A/N: Hey y'all! Just wanted to offer a quick warning that for the next two chapters there will be brief mentions of strong language (specifically the F word). It's only mentioned in the context of lyrics in this chapter and once in a quote in the next chapter, so just giving everyone a head's up! Also, this chapter is a bit more action based with a song tied to it, so if you wanna time your reading with the song in question here's a link to it: /xvrJdPlTxgY?si=bjvNE2N8v_2JNAZ

I think that covers everything. Enjoy the chapter!

Doc's Favorite Boyband - Part Five

It took a fair amount of time for us to set things up in the venue without raising the psionovore's concerns, but eventually everything was in place. The Doctor connected a brightly lit cable from the console down to the speakers onstage; according to him this would allow the Tardis's telepathic circuits to further amplify the emotional response to the music and would hopefully play into our favor. Amy worked at connecting the speakers to the venue's outside intercom so that the people queuing up for the show would be able to listen to the medley and sing along if they wanted to. Geoff and Otto prepped their instruments and microphones, and I sat on the edge of the stage trying to calm my nerves.

Sure, I'd done musicals in high school and performed in my choir so being on stage wasn't foreign to me, but something about this setting had me on edge. I mean, it's not every day that you get to perform onstage with your favorite band, time machine or not, so to say I was nervous was the understatement of a lifetime. I kept my attention on the yellow guitar pick in my hands but I noticed out of the corner of my eye that someone was sitting down next to me.

"Stagefright?" Amy asked nonchalantly. I smiled briefly and looked out at the empty venue.

"Kinda," I started, "You'd think after everything we've been through this kind of thing wouldn't phase me, but here I am."

"Hey, you're goin' on stage with your favorite band. I'd be surprised if you weren't nervous. I certainly would be."

I laughed slightly and fiddled with my guitar pick a bit more. "I've been meaning to ask, Amy. What kind of music do you listen to?"

"Ooo that's a big question," Amy thought for a moment before giving me her answer, "A bit of everything, to be honest."

"Oh, come on! That's a cop out answer!"

"But it's true though!" she laughed a bit before shoving me playfully, "I will say though, I did find a band recently that I really like. They're kinda small though."

"Who'd you find?"

"I think they're called The Brobecks?"

"Oh I know them, yeah! They're really cool."

"Maybe the Doctor can take us to one of their shows next?"

"Maybe, and hopefully nothing bad happens on that trip."

Oh, I just had to say that out loud, didn't I? No sooner than when the words left my lips, the lights in the venue began to flicker and the whistling started again. I clambered back onto my feet and up to a microphone stand where my screwdriver was set in place with a cord attached at the bottom. I took a deep breath trying to shake any further nerves I might've had before giving a brief nod to Geoff and Otto, who in turn each gave me a reassuring thumbs-up. When I looked back out into the pit, a lone figure was stood at the back. The silhouette of a hooded puffer coat gave away the psionovore before it could step into the light.

"Starting the show without me?" it asked using Awsten's voice, "That's no fair at all!"

I didn't give it the luxury of a response, deciding instead to absentmindedly play a few chords on the Telepathic Telecaster.

"Check one two. Check one two. I'm not scared of you," I said into my sonic before smirking playfully, "Psionovores suck major—"

"ENOUGH!" it shouted, causing the lights hanging above it to shake a bit. Meticulously it brought Awsten's body closer with well-planned steps until it was barely out of the snare's range. Suddenly the backing track for Entertainment 2019 started playing out of the sound system. The melodic beeps of 11:11's intro actually ended up catching the false Awsten by surprise enough for it to step right into the snare's range, instantly rendering it immobile.

You're the beach on Christmas Eve. You're the beach on Christmas Eve, began repeating on the backing track as the three of us started to play our parts.

"What is this? What've you done?" it asked feverishly.

"It's 11:11, buckaroo!" I said as we continued to play, "And I've got a wish to make."

Fuck these fuckboy bands who can't think for themselves. Let's put away our black clothes and start cutting up our voices. That's what's cool now, right?

As the backing instruments for Tantrum began to play I made a rather bold move and stepped down offstage and towards the snare, fueled entirely by emotion with logic taking an unfortunate backseat. The lyrics for the first verse came out of my mouth with such venom behind them that I was actually able to see a flash of emotion cross through the psionovore's eyes. Was it trepidation, or could it have been pleasure? If it were the latter then why did it seem so pleased that I wasn't scared of it? What did it have planned?

"Ginny, step away from the snare," I heard the Doctor through my in-ear monitors, "The psionovore is trying to get inside your head and if you get too close it might just succeed."

I looked back to the stage, then shot the false Awsten a quick glare before returning to my microphone stand just in time for the chorus to start. Any anger I had toward this ball of smoke was going directly into the section, and I was going to make sure it felt every last bit of it.

"So excuse my tantrum, can't you see I've got my hands full?" I spat out before spinning onstage with Geoff as we shredded from Tantrum into Peach's intro. I suddenly remembered the crowd outside and realized they likely had no idea what was going on; and they might not be singing along if that were the case.

"If you can hear me outside then we need your help," I said into my sonic, "Sing along if you know the words, and put your whole heart into it!"

Compared to 11:11's and Tantrum's parts of the medley, Peach was more reserved in the backing instrumentals; only offering an occasional bum bum bum bum to accompany the drums, guitar, and my voice. But the quietness worked to my advantage as it allowed me to hear the voices singing along outside. We were getting through to the crowd! All throughout the verse and the chorus I could hear so many other voices with us and it made my heart well up with so much joy that I completely forgot to transition into We Need to Talk and just launched into the second verse of Peach. Thank goodness it was still the same instrumentals though; that would've been really awkward. Towards the end of the second chorus my gaze was drawn back to the snare, but instead of Awsten inside there was someone else; and seeing him nearly threw me off my emotional high.

Thomas was standing there, wearing a tattered and burnt red flannel and staring dead-eyed back at me before raising a charred hand in a slow greeting.

No. No, you can't be here, I thought, feeling a tear roll down my cheek. I took a small step back from the microphone stand and nearly tripped on a stray cable. Looking down for a moment I was horrified to see that it was a braided rope of film.

"It's trying to mess with you," Geoff said, bringing me back to reality, "Don't give it the pleasure."

I gave him a fierce look and nodded as we transitioned into Sleep Alone's pre-chorus. As I stepped back up to the mic stand I made sure to keep my eyes shut. The psionovore was trying everything it could to make me anxious, but I was determined to keep my cool. It wasn't just going to use Thomas's face and get away with it, I refused to let it.

"Loneliness was built for two. Do you want, do you want, do you want to," I held that last note like my life depended on it, and when I chanced a peek at the snare the false Awsten was back inside instead of Thomas. He was crouched down and poking at the dish intently. Hang on, didn't the Doctor say that it'd render him immobile? How was he crouched down like that if the snare was still working properly?

Oh, no.

"Gotcha," the false Awsten teased, allowing clouds of purple smoke to pour out of his mouth and from his hands.

It reached the stage before any of us could react and in the blink of an eye I was back in the middle of the film world; only this time Geoff and Otto were nowhere to be seen. The only other figure on the street was one straight from my nightmare a few nights ago. It was Thomas, just as charred and ragged looking as the hallucination in the snare but somehow even more menacing. His blank white eyes glistening at me with so much malice that it seemed to freeze me in place.

"So this is what makes you the most scared then, Ginny Parks?" the false Thomas hissed, "A stupid boy who gave himself up to save you. How pathetic."

I could feel the tears flowing off my face as my breath hitched in my throat. "I'm… I'm so sorry, Thomas," I croaked out, my gaze fixed on the pavement beneath me.

"You should be. Look at what he went through for the likes of you." Gnarled hands harshly tilted my head up to meet the psionovore's clouded eyes. "LOOK AT WHAT YOU PUT ME THROUGH, VIRGINIA."

I don't wanna be a crybaby. I don't wanna be a crybaby now. I could faintly hear the medley permeating through the air around me, and in a brief spark of logic I realized this wasn't reality.

A person. A moment. A song, the Doctor's words echoed in my mind as I closed my eyes and began to ground myself. I could still hear the music, I could feel the Telepathic Telecaster against my chest, and all of a sudden I felt my in-ear monitors being forcefully yanked out.

When I opened my eyes again I saw all three members of Waterparks crammed into the repaired psychic snare and the Doctor was keeping a very close eye on it.

"Back with us, rockstar?" a familiar Scottish voice asked from behind me. I turned around quickly to find Amy behind the drum kit; wait a minute, Amy behind the drum kit?

"Since when did you play drums, Pond?" I asked, laughing a bit.

"Since year eleven. Now start playing!"

Right on cue the into to Not Warriors started up, and as I looked back at the snare I grinned madly.

"Oh, you're in for it now!" I shouted before launching into the verse with Amy playing behind me. I suppose I'd blasted this song through the Tardis enough times in the past few days that she'd learned it by exposure. It was certainly coming in handy though regardless of how she was able to learn the song so quickly; and as we finished the verse I paused for a moment to catch my breath only to be met by a large ensemble of voices screaming "I think you saved my life!" right outside the venue.

In that moment as I sang along to the chorus, I started to feel something overpowering well up inside of me. It was like a roaring fire in my chest and I just had to get it out somehow; so I kept singing, hoping that would do the trick. Thankfully it did because as the chorus for Not Warriors drew to a close and the chorus for Rare began I felt something push out of me. A bright flash of purple light grew from my torso and danced across the pit until it entered the snare with Waterparks. The dark cloud of smoke surrounding the band slowly began to brighten in color before going entirely white, billowing out through the top of the snare, and dissipating into the venue's ventilation system leaving a rather shaken looking rock band behind.

I did it. I starved a psychic parasite with a Waterparks song. I thought briefly as the song drew to a close.