Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Nick Elliot has gone through alot. After a bad break up with Jessie Jenson, heiress to JcJenson itself, and after some prodding from Thad and Vanessa, his childhood friends, Nick vented his sorrows through music. Though, not the average "acoustic guitar in a dark room" type of venting music. 

No, Nicholas Elliot was a rapper.

Thad paused the track as it ended, turning to Nick, who was standing next to him. "How's that, huh? I sampled everything you gave me." Thad asked Nick, who nodded. 

"That was perfect! I'm so glad I got you and V producing me." Nick said, high fiving Thad.

"So, you gonna pop in the studio and give us your newest hit, N?" Vanessa came from behind throwing her arm over Nick's shoulders.

"Ah! Jeez, V! Don't scare me like that!" Nick yelled, before laughing. "But yeah, I'm gonna go in. Thad, headphones?" Nick called out to Thad, who passed him a set of headphones. Nick nodded as he walked into the studio.

Thad started the track as Nick pulled out his sheet of lyrics, scrawled onto a crumbled sheet of lined paper. "In 3, 2, 1..." Thad pressed play.

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Uzi Doorman was the daughter of world-renowned EDM artist CrabHeart, better known as Nori Doorman to her family and friends. However, after an unfortunate accident involving rival artists, Nori had been confined to a wheelchair, and not wanting to risk further injury, decided to retire from the EDM scene.

Uzi, however, wasn't about to let her mother's music die off like that. So, after a lot of poking and prodding, Nori finally agreed to become Uzi's producer. "Alright mom, you got everything?" Uzi asked, one headphone halfway off her head.

"Everything's all set! It might not be the greatest, but I haven't done this in a year. Ready?" Nori wheeled over to the other monitor, as she adjusted one final time.

"Ready!" Uzi adjusted her headphones, pulling out her own crumpled sheet of paper as Nori pressed play.

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"How was that?" Nick huffed, as the track ended. Thad and Vanessa gave him a thumbs up as he left the recording booth. Thad handed him a water bottle, which he took gratefully and chugged.

"I think this might be one of your best yet. Do you wanna make it a single or wait to finish the album?" Thad asked, as he pulled the complete song into a file of Nick's other completed ones.

"I think we can finish the album here? We've got 12 songs now after adding that one." Nick suggested, as Thad nodded, finishing off the album.

"Alright, I'll see if I can get Lizzy and Doll to come up with the album cover for it." Vanessa said, fishing her phone from her pocket. 

"Okay, but what do you wanna call this one last song, N?" Thad called Nick over, and left him with the ability to name it.

"How about..." Nick thought back to the lyric sheet, before getting an idea. 

"Bite Me."

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"Alright, not bad for your first song, huh?" Nori said, giving her daughter a thumbs up as she finished recording.

"With your beats and my lyrics? It's a banger, no doubt." Uzi adjusted her beanie as she walked with her mom to go upload the song.

"I think I should give you free reign over the name, huh?" Nori grinned as she rolled off into another room. "I'll be in the kitchen!" Nori called out, leaving Uzi alone.

Uzi stared at the empty name, before typing it  in.

That night, "Love Doing Anything" released as DarkXwolf17's first ever song.

Chapter Text

Justin Jenson was not in the mood to hear his older sister whine and cry.

Apparently, her Ex-Boyfriend, that Elliot boy, who frankly, Justin didn't mind, mentioned her on his newest album, and not in a nice way. Justin had to admit though, the kid had sound. He could feel the emotion in each lyric.

Still, as the youngest Jenson, he highly doubts he'll convince Jessie to shut up. Justin rubbed his temples and sighed as he replayed 'Bite Me' for the 89th time.

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Nick was doing amazing.

His newest album, 'Exoplanet', had beaten his first, 'Retrieving Gold' (Nick admits the name was stupid, but he loves Golden Retrievers.), and it was doing wonders.

However, a new artist had entered the scene. Her name was DarkXWolf17, and Nick had to admit, she could spit. "I dunno, Thad, it's like.. a mix of the beat, plus her lyrics? Speaking of beats, doesn't it sound familiar to you?" Nick turned to Thad.

"N, it's an EDM beat, there's really not much to tell." Thad raised an eyebrow, causing Nick to groan.

"No, no, there's something in the repeating bass, reminds me of CrabHeart in a way?" Nick heard a laugh, and watched as Vanessa, Lizzy, and Doll walked in.

"CrabHeart retired a year ago, N! There's no way she's back, certainly not like this. Sounds nothing like her!" Vanessa laughed.

"I think he could be right? Me and Dolly went and saw CrabHeart's last concert last year, and the bass is something similar, I guess." Lizzy shrugged, and Doll gave Nick a thumbs up.

Nick rolled his eyes, and went back to listening to the track. The title stuck out to him, it was the same as a certain catchphrase his older sister, Tessa, would say.

He should call her, see how her and Cynthia are doing..

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"Mom, people love it!"

Uzi gave Nori her phone, showing her the amount of downloads that 'Love Doing Anything' got.

"Holy heck! Not even my songs got this much!" Nori laughed, slapping her knee as she tried to stand. Uzi quickly went and helped Nori to her feet. "Uzi, I got this.." Nori's tone changed to a more sweet one as she whispered to her daughter.

"Still, Mom, it's only been a year.. You're still healing." Uzi urged, and Nori sighed as Uzi handed the older doorman her cane.

"I guess. 40 years old and already with a cane, holy smokes.." Nori shook her head. "Yeva was right, I should've used that trapdoor." Uzi couldn't help but frown as she heard Nori's guilt.

"Hey, if it helps, Chambers got caught a week ago?" Uzi told Nori. Chambers, known by close friends as Bay, was notorious for taking out EDM artists so he can keep his 'Solvers', a band of artists from across the globe who work at his club, Cabin Fever, fresh. Nori worked there, along with Uzi's two other aunts, Alice and Yeva.

"About damn time, too! Should've outed his money laundering earlier." Nori snarked, sitting on the couch with a grin. Uzi sat down next to her and the two spent the rest of the evening laughing themselves to tears.

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Bay was NOT happy right now.

His Solvers, the ones HE gave a home and purpose, outed him! Bay clutched at the legs of the top bunk, causing the prisoner on top to drop down.

"Oh, hey.. Max?" Bay waved. Max, a man in his 20's who did not give a damn, just sighed, and grabbed Bay by the collar, dragging him out of the cell.

Uh oh.

Chapter Text

Uzi had to admit, 'Bite Me' was a very far stretch from her normal music taste, but damn was it a good song. She didn't know who this N guy is, but the emotion he was able to put in the whole song in only 2 minutes was astonishing, in a good way, to her.

And, as creepy as it sounds, she began to note down things about N's life that she could get from his past work. Already, she could tell he was in a past abusive relationship, if the lyric "you were never looking out for me, yet you made me believe that you always were." Didn't imply that enough, she could tell that someone, whom N simply dubbed 'Branded Pen', seemed to control N's entire life.

Uzi sighed as she turned to another notepad document, trying to come up with lyrics for her next song. However, she never knew what she could make it about.

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Nick loved 'Love Doing Anything'. 

It reached out to him, the lyrics portrayed a girl who was hurting, yet still carried on with her life like nothing bothered her. 

Nick didn't know who DarkXwolf17 was, but he hopes she's living a good life. Nick turned to his notepad document and started writing in lyrics for his next song, until his sister Cynthia walked in. "Cyn?" Nick turned to the girl, who hugged him.

In the doorway, he saw Tessa standing there, arms crossed as she smirked. "Sup, Bro?" She said, addressing her brother.

"Tessa, did you guys really drive all the way over here?" Nick asked, chuckling slightly as he reached down to pat Cyn's head.

"We heard your new song!" Cyn gave off a smile as she babbled on about how cool it was to have a rapper for an older brother. Then, Nick got an idea.

"Hey Cyn, what if.. you got to feature on one of my songs?" And Nick swears, his heart instantly melted at Cyn's joy.

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Owning a club was tough. Especially when your older brother went to jail, and now all your artists bailed. 

Mitchell rubbed at his temples and he tried to book multiple artists, eventually landing on a woman named B3th4ny, a DJ straight from California with multiple awards. 

After consulting with his co-CEO and wife, Ridley, he hired B3th4ny, who, like her name implies, is ACTUALLY named Bethany. The interview went well, and Mitchell watched as he slowly brought people back to Cabin Fever.