#she's gotta look fly to represent her people y'know?

[cant-get-enough-btr-forever]

"Big Time Battle of the Bands", Chapter 7: Big Time Replacement

Later that day, Big Time Rush was rehearsing at Rocque Records. It seemed to be going well. Gustavo stood sidestage while his foursome sang and danced. Next to him, Kelly nodded her head along.

But it still wasn't perfect. Their dancing was slightly off-beat, and their pitch went flat a few times. To the average person, it was hardly noticeable. To Gustavo, however...

"WHAT WAS THAT??!!"

Kendall sighed before speaking. "We're just a little nervous, okay? We don't wanna screw this up for everybody."

"Guess what? I don't care." Gustavo snapped. "The fundraiser, in case you forgot, is on Saturday. And Saturday is two days away. So you monkey dogs better get your act together, or Griffin will have all of our butts hanging on his office wall!

"Not to mention, the Palmwoods will go down in history as, 'The Hotel That Was Failed By a Sloppy Boy Band.'"

Kelly cleared her throat. "Y'know, we've been rehearsing all morning. Why don't we take a lunch break?"

Gustavo began to object, but he quailed under Kelly's glower. "Fine...lunch." he relented. The guys exhaled with relief.

The moment Gustavo and Kelly had disappeared, James straightened out his collar and flipped his bangs. "Well, I am going back to the Palmwoods to see if Pink Girl wants to share that lunch with me."

Kendall rounded on him. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Gustavo has a point. If we wanna give the Palmwoods a good name, we've gotta be 100% into this. Now really isn't the time to be getting distracted by girls."

Logan whapped the back of James' head. "See? I told you."

James sputtered indignantly as he rubbed the stinging area. He retaliated with a shove, which Logan countered with a harder shove, which quickly snowballed into a heated tussle. Carlos could do nothing but slowly back away and watch them go at it. Kendall rubbed his forehead.

"Okay, okay! Time out!" he yelled, holding up the universal "T" gesture. When that didn't work, he signaled to Carlos, who nodded and rapped his helmet. They proceeded to tug the pair apart, dodging the flying fists and elbows.

......

Meanwhile, out in the hall, Gustavo and Kelly came face-to-face with an unexpected (and unwanted) guest.

"Gustavo! I expect that the fundraiser preparations are going smoothly," Arthur Griffin said in his smug-cheerful voice. As usual, he was accompanied by his trusty assistant, Abdul.

"Ah, uh, yes! Naturally! Rehearsals are just peachy!" Gustavo replied with as much mirth as he could muster. Kelly looked sympathetic. She knew that Griffin was the last person he wanted to deal with.

"Splendid! I thought I would drop by and tell you how pleased I am that we are staying well within the budget. Pyrotechnics, lights, speaker systems, not to mention decor...everything my team has picked out will enhance the concert quite nicely." Griffin went on.

Gustavo inwardly screamed. Obviously, this insufferable man had "dropped by" to gloat. "Well, great!" he said, plastering on a grin.

Several awkward moments passed. Kelly was the first to break the quiet. "So, is there anything else?"

Griffin seemed a bit startled, but smiled. "Oh, yes! I wanted to let you know that plans have changed slightly. A different band will be performing at the fundraiser."

Gustavo blanched. Kelly's jaw dropped. "WHAT?!" they yelled.

Griffin calmly explained, "A new group has been brought to my attention. I believe that all up-and-coming young artists deserve some recognition. Besides, the people of the Palmwoods could use some fresh new faces to represent them, don't you think?"

With that, he left them in their flabbergasted states. Just as he reached the end of the hall, he turned around. "Oh, and tell the boys 'you're welcome.' Now they have extra time to work on that album!"

Gustavo shook himself out of his stupor and furiously marched after his boss. Kelly hastened behind him.

"ExCUSE me?" Gustavo exclaimed. "So you're gonna fire us, just like that?! What, we don't even get to hear the 'fresh new faces' you've dragged in?"

"First of all, Gustavo, I did not 'drag' them in. They were dragged to me." Griffin patiently replied. "Second of all, yes. I can fire you. It's one of the many joys of having lots and lots of money. I can own anything I want, including you. I can choose anything I want.

"And if I think one of the things I own has grown old and tired, I can simply choose something else to replace it. And do you know what that gets me?"

Gustavo and Kelly stared at Griffin, mouths agape.

Griffin leaned in. "More money, Gustavo. And the cycle continues." He smiled.

After a beat, Kelly shook herself. "Okay, you skipped a part: Are you even going to let us hear the new boys?" she demanded.

Griffin and Abdul looked at each other.

......

"DOGS! We're done for the day!" Gustavo annunciated as he re-entered the rehearsal studio.

He was greeted by an interesting sight: Carlos was sitting on Logan's stomach (who was lying flat on the stage) and reading a comic, while Kendall was standing with his arms crossed next to a seated James. James' wrists were bound with a purple bandana. Logan and James were, understandably, scowling.

"You know what? I don't even wanna know." Gustavo said after some staring. "Follow me, we are going back to the Palmwoods."

"Wait, you're letting us off early?" Carlos said, eyes wide with disbelief.

"Who are you, and what have you done with the Giant Turd?" Kendall mock-exclaimed.

Gustavo managed to keep the steam from hissing out of his ears, but completely failed to keep it out of his mouth. "You know, with an attitude like that, I might just LET Griffin replace you with his new BAND!"

The four boys froze at that last word. "New band? What new band?" Kendall asked.

Kelly took one look at her beet red boss and decided to answer that one. "Griffin has recruited a new vocal group. He wants them to replace you guys at the fundraiser."

The reaction was as expected: a chorus of "what?!" and "he can't do that!" Gustavo held up his hands. "Yeah, yeah, we know. We get it. Which is why we are all heading over to the Palmwoods."

Kelly elaborated, "They're gonna debut for the residents."

James barked out a laugh. "Oh, yeah? I bet the people will know what's up. They know I'm the original Face of the Palmwoods." He did his trademark 'spirit fingers' (as best as he could with his hands tied).

Kendall smacked his chest, to which he flinched. "And by 'I'm', I mean we." From his spot on the floor, Logan rolled his eyes.

"Let's move out! I wanna see the look on Griffin's face when he realizes the egregious error he's made." Gustavo huffed before leaving.

James gave a little "ahem?" and shoved his hands at Kendall, who sighed and untied him. Logan glared at Carlos after he finally got off his stomach.

"Think it's time to lay off the corndogs, man," he grumbled, rubbing his abdomen. Carlos stuck out his tongue as they hopped off the stage.

[thefoodwiththedood]

Let the next round of age-ups for my OCs begin!! To start off, here’s Hes as she looked around 4-5 ABY—the year the Empire fell, the year she liberated Devaron, and the year her son Kasson was born. It was a good year for her, basically :D

For this version, I wanted to try and reflect how Hes is getting older (she’s almost 40 by this point), and how her look might change to reflect both her age and the larger responsibility she’s undertaking. The Angels are numbering in the thousands, she’s facing open war with the Empire, and she’s now seen as a living symbol of hope for her people; she can’t afford to act like a hot-headed 20-something anymore. That’s not to say she isn’t the same friendly, fun-loving Hes she’s always been—she’s just more responsible when she needs to be, y’know?

But yeah, this’ll be the first in a new series of age-ups for my OCs, so stay tuned for those in the future! Next up will be Cerate, probably, followed by Russoc, Vonnie, Gemre, Oh-Ar, and anyone else who I can do. For now, though, what do you guys think? Does this design look cool? Is she wearing too much gold? Are you lamenting the loss of her gigantic hair as much as I am? Let me hear your guys’ feedback! :D