[ Have 1 Musician Hangout, Have 1 Jock Hangout | None | 800c ]
DEVIN: Ugh, Addison, can you BELIEVE what happened at the football game last night? The other school brought their whole marching band! They were so big and loud, they made all our fans lose heart! And it’s tough to win an emotional game without the crowd’s support!
ADDISON: Now that our school’s getting bigger, we’re going to be playing bigger schools. I think all of our opponents from now on will have bands like that.
DEVIN: That means there’s only one way to keep the crowd pumped up during the doldrums of halftime… a marching band of our own! So what do you say? Will you join me on this march to victory? We can’t have a band without band members, and we’ll need LOTS if we’re gonna be loud and be able to choreograph mindblowing formations.
ADDISON: Let’s ask around and see who wants in.
DEVIN: Remember, marching band isn’t for just anybody. We’ll need impeccable rhythm, musical skill, and most important of all… killer dance moves!
[ A Gamer, A Musician, A Dancer (Kennedy, Eddie, Val) | 6h | 1000c ]
EDDIE: A marching band, huh? Not really my style…
ADDISON: You think a band with one drumset is cool? What about a band with ONE HUNDRED?
EDDIE: Whoa. That IS cool.
DEVIN: You’ll get to play face-melting riffs at a volume your little amp could only dream of!
KENNEDY: I don’t get what I’M doing here…
DEVIN: Everyone at school knows you broke a million points on Guitar Hero, Kennedy. And you can’t do that without perfect rhythm.
KENNEDY: Flattery, eh? That just might work on me.
ADDISON: We need someone with your sense of rhythm to anchor the drumline. Just think of it like a bunch of quick-time events!
VAL: What do you need me for? Marching band is about music, not dancing.
DEVIN: That’s where you’re wrong. Everyone in a marching band routine is CONSTANTLY dancing really intricate steps.
ADDISON: Not only that, the entire band is moving around in formation like the biggest dance crew you’ve ever seen!
VAL: A meta-dance?! I’m so in!
Later on the practice field… Kennedy aces a complex drumming rhythm!
KENNEDY: Boom! High score!
DEVIN: Wow! Kennedy is killing it on the drums, Eddie is arranging a mash-up of awesome pop songs to play, and Val already has tons of ideas for choreography! You know what, Addison? We might just pull this off.
ADDISON: This was a pretty great turnout! Do you think we have enough members?
DEVIN: We have a good-sized marching band for now, but it’s still smaller than most… We’ll just have to make up for our lack of volume with outsized creativity! I’m talking impressive formations and sophisticated musical arrangements! Speaking of… what instrument do you want to play?
ADDISON: Me? Uh… I want to play the… Triangle.
DEVIN: The triangle?!
ADDISON: Yeah! I like the shape!
You pick up the small steel triangle and clang it with the beater! It rings with a clear, singing tone!
DEVIN: Nice! You’re practically an expert already! All right, everybody, we have the individual skill to go toe-to-toe with the best bands out there… But marching band isn’t about the individual! It’s about many coming together to play as one, just like how a song is many notes coming together in harmony! Now let’s try out our first formation…
As Devin waves a baton, your first march rehearsal begins!
KENNEDY: Eddie! You’re in my spot!
EDDIE: No way, this is where I’M supposed to be!
VAL: Watch out, guys!
Val accidentally runs into a tuba player, and everyone topples like bowling pins!
DEVIN: No, no, no! How are we ever going to get all these different types of people working together in time for the game this weekend?
ADDISON: I know just who can help with that…
[ Addison, Devin, A Student Gov (Hadley) | 10h | 1200c ]
ADDISON: So, Hadley, do you think you can help us?
HADLEY: You’re in luck. I have lots of experience getting divergent personalities to work cohesively toward a common interest… After all, that’s all politics is!
DEVIN: What do you need to make it happen?
HADLEY: The only thing any organization needs… spreadsheets!
ADDISON: How’s it coming, Hadley?
HADLEY: Moving around rows and columns on a football field is just like moving them on a spreadsheet! I organized everyone into groups, subgroups, and sub-subgroups. Everyone has their assignments! So let’s take this from the top! What do we say? Can we pull off the best marching routine of all time?!
DEVIN: Yes! We! Can!
The band marches in perfect alignment, rows and columns threading past each other in a mesmerizing pattern!
DEVIN: Wow, Hadley! You did it! That was amazing!
ADDISON: The band looks great, Devin! I think we’ll be ready for the game this weekend after all!
DEVIN: Uh oh…
ADDISON: Uh oh? What’s uh oh?
DEVIN: Three cheerleaders inbound at three o’clock! And they don’t look happy…
[ A Level 4+ Cheerleader, A Level 4+ Cheerleader, A Level 4+ Cheerleader (Nat, Ollie, Parker) | 12h | 1400c ]
NAT: Hey, Devin! What’s going on here?!
DEVIN: The marching band is practicing for our halftime show at the football game!
OLLIE: Halftime is when the cheer squad goes on!
PARKER: You can’t just steal our spot like that!
DEVIN: But other schools are bringing in marching bands. We’ve got to compete with them! Haven’t you noticed that our fans are getting demoralized at halftime?
NAT: Are you saying that’s our fault?!
ADDISON: Oh boy...
PARKER: Sorry, Devin, but you can’t just take over our halftime.
OLLIE: Yeah! The cheer squad is responsible for school spirit at the game, so halftime is ours! You can’t replace us!
ADDISON: Wait! They don’t have to replace you!
NAT: They don’t?
ADDISON: What if the cheerleaders and the marching band go on at the SAME TIME? Nat, think how much better your routine will be with live music!
NAT: Hmm…
DEVIN: Teaming up is a great idea! Our band is pretty small as it is, so we can use all the field presence we can get! Think of us like a backup marching band!
OLLIE: That does sound pretty amazing… okay, we’re in!
DEVIN: Okay, Addison, we’ve got a full marching band that knows how to march… but we don’t know what to march as! Let’s pick a formation! We’re a small band, so it has to be clever! Something that will really wow the home crowd!
ADDISON: Oh! Let’s march as a… A smiley face!
DEVIN: A smiley face?!
ADDISON: Yeah! It will make everyone really happy to be rooting for us at the game! That’s what we want, right?
DEVIN: Sounds good to me! All right, let’s buy some sheet music! Time to start practicing!
[ Spend 50000 coins, Practice! | None | 1600c ]
DEVIN: Ready to hear the marching steps, Addison?
ADDISON: Umm… Tell me!
DEVIN: First, march to the LEFT. Then, spin COUNTER-CLOCKWISE. And finally, on the THIRD MEASURE of the crescendo, switch with the person next to you! Want me to repeat that?
ADDISON: I got it!
DEVIN: All right then! Let’s take it from the top!
Everyone lines up in formation and starts stepping in place in time with the drumbeat. The drum major waves the baton, and the music starts! You march to…
ADDISON: Uhh…
You freeze up… and Devin runs right into you during the band’s march to the left!
DEVIN: Oof! Addison, what are you doing?! I said to march left!
ADDISON: Sorry!
The band completes its first maneuver, marches in place, and then you…
ADDISON: Wait, what was I supposed to do again?
You stand there awkwardly as the rest of the band spins counter-clockwise in place!
DEVIN: Addison! Are you daydreaming or something?!
ADDISON: I forgot! My bad!
The formation finishing revolving, and then the brass section begins a climactic crescendo! You count off in your head…
ADDISON: One… Two… Three… Four…
Devin runs headlong into you! Your instruments get stuck together!
ADDISON: Oof!
DEVIN: We were supposed to switch on THREE, Addison!
ADDISON: Aah, I’m sorry, everyone!
The band continues the routine… but your earlier mistakes cause a chain reaction of members bumping into each other! Soon, half of the band is in a pile on the turf!
DEVIN: Wow, we still have lots of practicing to do!
ADDISON: I better step my game up…
Everyone lines up in formation and starts stepping in place in time with the drumbeat. The drum major waves the baton, and the music starts! You march to… the left. You step left, still facing the bleachers, in perfect unison with the band!
DEVIN: Looking good so far!
The band completes its first maneuver, marches in place, and then you… spin counter-clockwise. You spin counter-clockwise with the rest of the band, staying on rhythm!
DEVIN: Perfect!
The formation finishes revolving, and then the brass section begins a climactic crescendo! You count off in your head…
ADDISON: One… Two… Three…
You fluidly switch positions with Devin!
DEVIN: There we go! That looked awesome!
The band completes the song and poses in perfect formation!
DEVIN: Wow! That couldn’t have been better! Great work, guys!
ADDISON: Are we ready to practice the whole show at once?
DEVIN: I sure think so!
The whole band fall into formation as a humongous smiley face, with the drumline lined up as the grinning mouth! As the band plays a medley of pop songs, the drummers race around to form various shapes, creating the illusion that the smiley face is singing along with the lyrics!
DEVIN: Holy cow, that was amazing, guys!
ADDISON: We look pretty good!
DEVIN: And we’re going to look even BETTER soon! Come with me! Marching band is all about the many working together in perfect harmony to be capable of things greater than anyone can do alone. Among those things… is intimidating the heck out of the other team!
ADDISON: Yeah!
DEVIN: But we’re not going to look like a cohesive unit if we’re all wearing different clothes! We’re gonna need some slick uniforms…
[ Have a Band Member at Level 4+ | None | 1800c ]
DEVIN: Whoa! Thanks, Addison! We’re gonna look so good out there, people will think the field is a fashion show runway!
ADDISON: I’m glad everyone likes them!
DEVIN: You bet we do! All right, Addison, the moment of truth is here. The big game is tonight. You ready?
Dressed up in the new uniforms, the marching band heads out to the stadium. You pass by the football team, who are just leaving the locker room to warm up.
JULIAN: Hey, Addison! Devin! You guys look awesome!
ADDISON: Thanks, Julian!
JULIAN: The guys were just talking in the locker room. We’re all really excited to have the school band perform at halftime. The team we’re playing tonight is REALLY good, so we need the band and the crowd pumping us up until the final whistle! It could make the difference between winning and losing.
DEVIN: You can count on us!
Julian high-fives the both of you, then runs off to rejoin his team.
DEVIN: Hey, Addison, I just heard that the other school’s marching band is performing before kickoff!
ADDISON: Let’s go check out our competition…
Your school’s band files into your cordoned-off section of the home bleachers as the rival marching band starts to take the field!
DEVIN: There… there are so many of them!
A force easily three times the size of yours blankets the field in a simple grid formation! Each member is dressed in a crisp, brand new uniform!
DEVIN: They’re… beautiful!
The rival school’s drum major raises her baton… and the band starts to play! The music is deafening! Devin shouts something at you, but you can’t hear it!
ADDISON: What?!
DEVIN: I SAID, THEY’RE TOO BIG AND TOO LOUD! WE CAN’T TOP THIS! WE’RE TOAST!
[ Addison, Devin | 16h | 2000c ]
The opposing marching band ends its thunderous routine to wild cheers from the visitor bleachers! The home fans look on, intimidated into silence. From the stands, you can see the anxious faces of Julian and your football team. Your school kicks off… and the other team returns it for a touchdown, eliciting yet another bombastic fight song from the visiting band!
DEVIN: Gah! It was all for nothing!
ADDISON: What do you mean?! We still get to perform at halftime!
DEVIN: Are you kidding? We don’t measure up to that! Going out there with our small band would be more humiliating than not performing at all! The whole point of this band was to make the school proud… but if we go out there, all we’ll do is make them ashamed…
Devin sets down his instrument and slumps down on the bleachers, head in his hands.
ADDISON: Uh oh. If our band leader thinks it’s hopeless, then the crowd will too! I better get Devin’s morale back up, quick!
DEVIN: Don’t waste your breath trying to convince me, Addison.
ADDISON: Fine then. Looks like we’ll just have to have a big hole in the formation where you would have been.
DEVIN: Don’t do that! That’d look terrible!
ADDISON: Exactly! You’re the one who told us that marching band was about everyone coming together as one! And we can’t do that without all the parts! Just like how music is about how every single note in the piece works with the others.
The rest of the band shouts in agreement. Devin looks around at all the encouraging faces…
DEVIN: You’re right, Addison. I guess I was just thinking about myself, when I need to be thinking about what the band needs.
ADDISON: So are you back in?
DEVIN: You bet. But this doesn’t change the fact that we’re still too small and quiet a band to upstage our opponent.
ADDISON: That just means we have to get even MORE creative. We have to take the spectacle to the next level!
DEVIN: It’ll take an utter mastermind to pull that off!
[ Addison, Devin, A Nerd (Bailey) | 23h | 5r ]
Soon, the entire marching band waits anxiously in the stadium tunnel while Bailey works feverishly on a set of strange contraptions.
ADDISON: Are you sure this will work, Bailey?
BAILEY: I’d bet my life on it… well, yours anyway.
ADDISON: (Gulp!)
Just then, you hear the ref’s whistle echo down the tunnel! The football team comes jogging past, heading to the locker room for halftime, looking demoralized.
JULIAN: Man, these guys are TOUGH. The crowd sure could use some spirit… and so could we.
ADDISON: By the time you guys take the field again, the crowd will be back in it. We guarantee it.
Devin barks at the band, pacing back and forth like a revered general.
DEVIN: Listen up, everyone! I know we made some last-minute changes, but if we stay focused and trust our fellow members, we will win the day! None of us would be here if it weren’t for the people standing next to us… So let’s go out there and play as one! Because together, we can do anything! Bailey… is it ready?
BAILEY: The device hasn’t gone through preliminary test trials yet… but yes. It’s ready.
ADDISON: Then let’s go make some noise!
The band cheers, a deafening roar that echoes in the tunnel! The band runs out onto the field! Your school’s band lines up in formation facing the home bleachers while the cheerleaders take up position by the sideline. The crowd politely applauds, clearly quieted by the game’s score.
ADDISON: Our fans don’t look too excited!
DEVIN: Well, it’s our job to excite them, isn’t it?!
The visitor bleachers behind you erupt in a chorus of boos, filling the night air with derisive laughter. You turn to see the stands filled with the rival band, pointing and heckling.
DEVIN: Forget them! Ready, guys? Let’s do our thing! A one, and a two, and a…
You ding your triangle with the beater, sounding a high, clear pitch… And your band launches into the opening chord of a hit song, everyone’s perfectly intoned notes melding in a beautiful arrangement! In the home bleachers, some smiles appear! Your fans start to perk up.
DEVIN: I think it’s working!
From the middle of the field, you see Julian leading the football team back to the sideline. Their faces light up at your music.
JULIAN: Come on, guys, we have to help pump up the crowd too!
The football team starts jumping and dancing along with your song! The cheerleaders shimmy, kick, and twirl to the beat! You’re drowning out the opposing fans… but they fight back, redoubling their obnoxious shouting!
ADDISON: It’s working! We just need a little bit more energy!
DEVIN: It’s time to break out the secret weapon, Addison!
You shoot a thumbs-up to a shadowy figure up in the press box… and Bailey shoots one back!
BAILEY: This oughta drop a few jaws…
Bailey turns to a control panel littered with dials and switches… and jams a button! Devin blows a whistle, and suddenly the smiley face formation morphs into a cackling skull and crossbones… The trumpeters forming the skull’s eyes attach small tanks to their horns and begin shooting smoke from the trumpets’ bells! From the stands, it appears as if the skull’s eye sockets are belching a terrifying black smoke! The home crowd gasps, then cheers!
BAILEY: It’s even more beautiful than I imagined!
The home crowd cheers wildly, fans of all ages leaping up from their seats and dancing! Meanwhile, in the visitors bleachers, the rival band finally shuts up, their mouths hanging open in awe.
DEVIN: Now that’s more like it!
You, Devin, and the entire bleachers cheer and chant like crazy as the football teams take the field for the second half!
DEVIN: Let’s go, team!
ADDISON: Come on, Julian! Run!
Your team roars back with score after score!
BAILEY: Woohoo! Touchdown, baby!
The clock hits all zeroes, and the ref blows the whistle!
DEVIN: I can’t believe it! We won! Comeback of the century!
Your fans storm the field, celebrating on the turf with the team! Julian high-fives you and Devin!
ADDISON: You did it, Julian!
JULIAN: WE did it. Your band made the team… made the whole school believe that we could achieve something great!
DEVIN: Well, of course! That’s because, together, anything’s possible!
JULIAN: That crazy special effect you had at the halftime show? That totally blew everyone’s minds! Marching band seems pretty fun. You know you’ve got me thinking… I might have some ideas for next week’s formations…
DEVIN: I’m all ears.
As players and fans hug each other in celebration on the field, the band spontaneously starts up a stirring rendition of the school alma mater… and the whole crowd sings along!
DEVIN: We didn’t do too shabby, Addison… Not too shabby at all.
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