Hi all! This is a modern-day AU, where people aren't trying to tear humanity apart and everything. Many more characters will appear later, but the story will mainly focus on Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald. As this a modern-day AU, characters aren't inherently evil, which is why they're not as cruel or spiteful as they are in the show. Humanizing them to fit with the times and such, but that doesn't mean all of them are angels! There will be multiple POVs as well. Ships will happen, but they aren't the main focus of this fic. Future chapters will probably longer than this one as well. Anyhow, I don't own RWBY, blah blah blah. Let me know what you think!
The office smelled of potent cigars. The desk, made of polished wood, was adorned with an intercom button, a lamp, and a phone. The man sitting behind it was resting his hands on it—more specifically, on the gun lying in front of him. His oily hair, overuse of eyeliner, and terrible taste in hats were appalling. The smirk on his face showed his delight with the situation at hand.
"Remember the deal, kids?" he asked in a demeaning tone. The two people sitting across the desk from him exchanged a glance of frustration, knowing that they couldn't insult this man.
"Yeah. We give you all the money from our first five shows, then half from then on out until we pay back our debt plus interest. If we don't, you put us in the ground. We know," the male visitor said. His shoulders were squared in an ever-so-slightly threatening manner, while his female companion's eyes were narrowed.
"Good boy. Now where is your shark of a friend? She's easy on the eyes, I'll give her that."
"She's getting ready for the show," the woman said. "But don't worry; she knows the contract."
"Excellent," the despicable man purred. "I'm so glad you came to me for help. It's always a pleasure to do business."
"I'm sure it is," the woman replied, realizing too late how much sharpness was in her tone.
"Why Emerald, was that a bit of attitude?" the flame-haired man asked.
"I'm just impatient to get back to setup," Emerald lied smoothly, meeting his eyes.
"Well then, who am I to keep you waiting?" he replied. "Bring me my money by nine in the morning. Don't be late."
"Will do, Roman," Emerald's friend agreed. The two guests stood and walked out, past armed guards.
"How long are we gonna have to keep sucking up to that prick?" the man complained bitterly.
"We needed the money, Mercury," Emerald pointed out calmly, the voice of reason.
"Yeah yeah, I know," Mercury muttered. "Let's just get to the car and go back to Cinder."
"I can't wait for tonight," Emerald admitted.
"Neither can I. The sooner we start doing shows, the sooner the babes start rolling in," Mercury declared with a smirk.
"Sure. But not to you," Emerald told him.
"Oh please," he scoffed. "I'll be in Babe City."
"No you won't. It must be embarrassing for you, the only guy in the band, to be the one who's slept with the fewest women," Emerald taunted. Mercury glared.
"Okay, you're on," he challenged. "Whoever collects more pairs of panties by the end of the month doesn't have to do any chores for a week."
"Deal. We'd better include Cinder in this too."
"But no cheating. You two can't use your own."
"We won't need to," Emerald boasted. "But you'd better not steal ours. We can only count the ones we get from women we actually have sex with, starting tonight."
"The rules are set," Mercury agreed. He and Emerald walked out of the building and over to an old black car. "I'm driving."
"I don't think so." Emerald snatched the keys from his pocket. "You drove here; I'm driving back." Mercury rolled his eyes but didn't argue.
"Just a few more hours," he noticed as he and Emerald slid into the car. "Then the ascent into Babedom begins."
"Really?" Emerald asked flatly. "We're finally having an actual show, with an actual audience at an actual venue, and all you can think about is that?"
"No, but that's my primary train of thought."
"Wishful thinking," Emerald said, rolling her eyes and starting the car.
"You know what I'm wishfully thinking right now? For you to shut up and drive."
Emerald rolled her eyes but obliged. Mercury fidgeted with the radio, flipping between stations with irritating indecision. After a few minutes, Emerald shot a glare at him.
"Just put in one of our CDs already!" she told him.
"Will do," he replied, opening the glove compartment and pulling out a cheap CD case. The disk inside simply said "Fire Faction: CD 1" with a list of seven songs that had been burned onto it from Cinder's laptop. Mercury put the CD in and the radio's unbearable pop station shifted into a blend of grunge and heavy metal rock.
"That's better," Emerald declared with a slight smile.
"Gonna sing along for practice?" Mercury asked.
"No way. I'm saving my voice for the show," Emerald told him. "But if you want to, be my guest."
"Nah," Mercury declined. "I'll just listen. Think we'll sell any CDs tonight?"
"I hope so," Emerald replied. "The more money we make, the faster we can get out of Torchwick's greasy little mobster clutches."
"Yeah, I can't wait to ditch that slimeball," Mercury agreed.
"Then we'd better put on a great show," Emerald decided. "Which I know we will."
"We're gonna be on the map after tonight," Mercury added.
"We're really doing this," Emerald said with a faint smile.
"Damn right we are," Mercury confirmed, smirking. Emerald's smile widened. She and Mercury fell silent, listening to their CD in silent pride and ambition.
It wasn't long before they arrived at the bar they'd be playing at in an hour. They parked around back, in the designated performers' area. The large camper they traveled in was dark gray with deep jade accents and their band's name, Fire Faction, branded on the side in letters that looked like flames. The other side, Emerald knew, looked the same, and the back had the design as well.
As the pair stepped out of the car and locked it, the door leading to the backstage area of the bar opened and Cinder gave them a look of disapproval.
"Sorry we took so long," Emerald apologized, walking in with Mercury behind her. "Torchwick monologued for a full half hour before we got to do any business with him."
"That prick loves the sound of his own voice," Mercury put in as Cinder closed the door.
"The stage is set up," Cinder told them. "We have about ten minutes before we go on, so go get dressed. And both of you need a shower when the show's over—you smell like cheap cigars."
"Got it," Mercury agreed.
"Also, Mercury and I made a wager in the car, and we figured you might want in," Emerald added. Cinder raised an eyebrow.
"It's a contest about who can have sex with the most women by the end of the month," Mercury explained, "proven by how many panties we each collect. Winner doesn't have to do chores for a week. And you can't use your own—that's cheating."
"You can't use your own either," Cinder told him with a straight face. Emerald snickered at the utterly emasculating quip. Mercury glared at the guitarist. "And you can't steal ours."
"Why do both of you think I'd resort to stealing from you? I'll win fair and square!"
Cinder and Emerald both chuckled. Mercury huffed and headed back toward the dressing rooms. Emerald followed and headed into her partitioned-off room, admiring the outfit she'd chosen to wear: thick-heeled black boots with silver chains around them that rose to mid-calf, fishnet tights, a short black skirt, a black tank top with a low V-neck and a green cobra on the front, a cropped leather jacket with silver chains and skulls, a black choker with an emerald pendant shaped like a diamond, and emerald earrings.
As she changed, she reminded herself to comment on Cinder's clothes and tease Mercury about his predictable open black leather vest, dark gray pants, and black boots, plus a long silver chain with an eagle pendant around his neck. Cinder, while somewhat predictable, had more variation in her wardrobe. Tonight, Emerald remembered, she was wearing black snakeskin boots that were ankle-height with stiletto heels, dark denim skinny jeans, a cropped black shirt with a shallow U-neck and a blazing phoenix design, a plain black choker, and earrings with pendants shaped like red hearts with black bat wings.
When Emerald was dressed, she went to Cinder and Mercury, who were standing close to where they'd go onstage, and smirked at how her prediction of Mercury's outfit was spot-on.
"Picked your favorite style, huh?" she teased.
"Hey, it's our first show. I'll wear what I want," he retorted. Emerald chuckled and turned to Cinder.
"Love the look," she commented. Cinder smiled slightly.
"Yours too," she told Emerald. The three of them drifted apart, excitement and tension heavy in the air. Emerald still couldn't help but be nervous, restlessly fidgeting with her outfit. Mercury, she noticed, was twirling his drumsticks while Cinder was focused on tuning her guitar.
Looks like we're all a little rattled.
"Before we go on, a toast," Cinder said, looking up and setting her guitar aside. She walked over to her bag and pulled out a bottle of beer, plus three small mugs. Emerald smiled slightly as the guitarist split the drink evenly between the mugs and passed one to Mercury and one to Emerald, keeping one for herself.
"To no more free online downloads for publicity," Emerald said.
"To no more being unknown," Mercury added.
"To being on the road to fame and fortune," Cinder finished.
The beer was gone in an instant, with three empty mugs coming to rest on a small table. The bandmates heard a voice on the stage announcing their show and made their final preparations. Emerald fixed her outfit one last time before grabbing her green and black microphone, Mercury picked up his dark gray drumsticks and gave them one final twirl, and Cinder picked up her black guitar with its flame pattern to pull the strap across her body.
This is it, Emerald thought with a smile. Everything starts now.
Then she went onstage, her energy amplified by the cheers of the crowd.
It all starts now.