Strength

"So I don't think I get this movie," Carly frowned as her and Freddie sat on the Shay's couch. "Is the butler the thief who stole the diamonds from the widow's dog's trust fund, or is she the hero who stopped the maid from stealing the emerald encrusted flea collar?"

"Neither, the butler's only role in the movie so far has been serving lemonade to the pool boy who tricked the chef into hiding the sapphires in the cookie jar," Freddie replied

"Okay, how are you possibly following this movie?" Carly asked. "It makes absolutely no sense!"

"I'm dating Sam," Freddie smirked. "Confusing is my specialty."

"Well, I'm giving up," Carly said, getting to her feet and heading over to the computer on the kitchen counter.

"You're never going to find out who switched the gold nuggets with chicken nuggets," Freddie told her.

"I'll live," Carly said, rolling her eyes as she logged onto her email.

"You know, I don't think I entirely trust that doorman," Freddie said. "He seems very fishy. And he was the last person to see the tennis star's medallion…"

"Hey," Carly said, looking at the computer screen. "Check out this email I got from those people who hosted the Web Awards a few years ago in Japan."

"They emailed you?" Freddie asked, pausing the movie and joining Carly at the computer.

"I just said that!" Carly said, shaking her head. "Anyway, here's what they emailed me. 'Dear Carly, Sam and Freddie, because of your current standing as one of the most viewed web pages in the entertainment category, we would like to cordially invite you to the first ever Web Talent Contest.'"

"Web talent contest?" Freddie frowned. "What's that?"

"Well maybe if I could keep reading…" Carly said.

"Oh, sorry."

"As I was saying, 'The Web Talent Contest will include competitors from over one hundred popular web shows from all across the country competing a talent that one individual from each show enters. The winner of the contest will not only be awarded with the fame and pride of being the most talented person on the web, but will receive a check for ten thousand dollars to further enhance their web show.'"

"Ten thousand dollars?" Freddie repeated, his eyes widening. "That's insane! We could afford to get new lenses for the cameras and maybe a new editing bay! Oh, and maybe even-"

"Dude, we haven't even won yet," Carly said. "Don't get your hopes up. Besides, are we even going to do this? I mean there are some pretty tough competitors. There's that girl who can jump rope while playing the clarinet, the man who spell any word backwards, the twins who can talk to hamsters…"

"So, we can win this!" Freddie said. "Where's the competition?"

"Um, California," Carly said.

"That's not far away at all," Freddie reasoned.

"Well…we need to at least ask Sam first," Carly said.

Right one cue, the apartment door opened and Sam walked in.

"Hey, baby? You wanna go to California?" Freddie asked.

"Um…yes?" Sam said, confused.

"Boom! She said yes, we're in!" Freddie said triumphantly.

"Why's Fredhead acting all weird?" Sam asked.

"There's some big talent competition for a bunch of people with web shows," Carly explained. "And there's a ten thousand dollar prize that he wants to use to buy a bunch of tech stuff."

"What? You can win ten thousand dollars just by winning a stupid talent show?" Sam exclaimed. "No way! We have to do this!"

"That's what I've been saying!" Freddie said, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend.

"Think of all the fireworks we could buy!" Sam said. "And the chicken wing platters!"

"Guys, come on, what we even do for a talent competition?" Carly asked.

"I dunno," Sam shrugged. "You can just-"

"Hold on, me?" Carly frowned. "Why do I have to be the one to compete? You're the ex-pageant girl!"

"Yes, emphasis on the ex," Sam said. "Come on, kid, you're talented! Plus I don't want to have to put on the fancy dress and do my make-up. But you live for that stuff!"

"I guess it would finally give me an excuse to wear that cute pink dress in the back of my closet," Carly said thoughtfully. "But what would my talent be?"

"I dunno, just sing a song," Sam shrugged.

"Yeah, maybe that one you sung at that weird wedding we went to in Wisconsin," Freddie suggested.

"Where the groom peed his pants?" Carly cringed.

"Uh-huh."

Carly sighed. "Fine, I'll represent iCarly in the Web Talent Show."

"Yes!" Sam and Freddie cheered, high fiving each other. "Ten thousand dollars here we come!"

Carly shook her head. "You two are made for each other."
….

"Okay, Carly, I've carefully analyzed the competition and you have two main opponents you need to watch out for," Freddie said a few days later in the iCarly studio.

"I thought there were over one hundred opponents," Carly pointed out.

"Yeah, but you're gonna crush most of them," Sam told her. "There's one guy whose talent is seeing how many crayons he can shove in his mouth…actually that one's pretty impressive. His record is one full sixty-four box!"

"You'll beat the crayon boy, Carly, don't worry," Freddie assured her. "But as I was saying, the two people you need to look out for are also singing. Now, I don't want to freak you out, but one girl has already professionally recorded her song and the other sang back up for Mariah Carey when she was only eight."

"What?" Carly exclaimed. "There's no way I can win against people like that! I only sing in the shower and at tacky weddings!"

"Come on, kid, don't be intimidated," Sam said. "You can out-sing those two. You just need to focus on the prize. Ten thousand big ones! Think of all the cool stuff we can buy for the show! We can get a giant trampoline, or a baby lion! Oh, I know! We can order five hundred live crabs, put them in a wooden crate and tell Gibby that there's a peanut butter sandwich at the bottom-"

"Or we could spend the money on practical improvements for the show," Freddie said. "We can finally afford to switch to high-definition picture! And I could get some better lighting in here, because sometimes when we shoot, you guys turn out a little…pasty."

"Excuse me?" Sam said, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean pasty in the sexiest way possible of course," Freddie added quickly.

"Uh-huh," Sam said, swatting his shoulder. She turned back to Carly. "Okay, time to run through the song again."

"Can't we take a break?" Carly moaned. "I've sang it five hundred times already."

"One more time and then we can finally go shoe shopping to find those heels to match your dress," Sam grinned.

"Okay, okay, I'll sing!" Carly said. "I can't believe you're bribing me with shoes…that's low, you guys."

"Hey, whatever gets the job done," Freddie said. "And gets us that new Tosha Solar camera."

"And water skis," Sam added.

….

"Wow, this place is huge!" Spencer observed as him and the iCarly gang walked into the giant theatre where the talent competition was being held.

"Yeah, filled with Internet freaks about to lose and go home crying," Sam grinned.

"That's the attitude we want, baby," Freddie said, giving her a quick kiss. He turned to Carly. "Let's get you back to the dressing rooms so we can start prepping you."

"I'll go get a seat," Spencer said.

"Alright Carly, just remember to look right out at the judges," Sam said as the three headed back to the dressing rooms.

"And make sure you hit that high note at the end," Freddie told her.

"And don't-"

"Guys!" Carly said loudly. Or rather, she tried to say, for her voice came out shaky and raspy.

"Um…what's wrong with your voice?" Freddie frowned.

"I-I don't know," Carly said.

"Well fix it!" Sam exclaimed. "You need to be on stage singing in an hour!"

"I think I lost my voice," Carly said, her voice still sounding roughly like a cat in a blender. "Maybe because some people made me sing a billion times on the trip over here!"

"Oh man," Freddie sighed. "Now what are we gonna do? We're not going to get that ten thousand dollars for my deluxe memory chip and we're gonna look like idiots for dropping out of the competition an hour before we were supposed to perform."

"Dang it! I really wanted nine hundred pounds of marshmallows," Sam sighed.

"Nine hundred pounds of-never mind," Carly said. "Look, I'm sorry my voice was destroyed by certain friends of mine exploiting it, but we don't have to drop out. Sam, just go sing in my place."

"Ugh, I don't want to wear your frilly dress!" Sam moaned.

"Well then you can kiss your marshmallow dreams goodbye," Carly said. "You know all the words, it's either you do this or we go home losers."

"Fine, whatever," Sam conceded. "But I'm gonna need some ribs…and barbecue sauce."

"Okay, okay, we'll get them for you," Carly said. "Just go start getting ready. I'll be back there in a sec to help you."

"Wait, what just happened?" Freddie frowned as Sam grabbed the dress from Carly and headed over to a changing room. "Sam's going to sing in your place? Carly are you sure about this?"

"What's the big deal? Did you want to sing?" Carly asked.

"No," Freddie said. "But, um, it's just…Sam…Is she really ready to go sing on stage in front of a bunch of people."

"Just as ready as I was," Carly shrugged.

"But Sam…She-She-"

"Freddie…" Carly said slowly, a smile creeping onto her face. "Are you saying you don't have confidence that your girlfriend can pull this off?"

"No!" Freddie said quickly. "But it's just-"

"Wait," Carly said. "Have you heard Sam sing before?"

"I've heard rap, sure," Freddie shrugged. "But she can't just go out there and rap the song you were gonna-"

"No, have you ever heard her sing before?" Carly asked. "Like what I was going to do out on stage."

"Well, no," Freddie said.

"Well I have," Carly said. "She's really good. She has a great voice."

"Huh?" Freddie frowned.

"Yeah, I asked her once if she wanted to sing on iCarly or something and she laughed and spit out the pudding she was eating," Carly recalled.

"Sam can sing?" Freddie exclaimed. "Like actually sing?"

"Uh-huh," Carly nodded. "You never knew?"

"No!"

"Well she's really shy about these things," Carly reasoned. "The only reason I know is because one night during a sleepover we were goofing around playing karaoke. But trust me, Sam has just as good a chance of winning this thing as I did. Who knows, maybe she'll do better than I would've."

"Okay, I have the dress on," Sam said, coming out of the changing room, dawning Carly's light pink gown. "Where are my ribs?"

"Baby, you sing?" Freddie said, still in disbelief.

"Yeah, I guess," Sam shrugged. "A little."

"You're amazing," Carly assured her, helping her zip up the back of the dress.

"Why have you never sung for me?" Freddie asked.

"Because that's a whole level of mushiness I don't need to get to," Sam snapped.

"You couldn't have at least hummed me a tune?"

"Freddie relax, you'll hear her sing in a few minutes," Carly said. "Now I'm gonna go try and find some ribs here. Freddie, help Sam warm up."

"You mad?" Sam asked as Carly rushed away.

Freddie sighed. "No. I mean…you do look pretty hot in that dress."

Sam rolled her eyes, leaning up to kiss him.

"Well, you know what, this is a great turn of events," Freddie said. "I can't wait to hear you sing now. You know all the words, right?"

Sam nodded, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

"Good, and it's like you were telling Carly, eye-contact with the judges is really important. You want to connect with them."

"Okay," Sam said, and Freddie noticed that her voice was missing its usual Sam Puckett spark.

"What's the matter?" Freddie asked.

Sam shrugged. "Nothing."
"Sam…"

"I've just never sang in front of a group of people this big before, okay?" Sam snapped. "I've danced back in my pageant days, sure, but I never did anything with singing before."

"But Carly said you were really good," Freddie told her.

"Carly's also my best friend, it's sort of against the rules for her to say I suck," Sam pointed out. "What if somebody else thinks I sound like-like a rooster crowing or something?"

"No one will think that," Freddie assured her.

"How do you know? You've never heard me!"

"Sam, you're just getting the pre-performance jitters," Freddie told her.

"Why'd Carly have to go and lose her voice?" Sam moaned. "This is why I wanted her to perform in the first place!"

"Sam, you perform live on the web in front of a million people," Freddie told her, putting his hands on her shoulders. "And you never crack under the pressure."
"I can't see those people," Sam pointed out.

"So then pretend that everybody else in the audience is gone too!" Freddie said.

"That doesn't work, Fredwad!"

"It will if you just believe it will," Freddie said. "And Carly and I will stand right in the wings if you want. If you start to feel nervous, you can just look over at us. Carly's your best friend and she'll support you no matter what. And I, well, I love you."

Sam said nothing.

"Think of all the dangerous things you can buy for iCarly if you win," Freddie said. "All the things that will probably wind up causing me pain."

Sam chuckled. "I did have my eye on a mechanical bull…"

"Then think of me tied to that mechanical bull, screaming for my life," Freddie said.

Sam smiled. "You always know just what to say, Fredward."

"Okay, I think Sam's next," Carly said as her and Freddie stood anxiously in the wings of the stage.

"Yeah, she's going out now!" Freddie said, watching as Sam walked out.

"You excited?" Carly asked knowingly.

Freddie nodded; he couldn't wait to hear Sam sing.

The background music began and Sam slowly picked up the microphone on stage. She looked over at the wings at Carly and Freddie who both gave her reassuring smiles.

And then, when Sam opened her mouth and began to sing, it was like Freddie's whole world had stopped.

She sounded amazing! He couldn't believe that the beautiful girl who was out on stage singing like an angel was actually his girlfriend.

"Pretty good, isn't she?" Carly smiled.

"She's-She's-" Freddie stammered, unable to find the words.

"Alright lover boy, put those eyes back in their sockets," Carly grinned.

Freddie stood there, absolutely enamored by the sound of Sam's voice the entire length of the song. When she finished, he cheered as loudly as he could, though he could barely hear himself over the massive applause of the audience.

"Oh my God, Sam!" Carly exclaimed as her best friend walked off stage. "You are so good! Did you hear all that applause? Everyone totally loved you!"

"Good, so can I get out of this dress now?" Sam asked.

"S-Sam," Freddie said, wrapping his arms around her. "Sam, you were fantastic!"

"I was off on a couple of notes," Sam sighed.

"No way, you sang perfectly," Freddie said firmly.

"Oh hey, that guy who speed paints sad clowns is on now," Carly said, looking back on stage. "Oh…that's sort of creepy."

"Well, that's the cue for me go grab the rest of my ribs," Sam said.

"Please don't get barbecue sauce on my dress," Carly sighed.

"We'll see!" Sam called over her shoulder.

…..

"I can't believe you only came in second, Sam," Carly said later that day after the talent show as the group stood back in the dressing room, cleaning up all their things.

"Yeah, you were robbed, baby," Freddie nodded.

"Eh, the crayon guy deserved the win," Sam shrugged, setting down her silver trophy. "Seventy-six crayons stuffed into his mouth…genius. Besides, we did get the second place prize. Five thousand bucks!"

"Yeah, we can buy a few new HDMI cords with that," Freddie smiled.

"Or a giant hamster ball," Sam said.

"Okay, well, while you two argue about that, I'm gonna go make sure Spencer's ready with the car," Carly said. "Congrats again, Sam."

"You know, I hope the crayons that guy used were non-toxic," Freddie said. "Or that's going to be one awkward phone call to poison control later today."

"I doubt crayon poisoning is a real thing," Sam said. She stepped closer to Freddie. "Hey…Frednub?"

"What's up?"

Sam bit the corner of her lip as she handed Freddie a wrinkled sheet of paper.

"What's this?" Freddie asked.

"You know how, um, it's our one-year anniversary next month?"

"Of course," Freddie nodded.

"Well, um, that's your gift I've been working on," Sam told him.

"This sheet of paper?"

"No!" Sam said, taking the paper and folding it out. "It's a song I've been writing for you, idiot!"

"Wait, you wrote me a song?" Freddie said.

"Yeah, I've been working on it for weeks," Sam said. "And it's almost done. But, um, I just wanted to let you know that I wasn't planning on never singing for you or anything. I was going to surprise you on our anniversary with this song. Well, I still am. I'm not gonna think of a new present now. So just act surprised, okay?"

"Wow, Sam, I-I-"

"Kind of sucks that it won't be that big of a surprise anymore though," Sam said.

"Hey," Freddie said. "It's still going to be the best present ever. You know, when I'm surprised with it next month."