Life On The Road

Show time. Tensions had never been higher.


Backstage, everyone had gathered, preparing for the evening's show. It was a completely different atmosphere than the last show. There was almost nothing of the buzzing feeling they always experienced before heading out onstage, there was almost nothing of the usual jubilant mood. It was as if they'd all just walked into an abyss, where there was nothing but darkness and despair. The only pair that had some scrap of excitement were Jimmy and Johnny, but they'd been dragged down to hell and misery by their bandmates, who straight up refused to even look at each other.

They stood far apart from one another and never once made eye contact. Matt had spent most of his time looking in the mirror of the large dressing room, admiring the handsome reflection in the glass that stared back at him, whilst fixing his hat and glasses for the perfect look. Syn had disappeared into the bathroom to style his hair into those flawless spiky locks, and Zacky had spent most of his time on his own on the couch, strumming his guitar and humming along softly, gaze set on the frets as his fingers glided from note to note.

The lanky drummer of the band heaved a heavy, saddened sigh, glancing around at all his bandmates. He utterly despised seeing them fight like this, conflicting to the point where they wouldn't even talk to each other. They had always been the best of friends, hardly ever having issues with one another. It was just so... heartbreaking. He lowered his head and frowned, catching his boyfriend's attention almost immediately.

"Babe, it'll be alright... Thing's will work out soon..." He reassured, rubbing Jimmy's back lightly.

"I just..." Jimmy began, looking down at the brown eyed man before him, "I hate seein' everyone fight like this. It hurts, Johnny... It hurts..."

The bassist nodded and gave the drummer a comforting hug, which he gratefully accepted. The couple stood there for a moment, making the most of the time spent in one another's embrace. Once Matt reappeared, they parted and spun around to face him.

"You two alright?" Matt asked, observing them from behind those tinted shades of his, his tone unintentionally bitter. Jimmy couldn't help but note that Matt looked truly miserable, no trace of a smile anywhere, dimples seemingly forever lost as a frown tugged on the corners of his lips.

"Yeah, we're alright..." The drummer replied. "What about you, Shads? You doin' okay?"

"I wish I could give a positive answer there..."

Jimmy sighed, wrapping his colourful, slender arms around his best friend. Matt just stood there, appreciating his friend's support but clearly in no mood to react as usual, with the big bear hugs he frequently greeted them with. "You still shaken up over-"

"Can we please not talk about that..?" Matt mumbled, lowering his head and staring at the floor. Jimmy gulped and quickly apologised, noting not to touch on the subject anytime soon.

Then, out of the corner of Matt's eye, the eldest of the two guitarists arrived, his Schecter slung over his left shoulder, his right hand resting over the body and his left by his side. Sunglasses blocked peering eyes from getting a glimpse of his chocolate eyes. Everyone had turned to face him with the exception of the vocalist, who began to fiddle with his watch to distract himself.

"Hey Gates, you alright?" Johnny asked the guitarist quietly. Syn turned his head and gave a slight nod in response before he headed over to the couch and glared down at Zacky. The younger man hadn't noticed, had it not been for the shadow that Syn had cast down onto him, making it harder to see the silver strings he had been so focused on.

"You better be ready." The elder quipped, before he spun around and disappeared again into one of the various rooms of the building, presumably fetching something he'd forgotten, or perhaps just escaping the others for as long as he could.

Zacky hadn't quite expected that from Syn. Sure, he knew that he was pissed off, but that was unexpected and quite frankly, uncalled for. Oh well, Zacky sighed softly, rising to his feet.

It had only been a few moments later when Synyster reappeared, beer in hand and the other clutching the guitar as if his life depended on the instrument. Johnny had equipped his bass and was gently strumming at the strings just like Zacky had done previously with his guitar. Beside him stood Jimmy, with a battered, old drumstick twirling between slim fingers, the other tucked away in the drummer's back pocket. That left Matt, with his switched off microphone encased in his hand. They were ready.


Ready for all hell to break loose. They just didn't know it yet.


The time had come. The roadies gave them all encouraging, positive words as they passed them and made their way to the stage. The only sounds that came from the men were the sounds of their boots making contact with the metal as they climbed the stairs and, one by one, walked out into the sight of the crowd. A sold out show. Thousands upon thousands of fans, young and old alike, eyeing them with overflowing, barely containable excitement. A strum of a guitar could send them all wild in an instant, no effort needed. And Syn and Zacky knew that. Despite their ongoing conflict, they gave each other the nod and began doing what they did best - Kicking off a killer show. Together. After all, they couldn't let the fans know something was wrong, right?

The show seemed to be going smoothly. The crowd reaction was exceptional. The performance had gone without a hitch. Until then.

They had started playing "Afterlife", a fan favourite. The intro was spot on, the verses were nailed, the choruses were pitch perfect. Unfortunately for the guys, everything began to crumble though when they reached the blisteringly fast solo. As Syn and Zacky stepped forward and shredded side-by-side, there was something noticeably wrong.

Zacky's guitar was cutting in and out, as if someone was flicking a switch to turn it on and off, causing horrific sounds to be emitted through the speakers as a result. Realising that a problem was occurring, Zacky sighed in frustration, allowed his guitar to hang freely against his body and he backed off upstage.

While Syn had noticed the errors, he had no choice but to remain focused and finish the section with no further faults. He would and should've succeeded, had it not been for the loud crashing and bashing of the faulty equipment behind him, with splinters shooting off in every direction like tiny meteorites and larger fragments being flung across the stage with each and every collision of he instrument with the floor. Strings snapped in half and bolts crashed to the floor. It was chaos.

That chaos had not only gained Syn's attention, but it had attracted the attention of a certain irritable vocalist, for a large shard of the wreck had collided with Matt's ankle. He spun around and approached the guitarist once he was done with his little moment of destruction and just stared down at him from behind tinted lenses. Zacky sighed heavily again, dropped whatever wreckage was left in his hands and he slowly left the stage to acquire another guitar. Despite his efforts to rejoin moments later, the damage had been done.

He could see the beads of sweat dripping down the vocalist's face, he could see Matt's muscles flexing as he walked, his nostrils flaring and his fingers curling. He knew that all hell would break loose backstage, that's if Matt could contain his rage that had been building up and boiling within him not just over the course of the last two days, but for a very long time.

Miraculously for the band and the fans, Matt held out long enough to complete the show. As the final notes rang out of their last song, Shadows thanked the audience and said his goodbyes with a wave, immediately spinning on his heels and heading offstage. He switched his microphone off as he thudded down the steps and shoved it into one of the crew member's hands. From there, he stormed into the backstage area, tossed off his hat and glasses and slammed his fists against the wall furiously.

The other band members reluctantly followed, but they kept their distance as to not become a target for Matt's temper. Well, all except Zacky, who clearly had a problem with the vocalist's behaviour and attitude as of late. He bravely approached M from behind and tapped his shoulder twice. Shadows turned to face him and glowered at him, his eyes cold and hard. His chest heaved and fell as he took each deep, noisy breath.

"What the fuck do you want?" He snapped at the younger male in an acidic tone. Zacky stood his ground before him, staring Matt in the eye. In the corner of his sight, he could see a vein in Matt's neck pulsating, and he noted Matt's hands were clenched into tight fists. Never had anyone seen him so mad before.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Zacky barked in reply,"What's gotten into you? Why are you so goddamn angry?"

The muscular man took a step closer to the guitarist so that their bodies were practically pushed against one another, and he lowered his head so his nose was inches from Zacky's.
"My problem right now is with you." He seethed, bringing his right index finger and pressing it harshly against Zack's chest. "You screwed my boyfriend, you screwed my relationship, you screwed up afterlife. You've done more screwing than Johnny and Jimmy have done in the last week!"

Zacky remained unmoved, unfazed by the hostility shown towards him. He returned the deathly glare he was receiving from Matt, trying to prove he had no fear of the bigger man. "You don't scare me, Sanders. Right now, I think you're the problem. You're angry. You're hostile. You lash out over the smallest of things. You've got anger issues, but you can't accept it. You let it build right up, don't you?" He spoke coldly. "You've got a problem Matt, haven't you?"

Matt fumed and his muscles twitched. Instead of replying, he simply shoved Zacky backwards with both hands, watching as he stumbled backwards, nearly losing his balance and tumbling over. Around them, everyone looked on, unsure whether it was safer to intervene or just stay the fuck away and let everything unfold.

"My problem," Matt repeated, "Is with you, Zacky. I don't have anger issues. I. Am. Fine."
The guitarist just stared at Matt, slowly nodding and turning around to leave the situation and the infuriated Shadows. He took a few slow steps in the opposite direction, then paused. With curiosity getting the better of him, the vocalist followed. It wasn't until Matt was literally two steps away that Zacky spun around and began his ruthless assault on him, kicking it off with a swinging blow to the head. Shocked, Matt stumbled backwards and crashed to the floor, causing the onlookers to gasp. Johnny rushed over to Zacky's side and grabbed his arm, tugging at it to gain Zack's attention.

"Dude, stop! No more, okay? You're only gonna make it worse!" Johnny advised, shaking his head, "No more violence. You know what'll happen..."

"Johnny, he deserves it for being a major asshole!" Zacky claimed, yanking his arm away from Johnny. The bassist sighed deeply.

"Zacky please... You attacking him doesn't make things any better. Please, just leave him alone."

The guitarist scoffed and shook his head, then ran a calloused hand through his sweat-soaked hair. "Then tell him to stop bein' such a miserable asshole." He replied, turning away from both Matt and Johnny. Zacky then watched as the faces on the onlookers grew more and more horrified, and he had no idea why. Spinning around, he spotted Matt lunging towards him. In a panic, the guitarist threw himself to the side, crashing to the floor and landing awkwardly on his side.

As for Matt, he ended up colliding with the bassist that had been trying to prevent any further attacks, his fist smashing into Johnny's nose with a sickening crunch. Johnny was sent immediately sprawling to the floor with a deafening, agonized cry, his hands plastering themselves over his face and blood gushing out of his left nostril. Usually, he would've attended to his injured bandmate, but he decided to leave that down to Jimmy while he dished out Zacky's punishment.

He turned heel to face the younger man, snarled and once against lunged at him, this time spearing him to the floor with a loud thud as their bodies collided with the floor. Zacky yelped out in surprise and pain, then he began to desperately squirm, wriggle and squeeze his way out from underneath Matt. It was no use, unfortunately for him, and he found Matt hammering away at his torso with his fists. He howled and yowled in pain, and he was pretty sure Matt had completely obliterated at least one of his ribs.

But perhaps there was some luck on his side. There was a brief pause during Matt's brutal assault, where the vocalist stopped to catch his breath. Zacky, seeing this as his one and possibly only chance, slowly raised his arm and took a powerful swing for the older man's jaw.

The blow surprised Matt, and it sent him backwards and onto the ground. The guitarist, finally having been freed from such a vulnerable position, staggered to his feet whilst clutching his ribs. He dragged himself over to where Matt laid in a daze and without hesitation, he drove his boot straight into the vocalist's diaphragm. A loud cry of agony escaped from Matt's mouth, only to be followed up with more cries as Zacky repeated his actions twice, three times to drive the message home.

Oh, but he wasn't done yet. It was time to flip the situation right on it's head. Zacky pinned Shadows to the floor by sitting right on his chest, and he proceeded to bludgeon him in the face with tightly balled fists, over and over and over again. The cries, howls, roars and screams were deafening. The crimson liquid that oozed out of various cuts and gashes and trickled down his face was horrifying.

And then, a powerful blow to Matt's jaw almost brought him to silence, as a loud crack and a suddenly limp, hanging jaw on one side signalled that Zacky and broken his jawbone. At the same time though, Zacky had also inflicted some nasty damage to himself, as there had actually been three simultaneous cracks - With Zacky's index and middle finger's also breaking. At that point, Synyster finally decided enough was enough, seeing as Matt was more interested in the fact he just had his fucking jaw snapped on one side. He grabbed Zacky by the collar and dragged him away from the bloodied mess that was his ex.

"Zacky!" He then yelled at the younger male, staring at him in shock and disbelief. "That was fuckin' uncalled for!"

"He deserved that!" Zacky insisted, clutching at his ribs with his right hand as intense pain seared though his upper body, leaving his left hand loosely by his side. Syn sighed heavily and looked at him, then over at Matt. Where Matt's head rested on his right side to avoid resting on the shattered left side, a small pool of blood that had dripped from Matt's mouth and wounds had formed under his head. The vocalist whined and whimpered for a few minutes, and then he slowly began to pick himself up.

Nothing could keeps Shadows down for very long. Everyone knew that.

Syn approached his ex with caution and held up his hands by his head."I mean no harm, Matt... I just want to help you both out and stop the fighting."

"Heh fhuckin' brokeh my jawh!" The vocalist exclaimed the best he could, wincing every time his jaw moved more than a slight touch. "I'mh not donehh with hhim!"

"Listen Matt, I get that you're mad, you're infuriated and you're bleedin' like a motherfucker, but please just sit down. Jimmy's callin' an ambulance right now, so they should be here very soon." Syn reasoned with him in a soft tone, the tone he usually reserved for when he and Matt would spend their time peacefully together on quiet evenings, in which they'd be wrapped up in blankets and watching a movie or something.

Reluctantly, Matt nodded and, lowering his head, he trudged over to the couch, slowly taking his seat. Luckily, Syn was right and the ambulance arrived within the 10 minutes that followed. All three of the injured men were loaded into the back, with Syn and Jimmy opting to have Jason follow the ambulance to the hospital in his car.

During the ride in the ambulance, a bloody, wounded Matt with a hanging jaw and a bloody, crooked-nosed Johnny exchanged awkward but apologetic looks. Zacky just sat there silently, only ever speaking when the paramedic asked them questions. Johnny had told them that Syn and Jimmy would explain the full story, since Johnny had missed most of it due to his injury and Matt couldn't speak. As for Zacky, he just shook his head and refused to answer.


If there was one thing certain about all of this though, is that it would definitely result in the tour being cancelled.
Rats.

Notes

Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Sorry it took so long, I've had pretty bad writer's block and on top of that, I've been super busy lately.

So, what do you think of Matt and Zacky's little brawl? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Should have the next chapter up soon, not sure when though. Until then, thanks for reading!