Loss of Control

My Chem boys:

“We’re doing what now?” Mikey asked their manager.

“You’re going to do a collab with three other bands. I just talked to one of them and they said that it can help with a bit of publicity,” their manager, Brian, confirmed. “Don’t, one of them is your wife’s band.”

“Pixel? We’re going on tour with Pixel?” Frank asked excitedly.

“Yes, and right now, you’re scaring us, Frankie. Come back to us,” Ray said.

“What about these other two bands?” Gerard question.

“The other one is Avenged Sevenfold, which you all know,” he said as everybody smiled in recognition of the name. “But the other one you’ve never heard of.”

“Who are they?” Gerard asked.

“A band called McFly from the U.K.,” Brian read off from his paper.

“Who?” Bob asked from the back of the group.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I just make promises to bands, I don’t research them. That’s usually your job,” Brian told them, indicating all of them.

“Do we have to? I mean, we don’t even know this band,” Ray asked.

“Yes, Toro. You’re forced to do this. This is set in stone. Now, I’m gonna make a few more calls. You two do your research while I make those calls,” Brian said and muttered to himself ‘and maybe a good drink for myself.’

When their manager left, Mikey quickly grabbed hold of his laptop and turned it on. When it was done heating up, he went on his internet browser and went on Google.

“You’re not gonna search yourself this time, are you?” Frank asked him.

Mikey sent him a glare and typed in the band ‘McFly’. Sure enough, it got over a million hits. He clicked on their Wikipedia page and read what was on it.

“What does it say?” Bob asked him.

“Well, from what I’ve gathered, not a lot. Started in ’04, has four albums… Damn. It says here they also have their own record label and stared in their own movie,” Mikey stated.

“Really? You think any of the girls heard of it?” Gerard asked.

“Maybe Sally. I’m not sure of the other girls,” Mikey answered.

“What’s the movie called?” Frank asked.

“Uh… Just My Luck. Kind of a weird title, but sounds oddly familiar,” Mikey said.

“Well, at least we know two bands,” Ray stated as Mikey closed his laptop.

“Yeah, thank God for that,” Mikey said.

“But what about Bandit? I know it’s been going through your mind, too, Gee,” Frank said.

“I can ask Linda if she can babysit her for the tour. I mean, she is Pixel’s roadie and she loves taking care of her. I’m sure Nessa won’t mind.”

“So what now?” Ray asked.

“Now we wait,” Gerard confirmed.

Avenged Boys:

“We’re doing what now?” Brian asked their manager.

“You have heard correctly. A collab with three different artists because I said so. No backing out of this because it’s set in stone and there’s no backing out,” their manager told them.

“That’s not fair! Do we at least get to know who these bands are?” Jimmy asked.

Their manager rolled his eyes and looked at his list. “My Chemical Romance, Pixel of the LA Suspect, and McFly.”

“I know My Chem and Pixel, but who's McFly?” Matt asked him.

Their manager, Adam, was about to reply when his phone began to go off.

“Can’t answer that question right now. I’ll be right back,” Adam said, leaving them inside the room.

“But we have so many questions!” Johnny shouted at him.

Their manager ignored him and walked away from them. Johnny grabbed hold of Zacky’s laptop and opened it up. He turned it on.

“What are you doing?” Matt asked their bassist.

“Searching, now shush,” Johnny said as he searched ‘McFly’. It took several searches, but Johnny found enough information as he could.

“They’re softies,” Johnny told them.

They all groaned.

"So what are we gonna do?” Zacky asked them.

“We can scare the crap out of them,” Jimmy suggested, getting a beer from the fridge.

“I don’t think so. I think the girls would murder you if you do that, especially Vanessa and Sally,” Matt told him.

“It was worth a shot,” Jimmy said, shrugging his shoulders.

“All we need to do now is wait,” Brian said, strumming his guitar.

McFly Boys:

“When did you decide this?” Tom asked their manager, Fletch.

“About a few days ago. Look, it’s a good thing. Some of these bands are very huge in America, and you need to publicity,” he told them.

“Why would you even agree on this?” Danny asked, looking at the names on the piece of paper.

“Like I said, it would give you great publicity in America. They’re incredibly famous,” he told them again.

“Hang on, how long is this tour?” Harry asked him.

“The managers and I are still deciding on that. Once we figure that out, then we’ll tell you how long the tour is. So I suggest you get packing because we’re going to be heading off towards California to meet the bands tomorrow,” Fletch told them, leaving the room.

“Well that’s bull,” Tom said.

“He didn’t even say who the bands were, so there’s no way we could search them, could we?” Dougie questioned.

“That is true. All we know is that we’re touring with three other bands,” Danny said.

“I guess he wants it to be the element of surprise,” Harry concluded.

“If it is, it’s pretty shit,” Tom said, messing around with his phone.

“I’m sure we’ll figure it out soon enough,” Dougie said.

“Yeah, when we get there. So I guess we’re gonna have to pack, yeah,” Tom said, getting up from his spot on the couch.

“I guess. Since it’s the summer over there, should we pack something that’s good for the weather?” Danny suggested.

“I think so. I mean, we’re going to be staying there for as long as we can, so best guess is to pack anything that has to do with summer,” Tom said as he was about to leave the room.

Pixel Girls:

“What if I said I was on my period?” Chelsea asked their manager.

“That’s meant for swimming, smart one. And no, that won’t work,” Luna, their manager, said.

“Well, why do we have to? I mean, we’re already famous,” Vanessa, making funny faces at Bandit.

“I flipped a coin,” Luna confessed.

“I knew it,” Sally said, jingling her keys in front of Bandit’s face.

“So who are working on the collab with?” Layla asked, writing something down in her bright orange book.

“Well, two you already know. My Chem and A7X, but the other you have never heard of. McFly,” Luna said, reading off the paper.

“McFly I think I’ve heard of,” Sally said as she put her keys away.

“I’ll let you all figure that out. We still have more planned, but this is what we have so far. Oh,the band is British,” he said, leaving the room.

“I hate you!” Sally shouted.

“See you at mom’s!” Luna shouted back.

“I don’t wanna go! Mikey and I finally got settled,” Anna whined, pouting.

“Hey, this would be like another honeymoon for you and him. Well, except for the fact that you’ll be working, but you’ll be working together,” Vanessa said, holding a sleeping Bandit close to her chest.

“You think Linda would take care of Bandit while we’re gone?” Sally asked, taking hold of her godchild.

“I think so. I mean, Linda loves her and we’re going to pay her either way,” Vanessa said, cooing at her.

“This is gonna suck. I mean, we all have different music style. In what universe could this actually work?” Layla questioned.

“Apparently this one. Now stop complaining. We’re going to a mansion!” Chelsea squealed, happy.

Oh how fun this would be.

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The boys of McFly walked towards the elevator of the studio that they were supposed to go to to meet with the other bands. Once they got to the room, they saw ten different men playing with a video game that neither could hear, but could hear a lot of shouting and a lot of cursing.

“Hey, new people,” a short man with brown hair and more tattoos than any of the boys pointed out.

The men looked up and waved at them. One of them paused the game. Tom took notice the man that paused the game had shades on with a cap on.

“Hey there. I’m Matt, this is Brian, Zacky, Johnny, and Jimmy. We’re Avenged Sevenfold,” Matt greeted, shaking Tom’s hand.

“I’m Tom, this is Dougie, Harry, and Danny,” Tom introduced.

“I’m Frank, that’s Gerard, or Gee if you like, Mikey, Bob, and Ray is the one with the fro,” Frank, the one that pointed them out, introduced.

“Hey. The other band won’t be here yet. They're too lazy to get out of bed,” Gerard, the one with black hair with shades on top of his head, told them.

“So… we’re early?” Harry asked them.

“Pretty much. We’re playing a bit of videogames. Wanna play?” Brian asked them.

The boys looked at each other, but agreed to play either way.

However, after a few minutes after McFly showed up, there were a few arguments and a few remarks.

“And all I’m saying is that if you’d actually take the freeway that I suggested, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” the first voice argued.

“I wanted a detour and I took the wrong turn. What’s the big deal? We got here, yeah?” the second voice said.

“We’re fucking late is what we are! Just be glad that Bandit isn’t here to hear me curse,” the first voice shouted.

“My question is, why did you even let Chelsea drive in the first place?” Brian questioned, looking at the three girls who entered the room.

“Because we’re dumbasses and Sally’s car was in the shop. So, we had to take her car,” the girl with the white hair and a bit of pink in it confirmed.

“Speaking of which, where are they?” Gerard asked.

“You know how Sally is with elevators and Bandit would scream her head off if she’s in somewhere where places move,” the girl with black hair commented.

“What moves?” another voice asked.

Two girls walked in. One had dark brown hair with loads of piercings and tattoos while the other is a blonde hair girl with a baby on her hip, also with tattoos and piercings.

“Yay, you’re here! Time for introductions!” Jimmy stated, waving at them.

“Right. Well, I’m Vanessa, call me either Nessa or Ness, and this here is Bandit. I’m also the rhythm guitarist of the band,” Vanessa introduced, as Bandit reached towards one of the men.

“Come here, little princess,” Gerard cooed, holding Bandit in his arms.

“I’m Layla. I’m the singer,” the girl with light blond hair introduced.

“Anna, drummer,” a girl with black hair introduced.

“I’m Chelsea and I’m the lead guitarist. The girl making a beeline for the coffee is Sally and she’s the bassist,” Chelsea, the girl with brilliant red hair, introduced herself and the girl with dark brown hair.

“I got three hours of sleep. I deserve coffee,” Sally said as she began to pour herself a cup of coffee.

“Half the time I still wonder how you can survive,” Jimmy stated.

Sally flipped him off from behind and took a sip. She turned around and waved at them.

“So who are you?” she asked, indicating the four that grew incredibly quiet.

“Well, I’m Danny, this is Tom, that’s Dougie, and that one’s Harry,” Danny introduced.

“Shit, really? You’re joking,” Chelsea said, staring at Harry.

“I’m not. Why?” Harry questioned.

“Have you ever seen the movie When Harry Met Sally?” Sally questioned, finishing off her coffee.

Realization hit Harry in the face and thought about it.

“Unfortunately, I’m getting married, so you’re S.O.L,” Sally stated, crumbling up her coffee cup and throwing it in the trash can.

“I’m not gonna lie, but you guys look incredibly familiar,” Tom.

Sally looked at the girls, who stared back at her. She rolled her eyes and quickly pulled a few pieces of hair up and tied it up, letting the failed pony tail rest on top of her head.

“That’s why! Wow, you all grew up,” Dougie said

“Yeah. I grew out of the blue highlights, let my hair down, and stopped wearing baggy pants and wore skinny jeans with a pair of converse,” Sally stated, letting her hair down.

As she said this, all five of the managers came into the room and saw Sally sitting down with her bandmates.

“Good, you’re all here. Now, the first thing we need to do is figure out how this is going to work,” Brian said.

“Let us go early and get more sleep?” Chelsea asked hopefully.

“Aw, that is so cute! You actually think I give a shit about your sleep,” Luna cooed sarcastically.

“There is child present,” Sally said, pointing at Bandit, who seemed to fall asleep in her father’s arms.

“If I wanted a lecture, I would’ve phoned Mama Liza,” Luna told her, the twins shuddering in pain.

“Anyway, we’ve decided to first split up the band in selections. That means the bassists form a group, as do the singers, the drummers, and the guitarists so that you can all get to know each other,” Fletch said.

“So, go. You have two hours to get to know each other,” Fletch said.

When they left, they were alone.