Music Room Portraits

The group manifests as six wall paintings of real classical maestros brought to life, each modeled on a historical figure: Vanben on Beethoven, Grandma Bach on Bach, Trainspotter on Dvorak, Ninth on Karajan, Mozza on Mozart, and Glasses on Schubert. Their stated heights run from Glasses at 155 cm up to the towering Trainspotter at 180 cm, with the others, Vanben, Mozza, Ninth, and Grandma Bach, scattered in between. Mustaches, beards, and stern composer faces mark them out as portraits that have stepped down from their frames.

Each portrait carries its own quirk. Ninth fancies himself a speed demon and barks at the rest to quicken their tempo, while Mozza keeps slipping in crude jokes. Glasses nurses a father complex, and Trainspotter so adores railways that he mimics the noise of an approaching locomotive mid-performance. Vanben runs hot, loathing the ugly piano racket that rouses the whole group and bent on destroying whoever causes it, an irony given that his model Beethoven was deaf. Grandma Bach holds herself in high regard and bristles whenever Glasses brings up his dad. United, the painted ensemble ranks among the legendary Seven School Mysteries and exists only to slay anyone who mangles the keys at two in the morning.

During the Evil Eye Arc, the portraits stir after Turbo Granny deliberately fumbles the music room piano, pinning the blame on Okarun and Aira so they will serve as sparring partners for his training. Casting Symphony No. 6, the spirits open with a storm of exploding musical notes, churning the illusory ground and cornering Aira before Okarun darts in to rescue her. Once he locks onto the rhythm, their strikes can no longer touch him, and with his help Aira closes the gap and returns the conductor to a lifeless painting. Stripped of flight, the remaining portraits answer with Symphony No. 9, summoning a mob of opera spectators against the pair. Aira holds off the crowd while Okarun wipes out the rest in one sweep, and with every painting restored, the trio and Turbo Granny head back out of the room.