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"Let them play Rock and Roll "Written By: Dentelle_noir Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing AC or the
characters. GW belongs to Bandai, Sotsu and associated parties. This
is a work of fiction and written for fun, not profit Rating: PG 13 Warnings: Language, AU Pairings: Eventual 1x2, 3x4 and perhaps 5x6 Summary: "Let them play Rock and Roll " Some say the rivalry between them began in Elementary school, when Duo Maxwell (to become the lead singer and only talented member of Shinigami) accidentally crashed into a castle being built by none other than Chang Wufei (to become the talented drummer of Zero) which began a grudge against the lead singer that eventually spread to the rest of the band. Other’s say the rivalry began in High School, when Duo, who was known for over-the-top hand gestures while telling wild stories balancing backwards on a handrail that was open to the courtyard one story down, upturned a whole large orange pop over the head of one Heero Yuy--who had just formed Zero and played lead guitar at the time. No one is sure, really, because no one really cared when the whole thing began-- only a handful of people in their school even knew the bands existed--too caught up in Playstation or Skateboarding to care about some tinkering old garage bands that couldn’t land a gig anywhere else then community festivals. Those obtuse many changed their tune when CD companies began to sniff around the two upcoming bands and sales began to climb. Those that did care, though, were the bands themselves. And they made that very vocal when one manager, Treize Kushrenada of Zero, suggested they replace their modularly talented company-assigned lead singer with one supposedly talented Duo Maxwell. “NEVER!” Wufei demanded, only one hair’s breadth away from throwing an all-out temper tantrum in the dressing room. “That asshole is nothing but a joke. We are a serious band. He wears Moose-hats on stage and practically goes into convulsions while he screams incorrect lyrics.” Heero drawled with dripping disdain. Trowa nodded in agreement, tightening his beloved base-guitar to perfection. Trieze wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Well, no matter what you think of his performance--” “Cheep theatrics.” Wufei cut. “--his performance has crowds going wild and a paying fanbase. Your music attracts real musicians and thinkers. If we put his showmanship with your musical ability we would have one hell of a good band.” Heero, Trowa, and Wufei glared daggers at their manager for intoning that they were not ‘one hell of a good band’ as is. “No.” Heero declared, ending the argument. “Well, since I can’t persuade you to think it was your idea in the first place, I guess I’d better tell you that you don’t have a choice. Oh, and he’ll be at practice tomorrow morning.” Treize dropped in with a snake-oil smile.
Zero was nothing more than a bunch of elitist, stuck up, boring ass losers, and Duo wanted nothing to do with it. He already tried to get out of it using everything he could think of, short of hiring a hit man to off the whole of Zero (since he just didn’t have that kind of cash), and now he was resigned to fate. Hilde was supportive enough to ‘accompany’ him on his flight to New York (he knew Zechs told her to make sure he went, or it was her hide on the line, and Duo wouldn’t do something to endanger Hilde, and that bastard Zechs knew that). So, peevishly not-speaking to Zechs in protest, he slouched in the airplane seat and watched LA disappear into the cloud cover to be replaced with the New York skyline, then the New York Airport. He and Hilde were on their way to meet with Zero while Zechs tidied up things in LA, and Duo hated every minute of it. He was going to miss his band. They had a good group, but Zechs had moved to become a manager after he tired of guitar, and Hilde was leaving, and Solo quit months ago, so most of the band were new guys sent in by the brass a while ago... He was going to miss his name up in banners, he was going to miss the trips, he was going to miss his rodies-- “Shit! Who’s going to tell Quatre what happened!” Duo exclaimed randomly, loud and desperate enough to scare even a New York cabbie. Quatre had been with them since their first year, when, after seeing the show, he approached Duo with the idea of getting some sort of lighting effects and display. They became friends quickly, Quatre’s great ideas and sunny personality quickly making him a favorite in Duo’s crew. But the blonde refused a job with them-- because the multi-billionaire refused pay, and often had to go and work at the office for extended periods while his father was attending other business, leaving him having to drop the tour half way through. Hopefully Quatre wouldn’t be too devastated by the change. The thought of breaking the news to him hurt, but then, thinking about it and the way Quatre had been avoiding talking to him for long periods of time lately, he concluded that Quatre already knew and was gracious enough not to tell Duo until the official word came down. The cab arrived outside a classic old brick-style building that Duo suspected was a studio of some kind and he and Hilde crawled out of the cab and waved a thankful goodbye to the screaming cab driver and his train wreck on wheels. Ascending the stairs with heavy steps, Duo cringed as Hilde beat him to ringing the overly chipper buzzer and call in that “Shini’s in!” Her enthusiastic greeting was met with an aloft “Then tell him to get out”, followed by the sounds of struggle. A moment later a buzzer on the door went off and a new voice said “Were the 2nd floor!” over-enthusiastically . Duo was not looking forward to this. But of the sake of Hilde, who now was ringing her hands around her purse-strap nervously, he put on a brave face and took the stairs with a forced cheer. When he found the door to the studio, he knocked out a catchy jingle. The door was wrenched open and Duo found himself face to face with his bitterest rival. Heero Yuy glared down at him through black rimmed glasses and narrowed his eyes dangerously. He let him and Hilde in then stalked towards the living area to plunge down into one of the five stuffy armchairs set up in a rough circle around a central coffee table. Already there sat Treize, the manager Duo and Zechs had met before, smiling in welcome. But his smile was the only friendly one. Perched in a chair to Treize’s right was Chang, Duo most vocal hater. To Treize’s left sat Trowa, the bassist, who was looking at him coolly, no expression marring his stone face. Then, on the other side of a vacant chair (obviously meant for him) sat the scowling Heero Yuy; the boy who made Duo quake in his boots. Heero could pummel him into a world of hurt, which he had on one occasion in high school after a tragic juice-spilling fiasco, and Duo was always twitchy to be around the homicidal head case. Sure Heero Yuy could play one mean guitar, but that was no replacement for some people-skills in Duo’s opinion. Sitting in the empty chair, being stared at by three hostile faces and one salesmen’s grin, Duo felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He might as well get this all over with. “For the record, I don’t want to be here. I probably don’t want to be here MORE than you don’t want me here. I’m loosing my band, my name, my friends, and MY tour to join your sorry asses. So don’t think I plan to make this transition easy.” “Duo!” Hilde admonished from behind him, smacking him once upside the head. It shut Duo up, but didn’t unearth any response from Zero. It was way too spookily quiet. It was never quiet in Shinigami, all the members and staff were a loud, obnoxious group. These guys kept starring, not a sound passing through the whole studio. It only made him miss his band even more. It’s not like he could do anything about it. Once he signed that contract with the record company his dreams came true, at the expense of any freedom he once had. The silence was deafening, ringing oh so wrong in his ears. His brain began to fill his thoughts with song... “we are all just prisoners here, of our own device...” “You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave” Duo whispered, the sound echoing off the walls and in Duo’s head as he heard the guitar swell in his brain as he remembered the song. Suddenly he heard the strumming of a real guitar, the deep base of the song emanating from the chair next to him as Trowa danced his fingers across the strings of his ever-present instrument. The song ended, Duo staring at the again cold face of Trowa, who was looking, not at Duo, but at Heero. Heero stood woodenly, his movement a cue to the others to stand as well. “Treize set up the room on top of the stairs for you. We start practice at 8am sharp.” Heero stated, then turned on his heels and left the room, the other two moving in to flank their leader. Duo gave Hilde a quick goodbye peck on the cheek and ascended the stairs heavily, dumping his worn body on the non-descript bed sitting in the centre of an equally non-descript room. All things considered, his first day in hell could’ve been worse. But not by much.
They were almost finished, a full 2 hours into practice, when the door to their sound proof room burst open and a sleep-ruffled Duo Maxwell hauled his pajama-clad ass into the room. “No one woke me up!” their new ‘lead singer’ whined pathetically. Wufei put down his drum sticks angrily, “We are not your mothers! Get your own ass out of bed. That is what an alarm clock is for, Kisama!” “Don’t get your panties in a twist, Wuff. I’m here now” Duo retorted, agitated and bleary eyed. That was it. Wufei flew off the handle and began to rant to high heavens, Heero stood by and glared angrily at their new member, and Trowa somehow managed to sneak out, knowing the practice was well and truly over. Treize saw him lurking in the hallway, “Practice over already! Must be going well!” He quipped, eager to hear some good news after the terse first encounter. Trowa lifted a brow, “It was, until Duo showed up, 2 hours late, and pissed Wufei off. He’s throwing a tantrum in there now.” He explained off handed to the horror of their manager. Treize quickly ran off the save the expensive equipment from Wufei’s temper, leaving Trowa to continue on to wherever the hell the silent boy went to when he wrote his bizarre and inspired lyrics.
“Make you want to drool?” Quatre supplied from the other end of the phone, smirking as he heard Duo sputter like an angry cat. “More like make you want to tie a cement block to his feet and push him out of an airplane over the pacific! What the HELL, Cat!” Duo shouted through the phone, Quatre having to pull it away to avoid damage to his ear drums. Although temporary deafness would help him get through the stockholders meeting he had to attend in 10 more minutes... But he was still a good friend, and Duo seemed to trail off in his rant, waiting for Quatre to offer some input, “Sounds to me like you need to cool your jets and do things their way for a bit, Duo. You did sleep through practice. I mean. you were pissed when Solo skipped practice to go on that date with Hilde, remember? You refused to speak to either of them until they broke up, but after a week you settled for them buying you an apology cake?” Duo’s grunt was the only acknowledgement that he remembered, but Quatre continued anyway. “Duo, you’re outnumbered and in their territory. Lie low, get the feel of how things work, then start to make things a little more ‘you’. That will help things go a little smoother. And who knows, you may start to like them if you give them half a chance to get to know the real you.” Quatre made perfect sense, he always did, but as Duo hung up he decided that come hell or high water Duo was going to stick to his word. He said he was not going to make this transition easier, and he wouldn’t.
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