"Wait wait wait! Is there a way to pause this!?" Makoto exclaimed, trying to find the remote.
Ren scattered around before he found it on the couch. He grabbed it and pressed pause. Surprisingly, the TV did stop.
It was silent as everyone tried to process what they were watching. A million questions ran through their head.
"How are we in a band!? Is this seriously the future!? Or is it some hacker trying to have a laugh!?" Ann asked.
"That's definitely us on that screen. We're wearing our masks and it's our hair. So it is definitely us, but where and how, I don't know..." Makoto said, dissecting the screen for any sort of clue.
Ren thought to himself, 'Could this be Igor? I don't see what this has to do with my rehabilitation though...'
"I-It has to be the future! I mean, look at me! I'm human! I'm finally human!" Morgana argued.
"But how did we get from Phantom Thieves to being in a band?" Haru asked.
"Also, the hell kind of band name is Slipknot?" Ryuji added.
Everyone looked at the screen, seeing their counterparts on their instruments. "So I'm the singer. Huh, not sure I necessarily have a good singing voice." Ren said, pushing his glasses up.
"I'm a guitarist? Hell yeah!" Ryuji said, pumping his fist.
"So am I, it seems." Makoto noted.
"I'm the drummer? I hope I can play a good beat." Ann said, honestly shocked.
"I'm a DJ! Mwehehehehehe! I can dig it!" Futaba said with a gremlin smile.
"I play the piano? I played a bit of it when I was younger, but... I don't know how that will add to the music." Haru said, uncertain of her place in the band.
Ren clicked play on the TV and everyone prepared for what they were about to hear.
The song began with an aggressive guitar riff and loud drums. The screen showed clips of the band members playing their respective instruments. One thing that everyone was doing was banging their heads in sync. Ann started using double pedals before Ren suddenly shouted and a strange thing happened. Yusuke started beating on a metal keg with sticks.
"Holy crap!" Ryuji exclaimed, already starting to nod his head to the beat.
"I don't know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't this." Makoto said with widened eyes.
"Wow, look at us go!" Ann said, her voice laced with excitement.
"I'm sorry, is that a metal keg that Inari is beating?" Futaba asked.
"It appears so. It certainly adds a unique beat." Yusuke replied.
The song stopped for a second in which a recording of Al Pacino shouted,
"HERE COMES THE PAIN!"
The song started back up with the inclusion of Futaba messing around with her turntables. The screen showed her with her glowing goggles on as she messed with the disks.
"Oooh, I like that! Love the way you play, Futaba!" Haru cheered her on.
The orange haired girl couldn't help but blush, "Aw jeez..."
"Man, this sounds badass!" Ryuji said.
"We haven't even started and already I'm hearing positive things about our music... From ourselves. Still need to get used to seeing ourselves." Morgana observed.
The band members were seen banging their heads before showing a couple clips of the audience which were all cheering and screaming for them. That's when all the instruments stopped except for Makoto's guitar. Then Ryuji joined before the song returned to being heavy and that's when the main man himself started singing, or screaming.
Ren: "Enemy! Show me what you wanna be! I can handle anything! Even if I can't handle you! Readily! Either way it better be! Don't you fuckin' pity me! Get up, get off!"
"Ren, I never knew you could scream like that!" Ann said, surprised.
"I'm pretty sure I can't do that without messing up my throat. It's clear this is from lots of practice." Ren twisted a front strand of his hair.
"Well regardless, I can see why you're the singer. You have a presence and voice that helps grab an audience's attention." Makoto said with a smile.
"Well it wouldn't be possible without you guys and your amazing instruments." Ren smiled at his teammates who smiled back at him.
Ren: "What the hell am I sayin'? I don't know about malevolent! Sure as hell decadent! I want somebody to step up, step off! Walls! Let me fall! Fuck you all! Get a grip, don't let me slip 'til I drop the ball!"
The song changed with double pedals and guitar tones before Ren shouted.
Ren: "Fuck this shit, I'm sick of it! You're goin' down, this is a war!"
"I have to say, it's a little disturbing to hear you curse. I'm used to you being quiet, so this is just... Weird." Morgana said.
"Yeah man, I get that we're a heavy metal band so I expected there to be swearing, but not from you!" Ryuji said, scratching the back of his head.
"Well if this is the future, then it's simply because I grew up. We all did." Ren replied.
"Even then, if we were a band, I figured we would've done something more like Jazz or soft rock. Not something this heavy." Ann said.
"Oooh, a Jazz band sounds wonderful!" Haru exclaimed.
"Why don't we focus on this before we speak about a different band?" Yusuke suggested to which everyone nodded.
The song went back to the original rift as Ren shouted, "I'M NOT SEEING HANDS, TOKYO!! GET YOUR HANDS IN THE FUCKING AIR RIGHT NOW!!"
The audience roared with excitement as they all raised fists into the air. That's when Ren began singing again.
Ren: "Who the fuck am I to criticize your twisted state of mind? You're leavin' me suspect, I'm leavin' you grotesque! Feels like a burn from which you never learn! Cause and effect, you jealous ass! Press your face against the glass - suffer!"
The song changed again to which Ren shouted the chorus.
Ren: "Fuck this shit, I'm sick of it! You're goin' down, this is a war!"
"You know, I'm starting to warm up to this sound." Makoto said, tapping her foot slightly.
"Agreed, I'm not used to heavy metal music. I always found it to be too loud and very little substance. But perhaps this can change my mind." Yusuke said.
The song changed once more to which it was slower with Ren breathing heavily before shouting, "Go!"
The camera panned to show the band headbanging while Makoto played some guitar scratches before the camera showed Yusuke holding a baseball bat and a metal keg before he hit the keg with the bat.
Ren: "I've just begun. It's about that time- Gotta get mine. I've just begun. It's about that time- Gotta get mine. I've just begun. It's about that time- Gotta get mine. I've just begun. It's about that time- GOTTA GET MINE!!"
"Man, the way you're swinging that thing, totally different from how you use a katana." Ryuji said, nudging Yusuke's shoulder.
"I must say, you play the guitar pretty well. Have you ever had lessons?" Ren asked Makoto, to which she blushed.
"Ah no I didn't. The only thing I ever had lessons in, aside from school, was Aikido." She replied.
"Hey if anything, Ann is an absolute beast on those drums!" Futaba exclaimed to which Ann blushed as well.
"Aw shucks. Thanks Futaba." Ann said.
That's when Ren released a very loud scream before doing another repeated chant.
Ren: "You can't kill me, 'cause I'm already inside you! You can't kill me, 'cause I'm already inside you! You can't kill me, 'cause I'm already inside you! You can't kill me, 'cause I'm already inside you!"
That's when Ren, Akechi, and Yusuke shooted into their mics.
Ren, Yusuke, Akechi: "SIC! SIC! SIC! SIC!"
The band headbanged in sync before Ren could be heard laughing, it was a little unhinged before he yelled once more. He was breathing heavily before the song stopped with static and Haru playing a couple notes on the keyboard that were deep and distorted.
The audience roared loudly with applause as Ren talked to them. "Thank you, Tokyo! We have one more song for you today! Are you motherfuckers ready!?"
Ren paused it real quickly to allow everyone a chance to process what they heard. "Wow. I'm actually amazed." Ren said.
"Yeah, that was actually pretty good, and I'm surprised we actually have a stage presence. I almost thought we were just gonna be stiff and boring." Ryuji scratched the back of his head.
"Well you thought wrong Ryuji! Mwehehehe!" Futaba smirked. "We're an actual kick ass band!"
"Now I'm just curious about what else we can do! I wanna see more!" Ann exclaimed.
"Agreed, perhaps I can get a sense of their artistry and adapt it to my own." Yusuke said, framing the paused screen of the band members.
Morgana looked at himself on the screen. "So I can do it. I can achieve my human form. We're close to the bottom, I know we are.
"We'll get there, Morgana. We promise you that." Haru said, smiling and petting his head to which he purred.
"Let's keep going, I'm curious about what else we can do." Makoto said to which Ren nodded and pressed play.
The audience cheered as a response. "I can't hear you, Tokyo! I said, ARE YOU READY!?" They roared even louder this time.
"I know we certainly are." Ren pushed his glasses up and his teammates nodded, and thus the journey of music and stunning revelations began.