PREVIOUSLY: The New Directions got back into the swing of things after the dramatic rescue of Rory Flanagan, and had to start focusing on Regionals.
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And now the continuation:
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CHAPTER 56 - REGIONAL OPPONENTS AND ANOTHER T.V. APPEARANCE
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For 6 whole hard fought weeks through laughter, enjoyment, tears, anger and frustrations. Through specialized dance moves that Brittany, Mike, Kitty. Santana and Jake trained for they were able to put a great song together.
Mercedes was using her solo that she was going to do at Sectionals, and as promised she got to leave the Training Center, every second weekend to spend time at her Health Retreat, to calm herself down from the pressures.
As for Rachel, she was starting to slow down as her pregnancy was starting to take effect. For the third and final song in the set list everyone, was getting to their marks faster, and it was obvious, to everyone watching, Will, Emma, Daniel Schuester, who every now and again would come in to the Training Center and sit near his father and watch him teach, Dan Steele, Rory, and Burt and Carole who once again decided to be there to act as supporters, that Rachel was starting to slow the group down. A serious call would have to be made sooner rather than later, but it was her, who made the call.
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"Cut, cut, cut," yelled Will in the Auditorium "We aren't doing that bit right. It needs to be done right, otherwise it's going to be no use doing the song."
It was the 3rd time in ten minutes that Will had ordered the New Directions to stop. Mercedes was already seated, and even she knew what the problem was. Everyone else looked at one another. They knew Rachel was slowing it down, but no one didn't want to say anything. They all looked at Finn. He knew by their looks that he had to make the call. Rachel saw the looks, and saw Finn turn to Will.
"Mr Schue, can we please have a minute break," said Finn
"Yea sure," said Will putting his hands through his hair in frustration
"Can I say something?" asked Rachel
"What is it Rachel?" asked Will
"I'm not fragile any more, I'm pregnant but I'm no longer fragile. People can just tell me to my face without walking around me on egg shells waiting for Finn to say something."
"You suck Berry," said Santana
"SANTANA!" said both Finn and Will together astonished
"It's okay," said Rachel "Thank you, Santana."
"That's quite okay," smiled Santana
"I know I've slowed down, started Rachel looking at everyone "I know I'm messing up the time with the song. I'm sorry. Which is why I want to withdraw myself from this song."
"But you're one of the leading vocalists for this song," said Sam
"Tina and Santa can sing. They'll both be fine."
Finn walked up to Rachel and gave a hug "Are you okay?"
"Yes,"
"I'm sorry for my sly remark," said Santana walking up
"It's okay Santana, I do suck. My girl's slowing me down. It's okay everyone. I'm sorry for not withdrawing at the start when I started to slow down."
"You can still be involved in the 2nd song," said Will
"We'll see. That's still 3 weeks away. On Monday we find out who our other opponents are as well as Vocal Adrenaline, we are also doing interviews and also performing one song. That's possibly going to be my last performance until at least Hemispheres."
"There's Rachel being over dramatic," said Kitty "Welcome back Rach,"
"KITTY!" said Finn shocked
"It's okay," said Rachel "It's the way it is."
Rachel gave Finn another hug, and then Santana and then walked to the stairs of the stage, and went down to the seats, Will gave her a hug.
"Give Santana, or Tina, my part," smiled Rachel
"I would like to see them practice for it," said Will "And then I'll make a decision."
Will and Emma's youngest child, 9 year old Isobel, soon to turn 10, had been sitting with Burt and Carole, came running up to Rachel, and grabbed her hand.
"Come on Aunty Rachel, I'll help you to your seat."
"You just want to talk to the baby," smiled Rachel "Like you always do Issy."
Isobel led Rachel over to a chair near Burt and Carole. Carole stood up, and gave Rachel a hug.
"I know how hard that must have been for you, Rachel."
"It's okay, Carole, I'm okay."
Isobel waited for Rachel to sit down before slowly sitting on her lap.
"Okay," said Will "Let's try this again. This time with Santana and Tina."
The New Directions returned to practicing.
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Monday morning came of Week 8. Two weeks out from Regionals. It was time to find out who they would be competing against Regionals. They knew that one of their 5 opponents was Vocal Adrenaline. It was going to be a busy day for them.
They were due at the Ohio Television Studios at 1 p.m. to do another interview where this time, Puck, Artie, Sam, Quinn, and Kitty would be the ones doing the interview and then they would perform as well as watching the other 5 teams perform, before finding out the order for Regionals.
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9 a.m. and all of the New Directions piled into the Choir Room, followed by Will, and Michael a few minutes later. Michael had arrived back the night before and had been busy with his business in Texas, but had been updated every few days of his team's progress.
Suddenly his phone beeped. The 5 opponents had been texted to him. Everyone heard the beeping and quietened down. Michael checked the text and stood up.
"Okay, so here we are two weeks out from Regionals. You guys are doing well. I hear the practices are really good. Sorry to hear about your decision to pull out of the last group song, Mrs Hudson, that would have had been a tough decision for you."
"It's okay Mr Baxter," smiled Rachel "It's a chance for Tina to step up."
Tina had wanted the lead to the last group song badly, and had out performed Santana for the part. They had only been told the night before.
"Congrats Miss Cohen-Chang, you are going to do well."
"That's the plan," smiled Tina
"Okay, so our opponents at Regionals are: Vocal Adrenaline of course, the High Toners, Rumpa Stumpers, The Villagers, and Whatsit2U's. So those are our opponents, some really out of it names."
"I like the sound of Whatsit2U's," smiled Brittany
"Do we know anything about the High Toners, Rumpa Stumpers, The Villagers, and Whatsit2U's?" asked Blaine
Michael shook his head "No, but we will find out this afternoon."
"So now we know our opponents," said Will "And we've got a few hours to kill before we head to the studios, so let's do a couple of run through's of the song that we are performing today. Rachel are you good to go?"
"Yes," smiled Rachel
"Mercedes?"
"I'll all go to go too," smiled Mercedes
"Blaine?"
"Yup, I'm cool too."
"Okay. so let's start these run through's."
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For the next couple of hours the New Directions went through 3 run through's before Will decided they didn't need any more run through's, and let them have an early lunch.
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About 1 p.m. they boarded the bus except for Rory, who still hadn't left the Training Center for safety reasons even though it been 7 weeks since being rescued from Ireland.
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They traveled to the Ohio Broadcasting Studios where they were showing into the Waiting Area. They didn't have to do another round of photo sessions or camera work, instead Puck, Artie, Sam, Quinn, and Kitty were miked up, and readied for the interview.
"Don't forget," started Michael "Just answer all questions as truthfully and as best as you can."
Puck, Artie, Sam, Quinn, and Kitty were lead to the recording room, and were all seated. Then their interviewer, a different one than before, Julie Harper, walked up, and sat down.
"Hi guys," smiled Julie "I'm your interview for today. Julie Harper."
"Our group had Erica Tatanaka last time," said Quinn "Do you guys take turns or something?"
"No, Erica does interviews with who she and Nigel Hanham thinks will win. I get the next best."
"So you think we don't have a chance?" asked Quinn
"I didn't say that. Erica thinks that. I believe you guys have the best chance of winning Regionals."
"Who does Nigel believe will win?" asked Quinn "And who's Erica interviewing today?"
"Calm down Quinn," said Sam who was seated next to her
"No I want to know," demanded Quinn
"Vocal Adrenaline if you must know," said Julie
"1 minute till recording begins," said the floor manager
Puck looked down the row at Quinn "Calm down babe, you don't need the anger."
"Sorry, can't help it, must be your son pulling all of my anger strings," said Quinn trying to keep a straight face "Typical males."
Everyone laughed. This calmed the tension down and then it soon became show time.
"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, I'm Julie Harper, and today is a special day. It's all about the 2nd stage of the World Championships of Show Choir Competition. The Regionals. This happens in 2 weeks time. 6 teams compete for 1 place to get through to Nationals which is the 3rd of 5 stages.
"With me today are a group who knows what it is like to win Regionals. They've done it before in their history. They won their Sectionals very well. It gives me great pleasure to introduce the New Directions. Specifically Mr Noah Puckerman."
"Hi,"
"Mr Artie Abrams."
"Hi."
"Mr Sam Evans,"
"Hey ya,"
"Miss Quinn Fabray."
"Hello."
"And finally Miss Kitty Wilde."
"Hi."
"Welcome guys. First question first. Mr Puckerman how did it feel when you won Sectionals two months ago?"
"Well Miss Harper. It felt like a relief. It was what we need as a group. We came together to win the Worlds because we back ourselves as a group. So to win Sectionals was a huge relief."
"That was a big statement Mr Puckerman. You came together as a group to win the Worlds because you backed each other as a group. Isn't that being over confident?"
"I don't think so," said Puck "Isn't that the psyche of every group that came together in this professional competition? To have a chance of winning? How's that being over confident? Why would you enter if you didn't think that you had a chance of making it past Sectionals? We know what our strengths are!"
"Very well said, Mr Puckerman," said Julie
Michael and Will smiled from inside the Waiting Room. They were proud of Puck for standing up to the question.
"Moving on to Mr Abrams," said Julie "One of your biggest opponents in the past were Vocal Adrenaline. You're squaring off against them in Regionals in two weeks. They're one of your strongest teams that could keep you from you dreams. What are your thoughts?"
"We know what Vocal Adrenaline brings to the contest Miss Harper, as they should know about us, as well. It's going to be an epic contest."
"It's should be even more epic," smiled Julie "A former New Directioner Wade 'Unique' Adams is leading them this year."
There were looks of horror amongst Puck, Sam, Quinn, and Kitty, but not Artie.
"Unique's a former Vocal Adrenaline member as well," continued Artie "We have come across 'Unique' in the past. So it shouldn't be different this time around."
"Tell me Mr Abrams," pushed Julie "Why is it that when I mentioned Wade's name that all of your friends looked shocked at the mere mention of his name, yet, you weren't? It's like you knew about Wade, but they didn't? Is that true?"
Puck, Sam, Quinn, and Kitty looked at Artie, who seemed like he got himself caught, but then he spoke.
"I had heard whispers through the Show Choir grape vine, just like Blaine Anderson did with Warblers 2.0 before Sectionals."
"But unlike Mr Anderson, you never said anything to let your team members know! Why was that?"
"Look Miss Harper," started Artie "I'm sure you're making more out of it than it really needs to. I had thought it was just gossip, I didn't want to spread gossip as it would just ruin our whole attention which would only benefit Vocal Adrenaline."
Julie smiled, she knew she hit a sore point, and if the rest reacted then she had discovered a story, but for some reason no one reacted. They must have been holding back.
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In the Waiting Room gasping sounds made Will and Michael make eye contact. It was obvious that Artie knew about Wade being part of Vocal Adrenaline.
"It looks like Artie knew about Wade," said Santana "What the hell?"
"Calm down guys," said Michael "Now's not the place or time to discuss it. We'll discuss it later."
"Mr Baxter's right," said Will "I know it doesn't look good, but we'll sort it once we get back to base."
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Back in the interviewing room, Julie continued with her questions.
"Mr Evans, knowing what you now know about Vocal Adrenaline, and Wade 'Unique' Adams, are they going to be the number 1 team in your section to compete with at Regionals?"
Sam looked at Quinn, who was next to him. She gave a quick nod, as if to say, just say what you're thinking.
"We all know about Wade, and we all know what Vocal Adrenaline can do, but we don't know anything at all about our other 4 opponents. What were their names again? Oh yeah I believe The High Toners, Rumpa Stumpers, The Villagers, and one of the best group names ever Whatsit2U's.
"Like I said we don't know anything about them, which means we can't take them lightly, if we do, it'll be at our peril. We can't just worry about Vocal Adrenaline, we need to respect all 5 groups. We can't fear them. But we can respect them."
"Very well thought out answered Mr Evans," smiled Julie "Miss Fabray, congratulations on your pregnancy."
"Thank you," said Quinn semi smiling
"How far along are you?"
"Just on 3 months."
"I believe Mr Puckerman here is the father?"
"Yes."
"This won't be your first child I believe?"
"Miss Harper," started Quinn "These are personal questions. They don't have any significance to the main interview which is about our upcoming Regionals competition. It's not all about me. It's about the overall group as it is. Please stick to the facts, and overall subject, there's no point in diverting away from it."
"Spoken like a true lawyer," smiled Julie
"Oh you have no idea," replied Puck smiling
"I'm getting to it Miss Fabray. It's all part of the interview even if it is personal."
"Quinn sighed. She looked across to the Waiting Room to see Michael looking at her, and just giving her a small nod as if to say hang in there. She rolled her eyes and looked back at Julie.
"You are correct, this will be my second."
"You've got an 18 year old girl who was adopted out at birth?"
"Correct."
"Isn't Rachel Hudson due around Nationals?"
Quinn was severally frustrated now "Seriously? This is all personal?"
"I'm getting there, Miss Fabray," said Julie
"Yes Rachel Hudson is due around Nationals," said Kitty finishing the question "So what?"
"It means that at Nationals, both Mrs Hudson, and Miss Fabray will not participate leaving the group down two vital members. It's one of the most crucial stages as if you make it to Nationals, you have to perform over 2 days, then you need everyone you can get."
"I'll answer this question," said Quinn looking at Kitty who was about to speak "1 or 2 people doesn't make a team Miss Harper. We all have our own unique styles. We have 15, if 2 of us are missing it means there'll be 13. We have the numbers, and there's no worries about that.
"The fact that Rachel and I are pregnant, shouldn't come into it. This competition spans 50 weeks once it gets going or well over 6 months for the build up to it. So that's a year and a half nearly. Anything can happen to a team in a year and a half. New Directions will be fine when our times come. People WILL step up."
"Are you finished Miss Fabray?" asked Julie smugly
"Quite," bit back Quinn
"Miss Wilde, in your honest opinion, with two very strong pregnant women in your team, a former New Directioner Wade 'Unique' Adams going up against you, do you think you have a chance of winning Regionals?"
Everyone looked at Kitty including the ones in the Waiting Room, it was like she was wanting to explode and letting out a lot of daggers and barbs, like she is known for. Michael could be moving his hand over his face, as he knew something was coming.
Even Julie Harper who had studied the New Directions for the interview knew about Kitty's anger. That's why she asked that question, and deliberately got Quinn riled up. Even Artie knowing about Wade must have got Kitty even in a worse mood. So everyone waited for the outburst to protect their friends.
Kitty sat there for a few seconds and then looked at Julie.
"Do I think we have a chance of us winning Regionals, even with Rachel and Quinn pregnant, and with 'Unique' on the other team it's not if, I KNOW, we can win Regionals, it's that simple."
Kitty then sat back, and everyone else smiled. Julie looked a little stunned. She blinked her eyes. Then looked at the camera.
"Well said Miss Wilde. I guess. Well there you have it ladies and gentlemen, we've learned a little bit more about the New Directions. They know they are ready for Regionals, we'll soon find out if that is true. Coming up next is a performance by all six teams and then the draw of the order for Regionals. This is Julie Harper on behalf of Noah Puckerman, Artie Abrams, Sam Evans, Quinn Fabray, and Kitty Wilde, my guests for today, thank you, and have a good afternoon."
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Coming up next, are the one off performances of the 6 groups, and the draw for Regionals.
Stay tuned.