READ WEBNOVEL Ch 66 – Could Have Been Me
"Grease is in trouble."
The Golden Knight let out a mild curse and lifted up into the air, heading for roof access. She placed her hand on the palm scanner and waited for the panels to retract.
Sass frowned as she craned her neck, "Where you going?"
Goldie looked down while being silhouetted against the night sky as the door retracted, "I know she wants to handle this alone, but she also believes we do not care about her." She shouted back as she flew off, "I mean to prove her wrong!"
Sass tensed her hands, appearing as though she was about to bolt after her. Jack interjected his plan, "If we do this quick, it might not matter." He wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned his attention to the computer monitor, "You were right. We need to access every available speaker in the town and broadcast on everything." He touched the computer terminal next to him to start it glowing. He noticed his hand was trembling and grabbed it with his other to steady it, "I can incorporate the music and background sounds myself. All I need to do is sing and, hopefully, amplify the emotional impact to end this madness." He took a deep breath then let it out slow as he forced his hands to be still, "Once that's done, you can focus on closing those demon portal... things... whatever they are."
Nth Factorial flickered for a moment, "Perhaps we should pre-record it and broadcast it instead."
With a bitter laugh, Jack responded, "That would be great, but unfortunately, I don't think I can modify a pre-recorded track. It doesn't feel the same. We'll have to perform it live." Pointing an accusatory finger at the monitor, he added, "Don't waste any more time, we need to get started. because I'm not nearly drunk enough to do this as it is. I highly doubt I can pull this off twice, so it's either going to work or it won't."
Nth Factorial was silent for several seconds, then a small timer starting at twenty seconds began to count down in the corner of the monitor, "I will have finished preparations when the timer is zero."
Jack nodded and put both hands on the counter next to the glowing terminal. He bowed his head and started taking deep breaths.
~You can do this. Just pull it together like you always do. Your a beast.~
Jack let out a bark of laughter as he slowly shook his head. He muttered to himself with more than a hint of sarcasm, "C'mon Jack. Pull it together. Second place is first loser." His usual battle cry seemed hollow. He wanted to take off as much clothing as he could because the sweat was becoming unbearable.
~You sure you don't want to use Mister Blue Sky?~
Ivy slowly came walking up behind Jack, apparently not quite sure what to say or even how to approach him. Jack abruptly punched the counter hard enough to make her jump, "I'm NOT-!" He cut himself off and glanced around, realizing he looked like he was losing it.
Muttered as if he was psyching himself up, Jack rubbed his face with both hands as he mulled things over, "Mister Blue Sky is too cheerful. It has to be something related to regret, yet inspiring. I only know one song like that and The Struts nailed it." He stared through his fingers at the timer as it reached single digits.
Ivy tapped him on the shoulder. Jack was hesitant, but glanced back at her, "Yeah?"
She smiled at him while glancing off to the side, "I guess if you pull this off, I'll owe you that kiss, huh?"
Jack winced, "I sounded really stupid, didn't I? I'm-"
Nth Factorial glitched as the number reached zero. There was a brief sound of feedback as all phones in the room started to broadcast, but were immediately silenced.
"You are live."
Jack took a deep breath and opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Seconds ticked past.
~C'mon Jack! This isn't the guy who's number one in the north east! This isn't the guy who spent years clawing his way up from nothing! It's just one song! Pull it together!~
"I-" was all that he could squeak out as all the color drained from his face. He looked like he was going to pass out as he leaned heavily on the table. He had torn down his own carefully constructed facade in order to convince Nth Factorial to allow him to try, but in the process shattered the self-confidence he needed to pull it off. In the moment, he felt himself choking on the irony.
Ivy abruptly grabbed him by both shoulders and pulled him upright, "Look at me!" She held up two fingers and moved them back and forth between Jack's eyes and hers, "Look at me, alright?"
Jack looked at her and nodded, grateful for something else to focus on rather than the death spiral his mind was locked into, "Alright?"
Ivy nodded slowly then gave him a half smile, "I'd love to hear you sing."
Jack blinked, then let out a little snort as he nodded his head. On impulse, he reached out to the air between then and touched the thread he felt earlier. To everyone else, there was a glowing stretched out bubble in the air. However, this one was different. Instead of Jack's trademark red aura, this was a much lighter shade. It was closer to pink rose quartz than the normal fiery red. He took a deep breath and started to sing. At first, he was just saying the words as he could focus enough to generate the music.
Don't wanna live as an untold story
Rather go out in a blaze of glory
I can't hear you, I don't fear you
The music started up. Jack closed his eyes and scooped up the floating aura and started to roll it between his hands.
I'll live now 'cause the bad die last
Dodging bullets with my broken past
I can't hear you, I don't fear...you now
The aura started to grow in his hands as he worked it like some sort of amorphous blob of dough. It slowly was growing as the song progressed. To Jack, it felt like a ever growing ball of frayed yarn, that was almost alive.
Wrapped in my regret
What a waste of blood and sweat...
As the chorus began, he pumped everything into this thought given form and felt as it seemed to leap out of his hands into the terminal next to him. As it did, his words grew stronger as he felt his confidence returning.
I wanna taste love and pain
Wanna feel pride and shame
I don't wanna take my time
Don't wanna waste one line
I wanna live better days
Never look back and say...
The threads shot out over the city. To jack it was a bit overwhelming. He wasn't in control of this anymore. It took on a life of its own. He felt its threads reaching... seeking...
Could have been me
It could have been me... YEAH!
Snippits and snapshots flew though his mind as he felt this thing connect with people. Too many to remember and too fast to retain, but it was growing exponentially. It was also HUNGRY. Jack was feeling it drain every last ounce of energy out of him then ask for more.
Don't wanna live as an unsung melody
I'd rather listen to the silence telling me
I can't hear you, I won't fear you
As exhausting as this was, it was also euphoric. This sort of light pink haze was literally starting to cover the city. Emanating from cell phones, flowing out of Televisions and computer monitors, leaping from person to person.
Don't wanna wake up on a Monday morning
The thought of work is getting my skin crawling
I can't fear you, I can't hear you now
Jack was drenched in sweat as he felt the last ergs of his strength draining away. For a moment, he was afraid that he was at his limit. This was where he was going to pass out.
Wrapped in your regret
What a waste of blood and sweat...
Then a curious thing happened. Jack started to feel energy flowing back to him. He wasn't sure what was happening until he realized....
People had started to sing along.
I wanna taste love and pain
Wanna feel pride and shame
I don't wanna take my time
Don't wanna waste one line
I wanna live better days
Never look back and say
For one shining moment the entire city was singing in unison as a soft pink glow settled over the city. No longer was it just Jack fueling the process, but everyone in Empire City. The thought form connected everyone to everyone and only made it grow and expand.
Could have been me
It could have been me.
YEAH!
With that final word, everything overloaded. If one could watch what was going on from orbit, it would have looked like the entire city exploded in a blast of rose colored light. It just passed through everything as a wave front. From people in bars trying to purge the FOMO virus with Everclear to those restrained by the riot police, everyone got hit with what basically amounted to a warm... fuzzy... HAPPY NUKE.
It also overloaded several power stations and relays.
The monitor went dead and the power went off for a several seconds before the backup generator turned on.
As the power came back on, the lights revealed Ivy holding an unconscious Jack in her hands.
Ivy checked Jack's pulse and looked up at Grifter, "It's weak, but steady." She stared down at him with a look of worry and guilt. She mumbled to him, "Why do you have to be like this?"
Sass gritted her teeth, "Where the hell is Adam? We could really use him right about now!"
Grifter was focused on trying to get the equipment going again, "I'm more concerned with if it worked or not."
Nine Volt came rushing over to help, "We might not be able to contact WASP OCL, but they have a satellite we can get a feed from for general information." She started to flip buttons and type on a keyboard before applying a swift kick to a nearby computer tower under the big monitor. As she did, the main monitor flickered and the same messages were scrolling by except the disaster map had changed.
There was nothing on it.
Sass looked confused, "Hold it. Is the detection grid down? I get maybe this took care of the virus, but why would the incursion portals be gone?"
Wanderer touched the side of her head and closed her eyes, "I can only check in general out to a few kilometers, but I can't pick up any obvious traces of the memetic virus... in fact." She smiled softly, "Everyone seems rather happy." Abruptly she frowned and looked most concerned, "Except for-"
Grease arrived in a blast of electricity that left the door frame from the south wing smoking. She was holding Balloon Boy's deflated form in her hands as she came to a halt next to Wanderer, "RED!" Grease looked like she had been through the ringer. Even with her regeneration, her face was a mess, but she didn't seem to care.
"You have teleport us to Adam, where ever he is, NOW!" Grease looked like she was barely holding it together.
Wanderer did nothing. She only stared at Balloon Boy's body.
Grease stepped closer and her hand shot out at super speed to smack Wanderer upside the head, "FOCUS! We need-"
"It's too late."
Grease blinked. She shook her head so hard it was a blur, "No! It's not! We can-"
Wanderer looked up at Grease and spoke in a measured tone, "There's nothing there. He's gone. I'm sorry. There has to be something to work with. His mind needs to still be here, but it's not." She reached out to gently touch the limp form in Grease's hands, "What one might call a soul has moved on. I am sorry."
She pulled her hand away and looked at Grease with as much sympathy as she could manage.
"Balloon Boy is dead."
Could Have Been Me - The Struts