A/N ok I'm sooooooooooooooooooo sorry it's taken so long to update! Actually I forgot about the story until my last review! Lol. Then I decided to revise the whole story, so that made it longer, and so on…as was explained. Anyways, I decided to wake up my brain and try to get another chapter out! I hope you enjoy!!

Chapter 7: A Tragic Battle

Forced out of our "base", we'd been over run by metronomes! Times were bad, VERY bad! ((why does this ALWAYS happen to me…[sighs]…)) "Come on, keep your hopes up! There's still a chance! Remember your band pride! Fight for that! Fight for your instruments! Fight for our commanders!! Fight for Mr. B!! TAKE PRISIONERS!! And help the fallen! Keep your pride mates!" I screamed over the shouting, playing, and screeching of the battle. ((Well at least we've got prisoners of our own now…[nervous laughter]…)) Plowing down a metronome, I ran into Ryan. Soaking wet, and fighting, he looked kind of cute. "Ryan, behind you!" I shouted as a metronome tried a sneak attack on him. Whirling around he clocked the metronome with his trombone slide, sending him down for the count! ((ok sounds more like a boxing match haha)) "Thanks!" He smiled as he went back to war. Smiling back, I moved on to help others, after all, I am the General of the Army!

With the mass of metronomes and bandies flooding the field, it was hard to see what all was happening. Soon, though, a horrid sight filled my eyes. By the 50-yard line of our battlefield, I saw Troy being attacked ((if you don't know who that is it's my boyfriend! Durrr hehe)). He was doing fine fighting them off, but soon I saw something red-orange flying through the air in his direction. It was at his back, so he didn't see it. At first I was baffled at what it was, then I realized it was the chemical M. Screaming at him I ran after him, to try and deflect the blast. But I was to late! Before I could get to him, he had been hit, but not before he turned to see it coming, and gave me that sad look of "I'm sorry I failed you" in his eyes. Finally reaching him, I help the fallen Troy in my arms.

"Troy!! No…" I huffed, as tears formed in my eyes.

"Amy…" he gasped, as he started to fade away, "Don't…stay. Leave me! Help…the others, do your job!"

"But…no…I can't! I wont!"

"Amy…go…" he said pushing me back as a group of metronomes cut us off to take him prisoner. It was too much for me. With tears in my eyes, my heart shattered, I screamed for a retreat at the top of my lungs. "Fall back! Fall back! Group together!" I yelled.

Running back, I tried to go back to our barricade, but I was stopped. "Amy" A familiar voice said, as a hand went on my shoulder, "We can't go back, they've taken our barricade. We must find a new hideout we can't…" the person trailed off, apparently seeing my hurt and defeat. As I turned around to see who this person was, they embraced me in a strong hug. It was Ryan. "Come on, I saw a place by the sidelines that will keep us safe, I have a team assembling a new barricade as we speak" he calmly said.

All I could do was nod my head. Wiping away my tears I turned to my comrades and commanded them to head to the new barricade, and take all prisoners and injured with them. (( [cries] the worst day of my life just turned even worse….[tear tear]…[sniffles]…come on get it together Amy, its now or never to carry out your plan, and this may help to turn things around! [Deep breath]…I can do this! I can't do this…I hope…))

In our NEW barricade…

Drying off in our new and improved barricade, which now had a roof, and seemed to be underground partly, we took inventory, locked away our prisoners, helped the injured, and acquainted ourselves with our new barricade. Regrouping the bandies scientists that we'd saved, I had a little chat with them.

"So which one of you found the antidote for chemical M?"

"It was Captain David from Sandmean ma'am! But…he was captured before we could rescue him…."

"I see…was there anyone else working with him when the cure was found?"

"Yes ma'am, but she was captured too…"

"Okay, thank you comrade…we will supply you with test subjects, I want some of you to find a cure to turn our fallen back to humans, and the others to find a way to revert the metronomes back to their original state, and how we might fight off this chemical M."

"Actually, one of our top bandists, Lt. Adam from Wickleberry has formulated a uniform that will help protect us mostly from the chemical M"

"Good…show me…" I said as he led me to the test room to see this uniform.

In our Old Barricade…

"Sir, they've started to take prisoners! We lost many of our men in that last battle!"

"I know you dolt! But no worries, they haven't got a chance with our chemical M! They shall never win! Besides look at all the new pets we've acquired! Especially this one…" He evilly smirked as he brought out Troy…or the metronome Troy.

"That girl, the general, seemed very displeased when she saw him go down! Mwahahahahaha" he laughed. As the metronome Troy struggled on his leash. ((my poor Troy! THEY SHALL PAY!!!! Grrrrr…[tear]…[sniffles]…))

Where Drew and Genial Are Being Held…

"Oh no! They've taken over their barricade!" Cried Genial

"Yes, but they've formed a new one on the sidelines! Come on, we must keep up our hope! They…"

"Hey! Quiet in there!" shouted the metronome on guard as he rattled the cage.

Turning and whispering to Genial, Drew finished, "They can pull through! I know they can! We must have confidence in our band army!"

"Right!" replied Genial. Looking at the format of the cage, Drew gave a deep thought sigh.

"What is it Drew?"

"I wonder…if we could somehow break out of here…"

Back in our new "secret base"…

"I want a full demonstration to be laid out on how to use our new 'uniforms' so that everyone knows! make it ASAP"

"Right!" saluted the band scientist I had just given my orders to. Those new uniforms would not only make us look like one army, but protect us, mostly, from the evil chemical M! Which was a great breakthrough!

"This secret base is amazing!" I said to Ryan, who continued to give the tour of our new secret base after I gave my order, "How did they do it?"

"Dunno, they just moved some of our old barricade instruments here, added some new ones, and then wa-la our new secret headquarters!" ((yeah you know...strange things....hehe..[sweat drop]...))

"Amazing!" I said putting a smile on my face.

"So, Amy, I know something's bothering you, what happened out there?"

Lowering my head, I gave a deep sigh and replied painfully, "Troy was turned…"

"I'm sorry…" he replied, giving me another hug. ((Yes he knows Troy is my boyfriend! EVERYONE knows Troy is my boyfriend! Haha…))

"Is there anything I can do, General Amy?"

"I told you, call me Amy…and actually, yes there is something you can do…" Bringing him in close, for a comrade-to-comrade talk, I told him my plan to sneak back into our old barricade and extract the formula, which had been pushed to the side and out of sight as we'd scrambled out. I needed a sidekick for this, and someone to take over if I didn't return, alive, from my mission. I knew Ryan was my best bet… ((Well…so my plan is about to be put into action! I hope it works out! I MUST get that formula even if it's the last thing I do!!…And the whole Ryan thing…well…he'd been showing his leadership capabilities in all the battles he's fought in, and I think he'd be the best for the job! If…I don't return…I hope my plan works…PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!))