The Hetalians' New Groove

Chapter 14: Steady Rhythmus

"We're on in just under 2 minutes." Said Ludwig only a week later. After the whole incident with Jenny's father, Harold Integra had been arrested for all his crimes and the whole thing had soon been sorted out by the police.

"I've got to say, Bruder, I'm impressed that you wrote this entire song we're about to do all by yourself! It very nearly compares to my own level of awesome!" Commented Gilbert.

"Thanks, but this one's making me more nervous than all the other concerts we've ever performed. This is something I wrote, and what if something goes wrong? What if the audience doesn't even like it?"

"Ludwig, after all we experienced a week ago, we can pretty much take on the whole universe now." Said Jenny for reassurance. That's what he loved so much about her. That she could lift his spirits with just one optimistic sentence and a smile, and it made him blush again, except this time he didn't try to hide it.

"Oh, we're on now." Said Ivan.

"Go for it, buddy!" Alfred gave Ludwig a manly pat on the back for encouragement. And, surrounded by his bandmates, it did indeed manage to boost his confidence. As always, when the band walked out onto the stage, illuminated by the afternoon sunlight, they were greeted with almost deafening applause and cheering. "Hi everyone, and good afternoon! This is a song that was written entirely by our drummer, Ludwig Beilschmidt." Announced Alfred through his microphone as the audience fell silent within just mere moments. "Now let's do this thing!"

Ludwig immediately began to hit the drums to provide the backing beats, with his brother and Arthur joining in with the lead guitar instrumental only 2 and a half seconds later. Then after another 6 seconds, Francis and Alfred played the strings on their own guitars. After that, it was only 19 seconds into the song and the entire band was in full swing, just enjoying themselves and forgetting that anyone else was there. And then, 32 seconds into the whole thing, Ludwig broke into song (in English):

"Drumming in a small, private room, alone.
Drumming during free breaks, alone.
I will not allow even the slightest off-beat.

Turning off the air conditioning and the light as time goes by.
I was able to obtain a Steady Rhythmus of unparalleled accuracy."

And then was the fateful time for the chorus.

"Keep the beat! Get the rhythm! The sound of the soul, to that land I once saw in my dream.
We'll sing. Sing it! From the bottom of the stomach, shout at the top of your lungs now.
Gather together, beat it out now! This fierce and vigorous harmony.
Keep the beat, keep going! The sound of the soul, I'll keep it beating 'till the end of my days."

Arthur: "After rigorous practice sessions, don't forget to get a good rest!"

Ludwig continued with the next part of the lyrics,

"Drumming again after my break.
Drumming in sync with the metronome.
I will not allow even one single mistake.

When I straighten up my back, close my eyes and loosen up my shoulders,
I can see it, that place I dream to be. Wacken Open Air is just! Right there!

Keep the beat! Get the rhythm! The sound of the soul, to this land I once saw in my dream.
We'll sing. Sing it! From the bottom of your stomach, shout at the top of your lungs now.
Gather together! Beat it out! This fierce and masterful harmony.
Keep the beat! Keep going! The sound of the soul, I'll keep beating it 'till the end of my days."

"Your drumming techniques have improved a lot!" Said Gilbert, as this was a rehearsed part of the song.

"As for you, Brother, yours just stayed the same." He added jokingly.

"Aw-yeah! The next part is my guitar solo of the soul! Take that!" Gil then let himself go wild with his guitar solo for the next 22 seconds, vigorously strumming his guitar strings and even getting down on the floor for a moment or 2 because of how much he was enjoying himself.

"From now on and forever, in order to go on with my bandmates,
It is necessary for me to hone
my own skills even more."

All was almost hush as Ivan provided some metronome sounds on his keyboard.

"Break it! Overcome it! The barrier of the heart, believe in yourself and charge forwards!
We'll sing! Sing it! From the bottom of the stomach, shout at your absolute maximum.
Harmony! Rhythm! Stay focused and keep it until the very end!
Keep the beat! Get the rhythm! The sound of the soul, I'll keep it beating 'till the end of my days."

"Hey Ludwig! Let's go and get a beer after we're done here!" His brother said another of the rehearsed speaking parts.

"Yeah. We can make it our evaluation meeting, too. There's a lot we need to talk about."

"Huh? Let's just have fun drinking instead!" 

And with that, the final note on Gil's guitar was strung, ending the song. Jenny, Sandra, Eleanor, Kiku, Wang and Feliciano all stood still, sweating somewhat and getting their breath back. The entire audience was silent right now, and Ludwig and the others stared out into the mass, both exhilarated by what just happened and stressed about what they'd think of the song. It was the band's first original song in the last 5 years, and until then they'd been doing rock and accapella covers. 

It was only a couple of seconds later when the sound of someone clapping could heard, who was revealed to be Matthew Williams. Then 3 more sets of hands applauded, belonging to Simon Densen, Elizabeta Héderváry and her boyfriend, Roderich Edelstein, an Austrian man who had graduated from the college only 2 years beforehand but still hung out with Elizabeta and dated her. He preferred classical music and opera, but he still liked to come and see some of the Hetalians' concerts. 

The next sets of hands to applaud were those of Basche Zwingli, Feliks Łukasiewicz, Lucille Bonnefoy and Antonio Carriedo. 

And soon, after this, the entire stadium was applauding, and whooping and cheering extremely loudly as well. As expected, Lovino Vargas and Natalya Arlovskaya were the very last ones to applaud out of everyone.