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Fanatics 78

Pepito’s band prepares to play for a festival.

*Links to previous and next chapters in reblog*

--

The Spring Festival

The blaring of an alarm knocks Pepito out of his sleep. He rolls over, groaning as he slaps his phone, shutting it off.

As he sits up, he checks the screen. No notifications.

He sighs heavily as he checks the date. “One week since Squee left.”

Later at Skool, Pepito glowers depressingly at the lunch table, poking at the mystery meat from the cafeteria. Zim, Tak, Dib, and Gaz glare at him wearily.

“Irk, you’re pathetic,” Tak snaps, “get over it already, will you? You think Squee would like it if he knew you were like this?” “Well, Squee’s not here to know anything,” Pepito retorts, pouting.

“You make me sick,” she hisses.

“As much as I hate to agree with Tak,” Zim says, “she has a point. You need to pick yourself up already. You’re an embarrassment.”

In response, Pepito sticks his tongue out at him. Zim irks and prepares to attack him but Dib holds him back.

Gaz side-eyes Pepito as she plays her Game Slave. “Has he called you at all?”

“Nope,” he replies.

“Have you called him?”

“Of course not.”

“Do you think he’s lying around all depressed like you?”

“Huh?” Pepito questions, glaring at her.

“Probably,” she replies, “but he has every reason to. What’s your reason? You miss your boyfriend?”

He flinches, offended. “Well…I can’t help it if I miss him.”

“Maybe not. But you also have no reason to drag the rest of us down with you.”

“What are you-?”

“You know the Spring Festival starts next week,” Gaz says, cutting him off.

“The…Spring Festival?” Pepito questions.

“Seriously? You haven’t heard?” Dib asks, “Mayor Von wants to hold a bunch of events in the city and he’s starting with the Spring Festival. It starts next Friday and goes all weekend. There’s gonna be a bunch of vendors, rides, events.”

“Like a live music event for volunteering musicians,” Gaz adds.

Pepito blinks blankly. “Live…music…?”

“Moron!” she barks, making him flinch backwards. “Maddie sent me this because she was too scared to show it to your mopey face!”

She shows him her phone. On screen is a poster featuring a large, brightly lit stage surrounded by the words: “Calling all musicians! Want a chance to showcase your talent in front of a live audience? Then sign up for the music event at the Spring Festival!”

Pepito just blinks as he stares at it.

“Get it now, idiot?” Gaz snaps, “because of your petty feelings, you could’ve missed this. So what are you gonna do now?”

Pepito stares ahead blankly for a second before scowling with determination and drawing his phone.

Pepito: can we do a band meeting at your place tonight

Carmen: No problem~!

Pepito quickly sends a text to their other bandmates before lowering his phone. Then he takes a deep breath and grins.

The others all smile with relief.

“About time,” Tak comments.

That night, Pepito, Carmen, Maddie, and Colton get together to discuss the festival. Thankfully, it’s Friday and next week is Spring Break, so they got lots of time.

They spend the rest of the week determining their set and practicing. It’s the hardest they’ve ever practiced. This is tremendously different from their last gig, which they played in front of a bunch of drunk partiers who would’ve loved anything. This time, the pressure is real. But they’re all excited.

Next Friday quickly rolls around; the first day of the Spring Festival. So they decide to take the day off and join Zim, Tak, Dib, and Gaz at the fairgrounds.

The majority of the festival is taking place in a large park. The first day is all about the vendors. Booths have been set up all over the field with vendors selling all kinds of things: food, clothing, toys, and more, all homemade. And the place is packed with fairgoers.

“Wow, this is a total hit,” Carmen comments.

“Yeah, Von’s really pulling out all the stops,” Dib adds, “I’m impressed.”

“He’s taking his job as mayor seriously,” Pepito remarks.

“Tch. I would’ve done better,” Zim says bitterly.

They spend most of the day wandering around, perusing the booths. Into the early afternoon, as they pass a seemingly random vendor, a familiar voice calls out to them.

“Hey, kids.” They turn towards the booth to see Devi sitting behind it. Spread out on the table are tons of prints, all painted by her.

“Devi,” Pepito smiles as they approach. “Sorry, I didn’t recognize you. You changed your hair.” She grins as she runs her hand through her new haircut. It’s all black with the right side hanging down to her shoulder and the left side shaved down to a buzz cut. “Yeah, I finally did it yesterday. Cool, right?”

“It totally is,” Colton agrees excitedly.

“Yeah, very punk,” Carmen adds, “I should get a cut like that.”

“You got your own booth? That’s cool,” Gaz comments, “you got it for the whole weekend?”

“No,” Devi sighs, “just for today. I couldn’t afford the rent.” “Well, one day is still good,” Dib says as he flips through her prints. They’re all dark and often of monstrous creatures. “You sell much?”

“I’ve only had a couple customers,” she replies, “I think I scare most people away. But the ones who do like my stuff buy multiple.”

“Your art is really good,” Maddie says in awe.

“Hm,” Pepito hums with consideration. “You know, I’ve been thinking for a while we need some kind of design on the bass drum. Could you paint us something?”

“I’d love to help,” Devi replies, “but I’m indie now. You’ll have to buy a commission.”

“How much?”

She leans back in her chair, rolling her neck. “You know what, I’ll give you a discount. 75 bucks.”

Pepito glances between his bandmates, who all nod agreeably. “Deal,” he says, “ah, but can you do it before Sunday?”

“Why?” Devi questions.

“We’re doing the music event,” he smiles, “and it’d be awesome to show it off for the first time then.”

She nods agreeably. “Alright. But I’ll need to the pay first.”

Pepito, Carmen, Maddie, and Colton quickly dig around in their pockets. They divvy up their cash until they have seventy-five dollars and drop it on her booth.

“Fuck, you guys work fast,” Devi comments, “alright. I’ll get a couple designs ready and tomorrow you can choose one to paint on.”

“Sweet,” Pepito cheers and the others grin excitedly.

They leave Devi to check out the rest of the vendors. While she waits for customers, she opens her sketchbook and gets to work on some designs.

The next day, most of the same vendors are still set up, but the nearby street has been closed off for fair rides. A small rollercoaster, a ferris wheel, a drop tower, and a few different spinning rides have been set up; also fair games and food vendors.

The kids are excited for this one, ready to gorge themselves on rides and junk food. But first, the band has business to attend to in the seating area.

Devi is there waiting for them. She passes them her sketchbook as they sit across from her at the picnic table.

“Pick one,” she says, “I can have it painted today and it should be dry by tomorrow morning. Plenty of time for you to set up for the show.”

“We all have to agree,” Carmen points out. Pepito, Maddie, and Colton nod and they open the book.

Devi sketched out four designs, all of them darkly themed and featuring the band name ‘Hellz Rebels’. It takes a few minutes of deliberation before they finally decide.

“This one,” Pepito declares, handing her back the book.

“Okay,” Devi nods, “I’ll just need access to the drums and I can get to work.”

“They’re at my apartment,” Carmen says as she grabs her house key. “Take my key. My dad’s at work right now but I’ll let him know you’re there.” “Cool. I’ll let you know when I’m done,” Devi waves before leaving.

“I’m feeling pretty excited,” Maddie comments.

“Me too,” Colton nods, “but can we go on the rides now?”

The rest of the day is spent riding the rides, eating junk food, and playing games. By the end of the day, they’re all pretty wiped. But they’re not so tired to not go to Carmen’s and check out Devi’s finished work.

“What do you think?” she asks as she cleans up her painting gear. “I finished a little bit ago. Make sure not to touch it so the paint dries.”

Pepito, Carmen, Maddie, and Colton all smile excitedly as they look at the new design on their bass drum: a large claw painted as if it’s smashing through the drum, with its fingers folded around the words ‘Hellz Rebels’.

“We are so ready for tomorrow,” Pepito smirks.

The next morning, the band gets up around eight and, after breakfast, meet at Carmen’s place. They load the drum kit into her dad’s truck and he drives them to the fairgrounds.

The events don’t begin for another two hours, but the field is already busy with all the musicians. Pepito and the others make their way through the crowd with their instruments to the event coordinator.

“Name?” she asks.

“Uh Hellz Rebels,” Pepito replies.

“Right,” she says as she looks over a clipboard. “You guys will be on at 2:00. You can leave your instruments behind the stage but keep an eye on them. We’re not responsible for any stolen property.”

“Alright, thanks,” he nods and they head across the field to where the stage is set up. Lots of other bands are hanging around the back with their instruments.

“So we got a long time to wait,” Carmen comments.

“Yeah, just chill I guess,” Colton shrugs as he sits in the grass.

They all join him as Pepito fiddles with some kind of speaker device.

“What’s that, Pepito?” Maddie asks.

“A recording device,” he replies, “I’m gonna attach it to the mic when we go on so we can record our set and send it to Squee.” “Oh, that’s a good idea,” Carmen remarks.

“Yeah, it’s too bad he can’t be here,” Colton points out, “he would’ve loved to watch us.”

“Yeah, it would’ve been nice knowing he’s in the crowd,” Pepito says and gestures with the recorder. “But this is the next best thing. And I think he’ll appreciate it.”

The others start to agree when they’re interrupted by a sudden ruckus; somebody shouting in frustration. Everyone peeks around the stage to get a look and sees a person, a teen boy in Goth attire, getting angry at the event coordinator.

“I demand to be let on!” he barks, “everyone must here my voice!”

“I already told you,” the coordinator argues impatiently, “you didn’t sign up and we’re completely booked. We have no time for you.”

“Blasphemy!” he snaps, “censorship! I will not be held down!”

Without another word, he stomps away, leaving everyone to stare after him, baffled.

“What a tool,” Pepito comments and the others laugh in agreement.

Zim, Tak, Dib, and Gaz arrive later, around eleven. Much of the same vendors are still there, but new ones are too selling music related items, like CDs for the indie bands playing today. They wander around for a bit before heading to the stage, where the musicians have already started playing. Currently up is a saxophonist playing some soulful jazz.

“Looks like there’s gonna be a lot of variety,” Dib remarks.

“I only care about Maddie,” Gaz grunts as she takes out her Game Slave.

“Human music is so unappealing,” Zim comments.

“You like Pepito’s music,” Dib points out.

“That’s different,” he insists.

“Why do you call it ‘human music’?” Tak scoffs, “Irkens don’t even have music.”

“Other species do,” Zim points out, “I happen to enjoy Screwnat music.”

“Wow, you really do have no taste.” While the Irkens argue and Gaz plays her game, Dib happily bobs his head to the music. He may be here to support Pepito and the others, but good music is still good music so he might as well enjoy himself.

He’s interrupted however, when someone shoves their way through the crowd and bumps his shoulder.

“Hey,” he whines but the person ignores them and keeps heading towards the stage, muttering angrily. Dib stares after them and notices they dropped something: a flat, black rock about the size of a hand. Dib picks it up, flips it over, and gasps. On the other side is a magical rune painted in red.

“Zim,” he says.

“-the simplicity is the best part. It allows the listener to not need much thought to listen to it,” Zim argues, ignoring him.

“You don’t need much thought in general,” Tak retorts.

“Zim!” Dib exclaims.

“What!” Zim barks, “I’m in a very heated discussion.”

“Look,” he orders, handing him the stone.

“What it is?” he asks.

“It’s a witch’s rune,” Dib replies, “somebody just dropped one as they were walking towards the stage.”

“What’s it do?”

“I…don’t know. But it can’t be good.” “Hmm,” Zim muses as he stares at the stone.

“Maddie texted to me that somebody was really angry that they couldn’t play today,” Gaz says.

“Could the event be in danger?” Dib asks.

“Ugh,” Zim groans, “we better investigate before Pepito goes on.” The others nod and they push their way through the crowd to the stage. There’s plastic barricades keeping the audience a couple feet away from the stage, and dropped in the space are three more of the runes but these ones are glowing, and no sign of the person.

Dib quickly scoops up all the stones and the team examines them.

“It’d be better if we knew what they did,” Tak points out.

“Give me a minute,” Dib demands and opens Zim’s PAK. He reaches inside and pulls out a big textbook titled ‘Supernatural Items and Facts’. Many pages are marked with tabs. He flips through it and stops on a page with many similar runes and explanations.

“Here,” he says, pointing at the same rune as on the stones. “The Explosive Rune.”

“Well, that’s self-explanatory,” Gaz remarks.

“They can be detonated from a short distance away when activated,” Dib reads, “that must be why they’re glowing.”

“We need to destroy these,” Zim points out.

The team quickly scurries out of the crowd to an empty part of the field. Then Dib drops all four stones on the grass and Zim blasts them to bits with his spider legs.

“Somebody’s trying to destroy the stage and ruin the music show,” Dib declares.

“It must be that weirdo Maddie was talking about,” Gaz adds, “he must be trying to get revenge for not being allowed to play.”

“We have to find him before he tries another stunt,” Zim says.

“But how?” Dib asks.

“If he wants revenge, then he must be nearby to watch the explosion when it goes off,” Tak muses, “which means he would’ve seen us take the stones. So…”

“Hey!”

They turn at the shout and see the Goth boy causing a ruckus earlier marching up to them.

“Bingo,” Tak nods.

“What do you think you’re doing?” the boy snaps.

“Us?” Dib retorts, “why are you trying to blow up the stage? You could hurt people, maybe even kill them!”

“If I can’t be allowed to sing, then nobody can!” he barks.

“You’re the one who didn’t sign up on time,” Gaz points out, “this is your own fault.” “I will not be tied to bureaucratic rules,” he argues, “and nobody will stop me from getting my revenge!”

“Listen, you worm,” Zim snarls, “this whole event has made Pepito finally stop whining about Squee being away. And I will not let you ruin this for me!”

“Zim,” Dib scolds.

“And Pepito too, I guess,” he adds indifferently.

“You think you can stop me?” the boy scoffs, “I am a witch! A powerful, magical being! You normal humans have nothing on me!”

“Jokes on you,” Zim retorts, “half of us aren’t even normal humans!”

“Whatever you are,” the witch snaps as he reaches into his coat and pulls out a wand. “I’ll reduce you all to dust!”

“Watch out!” Dib cries and the Battalion dive out of the way as the witch fires a bright green bolt from his wand. It leaves a small crater where they were standing.

Zim and Tak both snarl as they skid across the dirt. Zim draws his laser guns and Tak’s robot arm shifts into a cannon and they both take aim before firing.

The witch swings his wand, deflecting their beams, and fires another one at them. They jump out of the way and continue firing.

Meanwhile, Dib and Gaz watch from a few feet away.

“Dammit,” Dib snaps, “we don’t have our weapons.”

“I keep an extra bat in Zim’s PAK,” Gaz says, “but I don’t think I’ll have a chance to get it.”

“We have to take him down before Pepito goes on,” he points out, “we can’t miss his show.”

“Well, Zim and Tak should be able to handle this,” she retorts.

The witch sends the Irkens scattering with another blast before waving the wand around himself and chanting, “icken bicken licken might, give me the power of flight!”

Sparkles waft around him as he levitates off the ground, going higher until he’s nearly over the trees. Then he flies around like a bug and continues blasting at Zim and Tak below. They both cry out in frustration as they struggle to dodge.

“Dammit, they’re hopeless,” Gaz groans and shouts at them, “it’s two on one! Take him down already!”

“Silence!” they bark back and dodge another beam.

“He’s not giving them a chance to attack,” Dib observes, “there’s gotta be something we can do to help. Maybe cause a distraction to get his attention so they can hit him. We have limited options though. If we could find another weapon then-.”

Before he can finish, Gaz yanks his textbook out of his hand and whips it at the witch. It clonks him in the side of the head, making him cry out in pain and surprise as he falls to the ground.

“That works,” Dib shrugs.

Groaning in pain, the witch lifts himself out of the dirt. He looks around frantically for his wand before spotting just a foot away. But before he can grab it, Zim steps on it, breaking it in two. The witch glares at him and Tak as they stand over him.

“Now, who’s getting reduced to dust?” Zim growls as they ready their weapons. But a voice stops them before they can fire.

“Robbie?” A girl in a Goth Lolita dress emerges from the trees. “Robbie, there you are!”

“Bianca?” Dib questions.

“Who?” Zim grunts.

“She’s a witch in our class, remember? She tried to force Squee and me to tutor her for finals a couple years ago.”

“Eh.”

Bianca barely pays them any mind as she passes by and grabs the other witch- Robbie- by his ear, yanking him to his feet.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she snaps, “causing so much trouble?”

“It’s not my fault,” he whines, “they wouldn’t let me sing.”

“I told you to sign up yesterday,” she retorts, “you didn’t listen. Let’s go, Auntie’s looking for you.”

“Wait! They broke my wand!”

“Good, you deserve it.”

“Wa-wa-wa-wait!” Zim barks as Bianca starts to walk away. “What’s going on here?”

“This is my stupid cousin, Robbie,” Bianca replies, “I’m sorry for any trouble he caused. My auntie will deal with him.”

“So we’re just supposed to let him go?” Dib questions, “he was gonna blow up the stage with explosive runes.”

“You tried to use explosive runes?” she barks, smacking Robbie upside his head. “This is why you can never visit!”

Dib sighs and rubs his forehead. “Alright, forget it. He’s clearly in good hands. We’ll leave him to you.”

“Thank you,” Bianca nods, “trust me, he’ll be properly punished.”

“I will not stand for this censorship!” Robbie cries as she drags him away.

“Shut up, you little moron,” she snaps, “your music sucks anyway.”

Zim, Tak, Dib, and Gaz watch them walk away before sighing.

“Well, that takes care of that, I guess,” Dib says.

“Good,” Gaz nods, “cause it’s almost two.”

“We better get back to the stage,” Zim orders.

They hurry through the park and arrive back to the stage. They join Devi and Tenna, who are standing near the back of the crowd, just before the current band finishes up. Then Hellz Rebels take the stage.

Pepito looks into the crowd as he sets down his amp and sees his friends waving excitedly. He grins and looks to his band.

“Ready?” he asks.

They all smile and nod.

“Then on your cue, Maddie,” he says, lifting his guitar.

She takes a deep breath and grips her mic.

“Are you guys ready to rock!?”

Later that night, in Cammie’s house, Squee and Johnny are lounging on the couch as the recording of the Hellz Rebels’ performance plays through Squee’s cellphone.

“You know, I hate to say it,” Nny says, “but they’re actually not bad.”

Squee smiles. “Yeah. They sound awesome. I wish I could’ve seen them live.”

“But you didn’t,” a voice points out nastily, wiping away Squee’s smile. His eyes narrow with annoyance at the stress toy sitting on the coffee table.

“You miss your friends, huh?” Squishy Pete says, “do you think they miss you? Like actually miss you? Do you think they want you back? Or is this break a relief for them? Probably the latter, right? I mean that’s why you left in the first place. For a break.”

Pete’s wide, fanged smile starts to widen as Squee rubs his tired eyes. But before the toy can say anything more, a hand suddenly swipes him from the table.

“Found him!” Eff announces, waving him in the air.

“He sure disappears quickly,” Sickness remarks as the other Night Terrors join him.

“Yeah, we can’t turn our backs for a second,” D-boy adds.

“He’s a tenacious little parasite,” Eff agrees as he tightly squeezes the toy.

“Let me play with him,” Reverend Meat begs.

“No, you always pop him too quickly,” Eff replies, “that’s no fun.”

“Yeah, we gotta make him suffer a bit,” D-boy adds.

“Guys!” Squee snaps, “can you take this somewhere else? I’m trying to listen to something.”

“Sorry, Little Boss,” the Night Terrors sing.

“Let’s play hacky sack with him outside,” Sickness suggests.

“Yeah!” the others cheer and race out the door.

Johnny watches them leave before looking at the Squee. He’s quietly rubbing his closed eyes.

“You okay?” Nny asks.

“Yeah,” Squee replies, opening his eyes. “Just tired.”

Nny nods understandably. “So, Granny’s going to L.A tomorrow to do some shopping. You wanna go?”

Squee looks at his phone as he listens to the Hellz Rebels sing. He’s not sure he wants to go anywhere right now. But it’s also been almost two weeks.

“Sure,” he replies, “I guess I should try going out in public again. It has been a while.”

Nny scoffs, “the public is overrated. But shopping can be fun.”

Squee smiles at him. “Yeah.”

Nny smiles back and they settle back down as they continue to listen to the music.