Hiyas peeps! Here's the chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own CATS, the Beatles, Lady Gaga, Janis Joplin, Billy Joel, Joan Baez, or Neutral Milk Hotel. Any other artists you may recognize… well, I don't own them, either.
~*~
"Good morning, students," greeted Deuteronomy, the principal of High School of the Everlasting Cat, at their morning assembly.
"I have an announcement to make," he declared. "The producers at Junkyard Recordings would like to hold a competition between local schools. The schools' students will form several bands, and competitions will be held weekly until all but one band per school is eliminated from the competition. Once the schools have their representative bands, the bands will compete, once again repeating the elimination process until there is one band standing. That band will receive an optional recording contract and a ten-thousand dollar college scholarship." The eyes of the students widened. "I will pick two names out of a hat. Those people will be leaders of the first two bands, and anyone who doesn't make it into one of them can form their own band. All bands are required to have a vocalist, a lead guitarist, a bassist, and a drummer. Performances will be judged on musical talent, stage presence, and style. The judges for our school will be Jellylorum, Gus, and Bombalurina, respectively. Now for the leaders of the first two bands…" Jellylorum, the music teacher, brought forward a silk hat with the names of the students inside.
"Leader of Band One is…" Deuteronomy reached inside. "The Rum Tum Tugger!" There were a lot of claps from Tugger's friends. He seemed quite pleased with himself.
"Band Two's leader will be…" Once again, a name was drawn from the hat. "Mistoffelees!" There were some claps, but not as many as Tugger received. The principal handed them sheets for students to insert their names, email addresses, and what they were auditioning for.
During lunch, Mistoffelees looked at his sheet.
Auditions and practice: 12:00 PM this Saturday, my house. Email me: Little Magician at for the address. I'll be lead or bass guitarist.
He checked it again once school was over, to see who had signed up.
Jemima- drummer, vocalist, tambourine-player, violinist, Moonlight Dancer at . He never would have thought of such a tiny cat banging away at the drums…
Coricopat- rhythm guitarist, vocalist, sitar-player, Stormy In the Air at . Coricopat played the sitar? He and his sister were considered kind of weird…
Tantomile- bassist, vocalist, pianist, Psychic Cat at . Both of the mystic twins were auditioning, apparently.
Electra- techie, Moog synthesizer player (if necessary) Electric Queen at . What on earth was a Moog synthe-whatsit? Ah, well. A techie could be useful. Misto had no idea how to rig lighting and amplifiers and all that stuff…
He glanced back at the page. Nobody else had auditioned. Suspicious, Misto looked at Tugger's sheet.
Etcetera- bass, Tuggers Girl at
Plato- drums, More Mysterious Than Mystics at
Victoria- vocalist, Snow White Queen at
Pouncival- lead guitar, Lots Of Pounces at … It went on and on. A few Jellicles had tacked extra pieces of paper to the bottom so they could write their names.
Misto sighed. He was stuck with the only people who auditioned.
"At least they're all good musicians… I hope."
~*~
That Saturday, at twelve o'clock, a knock came on the door of Misto's house.
"I'll get it, Quax; it's probably one of the people I was telling you about." Quaxo, Mistoffelees' brother, went to a different school and so wasn't participating in the competition.
"Hi Misto!" Jemima waited outside the doorstep, an unfamiliar black van parked in the driveway.
"Hey Jemima, come on in," Misto greeted. He then gestured to the car. "I never really imagined you driving a car like that…" She shook her head in a no.
"I got a ride from the twins," she explained. "They're getting the instruments from the car."
"Oh… there wasn't any need to bring instruments; I've got some here."
"Well, you didn't state that in the sheet, and we agreed that it's better safe than sorry," Jemima teased. There was suddenly the unmistakable sound of a hi-hat clanging to the ground.
"YOW! Tanto, watch what you do with that thing!"
"You two better be careful with my drums, or I'll sue for compensatory… damage… money… things!" Jemima stormed off in the direction of the van to help carry instruments. Misto hurried after her, not wanting the small queen to be squashed under a bass drum.
"You're the one who insisted on bringing these things!" Coricopat snapped, flicking his bangs… head-fur… whatever you want to call it… out of his eyes.
Part of the reason the twins were generally avoided was because of the way that they dressed. Both were dressed in clothes that most people would call "pretty emo" but the twins stated were "completely punk. Okay, maybe a little emo. But never, evercall us goth. We aren't goth."
"Y'know, I never thought that you'd play the sitar, Coricopat," Misto commented as the male twin dragged out the wooden instrument.
"Yeah, neither did I. But it's actually pretty cool," the tom said. "Some bands have used it in rock songs." Tantomile quickly checked the inside of the van.
"Okay, guys, that's everything." She turned to Misto. "Is anyone else auditioning?"
"Electra said that she could be our techie, or play a Moog synthesizer."
"Awesome," Tanto exclaimed. "I've always wanted to learn how to play the Moog. So… are we the only ones coming?"
"Pretty much," Misto admitted. "So you automatically get the parts. Now, we can already do some prep before Lecs gets here… let me think…" He made a mental checklist of the things they were being judged on while pacing back and forth.
"One: Music. We need a set list- we need to decide what we'll play. Two: Stage presence. We have to interact with the crowd, perform… we'll think about that later. Three: Style." He stopped pacing. "What'll we wear?" Jemima raised her hand.
"Pick me! Pick me!"
"Yes, Jemima?"
"I know this crafting store, and if I get your measurements and stuff, I can make us all outfits! I've made clothing before."
"I'm not wearing pink," Tantomile warned.
"Nah, pink's boring." Jemima thought about it for a moment. "It'll really depend on what type of music we want to do."
"I was thinking classic rock," Misto suggested. "Stuff from the 60's through the 80's." The twins stared at him.
"And they call us mind readers! We were thinking the same thing!" They looked at Jemima.
"Could we do some pop, too? To change it up a little?" she asked meekly.
"No Britney Spears," Coricopat stated. "She gives me the creeps."
"And you creep everyone else out," a female voice stated.
"You've got me there, Lecs." Corico grinned at the dark tabby. "Nice of you to finally show up." Electra stuck her tongue out at him.
"Now that Electra is here, let's go inside and think of some songs to play," Misto proposed.
Once they had settled themselves in the living room, the five began discussing artists.
"Janis Joplin," was Tantomile's choice.
"Nah, Billy Joel all the way," Corico replied.
"You only like him 'cause you sound like him."
"You only like Joplin because you sound like her!"
"Guys, guys, cool it!" Misto commanded. "We can do some Joplin, and we can do some Joel. Happy?" The two nodded.
"Could we do some Lady Gaga?" Jemima asked. Misto nodded.
"Neutral Milk Hotel is a good band," Electra stated quietly.
"I've never heard of them," confessed the Conjuring Cat. "But I'll check them out. Personally, I think we should do some of John Lennon's songs."
"What about the other Beatles? Harrison was the best," Corico added.
"You're only saying that because he played the sitar."
"You just think that Paul's the best because he was the cutest."
"AHA!" Tantomile exclaimed. "I finally got you to admit your secret crush on Paul!"
"Guys! Focus!" They looked at him.
"Sorry, Misto," they mumbled. The tuxedoed tom sighed.
"We can do the other Beatles' songs, too. But please, try not to get distracted. We want those scholarships, right?" Everyone nodded.
"Good. So here's the plan…"
~*~
There it is! This is the sort-of prologue (kinda long for a prologue, though…) And, if you're wondering, in my mind (and this story) they sound like these people when they sing:
Cori sounds like Billy Joel singing Shades of Gray.
Tanto sounds like Janis Joplin singing Me and Bobby McGee.
Jemima sounds like Lady Gaga singing Poker Face.
Misto sounds like John Lennon singing Across the Universe.
Electra sounds like… well, I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking Joan Baez when she sings Joe Hill.
Did you like it? Did you not like it? Review! Let me know! Speak now, or forever hold your peace!