"Here, let me give you a hand," Nicole spoke in a honeyed voice. Gratefully, Mrs. Conrad reached out to grasp Nicole's wrist. She was hauled to her feet, and was on the point of muttering a half hearted 'thank you' before she went to tell off the rest of the band. "After all, you're getting so old that all that walking must have really done a number on you." Mrs. Conrad's eyes flashed as she wheeled around to face Nicole. After a second, she forced a painful smile.
"Yes. It seems I am aging rather quickly these days." Nicole nodded eagerly in agreement.
"Hell yes you are. I mean, I haven't spoken to you since I was in the sixth grade five years ago, but in that time your boobs have dropped at least six inches. And It's not that I check them out or anything, but It's kind of hard not to notice when you wear those skin tight little sweaters with kittens on them." Mrs. Conrad's face turned the color of ketchup, and she began to tremble slightly with barely suppressed anger.
"Detention for you!" She spat. "The first school day back in America!" Nicole began to laugh. Jaimie watched, fearful of the outcome. She had a feeling that something bad would happen if Nicole continued to provoke Conrad, but at the same time, she was afraid to go and tell Nicole to knock it off.
"Do you honestly think this is still as simple as a detention for broken rules?" Nicole asked. "Do you truly believe that we aren't way beyond that?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Mrs. Conrad said in a voice of forced calm. Nicole snorted.
"Don't you? Well then, I'm terribly sorry LORD DARNOC!" Mrs. Conrad gasped. Nicole stood back, smiling grimly. Somehow, she knew that this had been a necessary action.
The majority of the band students had finished changing and had come outside to inhale some cooler air, and they all stared in horror at the transformation taking place. She was growing taller, her hair was turning a brighter orange, as were her lips. Her skin turned an inky black. Her hair lengthened, but it stuck straight out horizontally, and her eyes turned the yellowish-green color of numbers on a digital alarm clock. Only one did not seem very perturbed by this. His name was Jesse Sevens. He played the alto sax, and he was a very good friend of Koil's Both of them carried little tiny cell phones, and they mailed one another frequently. Koil had been telling Jesse everything. About all of their percussion meetings, about Luke and his determination to see Conrad overthrown. And Jesse, in turn, had been telling Conrad everything. Without Koil's knowledge. She gave him little chocolates as rewards, so he figured their partnership was a win-win situation. He wanted more from her of course, but he was unwilling to risk their friendship, Especially since she was really very infatuated with Knat. Jesse and Knat didn't get along well anyway. But that's besides the point.
"I never liked you Nicole. You weren't possessed of the gift, and so you were always a flat in my perfectly in tuned world. Why couldn't you have just stayed in chorus?"
"Well then my quitting band was a gain for both of us then wasn't it?" Nicole said cheerfully, with a hint of fire behind her words. "Because you are without a doubt the bitchiest, most PMS affected 'woman' to ever cross the threshold of Miltonborgo High. With the obvious exception of the Home Ec. Teacher. But then, I don't suppose you get PMS anymore, so you've run out of excuses. You're just a bitch. A manlike, drooping, ancient bitch."
"THAT…IS……ENOUGH!" Darnoc sputtered. We will speak with the principal when we get back, and you will be suspended! You have no grounds for speaking to me in such a manner!"
"What? Throwing batons and sharpened pencils at kids' heads isn't grounds enough?" Nicole shouted, exhilarated by this new powerful feeling she had. "Well, how about making your students play outside in the snow in freezing temperatures? That's not even legal!"
"It's only illegal if you're caught!" Darnoc yelled shrilly. Nicole went on, not really hearing the towering monster.
"Yes, you know what? Why don't we go and speak to the principal? And then I will tell him everything that's been going on in your classes. Everything that we've been keeping quiet. Including your relationship with Knat. I'm almost certain that's illegal." Darnoc looked worried for a moment. But only a moment. A cruel smile twisted about her neon orange lips, and she whipped her baton out of a fatty flap in her skin. (She was wearing only a long, loincloth type thing, and a strip of cloth to cover the private parts up there) In less than a second, Nicole was on the ground. Motionless, soundless, barely breathing. Jaimie rushed to her side.
"What did you do to her?" she shrieked.
"Well, when I cut the students off after songs, they are forbidden to move or make any sound. It's a lot like all of the other bits of magic that come out of this baton. Well this one makes miss chatterbox unable to very much except breathe. Of course, if you leave it on the victim too long it will eventually kill them. That might be her fate, but I highly doubt it. I will win this little war quickly. Then the world will be mine, and I can let us all go home again.
"You will NOT win!" Jaimie exclaimed. Her voice was uncharacteristically loud. Darnoc laughed.
"Don't be stupid girl! I have Knat and Jesse on my side as well as the brass players, the band mothers, and Julia N, Annod Yawnoc, and Ping-Pong! There is no chance that you will win! NONE!" Jaimie merely smiled as Aiden came to stand by her.
"Well, at least they've got me on their side," she said.
"YOU!" Darnoc hissed, this time with a hint of real fear in her voice.
"Yes. Remember me? Well, perhaps not. But you will never have truly lost this war as long as I'm alive. Unfortunately, if you kill me, you will die too. So now where do we stand?" Darnoc mouthed wordlessly, and she clutched her baton, longing to put little Aiden under the same little spell as Nicole. Aiden smiled, knowing that Darnoc could do no such thing and still be powerful.
"Tank! To me!" she barked finally. And the short, hideous little man appeared seconds later, clutching a bleeding lump on his head. He glared at Jaimie for a second before Darnoc swooped them both up, and they disappeared. "THIS IS WAR!" her voice sounded distantly.
Aiden looked around at the rest of the assembled band members. The brass players, Jesse, the band officers, a few other band students and the band mom chaperones had all disappeared with Darnoc. All that remained were two third clarinets, four alto saxophones, one tenor, and a bunch of flutes, most of whom, it was immediately clear were not so against Darnoc that they were willing to fight a war. So that left nine actual band members, two outsiders that were actually conscious, and the percussion. And it would be the percussion that Darnoc would try to take back first. Personally, Jaimie didn't think too much of their chances. And judging by the look on Allysson's face, she didn't either. Especially since they had no place in the band. But as long as Aiden knew what she was doing, she supposed there was a slight chance that they could prevail. A lot depended on the outcomes of the battles fought in the past, and those battles were coming up quickly. Well technically, they had already happened, but still. Jaimie's head began to spin, so she stopped thinking about it. More important, was the impending bloodshed.