Stick to the Beat!

So here's the great big plan, Discedo!

Since we haven't had holidays for awhile, and 'cause it's apparently Labor Day this Monday...

I declare it an official party. Especially since the lights are back up at the High School, and 'cause it's still kinda nippy outside, I think we're best off doing it like a block party, inside!

So uh...lemme know if you're gonna set up a booth or something in any of the hallways! It can be for fun, or a game, or something else entertaining, or to uh...promote something serious, like survival tips or recruiting for a project. The cafeteria can do some food, uh...Then everyone can come walk around, and end up in the Auditorium for Float's Stellar Summer's End Smash Concert!

Sounding good yet?

....and uh, Sneaky Group, feel free to, you know. Throw us a bone here with the partying materials. Just saying! We've been real sports, we're overdue something nice, right?

Man, all these people getting sick. Gives me the shivers, thinking about Atropos all over again.

Or maybe it's just the chilly weather. Man, I miss Axel around if only for all the free heat.

...I'm in need of a good cheer up, Discedo, how bout you?

Nani told me at the cafeteria today that 'Labor Day' is coming up...that it's an end-of-summer holiday (some summer, huh?) where I guess you celebrate uh...All the hard work that people pitch in the rest of the year? By having a day to relax and slack off. I could go for something like that! It's the monday after next.

So, anybody wanna have a...hallway block party? In the apartments and the high school! We can pretend like it's actually summery. I think it could be a blast!

Ow! Ow! Ow! Geez! Geez, you crummy sneakies!

What's a guy gotta do to get a break around here?

Bad enough the water doesn't wanna stay liquid. Naja, I'm sorry I've been so out of touch. Rest of the band too.

Guess my heart's just been feeling the chill. And not in the good way, either. The snow was a blast for awhile, but now it's all kinda yuck.

Man, would you look at it pour down out there! I've seen some heavy rain in Never Was, but this acid stuff...eeeeuunnnngfhhh!  Nasty. Too sharp. I can't work the resonance with water like that, not without giving myself a huge headache.

I'm real sorry 'bout all the trees, Yorda. Don't know how they'll get by through all this.

We're lucky no apartments have basement levels...otherwise you might be getting ankles deep by now, the way the streets are filling up. How's the high school front entrance doing?

By the looks of the sky, even now that things are clearing up, I'm guessing no one'll be wanting to drink the rainwater anytime soon.

That said, we still need some water storage, because there is no way I'm keeping up with all these on call fill ups. And the ones on the roof are all seriously wrecked.

So uh...hey Axel. Know how we were joking around the other day 'bout a Sauna? Well I know you were only kidding then, but it's not really so bad an idea, right? I mean, if we could find the right kind of place for it. Balthier's gone on about a bathhouse before, how it'd be really practical-

Oh and guess whose frequency isn't cropping up....would a sigh of relief jinx it?

Man, I wish the moons were out or something, so I could see...bet it looks just like the top of Marshall Street over there now.

So all the watertowers got either knocked over or...well, in the case of Latimir, caved in completely and probably dripping all over someone's sitting room. My guess is people are feeling a bit thirsty from sitting totally freaked out in the dark and from all the emergency missions.

Aren't you lucky to have me to the rescue? I'll be downstairs in the lobby, playing for fill ups. Bring by your buckets and mugs or whatever you've got. I'll play till my fingers give out.

Hey Shinji! (Well, hey everyone, actually, but I figure you need the official warning to get the extra chairs out and expect a crowd and get your security people...secure and stuff)

Me and Linda are gonna do a set or two down at the bar tonight! It's been way too long since we've played together, so we figured we'd hit you all up with a musical treat plus I need dinner, and I can't mooch off Nani's cafeteria till tomorrow.

So yeah! Entertainment on the house! Cover charge is whatever usual trade off you got going with the lights barkeep!

Oh yeah, and keep the Malice out. It totally ruins the jive.

So....I remembered way back when Rocketbilly and I messed around the idea of a ballad for this place. A right country-ish one. No I'm no good at country, if you ask me, or at pushing everything into wordy verses, I kind of like my music a little more fluff with lyrics, but that's cause I got used to writing for Linda.

But I was bored so I thought I'd try my hand at it again, and I only really have a first bit and a chorus, and it's gotta get broken up a little more somehow so- eh, I know the words are pretty bad, go ahead, but I thought it'd give it a little whirl for fun anyway. So eh...

[There's a rustle of a few papers, and he carefully strums a few tune up chords before launching into songsville...very talky and folksy, and Demyx fumbles around a bit with the mouthful of what he's written down.]
( [Song cut under here for space!] )

Ehhhh...that's all I got so far. There'll be more about...headless posters in the subway and ghosts and that satellite and murderings and posion gas and John Summers and Malice and eh....what other stuff needs to go in The Ballad of Discedo?

O-okay, quick everybody! Malice business aside! I've got an important mission that's gotta be ready by tomorrow!

Who wants to help me make a Circus for this poor miserable kid's Discoversary! It doesn't gotta be too spectacular, so no worries, I don't think Ari's got any huge expectations.

C'mon people, have a heart and pitch in to pitch up a big top...sorta! Clowns and someone get the best trained Chocobo to do some tricks maybe and uhh....Magic! Ahh- And Ty Lee, where are you? Professor Layton, can I borrow your top hat?

We need acts and someplace to do it, and...maybe some popcorn!

Really? I throw a dance party and you guys are still crabby? What gives, people?

Okay, so...so Float really does kinda need a new drummer. And some poppy female vocals. Not that...uh...that's a call for replacements for Ness and Linda so much as...filling in the sound gaps?  .And if Linda ever comes back you are to play totally dumb like it never happened and we never replaced her, got it? So is there any talent out there that'd like to give it a whirl? If so, schedule an audition time, we'll meet at the stage in the auditorium, run it all casual-like. I'm willing to work with beginners with potential! That goes for any other intrumentalists too! We could use a  man (or lady!) on keys.

Ah! And for those of you who are new around here: I'm Demyx, your resident entertainment coordinator/bandleader and also a third of the city's water utility! And...on behalf of all your water utilities, I'd like to remind you that we're...not on duty 24/7! So be a little consisderate, and use it wisely! And by wisely I mean no wasting! And by no wasting, I mean...do bathe, but...consider the lake! Or spongebathing!

Woah whoa, Discedo! Chill out! What's going on that's got everybody in such a careful mood now? I...think we all just need something to take the edge off. Some thing...y'know, nice, to cut all this tension!

So...who's up for a dance at the gym or something? Iroh, you don't mind that, right? We could get on some live music, and...see who's got the fanciest footwork! And try playing nice with the neighbors for a change. How about tomorrow night, that'd be pretty fun, right?

If anyone wants to learn a few steps, I'll be around the auditorium tonight.

[Private, to Evil King Stan]

So uh...am I off the hook yet for playing matchmaker, or what?

[Private & Unhackable, to Saix]

I've been reconsidering...and I think you're right! It's worth being prepared if the boss shows back up, so uh...Sure, I'll look busy? I mean obviously we can't make too much trouble with these people, and there's no real orders to go on here, and...like I can't really go out there and play traitor-nabber because that's totally not my scene, and I'm sure you're hotter on that anyway, but uh...but If there's a better heart out there, I'm willing to give it a shot. Er....whatever that means

So don't mind me, doing my own thing in the meantime!  I'm only talent scouting the locals, I swear.

I can't believe I'm actually doing this, geez, I'm gonna get beaten into the ground by mobs of angry women...

Sooooo....heeeeey, Discedo Ladies! I bet you're ah- catching the spring fever? Looking for a little romance in your life? Looking to liven up your cold and lonely evenings?

Ahem. WELL LOOK NO FURTHER! 'Cause have I got a Wild Blind Date for you!

He's.... [There's a fumbling pause, and some shuffling of papers]  Handsome, ridiculously powerful, smells...nice? (And that's a real plus around here, seriously!) Ahhaa...Did we mention, 'really fucking handsome' and probably the best lover you'll ever have?

Annnnnd If you're an eligible bachorlette who's interested, I can totally fix you up for a romantic ravioli dinner for two, complete with personal mood music accompaniment, so just...er...lemme know if you're interested?

...

Uh, so...yeah! That's about it! Open up your hearts, girls! Give 'em a shot! If you regret it you can always...take it out on him and not me.

[A pause, and then a wincing mumble.]

Now I really hope Linda never come back and finds out about this.

[Another pause. And then he speaks up again, pleading in a whining tone.]

Hey Shinji, you gotta any of that wine left I can cork up a bottle of, all classy-ish? Oh...and something five times stronger for me, you can pour up for me right about... now? Please? I'll owe you a gig-night?

Man, I'm tired of feeling so down. What a total drag it's been around here lately.

Somebody cheer me up. Seriously. I need a pick up. Anything.

Guess this is the blue side of the heart, huh? I wish I could remember how to shake 'em off....but if the leery feeling in my gut's right, this was something of how it went the first time.

Of course, the leery feeling could just be...I don't know, lots of things.

Gee, first pink elephants....

Now I'm definitely seeing things.

Linda? Are you out there somewhere?

Uh...I'm sort of on a...bad week, but if anyone's got any requests out there, I'll give it my best. Or maybe y'know...you could sing me a cheer-up song for a change.

Well, I guess...

I guess...Float's gotta run some auditions for a new lead singer.

...Nhh, know what, don't even feel up to it. Maybe next week. Work on some audition piece or somethin', I...I can't think about this now.

Sorry the watertanks ran dry today, guys...I'm just...not feelin' it. Not today.

Oh hey, is it a holiday today? It is! Happy Mother's Day!

Uh...now who is a mom here, come to think of it....Uh...Jenova, right?

Is there anybody...else?

And I thought it was bad when Cynthia and Linda were haunting me...Gosh, and now people are dying all over?

And they put up those posters that Linda hates on 'er, and all this mean stuff written all over town...

What gives, Sneaky Group? What is up with this place? Halloween's not for another six months!

[ooc: Demyx will be huddled under his blankets, and will occasionally venture out into the 2nd floor Marshall St. hallway, spot a ghostie, and then go dashing back into 114 with a yelp and a loud doorslam. Or Zexion's room. Or Kakihara's. Or anyone else on the floor unlocked. Free to commentlog.]

Thanks again Sneakies, for bringin' Zexion back. I've missed 'em, gotta admit, and its a lot better being here than being dead.

Shinji, I'm gonna swing by later and do a set for kicks and...some eats, okay? Anyone else wanna jam for your supper, the bar's pretty cool about it, you can jump on my act, we'll whip something up.

You know, Sweet One, I kinda miss the cute personal little sticky notes you could'a stuck on these things.

'Hi Demyx! =)' or 'Bravo, nice show the other night!' would be totally acceptable for next time?

But thanks for the new tin, Sneakies, you knew just when I was runnin' low, and for the new staff paper. We'll totally count this as Easter basket belated, good job! Now for Christmas in July, I'd still really like some Koi...

So there are new guitars in town now, awesome! I'm totally up for doing a double act sometime down at the Northern Lights and getting to hear your personal sound, tip me off if you're interested.

(Hey War-mongers, don't forget to keep feeding Sealand, okay? I can't run your supply lines all the time.)

Oh hey! And it's been awhile, so for all the new folks out there, this is Demyx saying: Conserve your water and use it sparing and all that Jazz, I can't be makin' it forever, give your sources a little slack!

Band sounded stellar tonight, so I think we're ready to send this baby up!

Discedo, your Float concert is coming to you live, 7pm this Wednesday, in the Mariner High School Auditorium, followed by a showcase of the amazing ranging talents of our city citizens! Be there or be totally uncool!

[There's a fumbling click and then a few moments of silence, followed by a clearly projected voice in what sounds like a very big, empty room]

Hello Discedo!

So guess where I'm makin' this post? Hearing me loud and clear? Well that's cause-

okay close your eyes, imagine it...feel the fold-down wood padding your behind, smell the lingering antiseptic from our former occupants and the burning dust of too long-unused spotlights... this is your sneak preview! You're all in the center of the house, listening to what it sounds like!

That's right, Discedo's Concert Hall (and public meeting center) is open, up and running for your patronage! Uh, presuming all the legalese will be worked out regarding who gets to use what and when...

So stay tuned for when our first concert-slash-open-call-talent-show will happen! Float'll be the opener, of course, uh...and then its up to you!

[There are jogging footfalls as Demyx makes his back back to the communicator, still speaking to the whole empty room at large...which does have rather nice natural amplication.]

We'll see how quick we can pull this thing together....bandmates, or anybody else who wants in on the jam, really, we gotta pull some material big-show worthy and get on to practicing in the new room, so...lets meet up at the cafeteria for a quick soup bite tonight, then get down here for practice! Oh yeah, and don't forget about our pep band gig at the Struggle Tournament this Friday...I got the fight song all set.

Oh! And I guess we could use some techies now too! Anybody with some stellar showmanship in lights and soundboa- uhhhh, say how much do  you think these high school generators can take, anyway? I wonder how much we can pump up the entertainment around here.

(...oh yeah, and I guess the Auditorium's open for being a courtroom and whatever else now too.)

This is Demyx your friendly neighborhood water util, fireman and rock star, saying- Have a nice day Discedo, and please don't feed the monsters, feed your hearts on the new sound!

Man, it figures. The second those doctors clear out of the auditorium, the High School goes loopy.

I can never win.

Okay Team Hospital, 10 seconds till Operation:Flood N' Flash hits the airwaves! Sparkplugs in place? I'm ready to go full throttle acoustic! I'm leaving this on so you can all tune in on the action, and know I've done my citizenly part in relocating the clinic!

We'll be doing a floor by floor, starting from ground up! Monsters are about to get a little electro-shock therapy, and then once I speed us along on the dry out, the rest of you sword happy people can go ahead with the rest of the lobotomies.

Last call for scout teams to all-clear, it'll be hair-raising dangerous in here and pretty Ozone-y!

[Annnnd the Sitar starts to drone and wail into a wild-fingered solo, followed by the sound of gushing water bursting rapidly in succession.]

FOR THE AUDITORIUM, DISCEDO!

Well, I'm real hot and up and ready on this hospital-clearing business of Saber's. Since the clinic deserves, ahem, a nice and more appropriate place than that High School Auditorium. (Really guys. I ask for one little thing for my birthday, and still no word from you Lawyers about public domain.) Water clone army's ready for action, and ahh...Iroh, somebody else who can let sparks fly? I need a volunteer partner to help make Pre-Raid Operation:Flood and Flash effective.

...It sorta makes me miss Rocketbilly a bunch. We were a really stellar team when it came to dealing with monsters like that. It's been almost a year now, I think, since we got the chips out, got hearts...there are a lot of people who've come and gone since then, and after thinking I really sort of miss a whole lot of them. I miss Sam the old drummer. Johanna with her sweet nightingale voice. Cynthia...miss her a bunch. Zexion. The Frizz. Heck, I even miss Doc Simon, and Discedo's just felt weird without Harry Mason around.

Guess its a sign the heart's still real and working fine, if I can feel things like melancholy over missing them. Listen to the sitarist, being all gushy and sentimental. 

Look, ah...I'm doing the usual water rounds. Come keep me company, if anyone's looking for something to do.

Hmmmmm....something important's supposed to happen today, but I forgot- Oh! Well right, it's two days till my birthday! Hmmmmm, I wonder what the city could possibly give me for a present, something I've reeeeeeally really wanted, for a long long time...

Hey Linda, we gotta start working on the Struggle Championship Fight Song. We've got a month to make it stellar and snazzy.

Marshall Street feels really funny, without Harry Mason around. Now it's just the US Embassy, I guess.

Oh yeah. And those musically inclined: Float and all-talented-persons are free jam sessioning this Thursday for my party, location to be announced. Bring your smiles and your best flexibility to improvise.

So....uh...its been almost a week now...

I know he's been let off the hook and all, but I'm still a little worried, y'know, that Axel might be ahhh....little angry, about how some of the testimony went over? So...can anyone tell me if I'm in the clear here? 'Cause it kinda sucks, staying on the lie-low, not sure if I've ticked someone off or not.

Besides, its my birthday next Thursday, and I kinda want a party or something. But I don't want the shit kicked out of me for my big mouth minute I'm out of the wonderful and gracious protection of the US Embassy, 'cause that wouldn't be much fun, and I was only answering questions honestly. Honestly!

Uh, and Mr. Wright? So...I don't mean to bug you too soon or anything, but...those public space codes?

Ah shoot. And its lucky number XIII day (and a Friday too, yikes!) which means...White Day's tomorrow already! I gotta get some presents together.

Uhhh sooooo....

Since when was the side effects of running from Rhinocerouses...-ceri, since when did that involve special brownies?

Cause it feels like I'm definitely a little baked, for the record. It's not the water, I swear. Even with all the bad resonance, don't go blaming me! Its gotta be- hey Masa? This isn't some kind of joke you're playing on me, is it?

H-hey girls, wait up! Don't go dancing off! I need-   That's funny.

...Geez, I haven't seen this many mushrooms since that quick spin around that world, what was it- aahh, Fantasia...

Hah! Ah....alright! That's the last of 'em...Kid, you okay? ... Okay! Gimmie five! Up top! Bravo!

Checkin' in, Disco! No one's lost the game yet, right? Are we winning? Is it over soon? 'Cause we're...tuckered out, geez, taking a little breather...

But If you see any more of those punky-lookin' crabs scuttling around in a troublesome cluster, call on the Singing Sealandic Navy! We'll swab up deck in a jiffy!

...Huh?

UUHHHWAAH! A RHINO!? Not good! No good! Who said we were ready for an encore?! S.O.S.! S.O.S.! Up up up, haul anchor kid, lets move back inside!