Alvin and the Chipmunks: Territory Chapter 25, an alvin and the chipmunks fanfic

AATC: Territory

I'm back. Before you start throwing rocks, I just want y'all to know that I'm sorry for leaving you hanging for so long. I know this ain't one of my popular fics (far from it, in fact) but you know I'm dedicated to it and to all of you! I've never left a fic hanging, and that's a promise! The only thing that'll stop me short of death is being a mute, quad-amputee. It's not just a hobby for me; it's a duty. I don't like letting people down. It's only been a bit more than a month, but I'd hate to wait too.

With that heartfelt apology out of the way, let's move on.

25.

Simon fidgeted uneasily as he saw how close how Eleanor and his younger brother had become. They were sitting beside each other, sure, but showing it up how that they were a couple in public, not even he and Jeanette had done that. They were a couple, no doubt about that, but was he ready to bring that out into the open?

Yes, he was. Jeanette was too.

She was getting a bit tired of hiding it from her sisters, and he was getting tired of dodging his brothers about it. Well, it wasn't hard for them, 'cause Theodore didn't catch on to things so easily, and Alvin was nearly always either off on his own or with Brittany. Yeah, not difficult.

But Dave didn't know. Their adoptive father was clueless about it; that was a fact. As he thought about it, he could feel anger welling up inside him, and he clenched his fist while he stared in front of him and to the left where Dave sat.

In fact, in this, there was yet another similarity that dominated the little world he lived in. In fact, there were times that he wondered if he was the only one on the planet who had common sense enough to see the obvious…besides Jeanette, of course.

Then again…she didn't speak to him about things like this, so he was giving her the benefit of the doubt.

Everyone was sitting together, as per their relations with one another. He suspected (it was obvious) that everyone was pairing off. He and Jeanette, Theodore and Eleanor, Alvin and Brittany and Dave and Valerie, of course. The last pair didn't come as a surprise, as Dave had been more than eager to him to want to be in the company of the technician. He could see the signs; they liked each other. But still, this was the adult way of feeling out each other to see if the person was the kind you wanted to get chained to for life.

He wanted to be more open like everyone else, to tell and shout it to everyone that he was in love with his counterpart, Jeanette Miller. But not like what his elder brother did. He was sure that he and Brittany loved each other, but Alvin was probably in denial, and Brittany was too scared to make that big step.

Just like he (Simon) did.

Simon was closer to Theodore in personality, quiet-wise. He wasn't boisterous, but when the time came for him to say something, he would. It's just the blasted stammering he sometimes did and the nervousness and adverseness whenever he was doing something new.

But he really wanted to make that big step. Make that leap for his beloved. That thought made him smile broadly.

For his beloved.

He started picturing what he could do, and soon, the answer was plain, simple and easy, but still reckless.

He was going to have to go solo. But he'd need just a wee bit of help.

…

"Alright!" Dave called. "We're here, guys! Bundle out, come on!" He announced as a cheer, hoping it'd rouse them up. It failed miserably, as only Simon eagerly got out of the vehicle so that he could go inside the auditorium; his mood wasn't very infectious, either. Everyone else was lackadaisical or just insistent on ignoring what was probably a faked-hype. He knew what kind of mess they were in, and he had the audacity to pretend to be in a good mood?

Jeanette shook her head to rid herself of such thoughts. She needed to take her mind of that, but found that she couldn't. After so long, she and Simon were together, and it just had to be at the most dangerous turning point in their lives. Only goes to show that life was stubbornly showing everyone that it didn't particularly care for anyone, and show that it wasn't fair. A glance behind her told her that Brittany was still mad enough to chew rocks when it came to Dave not telling them anything about some psycho who was after them.

Jeanette wondered about that. It seemed that Alvin was rubbing off on Brittany; she wouldn't have done anything remotely similar to Alvin's overprotectiveness, and yet, she did. She had told off Dave the other night about how he griped at Alvin for doing his rash stunt on stage. Now, she had saved Alvin's life from a gunman who pushed him over the side of an overhead bridge into traffic.

Why did the most interesting things happen to those two? Not that she was jealous, of course. Who'd want to be jealous of near-death experiences? She had enough of her own, thank you very much.

Which reminded her…

Simon…

This antagonist who insisted on making their lives hell was after them. He was pursuing them each in turn, and it was Brittany, Simon or Eleanor on his list. She felt guilty for not worrying over her sisters more; she had Simon in a higher regard in her life right now and made her a traitor in her own eyes. At least now Simon didn't look particularly worried. That was good, right?

And then there was the hacker.

The hacker didn't seem central to the action, but more like an active spectator on the sidelines. The problem was, Jeanette had no idea why the hacker was so adverse to the idea of Simon finding out about them. Perhaps…they were afraid of being found out, like identity and the like. To the point of creating an intersectional vehicle accident, Jeanette needed no further caution.

Whose side was the hacker on?
They warned her of the vehicle, and where to evade its pursuit via a fire escape.
They neglect to tell the police of the crime.
They threaten her to keep her mouth shut about their existence.

"Alright everyone!" Valerie hailed. "Get inside, get prepped to go on in an hour! I don't want anyone missing any singing lines or complaining about refreshments or wanting bathroom breaks."

Jeanette rolled her eyes before heading inside. Just before she filed in last, she heard:

"That's my line to tell them, Val." That came from Dave; he said it as a joke.

"Sorry, you were silent, so I just told them. Get the hint?" Valerie answered.

A quick glance behind her made her notice that Dave was scratching his head, confused about what the woman meant. Jeanette furrowed her eyebrows, before closing the door behind her, just as Dave was asking her what she meant in a worried tone.

=X=X=

Simon deleted off another completed task on his checklist that he had made on his phone. 'Alright. So I already made the base beat. The only thing left is to get the lighting right, and maybe get Valerie to alter the volume. It feels like a pop song that gets kinda slow after the bridge, so I can't have it too loud when it's supposed to be of a diminished volume.'

His eyes wandered to the technician's booth which overlooked the stage from its vantage point in the auditorium. It had a one-way mirror, so he couldn't see inside. However, he was sure that the red-headed woman was still inside. He headed there and once he made it, turned the knob and entered inside; sure enough, the woman was in there, eyes set on her laptop.

Her laptop screen was black, save for blocks of white text. Realizing his slip in courtesy, he cleared his throat. "Um…Valerie?"

The woman nearly jumped out of her skin. "Holy crap!" Her eyes swiveled wildly to him, before she calmed. "Oh...Simon! Don't you know that you should knock before entering?!" She closed her laptop with a bit more oomph than necessary and stood up. "Well?"

"Sorry. You're correct." He conceded. After all, it was common courtesy. "Anyway, I was planning on doing something special for Jean tonight. Do a solo song dedicated to her." He waited patiently, but he didn't expect the reaction that he hoped. The woman was still fairly nonplussed. "You don't seem surprised."

"Oh…sorry, let me get into character." She fidgeted and raised her hands to cup her face. "Oh my God," she said flatly. "What? You guys are dating? I didn't know."

There was even more sarcasm than even he was capable of, and he told her so. "I thought that no one else knew? Not even Alvin and Brittany know, and they're the ones who try to find out about everything."

"I'm a woman, I suppose," she easily. "Experience and other things taught me how to notice things easily."

Simon huffed impatiently. "Oh, all right. Anyway, I wanted some help. Instead of the usual doing that song, to tune the volume at certain points and adjust the lighting. Kinda like how Brittany sung her solo, but I'll be moving about more."

"So you wrote a song. How long did it take you?"

"Three minutes." He deadpanned.

"When?"

"That was ten minutes ago."

Valerie sighed. "I hoped you didn't get technical and junk. It's a love song? You can't do it all mechanical, it's gotta flow, you know? Like that improvised cover you guys did of 'Happy' by Pharrell Williams. Speaking of that…I don't think anyone in the crowds mentioned that they wanted you guys to sing it. Alvin was the one who decided that you all should, and lied that he heard it."

"I knew that already. He was probably trying to cover-up Brittany's mistake," Simon mumbled. "Did you use the cameras in here to see that?"

"Uh, yeah!" The woman nodded vigorously. "So you know if you mess up, it's still going live."

"Hah hah." Simon said plainly.

"Well, yeah. I'll sort you out. I gotta see Dave about that with the schedule." She took up her laptop and walked over to the door. "Don't worry about it; I'm sure that no matter how bad you screw up, she'll still love you!" She exited while laughing, leaving a half-disgruntled Simon behind.

"That's still not amusing," the blue chipmunk said to himself. "But just in case…" He took out his USB cable he normally carried around for his phone and inserted the correct end into his phone, and searched the technician's console for the other port on where to insert the other end. He soon found it, and plugged it in. "I'll load the synthesized track into this, so I don't have any mistakes cropping up, like her laptop not playing the sound correctly. I can't go wrong with the correct platform, can I? I might as well put it on myself, because she forgot to take it before she left. Without a doubt, I'm sure I know how it's done."

He quickly used his FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to send the file to the computer, and he was soon done. He had made the complete tune with a synthesizer application he had made for himself since the advent of smart-phones, and he was proud of it. It came in handy many times, but today, it had contributed the most. This was for Jeanette.

With a smile, he ejected his device, removed the cord and was soon out on his business. He was due on stage with everyone else in a half-hour.

...

…

"I just don't know, Alvin, I just don't feel up to this."

"It's alright, Brittany. We'll be okay." He hugged her tightly, hoping that he was instilling reassurance in her. Alvin felt fear rising up in him; she was yet to be targeted by these people, and he was nearly going out of his mind, looking over his and her shoulder and staring into shadows cast by objects in light, as if someone could be hiding in them. He fretted for her. He really did.

"Thanks." She eased her lissome form out of the embrace. "I needed that. I just hope everything turns out alright. It just seems so stupid! Why should we have to be afraid to do what we're passionate about with the people we love?"

It was a rhetorical question, but Alvin could get quite a bit of the real flavor leaking through. ''The people we love'? Is she talking about the rest of us, like our siblings, or is she talking about me?' He felt tempted to talk about what had happened at their breakfast (as if this took precedence over his near-death experience on the bridge).

He decided to let it go.

"Because it's because they're afraid." Alvin said loudly after a while of thinking about it, and in the earshot of everyone else as they came closer to group together with the pair. "Whoever's out to make our tour here in Miami hell is afraid of us. They're afraid of us!" He half-yelled resolutely. "They think we can come here. They think we can sing great. They think we can perform better than them! They think we can steal their fans! They think we can steal their spotlight! They know we can!"

"And they're right!" Brittany cheered, feeling much better from the rousing cries.

"Damn straight!" Eleanor hooted.

"Now let's take that stage!" Alvin declared. "Let's take MIAMI!"

"YEEAAHHH!" The shout was raised by the sextet as they ran backstage, grabbing their devices along the way. Guitars were slung over shoulders, earpieces fixes, headsets adjusted and drumsticks weighed. By the time the curtains parted, they were ready to make good on their aim.

…

Simon had no idea that that so many of the songs in the lineup would be love songs. But pop songs were there, so his addition that was coming up would fit right in. But he wouldn't be dancing. He decided it would be safer to sing from his keyboard in an R & B-esque style, like John Lennon and so on. It didn't have many pop elements in it, as it was just the keyboard. It would be selfish to hog all it for himself, but he had it set in his mind that he was doing this for Jeanette. It was a declaration; a public one, and he was sure this was going to go worldwide.

He deftly tuned his headset microphone to the second channel, so that only the others of the sextet and those in the technicians' booth could hear him. "Alright. Valerie? Could you play my tune, now? I need the synthetics."

"What? I never got it."

"It's the console. I put it on the desktop so you could see it. Could you play it please?"

"You put it on the console?!" She half-shouted, nearly deafening him. "You can't do things like that! The console's…damn it. Well, that's that. Hardware's malfunctioning again. I only use this thing to micromanage the lighting, and my laptop for the sound. This old console's buggy. You're on your own. Couldn't you even wait until I got back?. Maybe you should just postpone this song until the last concert next Saturday, 'cause I can't promise this thing will work by the time this concert is ready to be wrapped up-"

"I'm doing this song tonight," Simon said heatedly, before he cut off the channel. He knew it was rude of him to dismiss her like that, but he figured he could tell her sorry later. The thirty-second interlude was over, and it was time to start. His time window was dwindling, and he needed to act. He turned off his microphone completely, before turning to the others. "Hey guys? I wanna do a song. Solo."

"Simon, you know we don't roll like that," Alvin said matter-of-factly. "Now c'mon, let's just wrap up the night with-"

"Then what about Brittany's song, huh?" Simon said in the same tone that he was answered with. "The very same one that she sung in Virginia?"

"That was personal!" Alvin hissed back, defending his significant other.

"As is this one." Simon replied. "So can I have it please? It might turn out into a wreck, but-"

"Just do it, Simon!" Eleanor egged him on while rolling her eyes. "We're outta time, anyway. Either now or never, you know?"

"Why can't we sing along, Simon?" Jeanette asked quietly, confused as she wondered what kind of song this was so as to why he would wish to sing it alone. "Do we even know it?"

"No. I wrote it."

"Time!" Brittany warned. "3…2…1…"

Simon sat down on his stool and tapped two keys to test, before setting his keyboard to sound like a rock piano, just to be safe. This was a contemporary crowd, after all. He wasn't in the habit of announcing song names, so he just started playing. It started off a bit shaky, as he hadn't even practiced this song, as it was still a seed of one. But he sung clear, and kept his eyes on the piano. Everyone was silent to hear him; his voice started as a hush, and crescendo into a more mature version of his usual voice. He purposely sung with a slightly deeper undertone, but it was more costly on exhale, so he'd never be able to manage long notes for their full duration.

He didn't care. He was giving his best; nothing less for the girl he loved.

~You must have been dreamt into existence.
Delicately crafted from all the best figments.
Of all the best stuff dreams are made of.
A real fancy, fantastic fantasm.
A dream, oh yes, but not a dream of mine.
A dream, oh yes, a dream of the divine.
Of the best visions one could imagine,
A real fancy, fantastic fantasm.

He petered off, and then increased his tempo to do the chorus. It did sound a lot like pop in his mind, so he did it the same. In the back of his mind, he thought to himself that the six lights that usually centered on all of them, that two of those (the one that was always on him and the other on Jeanette) seemed a bit brighter, and now shone their colors instead of the usual white. No doubt, everyone now knew that he was singing to Jeanette.

Oh sweet wondrous dream I've ever seen,
Take me to the farthest felicity where you have been,
Oh blessed, blissful beatitude I wish I could have,
The sublime, superb splendor I know I love.
The real fantasm that I hold dear,
She exists; you're right here.

His face heated into a blush, and a glance at Jeanette told him that she was experiencing the same.

And then she smiled.

He was confused at this, before she seemingly beckoned to the others. He had no idea why though. Simon just kept his focus on trying to remember the lyrics and the key positions at the same time. Thankfully, the song hadn't been wrecked.

Yet.

And then Alvin started playing. Then Brittany started playing. Then Theodore started playing. Then Jeanette and Eleanor started vocalizing key notes, matching those that he played on his piano.

They had all joined in on the song, and the tempo was increasing.

'No, no, no!' Simon fumed internally. 'Don't they have an inkling as to what 'solo' means?!' He was ready to abandon the song right then and there, before his eyes met Jeanette's and they held.

She looked so happy.

It was enough to make him hang his head in shame. This wasn't supposed to be some self-fulfillment-…it was supposed to be a song dedicated to whom he believed was his soul mate! With new found feel-good vibes, he tapped the 'POP' button on his keyboard, and his instrument took on new life. He dropped his put-on voice for his usual one, and harmony and melody blended to convert R & B to Pop music. 'Thanks guys. We're a family. We're all in this together.'

~In this I entrust, this dream I believe!
This is the vision, I'll ideate the dream.
A beautiful frame, a gorgeous mane,
Pearls for eyes, made of amethyst.
Complex composition, excelling exposition!
Certain creation, accessible abstraction!
A heart of-

He stopped here abruptly in deliberate pause. "Words fail me!" He cried, making the audience laugh merrily, as everyone knew that he had a massive vocabulary. He didn't wait around for it to sink in, and he continued.

~It's pure and bared for all to see! See for yourself, see what I mean?~

~Oh sweet wondrous dream I've ever seen,
Take me to the farthest felicity where you have been,
Oh blessed, blissful beatitude I wish I could have,
The sublime, superb splendor I know I love.
The real fantasm that I hold dear,
She exists; you're right here.~

They had all joined in on the chorus, but this time, he made it clear who he was singing to. He had gestured to her by waving his hand at her while looking at her. He blew her a kiss, and she blew one back.

The crowd was eating it up.

He played out the bridge while slowing down in his tempo. Somehow, Valerie in the technician's booth decided that it would be a terrific time to dim some of the lighting, and only two of the beam lights remained that that was stayed on the purple Miller and blue Seville. Only his piano played the bridge as everyone else opted out, and Jeanette slowly approached him, and managed to seat herself beside him on his wide-stool. They were snug there, and while Simon sang, it made the crowd feel like they were intruding on what was practically like a private moment, and they kept quiet.

~Of all to grace my sight and my heart…
Take me into the light, a brand new start.
Remove me from the depths of my self-made chasm…

Then his tempo exploded back into desired heights once more.

~My real fancy, fantastic fantasm!

The cheering came back, and all the lighting as everyone resumed their previous stance. Even Jeanette was helping him play, and their arms intertwined lovingly as they did.

He trickled off the ending, and Theodore made sure it was done by drilling his drums in a rat-tat-tat before crashing his cymbals.

It was over. The song was done, but the concert ran anew with a blazing fever.

Jeanette never left his side though. Simon was happy; he meant every word. He knew that he was really corporeal and literal, and wanted to be more surreal and star-eyed like his better half. He thought of the picture of the bird once more that he had taken by her request, and soon came to realize that he was well on his way.

…

"Can we get your autograph?!" A frenzied fan hailed.

"Yeah, yeah!" Simon affirmed. His hands were tired just like everyone else's, but he didn't care. He signed it quickly and returned it to the fan, who thanked him graciously. His hand quickly re-sought Jeanette's, and they and their siblings along with Dave and Valerie went in through the hotel doors, and the security guards there kept all the remaining fans (a crowd of them, in fact) from following inside.

"See you at next time, everyone!" Brittany yelled to them, before they all cheered in unison.

"Wow, what a night, huh? Solo loves songs and walking home with fans." Alvin spoke up, but not in a complaining tone. "Anyway, Simon? Since when you and Jeanette….you know…"

"Stay out of our business, Alvin."

=X=X=

Ravin' Raven didn't feel much of anything presently. Before, he was so angry that he was fit to be tied up in a straitjacket, but now…this ten-year-old Scotch that Lamar had poured into his cup was numbing him from the inside out. "So, they walked home with fans, huh? Using their supporters as shields."

"Gotta give the idea credit," Lamar pointed out. "They must've been shaken up after how I nearly killed the red one. Didn't figure him to be such a tough bastard."

"Yeah, but not shaken up enough to not hold that concert tonight." The rapper said adroitly. "I'm slipping up. If they don't take a dive soon, then by the time they do, everyone will start thinking it's me who's been trying to keep Miami all to myself." He took out a DVD from a case that lay next to him, before opening his disk tray in his laptop. After placing it on the tray and pushing back into the laptop, he watched a clip play out of him and his group performing in a park, before there was the sound and visuals of a massive car crash.

"Hey, careful with that," Lamar warned. "You wouldn't want her to hack your laptop and corrupt the video. We need that video for leverage."

"A hacker can only get you through the internet, or by physically touching your shit," Vincent argued. "I ain't connected. But maybe I should get her to sort one of them out."

"I'm not throwing in the towel yet," Lamar complained frostily. "I need another angle. Maybe that green rat girl?"

Vincent held up his arms to placate his guard. "Do what you wanna do. I just intend on using more resources, 'cause apparently, these…these trespassers ducking and dodging death. I hope that the blasted hacker isn't helpin' em, 'cause if she is, going to jail would be the least of her worries." He replayed the short clip of the car accident on the video again, before smiling grimly. "Besides, she doesn't have any reason to help them. Especially given her previous history."

"Me thinks that she's killed more people than me," Lamar mumbled. "But you better keep that damn DVD safe, or we might find ourselves getting caught up in more than just a fender-bender the next time we're out in traffic."

"Don't worry, Lamar!" Vincent consoled his oldest friend. "We've tackled worse than this. But we've got to do more than just hound these people. We've gotta show 'em that there isn't a third option. Either go…or die."

The mountain of a man nodded. He had no qualms about this. There was nothing wrong with protecting what was yours.

Every action was justified by the means, and he was prepared to evict these rats by any means necessary.

See? This was a filler chapter, but I showed plot advancement in the end. We'll be moving on, and right now, it's Saturday night in the fic, and the only remaining concert is in an exact week. (In the story, obviously. I wish I could say it was for the chapter, though.)

I treated the end with a different perspective, see? I don't let these baddies think they're bad guys. They think that they're in the right, and that our favorite singers are wrong. It's basically two sides of the same coin. In practical today's life, who do you think would be right? The right to freely roam where you want to go, or the right to protect what you think and know to be your space?

...

What? I'm supposed to disclaim a song? Why would I? That was my song. I wrote this one today, folks, just for Simon which was meant for Jeanette. It started off as a poem and was more wordy, but not very lyrical, so I did some shaving. I hope you enjoyed it.

Heh heh. Well, I suppose that's that.

Valete omnes,

MRAY 4TW.