Chapter 8: The Next Few Dreams
Original title, no?
"And here we go!" cried the usher, poofing into view for a few seconds. The screen rolled the 5-4-3-2 thing and did the tunnel thing. Ryo watched the next reel...
The setting was a nice, sandy, warm beach. There were no people around, except for... George Whent. He was lying on his side next to the water. His arms were held tightly down to his sides, but his hands were flopping all over the place from his wrists. He was bug-eyed and kept opening and closing his mouth, as if gasping for air. He looked desperately at the water next to him and made futile attempts to flop himself back into the water. His whole body, in fact, was flailing all over the place, like he didn't have use of his arms or legs. His eyes widened more and more as he tried to get to the water. George became panicky. He didn't make any sounds, but he was flopping madly and opening and shutting his mouth like mad. Then...
The screen, instead of just fading quickly to black like before, changed without a pause. Ryo looked at it and rolled his eyes. "If that wasn't obvious, I don't know what is," he said, decisively. "Sai is the only person I know who would have a nightmare about being a fish out of water right next to the sea." He checked off the appropriate box and waited for the next reel.
"As I believe you guessed," said the usher, popping into view after a few minutes, "snapping back to black as quickly as that signifies a nightmare. And now... the next one." Ryo watched the 5-4-3-2 thing.
George was waking up and getting out of bed. After stretching and yawning mightily, he reached behind his headboard. Suddenly, his face slackened and his eyes widened with horror. His hand came back out from behind there with nothing. Gasping and clutching at his tummy, George leapt up and ran around the room, checking under magazines, in bags, and in multiple other places. He ran out of the room, digging wildly through things and overturning things on the way in frantic search for... something. He let out a huge yell, when suddenly, he saw a Twinkie on the kitchen counter. It leapt up and out of the package, sprouted arms and legs, picked up a top hat and cane, and started dancing. George cheerfully joined in. Then...
"That's all you need to see, I think," said the usher, as the screen faded to black. "This little scene goes on for an hour and a half. Although it is quite interesting when the chorus line of Hershey bars comes on. They sing this great little - never mind. Stand by for the next thingie."
"You know, it seems like everyone is having nightmares," pointed out Ryo.
"It may have something to do with your absence," said the usher, before popping out of view. "You know - the mindlink. They may feel subconsciously threatened. Enjoy the show!"
Hmm... thought Ryo, turning his attention to the last dream. That could totally be Kento. I mean REALLY! But also, Yuli totally lives on Twinkies. I mean, that white crap must run through his veins! Maybe that sugar high's why his voice won't come down out of the rafters. Maybe that's important. I think... I'll wait till the end to choose that one. He put a little star in the Kento and Yuli boxes for that one.
"Are you ready for the next one?" asked the little usher.
"Mm-hmm," said Ryo. The 5-4-3-2 thing ran, and it faded up.
George was yawning very loudly, wearing a terrycloth bathrobe. He entered a bathroom, opened the medicine cabinet, and reached inside. His jaw sagged open as he pulled his hand out with nothing. He closed the cabinet to get a view of his disheveled hair in the mirror just before screaming in horror. He ran down the street, still in his robe, sobbing and screeching. Finally, he stopped in front of a building with a big pair of scissors decorating the front. He entered, in a frenzy, and asked the clerk for something. She smiled and handed him a huge, industrial-sized bottle of hair spray. He sighed in relief. She then pointed to a seat, which he sat in, happy and calm again. They came at him with a pair of scissors, promising only a trim. But when they showed him a mirror a bit later, he screamed. THEY'D GIVEN HIM A PERM! He screamed like a maniac. Just before the screen went black, every strand of hair suddenly broke off and fell to the ground. The last image is one of George Whent, stark raving bald, bursting into tears....
"Finished!" the usher announced. "There are three left. Be ready!"
"Okay." The purple guy poofed away.
Sage. Well, either Sage or Mia. She got a perm once. And it was icky. But I REALLY think it's Sage. Might as well be careful.As he put question marks in the appropriate boxes, the 5-4-3-2-1 rolled....
George Whent was whizzing through town on a skateboard. He was happily dancing around on the thing, and was skittering over curbs, around people, and over one disgruntled cat. He arrived in front of the Ronins' house and, leaving the skateboard outside, ran inside. In a frighteningly high voice, he screeched, "Hey, RYYYYYOOOOOOOO!" White Blaze came hopping down the stairs in his traditional 'hey there' way and George squealed with delight. Suddenly, they were running down a highway, George holding onto his mane and flapping in the breeze as the tiger galloped along. It looked... very misplaced, juts cuz of the weight thing. After that went on for a while, they were suddenly in a new place. It was all black and a spotlight suddenly came up on George, revealing him to be in a little Wildfire armor. He danced around, giggling with glee, and hopped back onto his skateboard just as the screen faded to black again.
"Well, there ya go!" said the usher. "Next one in a few, and all." Poof.
That was Yuli. That was so very Yuli. At least I hope so. I mean, I hope that... let's see, who's left... I hope it wasn't Mia wanting to have my armor or ride Blaze. That'd be weird.
Ryo checked off the Yuli box and the 5-4-3-2 thing rolled again.
The setting looked like a savannah someplace. There were a lot of different kinds of grasses waving in the breeze. The terrain was very tan and dry-looking except for a watering hole in the middle of everything. The camera panned over to the other side of the wide lake from a shot of a few zebras grazing and drinking nervously to-
"EW!!!!!!" Ryo screeched, as the camera revealed a shot of George Whent with his face shoved inside a partially-eaten zebra. "EW! EW! EWEWEWEWEWEW!!!!! OH MY GOD!" Ryo watched in revulsion as George took a luxurious yawn and a stretch, then sunk his teeth into the zebra's lower back again, coming up with a large chunk of dripping, red meat. "EW EW EW EW EW! THAT BETTER NOT BE MIA!!!!!!!" he yelled, turning green. The screen abruptly went black.
"That was disgusting!" cried the little purple usher, poofing into view. "Oh, my god, you associate with people who eat zebras?"
"You know, there was a large carnivorous cat on that list," Ryo pointed out, dryly.
"Oh, yeah." The usher scratched his head thoughtfully. "I remember. Still, though. Ew. Okay, you know the drill." He poofed away.
"Well, I think THAT was obvious," said Ryo, checking off the box. "Ugh! Hey, I wonder why White Blaze isn't having a nightmare cuz I'm gone. Maybe... oh, maybe the non-Ronin people and the animals aren't having nightmares! Ooh, so THAT would mean that that earlier one WAS Kento and... OOH, I'm so SMART! Joy." Ryo went through checking off boxes and crossing out question marks. He almost didn't notice the 5-4-3-2-1 thing....
"All right, last one!" he realized.
Ryo was surprised to see himself standing there in a tuxedo, holding a bouquet of flowers. "Oh, god," he cried, as he saw George Whent descending a flight of stairs in a tight-fitting evening dress. The screen-Ryo took George's arm and, exchanging a mooshy look, the two entered a car. They got out again at a posh restaurant and entered, sitting at a cozy booth. Halfway through the meal, George giggled like a schoolgirl and hit screen-Ryo jokingly on the arm.
Audience-Ryo gagged as the camera panned down to show screen-Ryo's hand on George's knee. "Oh my GOD! This had better not be Yuli!" A little later, screen-Ryo and George were getting back out of the car at the house again. Audience-Ryo turned a sick shade of green as the two, exchanging another mooshy look, got tangled up in each other in a grossly-long overly-theatrical very-graphic violins-swelling-in-the-background type of good night kiss. It faded to black along with the harmonious sounds of Ryo trying not to vomit up the Ryo-stew he'd ingested a little earlier.
"Well, that's it!" said the little usher. He tried to smile benevolently, but instead got a terribly nauseated look on his face and said, "I'm sorry, Wildfire, but I'll never be able to respect you ever again. I just saw you...."
"I KNOW!" Ryo shuddered. "I-I-UGH! I think it'll take a while before I can respect myself again! That had to be Mia... right?"
"I don't know," confessed the little purple usher. "I hope so."
"If it was," Ryo realized, "that means she likes me! YES!" He suddenly leapt up and started dancing a little. "I'm gonna score, I'm gonna score-"
"NO YOU'RE NOT!" Stef cried from above. "THAT IS DISGUSTING! YOU ARE SUCH A PERVERT! FILL OUT YOUR CARD, YOU CHIPMUNK!"
"Sorry," Ryo said, humbly sitting back down.
"Damn right you are," Stef's voice accused. As he filled out the final card, Stef kept on admonishing him. "You're treating her like a piece of meat! You're acting like a two-year-old! Get your act together! We all knew Mia liked you, anyway. Why didn't you see it SOONER?! You're so BLIND!"
"Well, there was that one time-" he pointed out.
"Well, yeah, but that was Sekhmet's fault," she added. "Then it was literal. Dammit, ask Mia out when you get back. Oh, and tell that Sage guy that he's REALLY cute! You know, tell him I said he was really cute. Don't you go tellin' him he's cute. Mia might get the wrong idea."
"Okay," he said. "Here's the card." It suddenly poofed out of view and he sat there quietly for a few seconds. He let out a yelp as a sudden bunch of alarms went off.
"CONGRATULATIONS!" Stef's voice boomed across the room. "YOU'VE PASSED! HE CAN BE TAUGHT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" The marching band appeared again, played another obscure little march, and poofed away. Suddenly, Ryo found himself sucked up by the big blue light again, and went twirling and whirling through the air.
"Good luck, Wildfire," Stef called after him. "Don't forget what you've learned here."
"'KAY, BYE!" he yelled. Suddenly, everything went black....
____
"Ohhhh, my head," Ryo mumbled. He opened his eyes to see that he was back in the kitchen, his head resting in his arms next to the plate of flan. "Was it a dream?" he wondered, rubbing his head. Then he really looked around and saw that there was a chef's hat sitting in front of him. "She kept her promise!" he exclaimed. "It WAS real!" The hat was resting on a piece of paper, and as he put the hat on jubilantly, he read it. It was a certificate and after all the legal crap, it proclaimed him honorary leader of the Ronin Warriors.
"COOL!" he squealed. Remembering his promises, Ryo stood up quickly and ran upstairs to Sage's room, shaking him awake. Sage blearily opened his eyes to see Ryo wearing a chef's hat and excitedly waving a piece of paper.
"Hey, Sage, my friend Stef says to tell you you're cute. G'night! I've gotta go ask Mia out."
"Uh-huh," said Sage, hazily. "Oh, ungghh, got it. I'm cute, you're asking Mia out. G'night.... *yawwwwwn**choke* Hang on, WHAT?!?!?!?"
Sage bolted up, but Ryo was already gone in a flurry of red sweater and white hat, screaming, "MIA!"
The house's silence was broken by the sound of a female scream and a slap, accompanied by a series of thuds and a loud cry of heart-breaking pain. "BUT I LOVE YOU!"
"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"
"BUT-"
"WE'LL TALK IN THE MORNING! GO AWAY!"
"Gee, you look nice when you just wake up," he praised.
"Do I really?" Mia let out a self-conscious giggle and played with her hair for a second before she abruptly regained her bad-cop voice. "I mean... GO AWAY!"
"I know you want my bod," he said, smiling triumphantly.
"What gave it away?" asked Kento, grinning from the doorway.
"GO AWAY!" Mia shrieked. "EVERYONE JUST GO AWAY!"
"Ryo, what's with the hat?" Sai asked, from behind Kento.
"Please!" Ryo held up a hand in protest. "I'll explain everything tomorrow. Until then, I'm going to be busy. Mia loves me, you know."
"I DO NOT!" Mia howled, throwing a pillow at him. "YOU'RE MEAN! GO AWAY!"
"I'm gone," he said, casually walking away. He turned at the last minute. "But you KNOW you want me."
"GO AWAY!" she snarled, getting a little ferocious. Ryo, scared, skittered away.
Sai and Kento wandered back to their respective rooms.
Rowin, sleeping like the dead in another room, let out a confused snuffle in his sleep and rolled over, mumbling, 'The gerbils! The gerbils!'
Sage just sat there in bed confusedly, then stood up and went to his mirror. Flicking on the light, he began combing his hair. "Stef, huh?" he mused, giving his reflection a big grin and a double gun-snap. "And she thinks I'm cute. Clever girl."
"Sage, she doesn't love me!" Ryo wailed, running by the door, aimed towards his own room down the hall.
"Yeah, I know, man," said Sage, not really hearing him. He stuck his head out of the door and asked behind him, "Hey, where do you know this Stef from? What's she look like? Is she nice?" Sage continued to fire questions into the air at Ryo's shut door long into the night.
The End. Finally.