Chapter 25: Walk This Way
Hey everyone I'm back with a new chapter and I'm excited to say this story has over 200 followers and favorites! Thank you all for your support! This one took a bit to figure out but I think I nailed it. I hope you like what I have planned. Please Review and Enjoy.
It was a stormy day in Meridian as we saw Caleb and his rebellion allies watching Phobos' men digging into the ground.
"So Phobos' newest project is an overgrown gardening tool?" Caleb mocks.
"He's looking for tunnels going under the Meridian plains and into the castle." His ally Drake explains.
"We don't have tunnels, Drake. I wish we did." Caleb said.
"But if he digs deep enough." Drake hints.
"I know, he could find the Infinite City." Caleb realizes.
"The men are ready. What's our signal?" Drake asks when they hear a loud crashing noise.
Looking to the plains they see Blunk had blown their cover.
"Not what Caleb think. Blunk just doing laundry." Blunk said.
"I think that's our signal," Caleb said as Phobos' goons readied their weapons.
"Charge!" Drake orders as their allies emerge from the tall grass and join the attack.
As the two groups clashed, Caleb climbed to the top of the crane Phobos was using to dig.
When he reached the top two monsters were there to fight him.
Little did anyone know, Cedric was watching this from the top of the tower with an evil smirk on his face.
Snapping his fingers, someone brought him a case. Opening it we see what appears to be a golden trumpet inside.
Just as Cedric put it to his mouth the goons knocked Caleb into the water below.
Blowing into the trumpet, Cedric released a bellowing sound. Since Caleb was underwater he didn't hear it, but to everyone who did they were put into a trance and stopped in their tracks.
Resurfacing, Caleb gasped to see his allies standing around like zombies.
Nearby, Blunk who was hiding near the castle noticed Cedric put the horn back in the case.
"Ooh pretty horn. Perfect for Blunk." Blunk said wanting it.
Back in the human realm, we see Neo in the principal's office.
"You want me to what?" Neo said in disbelief.
"I want you to join an afterschool activity." Principal Knickerbocker repeats.
"Why do I need to do this? This was never required of me before." Neo asks.
"Before you didn't have weeks of unexcused absences." She points out showing the time he was absent.
"I told you, I had an unexpected family emergency," Neo said.
"Be that as it may, Mr. Thorson in order to receive enough credits you are going to have to join a group in order to keep your enrollment at this school," Knickerbocker said making Neo cringe.
Reaching into her desk she pulls out a form. "Now most of our after-school groups are full but there are a few activities you might be able to join." She said handing it to him.
"Tutoring? Debate Club? Marching Band? The School Paper?" Neo read aloud hating each one more than the last. "Uh are there any sports or physical activities?"
"Sorry, but all the sports teams are full." Principal Knickerbocker said.
"So you mean there's nothing left for me to try out for?" Neo cringed.
"Well, there is technically one group left. It's made of students so it technically counts." She points out.
"Where is it?" Neo asks.
Later that day, he arrives at someone's house to see music playing from the garage.
Slowly walking up to it, Neo was about to knock when suddenly the door opened startling him.
As the door opens revealing 4 boys including one boy with long blue hair, a purple hoody, and an electric guitar. This was Matt Olson.
"Uh hey sorry, I didn't know I was interrupting you." Neo apologizes.
"Huh? Oh no. Someone had a few too many bean burritos for lunch today." Matt said glancing at one guy. "So you the new guy the principal said would be joining our band?"
"Uh yeah. My name's Neo." He said.
"Well Neo, name's Matt and this is the band. So Neo can you play any instruments?" Matt asks.
Pausing Neo remembered back in Asgard, his grandmother made him learn to play the lyre.
"Sorta. What do you have to play?" Neo asks.
"Well we need another guy on bass," Matt said.
In the back, one of the bandmates, Nigel hands Neo a bass.
'Okay it's kinda like a lyre.' Neo thought.
"Show us what you got," Matt said.
"Yeah, man. Anything will do." Another said.
Pausing Neo shrugs seeing he has nothing to lose.
Grabbing the bass, Neo gave it a strum and a soft tune. It wasn't light like when he did a lyre but had a deeper tone to it.
Playing a little bit, Neo was struggling a bit to keep the tune but managed to make it all the way to the end.
"Well?" Neo asks as the band looks at him and looks at each other.
"Huddle," Matt said they huddled together to whisper their opinions.
Normally Neo wouldn't be nervous over this kind of thing but since his enrollment depended on them he was praying to the allfathers for the best.
After a few minutes, they separated.
"You're in." Matt smiles surprising him.
"Wait seriously?" Neo said.
"Seriously. You're a little rough around the edges but you got potential. We got a gig playing the school dance. You think you can learn to match the beat with us?" Matt asks.
"Uh sure." Neo nods.
"Great. Come on let's get to practice." Matt said as they began.
"Just follow us and try to keep the beat." Nigel suggests.
At first it was tricky trying to figure out what they were doing but slowly Neo was starting to get the bang on it.
After practice, Neo made his way back to the restaurant to meet up with everyone.
As he made his way to the door he noticed Will walking from the opposite street.
"Hey Will," Neo calls out.
"Whoa, what's with the guitar?" Will asks noticing the case in his hands.
"It's a bass actually and thanks to my long absence I've had to join a band to get extra credit," Neo said holding it up. "We're actually playing the school dance coming up."
"Oh wow, that is so cool," Will said.
"Thanks although I don't really know what dances are like here. Have you been to any?" Neo asks.
"Oh yeah." Will said trying to play it cool. "I've had my share."
"Well then would you like to go with me?" Neo asks making Will smile widely.
Before she could say yes, Yan Lin opened the door.
"Neo come inside, we need your help moving some furniture." She said getting his attention.
"Be right there," Neo said.
Making her way inside, Will went right to a table where Irma, Hay Lin, Cornelia, Pepper, and Taranee were to tell them the news.
"Okay say his exact words." Taranee insists.
"Would you like to go with me?" Will repeats making Pepper squeal.
"Date, definitely a date." Hay Lin said.
"Man this stinks Will has a date to the dance and I don't," Cornelia said in a huff when the door opened revealing a soaking wet Caleb.
"Thank god you're all here. Big news." Caleb said.
Walking up to Caleb, Cornelia begins wiping his face.
"We know, dance Friday night and you say." Cornelia hints.
"Uh Cedric is using rebels to help build his giant drill," Caleb answers unsure what she meant.
While all the other girls gasped Cornelia was still focused on the dance.
"No you're taking me. Be there at 7 and don't wear those rebel clothes." Cornelia said.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up. Why are rebels building a drill for Cedric?" Hay Lin asks.
"That doesn't make sense. I thought you guys were trying to destroy that thing." Rayla said.
"We were, I don't know how it happened they all just suddenly stopped fighting. Even the enemy. They just stood there and did nothing until they were given a command." Caleb explains.
"Hey guys! Get in here!" Irma calls out.
"What is going on?" As the door opens we see Neo, Astrid, Rayla, and Yan Lin walk in.
"Question do you Asgardians know how to do mind control?" Irma asks.
"I mean we have enchantments and even illusions but no not that one," Rayla said.
"Mind Control is dark magic, something that is not easily obtained," Neo said.
"I've heard of this, they're called Trance Marchers." Yan Lin declares.
"I've never heard of that," Astrid said.
"How do I snap them out of it?" Caleb asks.
"I'm afraid those are questions only the Ancient One can answer." Yan Lin said.
"Who?" Rayla asks.
"She was the one who told us about the enemy among us, you know the one we misinterpreted?" Hay Lin gulps with a nervous grin.
"Oh that," Neo said recalling that mess.
"Neo, you guys go with Caleb and try to figure this out we'll deal with that drill," Will said taking out her amulet.
"Sounds like you guys might need some demolition," Pepper said in agreement.
Out back, we see Blunk rummaging around in the garbage before reaching into his bag revealing that he took the horn Cedric used to put the rebels under his spell.
"Ooh. Shiny." Blunk said looking at his reflection in it. "Pretty. Why do you not date?"
"Where do we begin?" Turning around Blunk saw Caleb and Neo, Astrid, and Rayla all armored up with their weapons at the ready.
"Come on Blunk we have a mission," Neo said.
"Blunk rather boogie down." Turning away from them Blunk blew the horn.
Seconds later, Astrid smacked it out of his hands and back into the trash.
"Concert's over. Let's go." Astrid said grabbing Blunk and carrying him out leaving the horn behind. Little did they know a police officer was left in a trance.
In Meridian, the Guardians and Rescue flew in to see the rebels hard at work on the drill.
"There it is," Will said.
"Oh no those Zombie Rebels are in the demolition zone." Hay Lin said.
"Then we send them a subtle warning," Cornelia said flying down.
Using her magic, she created an earthquake causing the drill to shake violently and toss the rebels off it.
"Everybody into the pool!" Irma said making the water catch the rebels before they crashed.
"Guardians." From the castle, Cedric growls seeing their return. "Trance Marchers! Resist them!"
Flying in, the girls grabbed the rebels but the rebels fought back and one even forced Taranee down into the mud.
Struggling to push back, Taranee saw she and the rebel were right under the giant drill spike.
"Release the Spike!" Cedric yells.
Just before it could come down Hay Lin blasts the spike breaking it off from the drill and the resulting splash knocked the rebel off Taranee.
Flying in, Hay Lin grabs them both allowing Rescue to fire a missile at the drill destroying it.
"Let's see you keep drilling now." Rescue said.
As Hay Lin held the rebel woman, the guardians and Rescue flew in.
Flying up, Will noticed a big blank expression on her face.
"Hello? Anyone home? Trance dude?" Will asks but the woman immediately tries to bite her forcing Will to fly back.
"Oh wow, this is bad." Rescue said not like this.
"Whatever this is, our powers aren't going to undo it. With the drill destroyed, they can't do much for a while. Let's head back." Will suggests.
Dropping the woman off below the guardians and Rescue flew off.
At the castle, Phobos was glaring down at Cedric with Loki nearby with an amused look on his face.
"Do not tell me you failed," Phobos said.
"A temporary setback my prince. Nothing that can't be fixed with a few thousand trance marchers." Cedric assures.
Reaching for the case where the Horn of Hypnos was kept, Cedric opens it only to see it was gone.
"The horn! It's gone!" Cedric roars turning back into a monster much to Loki's amusement. "You think this is funny?"
"Why yes I do, because now you have no drill and no way to fix it. So I guess to reiterate until you find the horn you have failed." Loki said.
Roaring Cedric swings his tail down on Loki only to hit an illusion and destroy the ground where it was standing.
"You really thought I would be down on your level?" Turning around Cedric saw Loki standing next to Phobos.
"What do you plan to do now Cedric?" Phobos asks not amused.
"The thief will rue his miscalculation!" Cedric hisses.
Having enough of this, Loki left the throne room and made his down the hall when he heard a tune followed by loud clapping.
Making his way inside, he saw Elyon struggle to play a harp but Hulk was enjoying the mess.
"What are you doing?" Loki asks.
"Oh hey, uh nothing. I just saw this and I thought it would be cool to play and Hulk is, well he's my audience but he seems to just enjoy that I can't do it right." Elyon said hearing a soft chuckle
"How can you get him to react like that?" Loki asks confused.
"Laugh? Everyone has a sense of humor if you look hard enough." Elyon said.
"I suppose." Loki said. 'It appears when the beast is around Elyon, the spell changes to the point it believes it's her friend.'
As Elyon tried playing again and messing up Loki noticed Elyon's stance. "You're not gonna get the right notes if you play like that."
"You play?" Elyon asks.
"I used to my...my mother would make me play when I was younger." Loki admits.
"Oh mind showing me what I'm doing wrong?" Elyon asks.
"Well I don't have anything better to do. Let's see it." Loki said giving Elyon some notes.
Meanwhile, in the Infinite City, the Asgardians were in awe as they were face to face with the Ancient One.
As Caleb and Blunk explained the situation to her, she pondered.
"What you have described is the effect of the Horn of Hypnos." The Ancient One said.
"She say Horn?" Blunk asks nervously.
"When pointed at its victim the horn's tone creates a trance marcher." The Ancient One said.
"But since Caleb wasn't in the direction it was pointed he was unaffected," Neo said.
"Meaning if it was blown right next to you unless it's pointed right at you it does nothing?" Rayla asks as the Ancient One nods.
"Uh Caleb, Neo." Blunk starts but Caleb shushes him.
"The Trance Marcher obeys whoever blows the horn. They can become a fierce army." The Ancient One said.
"Can I reverse it?" Caleb asks.
Holding out her hand, the Ancient One created a lyre that strummed a melody.
"This melody breaks the spell but you must find the horn and destroy it." The Ancient One warns.
"Uh about horn, funny story," Blunk said nervously.
"You think you can copy that melody?" Astrid asks looking at Neo.
"Good thing you just joined a band huh?" Rayla smirks playfully nudging him.
"Still we need to find this horn and destroy it. What does it look like?" Neo asks.
Using her magic, the Ancient One made a copy of the horn emerge.
"Wait a second," Caleb said as everyone turned to Blunk.
"Astrid threw horn in trash!" Blunk blames.
"You had the horn this whole time?!" Astrid snaps.
"We need to get back to the dumpster right now!" Rayla said.
As they were about to leave, Neo looked at the Ancient One and nodded.
"Thank you for your help," Neo said before they sprinted out.
Back in the human world, we see Hay Lin walk out to the dumpster.
"I need an excuse for where I was this afternoon or I'll be grounded. Uh, study group? No, I used that 3 times already." Hay Lin said throwing out the trash and the bag banged against the horn. "Huh? This looks new. Ooh, I got it! I was at my whatever this is lesson! Because I'm joining the school band!" Putting the horn to her lips, Hay Lin blew the horn and unfortunately, her dad was nearby getting hit by the tune.
Heading back in, Hay Lin was completely unaware of the situation.
"Uh Dad I'm sorry I was late today but I really want to go to the dance Friday and I really need to meet my friends tonight." Hay Lin starts.
"As you wish." Her father said in a trance-like state.
"Really? Get out of here." Hay Lin said amazed.
"As you wish." He said making his way to the exit confusing Hay Lin.
Following after, she saw Principal Knickerbocker enter.
"Evening Chen. Table for 1 please." She said.
"Dad wake up." Hay Lin whispers before turning to the principal. "Why don't you grab that table by the window?"
"As you wish." Thinking she was talking to him, Chen grabbed the table himself and moved it.
"Uh…" Confused Knickerbocker looks to Hay Lin for an answer.
"He's been under a lot of cooking stress. I'm out." Hay Lin said before giving the horn to the principal. "Oh, and I'd like to donate this to the school band. Bye, Dad don't wait up for me!"
Once she left, her father collapsed to the ground much to the principal's surprise.
Back in Meridian, Neo was trying to write down the melody that they heard.
"Try it one more time. I think I almost got it." Neo said scribbling music notes on a piece of paper.
As Caleb started humming a melody, Astrid and Rayla joined in.
"Better groove when mage play," Blunk said.
"You sure you can play the notes Neo?" Caleb asks.
"Grandma had me learn since I was as tall as Blunk. It's a long shot but it's all we got. Now what was that ending part?" Neo asks.
"Uh…la, la, la, li, li—" Caleb starts before noticing a scout. "Lurdin!"
Seeing the Trance Marchers join Cedric the small group made a run for the portal.
"The smuggler. And the one who attacked Phobos! They must have stolen the horn! Follow them!" Cedric orders
Running through the portal, they narrowly escaped them.
"Marchers, wait!" Cedric orders making them all come to a stop. "You come with me." He said looking at Drake.
Exiting the portal, Cedric saw it was in an old abandoned warehouse near the dump.
Looking through a broken window, Cedric saw Caleb and the Asgardians running.
"This will do nicely." Cedric grins. "Bring the others."
At the school, we see the horn had found a new owner, Martin.
Blowing the horn, Martin put the whole band under the spell of the horn.
"Oh man, this thing is great. I just wish we could practice marching too." Martin smiles.
"As you wish." The whole band said as they began marching.
"Hey wait up!" Martin said struggling to catch up.
At the Restaurant, they went right to the dumpster only to see the horn, and all the other garbage was gone.
"No! Son of half troll!" Astrid said kicking wooden crates in anger.
"Oh no today was Garbage Day." Rayla groans.
"NO! Tasty garbage stolen!" Blunk whines.
"Not to mention we left the portal open," Neo said.
"Cedric may be able to disguise himself but his goons can't come out until dark. We have time but it'll be dark in 5 hours." Caleb said as the door opened.
"Neo what are you doing here? You're supposed to be at school." Yan Lin said.
"Oh no the dance! I forgot the band is playing tonight." Neo groans.
"Wait, no that's good. Get the girls and they can help." Astrid said.
"Alright but try to find that horn," Neo said running inside.
"Mrs. Lin, where's the city dump?" Caleb asks as Rayla puts her hood over her head to hide her horns.
At the school, the WITCH girls were watching as Pepper was by the gate talking on the phone.
"So yeah big situation. Be at the school tonight. Bye." Pepper said before hanging up.
"What was that about?" Cornelia asks.
"Oh I might have told Tony to meet me at the dance tonight for an emergency." Pepper giggles.
"So wait Tony's coming to the dance but he doesn't know he's going to one?" Will asks.
"Tony may be a genius but in some areas, he's very dumb." Pepper rolls her eyes.
"So Cornelia has Caleb, Pepper has Tony, and Neo kinda sorta asked Will." Irma lists.
"I guess that leaves you, me, and Taranee without a date." Hay Lin said.
"Actually I might possibly have one too," Taranee admits.
"You did? Who?" Will asks.
"Nigel," Taranee said gesturing to a boy who was in Matt's band.
"Girls! Girls!" Turning around they saw Neo running to them.
"Whoa, Neo where's the fire?" Hay Lin jokes as he catches his breath.
"Trouble…I need you." Neo pants.
"Whoa Neo calm down. Deep breaths." Irma said as Neo slowly fixed himself.
"Now what's the problem?" Will asks.
Neo was about to answer when the Marching band walked past them playing their instruments.
"Uh is something going on?" Neo asks.
"Whoa, the marching band is group ditching school." Irma jokes.
"Wait a minute…I've seen that look before." Will said before gasping. "They're Trance Marchers!"
"What?!" Pepper asks.
"Okay you guys beat me to it! Caleb, Astrid, and Rayla are at the dump and they need our help now!" Neo said.
"Dude you should have led with that!" Irma said.
"Come on!" Neo said leading them away.
As the sun was setting we found ourselves at the dump as Caleb, Astrid, Rayla, and Blunk were looking for the horn in all the garbage.
"Ugh we never had this issue in Asgard," Rayla said.
"Seriously, this is disgusting," Astrid said.
"We can bash this realm later, find that horn." Caleb snaps when Blunk resurfaces from under a hill of trash.
"Caleb! Restaurant trash here!" Blunk asks.
"Are you sure?" Astrid asks as Blunk eats some trash nodding his head.
Suddenly a large shadow descended on them.
"The Horn of Hypnos. If you please." Cedric grins looking down at them.
"We're not scared of you Cedric," Rayla said drawing her knives.
"You can't beat us by yourself," Astrid said readying her axe.
"Who says I'm by myself?" Cedric grins as the Trance Marchers emerge from various areas of the dump much to their horror. "Trance Marchers! Attack!"
"Astrid, Rayla don't hurt them! They're my friends." Caleb said.
"Not right now they are." Astrid said as they all grouped together.
"There has to be a way around them." Rayla said.
"Give me the horn or be destroyed by your brethren!" Cedric orders when he was zapped by a bolt of lighting making him scream in pain.
Turning around they saw Neo; Rescue and the girls arrive.
"Guardians Unite!" Will said as she and the girls transformed into their guardian forms.
Flying in first, Cornelia created several vines to tie up Cedric making him struggle to break free while Taranee used her fire to keep the Trance Marchers away from their friends.
"Trance Marchers keep going!" Cedric orders as the Trance Marchers approached the flames.
"Call it off! They'll keep walking!" Caleb panics as Taranee cancels the spell.
"New plan! Come on!" Will said as they flew in and grabbed the Asgardians.
"Wait Will no! We need to go back!" Neo said but it was too late.
Grabbing them, they all took off.
"They were here for a reason." Cedric realized. "Continue searching. I'll deal with them."
Landing by the river, the Guardians were confused by their friends' attitudes towards being rescued.
"Uh you're welcome," Cornelia said waiting for a thank you.
"Thanks for nothing." Rayla glares.
"We have to back there," Astrid said.
"Neo said you guys needed to go to the dump but why?" Hay Lin asks.
"We were looking for the Horn of Hypnos but it wasn't there. We know how to break the trance." Caleb said making Hay Lin nervous.
"A horn? Is it about this big? And kinda gold and shiny-like?" Hay Lin asks.
"Hay Lin, did you take the horn?" Astrid accuses.
"From the trash, to the restaurant, to the…oh no the school band." Hay Lin realized.
"You gave it to the school band?!" Neo panics.
"I needed an alibi!" Hay Lin said.
"We need to destroy it! You girls get to the school, Neo and I will deal with Cedric." Caleb said before they all split up.
Throughout the city, the school marching band was making its way through town with Martin blowing the Horn of Hypnos at full blast.
Landing on an empty street, they looked to see the streets were abandoned.
"The whole town has gone Trance Marcher," Rayla said in disbelief.
"Hay Lin, the sound is carried by air. Can you find the marching band?" Will asks.
Putting a hand to her ear, Hay Lin listens for the sound and picks up a familiar horn.
"I hear the horn and about 6 really out-of-tune clarinets." Hay Lin making.
"Radio Hay Lin to the rescue." Will smiles.
As they took off into the air they didn't notice Cedric watching nearby.
"The guardians will lead me straight to the horn." Slithering into an alley, Cedric follows after them before changing into his human form as the band marches in the street across from him.
Walking up from behind Martin, Cedric calls out to him. "Hand me the horn!"
"Huh?" Stopping Martin turns his head. "Sorry sir this is school property. Unless you got a signed permit the answer is no."
As they approached the school, Hay Lin dropped in and gasped at the sight of him.
"Lizard boy?" Hay Lin gasps as Astrid joins in.
"Drop the horn!" She threatens.
Using this chance, Cedric grabbed the horn from Martin and blew it in their faces putting Hay Lin, Astrid, and Martin in a trance.
Meanwhile, at the auditorium, Matt, Nigel, and the other bandmates were waiting around.
"Hey anyone seen Neo?" Nigel asks.
"Dude's probably just got a little cold feet. Happens to everyone before their first gig." Matt said looking at his watch. "It's almost 7, where is everybody?"
Suddenly the door opens revealing Tony.
"Alright let's do this." Tony said before noticing the room was empty. "What the heck? Oh man Pepper wasn't kidding. This is an emergency."
Sadly none of them knew about the situation going on in front of the school.
Flying in the girls and Rescue gasp seeing their friends.
"Oh no Hay Lin!" Rescue gasps.
"They got Astrid too," Rayla said before noticing 3 figures in the back. "No…"
Looking down they gasped in horror to see Neo, Caleb, and Blunk with blank expressions on their faces.
"Caleb! Blunk!" Cornelia gasps.
"Neo!" Will, Irma, and Rayla gasp.
Little did they know the three of them weren't actually in a trance.
"Zombie. Zombie. Heh Blunk good actor." Blunk mutters.
"Neo, I can't believe your plan is working," Caleb mutters.
"As long as they think we're like everyone else they won't even look at us. I need to get to the auditorium." Neo mutters.
"Trance Marchers! Destroy the Guardians!" Cedric orders much to their horrors.
"Destroy the guardians." They all chanted.
"What do we do? We can't fight them." Cornelia gasps as Hay Lin and Astrid led the attack.
"Destroy the guardians." Both said.
Swinging her axe, Astrid goes on the attack forcing Rayla and Rescue back.
"Astrid stop!" Rayla said using her blades to block the attack but Astrid kicked her in the gut making her skid back.
"Oh I really don't want to do this." Rescue aims her hand at Astrid but she dodges the blast and pins Rescue to the ground.
Raising her axe she was about to bring it down when Rayla grabbed her from behind.
"Oh no you don't!" Rayla said as Rescue was able to grab the blade putting the three were in a lock unable to give anyone an inch.
Firing a blast of air, Hay Lin pins the others to the wall making them unable to fight back.
Using this chance, Caleb, Neo, and Blunk snuck around back.
Running into the auditorium, Neo saw Tony sitting with the band.
"Neo you made it!" Matt said as he ran to the stage
"Guys I need my bass," Neo said taking it.
"Tony we need your help too," Caleb said grabbing him.
Back outside, we see Principal Knickerbocker climbing up the wall to get them.
"Sorry guys, hang on!" Using her amulet, Will turns all the girls back to normal stopping Hay Lin's attack but causing them all to fall on top of Astrid, Rayla and Rescue.
Laughing manically, Cedric thought this victory was his when suddenly a loud strum echoed from the top of the school.
Holding his bass, Neo rocked the melody with Tony, Caleb and Blunk supercharging a speaker so the melody played through the whole school and the city.
"No!" Cedric gasped as the horn faded away into nothing releasing the spell on everyone.
Seeing he had no choice, Cedric fled back to Merdian.
"How did I get up here?" Knickerbocker asks being helped down.
"Oh everyone was so excited for the school band. You must have gotten caught up in the hypnotic rhythm." Will said.
"Oh, I guess that means I'm having fun." She assumes. "Well then everyone back to the dance."
Soon everyone was at the dance and they were having a blast.
As Tony was at the punch bowl with Pepper, he handed her a glass.
"Good thing you called me when you did. I can't believe I thought no people at the dance was your emergency. Mind control by a horn, that's the real emergency." Tony assumes.
"Yeah, Tony you totally got it right." Pepper rolls her eyes.
Up on stage, Neo was rocking out with Matt and the band. Needless to say, after having to play to break Cedric's spell got rid of any doubts he had.
Nearby Cornelia was dancing with Caleb but he was doing some weird goofy movements.
"Don't you dance in Meridian?" Cornelia mocks.
"What do you call this?" Caleb asks doing sporadic movements making Cornelia walk away.
Chuckling, Astrid and Irma are amused by this until Martin walks over.
"Hello, Irma. Ooh, who's your friend?" Martin asks checking out Astrid.
"It's Astrid." She glares.
"Well Astrid, I'm Martin what do you say you and I—" Martin puts his hand on her shoulder.
"Take it off or I break it off." Astrid threatens.
"Sorry." Martin said running off.
"I owe you big time for this." Irma said as they fist-bumped.
"Man I can't believe Neo's performing up there." Rayla said watching him play. Little did she know a few other girls were checking him out.
After closing the portal to Meridian, Will made her way inside and as she spotted Neo on stage he smiled as she waved at him.
"So Neo what do you think of joining us for our next gig?" Matt asks.
"Seriously?" Neo asks.
"Oh yeah, you're one of us now." Matt smiles declaring Neo the newest member of their band. And honestly, he didn't mind the sound of that.