Chapter Text

“Mad Max! Have you seen my bandana?”

“Isn’t it on your head?”

“No! The cool wolf fangs one I use on my face!”

“Did you lose it again, Chloe?”

“I didn’t lose it! I just can’t find it.”

“Do we have to do this every time before a gig, Chlo?”

“Not helping, Max!”

“Have you checked the drawers?”

“Yes! It’s. Not. In. There! Fuuuuuck!”

“Chill Chloe. What about your bag?”

“I’ve spilled everything out! It’s. Not. In. There!”

“Guys! You are up in ten!” The stagehand shouts.

“Fuuuuuck! Max! I am screwed!”

“Chloe!” Max finally turns to look at her best friend. She stalks up to her and grabs the piece of garment on her neck. “It’s on your neck!”

“Oh. Right. Sharp eyes, Captain!” Chloe gives Max a salute, accompanies by her classic shit-eating grin.

“Jesus, Chlo! Can we not do this every time? You know I’m about to shit my pants, right?” Max bounces nervously in her seat at her dressing table, gripping her guitar so tight, her knuckles are turning white.

“Relax! You are Captain and we are the Twenty One Pirates. People will love us even if you screw up.” Chloe laughs while tying the grey bandana around her face to cover her mouth and nose.

Chloe loves this bandana she’d gotten from Etsy. There is a wolf fangs design across the bandana so when she covers her mouth with it, it looks like she is baring her fangs.

It’s so badass.

Or so Chloe thinks.

“Chlo, please don't jinx me.” Max wipes the beads of perspiration from her forehead. The lights from the dressing table are too warm and do nothing to help with her growing anxiety. “I- I can’t afford to screw up.”

“Relax, Super Max,” Chloe gives her best friend a smack on her back, causing Max to wince in pain. Max gives Chloe a death glare.

“Captain never screws up. It’s like there is some magic in that mask of yours that gives you courage and great hand-eye coordination.” Chloe laughs. “If only Max is half as great as Captain.”

“I know right,” Max says as she thumbs her mask softly. “Grandma makes this for me and tells me she has blessed it with a special ‘Granny Charm’ meant to give me more confidence on stage. I really think that’s why I do so well as Captain.”

“Maybe you need to wear this mask around campus, especially around that Icky Vicky so you’ll not always stutter when you talk to her,” Chloe says playfully.

“Guys! Get your asses on stage, NOW!” stagehand yells impatiently.

“Alright, alright! Jesus.” Chloe tugs her black bandana on her head so that it covers all of her short, blue hair. Then, she pulls up a single black sleeve to cover up her skull and flower vine sleeve tattoo, and her transformation into Davy is complete.

“You ready to rock ‘n roll? Time to henshin into Captain!” Chloe twirls her drumstick and gives Max a wink. “Davy is ready to jam! Arr!!”

Max closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

You can do this, Max. You are Captain.

She exhales slowly.

Max puts her black ski mask over her head and pulls it down to her chin. Then, she straps the red eye patch over her left eye.

No longer is she the shy and socially awkward Max Caulfield who stutters and stammers nervously.

Tonight, she is Captain of the Twenty One Pirates.

“Let’s go, Davy. Time to rock the house down.”

“Ay ay, Captain!” Davy replies cheerfully.

“No prey, no pay!” They high five each other as they leave their dressing room and walk towards the stage.

The cheers are getting louder.

The crowd is chanting “We want Twenty One Pirates” repeatedly.

Captain and Davy are ready.

They strut onto the stage and the crowd goes wild.

Davy waves at the crowd, spurring them on.

“I love you, Davy!” A bunch of girls screams in the mosh pit. Davy gives them a salute and the girls scream even louder.

Captain just walks to her hanging microphone, not addressing the crowd at all. But the crowd is used to it. That is why they love Captain. She appears so cold yet her voice is so warm.

Davy readies herself at her drum set and looks at Captain.

Captain gives Davy a nod and Davy starts playing the beat.

Tonight, the starting number is a rock ballad.

The crowd screams then goes quiet because Captain is now playing on her guitar – the most amazing piece the crowd has heard tonight.

And the fans know it is time, as Captain lifts her ski mask up to her nose – a deliberate and dramatic act that always drive the fans crazy – and starts to sing.



=====

It is a boring Friday night for Victoria Chase.

Taylor has just dragged her into a shady, underground club with a cliché, hipster name: The Raven.

“Come on, V! You’ll love it. There’s booze, live music, fantastic atmosphere —”

“Icky, sweaty bodies, body odor and dumb, screaming groupies.” Victoria rolls her eyes. “If I want to have my body pressed against someone’s butt, I rather do it in the Vortex Club.”

Victoria is reluctant to go to an underground indie club but Taylor has insisted that she will go to The Raven with or without Victoria because the guy she has a crush on is playing tonight.

And Victoria’s lackey number two, Courtney, is too busy with her new boyfriend nowadays to join them on weekends.

Victoria sighs.

College life sucks because no one is afraid of her anymore to be at her beck and call, and she seriously doesn’t want to spend Friday night alone.

Only losers spend Friday night alone and she is Victoria Chase, for Christ’s sake.

So here she is, in the middle of the mosh pit with a glass of cheap alcohol, surrounded by screaming girls and rowdy guys.

She has just endured forty-five minutes of rock songs that aren’t really songs. Not with all the screaming in the singing.

But Taylor is clearly enjoying herself. She has gone absolutely crazy with Pisshead’s performance. Victoria has no idea what Taylor sees in that bassist of Pisshead, the one she has a huge girl boner for. He looks like he hasn’t had a good haircut in ages and his clothes are so ragged. In other words, he looks like a hobo.

Hobo looks so bored on stage and even yawn a few times while playing but Taylor insists that he looks damn cool having that nonchalant expression on his face.

Victoria doesn’t get it. How is being uninterested in your own music, cool?

Then again, she will never understand what Taylor sees in that bassist. Afterall, she bats for a different team.

“Isn’t he cool?” Taylor swoons during the interval. “He’s a Sociology major in our school. I swear I’ll ask for his number the next time I see him around the campus.”

“For his sake, I hope he finishes college.” Victoria finishes her drink in one gulp and orders another tequila sunrise from the bartender. The alcohol in this shitty club is so watered down, she needs a lot more of it to even get high. “‘Cos he obviously won’t make it as a musician.”

“Hey!” Taylor gives Victoria a light slap on her shoulder. “Don’t be mean. Pisshead is great.” Victoria widens her eyes in disbelief as she glares at Taylor. “Okay, maybe they are a little off form tonight. But most of the time, they are great.” Taylor backpedals.

“Whatever, Tay Tay.” Victoria checks the time on her phone. Good. The night is still young. “Since their set is over, wanna go to the Vortex Club now? I’ll get us an Uber.”

“But Twenty One Pirates is playing soon.” Taylor takes a sip of her bourbon coke. “They are the real crowd puller tonight. Most of the people are actually here for them.”

“Fuck me,” Victoria groans. “My ears can’t stand the torture anymore. This indie shit is really not for me. And any band with a cheesy name like Twenty One Pirates is definitely bad.”

“Give them a chance, V.” Taylor gives Victoria her best puppy eyes. “I swear they are the good ones tonight.”

Victoria purses her lips in annoyance. She can just walk out of the club and leaves Taylor here on her own. After all, Taylor did mention she is coming to The Raven even if Victoria won’t accompany her.

But she thinks of all the nights Taylor watched her back and sent her back to her dorm safely when she was pissed drunk from clubbing, and she just cannot bear to leave her best friend here in this shady, underground club.

“Alright.” Victoria concedes. “But if they suck, you’ve to do my homework for a week.”

“Deal.” Taylor smiled victoriously. “But I’m sure that won’t be happening.”

“We shall see.”

When they return to the mosh pit, the crowd has significantly increased. The crowd is getting restless and is making a lot of noise. Someone in the back starts chanting, “We want Twenty One Pirates!” And soon the whole mosh pit is chanting.

Who is Twenty One Pirates? Are they really as good as Taylor says?

Victoria yawns. She doesn’t fucking care. She just wants this to be over so she can go to some place with real music she can dance to.

Then it happens. Two person – Victoria think they are girls, but she can’t be sure – strut onto the stage like they own the place.

The taller one is wearing two bandanas, a black bandana with a white, pirate skull design on her head, and a grey bandana with teeth design on her face. She is wearing a blue tank top and has a single black sleeve on her right arm, and black pants with grey, knee-high boots.

The shorter one looks hilarious. She has a black ski mask over her face. If that is not comical enough, she has a red eye patch over her left eye. Victoria wonders how she can see without tripping over every other minute. Shortie is wearing a sleeveless, black top and has two black armband tattoo on her left bicep. The outfit is completed with a pair of red pants and a pair of black, pirate boots.

The crowd goes crazy. People are screaming and whistling and cheering.

What does Victoria do instead?

She laughs.

She laughs at how ridiculous these two clowns look and how stupid this whole thing is.

Taylor is going to do her homework for a week. She has never been so certain in her life before.

Bandanas starts playing the drums and the crowd screams even harder.

Then, Shortie starts playing on her guitar and the crowd goes silent.

Victoria is no longer laughing. She, like the crowd, has also gone silent.

Because even though Shortie is petite, her fingers are nimble and moving lightning fast along the neck of her guitar, producing the most amazing sounds in the club.

What happens next has Victoria gaping in awe.

In one swift motion, Shortie lifted her ski mask up and sings.

At that moment, Victoria knows that Taylor has won the deal.

She can’t stop staring at Shortie because that is the most beautiful voice she has ever heard. A voice that blends flawlessly with the guitar she is playing, and the beats from the drums complement every note of her voice.

Victoria grabs Taylor’s wrist, her fingers trembling with excitement. She opens her mouth to talk but no words come out. She stays like this until Shortie finishes the first song of the set, her mouth gaping stupidly like a fish.

The crowd goes wild the moment Bandanas end the song with a loud crash of the cymbals.

Victoria finds herself clapping unconsciously.

“Taylor,” Victoria finally manages to find her words. “What are their names?”

Taylor gives her a cheeky grin.

“The drummer is Davy.” Taylor points at Bandanas.

“That vocalist,” Taylor moves her finger slowly at Shortie. “Is Captain.”

“Captain.” Victoria repeats, eyes never leaving that shortie with a ski mask on her face.

“Taylor?”

“Hmm?”

“She is fucking amazing.”