Strange Frontier
A VF Fan Fiction
1st-person account of the events unfolding in the VF universe (based mainly on the first two games and the anime series) from the eyes of an OC
Disclaimer: I own nothing (except my OCs)
Chapter 1
21 October 1992
Thank fucking God – the final date of this bloody long tour that's taken me around the world at least three times in a whole year. I'm not complaining, though – I met some interesting characters on the way. I wouldn't have made it this far without my friends and bandmates – lead singer and guitarist Valery Harkov and drummer Hans von Braun (Valery is a male name – he's Russian). The scene is a college in San Francisco, California, USA. Backstage, I could hear a voice feebly try to pronounce my name. Typical Anglophones – they can't pronounce a non-English name correctly without me having to correct them. Looking up to track down the voice's owner, I saw a rather attractive young woman with blonde hair and a cute smile to boot. Is that her? I swear she was giving me the eye during the show. For a keyboardist, I'm actually quite popular, which gets right up Valery and Hans's noses. I chuckled. 'Yes, that's me.' I spoke up as I got to my feet. 'If you can't pronounce my name right – Gaetano – then you can just call me Gordon. Everybody else does.' I chuckled. Then it hit me who she was: Sarah Bryant! Her brother was the racing driver Jacky Bryant – poor bastard had just gotten out of hospital following a year-long stint thanks to an "accident" – sounds like a deliberate ploy to me. You're talking to Sarah Bryant! Don't just stand there, you tit, speak up! My mind screamed. 'Hi.' I smiled slightly nervously. 'Did you like the gig?' I do my best to make small-talk as I curse to myself in Italian.
'Liked? I loved it!' Sarah replied with a slightly girly giggle. For a woman pushing 20, she certainly had a certain peculiarity about her. 'Listen, Gordon – I was wondering if you could do me a favour.' She asked in a slightly pleading tone.
'Sure, anything.' I responded. Why? WHY did you reply in the affirmative, you imbecile? I cursed mentally.
'Play a show at the mansion on Halloween.' She responded calmly.
'Halloween? You mean on 31 October? But that's only a week and a half away!' I countered – not that I didn't want to disappoint her, but my friends and I had been touring for more than a year and we were eager to take a break.
'Oh, come on – please?' Sarah responded, smiling at me.
'Just say yes, Gaetano – otherwise she'll be at it all night.' Valery replied, exclaiming in Russian. Hans responded by making a joke in German before laughing his head off.
'Look, Sarah… we've been at this for a year.' I spoke up in a reasonable tone of voice. Before I could continue, I could feel a large, muscular arm grip me by the front of my clothing and drag me forwards. I cursed in Italian before finding myself coming face to face with a lean man with spiked fair hair. Jacky Bryant… I figured as much – where there's one, there's the other. His hand went up to my neck, causing my eyes to begin popping out of the sockets.
'Listen to me very carefully: You want to make my sister happy, don't you?' Jacky asked – his reputation for being protective of his younger sister was well-known in the entertainment and sports communities. I nodded wordlessly. 'Good – then you're going to play the show for her at the mansion. Are you green?' He continued.
'Super green.' I replied in a strangled and slightly high-pitched tone of voice. Jacky released me, causing me to drop to the floor. 'That hurt, you imbecile.' I complained. He didn't respond as he turned to his sister with a slight smile. She smiled slightly sheepishly. I watched them leave as I coughed slightly before propping myself up.
'You have a special way of talking to people, do you know that?' Hans asked me, speaking English for the first time since our gig in Vienna, Austria on 13 May. I just stared at him vacantly, not even bothering to dignify his stupid joke with a response.
What the hell have I - Gaetano Adriano Mancini - gotten myself into? I thought. I didn't think I'd be assaulted by overprotective older brothers when we first hit the big time in 1989. I just shook my head and helped myself to a bottle of red wine – Vino Ronco.
