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The sound of the relaxed chatter between Rolf, Lonnie, Iggy and Brutus was generally inaudible to Axl, who had his eyes closed as he allowed himself to rest from the rather demanding workload he had been given over the past few months. The voices of his bandmates were muffled to him as he stared out of one of the windows of the Nightriders’ blue van as they rode through the quiet streets of Beach City, which were illuminated by the bright street lights that served as a blur as they zoomed past.
    At last. I’ve been needing this so badly, Axl thought as his mind lingered on the upcoming album he and his bandmates had been working on for the past few months. Rolf had been working the band to the bone to ensure that their next record would prove to be the band’s biggest release to date, and having just completed said release, Iggy had managed to persuade Rolf to allow the boys to a night out; a chance to unwind from all the work that had been put into the new project.
    “Hey. Earth to Axl! Hello?”
    “Hmm?” Axl grunted as he snapped out of his dazed state and turned to look at his furry bandmate Rolf, who was leaning over at him.
    “I said, what do you think?” Rolf said.
    “About what?” Axl asked, shrugging his shoulders
    Rolf let out an exasperated sigh. “About us paying a visit to Nevlow? I hear the band who used to stay there have left. I figured it would be a good opportunity to play a few gigs and maybe expand our demographic without worrying about any competition.”
    “Can we skip the business talk, please, Rolf?” Axl asked. “I just wanna have a quiet night out without the spotlight shining on us for once. We’ve been workin’ for so long; I think we’re entitled to a bit of fun, aren’t we?”
    Rolf’s expression turned sour, as Axl anticipated. “I’m not saying you’re not,” he said, scowling. “I’m saying why don’t we go and try out some more places, maybe go on tour for a while? Just to promote the new album.”
    “Can we at least have this first? Just some time to rest before anything else?”
    “Sure,” Rolf curtly replied, folding his arms and leaning back in his seat.
    Axl released a heavy sigh, feeling slightly guilty for his irksome tone. “Sorry. It’s not your fault, I just have this bad feeling.”
    Rolf scoffed. “Given that we’ve survived a zombie outbreak and just picked up an all-powerful instrument from Forbidden Island, are you really that surprised? I mean when you’ve gone through the crazy stuff we have, it’s no wonder we get those little feelings in our gut.”
    Axl turned back to look out of the window, a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. “This one’s different...”
***

    Before long, the band arrived at the familiar Buzzies nightclub. The last time they had visited Buzzies was during the all-too memorable zombie epidemic that had occured months ago, but this knowledge didn’t faze Axl, who instead chose to remember it as a fond memory -- his first big experience in the band -- and made their way inside to see the place surprisingly rather empty, save for two huskies at the bar.

    “Where is everybody?” Lonnie asked.

    “Ah, who cares?” Rolf replied. “At least it’s not too busy.”

    The Nightriders approached the bar, ordered their drinks, and turned their attention towards the TV monitor above the bar, where they were greeted by what appeared to be a live performance by a solo singer. The video quality was poor and Axl guessed it was either a shoddy home recording or a performance from the nineties, with the latter proving to be the answer. The singer was a largely overweight brown wolf with long, stringy hair who was dressed in a white ripped formal shirt with black pleated pants and suspenders with a red scarf clutched in his hand.

    “Never seen him before,” Rolf muttered.

    “Yeah, he looks kinda mad,” Axl agreed, watching as the brown wolf’s eyes went wide as he stared down the audience with a manic glint in his eye.

  And I won’t do anything for love
  I won’t run right into Hell and back
  I won’t do anything for love
  But I’ll lie to you and that’s a fact

    Rolf turned to face Lonnie, who was gleefully moving along to the song on his stool.
    “You’re embarrassin’ yerself, ‘Lon,” Rolf scoffed.

    “What? It’s a good song! I like it!”

    The bartender soon handed the Nightriders their drinks and they continued to draw their attention towards the TV. Eventually, the song came to an end and the screen switched to a news presenter, who was a raccoon dressed in typical business attire.

    “Revisiting the good old days of rock ‘n’ roll with Meat Wolf, one of the best-selling musicians of all time with his smash hit single “I'd Do Nothing For Love, But I’ll Do That”. The song has received significant airplay ever since heavy metal legend Shane Wolfrik admitted that it’s one of his favorite songs. Speaking of which, popular rock band the Dreamcatchers, of which Mr. Wolfrik is the lead vocalist, have arrived in Beach City following their decision to leave their previous home in Nevlow City and move up country. Their arrival in Beach City has been highly anticipated by fans, and their arrival is being commemorated by a live, open-air performance in Beach City next Thursday…”

    “Are you kidding me?” Rolf said incredulously, staring wide-eyed at the TV. “Dream Theater’s stupid knock-off band is coming to OUR city!? That’s just what we need; another wannabe rock band tryin’ to cash in on our style.”

    “Whaddya mean?” Axl asked.

    “Well it’s obvious, ain’t it? Why would a heavy metal band move right into another metal band’s city? These guys are tryin’ us; they wanna take this city away from us! Well, if they want a fight, we’ll give ‘em one.”

    “Don’t you think you’re overreacting a bit, Rolf?” Iggy chimed in. “They could just be looking for something new. Maybe life in Nevlow didn’t appeal to them, so they wanted a change of scenery.”

    “We’re the most popular band in this whole city,” Rolf replied. “No sane musician would ever choose to live so close to us unless they were trying to draw people away from us. I mean, you heard the guy on the news - They’re a popular band! I’m tellin’ ya, they’re trying to rob us of our fans, and I ain’t lettin’ that happen.”

    “Talk about being assertive…” Lonnie muttered to himself.

    The Nightriders turned back to the TV screen, which now displayed footage of what the Nightriders assumed was the Dreamcatchers' open-air concert. “...the band, consisting of lead vocalist Shane Wolfrik, drummer Marvin Lee, and lead guitarist Chase Quicksilver, have spoken about their recent transition to Beach City in an interview that was recorded yesterday. Take a look.”

    The screen then showed footage of a white wolf sat down in a chair in front of a camera, gazing, with an extremely sour expression, off-center towards the interviewer, who was off-screen. Shane Wolfrik’s attire was generally what Axl could have assumed it to be for a canine rock star, but to Axl, the most intriguing feature of all was the long faded scar that ran over his left eye.

    “Mr. Wolfrik,” the interviewer began. “It’s an honor to be sitting here with you tonight. How must it feel being the new rising star in Beach City?”

    At first, Axl felt a streak of jealousy jolt through his body upon hearing the interviewer speak so courteously of Shane, but his covetous emotions were soon wiped clean as he heard the words the canine rock star spoke.

    “Don’t do that,” Shane said in a highly exasperated tone. “Don’t call me a star, I don’t like it. Call me crazy or competitive for moving up next to another rock star, but do NOT call me a star.”

    Axl couldn’t help but feel intrigued as to why Shane didn’t want to be referred to as a star. In the time spent with the Nightriders, he had come to develop a close bond with his bandmates. So much so that he considered them family. It struck him as downright psychotic that there was a fellow rocker who led exactly the same lifestyle yet appeared to resent everything about it. Maybe it was simply Axl’s fondness for the spotlight that conjured this mindset, but nevertheless, he still found it rather idiosyncratic.

    Through the sound of the TV, Rolf could suddenly hear what the two huskies, who had begun conversing between one another, were saying perfectly; even though it wasn’t typical of him to eavesdrop, being a wolf, he couldn’t help the fact that he had brilliant hearing.

    “Did you hear about the Dreamcatchers coming to town?” the black husky asked.

    “Yeah!” the red husky replied. “I can’t wait to go to their concert! I’ve been a fan of them ever since I heard ‘Lunar Ranger’!”

    “That’s their best song. It’s no wonder everyone loves their music; They’ve got their own distinct sound, look, and style, and that’s why they’re such a great band!”

    “So, where’s the concert being held?” the red husky asked.

    “The fairgrounds,” The black husky replied. “it’s not too far from here. Looks like it’s gonna be a pretty big performance.”

    “I hope so. I love the Dreamcatchers!”

    “Let's get outta here,” Rolf suddenly said, releasing a sigh of annoyance. “I can't take listening about those daydreamin’ wannabes anymore.”

    “Oh Rolf, come on!” Lonnie said as Rolf got to his feet and began walking towards the exit. “What’s wrong with them?”

    The lion’s protests went unacknowledged as Rolf stormed out of the doors and into the night. Axl sighed and proceeded to follow his friend. “I’d better go after him. You guys know what he’s like; knowing him, he’ll probably hunt them down and kill them for coming here.”

    Axl walked out of the doors and stopped in the middle of the unusually quiet sidewalk, looking around for Rolf. He spotted him some distance away, still walking in the direction of the band’s van, which was parked up ahead. Axl ran after the wolf, eventually catching up to him, at which point he joined him in walking towards the van.

    “Rolf! Rolf, what’s gotten into you, buddy?”

    Rolf scoffed. “Ugh, I-- just can’t stand hearing everyone rant about that stupid band.”

    “It was just a couple of huskies, that doesn’t mean anything! No one would just abandon us in favor of a new rock band in town!”

    “Oh yeah? Then how do you explain this?”
    Rolf held his hand up to his ear in a mocking fashion as he listened to the silence of the city. “Ooh, listen to THAT! Everyone’s gone to see them.”

    Axl sighed, shaking his head. “People are allowed to listen to other artists, Rolf. You just need to relax, OK? There’s not gonna be a war between us and them! People just wanna have a fun night out, that’s all.”

    Lonnie, Iggy and Brutus suddenly appeared from around the corner, having finally caught up with Axl and Rolf. “There you are!” Iggy said. “What’s all this about, Rolf?”

    “Look, it’s fine,” Axl explained. “Me and Rolf were just talking about that new band that’s in town--”

    “Oh, they’re not here to rob us, Rolf!” Brutus interjected. “You’re just overreacting!”

    “Can we all just calm down here?” Lonnie said, raising his hands. “Look, why don’t we go to that concert and just see this band for ourselves? That way you’ll see they’re not gonna be any trouble.”

    Rolf’s face suddenly lit up upon hearing Lonnie’s suggestion. “Good idea, ‘Lon! Let’s go pay ‘em a visit.”
    Rolf cracked his knuckles, an unsettling grin spread across his canine snout.
    “One they’ll never forget…”

Illustration by mattieguy95

Thanks for reading!

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (Part 2):

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (Prologue):

Characters belong to AxlReigns

Description

The sound of the relaxed chatter between Rolf, Lonnie, Iggy and Brutus was generally inaudible to Axl, who had his eyes closed as he allowed himself to rest from the rather demanding workload he had been given over the past few months. The voices of his bandmates were muffled to him as he stared out of one of the windows of the Nightriders’ blue van as they rode through the quiet streets of Beach City, which were illuminated by the bright street lights that served as a blur as they zoomed past.
    At last. I’ve been needing this so badly, Axl thought as his mind lingered on the upcoming album he and his bandmates had been working on for the past few months. Rolf had been working the band to the bone to ensure that their next record would prove to be the band’s biggest release to date, and having just completed said release, Iggy had managed to persuade Rolf to allow the boys to a night out; a chance to unwind from all the work that had been put into the new project.
    “Hey. Earth to Axl! Hello?”
    “Hmm?” Axl grunted as he snapped out of his dazed state and turned to look at his furry bandmate Rolf, who was leaning over at him.
    “I said, what do you think?” Rolf said.
    “About what?” Axl asked, shrugging his shoulders
    Rolf let out an exasperated sigh. “About us paying a visit to Nevlow? I hear the band who used to stay there have left. I figured it would be a good opportunity to play a few gigs and maybe expand our demographic without worrying about any competition.”
    “Can we skip the business talk, please, Rolf?” Axl asked. “I just wanna have a quiet night out without the spotlight shining on us for once. We’ve been workin’ for so long; I think we’re entitled to a bit of fun, aren’t we?”
    Rolf’s expression turned sour, as Axl anticipated. “I’m not saying you’re not,” he said, scowling. “I’m saying why don’t we go and try out some more places, maybe go on tour for a while? Just to promote the new album.”
    “Can we at least have this first? Just some time to rest before anything else?”
    “Sure,” Rolf curtly replied, folding his arms and leaning back in his seat.
    Axl released a heavy sigh, feeling slightly guilty for his irksome tone. “Sorry. It’s not your fault, I just have this bad feeling.”
    Rolf scoffed. “Given that we’ve survived a zombie outbreak and just picked up an all-powerful instrument from Forbidden Island, are you really that surprised? I mean when you’ve gone through the crazy stuff we have, it’s no wonder we get those little feelings in our gut.”
    Axl turned back to look out of the window, a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. “This one’s different...”
***

    Before long, the band arrived at the familiar Buzzies nightclub. The last time they had visited Buzzies was during the all-too memorable zombie epidemic that had occured months ago, but this knowledge didn’t faze Axl, who instead chose to remember it as a fond memory -- his first big experience in the band -- and made their way inside to see the place surprisingly rather empty, save for two huskies at the bar.

    “Where is everybody?” Lonnie asked.

    “Ah, who cares?” Rolf replied. “At least it’s not too busy.”

    The Nightriders approached the bar, ordered their drinks, and turned their attention towards the TV monitor above the bar, where they were greeted by what appeared to be a live performance by a solo singer. The video quality was poor and Axl guessed it was either a shoddy home recording or a performance from the nineties, with the latter proving to be the answer. The singer was a largely overweight brown wolf with long, stringy hair who was dressed in a white ripped formal shirt with black pleated pants and suspenders with a red scarf clutched in his hand.

    “Never seen him before,” Rolf muttered.

    “Yeah, he looks kinda mad,” Axl agreed, watching as the brown wolf’s eyes went wide as he stared down the audience with a manic glint in his eye.

  And I won’t do anything for love
  I won’t run right into Hell and back
  I won’t do anything for love
  But I’ll lie to you and that’s a fact

    Rolf turned to face Lonnie, who was gleefully moving along to the song on his stool.
    “You’re embarrassin’ yerself, ‘Lon,” Rolf scoffed.

    “What? It’s a good song! I like it!”

    The bartender soon handed the Nightriders their drinks and they continued to draw their attention towards the TV. Eventually, the song came to an end and the screen switched to a news presenter, who was a raccoon dressed in typical business attire.

    “Revisiting the good old days of rock ‘n’ roll with Meat Wolf, one of the best-selling musicians of all time with his smash hit single “I'd Do Nothing For Love, But I’ll Do That”. The song has received significant airplay ever since heavy metal legend Shane Wolfrik admitted that it’s one of his favorite songs. Speaking of which, popular rock band the Dreamcatchers, of which Mr. Wolfrik is the lead vocalist, have arrived in Beach City following their decision to leave their previous home in Nevlow City and move up country. Their arrival in Beach City has been highly anticipated by fans, and their arrival is being commemorated by a live, open-air performance in Beach City next Thursday…”

    “Are you kidding me?” Rolf said incredulously, staring wide-eyed at the TV. “Dream Theater’s stupid knock-off band is coming to OUR city!? That’s just what we need; another wannabe rock band tryin’ to cash in on our style.”

    “Whaddya mean?” Axl asked.

    “Well it’s obvious, ain’t it? Why would a heavy metal band move right into another metal band’s city? These guys are tryin’ us; they wanna take this city away from us! Well, if they want a fight, we’ll give ‘em one.”

    “Don’t you think you’re overreacting a bit, Rolf?” Iggy chimed in. “They could just be looking for something new. Maybe life in Nevlow didn’t appeal to them, so they wanted a change of scenery.”

    “We’re the most popular band in this whole city,” Rolf replied. “No sane musician would ever choose to live so close to us unless they were trying to draw people away from us. I mean, you heard the guy on the news - They’re a popular band! I’m tellin’ ya, they’re trying to rob us of our fans, and I ain’t lettin’ that happen.”

    “Talk about being assertive…” Lonnie muttered to himself.

    The Nightriders turned back to the TV screen, which now displayed footage of what the Nightriders assumed was the Dreamcatchers' open-air concert. “...the band, consisting of lead vocalist Shane Wolfrik, drummer Marvin Lee, and lead guitarist Chase Quicksilver, have spoken about their recent transition to Beach City in an interview that was recorded yesterday. Take a look.”

    The screen then showed footage of a white wolf sat down in a chair in front of a camera, gazing, with an extremely sour expression, off-center towards the interviewer, who was off-screen. Shane Wolfrik’s attire was generally what Axl could have assumed it to be for a canine rock star, but to Axl, the most intriguing feature of all was the long faded scar that ran over his left eye.

    “Mr. Wolfrik,” the interviewer began. “It’s an honor to be sitting here with you tonight. How must it feel being the new rising star in Beach City?”

    At first, Axl felt a streak of jealousy jolt through his body upon hearing the interviewer speak so courteously of Shane, but his covetous emotions were soon wiped clean as he heard the words the canine rock star spoke.

    “Don’t do that,” Shane said in a highly exasperated tone. “Don’t call me a star, I don’t like it. Call me crazy or competitive for moving up next to another rock star, but do NOT call me a star.”

    Axl couldn’t help but feel intrigued as to why Shane didn’t want to be referred to as a star. In the time spent with the Nightriders, he had come to develop a close bond with his bandmates. So much so that he considered them family. It struck him as downright psychotic that there was a fellow rocker who led exactly the same lifestyle yet appeared to resent everything about it. Maybe it was simply Axl’s fondness for the spotlight that conjured this mindset, but nevertheless, he still found it rather idiosyncratic.

    Through the sound of the TV, Rolf could suddenly hear what the two huskies, who had begun conversing between one another, were saying perfectly; even though it wasn’t typical of him to eavesdrop, being a wolf, he couldn’t help the fact that he had brilliant hearing.

    “Did you hear about the Dreamcatchers coming to town?” the black husky asked.

    “Yeah!” the red husky replied. “I can’t wait to go to their concert! I’ve been a fan of them ever since I heard ‘Lunar Ranger’!”

    “That’s their best song. It’s no wonder everyone loves their music; They’ve got their own distinct sound, look, and style, and that’s why they’re such a great band!”

    “So, where’s the concert being held?” the red husky asked.

    “The fairgrounds,” The black husky replied. “it’s not too far from here. Looks like it’s gonna be a pretty big performance.”

    “I hope so. I love the Dreamcatchers!”

    “Let's get outta here,” Rolf suddenly said, releasing a sigh of annoyance. “I can't take listening about those daydreamin’ wannabes anymore.”

    “Oh Rolf, come on!” Lonnie said as Rolf got to his feet and began walking towards the exit. “What’s wrong with them?”

    The lion’s protests went unacknowledged as Rolf stormed out of the doors and into the night. Axl sighed and proceeded to follow his friend. “I’d better go after him. You guys know what he’s like; knowing him, he’ll probably hunt them down and kill them for coming here.”

    Axl walked out of the doors and stopped in the middle of the unusually quiet sidewalk, looking around for Rolf. He spotted him some distance away, still walking in the direction of the band’s van, which was parked up ahead. Axl ran after the wolf, eventually catching up to him, at which point he joined him in walking towards the van.

    “Rolf! Rolf, what’s gotten into you, buddy?”

    Rolf scoffed. “Ugh, I-- just can’t stand hearing everyone rant about that stupid band.”

    “It was just a couple of huskies, that doesn’t mean anything! No one would just abandon us in favor of a new rock band in town!”

    “Oh yeah? Then how do you explain this?”
    Rolf held his hand up to his ear in a mocking fashion as he listened to the silence of the city. “Ooh, listen to THAT! Everyone’s gone to see them.”

    Axl sighed, shaking his head. “People are allowed to listen to other artists, Rolf. You just need to relax, OK? There’s not gonna be a war between us and them! People just wanna have a fun night out, that’s all.”

    Lonnie, Iggy and Brutus suddenly appeared from around the corner, having finally caught up with Axl and Rolf. “There you are!” Iggy said. “What’s all this about, Rolf?”

    “Look, it’s fine,” Axl explained. “Me and Rolf were just talking about that new band that’s in town--”

    “Oh, they’re not here to rob us, Rolf!” Brutus interjected. “You’re just overreacting!”

    “Can we all just calm down here?” Lonnie said, raising his hands. “Look, why don’t we go to that concert and just see this band for ourselves? That way you’ll see they’re not gonna be any trouble.”

    Rolf’s face suddenly lit up upon hearing Lonnie’s suggestion. “Good idea, ‘Lon! Let’s go pay ‘em a visit.”
    Rolf cracked his knuckles, an unsettling grin spread across his canine snout.
    “One they’ll never forget…”

Illustration by mattieguy95

Thanks for reading!

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (Part 2):

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (Prologue):

Characters belong to AxlReigns