A/N: Characters are not mine, lyrics are not mine, song titles are not mine. You recognise it, it ain't mine.
Bright white lights panned over the stadium, illuminating a sea of bright, expectant faces. Slowly, they dropped down, reducing their blinding effect on the audience and lit the stage, revealing a drum kit at the centre back, a keyboard to the left and three microphone stands. Slowly, the melodic drumbeat of 'We Will Rock You' began and a spotlight swam over the stage, landing on Meat Loaf, seated behind the kit. As one, the sea of faces raised their arms, clapping and stamping their feet, in time with the beat. In a flash of light, bright enough to light the whole stadium, and an explosion of noise, Big Macca, the Dreamer and his Bad-Arsed Babe ran onto the stage.
Buddy you're a boy, make a big noise
Playing in the street, gonna be a big man someday
Yo' got mud on yo' face, you big disgrace,
Kicking your can all over the place
'Everybody!' Scaramouche screamed at the audience. They needed no further encouragement and began their chant with renewed vigour.
The song finished with a thunderous clap, from both the audience and performers, and Galileo addressed the audience, 'Hello Wembley!' A cheer of greeting responded loudly, enthusiastically. 'So, we were planning our New Years Celebrations, and the thought came to us, than what better way to see in a new year, and a new era, than with all of you! This will be the first New Years Eve in two hundred and sixty six years with real instruments, and real, live music!' a second cheer erupted, drowning out his next words. He laughed, and repeated his words, 'And I couldn't have done it without my chick, my very own bad-arsed babe, Scaramouche!' Scaramouche glared at him, but let the words slide, figuring that they could battle it out later; onstage mid-concert didn't really strike her as the best location for an argument. They played a medley of their most famous songs, interjected by light banter; I Want It All, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Under Pressure, Tie Your Mother Down, I Want To Break Free, Friends Will Be Friends, Now I'm Here, A Kind of Magic, and The Show Must Go On. Killer Queen and Radio GaGa were conspicuously absent. Scaramouche belted out Somebody To Love, resulting in a somewhat prolonged kiss from Galileo, to the delight of the watching crowd.
Half way through the concert, Pop walked onstage and announced that as the Bar Man, it was his duty to provide refreshments; Galileo was offered a pint, and Scaramouche a white wine fruit laced drink. With a look of disgust, Scaramouche took the pint, and took a long draught, much to the amusement of onlookers, while Galileo sipped the wine. Together with Meat and Big Macca, they left the stage, and convinced that it was, indeed, necessary, Pop sang a capella to These Are The Days of Our Lives. In an attempt to remove the saddened atmosphere, Galileo and Scaramouche returned and proceeded to turn Hammer To Fall into a 'Boys v Girls' sing off, loudly received by all.
Shortly before the end of the concert, Galileo beckoned Meat Loaf to the front of the stage. 'Not many of you will know that in the course of the reinstatement of rock, one of our number was lost. Britney Spears was a great and inspiring man; he never stopped believing that we would be saved, and that I was the man to do it.' He paused, 'He was a true Bohemian; a fighter, a survivor, and he gave his life for the cause. And we'll remember him.'
Meat Loaf hovered behind him, in a trance of remembrance. He handed her the mic, and a hushed silence fell on the stadium. Fulfilling his role as groupie, Pop passed Scaramouche a newly made acoustic guitar, and she perched on a high stool, toes resting on the bar. The individual notes echoed mournfully around the stadium, a backdrop to the lone voice of Meat Loaf; she was holding it herself together well, her voice strong and clear.
'Hell,' she screamed, 'you made a sensation! Oh, you found a way through!' A single tear trickled down her cheek; the first that had fallen in the months since a funeral for Brit had been held. She ignored it, and carried on, softly supported in the choruses by Galileo, Scaramouche, Big Macca and Pop, crescendoing as she reached the line, 'There's a face at the window, and I ain't never, never saying goodbye.' A second, perfectly formed tear rolled down her cheek, streaking her black eyeliner. She finished the song, somehow singing the final lines out louder than the rest, and after a moments stunned silence, was met by rapturous, deafening applause.
Supported by touches from Galileo and Scaramouche, Meat returned to her position behind the drums and began the familiar, reassuring beat of Bohemian Rhapsody. 'Mama, just killed a man,' Galileo crooned into the mic. The audience waved their arms in time with Galileo, singing with him. The sound was unlike any ever heard, even at Wembley on the day of the Rhapsody. 'Any way the wind blows', the noise was electric; a thousand voices combined as one, a moment defining history.
A screen bearing a timer, counting down the final minutes, then seconds to midnight descended above the stage. 'Ten! Nine!' The stadium counted down the seconds together, caught in a moment. 'Six! Five!' Scaramouche joined the assembled group of Bohemians at the front of the stage, cradling the guitar in her arms, her head resting on Galileo's shoulder, his arm around her waist. The crowd cheered and continued the countdown. 'Two! One!'
'Happy New Year!' An electric scream reverberated around the stadium, as hugs and kisses were exchanged between friends old and new.
A moment later, silence fell again, as Galileo spoke, 'We love you guys,' he shouted out to the audience, 'and we hope you enjoyed the show. It's been one hell of a year, and the journey will go on. We've rocked you out of 2312, and we're gonna start 2313 the way we're gonna go on!'
Scaramouche strummed softly, as Meat and Big Macca resumed their positions. Galileo sang softly, 'I've paid my dues, time after time.' The audience sang with him, resuming their wave, ''Cause we are the champions, of the world.' And in that moment, they were. They'd achieved the impossible, and life had changed, unanimously agreed to be for the better.