythm Emotion"
otagai no setsunasa
kanjiai wakeaeru nukumori wo shinjite'ru
I just feel "Rhythm Emotion"
kono kiss de tashika na
jounetsu wo tsutaetai so far away..."

In the instrumental part, Team RWBY gathered together, moving in near-perfect synchronicity. They grooved minimally, hoping that the rest of the song would make up for their lack of movement. It was hard to coordinate four different stage movement plans. But, since their motions had some snap to them, it looked pretty good, as far the audience could tell.

"I just feel "Rhythm Emotion"
ayamachi mo itami mo
azayaka na isshun no hikari e to michibiete
I just feel "Rhythm Emotion"
kono mune no kodou wa
anata e to tsudzuite'ru so far away"

In the outro, Team RWBY gathered into a small group, and headed to the front of the stage. All of them reached out to the audience, hoping to feel the love they had for the songs and them.

As the music faded away, Team RWBY pranced back to the center of the stage, and all stood on their original markers. All of them bowed, since it was their last stage direction for the concert.

The crowd whooped and hollered. Wow, what a show! Sure, the majority of the crowd had no idea what in the hell those pretty ladies up there sang, but man, the energy overwhelming! All the passion in their voices played off the fact that it all sounded like gibberish to them.

Ruby pulled Weiss on for a very tight hug. She didn't care if the whole school saw the love she had for Weiss in that moment. All that mattered was that the moonlight-haired girl, the one she could call her own, the one named Weiss Schnee, helped her dream to come true.

Letting go, Ruby pulled up her own microphone to her mouth and said, "I… I just don't know what to say… Thank you! Thank all of you so much!". Her voice cracked a little, not from the singing, but from but the pure, unbridled emotions she was having in this moment.

Taking the initiative, the other members of Team RWBY decided to say something as well.

"We love you all!", Blake said, waving to the crowd. It was a bit rare to hear the (mostly) stoic girl say this, so it was a special occasion to hear that from her.

Yang blew a kiss, and cheered into her mic, "We're so glad you could be here tonight! I think you blew everyone's socks off with your awesomeness!". A lot of guys in the audience 'caught' her kiss. That got a few of them dirty looks from their girlfriends… and some boyfriends, too.

Finally, it's was Weiss' turn to say something. "We, of Team RWBY, hope you all had a great time here tonight! Remember, Beacon Academy: Love conquers all!". That part wasn't mentioned in any of the practice sessions she tried with Ruby. That was an idea from the heart, plain and simple.

As the lights dimmed, the members of Team RWBY could see the audience began to shuffle their way away from the staging area. Since they were obscured by shadow, the girls decided to head back stage. Their experience was now over.

The concert was over.

And it couldn't have gone any better to them.

As soon as they were obscured by the curtain, Weiss and Ruby acted on a shared thought. They both dove towards each other and planted a deep, passionate kiss on each other's lips.

Jaune and Velvet clapped for them as soon as the curtain settled in place.. Yang, smiling like she just won the national lottery, gestured for everyone to come over and join them.

"Come on! Group hug time!", she declared.

One by one, the crew members that were still there came over to Team RWBY's side. Forming a rough circle, the members of Task Force Musical pulled each other together in a tight embrace. Ruby couldn't help but look around the circle at everyone's faces.

Ren, the stern, capable worker, had a slight grin on his face. Ruby privately thanked him for his stoic, hardcore determination.

Nora, the chipper supporter, had finally put aside her raw anger and frustration from earlier and was now grinning like a loon. Ruby appreciated all the energy she brought to the group as a whole. She kept their spirits up with her livelihood.

Jaune, the stalwart ally, was laughing at how they managed to pull this off. Without him, Ruby would have never gotten the opportunity to do this musical in the first place. She was eternally grateful for that.

Even though Pyrrha wasn't there currently, Ruby still reached out to her in her heart. Ruby knew that she would do anything to help her friends, no matter what. She had a gentle heart.

Velvet looked as if she was a million miles away, since she could barely believe that this show hadn't ended with her nearly being lynched by an angry mob. As a valuable friend and ally, Ruby knew that without her Theater Club experience, she would have never gotten far without her.

Blake had a grin characteristic of a sly cat. Ruby really appreciated that she could have one of her best friends by her side during this journey. Plus, she also was glad she reeled in her crazy sister occasionally.

Speaking of Yang, her smile was reaching her ears by now. For all the love she had for her, for all the belief she had, Ruby could never thank her sister enough. It was just like the old days: they stuck to their guns and made it through together.

And finally, Weiss. Dear, kind of tired looking, Weiss. Where could Ruby even begin with her? If it wasn't for the fact that she brought up the need for a musical all that time ago, this would have never happened. And, if it wasn't for the musical, Weiss would still be hiding her emotions for her. So, if anything, Ruby had to save a lot of her thanks for Weiss. It was an incredible thought that all this happened just because of her.

Ruby simply couldn't thank everybody enough. But, she didn't need to. For they all knew how she felt. They all felt it. From their smallest cells to their thoughts, Task Force Musical was absolutely elated. They were on Cloud Nine. That high, that rush of success, jolted through every fiber of their beings.

They all hugged each other like that for a while. Nobody dared to break the electric jolt that they shared between their minds and souls. They all wished this moment wouldn't end.

But, as long as they had that memory, they could always feel that way again.

"Oh, it looks like the show is over now, Glynda.", Professor Ozpin pointed out, still looking out of his obscenely huge office window. Professor Goodwitch nodded at her colleague's incredibly obvious statement.

"It would appear so.", she noted.

"I didn't think it was bad.", Ozpin thought out loud. Turning to his desk, he scrawled something on a piece of blank paper.

"What's that, sir?", Professor Goodwitch asked, looking at the paper.

"Oh, just a thought of mine.", Ozpin replied, turning back to look out the window.

A brief silence filled the grand office, before, Ozpin continued.

"I think we should have something like that more often. I think the whole assembly enjoyed it.", he explained.

"Really, sir?", Goodwitch questioned.

"Of course, why not? Nobody got hurt tonight. I feel that that's one luxury we can afford them for the time being.", explained Professor Ozpin.

Professor Goodwitch nodded in response, and then joined him in looking at the stage. She had to admit, Ozpin certainly had a point. Maybe it was okay to have some moments of calm here, before they were cast out into the cruel world that was Remnant. The eye of the storm, if Beacon Academy could be called that.

They watched the large group of students leave the field in droves. Ozpin sipped the remaining coffee from his mug, and Goodwitch gave calculating looks over the rims of her glasses.

What an interesting night, indeed. Maybe they could use this knowledge to their advantage later. It was food for thought.

Meanwhile, below the office tower and a significant distance to the left, Pyrrha was with Cardin in the Medical Ward, working on the excessive amounts of paperwork about medical history.

Oddly enough, Pyrrha didn't mind doing paperwork. Since she had the patience comparable to a martyred saint, she was humming as she breezed through the medical forms. Sure, she had to guess on most of the sections, since Cardin was being uncooperative, but that wasn't much a problem to her.

Cardin was shifting around on the examination table, clearly still in heavy discomfort. Aura related healing could only so much. It healed wounds, not make them feel better. So, he was given some painkillers when he was dragged in here. Luckily, he wasn't drugged out of his mind because of them.

Crap, now that he thought of it, Cardin needed one of his moron teammates to pick him up. He wouldn't be able to live it down if the people he bullied before ended up helping him.

He began to type a text message to Russel Thrush to pick him up tomorrow morning, but he was interrupted by the attending nurse walking into the room. Without missing a beat, the nurse snatched the scroll out of his hands and said, "Let's start your exam, okay?". The nurse sounded kind of annoyed, as if he was having a bad late shift. Tiredly, he tossed the scroll on the nearby counter.

"Hey, what do you think you're-", Cardin's protests were cut off by a tongue depressor being shoved in his mouth.

"Looks fine in there.", the nurse noted, before moving onto Cardin's ears.

Suddenly, Cardin's scroll began to buzz. It looked like he was getting a call from someone. Maybe Cardin's teammates figured out what happened and was calling him to check in on their ring-leader.

However, Cardin's hopes were crushed as the caller left behind a message. It was his mother.

"Cardy? It's Mom! How are you? You haven't called in a while!", went the message. Cardin thrashed where he sat, trying to reach the scroll that sat nearby. But, since his legs were immobile, his struggles were in vain. He just couldn't move enough.

As the nurse continued his examination, Cardin turned a shade paler. He could have sworn he could have heard a small giggle from Pyrrha.

"Anyway, Dad wants to know if we should mail over your chafing cream. We just don't know if you can get that at the school or not. So, please, call us back! We miss our little baby bird! Bye! Lots of love!". The message from Cardin's mom ended.

Pyrrha was hiding her grin from behind the paperwork. The color of Cardin's face could give that mostly blank paper a run for it's money.

The nurse, however, handled the call a little better. "Be sure to write down chafing cream on there.", he said, gesturing to the papers Pyrrha was holding. Nodding, Pyrrha did as she was told.

Cardin leaned back onto the examination table in shock. If only he hadn't broken his legs, he wouldn't have been humiliated like this.

Cardin really, really hated concerts now.

Bam! Whazam! It's the finale of finales! But, wait, I bet you thought I was done here, right? Hahahahaha WRONG. It's not over yet! We've got to see what happens after 'happily ever after', right? Anyway, while you wait for the epilogue, try listening to the song in this chapter, 'Rhythm Emotion', by Two-Mix. And heck, watch Gundam Wing while you're at it. It's the second theme song for that show, after all. Oh yeah, one more thing. I want to say thanks to JimboYokimbo, my editor, for helping me with this chapter. Anyway, this is The Draigg, signing off so I can see over the edge of the story.