Brit Pov:
"Having been given a second chance at being a Senior gives me a perspective on how I didn't enjoy the time when I was spending time at Seabrook High School. During the moment, I was focused on being Sentinel's top girl when it came to infiltration of enemy bases and learning how to weaponize a Yo-Yo. In addition to preparing for one day when zombies would attempt to overthrow the town and harm the humans, which hasn't happened since Zed and the people I've come to respect, and love changed the perspective to make Seabrook a welcoming community. The only small thing that I dislike from this sudden return back to school. The damn school projects! Including this theater play of how Seabrook was first founded a long time ago, worst of all Bucky has been showing posters about him being the star of the show. Can't believe I'm saying it, I prefer working back in the office than in front of hundreds of people."
Morning-Seabrook High School
It was an early morning at the school with several of the students being called into the gymnasium where they were waiting for Principal Lee to walk in and explain how the performance would be handled. Amongst the group were Brit, Zed, Addison, Revenant, Wynter, Bonzoa, and Bree who appeared tired and unsure of how long they'd have to wait until the principal walked in to make the announcement.
"You all should have touched up before coming here. From what I've been told, each role is critical to the theater performance and will be shown to everyone. Especially, my role. As the mighty background shrimp."
Bucky announced as he'd been praising himself about the role for hours when they came together in the gym and attempted to not tell the excited actor to shut it. Deciding to focus on something more relevant than doing a school play, Brit had been invested in the sightings of Lobster Johnson who has made Seabrook his new home after Zed's sister accidentally released him and a war ape out in the real world. Sentinel did its best to keep it hidden from the public due to the variety of new visitors coming down with mysterious backstories, the last thing they'd want to hear is they have a war hero and or entity lurking in the night and keeping the peace of Seabrook in check.
"Brit? What role do you think you'll get it?"
A voice interrupted her focus as it came from Addison who noticed how distracted the brunette was from Bucky's ranting about the center of attention. The Sentinel girl wasn't the type to be on stage where everyone would see her perform or hear her voice, whether it was saying things or singing.
"Is it possible to not be a part of the play? I have a thing about performing in public that often ends up in disaster, for references look at the blogs that Cassie made after interviewing half of Seabrook about the events we've had over the years."
Revenant spoke out about not participating in the performance of the founding of Seabrook since whenever he was on stage, it would attract unwanted attention that would lead to property damage and him needing to get his hands dirty. Wynter growled at him for not wanting to be a part of the performance since she wanted to be one of the settlers on Seabrook since Willa and the pack had requested Principal Lee to bring up the werewolf part within the performance.
"Whatever part my role is it'll be with my zombie, Bonzo. I'm sure he'll be amazing when we hit the stage."
Bree spoke out while holding her boyfriend's hand as if they could be one of the travelers that arrived upon Seabrook. Each of the students talked amongst themselves about what part they'd have in the show as they heard the doors opening up showing Principal Lee with a sad look on her face which caught the group's attention. Zed gestures for Bucky to stop praising himself as they were concerned with why their principal appeared upset with herself.
"Hello, everyone. It pains me to say it after being in numerous meetings with the faculty and Willa who made it clear that the werewolf pack would be a part of the story, we may have to halt production due to budget cuts."
She informed the gang as they were confused about the money that would go into making the stage and costumes, it had to go to the fixing of the school's classes and interior after the monster incident that had happened a week ago. Each of the students started to talk amongst themselves about needing to keep the show going so everyone could learn about how Seabrook was discovered. Zed was the only one who was thinking about how this could be resolved as he noticed Brit not paying attention and realized that she could handle managing the play by herself since the school couldn't help with the production.
"I think Brittney should be the one to help with keeping the show alive. I know that Sentinel has engineers and people who can help make everything that the high school was going to help make."
The football captain suggested as Brit's eyes widened for the zombie being put in the spotlight and looking over at her to see if she'd take the responsibility. Unsure of how to respond with her friends waiting for a response, Brit could only nod her head in silence as it made everyone relieved that her saving the play and managing everyone's roles. With that being said, Principal Lee took her leave and allowed Brittney to be the one handling the play being made to happen in the upcoming days.
"Addison? Please hold me back because I'm going knock your boyfriend's teeth out for suggesting I help make a play, I barely know how the theater life works, and Sentinel isn't a 'theatre for hire' group."
She told Addison as Brit walked over and prepared herself to attack Zed to make her the center of attention Revenant went over to help the cheerleader out since Brit could get aggressive when someone put her in a position she didn't like. With the amount of strength that helped Brit stop attacking the zombie, the Sentinel leader adjusted herself since she was letting her emotions get to her.
"Please Brit. It's not just for the school but for my pack, Willa had to wait for a whole week to explain to Lee about the werewolf tribe being the main part of the okay. If she learns that the play is canceled, then it'll break her heart and make her break the school staff who kept her waiting."
Wynter pleaded with Brit not to step away from production and about her pack leader going on a rampage for her not seeing werewolves getting a chance to be seen as more than snarling beasts. With that being said and knowing it would lead to another incident at the school, she had no choice but to accept the responsibility of directing the play. It was quickly responded with everyone hugging Brit for coming in at the last moment and getting things underway, she felt nervous at everyone depending on her and that they'd support her behind the directing of the play.
"If that's all said and done, is there a chance for the background shrimp to get my solo during the play? Nothing extravagant but something fireworks and spotlights will do."
Bucky interrupted the moment with himself since Brit could now offer the funding for the play to make it better than ever. Deciding to not answer that question, she instructed everyone to check out the roles that are available to take since they have a lot of work ahead of them. The ones that stood with Brit were Addison, Zed, and Revenant who could see how stressed Brit would be in trying to get everything ready for the play before opening day.
"I didn't mean to say it out in the open. Sentinel has the resources to help make the stagecraft and productions in a few hours, if it helps I can assist in the heavy lifting. Just like Rev can since Wynter wants him to be a part of the play as well."
The zombie apologized for speaking out of turn and was willing to help her people in making everything for the play, to of bringing up Revenant in the assistance as he grumbled at Zed for reminding him about it since he would be required to participate since he was dating a werewolf.
"While that's kind of you to suggest that. The issue is that I have an issue with stage play because I embarrassed myself on stage."
She told the trio about having a bad experience in being a part of a performance as they were confused about what Brit meant by it. Pulling out her phone and showing it to the trio, they were watching a recording of her at an old talent show doing several tricks with her Yo-yos. It felt strange seeing Brittney smiling and chipper as if she were a mini Addison, the show was going great until she'd accidentally spun her yo-yo around her legs causing herself to stumble on the stage and pump into the grip operator who was holding onto the ropes. It set off a chain of accidents that led to sandbags dropping from the catwalk onto the stage which sent numerous props flying off into the crowd and one hitting a water sprinkler causing them to go off and making the audience run in terror of the water going off.
"I heard about that incident back when I was in middle school, 'The Yo-Yo disaster girl'. That was you?"
Addison recognized the incident long ago and called out the name that was dubbed on the person responsible for it as they looked at Brit being considered a one-girl hurricane when it came to destroying things. Hiding her face in embarrassment and keeping herself from shouting about it being an accident, the best thing Brit could do was remain composed and not let it get to her.
"We each have been given an individual experience in causing trouble. Embarrassing or not, we can agree it can turn out for the better or worse. This could help us in checking how we can be better than what we did in the past and put on a decent show, I mean we're able to work it out. Right?"
Revenant is the voice of optimism since it was needed to assure Brit that they were capable of keeping the performance from becoming a disastrous offering after past shows that the others and himself were a part of. Having that being said and seeing there was no chance of them letting her walk away from directing the show, Brit caved in and decided to give it a shot as Addison offered to be her stagehand and show her how most stage performances were made she has experience in putting on shows for an audience. It left the zombie boys to look over at everyone bringing their ideas to Brit and seeing them handle the construction of the stage and props.
"Zed. I am doing this for the benefit of my girlfriend and her pack who want to share their side of Seabrook's upbringing, but next time? Please, keep whatever ideas you have before saying them out loud. Because next time I'm not stopping the next person you suggest makes something spectacular."
Revenant warned him that while he didn't want to be a part of the show, it was now important since Wynter and the other wolves would be performing their roles as the original finders of Seabrook. Knowing that he said it because it wasn't fair to put Brit on the spot due to the resources she could bring in from Sentinel, Zed knew that she had the potential to put on a show that the school and half of the town would appreciate her than just being the leader of a small organization that kept the town safe from supernatural threats.
Later-Night Time
Several hours had passed for the gang and them to prepare for tonight's performance as they spent the time learning their roles, and scripts, and not getting stage fright when it came to being in front of the audience. Sitting amongst the crowd was Nightwing with the addition of Revenant's parents, Waylon, A-Spen, and Aerial as well as the rest of the gang's associates in seeing what the performance would be like.
"I heard that Revenant requested that the meta zombies be included in the performance, I can't believe I'll be able to see my kids on stage."
Susan said to the others as she was excited to see the four zombies live on stage since she'd never had the opportunity to be a real mother which involved seeing kids doing activities in school. Cassie Hack and Vlad were with the group as she was doing a blog for the school website about telling the story of Seabrook's origins by zombies and other types of non-humans.
"It would be nice to see you on stage with the others. They've grown attached to you, much like I am with town."
Vlad expressed to his friend about participating with the gang since despite them being too chipper and friendly, the black-haired girl found them interesting to hang out with when they would get into trouble. Just as she wanted to respond with a snarky remark, they heard the crowd going silent as they heard footsteps coming onto the stage where everyone looked to see Brittney wearing an authentic ballgown with a set of classic binoculars.
"Good morrow, fine people. Tonight you will experience the discovery of a small land that slowly developed into a thriving town. What you didn't know, was it had been already inhabited by another group of settlers. A pack of wolves."
She started with an introduction of the land belonging to the werewolves as she moved across the stage the stage showed prop trees and bushes where the audience saw a pair of yellow eyes peering out of the props. Coming out were Willa, Wyatt, and Wynter as they had with them were Revenant and Eliza who were wearing werewolf costumes to help fit with the others.
"That's my girlfriend!"
A-Spen applauded loudly and was excited at seeing their girlfriend on stage as the alien clapped their hands numerous times which caused the alpha to feel embarrassed at the mention and seeing Waylon by the alien leader's side to keep the excited leader from distracting everyone from the performance. Shrugging off the encouragement, Willa focused on her lines and continued with the play.
"My pack. This land has been ours for many generations, as long as there is one wolf here. No one will take our territory!"
Willa shouted in a commanding tone as the werewolves in the audience howled at their pack leader for showing resolve in keeping their home safe, even if it was a play and just to help people understand how the wolves were protective of Seabrook. The tone of the play starts to change as the spotlights go over to the right side showing a boat appearing, coming off it was Zed along with several of his friends who were dressed up as travelers arriving at the unknown land.
"I can't believe that we arrived on a new land after a long voyage, we've found our destination for a new home and shrimp!"
Zed announced as he was portrayed as the captain of the ship and the crewmates were the others as they were wearing old-time clothing. The audience attempted to not laugh at how Zed had said it as his cast members held in their laughter since it was the first time he performed on stage. Walking over by his side was Sal who was portrayed as his second captain as he attempted to get the spotlight more than Zed by showing off his scales.
"Freight not captain. For there is no one that can find shrimp than myself, to that of my loyal companion. Diane!"
The zombie fish hybrid announced as he called up on stage an aquatic crab that was the size of a dog with a blue shell and violet pinchers, everyone was speechless at the surprise sea creature on stage while backstage was Brit who was confused at the animal not being involved in rehearsal. The crab looked around the stage and the people as it scuttled across from side to side curious about her surroundings and pinching everything in its path.
"That's quite the companion you have Sal, you didn't think to tell us about it before we departed?"
Addison asked him about the crustacean without breaking character since it was a surprise to bring a sea creature on the stage. Watching the crab continue to cut the props in half, it was attracted to Mist's armor as it was shiny and unlike any of the props around her, Diane scuttled swiftly at the gaseous zombie girl's armor and snipped at one of the tubes connected to Mist as it causes her to lose her balance.
"It seems that your 'companion' thinks I'm one of its toys. I suggest you should continue with the search for a new land!"
Mist responded while trying to not let herself slip out of the armor and continuing with the show Sal kept a close eye on Diane as the travelers walked to meet up with the werewolves the two groups encountered one another. Willa did her best to not be distracted by the walking crab and focus on looking at Zed while remembering her lines.
"Halt! If you dare to come across our territory, then be warned that we will strike you down with no hesitation."
She announced as the pack growled at the actors which startled Diane as the crab attempted to attack Willa thinking that it wanted to challenge her. Being protective over her, Wyatt kicks Diane across the stage and it lands among the crowd causing everyone to panic. Running out of the gymnasium from the mad crab, the meta zombies attempted to stop it until Mist's suit started to act up as the pinches that Diane had given her damaged it to where the gaseous zombie slipped out of her suit.
"Damn it! I just had that done for the play, Sal! This is all your fault!"
Mist shouted at Sal before rushing at him and started to mess with the fish zombie by flying over him. With chaos happening across the gymnasium, the wolves leaped off to help stop the stage to stop Diane from escaping while Revenant went over to Mist and Sal to prevent them from harming each other. Cortex, who was one of the actors couldn't handle the stress as it left him losing control and causing the people and props to float in the air due to his telekinetic powers. Brit rushed out to see the pandemonium happening which made her bite her finger at the sight as she attempted to help calm Cortex down before he made everyone stuck to the ceiling.
"Cortex. Maybe you can put everyone on the ground before we fall and become pancakes?!"
She asked as the girl was caught in his telekinetic power and was floating up in the air with the others. With the play becoming a disaster and nobody able to get a handle on it, someone walked up on stage wearing a shrimp costume which was Bucky as he didn't seem to care for what was happening as the background actor knew that his time had come to perform.
"Just as the land was ravaged by both sides. A single shrimp came from the brooks of the sea to witness it, as well as become a symbol for a new home. A home for travelers to rest their heads, all because out of the trouble and two groups at odds at each other. One creature emerged to be a symbol for the rest, a small. Meager, shrimp. Who help create the town called, Seabrook.
Bucky spoke in a dramatic tone which had abled the wolves to stop Diane due to the crab's attention focusing on the shrimp's words and helping Cortex calm himself as the actors he was holding in the air calm back to the ground gently. The rest of the audience saw Bucky's performance as they applauded for him saving the play and ending it with his acting, everyone else took a moment to pick themselves up to that of looking around at the destruction that had been caused by Diane.
"I didn't see that coming. Bucky coming in the last minute to save the play, but other than that. This is why I don't do plays."
Brit telling the group as she takes the costume off to breathe from the relief that while she wasn't the one to mess up the performance, it still happened either way. While Bucky continued to be praised, the others at the chairs applauded for making it an entertaining performance for them. Even Cassie Hack applauded to the show as it left her with an impression of their unique approach can leave a satisfied conclusion. It would be an interesting post to put on the blog of the school's students putting on a show that could end up in an exciting conclusion.