Rising Stars! Rise to the Top!

[Ookalf]

((Really, really sorry for the long delay! I'm back now, though!))

The Rising Stars' first performance was... Ok. Not perfect, not terrible, just plain ol' average. Beneath all the mediocrity, however, lied great potential... Potential that Handsome Bill saw with his experienced eyes. Yes, all these girls needed was a bit more practice to bring out the super stars resting inside them!

"Good, good! Handsome Bill approves of your music! Now, play the music Handsome Bill set in front of you!" The mullet-haired man pointed to the music stands set up in front of each of the instruments. Lying on them were sheets with some kind of bubble-gummy pop song on them... Something about love and happiness and all that super sweet stuff.

All right... *Jasmine takes a minute to read through her music, then starts playing.*

[Zilla]

Joanna sighs and groans as she reads the cliche chord progressions, not a bit of dissonant edge charted into any of it. "This thing is a piece of cake," she mutters, throwing out the chords on the music sheet in time with the music.

She almost winces at how painfully different this music is to her usual fare. So saccharine... so empty of message... Where was the conflict? The raw emotions, just baring themselves right in your face?

But as she listened... she couldn't help but sway to the beat.

[Hira Kanaki]

Chiaki decides to just follow along with the beat of the song, and finds it's somewhat catchy as she's playing the along to the music quite fine.

[Harri-chan]

Cherry looked rather nervous as she moved to the music stand and looked over the words. One hand was tugging at her dress as she waited for the others to begin playing, tapping her head to the tune before joining in with her voice. Her free hand clutched the mic stand, pulling it towards her as it seemed to have been set up for someone taller.

[Mystic Mina]

((This post will be kind of skimpy...))

This time, the girls were better. Maybe it was because they actually had some lyrics to follow now, but their performance was definitely improved... It still wasn't perfect though! They weren't going to win the Mad Music Melee with those skills!

"Grand! Marvelous! Marvelously grand! Handsome Bill gives you all a round of applause!" Bill clapped his hands together with glee. "Now, let's try the second half again! But this time, the Handsome Bill wants Cherry Blossom to work on controlling her pitch. Ready? And a one, and a two..."

---

((Several hours of hard practice later~))

"That's all for today, everyone! Handsome Bill is so proud of you all! You've done so much in one day!" The crazy guy jumped onto the stage and gave each girl a strong, big hug before leading them off one by one. "Come back tomorrow at the same time!"

[Maiden Miki]

"OH!" blushed Makino as she was suddenly hugged by the older man. Her bust was being pressed together by the man and suddenly reminded her about the recent events. Playing that music really helped her forget but everything was flooding back. "Thanks...."

"Wow...That was kind of cool. I didn't expect to have such a fun time," said Makino as she was trying to settle herself. She leans against Cherry and held on to her a bit. "You were surprising good. Have you ever sing before because it sounded like you been doing it for years."

[Zilla]

Joanna is eager to rush off the stage before she's caught in a hug. "Yeah yeah, you big mushball, it was a good practice..." she says, before heading off with the others.

"Hey guys... I gotta admit, I didn't really think this would be our kind of music... but, I was actually pretty impressed with how we pulled it together back there. I just wanna say, thanks... I feel... welcome."

Joanna gives them all a bit of a soft look.

"Okay, now, I'm changing out of this ridiculous costume. Who's with me on that?" She heads off into her changing room, hardly expecting an answer.

[Harri-chan]

Cherry looked surprised for a brief moment as Makino hugged her, but she soon burst into a bright smile and hugged back. "I've sung a little before, but not infront of an audience or anything...", she explained as they walked along. "You guys were awesome! I'm sure we'll have a chance in this competition".

Hearing Joanna's plans to go change her outfit, Cherry pushed her arm up into the air, "Oh! Oh! Me!", she called, her pink and white dress rustling noisily, her flat shows slapping across the floor as she ran after the guitarist, and grabbed at her arm to slow her down so the group would all work together. "Maybe we can all hang out? Like go for ice cream or something together?".

[Mystic Mina]

On the way to their changing rooms, the girls spot a young, pretty brunette (Taylor) in office attire sitting on a chair. Her long hair was in a tangle of a mess, and she was futilely trying to run her hands through her hair to straighten it out.

"Damn Cherry... She could have used the purple pen and given me a body more manageable, but noooo, she just had to choose THAT pen." The woman grumbled loudly to herself, oblivious to the presence of the Rising Stars. "I was going to save that one for later too. Maybe use it on a co-worker that pissed me off or something..."

[Ookalf]

*While she's mostly been silent following the rehersal, Jasmine speaks up as the group approaches Taylor.* Um, who's that up there?

[Zilla]

Joanna slows to walk with the group, but is a little miffed at having to walk around in her costume longer than she absolutely has to.

"Yeah, yeah, let's hang out and get to know each other and stuff. If we're going to build any kind of band dynamic, we ought to know each other inside and out. That's how it's always worked for me," She says to Cherry.

And then she sees the woman fussing with her hair and muttering to herself. She catches everything from "used the purple pen" onward. Her mind flips over, as she realizes what exactly that meant... the weird pen she pricked herself with must have been the catalyst for her change!

"Woah, woah, she says, stopping in front of Taylor. "What do you know about the pens?" She demands.

[Maiden Miki]

"Oh well with you on the mic then surely we will be able to kick some good butt," said Makino as she stay closed to Cherry. She then nods and said, "Well I would like to change into something different. About hanging out. I be okay with it. I mean...as long as we stay close together."

"Excuse me?" said Makino as she notice the girl and looked down at Cherry. She remember the lady mentioning the little girl's name. "Do you know anything about this?"

[Harri-chan]

Cherry clung onto Joanna's arm, while reaching out with the other to take Makino's hand as they walked along. "Maybe we could go...", she started to say, before hearing her name spoken in an annoyed tone. Looking up, she saw the pretty young woman in smart clothing, and couldn't help but laugh. Letting go of Joanna's arm, she watched the guitarist confront Taylor and then looked up at Makino with a grin, "I thought Taylor needed to see things from our point of view...".

[Hira Kanaki]

"Well I can say that this is definently laser guided karma, also I want to know about the pens as well." Chiaki said.

[Mystic Mina]

The young woman on the chair looked up and gasped when she saw the Rising Stars surrounding her. She thought that she had a bit more time before they came out of practice, but obviously that wasn't the case now.

"Yes, I'm Taylor. Your little friend here used a pen on me to turn me into what you see here... And yes, those pens you pricked yourselves with changed you all into what you are now. That's no surprise." She sat up and brushed out any wrinkles that may have formed on her skirt. "Go on, change into some regular clothes. I'll be waiting out here."