Author: Merrianna

Story: When an Artist Takes a Fall!: 1 of ?

Series: n/a

Feedback: Yes, please? Especially constructive. merriannadragon@yahoo.com

Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/samwise_baggins/index.html

A slender hand fumbled for the phone, pulling the receiver under the pillow. "Hello," was the raspy greeting.

"Morning, Sweets," the silky answer came through the line.

With a loud sigh the woman rolled over; in the sunlight her sleep-tossed, bleach-tipped hair shone almost white against the rest of the dark mass. Her normal makeup was absent though her chocolate eyes flashed with annoyance at being woken at such an early hour. "Rory, what the hell are you doing calling me at this time of the day?"

"Mmmm... Shouldn't you already be up? You always were a slug-a-bed," teased the Stinger's lead singer. The tiniest amount of tension could be heard in the man's voice.

Ignoring the slur to her one time occupation of sleeping in late, the woman sat up. The tension emanating across the wire made her managerial side take enough notice to question her caller further. "What's the matter? You wouldn't have called me unless there was a dire emergency."

The pause at the other end made the young woman shiver. Rory wasn't usually one to prevaricate so the lapse in his conversation was disturbing. "Raquel, we need to talk. Why don't you get the others together and come over to Stinger Sound."

Those words sent another shiver of apprehension down her spine. "Rory, is it that bad?" "Just get the other girls and get your self over here," Riot ordered in an authoritative manner.

"Okay, Dad." The sarcastic reply was met with the buzzing of a dial tone. Sighing, she got up and started to nudge the others awake. The day was not starting out on the right foot. Radical began to wonder if it wouldn't have been a better idea to have waited to be picked up by another music promoter, maybe even Starlight Music.

In the Misfit's personal room at Stinger Sound the TV blared out into the halls.

"...And in other news. The New Rock Legends Hall of Fame will be having it's Gala Opening. All the big names are going to be there with the main exhibits representing those who have made significant changes to the music industry. Among those being inducted are distinguished artists such as Leon Skinney, Lena Lurner, Patty Jettson and the Dark Stars, Mystic Five, and Ron Cox, just to name a few."

On the television screen was the image of Lindsey Pierce and in the background were pictures of those few performers that had been formally announced.

"The Opening will coincide with the Rock-n-Roll Extravaganza Benefit Concert, which will be premiering new songs of the groups and solo artists represented in the Legends Hall. Artists that have been chosen by the legends themselves will perform the inductees’ songs. So, Folks, it looks like this will be the biggest event of the year.

I'll certainly be waiting with baited breath to see who the guest artists will be.

Well that's the news today. Stay tuned for tomorrow..."

"Can, you believe that?" the peevish whine of the Misfits' lead singer drowned out that of the LinZ show as she pressed the off button on the remote.

"What are you blubbering about?" the reply came from behind a rock magazine, where a mass of white teased hair was the only way to identify who it was. Roxy hadn't really been reading the magazine just looking over the pictures.

"If you were paying attention, then she wouldn't have to be telling you," the black haired Brit came back snidely from her reclined position from across the room.

"I was watching," Stormer murmured as she rearranged the music sheets they were supposed to be going over on a low table. She had no real desire to get caught in between the on going arguments of the two. They needed no help in getting on each other's nerves, though it seemed to have toned down since the incident in England.

Before the two antagonists could go further, Pizzazz glared at Roxy and continued her rant, "Those losers are going to be inducted into the Rock Legends Hall of Fame and we weren't invited."

"But, Pizzazz, how do you know that we weren't invited? Maybe Eric has been setting something up." The blue-haired keyboardist tried to be the voice of reason in the volatile band.

"Do you really think that Eric would be competent enough to be able to get us into that party?" Jetta's voice held a certain amount of contempt for the manager. "Especially when he can't even keep our warm-ups from buggering out on us."

Crimson Blue was the fifth band to desert them on their forty cities tour. They had left not even caring that the band hadn't even been paid. Stormer supposed that they would get a lawyer to get them the money that was owed and to get them out of the rest of their contract. "Yeah, not like we really need them," Roxy inputed.

"That's not the point," growled Pizzazz in an increasingly dissatisfied tone. "Eric pushed us into this music tour from hell and now we're going to miss the biggest event of the year."

Stormer winced; though she'd had the same thoughts about the Misfit's record promoter on more than one occasion, she was pretty sure that half of their problems where their own fault. "But the concert line-up is going to be up to those inducted," the young woman's voice squeaked out.

"That's not a really good recommendation," Roxy sighed, for once troubled by their trouble-making reputation.

"Recommendation? The bloody Yankees should be begging for us to be inducted to the silly thing and be the top act there." Jetta's fiery talk was only stirring up their green-haired leader even more.

"Not only are we doing extra work for this dumb album and for the stupid tour, we're out a warm up band. And now I'm going to miss the biggest event of the year next to the music awards! I'm not going to stand for this!" Pizzazz shrieked as she stormed out of the practice room. Jetta and Roxy looked at each other then hastily followed the green-haired woman's retreating back.

With a heavy sigh Stormer looked down briefly at the musical arrangements that they should really be going over and quickly raced after her band mates; for the first time wondering why she stayed with them.

Across the street at Starlight Music, in the opulent office of owner and alter ego of Jem lead singer of the Holograms, sat Jerrica Benton. In one hand she held a phone while with the other she hurriedly wrote down information from the speaker on the line.

The sound of muffed voices came through the door just before it opened, and the Holograms entered unannounced. The excitement rolled off of them in waves as they rushed in Jerrica looked up. "Yes, Jem and the Holograms will be honored to be included in the festivities. Yes, I have those dates. Thank you. Goodbye."

"Was that who I think it was?" Aja asked as she leaned against the front of her friend's desk. The others gathered around with an anxious air about them.

"And who do you think it was?" Jerrica came back. She was having difficulty keeping a straight face as she tried to suppress her own excitement.

"Oh, come on, Jerrica." Kimber pleaded with her older sister. The younger woman squirmed with enthusiasm.

Shana and Raya smirked at each other over the antics of the redheaded keyboardist.

"Alright, Kimber, it was the committee for the upcoming benefit concert."

"And?" Shana quizzed.

"And Jem and the Holograms have been asked to do a couple of song from Patty Jettison and the Darkstars." Jerrica smiled widely as she waited for the expected flood of elation.

"Outrageous!" Kimber shouted as she jumped into the air, arms pumping.

"That is fantastic," Raya said with equal zeal but without the keyboardist's gymnastics.

"So, do you know what we're going to be playing?" Aja grinned but came to the point of what songs they were going to have to practice.

"My Own Person, it's a new song that Patti and her manager have written and one their older songs: You Were The One." Jerrica answered looking a bit worried.

"Jerrica, is something wrong?" asked Raya with a concerned expression.

"It's just that I'm a little anxious about doing someone else's songs. They're not really in the style that we perform," stated Jerrica with troubled blue eyes.

"Really Jerrica, it's not like you to back down from a challenge," Aja countered with her hands on hips.

The president of Starlight Music sighed gently, a smile returning to the woman's face. "You're right. The style may be a little different but the vocal range is still there and the four of you can play anything."

Now that the minor crisis was over, Kimber couldn't contain her exicetment.

"Oh, I can't wait to tell Stormer when I see her today," Kimber exclaimed, bursting with renewed enthusiasm.

"Whoa girl; I don't think that's a good idea. The Misfits have been quiet recently, do you want to stir things up again?" Shana scolded.

"But Stormer wouldn't be upset and I doubt she would tell them anything to cause trouble," Kimber argued with a pout.

"Kimber, she may not mean to, but that doesn't mean it won't come out accidentally" Aja didn't quite trust the truce that they had with the Misfits. Even now that she knew that the blue-haired Misfit was the sister of her boyfriend, that didn't mean one was quite trustworthy.

"It's okay if she wants to tell Stormer; in a couple of days the announcement is going to be made anyway." Jerrica smiled encouragingly at her younger sister.

"Besides, don't we have a ceasefire going with them?” Raya's own problems with the Misfits weren't with all of the them, just a certain black haired Brit.

"Since when has that made a difference? Remember the train incident?" Shana's come-back had some merit to it; still the troublesome band had been avoiding getting in the Holograms's way. Then again the Misfits had been too busy with their tour to cause too much trouble for them.

"Okay, I'll leave it out of the conversation, but if she brings it up I'm not going to lie," Kimber stated emphatically.

"That's going have to do. Though the event will proabable be problemtic anyway, 'cause I'm sure that the Stingers have been invited." Shana shook her head not seeing any way around avoiding that threesome.

Jerrica sternly set a nuteral expression on her face though personally she wouldn't mind seeing Riot. It had been a while since their work was able to bring them together. Giving herself a mental shake she scolded herself 'You're with Rio. Stop fanatsying about someone else.' Rio was her soulmate she was sure, but Riot somehow called to her more wild side.

Aja wisely changed the subject. "That may be but its not something we can do anything about. Well that at least settles everything. We should get started on practicing those songs." The others groaned in a playful manner at the Chinese woman's gun-ho attitude.

Eric walked smugly back into his office to wait for the formalities to be drawn up for his little wager with Riot. For a brief moment he leaned back with his feet on the desk, reveling in the peace as he contemplated winning and being once again able to run his company without interference. Just like he had done to his silent partner earlier, his door was abruptly swung open, slamming into the wall. The suddenness of the thunderous noise startled the manger of the Misfits into losing control over his leather chair, causing the dark-haired man to fall backward, crashing onto the floor.

"Eric." Aside from the fact that he was nursing a few bruises from his fall from the chair, the high pitched whine of his band's lead singer made the producer wince.

"Yes, Pizzazz?" His forced pleasantness was noted not only by the singer but also by the rest of the group that had followed her in.

Roxy and Jetta eyed the disheveled man with equal amounts of amusement and annoyance. "Did Eric get an ouchie?" The bass guitarist gloated, her eyes dancing glee as she watched their manager while he moved to his hands and knees before them.

The producer glared at snickering blond from his prone position.

"Is that any way to greet your best band?" the black haired Brit questioned, peeved at his less than courteous tone of voice.

Stormer shook her head and crossed her arms, looking mildly apologetic. By her expression the manager could tell that the keyboardist didn't want to be there.

Eric ignored the girls' jeering as he got to his feet. "Why aren't you recording right now? You know it isn't easy to get you ladies to agree on the times or to get Riot to approve of them."

"You want to know why we're not recording? I'll tell you why. I just heard on the TV that there's going to be a major music event. I want to know what you’re doing to get the Misfits into it?" As she talked her voice rose and she stalked over to Raymond poking him with a red-tipped fingernail. "And what the hell are you going to do about our warm up acts ditching?"

Right at the moment, Pizzazz was ticked off for many reasons: the first being that she had to do extra work for their newest album. The second reason was that the warm-up band had bailed out on them. But most important was that a Musical event was going to be taking place that was a who's who of artists and celebrities, and she was not even invited, let alone being honored and worshipped as she felt she deserved.

"Pizzazz, darling. What makes you think you haven't been invited? I have been working hard on getting the Misfits into the affair. Just today, I received a call." Eric was wiggling and worming trying to get back into the lead singer's good graces.

"Oh, yeah?" queried Pizzazz incredulously.

"Yes, you'll be playing a new song from Cross Bones." Eric smiled knowing that they liked that particular hard rock band. He continued realizing that he was on a roll. "And the warm up act has already been taken care of." He would let the Misfits own territorial nature take care of the little problem he had with the band.

The band all had equal looks of disbelief on their faces. Roxy and Jetta also eyed Eric with some suspicion. Stormer was just glad that they might be able to return to the studio sooner than she thought.

"What songs are we going to have to practice?" Stormer asked nibbling on her lip worriedly. They were already behind schedule with the recording; would they have time to learn the songs they would have to sing?

"Don't be such a worry-wart, Stormer," Roxy said disparagingly.

"Yeah. It's not like we haven't heard them enough to know their songs like our own." Unusually, Jetta backed up the white-haired bassist.

"Stormer, doing covers is amateur stuff." Pizzazz sneered.

Realizing that he was on a roll, Eric continued, "and the warm up act has already been taken care of." He would let the Misfits' own territorial nature take care of the little problem he had with Radical Edge.

"For once you actually did something right." Pizzazz said in amazement. Turning she called over her shoulder, "Just don't mess this one up before the day arrives."

"Yeah, Eric or your goose is cooked," Roxy said as she joined the green-haired singer. "To right, Duckie. If this isn't legit you're going the way of the proverbial boil in oil," the saxophonist threatened as she also sashayed out of the record promoter's office.

Stormer followed, not making any comment, though she did shut the door loudly; she pondered the last few days. They were finally back in LA, and, though they were all tired and needed a break from the road as well as each other, she had insisted that the newest tour album should at least have a few new songs to go along with the concert versions of their old stuff. This album would also be their first release using the new compact disc setup. The blue-haired songwriter remembered how Riot and Eric had fought over the expensive equipment tooth and nail. In the end, the blond singer had gotten what he wanted by using some of his own money to buy it. Eric didn't take the new technology seriously until Jem and the Holograms had come out with a compilation four-disc set that had gone double platinum. It took Eric another argument with his enigmatic partner to be able to get the Misfits to be able to use the new machinery. Riot had only relented after he had heard about the Forty Cities Tour that was planned. Stormer figured that it was that and the fact that he had had their manager practically begging at the end, which had the blond man agreeing.

There had been another bout of contention, which made Stormer shuddered thinking about it, the tour video and whether it should be aired on VTV, VMTV, or go direct to VHS sale. Pizzazz didn't like Lindsey Pierce and thought that VMTV was for old farts, but that having it go straight to Videocassette was beneath them. Roxy and Jetta went along with the lead singer up to a certain point when she mentioned the extra money they could take in by doing all three. The TV spots would also promote the album, increasing the sales that they would make. The two normal rivals had backtracked on that. They were both usually strapped for money, not knowing how to budget what they got. Stormer wasn't by any means overly business savvy, but the time she had spent with Kimber and her sister had made her more aware of exactly what could make or break a record.

She was just glad that these latest challenges were dealt with quicker and without anybody coming to blows. Things were looking up, if they could just get though the next three weeks and even though her fellow musicians didn't think they had to practice, she would eventually get them to at least go over the material once before they had to perform. Stormer felt that everything would be all right and the small vacation would be a welcome reprieve to the work that had been her life recently.

Radical sighed, leaning back against the wall of the elevator as it slowly made its way to the executive offices of Stinger Sound. She assessed the other people in the confined space. The three women had been her constant companions since their band had come together. It was amazing that they had withstood what most music people would call a "doomed venture". Most in the business would consider a girl band a bad investment. "Personalities clashed too often", was the common phrase that was attributed to such groupings.

These women were more than just good musicians; they were friends. Edge was exactly like her name: sharp and always on the cutting edge of the fashion and music industries. Her clothes reflected the hard nature of her personality. She chose to wear dark tones with clean lines, though her makeup was bright, which made people take notice of her face.

Moonbaby on the other hand was nothing like her stage name, which made people think of new age and hippies. She was loud, obnoxious, and in people's faces, but she also had a sweet side that was well hidden. Her style of dress echoed nothing of her persona. It was all for the stage: dark clothes with shiney silver sequins and makeup.

Stardust was not a space cadet like some would assume; she was quiet, but that didn't mean she was a pushover. She just got her way without making it a big production. She dressed for comfort, pastels being her favorite colors.

With all of their differences, they came together like sisters, and Radical wouldn't want to play music without them.

The door to the elevator finally opened to the floor that they had been told Riot would be on. Not wasting any time the women exited before the doors could close. They made their way to the reception desk so they could be announced.

The door next to the only desk in the large space opened and a green blur stormed out. The two lead singers collided in front of a started Rochelle.

"Why don't you watch where you’re going?" growled Pizzazz.

"The same should be said for you." Radical returned just as annoyed as she was frausted. She wished the Rory had just told her what the problem was over the phone, instead of having to be dragged out of bed to be acosted in the recpetion area.

"Yeah watch where you’re going." Roxy backed up her lead singer, not liking the look of the women that she saw right behind the dark-eyed woman.

"Do you know who you're talking to?" Jetta joined correctly thinking that these people could possibly be trouble for them.

"Seems to me that she was just giving as good as she was getting from the green-haired shrew." Moonbaby immediately came to her manger's defense. Her narrowed eyes settled on the white haired woman.

"Being a spoiled brat doesn't give you the right to order everyone around," Edge stated in a low frosty tone. She had done her research and knew exactly who they were up against. "Spoiled brat? Just who do you think you are?" Pizzazz's hard won good mood was rapidly vanishing.

Stormer watched as Pizzazz tried to muscle her way over the woman, whom had accidentally bumped into her, and her entourage. The woman had style, she would give her that. The red-black leather dress was not something that she had ever seen before, and the way she did her hair and makeup was bold: a sharp contrast to others who would have gone with a lighter hair color and darker cosmetics. However, she seemed to have little common sense in not backing down when confronted with the likes of Pizzazz on a bad day.

Stardust looked on, wondering who would be foolish enough to try and get into an argument with their lead singer. Radical didn't get into the normal catfights; the woman had been trained by her uncle, who had just recently retired from the service.

From the two office, the owners of Stinger Sound became aware of loud voices coming from the reception area. One sounded distinctly like Pizzazz. The other Eric couldn't make out, though the blonde-haired man could, and he was sure he hadn't heard with that tone in many years.

Riot strode out of his office in time to see that things were headed from loud voices to physical blows. Though he knew that Radical Edge could take care of themselves he didn't want to have to pay for the damage that the reception area would acquire.

"Is this any way for grown women to behave?" queried the dark-eyed man.

Roxy and Jetta turned stony eyes the blond man's way, glaring at being interrupted. Edge and Moonbaby backed away from their adversaries, not wanting to get on Riot's bad side. The man didn't appear to be a threat with his affected clothes and polished good looks, but they knew him from before that facade went unto place.

Pizzazz stopped abruptly, not wanting to get on Riot's bad side, either. Even though he had recently stopped pursuing Jem, he hadn't gotten around to trying to hook up with her. She was confident that he would change his mind.

An evil smile spread across Radical's face at the sight of the good-looking man. Abandoning the fight with the rude singer she launched herself into the arms of the tall Adonis. "Rory," she rasped out in a sexy growl.

"Hello, Sweets." Riot affectional greeted the young woman that flew into his arms. He twirled the young woman once before setting her back on her feet. A warm smile with pronounced twin dimples graced the blonde man's and dark-haired woman's comely features.

Half the room stood in stunned silence at the display of real affection from the normally arrogant blond man. Stormer wasn't only stunned but she recognized something that seemed almost familiar about how they acted to each other.

Pizzazz narrowed her eyes glaring, at the blonde-tipped-haired woman. 'Who does this little upstart thinks she is, fawning all over Riot so intimately?'

Eric Raymond stood just inside the doorway watching the spectacle with a gleam of satisfaction at the confrontation, recongnizing the group Radical Edge by the photo in their file. It was obvious that these two bands would be at each other's throats well before the first show was over.