We're Getting Somewhere

- Back in the Real World -

It was a little awkward that Matthew and Lucas had exited the portal to now be in Wallace's house, so their stay was brief, but productive. They both felt much better, and were on the path to a happier life as they left. That's what you hoped, at least.

"Is Mr. Rowe's couple counseling done?" Wallace jokingly asked.

"It's what had to be done to get them into the track of making this right." You justified.

- RING RING -

"Y/N?" Scott bid you to answer as he held a cup of cocoa while being wrapped in a blanket, likely shook from Envy's call.

"On it." You replied, answering the phone. "Roadkill Café, you kill it, we grill it, can I take your order?"

"Out of all the things you've said over the phone, that was the worst." Stacey bluntly commented.

"Yeah, I could've done better. Anyway, what's up?" You asked.

"I heard Scott's soul just got crushed. Go some insight on that?" Stacey inquired.

"Envy called him. I swore she sounded fairly nice, but whatever she told him really bummed him out. He was laying on the carpet for a good 20 minutes after the call." You informed.

"Did you tell him you and Knives fought because she tried to attack Ramona?" Stacey asked

"You and Knives fought and I missed it?!" Scott suddenly sprung up from the blanket, shocked. But in the process... "Aaaaah! Oooooh! Eeeeeouch!"

"What? What happened?!" Stacey exclaimed.

"Scott just spilled hot cocoa on his crotch from the shock." You answered, trying to hold in your laughter.

"Pffffft!" Stacey laughed, and it took everything in you to not burst out laughing too. But to no avail, because you and Stacey began cackling.

- At Stephen's house, later that day -

"I have some bad news." Scott announced as everyone prepared to practice.

Stephen stopped tuning his guitar's strings, Neil paused his game, and Kim simply looked up in curiosity.

"Uh... Envy Adams asked us to play a show. We have to go meet her tomorrow and talk about it. Or whatever." Scott begrudgingly said, arms crossed.

"That's bad news? That's great news!" Stephen, ecstatic, exclaimed.

"...your ex-girlfriend?" Kim asked.

"We're gonna open for them? They're known! We could get known!" Stephen began panicking from the prospect of a sudden boost in fame.

"At Lee's Palace, Sunday. She put us on the guest list." You added.

"I saw her on the cover of NOW." Kim commented, looking down.

"I've seen all my favorite bands play there!" Stephen exclaimed, still excited.

"I used to see a lot of shows there." Scott mentioned.

"She's pretty." Kim said, even more unenthusiastic than usual.

"This is awesome!" Stephen shouted.

"We suck! Oh my god! We're so bad! We can't play this show!" Stephen's panic attack began.

"Stephen Stills!" You interrupted him, slapping his face. "Calm the fuck down. This is an opportunity. For all of us. You want Sex Bob-Omb to go big? Now's your chance."

"I don't know, Wyenn." Stephen said, unsure. "I mean, I'm all for it, but what if we aren't ready? What if we mess up? We could embarrass ourselves? What if-"

"Stephen." You interrupted as you placed your hands on his shoulders, staring straight into his eyes. "This is your call. A leap of faith that'll either end in a glorious victory or an agonizing failure. Either way, no regrets. This is Sex Bob-omb's shot to get big. So... Breathe. Aim. And... Pull. That. Trigger."

"..." Stephen took a deep breath. "Alright. Breathe. Aim. Pull."

"That's the spirit. Let's get practicing. We need to be ready for Sunday." You said. "On Friday, we'll be able to see what our audience is like. This is just the Rockit all over again. This is where we rise, or where we crash and burn."

"How are you so sure? How do you know we'll make it?" Stephen questioned.

"Because, Stephen. We'll play. For ourselves. We'll prove to not only the world, but to ourselves, that we don't suck. That we are worth it..." You stated, raising your fist in the air, proclaiming, "Because we are Sex Bob-Omb... so let's live up to our name, and BLOW. THAT. JOINT!"

- At Lee's Palace, Friday Night -

"Glad you come along this time, Knives." You said you walked together towards the venue. "Also, nice highlights on your hair. Blue. Makes you look great."

"Thanks, I wanted to change my look a little." Knives replied, adjusting the beanie on her head.

Speaking of Knives, she wore an even more similar outfit to yours. A green flannel shirt, a black hoodie, a white open vest, a black skirt, they were already there. Now added into the mix, was a green beanie, black pants, and white sneakers with green laces and lines.

"So, ready to see Clash at Demonhead? You excited?" You asked, grinning.

"Yeah!" Knives nodded excitedly. "I've listened to all their songs before. They're super cool! Especially Envy, her voice is awesome."

"Oh, she's something alright." You nervously remarked.

Once inside Lee's Palace, you found yourselves surprised at your underestimation of just how many people would show up. Admittedly, for someone that was cool with everyone, the crowd was a little overwhelming, but hey, that's a good thing, right?

"Y/N. Knives. Over here!" Stephen called out.

"Oh, hi Stephen. Nice haircut." You greeted, smiling. "What for?"

"I was nervous, okay? I cut it to relieve the stress." Stephen answered, rubbing his hair before looking down at your arm. "Hey, didn't see that tattoo before. Is that new?"

"Yeah, just got it. My dad had the same one." You said, rolling up your sleeve a little more. "I didn't show you yesterday, I wanted to keep it a surprise."

"It looks really good." Knives complimented.

"Finally something changes with you, man." Scott's voice came from behind you, and you turned around, seeing him with Ramona. "Do you ever change out of those clothes? Don't you have anything else to wear?"

"You know what? Screw you." You retorted, playfully shoving him back a little. "I'm keeping it classic."

"Classic suits you, Y/N. And nice paint job." Ramona commented, pointing at your arm.

"Thank you. See, Scott? Ramona's another one with taste here." You said, nudging Scott with your elbow.

"Yeah, whatever." Scott mumbled. Trying to change the subject, he pointed at Kim and exclaimed, "Oh my god! Look at Kim! Kim's wearing high heels!"

"Whatever." Kim rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. But then, she grabbed your wrist and pulled you elsewhere.

"Hey, uh... What gives? Something wrong?" You asked, not really concerned, but more so caught off guard.

"My roommates are here, and I'm gonna need you to hide me." Kim explained.

"Hide you. Got it." You nodded.

"Kim! Wyenn!" Hollie called out, accompanied by her roommate, Joseph.

"Hey, I didn't know you guys were coming to this." Kim said, smiling a little.

"Holls. Joseph. Nice to see you two." You greeted, nodding. "Came to see the band playing tonight, or just here for fun?"

"Well, their first EP was okay. I haven't heard the album yet." Hollie said, looking over at Joseph and smirking. "But the real reason we're here is because Joseph has a crush on their bass player."

"I haven't seen him. Is he hot?" Kim asked, almost teasing.

"I don't know, is he hot, Joseph?" Hollie joined in, grinning.

"Either way, I'm happy you've got your eye on someone, dude." You, in contrast to the teasing, smiled in genuine happiness.

"He is as hot as the flames of the hell you bitches are going to." Joseph retorted. "And is as cute as the angels that will lead Wyenn to heaven."

"I'm honored." You chuckled.

"So I'm all, my god, and she's all-" You heard from the side, a voice belonging to someone Kim didn't like at all.

"Oh, god. It's that stupid bitch, Sara." Kim whispered.

"Who?" Hollie asked as she sipped on her drink.

"One of my roommates. You two, hide me." Kim said as she hid behind her, and pulled you to Hollie's side.

"You dislike someone? How unusual." Hollie sarcastically remarked.

And it worked, because Sara and her posse didn't bat an eye in Kim's direction. They went elsewhere, leaving Kim in peace.

"Thank you." Kim said as she moved away.

"No problem." You shrugged.

"Yo, Wyenn! We need you, over here!" Scott called out to you.

"On my way!" You replied, running back over. "What's up?"

"Just figured having you here would make things less boring. This band sucks." Scott said, and Stephen nodded in agreement.

"That's what they'll say about your band on Sunday." Julie snarked.

"You'd know a lot about being badmouthed, wouldn't you?" You shot back.

"Boom!" Scott cheered, raising his hand and receiving a high five from you.

"That was actually a good comeback." Ramona complimented.

"Scott would've probably fumbled it somehow." Stephen said, earning a glare from Scott.

"Hey, so I hear you guys are opening on Sunday too..." A male voice said from your side. It was Lucas "Crash" Wilson. You recognized him from the Rockit and Stephen's notes on Crash and the Boys.

"Luke Wilson, right? Yeah, we're opening." You said, turning to him.

"So we were hoping we could play first, and you guys second." Luke proposed.

"We can arrange that, but why?" You asked, curious.

"Listen man." Luke said, playing a hand on your shoulder. "With your light show, you're gonna draw a big crowd. We can't follow that up if you go first. Please, let us go first."

"I guess that makes sense. Sure, we can do that." You agreed.

"Hey, thanks. You're a real pal." Luke said, and then went off to the bathroom.

"I'm gonna go roam the place or whatever. Call me out when the show starts." You said, but then halting to pull out the spray paint cans you hid in your jacket. "And to go... Do some painting."

"You better not vandalize the place, man." Stephen warned.

"No worries, I won't." You reassured, giving him a thumbs up as you left.

You made your way toward the staircase that would lead to the roof of the building. Luckily, you absorbed some video on the way here, so you could hover while you painted on the outside of the venue.

However, on the way there, you heard some guys talking and chatting about one of the members of what you heard was Clash at Demonhead. You couldn't help but just listen in.

"You see the girl?"

"With the glasses?"

"No. Yeah. Wait... Yeah."

"Isn't she the Demonheads' drummer?"

"Totally."

You looked toward the girl the tow were talking about. She had glasses and long, black hair. Interestingly, she had the entirety of her right arm in bandages, and lit a cigarette.

"Oh my god, she smokes!"

"Oh my god, she's evil!"

"Pretty hot, though."

"Totally."

You continued moving onward, and finally reached the rooftop. Once there, you looked down, seeing the line had been cleared out. Everyone had gotten in already, so no one could see you. "Perfect." You grinned as you jumped and made yourself hover using video's air wave.

"Okay, I've good blue, black, and white paint. I'm on a time crunch. Let's do this." You told yourself.

Trying to spray things while hovering was a chore and a half, but luckily, you managed. Thanks to dad's tutelage, and your own natural talent, it was a success. It portrayed you, Stephen, Scott, and Kim posing in a totally cool way.

"Heh, like dad says. A man, a plan, and an aerosol can." You quoted, grinning. "Now, to give it a little more shine..."

You let yourself fall, which when landing, didn't hurt in the slightest, and used the "open" sign on a TV store to absorb neon and project it at the graffiti, making it glow.

"Perfect. Now, time for the main event." You said, heading back inside. Not before absorbing some video from the TVs on display.

- Back inside Lee's Palace -

You had arrived back just in time. Clash at Demonhead had already taken the stage. You made your way among the sea of people, and found your way back to your friends.

"Oh, Wyenn. There you are." Stephen said as you stood next to him. "Did you get the graffiti done?"

"You have no idea." You smirked, and turned your attention to the stage.

"I want to go home." Scott worriedly muttered.

"Shh." Ramona, unconcerned, shushed him.

You could see Envy, the earlier talked about drummer, and the bassist of Clash at Demohead walking up to the stage as steam filled it for effect. Then, the lights turned on to reveal the band in better lighting, and the crowd were already cheering for them.

"So, uh, that's her!" Scott whisper-shouted loud enough for Ramona to hear and for you to overhear.

"I figured, but-" Ramona began, before Envy interrupted.

"Hi, Toronto! Thanks so much for coming! This is called 'Under Water Motor Scooter!'" Envy greeted and announced, approaching her keyboard and prepared to play.

"But what?" Scott asked, concerned.

"That guy on the bass, Todd?" Ramona started, pointing to the bassist of Clash at Demonhead.

"Yeah?" Scott questioned.

"He really is the same Todd I dated!" Ramona revealed, and Scott's face fell. "...My third evil ex-boyfriend!"

"Oh, brother..." You muttered under your breath. Not like you'd be heard over the music or crowd going wild. "So this is where we face off against the third piece of the puzzle..."

Here we go again. And here you thought it'd be a relaxing night. Wonderful. Just fabulous. You really wish you could get a forewarning before a fight happens, you know?

A lot of synonyms for "great" as in "great, just great" existed. But in this situation, only one particular synonym came to mind, "wicked," which could be used in both positive and negative context.

This was a wicked, wicked situation. It seemed like ever since you came to Toronto, this kinda stuff hasn't stopped occurring.

You could name a lot of situations were the phrase "this is wicked" could apply. It was funny, really. Turns out Gira was right after all.

So, albeit in the wrong situation and manner it should actually be interpreted in, you chuckled in a mix of amusement, disbelief, and nervousness as you quoted, "Heh, there really ain't no rest for the wicked."