"Swindle" by Ed Alger (SecondLevelWriter)
Author's Notes: As usual, all previous disclaimers apply here. "Cum On Feel The Noize" is (originally) owned by Quiet Riot. Also, "The Safety Dance" is originally owned by Men Without Hats. Buy a CD! If you'll recall the last story, lyrics will appear in italics and center-justified.
Chapter 9
Distortion
It's amazing how quickly a day gets here when you don't want it to. Granted, it would be great to see the band again, but there would be no dancing with Jinx this time. Bumblebee gave Swindle a promise to try and distract Stone in an effort to allow the rogue a chance to cut in. Not only would it allow Swindle to try again at jogging Jinx's memory, but the Titan spy could finally link up with her accomplice without raising any suspicion.
Plans had already started to form in Swindle's mind. He knew the first song that Jinx had heard following the night of her attempted suicide, and there was no forgetting their song; the one they danced to at The Retro Zone and realized just how they felt about each other. The biggest question remained: Would hearing those songs be enough to break Brother Blood's domination?
The night of the dance, Bumblebee knocked on Swindle's door. After four tries with no response, she tried the doorknob and found it unlocked. Swinging it open, she found the rogue with a lit candle affixed to each side of his head with a white headband, nailing a Stone plushie to a wall with a large iron spike. Upon realizing that his door was opened, Swindle quickly pulled it all down and behind his back. The only thing left behind was his odd voodoo headband.
"Personal problems, Swindle?" Bumblebee asked with a sardonic tone.
Swindle chuckled nervously, "Not at all! Just, uh, gonna hang a picture!" Meanwhile, there were no picture frames anywhere in his room.
"I can understand your jealousy, but did you ever think that he's just going along with this so that his cover doesn't get blown?"
"Even if this is just an act, he should know that I was searching for Jinx after Blood took her. On top of that, doesn't he realize what'll happen if she ever finds out who he really is?"
"She'll probably put a hex on him so bad, he won't leave the tower for a month," Bumblebee snickered. "You better start getting ready for the dance. It's starting in another couple of hours."
Swindle watched the Titan leave for the auditorium and turned back to the Stone plushie that was still staked to the wall. If Jinx's heart gets broken because of this...
The rogue angrily slammed his mallet onto the spike, driving it so deep that it tore open many of the toy's seams and sent stuffing everywhere. Without another word, he pulled off his voodoo headband and extinguished its candles before picking up a towel and heading to the shower.
After getting himself cleaned up, something he hadn't done since he took Jinx to The Retro Zone, Swindle dressed himself up in his performance outfit. He slipped on a pair of black shorts and his white polo shirt, which was the only polo shirt he owned. He looked at himself in the mirror and frowned at his perpetually unruly hair. He grabbed a comb, resoaked his head, and meticulously combed it into a slicked-back look.
"Man, now I really look evil," he commented to his reflection. "Maybe this'll get her attention, eh?"
Swindle raced from his room towards the auditorium, where music was already starting to play. It wasn't the band, though. Just some recorded stuff. As he feared, it wasn't eighties music.
Inside, he found just about the entire school in attendance, including Jinx and Stone. The thief's teeth started to grind together until he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Bumblebee.
"Here's my idea. I'll ask Sparky to dance, and you can get to talk to Jinx."
Swindle nodded his approval and added, "I've got an idea to put on top of it. I know the band that's playing tonight. If I can get 'em to play a certain song, that's when I'd like to make that move."
Bumblebee shrugged, "Sounds good to me. But, what song is it gonna be?"
The rogue grinned, "Oh, you'll know." He turned and said over his shoulder, "I'll be back in a minute. Got some catchin' up to do."
With that, Swindle zipped up to the stage where the band was getting set up. He stood just behind his old friends and watched for a moment. He then put on his best goofy-stupid-guy voice.
"Duh, s'cuse me, but can you guys play 'Freebird'?"
Everyone turned around at once, their faces lighting up upon recognizing the speaker. There was a sudden reunion as all the guys spoke at once, shaking hands and asking what's been going on these past months. After he explained a little bit of his situation, he had to ask his bandmates the same question.
"How'd you get roped into this job? Don't tell me he mind-controlled you, too."
"We got paid a pretty good amount for this gig," Tim replied. "Mr. Bradley had no problems letting us go for one night after he saw the money."
Jeff happened to glance into the crowd to look for Swipe's girlfriend and saw her still hanging on Stone's arm, "Hey, what's Jinx doing with that guy?"
"That's the other part of my problem," Swindle said. "Jinx doesn't have any memory of us. Therefore, she's developed a big crush on Stone over there."
"I get it! You want to see if reenacting your dance might help her remember?" Mike piped up.
"Exactly."
Jeff shook his head, "The thing with that is that none of these kids look like they'll go for the usual brand of music. In fact, the guy that hired us asked if we knew a lot of pop an' stuff like that."
Swindle grabbed the microphone and immediately started to feel like his old self again, "Leave that to me. You don't mind if I join ya, right?"
"Heh, you know you're always welcome on stage," Tim answered as he got behind his keyboard. "We're ready here, so what's the plan?"
"For this kinda crowd, I was thinkin' 'Cum On Feel The Noize.' Sound good to you?"
Jeff smirked, "You can read a crowd like a book, can't ya?"
"What can I say? It's a talent." He clicked the mic on and addressed the now-confused crowd, "Hey, guys. You're probably wondering what I'm doing up here." Everyone murmured an affirmative, to which the rogue continued, "Well, I can safely say it's 'cuz I'm with the band. We go way back, ya know? Now, don't nobody get upset, but you won't be hearing your usual brand of music tonight." Some protests were heard, but he continued, "In fact, we're gonna play... eighties music." The protests got louder, prompting him to raise his hand, "Come on now! Settle down! All we're gonna do is invite you all to come on an' feel the noise!"
With that, Mike started to pound out the beat. Swindle let it go a few more measures before starting the song properly.
Come on feel the noise!
Girls rock your boys!
We'll get wild, wild, wild...
Wild, wild, wild!
Like a young man possessed, Swindle leapt to the very edge of the stage. It certainly felt good to perform again.
So you think I got an evil mind, I'll tell you honey...
I don't know why,
I don't know why!
So you think my singing's out of time, it makes me money...
I don't know why!
I don't know why - anymore...
Oh no...
As he sang, Swindle scanned the crowd for Jinx. Sure enough, she had brought Stone closer to the stage and was watching with noticable interest. He saw Stone ask her something, but she absently shook her head while never taking her eyes off the show.
So come on feel the noise!
Girls rock the boys!
We'll get wild, wild, wild,
Wild, wild, wild!
Come on feel the noise!
Girls rock your boys!
We'll get wild, wild, wild,
Until da-a-awn!
It seemed that everyone in the audience was getting into the music at this point. Heads were bobbing to the beat of the song while a few had already gotten to dancing a little to it. This brought the rogue's hopes up.
So you say I got a funny face, I got no worries...
And I don't know why...
I don't know why!
So ya think I'm-a some disgrace, I'm in no hurry!
And I don't know why...
I don't know why - anymore...
No, no, no!
So come on feel the noise!
Girls rock your boys!
We'll get wild, wild, wild,
Wild, wild, wild!
Come on feel the noise!
Girls rock the boys!
We'll get wild, wild, wild,
Until da-a-awn!
COME ON!
Jeff and Mike blasted out the next few riffs, with the guitarist firing out a solo that made the entire auditorium come alive. In the middle of it all, even Jinx was showing a smile. Things couldn't have looked more promising.
Well you think we are the lazy type, you should know better...
I don't know why!
I don't know why!
So you say I got a dirty mind, I'm a MEAN go getter!
I don't know why!
I don't know why - anymore!
Oh no...
Come on feel the noise!
Girls rock the boys!
We get wild, wild, wild,
Wild, wild, wild...!
Come on feel the noise!
Girls rock your boys!
We'll get wild, wild, wild,
WILD, WILD, WILD!
Swindle could feel how pumped up the crowd was getting as the song came to its close. A few more song like this, and they'd be ready for the slower stuff. Good thing, too. His voice wouldn't be able to take this kind of abuse for long.
He got the hardest songs out of the way first, with "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and even "Der Kommisar" leaving the students shouting for more. Throughout both songs, Swindle focused on Jinx's expressions. He could see the confusion on her face, as if she couldn't quite place where she had heard this music before.
During a short break between songs, Swindle gathered the band together.
"There's something I wanna try. I remember the first song I was playin' when I made breakfast for her. It was 'Safety Dance,' how's that sound?"
"How sweet that you'd remember that, Swipe!" Jeff teased.
The rogue flushed, "Just play the damn song, alright?"
The opening notes had everyone perplexed for a moment, until Swindle came in under a bright spotlight with a rather crazed look on his face.
S... A... F... E... T... Y...
Safety... Dance!
Stone noticed that Jinx had suddenly stiffened a bit when she heard the music. From the stage, Swindle noticed it as well. He continued speaking:
We can dance if we want to, we can leave your friends behind.
Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance,
Well they're - no friends of mine.
I say, we can go where we want to, A place where they will never find
And we can act like we come from out of this world
Leave the real one far behind,
and we can dance...
Tim played the unique musical bridge until the familiar rhythm was established and Swindle leapt from the stage, singing the lyrics properly. As he sang, he nearly skipped his way through the crowd as if he were in the music video and stopped at various people to try to gather them into his troupe.
We can dance if we want to, we can leave your friends behind!
Cause your friends don't dance and IF they don't dance,
Well they're - no friends of mine!
I say, we can go where we want to, A place where they will never find
And we can act like we come from out of this world
Leave the real one far behind,
and we can dance (And Sing!)
It was now that Jinx's eyes had become as wide as they could go. In her mind, something had once again awakened and was trying to claw through the haze of Brother Blood's mental domination. A memory was trying to form, she could remember hearing this song once before. She faintly remembered falling from a great height and being caught by someone. She could remember pain in her left ankle. Dominating it all was the scent of bacon being cooked...
"Hey... You okay, Jinx?" Stone asked her.
The sorceress only answered with faint singing to the music.
Ahh.. we can go when we want to the night is young and so am I
And we can dress real neat from our hearts to our feet
and surprise 'em with a victory cry!
Say... we can act if want to if we don't nobody will
And you can act real rude and totally removed
And I can act like an imbecile
The rogue made it to where Jinx and Stone were standing and also attempted to add them to the line of safety dancers. As if she were entranced, Jinx joined in right behind Swindle and thus dragged Stone in behind her.
I say... we can dance, we can dance - Everything's under control.
We can dance, we can dance - Doin' it from pole to pole!
We can dance, we can dance - Everybody look at your hands!
We can dance, we can dance - Everybody's takin' the cha-a-ance
Safety dance!
Oh, the safety dance...
Ah yes, the safety dance!
S... A... F... E... T... Y...
Safety... Dance!
Swindle finished his tour of the auditorium floor and returned to the stage, waving everyone back to their places and even giving Jinx's hand a parting squeeze before leaping back up. As the song wound to a close, Jinx could only stare at Swindle, wondering why she knew that song when she was certain that she had never heard it before. Meanwhile, Stone was also beginning to notice just how familiar this performance seemed. Could that be...? Nahh, he wouldn't be enrolled in the school. He'd try something sneakier than that.
Onstage, Swindle made eye contact with Bumblebee and nodded once. Phase One seemed to be a success, so Phase Two needed to be put into action.
The thief looked back over his shoulder, "Guys, I have another request."
"'Open Arms', right?" Tim asked.
Checking back with Bumblebee, he saw that Jinx had snapped back into her old personality again and was turning down Bumblebee's request for a cut-in. In fact, the hexer was already clutching back onto Stone's arm once more. The hope that had been built up started to create a deep hole in Swindle's heart.
"No... Dammit, no..."
End of Chapter 9
In Chapter 10 - The plan to re-awaken Jinx's dormant memory continues to unfold, provided Bumblebee can get Stone away from her first. But, how long can Swindle's resolve hold out?
Author's Post-notes: I now have a forum available if you want to talk about various things. I'd like to hear from you all. :)