Part 7: Crank Up the Rock

Regulus: This place is pretty swank up close, I gotta say.
Riley: Yeah, back when this town was flush with gold, they built it as a fancy kind of opera hall.
Regulus: That'd explain it. Opera was never my jam, y'know. Why spend all that money to hang around some stuffy, old geezers?
APPLe: Ms. Riley, where were we to meet Mr. Johnny and the others?
Riley: They're gonna pull around back and unload. So, I guess that leaves us to find a way in.
Regulus doesn't wait for the answer; she heads right to the door of the theater.
Regulus: Hang on a tic. Wasn't there supposed to be a "gathering" here?
Her words reverberate through the empty theater as a single figure rises from the seats below.
Mayor Jonathan: I'm glad to see you've changed your mind about our invitation.
The gentleman's gaze shifts from her to the bobbing apple that has rushed in behind her.
Mayor Jonathan: Mr. APPLe.
APPLe: Mayor. I do hope you don't mind, but we've brought a few other guests.
Mayor Jonathan: Not at all. I'm honored to have you all here to join our service.
APPLe: About that, sir ... We intend to make some changes to tonight's performance.
Flash Lianna: Hey, Captain! Let's bust some heads and rock out—
Her crewmates barge in behind them with a crash, holding their instruments high.
Regulus: Fab, Lianna. Get your gear up on stage and set us up.
Mayor Jonathan: I take it these are your guests, Mr. APPLe?
APPLe: Exactly, sir. We thought we'd offer our help to liven up the service.
Mayor Jonathan: Of course. How thoughtful of you. Though we may just need a larger venue for tonight's banquet.
Flash Lianna: Oh, and Captain, I hope you don't mind, but we figured we'd swing through town and pick up a few more friends.
Regulus: Friends?
Four-Finger Johnny: Yeah, my girl, Anna, and a bunch of other folks tired of these bastards running our town!
Four-Finger Johnny: Hahahah, is this all you Order of Enlightenment thugs could manage for a turnout?
Flash Lianna: It's for the best if you ask me! I'd rather be playing for a live audience than some old busybodies.
Flash Lianna: This town has been crying out for freedom! Now, we're going to do something about it! We've all been itching for a way to break out and finally do something big.
Dust, cheers, excitement, and restlessness pour in waves down the road—one car, then another, as a convoy of cars and people make their way through the town toward the theater.
Folks young and old come together in the streets, ripping down the repressive notices as they go, all headed in one direction.
Mayor Jonathan: Would have been nice to get a little more warning if you were fixing to invite so many ... guests.
The gentleman's once "affable" tone turns rotten as he drawls out the words.
Mayor Jonathan: Especially when so many of them are exactly the type of undesirables we've been trying to keep out.
Mayor Jonathan: Ladies and gentlemen, I do regret to remind you that this particular gathering is for arcanists only, so I would ask that you show your registration forms before you—
Riley: Pardon me, Mayor, but I think you ought to reconsider that policy.
...
The vocalist had snuck up behind the mayor and now presses the metal barrel of her gun to his back.
Of course, the only thing in the chamber is a burst of confetti, but he's in no position to figure that out.
Mayor Jonathan: What in tarnation is going on?
Regulus: Didn't you hear us? We're putting on a show.
Her companions rush to set up their equipment on stage.
Regulus: Been thinking this town could use a little change of genre. We thought we might switch things up and do a bit of the old gospel.
Regulus: That's right! The gospel of the Gods of Rock'n'Roll! Something to liven up the ghosts of this old town.
Riley: The control room's upstairs. I'll handle it. Once the music starts, I'll have us blaring from every speaker in town!
Familiar with the venue, Riley palms the gun over to Regulus—the barrel still pointed firmly at the unfortunate gentleman's waist.
Mayor Jonathan: You punk kids don't know what you're doing; it was one thing to want to play your trash music, but now you've gone too far. The Order of Enlightenment does not tolerate dissent.
The cold steel is prodded against his waist again.
Mayor Jonathan: But I suppose it doesn't matter to scoundrels like you, does it? You didn't even bother to ask if you could. Better just to use force.
Regulus: Don't go acting all high and mighty, mate. You and your thugs have kept this town under your boot for too long, and this, this is your comeuppance.
Mayor Jonathan: We can still end this peacefully, Miss. If you lower the gun now, we can discuss terms—
Enforcer I: Stop right there! Everyone, hands in the air!
A commanding voice booms from outside. Riley halts mid-step up the stairs, and the band members look up from the set as a wave of Order of Enlightenment enforcers barge into the theater.
They push their way up towards the stage armed with batons, a familiar face leading the way.
Four-Finger Johnny: I knew they'd get out of those old ropes!
Mayor Jonathan: Now that everyone's here, perhaps we might revisit our negotiations.
Standing tall from his position on stage, the mayor surveys the theater as though assessing a battlefield between two opposing armies.
Enforcer II: Back up! Everyone, step back! Drop what you're holding!
Enforcer III: Don't move!! Don't think for a second I won't smack you down!
They raise their weapons, hoping a show of force will quench the flames of rebellion.
Audience Member I: What the hell are you doing!? We're your neighbors for God's sake! Are you trying to start a bloodbath?
Enforcer II: No, sir, we're just here to uphold the law and protect our duly elected mayor.
Audience Member II: Law? You really going to call all these stupid ordinances you've passed the law?
Audience Member II: First it was the arcanist registration, now you're banning music, and arresting kids! You "Enlightenment" thugs have gone off the deep end!
Enforcer III: Listen! Take one more step forward, and you're all going straight to jail!!
Hands gripping weapons tremble, as do the ones clutching instruments. But no one steps back.
Audience Member I: We just want to have a concert.
Regulus: Exactly. A rock concert.
The gun barrel lifts away from the mayor's waist, and as it does, he breathes a sigh of relief.
Mayor Jonathan: Good. Now let's all behave like reasonable peo—
Mayor Jonathan: —ple ...!
Of course there's no bullet and no blood.
Only harmless, colorful ribbons.
Regulus: What? I thought this scene could use a bit of a festivity.
The loud pop brings every eye in the theater straight to the mayor and the pirate.
A moment of silence passes as the ribbons begin to land on the gentleman's coat. His expression shifts from shock to stupor and then to fury.
Mayor Jonathan: Damn it! Arrest them! Don't let any of these punks escape!
His words proved the perfect signal to raise the curtain and start the show.
Audience Member I: Damn it!! My guitar!!!
Audience Member III: Hey! Give it back!
Enforcer II: Back off! You're breaking the law! The mayor's rules are clear—you're—
A drumstick to the head cuts off his lecture. The snapped stick is grabbed and thrown away into the throng of people.
Enforcer II: You brat! I've had enough of you stirring up trouble!
Audience Member II: Well, we've had enough of you!
Audience Member III: Don't let them ruin this show!!
The roiling crowd boils over, unleashing a primal scene as batons and arcane skills fly.
Riley fights her way past the thugs to the second floor as the band gears up to play over the brawl.
Somewhere, a record player blares to life, a strange floating tune flooding the gaps between the bodies.
"We'll all return to dust someday. History won't even remember our names."♪
A hat, launched like a cannonball, flies through the air, only to be swatted back by APPLe.
Regulus: Hey, whoever picked that record—great taste.
Flash Lianna: Captain! You're on the mic! Get up here!
The stage becomes an island over the chaotic sea. Lianna swings her guitar like a club, knocking a hapless thug back into the growing mosh pit below.
"Embrace your troubles; don't wait until the sea floods your ears."♪
Mayor Jonathan: You absolute dolts! What was the purpose of filling all of your pockets if you can't even do your damn jobs! Upstairs! Someone's upstairs—go—
The mayor's voice fails to cut through the cheers and shouts as the crowd breaks through the line of his stooges and makes their way to him.
Mayor Jonathan: Damn it! What the hell do you think you're going to accomplish with this mess!?
Regulus: Consider this a declaration of independence, as you Yanks would call it. These people want freedom, and we're here to give it to them!
Mayor Jonathan: Get your filthy hands off my coat! I'll remember your face! Shut off that record player! Just wait. There'll be new laws by morning.
The mayor is swallowed up by the crowd.
"No one's the same. But we're all yearning for the same thing."♪
Regulus strides through the storm, dodging flying guitars, batons, and people. Cloaked in cheers and curses, she climbs atop the stage.
Audience: ROCK—
Audience: ROCK, ROCK, ROCK!!
"Shining moments. Forever unchanging."♪
Lianna retrieves a new guitar. Johnny makes a final check on the tuning. Now the whole crew stands ready, and the speakers crackle with static.
As Regulus, like a pirate queen of metal, grasps the microphone in her hands.
Regulus: Here me now! As I declare! Right here in Gold Dust!
Regulus: That tonight is the end! No more stupid laws, no more bans!
Regulus: No rules! None at all! Gone today, gone tomorrow!
Regulus: Now! Gold Dust, clean out those ears!
Regulus: Turn up your radios and crank the volume to the max!
Regulus: Let me hear you people! Raise those voices up and throw up those hands! 'Cause tonight we're delivering you the soundtrack of the revolution!
Regulus: Order of Enlightenment? People of Gold Dust—!
Regulus: Let's give them a taste of what true enlightenment looks like!!
One week later
Sonetto: ...
Regulus: And that's how APPLe and I missed the concert.
Regulus: Can you believe they locked us up for three whole days?! Three days! For what?
A newspaper on the table reads, "Troublemakers Disrupt Religious Service, Hold Mayor Hostage."
A certain apple under arrest.
6 young individuals with their "criminal instruments," a "pop gun," and plenty of smiles.
Alongside 233 other music lovers.
Sonetto: If it weren't for the Foundation and Timekeeper stepping in, you'd have been in there for far longer, and you wouldn't have gotten your records back.
Sonetto: I hope you might learn something of a lesson from all this.
Sonetto: Don't you recall, back at the School of Apeiron, all that trouble we got in over breaking rules?
Sonetto: Now, about that group you mentioned—the Order of Enlightenment ... Do you still have the letter they sent you?
Regulus: Oh, you want this? Fine, consider it a little souvenir from my ordeal.
She hands over the letter to Sonetto's waiting hand.
Sonetto: The Foundation will be looking into them; if what you've told us is accurate, it may merit further investigation.
Sonetto: Oh, but we did receive a letter for you. From a ... "Riley"?
Regulus: Riley? Give it here! I gotta know what my sister in rock is up to now!
Regulus grabs the letter. The envelope is adorned with a hand-drawn image of several people holding instruments.
Regulus: Dear Captain—
Riley: Dear Captain, our concert was absolutely incredible! I've never seen a crowd so alive!
Riley: Word has it, the whole town erupted after our performance that night! It's such a shame we didn't get to see much of the reaction.
Riley: Not that it mattered much, I guess. The Order of Enlightenment steamrollered back in the next day. Nothing changed—same old laws, some new ones too. People act like nothing even happened.
Riley: Whatever. Let those thugs keep piling on the rules. They'll keep burning our records to ash and drowning out the airways with their droning hymns about chains and pens.
Riley: In short, we did **** all.
Riley: The Order of Enlightenment's grip, that grumpy mayor—all of it's still here.
Riley: So, maybe tomorrow will suck as much as the next day.
Riley: But for that brief moment, we were free.
Riley: And if some kid asks about real music one day, I'll be able to tell them the truth.
Riley: You said it, Captain, rock is the soundtrack of the revolution. And I have to believe that one day, we're going to win.
Sonetto listens silently as the letter concludes, a thoughtful expression crossing her face.
Regulus: Riley's really got a way with words. I hope she makes it back to the mic one day.
Sonetto: Well, it does sound like you had a fun time at least.
Regulus: Fun? Fun doesn't even begin to cover it.
Sonetto nods faintly, then changes the subject.
Sonetto: Your friend's letter gave me much to think about—about music, about Gold Dust, about rock. I suppose there is still a lot I have to learn.
Sonetto: For instance, I'm actually quite curious what all the fuss is about "rock music." From what I understand, the genre has a great deal to do with the rebellion of youth and ...
Regulus: Stop, stop! Don't over-analyze it.
Regulus: Rock'n'roll isn't complicated, Sonetto.
Regulus: Rock is rock. That's it. That's all.