"Drum Battle of the Century"
Written by: Toni the Mink
Commissioned by: RoyalSerene
Sonic and all related indica (c) SEGA
A/N: Because it's hard to "write" music, I reccommend listening to "Drum Battle of the Century" between Buddy Rich and Animal (from the Muppets) on YouTube when you read this...
...
"So, Knuckles," Manic said while twirling one of his old but cherished drumsticks on his finger, "Sonic tells me you're a drummer yourself."
Knuckles straightened up on the couch and beamed proudly. "Yup!" he chimed, "For our boy band, Dude-Itude!"
"I thought it was Dreamboat Express?" Sonia inquired.
"We tend to change our band name on a weekly basis," said Sonic, "I think this is the third time we changed it back to Dude-itude…"
"I personally think Dreamboat Express sounds more extravagant!" Sonia swooned.
Knuckles beamed at this. "Guys!" he cried, "Motion to change our bang name back to 'Deamboat Express'! All in favor? AYE! All oppose?"
"Nay," Sonic and Tails said in unison.
Knuckles frowned.
"Well, Mr. Dude-itude," Manic offered his drumsticks to Knuckles, "How about showing me what y'got?"
"Okay," Knuckles took the drumsticks and did a mini solo on Sonic's coffee table. Everyone around him nodded their heads to the beat.
"Not bad," Manic grinned and took back the sticks, "But lemme give ya a few pointers…"
With that, he slammed down the sticks at rapid speed, banging everything on top from coasters, to cups, to magazines even.
Knuckles seemed impressed. "You aren't that bad yourself…" he then gave a confident smirk, "But that was just a small sample of my skill I gave."
"Oh really?" Manic said slyly.
"Yeah!"
"Y'know what this calls for then?"
"Sure thing! … Um, but you better tell me to make sure we're on the same page."
Manic stood up and pointed a drumstick at Knuckles. "We need us a good ol' fashioned 'Beat Down'!"
"Beat down..?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow, then stood up, "Okay, if you say so…"
He raised his fist to hit Manic, but was quickly grabbed by Sonic. "No, Knuckles!" he cried, "He means a show down! On the drums!"
"Ohhh!" Knuckles sheepishly lowered his arm. "Why didn't you just say so?"
"Good afternoon, everybody!" Tails announced to the crowd… that consisted of only Sonic, Sonia, Amy, and Sticks. "Prepare yourselves for the one and only… Drum Battle Of The Century!"
The tiny crowd gave an applause to the two drummers behind Tails, who had earlier pulled out their own drum sets from their respected vehicles.
"In one corner, we have Paradise Adventurers'-"
"For the record," Sonic cut in, "We haven't officially voted that new name in yet…"
Tails cleared his throat. "Right… the drummer of Paradise Adventurers, AKA Dude-Itude, AKA Dreamboat Express… Knuckles the Echidna!"
Knuckles knocked his drumsticks together, as everyone cheered.
"And on the other corner," Tails continued, "The prince of the legendary Mobodoon, well-known thief and treasure hunter, Sonic's twin brother… Manic the Hedgehog!"
Everyone cheered and clapped as Manic gave a small bow. He and Knuckles tapped each other's drumsticks as a sign of respect.
"On your marks…" said Tails, "Get set… GO!"
He jumped to the side as the drummers immediately went to town on their sets. They both slammed their drums, cymbals, and basses in a rymthmic beat. One would pause for a second to allow the opponent a quick riff solo, and then try to one-up him. The crowd of friends bobbed their heads and tapped their knee caps to the beat.
As they drummed on, Perci and her twin sister Staci walked by. They stopped at the sound of the drum battle, looked over curiously, then came over to watch as well.
The two kept the beats going, one after another, practically making their own music as they 'battled' one another. Even some young children, who were running by and playing, had to stop what they were doing and come over so they could watch.
They kept going, trying to keep their rhythm up as long as possible, and not one of them dared to back down. During this, more and more villagers were stopping by to watch them.
During the battle, they would occasionally eye each other. They were definitely impressed with the other's skill and ability. That didn't mean they were about to bow out just yet…
The beat down was going on for several minutes now. More and more people were being drawn in. It was starting to take toll on both drummers… but they refused to quit. They pressed on, beating harder, making more noise, creating more fun music for the crowd to enjoy.
They pushed on, gritting their teeth, sweat beginning to pour down, beating as hard as they could without making it sound like a garbled mesh. The crowd was really enjoying what they saw.
More and more, harder and harder, they kept going…
Until Knuckles began to slow down. His arms were starting to kill him. All that training and weight lifting did wonders for knocking out Badniks and giant machinery… not drumming in a pattern for minutes on end… He finally puttered out and panted to catch his breath.
Manic, on the other hand, kept going, slamming his drumsticks on the snares, basses, cymbals, everything, as hard as he could, and as fast as he could. Everyone watched in awe with mouth agape, witnessing such level of skill in person. Even Knuckles was dumbfounded at the sight.
Finally, he concluded with a massive bash of practically everything at once, finishing off with one last smack of the cymbals with his stick. He then dropped his arms and panted to catch his breath himself.
And at that, the entire crowd jumped to its feet, applauding wildly. Sonic and the others were surprised at the suddenly outcome of people who had come out of the woodwork just to watch this beat down.
Knuckles jumped from his drum set, dropped to his knees, and practically bowed in front of Manic. "I'm not worthy!" he cried.
Manic got up himself and motioned Knuckles to stand back up. "C'mon, buddy, you're worthy. You're worthy," he smiled.
The echidna got back up to his feet, and the two fist-bumped out good sportsmanship.
"Encore! Encore!" the crowd cheered.
Sonic crossed his arms and grinned. "Well guys," he said, "Give the crowd what it wants."
The two looked over at each other, grinned, and tapped drum sticks once more. They then returned to their drum sets and went off on another beat down for the crowd to enjoy.