Hi, I'm The Unknown Author, but you can just call me Christian. So far, I've only ever written Rugrats fanfics, but I also love Arthur. I'm a 17-yr-old who grew up watching Arthur since before I was even two. I decided to make a Rememberance Day (in USA, Veteran's Day) themed one-shot, where Binky, an army sergeant serving in Iraq surprises his son, Anton, when the original gang's kids' band, the Ratburn Clan performs. I hope you enjoy my first ever Arthur fic, if you do, please leave a review! If you don't like or feel it needs improvement, I'd appreciate constructive advice, thanks! Hope you enjoy my first ever, Arthur story!
Elwood City, Massachusetts. Lakewood's own, The Ratburn Clan, was getting ready for Rock of the Year. Elwood City's Biggest Rock n' Roll ceremony/competition of the year. For the first time ever the band of 10-year-olds had made it. Laura Read, Female vocalist and keyboard. Sherlock Baxter, drummer. Joan Baxter, manager and when needed, bassist. Paul Lundgren, acoustic/electric guitarist. Dimitry Powers, rythymic guitarist, and Anton Barnes, Male Vocalist and back up guitarist.
All the kids peeked through the curtains, Laura saw her parents, the Baxter twins waved, Dimitry winked at them, and Paul gave his Dad a funny face. One person though, wasn't really in the mood to wave to his parents. Anton's father was still serving in Iraq, and wasn't expected to come home anytime soon, since ISIS invaded and took control. Anton was upset, he'd give anything for his father to see his performance, he was frustrated, but, he wanted to keep his eye on the prize, so, he went to his Mom moments before the performance, and gave her something.
"Hey Mom! Here, can you record this so Dad can watch what happens, please?" Asked Anton
His mother sighed and nodded, she took the camera, and got ready for the performance.
"Alright gang! Mighty Mountain's Mighty Melodies always beat us, but this year, we change that! Who's with me!" Announced Anton
"YEAH!" They all cried
The curtain lifted up as the band was announced. Anton felt an emptiness in his heart. Everyone had both their parents there, why couldn't he, And to make it worse, this was the biggest moment ever, they'd had a crazy day that counted as it's own wild story to be told a different day! All he wanted to see, was his Dad. Laura looked at Anton, and walked up to him.
"Be strong." she said "He'll be very proud when he watches this."
Anton inhaled, and them exhaled. "Can you announce the song, I wanna get rid of this tickle in my throat."
Laura nodded, and took the mic. "We'll be performing a song by an old friend of our parents. My Dad told me she wrote this song, and she eventually put him to play it's keyboards part when the firsy keyboardist retired, and Anton's dad played clarinet, and Sherlock and Joan's mom sang the vocals. I give you Nothin' But the Music!
As they began playing, a man with a clarinet started playing, joining them on-stage. Everyone but Anton noticed him, as Anton refused to turn around. He was gonna give a solid performance.
(Before you start going further, keep in mind that since the Ratburn Clan has two vocalists, Laura and Anton alternate on singing parts, line by line, you guess which line suits which character.)
We see the pretty boys,
we see the barbie girls,
Climbing their way up the charts!
We see the videos, where all the fashion plates,
Lip-sync their way to your hearts!
Well, no offense to them, and no offense to you,Don't take it personally!
But when it comes to rock, and when it comes to roll,
Don't need to sell it 'cause it's born to be free! (Free freeee!)
Don't want nothing but the music!
Don't need the shiny limousine!
Don't want nothing but the music!
Love it or leave it,The music is all I need!
The TV Interviews, the glossy magazines,
We see the stars' every move!
The Grammys piling up, the money pouring in,
But tell me what does it prove?
'Cause real rock 'n' roll, is all about your soul,
So hey, when push comes to shove!
Forget about the fluff, the music is enough,
I'm stickin' with the stuff that dreams are made of,
IT'S LOVE!
Don't want nothing but the music!
Don't need no People Magazine!
Don't want nothing but the music!
I'm pledging allegiance,
The music is all I need!
Nothing but the music!
The whole crowd was on their feet! They were applauding them so passionately, The Ratburn Clan had wowed them!
"You did great!" Yelled Laura as she wrapped her arms around Anton.
"Thanks Laura, by the way, is it just me, or did I hear a clarinet playing in the background?" Anton asked
Laura giggled, and gestured for him to turn around.
"Oh My God! I'm your biggest fan" said the tall adult bulldog, who was wearing a blonde wig and pink sunglasses, although a male's camoflauge T-shirt.
"Never knew we had such ugly groupies." whispered Anton to Sherlock
"Seriously buddy? Come on!" said the bulldog, and he took off his wig and sunglasses, to reveal none other than Anton's father!
"Ladies and Gentlmen! Sergeant Shelley 'Binky' Barnes!"
Anton didn't care at all for what people thought at that moment. He broke down in tears and ran right into his fathers arms. It was the happiest moment of his life!
"You're home!" he cried
That night, the Ratburn Clan won Rock of the Year. It was their first ever first place award in a music competition. Binky took Anton backstage after the show, they walked to the other half of the Barnes family.
"Son before wife I see..." said a sarcastic Prunella, as she wrapped her arms around her husband and gave him a big kiss. "And I'm so proud of you Anton!" she said, as she gave him a hug just as tighter, kissing him to the point where there was a lipstick mark on his cheek, which he immediately rubbed off.
"So, Dad," began Anton's older sister, Kelly "What's this 'big surprise' you told us to anticipate?"
"This." he said, as his Prunella brought out a baby boy, no older than 3 months, from the car. "I found him as an orphan in a church while I was in Mosul, and brought him here. As you know, your Aunt Mei-Lin is adopted, and we're doing the same. We're adopting him. Say hello to your new little brother."
An incredible day it was. Anton had been surprised in a way that few can beat. Through his father returning from Iraq. And now, he had a new little brother to celebrate with, this was the greatest surprise ever.
"How do you feel?" asked Binky
Anton looked at his father. "Great, great and surprised. Happy Veteran's day Dad!"
AWWWW! How sweet! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one-shot. I hope you guys enjoyed my first ever submission to this fandom, and to hopefully continue here. Please Review Guys! If you'd like, check out my Rugrats fics if you like that cartoon as well!