Part 8: Candy Kingdom Singing Contest:
"Ugh I'm so BORED" Marshall complained with his big sunhat and long gloves to protect him from the sun. It was a rare occasion for him to come out during the day, so he must have been REALLY bored.
"What do you want ME to do about it?" I asked. I hoped he would have a semi-decent answer.
"I don't know. Get captured or something!" he complained.
"Oh shut it, vampire king. Play your bass!" I growled. I honestly didn't know why Gumball had called us all here, but what the real mystery was, was why did he invite Marshall? Courtesy? Gumball came out on his balcony and we all looked up at him.
"Attention People of Aaa!" he shouted from his tower. "I am pleased to announce that the Candy kingdom will have its very first Singing Contest!" he said proudly. Marshall and I looked at each other. A contest? Why? "Sign up! We need some singing up in this kingdom!" he grinned down at me and Marshall "I will be competing as well in the contest. The winner get whatever they want for a whole day. No one can deny them ANYTHING" I saw Marshall get his twisted smile. He pulled me along to the list and signed us BOTH up.
"Marshall! I don't even know if I can SING!" I asserted- going to scratch my name out. Marshall just pulled me away.
"Oh come on, you won't know until you try" he said- almost in an evil way. He took me all the way to the edge of the candy kingdom "why don't we practice here? No one's going to be around for a while. Perfect chance to see if you can sing" he offered. It's strange how he can go from evil ass to perfectly pleasing. I sighed.
"Fine. But be honest when you her me sing ok? I don't want to go up in front of Aaa looking and sounding like a tone-deaf elephant." I said seriously. He sniggered and nodded. He played a calm and slow melody on his bass. I took a moment to let the melody sink in. it was obvious that I would have to make up lyrics. The song he played was pleasant. Like the wind. I opened my mouth and without much hesitation, I started to sing
Singing with the wind
I find it most pleasing
Though chilling with a king
Is more than appeasing
The prince is more pleasant
I must say
But I say that the king
Isn't fun by day
I finished it quickly and saw Marshall staring at me. I know I blushed.
"Wow. I better up my game." He commented as he tuned his base and started to float away. I was about to ask, but then I spotted an incoming Prince. I turned to him.
"So Ellie, did you sign up?" he asked
"Uh. Yeah."
"Funtastic!" he grinned and held my hands. "The contest starts in two hours. Get practicing!" he let go of them and ran off. I sighed. This wasn't going to be easy.
The two hours passed quickly as I walked into the ballroom turned singing stage. LSP was the announcer. Dear glob.
"Oh everyone. Let's like, get this going~" he said happily with his strange voice. "The first person up is gumball! WHOOOOOOOOO!" our over enthusiastic announcer pointed to the stage where gumball stood in some unusually casual clothes consisting of a pink polo with white pants. He sat on the stool provided and checked the Mic.
I watched him as he started to play an electric-type keyboard on his lap. I recognized the song.
Shipwreck in a sea of faces, there's a dreamy world up there
Dear friends in higher places, carry me away from here
Travel light, let the sun eclipse you, cause your flight is about to leave
And there's more to this great adventure than you'd ever believe
HOW THE HELL DID HE KNOW OWL CITY?
I was really confused, but then realized that NOTHING in Aaa made sense, so I let it go. His voice was a little squeaky, but did the song enough justice to get applause from all but Marshall Lee. Peppermint maid went up next, which I found rather strange because I didn't know she could sing. She sung an adorable rendition of "the cuppy cake song" and got applause from everyone.
Marshall grinned at me and floated up on stage, he strummed his bass rhythmically and began to sing something I knew I recognized but just couldn't put my finger on it. Then I realized that it was "cooler than me" by Mike Posner. He winked at me and continued to sing in a rather suave voice.
If I could write you a song to make you fall in love
I would already have you up under my arm
I used up all of my tricks
I hope that you like this
But, you probably won't, you think you're cooler than me
He sung so well, I almost didn't want to go up on stage. But when he grinned his evil little grin at me, I knew I had to upstage him somehow. He finished the song and received a fine amount of applause. I tensed, hoping that I didn't have stage fright as I walked up and past Marshall. He pinched me and stuck out his tongue. I almost wanted to attack him, but I decided against it.
I sat on the stool and sighed. What was I singing again? I had forgotten. I adjusted the microphone and took a deep breath. I sun the first thing that came to mind.
I never thought that you would be the one to hold my heart
Yeah. This sounds good. Keep it up, I told myself.
But you came around and you knocked me off the ground from the start
I calmed, and allowed more emotion in my voice
You put your arms around me and I believe that it's easier for you to let me go
I was singing! I didn't have stage fright!
You put your arms around me and I'm home
I had no idea who I was singing to, but I sung it, and I felt so alive on stage.
I finished the song and the entire kingdom seemed to erupt into applause. I stood up- filled with adrenaline as I bowed and waved out to my friends in the candy kingdom. I rushed off stage and Gumball legit glomped me.
"That was fantastic, Ellie! You're amazing! ~" he complimented me heavily. I laughed
"Thanks, PG." I smiled. Marshall floated up to me
"Damn girl, where'd you learn to sing like that?" he asked, patting my head.
"I don't know. All I know is that it felt great to sing."
"Well there's another hint to who you were before Aaa" gumball said happily as he pulled out a little notebook. He called it his Ellie book. He wrote everything he found out about me in there so that he can determine who I was before I was whisked away to Aaa and lost all my memory. I thought it was creepy, but sweet of him.
We all watched other candy kingdom people sing, though none could hold a tune for more than a few seconds. After another fifteen minutes of voting from the candy kingdom, LSP took the mic again.
"Oh. My. Glob everyone! It's a four way tie! Like, how the lump does this happen?" we jumped a bit, surprised. "Will Prince Gumball, Marshall Lee the Vampire King, Ellie the Human and Peppermint Maid come on stage!" we all went on stage "like, we're gonna have a lumping singing to the death! The person with the loudest applause is gonna lumpin' win!" he said excitedly. "Peppermint maid goes first!"
Peppermint maid refused. "Oh heavens no, I cannot! I must go back to my work!" she ran offstage without letting any of us ask anything.
"Uh... Prince Gumball!" he re-announced. Gumball went up to the mic, took a minute, and sung.
Sucking too hard on your lollipop or loves gonna get you down
Say love, Say love
Oh loves gonna get you down
Oddly appropriate.
I went walking with my mama one day,
When she warned me what people say
Live your life until love it found,
Cause loves gonna get you down.
His song was, dare I say, very fun and danceable. I saw the candy kingdom dancing.
Marshall took my hands and danced like a lunatic with me. Oh how I love the absurdity and fun of the candy kingdom.
As Gumball finished, he grinned at me and winked. I laughed and applauded with the rest of the candy kingdom. It was a pretty loud applause.
"That was lumpin' fun!" LSP was ecstatic. "Ok, let's see if the vampire king can liven things up even more!"
Marshall exchanged his bass for an electric guitar and began to play.
Show me how to lie. You're getting better all the time
And turn it all against the one is an art that's hard to teach
Oh, so he was taking a hardcore song to the stage? I found it to be fun
With a thousand lies and a good disguise, hit 'em right between the eyes
Hit 'em right between the eyes when you walk away, Nothing more to say
See the lightning in their eyes, See them running, For their lives
I found myself jumping and head banging. It was a good song, and he sung it well. I was sure that I was going to lose now. But he finished and I was pushed up to the mic anyway. I took a breath and adjusted the mic again. What would I sing now? I was so nervous. Then suddenly, I got an idea. I took a breath and began to sing
Happiness hit her like a train on a track
Coming towards her, stuck still, no turning back
Yes... it was coming to me as I sung the notes.
She hid around corners and she hid under beds.
She killed it with kisses and from it she fled
It was there again. The feelings of doubt went away. I just kept on singing and singing until I hit the chorus, where I felt an explosion of emotion as I sung to the people of this beautiful and strange kingdom
Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brother
Leave all your love and your longing behind,
You can't carry it with you if you want to survive.
I just kept singing until I was done. When I finished I snapped back to reality. The entire kingdom was just so quiet. They all looked at me in some form of shock or awe. Then, Marshall began to clap, and soon the entire kingdom followed in suit, clapping and cheering for me louder than for Marshall and Gumball combined. I blushed and backed away from the stage.
"Well now it's pretty lumping obvious who won! Like, congrats to Ellie!" LSP announced and threw the mic to the ground
Gumball hugged me again and congratulated me over and over. Marshall just nodded in approval and disappeared for one reason or another. Marshall placed his crown on my head and announced. "For a whole 24 hours starting now, Ellie is the queen of Aaa!" he bowed to me. I giggled. Me? Temporary leader of a kingdom full of people made of candy?
This was going to be fun.
