Disclaimer: Hasbro owns the canon Transformers, I own the others. Songs are property of Jamie Brown and myself.
Wow... Totally forgot that I'd never finished publishing the whole thing... Terribly sorry for the wait, but here's chapter 10
~*~
Jazz looked up as Lightshow and Slowmotion came into the room. The next thing he knew, he was being hugged by Lightshow, though the term 'crushed to death' seemed to fit better.
"Lightshow, you do realize that I still have to appear on stage tonight. And somehow I doubt the audience wants to see a lead singer that looks like a spring."
Lightshow let go. "But why not? It'll put a little more bounce in our act."
"That was lame, even for you," said Electro.
"And by the absence of our guest, I take it Haze is gone," said Strings.
"Yeah, her sister came down and picked her up," said Slowmotion.
"That explains the hug," Jazz said.
"Hey, I'm just the delivery-mech alright," Lightshow replied.
Electro tossed a datapad at him. "Then sit down, get out your guitar, and deliver."
Lightshow caught the pad with ease. "She even said to say goodbye to you Electro."
The dark blue mech just grunted.
"SlowMo, you need to practice too, we've only got a few hours left till showtime," said Jazz. "So we're ready when you are."
Slowmotion twirled a drumstick in his hand. "Counting down… 4, 3, 2, 1!"
Silver, the gleaming ground
Ebony, the dark of space.
BRIDGE
Never are these bright as the glittering stars
Nor are they always as beautiful.
CHORUS
But these are the hues of home
It is for these colors
Pretty, though they aren't
This is what we sing of
Our home
And the hues of home.
Ash grey, dust blanket falling
Pulsing scarlet, creation's fire
BRIDGE
CHORUS
CHORUS
… The audience broke out in lukewarm applause as they sipped on their drinks and carried on their conversations with each other. The group soon realized that their main purpose was to just stand there and play some easy-listening atmospheric music; they were not the main attraction at all. It irritated Electro to no end, especially after all the hard work and time he'd spent altering the musical arrangements of some of their songs. And he made his displeasure known after the show.
"Electro, its not like we can pick and choose where we play at," said Jazz. "We gotta take what we can get."
"Yeah, and you weren't the only one who worked hard on changing those songs," Lightshow added.
"Well you certainly weren't around so keep the slag out of this discussion," Electro retorted.
"Guys, can we please keep it down?" Strings requested.
"And the last I looked, you weren't the slagging leader of this group so stop trying to make yourself one," Lightshow snapped.
"Maybe if I was, we'd be able to get some decent playing locations for us."
"Provided there's anyone who'll follow you."
"Now hang on a second," Jazz interjected. "I've already said we ain't got no leader here. We're all equal."
"The way I see it," Electro went on, ploughing over what Jazz had said. "You're the only one who seems to have a problem with authority Lightshow."
"Only if said authority has slag clogging his exhaust," was Lightshow's reply.
"That's all your creator taught you isn't it?" Electro asked. "To make witty comebacks."
"Actually, I taught myself, so leave Flaire out of this," Lightshow snapped. "And at least I had a creator, instead of just being spat out of some machine."
"Guys, c'mon, this is silly," said Slowmotion.
"You're right, it is," said Lightshow. "I don't have to stand here and take this, not from the likes of him."
"Well if you don't like it, you can leave," said Electro.
"Good idea. I'm outta here." Lightshow left the room, slamming the door behind him.
There was silence for a good long while. Then Jazz got up and headed outside himself. The other two looked at Electro.
"If I may say so, that did not go well," said Strings.
"No slag," said Slowmotion. "Why'd you go tell him to leave anyway?" he asked Electro.
"It just came out alright. So what if he does leave us? He doesn't contribute anything anyway," Electro said.
"If he leaves, Jazz will go with him," Strings said. "If Jazz goes… I'd just apologize if I was you."
"For what? I said nothing wrong."
"You didn't have to go and bring his creator into it now did you?"
"I will apologize when I see fit."
~*~
Jazz ran out of the club. "Lightshow wait!"
The other mech stopped, looked back, and waited for Jazz to catch up with him. "I just wanna be along right now, ok Jazz?" he said.
"If you really wanted to, you wouldn't have waited for me to catch up…. Listen, you're not seriously thinking of leaving us are you?"
Lightshow looked as if he was considering. "Hmm… nah. Seriously, the thought never crossed my mind. I just came out here to blow off steam." He grinned.
Jazz was the tinge of sadness in his optics. "I'm sorry Flaire got dragged into it."
"Its ok, you're not the one who dragged him in."
"Electro's a proud mech. Wont be easy to get an apology out of him."
"I don't expect him to, and I'm not gonna try. At the same time, I think we'll keep out of each other's way for a while."
"Maybe a good idea, but don't let it drag on too long. We still need you guys to communicate."
"I'll do what I can Jazz, but I'm not making any promises to keep my mouth shut if he starts with me again."
"I know you wont… just do me a favor?"
"Doesn't mean I'll do it, but what?"
"Stop calling me the leader."
"Tell me why. Give me one good reason to."
"Because I'm not."
"Sorry, not good enough. Doesn't matter what you say Jazz, you can deny it till Primus awakens, but the fact is, we're all looking to you to take us in the right direction."
"And what if I don't? What if I lead you astray?"
"We'll still follow."
"Why?"
"'Cause you're the only one of us who's ever turned words into actions."
"I don't know how successful we'll be, don't know how much our efforts will pay off."
"Beats sitting around and doing nothing, wondering where our lives are going. You gave us a purpose Jazz, something to live for."
Jazz sighed, but didn't argue. Instead he inclined his head to the door. "Are you gonna come back inside?"
"I was thinking I'd stay out here for the night. I kinda miss the streets."
"Good. Then I'll stay with you. I kinda miss the streets too."