The Hetalians' New Groove

Chapter 3: Behold!

A couple of hours later, after she'd unpacked her things in her room and come downstairs to audition for her proper membership in the Hetalians, Jenny was stood in front of Arthur and Alfred in the living room. They'd decided to only have 2 members overseeing it as they'd been told that she had a tendency of being nervous singing in front of other people. It was currently getting late into the evening. 

"Righto, you just pick a song you know, and pick a part of it to sing to us. It doesn't have to be the whole song." Arthur told her, sat on the sofa next to Alfred.

After a few seconds, Jenny chewing her lip in thought, she nodded to indicate that she'd chosen a song. 

"Alright dudette! Show us watcha got!" Said Alfred, and Jenny took a moment to mentally prepare herself and mostly get over her nerves before breaking out into song, singing the 'Writings on the Wall' song from Spectre. She wasn't gonna do the whole thing, but just a part.

"If I risk it all,

Could you break my fall? 

How do I live, how do I breathe? When you're not here I'm suffocating.

I wanna feel love, run through my blood, tell me is this where I give it all up?

For you, I have to risk it all

'Cause the writing's on the wall." She just focused on the lyrics like a guiding light and just forgot that Arthur and Alfred were there.

"Thank you, now if you can just give me and Alfred time to decide amongst ourselves, that'd be marvellous. And then we'll talk it over with all the other members and we'll have a result on your membership in half an hour or so." Arthur smiled warmly at the brown-blue haired woman. 

And so she'd gone back up to her room while everyone else sat downstairs, discussing the verdict, browsing the Internet and chuckling every now and then upon discovering a new meme or derp face. The sun was still setting, and the bed was warm from where it had been bathed in the sunlight through the window all day. 

Suddenly, she turned her head in the direction of the door as it was opened on the other side by Eleanor. 

"Jen, the gang wants you downstairs. They have the answer to your audition." She said. 

"Coming." And she put down her phone on the bed, got up and followed her friend out of the room and down the stair, and then into the lounge where the other 10 members were awaiting their arrival. 

"As Eleanor might have just told you, we now have the news on wether you passed the audition." Francis said. Some of them were sat on the sofa and armchairs, whilst the others were just stood up. 

"You passed!" Alfred suddenly declared. 

"Oh come on I wanted to tell her!" Yelled Francis. 

"And me!" Arthur added. 

"What? You 2 doing it in a big dramatic reveal or both at the same time would've been totally cliché, so I was just doing something a little different, y'know?" Alfred defended. "And anyway I was way too excited to keep it in a second longer!" 

"Oh, alright, fine then." Sighed the British man. 

"Okay then, since she's passed the audition, I believe it's time for the oath." Said Honda. This was the first time Jenny had heard him speak, and he sounded as if he was Japanese. He seemed like the shy, introverted type based on the volume of his voice. 

"Yes, it would seem so." Ludwig nodded. "Sandra and Eleanor, you 2 get the oath book, and gentlemen, we'll close the curtains and light a candle." And so they all did these tasks, until because of how late in the day it was now, the room was engulfed mostly in darkness except for a single lit candle which Feliciano was holding. "At least try not to set anything on fire with the candle like you did last time..." 

"That was an accident, I swear! But okay, I'll try." Feliciano, who was obviously an Italian man, replied. 

"Now, raise your left hand." Arthur told Jenny. He was stood only 4 feet away from her, and she could see from the candle light that he was holding what looked like a small black book, which was open as if he was about to recite something. She did as he told her. "Do you swear your undying loyalty to the Hetalians?" 

"Yes." She nodded, screaming inside out of sheer excitement. 

"And do you swear to always put the needs of your bandmates before your own?" 

"I do, yes." 

"Will you keep the innermost workings of our band a secret from anyone outside of the group?" 

"Yes." 

"Do you promise that your loyalty will never be altered? This is a big commitment, Jenny. I don't want you saying you're in now and then just flaking out later." 

"I won't, I promise. My loyalty is eternal." 

"Well then, Jennifer Integra, welcome to our world." His friendly and welcoming smile returned to his lips as he held out his hand, and Jenny gratefully shook it. The others were now applauding to welcome their newest member to the team.

"Oh, and one last thing!" Said Wang from off to the side as he and the others finished applauding and opened the curtains and blew out the candle. He fetched what looked like a sort of large cardboard box from the corner of the room, big enough to fit a person into. 

"Yes, we almost forgot, that's true! When a new member of the Hetalians joins, that new member needs to christen this sorority house by sliding down the staircase in this box." Sandra informed as Wang handed it over to her, and she then gave it to Jenny. "It's tradition." 

"Really? Huh, I guess it sounds fun..." She stared at the box and tilted her head slightly to one side. 

"Da. It is, trust me." Ivan nodded, who was still smiling. 

"Come on, follow me and I'll show you how it is done!" Gilbert offered, trying to make himself look like the bold, hero-like figure. But on other occasions that was Alfred's job. And so Gilbert lead the way out of the room, with Jenny and a couple of others following close behind. 

It was only 1 minute later when Gilbert was at the top of the staircase, sat inside the cardboard box and ready to slide down. 

"Behold! The incredible, awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt's staircase-sliding demonstration!" The silver-haired German shouted, and with that, he pushed himself forward in the box and, using it like a sort of sled, he slid down the stairs at almost blinding speed, falling out of the box as it finally reached the bottom and fell forward. 

"Good work." Eleanor nodded in approval at this demonstration. "Now it's your turn, Jen!" 

"I'm certainly glad it doesn't have to be me just yet. I know we need to do this once every year on the anniversary of our membership, but I tend not to find it quite so fun..." Francis muttered bitterly to Feliciano and Wang, who were both beside him. 

"Uuuuhhhh... now I'm wondering... are you sure this is a good idea?" Said Jenny nervously another minute later as she was sat in the box herself now at the top of the stairs and looking down in front of her. 

"Nope, I think this is a GREAT idea!" Said Alfred. He was right behind her, ready to give her a jumpstart. "Aaaand... away ya go!" The American yelled, and kicked the back of the box with his foot, pushing it forward and it began to set off at top speed down the stairs, Jenny yelling in slight startlement and equal enjoyment while this happened. 

After a few seconds, she reached the bottom of the stairs, but the box she was in was travelling at such a speed that it fell forward with more force than it did with Gilbert's demonstration. When it fell forward with this force, it sent Jenny accidentally hurtling into Ludwig, but luckily he caught her. 

"Oh, god, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen!" She hurriedly apologised. 

"No, it's quite alright. It wasn't your fault, it was just the speed of the box coming down the stairs. Simple physics. Don't worry about it." Said Ludwig, while Jenny, just for a second, couldn't help but stare at his muscular his arms were up close. 

But what mattered to her most at that moment was that so far everyone had been nice to her, and she was now an official member of the Hetalians.