Ok, ok. A bit of drama, just because. But well...this time, the girl doesn't cry and wonder why her boyfriend betrayed her. She beats him. XD
And damn, I think in the previous chapter I wrote "Perdition Posse" instead of "Perdition's Posse". Gah.

xx

"Merkova, wait..." Pinhead tried to say.
"I won't wait, you..." she wasn't good with creative insults "...piece of crap!"
She punched the girl in the face, then turned towards her boyfriend.
"I don't know her...listen..." he tried to explain what happened.
"NO!"
And then Pinhead saw all stars jumping around and singing in weird languages. Yes, she just kicked him between the legs. Damn, he never thought pain could be so...unpleasant.
"You want more? You just have to tell me." she hissed.
"Mer..." he whispered.
"You know what? Go fuck yourself. I don't need you or your crappy club, or your crappy guitar, or all this shit!" she turned and went away.
The man finally fell on the floor and closed his eyes. No, he never cried. Never. Never...
The inhuman sound that echoed in the corridors wasn't strong enough to be heard by many people, but those who heard it thought it was some wounded animal and wondered who would hurt an innocent creature.

In the meanwhile, Merkova walked out of the club, full of rage. She couldn't hate the rest of the guys, but she refused to keep working there and see Pinhead's face.
And who needed that job, anyway? She could easily find another one. A better one, maybe. Damn, that situation was even suggesting her a song...

Well here, babe, look at you, and you with someone else,
Turned out like all the others, leave me by myself,
That's how it works I guess, and you like all the rest
Guess I can handle it, if that's the way it is

I'm in love with rock 'n' roll, it satisfies my soul
If that's how it has to be, I won't get mad
I got rock 'n' roll, to save me from the gold
And if that's all there is, it ain't so bad
Rock 'n' roll

I never been a one to have no stedy guy,
I love the way I live, runnin' round the world
I like to fool around, I love to tear 'em down
And when I leave, you love to miss me when I'm gone

I got with rock 'n' roll, it satisfies my soul
If that's how it has to be, I won't get mad
I got rock 'n' roll, to save me from the gold
And if that's all there is, it ain't so bad
Rock 'n' roll

I can't imagine growin' old with anyone
Marching to a different drum, I hear a different song
I swear I love 'em all, I don't care if they're small
I don't care if they're tall, love 'em anyway

I got rock 'n' roll, it satisfies my soul
If that's how it has to be, I won't get mad
I got rock 'n' roll, to save me from the gold
And if that's all there is, it ain't so bad
Rock 'n' roll

Yes. There was Rock N Roll, and that was what she wanted. As soon as she got enough money to buy the crappiest guitar in stores, she was going to look for other people and start a band.

A couple of weeks passed since Pinhead and Merkova broke up. At the Labyrinth things seemed to work, and even the women-against-rock almost stopped their demonstrations.
Pinhead returned in his office, where Butterball was watching TV. Better: he was zapping between different channels.
"News?" he asked.
Butterball shrugged "I thought I could find some good movie with hot girls, but there's nothing to watch..." he threw the remote on the old couch.
"Then look for the local news...maybe we won the lottery and nobody told us." Pinhead sighed sarcastically.
"But we never bought lottery tickets..."
Pinhead shook his head, desperate. And that was the co-owner of the Labyrinth. He hoped many times that it was just a nightmare, but nothing.
"Boss, I got the local news." he pointed at the TV.
They pretended to care when the man on TV talked about someone getting shot, about some drug dealer arrested, about someone else getting arrested.
And then she appeared on the screen.
"Boss, it's the leader of the good girls!" Butterball looked at his friend and pointed at the TV.
"I saw..." Pinhead raised one non existant eyebrow. That wasn't a good thing...
"So...Miss Cotton, what's all this excitement in your anti-rock movement about?" the reporter started interviewing her.
She smiled "Well, as I promised, I found the proof that will finally destroy the indecent place called "The Labyrinth"."
"What kind of proof?"
Her smile grew even wider "It took me some time, because common citizens don't have access to those documents. But with the help of some honest people who work for us everyday, I found this." she took some sheets from her purse. The reporter looked at her, curious. She slowly opened them, as if she wanted to create suspense.
"What are these documents, Miss Cotton?"
"These are...the proofs that the Labyrinth doesn't pay taxes. And it's not something new, since they stopped paying them two years ago. Now...I want to ask people WHY these parasites can live with OUR money. We should burn them and destroy the music they listen, because it's an invitation to criminal life, violence and sex!"
"This is a serious thing...so...the Labyrinth will close?"
"Of course. They will never find the money they need in five days. And then we will finally be free from this curse."
Pinhead turned off the TV. There was nothing else to say.
"Boss, what do we do?" Butterball looked worried, too.
"We wait. We don't have the money to pay our debts. I hoped nobody would notice..."
"But we always respect the rules...maybe they will give us more time." the fat man scratched his neck.
"I don't believe a couple of days can make such a big difference. We had to pay taxes, we had to find the money at the time. And the worst thing is that they will arrest us, too. I'm...sad because of what could happen to Fem and Chatterer." that story was showing a lot of sides of him nobody knew. Apart from Female and...his brother. His brother who never answered when he called. Who never gave him back all the money he wasted before he became a rockstar. And that was what hurt him most. Nothing could hurt him, except feeling betrayed.
There was only one card he could play now. But he refused to do it, because he didn't want to play dirty. He wanted to win respecting the rules.
It was impossible, but at that point it didn't matter.
He sighed again and started singing.

Pinhead:
I know that it's evil
I know that it's gotta be
Butterball:
I know I ain't doing much
Doing nothing means a lot to me
Both, imagining for a second to be in a fancy office:
Living on a shoestring
A fifty cent millionaire
Open to charity
Rock 'n' roll welfare
Butterball:
Sitting in my Cadillac
Listening to my radio
Suzy baby get on in
Tell me where she wanna go
I'm living in a nightmare
She's looking like a wet dream
I got myself a Cadillac
Pinhead:
But I can't afford the gasoline
Together:
I got holes in my shoes
And I'm way overdue
Down payment blues

Pinhead:
Get myself a steady job
Some responsibility
Can't even feed my cat
On social security
Hiding from the rent man
Oh it make me wanna cry
Sheriff knocking on my door
Ain't it funny how the time flies
Butterball:
Sitting on my sailing boat
Sipping on my champagne
Suzy baby all at sea
Say she wanna come again
Pinhead:
Feeling like a paper cup
Floating down a storm drain
Together:
Got myself a sailing boat
But I can't afford a drop of rain
I got holes in my shoes
And I'm way overdue
Down payment blues
Down payment blues
Down payment blues
Down payment blues

I got holes in my shoes
And I'm way overdue
I got the
Down payment blues

When they stopped singing, they felt even more depressed.
"Boss, the only chance we have is organize some huge gig. At this point, we need to call Mötley Crüe, or some other band like that...for example Perdition's Posse." he hinted.
"I refuse to call them." Pinhead shook his head "They're too busy, they'll never come."
"Why? Fan Dancer is such a nice girl..." he started daydreaming.
"But she's not the manager. The one who decides what's better for them is the manager."
"But..." Butterball tried to object.
"No." it was a stone. Even the fat man understood that replying was only going to make it worse, so he simply shrugged and walked out.
Amazing. Now he was alone, and he had to re-read all his bills. Butterball never cared about those problems.
Due. Due. Due. Everywhere, letters with that word and a lot of "$" signs.
But one thing was right. They had to find a famous band and organize the biggest gig people could dream of. But he was pretty sure nobody was going to help them for free.
The only one was his brother.
But the manager was the one who pulled the strings. And he was a vampire, not a human being.
His hands moved to the phone, but then they stopped in mid-air.
What was the right thing to do?
He pulled them back. No, he wasn't going to beg.
But then...maybe...
He dialed the number, already regretting his decision. The phone gave him the "free" sound. One...two...three...fo...
"Hello?" a voice Pinhead didn't know.
"Mr Gooden?" he asked.
"No, he's busy. Tell me, tell me." the voice sounded friendly.
"But who's on the phone?" Pinhead asked again.
"You first. Who are you?" he sounded amused by that situation.
He had no time to joke, so he decided to tell him "I'm Pinhead. I'm..."
"Guys, he's Scarred's brother!" the man yelled to someone else. Pinhead heard the noise of some people talking, surprised. And then the man spoke again "Hey, I'm Hangman!"
Pinhead's eyes widened. Hangman, Perdition's Posse's drummer. What the hell was he doing on their manager's phone?
"Are you still there?" he asked.
"Yes. I'm surprised." Pinhead nodded.
"Me too. We never hear about you. How are things going?" there was genuine concern in his voice.
"I called, some weeks ago. But your manager...he didn't tell you, right?" he already knew the answer.
"No, never. What happened?" Hangman was more and more worried. They knew their manager was a greedy man, but they never thought he could do something like that.
"The Labyrinth...my club, you remember? We have..." he couldn't finish the sentence. On the other side, someone was yelling.
And then he heard Trevor's voice on the phone "Sorry Pinhead, they're all drunk. Don't worry, I'll solve the problem. Now we have to go, I'll call you later." he hung up.
Pinhead stared at the phone. No. It couldn't be. It started so good, he almost managed to explain his problem...the other guys weren't as bad as their manager.
He sighed, for the hundredth time. Maybe that was the final proof that his dream was fated to end in five days.

xx

Motörhead - Rock N Roll (I changed a couple of words because Lemmy was talking about a girl.)
AC/DC - Down Payment Blues