Sequel to my story "Open Auditions." Don't have to read that one to understand this but it may help. I'm thinking of doing a series of these stories, each revolving around Kurt and Mercedes' adventures with the Cheerios. I will be doing one on home as well. These two are just so much fun to write about.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Glee or Madonna or anything else mentioned in this story.
Madonna. Being assigned to do her songs was about the only assignment that Mr. Shue had handed out that Kurt really liked. She was number nine on his Top Ten list of Most Talented Singers and number four on his list of Top Ten Most Influential Musicians. Many of her songs were inspiring and iconic. Needless to say, he was planning on embracing this assignment much more readily than the one where he had to find a mash up for "Bust a Move." Recreating music videos was sort of his area of expertise, so he figured he would do the same with the Madonna assignment.
He enlisted Mercedes' help of course. The two of them worked well together, and he could always count on her to have creative ideas that would advance the project. The two of them spent the weekend watching all of Madonna's videos on YouTube. After careful consideration and various methods of narrowing down the choices, they decided that Vogue would be the one for them to recreate.
Kurt had approached Artie about helping with the video, and getting the AV club to help out. He readily agreed and promised to get the set ready for them, as well as film and edit the video. Kurt was grateful that the other boy had some strange desire to join every status-reducing club or team that the school had to offer, because it usually ended up helping out with many creative endeavors.
Mercedes and Kurt still didn't know who they were going to use to play the part of Madonna, but since they were pretty far ahead of schedule, they weren't too worried yet. They ended up relaying their plan to Mr. Shuester in the hallway at school one day, when they were interrupted by Ms. Sylvester. She was apparently mad that Mr. Shuester had copied her idea about Madonna. Privately Mercedes agreed that Madonna was open to everyone, but she wasn't the only influential female performer. Mr. Shuester could have come up with someone else. Then Ms. Sylvester was insulting his hair again, which they had noticed happened quite often. He usually shrugged it off, but now he fired one back at her.
It was slightly accurate, Kurt mused to himself, but a bit unnecessary as Mr. Shuester loudly congratulated himself on coming up with the insult. He also didn't seem to notice everyone staring at him as he yelled out in triumph. However this was the man who had been rumored to have stalked down the hall yelling, "Everyone loves disco!"
Kurt and Mercedes simultaneously glanced back at Ms. Sylvester and were surprised to see the great deal of hurt on her face. Obviously he had touched a nerve, and her fierce façade slipped away to reveal a more vulnerable side to her. However, the mask slipped back on quickly, as she made her way ferociously down the hallway, unfortunately for the students who got in her way. The two talked it over, and decided to approach the cheerleading coach about it.
Walking into her office was a bit intimidating, but what they learned once they got in there changed their perception of the woman by a great deal. She very clearly was lying about her age, but other than that, she actually seemed – well a bit human to tell the truth. They could see the influence Madonna had on her, and how much she respected the singer. All it took was one glance from Mercedes to Kurt and they both could tell that were on the same train of thought. They proposed their idea to Sue, and were surprised when she agreed.
That following weekend, the choir room was found to be completely changed. There was a massive green screen hanging on one wall, and various props set up around the room. Several high tech cameras sat waiting to be used, with members of the AV club standing next to them, nervously eying the cheerleaders who were warming up with stretches, jumping jacks, and toe touches, led by Brittany and Santana. Artie was in his element, rolling around, barking orders, and organizing the AV club members into their positions. Kurt and Mercedes were huddled around Sue in a corner at a makeshift makeup table, putting the finishing touches on her makeup and hair for the first scene.
"You guys ready for this?" Artie asked the pair.
"Completely," Kurt replied with confidence. Mercedes however, sniffed and turned away from Artie, her nose in the air.
"What did I do?" Artie asked, completely nonplussed.
"Tell Wheels that I'm not talking to him after what he said to my girl Tina," Mercedes informed Kurt.
"Oh come on –" Artie began protesting.
"Sexist pig!" Mercedes shot back, then stalking off to talk to Brittany. Artie looked hopelessly up at Kurt.
"She's right you know," Kurt replied. "Come on let's get rolling," he added when Artie opened his mouth to retaliate. "No pun intended," he added sheepishly at Artie's glare. He then walked away before the other boy could respond. Artie shook his head in exasperation and wheeled himself over to the director's chair.
"Quiet on set," he called as he lowered himself onto the chair. "Vogue: take one. Sound speed. And action."
Overall, the video went great. It took all day for them to get all the shots, but once they finished there was a lot of celebrating. For someone who seemed to make it their life's goal to eliminate Glee Club, Sue was actually a rather good singer and dancer. One of the AV club members took the footage home, and spent the rest of the weekend editing it together.
The next day, Mercedes and Kurt waited anxiously to see which hairstyle Sue would pick. When she showed up with her normal style, they were pretty disappointed that all their hard work had been for nothing. Then she said that she wanted to reinvent the two of them.
"Show up at the gym today at 3:30 and wear proper shoes," she barked before retreating to her office. Kurt and Mercedes couldn't imagine what Sue could possibly want with them, and discussed possible reasons why during lunch. They were glad to have something to talk about, because it was a bit awkward at their table ever since Tina refused to speak to Artie. At 3:30 sharp they approached the gym with trepidation. They could hear music playing and the squeak of tennis shoes on the gym floor. Cheerio practice was in session. Exchanging one last confused glance, Kurt and Mercedes pushed the doors open and walked in.
Various Cheerios were doing stretches, others running around the track, while even more were doing sit ups and pushups near the bleachers.
"And here are my two new stars now!" they heard Sue shout from across the gym through her megaphone. Everyone stopped and glanced over at the pair standing by the door. Some looked confused, others disdainful. Brittany waved cheerfully at them though.
"Wait what?" Mercedes asked as Sue approached them.
"You two are now officially members of this elite Cheerios squad. Although you lack the ability to do even a meager cartwheel, you both have strong vocal chords which haven't been in use because your social life if so dull that you don't have anyone to talk to. I have decided to put them to use, and give my Cheerios an extra boost."
"So we're Cheerios now?" Kurt asked in disbelief. They had tried out that one time true, but that was a joke.
"Did I not just say that Clay Aiken? Now unless you two would rather go back to the geek infested hole you were living in, I would suggest you suit up and be stretching in five minutes." With another glance at each other, Kurt and Mercedes shrugged and nodded, then headed off to the clothing closet that Brittany was standing next to for their uniforms. The next week was a blur of rehearsals, practicing, and anticipation. There was a big game on Friday, and they were scheduled to perform at halftime. Of course they were doing a Madonna number, but it was a more modern one, and if the rehearsals were anything to go by, it was going to be epic.
The big night had finally arrived. As soon as the horns started, quickly followed by the drums, Kurt and Mercedes – on opposite sides of the gym – took deep breaths and launched into the song. All their worries went away as soon as they met each other in the middle of the gym, and they let the song carry them. As soon as it had started, it ended. All the other Cheerios dropped to the ground and the two of them were left standing. Instead of laughter and mocking insults, they heard cheering and clapping. They looked around in amazement. The entire student body was applauding them. They had genuinely enjoyed their performance, and were respecting them. It was a sensation that Kurt and Mercedes were definitely unfamiliar with.
They bounded off the court together, still on a high from their performance. Mr. Shuester confronted them, but they already had their response prepared. They weren't going to quit Glee Club, (unlike certain people did when they didn't get solos) but were going to compromise. They knew that if Sue ever tried to use it to her advantage, they would pick Glee Club over the Cheerios in a heartbeat, but for now they were just going to enjoy it.
R&R Please