A/N Okay, so it seems pretty obvious that Skwisgaar won the voting, so Skwisgaar/Toki will be the final pairing. And, even though I'm sure you guys have figured this out as well, italics represent Norwegian and Swedish.
Disclaimer: I don't own Metalocalypse
The two days passed like lightning, but not without more fights between Magnus and Skwisgaar. One of these fights had gotten Magnus a broken nose and Skwisgaar fourteen stitches, so they both, of course, looked hideous. Charles pointed out as much in the dressing room backstage.
"Guys, you ah, you can't go on stage like that. It won't look good," Charles said, more business-like than usual in the face of what could be his band's biggest break yet.
"Why the hell not? We're a fucking metal band, we need to look goddamned... brutal," Nathan interjected, an odd light coming into his eyes at the sound of the word.
"That's all, ah, well and good, of course, but Skwisgaar and Magnus are the only ones who do. You need to come up with something to cover that up, and make the rest of you stand out as well," Charles said, leaving the room to finalize everything on stage before the audience members began to come in.
"Whats de fucks could covers up dese?" Skwisgaar grumbled, gesturing to the stitches as he glared at Magnus.
"What abouts de ah, de paintses? Yous guyses could be de deads peoples," Toki asked, holding out a tube of white paint he'd been using on a model plane Skwisgaar had bought him after seeing him stare at it in a shop window when they'd gone to get groceries.
"Hey, yeah, dat's a good idea! Dere's lats a black metal bands dat do dat shit!" Pickles said, flashing a grin.
"Fuck, sure. I guess that would work. You got any other colors?" Nathan grunted.
"Ums, I's gots de black ands reds and blueses," the boy said, struggling to recall which color was which.
"Gimme the uh, the fucking black and the white," Nathan said, and the boy nodded, standing from his chair and handing the big frontman the tubes. Nathan then proceeded to spend five minutes smearing the stuff messily on his face while the others laughed. Eventually he just tossed it down with a huff and cursed about not being a damned make up artist. Toki, with a small smile, walked over.
"Can I's tries it?" he asked, and Nathan grunted. Toki, taking this as an agreement, delicately began working the mess Nathan had put onto his face into a vague rendition of a corpse. The others looked on in shock because, while it wasn't the best work in the world, it was a hell of a lot better than anything they could do.
"That uh, that looks good. Now, go... do that on everybody else," the black haired man said, turning his chair away.
"Do's what?" Toki wondered. Nathan sighed, just a little exasperated with the boy despite knowing that his knowledge of English was still woeful.
"Put the fucking paint on their faces," he sighed, and Toki nodded happily. By the time he'd painted everyone's faces, each one slightly different than the last, Charles walked back in.
"Alright guys. It's ah, it's time," he stated, his face calm despite the worry that raged inside him. Would this show go well? Would his band succeed? He hoped so, and he hoped they were committed to the band as he led them out, Toki trailing behind to watch from backstage.
Once onstage, the lights over the audience faded while the ones over the band turned blood red, adding to the effect of the corpse paint Toki had applied. Nathan didn't even speak before he began a low, growling note and the rest of the band followed suit with their own instruments. The audience went wild, and by the end of the night, blood and bodies littered the floor. Charles hired the guard that worked there to be the band's bodyguard after he was willing to clean them up, and gave him a hood for a uniform. The rest of the band called him Klokateer after being unable to remember his name. Eventually not even Toki was calling him anything else, and he started calling himself that too.
When the show ended, adrenaline pumped through the entire band, and women filled up the space backstage. One particularly violent woman shoved Toki onto the stage to get in, and separated him from the band. Magnus was the only one close enough to the stage to be able to yell loudly enough for Toki to hear him, and so, sensing a chance at alone time with the boy, pulled free from the mass of horny women to stand by Toki.
"What is it that amses happensing?" Toki asked curiously, looking at the door blocked by gyrating, screaming, moaning women.
"A bunch of sluts trying to get cock from the band members," Magnus smirked, hearing a cheer from Pickles. He must have gotten a hot bitch. Or two, or three, or ten.
"Huh? Whats is ams that?" Toki questioned naively, lacking knowledge of most things sexual despite his age.
"Do you have any idea about what sex is?" Magnus asked with a smirk. Toki blushed and pouted.
"Ja, I's does! It ams where de babies is comings from!" Toki yelled, causing some of the women by the door to turn for a second. Magnus laughed raucously.
"Yeah, kid, sex is where babies come from. Any way, those women want to have sex with the band members," Magnus smiled at the boy.
"Ohs... sos dey is wantings to has de babies of Nat'an, Pickleses, Moiderface, and Skwisgaar?" Toki wondered, a light break in his voice at Skwisgaar.
"I guess, maybe. I mean, if they had their kids they could probably get a shit ton of money. Anyway, you got a problem with Skwisgaar having sex with those girls?" he asked with a smile to hide his annoyance.
"Nos! Uhm, why is yous not in dere? Do you nots like none of them girlses?" he asked, twisting his hair nervously and trying to hide his bright red face.
"No, they're all sluts. I don't want to have sex with a whore, and besides, you need some company. None of the other guys have ever been able to resist a hot piece of ass," he smirked maliciously, hoping to turn the boy against the blonde.
"Oh, t'anks for spendings yous time wit me den! Hey, does yous has a girl you likes? I's thought a girl backs in Norsway was real pretties, but she ams not like mes," Toki looked just a little sad for a moment, and Magnus put his arm around the youngest of their group.
"She's a dumbass. Who the hell wouldn't like a cute kid like you?" Magnus grinned, his hand turned upwards to play with the end of the boy's hair. Toki smiled.
"Yous didn't answer mine question. Yous gots to likes some lady," Toki grinned, having long ago grown used to how touchy Magnus was. At times it made him just a little uncomfortable, especially when they were alone together like now, but he guessed it was just how Magnus was, and he figured it was rude to tell him to stop.
"No, not a lady, but I do like someone..." Magnus said, leaning over and burying his nose in Toki's hair.
"Magnus, what ams yous doesing?" Toki asked trying to lean away from Magnus but being held to his side.
"Don't worry Toki... you know I like you right? I like you a lot, more than I like anyone else," Magnus mumbled, gently pushing Toki's hair out of the way so he could kiss the boy's neck.
"W-Whats? I's is nots de lady, Magnus, stops it!" Toki cried, continuing in his attempts to squirm away. None of the women bothered to look, too engrossed in their desperate attempts to get in the pants of stars to worry about an obviously uninterested guitarist and some kid he was molesting.
"Shh, hold still, I won't hurt you, I promise," Magnus said, turning Toki to face him. His lips trailed up the brunette's neck, across his cheek, and finally to his mouth. The kiss was firm and too rough for Toki, and felt more like an attack than anything. A forceful tongue pressed against Toki's still lips, but Toki pressed them tight together and tried to whip his head away. Magnus held him still once again and bit his lip to get his mouth open. The invading tongue, however, was almost immediately removed when Skwisgaar noticed a distinct lack of Toki in the room and went to the stage. As soon as he saw Magnus kissing Toki and Toki squirming to get away he threw the older man away and gathered Toki in his arms.
"Yous bastard! What was yous doing!" Skwisgaar yelled, and Toki whimpered, hiding his face in Skwisgaar's chest.
"I was fucking making a damn move on the kid until you busted in!" Magnus screamed, and still the women in the door didn't turn, obviously waiting for their go at Nathan, Pickles, or, for the adventurous, Murderface.
"Yous was rapesing him Magnus! I's is going to tells Nathan, and you wills be out of de band by tonights!" Skwisgaar shouted, holding Toki tightly and preparing to break through the wall of women.
"Nos, don'ts... don'ts does dat. He amnests means it, he just reallies wanteds de ladies but didn'ts want to be leavings me on my own. Yous guyses needs him in de bands, he won't does dat again, right?" Toki asked quietly, peeking out from his place in Skwisgaar's chest.
"No, I won't. I'm sorry kid, fuck, I'm sorry," Magnus said, unable to look at the frightened teen. Skwisgaar didn't speak, instead just leading Toki back into the room.
"We ams goings. Gets does whores out of heres," Skwisgaar said, and one look at Toki, their little brother, had them running the women out.
"What the fuck happened to him Skwisgaar?" Nathan asked, the slightest drop of caring in his voice. Magnus drifted slowly back in the room.
"I's... I's fell, and mine ribs reallies hurt," Toki said, trying to make his eyes as wide and pathetic as possible. Pickles, in his drunken stupor, lurched forward and hugged him, smacking Skwisgaar in the process.
"Ya didn't break em, right?" he questioned, snuggling the boy like a mother.
"N-Nos... I t'ink I's justs bruised dem. Deys been brokes before, sos I is knowings how dat feels," Toki said, appreciating the comfort even though he was lying about his ailment. Skwisgaar glared over at Magnus, who continued to look away from both of them, and Nathan nodded.
"Okay, well shit. Let's uh, let's get you home to fucking... rest, I guess," Nathan shrugged, the concept of comfort too foreign for him to help. Besides, it seemed Pickles, who's somehow worked Skwisgaar away, had the comforting taken care of. As they walked out, Magnus trailed slowly after him.
The next day, Magnus went on a drug binge, the first he'd done in a while, and was more stoned than Pickles by noon. By the time Charles came in at seven, he was passed out in the floor, and Skwisgaar was rhythmically kicking him from the couch.
"Hello guys. Is ah, is Magnus alright?" the bespectacled man asked nervously. He really, really didn't want to get a new guitarist, at least not now.
"Ja, he ams fine. He just dids a lots of drugs," Skwisgaar smirked, hoping the man's hangover would be awful.
"Ah, alright. Anyway, I wanted to tell you all that last night's concert was a huge success. The record head and I have already worked out five more shows all over the state in actual concert venues, so you need to practice, and likely come up with a few new songs. Who ah, who knows, after this you may get to go back to Europe and actually perform somewhere other than a bar," Charles gave the group a rare smile.
"That's fucking brutal. We're going to spread goddamned metal everywhere," Nathan grinned, and once more his shiny, disturbingly animal-like teeth were bared.
"Ah, yes, I suppose that's one way to put it. Now, please make sure Magnus is still alive. I have to go work out a few final details. The first concert is in three weeks," Charles said as he left the room.
The next morning did indeed bring Magnus a terrible hangover, but it was cured with yet another volatile cocktail of drugs and alcohol. When Nathan called for a practice that night, he was barely able to stand, and had been keeping upright by leaning against Toki, who was cringing against every movement the older man made. Nathan yanked him away and tossed him a guitar before ordering him to play. He did as he was told, but interrupted continuously with insults, and now not just to Skwisgaar.
"Pickles! What the hell are you playing? I didn't tell you to make that drum pattern your own!" He yelled to the red headed drummer as Toki winced away from the noise from his place on the couch.
"Hey! This isn't just your band, Magnus. It's our band. You've been acting crazy the past few days though, are you uh, alright?" Nathan asked, carefully masked concern present in his rough voice.
"Crazy? You don't even know what crazy looks like!" No one knew the older man had a knife until it was buried deep in Nathan's shoulder.
"Son of a bitch!" Nathan yelled, throwing the drug-addled man to the ground and repeatedly striking his face. His nose, still not totally healed, had shattered once more and sent blood spilling heavily down his face. Toki watched in horror, curling in on himself until Skwisgaar noticed and went over to hide his eyes. By the time Nathan had released his anger the man lay unconscious and bloody on the floor.
"Shit Nate... shit. I don't wanna say dis but I think he's gotta go," Pickles said, pressing his shaking fingers to his head.
"Yeah, he'sh been a real ashehole lately, and he'sh been shcaring the shit out of Toki," Murderface said, for once showing a touch of perception.
"Yeah... fuck, we'll tell him when he gets up," Nathan said, not bothering to ask Skwisgaar's opinion, both because he already knew what the answer would be and because he was busily rocking Toki back and forth and mumbling something or another in Swedish.
Magnus didn't wake up for two and a half hours, about an hour after Skwisgaar had walked Toki to his room and told him to sleep. Once he stood up, Skwisgaar, Pickles, and Murderface moved to stand behind Nathan, a little scared that the man would attack one of them again.
"Magnus, we uh, need to say something," Nathan started, and Magnus snorted.
"What you gonna apologize for beating the shit out of me again?"
"No. We've uh, decided you're no longer in Dethklok. Get your shit and be out by morning," Nathan said, and Magnus laughed.
"Whatever motherfucker. Good luck finding another guitarist to replace me," his voice was surprisingly calm, but the other members didn't trust it. They all left him there and went to their own rooms.
Pickles was the first one up the next morning, and so figured he should go check Magnus' room to make sure he was out. When he discovered the trashed room and a message of revenge scrawled on the wall, he immediately went to get Nathan. Together they scrubbed the message away, and did their best to get the room back how it was supposed to be. They didn't tell the others how it had been before, and after telling Toki, who was a little sad despite what had been done to him, that Magnus was gone, life went on until Charles came to visit later in the day. When they explained what happened, the man pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I'll ah, get started searching for a new guitarist. In the meantime, you need to figure out how to make your songs work without Magnus," Charles said, and a memory struck Skwisgaar's mind. Toki knew how to play guitar!
"Waits, Mr. Managers. Tokis knows de guitar, de shops man who was lookings after hims before taught him, remembers? Plus he sits in ons de practices, sos he knows de songs," Skwisgaar said, and Charles quirked an eyebrow.
"Go get him your guitar, Skwisgaar," he said, and when he came back with it Toki was squirming in his seat even though he'd been much more still that morning without Magnus, in a drugged haze, trying to accost him.
"I's not reals goods Skwisgaar, nots like yous," he said as the blonde shoved the guitar in his hands.
"Justs tries it. It ams will be a wholes lot easiers den gettings a brand news guitarist," Skwisgaar said, and Toki nodded. With a deep breath, he played what he could remember of a guitar part from his favorite Dethklok song, and they all reeled back in shock. He was almost as talented, almost as fast, as Skwisgaar.
"Toki, how did you do that? You have not practiced in over a month!" Skwisgaar said, so shocked he slipped back into Swedish without really realizing it.
"I... I used your guitar at night, sometimes. I'm sorry, but it is very nice, and I couldn't help it!" Toki cried guiltily, and Skwisgaar laughed.
"Toki, it ams fine! It ams greats! Yous is our new guitarist! Mr. Managers, go order hims a news guitar! Gets him de Flyings V!" Skwisgaar said with a huge grin that pulled strangely at his stitches, and while Nathan gave him a glare for inducting a new member without his concent, he wasn't going to complain, and so nodded to Charles in order to tell him it was fine. Toki was amazing, and even he could tell it. He had a strange feeling in his chest right then, a feeling he didn't quite understand. All he knew was that now Dethklok, his band, was complete, and if anyone tried to fuck that up, he'd damn well be the one to kill them.