Chapter 26: In which the band is back together
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AN: Hello again!
I'm sorry this took so long, School has been getting crazy. I'm sure it hasn't been that long since the last chapter… never mind, it's been a while. I'm so sorry.
In other news, I recently got Mario Galaxy for the Wii, and have been playing through that. It is a classic game, incredibly well crafted, and if you have never played it you definitely should. Every power-up is good (except one), and it walks the line between a challenge and being unfair expertly.
This fic is now being cross-posted on ao3 as well,
Beta'd by the amazing Sora
Discord: eSSP2GtYQS (remove spaces)
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Wendy walks through the woods away from the Mystery Shack. She just finished hanging with her friends in the cemetery and was heading home to get ready for the concert, but needed to swing by Techno's place because he had offered to enhance her axe because, "If you're gonna be fightin' monsters, ya may as well have the best weapon available."
As she walks through the trees and appreciates nature, Wendy starts hearing the twanging of a guitar. At first it's just a few notes, echoing through the trees, but then as she draws closer to her destination the song fills out. It sounds a little mournful, and it sounds a little hopeful. It sounds like choices made a lifetime ago, and it sounds like that first breath of morning air.
Wendy rounds the final corner to the base just as the guitarist begins to sing.
"Weep for yourself, my man,
You'll never be what is in your heart"
The somber tone of the singer shocks Wendy slightly, as she had never heard him this close to tears before.
"Weep, little lion man,
You're not as brave as you were at the start"
Wendy resumes walking towards the singer, perching above the gate not unlike some great bird of prey.
"Rate yourself and rake yourself,
Take all the courage you have left"
Wendy draws closer stealthily, not wanting to startle the musician.
"And waste it on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head"
Wendy stops and sits on a rock, content to let the music wash over her.
"But it was not your fault but mine
And it was your heart on the line
I really fucked it up this time
Didn't I, my dear?
Didn't I, my..." The guitarist sings before going into an epic guitar solo. At some point in the solo, the musician must have noticed Wendy, as he did not launch into the second verse but instead the song peters down into silence.
Wendy blinks, coming back to herself and greets the musician. "Hey Gh- Wilbur."
"Hello Wendy." Wilbur greets. "let me get the door for you." Wilbur falls backwards from the top of the wall. There is a thud followed by silence before the gate creaks open. "So, what brings you to my humble abode?" Wilbur asks the lumberjane.
"Excuse me?" Techno demands, raising his head from a nearby patch of potatoes. "Excuse me?! Your abode?! I built it." [nah it's Wilburs, prove me wrong ong.]
"Techno," Wilbur calms, laying a hand on the Piglin's shoulder. "It's my house now. I have claimed it in the name of the revolution." [as he should]
"I dunno… revolution is pretty pog, but I did build that."
"Techno," Wilbur says, looking into Techno's blank eyes. "You're kind of sounding like an agent of the bourgeoisie." [i legit had to look that word up, no way in hell ima try saying that :skull:]
"Hmm, I don't wanna sound like them." Techno agrees. Wilbur smiles to himself as he turns away. Techno strokes his chin. "Then again, the bourgeoisie has some crazy crit damage, wouldn't wanna fight that."
"Bruh."
"What? I'm being honest." Techno defends.
"I hate to interrupt this fascinating conversation, boys, but you have a guest." Phil instructs his children as he descends from the heavens. [having 3 brothers now I can confirm this argument to be accurate... you gotta save me man being the oldest of 6 is NOT fun!]
"Ah. Sorry about that." Wilbur apologizes to Wendy.
"Don't worry about it." Reassures Wendy before she turns to Techno. "Is my axe ready?"
Trechno nods, handing her the axe. "I reinforced the pole and the blade with trace amounts of Netherite. There's Unbreaking, Mending, and Sharpness, so you shouldn't be able to break it easily."
"Thanks Techno." Wendy says, inspecting her reinforced tree-feller. Techno just waves her off. Phil notices chaos incarnate is in the yard with Ranboo, .GIFfany, and a suspicious variety of items and leaves to investigate.
The moment Phil was slightly out of sight, Wilbur decides to cause a little mischief. "I'm impressed, Techno." Techno looks in confusion at Wilbur. "For the blood god, you're surprisingly soft."
"Heh? Heh! Phillll! Will is slandering me!" Techno cries.
"I am not!" Wilbur protests.
Philza sighs heavily. "What did he say?" He asks, resisting the urge to rest his head in his hands as he flies back.
"He called me soft!" Techno complains.
Phil stares blankly at Techno for a few seconds. "You are soft." Techno sputters and Wilbur cackles.
"Ha, suck it Techno, I've got dad on my side!" Wilbur crows.
"Wilbur, don't make the old man fight your fights. I know you've got those weak little guitarists fingers, but you could at least throw one punch." Techno deadpans back.
Wilbur screams in rage as he dives toward Techno. The Piglin steps to the side calmly before slamming Wilbur to the ground, knocking the air out of him. Techno stands over Wilbur's prone body and begins taunting him, at least until Wilbur catches the Piglin's ankle and pulls him down. The two begin fighting on the ground, kicking up a dust cloud as they trade the advantage. [lore accurate siblings indeed]
Phil stands next to Wendy, massaging his forehead.
"So… should we stop them…?" Wendy asks slowly.
Phil shakes his head. "No, they'll tire themselves out eventually."
"That's a shame." Wendy starts. "I had some news about a local concert." Wilbur's ears prick up from on top of Techno. "It's an annual event with lots of people," Wilbur focuses on Wendy from within Techno's headlock. "and one of the bands dropped last minute, so the organizers are looking for a replacement band." Suddenly, Wilbur is inches away from Wendy's face, looking not unlike a dog who heard the word 'walk'.
"Go on." Wilbur says. Techno blinks, trying to figure out how his brother escaped his grasp and covered the distance in an instant.
"Uh…" Wendy mumbles uncomfortably before Phil grabs Wilbur by the nape and holds him up like a misbehaving kitten. And like a misbehaving kitten, Wilbur hisses at Phil. "I uh- there's not much more information: they're looking for a quartet and the sign up closes 3 PM. You sign up at the concert. It's right outside the city limits."
"Intriguing."Wilbur says from his perch a few inches off the ground. "Very intriguing."
"Well, I'm gonna go get ready for the concert… cya." Wendy says before walking away semi-awkwardly. Phil finally sets Wilbur down. The trio watch the woods as Wendy disappears into the forest.
"We're gonna do it." Wilbur states confidently.
"Absolutely not." Techno replies in the same tone. [you absolutely will]
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"Come on, Techno! How many times are we going to get a chance like this?" Wilbur all but begs. The pair had been arguing back and forth since Wendy left, and are currently in the living room.
"Bruh, I get anxiety! I can't handle bein' in front of thousands of people!" Techno says. "Can you imagine that, chat? Bein' in front of thousands of people for any amount of time? That's just ridiculous."
Bananamilkshake: Yeah, that's unbelievable.
Laughteryoga: Wilby's being dramatic again
Carpediem: Laughteryoga I mean, he is a theatre kid.
"See, chat agrees with me." Techno argues. Wilbur looks blankly into Techno's eyes. Techno, being the master of blank stares, stares back even more blankly. "What?" Techno eventually asks.
Wilbur shakes his head and sighs. He almost seems ready to give up before he happens upon an idea. "Yeah, you're right Techno. We wouldn't want you to be peer-pressured, no matter how much clout you might gain otherwise." Wilbur begins to leave the room before he is grabbed by the shoulder.
"Now, hold on." Techno says. "Just how much clout we talkin'?" [I can just imagine Techno putting his hand on Willburs shoulder lmfao]
Wilbur grins to himself before turning to Techno with a carefully blank look on his face. "Well, thinking about how big the event sounds, you could gain clout in the entirety of Oregon. That's almost 4 million people."
Techno nods along. "That is a lot of people, and I do love clout. Alright, you've talked me int- chat, chat why are you spamming sellout? Why are you acting like this is a surprise? Do you not remember one of the things you insisted I steal when we first got here? Bruh, the sellout bell is literally upstairs."
"That doesn't mean you should be easy!" Tommy taunts as he comes downstairs.
"Child." Techno grunts.
"I'm just saying, if I was a sellout, I'd at least gain something worth selling out, like women." [Tommy knows where it's at fam]
"At least I have something to sellout." Techno fires back. "You don't even have the disks."
Tommy gasps dramatically and grasps his heart. "Too soon, too soon. The loss of the disks is a national tragedy!" Techno rolls his eyes as Tommy approaches, rubbing his hands together like the trash panda he is. "So, what are you selling out for?"
"Clout."
"Cool, cool." Tommy responds. "What, specifically?"
"There's a concert in town, and they needed an extra band." Wilbur starts. "So, I-"
"I'm in." Tommy interrupts.
Wilbur blinks. "That was… quick."
"You really think I would pass up a chance to play in a band with you?" Tommy asks rhetorically before realizing what he said. "Not that, uh, I care for you all or anything. Because I most certainly do not. Who said I did? They're lying." [what a bunch of liars, smh]
"Oh, come here." Wilbur says, wrapping his arms around Tommy with a shit-eating grin. "I know you love me, You're just trying to be like Techno."
Techno looks affronted. "What do you mean by that?"
"You don't like to admit you love me and Phil." Wilbur teases while smothering Tommy. "And Tommy too, I guess. You'd rather act emotionless."
Techno gasps in shock. "Lies and slander! Slander and lies!"
Phil rounds the corner into the living room, summoned by the sound of arguing voices. "What are you three talking about?"
Tommy escapes the suffocating hug and rushes to Philza. "Phil! Phil! Can we go? Can we go?! Can we please go?! Phil, Philza, big man, can we please go?! You gotta come too! Come on, let's go!"
Phil opens his mouth, considers it closes his mouth, and then asks, "Go where?"
"To a concert! Wilbur's gonna play, and he needs a band! Come on, it'll be just like when we were on the moon, remember?" Tommy exclaims, jumping up and down.
Phil looks at Tommy before shifting his gaze as he regards his other children who are present. "Did either of you feed him sugar?"
Ignoring an offended, "Hey!" from Tommy, Wilbur responds. "Nope, that's pure chaos child energy." Phil sighs heavily. "He's going to be like that until you give in." Wilbur adds. "What do you say, old man? You wanna play some music?"
Phil thinks about it before he shrugs. "Why not. I've got nothing better going on."
"Whoo! We got Dadza!" Tommy cheers running over to Wilbur. "I got Dadza, all by myself!"
Wilbur smiles fondly and ruffles Tommy's hair. "Good job, gremlin."
"There is one critical thing we need to do before we leave to sign up." Techno states calmly.
"What?" Phil asks as Wilbur and Tommy lean forward.
"We need a band name." Phil looks blankly at his eldest, having expected something actually important. Tommy and Wilbur both start howling with laughter. "What?"
"Sorry Techno," Wilbur forces through his laughter. "It's just, the way you said that, I thought it would be something actually important."
"Our band name is incredibly important. Unless you wanna be known as 'Techno and his groupies'?"
"When you put it that way, you may have a point." Wilbur admits. "What would be a good name…?"
"Something that represents all of us?" Phil suggests.
"Either something in Latin or a quote from Sun Tsu." Techno says.
"Let's go, we think of the name on the way!" Tommy complains, pulling on Phil's arm and trying to drag the bird man out the door.
"We can't leave until we have a name, Tommy. We need one to sign-up." Wilbur says before he goes back to brainstorming with Techno.
"Let's just call ourselves 'SBI'!" Tommy shouts.
Techno shrugs in agreement and Phil nods.
"Alright, we're SBI. Not the most original, but it works, I guess." Wilbur grumbles.
"Is SBI okay Wilbur? We can think of something else." Phil offers.
"No, no, it's fine." Wilbur sighs dramatically. "I was kind of hoping for something original, but SBI is fine."
"Let me tell the others where we're going, then we can leave." Phil says, exiting the room.
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By merit of being the only ones who showed up, SBI was given the last section in the show. SBI arrived incredibly early thanks to Tommy's urging, and hung out with the other acts before the show.
"So, why wood grain on everything? I mean, it looks great, but I tend to use it as an accent material." Phil asks the trio 'Wood grain on everything'. "You know, to make the focal points jump out more."
"Like, I dunno man, it's just what we had." The lady with a flower necklace answers.
Meanwhile, Techno is being surrounded by the members of 'Scarves Indoors'.
"Uh… can I help you?" Techno asks the three men invading his personal space.
"Oh, you're just so fashionable, I love the statement with your hair." One of them responds, gesturing to Techno's pink hair.
"Yeah, it helps promote a wider array of hair colors, and makes it clear you stand against the government." Another adds.
"Well, I do hate the government." Techno agrees.
"Yo, are you a socialist like us?" The final member asks with excitement.
"Nah, I'm an anarchist." Techno responds. The scarves trio sigh in sync dramatically and walk away. [anarchy is in our blood brothers! We live for the chaos!]
Tommy is sitting on top of the stage's scaffolding, watching a brother and sister run away from 'Love God', and munching on a bag of popcorn. Tommy sees something outside the compound, and his eyes widen comedically when he sees the giant old man head captioned 'I Eat Kids' come flying from the sky. The head began to fall towards the ground as it catches on fire, plunging into the concessions stands.
"Nooo!" Tommy cries, shooting to his feet, "My food!"
Techno is beside Tommy is a moment, only hearing Tommy's cry of no. "What is it!" He asks, not in a panicked method, no. He didn't panic. Don't be ridiculous.
"The concesions were just destroyed!" Tommy complains.
Techno looks at the child for a few seconds before smacking him upside the head.
"Ow! What was that for!?" Tommy complains.
"If you're not in immediate danger, please don't shout. I thought you were in actual peril." Techno responds, dropping off the top of the stage behind it. Tommy flips the Pigman the bird the moment Techno's back is turned.
A few seconds later, a panic runs through the crowd. From what Tommy can hear, it sounds like a lookalike for the burning head was walking around, taunting children. If he hadn't just seen Techno, Tommy might have thought the Pigman was causing chaos for fun again.
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"So, what was up with Tommy?" Phil asks Techno as the Pigman walks back to their preparation area.
"Blimp went down, hit the food." Techno replies curtly.
Phil chuckles. "It's good to see he still thinks with his stomach on occasion. Any idea who made the blimp?"
"Looked kinda like Stanford Pines."
Phil freezes. "Stanford Pines?"
"Yeah, he lives in the shack down the way, why?"
"I know him, I was staying with him years ago. I-I'm going to go see him." Phil turns to leave when a stage hand shows up.
"Hey, Love God got injured and can't play, you guys are up in five."
"Ok!" Wilbur responds. Tommy walks behind the older boy and the group prepares to play. The five minutes disappear in mere seconds, and the quartet step into the stage lights, temporarily blinded. As their eyes adjust, they notice many familiar faces in the crowd.
Dipper and Mabel were with their friends on a hill, looking at something close to the entrance until Mabel notices the stage and elbows Dipper before pointing to the stage. Elsewhere Proteus, .GIFfany, Axolotl666, and Ranboo have infiltrated the festival. They are well disguised, wearing oversized trench coats and oversized fake handlebar mustaches. [classic disguise, always works]
The PA system clicks on. "Due to injuries, Love God will be unable to play. The last song has been moved up, and refunds will not be available. Please Welcome SBI to the stage." With that, SBI begins to play.
Wilbur begins to pick at his guitar as Techno steps up to the mic.
"Hey, brother,
there's an endless road to rediscover
Hey, sister,
know the water's sweet but blood is thicker
Oh, if the sky comes falling down
For you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do."
Techno's somber tone hushes the crowd. They feel as if they are listening to a man mourn his lost family, and in a way, they are right. Then, Tommy comes in with some drums as the song begins to pick up.
"Hey, brother,
do you still believe in one another?
Hey, sister,
do you still believe in love, I wonder?
Oh, if the sky comes falling down
For you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do."
Phil joins the song as a fading ahh-ahh-ahh before switching to the response portion of the song.
"What if I'm far from home?
Oh, brother, I will hear you call
What if I lose it all?
Oh, sister, I will help you out!
Oh, if the sky comes falling down
for you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do."
Wilbur and Tommy begin to belt out a duet, the drum and guitar combining into a solid source of determination. Techno is joined by Phil, their voices combing into a single melody.
"Hey, brother,
there's an endless road to re-discover
Hey, sister,
do you still believe in love, I wonder?
Oh, if the sky comes falling down
for you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do."
Phil repeats the ahh-ahh-ahh. This time, Techno is on the response.
"What if I'm far from home?
Oh, brother, I will hear you call
What if I lose it all?
Oh, sister, I will help you out!
Oh, if the sky comes falling down
for you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do."
Wilbur and Tommy finish with a big instrumental number. The quartet rest their instruments, and are met with a silence… that quickly transforms into cheers. Cries for an encore are heard, but the PA system turns on again.
"Alright folks, that's our festival. Make sure to come back next year!"
The PA system clicks off, and the stage begins to be deconstructed. SBI joins the well disguised group, and they walk home. Well, most of them walk back. Tommy passes out halfway back, and gets a piggyback ride from Techno.
Phil looks to the sky, and promises he'll check on his friend before sniffling slightly. He shrugs if off, the night had cooled off nicely, making for a pleasant walk.
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Far above the group, a satellite follows them on their path. A group of agents are watching the live feed in a secret military base, having been alerted to an almost superhuman anarchist by a deep-cover agent. Said agent was told to only pass information if it was critical, so the analysts were trying to figure out what the threat was.
Then, the group approached a small compound giving off trace amounts of radiation, and someone swore. It seems there's an anarchist in the Oregon countryside with a facility capable of producing nukes. [Techno beating up government (again) coming to a Fanfic near you VERY soon]
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Completed: 1/29/2024 Words: 3340 Written using a pirated copy of Microsoft word 2007
Now, let's talk music. I originally heard Little Lion Man in a compilation of songs that feel like Gravity Falls. I feel like it represents the relationship between Stan and Ford. It also reflects Wilbur and Tommy. Wilbur (or possibly Ghostbur) is mourning the loss of his "little lion man", a tommy that was still filled with the confidence of youth. "But it was not your fault but mine; And it was your heart on the line; I really fucked it up this time" is definitely Wilbur regretting getting Tommy involved with L'manburg.
I originally heard Hey Brother in a Star Wars clone music video, and fell in love with it. Now, what could it represent and how does it relate to Gravity Falls? Gee, I wonder. And how does it relate to SBI? I also ponder this. Time wise, Hey Brother originally came out in 2013, one year after Gravity Falls, but Little Lion Man came out in 2009. I figured it was fine, especially with how Gravity Falls has alternate versions of our music (i.e., Babba instead of Abba.)
[Chat, don't forget to join the discord or else i'll tell Techno's ghost you're a secret government agent taking out anarchists worldwide.]