[Miyabigaoka Club District] Songbird Karaoke Bar and Lounge

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The Songbird Karaoke Bar sits at the corner of two streets in the warehouse filled club district of Miyabigaoka. It has on its exterior large lights which are lit only at night for the semi-professional shows that take place there. During the day however, this place is more a family-friendly teen oriented Karaoke bar that serves coffee, milkshakes and ice cream. At night an open bar and neon lights replace this family friendly setting and turn it into a bit of a lounge style night club complete with couches, a VIP section and even private rooms for whatever reason. The sound system at this place is state of the art and seems to operate in a way that most technitions can't really imagine, and beyond that everything about this place screams of opulence. Atop this Lounge there is a single story bird nest style apartment with wall to wall windows and an open concept layout which is sometimes occupied by the owner of this establishment. A singing star by the name of Takayama Suzume who goes by the stage name Sparrow.

Very late one Tuesday night, a slightly intoxicated, and very muscular blonde male strolled past the Songbird Karaoke Bar. This man was Kujo Jirou, better known by his alias of Atlas, the Gem King of the first generation Gravity Children. As he moved past the building, he paused momentarily to look at the signs. "Eh? Live show, huh?"

Within the club, a buxom redhead dressed in black leather had taken the stage. The music for what appeared to be a rock song had started and she was staring out at a crowd of mostly adult followers of her music. Orange eyes of this woman were looking down as she opened her mouth and began to belt out a song which was deep and meaningful to her and also sounded unreasonably angry. But given the kind of person she was, angry was about right.

"Perfect by nature.
Icons of self-indulgence.
Just what we all need,
More lies about a world that...

...never was and never will be.
Have you no shame? Don't you see me?
You know you've got everybody fooled."

As she sang her eyes closed just for a moment as she really began to feel this song. This woman was the pop star known as Sparrow. Among the first generation's Gravity Children she was known as Raptor, but her actual name was Takayama Suzume and she was a small business owner taking advantage of her own little slice of paradise to have a go at singing for the first time in what felt like ages.

From directly outside the club, Atlas could hear the beginning of a song, sang by a voice he knew well. "Oh, right... Sparrow," he said to himself, finally remembering the stage name Suzume had chosen oh so long ago when comparing this voice to the name on the sign. Knowing she was present in the bar, he decided to take a trip inside. Once there, he joined the crowd, towering over the fandom of the red-haired woman from the back row.

This song reached another peak and as it did, Suzume opened her eyes and when she did she spotted a familiar face among the crowd. Given the kind of establishment this was, she expected to see her friends from time to time, usually the white haired Sky Queen or even Jinx the Water Queen as they were most likely to enjoy this kind place. But... surprisingly enough the face she found towering over the sea of her many followers was the one belonging to the Gem King Atlas. For a second she found herself smiling and appreciating his presence, but even with him being here, she still had a show to do, and so she would continue.

"Look, here she comes now.
Bow down and stare in wonder.
Oh, how we love you.
No flaws when you're pretending.

But now I know she...

...never was and never will be.
You don't know how you've betrayed me.
And somehow you've got everybody fooled."

With someone in the crowd worth performing for, Suzume poured herself into the music enjoying deeply for the moment the song she sang. And as she got to a critical part, the tempo slowed and so did her words. If one actually took a moment to listen, they would appreciate that this was a song of self discovery and not the general sort of hatred or anger which was directed at other people.

"Without the mask, where will you hide?
Can't find yourself lost in your lie~"

Atlas, much like his peers, could always appreciate a good bit of music now and again. Though he realized he may have been less supportive of this woman's music than perhaps some of the others were, he enjoyed it just the same. He realized he had been seen by the woman on stage, but what caught his eye more than this notice was the approach of another person.

"I knoooow the truuuuth nooow~
I knooow who yoooou aaare~
And I don't love you anymoooooore~"

This was the voice of a young male with brown, spiky hair. He carried with him a bass guitar which took over the rifts of the song being performed upon his entry.

When her last line finished, the voice the young boy she'd taken on as a musical understudy could be heard. He'd also taken over playing the music for the song which was perfect given what it was. Suzume was a lot of things, including surprised by this kid's rather sudden intrusion into her song, but even she could appreciate this boy's impeccable timing and his vocal mastery. Actually, he added much to her shows, and was sort of the reason she hadn't already completely given up on her own music. Still the finale of the song approached and as such she finished her lines with great precision with the perfect rifts playing in the background.

"It never was and never will be.
You don't know how you've betrayed me.
And somehow you've got everybody fooled.

Never was and never will be.
You're not real and you can't save me.
Somehow now you're everybody's fool."

And such ended the song she sang. With that done she was satisfied with her performance though, as was the case with most artists she wasn't sure it was the best possible performance. She found herself turning to the side to look at the young lad and ask him a question in her usual fashion. "The hell, Superstar, I thought you were done?" she asked wondering why he'd even bothered with this random entry into her show.

The young male who joined in on Suzume's show continued playing through the end of the song. When it was all over, he lowered his bass guitar to his side. Interestingly enough, this lad seemed to also possess an acoustic guitar which hung from his back. When asked about his presence on stage, he could only shrug and laugh. "What can I say? I got used to the shows. Besides, I couldn't resist, knowing you were taking the stage tonight. So... what do ya' say? Might I have the honor?" As he awaited Suzume's response, the boy switched the positions of his bass and acoustic, taking the latter into his hands to begin playing a song the pair had once co-written.

"Well that's all fine and dandy I guess. But ya' could have said something earlier, I might have come up with a different kinda set list. Oh well... since you've gone and decided on a song and shit already I'm gonna let it slide." she said to the boy wondering where his companion of the night had gone.

As if on cue a tanned girl with large buns on her head seemed to be slipping out from around the back of the stage and going out into the crowd. She also didn't want to miss the show, but didn't want to be too close to the stage so she was making her way towards the back, where she'd accidentally bump into the first generation Gem King. "Sumimasen." she mentioned pausing to look up the giant man and trying to figure out how it was humanly possible for a single individual to get so large. 'The hell is with this guy.' she thought as she moved past him, but decided that he was about as good a bet as any for seeing something interesting besides the show on stage, so she stayed near, climbing atop a nearby stool so she could see over the crowd.

As he watched what was looking to be the start of a duet, Atlas was bumped into by a tiny little thing; a young girl, in fact. Thinking nothing of it, he simply nodded to the lass Shutara. "No problem," he said, returning his attention immediately to the stage.

"Sweet," was all he was able to say, as he had already started the music, and there was a short amount of time before the song's lyrics began.

"And hey daaarling~
I hoope you're good toniiiiight~
And I knooow you don't feel right when I'm leaving~
Yeeah I want it, but noo I don't need it~
Tell me something sweet to get me byyy~
'Cause I can't come back home 'til they're singing la~
La la la~
La la laaa~
'Til everyone is singin'~"

As he sang, the boy known as Takao continued to strum his guitar at a steady pace. His eyes sparkled in a way that could only be seen by most in such a moment as this, when he was on stage in the middle of a performance. And, in this specific case, he was performing in the best of conditions.

"If you can wait 'til I get hoooome~
Then I swear to you... that we can make this laaast~
Laaa laaa laaaa~
If you can wait 'til I get home~
Then I swear, come tomorrow, this will all be in our paaast~
Well it might be for the best~"

The first verse belonged to the male playing the guitar and singing. To be fair, Suzume quite enjoyed this young boys' stage presence. So much so, that she often considered that she'd enjoy it more if she was in the crowd. Even so, she supposed she'd already agreed to the show, and as such she waited for her part while scanning the crowd and finding near Jirou, the 3rd Generation's Silk Queen and the object of Takao's muse, a girl by the name of Senjumaru Shutara. A smirk crossed the woman's face as she figured this young girl would soon find her place in the crowd to get a look at the boy. But she hadn't more time to consider this as it was now her turn.

"And hey sweeeetie~
Well I need you here tonight~
And I know that you don't wanna be leaving me~
Yeah, you want it, but I can't help it~
I just feel complete when you're by my siiiiide~
But I know you can't come home till they're singing~
La, la la la, la la la~
Till everyone is singing~
La, la la la, la la la~"


Watching the show Shutara was more than a bit amazed. It'd been a couple of weeks since she'd met back up with Takao and met his mentor, but the girl had never actually heard the woman sing in person before tonight. She found it to be quite an interesting experience, especially given that Takao was onstage and playing and singing with her. As always she felt something weird inside her chest, but her eyes also flickered around the crowd and most notably to the tall man now eye level with her from her perch atop the stool. She figured that he had to be connected to the woman on stage, and pegged him for one of the members of the mysterious and legendary First Generation Gravity Children. "Sugoi~" she murmured at both the things she was realizing right now.

"'Til everyone is singing, la~
La la la~
La la la~"

Takao chimed in at the end of Suzume's verse, adding to the overall vocal synergy of the duet in one astounding moment of harmonization. This was, by far, his favorite moment in this song of theirs, and he enjoyed it thoroughly for its duration. Immediately after chiming in, Takao would immediately follow with the second hook.

"If you can wait 'til I get hoooome~
Then I swear to you... that we can make this laaast~
Laaa laaa laaaa~
If you can wait 'til I get home~
Then I swear, come tomorrow, this will all be in our paaast~
Well it might be for the best~"

Suzume was quite pleased with the harmony created by the joining of their two voices. In fact, though she'd probably never admit it, it was also her favorite part of this particular song, as it played to both their talents as musicians. After her last line Takao took over and she got a bit of a rest while he sang the chorus. She smiled having a gander out into the crowd and catching a glimpse of Shutara and Jirou and finding both of their presences somewhat amusing beyond the norm before she began singing again.

"You know you can't give me what I need~
And even though you mean so much to me~
I can't wait through everything~
-
-
-
-
We knew it'd happen eventually~"

Suzume sang and got a few lines of rest before her next line which would be one of her favorites.

As Suzume took over the singing for a few lines, Takao began a slow forward walk toward the front. As he did this, he shifted his acoustic guitar to the right side of his body, and brought the bass around to his left side. While doing this though, he never stopped playing the former. Why he needed both guitars on hand would be seen momentarily.

"-
-
-
Is this really happening!?" he sang. Immediately afterwards, he began strumming a rift on his bass guitar without stopping the play of his acoustic. This was Takao's greatest talent on stage, beyond his already incredible playing ability, and even beyond his singing. He always held two guitars, and he was more than capable of playing them simultaneously with only one hand on each.

"I SWEAR I'LL NEVER BE HAPPY AGAIN~
AND DON'T YOU DARE SAY WE CAN JUST BE FRIENDS,
I'M NOT SOME BOY THAT YOU CAN SWAAAY~
We knew it'd happen eventually~!"

At the very end, both Takao and Suzume once again sang in unison. Next, though, the aim would be to get the audience involved. As Takao had both hands occupied, he expected that Suzume would be the one taking care of that matter.

"LA! LA LA LA! LA LA LA!
Now everybody's singing,
LA! LA LA LA! LA LA LA!
Now everybody's singing,
-
IF YOU CAN WAIT 'TIL I GET HOOOOOME~!
-
-
THEN I SWEAR WE CAN MAKE THIIIS LAAAAAST~!
-"

Suzume held a general dislike of everyone and everything, but even she had to be impressed by Takao's ability to play both his guitars at once. Such dexterity was worth more than a little bit of praise. She'd be sure to mention this at some point. But as the boy had officially taken over the full responsibility of playing the part of this song which required crowd involvement, it fell to the Storm Queen. Which to the surprise of many she did without the normal amount of abject distaste she normally put into activities, opening her arms and waving the mic at the crowd while singing the words. "Come on, sing it~ La la la la~" she inserted just in case there were a few dumb people around. She had little to no faith in general humanity. And to her credit all of the crowd began contributing to the "la" part of the chorus.

"LA! LA LA LA! LA LA LA!
Now everybody's singing,
LA! LA LA LA! LA LA LA!
Now everybody's singing,
-
IF YOU CAN WAIT 'TIL I GET HOOOOOME~!
-
-
THEN I SWEAR WE CAN MAKE THIIIS LAAAAAST~!
-"

In the back row, Shutara was singing la and watching Takao's rather masterful performance. She quite enjoyed his very advanced play style and actually really enjoyed this song beyond all that. "La la la la... la la la~" she chimed in swaying to the beat with her lit cellphone in the air, akin to the manner in which older people used to use lighters at concerts in a time before she was born. Of course, if she was doing this so was the rest of the chorusing crowd as the pair of Takao and Suzume put on an excellent stage show.

"IF YOU CAN WAIT 'TIL I GET HOOOOOOME~!
THEN I SWEAR WE CAN MAKE THIIIS LAAAAAAST~!"

At the very end of the song, the chanting continued within the audience. Among the joinees, there was the man called Atlas. He was likely the last person anyone in this building expected to be singing along, but in fact, he was. "La, la la la, la la la~" In spite of the massive intimidation factor this man boasted on a daily basis, he was a rather laid-back individual. He considered both people on stage to be comrades of his, and as such, he was able to enjoy himself in this very moment as they both did something they were fond of.

Shutara was singing along, but as she heard the voice of the huge man beside her, she couldn't help but let her eyes widen. Such a thing was a shock to her, and she couldn't help but want to share it with others, as he didn't look like the sort of person who would even do that sort of thing. With that in mind she created several strands with her regalia and attached the phone screen to the ceiling while shooting a video to capture a frontways image of the singing Gem King. Even if only for a few seconds it was bound to be amusing. 'The hell, this guy is the best~' she thought even before returning her attention to the stage while singing. "La, la la la, la la la~"

Suzume was having a great time and even took a moment to glance towards the back of the room to find both Jirou and the little one singing along, which was more than she could have expected. Such made her very happy inside, more so than she was capable of normally. And as she continued to sing the song soon ended. And she was left simply to grin in the face of this rather interactive crowd. She'd take this moment to appreciate her understudy properly. "Superstar, you do good work. And look at you... I've never seen someone play with that sort of skill, gotta say... I'm impressed." she said in a singular moment of praise with no negatives associated.

When the song was over, Takao could be seen looking in Suzume's direction. It seemed she was impressed with his ability to play, which brought a wide grin to the boy's face. "Oh, right. I suppose I haven't done that much on stage, huh? I could stand to show off a bit now, I think..." With that said, Takao triggered his Regalia in the form of the two guitars, causing them to hover via magnetism around the gloves he wore. Having that done freed him up to release both while also switching his microphone to its high priority setting, to give himself the stage, as it were.

"Du du du-du, du du du-du
Du du du-du, du du du-du
Du du~"

The moment this brief intro of his was done, Takao performed a hard strum of the bass to his left, while his right hand began playing a more regular set of chords.

"Some legends are told!
Some turn to dust or to gold!
But you will remember meeeee~!
Remember me for centuries,
And just one mistake...
Is all it will take,
We'll go down in historyyyyy~!
Remember me for centuries~!
He-e-e-ey ya, oh he-e-e-ey~!
He-e-e-ey ya,
Remember me for centuries~!"

Suzume was the type of person who couldn't well let her niceness stand for too long. Even though the boy looked so pleased with himself that she could hardly bring herself to come back to who she was. After all, she'd be remiss if she let anyone get the idea that she enjoyed their company too much. "Fuck all. Fine, I could use a drink anyways~" she said "Got this bratty ass Superstar taking over my show and shit." she said though there was still a smile on her face as she slipped off the stage and allowed this boy the openness of her stage. While he introduced himself she slipped to the back and would soon emerge with a Jack and Coke in hand and make her way towards the bar so she could have a good look at this boy's stage show and serve herself another drink.

Meanwhile, Shutara was wide eyed appreciating the song started by Takao. She always felt oddly connected to his music, and she could all but hear the boy's soul pouring into every song he sang. 'Oh~ Showing off again!!~' she thought as she raised her hands in the air and cheered for this boy. "Woooh!!!~

"Mummified my teenage dreams~
No, it's nothing wrong with me~
The kids are all wrong,
The story's all off~
Heavy metal broke my... heart!

Come on, come on and let me in~
The bruises on your thighs like my fingerprints!
And this is supposed to match,
The darkness that you felt~
I never meant for you to fix yourseeeeeelf~!

Some legends are told!
Some turn to dust or to gold!
But you will remember meeeee~!
Remember me for centuries,
And just one mistake...
Is all it will take,
We'll go down in historyyyyy~!
Remember me for centuries~!
He-e-e-ey ya, oh he-e-e-ey~!
He-e-e-ey ya,
Remember me for centuries~!"

As Takao's song carried into its second verse, the muscular blonde male turned away from the crowd and made his way toward the bar. When Suzume left the stage, he knew exactly where she would soon be headed. And lo, there she was, just as he arrived. "Y'know we're gettin' old if you're letting yourself get upstaged by a kid," he said ever so casually as he took a seat at the bar. "Got something back there for me?"

Suzume reached the bar in time to have an interesting person waiting for her when she arrived. Of course, his words caused the Storm Queen to scoff as she shot this man a look bordering disgust but it wasn't really that serious. As she watched the show that the 3rd Generation's Pulse King put on, she found herself thinking about this. "Whoa, fuck outta here with that shit. I am so not even getting old. I just..." she smirked looking back at the stage. "I like seeing that kid have fun." she mentioned there was something deeply soft about the Storm Queen and it was often unseen. But right at the moment she was still high off the fun of her stage show, so this was about expected. When asked though, if there was something back here for him, she looked at the man before her and chuckled.

"Of course there is!~" she said pulling a glass from behind the counter and a bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey as well. After a few seconds she began pouring the man a drink. "Tell me when... and also, what you're doing here." she said not bothering with the pretense of a question, it was simply a demand for information and this was perfectly normal behavior from the Storm Queen who was also steady filling the glass and would continue to do so until it was completely full if the man before her didn't stop her. While this occurred, Shutara remembered her phone and fetched it from the ceiling with a flick of her wrist, sending the recent video to her team's contact list on her phone. Figuring they could be sleep and would enjoy the clip later.

"Yeah, yeah. I hear an argument against being upstaged, but nothing good to dispute that aging of yours," he jested. In all honesty though, he had to admit that the Storm Queen hadn't lost her touch when it came to singing ability, in spite of the lowered frequency performances over the years. Albeit, he would not say such a thing out loud, or at least, not at this exact moment. A grin appeared on the Gem King's face when a bottle of Jack Daniel's brand whiskey was retrieved for his drinking pleasure. When Suzume next spoke, Atlas decided to specifically avoid placing a cut-off on the amount of liquor poured into his glass, but he would not avoid explaining his sudden, random appearance here. "I was just passin' through, actually. Heard you singing from outside, so I figured I'd invite myself in to have a listen."

"And I can't stop 'til the whole world knows my name~
'Cause I was only born inside my dreams~
Until you die for me, as long as there's a light, my shadow's over you,
'Cause I, I am the opp-o-site of am-ne-si-aaaaaaaaa~
And you're a cherry blossom,
You're about to bloom!
You look so pretty, but you're gone so soon~!"

As Takao continued, he used the small break between strums of his bass guitar to gesture towards the crowd, coaxing the spectators into singing along once more... or rather, into filling in the background vocals. In the meantime, he would proceed with a brief double guitar solo leading into the second hook.

The Storm Queen scofffed at the man's reaction and apparent fixation on her 'aging' status. A bit of a smirk came to her face as she simply ended up filling his glass while retorting the only way she truly could. "I don't need to dispute aging, I'm not getting old." she said seeming to be playfully cross. "And even if I am, you'll get there before me, cheers~" mentioned Suzume who raised her glass as she pushed the filled one towards the Gem King. The response given as to why the man had shown up here was one unexpected by the Storm Queen. She could thus only respond one way. "Oh? Nice~" and with that she had nothing more to say even though she found it particularly touching that this man had wandered in just to have a listen.

While the First Generation Gravity Children spoke at the bar, Shutara, and the rest of the crowd began contributing to the show being put on by Takao. The young man on stage was rather obviously really into crowd involvement and as such she'd help and so would all the people present who seemed to really enjoy this stage show.

"Du du du-du, du du du-du
Du du du-du, du du du-du
Du du~"

"Can't argue that. To aging," he said while raising his recently filled glass, tapping it against the one in Suzume's hand. Afterwards, he began gulping down the drink provided to him. "So, got any new tricks since our last little meeting?" he asked after finally bringing his glass down to the counter.

"Some legends are told!
Some turn to dust or to gold!
But you will remember meeeee~!
Remember me for centuries,
And just one mistake...
Is all it will take,
We'll go down in historyyyyy~!
Remember me for centuries~!
He-e-e-ey ya, oh he-e-e-ey~!
He-e-e-ey ya,
Remember me for centuries~!"

Takao was able to briefly give up on one guitar, in exchange for focusing more on bass. His free hand was raised to entice the crowd in time for his next verse. As the final verse began, he hopped off the stage, moving directly into the crowd.

"Weeee've been here foreveeeeeeer~!
And heeeere's the frozen proooooof~!
IIIII could scream foreveeeeeer~!
We aaaaaaare the poisoned yoooooouth~!"

Once again, he would prompt the crowd to join in. This time, however, he would also be chanting while constantly moving through the spectators en route to Shutara. When the very end of the chanting was nigh, he leaned toward the lass and grabbed his microphone, pulling it toward her.

"Du du du-du, du du du-du
Du du du-du, du du du-du
Du du...
Du du du-du, du du du-du
Du du...
-"

"Hai~" chimed in the Storm Queen as she also drained her glass. She figured at some point she'd be returning to the stage, or perhaps she'd just let the boy finish up. To be fair, she'd performed more today than she'd had in the last couple of years and as such she was fine with leaving things as they were. Still, upon being asked by the Gem King if she'd come up with any new tricks since their last meeting. Given the kind of person that she was, Suzume could take this phrase a couple of different ways. Oddly enough, she decided to answer ambiguously. "Maybe~ Wanna find out?" she asked knowing that the statement was just as misleading as the initial question could be.

Meanwhile the boy on the stage, seemed to be getting really into his performance. And in wrapping up his song he put the Silk Queen on the spot. Her eyes widened as the microphone was leaned towards her, but since she'd been singing along the entire time, she finished the line.

"du du du-du
Du du..."

She seemed to be exceedingly embarrassed about it afterwards, but she'd be the first to admit that being included in these stage shows was rather fun. Though, being put on the spot was quite interesting and it gave her a moment to realize she'd done similar to him in the past.

"Hoh~" the man replied. Before giving a proper response, he picked up his glass once more to drain the remainder of its content. "Y'know, that actually doesn't sound like a bad idea. What's the venue?"

The young musician seemed pleased when Shutara sang into his microphone with little to no prior notice given. The moment she was done with her line, he returned to playing, even beginning the hook again.

"Some legends are told!
Some turn to dust or to gold!
But you will remember meeeee~!
Remember me for centuries,
And just one mistake...
Is all it will take,
We'll go down in historyyyyy~!
Remember me for centuries~!
He-e-e-ey ya, oh he-e-e-ey~!
We'll go down in historyyyyyy~!
Remember me for centuries~~!"

"Oh please, I only have one venue~" she said referencing her own love of simply being out in the open air (which was likely the reason she traveled so often). Holding her arm up in the air, she'd whistle a bird call which would bring from up in the rafters a large bird of prey. This bird happened to be carrying in its talons a pair of what appeared to be high class ATs. And as it circled over Suzume's head it dropped the ATs into her hand and landed on her arm. She'd then pet with her first two fingers of her clear hand as she held the bird on the same arm that she did her ATs. Suzume then pointed to the back exit with a wink at the Gem King. A passing wave of her ATs in her left hand while her pet balanced on the right, would be all she gave to the boy on stage as he finished up. She assumed he'd take the hint though she hadn't actually slipped out of one of her own shows in quite some time.

Her part done Shutara watched while Takao finished up his song of choice, taking note that the redhead who owned this place didn't seem to care that she was walking out on her own show. 'Hm... that's strange.' she thought but given she was still being amused and fighting off her own blushes, she had no real reason to further ponder the goings on of the adults in the First Generation.

"Right. After you, then," the man said as he placed his emptied glass atop the bar counter. He then followed behind Suzume, tracing her path to the rear exit with a nod toward the performing Pulse King.

The teenage brunette had brought a fair end to his previous track, and was expecting a return to the stage by Suzume. However, when he looked toward the bar, she was preparing to take her leave of the venue, and the Gem King was with her. The fact that the woman had her ATs in hand gave him an idea of what would transpire, which gave him another idea... his next song. To start, he nodded to Suzume and combined his two guitars into an electric lead. This allowed him to play loud enough for his next song to reach the outside of the bar.

"They fall in line, one at a time, ready to play!
I can't see them anyway~
No time to lose, we've got to move, steady your helm!
I am losing sight again~

Fire your guns, it's time to run, blow me away!
I will stay in the mess I've made~
After the fall, we'll shake it off!
Show me the way!

Only the strongest will survive!
Lead me to heaven when we die!
I am the shadow on the wall!
I'll be the one to save us all!"

Suzume soon found herself exiting the back of the club and pausing for just a few seconds to allow her bird to go back to the sky as well as let the Gem King join her outside. While this occurred she was able to hear the song choice of the Pulse King as he played for the crowd she'd all but abandoned, and the words of it made the redhead chuckle. "Fucking cheeky brat." she mumbled as she held her ATs in her hand. She was obviously debating putting them on, but after a few seconds decided to do so if only because she found her newest trick easiest when she was wearing them. That being said as she slipped her boots off and slipped the wheeled skates on she smiled enjoying the song the boy played within.

Within the club the small girl with the buns on her head was enjoying the music as well, and had posted herself up to the left of the stage in the front row. She was interested in the boy's song choice, and figured it had something to do with his redheaded mentor but she couldn't question this in the present moment.

"You like it," the Gem King said in passing as he readied himself by stretching. "You'll like this too. I picked up a little something from everybody's favorite guy." With that said, Jirou activated his Regalia, causing the swivel arm atop his ATs to drop the additional wheel into the ground, rooting him to the surface. Tremors were formed in the area immediately surrounding the man, raising small chunks of the ground around him and leaving them suspended mid-air. "You ready?" he asked.

"There's nothing left, so save your breath, lying in wait!
Caught inside this tidal wave~
Your cover's blown, no where to go, holding your fate!
Loaded, I will walk alone~

Fire your guns, it's time to run, blow me away!
I will stay in the mess I've made~
After the fall, we'll shake it off!
Show me the way!

Only the strongest will survive!
Lead me to heaven when we die!
I am the shadow on the wall!
I'll be the one to save us all:

You wanted it bad!
Don't! Make! Me! Mad!

Here comes~~!

Die~~~~!"

Suzume waved this man off and took the posture of one most defiant. After a second, she spoke down playing her entire interest in this situation. "As if..." she stated simply rolling her eyes. She didn't seem to realize the folly that if she didn't enjoy that young boy and all he had to offer he very well wouldn't be capable of doing many of the things she allowed him. Beyond this, the Gem King stated he had picked up something from everyone's favorite guy. "Oh really? I feel like I missed some very interesting twin bonding~" she said smirking. The Storm Queen subsequently rolled away from the building only to watch as her pet falcon swooped down and picked up her missing boots only to go even higher right before Atlas activated his regalia. "I am always ready. Not as if I am a very patient to begin with... show me what ya' got already~" the woman seemingly very demanding in her own right, a gust of wind would manifest around her body and blow outward an invitation for the man to try her. She couldn't honestly say she wasn't interested in whatever the Gem King had to show her, considering he'd picked it up off the Flame King.

Meanwhile the crowd and Shutara seemed to be enjoying the song the Pulse King played as he seemed to get to the height of the song. It was divine this show and though Shutara hadn't expected more singing from the Pulse King she always enjoyed his music and as such seemed content to keep enjoying from her present perch.

"Meh, it was the usual shit. Finally convinced the guy to have a couple'a drinks with me a few hours ago, now that he's on vacation and shit. Anyway..." Taking Suzume's wind burst as a sign of challenge, the Gem King created vibrations through the ground and air simultaneously, at such intensity that time would appear to stop for all things in the area, even the air, so long as he kept up the trick. Though he was incapable of moving location at this time, he had taken precautions. Jirou grabbed the floating rocks around him, and began throwing them toward Suzume's location. Of course, the stones were rendered immobile again once they left Jirou's grasp, but the moment he restored things to their functional state, they would be launched forward simultaneously. This would seem to happen spontaneously the moment after Jirou's statement, but in reality, roughly four seconds had passed.

"Only the strongest will survive!
Lead me to heaven when we die!
I am the shadow on the wall!
I'll be the one to save us aaaaaaaaaaaall!

Save us aaaaaaaall~!"

"He's been drinking?!" there was a significant bit of surprise from the Storm Queen. Their Flame King was among the more responsible of their group, and though she always had faith in his abilities she wasn't sure of what he'd come up with to do for amusement if he was drinking and no longer in the presence of his twin. 'Aw hell, now I am going to have to wait for my next manicure. I've put it off forever already...' the Storm Queen thought rather irritably. Of course, she couldn't well say that Kurama didn't deserve a break, as he was constantly attending to the needs of others while doing nothing for himself.

But the last thing she heard was the Gem King stating anyways. Then rocks were rather suddenly in her face and she was shocked by them as they flew into her and she reflexively raised her hands which caused a burst of wind to blow away all that traveled towards her. Of course, they weren't very damaging but she was still just a bit shocked and as she listened to the words of the song carrying on from inside her club she could tell that though she'd missed something she wasn't quite sure what it was yet. "The fuck was that?" the Storm Queen questioned, she had to admit that this trick had a similar feeling to ones completed by the Flame King but she knew that he pulled those off with speed and body knowledge, and being stationary the Gem King would have had to think of something else entirely to complete what he'd just done.

"I call it Still Frame." As Jirou went on to explain his new trick, he retracted his Regalia and stepped forward. "Nii-san's been hiding something for a long time. He upgraded that Time trick of his a long time ago. I finally got the secret out of him, but I wouldn't be able to match or copy it in a million years. So, I stopped time a different way. Vibrations are where it's at." With that said, he raised his left hand and beckoned the Storm Queen, aiming to find out what she had developed in this time as well. "Even Aomine shouldn't be able to prevent being frozen in place by vibrations like this. So, what'cha got in the works?"

Suzume looked at the man with her more than a bit surprised when he explained the nature of his trick. Beyond that the knowledge that their Flame King had upgraded his own and let the secret of it be known to his twin was something a bit stunning to the redhead. 'That sly fox.' she thought a huge grin spreading across her face as she clapped her hands together stilling the winds around them even the ones she hadn't created herself. "Vibrations huh? That is..." there was a pause, the Storm Queen was normally one who picked things and people apart with relative ease but in this case she simply had nothing negative to say. "Impressive." she said acknowledging the Gem King's work on his own advancement.

As he stopped the use of his regalia and stepped forward she relaxed her body and decided this was going to be a show moment instead of a tell one. In order to show though she'd have to give both sides of the spectrum which wouldn't be much of a problem in the first place. A whistle would escape her lips and her hands would then come together swiftly creating a bubble of wind around herself and forcing it into her ATs. It would be at this point that her regalia would active her wheels unfurling and a large talon replacing the front of her ATs. She'd be left to hover about a foot off the ground which was in general exactly how she liked to be. She'd then lower just her right leg while spinning and gathering winds in the activation of her Infinity Atmosphere. "Windless Barrier: Astral Magus." she stated knowing this wasn't new at all. Wind would kick up in a tight little hurricane around the pair of them, but this destruction was so well controlled that she kept its radius finite enough not to affect the club she owned. As they were now in the middle of a raging hurricane and cut off from the outside world she stopped moving and for a second just admired the column of the wind. 'Eh, seems a damn shame to do this to myself.' she thought absently only realize this was the first time she could actually stop this without having to completely maim herself. The Astral Magus absorbed winds and nullified them within, crippling herself and her opponents simulatenously. But the Storm Queen had a fix for this which she started soon after, in a way which would be unknown to her friends.

A mild spin of her body would result in winds forming once more, but unlike before when her own wind was absorbed by the hurricane she stood in now it sharpened, changing the pressure within and cutting the spirals of wind once used to confine herself and others. Such a thing was achieved by releasing her own winds at differential pressures before they could be equalized by the hurricane. Such was a thing which could be used, not only to nullify her own Infinity atmosphere but to rip away those of others. This would be exampled as these talons of wind shot off from her body broke through the winds of her hurricane dispersing them. Suzume also had enough control over this to avoid shredding the Gem King when doing this, but the sight of a storm which was normally ceaseless stopping altogether was still something that amazed even Suzume at the present moment. "That. That's what I've been working on." she mentioned after of the thing she had in the works.

The Gem King found it a bit strange that Suzume chose to showcase her well-known Infinity Atmosphere when expected to unveil a new trick. He couldn't imagine what this could have to do with it, unless she'd come up with an advancement of the Infinity Atmosphere trick itself. What he saw next was nothing of the sort. Instead, he saw winds akin to a reaper's scythe cutting through even the Storm Queen's own Infinity Atmosphere. "Sou ka," he said. Now, he understood completely why Astral Magus had been necessary. "Damn shame. Now I don't think I came up with something strong enough. Always showin' the rest of us up, huh?"

The Storm Queen lowered her hands, but not before flicking that little curl of hair over her head and making it go back to its standing position. A bit of a nonchalant look on her face as the Gem King explained that he didn't think his own new trick strong enough compared to hers. She couldn't help but chuckle, such a thing was quite normal for a while among her friends and she couldn't well imagine the big and muscular man feeling like anything he had to offer wasn't strong enough. "Well, showmanship is and has always been my thing. Deal with it." she said rolling her eyes, this had been rather fun for the woman though so she wasn't actually in a bad mood. "I've been calling that one the Atmospheric Rift... for what are probably very obvious reasons." mentioned the Storm Queen, at least if the Gem King was impressed she knew that her trick was around the ball park of what she'd been aiming for. She was also still enjoying hovering off the ground, her actions would be followed by a whistle which would bring her pet back into sight still holding her boots but circling about thirty feet over head. This was done just so she could make sure he was still close enough by, as he had her favorite pair of boots in his possession.

It had been quite some time since the third generation of Gravity Children's Pulse King had performed, but now here he was, front and center of the stage that had begun as his outlet roughly one year prior to this day. As he stood before the crowd, he began to strum his acoustic guitar blade, Oathkeeper. This was his device for affecting the minds and emotional states of the listeners, and in this particular case, such would be applied in a manner befitting the chosen song.

Everything's so bluuurry,
And everyone's so fake~
And everybody's eeempty,
And everything is so messed up~
Preoccupied withooout you,
I cannot live at all~
My whole world surrooounds you,
I stumble then I crawl~
You could be my sooomeone,
You could be my scene!
You know that I'll proteeect you,
From all of the obscene!
I wonder what you're doooing,
Imagine where you are!
There's oceans in betweeeen us,
But that's not very faaaar~!

Behind the bar, a buxom redheaded woman seemed to be enjoying a drink and serving the of age guests. This particular talent seemed to bring in a much younger and more female crowd but there were still some who really enjoyed his music but were on the fringes of his musical appeal. They were being given drinks but as the music began she stopped serving anyone and just watched with roughly the same feeling she had the first time she'd watched him sing on a stage. 'That kid's a Superstar.' a smile curved her lips as she watched this song.

"Can you take it all away~!
Can you take it all away~!
Well ya' shoved it in my face~!
This pain you gave to me~!
Can you take it all away~!
Can you take it all away~!
Well ya' shoved it in my face~~!"

While the first verse of this song was performed in an especially mellow tone, the chorus seemed to be the polar opposite. It was more akin to screaming than anything, but once it was over, verse two began in the same way its predecessor had. In the meantime, Takao walked with his guitar toward the edge of the stage to view the crowd beyond the stage lights.

"Everyone is chaaanging,
There's no one left that's real~
So make up your own eeending,
And let me know just how you feel~
Cause I am lost withooout you,
I cannot live at all~
My whole world surrooounds you,
I stumble then I crawl~

And you could be my sooomeone,
You could be my scene!
You know that I will saaave you,
From all of the unclean!
I wonder what you're doooing,
I wonder where you are!
There's oceans in betweeeen us,
But that's not very faaaar~!"