A/N: Last time, after much struggle, the Toonsters wrote their first original song, only to have it stolen by the conniving Mortimer Mouse! What will their reaction be upon finding out? Find out in Part 2, right now!
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.
Steal My Song, And I'll Pummel Yours: Part 2
The next day, the ToonSchool gang was walking down the street to Toon Jamz Records, still reminiscing about finishing their first original song.
"Man, what a night!," Buttercup said.
"Yeah, what a way to celebrate you guys' first original recording," Lilo added.
"Well, Apartment 7K is a great place to party," Tony said. "Even with Krabs breathing down our necks."
"Yeah, well let's see what Adam has for us to work on today," Daryl said as they all continued to make their way to the label.
But when they arrived, they were shocked to find the place crawling with police officers, inside and out.
"Whoa, what's with the boys in blue?," Danny asked, puzzled.
"Let's find Adam. Maybe he can tell us," Tony said as the gang made their way up to his office. But upon arriving, they found even more police, and Adam was speaking to them.
"Hey Adam," Daryl said as they approached. "What's going on?"
"There was a break-in last night," Adam said pointing at the hole in his office's glass window.
"Was anything stolen?," Ash asked.
"Unfortunately, just one thing," Adam replied. "Whoever it was, they hacked my laptop, and apparently copied and erased the song you guys recorded yesterday."
"WHAT?!," the entire gang gasped in shock.
"They stole Loser Like Me?!," Timmy asked, horrified.
"Who would do such a thing?," Bubbles squeaked as she began to tear up.
"And why?," Jake added.
"I don't know, but I swear if I find out who, they are gonna get it, and get it good!," Adam threatened. Just then, everyone heard Adam's TV turn on. They looked and saw Bloo on Adam's couch with the remote in hand.
"Bloo!," they all exclaimed.
"What?," he asked.
"We have a crisis here, and you decide to watch TV now?!," Tommy snapped.
"Hey, 106 & Cleft is on, man it's my favorite music show of all time," Bloo said as he watched.
"And now, he's and up and coming superstar in his own right, and a pretty boy that all the girls want a piece of, here's Zane Weaver!," the host said. Zane then came out to the cheers of the audience and fans.
"Thanks everyone!," he said.
"So Zane, I understand you've got a new song for us today?"
"Yeah. This song is dedicated in regards to all those who have been pushed around, bullied, stepped on, and walked over, and how someday they'll have their tormentors wishing they were in their positions in the past."
"That sound's a lot like our song," Timmy pointed out. Zane then started to sing:
Zane: Yeah, you may think that I'm a zero
But, hey, everyone you wanna be
Probably started off like me
You may say that I'm a freakshow (I don't care)
But, hey, give me just a little time
I bet you're gonna change your mind
The gang and Adam, as they watched, suddenly realized…
"That is our song!," Danny and Bloo said together.
"Zane Weaver is a thief?!," Mac exclaimed. "I never would have thought it."
"I can't believe it!," Blossom exclaimed. "And he seemed like a nice guy too…"
Adam, however, was seething with anger. This wasn't the first time he'd been ripped off and he wasn't one who liked to be made a fool of.
"Adam, are you okay?," Tony asked concerned.
"It's bad enough that producer in Dakota stole from me, but now a new rival artist who I let into my building! No way is he getting away with this," Adam growled.
"Now just calm down," Ash tried to soothe him. Adam shoved him away and transformed into his Rubberband Man form.
"I'm gonna find that little loser, and make him wish he'd never been born! NOBODY STEALS FROM ME! NOBODY!"
"Now hold on Adam," Daryl said, trying to calm him.
"Yeah, let's not do anything hasty," Tony added in. But before they could do anything, Adam bounced out the hole in the window and out into the streets of ToonTown.
"This is not good," Tony said.
Later on, the gang was flying in a WOOHP chopper around the city (except for Danny, Jake, and the PowerPuffs who were flying next to them (with the latter two in hero form)). With them were Sam, Clover, and Alex, who were in town for a spy convention.
"Thanks for helping us find Adam, ladies," Tony said.
"Sorry we had to drag you away from your spy convention," Daryl said.
"No worries, we're always happy to help out," Sam said.
"I just hope we can find Adam before he does something he comes to regret," June said.
"Well you said that something like this has happened before," Alex asked.
"Yeah, it was back when he was up-and-coming in the music biz," Tony said. "I don't really have a lot of the details."
"Hey, I think I see him!," Buttercup said pointing down. Everyone looked and saw a round figure bouncing down the street.
"Guys, quick stop him!," Tony said. Danny, Jake, and the PowerPuffs flew down and quickly blocked Adam's path.
"Out of the way, you guys!," Adam snapped.
"Not until you chill out, Mr. Evans," Blossom replied.
"I'm not 'chilling out' until I teach that punk Weaver what happens to people who steal from me!"
"Look, we're just as upset as you are, Adam, but this isn't the way," Danny said.
"Yeah, you do this, and the public gets wind, you can kiss your career and life goodbye," Jake said.
"That's a chance I'm gonna have to take," Adam said as he zipped over to and squeezed into a storm drain.
"Mr. Evans, wait!," Bubbles called out, but it was too late. The chopper landed and the others got out and met with the five.
"What happened?," Tony said.
"He escaped into the sewers," Danny said. "We couldn't stop him in time."
"Well, he's certainly gonna need a long shower later," Clover remarked.
"Well, what do we do now?," Lilo asked.
"Yo, folks?," a voice said. Everyone turned to see an African-American teenage boy wearing a mask, a black and blue trenchcoat, and black and blue clothing, including a shirt with a lightning bolt and circle on it, and a white teenage boy wearing a helmet with a green visor and a green and white techno-like uniform, and carrying a mechanical backpack-like device on his back. "Think you can help us?"
"Hey, I know you!," Tony said. "You guys are the superheroes Static and Gear from Dakota, right?"
"Yeah, and you must be Yo-Yo Boy, right?," Gear asked.
"That's me."
"What are you both doing here?," Blossom asked. "You're a little out of your jurisdiction, don't ya think?"
"We're actually looking for your band's producer Adam Evans, aka Rubberband Man," Static said. "He's an old friend of ours. We stopped by his studio and they said he'd left to 'take care of business'."
"Well, we're all actually looking for him too, and this business is a lot more complicated than it seems," Daryl said. Everyone then relayed the events about what happened in the last couple of days to the two heroes.
"And now Mr. Evans is on the rampage to find Zane and Mortimer and make them pay for what the did," Jimmy finished the recap.
"Oh, man. Then we better find him and fast!," Static said.
"I heard that Adam got ripped off in the past, is that true?," Sam asked.
"Yeah, and last time, he almost killed the guy who did it."
"Of course, considering that the guy tricked him into thinking he was gonna pay up and then locked him in an airtight safe to suffocate, I couldn't blame him," Gear said.
"Never mind that," June interjected. "Where would Adam go to find Zane?"
"How about that CD signing for Zane Weaver that's happening now at the ToonTown Palace Shopping Center?," Clover asked, causing everyone to turn and look at her. "What? Just looked it up on the chopper's computer."
"Then that's where we're going! Let's move!," Tony said as the rest of the gang, sans Danny, Jake and the PowerPuffs, piled back into the chopper and flew with the said others and Static and Gear to the signing.
Meanwhile, at the Shopping Center, at the Cleft Tune Record Store, Zane was autographing CDs and merchandise for fans, as Mortimer watched with greed in his eyes.
"Here you go, enjoy!," he said as he signed a young girl's shirt and said goodbye, before encountering a seeming 16-year-old African-American girl.
"Hey there, sugar," the girl said in a sly tone of voice.
"Hey there, what can I sign for you today?," he asked.
"You don't remember me do you, Z?"
"I'd think I'd remember someone as beautiful as you, baby."
"Well let me remind you: I'm the one you stiffed and now I'm MAKING YOU PAY!," the girl said as she suddenly transformed into…
"RUBBERBAND MAN!"
"What do I pay you two for? Get him!," Mortimer shouted at Zane's bodyguards, who then charged at Adam/Rubberband Man. But just as quick as they dashed at him, Rubberband Man knocked them both away into a wall. As customers fled the store, Mortimer ducked out the emergency exit, setting off the alarm.
"Hey Mortimer, wait!," Zane shouted as he tried to run after him, but Rubberband Man blocked him and grabbed him by the shirt, and lifted him off the ground.
"You ain't going nowhere, you little thieving punk!," the metahuman growled angrily. "You think you can steal from me and get away with it?!"
"I don't know what you're talking about! I never stole anything from you, Mr. Evans!"
"DON'T LIE TO ME! You better admit to what you did or I'll–!"
"Don't do it, Adam!," a voice said. Rubberband Man turned to see, the gang, along with the girls and…
"Static? Gear? What are you doing here?"
"Stopping you from throwing your career and life away," Gear replied.
"Not until I teach this punk a lesson!"
"I'm telling you I didn't steal anything from you!"
"What about our new song? The one we Toonsters wrote?," Jake said. "Loser Like Me?"
"Yeah, you stole that from us!," Bubbles said.
"What are you–no, Mortimer gave me that song!," Zane said.
"Mortimer?," Buttercup said. "As in the rat?"
"Yeah. Now, what is going on?!"
"Zane, last night someone broke into Adam's office, stole Loser Like Me, and deleted it from his computer. And then we saw you perform the song on TV, so we were under the impression that you two stole it," Tony explained.
"What? That–that dirty rat! He lied to me! He told me he had professional song writers write it for me! I had no clue he stole it from you. If I'd had, I never would've accepted it, I swear!"
"How do I know you aren't in this with him?!," Rubberband Man said.
"He's not, he's telling the truth," Lilo said.
"How can you tell," Mac asked.
"A girl just knows."
"Come on Adam, let him go," Tommy said. The metahuman thought for a while and then calmly set Zane back down.
"Well, where's Mortimer now?," Sam said.
"He ran out that door, he's probably on his way to his car right now," Zane said.
"Then I'm going after him!," Rubberband Man said as he bounced out that same door.
"Adam, wait!," Tony called out, but he was already gone.
"Come on, let's go after him!," Daryl said as everyone ran out the store's front entrance.
Meanwhile, Mortimer tore out of the mall parking lot in his car and zoomed down the road.
"I better get out of town before Rubber Boy gets to me. Luckily, I've already made enough off that kid to sustain me for a long while," he said to himself.
Just then, he looked in the rearview mirror and saw Rubberband Man in ball form bouncing after him. He quickly pushed down on the gas and went faster, but the angry meta-human still managed to keep up.
Then out of nowhere, a bright spotlight shone down on both of them. Both looked behind them to see the WOOHP chopper, along with Static, Gear, Danny, Jake, and the PowerPuffs flying after them.
"Mortimer, Adam dude, stop right now!," Bart said via a megaphone.
"Not a chance, copper-wannabes! Ha-cha-cha!," Mortimer cackled as he slammed on the gas even more, causing his car to go as fast as it could go.
"Oh-no you don't!," Rubberband Man growled as he quickly jumped in front of Mortimer and stretched himself out to form a barrier in the middle of the road. Mortimer, seeing this, panicked and slammed on his brakes but too late. His car hit Rubberband Man, and was bounced high into the air. Everyone gasped as the rat screamed in terror. Danny, Jake, and PowerPuffs tried to catch the car but instead, got hit and sent flying along with it.
Static then used his electric powers to grab and pull the car back and set it gently down on the ground, along with the five hero kids. As the WOOHP chopper landed, a dazed Mortimer opened his door and stumbled out. Rubberband Man wasted no time in grabbing and lifting him by his neck.
"And now, I'm gonna finished what I started," he sneered.
"Hold on, Adam," Static said. "He's not worth it."
"Yeah, look we've already called the cops, they're on their way," Tony said.
"And Zane's agreed to return the song, no strings attached no questions asked," Sam added in.
"It's true. I'm returning what my now ex-manager stole, with no worries for you," Zane said.
"Come on, man, think about how far you've come since you first met Static," Gear said. "You're a famous producer, with your own record label and plenty of hot new artists under your wing, including these kids."
"That's right. So ask yourself: is revenge against him really worth losing everything you've worked so hard to achieve?," Static asked. Rubberband Man glanced at the gang, and their friends, and then back towards Mortimer who was sweating profusely. After a few moments, he dropped the frightened Mortimer back to the ground.
"You're right, he's not worth it," he sighed as he finally calmed down.
"Good to have you back, Mr. Evans," Ash said proudly as the gang came to him.
Later, Mortimer was put in the back of a police car and driven to jail, as the group started talking.
"So, anyhow Zane and us have already notified the agency where Mortimer worked about what he did, and he's been totally fired as of now," Clover said to everyone.
"And they're gonna tell every other agency out there about his actions too," Alex added.
"So basically, his managing career is over," Zane said.
"Good riddance," Tony said.
"Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, if I do say so myself," Gear added.
"Listen, everyone, I'm sorry for putting you guys through all of this. Especially you, Zane," Adam apologized.
"It's okay. I should've known Mortimer was up to no good," Zane said.
"Yeah, and besides we'd probably have done the same if we'd been you," Tommy said.
"Well, at least Buttercup and Bloo would've," Jimmy added.
"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!," Buttercup and Bloo snapped.
"Nothing."
"Anyhow, you got the song?," Adam asked Zane.
"Right here," Zane said showing them the flashdrive. "I have to say you've got a real catchy piece here. And you said you Toonsters wrote it all by yourselves?"
"Yep," the seven band members replied altogether.
"Well, in that case, I want to record it with you guys…if you'll let me."
The Toonsters members and Adam all then looked at each other and shortly afterwards, smiled.
Later on, at Toon Jamz Records, the Toonsters and Zane were in the recording booth, as Loser Like Me began to play:
Zane: Yeah, you may think that I'm a zero
But, hey, everyone you wanna be
Probably started off like me
You may say that I'm a freakshow (I don't care)
But, hey, give me just a little time
I bet you're gonna change your mind
Tony: All of the dirt you've been throwing my way
It ain't so hard to take That's right
Bubbles: Cause I know one day you'll be screaming my name
And I'll just look away
Bubbles, Tony, and Zane: 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.
Danny: Push me up against the locker
And hey, all I do is shake it off
I'll get you back when I'm your boss
Jimmy: I'm not thinking 'bout you haters
Cause hey, I could be a superstar
I'll see you when you wash my car
Jake: All of the dirt you've been throwing my way
It ain't so hard to take That's right
Timmy: Cause I know one day you'll be screaming my name
And I'll just look away
Bubbles, Tony, and Zane: 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.
June: Hey, you, over there
Keep the "L" up-up in the air
Hey, you, over there
Keep the "L" up, cause I don't care
You can throw your sticks
And you can throw your stones
Like a rocket, just watch me go
Yeah, l-o-s-e-r
I can only be who I are
Bubbles, Tony, and Zane: 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,
Zane: Yeah
All: 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
You wanna be
A loser like me,
A loser like me,
A loser like me,
Bubbles: A loser like me.
As the song ended, the rest of the gang, along with Adam, Static, Gear, and the girls all applauded loudly from outside the recording booth.
"That was great you guys," Adam said.
"Even better than the first recording," Mac added in.
"Yeah, Zane really gave it a boost out there," Lilo said.
"Thanks, Lilo," Zane said.
"So we have not only a new song, we have a new friend too," Tony said.
"A new friend with as much talent as all of us," Timmy said.
"A new friend who's quite a hunk for a 13-year-old kid," Alex said.
"And a new friend who's nowhere near obnoxious as Bloo-Boy here," Gear said.
"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!," Bloo snapped, causing everyone to laugh as he frowned.
A/N: So the Toonsters not only got their song back, they've gained a new friend too. It's just another big step on the road to stardom. Who knows where it will take them next?
Anyhow, stay tuned for the next ToonSchool episode, coming soon!