All Friends Check-In (The Suite Life of Zack & Cody)

9. Band in Boston

The hotel was hosting a Battle of the Bands event. Zack, Cody, Max, and Tapeworm signed up for it, eager to get a demo CD made if they won. They named their band "Rock Squared" and wrote a song, "School's Out," which made me think of an Alice Cooper song with the same title. 

The twins, Max and Tapeworm, invited me to join the band as a backup singer, but I declined due to my constant stage fright whenever I got in front of an audience. Though I offered to help them out with about anything.

For a bit, the gang tried rehearsing in the suite and the ballroom because Carey and Uncle Marion had unplugged them, and there were complaints about the noise. My uncle had my friends set up in the soundproof laundry room, where no one would hear them.

I found out Maddie and Lance, the lifeguard, and his buddies signed up for the Battle of the Bands. 

Later, I heard a wallowing noise coming from the ballroom. I knew Maddie, Lance, and the latter's friends were rehearsing in there. Uncle Marion and I went in to find out what it was. 

"Is something dying in here?" my uncle asked Maddie.

I turned to find London singing into a microphone. Her vocal cords could use a ton of work!

"Yes. Our chances of winning," Maddie replied.

"Don't tell her this; she sounds like a dying swan that just had throat surgery," I remarked.

Uncle Marion and Marion nodded at me in agreement.

The following day, Zack called me to the suite to help him, Max, and Tapeworm write a song. Cody ditched them to form his own band when both twins started arguing over creative differences. Zack was more for the looks, while Cody focused on the lyrics of their song. I could tell Max, and Tapeworm felt that the twins needed to work out their differences if they wanted the band to win the contest.

Cody entered the suite just as I was about to convince Zack to go and talk with his twin.

"What are you doing here?" Zack glared at Cody.

"Getting my sheet music for my band," Cody replied.

"Oh, you finally found somebody who responds to a whistle?"

"Yes, and they're awesome."

The door opened that second. Muriel and Arwin entered in. I saw the maid was dressed in a purple dress with a feathered boa and a hat that had a feather on it.

"Hurry up, Cody. I'm ready to rock out!" Muriel remarked eager to put on a performance.

Arwin approached the rest of us holding a weird device which I assumed was one of his inventions.

"What in the world is that?" Tapeworm wondered.

"You like it? Used to be a leaf blower," Arwin explained. "I call it a sax-a-blower." He flipped on a pair of shades over his glasses to make himself look cooler. "Nine, Ten, Eleven!" Arwin started blowing into his homemade instrument, which sounded off-key. Muriel started dancing to the cringing rhythm.

During his tune, Arwin mistakenly turned on the leaf blower part and Zack quickly turned it off. 

"Your band is Arwin and Muriel?" Zack turned to Cody.

"Do you see how insane this whole thing is?" Max pointed out.

"It's his fault," Cody gestured at his twin.

"No, it's not! It's his fault," Zack frowned at him.

"It's both your faults. This is one band," I shook my head at them. "And it needs Zack's style and Cody's song."

Max went over and pushed the twins into the closet. "So, you two hurry up and work it out or I'll beat you like a pinata." She locked them in.

"But what about our band?" Arwin asked.

"It's broken up."

"Often happens among famous ones out in the open," I nodded sadly.

"First mother and the butcher and now this," Arwin sighed and started playing Taps with his weird homemade instrument. As he headed out the door during the somber tune, Arwin once again accidentally turned on the leaf blower part which sent him stumbling out into the hallway and crashed into something.

"Max, Mar, we have to go downstairs and set up," Tapeworm informed us.

"Muriel, let Zack and Cody out of the closet in ten minutes," Max told her.

"But I really wanted to get my groove thang on," the elderly woman sighed in disappointment.

"One of these days you will," I assured her before leaving with Max and Tapeworm.

The Battle of the Bands had already started. When the ten minutes were up, Zack and Cody were nowhere in sight. Max and Tapeworm went to get them while I stayed downstairs in case the twins showed up.

When Max and Tapeworm returned, they informed me that twins escaped the closet through the vents after Muriel fell asleep and forgot what she was supposed to do. While the two got prepared to stall the show in case Zack and Cody didn't arrive in time for their performance, I searched each vent, but not crawling through them hoping to hear the twins.

Carey found me as I pressed an ear to the wall.

"Marley, are you looking for the boys?" she wondered.

"Yeah," I nodded. 

She and I went to the lobby and informed Uncle Marion.

"I don't know where they are," Carey told my uncle who assumed she knew the twins' whereabouts. "They're somewhere in the vents."

"Look out!" one of the twins hollered as they got close.

"I would if I could!" Arwin shouted as he and the boys buzzed through the lobby. "I said it was a test run!"

I turned to find Zack and Cody riding in a laundry cart and Arwin wearing a pair of rollerblades that were rocket powered. It looked like another one of his inventions either worked or went haywire once again. The three of them rocketed in the direction of the ballroom.

"I think I found them," Uncle Marion smiled sarcastically. 

Carey and I turned to him, and we ran after them. 

We got to the ballroom just as the twins, Max, and Tapeworm started performing their song. Arwin got on the platform and threw himself off it expecting the crowd to catch him but fell flat on the floor. I found myself dancing to the song along with everyone, including Carey, Uncle Marion, and Muriel.

My friends ended up winning the Battle of the Bands according to the audience reaction.