Grab The Bull By The Horns Chapter 1
Title: Grab The Bull By The Horns Chapter 1
Author: Melly aka squoctobird
Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush or anything you may recognize in this story.
Fandom: BTR
Pairings/Characters: Main characters. No slash. Mirrors showverse, so may have some Kendall/Jo and Logan/Camille in future chapters but will not the focus of this story.
Rating: G
Summary: Space Matadors AU - Four regular boys from the planet Minnestarr get the opportunity of a lifetime to travel to RISA III to become famous space matadors.
Notes: This takes place in the year 3027. All characters are humanoids unless specified otherwise. I'm not going to go into detail about clothes or other things unless the way they look are imperative to the story. So picture everyone in whatever futuristic outfits you like. There will be things mentioned that I took from pop culture and various sci-fi films and tv shows. Mostly Star Trek, Star Wars, Galaxy Quest and Back to the Future. You should be able to understand what things are based on context, but don't be afraid to ask what something is! The first chapter mirrors the first half of Big Time Audition. A few scenarios from other episodes may be mirrored in future chapters, but it will mostly be an original plot line.
Warning: There will be much silliness and lots of geekery
+ Thanks to anonymous who beta'd and proof read for me.
+ Dedicated to shisou_eimin. The idea of a Space Matadors AU was hers. I just took it and ran with it.
The planet Minnestarr was located in the Midwest part of the galaxy in the Hoth system. It was cold and icy, but not as extreme as its neighboring planet where it snowed all day long. The weather here was a bit milder. Yes, it snowed often, but at least it would eventually melt into a crunchy slush before the precipitation became too heavy.
It was a typical day on Minnestarr and the wind would blow every so often, sending a chill down Logan Mitchell’s spine. The raven haired genius could see his breath as he stood outside of his high school waiting for his three best friends to walk home. They were late; and he was starting to get worried. Surely they were up to no good and soon he would be right in the middle of it. As if on cue, his friends came running in his direction, the biggest smirks on their faces.
The blonde boy with crazy eyebrows was Kendall Knight. A knit cap covered his head and only a few sprigs of hair poked free underneath. He was a natural born leader, and was the support beam of this mismatched group of friends. He was the strong hold that kept the boys together. He could be incredibly stubborn and had some anger management issues, but his intentions were always good.
The tall brunette was James Diamond. He was ‘the face.’ He had stars in his eyes and dreams of the big time. He wanted to be famous and his ultimate goal was to one day be a Space Matador. Nothing could compare to the prestige of being a Matador and James certainly had the looks at the talent to make it.
The smaller boy with the round space helmet on was Carlos Garcia. He was the daredevil of the group. He was always coming up with crazy stunts. After several head injuries, his father required him to wear an official Space Rangers helmet for protection. It was his prized possession and the boy was rarely seen without it firmly in place.
Logan was the smart one of the group with dreams of being a Space Doctor. Medical technology was already incredibly advanced. So many diseases had been completely eradicated for the humanoids, but there was still so much to learn when it came to the other races of the galaxy. He hoped to one day to travel the galaxy treating patients with all sorts of anatomy. He was naturally shy and a bit awkward. He was also a bit neurotic and panicked easily.
"What did you do?" Logan asked horrified as the trio approached.
"Who says we did anything?" Kendall asked incredulously.
"The look on your faces did. Please tell me you didn't do something to get us suspended?!"
"Well, what's the punishment for stealing the tribbles from the science lab and putting them in the girls' locker room?"
"Kendall! You didn't feed them did you?" The smart boy stopped to do some calculations in his head. Tribbles were know for their extremely high reproduction rate. The smallest amount of food could result in thousands of the furry little creatures. There was a reason they were considered pests and banned on several planets.
Just then, some very angry girls came running out of the school building with hellfire in their eyes and fuzz in their hair. They scanned the crowd looking for the source of their anger. Their sights landed on the four boys.
"You!" A red headed girl screamed as she pointed at them.
"Logan, options now." Kendall commanded.
“Clearly we’re outnumbered, plus they’re girls so we can’t hit them back so I say we run.”
"Run!" Kendall shouted and the quartet left as quickly as possibly weaving in and out traffic.
Unfortunately, the girls were right on their tails and soon had the boys cornered in an alleyway with no obvious means of escape. The blonde leader knew he couldn’t talk his way out of this one.
“Ladies! Ladies! Time out!” He called out making a T-shape with his hands. The irate girls instantly froze.
“Carlos. Give James your helmet. We’ve got to protect the face.”
“I love you, guys,” James lamented as he places the protective gear on his head.
“Time in!”
Logan grumbled “I’ve got to get new friends,” as he brought his arms up in defense against the girls.
--
The four teens sat on the couch in Kendall’s living room nursing their wounds from the fight with healing creams and bandages. Their hair was in disarray, except for James’ of course, and their clothes were ripped and torn. All that could be heard were their random moans and groans until Carlos broke the silence by turning on the video display to watch some television. He was idly flipping through channels when James placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
“Wait, go back.” he said.
Carlos changed the channel back quickly and turned up the volume.
Gustavo Rocque, the famous Space Matador coach, ends his galaxy wide tour to find his next Olympic superstar today on the planet Minnestarr. Think you’ve got what it takes? Then head down to the Old Minnestarr Space Arena in Alpha Quadrant II for your chance to audition. Sign ups are until 17:00 hours.
Each boy knew of James’ dream of being a Space Matador. But how could they not? The boy only talked about it constantly. So it was no surprise when all four heads turned towards the large wall clock to check the time. 16:30.
“Call all moms now!” their blonde leader shouted.
The four friends turned on their wrist communicators to reach their parents but, unfortunately, no one received an answer.
“Mom! Call me when you get this message. We need a ride real bad,” they all said in unison.
Five minutes passed and there was no word from any of their mothers. James was starting to panic on the inside. This could be his one shot and he was going to miss it all because they didn’t have a ride. He looked at Kendall with pleading eyes, begging him to solve their problem.
“Logan has his learner’s permit!” Kendall burst out suddenly, pointing at the genius.
“True, but we don’t have a hovercraft or an adult! How does that solve anything?”
“I don’t know! You’re the genius. You figure it out!”
“Kendall! You know I panic under pressure!” It was true. Logan could feel his breath becoming ragged from stress. “But you always come up with the answer!”
He started to protest, but then a plan hit him. “I know how we can get there.”
--
After begging and bribing Kendall’s neighbor to let Logan drive her hovercraft, they all loaded in the vehicle and made their way to Alpha Quadrant II for the Old Minnestarr Space Arena. Logan was overly cautious as it were, but driving in the elderly neighbor’s hovercraft had him on edge. Fears of accidents and messing up her car plagued his mind so he didn’t dare go over the speed limit. Luckily they arrived before sign ups ended, but they literally only had minutes to spare.
The four entered the lobby of the arena and headed towards the sign up table. As they approached a dark skinned woman handed them each a electronic data PADD. Her name was Kelly Wainwright; and, she was Gustavo’s assistant.
“Fill out these forms,” she commanded as she stuck numbers on each of the boys.
“I’m not here to try out,” Logan said as he pushed the data pad away. “I’m going to be a Space Doctor.”
“Sure, but you have a cute smile and Dak Zevon made over 40 million credits last year.”
Logan’s eyebrow perked up. That was a lot of money and would more than cover the cost for med school. He greedily took back the PADD.
“There are matador capes in this box for you to use,” she gestured to the box by the sign up table. “Listen out for your number to be called.”
Logan wasn’t the only one who felt nervous on the ride over. James could feel himself getting tenser by the minute. By the time they had signed in he wasn’t sure if he could even audition. James felt a lump grow in his throat when his number was called. He panicked and quickly switched numbers with Logan.
"Looks like you're up buddy," James said with a pained smile.
With some encouraging nods and thumbs up from his friends, Logan made his was into the corral of the stadium where Gustavo and his assistant were waiting. A wrangler was near by to keep and eye on the space bulls. Logan knew the basics of the sport and did fairly well with the cape, but he lacked the flair needed to be a star. Gustavo had started to shout insults at the small teen, whom quickly ran away with tears in his eyes.
"Don't go in there," he said when he made it back to his friends. "The main is evil! He's like a space devil! A space devil with out any horns!"
Logan pulled his knees to his chest and started to rock himself for comfort. He hadn't been spoken to like that since he was a very young child, back when his dad sill lived with them. He did his best to calm down.
The next number was called and, once again, James switched with his neighbor, making Carlos next in line.
He went through the double doors and down to the corral in the front. He surveyed the space bulls and made his way to the center. He waved his cape around uselessly and made goofy faces at the space bulls. The animals were unaffected.
Gustavo was very angry. This boy was clearly wasting his time.
“Next! Next! Next!” He shouted as he slammed his fists down on his table.
He was a large man with a very powerful and intimidating voice, and Carlos could see why his shouting had affected Logan so much. He was having a hard time keeping his own composure as he sped back to the lobby.
When his number was called again, James tried to switch with Kendall but he wasn’t quick enough. The blonde caught his hand and shot him a smirk.
“James, this is your dream- not mine,” Kendall said as he stood up, pulling James with him. He placed his hands on the pretty boy’s shoulders and held him at arms-length. “Opportunities like this come once in a life time. Now go in there, give it your best shot, and grab the bull by the horns!”
As he encouraged his friend, he pushed James towards the doors. Once he was out of sight, the three other boys snuck inside to watch.
James had a new breath of confidence as he made his way to the corral. He took out his own personal cape, giving it a few hard shakes to get rid of any wrinkles. No one knew where James kept his cape, but it was on his person at all times. He could whip it out at a moment’s notice. It was his most prized possession rivaled only by his lucky comb. One time he tried to convince Kendall, Logan and Carlos to carry around capes, but they refused. They never did support James’ risky fashion choices.
James reached the performance area of the corral and locked eyes with Gustavo. The burly man was glaring and had his arms crossed over his chest, daring someone to impress him. James gulped and quickly looked away.
He started his routine by swinging his cape from side to side gracefully yet with style. The space bulls perked up immediately. He took a few steps forward, flipping the cape with a loud snap and then spun on his heels. James caught Gustavo in his peripheral vision who still looked unimpressed. Before he knew what was happening, he tripped over his own feet and nearly fell over. He cleared his throat awkwardly and asked if he could start over.
“Start over? Yeah. Sure. Why do you start over by going back to the lobby and never coming back!” Gustavo screeched at him.
“But I’m really good!”
“I don’t need good, kid. I need someone with passion. Someone with the fire. Someone who will knock me out of my seat and as you can see I’m still sitting because YOU HAVE NO TALENT!”
“No talent? No Talent?!” Kendall shouted from behind the round man. James stood in shock as his blonde friend made his way to the front of the stadium, fuming. “You’re the one with no talent! One of your matadors hasn’t won a gold medal in ten years!” He was in Gustavo’s face now.
“I’ll have you know that Fredericco Bennini won gold nine years ago!”
“Oh, and where is he now?” He brought an finger to his chin in mock thinking, “Oh, that’s right. He’s busing tables at Fun Burger on Ceti Alpha Nine!”
The two continued their tirade, completely oblivious to their surroundings. If they had been paying attention they would have known that their shouting was upsetting the space bulls. Before the wranglers could do anything to stop it, one of the larger animals broke loose and charged towards the screaming men.
Kendall saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and turned quickly to see the bull storming in their direction. With out hesitation, he pushed the larger man down, grabbed a matador cape and successfully lead the raging bull back inside the holding area.
The blonde was smirking at the stunned look on Gustavo’s face when the security team showed up and tried to place handcuffs on him. He immediately struggled with the security guards.
“Get off him!” James yelled trying to pry the men off his friend. Soon the other two joined in the fight, but they were outmatched and the foursome was dragged out of the stadium and brought home.
--
Mrs. Knight was very disappointed to see Kendall, Carlos, Logan and James brought home by Space Rangers again. It was the third time that month. She knew the boys meant well, but sometimes their shenanigans would get out of hand. She was giving them a good scolding when there was a knock at the door. It was Gustavo and his assistant Kelly.
James saw the round man enter the living room and excitement bubbled in him. With a huge grin on his face, he ran towards the man and pulled him in a tight embrace.
“You came back for me,” he whispered.
Gustavo scoffed and pushed the pretty boy off him. “I’m not here for you,” he said with disgust, “I came for him.” He pointing at Kendall.
“What? Me?”
“Mrs. Knight, we’d like to take you and your family to Risa III to train Kendall to be a Space Matador,” Gustavo explained.
“You can’t be serious?” Kendall said with contempt and disbelief.
“It would just be for three months and we would cover all your expenses,” Kelly said.
“Kendall, you have a gift,” Gustavo said as he started to pace back and forth, “The fire. You also have anger management. People say I have anger management issues, but that doesn’t matter because I have five houses on three different planets!”
“We’ve been all over the galaxy, Kendall. We’ve seen thousands of people audition and Gustavo picked you,” Kelly told the blonde, trying to get him to see how lucky he was to be chosen.
“So, what do you say? Want to come with me to Risa and become a star?” The large man wiggled his eyebrows for effect.
“No.”
“No?”
“No.”
Gustavo’s face turned red and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. “I’m… just… take a minute. Gonna go outside and just take a minute.” He stormed out of the house, slamming the front door behind him. His rant and plethora of expletives could be heard through the thick walls.
“We should probably go,” Kelly said awkwardly. “But here’s our card in case you change your mind. We’ll be here until 13:00 hours.” She started to walk away but turned to look over her shoulder when she reached the door. “You should really think about this, Kendall. This is a great opportunity.”
--
The next morning Kendall went to his job at the local grocery store. He was restocking shelves of Tang when his three best friends showed up.
“So, I was doing the math for this whole Space Matador thing, and you’re being an idiot,” Logan said.
“But I don’t want to go to Risa III with that jerk.” Kendall let out an exasperated sigh. He had already argued with them about this last night. He didn’t really want to do it again. “I want to stay here- with you jerks!”
“What have you go to lose, Kendall? It’s only three months!” Logan pleaded.
“And just think, dude. Risa III. The girls. The beach. The money. The stars. The girls!” Carlos said listing each thing on his fingers.
“Yeah, but none of that matters if it’s with out my three best friends. Why don’t you add those numbers up, professor?”
Logan pretended to push buttons on this wrist communicator. “Hmmm. Looky there. Still an idiot.”
“Well, what do you think, James? You’ve been awfully quiet.”
“That’s because I’m not talking to you,” he said as he pulled out his lucky comb and ran it through his hair. He did his best to ignore his blonde friend but he could feel his eyes watching him. “Listen. Part of me hates you right now. Wait. All of me hates me right now. But seriously, you should call that guy back.”
“Why would I want to do that? That guy said you had no talent, made Logan cry and trashed my front yard throwing a temper tantrum.”
“But he wants to make you famous,” James protested. “Opportunities like this come once in a life time.”
“So you’re all saying that if you had to chance to go to Risa with a jerk face coach, you’d go?” Kendall asked his friends.
“Yes!” They all said in unison.
So Kendall dialed Kelly on his wrist communicator and asked her to meet him at the grocery store. About 15 minutes later a large stretch limo hovercraft pulled in to the parking lot and parked next to the group of friends.
Gustavo exited the vehicle and looked at Kendall expectantly. “Well?” he bellowed.
“Okay. I’ll go with you to Risa III and train to be a Space Matador,” the blonde said with a smirk, “if you take my buds and make us a Space Matador team.”
Logan choked on the gum he was chewing. He was not expecting that. None of them were.
“Excuse me?” Gustavo said. “Are you trying to make a deal? Because I’m the one who makes the deals. Not some stock boy at Quick Mart.”
“Well, if you want me, you have to take all of us.”
Gustavo starting laughing hysterically. “Listen. I’m the Gustavo Rocque. I’m amazing. And if you think I’m so desperate for a new matador because I’ve been to 22 different planets and haven’t found any decent talent doesn’t mean I’m going to start listening to some kid.”
“So do we have a deal?” Kendall asked indubitably.
Gustavo snapped his fingers for Kelly to come over and whispered something in her ear.
“Looks like we’ve got a deal boys,” she said with a smile.
--
Author: Melly aka squoctobird
Disclaimer: I do not own Big Time Rush or anything you may recognize in this story.
Fandom: BTR
Pairings/Characters: Main characters. No slash. Mirrors showverse, so may have some Kendall/Jo and Logan/Camille in future chapters but will not the focus of this story.
Rating: G
Summary: Space Matadors AU - Four regular boys from the planet Minnestarr get the opportunity of a lifetime to travel to RISA III to become famous space matadors.
Notes: This takes place in the year 3027. All characters are humanoids unless specified otherwise. I'm not going to go into detail about clothes or other things unless the way they look are imperative to the story. So picture everyone in whatever futuristic outfits you like. There will be things mentioned that I took from pop culture and various sci-fi films and tv shows. Mostly Star Trek, Star Wars, Galaxy Quest and Back to the Future. You should be able to understand what things are based on context, but don't be afraid to ask what something is! The first chapter mirrors the first half of Big Time Audition. A few scenarios from other episodes may be mirrored in future chapters, but it will mostly be an original plot line.
Warning: There will be much silliness and lots of geekery
+ Thanks to anonymous who beta'd and proof read for me.
+ Dedicated to shisou_eimin. The idea of a Space Matadors AU was hers. I just took it and ran with it.
The planet Minnestarr was located in the Midwest part of the galaxy in the Hoth system. It was cold and icy, but not as extreme as its neighboring planet where it snowed all day long. The weather here was a bit milder. Yes, it snowed often, but at least it would eventually melt into a crunchy slush before the precipitation became too heavy.
It was a typical day on Minnestarr and the wind would blow every so often, sending a chill down Logan Mitchell’s spine. The raven haired genius could see his breath as he stood outside of his high school waiting for his three best friends to walk home. They were late; and he was starting to get worried. Surely they were up to no good and soon he would be right in the middle of it. As if on cue, his friends came running in his direction, the biggest smirks on their faces.
The blonde boy with crazy eyebrows was Kendall Knight. A knit cap covered his head and only a few sprigs of hair poked free underneath. He was a natural born leader, and was the support beam of this mismatched group of friends. He was the strong hold that kept the boys together. He could be incredibly stubborn and had some anger management issues, but his intentions were always good.
The tall brunette was James Diamond. He was ‘the face.’ He had stars in his eyes and dreams of the big time. He wanted to be famous and his ultimate goal was to one day be a Space Matador. Nothing could compare to the prestige of being a Matador and James certainly had the looks at the talent to make it.
The smaller boy with the round space helmet on was Carlos Garcia. He was the daredevil of the group. He was always coming up with crazy stunts. After several head injuries, his father required him to wear an official Space Rangers helmet for protection. It was his prized possession and the boy was rarely seen without it firmly in place.
Logan was the smart one of the group with dreams of being a Space Doctor. Medical technology was already incredibly advanced. So many diseases had been completely eradicated for the humanoids, but there was still so much to learn when it came to the other races of the galaxy. He hoped to one day to travel the galaxy treating patients with all sorts of anatomy. He was naturally shy and a bit awkward. He was also a bit neurotic and panicked easily.
"What did you do?" Logan asked horrified as the trio approached.
"Who says we did anything?" Kendall asked incredulously.
"The look on your faces did. Please tell me you didn't do something to get us suspended?!"
"Well, what's the punishment for stealing the tribbles from the science lab and putting them in the girls' locker room?"
"Kendall! You didn't feed them did you?" The smart boy stopped to do some calculations in his head. Tribbles were know for their extremely high reproduction rate. The smallest amount of food could result in thousands of the furry little creatures. There was a reason they were considered pests and banned on several planets.
Just then, some very angry girls came running out of the school building with hellfire in their eyes and fuzz in their hair. They scanned the crowd looking for the source of their anger. Their sights landed on the four boys.
"You!" A red headed girl screamed as she pointed at them.
"Logan, options now." Kendall commanded.
“Clearly we’re outnumbered, plus they’re girls so we can’t hit them back so I say we run.”
"Run!" Kendall shouted and the quartet left as quickly as possibly weaving in and out traffic.
Unfortunately, the girls were right on their tails and soon had the boys cornered in an alleyway with no obvious means of escape. The blonde leader knew he couldn’t talk his way out of this one.
“Ladies! Ladies! Time out!” He called out making a T-shape with his hands. The irate girls instantly froze.
“Carlos. Give James your helmet. We’ve got to protect the face.”
“I love you, guys,” James lamented as he places the protective gear on his head.
“Time in!”
Logan grumbled “I’ve got to get new friends,” as he brought his arms up in defense against the girls.
--
The four teens sat on the couch in Kendall’s living room nursing their wounds from the fight with healing creams and bandages. Their hair was in disarray, except for James’ of course, and their clothes were ripped and torn. All that could be heard were their random moans and groans until Carlos broke the silence by turning on the video display to watch some television. He was idly flipping through channels when James placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
“Wait, go back.” he said.
Carlos changed the channel back quickly and turned up the volume.
Gustavo Rocque, the famous Space Matador coach, ends his galaxy wide tour to find his next Olympic superstar today on the planet Minnestarr. Think you’ve got what it takes? Then head down to the Old Minnestarr Space Arena in Alpha Quadrant II for your chance to audition. Sign ups are until 17:00 hours.
Each boy knew of James’ dream of being a Space Matador. But how could they not? The boy only talked about it constantly. So it was no surprise when all four heads turned towards the large wall clock to check the time. 16:30.
“Call all moms now!” their blonde leader shouted.
The four friends turned on their wrist communicators to reach their parents but, unfortunately, no one received an answer.
“Mom! Call me when you get this message. We need a ride real bad,” they all said in unison.
Five minutes passed and there was no word from any of their mothers. James was starting to panic on the inside. This could be his one shot and he was going to miss it all because they didn’t have a ride. He looked at Kendall with pleading eyes, begging him to solve their problem.
“Logan has his learner’s permit!” Kendall burst out suddenly, pointing at the genius.
“True, but we don’t have a hovercraft or an adult! How does that solve anything?”
“I don’t know! You’re the genius. You figure it out!”
“Kendall! You know I panic under pressure!” It was true. Logan could feel his breath becoming ragged from stress. “But you always come up with the answer!”
He started to protest, but then a plan hit him. “I know how we can get there.”
--
After begging and bribing Kendall’s neighbor to let Logan drive her hovercraft, they all loaded in the vehicle and made their way to Alpha Quadrant II for the Old Minnestarr Space Arena. Logan was overly cautious as it were, but driving in the elderly neighbor’s hovercraft had him on edge. Fears of accidents and messing up her car plagued his mind so he didn’t dare go over the speed limit. Luckily they arrived before sign ups ended, but they literally only had minutes to spare.
The four entered the lobby of the arena and headed towards the sign up table. As they approached a dark skinned woman handed them each a electronic data PADD. Her name was Kelly Wainwright; and, she was Gustavo’s assistant.
“Fill out these forms,” she commanded as she stuck numbers on each of the boys.
“I’m not here to try out,” Logan said as he pushed the data pad away. “I’m going to be a Space Doctor.”
“Sure, but you have a cute smile and Dak Zevon made over 40 million credits last year.”
Logan’s eyebrow perked up. That was a lot of money and would more than cover the cost for med school. He greedily took back the PADD.
“There are matador capes in this box for you to use,” she gestured to the box by the sign up table. “Listen out for your number to be called.”
Logan wasn’t the only one who felt nervous on the ride over. James could feel himself getting tenser by the minute. By the time they had signed in he wasn’t sure if he could even audition. James felt a lump grow in his throat when his number was called. He panicked and quickly switched numbers with Logan.
"Looks like you're up buddy," James said with a pained smile.
With some encouraging nods and thumbs up from his friends, Logan made his was into the corral of the stadium where Gustavo and his assistant were waiting. A wrangler was near by to keep and eye on the space bulls. Logan knew the basics of the sport and did fairly well with the cape, but he lacked the flair needed to be a star. Gustavo had started to shout insults at the small teen, whom quickly ran away with tears in his eyes.
"Don't go in there," he said when he made it back to his friends. "The main is evil! He's like a space devil! A space devil with out any horns!"
Logan pulled his knees to his chest and started to rock himself for comfort. He hadn't been spoken to like that since he was a very young child, back when his dad sill lived with them. He did his best to calm down.
The next number was called and, once again, James switched with his neighbor, making Carlos next in line.
He went through the double doors and down to the corral in the front. He surveyed the space bulls and made his way to the center. He waved his cape around uselessly and made goofy faces at the space bulls. The animals were unaffected.
Gustavo was very angry. This boy was clearly wasting his time.
“Next! Next! Next!” He shouted as he slammed his fists down on his table.
He was a large man with a very powerful and intimidating voice, and Carlos could see why his shouting had affected Logan so much. He was having a hard time keeping his own composure as he sped back to the lobby.
When his number was called again, James tried to switch with Kendall but he wasn’t quick enough. The blonde caught his hand and shot him a smirk.
“James, this is your dream- not mine,” Kendall said as he stood up, pulling James with him. He placed his hands on the pretty boy’s shoulders and held him at arms-length. “Opportunities like this come once in a life time. Now go in there, give it your best shot, and grab the bull by the horns!”
As he encouraged his friend, he pushed James towards the doors. Once he was out of sight, the three other boys snuck inside to watch.
James had a new breath of confidence as he made his way to the corral. He took out his own personal cape, giving it a few hard shakes to get rid of any wrinkles. No one knew where James kept his cape, but it was on his person at all times. He could whip it out at a moment’s notice. It was his most prized possession rivaled only by his lucky comb. One time he tried to convince Kendall, Logan and Carlos to carry around capes, but they refused. They never did support James’ risky fashion choices.
James reached the performance area of the corral and locked eyes with Gustavo. The burly man was glaring and had his arms crossed over his chest, daring someone to impress him. James gulped and quickly looked away.
He started his routine by swinging his cape from side to side gracefully yet with style. The space bulls perked up immediately. He took a few steps forward, flipping the cape with a loud snap and then spun on his heels. James caught Gustavo in his peripheral vision who still looked unimpressed. Before he knew what was happening, he tripped over his own feet and nearly fell over. He cleared his throat awkwardly and asked if he could start over.
“Start over? Yeah. Sure. Why do you start over by going back to the lobby and never coming back!” Gustavo screeched at him.
“But I’m really good!”
“I don’t need good, kid. I need someone with passion. Someone with the fire. Someone who will knock me out of my seat and as you can see I’m still sitting because YOU HAVE NO TALENT!”
“No talent? No Talent?!” Kendall shouted from behind the round man. James stood in shock as his blonde friend made his way to the front of the stadium, fuming. “You’re the one with no talent! One of your matadors hasn’t won a gold medal in ten years!” He was in Gustavo’s face now.
“I’ll have you know that Fredericco Bennini won gold nine years ago!”
“Oh, and where is he now?” He brought an finger to his chin in mock thinking, “Oh, that’s right. He’s busing tables at Fun Burger on Ceti Alpha Nine!”
The two continued their tirade, completely oblivious to their surroundings. If they had been paying attention they would have known that their shouting was upsetting the space bulls. Before the wranglers could do anything to stop it, one of the larger animals broke loose and charged towards the screaming men.
Kendall saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and turned quickly to see the bull storming in their direction. With out hesitation, he pushed the larger man down, grabbed a matador cape and successfully lead the raging bull back inside the holding area.
The blonde was smirking at the stunned look on Gustavo’s face when the security team showed up and tried to place handcuffs on him. He immediately struggled with the security guards.
“Get off him!” James yelled trying to pry the men off his friend. Soon the other two joined in the fight, but they were outmatched and the foursome was dragged out of the stadium and brought home.
--
Mrs. Knight was very disappointed to see Kendall, Carlos, Logan and James brought home by Space Rangers again. It was the third time that month. She knew the boys meant well, but sometimes their shenanigans would get out of hand. She was giving them a good scolding when there was a knock at the door. It was Gustavo and his assistant Kelly.
James saw the round man enter the living room and excitement bubbled in him. With a huge grin on his face, he ran towards the man and pulled him in a tight embrace.
“You came back for me,” he whispered.
Gustavo scoffed and pushed the pretty boy off him. “I’m not here for you,” he said with disgust, “I came for him.” He pointing at Kendall.
“What? Me?”
“Mrs. Knight, we’d like to take you and your family to Risa III to train Kendall to be a Space Matador,” Gustavo explained.
“You can’t be serious?” Kendall said with contempt and disbelief.
“It would just be for three months and we would cover all your expenses,” Kelly said.
“Kendall, you have a gift,” Gustavo said as he started to pace back and forth, “The fire. You also have anger management. People say I have anger management issues, but that doesn’t matter because I have five houses on three different planets!”
“We’ve been all over the galaxy, Kendall. We’ve seen thousands of people audition and Gustavo picked you,” Kelly told the blonde, trying to get him to see how lucky he was to be chosen.
“So, what do you say? Want to come with me to Risa and become a star?” The large man wiggled his eyebrows for effect.
“No.”
“No?”
“No.”
Gustavo’s face turned red and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. “I’m… just… take a minute. Gonna go outside and just take a minute.” He stormed out of the house, slamming the front door behind him. His rant and plethora of expletives could be heard through the thick walls.
“We should probably go,” Kelly said awkwardly. “But here’s our card in case you change your mind. We’ll be here until 13:00 hours.” She started to walk away but turned to look over her shoulder when she reached the door. “You should really think about this, Kendall. This is a great opportunity.”
--
The next morning Kendall went to his job at the local grocery store. He was restocking shelves of Tang when his three best friends showed up.
“So, I was doing the math for this whole Space Matador thing, and you’re being an idiot,” Logan said.
“But I don’t want to go to Risa III with that jerk.” Kendall let out an exasperated sigh. He had already argued with them about this last night. He didn’t really want to do it again. “I want to stay here- with you jerks!”
“What have you go to lose, Kendall? It’s only three months!” Logan pleaded.
“And just think, dude. Risa III. The girls. The beach. The money. The stars. The girls!” Carlos said listing each thing on his fingers.
“Yeah, but none of that matters if it’s with out my three best friends. Why don’t you add those numbers up, professor?”
Logan pretended to push buttons on this wrist communicator. “Hmmm. Looky there. Still an idiot.”
“Well, what do you think, James? You’ve been awfully quiet.”
“That’s because I’m not talking to you,” he said as he pulled out his lucky comb and ran it through his hair. He did his best to ignore his blonde friend but he could feel his eyes watching him. “Listen. Part of me hates you right now. Wait. All of me hates me right now. But seriously, you should call that guy back.”
“Why would I want to do that? That guy said you had no talent, made Logan cry and trashed my front yard throwing a temper tantrum.”
“But he wants to make you famous,” James protested. “Opportunities like this come once in a life time.”
“So you’re all saying that if you had to chance to go to Risa with a jerk face coach, you’d go?” Kendall asked his friends.
“Yes!” They all said in unison.
So Kendall dialed Kelly on his wrist communicator and asked her to meet him at the grocery store. About 15 minutes later a large stretch limo hovercraft pulled in to the parking lot and parked next to the group of friends.
Gustavo exited the vehicle and looked at Kendall expectantly. “Well?” he bellowed.
“Okay. I’ll go with you to Risa III and train to be a Space Matador,” the blonde said with a smirk, “if you take my buds and make us a Space Matador team.”
Logan choked on the gum he was chewing. He was not expecting that. None of them were.
“Excuse me?” Gustavo said. “Are you trying to make a deal? Because I’m the one who makes the deals. Not some stock boy at Quick Mart.”
“Well, if you want me, you have to take all of us.”
Gustavo starting laughing hysterically. “Listen. I’m the Gustavo Rocque. I’m amazing. And if you think I’m so desperate for a new matador because I’ve been to 22 different planets and haven’t found any decent talent doesn’t mean I’m going to start listening to some kid.”
“So do we have a deal?” Kendall asked indubitably.
Gustavo snapped his fingers for Kelly to come over and whispered something in her ear.
“Looks like we’ve got a deal boys,” she said with a smile.
--