A/N: Thanks to Crazy Muffin Assassin. As far as this chapter goes, I'm writing a spin-off story about the band called Shadow The Hedgehog: The Ultimate Frontman. For more details, read the story.
Blaze's POV
Who is Silver talking to? Being a cat, I've got a great sense of hearing, and so far as I can tell, it's not anyone we know.
A moment later Silver reentered the building…followed by five strange looking people.
"Silver, dear, why are you inviting strange people into our home?"
"They're not…err…well, they are strange, but these guys are the band we hired"
"And you are Silv's lovely fiancée, I presume?" a black fox with pink glasses said, bowing forward and kissing my hand. I pulled my hand back.
"And who are you?"
"Terribly sorry, miss. I'm Joseph Ramono, lead singer" motioning toward himself. Apparently,
He pointed to the odd little raccoon, wearing what appeared to be a schoolboy uniform, standing next to him. "This is our lead guitarist, Angus Little" the little raccoon puffed up his chest and grinned wickedly.
"This is Scratch, our rhythm guitarist" the hedgehog with the unruly black hair and the top hat nodded.
"Paul MacCaffrey, our bassist" He seemed to be the most idealistic of the bunch. He was a white cat with black hair styled in a bowl cut, wearing a black suit.
"Last, but probably not least, is our drummer, Neil Kert" Neil was a grey echidna with a red bandana wrapped around his forehead, and was twirling drumsticks between his fingers. Weird, I would never have pegged him as a drummer.
"So, miss, are we allowed in, or do we have to wait on the lawn?" Joseph asked jokingly.
I looked from him, to Silver and back again. I decided that a little hospitality never hurt anyone.
"Sure, just don't make a mess of things"
We'll make sure not to" Joseph replied, smiling.
…Meanwhile…
Shadow's POV
Wow, Sky is a really good cook; this cake is delicious. Granted, the last time I had cake was fifty some years ago on the professor's sixty-eighth birthday, back on the ARK.
"Hey there, what's a pretty girl like you sittin' here all alone for?" I swiveled in my chair, to see a small raccoon wearing a schoolboy uniform trying to flirt with Marine.
"Screw off. I've already got a boyfriend, you dou-" Marine stopped dead when she turned to face him.
"Feisty. That boy of yours sure is lucky" the strange raccoon remarked. Marine continued to stare, open-mouthed, at him.
"Marine? Anyone home?" I asked, waving my hand in front of her face.
That seemed to jar her back to reality. "Shady, d'you know who that is?" she asked.
"No" I replied honestly.
She gaped at me like I was that Charlie Sheen guy, or something. "That's Angus Little! The best guitar player in all of Mobius!" I spared another glance at him.
"He's a little kid," I argued. While, Marine and I were debating Angus' validity, Angus was staring at me like Marine was at him.
"Shadow, zat you?" he asked slowly.
"My name's Shadow, but we've never met," I answered coldly.
"Lemme see your hand," he commanded, pointing to my left hand. I held out my hand for him to examine. He pulled the glove off to reveal a mark on my palm. I figured it was a birthmark, or a scar, but Angus said otherwise.
"That's our tattoo! The slingshot an' the daisy! Great to see ya, Shadow!" he jumped and hugged me.
"Get off! It's not a tattoo," I growled. I looked at my hand again. The "tattoo" looked like it was applied by a five year old with safety scissors; it's obviously a scar.
"Yeah" Angus scoffed rolling op his sleeve. "An' I just happen to have an identical one on my arm" It's true his did have a similar looking mark on his bicep. Just then, Silver and Blaze, followed by four more strangers walked.
"Shadow!" the four exclaimed in unison.
"Back off. How do you people know my name?" I demanded.
"It's ok if ya don't remember; ya got pretty wasted. You filled in for me at a concert when I broke my leg" a black fox answered. He seemed to have the same kind of smug confidence that Sonic is always flaunting.
"No. Never happened. I don't sing"
"That rockin' performance says otherwise, mate; I was there. I couldn't believe it was you 'til Rouge told me" Marine piped up. I was sorely tempted to put her in the hospital, right next to Tails.
"See? You just got wasted and forgot"
Meanwhile, Silver was dying from laughter.
Silver's POV
"You guys…mean to tell me…that Shadow, of all people, was a rock n' roll singer?
This time, Paul spoke up. "What's not to believe? He was great"
"Um, have you seen him?" Blaze inquired. "He doesn't listen to music, therefore, doesn't go to concerts, and probably doesn't sing either. Regardless, as a general rule of thumb, Rouge isn't the best source of accurate information"
"Well, the boys and I were planning on practicing. How about Shadow sings a few songs and you decided for yourself whether he was there"
"I don't like this idea" Shadow voiced his opinion.
"C'mon, Shadow" Sky coaxed. "One little song. Surely the ultimate life form isn't afraid of a little song" Shadow clenched his un-gloved hand and rested it on the table.
"Fine"
Sky's POV
Wow, I never thought he'd actually agree to this. If only I had my camera. The band took about fifteen minutes to set up the drum kit and all the amps.
It was the five of them standing out there, with Joseph and the rest of us, sitting on the lawn. Angus was strumming with his Gibson SG, Scratch was tunning his Gibson Les Paul, Paul was plucking his fender bass, Neil was just sitting behind his drum kit, still twirling drumsticks between his fingers, and Shadow was standing in front, looking completely clueless.
Paul walked over and handed a sheet of paper, probably music. Shadow looked over the paper for a second, then signaled to Neil that he was ready. The music started with Angus playing a guitar riff. I recognized the song within three notes. It was their song Sweet Child O' Mine. It was a good forty-five seconds before the vocals come in.
Until then, Angus was performing his signature stage antics; running around, jumping, and rolling on the ground, all while flawlessly playing tricky riffs.
Scratch started to play the rhythm, and Paul and Neil added their own instruments to the mix.
Finally, the vocal part came.
"She's got a smile that it seems to me reminds me of childhood memories, where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky. Now and then when I see her face, it takes me away to that special place and if I stare too long, I'd probably break down and cry" His voice was incredibly rich. His voice was deep, about a baritone, and surprisingly clear. I could understand every word he sung.
"Whoa, oh, oh, sweet child o' mine. Whoa, oh, oh, oh, sweet love o' mine"
Shadow's POV
What kind of song is this? I thought Slingshots N' Daisies were supposed to be hard rock revolutionaries, not a bunch of pansies that sing about girls they like. After I sang that last part, Angus played a small riff that deviated from the normal melody.
"She's got eyes of the bluest skies, as if they thought of rain. I'd hate to look into those eyes and see an ounce of pain. Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place, where as a child I'd hide, and pray for the thunder and the rain to quietly pass me by" almost without noticing it, I found myself watching Sky when I sang that verse. The instant I realized what I was doing I looked away.
"Who, oh, oh, sweet child o' mine. Whoa, oh, oh, oh, sweet love o' mine" After the second verse, Scratch took a short solo.
"Whoa, oh, oh yeah! Whoa, oh, oh, oh, sweet child o' mine. Whoa oh, oh, oh, sweet love of mine Whoa, oh, oh oh, sweet child o' mine. Whoa, yeah! Oh, oh, oh, oh, sweet love o' mine"
This time, Angus took a solo. He was all over the place: running back and forth, rolling around on the ground, and never missing a single note. It almost looked like he was having a seizure. The solo continued on for a few minutes. I figured he was probably improvising. I might not know much about music, but no one plays a solo that long.
"Where do we go? Where do we go now? Where do we go?" I repeated that line a couple of times, as instructed on the page of lyrics. "Sweet child, sweet child of mine" Neil finished with a small drum fill, ending with a cymbal crash.
Everyone stood up cheering and clapping, especially Sky. I guess I can sing. I handed the mike I was using to Joseph and started to walk towards the others.
"C'mon, Shadow! Sing another song!" Silver called.
"Yeah, Shady! You can really rock!" Marine agreed.
"No. Hell no. No in THX. There is no force on Earth, or under it, that can make me sing another song"
"I guess that idea was shot down in flames. It's ok, dude. We'll take it from here" Joseph said, winking. He walked up to the rest of the band and put the mike to his mouth.
"Ok, ladies and dudes, Shadow helped us write this song, back when he got wasted. Hit it, Ang!"
Angus took his guitar pick and raised it high over his head. Slowly, he put his hand down until the pick was resting gently against the b string. Fastly and furiously, he started playing. I'm not extremely familiar with music, but Maria used to play violin, and I'm pretty sure that what Angus is playing is called an arpeggio. After a few arpeggios, he changed it and started alternating between higher notes and the same b note, progressively moving downward.
Then Paul and Joseph started to sing vocals. "Thunder!" They repeated that word every few seconds about five times.
"I was caught in the middle of railroad tracks! Thunder! I looked 'round, and I knew there was no turnin' back! Thunder! My mind raced and I thought," what could I do?" Thunder! And I knew there was no help, no help from you! Thunder!"
I found myself tapping my foot without noticing it and Sky was bobbing her head along to the drumbeat. Marine went so far as to sing along.
"Sound of the drums beatin' in my heart! The thunder of guns tore me apart! You've been thunderstru-"
"Will you cease this infernal racket?" an irritated voice demanded. The band stopped playing to see who was criticizing their music. Two people, just as out of place as Slingshots N' Daisies, but not nearly as street, were standing up against the house.
"Mom? Dad?" Blaze gasped.
A/N: Artemis Fowl reference! I do not own the song Sweet Child O' Mine, or Thuderstruck. Summer vacation is in a few days here, and I'm going on a European excursion. I'll be away from my computer so I won't be able to write, so this is the last update until late July to mid August. Sorry for the inconvenience.