Reigning in Hel

Tony was rather enjoying himself, he had found a stretch of road devoid of other drivers and so was pounding his Ford Mustang down it like the Devil himself was after him. The radio was blaring his favourite band at him by God's good graces and he was feeling pretty good. As the song faded and the DJ came back on and yet again claiming his love for the band, he said something that nearly made Tony take out a bollard in surprise.

"That's right folks, you heard me, Ragnarok & Roll will officially be entering American soil as part of their first global tour, The Rise of the Trickster , you heard it here first! They will be doing 12 cities or so our information tells us and tickets go on sale tomorrow! I for one will be sleeping outside my ticket shop tonight I think!"

Tony very nearly slammed on his brakes, but instead allowed the car to attain a respectable speed whilst he processed the information. Ragnarok & Roll were coming here, his favourite fucking band were coming here, to America, to tour. They had never been outside of Europe before and despite his constant pestering and promises of good behaviour his dad had never allowed him to go see them as he didn't want him 'fucking about and pissing off the British' as he so kindly put it.
Now he had to let him go, and if he didn't, he knew Obie would give in one way or another. He put his foot to the floor, revelling in being thrown backwards as the car lurched back into breakneck speed, his only thought that he needed to get the fuck home and be the first to get a ticket to whatever city they would be playing first.

James whistled when Tony showed him the ticket, it was glossy and printed upon it was the words 'Ragnarok & Roll, The Rise of the Trickster Tour, New York City.'
'Damn man, that is sweet.'

'I know right, I can't fucking believe it, seriously it shouldn't have been that easy the old man is totally bartering for something, he just told me to sort it out with Obie and that man is easier to sweeten than a fucking candy corn.'

'Maybe he's going to try and set you up with some princess again.'

'I hope this new princess doesn't look like a whale.'

'Tony she was fucking hot, you're just way too vain for your own good.'

'She was a little chubby.'

'She was 16 and gorgeous, she would grow out of any of this imaginary fat you saw.'

'Then you marry her.'

'She wouldn't even look at me, oh woe is me, my millionaire father tried to set me up with a princess who didn't quite meet my standards.' James made a dramatic clutch at his heart.

'Shut up Rhodey, sarcasm doesn't suit you.'

'And this ticket doesn't suit you, so why not give it to me.'

'Shut up, you're not half as big a fan as me.'

'No you're right there I'm not.'

'I could have scored you a ticket you know, maybe not for all of them, but for the first one at least.'

'Told you before I'm fine, it isn't really my thing, I still can't believe you're going to follow the tour, your dad's going to flip!'

'You're so going to miss out, and of course he is! What better way to piss him off and enjoy myself!'

'Have fun without me big guy.'

'Nothing is half as fun without you man.' He punched Rhodes lightly on the shoulder before walking to the front door and hopping into his car in the drive. With a wave and a beep he reversed out and slammed down on the accelerator, swerving a car coming the other way and making James wince.

He was so excited he didn't keep to the speed limit the entire way home, luckily no cops were out so he didn't even worry about missing a light or two. He was going to see Ragnarok & Roll on tour and Obie had given him enough spending money and ticket money to buy tickets for the rest of the venues and still have some left over. He didn't say it enough, it is good to be rich sometimes. Might not make up for a crap family life but, the little things did count.

Tony had purposefully skipped a meeting with executives his dad had insisted he came too so he could hopefully be first in line at the concert venue. He was buzzing, though that may or may not be due to the couple of beers he had chugged on the way. He still couldn't believe his luck and had the radio up as loud as it could go. A tape of the band's third album 'Jotunheimr Wonderland' playing. The dark, mysterious and downright sensual voice of the front man known only by his stage name Loki cut through the air. He was as elusive as a black panther and apart from at tours no one caught a glimpse of him, and then he was dressed up in crazy outfits and makeup so no one knew what he really looked like. The rest of the band were slightly known, but paled in comparison. Like Bowie and many others this was a one man show, Loki and the rest of the band who were replaceable and forgotten about. He couldn't wait to get a glimpse of his idol, rumour had it the man was set to come out of reclusiveness and make his mark using this tour and Europe had already been blown away by it. God sometimes Tony wished he could sing better than a drowning cat, what he wouldn't give to be in that position, to be a rock star, not in line to front a boring as hell company. He could use all his spare time to invent and play and make money by being crazy as fuck and singing whatever he wanted. What a life.

Soon enough the venue was in sight and he spotted a car park a little way off, he luckily found a space but ended up having to walk a fair way to get to the venue, already people were clustering near the entrance and he had to force himself not to run those last few metres, he was still right at the front of the queue and there was hours to go yet. It was going to be a tedious wait but totally worth it if he could get to the front row.

By the time he got to the queue he was one of ten people, a couple at the front looked like they'd camped overnight. He glimpsed at the other people and they were all dressed differently to him, he was in a leather jacket, band tshirt, jeans and trainers. Some were wearing heavy boots and chains and a few had makeup on, even the guys. Most had long hair and black nails and more belts than he cared to count and he suddenly felt slightly under dressed as more joined the queue behind him. He wished Rhodey was here with him, not only for conversation and so they could poke fun at the people around them but also for moral support. He found his heart was hammering in his chest in anticipation as the hours ticked by, even after he had slumped down on the sidewalk and was fiddling with his shoe laces.

When it was nearly half an hour until 6pm when the doors would open he heard peopld screaming infront of him and something filled the air around him. A group of boys and girls slightly older than him ran past in band tees holding buckets and screamed 'GLITTER BOMB!' at the people around him before chucking handfuls of glitter at him and everyone else. He barely had time to shield his eyes and felt the glitter hit him full on. He ran his hands up to his hair to find it full of glitter and shook it slightly, cursing the heat as it all stuck to the perspiration on his skin. He looked down ar his arms to see green, gold and silver shimmering back at him.
'Great I look like a fucking fairy.' He grimanced and the person infront of him turned round.

'Apparently it has happened at every gig so far! Orders from above so it seems.'

'Nice of them to warn us before they attempt to blind us.' He huffed and the long haired guy infront of him laughed.

'Wouldn't be a good show if we knew what was coming!'

'Yeah I suppose your right.' His hand drew unconciously up to his neck. 'Fuck it's itchy.'

'You won't even notice it when you get inside, I heard from a friend in England that they dump glitter and water and allsorts on the crowd in the venue.

'Whoop de doo to that.' He groaned. The guy laughed again and turned back round to watch patiently for the doors to open.

Soon movement caught his eye and he felt himself shoved forwards by the waiting crowd. A burly man came out to check tickets and someone grabbed onto his tshirt as another tried to rush past him.

'Oh no you fucking don't!' He elbowed the person hard and rushed forwards as the people slowly filed in. He would get to the front of the stage no matter what.
He eagerly kept his place in the line, though no one tried again luckily, they obviously figured him an easy target as he wasn't exactly tall. But for all his height challenges he was quick off the mark and spent alot of time in the gym and was proud of his cut strong physique.

Then he was at the head of the queue, it happened so quickly, or maybe it was so slowly he just zoned out, but there he was. He floundered in his pockets to produce the tickets and hastily stepped inside, getting a half torn ticket back. As soon as he was in the dimly lit centre he hurried along the corridor and into a foyer stuffed with band merchandise stalls and a bar serving every kind of drink you could think of. His eagerness to get to the front of the stage overrode his wistfulness to look at the drinks and merchandise like so many others and almost ran towards the double doors at the end where he could see a few heads in a small glow from what must be the stage.

He dived through the doors and past the stairs to the seating area, thanking God he checked when he bought the ticket about standing or seating. He flashed the ticket at a thin, tall long haired man with a tshirt labelled 'STAFF' and rushed into the arena before him. There were more people coming up behind him obviously of the same mind so he bolted across the mostly empty floor where people were milling around aimlessly and towards the barriers by the front of the stage. He grinned to himself as he barely skidded to a halt before catching himself on the cool metal bars and startling the people who had claimed front and centre.

'Easy there tiger, first R&R gig?'

They sounded stupidly British and Tony just nodded at them.

'Are you guys following the tour?'

'Totally are.' A girl with multicoloured hair drawled out, she was obviously stoned and was leaning against the man who talked to him as though her legs couldn't carry her. 'We've been on the road chasing the band since the first gig in London.' 'That's awesome, I tried to do that but the old man had a fit.' 'Unlucky dude, I told my old man to shove it years ago.' The guy turned back to his wasted girlfriend and they proceeded to have a steamy drug induced make out session making Tony feel slightly uncomfortable. He knew he was no better and a total ladies man but, he wasn't that big a fan on drugs. Alcohol totally didn't count, he'd had a joint or two with his mates but it wasn't really his thing. He felt the press of bodies upon him suddenly and grabbed tight to the railings as the lights came up and movement started on stage. The supporting act was filing out and trying to look like they owned the place. The band was mediocre at best, but had some good songs and Tony caught himself swaying along a couple of times, but as the last song faded and the band packed up a chant started to echo around the floor. It started quietly, only a few people, but soon the entire venue was chanting, and they were chanting the name Loki. Roadies moved around on stage unhurriedly and what seemed like an age, though must have only been about half an hour, trickled by and suddenly the lights went out. The chant rose to almost a scream and then a voice echoed from the darkness.