Ready to see the boys do their act? Hope you enjoy!


Episode 37: The Boy's Performance

Paperman soon ended, the crowd clapping as the credits rolled. At one of the tables, Charles Muntz was sitting with his dogs, only for King Arthur and Merlin in squirrel form to run buy, causing the dogs to jump up and give chase.

"Pluto, go round up those dogs, boy," Mickey commanded as he watched from backstage. The mouse then turned to Gabriel, who was combing his hair in the mirror. "is the next act ready yet?"

"That's what we're about to find out," the raven replied. Gabriel walked over to one of the dressing rooms and knocked on the door. "Guys, you ready in there?"

Logan stuck his head out the door. "We might have a slight problem here."

Gabriel sighed. "Let me see." Walking into the room, the raven didn't find anything strange going on, besides the boys all in various stages of panic. "Okay, I don't see anything that's out of the ordinary."

"That's the problem," Chris said. "We ordered stuff to be delivered for our big mock battle, but none of it arrived."

"Instead we got these outfits," said Jacob, pointing to a rack of five identical outfits consisting of jeans and a flannel shirt with the sleeves cut off.

"I mean, it's not a bad look, but I don't think I could wear it," Silver commented.

"Let me see the schedule," Gabriel said, taking the clipboard from Minnie. "You said you were doing a battle act? Right here it says this is a lumberjack act. Wait, I didn't sign off on this, then who did- " The raven's eyes narrowed as he sighed. "Of course. Pete got a hold of this and sabotaged your whole act."

"Then what are we supposed to do now?" Adam asked. "We can't hold a mock battle without the proper equipment."

"I mean, we can, but that might cause the whole building to burn down," Chris shrugged."

"Maybe we can salvage this," Logan said. He held up one of the lumberjack outfits. "I mean, I can't think of anything, but there has to be something lumberjack related in Disney, right?"

"The only thing that comes to mind if Wendy from Gravity Falls," Jacob said.

Silver hummed, then snapped his fingers. "Wait, I think I know something!"

"So do I," Gabriel nodded. "You're thinking of 'The Song," right Sliver?"

"What's 'The song?'" Logan asked.

"You'll see," Sliver said. "We don't have much time, but everyone get into uniform and follow me. Gabriel, your Fantasia magic will be a great help."

"Mickey, go tell Horace to cue up a song, number 030317, section 107A," Gabriel said.

"Will you guys tell us what this is?" Chris said as Mickey ran off to do his task.

"Just trust us, this is either going to go really well, really bad, or really silly," Silver said.

[***]

As drinks were brought out to the guests, Gabriel finally got back onto the stage ready to host. "I hope you all enjoyed that short, because it's one of my favorites."

"Same here," called Jack Kelly, he and his Newsie friends all sitting together.

"Up next, a last-second change that will hopefully at least bring a smile to your face," Gabriel continued. He pointed out to the audience. "Zack Underwood, this one is a tribute to your band's hit single."

"Wait what," the middle schooler said in shock.

"Oh my, are they really about to do it?" Melissa, Zack's girlfriend, laughed.

"I'd better pull out a camera for this," Milo Murphy, Zack's best friend, said. Milo opened up his backpack, but a cat suddenly jumped out of it, landing on the table and knocking drinks onto the guest.

"Here's the House of Mouse rendition of "Chop Away at My Heart"!" Gabriel announced, sliding off the stage as the guys took their positions.

All of them were in their lumberjack outfits, with Silver taking the lead, Adam and Logan at his side, with Chris and Jacob in the back. Horace started the music, and with a little bit of Gabriel's magic, the boys were all on the same page about the song and the dance.

"Wait, this is a boy band song?" Chris said. "Ugh, really Silver?"

"Just suck it up and go along with it," Jacob said, though his tone indicated that he also wasn't thrilled about it. "It's just one dance."

"Quiet, it's about to start," Silver said, before getting into place and starting to sing.

Silver:

I know you're pining

But every cloud has got a silver lining

Silver pointed to the crowd as he sang, with the guys holding their hands forward, waiting for their turn.

The leaves are parting now the sun is shining

And you're in my arms so the planets are aligning

The group brought their hands up to the sky before bringing them down in cross motion over their chest. This was also where Logan joined in the song.

Logan & Silver:

My heart is strong, like a tree!

And you belong, baby you belong to me

Logan and Silver brought their hands up in a strongman pose, before double pointing outwards to the crowd.

Without you, I'm tied to the ground

And if I fall, do I even make a sound?

The group threw their hands to the ground in fists, dropping to one knee before popping back up to a standing position. Once the chorus started, all of them were singing, though Silver kept the lead part.

All:

Chop chop chop! Chop away at my heart!

I can feel it falling (timber!) and I will never part

The group did four axe swings to either side before dropping their hands flat to the side, then crossing their hands over their hearts while leaning to the side. They then did two jumping side leans to imitate a falling tree, then throwing their arms out to both sides twice.

I know you, you've been there from the start

So baby chop chop chop! Chop away at my heart!

The group pointed to the front four times before bringing their hands together in front of them. At the end of the chorus they repeated the axe swings and heart hold move. Adam, seeing Melanie smiling in the crowd, smiled and took over for the next verse.

Adam:

And now you're greening

When you look me in the eye, my head's spinning

Adam did two disco eye moves before bringing both hands to the side of his head, rolling his head once.

If love is just a game, I think we're winning

And we're here right now so this feels like a beginning

The group held and hand out and threw it skyward, bringing it down into a fist pump. They then threw both hands out to the side and brought them back together in front. Silver jumped back in to continue singing.

Silver & Adam:

I know you're ready, you know I'm right

When I tell you my bark is always worse than my bite

Silver and Adam pointed out to the crowd, then brought a thumb up to point at themselves. The two then gestured a beartrap closing on either side of them.

When you look at me, do you see me?

Or do you only see a forest for the tree?

The group pointed to themselves, then brought their arms up to cross over their faces. They then held up a hand as if looking out into the distance, before dropping it and making a shrugging gesture.

All:

Chop chop chop! Chop away at my heart!

I can feel it falling (timber!) and I will never part

As the chorus repeated, Gabriel looked out to see the crowd enjoying the performance, and Pete looking shocked at it as well. The raven gave the boys a thumb's up.

I know you, you've been there from the start

So baby chop chop chop! Chop away at my heart!

The song then went into the "na na na" section, with the boys clapping and stepping side to side. While most of the audience was having a good time, Zack was mortified, holding his head in his hands and refusing to look.

"Hey, these guys are pretty good," Milo said.

"I know right?" Melissa added.

"Please tell me when it's over," Zack said. "It's embarrassing enough that they called me out like that."

"Just smile for the camera," Milo smirked as he managed to find his camera.

The song then got to the part with the slow repeated chorus, Silver taking the lead once more.

Silver:

Chop chop chop, Chop away at my heart

I can feel it falling and I will never part

Silver made a chopping motion over his heart, before bringing his hands together in a heart symbol.

I know you, you've been there from the start

So baby chop chop chop, Chop away at my heart!

He pointed out to the crowd as the guys grouped up around him. The music picked up as they got ready for the final chorus

All:

Chop chop chop! Chop away at my heart!

I can feel it falling (timber!) and I will never part

With one last repeat of the dance, the others were actually getting into it, finally having fun with the song and dance.

I know you, you've been there from the start

So baby chop chop chop! Chop away at my heart!

The crowd cheered for the performance, with the boys giving a bow before exiting the stage. Gabriel gave each of them a high five as he took his place as MC once again. "Let's have another round of applause for our performers!"

"Should we give it to them?" asked Waldorf.

"I would, but I forgot what they were about!" Statler replied, both Muppets laughing at their own joke.

Gabriel's smile strained a bit at that. "Yeah, great joke guys… Anyway, how about you all turn your attention to the screen for a Mickey Mouse short while we prepare the next act!" As the raven stepped backstage, he looked down at the schedule concerningly. "And hopefully Pete didn't mess this one up too much either."


Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed this fun performance! If you don't know, the song from this chapter is "Chop Away at My Heart" from Milo Murphy's Law. Basically, Milo's friend Zack was in a lumberjack themed boyband before the start of the series, and in one episode Milo and Melissa find out and watch the music video for the song. Once we got the full version of the song on the Candace Against the Universe soundtrack, I knew I had to use the song in my story somewhere.

The song is really cheesy, but I love it for that and think it's one of the best songs that Dan and Swampy have come up with. It has all the trappings of a boyband song, even down to the "na na na" bridge followed by a slower chorus, but it's the earnestness of the whole thing that turns the song around into one of the best parodies of the genre ever. Of course, when Weird Al is part of your show, parodies are a given!

As usual, Pete isn't going to make it easy for Gabriel and the others to win the bet, but the gang aren't going to give up so easily either. I hope you like the interlude parts between acts as well, since the original House of Mouse did so as well, and I want to capture that feeling as best as possible.

Next Time: the girls (and Soren) mix it up with some amazing improvisation.