AN: So sorry I'm late! I wasn't in till late last night and I was out all morning. But at least I'm not too late, right?
DeviantART is up!
That's all I have to say! On with the chapter.
Chapter four
"Ok, thanks," I said and put the phone down. That was the last job offer I had worked out. I had three venues to play tonight. The first being a small restaurant, the second was a karaoke bar, I was there to boost the confidence of a few of the customers and the third was a Goth club. The last job ended way past midnight, but I guess I could have some fun doing it. I had always, kind of, been a Goth.
The first venue, the restaurant, was a nice length. It was about 45 minutes long. It was in the height of the business period. I was there to keep people happy and distracted as it could take a while for their orders to get through.
The second venue, I was only there to support the nervous singers and start the night off. Very few had the confidence to get up and sing in front of total strangers, even if they had an amazing voice.
The third venue was the one I was most looking forward to. Even though I was there for most of the night, I wouldn't have to sing all of the time. There was one other band there so I could have a drink and a break but also do some partying. I could drink, talk to people and dance. I was basically being paid to party.
I got ready really quite quickly. Contrary to popular belief, it didn't take long for girls to get ready, they were just too fussy and most decide to start all over again.
For the night, I was wearing a little black dress and black high heels. It was simple, but pretty. I put on some red lipstick for the first two venues, but then would switch to black for the Goth club. I just felt I would fit in a little more if I had black lipstick.
Unfortunately, I couldn't take Drakki with me. I was playing under an alias and arriving on a dragon would ask a lot of questions and have a lot of people screaming. Drakki and Hiss were tired after the day we had had and I didn't want to push them any more than I had to. That meant I had to take a taxi everywhere. They were so much money! At least, in Britain, the cabbies were nice, especially the London cabs. Natasha had warned me to be fairly wary of American cabs.
I had called a cab company earlier and set up several pickups and arrivals for the clubs and the restaurant.
I was scheduled to play at the restaurant from 7:30 to 8:15, giving me 15 minutes to get to the karaoke bar where I would lay until 9:15. From there I would go to the Goth club and play on and off for about 3 hours after they opened at 10. I thought it was a pretty sweet deal.
"See you, you three," I said to Hiss, Drakki and Mr. Rhododendron. Sir was curled up on the sofa whilst the two dragons were on the floor. I locked the door and threw a soundproof spell over the apartment. I didn't want anyone to know I lived with two dragons and a tiger.
I sat in the taxi, watching the city. Not asleep like some places you would find in England where the night was drawing to a close. For some people, like me, the night was just beginning.
What would Deadpool be doing right now? I wondered absentmindedly. I didn't get a look at his apartment, just the building. It annoyed me how much I didn't know about him. I didn't even know his name.
He doesn't know your heritage. A small voice said in the back of my mind. I almost sighed, there was that one, tiny, little detail.
Even though I had never lived on Jotunheim, I was kind of in line for the throne. When Loki had killed Laufey, there weren't any immediate heirs, so the throne fell to Laufey's wife, Farbauti.
I knew Farbuati, she was actually quite nice. She had taught me how to control my Jotun powers. I actually quite like her. She was more of a grandmother than Loki's adopted mother, Frigga. Thor insisted that Frigga liked me, but I never felt it. When I was on Asgard, it was like when I was back in England, being passed from care home to care home. I had no family. No one they could call. It was like I had just appeared out of thin air.
I had been to Jotunheim before and I found it quite beautiful. There were whole, glassy planes of ice, giant mountains and frozen forests. All, on a clear day, were fantastic views. If the weather wasn't nice, then you couldn't see a thing. The weather could change drastically on Jotunheim and you would not want to be caught in the storm when I happened.
So yeah. When Farbuati steps down then I would become queen of Jotunheim. I had to settle tribal disputes, meet with the chieftains of those tribes and travel all over the place. I wasn't as long lived as the Frost Giants but I did live longer than humans. At one point in my life I would stop aging for a while. Well more than a while actually, about a thousand years or so. But that was short for a Jotun. They lived for about five thousand years. I could always keep myself young with spells and potions and stuff, but I wasn't afraid of dying.
Loki had other children. It wasn't just me. You might've heard of them. There were the triplets, Hela, Fenrir and Jormungand. There was the oldest, Selphinir and there was Vali. There used to be Narfi too, but he's dead now. He's been dead a long time.
I had met nearly all of my brothers and my sister. Hela liked me a lot. She's the queen of Niflheim, the queen of the dead. You wouldn't say having her like you would be a good thing but for me it just meant that I would have a really nice after life. I may be able to even reincarnate one day.
I had met Jormungand several times. Being the Midgard Serpent, he could appear in any body of water anywhere, provided it was big enough. The Loch Ness monster was his idea of a joke. And even though he was a sea serpent, he didn't actually look like a snake. Sure he had the long snake like body; his head didn't look like that of a snake.
Fenrir was a giant wolf, but it made me sad whenever I thought about him. He was the only brother I hadn't met, aside from Narfi and Vali. He was locked and bound in the darkest part of Asgards dungeons with a sword thrust through his muzzle to silence him. His crime? For being Loki's son, because of some stupid prophecy that had the Asgardians quaking in their boots.
As for Selphinir, he lived in Asgard's stables and was treated like a common stable horse. He had eight legs and could ride like the wind. I had seen him once, but I threw such a hissy fit, the Asgardians banned me from seeing him again.
All of the children of Loki have been punished in some way, all except for me. It made me wonder when Asgard would tire of me and come for me one day. It would be probably when I ascended to the throne as queen of Jotunheim, even though I plan to create a peace treaty with Asgard.
I sighed. My life was one of monsters and men, of magic and misery. It was hard to keep the two spheres of my life apart. I never spoke about these problems to Thor. I knew he was the one who put the sword through Fenrir's muzzle, by order of Odin. I knew that Odin had cast Jormungand into the sea, had Selphinir treated like a common stable horse and had Hela hunted down and half killed. A lot of the things that had been done to Loki's children had been Odin's fault.
I smiled. I consoled in the fact that when he died, Hela had a few punishments lined up for him, all of which he deserved.
The taxi driver coughed, "Where here, miss." He said. I thanked him, paid him and then got out of the cab.
The night was quite cold, so I was glad to have brought my long over coat. Otherwise I would've started turning into a Jotun. I entered the little restaurant and smiled at the person behind the bar.
"Hey, I've been hired to sing tonight." I said to the bartender.
"Oh, you're Madison aren't you?" He asked.
I smiled. Like I said, I never used the name Ink Avilov Rabinovich when working. I didn't try to keep my identity a secret when I was fighting or saving the world, even though I had been dubbed "The Jotun" by the public. Madison was just a time saver. If I went around using the name Ink Avilov Rabinovich then people would stop me, ask questions, take a few photos. Then some smart ass would call the reporters and the new crews.
So that was why I went by Madison.
"Yes, yes I am." I said.
"Right, follow me. We have a small stage that you can use and a bit of equipment." He said as he moved around the bar.
"All I need is a microphone and a player." I said. I had downloaded several instrumental tracks and put them into playlists in accordance as to where I was going to sing.
"That's good." He laughed. "What are you planning on singing?"
"I'm the best at Florence and the Machine songs but I'll try this and that." I admitted. We reached the stage.
"I'm sure you can handle yourself up there?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine." I had handled myself being interrogated by HYRDA. I could handle a few annoyed stares and a few complaints. I stepped onto the stage and the bartender turned on the microphone.
"Good evening all," I said into the microphone. Luckily it's not too loud. The conversations in the restaurant halted. "I'm Madison and I'll be providing the entertainment tonight." The audience seemed surprised that there would be entertainment. "I will be singing and I hope you enjoy it." I smiled and plugged my iPod player in.
I left the restaurant, feeling amazing. I had just spent 45 minutes and the people loved it! And I had two more venues lined up. I couldn't wait to get them done to get the same kind of rush. It was like defeating a bad guy on a great day.
There was a taxi waiting for me outside and I got in. I told him where to go and he set of.
"Going from one club to another huh?" He asked. I couldn't see his face in the mirror and he was wearing a hat, but I wasn't worried. He didn't sound malicious.
"I'm a hired singer." I explained. "This is my second venue."
"Oh cool, what do you sing?"
"This and that, but mainly Florence and the Machine," I said. He was chatty.
"What's your accent?"
"English, but my mother was Russian, although I was never raised in Russia I must've got a bit on an accent from her." I said.
"Russian?" He asked. His voice sounded familiar and I couldn't place it.
"Yeah," I said and started gazing out of the window. The driver didn't ask me any more questions. I was trying to place his voice, it sounded familiar but… not. I was normally very good at placing sounds, voices and music.
The taxi driver pulled over at the karaoke club and I paid him. Before he drove off, he said something out of the window. "Have fun at your job, lil' lady."
He drove off before I could say anything.
"Was that…? No it couldn't have been." I muttered to myself. I shook my head. I shouldn't be surprised if it was Deadpool. He was full of surprises.
I entered the karaoke club and introduced myself to the first staff person I saw.
"Of course Madison," The waitress said and led me to the stage where there was a stand with a laptop. "Just yell if you need anything."
"Thanks," I told her. I stepped up to the stage and introduced myself.
"Any of you nervous singers out there?" No one answered. "That's what I thought," I said with a smile. There were a few chuckles. "That's why I'm here to inspire you and help you have a good time." I said. "Who wants to go first?"
(Line break)
"Um, excuse me?" A timid voice asked me. I had been sitting in the karaoke bar, sipping coke, watching a few of the singers have a go. I looked over at the voice. It was a girl, aged maybe 16. She was obviously out for the night.
She had make up on, but not overly so and a nice dress which was suitable for girls her age, compared to what I saw on most girls I saw, it was like a full length dress. She was quite pretty herself. She had a little face, big chocolate brown eyes and long wavy gold brown hair.
"Yeah?" I answered.
"I want to go up and sing but…" She started.
"But you're a bit nervous." I asked and she nodded. "Want me to come up there with you?" She nodded again.
The song ended and people clapped as the singer got off the stage. "Come on up with me." I said as I got up. I hopped onto the stage. Whoever this girl was, she was extremely shy. She glanced back to her friends. They all nodded and encouraged her up. There were three girls crowded around a table. A red head with a short pixie cut, a frizzy haired blond, and a round faced brunette. Why they hadn't followed her up, I didn't know.
I held the microphone. "What's your name?" I asked her.
"Vanessa." She said quietly.
"Vanessa, I'm Madison." I said. I turned to the microphone. "What's up people?" I asked the crowd. "This is my friend, Vanessa. She is incredibly shy so do your best to make her feel welcome." The table where Vanessa's friends were sitting at went crazy.
"You can do it Vanessa!" The red head shouted. Vanessa blushed very deeply.
"What do you want to sing Vanessa?" I asked her.
"Ghosts by Gabriel Aplin." She said quietly.
"Oh, I like that one!" I said. I knew it, faintly. I went through the songs on the laptop and found it. I hoped Vanessa gained in confidence, because I didn't know most of the lyrics. I clicked play when Vanessa was ready. Oh well.
(Line break)
I sat in the cab. Two venues down, one to go. The karaoke bar had been fun. Vanessa was actually a really good singer.
Now for the Goth club. This one I had been looking forward to most. I got a voice rest because I got there before they opened up to the public. I wasn't the only singer either, so I got to party too.
I changed the lipstick from red to black. Not a huge difference to make but it did drastically change the colour of my face. I had been pale before but now, with the black lips, I looked like a ghost. Perfect.
I threw a quick look at the taxi driver. Not the same one as before and this taxi was totally different. But still, if it was Deadpool driving the last taxi…
We pulled up outside the club and I handed him the money. I got out and he drove off before I could say thank you. "Hm," I huffed, "He must've been in a hurry to end his shift tonight."
I entered the club through the black painted door. There were a few people putting out chairs and wiping down tables. I turned to the closest member of staff.
"Hi, I'm Madison; I was hired to sing here." I said. The girl I was talking to had several piercings in her face and tattoos down her arms and back.
"They told me you'd be coming." She said. "There's one other band getting set up over there. They're gonna do a tech rehearsal, if you have any equipment then have it set up then."
"Right, thanks," I looked over to the stage where there was a band being set up.
"Hey," one of the guys said when I walked over. He had long black dreads, which oddly suited him, even though he was white.
"Hi, I'm Madison. I'm singing here tonight." I said.
He nodded. "I'm Rory, this is my band," He gestured to the two other guys and a girl. "We're the Apocalyptic Pandas."
"Really?" I asked. "Cute name."
"Yeah, Zoe picked it out. She thought it would be different from the other bands." He explained.
"Well it certainly is different." I agreed. "So, introduce me?"
"Right, kay." Rory walked over to his band. "Hey guys, this is Madison, Madison this is Zoe, Ryan and Campbell." He pointed to each of the band members. Zoe was average height, with red and black dyed hair and lots of makeup. She was adjusting her microphone stand. Ryan was short, shorter than Zoe, and had blond hair. He was tuning a bass guitar. Campbell was sitting at the drum kit.
"Hey," they all said, at different times.
"I look forward to seeing you play." I said. They looked like a cool group.
"Do you need anything set up?" Campbell asked, pointing at me with one of his drumsticks.
"Nah, I'm alright thanks. Just got an iPod I need to plug in." I smiled at them. This was going to be fun.
Deadpool POV
Stealing a taxi hadn't been that hard. Deadpool had been surprised at how easy it had been, and how unsuspecting Ink was. He had been following her all night. Unless she was lying, he had found out that she had a Russian background, even though she had never been to Russia herself.
He had ditched the taxi as soon as he drove off. He went into the Goth club she was performing in and sat and watched her. He watched her until she finished and walked out of the club, with two men trailing after her.
The voices started up, selling him some crazy fantasy that he should go and save her. He obliged even though a quieter voice in his head said that she could handle herself, but where was the fun in that?