"Do you think they will show up?" Finn asked Draco. They had been waiting for nearly twenty minutes in the cafeteria for the rivals to show up.
Frank and Finn were the most nervous.
Alex and Everett were getting angry already.
Draco was terrified.
He never made good decisions without a Rahman, namely Zeth or Queen Zafira, to supervise him.
"I'm sure they will," Draco replied, although he wasn't entirely certain.
Draco knew that there wouldn't really be a reason why they wouldn't come.
There never really was, wink, wink.
And then the double doors of the cafeteria opened with a bang.
Dramatic.
There were six boys standing there, all dressed formally in an almost military formation.
They all moved forward then, all taking steps at the same time with terrifying synchronicity.
At the front, the leader of the band had mischievous yellow eyes and crimson red hair. His skin was a bit yellow. He was obviously the son of Faltom Operman.
Draco was expecting him to be slender and with a skull-like face, but Faltom's son looked nothing like him in his college days. This young man was as muscular and tall as Finn.
He looked more like Cadence than Faltom, that was for sure.
Flanking him were two boys.
One of them was certainly a spectre, taller than Finn but not as tall as Alex. Draco could tell he worked out because that suit jacket fit him like a glove. His hair was some indigo bluish purple, and his eyes were a similar shade. His face was friendly, although there was a hint of seduction about him. He was definitely the most handsome of the group.
The other boy was obviously a demon, and had a sour expression, the cliché bad boy in the way he walked and even looked at others. His hair was orange like fire, his eyes were too, just as tall as Alex, and his body type was pretty much the gym type.
These two boys had facial hair, and the same way of walking, as if being handsome was part of their job. In fact, they walked very similar to Alex, with an air of sensuality.
The guy behind Cadence's son was obviously a Shadowman, or Boogeyman for starters, taller than Alex but shorter than Frank, with a body as muscular as Everett's. His hair was dark blue, he had facial hair as well and a shy look despite his frightening appearance. He looked insecure because he walked slowly and looked around as if he expected something bad to happen. He was probably the type of boy who would hide under the bed or in a closet if something scared him.
The last two boys had athletic frames and walked without much elegance or sensuality in them.
One was an inch taller than Draco (Considering Draco was wearing three inch Goth boots), with blond and pink hair and pink eyes, and he actually looked happy. A feline maybe? Who knew? But the boy had a walk similar to Draco's, fast and almost cartoonish.
The other one was the same height as Zeth, but he looked familiar with that zombie green and blue hair. One of his eyes was green and the other blue too, and they immediately fell on Frank, who gulped. He was slower than the others when walking, and from time to time he dragged one foot.
At first glance, Draco could discern that two of them (Cadence's son and the Spectre) were descendants of monsters from New Shacklesack, home of the most talented artists ever. Draco at least hoped that their faith was not that of the God Tunebra, because if that was the case, he already expected Tunebra Priests prowling the streets slaying Mashers and innocent civilians like when Princess Nephty 'The Martyr' Rahman married Prince Heruz, or when King Zehtt Greak decided to marry too many women.
All of them stopped walking when they were a few feet away from Monster Mash with military precision.
Silence followed.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Introduce yourselves," said Cadence Christensen's son.
"As if you didn't know who we are," Alex replied, puffing out his chest with his arms crossed.
"Let's be professional," Draco tried to calm the waters with his hands.
"They're not professionals," Frank whispered with half-shut eyes. "After the fight they started outside..."
"What fight?" Cadence's son interrupted, and both Frank and Draco looked at each other.
"What Zeth did actually worked," Frank shrugged.
"Well, enough of Zeth! I am the son of Faltom Operman, my name is Anton. We are Fifth Octave, and we are the moment," he winked.
"Says who?" Alex asked, cocking his head.
"Go ask the fans out there," Anton pointed back with a smirk.
"But I don't know any song of yours," Finn cocked his head too.
"It's because we just started today. We're here to shoot the video for our first single," Anton was already clenching his fists and furrowing his brow.
"And you already have fans?" Frank raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, we do," yet Anton looked nervous, like a child caught in the act about to throw a tantrum to avoid the consequences, "We have a lot of fans."
"Paid fans don't count," Everett said.
"Shut up, ice ape," Anton rolled his eyes. "They are legit fans!"
"They are not," Everett insisted, expressionless as ever.
"Yes they are!"
"No they aren't."
"Umm... Everett, we get it," Draco cleared his throat to soothe things up. "So tell us, Anton. What kind of music do you sing? I saw a lot of classical music instruments and some computers and DJ equipment, so it must be a mix, right?"
"Do you know what epic music is, you illiterate sextet?" Anton asked.
Sextet? Apparently he still hadn't realised that Zeth wasn't here.
"I love epic music and soundtracks," Everett said, only a bit enthusiastic, just a bit. "Every day I listen to Ramin Djawadi, Hans Zimmer, Steve Jablonsky, 2Wei, Audiomachine, and..."
"Nobody asked for your playlist, ice ape," Anton dismissed with a hand, making Everett lower his eyebrows and growl.
"Well, are you going to tell us who the hell you are or not?!" Alex yelled, and Draco reached up and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Okay, okay, calm down everyone," Draco stepped forward. "My name is..."
"Draco Von Stroker, yes, I know who you are." Anton didn't even look at Draco, but rather counted the Monster Mash members, "Only five? Where is Zeth? I guess he is terrified. Coward!" All the boys behind the crimson-haired boy laughed until he put a fist up and they all fell silent. "Guys, let's introduce ourselves." Anton snapped his fingers, and the spectre stepped forward like a soldier.
"Hi guys. My name is Paul Ter Gheist," he said, bowing slightly. "I am a descendant of the famous Priest Paul Gheist, who served House O'Pry of New Shacklesack when..."
"Yes, we already know each other," Alycandro growled, "I mean, I'm not surprised to see Damon here, it was to be expected, but you, Paul?! I thought we were friends!"
"Nice to see you too, Alex. It is a pleasure to finally meet all of you," Paul nodded and gave a military salute, "I've always wanted to be a part of Monster Mash, but now I'm proud to think we might collaborate one day. You are all very talented, an inspiration to..."
"Are you done licking their balls yet, Paul? Or should I bring you some knee pads?" Anton grumbled and rolled his eyes, "Okay. Let's keep going. You, step forward."
"Whatever, this is stupid. I am Damon Hellderson," The boy with fiery hair and eyes said, staring at Alex, challenging him with his gaze, "And I have the misfortune of knowing one of you."
"The not-pleasure of knowing you is all mine," Alex growled.
"You think so, moron?" Damon clenched his fists and his eyes lit up bright orange, like fire, "Why don't we settle this fucking rivalry here and now? Just like the good old days, huh Bro? Solving everything with our fists! Alfaro bastard!"
"What did you call me, asshole?!" Alex growled and his ears started to become pointed, "Do you want me to beat you to the ground again?"
"As if you could! I'm going to burn your ass so badly you won't be able to sit down for a year!" Damon shouted.
"Really? Bring it!" Alex yelled, "I know how to fight and you know it!"
"Fuck," Frank whispered.
"I know how to do that too!" Alex roared.
"Okay, mum said that, when you work with a team you have to speak to them in a polite and professional manner," Anton told himself, taking a long breath. "Damon! Shut the fuck up!"
Alex and his old enemy fell silent at the same time.
"Fine! I'll make this simpler..." and then Anton pointed to the short, blond/pink haired guy behind him, who waved effusively with a huge smile on his face, "This scrawny burger flipper is Kato Catvert, and the big quiet guy back here? He's Boomer Boogingham, talented pianist and a colossal misfit." But Boomer didn't even take his dark blue eyes off the ground.
Draco nodded.
Wow! Anton hated his team.
What a boyband, huh? But Draco could understand it because Monster Mash had once been just as dysfunctional, or worse. Sometimes Draco didn't understand how it all worked out.
Wait, Draco was already lost in thought. Damn! Why did this always happen to him?! He had to focus! Anton kept talking and talking and Draco didn't even know about what anymore!
"Oh wow! Please tell me more!" Draco said his default line, "I'd love to keep listening to you talk about 'insert subject' all day!"
"Yeah, right," Anton looked at the vampire with some bewilderment, "We'll keep talking about who we are, I guess."
"My name is Deadgar Greyston," the last boy stepped forward, very graceful, and bowed. He was clumsy, slow. Draco raised both eyebrows. Deadgar didn't look like a descendant of the Greystons, he looked more like an inhabitant of Grapeyard Islands, a foreigner in the Human Lands, and he also looked familiar. Those mismatching eyes filled with anger were hard to forget. "I'd like to say it's an honour to meet you, but it bothers me to know that Frank..."
"Shut up, Deadgar, no one cares about your grudges," Anton said, shooing the gallant young man with one hand, "In fact, nobody told you to speak. I'm the one who's introducing you to the rivals!"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Operman," Deadgar bowed his head.
"Okay, Anton, that's enough," Paul said placing a hand on his leader's shoulder, "You're being rude."
"Shut up, Paul," Anton spat out as he slapped his hand away. "Or I'll kick you out of the band and end your stupid dream of being a singer! You'll run back to your mother's pigsty of a house! And you'll have to go back to dancing in tight underwear for desperate women who have nothing better to spend a couple of dollars on!"
"Sorry," Paul looked down, "I don't understand why you're so rude to me."
"Wow! Seriously, Paul?" Deadgar grunted, "Now you're going to point a finger at others?"
"What?" Paul gasped, "But I was just asking a very valid question!"
"And now you're shouting," Boomer said with a sad face.
"You could be nicer, Paul," Kato said.
"I'm just saying that Anton is very rude." Paul was sweating, "There's no need to be rude, is there?"
"Wow! You're literally being so rude right now," Anton said.
"Bitch Alert," Damon said under his breath.
"But..."
"Oh shut up, Paul! One call to my dad, and every door in the industry will be closed for you!" Anton yelled.
So that's how things were, huh? Well, at least when Monster Mash first started, Zeth never acted like asshole like this guy.
The chink in these guys' armour was so clear that it would be easy to defeat them.
"You're Faltom Operman's son then," Draco said, crossing his arms.
"Indeed," Anton nodded, grimacing. "And you must be the son of the imposing nine-foot-six Duke Dimitri Von Stroker," Anton then looked down, scanning Draco, and then he made a disgusted face. "I see you didn't inherit the height nor elegance. You don't quite look like the brother of the elegant and treacherous Queen Batrix 'The Black Widow' either... I wonder if your brother, Duke Bloodimir Von Stroker of Bloodstone and Robleston, is also a dwarf vampire."
"He is not," Draco clenched his fists and hunched, his eyes turning sad, "I'm the only dwarf vampire in my family, or in history as far as I know. And Robleston is no more, but semantics... I think."
"Hey! Anus Openhole!" Alex raised his voice, and it sounded like a loud bark. Anton looked up and smirked defiantly. "If you make fun of Draco's height again, we'll make fun of you when I knock your teeth out!"
Anton momentarily lost his smirk.
"MulÈumesc, Alex," Draco looked up, and Alex put an arm around his shoulders, locking his golden eyes with him.
"Nobody messes with my bro," Alex winked, and Draco blushed but smiled anyway, "Even if you're short for Von Stroker standards, you have a pretty adorable height for human standards."
The Monster Mash boys then glared at the Fifth Octave guys.
Deadgar kept looking at Frank with his mismatching eyes full of fury and resentment, but Frank didn't hold any grudge against him. In fact, he was quite confused by all this bad blood.
Kato and Draco looked at each other. The Feline smiled nervously and Draco smiled back. But then Anton snapped his fingers and Kato pressed his lips and looked at the floor.
Boomer and Everett were staring at each other without blinking. They cocked their heads at the same time, half-shut their eyes, and then both looked away.
Damon and Alex continued to challenge each other with their eyes, cracking their knuckles and necks as if they were going to street fight.
"Relax, relax," Paul told himself, taking a deep breath, "Remember why you're here. Relax."
"Why is no one giving me dirty looks?" Finn asked, but no one heard him. "I want a rival too!"
Draco was already getting too anxious.
Damn.
This was almost as awkward as when Draco's sister and Zeth's sister met in the ruins of the Bent Pyramid of Zehtt to negotiate a temporary alliance to fight the Zeldrichs.
Batrix refused to cooperate while Zeth's sister kept on threatening her with her army of Yetis.
Draco tried to be a mediator, even Zeth tried, but both women were too powerful, and stubborn, to give in. Zeth's sister was already considered queen of the entire country of Zagarrta, and Draco's sister was the queen of Evalon, so from that meeting, surely an armed peace or a war as big as the Clash of the Rahmans could begin. There was a moment when both women were no longer paying attention to anyone advising them, and Draco activated his dream mode, looking around the ruins.
"Von Stroker!" Anton yelled and Draco came back to Earth. Damn! It happened again!
"Oh wow! Please tell me more," Draco said his default line again.
"As I was saying. We're here to shoot a music video," Anton said, hands on his hips, "And then we'll give an exclusive interview for the blog of the famous Melody Operman, my sister."
"Well, I'm afraid we will shoot a video here too," Alex growled like a wolf.
"Then you're going to film with your ass burned," said Damon.
"Put your dog on a leash, Von Stroker," Anton grunted, "We'll film here, and it'll be art, not like your videos..." Anton made a disgusted face and twisted his fingers, "God, you guys are so vulgar that I don't even know if your videos count as a form of artistic expression! Don't you even know what a shirt is? Or is it that you like to walk around half naked for money and views?"
"What are you saying?" Alex lunged forward, and even Frank and Finn had to hold him back.
"You are so banal. You guys look more like strippers than singers, no offense," Anton checked his nails and then gasped, "Oh! You know what? Yeah, get offended!"
"Anton," Paul whispered in his ear, "That's enough. You're being rude."
"And you are shooting yourself in the foot, you moron," Damon told his leader. "This is stupid. You're all stupid."
"I am only teaching these mediocre apes what it's like to be a professional," Anton replied, "If these cavemen wanted to be strippers, they should have worked at a club and get naked for money."
"Ouch," Paul frowned.
"You're an absolute ass, Anton," Damon rolled his eyes, but then he saw Alex losing his mind and laughed, "Ooohhh. Are you going to cry, Alfaro?"
"Shut up, Hellderson!" Alex roared.
"It seems that being a stripper is synonymous with being an animal," Anton laughed.
"You bastard! I'll kick your ass! Do you think being a stripper is an offense?! Are you trying to insult my roots, Operman?" Alex jerked out of Frank and Finn's control, but Everett quickly squeezed him into his strong arms and held him back. Alex kicked and fought to break free to no avail as Everett picked him up and backed away. "Let go of me, ice face! Le voy a partir su madre a este cabrón! Hijo de la chingada! ¿Quién se cree que es este pendejo? Bájame, Everett! Put me down now, you... You... Iceberg with legs!"
"What is your dog saying?" Anton asked.
"I thought smarty-ass Anton Operman would speak a little Spanish," Draco sneered under his breath.
"You and your strippers can leave now," Anton waved dismissively, turning to face the other members of his band, "Move on, gotta work."
"You have a problem with strippers?!" Alex shouted and kicked in Everett's arms, "Ask for a full resume the next time you hire slaves, you asshole!"
"I'm sorry not sorry to tell you this, Anton, but we're gonna stay," Frank said.
"Oh yeah! We're not leaving!" Alex yelled at the top of his lungs, "Que se armen los pinches chingadazos! Put me down, Everett! We are going to teach these fine juniors what we vulgar strippers can do to silk breeches!"
"And what do we do, exactly?" Everett asked.
"We give them atomic wedgies! What else?!" Alex yelled.
"I want to give them atomic wedgies," Everett said, nodding slowly, "And I want to be hand that rips out their spines... Delicately."
Everyone went quiet, so quiet that even blinks echoed.
"Everett, I think the wedgie will suffice," Alex said, finally relaxing his body, "Now put me down, you scare me."
"Let's start with atomic wedgies, then," Everett nodded and opened his arms to free Alex, who slowly took steps away from him.
"How about instead of atomic wedgies, we just give them regular wedgies?" Draco asked. "Maybe that..."
"Nobody's going to give atomic, regular, or delicate wedgies to anyone!" Finn yelled.
"Vulgar, uneducated apes, that's what you are," Anton said, glaring at the boys, shaking his head while inspecting his nails.
"Well, it's more fun being ourselves than your slaves," Finn said, puffing out his chest. "You don't even let your bandmates..."
"Oh, shut up, sushi roll," Anton rolled his eyes. "Now, how about you go to a strip club and fool around while we make art? You can probably take that low-class girl of yours to shoot your video," Anton chuckled briefly. "It would be fun to see her dance like a monkey with you. She's not professional, is she? Oh well! Maybe she'll learn something about the striptease business from you in case she ends up unemployed working at a fast food place. She can even learn how to pick up some money from the floor in case her second-hand clothes need sewing."
"Hey, that was too much, Anton," Kato said, "You crossed the line!"
"What? You're ashamed of your past, burger flipper?" Anton laughed at Kato.
"No, you went too far with the things you said about the girl," Boomer said.
"You're being too rude," Kato said.
"And you're being too talky, you mediocre squirrel-voiced midget," Anton told him.
"You better shut up, Anton," Damon said, "We only put up with you for the pay, and it's not even worth it."
"Anton, please. You're just mad because these guys broke your sister's heart," Paul said, "That's why you're acting like this, isn't it?"
"My sister will be someone in the music industry soon. But still, these apes gave that peasant an interview." Then Anton turned to look at Monster Mash, "Do you know how much Melody loved you?!"
"Go to a strip club and fool around? Of course!" Draco snapped his fingers.
"Of course what?" Anton cocked his head, frowning.
"Can you give me and my band a second?" Draco asked. "Alone, please."
"Only because you said please," Anton snapped his fingers, and all the guys in his band hung their heads and headed for the door.
But before they left, Deadgar stopped and looked Monster Mash up and down over his shoulder.
"Listen well, Monster Mash," Deadgar said in a menacing voice, "You're all going down. My band may not be the most united or harmonious. But we have everything to destroy you!" And now he was shouting. "And it doesn't matter if it costs me my life! I'm going to destroy you, Rubinstein! And everything you..."
And then Anton slammed the double doors shut behind himself.
There was an awkward silence.
"Wait, did they forget about me?" Deadgar asked, looking at the closed doors as if it were a mirage, "Like, seriously?"
"Even I had forgotten about you," Alex said and Frank nudged him.
"Hey! Anton!" Deadgar shouted, swinging the doors open, "Hey! I think you forgot about me! Totally by accident!" And then he left the cafeteria too.
"That was awful," Finn said.
"Guys!" Draco quickly turned to face his friends with a huge fanged smile. "Guys, I have an idea. I know this looks bad, but there's only one thing Zeth would do right now."
"Call a lawyer?" Frank asked.
"Well, yes and no," Draco rolled his eyes.
"Make a bigger and more expensive video than the other guys?" Alex crossed his arms.
"Yes, but no," Draco huffed.
"Push us to be better than them?" Finn cocked his head.
"Maybe, but..."
"Death match?"
"Okay, Everett, that's what you would do," Draco sighed. "Zeth would think classic! Something that would shout to the world 'This is who we are! We are Monster Mash!' and remind fans they are a part of our band! Of our lives!"
"But Zeth isn't here," Frank lowered his head.
"Exactly," Draco snapped his fingers. "And as the second in command, I have decided..."
"Wait, I thought Finn was second in command," Frank said.
"I am?" Finn frowned.
"I thought I was second in command," Alex said, crossing his arms.
"I want Frozen Burrito," Everett said.
"Whatever!" Draco threw his hands up, "We're leaving, let these guys shoot their fancy pants video, we'll do something else."
"WHAT?!" All of them asked in unison.
"I've got a great idea," Draco rubbed his hands together and licked his lips. "We're going to do exactly what that Anton guy expects us to do... But we'll do it right. And we need Jade."