For those of you who are curious, all of the members of Stage Revolution are Scar, Xisuma, Joel, Fwhip, Zedaph, Impulse, Bdubs, Tango, Shelby, and False. Scar and False are vocals along with Xisuma occasionally, Xisuma and Impulse play electric guitar, Joel is on drums, Fwhip plays acoustic guitar, Zedaph plays bass, Bdubs play keytar/synthesiser, Shelby plays tambourine, and Tango plays electric keyboard/synthesiser. They typically play pop rock or light rock, sometimes heavy rock or metal for Xisuma's sake because those are his favourite genres :D

I haven't really gotten around to writing a scene that included the others until this chapter just because writing scenes with a lot of people is actually really difficult, believe it or not lmao /lh

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

•°•

"Oh, Bdubs!" The boy turned at hearing his name to face the choir instructor, who was waving a flyer at him. "You might want to take a look at this."

Confused, Bdubs walked over and took the piece of paper from her. His eyes widened as he read over it, a smile growing on his lips. "I can't believe it..."

•°•

"Ah, look who decided to show up for practice today," Zedaph teased as Tango walked through the door. "And you're early, as well."

Tango laughed. "Nice to see you, too, babe," he said, walking over to Zed to kiss him.

Zed hummed into the kiss before pulling away. "Did lacrosse get cancelled?" he asked, his gaze flicking to the other's cheek. He gasped. "What on Earth caused that?" There was a large bruise on the side of Tango's face, and a small cut that was starting to scab.

"I... got into some drama with the guys on the team," Tango admitted nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

Zedaph frowned and puffed his cheeks out, almost scowling at his boyfriend. He set his bass down and hopped off the small stage to grab his backpack. "The next time you get into a fight, I'm going to smack you," he huffed. He pulled out a first aid kit, then beckoned Tango over to the table. "Sit down."

Tango sighed defeatedly. "It's not my fault," he groaned as he sat down. "This freshman keeps talking down about you like he doesn't know I'm your boyfriend." He grimaced when Zed poked at his bruise.

"As much as I appreciate the whole knight-in-shining-armour act," the smaller boy said, "I appreciate a lot more when you don't get beat up every other day." He sighed. "And by a freshman, too."

Tango gasped. "Dude, you're supposed to be on my side!" he pouted, leaving Zedaph giggling uncontrollably. "Oh, yeah, yeah, laugh it up, cutie." He couldn't help but smile, though, seeing the joyous look on Zed's face as he tried to stop laughing. "What's so funny about a little bruise on my cheek from a freshman?" he asked in an almost teasing manner.

Zed wiped at his eye. "Maybe because you're this giant, beefy senior that looks like he takes candy from babies," he joked, reaching over to flick Tango on the forehead. He sighed, much more contently this time. "You're so silly."

"But you love it."

"Hmmm..."

"Huh?! What do you mean, 'hmmm'?"

Zed shrugged without saying another word and turned to walk away when Tango grabbed his arm and pulled him back onto his lap. "Oh-" He laughed as Tango kissed his cheek.

"Are you making fun of me?" Tango asked playfully.

"Pfft, nooo, of course not," Zed replied before bursting into a fit of giggles again as Tango began to tickle him. "T-Tango-" Zed looked up at Tango and gasped, though still squirming. "Wait, Tango, stop-"

Tango rolled his eyes, grinning. "Oh, you're not getting out that eas-"

"Tango, your hair is on fire," Zedaph interrupted, and Tango froze.

"What."

•°•

"I'm fine, Keralis," Xisuma said for the umpteenth time now as they walked down the hallway, sighing whilst Keralis checked him for injury - again. "I'm serious, they didn't do anything."

Keralis gave a look of disbelief, raising a single brow.

"Oh, my- Keralis, I'm fine," Xisuma said sternly.

Keralis still didn't look like he believed him. "You were late for school, first of all," he started. "Which is just ever so slightly concerning because you've never had a tardy in your life."

"Not true."

"Totally is true."

Xisuma smiled and rolled his eyes.

Keralis grabbed his hand to get his attention, but it really only made him blush. "I'm being serious about this, Shashwam," he said.

"And so am I!" Xisuma said. "I promise, they didn't so anything to me. The worst that happened was that my dad yelled at me for having to be picked up early."

Keralis groaned. "I hate your dad."

Xisuma sighed. "I mean, he has the right to be upset about having to pick me up early," he mumbled.

"Yeah, but the bastard doesn't have a job and drinks all day," Keralis said, but X wasn't really listening. He was too distracted by a faint screaming. "He has nothing to be upset about aside from having to get his fat ass off the sofa-"

"Keralis."

"-and actually do something with his life-"

"Keralis-"

"which is fucking pathetic because-"

"Keralis." The brunette in question blinked and stared at Xisuma in slight confusion. "Please tell me you can hear Zedaph and Tango screaming, too, and I'm not crazy," X said nervously.

Keralis took a second to listen, then made eye contact with Xisuma before both of them started running toward the practice room.

When they got there, Zedaph and Tango were both covered in foam, pressumably from a fire extinguisher, and shouting. It was difficult to tell who was who with their faces covered until they started saying actual words instead of just yelling.

"How are you still on fire?!" Zed shouted from on the small stage.

"I don't know!" Tango yelled back, his hair wildly aflame.

Keralis squeezed past Xisuma and grabbed Tango by the shoulders. "Breathe, Tango," he ordered, and Tango shut up. "Take a deep breath and relax."

Tango nodded and did as he was told, the flame on his head slowly dying until it was completely gone.

"Good." Keralis moved to wipe some of the foam off of Tango's head, but pulled his hand away when his fingers were burned. He mumbled something to himself that Xisuma couldn't hear.

"So, uh..." Xisuma stepped inside the room. "Why, or rather how, was Tango on fire?" he asked. "And how did breathing put it out?"

Keralis glanced at Xisuma then looked away again nervously.

Xisuma narrowed his eyes. "You know something."

"Do I?" Keralis said in mock innocence.

"Oh, you definitely do."

Keralis stepped away from Tango and pursed his lips. "Well-"

"Oh. My. God." The four of them turned to see Bdubs and Scar standing in the doorway, flabbergasted. "What the hell happened over here?" Bdubs demanded as Scar walked into the room and over toward the closet.

Zedaph sighed. "Too much," he said exhaustedly. He walked over to Tango and reached up to cup his cheeks, hesitating slightly at how warm the taller boy's face was. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Zed," Tango said softly. "At... least I think so."

"You're not in any pain at all?"

Tango laughed. "Surprisingly enough, no."

Zedaph frowned, but backed off. "If you say so..."

Xisuma poked Keralis' arm. "You know why Tango's hair was on fire," he said, his voice laced with suspicion, "don't you?" Keralis looked away in hopes that X wouldn't keep pestering him about it. "Keraliiiiiissss," Xisuma drawled, hugging one of the taller's arms and leaning into him. "You promised not to keep secrets from me." He batted his eyelashes innocently.

Keralis sighed. "I shouldn't really tell you, though," he mumbled, just loud enough for Xisuma to hear.

"I think you should."

"I should not."

"You totally should."

"Would you two boyfriends stop flirting and help clean this shit up?" Bdubs asked, making Xisuma flush. The keytarist smirked. "I see you all flustered over there, X."

Xisuma turned away to hide his face from Keralis so he wouldn't see him blushing. He was always teased for being so close to Keralis, but he really didn't understand why his friends joked about it so much. He didn't actually like Keralis like that, they were just really good friends. "Shut up," he murmured in embarrassment, causing everyone to laugh.

"Hey, what's this?" Scar picked up a piece of paper that fell out of Bdubs' bag and gasped. "We got a gig at the Swaggon Café?!" he practically squealed.

Everybody aside from Bdubs stopped what they were doing to look at Scar. "What?!" they shouted in unison.

"How long were you planning on hiding this very important information from us, hmmmm?" Scar questioned Bdubs, who rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry, did you just expect me to share that when the entire room is covered in fire extinguisher guts because Tango was on fire?"

Scar blinked. "That's a good point."

Zedaph gasped. "That's, like, where the best bands play," he said, bouncing on his toes.

"I didn't think we'd actually get the gig," Xisuma breathed, too shocked to know what else to say. "That's... that's amazing!"

"What's amazing?" Grian's very recognisable voice said from the door.

Xisuma looked over. "Oh, we got a gig at this really awesome place called the Swaggon Café," he explained as Grian came inside and sat down on a chair nearby X. "It's not an actual café, it's more of just a stage that serves concessions. All kinds of bands play there, and there's always huge crowds there every night."

Grian nodded slowly. "I see... Huge crowds are useful," they mumbled. "Maybe I could try to play there some time."

"Look, you guys," Bdubs sighed, "don't get too excited, okay? The gig isn't for another two weeks."

"Yeah, two weeks that will sneak up on us if we don't hurry up and decide what songs we're doing," Zedaph huffed, smiling.

Bdubs rolled his eyes. "Relax," he groaned. "You're always so excitable. It's honestly embarrassing."

Zed's smile faded and stepped slightly closer to Tango.

Scar frowned. "What the heck?" he said. "I hope you're not saying that you're not excited to play at the Swaggon Café? Because I think that's a lot more embarrassing."

"You're embarrassing, Scar," Bdubs scoffed, making Scar confused. "Oh, don't give me that look. You're so stupid, and you don't know jack shit about anything. It's so annoying."

Scar let out a frustrated hmph. "Your constant bad attitude is annoying," he said.

The two began to argue and Zed tucked himself against Tango's side, practically shrinking at Bdubs and Scar shouted at each other. Xisuma glanced over at Grian, who was watching them intently as if it was some kind of really tense and interesting movie they were watching. But it left X confused.

Scar and Bdubs never used to fight like that. They always got along so perfectly. Hell, they were just as close as Xisuma and Keralis were. What happened to them?

"You know what?" Bdubs said. "Fuck that stupid gig, I quit."

Xisuma gasped.

Scar huffed. "Yeah? Well- Well, I quit, too!"

Bdubs glared at me. "You can't quit, that's just copying me!"

"Is not!"

"Is, too!"

"Oh, my god," Zedaph groaned. "You guys sound like children!"

"I guess it's a good thing you won't have to deal with me anymore, then," Bdubs said, grabbing his bag.

Zed rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. "I never liked dealing with you in the first place."

Bdubs didn't say anything before storming out the room, Scar following close behind. Even through the door, which Scar had slammed, Xisuma could still hear them bickering.

"What... just happened?" Xisuma stared at the door. "They didn't actually quit... did they?"

"I certainly hope they did," Zedaph grumbled. "I can't stand them."

Xisuma turned to look at him. "What is wrong with you?" he asked meekly. "You guys are friends."

Zed didn't respond, just pouting.

Keralis glanced over at Grian and scowled, though Grian grinned up at him slyly before getting up and plastering back on his typical happy expression.

"This feels like a good time for me to leave," they said, stretching their arms over their head. "I've got some things I need to take care of."

Keralis didn't take his eyes off of Grian as he waved and bid his goodbyes, earning cheerful responses from the other three.

Xisuma sighed. "This is a mess," he breathed. "We just got this gig, but we've lost two important members."

"I mean, I'm still here," Tango said. "I play synth, too, you know."

"I know, but Bdubs is just as important as you are," Xisuma said. "We're all important to the band. And now we're without a lead singer and a keytarist."

•°•

"Keralis definitely knows," Grian muttered to himself as he studied pictures of each member of Stage Revolution that he'd met so far, plus Keralis and Etho. "The white-haired guy definitely doesn't have any magic at all, so I don't have to worry about him. But Keralis..." They sighed. "He's going to be a difficult target. There's no way he'll let me touch him long enough for me to get much from him, and whatever magic he has isn't affected by mine. Neither is X..." He rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "They must have some sort of dark magic, then. Perhaps Void manipulation, but I can't say for sure." They narrowed their eyes at Keralis' picture. "He's definitely not human. Maybe an Eldritch being? Ugh, but what possible source of energy could you have on this stupid rock planet?"

Giving up for now, he set aside Keralis', Xisuma's, and Etho's pictures and turned his attention to Scar, Zedaph, and Bdubs. "These three are definitely affected the most," they noted. "They must have some kind of very pure light magic. It's obvious that Zedaph has a form of healing magic. There's no other explanation to what I felt the other night at that diner when I touched him. Bdubs is pretty sensitive, but I have no idea what he could possibly have. And Scar..." He sighed and leaned back in his seat, taking the picture of Scar into his hands and staring at it closely. Shaking his head, he put the picture down. "He's got to have enchantment magic," they said. "There's no other way to explain how I feel about him. Enchantment magic always attracts pure dark magic users more than others." He stared at the picture for just a moment more before setting it aside with the others.

"Tango definitely has fire magic," they mumbled. "I'd be an absolute buffoon if I couldn't tell that after today." They pushed Tango's picture aside, not needing to think any further on it. "Joel must have a kind of heat-related magic as well. It would explain his short fuse and low tolerance. Impulse could possibly have heat-related magic, but he has a pretty good grip on his temper. I'll have to look more into him." They set those two aside. "Fwhip..." He sighed. "I don't know enough about you yet. Nothing in particular stands out, which is strange to say the absolute least considering how much power you have."

Yawning, Grian shook his head. "I need more information on these guys before I actually make a plan, but..." Their eyes landed on Zed's picture. "With Bdubs and Scar being pretty much free food, you've got the biggest target on your back. Not to mention how gullible and trusting you are." His lips curled into a grin and he laughed lowly.

"This is going to be fun."

•°•

LORE. MAGIC. SUPERPOWERS. L O R E ✨️

Spoiler alert: Bdubs and Scar won't stay away from the band for long. I promise they come back and apologise. /srs

Anyway!! I really hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I feel like it didn't run as smoothly as it could've, but I really don't want to rewrite it so it's staying that way lmao /lh

Have a wonderful rest of your day, I love you all!! /gen/p