Well this one is a bit bigger then I thought it would be. So sorry it took so long. I've been working more on my new Billy and Mandy fic.

But here's Chapter nine anyways.

Chapter 9: To Help To Rock

Lazlo sat on the bus and strummed his guitar, playing a small chord progression that had popped into his head. He played softly because he really didn't want the others to hear because he wasn't sure whether it was good or not.

They had left the camp in the hands of Ian at about ten thirty and they had been driving right on until the sun had begun to set. Lazlo had barley eaten any thing for breakfast and they hadn't found a place to stop for lunch either. It seemed they were still within the prickly pines region.

'I'm starving!' Edward yelled 'when can we eat?'

'As soon as we find somewhere that we can eat at' Slinkman snapped from the driver's seat.

'What about that place over there' Sampson said as he pointed out to the right.

'Shut up Sampson!-I mean, what?' Slinkman corrected Sampson looked at him with distain, but continued anyway

'Over there, there's a group of buildings'

Everyone looked over to the right and saw that it was true. Through the many pine trees a group of similar looking buildings stood in a small bundle. It looked like some kind of facility.

'There we go' Slinkman said as he pointed to a sign on the side of the road. The sign read "Fletcher's summer boarding school for educated students. next turn on the right".

'So it's a school for book nerds, so what' Edward said unenthusiastically

'Maybe Edward' Slinkman said with sass 'we can by a meal from them'

'I guess it's worth a try' Sampson said

'And maybe you can make a few friends there to Sampson, there your type right' Edward joked.

And so they turned into the school, piled of the bus and went to the reception. Slinkman told the reception lady their story and she got the principle to come down.

He was a tall, muscle bound man who had a sweet tome of voice that didn't suit him at all.

He was much nicer then the band had predicted and he let them eat here free of charge.

He added on to that by letting them park the bus in the car park overnight and get going in the morning.

So when dinner time came around they all lined up to get their food with all the students.

'God I was right' Edward muttered from behind Lazlo 'they are all turbo nerds'

'Edward' Slinkman said as he elbowed him in the back

'What?' he whined

A pile of not so good looking food plopped onto Lazlo's tray and he thanked them and look a seat at an empty table in the corner, with the rest of the band sitting with him soon after.

'you know' Slinkman began 'I know I haven't been to school for a long time but I always remembered the lunch room to a lot noisier and louder then this'

And Slinkman was right. The room barley had any talking in it, other then the occasional mutter between students. In fact Lazlo noticed that they seemed to hang their heads low, as if they were all miserable and sad.

'What do you guess is going on here?' Lazlo asked

'School' Clam stated

'Yeah, school is always gay' Edward said

'But not this bad' Sampson added. Edward nodded in agreement

'Guys' Slinkman said as he subtly pointed across the room.

Lazlo saw two of the students walking towards their table. One of them looked like the ultimate nerd by all standards. But the other looked somewhat normal.

The band went quiet and looked down at their food as the two of them took their seats.

But the normal looking one took no time for formalities.

'You guys are a band right?' he said straight out

'y-yeah kid' Slinkman said, even though the kid was about Lazlo's age. The boy paused for a second, and then continued.

'You have to help us' the boy said slowly. This made the whole band look up from their meal

'Help you?' Sampson slowly asked

'Yes' he said 'you see during one of our science lesson one of our fellow students…and a good friend of mine…died during the experiment' he said the last bit of the sentence with a feel of sadness.

'Well that explains a lot then doesn't it' Edward said obviously 'so what do you want us to do about it?'
the boy took a breath and continued 'Larry, the boy who died, was a big fan of rock. And we were thinking after the funeral ceremony you could play at the auditorium. It would help the memory of Larry, not to mention it would lift the spirits of everyone here'

The band paused for a second all to look at Slinkman who looked back at the boy

'We would have to talk to your principle abou-'

'No!' the boy yelled loud enough to grab everyone in the rooms attention. He lowered his head and resumed to talk in a monotone voice.

'He's the one that is stopping the outside world from knowing that one of his students died due to his carelessness'

'Hey kid you need to know that it takes time to set up and all that' Slinkman said. Lazlo recognized his tone of voice as the same curious voice that he used when he would say something, but mean a completely different thing. As if he was testing the boy.

'It's all been sorted. Tomorrow at ten, pretty much all of the school will go out to spread Larry's ashes over the forest and they will return to the auditorium at twelve to do an address to the whole school. Me and a group of my closest friends will stay back during the ceremony to help you set up on the stage.'

Slinkman sat and stared at the boy who looked at him with the same intensity. Finally Slinkman spoke.

'What's your name kid?'

'Daniel'. Slinkman just smiled at the boy and the boy frowned 'look, if you want to help us then just turn up here at ten in the morning'. And with that the boy left with his nerdy buddy following close behind.

The band just sat and stared at each other.

Later, on the Bus

'So what do we do?' Slinkman asked the band as they all sat on the bus

'I say we just drive on by and forget this ever happened' Edward said as he sat behind the drum kit they had set up in the space for it 'we have more important shows to do over charity shows for some kid that couldn't handle his nerd stuff'

'I think we should do it' Sampson began 'we need the practice, and the publicity, so why not hey'

'Yeah, we've got plenty of time to play this show, it just means we don't play in some back alley country town that's not going to appreciate our music anyway' Slinkman added.

'At least these guys want us to play' Lazlo put in.

'Ah but in there lies the contradiction' Sampson said in a very regal way. Everyone stared him down and he lowered his ego 'the principle probably would get angry at us for playing this show'

'That's just a risk we'll have to just take' Lazlo said 'A timid band is a weak band'

Slinkman smiled at Lazlo and ruffled his hair about

'Lazlo's right' he said as he walked away from Lazlo 'I think if we don't take advantage of this opportunity while its there then we have made a mistake. But this isn't just my band; we need everyone to agree on this one.

Lazlo looked around the room

'I'm in' Sampson said confidently.

'Well' Edward started 'I guess you make a persuading argument' he finally said.

'In in in' Clam said as he bounced in his seat

At that point the whole band looked directly at Lazlo. And Lazlo just smiled

'I think you already know my answer' he said with a chuckle.

*

The Band woke pretty early the next morning. Or at least early for a band. And they began to practice right away. As soon as it turned five past ten they met up with Daniel and his small group of about ten students, and they moved through the school to the auditorium, a nicely sized arena. The room was basically a large empty floor that led up to a stage hidden behind a thick blue curtain. The stage was also of good size so the band had plenty of space to set up and rock out.

'This is a pretty nice venue you got here Daniel' Slinkman said as he looked of the front of the stage.

'Yeah it's designed to seat about five hundred people. But there are about a thousand of us this year and we all fit pretty well standing'

'A thousand' Sampson stated in shock.

'Yeah about that' Joe said. Sampson seemed to turn green.

'I've never played anything but classical masterpieces to an audience over a thousand'

'Uh Daniel' Slinkman said to change the topic 'I thinks its time to start unloading the bus'

And so Slinkman took everyone out and they started to painstakingly unpack the bus and set it up on the stage. This whole transition took just a bit less then an hour. And after that Slinkman sat at the sound desk he had set up in the middle of the audience (which is what you do to get the best sound) and started to sound check. The sound and lighting desk was placed on a pedestal that stood about half the height of a person.

'Slinkman' Daniel said. Daniel had become quite familiar with all of the band members and they seemed to like him back. He defiantly was different from the other students. There was no doubt that he was a genius through and through. But unlike the others he could hide it well.

'Let me do the sound and lighting' he said. Slinkman looked at with a curious look

'Do you know how?'

'Slinkman' he started confidently 'I'm at a school for geniuses, what do you think' he said as he forced Slinkman out of the seat and sat in front of the controls

'They don't call me tech for nothing' he said confidently as he flicked a few switches

'Alright then…Tech' Slinkman said in his sly voice.

Lazlo knew that Slinkman was up to something. If he hadn't intended for someone to take the controls he would have just put all the sound checking stuff on stage. He said that he was just going to get someone to do the basics, but Lazlo knew better. Slinkman was up to something.

And Lazlo was right. This was the best and quickest they had ever sound checked before. And now Daniel was testing lighting combinations that looked awesome while the band warmed up by playing a few songs. But by the time the band was finished practicing there was still a good half an hour left. So now the band just sort of hung around on stage just practicing by themselvs. So Lazlo grabbed out the small camcorder he had brought with him on the trip and started filming. It wasn't the greatest quality but it was good enough. Lazlo turned the camera to himself as he walked up onto the stage.

'Is it on…ok, welcome to the latest installment on a band on the road' Lazlo said to the camera in a stupid sarcastic way 'today's episode…what the band drinks'. He stumbled up the stairs of the stage and walked up to Sampson. In the background the sounds of the others practicing and fiddling around on their instruments could be heard.

'Sampson, Sampson!' Lazlo yelled, grabbing Sampson's attention as he stood in the middle of his half square of keyboards. One in-front of him and two to the left of him.

'What are you doing Lazlo?' he asked

'Show the camera what you're drinking'. Sampson fondled about on the table on the other side of him and finally held up a bottle of water. Lazlo sighed

'Classical musicians, their even boring in what they drink'

'It's good for you!' Sampson yelled. But by then Lazlo was already walking up to Edward. He sat behind his large, black drum kit. Just testing his drums and smiling at how loud they were when they are properly sound tested.

'Ed' Lazlo yelled 'show the camera your drink'. Edward sighed, but complied by taking a drink out from next to his seat. It was a strong energy drink

'Well I guess you need the energy' Lazlo said

'Damn straight' Edward said in reply. Lazlo chuckled and moved across the stage to where Clam was standing. Lazlo suddenly dropped into sneak mode, attempting to freak Clam out. But when clam noticed him Lazlo left that and just stood normally

'Clam what are you-' Lazlo's voice trailed of as he saw a bottle of pure lemon juice sitting next to the Microphone stand. His mouth watered 'n-never mind' he said as he turned away towards Slinkman.

Slinkman was standing, talking into the microphone and looking at Daniel

'Will he notice the sound desk?' Slinkman asked over the loud mic. Daniel leaned into the desk and spoke into his mic.

'Don't worry Slinkman, all you have to do is wait until the curtains open and then you start'

'Hey Slinkman' Lazlo said as he maneuvered around Slinkman to get good angles with the camera

'What Lazlo?'

'What are you drinking?' Lazlo asked. Slinkman bent over and picked up a beer, and took a deep swig of it

'Slinkman, you're a great role model' Lazlo said sarcastically

'Well nothing beats the taste of a clean, crisp beer before rock and roll Lazlo' he lectured back 'besides, I'm older then you…and I like beer'

'Here they come!' Said one of the kids as he burst into the room 'they're coming'

Suddenly the room was a buzz of movement as people started taking they're positions. Lazlo went to move to his guitar, but Slinkman grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to look back at him

'Remember your intro Lazlo' he said flatly. Lazlo just gave him the thumbs up and ran over to his red guitar. The curtains started closing and Lazlo plugged in to his very long guitar lead. As soon as his guitar was on he turned right down on the guitar.

The band stayed dead quiet as crowds of people could be heard entering the Arena. Lazlo heard the principles voice over the speakers as he began his speech.

It seemed to go for ever as the band waited just behind him, out of sight. Lazlo's nerves were on edge. He had never played in front more then a hundred people. And now he was about to play for a good thousand students. He was tense.

Suddenly the moment arrived. The curtains started parting. The stage was dark and the band stood like statues. Finally a white light shone out of the stage lights…and Lazlo turned up his guitar. He burst out and began to rip a face melting solo. It was much louder then he thought it would be and he liked it. The crowd started cheering loudly as Lazlo made his way to the front. Though his playing was awesome, he still felt like he was holding back. Finally as he hit his last note, the whole band hit a single pounding note, filling the Arena with a wave of sound. The stage lit up bright and the crowed went wiled. Clam grabbed the microphone and pulled it with the stand to his mouth.

'Rock for Larry!' Clam yelled into the mic and it was met by a cheer from the crowed.

Edward started the count in for the song and with that the band started rocking out.

Lazlo couldn't help but be impressed. "These nerds know how to rock" he though as the crowed started a softer version of a moshpit. Lazlo's eye trailed over to Daniel, sitting at his desk, just a few feet above the crowd. He was working both the sound and the lighting desks like a professional. The lights looked amazing and the sound was perfectly mixed.

That's when Lazlo realized what Slinkman had planned for this kid. He looked over to Slinkman and Smiled as the show rocked on.

Finally the first song came to an end and the crowd cheered. Lazlo walked up to his microphone and held it still with his free hand

'Alright, we're here to celebrate the life of one of yours' he said 'and so now we rock to his memory!'. The crowd cheered again. But before Edward could start his count in they all noticed a man emerge to the top of the crowd, bound and gagged. It was the principle.

Edward laughed and started the next song, with the band following close behind. The principle was then forced to crowd surf.

As Lazlo played he wondered if they had something in motion that would change everything here forever.

…but still he felt like the band had done the right thing…

*

The show was over. And what a show it was. Lazlo's veins were still pumping with adrenaline. And though the show was over, the party had just begun. The school, was in a literal uproar with students rioting against the strict schooling environment they had been forced into.

The band had finished loading the bus back up and were now just staring at the school. A small fire was burning out of a second story window and everything was wrecked.

'Well, there goes the establishment' Edward summarized. (music Rock Quote)

'Hey guys' Daniel yelled as he ran out of the wreck of a school and to the bus

'Tech' Clam yelled back

'Bout time you got here' Slinkman said. Daniel just gave him an odd look

'Wha? I just came here to say thanks. You guys really set things back into perspective. I think the students won't forget today or Larry, for a very long time'

'Yeah' Lazlo began 'this school is starting to look a bit like our camp now'

They all chuckled to themselves. Finally Daniel spoke out

'Well, I guess you guys will hitting the road then'. The band just looked at him his as if to say they were

'Well I wish you good luck at that big show of yours' He smiled and turned.

Lazlo turned to look at the rest of the band and they all looked back. Lazlo knew instantly that they were all thinking the same thing.

'Hey Tech' Slinkman said. Daniel turned and looked at the band with confusion. Slinkman paused for a second, and then opened the bus doors 'just get on the bus, before we leave without you'. Slowly Daniel started to smile and Lazlo felt a smile grow across his face as well. Daniel bowed his head for a second, but shot up looking happy.

'Alright then' he said in a way that made him sound condescending

'Yes!' Edward yelled 'now Sampson had a nerd buddy and he won't have to follow me around'

'B-but' Sampson whimpered 'you helped me get my first kiss'

'Obviously I was drunk'

They all started pilling onto the bus and once they were all on Lazlo sat on the couch next to Daniel just as the bus started pulling away from the wreck of a school. He quickly reached over and grabbed his acoustic guitar and started strumming out some chords, Missing the feel of his favorite guitar

'Welcome aboard' Lazlo said. Daniel just smiled

'Fells good to finally get on board'

Man that one took a while. Daniel is an original character that is actually based on our sound guy. Actually now that I mention it I see a lot of our band in this story…creepy