[General POV]
As Edward appeared on the stage with his sunglasses and a leather jacket.
"Eddyyyyy—" A young woman screamed till her voice went hoarse, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted just at the sight of the popular star.
"Oh god," someone yelped and tried to catch her from falling. But she dropped to the floor anyway.
Before she could get stepped on, a few robots came to her rescue. They have tires as legs, and they arrived to the scene instantly.
With ambulance sirens on their heads, they put the woman on to a stretcher and brought her to the medical bay.
"Case #991." The robot reported to the medical staff.
The female nurse sighed and said, "He's just standing there. Yet, almost 1000 people fainted."
The nurse was afraid the concert would need to be stopped, but most of the girls who fainted recovered in the next couple of minutes and they rushed to return to the concert.
The crowds jumped in excitement. Even though Edward had made the venue with tremendous care, he still felt the vibrations on the stage.
People were chanting, "EDWARD! NEWGATE! EDWARD! NEWGATE!"
As Edward stood on the stage with a smoldering expression, the dancers began to get into positions. He lowered his aviator slightly, showing his eyes which were gazing at the fans.
The entire crowd went into a frenzy. The beats continued and it slowly disappeared.
The entire stadium quietened. Everyone was holding their breath and waited for Edwards to speak again.
Amongst the crowd, Phil, Claire, Luke and Haley were sitting at the VIP section. Phil said gleefully, "I can't wait."
Haley rolled her eyes and said, "Can't you see how out of place you are here? Most of the people who came here is under 29 years old–"
Edward felt his entire world became quiet before he started singing.
The first song was part of his pandemic album. The crowd went wild as they heard the first note of the song.
[Bones– Imagine Dragons]
"♫♪ Gimme, gimme, gimme some time to think.
I'm in the bathroom looking at me
Face in the mirror is all I need ♫♪"
As Edward crooned, the entire crowd went wild.
The choir added a background voice, "Uuuuuu."
"♫♪ Wait until the reaper takes my life
Never gonna get me out alive
I will live a thousand million lives."
The beats dropped, and the dancers began to dance in a synchronised manner.
The zombie dance spreads throughout the entire concert venue. More than 1000 dancers were seen on the stages, although the real numbers were just a little bit more than 100.
Most of the extra dancers were holographic projections from the main stage being projected to the smaller ones.
The choir sang, "♫♪ My patience is waning
Is this entertaining? ♫♪"
"♫♪ My patience is waning
Is this entertaining? ♫♪"
Edward smiled and danced together with the dancers.
"♫♪ I-I-I, got this feeling, yeah, you know
Where I'm losing all control ♫♪"
"♫♪ 'Cause there's magic in my bones♫♪"
"AHHHHH!" Annie squealed in excitement. She cupped her mouth and shouted, "I-I-I-"
"♫♪I-I-I got this feeling in my soul
Go ahead and throw your stones
'Cause there's magic in my bones ♫♪"
The drones' light show, the mesmerizing sound system, and the projection made the opening sequence of the concert extremely memorable for the concert goers.
"♫♪ Playing with a stick of dynamite
There was never grey in black and white
There was never wrong till there was right ♫♪"
Phil nodded slightly, acting like he was understanding the lyrics. Behind the stage, Finneas did the same thing.
"He's telling a story of his existence. Especially, how he's perceived in the political arena. Would people applaud or be disgusted by his effort to clean up the world if they knew the rest of it?"
As Finneas was pretending to be deep, Alex rolled her eyes at him and said, "Why did I even agree to get back together with you?"
Edward's magnetic presence was captured using the camera, and it was displayed in some of the screens.
The fans screamed, their eyes widened with frenzy.
Edward stood in the center, seemingly fighting off the dancers, "♫♪ Feeling like a boulder hurdling. Seeing all the vultures circling ♫♪"
"♫♪ Burning in the flames I'm working in
Turning in a bed that's darkening ♫♪"
Phil turned to Claire and said, "He's burned out from work, and fighting off the people who want to take advantage of him. He didn't know when was the last time he got a rest, that's why he said his bed was darkening."
Claire harrumphed and said, "Yeah. Phil. That's not true at all."
"♫♪ My patience is waning. Is this entertaining? ♫♪"
"♫♪My patience is waning♫♪"
"♫♪Is this entertaining?♫♪"
Edward danced synchronizedly with the other dancers again. He moved to the edge of the center stage. The fans were reaching their hands out to him.
"♫♪ I got this feeling, yeah, you know! Where I'm losing all control
'Cause there's magic in my bones ♫♪"
As Edward moved his hip, the girl who was lucky enough to get his sweat dripped on her, rolled her eyes back and she almost fainted.
"♫♪ I got this feeling in my soul! Go ahead and throw your stones! 'Cause there's magic in my bones ♫♪"
There was a huge dance number at this moment. Some people said it was a homage to Micheal Jackson's thriller. Some people thought the zombie dance was because of the alienpox almost destroying the world.
"♫♪ 'Cause there's magic in my bones ♫♪"
Frankie misunderstood this lyric and thought of it literally. "He needs to be more careful with his big secret." She muttered with exasperation.
"♫♪ Look in the mirror of my mind! Turning the pages of my life! Walking the path so many paced a million times ♫♪"
Edward pointed at his head. He walked to the crowd and high fived them.
"♫♪Drown out the voices in the air! Leaving the ones that never cared! Picking the pieces up and building to the sky!♫♪"
For the fans, he was talking about putting yourself back together after the pandemic almost wrecked them.
For those close to Edward, they thought he was talking about his own experiences.
Edward whispered, "♫♪My patience is waning! Is this entertaining?♫♪"
The crowd went hushed with anticipation.
"♫♪ My patience is waning♫♪"
He shouted, "♫♪ Is this entertaining?♫♪"
The crowd went wild once again. Some had tears on their faces.
The zombie dance was broadcasted into several network tv who bought the rights to broadcast it.
More than 70 million people were tuning into the tv broadcast, which made it one of the most profitable broadcast acquisitions of all time.
"♫♪ I-I-I got this feeling yeah you know! Where I'm losing all control! 'Cause there's magic in my bones ♫♪"
Edward's charming smile penetrated deep into the fan's eyes and brain. Their eyes showed that they were ready to sacrifice their souls for him at any moment now.
Edward crooned happily, "♫♪I-I-I got this feeling in my soul! Go ahead and throw your stones! 'Cause there's magic in my bones♫♪"
He went limp, and the dancers picked him up. As he rode the dancer's human wave, he sang, " ♫♪There goes my mind!! Don't mind~!!! ♫♪"
"♫♪There goes my mind~!!!♫♪"
They brought him to the center of the stage and forced him to stand up. But he staggered a few times. In the end, they had to hold him to make him stand.
♫♪There goes my mind~!!♫♪
♫♪Don't mind~!!… There goes my mind~!!!♫♪
He looked straight into the camera and ended the performance abruptly.
"♫♪'Cause there's magic in my bones♫♪"
The crowd went into a thunderous applause as he finished his opening sequence.
"Edward!!!" A girl yelled. "Marry me!"
"You're the best!
"Eddyyyy!!!!!"
Lily teared up as she saw the performance. During the pandemic, her father lost his life. As he was a doctor, he was helping some patients when he got infected with the virus.
Lily wiped her heavy tears and forced herself to smile. "Edward! I LOVE YOU!" She screamed.
Her parasocial relationship with Edward was the only thing that saved her. Otherwise, she would've lost her mind during the pandemic.
She didn't tell anyone, but Edward even called her and offered her his condolences for her father's death. He even paid for his funeral and never claimed any credit for it.
"You're really magical!!" She shouted with all of her heart. "You're my savior!!! I LOVE YOU!!!"
…
As the emcee took over, Edward high fived the dancers and said, "Great Job everyone."
He went backstage, much to the fan's disappointment. The emcee would be calling the new artists for the next performances.
Kaya and Anna, two of Edward's early career dancers' friends, rushed towards him as he entered backstage.
Kaya punched him in the arm, but then, she yelped in pain and held her throbbing right hand. "Oww, what did you eat this morning? Rock and nails?!"
"I have some sandwiches." Edward replied casually. "My grandma made them for me."
Kaya blew on her hurting hand. Anna became the mediator as usual. "Edward, you'll have to excuse her. She's just mad that you never came to practice."
"AND THEN!" Kaya interjected, "You saw the dance this morning– AND YOU PULLED IT OFF?! Like, can't you even give me a stumble? Or a wrong turn? We practiced our asses off for the choreography!"
Anna narrowed her eyes slightly at Kaya. "What?" Kaya asked with confusion.
The redhead bombshell scolded her latina friend. "He didn't make any mistakes! That's the best outcome! Do you want our reputation to get blemished? Like we couldn't practice with the artist and performed poorly?!"
"No– No, that's not what I was talking about." Kaya's eyes shook, and she turned to Edward for help.
Edward smirked mischievously and added fire to the oil by saying, "I guess she wants to destroy your team's reputation before striking out on her own."
"WHAT?! NOOOO!" Kaya shouted nervously, but Anna was already fuming. The latina then got dragged away by the redhead.
Edward watched them go away and whispered, "They are pretending to be mad to create an excuse for them to scissor each other–"
His train of thoughts was interrupted by Taylor and Selena who approached him.
"Hey, Eddy, nice job." Selena said cheerfully.
Taylor pouted and crossed her arms together. "Yeah yeah. Nice job." She said sarcastically.
Edward laughed and said, "Thank you–"
He got interrupted the second time when a staff member rushed towards him.
"We have a problem." The staff member said heavily.
"What's wrong?" Taylor asked, fully concerned.
The staff explained, "The new artists are feeling too much pressure from following Edward's opening act, so they are frozen in fear and couldn't get on stage right now."
"What the–" Selena was shocked. Taylor grimaced and scolded Edward, "I told you not to do that! See what you did?!"
"They said they will be fine!" Edward whined.
"We have thirty seconds. Someone needs to get on stage right now." The staff member said urgently.
"Damn. Selena?" Edward turned to the latina girl.
"All I prepared is duet songs… with you." Selena replied hesitantly.
Edward turned to Taylor with pleading eyes. Taylor rolled her eyes and said, "Fine. I'll do it."
"Yeay! You're the best." Edward hugged her slightly, which made her blush.
"Let's go to the new artists now. I have to snap them out of it." Edward said to the staff member urgently.
Meanwhile, the emcee called Taylor to the stage to hold the line before the new artist could gather themselves.
…
The new artist preparation zone. Halsey's face turned pale when she saw the response from Edward's performance.
Ariana Grande was also concerned to follow up Edward's act.
Finneas and Alex tried to talk to them.
"Edward hand picked you girls for a reason. I don't think he's going to pick you if he doesn't really believe in you." Finneas said comfortingly.
Alex added, "He has a special eye for people. Everyone he discovers, usually has a pretty unique talent for themselves. You–"
Before Alex could finish speaking, Annie walked towards them with a serious face. She grabbed Halsey by her arms and shook her violently.
As Halsey became confused, Annie said, "Finally. You're back to reality. I'll teach you a cheat code for you to use on stage. Do you want to hear it?"
"Yea–Yeah?" Halsey was confused. Ariana said urgently, "If you have a cheat code, why didn't you tell us beforehand?"
"I'm telling you now." Annie snapped.
Alex interjected hesitantly, "You're not going to tell them to imagine the audience naked, are you?"
Annie grimaced and said, "No. I'm not."
She took out her phone and showed the two girls a picture of Edward only in his towels. "Imagine him naked. Then, you'll have no problems."
"What?!" Finneas and Alex were shocked. Ariana giggled and blushed slightly. "Can- Can you send the picture to me?" She asked politely.
Halsey was stupefied that she chuckled slightly. "Ah, thank you Annie. That really loosened up all of my nerves."
"You're welcome. And if you slide left there, you don't have to imagine anymore–"
Before Annie could slide the picture, Edward called her from afar, "Annie! What's the situation?"
"Eddy!!" Annie's serious face turned into a lovestruck teenager immediately. "N- Nothing, I'm just giving them some advice." She brushed her hair behind her ear and giggled.
Edward smiled at her and patted her head. "Good girl." He said charmingly.
Annie lost all strength in her arms and almost fainted on the spot. But Ariana managed to hold her straight.
Edward turned to Ariana and Halsey. "Are you alright?" He asked with concern.
The girls' heart skipped a beat as they saw his worried expression.
"We-We're fine." Ariana stammered nervously.
Edward smiled disarmingly and said, "Don't worry. You'll do fine on stage. Taylor's taking the heat for now. I'm sorry for setting you girls up like this. I didn't think too much of it–"
"No! Don't apologize. It was a wonderful opportunity. We're the ones too afraid to grab it." Halsey said seriously.
Alex saw the interactions and her jaw dropped.
[Alex's commentary]
"Wow. He played them like a fiddle." She commented as she crossed her legs. "By acting guilty like that… Wait, he might truly feel guilty… which made it more terrifying."
She smirked slightly and said, "Now, the girls will feel bad about disappointing him and they will do their best to make up for it."
Alex paused and said seriously, "I have to say. Edward has the making of a cult leader. Hopefully it will never come to that, but if he wants too… he definitely could…"
[Commentary ends]
As Taylor went on stage, the audience cheered again. They greeted her with the same excitement they gave Edward.
She smirked and turned backstage. As she saw Edward, he laughed as he saw the meaning behind her gaze.
It was as if she was telling him, 'See? They love me as much as you.'
Taylor sang a few songs from her past albums. 'Love Story' and 'You Belong With Me.'
She invited Ariana and Halsey on stage to sing together with her, and let the crowd warm up to them before leaving them alone.
It wasn't her time to sing yet.
"You did great." Edward complimented her as she got backstage. He handed her a towel, but she pushed her face towards him instead.
Edward sighed and helped her wipe out the sweat on her forehead. He did it gently, which made the staff pause their steps to look at them.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Taylor flinched as she heard the familiar voice coming from behind her.
"No-Nothing." She stammered and grabbed the towel from Edward's hand. Then, she walked away hurriedly.
Barbara stood there with a cotton candy in her hand. "Edward, you want some?" She asked casually.
"Sure." Edward replied easily.
Taylor narrowed her eyes on Edward and Barbara from afar. "Hey Selena… why are they being so casual?"
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Selena asked with confusion.
"No, like… Um… They didn't really talk about their relationship… She didn't even seem bothered when she saw me trying to flirt with him. And he too… he didn't seem to care that she saw it."
Taylor added, "Is it because they trust each other… or they don't care?"
"Knowing Barbara… I think it's leaning more towards the former." Selena said hesitantly. "Like, she didn't assume much until Edward told her directly about something."
Selena added, "I guess that's why they suit each other. Barbara… doesn't really think much about things. Edward, well… he thinks about stuff too deeply. So it's… clashes out…"
Taylor scoffed and said, "That's still annoying."
…
Amongst the crowd. A few people with animal masks on their faces infiltrated the fans.
"Are you ready?" The man in the lion mask whispered to the one with an antelope mask.
"I'm ready." The antelope mask replied.
"We have only one shot at this. Once she came out, you will blew wind up her skirt, and I will snap a picture–"
Before the lion mask could finish speaking, he fell limply. The antelope mask had to hold him to stop him from falling to the ground.
"Lion. What's wrong with you?" Antelope asked.
Suddenly, he felt the cold sensation of a gun nozzle behind his back. As he turned, he saw Jenna– Jewel, the superhero girl standing beside a man in a red mask.
"Fuck–" A wind gust appeared from his back, but Red Menace managed to knock him out with one chop to behind his neck.
"They want to capture the footage of whose panties?" Jenna asked.
"Taylor S. I think." Red Menace replied with disappointment. "Seriously… this is the level of supervillains in this world? Are there any of them who are not a pervert?"