Opening Author's Notes
When I was writing these first three bonus chapters as a single one initially because it wasn't yet so big that I had to split it, this was the part that I was stuck the most on because I wanted to (and did!) write an original song for this specific part. Mikki110797 and Kurai_Sen have mentions again in this chapter, but I also wanted to recognize another author and reviewer that I've dedicated this chapter to because she and the play she writes about helped inspire another song that is included in this chapter (and I'm guessing you can already know which play!) Here's a bit about her:

GoldsberryDiggs – This lady says I'm a brilliant writer, and if that's the case, she's even more brilliant. She has an incredible Hamilton story called Raise A Glass To Freedom (a reference to The Story of Tonight) that stars Katherine Fleming, a college student in present-day Washington State who gets transported back in time to New York during the American Revolution – in other words, smack dab in the middle of historical events featured in the play, where she meets Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, the Marquis de Lafayette and more. Reading Raise A Glass To Freedom got me further interested in Hamilton, and I purchased Lin Manuel-Miranda's comprehensive Hamilton: The Revolution as well as the soundtrack (both Original Cast Recording and Mixtape) as my Christmas presents to my mother and sister (who are already big fans of the play despite not having seen it yet.) As I was helping them with importing the soundtrack from CD, I listened to a number of the songs, and History Has Its Eyes On You got me right in the heart. (Of course, huge credit has to go here to Lin-Manuel Miranda as Hamilton and as the creator of the play and also to Christopher Jackson as Washington!)

Tiffany and Jessica smiled at her and stepped forward before Tiffany raised her voice and asked, "Is North America in the house?"

"Yeah!" The crowd shouted in unison.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Tiffany said. She then explained, "We call this About Time because it's about time we go to work, team up, get the job done and become winners no matter what you're into, whether it's music, E–Sports, dance, school – anything. Because both of our teams have done that and perservered and the Summoner's Cup has been one of the combined payoffs."

"We also got the idea because we heard so many people here saying it was about time NA produced a World Champion of its own when Cloud 9 won it all." Jessica said. "We made the song this way to leave room for Korea, China, Europe and other regions and countries to make their own songs, but right now, North America, stand up. This is our song for you. Are you guys ready?"

"Yeah!" The crowd shouted again, even louder this time.

"Oh, I like that a lot. Tiff, are you ready?" Jessica asked, turning to her.

"I feel like I was born ready for this one, Jessi. Let's go!" Tiffany answered brightly, removing her hat and handing it to Taeyeon.

"Nice!" Jessica replied. She then indicated our section, saying, "By now, you guys have probably seen the section over there – they're fans of both of our teams who are here for both KCON and the NA LCS finals. We've had a chance to meet a lot of them before the show and their support has been unbelievable...they've even come up with something to help introduce this. Take it away, guys!"

As the other Soshis stepped offstage for the moment to allow Tiffany and Jessica to be alone for the start, Mikki quickly barked out the signals to the Cloud 9 SONE section. One half of the Cloud 9 SONE section started chanting for Girls' Generation while the other half chanted for Cloud 9, with the two halves taking turns to call all of our individual names and then shout out the teams.

Taeyeon! Sunny! Jessica!
Hai Du Lam! Aurora!
Hyoyeon! Yuri! Tiffany!
Balls! Jensen! Carlo jjang!
Yoona! Sooyoung! Seohyun jjang!
Lemon! Sneaky! Meteos!
So Nyuh Shi Dae, saranghae!
Cloud 9 Fighting! Saranghae!

The instrumental started, and it was accompanied by some commentary clips from League casters of great North American plays in international tournaments, such as Riv saying, "This looks like moment North America has been waiting for!" and "The Summoner's Cup is coming to North America!" from our Worlds Grand Final against OMG.

(Author's Note – I'm not able to arrange music, but I envisioned the dance energy and tempo of "Bad" by Infinite and the key and charm of "Me & You" by Cassie.)

Tiffany was first up, and she set the tone we had worked on with her voice, moves and expression – even though she and Jessica were smiling, her voice was confident and there was fire in her eyes.

Where we are's where the party's at
Feels like I've been there, won that (Tiffany!)
Put my hometown square on the map
Now we're back to make you all clap

She then smiled at Jessica, who started with a similar spark in her eyes,

Got fans everywhere to make proud
So you know we'll always be loud (Jessica!)
But this one's for the land that raised me
So you know we're 'bout to get crazy

The two of them then looked at each other and then at the crowd as they finished,

[Jessica] If a champion is needed, a champion I'll be
[Tiffany] I'll shine my light for the world to see
[Tiffany / Jessica] If it can't be anyone but me, then that's okay
'Cause it's a new day ('Cause it's a new day!)

Both the dancing and the fan chants picked up again as the chorus arrived:

And it's about time (About time) to show them just what we've got (What we've got!)
Time to show the world we've got a lot (We've got a lot!)
Time to get down from coast to coast (Coast to coast!)
Time to show who brings it the most (Who brings it the most!)

Our people want a reason to dream, fight and sing (To dream, fight and sing)
The call's gone out and our phones ring
And we're ready to bring the magic and make the climb (Make the climb!)
'Cause it's about time (It's about time!)

"Break it down!" Jessica said, and they launched into a dance portion. At this point, someone became visible behind them and mirrored them, but the audience wasn't able to tell who it was yet until Jessica and Tiffany picked a moment (by design) to let her come forward. Another spotlight hit, and the crowd's excitement (and especially that of the Cloud 9 SONE section) grew even more when they saw it was Aurora.

Aurora's outfit included her trademark and favorite blue Mary Janes with no socks, the same white skirt with a blue sash and hem that she'd worn during the Worlds Grand Finals, and a sleeveless version of the C9 dress uniform shirt with the GG Crown logo, her name and the Canadian flag. What would normally be on the sleeves – the bar sponsor patches, the Worlds winner patch and the KCON patch – was on two dark blue armbands on her upper arms. She was also fitted with the same type of headset that Girls' Generation was using.

She soloed the second half of the brief dance section, bringing power, class and sass to it, which is always a killer combination – and which had the C9 SONE section chanting, "Aurora! Aurora! Aurora!" At the end of the solo, she started up the next verse, still dancing a bit:

There's a new job that I must do
Summon me forth and I will be true (Aurora!)
Fought for my country since I was Bronze
Make 'em all jump from Victoria to St. John's

Jessica and Tiffany then came forward again, smiling, and the three of them sang to each other as they reached out to one another, putting their hands together at the end briefly,

[Tiffany] Two nations, and we're from everywhere
[Jessica] But the word's, "Be united or be square!"
[Aurora] And we'll all give a hundred percent
[All] 'Cause that's how North America represents (North America represents!)

They then faced the crowd again for the bridge and chorus, during which the dancing hit a higher level of energy once again.

Both skill and spirit are a must
Fight 'till we drop, no time to fuss (No time to fuss!)
If it can't be anyone but us, then that's okay
'Cause it's a new day ('Cause it's a new day!)

And it's about time (About time) to show them just what we've got (What we've got!)
Time to show the world we've got a lot (We've got a lot!)
Time to get down from coast to coast (Coast to coast!)
Time to show who brings it the most (Who brings it the most!)

Our people want a reason to dream, fight and sing (To dream, fight and sing!)
The call's gone out and our phones ring
And we're ready to bring the magic and make the climb (Make the climb!)
'Cause it's about time (It's about time!)

"Got a little surprise for you guys..." Tiffany now said. She then gestured off to the side and yelled, "Please welcome back Meteos!"

As a vibrant horn section started, Meteos came onstage wearing navy jeans and his black and red high-top Adidas Superstars, ad like Sneaky and Jensen, his dress uniform shirt was ed to reveal his Cloud 9 jersey underneath. He was also fitted with a headset for when he had to talk, and the trombone he was playing also had a mic in it to amplify it just a bit.

The Cloud 9 fans especially were laughing and cheering when they saw that he was playing the trombone again and quickly were chanting his name too at full voice. "Meteos! Meteos! Meteos!"

"Great to have you back, dude!" Tiffany cheered at the end.

"Glad I could make it, Tiff noona. You know who else wouldn't be kept out, right?" He asked.

"We sure do. You want to bring them out?" Jessica asked rhetorically in response.

"Sure, Jessi noona." He then called behind him, "Yo, get in there, fam!"

As he stepped back, Hai and I both jumped onstage holding mics to more cheers and wasted no time launching into our rap sections, with Hai going first. Aside from the dress uniform shirt over his jersey, Hai was wearing clothes that he favored – tan canvas shoes, navy jeans and a white belt that he favored.

Rap
[Hai] When I say "Jump!", you say "How Hai?"
You only get to Cloud 9 if you fly (Hai Du Lam!)
If NA needs me, I won't back down
World Champs after another crown

[Hai] Back with JeTi so you understand
[Tiffany] (Oww!)
[Hai] Two teams where no challenge is too grand
One heart bent on seizing the day
Zero chance we don't bring it – What do we make 'em say?

I'd been a bit nervous before we'd come out, but watching everyone made me feel like Gangplank even though I didn't play him much – the Powder Keg was down, and once I set it off, if I did it right, I felt like I could blow away everyone who wanted to get in our path, and that feeling only intensified as I heard the crowd start to cheer me on too specifically.

I'd opted for a similar outfit to the one I'd worn during Worlds Grand Finals, only my dress uniform shirt was over my jersey and my shin-length pants were white instead of black, and I made sure I did some figurative talking with my free left hand.

Rap
[Tiffany / Jessica] ("Oh, oh, oh-oh!")
[Me] Y'all already know (Carlo jjang!)
SNSD, C9, make 'em say "Whoa!"
If your party jumps, might be 'cause we say so
It feels like the whole world just can't say no

It's about time to go to work and clock in
Suit up, boot up and get locked in
'Cause it's also about time to go all in
And we ain't fallin' 'cause we stay ballin'

As the crowd went nuts yet again, Hai and I took the opportunity to quickly get off the stage to either side, opting because of the stage setup to run along the front row and hype the crowd while also giving Tiffany, Jessica and Aurora the space to run the stage thenselves for the last part of the song. We met in the center in front of our section and slapped hands with our teammates there before we made it back on in time for the ending. 

[Tiffany / Jessica / Aurora] It's about time (About time) to show them just what we've got (What we've got!)
Time to show the world we've got a lot (We've got a lot!)
Time to get down from coast to coast (Coast to coast!)
Time to show who brings it the most (Who brings it the most!)
[Tiffany] (We'll give all we have)

Our people want a reason to dream, fight and sing (To dream, fight and sing!)
The call's gone out and our phones ring
[Jessica] (Call and we'll be there)
And we're ready to bring the magic and make the climb (Make the climb!)
'Cause it's about time (It's about time!)

The crowd exploded as Tiffany and Jessica hit the last sustained note and we struck ending poses. We didn't hold them too long, though, before Tiffany let out a jubilant "Whoo!"  as Meteos joined us and we all slapped hands with each other, psyched at how well it had gone.

The C9 chant was starting back up louder than it ever had that evening, and Tiffany was joining the rest of us in saluting the crowd and egging them on as they shouted, "Cloud 9! Cloud 9! Cloud 9!"

As we took in the scene while the other eleven of us joined us onstage (with all of Girls' Generation having removed their hats by now) and lined up side by side facing the front, I could see not just how thrilled we all were but also how amazed we were – as if they were wondering as I was, Did we really just do that?

Judging from similar looks on the faces of the MCs – Heechul and Eric Nam – as they approached from another angle, it looked like as if they were asking the same thing.

"Omo!" Eric was almost screaming, before he showed he was running out of words. "What...what did we just witness...?"

"No, Eric..." Heechul said, stopping him holding up his hands. "Because we have League of Legends World Champions here, you need to channel DoA and MonteCristo after Faker vs. Ryu. 'What was that?!'"

Eric smiled and nodded, saying, "I'm still trying to figure it all out, but I know it was amazing! I would have never bet that these groups would combine like that for those last two songs..."

"Eric, take it from me because I had to learn it the hard way last year." Heechul's voice was stern, but he was smiling as he finished, "You bet against Girls' Generation and Cloud 9, especially when they're together, at your own peril."

All of us and the crowd cheered Heechul and burst out laughing because they knew just what he was talking about – the Worlds quarterfinal where we'd beaten SKT in Busan, finishing with a perfect game, which meant that Heechul had had to buy Jessica and us dinner the next day.

Jessica, also remembering that but thankful he'd vouched for us, gave him a warm smile (they hadn't yet gone public with their relationship.) She yelled, "You tell him, Chullie oppa!"

Heechul smiled at her and nodded before he said gently, "I have to go to you first, Jessica...when I kept thinking of you performing with the girls again, I know that moment would mean so much to you and there were so many people wondering if we'd see it again...can you possibly put into words how you feel?"
 

Jessica took just a moment to make sure she said what she wanted to say and replied with a smile, "We've considered Cloud 9 as part of us for almost a year now and it gives me so much joy working with them, but being out there again with Girls' Generation, I felt like I was home...like I was back where I belonged. I missed performing with these girls, and I'm so thankful that the team wanted to do their best here for that reason as well."

Another round of applause and cheers – including from all of us – greeted that, and Aurora and Tiffany, who were on either side of her, both gave quick but warm hugs. Heechul nodded, smiled and applauded at that before he asked, "When was the moment you knew you and Cloud 9 would be able to help make this happen?"

"We first were asked after the end of the NA LCS regular season. We'd clinched a first-round playoff bye, so we were guaranteed to be in New York for Finals Weekend, which is tomorrow and Sunday." Jessica narrated. "We talked about it at the team house the next evening and the whole team wanted to do their part – even Jensen, who'd never worked with us like this before, was doing his darnedest."

Jensen smiled, nodded and waved appreciatively at her while Seohyun gave him a quick hug. We grinned at that before Tiffany added with a smile at Jessica and the rest of Cloud 9, "Another good thing about them winning their semifinal against Team Liquid is that instead of playing tomorrow, they'll be back here."

"Oh, yeah." Hai said with a smile of his own. "Notice Fany noona says 'another' because there is also the little matter of us being back in the finals with our ticket punched to a little thing called Worlds."

The crowd whooped at that, and Heechul joined them in that before he asked, "For anyone who wants to watch but doesn't know, Hai, how can people watch?"
 

Hai grinned at him and replied, "This Sunday at Madison Square Garden. 3 PM Eastern / 12 PM Pacific here in America – that's 5 AM Monday in Korea – is the listed time, but the broadcast won't start until after the European LCS final between Origen and Fnatic. You can watch on Twitch or YouTube, and I'm also told NiceGame TV is handling the Korean broadcast."

"I tell you what, nothing against them, but watching you guys, I think CLG has a fight on their hands!" Heechul said, and we all laughed and smiled at that.

"I would agree with that." Eric said, and he then turned to Meteos and asked him, "I actually want to go to you for this next one, Meteos, because I wanted to ask you how it felt to be back onstage after stepping down earlier in the split."

"It feels great, and let me just take the chance here to say thanks to all those who supported me after I stepped down." Meteos replied, and the crowd cheered appreciatively. Then he continued, "Sneaky was asking me during the Kissing You performance during the trophy presentation at Worlds whether he should ask Girls' Generation if they had any music that required a trombone. So you can imagine what it was like to get asked to do that."

Sneaky was all smiles after that but Sooyoung perhaps even more so.

"That's fantastic!" Eric said, and Heechul nodded beside him. "This is for everyone, so anyone can chime in as long as you take turns. What's been among your favorite things that you've done so far in New York?"

"We visited Broadway and made sure to stop by where Hamilton performs." Yoona said. "Tae unnie and Hai got the soundtrack and had a lot of fun listening to it."

"One song really caught their eye and they practiced it so much during our spare time that all of us started backing them up too." Hyoyeon said with a smile at the two of them, also indicating Cloud 9 while she was talking.

"Oh! Which song was that, Taeyeon-ssi?" Eric asked.

"History Has Its Eyes On You." Taeyeon revealed to smiles from us – especially Hai – and screams from the crowd.

"Oh, jinja?" Heechul asked. "Do we have that cued up somewhere?"

"The PD (Program Director) is telling me yes. Let's put it on and get back for a moment!" Eric replied.

Heechul clapped for Taeyeon and Hai to wish them luck and then he and Eric stepped away and out of the light for a moment as the crowd cheered. Taeyeon and Hai then stepped forward and faced each other, while the rest of us joined arm in arm before the opening notes sounded and Taeyeon sang,

I was younger than you are now
When I was given that first command
I led these girls straight into a massacre
I've witnessed dreams' deaths firsthand

Taeyeon looked at the other Soshis with emotion etched on her face to underline those lines. Even though it had been a long time, she said, they all remembered seeing and hearing about idols and groups who hadn't made the grade or crashed and burned.

I made every mistake
And felt the shame rise in me
And even now I lie awake

She then turned towards the crowd as the chorus started and we also started backing her up. It was especially moving to hear the other Soshis backing her up, and in another cool gesture, Jessica helped both Girls' Generation and Cloud 9 with their respective backup parts.

[Taeyeon] Knowing history has its eyes on me
[C9] (Whoa, whoa, whoa)
[SNSD except Taeyeon] (Whoa-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh, yeah)
[Taeyeon] History has its eyes on me
[C9] (Whoa, whoa, whoa)
[SNSD except Taeyeon] (Whoa-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh, yeah)

Hai stepped forward a bit so he was level with Taeyeon and then started the second verse, finishing by looking at the other Cloud 9 members at the end since we were backing him up for one important bit.

Let me tell you what I wish I'd known
When I was young and dreamed of glory
You have no control
[C9] Who lives? Who dies? Who tells your story?

He then turned back to Taeyeon, and they sang to each other, also taking each other by the shoulder halfway through,

[Hai] But I know that we can win
[Taeyeon] (Yes, we can)
[Taeyeon / Hai] I know that greatness lies in you
So let's remember from here on in

They then went around to us because the song was meant for us too, and we were smiling and positively bouncing as we continued to back them. For a second, I felt as if we were really about to fight – at Yorktown, even – because it had started to feel that invigorating.

[Taeyeon / Hai] History has its eyes on you
[C9 except Hai] (Whoa, whoa, whoa)
[SNSD except Taeyeon] (Whoa-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh)
[All] History has its eyes on you

By the end, Taeyeon and Hai turned back to the crowd and gestured to them, projecting their energy to them as we were all striving to, and the audience was both soaking it up and giving it back in form of massive cheers. As we smiled and as Taeyeon and Hai shared a hug, Heechul and Eric almost were bounding back onstage to finish the interview.

Watching an overwhelmingly positive reaction on social media was always fun, but the big payoff came from talking that night with fans who had been there later – including Mikki and Kurai – who said we'd also been not just amazing or cool but inspirational. Jessica, Tiffany, Hai, Aurora, Meteos and I also had the pleasure of announcing that we had each chosen a charitable cause that proceeds from digital sales of About Time would benefit, including Riot volunteer efforts, the New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's hospital and the Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai West (formerly Mt. Sinai Roosevelt) teaching hospitals where I had been born.

-----

Closing Author's Notes
Whew! It was often exhausting to write this, but I had a lot of fun putting it together and I hope you guys enjoy it! I tried creating some fictional Twitter reaction to Genie and About Time via Simitator.com, which has a feature where you can create fictional Tweets. It should that be noted that while these are fictional tweets, Sjokz's account and the LOL E-Sports account are real accounts.