Author's Note: Happy Halloween. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Before we go any further, I want to address a couple of comments. First, from a certain guest commentor, I'd appreciate it if you stopped asking for updates on my Kipo Underground story. It's bothersome and it makes me feel pressured. I know you're eager, but I promise, I'll get to it very soon. And for another guest speaker named Matt, who asked why I only did two updates last week instead of four, I don't always do that. I usually just update fanfics that I finish with within the week. Some weeks are slow, so don't be surprised.
Anyway, we got three songs here... kinda. The first song is Andrea's Davenport's song. The second is my parody song which is based on "It's Tough to Be a God" from the Road to El Dorado. The last is not quite exactly a song since it's just Libby's poem.
Enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
"So I got a question for you, Loki." Molly said as she and the trickster sat next to each other in the school cafeteria. "You're a shapeshifter, right?"
"Yeah." Loki answered.
"And you want your adult body back, right?"
"Correct again."
"So… why don't you use your shapeshifting powers to make yourself look like a grown up all the time?"
Loki rolled his eyes. "Molly, maintaining my fake form requires concentration. If I spend all day staying in a form that isn't my original, I'm going to wake up the next day with a splitting headache."
"Oh. Gotcha." Molly said. "I guess…" She stopped when she looked over at the pin-up board and saw a piece of paper with names on it. She smiled looking at the heading. "Whoa! No way!"
"What?" Loki asked.
"The school's having a talent show!" Molly said pointing at the door.
"A talent show?" Scratch asked popping out of Molly's lunchbox. He had an excited expression on his face. "This is gonna be the best day of my afterlife."
"Really?" Molly asked. "You're into talent shows?"
"Yeah. Since when are you into a bunch of people showing off the miniscule little tricks they can actually pull off?" Loki asked.
"Guys, in the Ghost World, talent shows are the gold standard for misery." Scratch said. "You got stage fright, backstage meltdowns, face plants, forgotten lyrics, and then there's always someone whose confidence is so huge, it crushes everybody else."
"Guess that does explain why I saw Andrea making fun of the pink-hair girl's yo-yo tricks." Loki said. "You know what, maybe I should sign up."
"For real?" Molly asked. "Why?"
"Molly, Molly, Molly. Talent shows are basically a contest of superior gifts. And to tell you the truth, there is no one with more superior gifts than I. Ever since I died through a set of circumstances that I'd rather not talk about, I've had a severe lack of worship and praise to me."
"I praise you all the time." Molly said.
"Singing a happy morning song every day doesn't count." Loki said. "I need undeniable proof that I am superior over every last mortal in this tiny town. And this talent show is the perfect start." He emerged from his chair and headed to the sign-up sheet.
"Well, at least he's honest." Molly said.
"I'm not even sure if I should root for him or not." Scratch said.
When Loki walked up to the sign-up sheet, he saw that there were two columns for names. One said talent and the other said tech. He already knew which meant which, so he signed Lukas under the talent column.
"Shut up!" cried out a surprised yell from behind him. Loki turned to see Andrea with a happy expression towards her. "Lukas, you're entering the talent show too?"
Loki shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a man of many talents."
"I bet." Andrea said. "So what will you be doing?"
"Hmm… Hard to say." Loki said thinking hard. Just then, a brilliant idea popped in his head. "I got it! I'm going to sing a song."
"Shut up! Me too!" Andrea cheered. "Oh, isn't this divine! Can't wait to see your act! Buh-byyyeee!" She walked off.
Loki shrugged before returning to his seat next to Molly and Scratch. "So I'm going to sing a duet."
Molly and Scratch both exchanged confused looks. "Uh… Loki," Molly said, "Duets have to be sung by two people."
"I know." Loki said casually.
"That means you need a partner." Scratch said.
"I got it covered."
"So who's your partner?" Molly asked. "Is it gonna be me?"
"No, Molly." Loki said. "I know better than to get you involved with my act. You're just going to rewrite my song to be about friendship or something. No, I'm going with the one I trust the most, and it's going to be a surprise."
"Well… Okay, I guess." Molly said just as Libby joined them.
"Ooh. The Talent Show sign-up sheet is up."
"Yep. And everybody's got a talent to share. Even Lukas." Molly said. "What's yours, Libby?"
"Oh, no, no, no, no, Molly." Libby said as she approached the sign-up sheet. "I have no talent. But I do like to help out backstage." She kept her attention on Molly while she signed in her name. "I mean, sure, I admire the bravery of the kids who face the blinding spotlight, but with all my anxieties, that is definitely me."
"Then you should have paid attention to where you were writing." Loki said with an amused chuckle.
Libby turned to the sheet and dropped her pen in frightened shock. She saw her name, but it wasn't written in the tech column. She was the last name in the talent column.
"Oh, no! I signed on the wrong list! In pen! I'll just cross it out!"
But when Libby turned back to the list, she saw that it wasn't there anymore. It was taken by the Mrs. Roop who was already long gone very quickly.
"Well, that was rotten timing." Loki commented.
"OH, NO!" Libby yelled out. "I GOTTA GET THAT SIGN-UP SHEET BACK!" She rushed to the door, but she was stopped by Molly.
"Whoa, Libby. Don't you see? This was no accident."
"It wasn't?" Libby asked.
"No." Molly assured. "This was your subconscious telling you that you actually want to perform."
"It's actually more like this was her lack of attention when she was distracted rambling on how her anxiety works." Loki said. "For a nervous girl, you sure love detailing your fears and envy in great imagery."
"You're not helping." Libby said.
"When did I say I wanted to help?"
"Don't listen to him, Libby." Molly said. "Deep down, you know you have a talent, and you wanna share it."
"Well… I guess I can, uh sing?" Libby asked.
"Hmm. Sounds like a popular talent." Scratch said.
Molly, Loki, and Scratch went by Libby's home after school to hear her singing performance. They sat on Libby's bed hearing her let out her song, but they could not have expected what they would hear.
"I have a vooooiiiiice! Hear my battle cryyyyyy! The spotlights blind me and my fears confine me…" Libby finally stopped singing looking at Molly's dead expression. "Molly, why are you looking at me like that?"
The answer to that question was simple… Libby's singing voice was terrible. She was off-key at every second deafening every last animal that heard it outside. It's the same reason Loki and Scratch were highly amused.
"STEE-RIKE!" Scratch cried out. "Misery is back in the game, folks!"
"Oh, no! You hate it!" Libby realized hiding her face in her turtleneck.
"No, no, no! That's not it!" Molly lied. "Um, to be honest, I thought it was…"
"Awful? Atrocious? Appalling?" Scratch said.
"…Awesome!" Molly said.
"Really?" Libby asked sticking her head out. "You liked it?"
"I've never heard anything like it." Molly said.
"That's the true part." Scratch said.
"What about you, Lukas?" Libby asked. "Did you think I sounded good?"
Loki smirked. "If Molly says so, who am I to lie?"
"That's true." Libby said. "Molly, knowing you think I can do it makes me think I really can do it."
Molly was uneasy.
"Oh, Libby's going to humiliate herself in front of the entire school!" Molly cried out pacing around her room. "How do I stop this?"
"You can't." Scratch said. "You either let your friend humiliate herself in front of the whole school, which is a solid option, or you can crush your friend with brutal honesty."
"Okay. I don't like the sound of 'brutal honesty'." Molly said. "Loki, why don't you tell her the truth?"
"Not gonna happen."
"What? Why? You're in this as much as I am."
"I won't do it for three reasons. One: I never actually lied. This is your mess. Two: I'm not as invested in Libby's business as much as you. And three: she won't believe it if it came from me. You heard her. She believes she can do it because you told her she could. If you want to save your friend, you'll have to tell her the truth yourself."
"But it'll hurt Libby if I tell her her singing's terrible." Molly said. "Hey. How about this? If the music industry has taught us anything, it's that a little studio magic can make anyone a star."
"Where are you going with this?" Loki asked.
"With a music app on my phone plugged into the stereo, I can filter Libby's music to correct her bad singing." Molly said.
"That's gotta be one strong app if it's going to fight Libby's screeches." Loki said. "Well, do what you want, but I'm not getting involved in this."
"What? Why?" Molly asked.
"Remember? Libby's not the only one with a singing act. The only two differences will be that I am good at it and I have a partner."
"Yeah, but who's your partner?" Scratch asked. "You never told us."
"Wait until we get to the competition." Loki said before leaving to practice.
And so, the night of the talent show finally arrived. Along the way, Scratch watched as a trio of dancers tumbled over each other, a boy was playing his instrument off-key, Sheela was failing to karate chop a wooden board in half, and Kat wasn't doing any yo-yo tricks. He relished in them all as he floated toward Molly.
"A veritable feast of fear. A cavalcade of calamity. And our dear little Libby will be the cherry on top of this fiasco sundae."
"Good for you, Scratch." Loki said as he walked over. "But know this, I know my act is going to go well. So don't even think about sabotaging me, okay?"
Scratch shrugged. "I guess, but it looks like your act is dead on arrival already. I mean, where's your partner?"
"Behind you." Loki answered with a smug grin.
Molly and Scratch turned and gasped in fear. They knew exactly who was standing there… or at least, who probably both is and isn't.
"Lucy?" Molly asked gazing at the female Loki in front of her. She turned her head back to the male Loki and back. Rinse and repeat. "What's going on?!"
"Take it easy, Molly." Said the female Loki. "I'm just a projection."
"A projection?" Molly asked.
Loki demonstrated by waving his hand right through her female counterpart. It passed through like fog. "See? It's an illusion I made. And I'm using her to be my partner in this duet."
"Um… why?" Scratch asked.
"Simple really." Said the male Loki. "You see, so far, we've been telling everyone that Lukas and Lucy are brother and sister. But sooner or later, someone's going to get suspicious that they've only ever seen one of us at a time. This way, I can prove that I have a twin sister in front of half the town."
"Oh. So you're doing this to better hide your identity?" Molly asked.
"Of course. Because unlike your lie to Libby, mine won't come back to bite me." Loki said.
"Speaking of which, how is it going with her?" asked the female Loki. "Did you tell her the truth yet."
"Nope." Scratch said. "She doesn't have the stomach to be brutally honest. And the whole autotune plan basically committed suicide."
The male Loki widened his eyes. "The app… committed suicide. Well, that's a new one."
"But I can still find a way out of this." Molly said. "A way that doesn't hurt Libby's feelings or humiliate her."
"Like what?" Scratch laughed. "I mean, the talent show is here, man. What could you possibly do?"
"There's only one thing I can do." Molly said. "I gotta stop her from performing."
"No, you're not stopping anybody!" Scratch said. "I need those misery numbers!"
"I'm doing it!" Molly insisted before dashing off.
"That's one crazy girl." Commented the male Loki.
"I know, right?" agreed the female Loki.
The first act was ready to begin while Molly tried numerous failed attempts to stop Libby from performing. Meanwhile, both Loki's were watching the other acts fail equally as bad.
Not all the acts were bad though. Before the Loki singing duo, there was another singer dancing to pop music. Andrea was the center of her act with the most stylish clothes she could possibly wear. She was dancing with back-ups that were showing off products.
Andrea:
Don't you wanna toast bread like me
With a toaster on sale for $29.93
At Davenpoooooort's
(Davenpoooooort's)
Everything's a bargain at Davenport's
Backstage, Loki, Loki's double, Molly, and Scratch watched Andrea's act with astonishment.
"You gotta admit, she's quite an artist." Loki said.
"And dedicated to her parents' business." The Loki double said.
"Well, I am sold. She got me." Scratch said. "From this day forward, consider me a Fandrea. Gonna be hard to follow that, huh, Loki?"
"Oh, we'll see about that." Loki said readying his musical equipment. "Ready, Loki?"
The female Loki stood with determination. "Always, Loki."
After Andrea was done, she left the stage making way for Loki and his double. The male Loki set up the stereo and played music from it which he and his female counterpart sang to.
Male Loki:
I admit, it's quite a kick
To pull off a clever trick
That's why I want to do it every day
Female Loki:
It's not like we're robbing banks
We're just pulling a few pranks
Something to pass the time awaaaaaaaaay
Both:
It's just a little fun
Male Loki:
Who cares if you're on the run
It's a simple to trick to really have a chance
Make up a story in your mind
Close your eyes and imagine
Female Loki:
Focus, and you'll find it
The hijinks that you're in
So who can really deny it
The voice cannot stay quiet
It's better to not plan in advaaaaaaaance
Male Loki:
Hold it. If our guard is down
Then everyone in this town
Will be after us for our powers
Female Loki:
Well, let's not let that day arrive
Then, our shenanigans will thrive
Let's seize the day and make it oooooouuuuuurs
Both:
IT'S JUST A LITTLE FUN
NO WORRIES OF WHAT YOU MAY BECOME
IGNORE THE FACTS! USE YOUR GUT! THAT'S THE GIG
BE A HERO TO THE JESTERS
GIVE THE JOKES A BRIGHT BLOOMER
'CAUSE THE VERY BEST INVESTORS
ARE THE ONES FILLED WITH HUMOR
Male Loki:
YOU NEVER HAVE TO FEAR IT
Female Loki:
IT'S JUST OUR FUN-LOVING SPIRIT
Both:
SO THESE MISCHIEVOUS SCAMPS ARE LIVING BIG
LIIIIVIIIIIIIING BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG
After the crowd cheered, the Loki's took one last bow to the audience before heading backstage. One they were sure no one else was there besides Molly and Scratch, the female Loki disappeared in a green flash.
"Guess I've got a good chance of winning, huh?" Loki asked smugly.
"You're very much up there, I admit." Scratch said.
"See? Libby couldn't follow that!" Molly said. "Good thing she's in the capable hands of the US postal service."
"Oh, yes. Which reminds me…" Scratch said pulling out a cardboard box. "A ding-ding. A special delivery for Miss Molly McGee."
The box opened and Libby emerged from the box. Molly yelped in surprise.
"What did I miss?" Libby asked.
"Just me and Lucy's act." Loki said.
"Oh, good. That means I'm up next." Libby said. She reached in her pocket and put on a sparkling cape she had inside. Molly was more nervous than ever while Scratch commented.
"Oh, look at her. All full of false condidence. Not to mention, her mom's in the front row. I mean, it's a perfect storm. And all thanks to so-called 'best friend' Molly McGee…"
Molly couldn't hide it anymore. Just as Libby was on her way to the stage, Molly jumped in her way. "LIBBY, YOU CAN'T GO OUT THERE!"
"Why? Did I lose a sequin?" Libby asked.
"No! You can't go out there, because… Brutal honesty time. You're a terrible singer!"
"What?" Libby asked. "But you said…"
"I know! I lied! I'm sorry! It's just, I didn't want to hurt your feelings."
"So you waited until NOW to tell me? When I'm about to go on? And Lukas, what about you? You told me you agreed with Molly! Did you lie too?"
"No. What I said was 'If Molly says so, who am I to lie'. I never said my personal opinion." Loki pointed out. "I just figured this was Molly's lie to right. But yeah, this is very terrible timing to tell the truth."
"Well, don't worry. Because there's a trap door in the stage." Molly said. "And we can tunnel away and escape into the night. Like criminals. New name, new faces maybe. We'll live our own on the road! In the trains! Just… don't go. Just don't do it."
Libby dilated her eyes toward the stage. "No. I am done being scared. I have to go out there."
"But you know you can't sing." Loki said. "What are you going to do."
"Improvise."
Libby removed her cape, and in its place was a set of black clothes and a black hat. She took a deep breath before stepping out into the spotlight. She put her phone on the stereo and played soft drumbeat music from it. She leaned to the microphone and made her soft statement, but it wasn't a song. She wasn't singing. She was turning her lyrics into a poem.
Libby:
I have a voice
Hear my battle cry
The spotlight blinds me
My fears confine me
I'm scared, but I still gotta try
Thrown in the fire
Kiss my comfort goodbye
I feel the heat on my skin
My head starts to spin
I'm scared, but I still gotta try
I'm not giving up
Gonna look my doubt in the eye
I'm facing my fears
Gonna hold my dizzy head high
I won't be cowed
By the crowd
Gonna make my mom proud
I'm very scared, but I still gotta try
Do not stay silent
Don't clam up 'cause you're shy
If you have something to say
Speak up. Don't delay
You can be scared, but you still gotta try
You can be scared, but you still gotta try
A stunned silence fell upon the crowd for a moment. But then, it erupted into a much louder applause than any in the crowd. She was so pleased with the crowd, she jumped right into her mom's proud embrace. Even Molly and Loki had their jaws dropped backstage. Scratch meanwhile was laying on the ground sobbing.
"Hugs? Happy tears? This was supposed to be the most miserable night of the year, and now, the only miserable ones are me and Loki."
"Actually," Loki started to say, "I'm not that miserable."
"What?" Scratch asked. "But what about your goal? Didn't you want to out-do the talent show?"
"Well, that is what I wanted," Loki said, "But… I don't know. Is it weird that I'm not actually disappointed that Libby got more love from the crowd than I? I might be crazy, but… I think I'm proud FOR her."
"That's the spirit, Loki!" Molly said. "And from now on, I'm going to be completely honest with Libby, no matter what."
"Hey, Molly." Libby said as she arrived. "Did I hear you mention Loki?"
"NO, I DIDN'T!" Molly lied loudly.