Pearl Jam Comes to Town

BlueTiger321: Hi, everyone! It's BlueTiger321 back with my next original story. As you can see this is a crossover fic featuring many characters from various cartoons and video games, and it features one of my all-time favourite bands, Pearl Jam. I can't explain it, but whenever I listen to a Pearl Jam song, I always think of Katara. Then I thought, "Wouldn't this make a great idea for a story?" So now, I'm sharing with everyone my creativity. And in case you're wondering, I won't include any Pearl Jam songs that have swearing in the lyrics since this is a K+ story. First, the legal jargon: all characters used in this story are property of their respectful owners and Pearl Jam and all their songs is property of... well... Pearl Jam. =P Also, credit goes to MetroLyrics for having easy access to the lyrics to the song in this chapter. So I hope you all enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Chapter 1: The Big News

The morning sun had risen over the horizon on Toon City, a metropolis where all kinds of cartoon and video game characters lived together. Across every inch of the land, the golden rays touched down to whisk away the darkness. Birds began to chirp happily as they soared through the sky while fresh dew formed on the grass.

All over the city people awoke to start off their day. Some were unaware of what was about to happen; others could barely contain their excitement.

One person in particular slept soundly in her bed. It was a fourteen-year-old girl who had a lightly-tanned complexion and long brown hair. She turned slightly to her right side while she continued her slumber and ended up ruffling her bed sheets.

A few seconds afterward, the clock radio on her nightstand had just changed to seven o'clock and activated the wake-up call. The radio turned on and aired the voice of a disc jockey named Seto Kaiba who said, "Good morning, everybody! It's Kaiba airing live on KTOON – the number one radio station in Toon City playing all your favourites."

The girl opened up her eyelids upon hearing the radio to reveal her blue eyes. After blinking a few times, she sat up from her bed and stretched as she let out a big yawn. Her bed sheets were pulled away as she crawled out and stood up, revealing that she was wearing a white pyjama shirt and pants. She took a few seconds to survey her surroundings while her eyes adjusted to the sunlight entering from her window.

A call could be heard coming from outside the girl's room. It was a male voice, saying, "Katara! Breakfast is ready!"

The girl, now known as Katara, recognised the voice and responded. "Okay, Dad," she said. "I'll be down in a few minutes."

Katara was about to head over to her private bathroom when another announcement was made on the radio.

"Just a reminder to all you folks about tonight's awesome concert," said Kaiba. "The band playin' at Toon City Mega-Dome will be the one and only Pearl Jam!"

Upon hearing the name of the band, Katara's eyes lit up. It was her all-time favourite band and they were now coming to play live at her hometown. That's when she suddenly remembered something. Turning her head to look at the calendar pinned on her wall; she looked at today's date. Written on it in red marker were the words Pearl Jam Live! surrounded with a large, red circle.

A smile crept onto the girl's lips. This would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and she would make sure that she would be there.

Kaiba continued saying, "Tickets are still available, but you'd better get 'em soon 'cause they're goin' fast! And don't ask me why a real band is playin' for cartoon characters 'cause I'm not the author of this story! Now let's listen to one of Pearl Jam's hits from their latest album!"

The radio then began to play the song The Fixer. Katara then jumped in the air and cried out in joyous laughter. She stopped afterward and soon realised that she had to be ready for such an occasion.

Yeah, hey, hey

Katara had now walked into her bathroom and closed the door behind her. The sound of running water could be heard while she was preparing herself.

When something's dark, let me shed a little light on it
When something's cold, let me put a little fire on it

A few minutes later, Katara had walked out with a towel wrapped around her body as well as one around her hair. A toothbrush was also sticking out of her mouth as she moved it around to clean her teeth.

If something's old, I wanna put a bit of shine on it
When something's gone, I wanna fight to get it back again

The girl then went back into her bathroom to finish brushing her teeth and rinse out what was left in her mouth. Afterwards, she walked over to her closet. Her eyes shifted around to look for the right clothes. She stopped as she had found what she wanted.

"Perfect!" she said.

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

After another few minutes, the door to Katara's room opened to reveal the girl standing at the entrance. Her long hair hung freely from the back of her head while she was wearing a black T-shirt with Pearl Jam written on it in white letters similar to their album Ten. It was complimented with blue jeans with the waist short enough to reveal Katara's midriff, and her feet were adorned with white sneakers.

(A/N: I know it's hard to picture Katara in something other than what she usually wears, but please go with it for the sake of this story.)

When something's broke, I wanna put a bit of fixin' on it
When something's bored, I wanna put a little exciting on it

Katara walked down the stairs to greet her family. There in the kitchen were her older brother and her father. Both had brown hair and blue eyes. The brother, named Sokka, was fifteen years old with lightly-tanned skin, blue eyes and short hair set back into a ponytail, and wore a blue shirt with matching pants. The father was named Hakoda, and he was a middle-aged man with a goatee wearing a blue shirt and pants with his hair set back into a small bunch and two individual strands tied to the right side of his face.

If something's low, I wanna put a little high on it
When something's lost, I wanna fight to get it back again

The girl walked in to say, "Good morning, Dad. Good morning, Sokka."

"Good morning," said her father. Looking over his daughter's clothes, Hakoda then figured out something had Katara was in a good mood. Curiosity then struck him, and so he decided to ask what's happening. "So... do you have... anything planned for today?"

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Smiling, Katara replied, "Only going to the concert I've been dying to see for the last three months!" She then sipped on her glass of orange juice.

Sokka took his head up from his bowl of cereal after hearing his sister's announcement. "Oh yeah," he said sarcastically. "Like we care about your little concert thingy."

Katara then made a pouting face at her brother. Hearing him say something like that about her favourite band was like an insult that she couldn't ignore.

"Well," she said, "you're just jealous that I'm going to the biggest event of the year. So exactly what do you have planned for the day, huh?"

When signals cross, I wanna put a little straight on it
If there's no love, I wanna try to love again

"All right, that's enough you two," Hakoda said, not wanting things to get ugly.

Katara then looked up at the clock and realised she had to leave. Standing up quickly, she grabbed a piece of toast and stuck it in her mouth. She took a bite out of it before walking over to her father and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"I've gotta run, Dad," said the girl.

"Okay," said Hakoda. "Have a good time, Katara."

"I will... Bye!"

With that, Katara exited the kitchen and left her father and brother to themselves.

I'll say your prayers, I'll take your side
I'll find us a way to make light

The girl was now walking out of her house as she was finishing up the rest of her toast. A sense of glee filled up inside her as she walked. All around she waved at people to share with them her good spirits.

I'll dig your grave, we'll dance and sing
What's saved could be one last lifetime

Katara kept walking until she had reached a bus stop. There she waited until the public transport had arrived. Getting in, she took her seat and waited until she reached her destination.

Hey, hey, hey
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

The bus drove on for a few minutes until it had reached a bus stop in the downtown area. All around, the skyscrapers loomed high above the citizens like giants of metal and glass.

Fight to get it back again, yeah, yeah, yeah
fight to get it back again, yeah, yeah, yeah
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Katara had gotten off at the bus stop. Turning her head back to the driver, she said, "Thank you."

The bus closed its doors and drove away, leaving the girl smiling around at the scenery. She could see all the citizens of Toon City walking around doing their daily business. Her eyes then came upon a group of people she was hoping to meet at this spot.

There were five people spread out among benches in front of a large tree. Four were teenagers (two light-skinned human boys, one dark-skinned human girl and one rhinoceros-humanoid) while the fifth was an amphibian-like humanoid in his twenties. Joined with them was a small creature that looked to be a mix between a monkey and a weasel covered in blue fur.

The first one to notice Katara, a red-haired boy with green eyes wearing red and blue clothing under armour plates, turned away from his friends and said, "Hey, Katara!"

"Hi, Aerrow!" the girl responded, walking over to her friends.

The girl sitting next to Aerrow was wearing a blue and yellow dress. Her amber-coloured eyes went with her bluish-black hair that stood up behind her head. "So, what's going on today, Katara?" she asked.

"Glad you asked, Piper," replied the girl. "I'm on my over to go buy a ticket to see Pearl Jam tonight!"

"I heard about that..." said Aerrow. "It's supposed to be one of the biggest events in Toon City."

The rhino-like humanoid stood up from his spot. Everyone could see his large body covered in his clothing made up of blue, brown and green underneath armour plates that went along with his grey hair and eyes. "That sounds like fun!" he said. "You must've been waiting for this for a long time."

"I have, Junko," said Katara. "It took a lot of hard work, but I was able to save up enough money to buy one ticket. Seeing my favourite band live in concert will be all worth it."

The fourth teen also stood up and walked next to Junko. His spiky blonde hair and blue eyes matched his clothing, which he also wore underneath armour plates. "Man, if only they'd let someone like me become a rock star," he said, "then I'd be playin' my awesome tunes for all my adoring fans."

Everyone around looked to see the boy was now playing air guitar while making his own sounds. The display made everyone else feel embarrassed to be with him as they all made disgruntled expressions. The furry animal went so far as to plug his own ears with his fingers.

Just then, the only adult of the group, who was the green-skinned amphibian-like person dressed in brown clothing with an X-shaped plate over his chest, turned to the blonde boy and said, "Finn, I think I speak for everyone when I say... we did not need to see that."

Finn looked back at the man and retorted, "One day Stork, everyone will be screaming my name."

"You're right," said Katara. "They'll all say, 'Hey Finn, you stink!'"

Laughs could be heard all around coming from everyone except for Finn who only hunched his shoulders and tightened his brow.

The furry animal walked up to Katara. Turning her head down, the girl said, "Don't worry, Radarr. I didn't forget to say hi to you, too." She then proceeded by patting Radarr on the head, which made the little guy chirr with delight.

Katara turned back to her friends, saying, "Hey, you know, you guys should come with me. We'll all have a good time together."

"Sorry," said Piper. "We kinda have our own things to do today."

"Yeah," commented Aerrow. "But we'd definitely come if we could..."

Katara nodded in response, feeling a little disappointed her friends couldn't go with her. "Okay," she said, "but the invite is still open in case any of you change your minds."

"Don't take this personally, but I can't stand being in a hall with so many people," said Stork. "Who knows what kind of terrible pathogens they could be carrying on them!"

All the others blinked in surprise to see Stork's pathophobia get him so agitated.

As the group continued to chat amongst themselves, another figure was walking past the tree from where they were sitting. It was a sixteen-year-old girl wearing a green T-shirt, black pants low enough to show her midriff, and black shoes. Her red hair was tied back into a ponytail, and her pink eyes were set into a sneer as she walked. This girl's name was Vicky, and it appeared as though something was deeply bothering her.

Vicky stopped in front of the tree away from the group's view and made an irritated sound, saying, "I can't believe I couldn't get into that stupid concert! I only hurt that guy a little when he refused to sell me a ticket, and now I'm banned from the Mega-Dome! I'm so mad I feel I could take it out on a total stranger for no reason!"

Just then, she heard laughter coming from the other side of the tree. Out of curiosity, she stuck her head around to find Katara and her friends still chatting.

"Well, I better get going now," said Katara. "I want to get my ticket before they're all gone."

"All right," said Aerrow. "We'll see ya later!"

"Be sure to bring back a T-shirt for me!" said Piper.

"Me, too!" said Junko.

"Sorry, but I don't think they make them Wallop-sized, Junko," said Katara.

"I hope you have a good time, Katara," said Aerrow.

"I know I will," replied the girl. "After all, it is Pearl Jam."

Hearing the band's name made Vicky gasp, which she followed up with narrowing her eyes and grunting angrily.

"Okay, guys," said Katara. "Bye!" She walked away from the group and waved to them. A smile formed on her face as she saw them waving back at her.

The only one who wasn't pleased was Vicky, and she grunted again when she stood alone behind the tree.

"I can't believe this!" she said. "Just when I'm denied from going to the show, I see that little goody-goody going there like she was rubbing it in my face!"

Vicky looked up to her head while she stuck her finger to her chin. At that moment, a plan formed into her head while she made a devilish smile. It was something so sinister that only she could ever imagine it.

"Well," she said, "if I can't go to the concert, I'll make sure that girl can't go, either!"

Vicky followed up with her evil laughter. Walking away, she would follow after Katara to make sure that she would make another person as miserable as her.

* * *

BlueTiger321: I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter.

Katara: Hooray! I get to go see Pearl Jam!

Vicky: Oh, no you won't!

Katara: You don't scare me, Icky Vicky!

Vicky: *grunts angrily* Why does everyone call me that?!

BlueTiger321: So folks, stay tuned for the next chapter. Until then...

Katara: Read and review!