🧜🏻‍♀️’s Stage - Under Pressure

Under Pressure
Gong-Ju 🆚 Helene 🆚 Athena 🆚 Splash

Athena and Helene magically transform their outfits (such as they are) as soon as their toes touch the water.

It looks like this competition will begin very soon..!

[ +- ] 👾 Under Pressure

You enter the pool with the other mermaids. As they swim deeply under the water, there is a stage.

On the stage, there is a microphone, a guitar, a keyboard and another guitar.

"Why are there two guitars?" Helene asks Athena.

"The one with five strings is the bass," the demigoddess replies to her handmaiden.

"Oh… that sounds like the easy instrument. Maybe I should take it."

It may have been intended that the four of you would race to your preferred position. But Splash Woman is a super-fast robot mermaid and also a redeemed villain. She decides to be a gracious hostess to the princess.

"Gong-Ju, I think you should choose the position on the stage that you want. Instead of racing, we can see who makes the least amount of mistakes."

Athena wonders, "Is that even a real competition? I’m a wisdom goddess with innate knowledge of the arts. I can’t lose."

Helene coughs. You never heard a cough that sounds like "Arachne" before. Maybe it’s how nymphs cough underwater since they normally don’t have gills.

Splash Woman has a rather villainous grin for a fembot on a redemption arc.

Gong-ju takes the stage and choose the microphone, twirling it in her hand. "Alright, ladies, it's time to put this Flowing Voice to good use! Let's rock!"

Helene immediately plays her base as a drum machine* plays some clapping sounds.Splash Woman joins in on the keys with a couple of gentle chords.

Athena starts playing rhythm on guitar.

And that’s your cue for the vocals.Controls For This Competition
🕹️ FLOWING VOICE is how you let those lyrics out smoothly.
• You can’t roll this if you use up all your Girl Power!
• If your first action is Flowing Voice, and you roll badly, you may reroll Flowing Voice as your second action. Only the higher roll counts, in this case.

ATK = Do something to distract a bandmate!
• ㊙️ Subtle; targeted at one person
• ☢️ Obvious; distracts the whole band

DEF = Defend against a bandmate’s distraction!
• 🕹️ Gracefully recover from a targeted distraction
• ㊙️ Block out a distraction aimed at the band

☢️ GIRL POWER:
• 🫧 = DEF: You’re protected from distractions until the bubble bursts.
• 🐠 = ATK: Cause your bandmates to flounder.
• ⚡️ = Give an electrifying performance with special effects! (This negates a failed DEF!)

Weird Rule: you can only use each type of Girl Power ONCE!

As the music starts, Gong-ju warms up her voice just like Freddie:

Mmm num ba de
Dum bum ba be
Doo buh dum ba beh beh

She then launches into the first verse!

Pressure
Pushing down on me
Pushing down on you
No man ask for
Under pressure
That burns a building down
Splits a family in two
Puts people on streets

She dances across the stage, shaking her tail in sinuous motions to try to distract her bandmates!

Gong-Ju starts out doing okay, a few starfish flock toward her—and only her after the rest of the band plays some discordant notes!

Helene giggles at the weird fart sound her bass made, and when she says "excuse me," Athena is even further distracted.As you get to the chorus, Splash Woman sings Bowie’s part:

It’s the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching Gong-Ju’s tail screaming
‘Check me out!’

Um ba ba be
Um ba ba be
De day ba
Ee day da
That’s okay

Gong-ju sings!

The new lyrics throw her off for a moment, but she raises her trident in her free hand, which begins to crackle with electricity as she bathes the stage in strobe lights!Pray tomorrow gets me higher
Pressure on people, people on streets

Day day de mm hm
Da da da ba ba
Okay

She twirls and continues!

Chipping around, kick my brains ‘round the floor
These are the days it doesn’t rain but it pours...

More starfish flock mostly toward Gong-Ju, waving their limbs excitedly at her electrifying performance.

Athena sees more starfish are going to Helene than to her, so at the bridge, she attempts to drown out singers with a HEAVY METAL GUITAR SOLO!!