A/N: Fans, ahoy! ToonSchool's first season is finally winding down with its final three episodes! Here's the first, an original idea about the Toonsters' first original song… or at least, original in the fic's universe! Let's hit it!
(Disclaimer: I don't own the song "Loser Like Me" or any other songs used, referenced or parodied in this episode; all rights go to their respective owners.)
Plot: As the Toonsters wind down production on their first album, Adam, while impressed by the Toonsters' covers, wants one original song for the album. After struggles, writer's block, and all kinds of setbacks, they, with the rest of the gang's help, finally manage to write a great song, which is predicted by Adam himself to be a success. However, a sneaky new talent agent, Mickey's old rival and Minnie's ex-boyfriend, Mortimer Mouse steals the song to give to his new client, up-and-coming pop star Zane Weaver.
When the Toonsters and Adam learn of the plagiarism, the latter becomes enraged due to the experience of being ripped off in the past, and goes after both Mortimer and Zane (who doesn't know Mortimer stole the song). The Toonsters and co. must now team up with Adam's friends, Static/Virgil Hawkins and Gear/Richie Foley as well as Sam, Clover and Alex, (who are in town as temp. instructors for WOOHP's ToonTown division) to protect Zane, expose Mortimer, and stop Adam from doing something that could ruin his career and life.
Steal My Song, And I'll Pummel Yours: Part 1
It was another regular Monday afternoon in the city of ToonTown, and at Toon Jamz Records, one of the biggest record labels in the city, it was business as usual. The local city band the Toonsters were in a sound booth recording a new song for their upcoming album:
All: Do you ever wonder why
This music gets you high?
It takes you on a ride
You feel it when your
Body starts to rock (Your body starts to rock)
And baby you can't stop (You can't stop)
And the music's all you got
This…
Must…
Be…
Pop!
The music then stopped, as Adam Evans and the rest of the ToonSchool gang applauded the band members.
"That was great, guys! Excellent! That's going as the third song on the tracklist!," Adam said.
"Yeah, you guys really gave *NSYNC a run for their money!," Tommy put in as the band exited the sound booth.
"Ah, nothing to it guys!," Tony said. "Besides, it just brings us even closer to our goal of worldwide fame."
"Well, I can tell you guys, we only need a few more songs and the album will be ready to go," Adam said.
"Seriously, yo?!," Jake asked.
"Yep."
"Well, in that case guys, what song should we cover next?," Danny asked. "Any suggestions?"
"Shake It Off from Taylor Swift?," Bubbles suggested.
"Call Me Maybe from Carly Rae Jepsen?," June suggested.
"Clarity from Zedd?," Jimmy suggested.
"No, no, and no. Anymore ideas?," Tony asked.
"One More Night from Maroon 5?," Daryl suggested.
"No."
"Wild Wild West from Will Smith?," Lilo suggested.
"No."
"Blood On The Dance Floor from Michael Jackson?," Bart suggested.
"No."
"No Scrubs from TLC?," Buttercup suggested.
"No."
"Actually, I was thinking something a bit more different for the next song," Adam said.
"Different?," Ash asked. "What do you mean different?"
"I mean, don't get me wrong. I love the cover songs, I really do. But I want something else, something new, never heard before. I want an original song on the album."
"An original song?!," everyone gasped.
"I'm not sure about that," June said, unsure. "We don't know a lot about song writing."
"Actually, we know nothing about it at all," Jimmy corrected her.
"Well, I can tell you, you just need some good verses, a catchy and inspirational chorus, and a significant hook," Adam said. "Also, I need the song by Saturday."
"Saturday?!," everyone gasped.
"But isn't that just five days away?," Ash said.
"Not a lot of time to write a hit song," Timmy said. "I mean, a lot of the big hits took weeks, months, or even years to write."
"Look, I know that's not a lot of time, but we gotta stay on schedule if we wanna release your debut album in time," Adam told them. "Listen, the key to writing a good song is like writing a term paper: you need inspiration. So find something good that really inspires you and see what you can make of it."
"Well okay, I guess we can try," Tony said.
Later that evening at Krusty Towers, in Apartment 7K, the whole gang was gathered in the living room area of the Clarks' apartment trying to figure out what to write for the Toonsters' newest hit.
"Come on you guys," Tony said. "Any ideas? Any at all?"
"Nope," Danny said.
"Zip, nada," Bloo added.
"I've got bupkus," Tommy agreed.
"Hey, I might have something," Jimmy piped up.
"Well okay, let's hear what you got, Jimbo," Daryl said as Jimmy started to sing:
It's so hard to say goodbye, I say,
Because the words always seem to get in my way
And everytime we say so long,
It always seems to bash my gong–
"Bash my gong?," Timmy asked.
"I'm just browsing here, okay?!"
"Well I got nothing either," Bubbles said.
"How about this?," Buttercup said as she sang:
Cause the nerds are gonna play, play, play, play, play
And the bullies gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate
But let's just-
"Buttercup, that's just ripping off Taylor Swift," Blossom said.
"Well, I don't see you coming up with anything better!"
"Look, we have five days," Mac said. "Let's just keep an eye out during that time for things we might find to be inspiring, take note of them and then try to make lyrics out of them."
"That's…a pretty good idea, Mac," Tony said, with everyone else voicing their agreement.
"Then it's settled. Original song, here we come!," Lilo said.
Tuesday…
In the cafeteria at lunch, Bubbles, her sisters, plus Jimmy and Tommy watched as the lunch ladies served the delicious food to the kids. They all took notes down and combined them together and tried to think of some lyrics.
"I know! How about this?," Bubbles said as she sang:
As long as I eat my wheat and rye,
I can have myself a chilli dog tonight
Condements galore-
"Uh, Bubbles," Jimmy interrupted. "Those lyrics are terrible."
"And the song is Justin Timberlake's Suit & Tie," Blossom added.
"Oh," Bubbles said sadly.
"Well, don't look at me I've got nothing," Buttercup said.
"Me too," Tommy agreed.
"Me three," Jimmy agreed as well.
"That makes four of us," Blossom finished, as the group sighed sadly.
Wednesday…
The next day, on the playground at recess/free period, Tony, Daryl, Bart, Jake, and Bloo were watching the children play on the playground equipment, taking notes, and trying to come up with lyrics.
"How about this?," Jake said as he rapped:
Get yourself on the playground,
To run around,
And make sound,
Don't you ever stop it, no
"But you should stop that, Jake," Tony said.
"Yeah, I don't think Eminem would like the use of his Oscar-winner like that either," Bart said.
"Anybody else got a song?," Tony asked.
"Nope," they all said together.
Thursday…
The next day, in the music classroom, Sunny was playing a new song when Timmy, Danny, and June peaked around the corner.
Girl, you want me bad
Even though I'm just average
You got your eye on me
Though I'm as humane as a savage
Is it my eyes?
Is it my name?
Or is it my six-pack,
Firm all the same.
"Not bad," Danny said.
"Pretty good!," June added.
"Are you kidding? It's perfect!," Timmy said as he took out a tape recorder and pressed RECORD to start taping it.
"Uh Timmy, isn't that stealing?," Danny asked.
"Not if we don't get caught."
"Can I help you kids?," Sunny said, having noticed the three.
"And now we're caught," June replied as she and the boys entered the classroom with sheepish smiles. "Hey, Mr. Bridges. That was a cool song you got there."
"Now would you mind singing it again…preferably into the tape recorder?," Timmy asked sheepishly.
"So you can use it as your new song?," Sunny asked.
"Ye-wait, how'd you know?," Danny asked in surprise.
"Underground music industry gossip."
"Well, can we use it, we'll give you writing credits," Timmy asked.
"Sorry, guys. But if I just give you the answers to your problem you'll never learn for yourself."
"But Mr. Bridges, we've looked for inspiration for our song everywhere for three days, and we've got nothing," June said.
"Well, just like with a good essay, it takes time to write a good song. It takes inspiration and logic on how to put it all together. Plus this is your first time writing a song, so you can expect to face some writer's block. And overcoming that can take some time."
"Well, time is something we don't really have," Danny said. "The song's got to be ready by Saturday."
"Look, just keep looking and who knows the answer might just come flying straight at you," Sunny said as he got ready to leave. "I gotta go to a meeting. Good luck, fellas."
Sunny then left the room, and the three Toonsters members groaned in exasperation as Timmy banged his head on one of the desks in frustration.
Friday…
In the hallway at the lockers, most of the gang was reunited waiting for Ash, Mac, Lilo, and Stitch to get there with their progress.
"What a week. I can't take anymore amateur songwriting attempts," Danny said.
"Me neither. If I try to put two more bad lyrics together, I am going to lose it!," Buttercup added.
"Well, let's just hope that the others had a little better luck than us," Tony said.
"Don't get your hopes up," Ash said despondent as he, Mac, Lilo, and Stitch approached. "We came up zip too."
"Yeah, and we tried every inspiration we could think of…and nothing," Lilo said sadly.
"Naga tochiba," Stitch agreed.
"Sorry, guys, but it looks like you'll have to tell Adam you couldn't come up with a good song," Mac said.
"We can't do that!," Jimmy snapped. "It could mean the end of the band."
"Come on guys, don't panic," Daryl said. "We'll figure something out."
"How?!," Jake asked. "The song's due tomorrow and we have nothing! It's hopeless."
"Well what about Mr. Bridges or Mr. Tentacles?," Ash asked. "Maybe they could help."
"Already tried Mr. Bridges. He said no, said he wanted to give you guys the experience of writing your own song," Bart said.
"And Mr. Tentacles, writing a pop song…forget it," Bubbles added.
"It's pointless, we're never gonna get this, never!," Tony shouted. Just then they heard a commotion, and saw school bullies Brad Buttowski, Sperg, Francis, and the Gross Sisters, shaking down their friends Sheldon and Baljeet.
"Okay, we got the lunch money!," Brad said as he counted it. "Man these zeroes are "
"Next time, you losers better have more than $10 each," Nubia Gross said as the bullies all left.
"Yeah, well someday in life, we're gonna be big and you're gonna be the small ones calling our names!," Baljeet said.
"Yeah, someday you're gonna wanna be losers like Baljeet and me!," Sheldon called out. The gang watched this in awe.
"Hmph, I hate those bullies," Blossom said.
"Who doesn't?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah–wait. Wait!," Tony said as something in his head clicked.
"What is it, Tony?," Mac said.
"I've got it! I've got the song!"
"Really?," June asked. "You've really got it?!"
"Yeah, a song about nerds, geeks, and underdogs using bad experiences with bullies, popular kids to eventually rise above and beyond them. It's right in my head!"
"Then write it down, quick!," Lilo said. "To the music room, quick!"
With that, the gang rushed to the music room to write out their song.
Saturday…
The next day at Toon Jamz Records, the Toonsters were in the sound booth finishing recording their new original hit as Adam and the rest of the gang watched:
Bubbles, Tony, and Jake: Just go ahead, and hate on me
And run your mouth (So everyone can hear)
Hit me with the worst you've got,
And knock me down (Baby, I don't care)
Keep it up, and, soon enough, you'll figure out,
You wanna be
All: You wanna be
A loser like me,
A loser like me,
A loser like me,
Bubbles: A loser like me.
Upon finishing, the rest of the gang applauded, as did Adam who was very impressed.
"That was fresh, guys," Adam said. "You just got yourself your first original song! Heck, I might just release it as the first or second single too!"
"Wow, really?!," Tony asked. "That's incredible!"
"Yeah, I can't believe we actually managed to do it though," Bubbles exclaimed. "We wrote our first song, and it's gonna be on our debut album!"
"I can't believe it either," Ash said. "Talk about a dream come true."
"Yeah, only we're not asleep," Danny said.
"Well, ha-cha-cha!," a voice said. Everyone turned to see a tall, lanky anthropomorphic rat in a black business suit. Next to him was a 13-year old boy with blonde flat-banged hair, and a flashy-looking outfit.
"Mortimer Mouse?," everyone exclaimed.
"What are you doing here?," Mac asked.
"Yeah, in case you haven't heard, Minnie's on the other side of town," Bloo said.
"Well, I was planning to call her later, but I'm here to announce to Rubber-Boy here that I'm finally gonna make it big," Mortimer gloated.
"Wait, you know Mortimer, Mr. Evans?," Blossom asked.
"Yeah, worked here as a talent scout for about six months, until I started getting a bunch of sexual harassment complaints from all the ladies. I had to let him go to prevent a lawsuit," Adam replied.
"Well, I'm back, and I'm more than just a scout…I'm an agent," Mortimer said, as he gestured to the boy at his side. "And here is my first client, whom I'm sure you know from his videos on MyTube, his recent television appearances, and his new music video on TMTV, Mr. Zane Weaver."
"Hello," Zane said. "So you're the famous Toonsters, huh? I've seen some of your performances, you guys rock!"
"Thank you," Bubbles said sweetly.
"And we've seen your music video for that song of yours, 'Some Time'," Jimmy added. "Very impressive."
"Thanks, I'm just hoping to make my mark on the music world and-," Zane said as his phone beeped. He took it out and said, "Oh, it's my mom. 'Scuse me, while I take this."
Zane left the room, and Mortimer turned back to the gang and Adam.
"So anyhow, I heard you guys were working on a new song," he said.
"Yeah, you wanna hear it?," Tony asked.
"Sure."
Tony then played back the recording of the song, and upon hearing it, Mortimer became impressed.
"Ha-cha-cha! What a tune!," he said with glee. "That's a big hit you got there. A hit more fit for my client that is..."
"What was that?," Tony said as Zane reentered the room after finishing his call.
"Oh nothing, nothing! Well, me and Zane have to vamoose now. See ya around, kiddos!"
"Bye everyone," Zane said as he and Mortimer left.
"So, who wants to party at our place, you know to celebrate our first original song?," Daryl asked.
"I'm for that," Timmy said.
"Me too," Blossom added.
"Count me in," Lilo agreed with everyone else agreeing in.
"What about you, Mr. Evans?," Bubbles asked Adam.
"Wish I could, but I still have work to do here. You guys go ahead," Adam replied.
"Well you heard him. To Krusty Towers!," Bloo shouted as the gang left the studio and Adam returned to work.
Late that night, hours after Toon Jamz had closed for the night, three figures dressed all in black parachuted down from a helicopter onto the building's roof. Upon landing, they rappelled themselves down the side of the building until they reached the window of Adam's office. They used a glass-cutter to cut a large hole in the glass and enter the office.
Once all were inside, one of them noticed Adam's laptop on his desk. Connecting a miniature smartphone-like device to it, they quickly hacked Adam's password, searched through his files until they came across his song files. They opened and searched through them until they came across "Loser Like Me," which they immediately copied, downloaded onto a flashdrive, and then erased from the laptop.
They then exited via the hole they'd made in the window and rappelled down to the street, where a limo was waiting for them. A person in the back rolled the window down partially, obscuring their face from view.
"Did ya get it?," the figure said. The leader of the men in black held up the flashdrive.
"Got the money?," he asked. The figure in the limo handed him a big envelope.
"It's all there," he said. "Thanks for your help.
"No prob. You need us again, just call us."
The three men then took their leave as the figure in the limo chuckled to himself deviously. He then lit himself a cigar, revealing in the light that he was Mortimer Mouse.
"Excellent. Soon I will be on top of the music world with Zane, and Adam and his Toonsters will hit rock bottom. Then nothing will be able to stop Minnie from resisting my charms," he cackled evilly as he reveled in his misdeeds.
A/N: Uh-oh! That rat of a mouse just stole the Toonsters' new hit! They and Rubberband Man are not gonna like this. What will happen when they find out? Find out on Part 2, coming soon!