Scenario:The Doss! End of the Line Farewell Tour - Ending

The Doss! End of the Line Farewell Tour - Ending

With the illusion of Benjamin defeated, Aoidos remembers one final missing memory from his youth. A mysterious man gave him his guitar, telling him to express himself through music rather than killing rats and thugs. Having regained his initial impulse, Aoidos sings the ballad he'd wanted to sing with Vicious Three. Afterward he shocks fans and band members alike by announcing the merging of the Doss and Vicious Three, but the show must go on.

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Benjamin Illusion: ...

Aoidos: Huff... Huff...

Rackam: Now that's what I call extreme...

Vyrn: Nice job hangin' in there, Aoidos!

Baal: His breath is ragged, but he should be fine.

Valentin: Justin...

Justin: Yeah. Looks like he got his memories straightened out. Hell, this actually works out better, I think.

Justin: Here you go, Aoidos. Our song for today.

Rackam: Hey, whoa! We still got the stage!

Aoidos: No, it's fine. They're next after all.

Aoidos: ...!

Vyrn: A-Aoidos? You okay?

Aoidos's body stiffens upon reading the music Justin handed him.

Valentin: It's a masterpiece. Right, Benjamin?

Aoidos: Ah.

With this abrupt shift in attitude, Aoidos grabs the head of his guitar, twists it, and slowly unsheathes a sword.

A single line is scrawled on the first page of the score, written in blood.

Execute the Doss members. All of them.

Justin: The score is a musician's gospel. You have to carry out their death sentences.

Aoidos: Kahaha...

Valentin: Benjamin'll come back to us once he cuts off the last head!

Valentin: Then he'll cut me! Now do it!

Justin: The most shocking announcement in festival history is about to be made! Everyone will see what kind of person the Doss's leader really is!

Justin: Start the execution! Show us all why you picked up the guitar in the first place!

Aoidos: ...!

Aoidos: My reason for playing the guitar...

Man: Hey, you sure it's okay for me to be with you?

Little Benjamin: ...

Man: Hehe... You got a real pretty face. Almost mistook you for a girl.

Little Benjamin: ...

Man: Uaaaagh!

Little Benjamin: ...

Aoidos: I stopped killing mice after I left home. Instead I hunted people who wouldn't be missed.

Man: Gurgle...

Little Benjamin: ...

Aoidos: But killing them didn't quite cut it either. I don't know why I felt that way, but I did.

Aoidos: A dying man's wails are strangely similar to a rodent's; neither was what I was looking for. I can't even begin to count how often I was disappointed.

Aoidos: Then I met him.

Little Benjamin: ...

Nameless Strummer: Found what you're lookin' for yet, kid?

Little Benjamin: ...

Nameless Strummer: Those ears of yours are doin' double time, strainin' to hear... something. Well, that's how it looks to me, anyway.

Little Benjamin: ...

Aoidos: He was right; I was. The shrieks of mice exterminated at the hands of adults constantly rang in my ears.

Nameless Strummer: Maybe I can help you out.

Aoidos: He pulled out a curious instrument.

Nameless Strummer: Is this what you're lookin' for?

Aoidos: He gave the strings a sweep, and I shook my head.

Nameless Strummer: What about this?

Aoidos: He adjusted some pegs and strummed. I shook my head again.

Nameless Strummer: And this one?

Little Benjamin: ...!

Nameless Strummer: Oh ho, struck a chord, huh? Heh, you got talent, kid. Why don't you try playing for a bit?

Little Benjamin: ...

Aoidos: I didn't know the first thing about playing an instrument. All it did was whine in my hands. And yet—

Little Benjamin: Ah... Ah...

Nameless Strummer: If the words won't come, then let this baby find the right sound for you. It's a helluva lot easier than murdering degenerates.

Aoidos: My mother's words stuck with me, about how I didn't cry when I was born. I pictured the look of aversion on the midwife's face.

Aoidos: Torment persisted inside me, emotions that words could never do justice. And unless I found a way to properly express myself, those words would remain locked up forever.

Little Benjamin: ...!

Aoidos: Animals scream. People scream. The similarities were striking. That being the case, how could I find the sound I was looking for?

Nameless Strummer: It's called a guitar. G-u-i-t-a-r. Take it.

Nameless Strummer: Play while following your heart, and you'll produce a sound worth listening to. I don't know what you're bottlin' up in there—fear, sadness, emptiness?

Little Benjamin: Aah!

Nameless Strummer: But you let that axe do the singing. Ask for its help. The guitar is your front man.

Little Benjamin: Aaaaah!

Aoidos: My first cry of life finally escaped my lungs after ten long years.

Benjamin: Now wasn't that a nice trip down memory lane, Aoidos?

Aoidos: Yeah. Everything becomes clear when I hold the guitar. There are a surprising number of people like me out there, and they cry out for the darkness.

Moshers: Vi-cious! Vi-cious! Vi-cious!

Benjamin: Those people found a man destined to become a monster. They hoped he would destroy the cruel cage known as "normalcy." They hoped he would roar with intensity.

Justin: Don't you dare throw me away!

Benjamin: That one also fled the cage and was obsessed with the need for chaotic concerts. He was gripped by fear—fear that I sought a purer sound.

Aoidos: So he thought if you climbed back into the cage, then all would be lost. Just like how Doss fans would go psycho if I were to leave the group.

Benjamin: Ah. The pain of loss. That's why Justin killed me. Like you said, he lost his mind.

Benjamin: Time to choose. Is it going to be the Doss or Vicious Three?

Aoidos: I...

Aoidos: ...

Hands are clapping in sync, begging for an encore.

The crowd knows they're witnessing a show they're unlikely to ever see again.

Aoidos: ...

The rocker stands stock-still, soaking in the audience's accolades.

Rackam: Aoidos!

Justin: Benjamin!

Aoidos: It's a cruel world out there.

Rackam, Justin: ...!

Aoidos: The gods are so demanding. "This is what you should be," they say. Bury your ideals at a depth no one can fathom.

Aoidos: Who you want to be versus who you ought to be—that indecision seals my five senses.

Aoidos: I was brushing my teeth over the communal sink one morning, and I noticed the toothpaste tasted different.

Aoidos: The familiar tang of strawberry had a tinge of mint mixed in for some inexplicable reason.

Aoidos: Then Vermillios came up to me and said, "Hey. That's my toothbrush."

Aoidos: In that moment, the toothbrush was mine as much as it was Vermillios's.

Aoidos: Nothing changes the fact that it was still a toothbrush. But the question is... what did the toothbrush that I'd used all along think of this?

Aoidos: Okay. Let me show you the same aftermath of destruction that I see.

The mood is markedly different from before. Aoidos stands in silence.

A clear, tranquil melody plays. The sorrowful ballad he couldn't finish is finally complete.

Justin: ...

Aoidos: It's cold. It's dark. Winds are howling all around me.
And I feel the sting, stabbing through my wings I thought were free.

Aoidos: My voice can't speak. The words refuse to come.
Still can't seem to let it go.

Aoidos: I'm stuck. No retreat. Icy hands hold me back.
My path was clear, but now I've lost all track.

Aoidos: This town, it cries, with voices alive and dead.
"I'll find you," is what I said.

Aoidos: Oh my melodies, contradiction mars these wings of reason.

Aoidos: Oh my love, if you're going to fall apart.

Aoidos: But still I swear to someday feel that warmth.

Aoidos: In my head that's what I keep telling myself.

Aoidos: Unfinished thoughts on the verge of collapsing.

Aoidos: Let those hopes be found in these words.

Aoidos: Unfinished courage eyes a journey on the horizon.

Aoidos: This is what I try to be... On my own.

Crowd: ...

It's a song that cuts through sadness, as if offering light amid hopeless darkness.

It seizes a listener's ear and etches itself into their heart.

Aoidos: Oh my love, stow away those shoes of glass, so we can...

Aoidos: Oh my love, take to the endless skies.

Aoidos: Listen for the bell, that sound will tell us where we need to...

Aoidos: Leave a bouquet for our long-awaited farewell.

Aoidos: Oh my love, until this planted wish becomes...

Aoidos: Oh my love, ripe with fruit to bear.

Aoidos: As this heart lays clear, with nothing left to hide.

Aoidos: Won't you let me spin a tale for tomorrow?

Aoidos: Unfinished promise, this solemn vow I swear to...

Aoidos: Leave on the grave when it's time to say goodbye.

Aoidos: Unfinished journey, I'll challenge with conviction.

Aoidos: Let me show you who I am... On my own.

Aoidos: ...

Scattered applause quickly swells into a deluge that engulfs the stage.

Justin: ...

The audience is too busy clapping for Aoidos to notice Justin sink to his knees.

Their applause speaks volumes—a ringing endorsement of who they feel represents the best Aoidos.

Although nothing is said by the audience, the verdict is in.

Aoidos: Benjamin is dead.

Justin: So that's the choice you... no, he's made. The song I never wanted to hear came straight from his own mouth, loud and clear...

Aoidos: Heh...

Aoidos breaks the silence.

Aoidos: Graaaaah!

Crowd: ...!

The applause stops instantaneously, like a record player needle skipping off of a record.

Justin: What?

Aoidos: If Benjamin is dead, then so is Aoidos.

Aoidos: Naturally that means both the Doss and Vicious Three are dead!

Aoidos: Today they shake hands, reborn as the Doss Second Season. Say hello to the DossSS!

Everyone in the crowd begins talking at once.

Tourist 1: So that's their shocking announcement...

Tourist 2: Two titanic bands combining into a super group!

Justin, Valentin: ...

Rackam, Vyrn, Baal: ...

While the crowd takes the news with unbridled excitement, on the stage, the five band members are caught completely off guard.

Rackam: You can't... You can't just spring this on us out of nowhere, man!

Vyrn: Makin' an announcement like that was pretty irresponsible if you ask me!

Aoidos: Whether people throw up the horns for the Doss or Vicious Three, they're still my fans.

Aoidos: They want me. Praise me. Give me thumbs up. I'm needed. How can they live without me? I can't abandon them now.

Aoidos: The gods forced me to choose between the Doss and Vicious Three.

Aoidos: I couldn't. So I abandoned both in order to keep both.

Justin: ...

Aoidos: Are you going to reject me again? Or will you give me a chance?

Justin: Even if I have to listen to you sing things I don't want to hear?

Aoidos: Trust me. There'll be songs for you too.

Justin: If I don't like them, I'll backstab you again.

Valentin: Ooh, stab me too while you're at it, Justin.

By some strange coincidence, the skies darken as storm clouds gather overhead, accompanied by a low rumble of thunder.

Aoidos: Heh... The weather's perfect.

Aoidos: Okay! Our first song as the DossSS is a Vicious Three classic! It's called Grudge of the Scapedog!

Aoidos: Hunting down strays, hurling sticks and stones.

Aoidos: This town, a curse decays, all because of the mastermind, the mastermind.

Aoidos: Screams incite, condemn to silence.

Aoidos: Who's next to bear the curse? Step up! Step up! Step up!

Vicious Army: Vi-cious! Vi-cious! Vi-cious!

Doss Fans: ...

Perhaps the lyrics aren't all doom and gloom. So the Doss fans begin to think.

If they hadn't known Aoidos from his days as the face of the Doss, they probably would've tuned out after hearing the first few bars.

Benjamin's music speaks to the alienated, while Aoidos's music brings people together.

Baal: Heh. I'd like to see where this goes.

The band members feel their hearts pounding. They sense something big is in store for the future.

And that something just might be found within the shared conviction held by Benjamin and Aoidos.

Manager: Amazing work out there, Aoidos. Today's performance was unexpected to say the least.

Aoidos: Oh? Everything went according to plan. I can't help it if certain expectations were set too low.

Manager: Hah, let me rephrase what I said. Today went off without a hitch. You're number one in the skies.

Mail Carrier 1: I'm really sorry to interrupt, but can I please get your signature?

Aoidos: I'm afraid that's impossible. This slip of paper is far too small.

Aoidos: Please go find an autograph board large enough to accommodate the signatures of all six members of the DossSS.

Mail Carrier 1: Erm, that's not what I... Someone... Anyone... Just sign for the mail...

The End