Close to each other, the two men were almost of a height, though Chakkik was far, far bulkier. Valon read the note and grinned. “Didn’t know you liked metal, Chak.”

Chakkik gave him a Look.

“…yessir.”

As the gigantic blond man stood before the microphone, a few somber piano notes filled the auditorium. After a few bars…

“I’m gazing upward, a world I can’t embrace…
There’s only thorns and splinters, venom in my veins…
It’s okay to cry out, when it’s driving you insane…
But somehow, someday… I’ll have to face the pain.”

Chakkik’s voice was deep, mournful, and thrumming; it wouldn’t have been out of place in an opera. He had approached the stage reluctantly, but when guitars and drums joined the piano, he threw himself into the song.

“I’m begging for forgiveness, everything I’ve done…
If God is listening, he knows I’m not the only one.
It’s okay to lash out from the rules that I’ve enslaved…
But somehow, someday! I’LL HAVE TO TURN THE PAGE! ”

He kept his eyes tightly closed throughout his entire performance. He prayed desperately that the melancholy he was feeling wasn’t showing on his face.

“My heart’s an endless winter, filled with rage…
I’m looking forward to, forgetting yesterday… ”

Chakkik was silent for a few seconds. When the music returned, he practically roared the lyrics.

“… it’s all gone COLD! And no one wants to change!
It’s all so WRONG! And no one wants the blame!
It’s all gone COLD! There’s nothing left to gain!
It’s all so WRONG! But who am I, who am I to say!?
To say… It’s all gone cold, BUT WHO AM I TO SAY!? It’s all gone cold… but WHO AM I? WHO AM I TO SAY! ”

He finally opened his eyes as all but the piano faded.

“Cold…”

((If you're wondering, the song is Cold, by Five Finger Death Punch.))

"So..." She clasped her hands behind her back. "Who goes first? And don't you dare say I should because I was in Gryffindor; bravery and willingly making a fool out of yourself for no reason are two completely different things."

"This is quite a music collection, uh...uh...I don't think I got your name. Do you have any Lady Gaga songs?"

((OOC: I decided a performance would be better than Miguel and Violet bickering.))

Her supernaturally-enhanced voice did come in handy for certain songs, after all. She pulled the mic off the stand and began dancing along with the opening of the song, mimicking Countess Coloratura's dance moves in the episode. Standing under the spotlight caused her skin to take on the same odd gleam the Cullens' did under the lights at Bella's graduation party. It only served to enhance her performance, if you asked her.

"Time for the spectacle

Time for the show

The lights are bright and the colors glow

I'm not just anypony

I think you know

The time is now, it's about to blow!"

Yeah, having an enhanced voice made emulating the synthesizer sounds from the song much easier. Charlotte grinned hugely as she reached the chorus, having to hold back a laugh at the words.

"Razzle dazzle

Glitz and glam

Turn it all up, it's a spectacle

Give me more

Razzle dazzle

Glitter eyes, big surprise

Lights, cameras!

Razzle dazzle

Glitz and glam

Turn it all up, it's a spectacle

Hear the applause

Here to impress

Not just a pony, I am the Countess!"

Charlotte flipped her hair and bowed before jumping nimbly off the stage.

((Link if you want to know what the original is like.))

But without a goddess to guide him, a fit of stumbling around trying to put himself in front of the mic would have to do.

Having told the name of the song to Valon, Cupid cleared his throat, and as the music began to play, he aimed a deliberate glance at Violet and hoped that his voice wasn't slurred. Though Sarah's temporary alcohol ban may have helped somewhat.

"I was so high I did not recognize

The fire burning in her eyes

The chaos that controlled my mind

Whispered goodbye as she got on a plane

Never to return again

But always in my heart, oh..."

Cupid's voice was almost angelic as he continued. Okay, it WAS angelic. Flapping his wings and tapping his toes to the beat, it was surprising to see that this normally alcoholic, scatterbrained youth could sing so well.

By the time the song ended, he bowed, spreading his wings one last time. If only Stephanie could see him now - Oh, wait.

((OOC: Inspired by this. Yes, that's Pit's VA doing the singing. ;D))

She grinned ferociously as she turned to her audience. "Hold onto your asses, this one's gonna be crazy." She tapped Valon's laptop with her stinger.

The first few notes of Halestorm's "Mayhem" pounded from the speakers, and Kala lost herself to the metal. She whipped her head back and forth, her side-tail flying around her ear.

"I'm so bored with... this world that spins around me... used to make me dizzy..."

Kala's singing voice was high, with a faint rasp; the kind of voice common to all metal vocalists, the kind that can turn into a scream at a moment's notice.

"A little mayhem never hurt anyone, when'm I gonna get some...
A little bedlam, till I'm coming undone, when'm I gonna get some..."

And indeed it did; she put a great deal of force into her voice, compounded by the fact that her legs and pincers were constantly clicking and tapping with the song's drumbeat.

This reached an extreme in the song's bridge, where she punctuated each line by pounding the floor with her pincers, so hard that the entire auditorium shook.

"I wanna feel the chaos
I wanna hear the uproar
A little pandemonium
I know I'm not the only one
I wanna be, blown away
I wanna feel the walls shake
I wanna feel the walls shake!
I WANNA FEEL THE WALLS SHAKE IT SHAKE IT SHAKE IT SHAKE IT SHAKE IIIIIIIIIT!"

That last scream nearly blew out her voice, but she soldiered on with the last few lines of the song.

"LOOKIN' FOR SOME MAYHEM, LOOKIN' FOR SOME MAYHEM! Yeeeaaaaaaaaaa-AAAAAAA-AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

She concluded the song by thrusting the mic above her head, her chest heaving with her ragged breathing.

The Aviator was standing by the doors, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. "And I still can't believe you tried to get me to sing that crap with the Librarian! Do you have any sense of decency?"

"I'm sorry," Zeb said, his ears flat against his skull. "I just thought—"

"Yeah, well, you thought wrong."

Both agents were silent for a moment.

"I just thought you would have fun if you tried it," Zeb said quietly.

The Aviator barked out a harsh laugh. "Yeah, fun. What's so fun about getting up there and singing in front of a bunch of people?"

Zeb shrugged. "I thought it was," he said quietly. His ears pricked up slightly. "C'mon, please? Just one? I'll let you pick," he added hastily.

"Oh, that's awful generous of you." The Aviator sighed and looked around. "I dunno. I mean, my glitter's bad enough as it is..."

"It's karaoke," Zeb said desperately. "Everyone's doing it and I don't see the DIA running in to arrest them for turning into Sues."

The Aviator hesitated. She hadn't sung in centuries, after all, but she still remembered how much she used to enjoy doing it.

"Just one?" Zeb tried again.

"...Oh, f*** me, I must be crazy. Fine. But only because you asked nicely."

And just like that, Zeb's face split into a massive grin. "Yay! Thank you!"

The Aviator swallowed and headed up to the microphone, where she told Valon the name of the song. Gripping the mic almost hard enough to break it, she listened to the few opening bars, prayed for a low glitter count by the end, and began to sing.

"Heart beats fast

Colors and promises

How to be brave?

How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?

But watching you stand alone,

All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow.

One step closer..."

She realized her throat was beginning to tighten, but she powered on, pouring her heart into the music. Her voice sounded... good. Too good, and she hated it, certain that her tracker was already beeping.

"I have died every day waiting for you

Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you

For a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more...."

When she reached the end, she put the mic back on the stand. Her cheeks were wet, and she reached up to dry them as she hurried off the stage. Stupid emotions. Stupid karaoke night. Stupid, stupid, stupid everything.

"Why're we doin' this again?" he asked, moodily strumming his well-worn guitar. "Don't we have missions to do, 'n stuff?"

"Because, Sir Jesse," Alleb said, practically skipping. "it will be fun!"

Jesse snorted. "Fun for you, maybe."

Alleb's smile grew a little wider. She looked out over the assembled group, to the stage. "Should we play now, do you think?" she asked, readjusting her grip on her flute case. "There is no one up--" She cut herself off, staring at a specific person in the crowd. "Oh, dear..."

"What?" Jesse asked, then followed her line of sight. His scowl turned itself into a wolfish grin with uncomfortable alacrity. "Y'know, Alleb, I think you're due for a doctor's appointment."

Alleb rounded on her partner. "Sir Jesse, if you even think about--"

"HEY DOC!" Jesse shouted, already starting towards the Doktor. "HOW YA DOIN'?"

Alleb set her teeth, sighed, then followed her partner as one walking to her doom.

((-Alleb))

Des walked around for a while, muttering to himself. He did, however, raise his head when he heard someone else starting to sing. It was the man he talked to just a moment ago. With a sigh, the cyborg looked around, trying to find his partner; when he saw him sitting with the Aviator, he decided to let the Time Lord be for the moment.
Then the song was over and the stage stood empty. Tugging at his faceplate, Des made his way onto the stage. "Can you get Pippin's song? From Return of the King? Good."
He cleared his throat, waited for the music, then started singing: "Home is behind, the world ahead,
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows, to the edge of night,
Until the stars are all alight.
Mist and twilight, cloud and shade,
Away shall fade! Away shall fade..."
Afterwards, he bowed curtly and hopped off the stage, feeling decidedly worse. "Dammit," he mumbled, "I managed to make myself sad again."

He needed to clear his ideas after his... less than stellar conversation with Desdendelle. Comforting to know he still mastered the art of putting his foot in his mouth. Only thing left was hoping it wouldn't affect his performance.

When he had learnt about this karaoke event, he had been thinking furiously about the songs he would sing, and had finally ended up throwing a dice for reaching a decision. At least the result looked it would fit with most of the precedent ones. Oh well, you only live once, and he liked being here. He always liked singing. Now, the question was, would people like it too?

"So, for this time I'll go with Please Don't Say You Love Me, by Gabrielle Aplin. Hope you'll appreaciate it."

Richard sung quietly, trying to his best to match the tune of the music. One of his hands was slowly whirling around, on the rythm of the song. He moved a bit before the micro, sometimes closing his eyes.

Summer comes, winter fades Here we are just the same Don't need pressure, don't need change Let's not give the game away

There used to be an empty space A photograph without a face But with your presence, and your grace Everything falls into place

Just please don't say you love me 'Cause I might not say it back Doesn't mean my heart stops skipping when you look at me like that There's no need to worry when you see just where we're at Just please don't say you love me 'Cause I might not say it back

Heavy words are hard to take Under pressure precious things can break And how we feel is hard to fake So let's not give the game away

Just please don't say you love me 'Cause I might not say it back Doesn't mean my heart stops skipping when you look at me like that There's no need to worry when you see just where we're at Just please don't say you love me 'Cause I might not say it back

And fools rush in And I've been the fool before This time I'm gonna slow it down 'Cause I think this could be more The thing I'm looking for

Just please don't say you love me 'Cause I might not say it back Doesn't mean my heart stops skipping when you look at me like that There's no need to worry when you see just where we're at Just please don't say you love me 'Cause I might not say it back

Please don't say you love me 'Cause I might not say it back Doesn't mean my heart stops skipping when you look at me like that There's no need to worry when you see just where we're at Just please don't say you love me 'Cause I might not say it back

Just please don't say you love me 'Cause I might not say it back

He then bowed, waiting for the public's reaction.

((Tell me if you think I should show less lyrics the next time. Or edit that message.))

((A thing? A THING!

Anyway, just so that people aren't waiting on me: From here on out, anybody can write their performance as a reply to the OP. You can assume Valon or Kala turns on the song you want; any reactions can be replies to the appropriate performance.

This came to me after my wifi ran out last night, and Skar couldn't actually write his performance with Lapis [who I indeed planned on going after Valon], so I decided to head that off on other people.

If you're wondering on who else is going for me? Well, originally I'd planned to reveal one or two new characters here, but I scrapped that. For now, though, know that Stephanie, Chakkik, and Kala are all going to perform.

Juuuuust as soon as I can figure out what songs they should sing.))

"Um... H-hello, everyone!" Her voice was small, so she had to lean into the mike to make herself heard. "Oh man, I'm r-really going to regret this... Uh, would it be okay if I performed just one song tonight? Hmm, how about "Try Everything" by Shakira, from the soundtrack of Disney's 55th animated feature, Zootopia?"

In the stands, Sarah began nodding enthusiastically. This did not comfort the blue-haired girl. At all.

Without waiting for anyone else, and before Kala could stop him, Valon had already made his selection and made his way to the microphone.

He took a deep breath…

“It’s been!”

And with a flurry of wild gesticulations, Valon started his performance of ‘One Week.’ He never stood still for a moment; his hands were constantly flying around and making appropriate gestures. His voice was a lively soprano, loud and full of energy.

“Hold it now and watch the hoodwink! Cause I make you stop, think! You’ll think you’re looking at Aquaman!”

At the first verse, Valon started drawing things from his vest, again trying to match the song: an Aquaman costume and a stop sign were the first things to emerge, followed very swiftly by a plate of sushi and a frying pan. Valon continually drew out new props and dropped the old ones at his feet.

By the time the song concluded, the pile of things at his feet consisted of a film camera, a katana, a giant Snicker’s bar, a bag of golf clubs, a Sailor Moon coronet, a fedora and whip, and numerous other things.

“It’ll still be two days till we say we’re sorry… Birchmount Stadium, home of the Robbie…”

When the last note faded, Valon turned, bowed, and tried to walk away… completely forgetting the pile of knickknacks at his feet. His boot caught on the pile, and he fell rather gracelessly to the floor.

Her glare softened slightly. "Hey," she said grudgingly. "Didn't think I'd see you here."

((Jumping up to the top to keep the threads from getting unwieldy.))

"Who wants to sing first I DO I D—mmph!"

Kala clapped a hand to her husband's mouth and dragged him away. "YOU can wait. Let's see..." She looked around at the gathered agents, before pointing at Zeb. "You. You're on first."

He was immediately followed by an even more gigantic young woman with the features of a squid.

"Miss Podd? If you would be so kind as to remind me why you brought me here?"

"I know you like singing, and you can sing pretty well!"

For once in his life, Chakkik felt heat rising in his face. "Singing 'Don Giovanni' in the showers does not qualify for this... karaoke... thing." He mentally cursed just how badly he'd run out of words.

((Who wants bubbles and grumps, YOU DO YOU DO))

"Because it might be fun and we could both use some socialisation," Des replied. "If I can try to sing in this tub" - he tapped his faceplate - "then so can you."

The Librarian tried make an about-face, but found that Des stood in his way.

"Ah-ah-ah," tutted the cyborg, "no shirking of social duty."

"Fine. It is on your head."

Marina Nicodelli looked around dubiously, before going back to her partner "I'm not exactly up to date when it comes about music, Richard. Must have something to do with the fact that I'm not able to use a music player."

"Because you wanted to meet more people, and this is an excellent occasion for? Nevermind the fact it's a karaoke, making it automatically a wonderful event?" Richard said, with a bit more excitation than his partner. Make this way more.

"...Okay. I guess I can try this myself later,but for now, I'll be watching this. But it's better to be worth using this disguise again."

The two Assassins then took place at chairs at a reasonable distance from te mic.

"I can't believe it took someone this long to host a karaoke night!" she said. "This is going to be great!"

"I think so, too," said Miguel. "You want to get us signed up or should I?"

Ami looked at the stage where the host was. Then she shook her head, blinked several times, and looked again at the large scorpion-woman standing behind him. "Whoa. Um...?"

"Oh, that must be Kala," said Violet. "Cupid told me a little about her. She's Valon's husband and a Monster Musume-verse girtablilu. Remember Stephanie from the New Years' party?"

"Vividly," said the other three agents.

"So do all of us want to sing, or just Ami, or what?" asked Chris, desperate to change the subject.

"I'll take a whack at it," said Miguel. "I can't promise anything mind-blowing, but...it should be fun."

Violet nodded. "Count me in, Chris. I've got a handful of eighties songs and total confidence in myself."

Chris gave his partners a thumbs-up. "By the way, no amount of pleading, bribery, bargaining, or brute force is going to convince me to get up onstage. I'll sing along to the crowd songs, but that's it. Are we clear?"

"Very," said Ami.

"Awwww, does somebody have stage fright?" Violet teased.

"Shut up, Violet." Chris stalked off to the front in a huff, while Ami got the others three neighboring seats in the middle of the fourth row.

He would rather be sitting in the Response Center, watching whatever and not watch anybody embarrass themselves. But Levy came along, and Matthew would annoy him half to death if he didn't come along. So, with the prior mentioned individuals, as well as Nickul, they had arrived at the Really Very Tiny Auditorium.

"I'll sign us up," Levy stated. She took a wild guess that the man with the laptop next to the scorpion-brand centaur was the officiator, and made her way to him, Nickul trailing close behind.

Matthew decided to socialize, and dragged Ajax with him to the gaggle of individuals chatting amongst themselves.

These included, in order of entry, two maniraptorans (one in disguise), a humanized pegasus, an angel, a blue-haired Pokemon trainer, a disguised sphinx, a demon girl in chains, a Super, a blond Homs, a white-skinned fitness trainer, and bringing up the rear, a vampire, a soccer girl with hair on fire, and a creeper.

At the front of the crowd, Rayner was actually pushing a very obstinate armored bird - who, in his words, didn't "do well in crowds". Cupid and Lapis, meanwhile, were raring to go, the latter having brought her special homefic keepsake - a lyre shaped like Kyogre with the strings between its outstretched fins.

"I cannot believe I'm doing this," said Falchion. "Literally. Cannot."

"Hey, you said your author was a pretty good singer," said Lapis, plucking a few strings on her lyre experimentally. "So I figured the same could be said of you, and birds sing, anyway, so why not?"

"Only songbirds, though!" Falchion protested. "And besides, what if I embarrass myself in front of everybody?"

"Are you SURE that's gonna happen?" asked Cupid. "If anything, the one who's most likely to get laughed off the stage would probably be me! And Sarah made sure I didn't bring anything alcoholic today, not even Bleeport!"

"He will," said Rashida. "Trust me."

"My thoughts exactly!" said Falchion. "Just... I don't think I'm ready for this."

"Well then," said Rayner, winking at him. "I hope you enjoy Valon's disappointment."

Falchion could only groan.

The Aviator didn't stop complaining as her partner dragged her down the corridor. "How many times do I have to tell you, I'll come watch you sing but I'm not doing it myself!"

"Aw, c'mon, you used to sing really well!" Zeb said, still tugging her along by the wrist.

"Yes, and then I regenerated and I haven't tried since. Gerroff!"

Zeb let go of her hand and she yanked it back, shoving it in her pocket.

"Please?" he wheedled.

"No." The Aviator pushed open the doors to the Really Very Tiny Auditorium, looking around. "You know, maybe the Council meetings wouldn't be nearly as boring if it looked this cheerful in here the rest of the time." She sat down in a chair as far away from the mic as possible while Zeb bounded up to Valon and Kala, grinning toothily.