Thunder... Awwwwaaaaahhhhhahhhhaaaah...

As I spoke the last words everything became black. Dark. I ran my hand over my face, feeling the skin and touch comforting. Still here. Still, well, somewhere. But it was dark.

The soft sound of a quiet murmur sounded in my ears. It sounded like... geese maybe? No... wait, a cocktail party, no... a concert crowd. What the hell?

The soft murmur grew quieter as soft sound of mechanical action came from ahead of me. Gradually the shape of an... wow, how big was this place? Pitch dark, but my eyes were adjusting, and now I could see the form of a stage. Before it, the light white of accent pieces on the orchestra showed the small hints of movement among the musicians.

A light tapping started up from somewhere, and I the soft murmur of voices rapidly hushed with scattered applause sounding from around me. My eyes took in the shape of... something on the stage, but it was totally obscured by darkness, and what looked like several... I wasn't certain.

A loud Thump sounded from everywhere. Must have been speakers everywhere, as the sound of the drum seemed to echo with thunder and raw electrical power. The sound repeated again rapidly, almost like a heartbeat, as a soft rapid melody began to emanate from the string section. Fast and repeated notes, spinning out a quick and light melody, which was punctuated at points with the repeated heartbeat of the thunderous sound of the drum.

"Thunder..." The sound of an angelic choir chanted in time with the next heartbeat of drum and roll of heavenly anger. "Thunder..."

The light was beginning to come up on stage now, and it flashed with each repeated chant of thunder. Now the choir was fully in view, rows of them stacked in choir stands as far as I could see, all of them beyond beautiful in ways that put a every one of humanity's obvious flaws to shame. They punctuated each call with a strange rolling chant that sounded almost like the revving of an engine. Their blue and white robes were all dominated by twin symbols of lightning that shimmered with their movements in a sea of radiant worship.

"Thunder... Awaaaahhhhaaaaaahhhhaaaaahhaaaahhh! Thunder... Awahhhhaaaaahhhaaaah!"

The voices continued as the me melody from the string section became amplified by the rest of the orchestra, all of their instruments rising in supplication to the melody played rapidly and quickly. All round me I could hear chanting voices, rising to their feet as I remained sitting. The energy was positively infectious, and I had to strongly resist the urge to join in as the crowd shouted "Thunder" over and over again.

Flashing lighting began to form on the stage in front of me, jumping from huge coils of metal which shone with the bright lightning and spiraling sparks of pyrotechnics. The bolts flew across the stage, impacting and dancing across a huge metal cage which was now perfectly illuminated by the floodlights which came on in time with another chant of "Thunder"

The entire world seemed to shake and rumble as the first sound of a lyric echoed across my consciousness. Loud, Male, angry. Definitely NOT the lead singer of AC/DC.

"I was caught... in the middle of a railroad track..."

Wait? That was the lyric? I'd never been able to understand that song before. Never. I'd heard it a million times, but not once had I ever actually listened to the... a railroad track? Why does that sound familiar? The spectacle in front of me continued as the cage BURST apart to reveal a locomotive, the scattered metal flying across the stage, and not impacting upon a single member of the audience, despite smashing directly into seats that were miraculously unoccupied. The locomotive was decorated with a huge lightning bolt symbol, and as it came to a halt, neon signs flashing nearly identical symbols punctuating the event burst into glorious display.

"I looked round... and I knew there was no turning back..."

Ah crap, Ah crap, where... I looked down at myself and saw my familiar clothing, my tan and cyan Hawaiian shirt, the jeans, everything back to normal. What the... to my left and right incredibly beautiful women screamed in ecstasy as the show continued, the crown around me chanting and singing along as the pyrotechnic explosions began, blowing the roof off the auditorium and revealing a storming night sky illuminated by searchlights that played back and forth. No rain issued from the dark clouds, as lightning flashed across the sky in time with with music.

"My mind raced... and I thought what can I do..."

A squadron of fighter jets flew down, narrowly roaring over the cheering crowd and angelic choir boxes, and ejecting fireworks, which detonated perfectly overhead into a swarm of drones, which elegantly formed themselves into a shape of a lightning bolt before smashing into the stage and detonating into smaller lighting bolts which then also detonated.

The final explosion of the locomotive brought a riotous cheer from the audience around me as the explosion was illuminated by lighting bolts which flew directly out of the clouds in a column of geometric precision, channeled by the tesla coils, and then again detonating as the music continued.

"And I knew... there was no help, No help from you!"

The drumbeat started up louder, and I realized that this was going to continue. I had no idea how long, but it continued. ON and on. I wasn't sure how many verses, but the explosions and detonations began to get tedious. They continued, mythical monsters and creatures battling it out on the stage, while around me the crowd continued to cheer loudly. Each spectacle was topped by another, grander and better.

And it was boring. Every single time something would catch my eye, it would be immediately amplified, then subtly shift to resemble a lighting bolt. Gotta be something I can do. My eyes flitted around the section where I was sitting. Nothing. A small barrier ahead of me with an electrical socket, and nothing. Absolutely nothing. A shouting crowd, beer... wait, when did I get a beer?

I glanced to my right as a drunk girl with one of the largest cups of beer I'd ever seen laughed, waving at the stage madly and drinking.

"PAAAAARTY!!!!!" She shouted, waving the beer and tossing her head forward as the song continued. It had to be over by now didn't it? This had been a LONG fucking three minutes.

I glanced at the drink in my hand, and thought I saw what looked like a cigarette butt floating in it. The impulse that I'd had to drink from it suddenly vanished and I dropped the red plastic cup to the ground where it spilled across the floor, leaving a trail of liquid and the scent of ozone.

I had to get out of here. I looked around, trying to find an exit, but everywhere I looked, I only saw the chanting crowd. Fuck. Had to be something.

The crowd paid no notice to me, merely continuing to chant as the music began to crescendo again, louder as each roll of "thunder" echoed through the now open air auditorium. Fuck... had to be something. Dammit, all I had in my pants was my dick and a penny. And I seriously didn't think screwing the girl next to me would get me out of this.

My eyes flitted to the electrical socket again as the pyrotechnics lit up. A sudden thought crossed my mind about how much power was in use at the current time. So much power. All to impress me, to make me make the choice that somebody wanted me to make. They wanted me to chant along, and they were willing to use all the power and...

My fingers closed on the penny in my pocket, and I pulled it out carefully. It was slightly stained, but the bright copper flashed in my eye as I contemplated it.