By: Jo Ann/Courage/Seiko/Miko/Melvin/Reiko
It was a fine day near the end of September. Fall colors were everywhere, and red, gold, and brown leaves covered the ground. There was a chill in the air as the warm weather of Spring and Summer gave way to the cooler times of Autumn.
The Bugaloos were in Rock City that day, visiting their friend, Peter Platter, at KOOK Radio.
"Hey, Bugs!" the round-eyed deejay greeted them with a grin. "What brings you to this neck of the woods?"
"Just visiting," Joy smiled at Peter. She stood next to I.Q. Behind them was Courage and Seiko. Bringing up the rear was Harmony, who moved around to the other side of Peter's window.
"Well, it's groovy having you here," the deejay replied. "Have you checked out the latest news yet?"
"No," I.Q. replied. "What's the latest?"
"Well, do you know that creepy, old house at the end of Crow Street? The one that no one owns anymore?"
"Yes," the blonde Bugaloo replied. "The city owns it now, doesn't it?"
"Yeah. Well, the city plans to make it into a youth center. But they need to raise money to fix it up, and raising the bread for that pad is mucho hardo!"
"Why don't we put on a benifit concert?" Joy asked. The pretty girl Bugaloo looked at her bandmates. "And since it'll be Halloween soon, why don't we make it a Halloween party. We can have it at the old house, and dress up for Halloween. We can charge admission or just ask for donations."
"Heyyyyy!" Peter grinned. "Not a bad idea! And yours truely can broadcast the festivities to all of Rock City!"
"We'll 'ave to get permission from the mayor to 'ave the benifit, but there's no reason they wouldn't allow it," Harmony said.
"Then let's get over to City Hall," I.Q. replied. "We'll need to apply for permission right away."
"Yes," Joy agreed. "It was nice seeing you, Peter."
"Same to ya, doll!" Peter grinned. The Bugaloos said "so long" to their friend, and headed over to Rock City Hall.
Just around the corner, listening in, was Funky Rat. Funky was Benita Bizzare's stooge. Before the coming of Melvin, Benita's nephew, he was Benita's head stooge. Her "Top Rat", as it were. Right now, though, he seemed very interested in the previous conversation.
"Da Bugaloos are goink to give a Halloween concert?" Funky said to himself in his German accent. "I must tell Mein Gorgeous Leader!" With that, he quickly made his way through town and toward Benita's penthouse.
Benita's penthouse looked like a large, gaudy jukebox. A funny-looking giant peacock stood guard. Wasting no time, Funky slipped an oversized coin into the coin slot --no mean feat, since the slot was over twenty feet above him-- and entered the large building.
If the penthouse was gaudy on the outside, it was even more so on the inside. Colors clashed everywhere, and a giant turntable spun equally giant records. Two odd-looking robots were dusting everything.
Lounging on a divan, just as guady as her house, was Benita Bizzare, herself. She had seen younger days, but still insisted on dressing in loud colors and sparkling sequins. Her voice had seen better days, as well. Where once she had one of the most beautiful voices ever heard, the singing voice she had now could not charm a hummingbird. That did not stop Benita from attempting to sing rock.
Nearby was Melvin Bizzare, who --by some strange coinidence-- was a twin to Courage. The only difference was that his shirt was purple, as was the tops of his antentte, where on Courage, it was red. Next to Melvin was Reiko, Seiko's cousin. Melvin and Reiko constantly tried to keep the peace between Benita and the Bugaloos, attempting to keep Benita and her cronies out of trouble.
This was how Funky found them. He entered breathlessly, stammering out his news.
"A Halloween party?" Benita questioned. "At that old house?" Funky nodded. "Well, why didn't we get invited?"
"It sounds like you don't need an invitation, Aunt Benita," Melvin replied. "There may either be an admission price, or donations will be collected. Either way, it's for turning the old house into a youth center."
"Well, I gonna be the headliner at that concert! Let's go see Peter Platter!" She rose from the divan and stomped out, followed by Melvin, Reiko, Funky, Woofer, and Tweeter.
End of first chapter. I have ideas on what the Bugaloos are going to wear to the concert. Any ideas for anyone else?
The Bugaloos easily got permission to hold the Halloween concert/party at the old house. The mayor was happy to allow the teenagers the run of the place for the purpose of raising money for the youth center. Now, the band had to plan the party: What decorations to have, what costumes to wear, what foods to serve, what songs to play, etc.
Each knew what disguise they were going to wear, but did not tell the others. They all wanted the costumes to be a surprise. I.Q. took a day or two to organize everything, confering with Harmony, who made suggestions. Courage, Joy, Seiko, and Sparky were searching through books borrowed from the Rock City Library for decoration and refreshment ideas. Banners would be a good idea, as would anything spooky. Nothing two scary, of course. Maybe some plastic spiders on cobwebs and rubber bats and cats in stratigic places. Pumpkins and Jack O' Lanterns were also a good idea. They were a little wary of witches --after all,Benita Bizzare was a witch-- but the image of a witch on her broomstick, riding across the moon, was a widely recognized symbol of Halloween, so at least one would be included, somewhere.
Food could easily be prepared. The Bugaloos lived in an all-natural enviroment, so the refreshments would be all-natural, as well. Many of the treats could be made with fruits, nuts, and sweets the Bugaloos found in Tranquility Forest every day. Of course, the food would have to be prepared on the day of the party, but the house was sure to have a kitchen, so that would be no problem. After they cleaned it up, of course.
Most of the house would have to be cleaned up, so that was the first piece of work the Bugaloos would have to do. They would have to decide which rooms to clean up for the party --they would not need to cleanthe whole house-- and which rooms could be left as is. The rest of the house could be cleaned up later.
So, one day, the Bugaloos got dressed in work clothes, packed up all their cleaning supplies, and hopped aboard their car, the Bugaloo Buggy. The clean-air car headed toward the old mansion.
They began to have second thoughts about the party when they saw the house. It was dark, and many of the window panes were either broken or missing. Dirt and cobwebs were everywhere. Pieces of wood were hanging by a sliver or a rusted hinge, ready to fall almost at any time.
"I don't like this..." Joy shivered. She hugged herself her gaze darted back and forth over the nearly-delapated building.
"Don't worry," Courage grinned. Nothing scared him. Well, he could be scared, but he never let fear overcome him. Should anything happen, he would be the last to leave, prefering to face the danger rather than run from it. Course, he was not foolish, either. If the danger was something he knew he could not handle, Courage would follow the others, making sure that no one was in trouble.
"It looks perfect for the party, mates," Harmony added. I.Q. reached for the doorknob. It was covered with dirt and dust, and the grime came off on his hand. He managed to turn the knob and open the door, though.
::CRASH!::
The sound startled them, and the Bugaloos whirled around, looking for the source. As soon as he saw it, I.Q. breathed a sigh of relief.
"It was just a piece of wood," he said. "Probibly falling from somewhere around the corner. Let's go in." He entered the house, while the others following right behind.
Next chapter: The Bugaloos begin to clean the rooms they are going to use. And their unseen helper joins them!
To bad I can't edit my posts on this board. I have to go somewhere, and would have liked to have been able to add to this chapter. So some of the chapters will have to be short, sometimes.
