[color=green][b][u]The Beat You Can’t Beat[/u][/b][/color] ------------ My name is Chad Beaton; you also know me as the Justice Musician. I got this codename from a crazy adventure I experienced where the supernatural forces of good and evil battling one another led to some of the characters from my comic book and manga collection (yes; I do collect those) coming to life. Thankfully, with the help of my amazing friends, we beat the villains and helped the hero get back into the comic book storyline, so that the temporal paradox that would have happened couldn’t happen. (Given the graphic nature of that story, however, Super C has forbidden me from repeating it.) I still have a ways to go before I turn 18, so I’m not actually a G-52 yet; I am just an ally. I will be, though, because in 2017, when Bendraqi’s robots disrupted that year’s DCI World Championships (which the Blue Devils won in the end), CNG handpicked at least one member from each corps and gave them superpowers. To recap, here’s who they are (besides me), and I’m just using their codenames. I’m also not counting Corps Coon, formerly of the Cadets, because he was already a G-52. But he has taken all of us under his wing and considers us to be his “disciples,” for lack of a better way to put it, and it was really kind of him to do that. The other “disciples” are as follows: ---------- 1. Boomer Wolf (The Academy) 2. Bugler Bear, Sergeant Brass (Blue Devils) 3. Sir Beat-a-Lot, Hustler Husky (Blue Knights) 4. Snare Serval (Blue Stars) 5. Captain Contrabass (Bluecoats) 6. Clasher Cat (Boston Crusaders) 7. Cadet of Chivalry (Cadets) 8. Mellow Mouse (Carolina Crown) 9. Commander Cascade (Cascades) 10. Chivalric Cavalier (Cavaliers) 11. Horn Horse (Colts) 12. Rambling Rumbler (Crossmen) 13. Bugler Beagle (Genesis Drum and Bugle Corps) 14. Surfer Gator (Jersey Surf) 15. Corps Scout (Madison Scouts) 16. Elemental Euphoniumist (Mandarins) 17. Howlin’ Hornologist (Music City) 18. Marvelous Marcher (Oregon Crusaders) 19. Crasher Cat (Pacific Crest) 20. Parade Phantom (Phantom Regiment) 21. Patriotic Pioneer (Pioneer Drum & Bugle Corps; sadly, this corps no longer exists for reasons I cannot explain, but the people behind those reasons are spending the rest of their lives in prison) 22. Vicious Vindicator (Santa Clara Vanguard) 23. Horn Hawk (Spirit of Atlanta) 24. Trooper Tiger (Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps) All of us also double up as members of the G-52 Drum and Bugle Corps when necessary. -------------- The new school year has begun, but just a couple days prior to that, we held a special back-to-school performance. It was a unique sound, since the special percussion show we were doing combined our modern battery percussion (which we like to call “football drums”) with the more militaristic variety of drums that are rope-tensioned (which we tend to call “soldier’s drums”). You’ll hear both sounds from the Drumbums all the time. After all, the disciplines of modern marching bands and drum and bugle corps you see on the football field do have their roots in military disciplines. ----------- The performance on the football field in question didn’t have the Drumbums, though, since they were busy recording their payroll assignments. Instead, we employed Leo the Tiger and his marching bands to help us out. This meant that all the corps I mentioned on the list were performing in the big parade we held that morning (because we did have a parade), in addition to Leo’s bands. (He actually leads three bands: one military-style band with the soldier’s drums, one showoff band, which does halftime show-style performances with the football drums, and a pipe and drum band. The pipe and drum band weren’t participating, though. They usually limit their performances to funerals and opening ceremonies for sporting events.) It felt like the annual Foot Parade that the city does to honor William Gurdetha (even though it wasn’t), because it was all animals, all marching barefoot. But the point was to listen to the music, and give the youngsters an idea of what to expect just in case marching band was a new thing to them. The parade was our usual route: from the Oval at WU (Wildcat University) down the major streets (particularly Main Street), and over to Marching Greens, the big marching performance area located in Wonder Park (the park named after Leo the Tiger’s alter-ego, the Marching Wonder). The field performance was a mix of traditional songs and marching band arrangements of modern music, but the big highlight of the day was the drum spectacle we did, combining the soldier’s drums with the football drums. It was an educational illustration of how the two compare and contrast, but also a way to hear how the two sound together. Leo had me stand next to him on a platform for the second half of the spectacle. He was conducting, but in Wildcat City, a common sight is to lead a parade while playing an instrument yourself. Thus, he and I were drumming for the second half, while other animals did the conducting. It ended with a solo bit where he did a cadence, I did a response, and we then faced each other and gave each other the military salute. To conclude the show, Leo had me lead the big drum roll that led to the playing of our national anthem, which is the most important drum roll a drummer will ever beat. (This is something everybody says, not just Leo the Patriotic Lion.) ----------- The whole day ended up being remembered as the day that promoted us proving we have the beat that can’t be beaten. What a great feeling! I don’t think compliments get any better than that when people compliment a marching band or a drum corps. I honestly don’t. --------- As we were dismissing for the day, I made sure to say thank you to Leo for letting us perform with him, and for letting me specifically be the one to stand with him on top of the platform. “I don’t remember exactly why I was idolizing you,” I said to him, “but I am thankful for this opportunity to perform with you. Maybe it was that magic mace of yours. I don’t think it was the drum.” “Whatever the case, I’m glad to hear you learned some valuable lessons about how unhealthy hero worship is,” Leo replied, “because I am not a god, and I do not want people to worship me like one. Cripto, incidentally, has the same problem; he has people doing the same to him all the time. They’re going to get it in the end, though. Believe me, it will bite them in the end.” “I would think so.” “I am glad you got to perform with me, too, though. Events like this are so much better when you share them with your friends.” ----------- [color=gold][b]THE END[/b][/color]