"Alright!" AT called as she walked into the theatre. "Is everyone ready?"
"No!" Skipper said back, concern marking his voice.
"Very funny, Skipper."
"No, really. Marlene isn´t here! In fact, I didn´t see her come out of her habitat today!"
"Maybe she just took a small walk." Private suggested.
"Then she´d be here by now."
"Guys," AT said. "Don´t worry. She´ll arrive sooner or later."
But she didn´t. After sixty-five minutes no female otter, Skipper jumped up from his place.
"Listen everyone! We´re going to split up in small troops and search for Marlene! You guys," he pointed to the cheerleaders and his basket ball team. "You´re going to look in the North half of the zoo. Kowalski, you take the brainiacs and the chimps and look in the south half. Private-"
"There´s no need for that…Skipper…" Came a heavily accented voice from the entrance.
Some animals gasped…cause only some animals knew who he was.
Skipper narrowed his eyes in hatred at the figure.
"Hans!"
"And here we meet again, Skipper. Not in Hoboken, not in the Central Park Zoo…but in Broadway!"
"Brodwai?" Rico asked confused.
AT quickly spoke up. "Y-yes! Welcome to Broadway´s practice room."
Hans looked around the room. "It´s smaller than I imagined."
"That´s why it´s the practice room."
"What do you want?!"
"Well, my dear frienemy…as you might´ve noticed, a certain otter is missing from your group and if you want her back-"
Skipper didn´t wait for the end of that sentence. He flung the puffin against a wall and chocked him.
"Where. Is. Marlene?!" He growled.
Hans pulled at the iron flippers. "She´s…she´s…" He tried to say put Skipper was chocking him too tightly.
"Sir, I think you should release him." Kowalski offered.
Skipper removed his wings and immediately, the Dane fell to his knees and gasped for air.
"Wimp." The other muttered, then glared at his foe. "Where is Marlene and you better make it quick before these angry mammals," He nodded to Bada and Bing. "Squish you into a Danish pancake!"
Bing cracked his knuckles to emphasize the penguins´ point.
Hans gulped, then turned to AT. "I just want to star in Broadway too. Let me play a part and I´ll give you back Barney or whatever her name is."
"First it´s Marlene and second, okay." The director shrugged.
"Wait a minute! You´re gonna let a Hobokener play with us?" Maurice asked in disbelief.
"He asked. And Skipper will go crazy if he doesn´t find his girlfriend soon." She smiled at the penguin.
"Marlene is not my girlfriend!" He returned.
"Yet." Leonard whispered and a few animals snickered.
Skipper just rolled his eyes. "So, Dane are you gonna tell me or do I have to beat the truth out of you?"
Hans admired himself in the mirror as if he´s thinking how good he´ll look on camera. "She´s in the Central Park, the fifty-sixth tree to the left." He said.
"WHAT?" Skipper slid out, followed by his team.
"What´s his problem?" Antonio asked.
"If da otter is out in the park," Julian explained, wide-eyed. "She goes loco and tries to be seducing da king!…which is me." He added, just in case no one got that yet.
About ten minutes later, the penguins dragged a snarling Marlene into the studio.
"It´ll take a few seconds for her to return normal." Kowalski said.
After scaring Mort and Julian out of their wits, the otter slowly came back to her senses.
"What´s going on?" She murmured, half dazed, which quickly changed when she saw Hans. "YOU!" She tackled the puffin to the floor.
"You´re the one who kidnapped me!" the otter growled.
Hans pushed her off. "Would you and your boyfriend STOP picking on me?! I´m evil! That's what villains do!"
"Which boyfriend?!" Marlene shouted back. Then she stopped and looked at Skipper, who was blushing underneath his feathers.
"What?"
"Awwww!" Stacy grinned.
"Let´s just start with the next scene, okay?!" The penguin asked annoyed.
"Sure, so you two can hurry up and start the kissing scene, right?" AT teased.
Skipper banged his head against the wall.
8888
Finally the day came. Students chattered excitedly in the hallway.
"The big game is today!"
"I´m so betting on the Wildcats!"
The jocks hurried passed two girls talking, a cake in their hands. They ran right into the chemistry lab.
Chad and Troy covered Taylor´s and Gabriella´s eyes while Jason put the cake down in front of them.
"It´s a pi pie!" Mort exclaimed as the two jocks removed their hands. The girls gasped.
"It´s beautiful!" Gabriella said.
"Zeke made it." Troy said, pointing at the pi symbol on top of its surface.
"Thanks and guys, we have something for you too!" Kowalski nudged Marlene with a smile.
"Oh yeah, right over here!" The two brainiacs led the others over to the blackboard.
A bunch of equations were scribbled all over it.
"Ta-daa!"
"Hmm…" Troy nodded, pretending to understand this junk. He didn´t want to offend the girls.
The others just looked at the board and their leader in confusement.
Taylor and Gabriella couldn´t help but giggle.
They turned it over, presenting a huge logo with a hoop-shooting Wildcat on it.
"Ohh!" Chad exclaimed, relieved.
"That´s so co-" Troy started, but was cut off by something soft and plush.
Taylor grabbed more softballs from the counter and threw it at the others.
The boys picked up the balls and retaliated, both teams laughing.
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After running through the schools, cheering on the drama club, making jokes about the cheerleader´s skirts (they got chased out immediately) and blowing up samples in the chemistry lab just for fun, time flew and everyone went to their places. The brainiacs in the lab and the jocks in the gym locker room.
88
Julian sat on a pink throne that had white words printed on them: "The Diva-Queen". He picked up a cotton pad and dabbed his face with it.
"So, do you really think our plan will work?" Antonio asked, bending over and touching his toes. They had to warm up for their act.
"Of course it will work! Just be trusting your king." The other replied, spraying himself with a red bottle of perfume.
"I hope so." Ryan mumbled, then caught the glower of his sister. "I meant, of course! Not like you would make a mistake."
Julian smiled at that compliment. "Exactly." He got up and walked over to a blue dress. "Hmm, this will fit nicely with my handsome face. And it really shows off my perfect body!" He slipped into it and grinned at the mirror. "Perfect!"
Antonio tried not to stare, but it was just too weird, seeing a guy with make-up on, wearing an overwhelming costume like that.
"You are liking the view, right?" Julian asked, looking at Antonio through the mirror. The lemur had an eyebrow raised suggestively, making the other blush.
"No, you just look great." The otter quickly countered.
"I know. Now my dearest bro," King Julian looked defiantly at the door. "Let´s go kick some booty!"
88
Troy tugged at the shirt, slipping it over his head. He loved the team uniforms. They were thin and not as hot and tight as his normal shirts.
A few small knocks made him look up. For a second, he thought it was Gabriella and blushed madly. He was still bare-chested.
But that idea quickly passed when Coach Bolton came in.
"Nervous?" He asked his son.
"A little." The other confessed.
His dad straightened the collar of his suit. "Wish I could suit up and play alongside with you."
Troy smiled. "Hey, you had your turn."
"Heh, I guess so…" Coach sat on the bench opposite from his son. "You know what I want from you today?"
"Championship."
"Well, that´ll come or it won´t." Mr Bolton´s hazel eyes scanned his son´s face. "What I want is for you to have fun." He said lovingly.
Troy looked up at him.
"I know all about the pressure." His dad continued. "Probably too much of it has come from me. But what I really want is to see my son have the time of his life out there, playing the game we both love! You give me that and I´ll sleep with a smile on my face no matter how the score turns out!"
The other broke into a smile. "Sure thing, Coach…er, dad."
Then Coach broke the silence. He gave his son an encouraging pat on his shoulder and left the room.
Troy grabbed his uniform shirt. He would win that championship. For his dad.
88
"Welcome to the tenth annual Scholastic Decathlon." Hans proudly announced into the microphone. "Once again, it´s the East High Wildcats versus the West High Knights."
The audience made out of parents and friends (or the animals that weren´t in the scene right now) cheered.
88
"WHOO!"
"LET´S GO TEAM!"
"GO WILDCATS!"
The Wildcats ran out of their locker rooms onto their ´stage´. People cheered as they approached.
The cheerleaders waved their pom-poms up into the air, creating a tunnel for the team to run through. The West High Knights were already waiting for them.
"WHAT TEAM?!"
"WILDCATS!"
They shouted and whistled. Then the game began.
88
"Aaaaaaannnndd…GO!" Hans started the clock and immediately, the brainiacs began writing on whiteboards, racing against the clock and each other.
88
"Casting the leads of a show is both a challenge and a responsibility." Roger recited for the few audience members in his theatre. "A joy and a burden. I commend you and all other young artist to hold out for the moon, the sun and the stars! [A\N: that doesn´t just count for actors! ;)]"
People clapped politely.
"Shall we soar together?" Roger grabbed Private´s flipper and lifted him up to his face while Lulu made a picture of them.
"Sharpay and Ryan!" The alligator called, placing the penguin back at his seat.
The lights dimmed.
Then a light came on, revealing Ryan in his sparkling silver suit.
"Mucho gusto!" Apparently that was part of the song.
Another light shone down. The dazzling diva fanned herself, indicating ´hot´. "Ay que fabulosa!" Julian´s Madagascan accent did not go too well with Spanish, but he gave it his best shot.
He thrilled his tongue perfectly, dancing towards the otter. "Arrriba! Quien es bailar?"
"Mirame!" Ryan returned.
Julian spun toward the crowd.
"I believe in dreamin´! Shootin´ for the stars!"
"Baby to be number one, you´ve got to raise the bar!"
"Kickin´ and scratchin´. Grinding out my best!" Julian shook his body to the music, making his dress flow around like waves around him.
"Anything it takes to climb the ladder of success!"
The two siblings caught each other´s look.
"Work our tails off every day!" They sang, dancing together now.
"Gotta bump the competition. Blow them all away~!"
Again those Spanish pronouncements.
Antonio happily said them, helping out his sister with the pronunciations.
"Yeah we´re gonna bop, bop, bop! Bop to the top!"
Ryan: Slip and slide and ride that rhythm!
"Jump and hop. Hop till we drop!"
Sharpay: And start again!
"Zig, zag, zop! Bop like a mop!"
Ryan: Scoot around the corner.
"Move it to the groove until the music stoooops! Do the bop, bop, bop to the top! Don´t ever stop! Bop to the top! Gimme, gimme! Shimmy, shimmy!"
Dancing, sliding around, couple dancing for a few lines, everything looked perfect and fun. Ryan twirled his sister around; Sharpay danced in perfect imitation of him.
88
"WILDCATS!" The team broke off their huddle and ran to the center of the gym. After shaking hands with the enemy, they got into their positions.
The whistle blew, the ball was tossed and the game had begun.
88
Gabriella was writing furiously on her whiteboard, smiling of her sure victory. They had worked so hard, they just had to win!
The last equation and-
DING!
She ran over and hit the stop watch. Which meant she was done.
The Danish jury came over and inspected her drawings.
Hans stared confused at the numbers, then realized he had no idea what to do.
He quickly glanced at AT.
She pointed at Gabriella.
The Dane looked at her, then back at the director.
Said girl pointed again.
This time Hans copied her and pointed at Gabriella, hoping he was doing it right. When the half of the spectators sprang up and cheered, he guessed he did.
88
"Shake some booty and turn around"
A guitar solo filled in the gap.
"Flash a smile in their direction!"
Sharpay: Show some muscle!
Ryan: Do the hustle!
He did.
88
Taylor glanced at the clock. It was time. She sat down at the computer with her BFF and started typing into her laptop.
"Alright Wildcats. Time for an orderly exit from the gym."
88
The gym was going crazy as a player stole the ball and ran with it into the opposite direction. Coach Bolton kept shouting advice and orders at his trainees. "TROY! OVER HERE!" Leonard shouted.
All of the sudden, the lights flickered and the scores wavered on its electric boards.
"We seem to experience some technical problems." The announcer said.
Troy smiled distantly. ´Good job, girls.´ He thought. Then Chad punched his shoulder. "GO!" He shouted. "Oh right!" Troy raced off. He had little time to change quickly and get to the stage.
"Everyone please remain calm. And in the meantime, for safety regulations, we all have to make an orderly exit from the gym.
88
Meanwhile, back at the lab, the Wildcats chemistry group was watching with dread as a vial overflowed and the foulest of all foul stenches filled the room.
"Go, go!" Everyone hurried out of the room quickly.
88
"Yeah we´re gonna bop, bop, bop! Bop to the top!"
Ryan: Wipe away your inhibitions.
"Stump, stump, stump! Do the romp!"
Sharpay: And strut your stuff!
"Bop, bop, bop! Straight to the top! Going for the glory!"
A third light revealed a golden ladder. Sharpay twirled towards it.
Ryan skid to a halt in front of the ladder.
"We´ll keep stepping up and we just won´t stoooopppp~"
"Stoooppp~" Julian continued, climbing up.
"Till we reach the toooooopppp! Bop to the top!"
The siblings posed their final move and the crowd went wild.
"BRAVO!"
"WELL DONE!"
"AWESOME!"
Sharpay and Ryan climbed down and bowed in front of their fans.
A row of girls stood up to honor Ms Evans.
"Oh hi! Call me!" The beauty queen said, before stepping off to the side.
Ryan bowed again then threw his hat into the crowd as a token.
A few kids tried to grab it.
"Do you see why we loved the theatre? Well done, Sharpay and Ryan Evans!"
Another round of applause.
"Next we have…Ahh! Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez!"
A\N: Cliffhanger! Not really, since we all know how it turns out. xD Review if you want to see the next chapter! xDD