Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers!
THIS CHAPTER WAS A LONG TIME IN COMMING, BUT IT IS FINALLY HERE!
I'm sorry that this chapter is so long and drawn out, but I wanted to give all my reviewers their due. EVERYONE gets an individual appearance in 'The Army Assembles'. There will be a few more cameo chapters. Anyone still interested in applying, please do. I will give you an appearance later in the cameo.
ALSO, WHAT WOULD ERIK DO? HAS PASSED A HUNDERED REVIEWS! I AM SO PROUD! THANK YOU EVERYONE, I COULD NOT HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU!
Disclaimer: I take full credit for what me and my mind come up with – things such as characters, bits of exploding scenery, etc. – the rest I give due credit to Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gaston Leroux, and Susan Kay.
Round Five: The Army Assembles
Gerry awoke to the sound of nervous giggles and a few excited squeals. Groggily, he inched open his eyes.
The sight before him made him seriously rethink whether or not he was still asleep.
At least half a dozen girls stood over him, whispering to each other in hushed tones. Reverently they gazed upon his sprawled out form and sighed over his manly physique.
Gerry, trying his hardest to stay perfectly still, could not stop the growing feeling of overwhelming dread that coursed through him. Slowly, as the group of girls closed in, his breathing became ragged and he began to tremble from head to toe.
The Phangirls had picked up on the change in his behavior and started cooing over his impossibly cute panic attack.
Just as they reached the point where they would have to stop or all dog pile their favorite Phantomy character, Gerry hit his limit of tolerance on the invasion of his personal space and shot up with a terrified curse. He bowled over or shoved his way through the Phangirls gathered around him and dashed out into the main room.
What he saw out there made him skid to a stop and head the other way.
A huge portal had been opened in the wall nearest the pile of blankets that was his bed and an excited mass of Phangirls was streaming through and out into the lair.
Just as he was about to scamper off he was stopped abruptly by a cheerful shout from the Authoress,
"Gerry! Good – you are finally awake! Come over here and help me, please!"
Hunching himself up to make himself less visible, he tried to scoot under the protection of some crates. He got about two steps towards the nearest one when he suddenly lost all control over his body and was magically dragged over to where Crim was standing by the portal.
She crossed her arms in irritation and strolled over to him.
"You know, I did ask nicely." At Gerry's frown she held up her hands. "It is not my fault that I was given my powers back while you were asleep."
With a snap of her fingers Gerry was released. Unprepared, he tumbled to the ground. Within seconds a Phan with blond, curly hair and a massive gun strapped to her back appeared at the Phantom's side and tried to help him up.
Gerry, confused and irritated, did his best to shove her off but she clung to him as if her life depended on it.
"Who in the hell is this?" He pointed his free hand at the Phan and glared daggers at the Authoress.
Without hesitation, the mystery Phan squealed out,
"Why I'm your wife, silly!"
Gerry's eyes bugged out as he gasped,
"W…w…w…wife…?"
The Authoress, snickering, said,
"Well, a lot DID happen while you were out cold."
Gerry growled in desperation and flung himself as close to the Authoress as possible before he was yanked back by his 'wife'.
"Er…Gerry, may I introduce you to Mrs. Gerard Butler. A Phan of yours."
Suddenly, there was an abrupt stop to the flow of Phangirls and the portal started to close.
"Um, Gerry," She nervously looked over to where he was getting glomped, "I have got to go and attempt to get the Phangirls in order. Try not to do anything…scandalous…with Mrs. Gerard Butler, here."
With that she dashed off. Gerry pitifully whined after her,
"Crim, you were just kidding about her being my wife, right? RIGHT?"
The Authoress, sadly, did not hear him and continued over to the nearby pile of boxes that Fred had dropped off.
Magically slicing open the one marked "OPEN FIRST!" in big red letters, she found a megaphone and a list of everyone in the army.
Putting the megaphone to her mouth, she thundered in the general direction of the mass of Phangirls,
"ALRIGHT! EVERYONE LISTEN UP! WHEN I CALL YOUR NAME PLEASE STEP FORWARD TO RECEIVE YOUR UNIFORM. FROM WHAT I CAN SEE THEY ARE DIFFERENT COLOR CLOAKS AND PINS."
She rummaged through the box for a second and then held up a black cloak with crimson swirls on it and a drawstring bag that supposedly contained pins.
At her announcement the Phangirls stampeded over and eagerly crowded around where she was standing.
"LET ME SEE, THIS CLOAK BELONGS TO…ER…ME. AND I HAVE A SILVER ROSE PIN WITH THE PETALS LAQUERED RED. SAME FOR GERRY."
She rummaged around in the box again and found the Phantom's cloak and tossed it, along with the pin, in the general direction of the agonized whimpers coming from. She then scanned the list, frowned in concentration and shouted,
"IT SAYS HERE THAT THERE WILL BE SIX COLORS OF CLOAKS AND EACH DEFINES A CERTAIN UNIT WITHIN THE ARMY. BLACK CLOAKS ARE SPIES, GREEN CLOAKS ARE RAIDERS, SILVER CLOAKS ARE BASE CAMP WORKERS, BLUE CLOAKS ARE TUNNEL MAPPERS, RED CLOAKS ARE MILIRARY PERSONELL, AND YELLOW CLOAKS ARE MESSENGERS."
There were excited squeals and giggles at the mention of the different jobs.
"THE CLOAKS COME WITH PINS ALSO – BLACK HAS A SILVER SKULL WITH RUBY EYES, GREEN HAS A SILVER CRESENT MOON, SILVER HAS AN ONYX STAR, BLUE HAS A CRYSTAL TEARDROP, RED HAS A GOLD SWORD WITH A DIAMOND HILT, AND YELLOW HAS A GOLD FEATHER."
There were a few more titters from the group as the Authoress reached into a newly opened box and pulled out a black cloak.
"ALRIGHT…FIRST WE HAVE DARTH PHANTOM 1870."
A violet eyed girl wearing a black Jedi outfit with a pistol tucked in her belt, and wielding twin lightsabers stepped up and received her cloak.
"NEXT IS HAYLEY MACRAE ()"
A girl with a gray hoodie with a fairy on it and black pants came out of the crowd. She was trailed by a Phantom with sporks hopping up and down on his shoulder.
"AND OUR LAST SPY IS CLOE RIDES A LAND SHARK.'
A land shark burst out of the crowd, scaring a few Phans, and landed a few feet from Crim. A girl wearing an I heart Darth Vader T-shirt, jeans, and red sneakers stalked up, glared at the land shark, and received her cloak. She retreated back into the crowd and was followed shortly after by her land shark.
The Authoress opened the next box of cloaks and found that they were green.
"ER…NEXT WE HAVE SONGSTRESSGIRL 07."
A girl with bright green eyes and a longbow and quiver strapped to her back stepped out of the crowd and got her cloak and pin.
"SKIBBEREEN."
A girl with reddish-brown hair wielding twin knives came forward and received her cloak.
"ERIK FOR PRESIDENT."
There were a few envious mutters as she stepped out of the crowd in full Phantom dress complete with a navy blue vest and cravat. Pushing her Harry Potter glasses further up on her nose, she accepted her cloak with a graceful little bow and disappeared back into the crowd.
Done with that box, the Authoress dragged out another from the pile and opened it. This one contained silver cloaks.
"WANDERINGTEEN."
A brown haired girl wearing big black boots, black pants, and a loose, frilly white shirt stepped forward. There were a few shouts of anger from the gathered Phans as they tried to dodge her wildly swinging skull blade and holstered axe and shield.
Crim winced as WT nearly took out someone's Erik and tossed her the cloak.
"NEXT IS MYST-URU."
From a few ranks back a squeal could be heard and then the woosh! of a lightsaber turning on. A path was hastily cleared and a girl wearing a black tank top, black shorts, and a black mask came bounding through. The Authoress handed her her cloak and she happily returned back into the crowd.
Crim checked the box to make sure that all the silver cloaks were gone and then opened the next box that contained blue cloaks.
"PONY 210."
A brown haired, sweat suit wearing girl walked out of the crowd, followed on either side by two large dogs, both happily panting and prancing.
Crim zeroed in on the dogs and cooed, "They are so adorable! What are their names?'
Pony 210 smiled and said, "Milly and Jersy". Crim handed her her cloak and pin and gave the dogs a quick pat.
"NEXT IS MRS. GERARD BUTLER."
There was a squeal from the back of the crowd and then a shout from Gerry,
"Dear God! Help…somebody…ANYBODY!"
Crim winced and looked down at the list.
"Er…I believe she is preoccupied at the moment, so…"
Putting the megaphone to her mouth once again, she screeched over the crowd's rising chatter,
"PHANTOMETTE OF THE OPERA."
A long hared brunette sauntered out of the crowd, looking for all intents and purposes as if she had just stepped out of some kind of fashion magazine. Jean-clad, sparkling, and be heeled, she came up and accepted her gear as the Authoress stared at her openmouthed.
"Uh…are you sure that you are dressed appropriately for the occasion?"
Her brows furrowed and she said,
"What do you think - these boots are only for show?"
She scraped her heel across the stone floor, causing sparks to fly. Smiling she hefted her jewel-encrusted saber over her shoulder and strode back into the crowd.
Crim paused for a moment, looked down at her own shoes thoughtfully, and then opened the second to last box which contained red cloaks.
"ERIK THE DEVIL'S CHILD."
A tall figure dressed all in black appeared behind the Authoress and poked her in the shoulder.
"It's Stai."
Swiveling around in surprise, Crim shuffled through the list and then grimaced apologetically,
"Sorry."
Stai raised an eyebrow and threw her longbow, which she had been holding in her gloved (fingerless, of course) hands, over her shoulder. Taking her gear, she disappeared around the stack of empty boxes lying in a pile on top of the bed.
"ARIGHT, NEXT IS…"
Suddenly a demonically possessed paper shredder charged through the crowd and flung itself onto the nearest box. A girl dressed in a similar outfit as Meg in the last scene of the movie shoved herself past a few petrified Phans and dove on top of it.
Grabbing its wildly flying leash she dragged it away from its meal, whacked it a couple of times with her handy staff and broadsword, and dangled the edge of her cape in front of it.
It fell for the bait and tossed itself on the fabric. While it was munching the girl turned to Crim and laughed,
"Miss Black Shadow, at your service!"
The Authoress tossed a cape at her, looking wildly around the room.
"Er, exactly where is the rest of your arsenal?"
The Phan hugged her new cape to her and waved off to the back of the cave with a black-gloved hand.
"Somewhere in that general direction, I suppose."
After her reply the paper shredder suddenly lost interest in her cape and spotted something shiny in the back of the crowd. Hurtling himself towards it, he dragged Miss Black Shadow back into the crowd.
"ALRIGHT! WILL OH SHUT UP SAVY PLASE STEP FORWARD?"
After a few seconds went by a hand was raised above the heads of the crowd and someone shouted in a strange combination of an Irish and Scottish accent,
"Ach! Here I am!"
The Phans parted to reveal a girl with a magically glittering Irish sword tossed casually over her shoulder. Flinging her long chestnut ponytail over her free shoulder, she yelled,
"Just toss it over here!"
Crim obliged and with a thank you the crowd closed in around the Phan once again.
"KIWI OF THE OPERA!"
Silently a girl came forward and accepted her cloak then went back into the crowd.
"AND FINALLY, EMERALD PINGS!"
A curly brown haired bow woman walked out, twirling an arrow between her fingers. Looking at the Authoress through her glasses she held out an expectant hand and huffed,
"And I'm last, why, exactly?"
Glaring at the girl in front of her, Crim shook the list in front of her and pointed to the ceiling,
"A higher power." Emerald pings crossed her arms and looked upwards, saying jokingly,
"Well, that's kind of hard to argue against."
Chucking, the Authoress thrust the cloak and pin at her.
Scanning the list one more to make sure that all of the names were called, Crim shouted,
"ALRIGHT, THAT IS EVERYONE, SO…"
She was interrupted by Gerry, who tore through the crowd at breakneck speed, desperately clutching the last remnants of what looked like his shirt to his body. He was followed shortly by Mrs. Gerard Butler who stopped abruptly in front of Crim and panted,
"I'm here for my uniform, now!"
Starting as the door to the tunnels was opened and then quickly slammed shut, the Authoress raised an eyebrow,
"What exactly did you do to him over there?" She turned and eyed the disheveled Phan. "Did you at least keep his decency intact?"
She smirked and chuckled,
"Fear not! He's a slippery little bugger, that one. No harm done, unfortunately."
The Phan sighed in regret and accepted the cloak and pin that the Authoress handed to her.
Crim turned attention back to the crowd, which had somehow managed to drift over to the door that led outside. From the looks of it, a few Phangirls were trying to arrange a search and rescue party for the escaped Phantom.
The Authoress huffed and rolled her eyes. Bringing the megaphone back to her lips, she shouted,
"HEY! I STILL HAVE TO TELL YOU WHAT KIND OF POWERS YOU EACH GET!"
WINNER: Mrs. Gerard Butler
LOSER: Gerry – heh, heh, heh…a hunting we will go, a hunting we will go - poor guy, he never gets a break!
