Reva, Violette, and Hazel walked down the rocky road together. They had all walked out of the firelands a while ago; now, they were back in a craggy, desolate stretch of land full of ruined structures, and long forgotten cities. Violette was, as usual, playing her signature instrument lively. Hazel was reading a book that she had randomly pulled out of her pouch. Reva was left to walk with nothing to really do. She leaned over to Hazel.

“What’re you reading there?” she asked. Hazel looked at the cover, as if she wasn’t sure what she was reading herself.

“Becoming America’s National Treasure: The Memoir of Nicholas Cage.” Hazel read. Reva scratched her head.

“Who’s that guy?”

“Some dude named Nicholas Cage, apparently.

“I meant maybe what he did for a living.”

“It looks like he was an American actor back in the 2000s.”

“Cool. What was he in?” Hazel put on a blank face.

“I haven’t gotten that far yet.”

“Oh, well tell me about it when you finish.”

“Sure.” Reva twiddled her thumbs around for a bit.

“Could you pull me out a book to read?” she asked. “Just to pass the walking time.” Hazel sighed and shoved a hand into the pouch only to pull out a car jack.

“Can you read this?” Hazel asked, giving it to Reva.

“Shorter Inc. Made in the U.S.A. Please do not feed to babies.” she read.

“Why read a car jack when you can buy a world-class book to read?!” asked an eccentric voice off to the left. All three stopped and turned; seeing someone who they had all just started to forget.

“What do you want?” Hazel groaned, shoving her face further into her book in an attempt to look occupied.

“What do I ever want?” Shopkeeper asked innocently. “I just want to exchange some of my premium goods at a reasonable price in order to get the green that makes the world spin.”

“What does that mean?” Violette asked, tilting her head.

“It means she wants to scam us by making everything seem like a good deal.” Hazel growled. “Go bug someone else.”

“I’m sorry to say, but you all are my best customers!” Shopkeeper cheered. “At least in this dimension.”

“This dimension…?” Reva questioned. Shopkeeper waved her hand dismissively.

“Don’t worry about it. This one’s just fine. There’s no one-eyed chessmen or blindfolded women in green.” she said, shuddering. The saleswoman looked around. “Say, where’s the rest of your little club? Did they finally die? Can you tell me where their bodies are?”

“Woah, chill out there, babe.” Hazel said, putting her hands up. “They’re back in the firelands. They’ll catch up with us soon; they just wanted us to walk ahead.”

“Then why not wait for a bit?” she asked, giving the smile of a devil as she put down her giant backpack. “Give them some time to… catch up.” Hazel narrowed her eyes.

“Let me say this up front: you don’t have anything we need.” she said. “You’re probably going to try to shyster something out of poor Reva here.” Reva gave a look of surprise as Hazel patted her on the back.

“Why would I fall for something?” she asked defensively.

“Because you’ve got a giant heart, but are as sharp as a marble.” Hazel said bluntly. Reva looked to the ground, dejected. “Don’t worry, you’re still everyone’s favorite in battle.” Hazel assured.

“Are you going to shop or not?” Shopkeeper interjected impatiently.

“You selling anything we want?” Hazel asked with a raised eyebrow. Suddenly, Reva’s, Hazel’s, and Violette’s stomachs all growled at once.

“I’ve got food in the back.” Shopkeeper said.

“How much?”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You know,” Hazel said, trying to fit the meatball sub in her mouth. “You shouldn’t worry so much about looking good.” She pointed a finger at Violette.

“Why’s that?” the songstress asked, calmly eating her salad.

“Well, ‘cause beauty is only skin deep.”

“Well, I know it’s all about the personality, but you have to present yourself-“

“No, no!” Hazel exclaimed. “I don’t mean metaphorically. I mean literally.”

“…Literally?” Violette asked, slightly worried.

“Yeah, literally.” Hazel confirmed. “Think about it for a second. A man may look as beautiful as humanly possible, but as soon as you skin him, nobody wants to even be around him! If that doesn’t prove it, nothing will!”

“Skin him…?”

“Yeah! Take the skin off of him and the beauty’s gone!” Violette was confused and concerned.

“Well, I technically can’t refute that…”

“Damn right you can’t.” she smirked, swallowing the rest of her sandwich.

“Hey, have you seen Reva?” Violette asked, taking another bite of salad.

“Hm… nope.” Hazel said, yawning. She curled up in her soft chair. “You can go looking for her if you want.”

Violette finished the rest of her salad and got up to do that exact thing. As she swerved and weaved through Shopkeeper’s bazar, there seemed to be no trace of Reva. In the distance, Violette began to hear humming. As she approached closer to the source, the humidity started to spike and steam was in the air.

“I’d stop right there if I were you.” Shopkeeper said behind her. Violette jumped and turned around.

“Sorry, I was just looking for my friend, Reva.” she explained.

“Yeah, I see that.” the merchant said. “She asked for a service and I just happened to be able to provide it. I wouldn’t interrupt someone in the shower, if I were you.” Shopkeeper pointed to the pile of green armor and a giant shield on her left.

“Oh.” Violette realized, blushing. “Well, at least I didn’t intrude on anything.”

“Well, is there anything I can find for you in the meantime?” Shopkeeper asked. Violette thought for a second.

“Do you have anything musical?”

Violette was led into a music section of Shopkeeper’s bazar. There were instruments ranging from violin, to saxophone, to guitar, to theremin. Violette picked up an electric guitar and gazed at it in remembrance.

“Something catch your eye?” Shopkeeper eagerly asked over her shoulder.

“No… I just remembered something.” she said fondly. “Back before the Final War… I played with one of these for a while.”

“Well, what would you say to one last concert?” Shopkeeper whispered in her ear. Vio’s eyes lit up in delight.

“You would let me do that?” she asked.

“If you make it an enjoyable one.” Shopkeeper walked away from Violette. “Anything you’d need for a concert is here.” Before Shopkeeper disappeared, Violette thought of something.

“Wait!” she shouted. “I need some different clothes for this.” She told Shopkeeper an assortment of clothes she wanted and thought for a second. “And I’ll need a boxcutter.”

“For what?” the saleswoman asked skeptically.

“It’s not rock without ripped clothes.” Violette said simply. “Normally, I’d slide on my knees until holes ripped in them, but I don’t have the time. Oh, and some hair-dye too!”

“The concert better be good, or you’re paying for all of this.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey, watch this.” Selicy said. She put a hand over Gunner’s mouth, freezing his lips. He looked unamused as she did it again, making the ice disappear.

“Where are we going?” Gunner asked impatiently. “These handcuffs are really chafing my wrists. It’s killing me.”

“Yeah, that’s a no.” Shiso said. “If you want softer handcuffs, that’s a totally different hardware store to go to.” The man groaned and held his shoulder again; it started to throb again.

“Does your shoulder feel any better?” Saffron asked. Though Shiso was able to fire off her homemade sniper rifle, there wasn’t much to dampen the recoil on the thing. Even the gun suffered damage after firing just once. And well, Shiso ended up with a shoulder injury.

“I’ll be fine after a while.” he sighed. “I’ve broken bones more serious than this.”

“Can we do something about this feral child?” Selicy asked to the side, trying to keep Gunner under control. Shiso sighed.

“Kid, you wanna come to Eden with us?” he asked.

“No.” Gunner spat. Saffron looked confused.

“Why not?”

“Because my job is to guard that spot, not invade Eden. The rest of my squad might’ve bailed, but I won’t. Not until I get orders from my government.” All three of them looked at each other, then erupted into cynical laughter. “What’s so funny?!” he demanded.

“Sorry kid, but there’s no ‘government’ left to give orders. They’re all gone!”

“What?” he said in disbelief.

“Yeah, they’re all gone.” Saffron said sheepishly. “They all blew each other to smithereens. We’re a good majority of what’s left.”

“You mean… no more orders?” the boy asked.

“Yep.” Saffron responded. “You’re as free as a bird.” Gunner looked into the distance, despondent from what they were saying.

“I think he’s broken.” Selicy said, waving her hands in front of his eyes with no reaction.

“I’ve got this.” Shiso said. He took the handcuffs off of Gunner and pulled him to the back of the group to have a long chat.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Violette jumped out from behind the folding screen to show Reva her new look. Instead of a nice green, her hair was dyed a dark aquamarine. She had purple socks on inside of her white tennis shoes. Her loose white t-shirt flowed over the ripped blue jeans that she prominently sported.

“What do you think?” Violette asked. Reva smiled; instead of her usual armor, she wore a large white and green sweater with a gold trim.

“I think you look like a real rock star!” Reva said supportively, holding up a giant thumbs-up.

“Thanks!” Violette exclaimed, giving her a giant hug. She picked up a bright red guitar and put it across her back. “Although, some more people to play with me wouldn’t be bad though.”

“Sorry, I only play piano and maracas. Neither of which you’re looking for.”

“That’s alright.” Violette sighed.

“Vio, what happened to you?” asked a voice behind them both. Saffron, Shiso, Selicy, and Gunner walked into the music section of Shopkeeper’s bazar.

“I’m gonna put on a rock performance!” she said, excited.

“Good to hear I get to rest then.” Shiso grunted, putting himself down into a chair.

“Is he alright?” Vio asked.

“The old man threw out his back lifting some boxes.” Selicy said, putting her hoodie back on. Saffron rolled her eyes.

“Just a shoulder injury. He’ll get over it soon.” Saffron examined Violette. “So, is it just you, or…?”

“Neither Hazel or Reva can really play what I’m looking for.” she said in despair. “If only I had more people.”

“I’ve got you.” Selicy said casually to the side. She walked over, picked up a bass, and played some cords on it. “I played for a while. Learned to move my fingers when some annoying guy invited me over to play Guitar Hero every other night.”

“Ok then.” Violette said, tilting her head. “Do any of you play the drums?” she asked.

“I can.” said Gunner, raising his hand.

“Oh!” Violette said in surprise. She hadn’t actually noticed him. “Who are you?”

“I’m the guy who almost blew your head off.” Everyone stayed silent for a few moments.

“Are you going to do it again?”

“No.”

“Can you play drums good?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re in.”

With that, Violette, Selicy, and Gunner disappeared into a maze of music and instruments. They weren’t seen for many hours.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About an hour before the event, Violette had everyone give her one song they wanted to hear. Well, everyone except for Shopkeeper; for once, she couldn’t be found in her own shop. As the stars set out in the sky, everyone else sat in folding chairs in front of a big stage that Shopkeeper somehow had fit in her backpack.

“How does she fit all of this junk in there?” Shiso asked, gesturing around to the merchandise that stretched for miles.

“I’m guessing magitech.” Saffron said confidently.

“What if she just shrinks it all?” Shiso thought aloud. “Like Merlin in that film, The Sword in the Stone.”

“Nobody’s watched your old man films.” Hazel said, sitting beside them with popcorn.

“Where’ve you been?” Saffron asked. “We looked for you, but we haven’t seen you since we got here.”

“I took a nap.” the engineer responded.

“And not jury-rigging some mechanical monster together again?” Shiso asked skeptically. Hazel put her hands up.

“I promise not.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to see what they’ve put together!” Reva said in the back. None of them let her sit in front of them because of her height. “Vio sounded so excited!”

“We’ll see how it is.” Shiso said as the band members walked out onto the stage, making their way to the instruments.

Violette picked up her bright red guitar that she had even signed herself. Selicy, wearing a pair of sunglasses, took her bright blue bass that had jagged spikes at the end of its head, making it look like ice. Gunner, wearing a bandana around his forehead, took a seat in front of his drum set; the center of each drum had a carton bomb explosion designed onto it. Violette tapped the mic before clearing her throat and shouting.

“ARE YOU READY FOR VIOLETTE AND THE ICE-BOMBS?!” she said with the intensity of an atomic warhead.

“WOO! YEAH!” Reva shouted back, as if trying to match the intensity. Violette saw Shiso cover his ears and groan.

“Now that you’re hyped, let’s get started.” she said at a more normal volume. “We’re starting with an original song tonight. It’s called ‘One More Step’ and it was written by me.” Violette took a deep breath and stepped away from the mic. She nodded to Gunner; he spun his drumsticks around and slammed them together.

“1! 2! 1-2-3-4!”

Gunner started drumming away and made a sound that could be compared to lightning striking a few sticks of dynamite. Selicy was busy giving a nice bassline while occasionally intersecting with Violette, who was set on playing the melody. Nobody dared talking as Violette approached the mic and started singing.

The allies we’ve made,

The foes we’ve felled;

Experience shared,

Friendships we weld.

Far beyond the starlight,

We run, and we run.

Closer to our destination,

Where our journey will be done…!

One more step and we’re already there!

One more step, if you dare.

One more step through any weather!

One more step if we do it together.

As all three of the band members rocked out as hard they could on stage, the four audience members got up and began cheering. Up in the catwalk above the stage, Shopkeeper was frantically rushing around to set lights right and do other stage effects. As she pressed a button, a light fog settled over the stage.

She tossed several glow-sticks down; one of which landed in Shiso’s open mouth. They all twirled around the glow-sticks while the three performed on stage and soon neared the end of the song.

In the end, we’ll all find tomorrow,

Lying one step ahead in its wait.

Together we stand, side by side,

To write the world again from its cleanly-pressed-slate!

One more step, and it’s time to leave.

To heaven’s shackles, we will all cleave!

We’ll all be here, no matter the endeavor,

Each step of the way, we’ll do it all together…!

As the song ended, Violette, along with the other two on stage, were panting and sweating profusely from their heated performance. Saffron, Reva, and Hazel were standing up, cheering, and giving as much praise as possible. Vio and Shiso locked eyes with each other; he smiled and gave a thumbs-up.

“Thank you!” Violette shouted, fanning herself. “Now, let’s take five!”

Violette hopped down to the seats while Gunner and Selicy just lied down on stage. Saffron and Hazel went to Selicy’s side while Reva went to try and lift Gunner. Shiso stood up and faced Violette.

“That was one hell of a performance.” Shiso complimented. “Sure had me impressed.”

“Thanks.” Violette blushed, brushing her hair aside.

“Listen, I-”

Before Shiso finished, Violette rushed in and kissed him. He was taken totally by surprise, but closed his eyes until it was over. Violette’s face was now even more red. She tried to find the right words.

“I, uh… well-” Shiso put a hand on her shoulder and pointed back on stage.

“Your bandmates are waiting for you.” he said. Selicy and Gunner were drinking water and getting back into their positions to play. “You’d better get back up there quick.”

“So… we-”

“We’ll talk after the concert. Go, enjoy yourself again.” Violette smiled as she bounded back on stage and drank a few massive gulps of water.

“WHO’S READY TO KEEP GOING?!” she shouted. The four of them cheered and Violette pointed to Gunner. “HIT IT!”

“1! 2! 1-2-3-4!”

You show is everything you’ve got!

You keep on dancin’ and the room gets hot!

You drive us wild, we’ll drive you crazy…!

Violette and the Ice-Bombs gave their first and last concert by performing all night. As the twinkling stars faded, the morning sun rose in the sky and a new dawn shone down on them all.