Vezaias shot through the portal and slammed Demetri to the ground. Demetri tried to counter and defend but Vezaias only broke through his attempt to shield himself and with a roll and a powerful yank smashed Demetri into the wall then pinning him painfully in place. It became apparent quickly that this wasn't Vezaias, but Solaris still in human form.
“What the fuck was that?! I thought I fucking told you nobody in Reality is to know about the shit that's happened here?!” Solaris yelled angrily. Remington only watched the punishment very tensely, wishing he could help Demetri, but at the same time not wanting to take that chance.
“I couldn't help it! My emotions flow like water! I had to let them out somehow!” Demetri shrieked as Solaris held him firmly against the wall.
“Your fucking emotions sounded like a threat to me Demetri! Do you think this is a game?!” Solaris shouted. “I should fucking kill you for that! Ava can replace you anyway!” Solaris growled.
“It was just a song! I wasn't trying to threaten anybody!” Demetri insisted.
“Just a song?!” Solaris growled then suddenly he was shifting into his demon form then a moment later he sank his teeth into Demetri's shoulder nearly hard enough to break bones. Demetri screamed in agony. Remington couldn't hold back now and grabbed for Solaris, knocking him away and jumping in to protect Demetri like a human shield. Solaris charged back at Demetri and shoving Remington out of the way after nullifying his talents then moving in for the kill. Demetri shut his eyes knowing this attack would be fatal but after a long moment nothing happened. He peeked open seeing Solaris shift back to human.
“No Solaris! You will not kill him! As part of our deal you said I could choose who I wanted to be protected in exchange for helping you! Well I also chose Demetri! If you kill him then we will no longer help you!” Vezaias stood firm suppressing the demon inside.
“Not those who threaten the success of my mission!” Solaris growled from within.
“It will not jeopardize the mission! It was just music! This is Demetri's nature to compose his emotions! It does no harm!” Vezaias shouted. Soon Vezaias calmed, breathing heavily, but looking very serious.
“I do not give second chances.” Solaris said then he faded further into the background. Vezaias was quiet. Remington got up to go to Demetri who was bleeding on the floor.
“I’m sorry Dem.” Vezaias said softly, looking sullen now. “Take him to Zex.” Vezaias turned to leave.
“Vezaias!” Demetri cringed. Vezaias paused but didn't look.
“Thank you…..for protecting me.” Demetri said seriously trying to suppress his pain.
“You don't have to thank me. I'm the bad guy, remember?” Vezaias said, sounding crushed, then he was gone.
“Common Dem. Let me help you to the infirmary.” Remington said. Soon he was laying on the hospital bed while Zexich was stitching him up. Remington waited patiently to make sure he would be alright.
“The attack was sudden and motivated because he was angry about this song?” Zexich wanted context to the situation.
“Solaris took offense to it I guess.” Demetri said solemnly.
“And you could tell the difference?” Zexich inquired.
“I could. Vezaias emerged and protected me. Or else I think Solaris would have killed me.” Demetri said solemnly.
“Mmm yes, their internal conflict between human and demon is quite an exhausting never ending battle.” Zexich said solemnly.
“Now that I can distinguish between them, I will be able to separate my resentment more. I feel it is Solaris's fault that I am suffering, and maybe I can find it in myself to forgive Vezaias. I hope I can help him deal with this and lighten the burden he is carrying.” Demetri said seriously.
“I do not believe he deserves to be hated.” Zexich agreed.
The next day began as usual and everyone stuck to the schedule. After gym and breakfast everyone gathered for the briefing to listen to the plan for the day. Lux and Ephraim would stay and train then help Zexich with whatever he needed help with, while Lucius would cook meals and Ava would take care of Vincent and Gran. Vezaias, Remington and Demetri could leave for Reality to go to their interview. Demetri watched Vezaias closely and inconspicuously trying to spot the differences in Vezaias. When the meeting was over he obediently followed Remington and Vezaias threw a portal to Reality. So far Vezaias didn't seem very aggressive, but more neutral towards Demetri. He made it a point this time to seem more like his upbeat self as they arrived in the new music studio. Once they were seated Zach quickly gave them their daily updates on revenue, and any other important highlights they needed to know.
“I have several announcements to give you and a few packages that I would like to live stream everyone unboxing so I think we should head over to the interview station.” Zach began. He instructed everyone to sit so they would be visible then he stacked a few packages for everyone to open when prompted. He began the stream.
“Hey everyone we are here today to do a very important unboxing and give out a few announcements so let's get started. First Sunshine you're up.” Zach announced from out of view of the camera.
“Great, this is just like Christmas!” Maxwell said as he tore open the box as quickly as he could. “Oh my gosh I've always wanted one of these!” He said as he began to open the tightly wrapped object in question.
“You don't even know what it is yet.” Alt shook his head. Everyone else chuckled. Watching this Maxwell was painful but Alt had to hide that from everyone. It only made him emotional and wish for his own Maxwell even harder. He buried that away and tried to keep focus on the moment. Maxwell finally got the wrapping off and held up a nice expensive award with a thick bronze plaque engraved with fancy lettering. He read the included official letter out loud.
“Congratulations SunshineOnBass on your achievement as content creator and reaching our bronze level representing 100,000 subscribers. Whoa….oh my gosh thanks!” Maxwell was amazed as he looked over the fancy plaque. He held it up for the camera then for the others to see.
“Congratulations Sunshine!” Zach said. Everyone else congratulated him and gave him pats on the back.
“Alt your turn!” Zach said. Alt quickly tore open his package and unwrapped his very own plaque.
“Congratulations AltTheDrummer on your achievement as content creator and reaching our bronze level representing 100,000 subscribers. Wow that's amazing. Thank you so much for this!” Alt held up his own plaque now as everyone clapped and congratulated him. It was Demetri's turn next and soon he was holding up his own plaque.
“Congratulations DemTheComposer on your achievement as content creator and reaching our bronze level representing 100,000 subscribers. That is so amazing, this just blows my mind! Thanks everyone!” Demetri said with a huge smile. Remington was next and he also pulled out a fancy plaque from the box.
“Congratulations MysteryWriter on your achievement as content creator and reaching our bronze level representing 100,000 subscribers. Wow, I can't believe that many people want to subscribe to me. Thank you!” Remington said looking emotional.
“Who the fuck wouldn't?” Vezaias said as he began to open his box which oddly enough was bigger than anyone else's. He pulled out the bronze plaque first.
“Congratulations VeeAwakened on your achievement as content creator and reaching our bronze level representing 100,000 subscribers. Well shit I don't even know what to say. Wait there is something else in here.” Vezaias pulled out another plaque. “Congratulations VeeAwakened on your achievement as content creator and reaching our Silver level representing 500,000 subscribers. Get the fuck out of here! Are you serious? When did I hit 500k?” Vezaias looked up at Zach off camera.
“Last week I think?” Zach said in amusement.
“Well shit I'm speechless. Thanks so much.” Vezaias said, looking at his plaque in amazement. “There is another note. It says sorry for the delay on your awards but this letter is to acknowledge you as the fastest growing profile breaking bronze in less than a week, and silver level faster than any profile has ever grown before in only 22 days. Shit. Is this a prank?” Vezaias read.
“Nah Vee, it's definitely real. 500,000 subscribers in 22 days broke the platform's record for the fastest growing profile ever. The previous was Ruby Star after his breakout role in his first movie. His profile gained 500,000 in just one month after the movie hit theaters. You crushed his record. The band’s main page didn't even grow that fast. It took 35 days for the page to hit 500k.” Zach explained. Vezaias looked struck. Everyone congratulated him more just before the next box was ready.
“This one is for the whole group so it belongs to all of you.” Zach said. They all gather to open it helping to pull out the first plaque.
“This one says Congratulations NobodyInParticular on your achievement as content creator and reaching our bronze level representing 100,000 subscribers.” Demetri read. Remington held up the second plaque.
“Congratulations NobodyInParticular on your achievement as content creator and reaching our Silver level representing 500,000 subscribers.” Remington read. Vezaias pulled out the last plaque and read the inscription.
“Congratulations NobodyInParticular on your achievement as content creator and reaching our Gold level representing 1,000,000 subscribers.” Everyone was excited now and they each thanked the viewers as the chat was flowing with excitement.
“Okay on to our next unboxing!” Zach announced.
“Holy shit there is more! I didn't know we were going to be this honored today I would have wore a fucking tie or something.” Vezaias joked and everyone laughed as Zach pulled out the box.
“This is also for the whole band. Go ahead and open it.” Everyone tore into the box and soon pulled out another very fancy plaque that looked like a shiny silver record with a fancy solid cherry colored wood frame. Demetri read the inscription.
“DigiMusic would like to recognize and congratulate Nobody In Particular on your achievement as a recording artist with your album “Endlessly Forever” and present to you this triple platinum award for record sales totaling over three million copies.” Everyone was stunned. The chat was raging with congratulations and excitement.
“Wow this is amazing.” Remington said with tears in his eyes.
“We are very honored to receive these awards.” Demetri said, holding up the album plaque.
“That's not it, we have one more.” Zach handed Demetri a large envelope.
“Oh my gosh this is so much.” Demetri said as he opened the envelope. He read it out loud.
“The Recording Artist Guild would like to formally announce Nobody in Particular has been nominated in the following categories:
For Best Song on a Rock/Metal album: We would like to nominate Nobody In Particular for their song “Endlessly Forever” from their debut album “Endlessly Forever”
For Best Rock/Metal Performance: We would like to nominate Nobody In Particular for their performance on “Good Morning City” of their song “Wake Me Up”.”
For Best Rock/Metal Album: We would like to nominate Nobody In Particular for their album “Endlessly Forever”.
For Best Rock/Metal band: We would like to nominate Nobody In Particular.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
For Best Leading Vocalist in a band: We would like to nominate Mystery Writer for his performance on the album “Endlessly Forever” for the band “Nobody In Particular”
For Best Album of the Year: We would like to nominate “Nobody In Particular” for their Album “Endlessly Forever”
For Best New Recording Artist of the Year: We would like to nominate “Nobody In Particular” for their outstanding musical debut.
For Best Overall Recording Artists (group) of the year: We would like to nominate “Nobody In Particular” for their outstanding achievement in recording.” Demetri was in tears as he finished reading the list.
“Nine nominations??” Maxwell blurted out in excitement.
“I feel like we've already won a huge reward just by being nominated.” Remington said looking overwhelmed.
“Samezies.” Alt said in agreement.
“This is incredible. I still don't know what to say besides thanks and I really appreciate all the recognition.” Vezaias said.
“And thanks to Recording Artists Guild for all the nominations, and especially to our fans because none of this would be possible without them.” Demetri continued. Everyone agreed and said their own thanks.
“There is also one more letter, it reads:
The Recording Artists Guild would like to formally invite “Nobody In Particular” to attend the award ceremony sponsored by DigiMusic and hosted by Noland Rolland, as well as an invitation to perform any of the aforementioned music that is nominated on our stage live on November 18th, 2026. We look forward to your correspondence.” Demetri read.
“So what do you guys think? You wanna accept their invitation?” Zach asked eagerly.
“Hell yes.” Vezaias said eagerly.
“Of course!” Demetri said in excitement.
“For sure.” Alt agreed. Everyone was hyped now and began to celebrate standing up and hugging and saying their own congratulations to each other. Vezaias made it to Alt who seemed to be hesitant to hug him. Vezaias pulled him into a hug anyway.
“Congrats bro. You earned it.” Vezaias said softly.
“You too. Congratulations.” Alt said softly. He was tense but accepted the praise and returned it quickly.
“Sorry about the misunderstanding yesterday. It won't happen again.” Vezaias said even softer. Alt paused looking emotional and only smiled and nodded.
“That's it for now, Someone wanna throw a plug in and close us out?” Zach said.
“Ehem, Mystery, you wanna do the honors?” Demetri suggested.
“Oh! Um thanks for watching, check us out at 2pm today on “True Celebrity Story's with a live interview with Theody. See you then!” Remington closed. The live feed ended and everyone continued to celebrate their achievements and awards nominations together as Zach cleaned up all of the boxes. Then they all settled down to talk about the interview.
“Like I said, Theody is ruthless and you should all keep your responses as respectful as possible, and I'm not going to single anyone out, Vezaias, but…” Everyone chuckled at this and Vezaias only looked amused “…..no matter how horrible the answer may be, just answer respectfully and as honestly as possible which could save you from a lot of criticism afterwards. Don't let Theody make you feel like you do not deserve to be where you are. After all these awards and nominations today it proves you all are worthy of your celebrity status even if you are humbled by it. Now let's get going.” Zach encouraged. Everyone was ready and on their way to the TV studio for their interview. Before they were able to go live on TV there was a makeup crew that came and gave them a minimal amount of product then the stage manager gave them a rundown of their expectations. It was going to be live, there was a list of words and phrases they weren't allowed to say. They had to remain seated in their chair for the interview until they were given the cue to exit. They would each be interviewed separately one at a time. First to be interviewed was Maxwell. He was chipper and anxious as he entered the interview room. The others watched from backstage on a large screen.
“Welcome to True Celebrity Stories Sunshine!” Theody began enthusiastically.
“Thanks for having me.” Maxwell greeted.
“Let's start off easy with an icebreaker question: Where do you think you would be today had you not joined the band “Nobody In Particular”?”
“Well considering how the band came about I would say I would be in a much different place. The band was formed just as a casual gathering in Dem’s garage after he offered to help teach me how to play the bass guitar. That was back before I even knew how often I should be tuning my guitar. So I think if that never happened I probably would've called it quits on being any sort of musician when really I only picked up playing the bass guitar as a hobby. I never expected it to become what it is today.”
“So that brings me to my next question, after researching you specifically I find that very often you are regarded as the, excuse the expression but the “weakest link” in the band, and you seem to fade into the background behind the other more popular band members, and you have the smallest following on social media and the least amount of fan pages, so my question is, how do you feel knowing you are viewed as the least talented funny guy who is often overlooked when people think about “Nobody In Particular”?” Theody asked very seriously.
“Well I feel fantastic about it.” Maxwell said cheerfully. Theody looked mildly amazed by his very basic answer.
“And just why is that?” Theody asked, very interested in the explanation.
“Well because sure it would suck if I were picked last to play on the team, but imagine that team was a professional baseball team that would go on to win the world series. For someone like me who could barely tune a guitar, who can't read sheet music, I am honored to play alongside the other highly regarded members of the band. I mean Dem alone has more talent in his pinky finger that I could even hope to have throughout my entire life. Why in the heck would I be unhappy about being part of this even if I fall dead last? I am lucky to be on the same damn planet as Dem, or the others.” Maxwell explained in a very upbeat tone.
“So you admit that you are the weakest band member?” Theody asked in amusement.
“I do!” Maxwell exclaimed. Theody chuckled at him.
“Now I see why your stage name is “Sunshine”.” Theody said amusingly.
“I suppose it is my bright and sunny personality, and I have also theorized that I may have been an arsonist in another dimension!” Maxwell said cheerfully. Theody laughed at him.
“Okay, that makes sense I suppose. Now, on to my next question. I have heard about the story of how you and Dem became a couple. There was a sort of love triangle going on. You were originally dating the original drummer of the band. You cheated on him with Dem, then he was quickly replaced as the drummer, then I know that he showed up in your house and was angry about what happened and he shot at Dem, but hit Vee instead. He has since seemingly dropped off the face of the planet. There was never an arrest, or anything like that over the situation. Where do you suppose he ended up right now?” Theody asked. Maxwell looked struck at this question. He struggled to come up with an answer.
“Well I'm not sure. We cut ties completely and I haven't heard from him since.” Maxwell said looking emotional.
“Would you say that you are angry at him for shooting your band member Vee?” Theody asked slyly.
“I felt more ashamed that I made him angry enough at me to shoot anyone at all.” Maxwell said, choking back his tears.
“And did you ever consider leaving him sooner than that for all the abuse you claim he put you through?” Theody asked. Maxwell looked away trying to hide his tears.
“Well no, I was too scared. Keeping him happy was my only purpose at the time, until I realized that would always be a losing battle.” Maxwell said, looking more and more uncomfortable.
“Do you regret any of that?” Theody asked mildly.
“Sometimes. It shouldn't have gone as far as it did, but now that I am on the other side of the breakup I am glad that I have Dem with me and my band mates to support me.” Maxwell said, trying to sound thankful.
“Ah, well do you think your ex is still alive?” Theody asked.
“What?! Of course he is! Why wouldn't he be??” Maxwell jolted.
“Well nobody seems to have heard from him. Perhaps he is watching this interview. If he is, what would you say to him?” Theody asked, looking interested.
“Well…” Maxwell gathered his response. “I would tell him I'm sorry for the way things happened, and I hope he can find someone to love him properly the way he deserves, just like I have, and I wish him all the very best.” Maxwell said, then wiping away tears hurriedly.
“Very good Sunshine. It was wonderful talking with you! I want to congratulate you for the band's nominations at this year's music awards!”
“Thanks.” Maxwell choked out.
“After this commercial break we will have an interview with the next member of “Nobody In Particular” Dem!” The show cut to commercial. Maxwell exited the stage quickly and was immediately intercepted by Demetri who put his arms around him. Maxwell buried his face into Demetri's neck and wept quietly.
“Zach was right, that guy is harsh!” Maxwell pouted.
“You did great, Maxwell. You handled that perfectly.” Zach said in praise.
“Sure but, let's never do that again!” Maxwell said sourly.
Next it was Demetri's turn to be interviewed. He sat in his seat anxiously after hearing the difficult questions that Theody had for Maxwell. Soon the show was returning from the commercial break and Theody looked eager to start the next interview.
“Next up is the lead singer and composer of Nobody in Particular, Dem!” Theody introduced. Demetri came out and took a seat.
“Welcome Dem to True Celebrity Stories!” Theody said with a grin and a handshake. Demetri greeted Theody and tried to remain positive and smiling.
“Thanks for having me.” He said as upbeat as he could manage.
“Its great to have you here especially after hearing of all the new achievements you and your band have been awarded with from your milestones in your subscriber count and a whopping nine nominations from the Recording Artist’s Guild Awards. That's very incredible.” Theody said in amusement.
“Yeah that took us all by surprise. It's incredible and we are all very grateful for this.” Demetri said as upbeat as possible.
“From what I've gathered you are the one who put together this band. It started as Sunshine has explained when you offered to teach him how to play the bass guitar because apparently he was a novice. So you invited him over to give him lessons, and how exactly did it progress from there to what it is now?” Theody asked, looking interested.
“Well I met Sunshine in band class in high school and when I invited him over to learn I also invited other people just a small group to listen to us practice music and just hang out. Back then it was only a few people but over time more and more people ended up showing up. It got to the point where hundreds of people would pass through each weekend and we were very popular for a simple garage band.” Demetri explained.
“Ah, so when the group was still small, who was the small group that would hang out?” Theody asked.
“Well it was Mystery and his brother, Vee would come and sometimes some of the guys from our marching band…” Demetri explained.
“And Sunshine’s ex?” Theody asked now slyly. Demetri was anxious again.
“Well yeah.” Demetri said, trying to stay neutral.
“So you invited Sunshine over to hang out and his then boyfriend under the guise that you wanted to teach him how to play bass?” Theody asked in amusement.
“I wouldn't say it was a guise, I really did teach him how to play, and I continue to do that to this day.” Demetri said seriously.
“Okay sure, so you really did help him. Then your band that consisted of Sunshine on bass, his boyfriend on drums and you. Then you ended up moving in together after highschool as far as I know is that accurate?” Theody asked.
“Yeah, that's true.” Demetri answered.
“Okay so at what point did you decide to steal Sunshine away from his boyfriend and kick your original drummer out of the band?” Theody asked seriously. Demetri was struck.
“I never planned on that.” Demetri said seriously.
“Really? You mean you slid right into Sunshine's life, set up this band, moved in with him, dragging his boyfriend along for the ride, then blatantly cheated, after you claimed you have been in love with Sunshine since the day you met him, but you expect everyone to believe that you never planned on shoving his Ex out the way the first opportunity you got?” Theody asked, looking very serious. Demetri was quiet for a moment.
“I never admitted to anyone, not even myself that I was in love with Sunshine. So I couldn't have planned out what actually happened. Besides that, Sunshine is the one who made a move on me first. I did try to tell him how I felt once, but I'm not very good with words.” Demetri said growing emotional.
“Not good with words? Are you joking? We all know how emotional the lyrics you have personally wrote are.” Theody said seriously.
“Making a song that expresses my feelings is easy. I’ve made plenty of those, but saying to someone's face, especially someone who was already taken.” Demetri said solemnly.
“So you expect us to believe that you never planned on wreaking Sunshine’s relationship, who he has expressed his ex was always jealous for some mysterious reason that couldn't possibly be because you were always around and completely but secretly in love with Sunshine which couldn't possibly have caused any negative tension between them during all that time, plus considering the excuse you have given that you never admitted to anyone that you loved him, and how terrible you must be at having a conversation about how you felt because I'm sure you never ever wrote any songs about how much you loved Sunshine, so if you consider all of this do you feel like you are completely innocent in the disaster that happened afterwards?” Theody asked. Demetri cringed and paused to consider his answer.
“I would say we all share the responsibility for what happened.” Demetri choked out.
“So you admit you are at least partially responsible for Vee getting shot and nearly killed?” Theody said seriously. Demetri shut his eyes and turned away from the direct view of the camera.
“I've already apologized to Vee about causing him to get shot.” Demetri said with a shaky voice.
“And his response?” Theody asked.
“He told me not to be stupid, I wasn't the one who shot him.” Demetri said as tears slid down his face.
“Okay fair enough, so he doesn't resent you at all. What a good friend he must be. My next question is, since this is your band, you and Sunshine are the only two original members, then you found a new drummer of course which we can all agree was a great choice, and you let Mystery join the band as well as Vee, but now they both seem to have overtaken you in popularity. Does that bother you at all?” Theody asked, looking interested once again.
“Uh, well no, not at all. I am glad that they are doing so well. Mystery never got the chance to do the things he loved when he was younger. Now he is free to explore every avenue, and Vee has no direction in his life, and now I think they both have something that drives them forward and I am very proud of both of them.” Demetri said with more confidence in his answer.
“Well spoken, Dem. It was great chatting with you.” Theody said now upbeat and smiling.
“Sure.” Demetri said, returning the smile.
“Next up is an interview with the band's drummer Alt, after a word from our sponsor!” The show cut to commercial. Demetri headed backstage finding Maxwell ready to hug him.
“He did not go easy on me either.” Demetri sniffled into Maxwell's shoulder.
“You handled it well Dem.” Zach said sincerely.
