Juka stood in the doorway of the dressing room watching the opening band finish their final song. The opener was a band by the name of Rememberance and they were good, no question about it. They would be a hard act to follow but Juka was ready for it, had never been more ready in his life. It had been months since his last performance at the side of his fellow band mates in Ukime. He had still been back in Japan at that time and it had been a memorable night. He wondered, briefly, where they were now and if they had continued on without him. He hoped so. Tonight, however, wasn't going to be about Ukime at all; Ukime was his fondly remembered past. Tonight was about the beginning of a new chapter in his life and a new era of music with his new band Light in Darkness. For the past few months he had been gathering up band mates, writing music and preparing for this night and finally it was here.

Juka could admit, if only to himself, that he felt some nerves and it had been a while since he had felt nervous on stage. Nothing he couldn't get over of course, but it was such an important night. This was the night that he would either make his reputation as a new force within the local New York City music scene or fade into mediocrity and mediocrity was simply not an options. Besides, he knew that there were going to be several people he knew in the crowd tonight and he dearly wanted to impress them all. Jewel, for one, had never before seen him perform having never visited him in Tokyo. He wanted to show the world that he was someone special. The stage was his home and even after his long vacation away from it, he still felt that reality keenly. Oh, what a welcome home party it would be.

Juka glanced over towards Tsune, the basist for his band and the only female member. She was an arctic fox mutant, beautiful in her way with pure white fur covering her entire body, cute perky fox-like ears, little claws on her fingers and a bushy white tail. His eyes almost glowed his his anticipation and he could see the same sense of anticipation in her. His entire band were mutants, each one of them skilled at their respective instruments and each one of them prepared to put on the best show they were able.

Rememberance played their final chord and Juka's anticipation went up one more notch, if that was even possible. All that was left now was to wait for their set to be taken down and Light in Darkness' set to be put on. It wouldn't be long now before all 5 of them were on stage where they belonged.

Raina felt like a teenager again at the show. She was wearing jeans for the first time since she could remember and she had her hair styled in a wacky wave way. Glittery eye shadow and blush shimmered on her skin and she'd even painted her nails black just for a little fun. Her old chuck sneakers fit so much better than the shoes she was used to wearing, and the studded belt felt like being wrapped up by an old friend.

She didn't look too out of place, it was clear Juka's band or at least this first band had a wide fan base. She was excited to get out of the mansion and do something fun but she was also insanely curious about Juka's stage presence. She liked Juka, he was a lot of fun and hard to forget. Being around him cheered anyone up.

As the first band ended their set and the lights started to fade the crowd of screaming girls started to swoon. Raina's heart raced with that familiar being in a crowd feeling and she shouted along too "Wooo! Yaaah! Jukaaa!" She couldn't wait for the show to start!

Juka watched the preparations being made for his band to come out on stage from behind the curtain seperating the venue from the backstage area. Over the course of the next 20 minutes the drum set of the previous band was taken down and the drum set of his band was put up. Sound checks were done on the guitar, keyboard, drums, bass and mic to make sure that everything was working to perfection. Finally done the lights began to dim and the crowd began chanting. Adrenaline raced through Juka's system; this was what he was here for, this was what made life worth living. There was absolutely nothing in the world quite like having hundreds of fans chanting his name and the name of his band and that included his almost incomparable bubbles.

Juka waited two full minutes, letting the anticipation build in the crowd, before sending out his first bandmate. Kane, the drummer, was the first one through the curtain, long purple hair framing his delicate features. He was a colour-mancer, changing and shaping colours to his will. It wasn't much of a power in a fight, save perhaps as a distraction, but as a performer it was perfect.

Daemon on keyboards was next. His hair was very blond and spiked, his eyes pale blue and piercing. He wore skin tight leather and chains, the most punk rock character in the band. He had the ability to create fireworks and they had spent many long hours practicing to have the fireworks erupt in time with the music. Who needed expensive production when you had an all mutant band anyway?

Tsune and Kane were next, siblings and both anthopormorphic animal mutants. Tsune, on base, was a silky soft furry arctic fox and Kane, her older brother, a black and white lemur mutant. They were as close as two siblings could be and made for an exotic and engaging site, standing on stage together.

Finally the band was on stage waiting only for Juka. For another half a minute he waited, building the crowd into a frenzy, before stepping out onto the stage. For his first show he opted for something of a gothic lolita look, a frilled black lace dress working in stark contrast to his high bright orange hair. He wore fishnets and tall stilletto boots. The crowed absolutely erupted and he stood there simply taking it all in. Yes, this was life. This was what it meant to be alive.

Erick steeled himself as he enter into the place. He looked around with almost visible disdain as he smoothed his white polo with the stylized black and gold phoenix on it. The bouncer did not need to have been so rough, especially when touching designer shirts and pants, and Erick had told him so. This place wasn't his type of scene at all, if they served a decent Muscato he would be floored. The whole rock band craze never hit Erick. Though he would never say that rock was not music, it simply wasn't his type of music. Give him a violin, cello, piano and flute any day.

But still he was here, and the show promised to be interesting, to say the least. Erick had been hearing about it for a while now, the all mutant band that would be performing tonight. What an interesting concept, one that piqued Erick's interest enough for him to come to the function. That and the fact that at the Society party last night, everyone talked of how they wouldn't be caught dead at such an event. Erick smiled as he remembered the gaping mouths, like beached fish, as he told everyone he had been planning to attend the event for sometime. After all it wasn't the event that made the person, but the person made the event.

Walking further into the building Erick saw the advertised band was beginning to grace the audience with their presence. He looked around, for somewhere to sit, and saw few tables, and most of those taken by groups of interested people. One table however supported only one man, well into his beer. Erick grinned to himself and began making his way to the man.
"Apollo forgive me, but I am not going to stand and watch this show." he whispered as he finally came up behind the guy, who didn't even notice.

Checking around to make sure no one was paying too much attention to him, Erick placed his hands on the back of the mans chair and closed his eyes. Already intimately knowing his own etheric, he quickly assessed the drunken mans, and then Erick changed his own, every so slightly. It wouldn't take much to effect the man already infected with alcohol. A small buzzing developed in the back of Erick's skull, as a light blue haze tried to developed as Erick caused his own energy signal to repel the mans. Not too much though, just enough to be an annoyance, not enough to physically push the man away, as he sometimes could. A couple of seconds of that and...

The offending seat squatter stood up suddenly, knocking the back of his chair into Erick. The man turned around, beer still in hand a look of confusion passed to one of drunken friendliness. "Sorry there friend...."he said before releasing a loud and long belch. "Heh. Just got the willies...someone walking over my grave. Better get another couple of these to drown the feeling." he said as he moved with determined speed but little grace or coordination towards the bar.

Erick tried, not so successfully, to suppress a frown of distaste before he sat down at the table, almost regally. As he looked up at the stage his interest in the musical talents of the group on stage began to bud. It wasn't his type of music, nor an environment he would normally seek out, but he could appreciate the spectacle and hopefully the music to some degree.