A/N: Hi all! New chapter up! try and say the title out loud - sounds like a Dr. Seuss tongue twister! Also, I hope that none of you have been affected by Superstorm Sandy, but if you have been, I hope you're okay! Also, if you ever find a spelling or grammar mistake, please tell me and I'll fix it.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers, SingStar, One Direction, AC/DC, The Voice Australia, or any of the songs in this chapter. I do own StarkStar, though :)
Chapter 5: SingStar: Stark Style
The elevator dinged and the doors opened, letting Pepper and Baylee exit to the main level. "This is where everyone is most of the time," Pepper told her. "This level has-" Tony cut her off, jumping up from one of the couches and walking over to them, counting the rooms on his fingers.
"The kitchen, dining room, cinema room, lounge room, the main gym and computer room. The next level down is the lab and operating theatre, the one after that is the battle training room, firing range and another gym, and the last level has the arsenal, control panel and power generator room. Welcome to the Avengers Mansion, Miss Baylee Quinn Garcia!" Tony finished in a posh, gameshow host voice. Baylee looked at him strange; she hadn't told him her full name.
He knew what she was thinking. "Sorry. I was just going to disable JARVIS and I heard you telling Pep your full name. The security camera is disabled in your room now, for your privacy." He took a bow, as if he were speaking to royalty.
Pepper slapped his chest playfully she he stood back up. "You're just scared that she will do what Natasha did and threaten to destroy JARVIS and your suits."
"I won't take that risk again," Tony declared, glaring daggers at the floor. Pepper smiled and shook her head, humoured by his antics.
Suddenly, the elevator doors opened, revealing Bruce and Steve struggling with around ten bags of takeaway. Pepper and Baylee quickly walked over to them and took some of the bags from them, heading over and placing them down on the large, expensive oak table. They then sat down and began pulling food out and spreading it around the table. Tony went to get a jug of water and eight glasses for everyone after asking JARVIS to inform Clint, Natasha and Thor that dinner was here.
Steve took four wraps and a big box of fries out of the bags, setting it down on the table in front of him. Bruce took out three wraps and the same box of fries Pepper gave Baylee one wrap and a smaller box of fries and then took out the same for herself. When Tony set the glasses and jug on the table and sat down, Pepper passed him three wraps and a big box of fries.
A minute after Tony sat down, Thor walked through the doorway to the left of the room and sat down at the table, making Baylee stare at him in shock when he pulled out seven wraps and the biggest box of fries she had ever seen. She had to admit, though, that this food did taste pretty good, and she would definitely have it again sometime in the future.
When Natasha and Clint finally walked through the door to the right of the room, everyone stopped eating and looked over at them. Baylee stopped eating and followed their gaze, and what a sight it was. Despite the extremely late hour of the night, they had obviously just done a big workout. Clint and Natasha were both covered in sweat, and Natasha was wearing leggings and a green sports bra, and Clint was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and no shirt. He was carrying Natasha over his shoulder, laughing as he walked. Natasha was halfheartedly struggling and kicking about, squealing and laughing, too.
Everyone else remained silent and staring as he took out a chair, flipped Natasha down onto it, and sat down next to her. He pulled out four wraps and the last box of fries, which was the same size as the box that Thor was now eating from again. He set the huge box down on the table between him and Natasha and passed her one of the wraps. They both started eating, either not noticing everyone staring at them or just ignoring them.
After a minute, everyone else resumed eating, and Tony spoke up. "Did the big, bad hawk beat the tiny spider again?" he asked in a childish voice. Pepper hit his hand, but her only grinned more.
Natasha glared at him as Clint answered. "No. Tasha didn't want to eat, so I carried her in here like I told her I would if she refused." Clint grinned at Natasha, who hit his shoulder and took some of the fries from the box between them.
"Hey! Don't steal my fries, Tash!" he protested, taking the fries back from her and stuffing them in his mouth. So Natasha then stole on of his wraps and started eating it, having already finished hers. "Nat!" he whined, and she gave it back to him with a few bites taken out of it. He shrugged and started eating it.
Natasha took some more fries before getting up and leaving the table. She walked into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of alcohol from the fridge, bringing it back to the table. She didn't reach for a glass when she sat down, she just opened the new bottle and started drinking. Baylee's eyes widened, and Natasha noticed her concern.
"It's okay, Baylee. Don't worry, although I'm not a drunk, I can outdrink anyone in this room," Natasha said to her, grinning cheekily at the rest of the team. "Even Thor. And I can't physically get drunk, anyway."
"Not me!" Steve insisted, then blushed. "I can't get drunk either," he added quietly.
"Oh, okay," Baylee sighed in relief. About thirty seconds ago, she had thought that Natasha was an alcoholic or something, and she really didn't want to deal with a drunk person right now, especially an Avenger and SHIELD agent.
Baylee looked up from the table and saw Natasha and Clint smirking at everyone else's faces; they were all looking at her confusedly.
"What?" Baylee asked curiously.
"Um, sorry, what did you say?" Steve asked her.
Baylee frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"She said 'oh, okay', and then she muttered something about 'not wanting to deal with a drunk Avenger and SHIELD agent,'" Natasha informed the group. They all nodded in understanding.
Baylee just looked at everyone, getting more confused by the second. Natasha smiled slightly at her.
"You were muttering in Spanish, Baylee. These freak shows don't know Spanish, and Pepper's not a freak show, and she does know Spanish, so the four of us can annoy the crap out of the guys," Clint grinned cheekily at her. Baylee giggled and continued to eat her dinner.
Half an hour later, everyone had finished their dinner, even Thor, and they had migrated to the cinema room. Natasha had stolen the tv remote off of Tony and was flicking through the channels
"Hey! Better idea. How about we play my version of SingStar? Any song you want," Tony said, trying to bribe everyone, especially Natasha, who was slightly snuggled into Clint's side, but only so slightly that Baylee was the only one that actually noticed.
After she flicked through a few more channels, Natasha sighed, signalling that she had given up on looking for a good show. "Fine. But don't expect me to play." Clint whispered something in her ear that made her glare at him. Baylee giggled silently from her spot across the room. There had to be something going on between them, and she wondered if the others had noticed this or if they were really that ignorant of their surroundings.
"Yes!" Tony exclaimed from his seat next to Pepper on the large couch. "JARVIS, display StarkStar on the screen for us," he asked the AI, who obliged silently.
"StarkStar doesn't need microphones. It records your voice from where you sit, and it's all voice activated, so no remotes necessary. All you need to do is sing the words to the song," Tony explained before setting up a game. "Okay, who wants to choose as song?"
"Ooh, can I?" Baylee asked eagerly.
"Yep, sure," Tony nodded.
"You have to singe with me though, Tony," Baylee pressed.
"Whatever."
"Okay. 'Up All Night' by One Direction." Tony groaned.
"Tell me you didn't just say that!"
"Nope! Coz I did!" Pepper, Clint, Bruce and Natasha all tried to cover their laughter.
"Fine. But I choose the next song!" Tony shouted.
The lyrics popped up on the screen.
It feels like we've been living in fast-forward
Another moment passing by
The party's ending but it's now or never
Nobody's going home tonight
Katy Perry's on replay, she's on replay
DJ got the floor to shake, the floor to shake
People going all the way, yeah all the way
I'm still wide awake
I wanna stay up all night
And jump around until we see the sun
I wanna stay up all night
And find a girl and tell her she's the one
Hold onto that feeling
And don't let it go
Coz we got the floor now
Get outta control
I wanna stay up all night
And do it all with you
Up all night
Like this, all night, hey
Up all night
Like this, all night, hey
Up all night
Don't even care about the table breaking
We only wanna have a laugh
I'm only thinking 'bout this girl I'm seeing
I hope she'll wanna kiss me back
Katy Perry's on replay, she's in replay
DJ got the floor to shake, the floor to shake
People going all the way, yeah all the way
I'm still wide awake
I wanna stay up all night
And jump around until we see the sun
I wanna stay up all night
And find a girl and tell her she's the one
Hold onto that feeling
And don't let it go
Coz we got the floor now
Get outta control
I wanna stay up all night
And do it all with you
Up all night
Like this, all night, hey
Up all night
Like this, all night, hey
Up all night
Katy Perry's on replay, she's on replay
DJ got the floor to shake, the floor to shake
DJ got the floor to shake, the floor to shake
I wanna stay up all night
And jump around until we see the sun
I wanna stay up all night
And find a girl and tell her she's the one
Hold onto that feeling
And don't let it go
Coz we got the floor now
Get outta control
I wanna stay up all night
And do it all with you
Up all night
Like this, all night hey
Up all night
Like this, all night, hey
Up all night
"Oh my gosh, hooray! It's over!" Tony exclaimed.
"The scores," Baylee said, waving her hand as if she used magic for them to pop up on the screen. "Woah, Tony, you did well!" she congratulated him. "But I did better," she added cheekily.
"Alright, miniature person! It's on! The next song is 'Highway to Hell' by AC/DC," Tony shouted, thinking Baylee wouldn't like or even know the song. How wrong he was.
"Do you have an electric guitar?" Baylee asked Tony, interrupting his hilarious victory dance. He stopped, paused the loading game and turned to her, confused.
"Yeah, why?"
"Can I borrow it? Pretty please with a cherry on top?"
"Okay," he reluctantly answered, walking to a cupboard behind the couches and taking out and electric guitar and an amp. He set it all up and passed it to her, still confused.
"Okay, we can play now." Tony gave her one last look before resuming the game.
When the music started playing, Baylee played the exact same tune on the guitar in sync with the speakers. Everyone gaped at her as she rocked on. The the lyrics started.
Living easy, living free
Season ticket on a oneway ride
Asking nothing, leave me be
Taking everything in my stride
Don't need reason, don't need rhyme
Ain't nothing I'd rather do
Going down, party time
My friends are gonna be there too, yeah
I'm on the highway to hell
On the highway to hell
Highway to hell
I'm on the highway to hell
No stop signs, speed limit
Nobody's gonna slow me down
Like a wheel, gonna spin it
Nobody's gonna mess me round
Hey satan, played my dues
Playing in a rocking band
Hey momma, look at me
I'm on my way to the promised land
OWWW
I'm on the highway to hell
Highway to hell
I'm on the highway to hell
Highway to hell
Ohhhh
Don't stop me
Yeah, yeah, owwww
I'm on the highway to hell
On the highway to hell
I'm on the highway to hell
On the highway to...HELL
Highway to hell
I'm on the highway to hell
Highway to hell
Highway to hell
Highway to hell
Momma, highway to highway to hell
And I'm going down, all the way down
I'm on the highway to hell
At the end of the song, everyone burst into a round of applause, even Tony.
"That was very good!" Pepper complimented her.
"Thanks, Pepper," Baylee smiled.
"Never would've guessed that you knew that song, Baylee," Tony said, not being a sore loser for once. The Avengers had changed him, and so ha Pepper.
"Yeah, well you should see my iPod. Most people think that I have a mental disorder when they see my playlist," Baylee snickered. Tony tried to hide the glint in his is eye; he would have to check that out later.
"Well, are there any Aussie songs you wanna sing?" Tony asked.
Baylee nodded. "Yeah, there's one called 'Shooting Star' by Rachael Leachar. Her name is so cool. If you write her whole name backwards, it'll still be the same." She watched everyone's faces as they tried to work it out.
"Ha! It is, too!" Tony exclaimed when he figured it out. Everyone else gave up then.
"I reckon Pepper or Natasha should sing this song," Baylee offered. Natasha glared at her, so she looked to Pepper.
"Alright it shouldn't be too bad, right?" Pepper asked.
"No, it's not a long song, really."
"Okay, well here goes."
I know, that the stars watch over me
Oh I hope, that they will hear my plea
Then I see a spark of light, my destiny
I see a diamond stud, a flame, a reason to believe
You are my shooting star
And I'll catch you wherever you fall
You give me love and light
Through the shadows of the night
I know you have a plan
And I'll do the best I can
I know I'll find my way some day
I listen to your words, your melody
The more I grow
The more my song becomes clear
Now the world gets dimmer
Like your shine is brighter than the sun
There's nothing I have to fear
You are my shooting star
And I'll catch you wherever you fall
You give me love and light
Through the shadows of the night
I know you have a plan
And I'll do the best I can
I know I'll find my way some day
Some day
"That was beautiful," Natasha stage-whispered.
"The girl who wrote that is legally blind, and she was on the Aussie version of The Voice at the start of the year. She's gorgeous. I cried when she sang that song," Baylee smiled.
"Well, anyone else want a go?" Tony asked. When he received no answer, he shrugged.
"JARVIS, can you please turn it off now?" Tony called to the AI. Natasha gasped.
"Did anyone else hear that? Tony Stark said 'please'!" she feigned shock and pretended to pass out in Clint's lap. Clint snorted and played along.
"C'mon, Tasha, wake up! Stark! Warn us next time before you go and use your manners or you'll make Tasha pass out again from the huge shock," Clint said seriously, the only one in the room, apart from Natasha, keeping a straight face.
There was a silence that lasted all of three seconds before Clint started laughing and tickling Natasha. She squealed and rolled off his lap, off the couch and onto the floor, scrambling out of the room in a flash.
Tony decided to put on an episode of The Big Bang Theory, and the rest of the Avengers sat in the room infatuated by the show. Halfway through the episode, Natasha sauntered back into the room with her half-full vodka bottle in her hand. She walked over and sat in Clint's lap and happily drank away as if she were a baby drinking from a bottle as CLint absentmindedly stroked her hair. Baylee was certain that she wasn't the only one that noticed this, but no one commented. She smiled at the cute situate before turning back to the tv.
Well, this definitely took a while to write. This is probably my favourite chapter so far, but more is on the way! You can look up any of the songs in the chapter on YouTube. Rachael Leahcar really is from The Voice Australia and she actually is legally blind, but she has a fabulous voice. I really did cry when she sang that song, so I thought that I'd add it in my story. Positive feedback makes me happy and I write more when I'm happy!