Things Are Complicated Sometimes

- Stephen's house, 24 hours before the gig -

"Okay, listen up. As you know, we're playing a show tomorrow with-" Stephen started.

"Or against." You added.

"...or against Crash and the Boys." Stephen continued, pointing at a paper presentation.

"Boooo." Scott jeered, and you followed with a thumbs down.

"'Crash' Willson sings and plays guitar." You could tell Stephen's disdain for Crash was strong, since they were basically the same person. But Stephen was better by default.

"And that guy Joel on bass? I hate that guy!" Scott added, arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Don't you hate all bass players?" Kim asked.

"Well, I don't hate myself, Kim." Scott explained, and Kim rolled her eyes.

"What else is on the rival info board, Steph?" You asked, looking over at the paper.

"I found out they got a new drummer recently. Their old guy went insane and lapsed into a coma or something." Stephen said, pointing at the drawing of the new drummer.

"So, who's the new guy?" Scott asked.

"It's a..." Stephen hesitated, and you already had a pretty good idea why. "...girl."

"They got a girl drummer?!" Kim exclaimed, gitting her teeth, an intense anger in her eyes.

"Chill chill chill." You said, scooting next to Kim and patting her back. And surprisingly, she let you do that.

"She's their secret weapon! They call her Trasha, and she's eight years old." Stephen explained, and flipped to Trasha's part of the presentation. "I hear they discovered her at Pacific Mall Arcade, playing Drum-Mania. She has so much A.D.D., it's not even funny."

"I hate her so much." Kim immediately expressed her dislike for the drummer.

"Are you really gonna start beef with an 8-year old?" You nervously chuckled as a trickle of sweat ran down your head.

"Yes." Kim confirmed with a serious tone.

"But we also have a secret weapon. Something Crash and the Boys don't have." Stephen added as he shot a look at you.

"We've got the awesome sound, and we have amazing visuals." You reclined on the wall, smirking. "We've got this in the bag."

"Well, let's do it! Let's practice! We've got 24 hours!" Scott raised his fist into the air.

"Let's rock this joint!" You cheered as you stood up and hit your palm with your fist in a "let's get this done" sort of way.

- 24 hours later, at the Rockit -

"And remember, we've gotta walk in there with confidence, like we own the place." You instructed the others, sporting the "Y and N" sunglasses you found in one of the boxes at No-Account Video.

"Why, exactly?" Kim asked, not exactly convinced.

"Simple." You replied, lowering your shades in a cool way. "People like bands with attitude, so let's show these guys what we're made of!"

"You heard them. Confidence. Like we own the place. Go go go." Stephen instructed the others, and soon enough, the others were heading into the Rockit with the same sort of attitude.

It looked like Scott was already there, with Stacey, Wallace, and somebody else. "We'll head to the backstage, Wyenn. You coming?" Stephen asked, and you turned around.

"I'll catch up later. Gotta say hi to my friends." You said, and made your way over to where Scott was standing. "'Sup, Scott, Stacey, Wallace?"

"Hey Y/N." Stacey said as she gave you a fist bump.

"Yo, Wyenn. Hey, Scott, I ran into your sister outside, other Scott couldn't make it." Wallace said.

"You can hang out with us, Wallace." Stacey offered, with Wallace giving a nod.

"So, who's your friend, Stace?" Wallace asked as he took off his coat.

"Yeah, who's the honorary guest?" You added, crossing your arms.

"This is Jimmy." Stacey replied as she signaled to Jimmy.

"Hey." He simply greeted.

"This is my brother's boy-crazy roommate, Wallace, and his way cooler than him friend, Y/N." Stacey introduced you both to Jimmy.

"Nice to meet you." Wallace greeted with a handshake, which Jimmy reciprocated.

"Uh... yeah!" Jimmy replied, and shook his hand.

"Yo, Jimmy. What's up, dude?" You took a more laid-back approach, and simply held your hand out for a high-five, and Jimmy responded with a high-five. "You heard my name, but you call my Wyenn, 'kay? 'Cause we're cool."

Jimmy nervously nodded, and you could tell he was a bit awkward.

"Thank you for coming, guys! You and Wyenn are my only friends." Scott said as he referred to you and Stacey.

"Awww, I'm always there for my little brother's crappy band's shows, you know that!" Stacey said as she gave a smug smirk.

"Heh, we'll see if you can call it 'crappy' once you see the show we're about to put on." You challenged Stacey, and gave a confident smile.

"You're on, buddy." Stacey replied.

"Heyyyy!" Knives' voice suddenly chimed in the convo, accompanied by one of her friends, Tamara Chen.

"Lookin' spiffy, Knives!" You complimented, a finger gun pointed at her.

"You just say that because I'm kinda dressed like you." Knives smiled as she showcased her new outfit.

And yeah, it looked a lot like yours, with some color differences. A green flannel shirt, a black hoodie, a white vest, a black skirt, and some black boots.

"Nah, but it looks good on you." You added, with a thumbs up.

To finish off this little reunion, Ramona entered the scene. She seemed to recognize you immediately, as you were the first person she approached. "Y/N, hey. You're in the band too?"

"Sure am." You replied, and gave her a wave. "As visual effects, mostly. But still, I make sure all eyes are on us."

"You actually came... Hi." Scott awkwardly greeted, and Ramona just gave him a wave.

"Okay, meetings later. C'mon Scott, we've got a show to blow away people with." You said, and gave Scott a light punch to the shoulder.

"Right." Scott nodded, and you headed for the backstage.

- At the backstage -

You, Scott, Stephen, and Kim had just arrived to the backstage. Stephen looked a little nervous, and you knew why. The crowd was big, and this was the first gig Sex Bob-Omb would have.

"Yo, talent man." You called out as you pat Stephen's back. "We're gonna do great out there. Trust me."

"Are we? I mean, to be honest, you're gonna be the only reason why anyone cares about the show." Stephen replied. "Without your light show, this would be a disaster."

"Hey, joining this band was the best choice I ever made since I got here." You insisted. "And if there's anyone who's going to make the audience fall in love with the band, it's gonna be you, Scott, and Kim."

"But I-" Stephen tried to protest, but you put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Without you, I wouldn't be here, either. The band and its music are awesome. I may have joined by chance, but I stayed for a reason. And that reason is because I love making this band shine." You told him. "So if you're still having doubts, get rid of them. Because-"

"SO SAD!!!" You were interrupted by Crash and the Boys, who were currently... uh... playing their song? It lasted 0.4 seconds...

"...as I was saying... Because we are going to rock this stage, and it's all thanks to the band, not just me." You continued, and Stephen gave you a more relaxed look.

"Thanks, Wyenn. Really. I needed to hear that." Stephen sighed in relief.

- A bit later -

"Well, the audience is dead." Scott said as he looked at the crow from the stage.

"Yikes, 'Last Song Kills Audience' really lived up to its name, huh?" You commented, cracking your knuckles. "Alrighty, let's get them back up and running again."

Using neon, you managed to get everyone back up. That healing others thing that came with all Conduit powers was also useful when it came to making everyone go back to being alive.

"Alright everyone, now that you're back from the dead, let's lift those spirits!" You spoke into the microphone, signaling at Kim, giving her a "your call" kind of look.

"WE ARE SEX BOB-OMB!!! ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!" Kim shouted as she and the rest of the band started to play.

And thus, the song "Garbage Truck" began. And the show was in full swing. Everyone was cheering and dancing, and the audience was getting hyped up.

Even more so when you began to do your neon light show, the neon colors flying and flashing all around the stage, and some of it forming the lyrics of the songs being sung. Including some reenacting the scenes the song described.

I'll take you for a ride

On my garbage truck

Oh, no

I'll take you to the dump

'Cause you're my queen

I'll take you uptown

I'll show you the sites

You know you wanna ride

On my garbage truck

Truck, truck, truck

We'll pass the mansions by

Drive right through the needle's eye

Oh, my

My, my, my, my

I've got a stereo

You've just got to turn the knob

And maybe we'll go

As far as we can

I'll be your garbage man

I'll take out your junk

And I'll crush it down

Jesus in the rear view

And the highway patrol is up ahead

In my garbage truck

Truck

I'll never throw you away

When you're old and gray

We'll just roll it away

Once the song ended, you heard a crash. You looked up, and you saw someone dropping from the sky. Out of instinct, you began unraveling the chain on your right wrist, getting ready to fight whoever dropped.

"Mr. Pilgrim, it is I, Matthew Pate-!" The guy started, but couldn't finish his sentence as he received a neon-covered chain whip to the face, knocking him away.

"...whoops. Sorry!" You apologized, and pulled the chain back.

"Argh... What the hell, man?!" Matthew stood up, a glowing purple and blue neon line running across his cheek.

"You scared me! You can't drop from the ceiling like that, dude!" You replied, holding your hands up defensively.

"Wh-whatever! As I was saying, Mr. Pligrim! It is I, Matthew Patel! Consider our fight... begun!" Matthew shouted, and charged at Scott.

"Do you want me to step in, or...?" You asked, turned toward Scott.

"No need. This is something I have to do on my own." Scott replied, and blocked Matthew's punch and countered with another punch.

"Alright... Alright..." Matthew grunted as he stood up from the punch.

"Scott!" Wallace called out.

"What?!" Scott shouted back as he kicked Matthew in the crotch.

"Watch out! It's that one guy!" Wallace shouted from the crowd.

"Ok, thank you, Wallace!" Scott said as he uppercut Matthew right on the chin, knocking him into the air.

"He's going for the air juggle!" Stephen commented.

"This guy is such toast. Doesn't he know that Scott's the best fighter in the province?" Kim added.

"I've never been this entertained at a concert in my entire life." You commented, a bit surprised at the show in front of you.

Once Scott had Matthew in the air, he began punching in a barrage, which Kim counted. "45, 46... 64 hits."

"That's a new personal best, Scott!" Wallace cheered from the toplines.

Once Mattew was, surprisingly, still standing, he said, "So, Pilgrim, you're as good as they say."

"Who the hell are you, anyway?" Scott asked.

"My name is Matthew Patel... and I'm Ramona's first evil ex-boyfriend." Matthew grinned, and suddenly, all eyes fell on Ramona.

"You're fighting me because of Ramona?" Scott asked as he blocked Matthew's various punches.

"Yes! Didn't you get my e-mail and letter explaining the situation?" Matthew asked.

"He skimmed through them." You commented. "But if I remember correctly, it went along the lines of you being part of a... what was it called a again... League of Seven Evil Exes? Did I get that right?"

"Yes, you did! But that e-mail and letter was supposed to be read by Pilgrim!" Matthew explained, mad that Scott didn't even bother reading them. "I delivered that letter in the middle of a blizzard! You'll pay!"

"What's with your outfit, anyway? Are you a pirate?" Scott asked as he tried to sweep Matthew's legs.

"P-pirates are in this year!" Matthew retorted as he jumped over the sweep.

"That's kinda true, and sea shanties are a blast. I love listening to them." You admitted, nodding.

"So, when did you date Ramona?" Scott asked as he delivered a kick.

"I don't want to talk about it!" Matthew yelled as he dodged.

"C'mon, man, dish! Got any embarrassing stories." Scott insisted.

"Y-your mom is an embarrassing story!" Matthew retorted.

"It was in the seventh grade." Ramona answered from the toplines as she watched the fight, a spotlight falling on her. "It was football season, and all the little jocks were in high gear. For some reason they all wanted me."

"Matthew Patel was the only non-white, non-jock kid in school. Probably the only one for miles around, or in the entire state, for all I knew. So, of course..." Ramona's voice continued. "...we joined forces and took 'em all out. We were one hell of a team."

"Nothing could beat Matthew's mystical powers combined with my brute strength. Nothing but pre-adolescent capriciousness. We kissed only once, and we were quits after something like a week and a half..." Ramona trailed off as you saw what you were doing, which was illustrating the story with neon. "Really, Y/N?"

"Sorry, force of habit. Ehehe..." You chuckled nervously.

Ramona let out a chuckle at your reaction, and continued. "...He didn't get really evil until high school, and by that time he'd moved far, far away."

"Dude, wait, mystical powers?" Scott questioned.

"Y-you'll pay for this, Flowers!" Matthew shouted, and then he raised his right arm in the air, pointing at the sky.

"Oh yeah? Well, we've got our own powerhouse. Wyenn!" Stephen said, and the spotlight fell on you. "Hop in, show what you can do."

"Okay, boss." You said, pointing your palm at Matthew as you tried to charge some neon. Key word: tried. "Uh..."

"You ran out of neon." Kim noted.

"I ran out of neon." You confirmed, lowering your hand.

"Y/N, here." Wallace said as he tossed a lit cigarette toward a trash can next to him, creating some smoke.

"Perfect." With what little neon power you had in the tank, you dashed toward the trash can, and absorbed the smoke into your body. "Now we're talking. I needed some practice with smoke, anyway."

"What the...?!" Matthew watched in... amazement? As you started to harness the smoke into your body. "You're a Conduit!"

"Child of the best one in Seattle. I take after my old man." You replied, dropping from the top, charging smoke into your arms and using smoke thrusters to charge at Matthew.

"Wait, wh-whoa!" Matthew shouted, and couldn't do anything as you knocked him to the ground, standing up. "What gives?! I don't have beef with you!"

"I'm a Sex Bob-Omb member. Mess with anyone there, you mess with me." You replied, unraveling your chain and igniting it with orange smoke embers.

"Fine. Pilgrim! Do you allow this person to join the fight?!" Matthew exclaimed, receiving a nod from Scott. Then, he turned back to you. "Name."

"Y/N Rowe." You answered, starting to walk toward him.

"Mr... Ms... Agh! Rowe! Consider your fight begun!" Matthew shouted, pointing at the sky once again, his finger lighting on fire. From the sides, four Demon Hipster Chicks appeared, and he began singing, "If you want to fight me... You are not the brightest..."

"You won't know what hit you in the slightest!" Scott sang back, signaling you to start getting on the offensive.

You nodded, and once the DHCs began firing fireballs, you responded with smoke shots. With these, you managed to knock down a DHC, who angered, began attacking you.

She charged at you with her demonic wings, and once close enough, you smoke dashed behind her and whipped her with your chain. Once she was down, you aimed your hand at her head and fired a knockout headshot, instantly restraining her with smoke cloud.

Once she was done, you targeted a second one with a cinder blast, a charged attack that shot a barrage of smoke pellets at her. And it worked, because the second DHC was knocked to the ground.

You could tell Matthew was mad, and wanted to attack you, but he was currently busy with Scott, Stephen, Kim, Stacey, Wallace, Neil, and Knives' shield that was created by their dance and sing along.

So, you took the opportunity to fire a cinder missile, a compressed smoke projectile that once it hit Matthew, would create a small explosion. The last two of the remaining DHCs disappeared because of the blast.

Matthew was on the ground, and to assure he'd stay down, you threw a sulfur bomb, a condensed ball of smoke which exploded after it hit the ground. Matthew was coughing from the smoke, and was having a hard time seeing.

It was the perfect opening. But... what to do?

- Subdue

Wait, you only heard Ramona's side of the story. What about Matthew's? What happened to him? Maybe he had a point, and if you were to go full on offensive, you'd end up doing something you'd regret later. This could be a chance to just... be cool with him.

- Execute

Scott was going to get him anyway. Maybe you could speed the process, and take him out before he did something. Or maybe just take him out entirely. It wouldn't hurt to see him gone. This is a fight where you must defeat, no mercy given.

Once Matthew was left vulnerable, Scott charged in to try and deliver the final blow, but then... "Wait." You said as you stopped Scott in his tracks, putting your arm out to stop him.

"Huh? Wyenn, what are you doing?" Scott asked, and the crowd went quiet.

You didn't answer as you simply put a smoke cloud above Matthew, making sure he wouldn't move from his place. "Scott, I know he's your enemy. I understand why. But if I'm being honest, I don't feel like this is right."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Scott questioned.

"Well, Ramona told us her side of the story, yeah, but..." You began. "...she didn't mention his side. She never told us what happened to him after the breakup. How bad did it affect him? What did he do after they broke up? Heck, maybe his side has more to it. Maybe this isn't all Ramona's fault. It wouldn't hurt to give him a chance."

"Wh-what?" Matthew spoke up.

"Matthew Patel, right? If I remember correctly, your letter said that Scott had to defeat you and the rest of the members of the League of Seven Evil Exes in order for him to date Ramona." You recalled.

"That's... right. I'm glad to hear someone read it." Matthew replied, still salty because Scott didn't bother reading the letter.

"Listen, I'm not gonna beat you. But if I'm being honest, the League and your actions are just making things worse." You pointed out. "If I were you, I'd drop the act and just leave Ramona alone."

"You... what?" Matthew said, confused.

"Y/N, what the heck are you doing?" Ramona asked.

"Look, if this whole 'defeat Scott' thing was a ruse to get back with Ramona, it's not working. At all." You pointed out. "You're not impressing her, or Scott, or anyone. If anything, it's just making everyone else dislike you, especially Scott. Not only is it childish, it's just flat-out pathetic."

"W-well, I... I don't have to listen to this." Matthew huffed, trying to sound tough.

"Then, if you did defeat Scott... what's stopping the other six exes from doing the same with you? Y'know, would you have to fight the second evil ex if you did win? Would you have to fight the third? The fourth? How far do you think this goes?" You asked.

Matthew had no words. You could tell he was thinking about what you said. And honestly, so was everyone else.

You snapped your fingers, and the smoke cloud disappeared. "Look, there's a chance that you're fighting a losing battle. Are you really about to fight the rest of the league? What will you do after you defeat Scott? After you defeat the second ex? The third ex? What happens if they win?"

A long, long silence filled the room. Everyone looked at Matthew, who had nothing to say. He was out of the smoke cloud, but was still on the floor, thinking. He didn't say it aloud, but he knew you were right.

"Let me help you." You spoke, and extended your hand to him. "You don't have to do this, y'know. We can just... let bygones be bygones. You can be cool with Ramona again, and you can stop all of this nonsense. What do you say?"

"..." Matthew stared at your hand, thinking.

The air was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. No one knew what he'd do next. Accept your hand? Fake it and attack you? Refuse and keep fighting? Everyone waited, and then...

"You're... right." Matthew said, and slowly reached his hand out. He grabbed your hand, and you pulled him up. "I can't believe I didn't realize sooner."

"It's alright. Everyone makes mistakes. Just try to learn from them." You replied, smiling. "So, we're cool?"

"Yeah, we're cool." Matthew nodded. "Sorry about all of this."

"Don't apologize, you had your reasons." You replied, and patted his shoulder.

"Thanks, Y/N." Matthew said, smiling.

"Friends call me Wyenn. That being said, you can call me Wyenn." You replied, and offered him a fist bump.

Matthew returned the gesture, saying nothing else as you both walked outside the Rockit, Scott and the others left speechless. They were not expecting this outcome whatsoever.

"Well... that just happened." Wallace said, not surprised

"Y/N really can be cool with anyone." Stacey commented, almost as if she knew this was gonna happen.

+ Good Karma!

- RANK UP! -

- Protector

Congratulations, you have taken your first steps to becoming...

A True Hero

- Later on, at the subway -

"Why are you here, again?" Scott asked as he looked at you, behind his seat.

"Uh... we live in the same house?" You pointed out.

"No, I meant, why didn't you just run to the house with neon? Or fly there with video?" Scott corrected himself.

"Oh, felt like taking the train." You shrugged, leaning back. "Just pretend I'm not here, I'll keep my mouth shut."

Scott cleared his throat, turning to Ramona. "So... Do you wanna... sorta... go out with me?"

"Yeah, okay." Ramona replied, almost instantly.

"Do you wanna make out?" Scott asked, and it almost scared you how forward he was being.

"Sure." Ramona replied, and you got even more baffled at how casual this all was.

And yeah, they did exactly that. Kissing sounds and everything. You swore you also saw floating red hearts.

You lowered your shades, stared, and thought, "Wow, that escalated quickly." You really did need to learn to get used to this.

"So, that one guy... Matthew Mattel or whatever. I guess he used to be your boyfriend, eh? Or rather... one of the seven." Scott asked, and Ramona nodded.

"Like Y/N said before. You have to fight my seven evil ex-boyfriends. Um, if you want to, date me." Ramona replied, eyes looking dead serious.

"You dated seven evil dudes?" Scott asked.

"I think some were good people. Dunno what must've happened to them." You thought, crossing your arms. Surely, some of them were just corrupted by their grief or jealousy. You needed to find out what happened with Matthew, and maybe you'll have a lead to the source of that corruption.

"Not all at once!" Ramona continued, shaking her head.

"So, okay... I have to fight-" Scott started.

"Defeat." Ramona interrupted.

"...Defeat your seven evil ex-boyfriends if I want to keep dating you?" Scott finished, recompiling everything he just heard.

"Yeah, well, I guess? Pretty much." Ramona nodded, shrugging.

"And they'd come one at a time?" Scott asked, receiving another nod.

"Not all at once. I dunno about one at a time." Ramona replied, shrugging once again.

"Huh. Well, I guess I'm okay with that." Scott replied, he and Ramona sharing a little smooch,

"Cool." Ramona smiled.

"So, uh... this guy Gideon... is he... uh... is he one of them?" Scott asked, and Ramona seemed pretty tense.

Her stare went blank and turned away from Scott, which you took note of. You didn't say anything, but internally, you were suspicious. Why did she look away from Scott when he mentioned Gideon? Something wasn't right here, clearly.

"Um. Your, uh... head... Um, are you okay?" Scott asked, noticing Ramona's weird reaction.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Ramona's head snapped back to look at him. Her reply was instant, her smile afterwards was kinda weird, and the way she said it sounded odd.

"...Do you still want to go out with me?" Scott questioned.

"Yes." Ramona answered instantly once again, and the way she said it didn't sit right with you. Again.

Scott seemed to share your unease, as he looked toward the window to his left, at his own reflection. On the other hand, you looked toward your own reflection on the window to your right.

You stared yourself in the eyes. Or more so, at the sunglasses that hid your eyes. You didn't know what was coming, but you could feel it in your gut. Something was up. And you'd be damned if you didn't find out what it was.

"Hey, Y/N." Ramona called out to you, snapping you from your thoughts.

"Yeah?" You responded, straightening up.

"...Thank you." Ramona smiled, and her expression was genuine.

"Huh? What for?" You asked.

"For talking sense into Matthew." Ramona replied, and then turned away. "I... didn't know that was how the fight was going to go."

"Heh, what can I say? I've got a talent for making friends." You shrugged, smirking.

"I suppose you do." Ramona chuckled, and her smile widened. "Wonder how you do it."

"Yeah, so do I." You said as you looked at the ceiling.

You were now part of this love story. Would your involvement change something in this story? What could your role be described as? Whatever question you had could only be answered by sticking around.

And honestly? You wanted to see where this went. And as you looked outside the window, you felt a new energy surge through your body. One of excitement, curiosity, and wonder.

You thought to yourself, "Who would've thought I would get in this kind of situation? Heh, I really have no idea where this will take me. But you know what? I don't want to miss a thing."