TWs: Rude behavior, not accepting help/criticism, implied/referenced past death. Stay safe :)
"Triton! There ya are!" Pluto waved the other down, "Where were you?"
"Had some errands." Triton shrugged, "Decided to stop by the diner on my way here and got the band drinks to make up for it."
"Ooh, gimme!" Charon grinned as took one of the bags from Triton, "You're the best, Triton!"
"Don't mention it." Triton waved his hand dismissively, "Seriously- don't."
"Callisto!" Jupiter stalked forward, separating himself from Saturn and Neptune's conversation, "Where were you- and why aren't the others with you?"
Callisto bit her lip, unsure whether to tell him the truth, "We were at the diner... as for the others, they're still there."
Jupiter knitted his brows, eyeing the girl, "Well, as long as you guys are safe..."
Callisto averted her gaze, humming, "Well, actually-"
"Jupiter! Help me adjust the mic." Earth glowered as he tried to fix the microphone stand, "Annoying piece of... ugh, come on!"
"Be careful with that, Earth." Jupiter knitted his brows as he walked over, "This equipment is expensive."
"It's not like you can't pay for another one; you're loaded!" Earth glared.
"True, but it's a pain replacing something that's not broken," Jupiter placed a hand on Earth's shoulder, moving the singer aside so he could adjust the stand, "Yet."
Earth huffed, crossing his arms as he watched the taller shorten the stand.
"There. Fixed." Jupiter stepped back, "Know what song you're doing?"
"Of course." Earth smirked, "I always come prepared."
Jupiter turned, "Saturn, could you-"
"Already on it!" Saturn beamed, fidgeting with a controller in his hand, "When you're ready, Earth."
The singer nodded, grasping the microphone and pulling it close. Jupiter returned to where he was standing beside Callisto.
Earth took a deep breath before flashing Saturn a thumbs up.
The music started playing and he felt all eyes on him. He tapped his foot to the rhythm as he started to sing;
"I'm that first-person they talk about in all the books~ I'm that perspective you cannot doubt, see how I look. Control the narrative reliably, baby, it's all about me- and I wrote the book about throwing the book at those who don't do it by it!"
Dione and Iapetus glanced at each other, sharing a growing feeling of uneasiness.
"So now I'm holding myself hostage, Stockholm lust just looks like justice, and enough lefts don't make the right but two wrongs do- oh man, Sun Tzu would love this. Beating my dead high horse off the high road to low ground, cause if you shake your fist at snakes in grass, it looks like punching down!" Earth grabbed the mic from its stand, yanking it out of his way, "So, God forbid I'm seen just as an average human being, I mean, imagine if protagonists just died in the first scene! I'm the gap between a tragedy and comedy, don't come at me- I'm the main character, and you have to like me!"
Dione scoffed, "I wouldn't be surprised if this is actually how he feels."
Titan glanced at her, "What do you mean by that?"
"I don't know if you noticed, Titan," Iapetus spoke, "But Earth seems a bit full of himself."
"What? That's nonsense. Sure, he's a rising sensation and can be... not nice at times, but that's probably because he's stressed. This is going to be his first tour, after all."
"Right, and it's not like it's also our first tour as well..." Dione uttered as she rolled her eyes.
"I loot plot armor from NPCs- well, they are to me. Trite, tropes, traits, traumas, trinkets, and treats, it's all XP! Look in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's superego- the underdog you cheer for! Villains are everywhere, that's how I know that I'm the hero~"
Makemake hummed, writing something down.
"Making notes?" Pluto asked.
"Ah, yep! Looking at Terra's stage presence, I'm writing down things that he may want to improve!" Makemake grinned.
"So tie me to the train tracks, laugh, and snidely twist your mustache. Snidely Whiplash, Boris Badenov, ignoring me's bad enough- where do you get off? Da, das vedanya, darling- Daleks in high collars monologue, and I outsmart them with a ray-gun and a tweet." Earth stepped forward, closing his eyes as he felt the warmth of the spotlight, "So, God forbid I'm seen just as an average human being, I mean, imagine if protagonists just died in the first scene! I'm the gap between a tragedy and comedy, don't come at me- I'm the main character, and you have to like me!"
"Judge me by what my cover shows, author becomes beyond reproach- You don't know the prose or if the spine is still intact. Oh, like Alice fell to Wonderland, come astroturf my Overton, and embolden my demand to live by alternative facts."
Earth stepped forward, clipping the microphone back to its stand as his voice became softer than before, "Her majesty says, "The Royal We demand a standard of loyalty, an agreement to be reverent, lick the emperor's new boots." The court fool got the guillotine, the witches the stake, you the dopamine... and Siemens made the Zyklon B, but we all still get the flu. We all do what we need to to get through~ it's nothing new..."
Earth took a breath, looking down as he leaned on the mic stand.
Slowly, he exhaled, smiling.
"But I ain't done a fucking thing to you...!" Earth yelled, taking the microphone off the stand once more, "So, God forbid I'm seen just as an average human being, I mean, imagine if antagonists lacked any evil scheme! I'm the gap between a tragedy and comedy, don't come at me- I'm the main character, and you have to like me."
Earth bowed as the song finished. He placed the microphone back on its stand.
Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune clapped.
"Wowie! That was amazing!" Neptune beamed.
"I agree!" Saturn grinned, "Could do without the profanity, though..."
"Alrighty, everyone, since it's almost six, I won't bore you with details about what you need to work on. Instead, I fully trust that each of you will do your best for this tour." Jupiter spoke, "Instead of us making a setlist, we figured all of you could come up with one. Together. As a team."
There were a few disgruntled noises from some bandmates.
"I'm going to take those noises as you understand the assignment." Jupiter nodded, "Everyone's dismissed."
'Finally!' Earth cheered to himself, going over to his bag and ensuring he had everything.
"Hey, Earth!" A voice spoke, spooking the singer.
"Ah- oh, you're..."
"Makemake! It's a pleasure to meet you!" The coral-haired individual put out his hand, "I'm sort of New Horizons manager, but I also play guitar, and violin, and do a bit of sampling."
"Uh, right." Earth took the offered hand, shaking it, "So, what can I do for you?"
"Your performance was amazing!"
"Oh, thank y-"
"But it could use a bit of work."
Earth snapped his mouth shut, his eyes widening upon hearing the offending words. Raising a hand to his chest, Earth made a noise of indignation, "I'm sorry, maybe I heard wrong... what did you say exactly?"
"Your performance. While it was great, I noticed that you weren't entirely in it. Your voice shifted a few times and you were early on the bridge. Your movements on stage could also use work- it was a bit... robotic, y'know? Here, I wrote down everything I thought could use work." Makemake took out a piece of paper and handed it to Earth.
Earth's eye twitched as he scanned the paper.
He barely read what was on it, scowling as he crumpled the paper, and threw it somewhere off-stage. He scoffed, "As if I need any help from an amateur."
Grabbing his bag, Earth stalked off.
Makemake frowned, turning to the other bandmates of New Horizons, "Did I say something wrong...?"
Dione shook her head as she watched the scene, "See? Told ya, Titan."
Titan bit his lip, brows knitted as he looked in the direction Earth walked off in.
"I'm home...!" Earth called, rubbing his shoulder as he entered the house. He raised an eyebrow upon hearing no response. His brother always greeted him as soon as he returned, "Luna?"
Walking into the living room, he had to do a double-take as he passed the sofa. His brother was fast asleep pressed up against another body.
'Mercury...? How long has he been here?' Earth thought, raising a hand to his chin as his face scrunched up.
Their limbs were tangled together, Luna halfway off the sofa if not for Mercury's arms holding him in place.
Earth huffed, grabbing a nearby blanket and covering them, his expression softening as he looked at Luna. He reminded him so much of her.
'Theia...' He frowned, reaching a hand out to place in Luna's grey locks, shifting slowly.
Beep-bzzt-bzzt!
"Now what...?" Earth took out his phone, looking at the new message.
?: heyo!
?: this is Neptune!
?: I got ur number from Jupiter since u left in a rush
Earth: what d'ya want?
Neptune: well, I have to give you my address somehow
Neptune: else you'll get lost
Neptune: here :)
Earth saved the address to his phone, typing a brief thank you and hoping the blue-haired oddity would leave him alone.
The singer went up to his room, collapsing onto his bed as he thought about what happened over the course of the day.
His mind couldn't help but think about what the 'manager' for New Horizons said to him. The nerve of the guy to hand Earth a list of what to 'work on'- how to get better.
Earth was already perfect. He didn't need any help from someone who had barely been in the music scene- or anyone, for that matter.
Earth was perfect. He was going to become a Star on his own.
He would show them. He would show everyone.
"Watch it!" Nine snapped as one of the many children rammed into him.
"S-Sorry!" Neso apologized, quickly going around the dark figure.
"Hey, ease up, Nine." Neptune spoke, a soft smile on his face as he handed Neso a glass of apple juice, "She didn't mean to bump into you, right, Nes?"
"Mhm!" Neso beamed as she sipped her juice, "Thank you, Neptune!"
Neso walked out of the kitchen, a skip in her step.
"Tell me," Nine gruffed, sitting at the kitchen island, "Why are we babysitting a bunch of kids?"
"Because," Neptune crossed his arms, "The orphanage closed down and I didn't want them moving away or separating, so I asked if I could take them in."
"And that includes the delinquent?"
"Triton isn't-!" Neptune paused, casting his gaze into the living room where the kids were playing before speaking in a low voice, "He isn't a delinquent, he's just a troubled teen."
"Right..." Nine muttered, taking out his phone upon feeling it vibrate.
{ I have a task for you. Go to the location I'm sending you.
Nine quirked an eyebrow, typing a response.
Understood. }
Nine looked at the address, finding a sense of familiarity with it. He couldn't put his finger on it.
"Neptune, do you know what's on 1890 Aquilae Avenue?"
The other perked up from where he chopped ingredients, "Uh... isn't it where Polaris Studios is?"
Nine sat up on his stool, his gaze snapping to his phone screen. He furrowed his eyebrows, 'This could either go good or very bad...'
The forming pit in his stomach told him it was going to be the latter.
⫸ NOTE ⫷
Song(s) Used:
The Main Character - Will Wood
omg, it's the title, guys- IT'S THE TITLE, GUYS :O
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