Chapter Text
Silence. The room was almost completely silent except for the constant ticking of the grandfather clock, sitting in the corner out of place amongst the modern, businesslike furniture. For a room filled with such musically inclined people, the lack of noise between the group was a bit ironic. The Royals and The Queens of Darkness, arguably the most talented bands in the world with one of the biggest rivalries the music industry had ever seen, sat opposite of one another, at a large round table, sharing looks of disgust and annoyance. Their managers stood away from the table, alternating between shooting worried glances at their clients and the door. Once upon a time, The Royals and The Queens of Darkness would not have been caught dead in the same room having been owned by two competing record labels, but due to the ambitions of one multimillionaire, their old companies had been bought out and merged, bringing the bands closer than they ever cared to be. Right as the clock struck four, the doors to the room opened and in walked the man himself, the CEO to the newly founded Enchanted Forest Record label, Elliot Gold. While not big in stature, the CEO had a certain air of authority around him that made it clear he was not a man to be messed with.
Taking a moment to look every person in the eye, the intimidating man smiled before addressing his new employees.
“Hello everyone, as you all already know, in buying out your little record labels I also bought the rights to your contracts, making me your new boss.”
The bands began to look uneasy, unnerved by the business man’s tone.
“Now what you do not know, what I have brought you all here to discuss, is your tour.”
“Now just wait a minute Gold,” Cora Mills, the manager for The Queens of Darkness, spoke up, “I don’t think it’s a very good idea to discuss my clients’ business with our main competitors in the same room.”
The Royals’ manager, Granny Lucas, nodded in agreement, “If you want to talk with us about anything, you’ll do it separately or not at all.”
Gold smiled, “That’s just it, this is not just about you anymore, it’s about money. All this competition might have been good for business before, but now that I own both of you it would benefit me if my star musicians didn’t spend every interview trashing one another.”
“Is that all you want?” the lead singer of The Queens of Darkness rolled her dark eyes, “fine, we won’t say anything that could hurt the idiot clan’s sparkling reputation, or what's left of it anyway.”
“We’re not the ones with a bad image, or did you forget the name of your band Regina?” the drummer of The Royals shot back.
Regina glared at the blonde girl, “If I were you I’d shut my mouth, or do you forget what a black eye feels like?”
“Now ladies,” Mr. Gold interrupted before any other threats could be made, “this is exactly what I’m talking about. This dispute between all of you splits the customer base in half, which splits the amount of money I make in half, which makes me a very unhappy man. Now none of you want to make me unhappy, so you will do what I say when I say, understood?”
The young adults all nodded silently, too scared to upset the powerful man in front of them.
“Good, now here is what is going to happen. First, you will all stop this foolish rivalry and hold yourselves to a higher standard. Second, you will start to acknowledge one another’s talent and give praise when asked about each other in interviews. Third, you will clear your schedules for the foreseeable future because all of you will be spending this summer touring together. Failure to follow any of my rules will result in a termination of your contracts. I suggest you all get to know each other a little better because your first joint interview is this Friday at two.”
With a final nod of certainty, Gold turned on his heels and walked out the door he came in through, leaving the bands speechless, too shocked to say anything.
“Well,” Granny finally broke the several minute silence, “I guess we’ll be spending a hell of a lot more time together now.”
Three Years Earlier
Excitement was buzzing in the air as two bands sat on separate sides of a theater, wishing and praying for the same thing. Though the night was almost over, the most exciting part was yet to come. The last award of the night was the coveted Best New Artist award. While there were four bands nominated for the award, The Royals and The Queens of Darkness were the ones considered most likely to win. Coming from different backgrounds, the only things the two bands had in common were their incredible talent and dedicated fanbases.
The Royals’ story of fame and fortune was something out of a fairytale. A small town high school band who was discovered by chance at a local talent show, and thrust into the spotlight. Within a year of being discovered they had a full album recorded and were touring all around the world.
The Queens of Darkness had a very different beginning from their competitors. Their band started as a two-person feature in the Mills garage and soon expanded to a full, five-piece band. Their ascent into stardom was a slow steady climb, and it wasn’t until two years of playing in malls and local events that they finally had the resources to record their own album.
If The Royals’ story was a wishful fairytale, then The Queens of Darkness’ story was a parable about the outcome of hard work and ambition. Now, as the night drew to an end, these two stories were about to collide in a way no one had ever thought they would.
“And now,” the show’s host spoke into the microphone causing a hush to fall over the crowd, “the moment we’ve all been waiting for. The winner of the Best New Artist award is… The Royals!”
Thunderous applause filled the room as the cameras panned to two groups of people. On one screen was the joyful faces of the winners as they jumped up in surprise and made their way to the stage, stopping only to hug one another and their manager. On the other screen was the humbled faces of The Queens of Darkness, clapping and smiling graciously for their fellow musicians.
After a long night of celebrating, The Royals gathered together in their manager’s hotel room for a breakfast of champions. All four band members and their manager filled their plates and carried it over to the couch. With the t.v. playing lowly in the background, the group enjoyed their breakfast while chatting about their fantastic night.
“Hey!” the band’s bass player yanked her plate into the air, “get your own food Emma!”
The blonde smiled, “Aww come on Rubs, just give me one sausage, between you and David there’s none left.”
“Well you know what they say Em, ya snooze ya loose. Maybe next time wake up when the rest of us do huh.”
“Oh bite me, I was up later than the rest of you nerds.”
“Who you callin’ a nerd, dork.”
“Dweeb.”
“Loser.”
“Lame ass.”
“Smart ass.”
“Dumb a-” Emma stopped speaking when a sausage link was shoved at her.
“Here,” Mary Margaret waved a link in her face, “just have one of David’s.”
Emma smiled triumphantly and took a bite out of the sausage as Ruby stuck her tongue out at her bandmate and David pouted over the loss of his food. Granny rolled her eyes fondly at the teens’ antics before the scene on the t.v. caught her attention, The Queens of Darkness were being interviewed.
“Everyone hush now,” Granny ordered as she turned the volume up, “I want to hear what they’re talking about.”
“Now, last night you were up against The Royals for the Best New Artist award, and I have to ask, is there any sort of animosity between your two groups about the outcome?” the brunette reporter flashed an inauthentic smile at the band in front of her.
The band’s guitar player spoke up, “Of course not. The Royals are a very talented group of people who fully deserved to win. I think we’re all just glad to have been considered, because at the end of the day it’s not about how many awards you win, or what bands you beat, it’s about the love for the music, and it just matters that we're connecting with our fans.”
“I agree with Mal,” Zelena piped in, “and I think The Royals would feel the same way if they were in our position.”
“Is that so?” the interview asked, “because we actually have an exclusive interview with the lead singer of The Royals who had some very interesting things to say about you.”
The screen switched to a clip from the night before, with the same interviewer and Mary Margaret still in her award show dress.
“Congratulations on your big win tonight. Tell me, were you surprised about the win, or did you expect to beat out your competitors?”
Cheeks flushed with excitement, the singer smiled, “You know, we’re still so new to this whole thing, and this was the very first award we’ve ever been nominated for, but I had a really good feeling about tonight.”
“So, you did expect to win?”
“Well, what can I say, good always wins.”
The scene cut back to The Queens of Darkness, smiles gone from their faces and a colder air filled the room. Cruella and Ursula, who were leaning on one another, slouched into comfortable positions now sat straight up with rigid backs. Zelena and Mal sat with clenched jaws and fists, trying to hold back their anger. Regina swallowed down a ball of anger, a murderous look in her eyes.
“It looks to me like maybe The Royals don’t feel the same way,” the interviewer said breaking the silence.
Regina cleared her throat, “Well clearly their band does not possess the ability to be professional, but if they want to be honest, I don’t see a reason why we can’t be too.”
The interviewer smirked.
“The Royals don’t know the definition of hard work, and will most likely be a one hit wonder.” Regina shrugged, as if her statement was just a fact of life.
The interviewer turned towards the camera smiling, “There you have it folks, the royal feud of the century. Tune in next week when we interview the loser of America’s Got Talent.”
Everyone turned to look at Mary Margaret.
“What,” Granny asked, “did you do?”
“I didn’t mean it like that, I was just trying to make a joke, because we’re The Royals and they're The Queens of Darkness, ya know?”
Ruby threw her arm around her friend, “I’m sure you didn’t mean it, but I don’t think they got the memo. I mean, they didn’t even hesitate to talk crap about us.”
“Yeah,” David chimed in, “one little offhand comment doesn’t mean they can just talk us down like that. We have worked hard to get where we are, they don’t know us.”
Emma rubbed her hands together, “If it’s a fight they want, it’s a fight they’ll get.”
A week after their meeting with Gold, The Royals and The Queens of Darkness found themselves together again, being interviewed by the same reporter who was not only there when their infamous feud began, but seemed to be there anytime fighting was reported between the two bands. She was the type of reporter who made a name for herself solely on the misfortune and miscommunication of the people she interviewed. To say the least, neither of the bands were thrilled to discover she would be the one conducting their first joint interview.
The reporter sat across from a couch with five chairs behind it, looking through her notes as a makeup artist finished working on her face. The two bands walked in from opposite sides of the studio, making their way to their seats with their best professional faces. The Royals squeezed in on the couch as The Queens of Darkness took their seats behind their enemies. Getting the thumbs up from her cameraman, the reporter put her notes down and flashed a plastic smile at the camera.
“Hello, I’m Lucy Blue and today I’m sitting down with The Royals and The Queens of Darkness to talk about their newly joined record label. Welcome everyone, I’m glad you could all be here today. Now, let’s jump right in. Both of your record labels were recently bought by Elliot Gold. How are you feeling about this transition?”
Marry Margaret opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, Regina said, “First off, I just want to say thank you for having us, it’s always a pleasure to see you. This transition has been a good thing for us. While we loved our old label, and owe them our careers, the chance to work with a brilliant businessman like Mr. Gold is something that most artists only dream of.”
Zelena nodded in agreement, “And I do believe with his help we can become something greater than we already are.”
The reporter shuffled through her papers, “I see, so what about all of you being under the same label? I know in the past you have had your… differences.”
“All that nonsense is behind us,” Snow rushed to say before Regina could beat her to the punch again.
“Oh really? Because just last week, David retweeted a picture of your bands with the captions ‘Chanel vs. Walmart’, and the week before that Ursula and Cruella were caught on camera mocking your band’s latest single, and-”
“I think what Mary Margaret means,” Regina cut in throwing a withering look at the girl in question, “is that while, yes we have had a bumpy past with one another, we have all grown up in the last few years and are completely capable and happy to work with one another. In fact, that’s one of the reasons we’re here today.”
“Oh, do tell.”
“We’d like to announce our summer tour. For twelve weeks, from May to August, our two bands will be touring together at select venues around the world. Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning at seven eastern standard time and can be bought from both of our official websites, so be on the lookout before they run out.”
“Well,” the reporter turned back to the camera with raised eyebrows, “you heard it here first, rivals turned touring buddies, The Royals and The Queens of Darkness are joining forces, for what will surely be an event to end all others. Tune in tomorrow when I sit down with the cast of Happy Ever After."
Tonight was the night. After a month of press, separate press after their less than stellar first interview, and a week of disastrous rehearsals, The Royals and The Queens of Darkness were finally starting their tour together. Gold had been very adamant that their tour be a complete team effort, something that really showed the public that they were no longer enemies. The set for the show was simple; both bands would open the show together with a cover chosen by one lucky fan before the show, then alternate between playing their own original songs, and end the show with any song they wanted, as long as they performed it together.
Walking down the hall with her bandmates, Regina could hardly contain her excitement. While she wasn’t thrilled with having to put up with The Royals for the entire summer, there was nothing like the feeling of being onstage, playing their music and connecting with their amazing fans. It was this feeling, the feeling of walking on air, that gave both Regina and Zelena the courage to tell their mother that they wanted to pursue a career in music.
In the industry Cora Mills was known to be a cold, calculating manager who would do anything to ensure her clients were number one, and rumors of her mistreating her own children were quick to circulate, but never proven true. In actuality, Cora was a doting mother who made a promise to her two daughters, the only family she had left in life, and their friends who she looked after as if they were here own, that she would do everything to help them reach their dreams.
Feeling an arm thrown around her shoulders, Regina was brought out of her thoughts by a smiling Zelena.
“Ready to rock this crowd baby sis?”
“Of course I am.” Regina bumped her sister’s hip. “The question is, are they ready for us?”
Mal swooped under Zelena’s arm, wedging herself between the two sisters at the same time that Ursula hooked her arm, the one whose hand wasn’t intertwined with Cruella’s, with Regina’s free arm.
“Our fans are always ready to rock, but I don’t think the other half will be quite as… receptive,” the blonde replied with a smirk.
Ursula snorted and rolled her eyes as she said, “I don’t think their fans would know a good show if it smacked them in the face.”
“Well then darling,” Cruella said with a playful grin, “I guess we’ll have to give them something charming to remember.”
Zelena whirled around so that she was walking backwards, facing the group with a twinkle in her eye, “I say we give them something,” she stopped, forcing the others to stop as well, and struck a pose, “wicked.”
Mal jumped into a pose similar to the redhead’s, “Something malicious.”
Ursula and Cruella let their hands go, falling into their poses one after the other.
“Something wild.”
“Something devilish.”
Regina smiled at her bandmates before striking her pose, “Something evil.”
The five girls let out a whoop before laughing and linking arms to continuing their way to the stage. As they rounded the corner to the door that led to the stage, they saw The Royals making their way over from the opposite direction. David and Emma were running down the hall with Mary Margaret and Ruby on their backs. The two brunettes were laughing and kicking at one another in attempt to throw the blonds off. With a poorly timed kick, Ruby’s foot caught David’s arm causing him and Emma to bump into each other, and all four bandmates to come crashing to the ground in a pile right in front of The Queens of Darkness.
Zelena snorted, smirking down at the band, “Let’s hope you don’t completely wipe out like that on stage.”
Picking herself up off the ground, Emma pointed her finger at Zelena, but before she could say anything back, Granny and Cora walked up to their clients.
“Okay ladies,” Cora smiled at the young adults, “and gentleman, we don’t want to keep the crowds waiting.”
Both bands stared at each other waiting for the other to move first.
Granny clapped her hands together making the young adults jump, “Well, quit staring, and let’s go!”
The Royals scrambled through the door with The Queens of Darkness right behind them. Cora and Granny let out the breaths they were holding and looked at one another.
“Let’s just hope this goes well.”
Granny laughed, “Let’s just hope they don’t spill any blood.”
Cora sighed, “Drink?”
“Drink.”
As the bands walked onto the stage, they saw glimpses of the crowd from behind the curtain. Signs littered the crowd with various sayings ranging from “Future Mrs. Mills” to “Swan Fever” to “Be My Queen” and everything in between. Emma and Ursula made their way to the two drum sets sitting toward the back of the stage. David, Ruby, Cruella, and Mal walked over to the stands that held their guitars, slipping the straps over their necks before walking to their respective sides of the stage. Zelena positioned herself at the keyboard that was just behind her sister, while Regina and Mary Margaret walked up to their microphones.
Just like they practiced during rehearsals, Zelena played the opening cords of the song as the curtain went up, prompting the fans in the stadium to go wild. The others came in perfectly, not missing a beat. Once the cover song was over, The Queens of Darkness, having won a coin toss the night before, played one of their most popular songs, “Give Me Your Heart”. The Royals followed with their song “The Light Inside”, and both bands went back and forth with their own music, until it came time for the last song.
“We have time for one more song,” Regina said to the crowd, “let me here what you want!”
Having not been able to come to an agreement on what to play, the two bands decided that the crowd would choose their last song. Random song names were shouted until slowly one half of the stadium began chanting the name of The Queens of Darkness’ latest single, while the other half began chanting the name of the first song The Royals had ever released.
Regina turned to her fellow artists, “You heard them.”
Mary Margaret nodded at her bandmates, and turned back to her microphone.
At the same time that David came in with the cords to The Royals’ song, Ursula began playing the beat to The Queens of Darkness’ song. Both musicians stopped when they heard the other, then started again in a vain attempt to save face, only to stop once more when they heard the other.
Regina turned to glare at David, “Didn’t you hear what they were chanting? Or does your brain not think fast enough?”
“Hey!” Emma shouted from her drum set, “maybe you need to clean out your ears, they clearly wanted our song.”
Zelena scoffed, “As if. They wanted our song you dimwit.”
“Watch who you call dimwit, Mills,” Ruby growled at the older girl.
Mal rolled her eyes, “Like you’re gonna do anything about it.”
“Everyone cut it out,” Mary Margaret cut in, attempting to calm everyone down.
“Don’t tell us what to do,” Regina glared at the younger girl, “this isn’t your kingdom to rule over princess.”
“Leave her alone,” Emma stood up from her drum set, pointing her sticks at the singer.
“Why don’t you make me,” Regina taunted the blonde, “since the princess can’t seem to fight her own battles.”
Emma slammed her sticks down on her drum, and stood up, marching over and getting right in Regina’s face.
“Leave. Her. Alone.” Emma poked Regina’s shoulder with every word.
Regina slapped her hand away, “Touch me again, and you’ll regret it.”
Staring the older brunette in the eyes, Emma raised her finger and poked her once more. Regina growled, and shoved Emma backwards. The blonde stumbled, falling into David who tried in vain to hold her back. Ruby ripped her guitar off at the same time that Zelena rushed to Regina’s side. Not being able to contain the blonde fury, Emma’s shirt slipped through David’s fingers, as she pushed Regina back. Zelena and Ruby, trying to defend their sister and best friend, began to wrestle each other to the ground. David and Mal tried to pull Emma and Regina out of their shoving match, while Ursula and Mary Margaret tried to pull Zelena and Ruby away from one another and Cruella watched the group with disinterest. The security guards who were standing just off the stage to ensure fans didn’t rush the bands, jumped into action, pulling the fighting young adults away from each other and off the stage.
Once backstage, the two bands were met by their fuming managers.
“What,” Cora began with a harsh tone in voice, “were you thinking?”
“They weren’t,” Granny answered, “or else they would have known that flying fists is no way to handle a situation.”
The Royals and The Queens of Darkness looked anywhere but their managers’ faces, too ashamed by their actions to say anything.
Shaking her head, Cora said, “You all better hope we can get this to blow over, because if not, this whole tour could become pointless.”
Granny sighed, “You all look awful. Go clean up and get some rest, you’re gonna need it.”
The two bands shuffled out of the room, both hoping they hadn’t ruined their careers over one little fight.
Emma Swan did not have a perfect life, in fact it was far from it. Left on the side of the road as a baby, Emma spent the first few years of her life living in an orphanage in the small seaside town of Storybrooke, Maine. In a town of that size, it was very rare for anyone to be adopted, and by the time someone decided to adopt, six-year Emma was considered “too old” for the couple that wanted a baby to raise as their own.
The kids in town were no better than the adults; any time Emma, or any of the other kids from the orphanage, ran into kids from town they were met with teasing and taunting about their lack of parents. There was one incident in particular where Emma had found herself on the playground, circled by a group of kids who took turns calling her names and pushing her. When she tried to fight back, their teacher only saw her small flying fists, and she was punished for her actions, the other children not facing any consequences. After that, Emma had given up hope on finding a home, choosing to close herself off to the idea of a family of any sorts. The young blonde’s life motto was to look out for herself, because no one else cared.
Emma was thirteen when the Storybrooke orphanage was shut down, and she was forced to move to a group home in Boston. It was there that Emma’s life began to change for the better. Starting seventh grade, Emma met Mary Margaret, a kind eighth grader who took the younger girl under her wing. As much as Emma was determined to keep to herself, the brunette, along with her two friends, David and Ruby, wormed their way into her heart. In only a matter of a few months, the four of them became inseparable, and for the first time in her life, Emma felt like she had a family.
“Hey Em,” Ruby greeted the blonde, “you know how to play the drums right?”
Placing her lunch on the table and sitting next to her, Emma shrugged, “Kinda. This older boy who used to live in the orphanage taught me, but I haven’t played in a couple years. Why?”
“Because of this,” Ruby shoved a flyer in the blonde’s hands.
Emma looked down at the neon orange flyer that was covered in black script. In big bolded letters were the words “Battle of The Bands.” At the bottom of the page, under the date and time, she saw “Grand Prize: $100”.
“What do you think?” Ruby asked, “You on drums, me on bass, David on guitar, and MM can play keyboard and sing. A hundred bucks four ways isn’t too shabby.”
Emma shrugged, “I don’t know Rubs, what are the odds we’ll even be good, let alone win.”
“Thank you, Emma, that was my point,” Mary Margaret chimed in.
“Even if we’re not good, it’ll be fun, right?” David smiled, looking at the three girls encouragingly.
“Yes, David it will be fun. Plus, let’s be real, who here is even going to be competition. Grumpy over there.” Ruby motioned to the short boy a table over who always seemed to have a scowl on his face.
Emma rolled her eyes at her friend, “Well, if you really want to, I’m in.”
Mary Margaret sighed, “If you’re all in, I guess I am too.”
“Yes!” Ruby pumped her fist in the air, “Watch out world, here we come!”
Three weeks later the four friends found themselves nervously awaiting the results of the Battle of the Bands. After their performance, the crowd had gone wild, giving thunderous applause as they left the stage. Emma held her breath as their principal walked up to the microphone.
“And now,” the man’s voice echoed throughout the auditorium, “the winners of our first ever battle of the bands is… The Royals! Come up and claim your prize.”
Ruby rushed up to their principal, grabbing the check and waving it in the air. Emma couldn’t believe it; they had actually won. The crowd and judges loved their music. The overwhelming feeling of pride filled Emma’s chest. This rush was something she could get used to.
The day after their first show with The Queens of Darkness, The Royals tried their best to keep their distance. Though she knew getting into a fight with the lead singer of the band they were touring with was stupid, Emma knew if she had to spend more time with Regina their tempers would get the best of them once more. The four friends were in the middle of a long relaxing day of playing video games and eating junk food on their tour bus when Mary Margaret got a phone call.
Passing her controller to David, the brunette answered her phone in a cheerful voice, “Hi Granny, what’s up?”
The was a pause as the older woman spoke.
“Oh, I see,” Mary Margaret frowned.
Emma paused the game, exchanging worried glances with Ruby and David.
“Okay, yes, we’ll be there. See you soon.”
David walked up to his girlfriend, “What was that about.”
“Mr. Gold is going to be at the hotel. He wants to talk to all of us.”
“Damnit!” Emma threw down her controller in frustration, “This is my fault. I knew we weren’t gonna be let off that easy.”
Ruby patted her back reassuringly, “It’s gonna be okay Em. Besides, it’s not just your fault. Regina did push you back, and Zelena and me didn’t help much.”
“Yeah I guess. Let’s just hope we still have jobs.”
The rest of the ride to the hotel was spent in silence, the band too preoccupied thinking about the repercussions they could be facing for the previous night. Once the bus was parked, the four teens made their way inside to the room Granny had told Mary Margaret to go to. They arrived at the same time The Queens of Darkness did, both bands refusing to look at one another. They took their seats at a large table, waiting for their impending doom. The bands watched the minutes tick past on the clock. When the time read five o’clock, the door to the room opened, and in walked Gold and their managers. If they were scared of him before, the two bands were absolutely terrified of the angry man in front of them. Though his demeanor was calm, his eyes were filled with fury.
“I thought I had made myself clear,” Gold slammed his hand on the table, making everyone at the table jump, “Last night’s behavior is not acceptable. My plan was to fire you all immediately, but lucky for you, your mangers talked me out of it.”
Regina opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Gold gave her a cold look, “If I were you, I would stay quiet.”
The teen closed her mouth and looked down at her hands.
“Good. Now, I may have been forgiving this time around, but next time I won’t be so nice. I am busy man, and now I have to take time out of my schedule to babysit you all, so I better see a better effort to get along, or you will all be fired.”
Having said all he wanted to say, Gold turned on his heels to leave, motioning for Cora and Granny to follow him. The two bands were left behind to wallow in their thoughts.