"Welcome to the annual district marching band competition. Like every year, we have the three main divisions: Division 1, Division 2, and Division 3. Division 1 for marching bands that have 50 members or less, Division 2 for 100 members or less, and Division 3 for 100 members or more. Due to the many schools entering for Division 1, sub-divisions were made. In some few minutes, we will start with Division 1: White. Now, get comfortable and get ready for some wonderful marching bands."
Shadow looked onto the field as the first band walked in. 'Water Palace.' As the band played, he took mental notes.
"I don't think we have to worry about them." Sonic said as he came up to Shadow.
"Hn." Was all that Shadow said as he kept his eyes to the field. Once that school finished, they had some time for the next school.
"Blaze, what's the next school?" Shadow looked behind him in the stands. Silver looked toward Blaze, who seemed to be (or trying to) chocking Marine.
'Babylon High' Shadow thought. He then felt someone sit next to him, it was Rouge.
"Guess, who's next?" She told him as she crossed her legs to watch the new band walking in.
"Hn." Was all he said.
"Do you think we should be worried, Shadow?" She asked. Shadow didn't pay attention to her as he looked over to the band.
"Oh god, here they are." That sounded like Wave, or Amy, he really didn't know.
"Let's see how they play." Tails, that was in front of Shadow, said.
Astonished. Overwhelmed. Dazed. Flabbergasted. Out of breath. And every other synonym that Shadow can remember from . Babylon High had props! He growled under his breath; darn schools with big budgets. The song they were playing was a classic that got remixed with "Give me everything tonight."
A white ferret came up to the band as she looked over toward Shadow.
"Emerald High?" She asked, Shadow nodding in response.
"You're up next, get ready at the entrance." She said as she left. Shadow stood up and signaled the rest of the members to walk behind him. It was barely the middle of the second song and Shadow wanted to stay for the third, but he had to leave. They walked to the entrance when Babylon High walked past them.
"We were so good!"
"Yeah, totally!"
Shadow snickered at the remarks as he got to the entrance.
"Wonderful, Babylon High! In some few minutes, Emerald High will be up!"
Shadow looked over at his band members after the announcements. Sonic was running in place, faster than usual. Cosmo and Tikal were hugging each other tight. Mina was singing some kind of child's nursery rhyme to herself as Marine talked constantly to herself. Rouge, Amy and Bunnie were practicing their routine as fast they can, over and over and over again. Knuckles was punching the air while Julie-Su kicked the air. Storm was pounding his chest just like a gorilla. The drum line, that consisted of Rotor, Charmy, Tails, Wave and Jet, were practicing their routine without their instruments while Jet and Wave screamed at the rest of the team, "Faster!" repeatedly. Sally was trying to calm Antoine down, who was crying, while she herself was crying. Mighty was lifting the heavy instruments with such ease and seemed to be very calm. Ray was jumping off a nearby bench and then getting on top again, doing the process multiple times. Espio just stood next to a wall, looking as calm as usual, until he disappeared, then appeared, and then disappeared, and then appearing again like a flicking light bulb. Rob was reciting a Middle English poem with so much emotion. Big was throwing Cream up while she called Big names, "Useless! My gram gram can throw higher than you!" Blaze was throwing fire balls at Silver while he floated, in a zigzag way, away from her.
Shadow shook his head at his band members. Sure, he was nervous himself but he looked calm compared to his team mates. They were all in uniform; the red, blue and white blazer, the white pants, white shoes and the big white top hat that they wear, with a blue visor with red triangles on the side. Shadow, due to being the drum major, had a white cape with golden strings on the side. He looked over to the color guard who were wearing their glittery leotards that were blue and red, separated by the golden diagonal line, and the glittery silver skirt.
"Emerald High School, up in three minutes." The white ferret came with a headset and looking at her clipboard. Her announcement, unfortunately, made everyone do whatever they were doing faster.
"Alright kids, listen up." Vector said as he came out of nowhere. Many stopped what they were doing as they looked at their band director; then they started their doing again.
"Listen up!" This time, everyone stopped what they were doing as they looked at Shadow. Shadow stood tall as he waited for the band members to come near him. Once he looked them over, he nodded.
"Good. As we all should know, we have gotten third and second for the past years. Many of us have endured so much to reach for the top and not succeeded. But we have worked hard this year and I think we are ready. We got lucky that we didn't get the same division as Radical High and we might have a chance. You have seen what Babylon can do and even I am surprised at their talent, but we have worked hard enough to not give up here. Many of you may think that there will be next year, but many of us are seniors and there is no next year for us. So make each other proud by not playing for yourself but for the band, for all of us. Let's make this year the best for us, for the school. Let's bring respect to us and for the band members after us." Shadow said, eyes closed through the whole process. When he opened his eyes, he saw everyone surprised; either by the speech or that he talked. Even the faker looked like he could applaud for Shadow.
"Yeah. Let's do it to it!" Sonic said as he joined Shadow's side.
"For the band in three! 1, 2, 3!"
"For the Band!"
"For Emerald High!"
"For the win!"
The band cheered as they raised their fists up. Shadow smirked as he crossed his arms, looking over his band. Vector, who was dumbfounded that people listened to Shadow and not him, was in the back staring at them like "WTF?". Shadow noticed the ferret come back and signaled the rest to put on their instruments.
"On the field by 30 seconds, Emerald High." The ferret said. They all got in a line, Shadow in front as they got ready to go onto the field.
"And now presenting, The Emerald High School Marching Band and Auxiliary!" Cheers were heard, but the band became serious as they marched onto field.
"The judges are ready. You may begin whenever you are ready." The announcer said. Shadow stood in front of the judges and saluted them. He then walked over to the band and looked over them.
"Mark time hut!" he yelled as the band members got ready. They started with the song they practiced every zero period. He conducted them until it was his cue to move and make the sparkling emerald formation. All were serious, all were performing with one goal in mind. Shadow walked back to his position as he conducted the band, never missing a beat.
The next melody started, which was the one they did on the pep rally for the Classic last month with Green Hill high, their rivals. It all seemed like normal pep rally song until Jet and Wave played. Shadow nodded as he could see that they were playing the multi tenors as fast as they could which was faster than they usually do. Many cheered at the amazing speed that the multi tenors had.
Then, the fun started. The band members smiled as they started to play the new song they have been practicing. The guard girls did their routines with energetic smiles as they did some cumbia salsa in it. The band was playing "Loca" by Shakira (A/N: oh yeah, I went there!). Many cheered but Shadow couldn't see, he was too busy conducting them. The band was also doing their routine as they danced some few steps themselves.
When the song was done, Shadow called them to form a line as Tails and Charmy did a marching beat as they walked out of the field. Once out of the field and walking to their seats, everyone looked at each other in silence.
"We did it!" Some of the girls said as they jumped up. Many laughed and hugged or cheered. Shadow smirked at his band members they celebrated their performance. That was over and now for the long wait.
They went back to their seats as Shadow looked at the field, their rivals were playing. They don't have to worry about them though, they were kind of bad.
"Good job, Wave, Jet." Shadow said as the pair sat down in front of him. They looked at each other and then looked at Shadow.
"Thanks, Shads. But it wouldn't be done without you." Wave said as she winked at him. Jet was now taking off his hat.
"Yeah, man. And well…maybe Wave, too." Jet looked over Wave with a blush which made her blush. 'Love birds…' Shadow rolled his eyes, but with a smirk. They might be annoying but maybe this will help them be quieter.
Shadow looked over to his side as he saw Julie-Su and Knuckles hugging. Cosmo and Tails were holding hands as they watched the other band. Bunnie and Antoine were snuggling all the way at the end. Silver and Blaze were talking as they hold hands. Charmy and Cream were also talking while holding hands. And all the way at the end, Mighty was talking to Marine as she blushed like crazy. Shadow raised an eyebrow; how come a nerve-racking experience make people fall in love?
Suddenly, Shadow felt someone cling onto him on both sides of him. When he looked over, he saw Rouge on the right and Amy on the left.
"That was so cool, Shadow." Amy said as she hugged his arm.
"Really cool, Shads!" Rouge hugged his other arm. Shadow growled at the two to leave but they didn't. He sighed as he let the two girls grope his arms.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"We are now going to announce the winners of the divisions. Marching Bands please go to the field." After the announcer, Shadow signaled his love sick team to walk. Once we got to the field, they just stood wherever.
"All comfy now? Let's start with the Division 1 sub-divisions." Shadow noticed his band members holding onto whoever was next to them. Sonic, being next to him, hugged Shadow. Shadow grumbled some at the faker but he didn't listen. That's when Shadow noticed that he was making fists, making them white. He took a deep breath, this was a big thing for him.
"For Division 1: Blue. Third place, Seaside High!" Somewhere in the field, a high school kind of cheered.
"Second place, Mystic High!" Another high school cheered, much louder than Seaside. Shadow looked over and noticed Radical High's Drum major, a purple hedgehog with blue eyes. She was pretending to clean her nails and looking at them like if she did a good job.
"And first place…Radical High for the 22nd year in a row!" The school cheered as the drum major looking all high and mighty went to receive the banner…again.
Shadow looked at his members that seemed a bit sad that they seem to win, again. Shadow brushed it off, at least that was one hurdle they passed.
"And here is the next sub-division. For Division 1: White." Shadow felt himself tense up when he heard his division.
"For third place, Sky High School!" Some cheers were heard but Shadow didn't move from his place. His heart raced as he waiting, palms sweating.
"Second place, …" he felt like if he was going to faint. His was able to see some of his members hug and whimper at the anticipation.
"Babylon High!" Shadow's eyes popped open. He looked over at the others. They looked at him, with smiles.
"And for first place, Emerald High!" the band jumped up and cheered. Sonic raced around the members as fast as he could. Mighty lifted Marine up as she cheered at the top of her lungs. Bunnie and Antoine kissed like many other couples like Wave and Jet. Tikal and Mina hugged while they cried like the rest. Shadow smiled, an actual smile as he walked over and got the banner from the judges. He thanked them as he bowed and went back to his team. Vector, coming from behind, lifted Shadow and showed off the banner. They have won, they have actually won.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
After the announcements, the band was now walking back to the bus to go home. Shadow walked with a smirk as he went through the halls. Not looking where he was going, he bumped into Vector.
"Vector…" Shadow said noticing that the crocodile seemed like he was debating with himself.
"Hey Shadow." Vector whispered. Shadow looked up and Vector pointed to the left wing. There they were coming, their rivals. Shadow smirked and nodded. Being the tough guys that they were Shadow and Vector walked like if they were the shi-(one of Tikals' chao closes my mouth. "Chao, chao, chao, cha, chao!" "This is a K fic!")… like if they were the best.
Vector outstretched his arm as he was holding the winning banner. He waved it in front of Green Hill's members.
"Oh how heavy this banner is!" Vector said. Shadow smirked as he watched the rival school's band scowl at them.
Once they were out of view, Vector laughed and Shadow did as well. They all went into the bus and left…but not home.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"To Emerald High!" Blaze said as she lifted her Coca Cola can.
"To Vector!" Charmy said as many laughed.
"To us!" Sonic said, lifting his Pepsi.
"To me!" Marine called out as she jumped up. They all laughed. Shadow smirked as he was in his usual spot in the back. They were having a Pizza, fries, and cake at the Rosy Café. Everyone were laughing and just plain having fun.
"Hey, I think someone else needs some credit, ya know!" Shadow looked up, like many others, and saw Amy up in a chair.
"You all know him and he helped us out with our nervousness. He did his job even though he didn't want to. And even with his attitude, he didn't let us go." Amy started.
"I think we should all know already," she seemed to get nervous, "I would like to thank our great drum major." Shadow stared at them, confused at the situation.
"Thank you Shadow, for being there for us." She raised her ice tea at Shadow.
"Thank you Shadow, for not complaining." Sonic raised up his coke.
"Thank you Shadow, for, dare me to say, being awesomer than me. Just by a little though." Marine stood up from her seat.
"To Shadow." Vector said as he stood up with his beer.
"To Shadow." Everyone said, raising whatever drink they had. Shadow just stood there, surprised by his team mates. He lowered his head to not look at him as a blush grew onto his muzzle.
"Awww…he's blushing!" Rouge came up from behind and hugged Shadow by surprise. Many of the girls joined in, and even some of the boys being the clowns that they were. Shadow growled at them as they hugged and laughed.
'This is so not a normal day at band…but I will cherish it like it was.' Shadow thought as he smirked.
{This is the end. My only friend the end…
Psyche (or however you spell it)! Haha! Nah! This ain't the end. Aww… Shadow is nice, for a change. Lol So how'd you like?
So, the "Loca" by Shakira song, my school band actually did it so I wanted to put that in. I don't know if they did it for the competition (or any of the other songs) but I put them anyways. Ummm… I kind of made up stuff…so it might be a bit wrong…. And yes, my school band also was first in their division…and Los Angeles High did win their division for the 22nd year in a row…
A lot of the next chapters will be just random stuff that will happen to them during Classical/Jazz band and updates will take longer, perhaps after New Year's when I go back to school. Ummmm…review and stuff! xP
Thanks to DanceDream again. I'm happy that I make your day because you made my day! Lol}