The voice / toxic talent
"Why are we here again?" Asked Vince as most kids were all outside thrust street elementary school, standing in front of the raised flag.
"Van Buren's birthday." Groaned TJwith his hands in his pockets.
"Great, that means we have to listen to old golden throat himself." Scoffed Spinelli.
"Brandon." Dede signed as a boy with Ginger slicked-back hair wearing a red dinner-jacket, a white dress shirt, along with a green cravat, blue dress pants, classical men's black shoes, and a green ascot walked up in front of the kids to the microphone that was set up. Brandon proceeded to sing the American national anthem, however he never got too far into the song before a bee flew into his mouth making him swallow it and stop singing.
"He swallowed a bee." Someone said before all the kids cheered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is a catastrophe! A catastrophe, I say!" Said Prickly slammed his fists on his desk before burying his head in his hands.
"What are the odds of a bee stinging Brandon in the vocal chords?" Asked Finster. "He won't be able to sing for months."
"So what are we going to do now? The PTA spring fling is in two weeks. I told superintendent Skinner he'd hear the most magnificent national anthem in the district." Prickly stood up and started pacing.
"Perhaps Randall could fill in."
"Are you kidding? Our Yorkshire terrier sings better than Randall, and we put her by I sleep years ago. No it's got to be some kid who sings like Brandon, but who? Who?" Before Finster could reply they both heard a beautiful male voice singing nobody knows the trouble I've seen'. "Where's that coming from?" Both Prickly and Finster ran out the room and down the halls, putting their heads against each door they passed trying to find the source of the voice. "It's coming from there." Prickly pointed to the boy's bathroom before they ran in and saw Mikey walk out from a stall as he finished the song.
"What did I do?" Mikey gasped at seeing them both there before he was ushered out of the bathroom and into pricklys office.
"Candy son?" Prickly offered Mikey a bowl full of Candy.
"Uh… thank you, sir." Mikey took a handful and ate them.
"Now, son, you have a lovely singing voice, and we were hoping you'd use that voice to do us a little favour."
"Like what?"
"Oh, just sing a little song at the spring fling."
"No, see, I sound really bad."
"Nonsense, you have a wonderful voice, a magnificent voice."
"No, really, I can't sing at all."
"Sure you can, belt it out son."
"But-"
"Sing, darn it, sing." Finster interrupted making Mikey swallow the Candy he was eating, however instead of the beautiful voice they heard before all they heard now was a horribly out of tune voice.
"Alright, alright, enough already." Prickly stopped him before he and Finster turned away from Mikey and started their own conversation. "You think he's faking it?"
"No one can fake a voice that bad."
"But I know he can sing, I heard him myself."
"Perhaps we just have to drag it out of him."
"Yes, but how?"
"Wait a minute! I heard about a music teacher over at Spirio T. Agnew middle school. Word is, she can get any kid to sing and I mean any kid."
"Great, get her."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So Finster makes a call and now they're sending over this wacko music teacher who tortures kids until they sing." Mikey finished explaining to the gang what had happened when prickly and Finster took him to the office. "Oh it's horrible you guys, just horrible."
"But I don't get it, you sing great. I heard you once in the bathroom." Said TJ.
"Oh sure, in the bathroom, anyone can sing in the bathroom. But when I'm out here in front of people, I'm almost as bad as Spinelli."
"Watch it, pal, or you'll be hitting a new octave." Spinelli threatened.
"Now, now, calm down Spinelli." Said Dede as she lowered Spinelli's raised fist.
"But they're not going to make a fool out of me." Said Mikey as he ignored the threat thrown at him. "No matter who this music teacher is, no matter how mean, no matter how nasty. They're not going to get me to sing. Not no way, not no how."
"Excuse me." A new voice called making the group look over to see a beautiful woman standing behind them. "Which one of you kids is Mikey?"
"Uh, I am."
"Nice to meet you, Mikey. Im miss Salamone. I'm going to be your music teacher."
"We'll hold her off if you want to make a run for it." Spinelli whispered to Mikey but he just gently moved her aside shaking his head 'no'.
"Shall we go to the music room?" Miss Salamone asked walking up the stairs to go into the school, with Mikey following behind her.
"Yep, he's a tough nut to crack, all right." Said Vince. With that the remaining six walked away to go and play a big game of catch, though it wasn't long before all the kids were distracted by mikey's beautiful voice singing 'Ave Maria', upside down girl fell from her bar, the ball TJ threw hit Vince on his chest, even king Bob was surprised.
"It's like breathing for the soul." King Bob said in awe. Over the following week mikeys voice could be heard singing all sorts of different songs making all the kids become fans of him, so much so that when Mikey walked out to enjoy recess one day they all swarmed him wanting an autograph.
"Gee, Mikey, you're quite the celebrity." Said Gretchen as the six were standing nearby, Spinelli and Dede were both enjoying a soda each.
"You know, all these years I never thought I was good at anything, but now thanks to Miss Salamone I realise I do have a talent."
Mikey said as the group started walking.
"She must be one great teacher." Said Gus
"She is you guys. She's kind and beautiful and smart and I love her." This cause the others to stop walking and Spinelli and Dede to spit out what they were drinking, before they all looked at each other and ran after Mikey.
"Perhaps we were mistaken Mikey, but….we thought you just said you loved miss Salamone?" Asked Gretchen.
"I do, and she loves me, too." Mikey looked back at them smiling.
"Come on man, you're only nine." Said Vince.
"Yeah and she's old, really old. She's got to be at least twenty four." Said Gus.
"Right, she'll be leaving tomorrow after the spring fling anyway." Said Dede trying to make him see reason.
"Oh, you guys just don't get it. I love Miss Salamone and she loves me and I'll prove it to you." Mikey then ran away to go to find Miss Salamone.
"Wait, Mikey—" Dede tried to stop him but was cut off by her bracelet going off. "Oh no…I gotta go." Dede then ran off to go so her galactic duties.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Congratulations, guys! We pursued the samphire galaxy's insect invaders." Said Dede as she sat on her chair in her ship on the way back home.
"Can you believe that one of those Carrier Beetles tried to eat this?" Sparky said as he picks up a damaged lever before He puts it down on the place where it was.
"Carrier Beetles are known for their pension of consuming all items of mobility…" X-5 said as a shadow of a Carrier Beetle comes up. Betty and Sparky notice it. "They eat anything that moves."
"Oh." Said both Dede and Sparky as they follow the shadow to see the Carrier Beetle on the back of X-5 seat before It jumps onto his head and X-5 screams in fright. Sparky jumps off his seat and goes to attack the beetle. It falls off X-5's head and lands on the floor. Then it runs towards Sparky and picks him up.
"Help!" Sparky called as Dede begins to shoot fly swatters at the beetle and he drops Sparky.
"Open the hatch X-5." said Dede.
"Wait! I've got a better idea!." Said Sparky as he runs to catch the beetle who is still being attacked by fly swatters with a jar.
"Sparky?" Asked Dede as she didn't know what sparky was doing. Sparky puts the jar on the floor, trapping the Carrier Beetle inside and picks it up. He then closes the jar with a cover. The beetle jumps up and down. "Oh. Good work, Sparky! But what are we going to do with this?"
"Might I suggest we open the hatch and suck it into space?" Said X-5.
"No way! I'm gonna keep him as a pet. I think I'll call him Albert. What do you say, Al?" Sparky taps the jar and Albert jumps with joy.
"I don't think he's the right pet for you, Sparky." Said Dede sharing a look with X-5. "But we'll talk about this later, recess is about to end, I need to get back." The next day was the spring fling and the six friends met up before school.
"Where's Mikey!" Asked Gus as he noticed they were short one member.
"Uh…I'll go look for him." Dede said as her bracelet started beeping again, she ran to the nearest bathroom and made sure it was empty for answering the call. "Atomic Candy reporting for duty."
"I have an urgent mission for you: Maximus I.Q. is terrorising the citizens of Planet Coolosia by blasting with non-stop noise." Admiral DeGill said after he put down the book he was reading as He shows the citizens of Coolosia screaming and covering their ears.
"That's terrible!"
"Indeed. The Coolosians are fragile people. Their nerves are shot. They can't eat and can't sleep. Why, they're cracking up in droves. You have to stop Maximus at once!"
"I'm on my way, sir!" Dede's crew picks her up and she changes into her Galactic Guardian form. The ship flies back and forth past asteroids. Sparky is seen with Albert on the ship controls. X-5 is studying some information about the Coolosians.
"Coolosians are the environmental police of the cosmos. Their sensitivity is matched only by their commitment to peace and love." Said X-5.
"No wonder Maximus hates them." Replies Sparky.
"Actually, they're preventing him from building a hyper speed jet wave to their galaxy. Maximus is terrorising them until they give in." Corrects X-5.
"What in the cosmos is that?!" Dede exclaimed as a loud noise rang out. She opens a compartment and presses the earmuffs button. Earmuffs fall and land on Dede and her friends' ears. Dede sees the sound source. "Maximus!" The camera cuts to Maximus's lair where he is turning on sounds. Minimus is seen having a bag of bugs as a snack.
"Greetings, Coolosians. Enjoying music?" His camera switches to the Coolosians covering their ears and screaming. "What's that? You want me to pump it up?" He turns up the volume, making the noise louder than ever. He adds more noise. Minimus stops eating and sees Dede's spaceship approaching.
"Oh! Ooh, Master, look!" Good Minimus said as Maximus turns around and growls. Then he calls them.
"Ah-ha! Atomic Dede, Welcome to my dance party." The call screen shows Minimus still eating his snack.
"except you, warn biter!" Evil minimus said as he eats another bug and burps. Maximus takes his snack away.
"Watch your manners."
"You won't get away with this, Maximus!" Said Dede.
"Yes! Pass the Barbecued Space Slugs!" Said evil minimus making maximus growl at him.
"Oh, uh, actually, it's OK. I'm full." Said good minimus.
"By the time I finish with those star huggers, Coolosia will be a quivering trail of vapour. And my new jet wave will go straight through it! Here's your good-bye tune!" He laughs evilly and releases a sound wave that pushes the spaceship backwards. Dede and her crew go flying around it. Dede sits in Sparky's seat and the ship zooms away from the sound wave.
"I say we go after him! Storm the boom box!" Sparky stood up but it seems that he is on X-5's head.
"That would be futile." Said X-5.
"'That would be futile.' Have you got a better plan?!"
"Actually, yes. From the data I'm downloading, Maximus is tapping an equal source of sound somewhere else in the universe."
"So all we have to do is find the original source and somehow alter its frequency." Dede said as she was still in Sparkys seat.
"Yeah! Um, but how?" Sparky said as Dede turned the ship around.
"Attach this to the outside of Maximus' speaker." Said X-5 as he held up a big red button. "It will process any coming soundwaves and trace their origin."
"If anything happens, promise me you'll find Albert a good home?" Sparky gulped nervously.
"Sparky, you're gonna be fine. Where's your sense of adventure?" Dede said as the ship's door opened and Sparky floated out with a jetpack. He is holding the red button.
"Oh, boy!" Said Sparky as a meteor flies by and he dodges it. A meteor shower starts. Sparky screams in terror and flies past the meteors.
"Sparky, are you OK?"
"N-no problem." Sparky flies closer to Maximus' speaker. Minimus was too busy dancing to heavy metal music to notice until He turns around and saw Sparky at the window. Sparky attaches the big red button on Maximus's speaker. It sees him and it uses a tennis racket to send him flying. Sparky screams in terror as Dede gasps.
"Don't worry. I'll catch him." Said X-5 as He flies the ship towards Sparky and uses a game controller that controls a tennis racket. It hits Sparky and he goes flying toward Maximus. They take turns hitting Sparky like a tennis video game. Soon, Sparky flies past Maximus. He tries to hit him, but misses.
"Oh, nice shot!" Said good minimus as an enraged Maximus throws his game controller.
"I don't have time to play these ridiculous games! I'm trying to take over the universe!" Said Maximus.
"Yes, Your Gameship." Maximus switches the sound wave's direction.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Sparky said as the sound wave hits him and he is pulled away.
"Game set and match! Mwahahaha!" Said Maximus.
"Quick, X-5! Thrusters on high!" Said Dede, seeing sparky on the screen, X-5 speeds up the spaceship. The tennis racket changes into a claw hand. It tries to grab Sparky, but misses. Dede sees the sound wave attacking a crack on the planet. "What's happening to Coolosia?!"
"Maximus' noise bar has triggered a space quake!" Explained X-5 as he is still struggling to catch Sparky. He falls into the core of the planet. Luckily, X-5 catches him just in time. "Did you position the device?" Sparky gives him a thumbs-up and smiles as the ship flies away. "I found the source. The single cord company has looped sound endlessly through Maximus' frequency." The camera zooms from space all the way to Earth.
"Earth? Randall?" Dede asked as the screen shows Randall singing in front of Prickly and Finster. "They must be trying to find someone to replace Mikey, which means he doesn't want to sing. Get me back to earth, I know what to do."
"Hurry, Captain! Coolosia's interior molecules are starting to divide!" X-5 said as Dede arrived back on earth.
"The planet's gonna split in two!" Sparky said before the connection cut. Dede ran around the school and found Mikey standing outside the boy's bathroom.
"Mikey, there you are!" Dede ran up to him.
"Dede? What are you doing here? Why aren't you in the auditorium like everyone else?" Asked Mikey.
"I wanted to see how you were doing? You've seen pretty bummed out since our talk yesterday about Miss Salamone."
"Actually, I think I'm gonna be alright."
"Huh?"
"She came and spoke to me not long ago and said that she wishes for me to sing for me, so that's what I'm gonna do."
"That's great Mikey, you'll blow them all away."
"I'm just nervous though, I mean I've never sang in front of this many people before."
"Here." Dede took off her bracelet and put it on Mikey's wrist.
"Your bracelet? But you never take this off." Mikey looked down at it in shock.
"I figured you could use some encouragement for when you're up on stage, knowing that even though we're not next to you, all your friends are there with you through this."
"Thanks Dede, I'll take good care of it."
"I know you will, now get out there and knock them dead." With that Dede ran to the auditorium and quickly found her friends and sat down with them, waiting for the show to start.
"Look, it's Mikey." Spinelli said as Mikey walked up to miss Salamone who was on the piano and handed her some sheets of music.
"I told you he'd make it." Said Vince as Mikey walked up to the microphone.
"I'm supposed to sing the national anthem but something important happened and, well…I think the nation will forgive me." Said Mikey after clearing his throat. "Instead, I'd like to sing a song I've always known but never really understood, until now." With this miss Salamone started playing and Mikey started singing 'nobody knows the trouble I've seen'. As Mikey was singing his voice reaches out to Maximus's speaker. He and Minimus are laughing at the Coolosians covering their ears from the loud noise. Suddenly, Mikey's song stops the noise. Maximus tries to turn up the sound, but nothing works. The Coolosians uncover their ears and begin dancing to the song. Maximus and Minimus watch in shock and disbelief.
"What's this?!" Maximus angrily asked.
"This must be atomic candy's doing, it's not too bad." Said good minimus as Maximus growls at him. He throws a fit by throwing stuff like chairs at Minimus.
"Whoever this is, they're terrible." Said evil minimus.
"Incoming present for Maximus. Open the hatch." Said Maximus' computer as a present comes in and lands in Maximus's arms. He opens it and it reveals that Albert is in it. Maximus screams as Albert attacks him.
When Mikey finished the song the whole auditorium stood up and started cheering loudly for Mikey for his wonderful performance. "Well done Mikey." Dede whispers as she clapped knowing more than one battle was won today and that the Coolosians were gonna be fine.