AUTHOR'S NOTE: The characters cameoing here are trademarked by Universal City Studios; while they may not be Hughes's creations, given the storyline I'd crafted, I couldn't resist bringing them in. Moving on again...
"I just want to say I really appreciated this afternoon, Jeremy," Claire told him with a smile, handing the reins of her horse back off to the attendants at the stables, "I really needed a break from a lot of things today..."
"So did I, really," Jeremy confessed, handing off his horse as well, "You can only imagine how hectic my job can be..."
"I have an idea; whenever my father invited over aides of the candidates he was donating to, I could tell they were always stressed out," Claire rolled her eyes. "You go riding often?" she had to ask him, "You seemed a little uncomfortable on the horse there for a while..."
"No, not really," Jeremy told her, "When you, uh, live in the city, you don't get the chance to do so. How about you?"
"We do have horses at our country estate, but I always ended up riding them alone. It was good to be able to share it with someone for once," her smile returned. The two of them stared awkwardly at each other for a minute before Claire's cell phone buzzed. She rapidly dug it out of her purse. "Already? Uh, I've got to go; my friends are heading for the stage," she told Jeremy, "Say, you want to come along?"
"Love to, Claire, but, uh, no; I've got a few last minute, um, calls to make to a couple of representatives the Speaker wants to get signed on to the next energy bill," Jeremy shook his head.
"Oh. Well, guess I'll see you around," Claire turned to leave, then stopped. "Will I see you again?" she turned and asked him hopefully.
"I think so," it was Jeremy's turn to smile, "If you're staying at the president's hotel, I should be there for the conference that's on the Speaker's schedule for tomorrow morning. After it's done, maybe we could do more together if my schedule and your schedule work."
"Oh good. It was nice meeting you, Jeremy O'Connor," she waved him goodbye.
"Wonderful to meet you, Claire Standish," he returned the wave with a smile of his own. Claire exhaled in relief as she walked away from the stables. "Yeah, he really has potential," she said out loud, delighted, "Maybe I lucked into something good here..."
"I must say, these designs are really impressive, Miss Winters," President Simmons commended Melissa, examining her rocket designs, "Tell you what, if I like what I see from the actual models in action, I'll make sure there's extra NASA money in the next bill. So you'll take care of that, won't you Henry, Bruce?" he asked the congressional leaders across the boat.
"AAAAAACCCCHOOOOOO!" Speaker Begelman sneezed hard, sopping wet and wrapped in a blanket after having been finally fished out of the lake. "See, they agree," the president told Melissa.
"I..I really appreciate it, sir," Melissa beamed, sharing the expression with Brian when he squeezed her hand in excitement, "I've worked long and hard to try and get an outlet for my designs..."
"I'm sure you have. OK, Oscar, it's about time for us to go in and catch some music and a movie," Simmons told the Secret Service agent now back at the wheel. The boat slowly curved back towards the dock at the main marina, where the sounds of the southern rock band now performing at the music festival could already be heard. "Hey, look at all the cops out there," Sloane pointed to the marina parking lot, where dozens of highway patrol cars were parked, "Illinois state police...what are they all doing here...?"
"Oh, I think they've come to see the acts tonight too," Ferris said cryptically; having seen who would be performing tonight, it was no surprise to him that half of Illinois's law enforcement community had shown up.
Wally was waiting for them when the boat slid to a stop back at the dock. "Evening, Mr. President, everyone," he greeted them, pulling the boat's front door open, "How was the...?"
The First Lady rushed past him off the boat in a flash, dove head-first into the sand, and started kissing the ground passionately in relief. "OOOOOOK. Well if..." Wally was cut off again as Speaker Begelman angrily pushed past him. "Something wrong there, Mr. Speaker?" he asked.
"I have never been so humiliated in all my life as I was on this cruise!" the Speaker bellowed, "I've had enough for the night; I'm going back to the hotel!"
"Oh come on, Bruce, we were all just having fun...!" Simmons protested.
"Matt, being dragged all over the damn lake was not even remotely fun!" Begelman shouted at him, "And mark my words: if you let these kids tell you how to run the country," he pointed accusingly at them all, "We're going to fall down a hole we'll never be able to climb out of! Remember that, Matt!"
He stomped off in a rage. "Clearly he could use a day off, am I right, Mr. President?" Ferris asked the leader of the free world.
"I'm starting to wonder, Ferris. You OK, Nancy?" the president bent down to his wife's level.
"Dry land never felt so good!" she gushed, continuing to kiss the sand, "After a wild ride like that...!"
"But it was fun, Nancy, wasn't it?" he gently helped her up. "Wasn't it, Zaid?" he asked the emir.
"I have not had such fun in years," the emir was beaming himself, "I was expecting a stuffy summit, but this is more than...Ahmed," he turned towards a group of his countrymen approaching, "Just the boy I wanted to see. Andrew Clark," he called to the wrestler, "Meet my nephew Ahmed; he is a wrestler too."
"Glad to meet you, Ah-" Andrew turned-and froze, slowly glancing upwards. For Ahmed was at least a head and a half taller than him, and heavily muscled. "Pleasure to meet you, Andrew Clark," Ahmed told him, shaking his hand, "I have been training hard to go to Nairobi for the next Olympic games, and it would be an honor to practice against you."
"Um...uh...um..." was the best Andrew come up with, staring numbly at the emir's nephew's formidable physique.
"How about tomorrow night, after we do whatever we do tomorrow?" the emir posed to the president.
"Sounds good to me, Zaid," Simmons agreed, "Well, come with me, my friend; we have reserved seats for the music and the movie..."
"I'll stay with Ferris and the others, Dad," Natalie told him.
"Sounds good, honey. Keep an eye on her, guys," the president told his daughter's Secret Service detail. He and his wife and the other high government officials led the emir and his nephew off to their seats-leaving a thoroughly stunned Andrew standing frozen in place. "Uh, just remind me, guys," he mumbled softly, sensing everyone else gathering around him, "Did I ever actually say for sure that I agreed to wrestle him?"
"Oh come on, Andy, you can handle him," Melissa encouraged him, "Besides, I've wanted to see you in action since I started hanging with you and the others..."
"In action, yeah, Melissa, but survive it? I don't know..." Andrew shook his head, uncertain, "That guy's a guaranteed gold medal winner; I..."
"Don't worry, Rock, I'm gonna whip you into shape for this fight good!" Ferris declared in his best impersonation of Rocky's trainer Mickey, "When I get done with you, you'll be a greasy fast American tank of destruction!"
"Why am I not encouraged by that, Ferris?" Andrew remained unsure.
"John's here," Sloane pointed across the beach. Indeed, Bender was coming their way. "Evening," he greeted all of them indifferently, "Have fun hanging out with the upper crust?"
"Actually, yeah, and you missed out on a great day, Bender," Cameron remarked with a bit of snobbishness.
"But you can still have fun with us tonight, John," Ferris told him, starting to put an arm around him, but ultimately pulling back when he remembered Bender's threat from earlier in the week, "We'll be going back on stage soon, and we've upgraded the movie to White Tiger-or we will once it's downloaded," he nodded at Natalie, "Sound good to you?"
"Sure, whatever," Bender mumbled, "Movies aren't what they used to be anymore these days."
"Oh come on, Bender, you enjoyed White Tiger when we saw it last month," Andrew pointed out to him.
"Yeah, White Tiger was good, Clark, but it was an anomaly; over ninety-five percent of today's movies aren't worth the film they're on, and I can't understand why people like those that do make money nowadays. Case in point: they have a hack comic dress up like an elf and spend the whole film basically running around acting like a total retard, and we're supposed to find that warm and funny!? If it were up to me, I'd..."
"Claire, over here," Brian was waving now. The rich girl was coming over to their location as well. "Sorry I'm late; just got your message five minutes ago," she told them all, "Sorry I was gone all day..."
"Not as sorry as us. Did Cherry have a good time on her own?" Bender greeted her coolly, prompting Ferris to wince in discomfort.
"Yes, Cherry in fact did," she greeted him just as coolly, "Cherry ended up having a wonderful day, one that somebody I know well missed out on because he chose to throw a fit and..."
"OOOOOKK," Ferris quickly jumped in, "Now that we're all here again, how about we go backstage and get ready?"
"Download starting...now," Natalie hit the Enter button on her laptop backstage, "By the time the last act finishes up, it should be ready to go."
"Including everything else I requested?" Ferris asked.
"Everything; I linked the files so they'd all download together."
"Good, good," Ferris rubbed his hands in delight. He turned towards the stage, where the most recent act was now finishing up. They took their bows and walked off stage in the other direction, to be quickly replaced by the oncoming band for the next act. "Hey wait, I recognize those guys," Brian leaned past Ferris to squint at them, "Aren't they...?"
"Excuse us please, coming through," a familiar voice rang out behind them. Two men were attempting to maneuver through the backstage crowd to the wings-two men dressed very familiarly in black hats, black suits, and sunglasses...
"Jake and Elwood Blues, it is a great honor to see two legends like you," Ferris bustled over to them and shook their hands, "I've been following your careers all my life."
"THE actual Joliet Jake Blues!?" Andrew shook Jake's hand himself, amazed, "I thought you were dead..."
"Yeah, I know, I get that a lot," Jake shook his head in disgust, "People don't realize that just because the guy who..."
"You're Ferris Bueller, aren't you?" Elwood recognized him, "Good to see you're feeling better after it looked like you were dying back in the spring."
"Well, Elwood, you know the power of prayer; it can do wonders if you believe hard enough," Ferris said, once more turning sideways and winking. He glanced down into the crowd, "It looks like your friends in Illinois's law enforcement community got word you were coming..."
"After all this time, they never know when to give up," Elwood shook his head, "Jake and I ain't broken no laws in a while, but they're still all worked up over everything that happened all those years ago."
"The actual Blues Brothers, is it?" Wally walked up and greeted them himself, "It's a great honor for the two of you to grace the lake for us this summer. I felt we needed a big name to give the music festival a boost this year, and you certainly fit the bill."
"Good to know, pal. OK, it's show time, so, briefcase..." Jake grabbed the briefcase lying next to the loudspeakers and handed it to his brother, who locked it into place on his wrist, "...key..." he dug one on a chain out of his pocket, "Go get them," he instructed Wally, who walked briskly towards the microphone at the center of the stage, "AAAAAAAnd...hit it, Murph!" he pointed to the band's keyboardist, who gestured at the other band members before breaking into the familiar tune of "Can't Turn You Loose." "And now, ladies and gentlemen, it's time to introduce our special guests for tonight, two men you may be very well familiar with," Wally announced grandly to the crowd, "Direct from Calumet City, Illinois, graciously appearing here for your listening pleasure as part of their ongoing cross country Keep the Faith tour, won't you give a big North Woods welcome to two legends in their field, two men who live to give you the best of the blues, often imitated but never equaled, the one, the only, the original...!"
"OK, speed it up, buddy; you're going on too long!" Jake shouted impatiently from the wings. Wally gave him a sheepish nod. "Ladies and gentlemen, Joliet Jake and Elwood; the Blues Brothers!" he declared, strutting offstage as the brothers walked confidently on. Ferris applauded hard. "It's great to be able to see these guys in concert, am I right?" he asked the rest of his group.
"For once, we can agree, Bueller; I love everything these guys have done for Chicago," Bender applauded Jake and Elwood himself, "A hundred and seventeen cop cars totaled, half of Chicago's officials forced to resign in embarrassment after they wrecked half the city, the..."
"Yeah, I know, you just love anyone who can stick it the authority figures," Claire muttered from the back of the crowd, "You proved that real well already this morning..."
"Shh, shh, here we go," Ferris waved them off, not wanting the argument to go any further anyway. On stage, Jake raised his hand high and barked into the microphone, "One, two, one, two, three, four!" The band cranked into the familiar first song of the set. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, we're so glad to be in here in the North Woods tonight to perform at the Lake Olafsson Summer Music Festival," Elwood greeted the crowd, "We'd of course like to say hello to tonight's special guests, America's First Family, the Simmonses, and their special guest the Emir of Kuwait, who have chosen to come here tonight," he pointed to them in the audience, "In all our time traveling across this great land of ours, we've come to see people of all walks of life, and we've come to see that no matter what your creed or faith, we're all the same people under God-or Allah, or Yahweh or whatever higher being you may believe in. And we believe that music, good music, is one unifying factor of all types of people, that no matter how much we can disagree on..."
"Elwood, you're going on too long too; time to start the show!" Jake muttered loud enough in his ear to be heard out loud over the microphones. Elwood shrugged apologetically. "Take it away, Jake," he gestured at his brother.
"Comin' to ya, on a dusty road, good lovin', I got a truck load...!" Jake belted out the opening lyrics to his first song, his voice still strong after all these years. "He's really still got it," Cameron agreed from the wings, leaning past Ferris for a closer look. "And for all the damage they've caused to property and cop cars," he shot Bender a glare, "I've heard they've donated heavily to charity over the years too."
"Same thing I heard, Cam, that they really have reformed themselves. So, we're in extra luck the president's here," Ferris glanced out to his benefactor in the crowd, "Because I now have another idea..."
"So these good enough for you, Chief?" Rooney asked O'Donoghue back in the militant leader's new cabin headquarters.
"I guess some of these may come in handy," O'Donoghue mumbled, scanning through the photos on the camera, "If we have to make a quick strike, we can look at these beforehand to know the fastest ways in and out of the attack point..."
"Good, then, I guess we'll be on our way..." Vernon started for the door.
"No one's leaving!" O'Donoghue hefted his M1 at the former superintendent, "I'm not taking any chances this mission to free America gets blown by loose lips!"
"Look pal, I haven't had a good meal in two days; I'm starving!" Vernon complained.
"There's canned beans in the ration kits; help yourself," the militant leader told him off. "Gaylord, how's it coming with those bombs!?" he shouted up to one of his men in the upstairs bedrooms.
"One done, another on the way, Hank," Gaylord called down.
"How much longer till the high grade explosives get here!?"
"Probably tomorrow night if they don't hit any snags."
"OK, tomorrow night might work," O'Donoghue paced in a tight circle, "As long as some big national emergency doesn't spring up, Simmons should still be here by then. We need to..."
His radio on the table buzzed. "Hank, it's Ernest, come in," came the voice of another militant over the airwaves.
"I'm here, what've you got?" O'Donoghue picked it up, "Why haven't I heard from you all day...!?"
"I was stuck being supervised down in the hotel laundry room all day; this is the first time I could break away. Hank, I just managed to get a glimpse of the president's schedule; he should be at the music festival right now."
"And did you get a copy of it!?"
"Sure did."
"Excellent. OK, I'll see if there's anything we can do here. Be ever vigilant," O'Donoghue signed off. He rushed outside. "Earl, Simmons is at the music festival; see if you can spot him!" he shouted to one of his men atop one of several sniper nests his command had constructed in the trees near the cabin during the day.
"Give me a minute," Earl called down. Two minutes later, he added, "Think I can make him out, Hank, but I'm not sure if I can get a clear shot."
"If you think you can, let me know, then take it!" O'Donoghue ordered him. He leaned against the tree, not looking at Vernon and Rooney as they came out of the cabin and stared up at the sniper's nests. "What did you get us into, Ed!?" the former mumbled under his breath.
"Just keep telling yourself, 'John Bender ruined my life, John Bender ruined my life,' Richard; this is worth it. And let's keep an ear out," Rooney leaned his head in the direction of the lake, "If there's a party going on, Ferris is bound to be there. And it would only take one good shot to finish him too..."
"...I need you, you, you, in the morning, well my soul's on fire! When there ain't no one around, I need you, you, you; I need you!" Jake emphatically finished the fifth song of his set to a major applause. Ferris added his own applause from the wings with the others. Figuring that the time was right for his idea, he walked out to the center of the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen, wasn't that just wonderful?" he asked the crowd, who cheered again. "I thought so too. Well, no doubt you've followed Jake and Elwood's careers all this time," he told everyone, "And even though they've been known to sometimes stretch the law to their advantage, they have done lots of good for so many people. Most notably, of course, keeping the orphanage they grew up in open. But over the years, they've also committed numerous other acts of kindness to the disadvantaged in the Chicago area and beyond on their ongoing mission from God. Whatever crimes they've committed, I think they've more than made up for them. So, Mr. President, how about an official pardon for Jake and Elwood here?" he posed to the nation's leader.
All eyes turned to Simmons as he gestured for a microphone back in the crowd. "Jacob E. Blues, Elwood J. Blues, by the power vested in me as president of the United States of America, I hereby grant you both pardons for any and all crimes you may have committed," he declared.
The crowd cheered again-although this was counterbalanced by clear angry shouts from the state troopers in the back of the crowd. "Hey, thanks, kid," Jake commended Ferris, patting him on the back, "You're all right."
"Glad to assist two men on an ongoing mission from God any way I can," Ferris told him with a smile, "Just try and stay out of trouble going forward..."
"Can't promise, but we'll try," Jake raised an eyebrow at him.
"Tell you what, guys, before you go, my friends and I wouldn't mind jamming with you for one last song," Ferris told them, waving the other teens out on stage, "What I have in mind isn't exactly a blues number, but if you could play it..."
"Kid, we may be the Blues Brothers, but we can play anything: jazz, acid, country, western, you name it," Jake told him, lowering his sunglasses to look Ferris right in the eye, "What've you got in mind?"
Ferris pulled both brothers close and whispered his request to them. Jake and Elwood nodded in agreement, then turned and mouthed the request to the band. "OK, we're going to do one last number here, everyone, and I think you'll know this one," Elwood told the crowd, "Feel free to get up and sing along with us, because like we said earlier, music can bring us as together as a country, and as humanity."
"One, two, one, two, three, four!" Jake shouted out for the band to kick into the song. The moment the familiar tune rose up, a majority of the crowd started cheering excitedly. "Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world," Jake belted out the opening line, "She took the midnight train going anywhere..."
"Just a city boy," Elwood joined in, "born and raised in south Detroit. He took the midnight train going anywhere..."
"And best wishes to you too, Tony Soprano, wherever you are," Ferris couldn't helping declaring out loud. He glanced down into the crowd during the ensuing bridge. "Looks like the Illinois Highway Patrol isn't too happy you guys just got your pardons," he whispered to the brothers, gesturing at swarms of angry-looking state troopers pushing their way through the now jumping and dancing crowd towards the stage with shotguns in hand.
"Can't blame them; they've been chasing after us for years, and now they can't do it anymore," Jake mused, "Elwood, can you get it in place to get us out of here by the time the song ends?" he hissed to his brother.
"Will do, Jake," Elwood started digging around in his pocket, dancing aside to let Ferris slide up to the center microphone and continue the song: "A singer in a smoky room; the smell of wine and cheap perfume. For a smile, they can share the night; it goes on and on...you all know the lyrics, everyone; hit it!"
"Strangers waiting up and down the boulevard; their shadows searching in the night!" the crowd happily sang along with everyone on stage, "Streetlight people living just to find emotion, hiding somewhere in the night!"
"You got it!" Ferris commended them. "Great isn't it, Cameron, being able to perform with these two legends live in person?" he danced backwards to ask his best friend behind him.
"Actually, yeah, Ferris," Cameron managed a grin, "If I'd stayed home, I'd never have this experience."
"There, you're getting a lot better," Ferris glanced back out at the approaching cops in the audience, "Tell Natalie to have her security detail block the stage to those guys so Jake and Elwood can get out of here, and make it look natural...I'm on again," he slid back forward. "Working hard to get my fill," he continued the song, "Everybody wants a thrill, paying anything to roll the dice," he mimed doing so, "just one more time..."
"Some will win, some will lose, some were born to sing the blues," Jake and Elwood pointed at each other and high fived, "Oh the movie never ends; it goes on and on and on and on...!"
"Come on, Mr. President, get on up, I don't see you dancing with everyone else!" Ferris called out to the nation's leader. Simmons did indeed stand up at this point, dragging his visibly reluctantly wife to her feet, and then the other notable government officials in his area as well. Ferris now turned his attention to his right, where Elwood had pulled a small remote control out of his pocket while dancing across the stage. The taller Blues Brother pressed a large red button on it, then twisted a small wheel rapidly. "So you've actually got it on remote control now?" Ferris asked after cartwheeling over to him.
"They really messed up that second movie they made on us, but it wasn't a total loss for Jake and me, as it gave me this idea for quick escapes," Elwood explained, "I just hope I parked close enough to the stage..."
"Just keep the refrain going until it's in place. I bought you some time too," Ferris gestured down below, where Secret Service men now stood in the state troopers' way on both sides of the stage. Shouting angrily, the cops were still trying to push past them, but the agents were holding firm for the moment. "Front and center everyone, all together, here we go!" Ferris called to the other teens, who rushed forward to join him and the Blues Brothers for the big finish: "Don't stop believing; hold on to that feeling! Street lights, peeoplllllllle...!"
"You hear him!? That's Ferris for sure!" Rooney shouted to Vernon, pointing through the trees at the lake. Vernon leaned his own head toward the lake. "I think you're right, Ed, that's Bueller..." he mused.
"You, give me that!" Rooney grabbed the rifle off the passing Moose and scrambled up the ladder to the sniper platform on the tree next to Earl's. "Move over, you; this is personal!" he shoved the militant standing watch on the platform aside and scanned the lake. "Where are, you little...aha," he grinned darkly; even at a distance, it was clearly Ferris on the stage, dancing with the main act. "OK, Ferris, game over," he snarled, taking aim at the stage and putting Ferris's figure right in the gun's crosshairs. He reached for the trigger...
...but it was then that the band's saxophone player strode forward right in front of Ferris, ruining the shot. "No, no, get out of the way, you jackass!" Rooney muttered under his breath. The saxophonist, however, remained in place, and Ferris was completely blocked behind him.
"Hank, I think I've got a shot!" Earl called down to his commander excitedly in the adjoining tree.
"If you've got it, take it!" O'Donoghue shouted back up just as excitedly. Rooney, who had turned sideways at the sound of the conversation, turned back to see Ferris had moved into the clear again in the center of the stage. "Time to say good night, Ferris," he growled, reaching for the trigger again...
...but paused when he heard a gnawing sound from the ground below. He glanced over the side of the platform to see a trio of beavers eating away at his tree, which now started to sway dangerously. "No, no, get out of here you oversized rodents!" Rooney shouted at them, waving his arms frantically at them. He aimed the gun downwards, but it was too late; with a loud cracking sound, the tree toppled sideways, taking a now screaming Rooney with it-or at least it took him partway down before it brushed by Earl's tree, which Rooney was slammed hard into. Moaning, he slid very slowly down its trunk to the ground. The falling tree, meanwhile, smashed one of its branches into Earl's head seconds before he could pull the trigger on the president. The impact sent him flying out of the tree to the ground with a loud thud. "Damn it!" an enraged O'Donoghue ranted, kicking the fallen tree where it had landed, "We had him, we could have had him! Get out of here!" he roared at the beavers, cocking his M1 and taking aim at them. "Hank, Hank, no, you'll give us away!" Earl grabbed his arm before he could fire, "We'll get another shot!"
"All right. Pick him up!" O'Donoghue pointed contemptuously at Rooney, storming back into the cabin. Vernon helped the groaning Rooney up first. "Feeling all right, Ed?" he asked him.
"I just fell off a damn tree, Richard, how do you think I feel!?" Rooney growled at him, stumbling around dazedly, "I had him, I had him right in the crosshairs...come on," he dragged Vernon back towards the cabin as well, "Maybe we can peruse one of their bombs and sneak into the hotel, have their inside man take care of them...!"
"Don't stop believing; hold on to that feeellliiiingg...!" Ferris continued the refrain with the Blues Brothers on stage, putting his hands on their shoulders and posing for Sloane, who took their picture with her phone. He turned to the right to see a familiar black and white police car with a massive loudspeaker on the roof being remotely maneuvered into position in front of the stage. "Well, good luck, guys," he commended Jake and Elwood, "Nice to be able to jam with you."
"Good luck to you, Ferris Bueller," Elwood commended him. He stopped the Bluesmobile directly in front of Jake and himself, then pulled a trigger on the remote control to open the front doors. "Don't stop believing!" he and Jake belted out the refrain one final time before diving off the stage into the Bluesmobile and burning rubber in a flash. Shouting angry obscenities, the cops forced their way past the Secret Service agents and opened fire on the former police car, but all of them failed to hit it. They rushed for their cruisers, and soon the air was thick with the sounds of sirens roaring. "You think they'll be all right?" Sloane asked, leaning over Ferris's shoulder.
"They'll never get caught," Ferris grinned, "They're still on a mission from God. Now, I wonder how many cops' watches are going to get broken before this night's over?"
No one had an answer to that. Ferris checked his watch. "OK, get ready to roll it," he told Natalie, who bustled off stage towards her laptop. "All right, Lake Olafsson, we hope you liked that special performance," he told the crowd, "Now it's time for a movie. According to our schedule, we were going to see a French film tonight, but unfortunately, that did not arrive in time. So, instead, I've got a better cinematic experience for your pleasure this evening. Who all saw White Tiger in theaters this summer?"
A loud cheer rose up. "I did too, and I loved it as much as you did as well," Ferris told them, "So, since you're all a great crowd, we're going to show it to you again-and, to make the experience even better, we'll begin with the one thing that makes every movie epic, and that is of course the most thrilling seventy seconds in the history of television, digitally remastered for an optimum viewing experience. So sit back and relax, Lake Olafsson, it's movie time!" he gestured grandly to Natalie, who hit the Enter button on the laptop. The crowd broke into a louder cheer as a familiar cloudbank appeared on the large movie screen behind the stage, one that quickly dissolved into an equally familiar miniature city. "You were able to get this as well as the movie, Ferris?" an amazed Claire whispered in his ear.
"And pyrotechnics too, Claire my fair," Ferris informed her, clapping his hands over his head to get the crowd clapping as well, "And popcorn and other refreshments for everyone else. If we were going to watch a movie, I figured it only right to make it a truly immersive experience for everyone...are you ready!?" he asked the crowd, noticing the camera zooming up into outer space on the screen. They cheered in delight again. "HERE...WE...GO!" Ferris reared his arm back and thrust it at the screen at the exact moment the star gate exploded open and the HBO starship began its flight towards the foreground. "Anyone who has a fantasy, come with me, come with me!" he crooned out lyrics to the footage, "We're crossing over to a place and time, it's a place you'll find, hidden deep in your mind...and if you're wondering, folks," he looked over his shoulder again, "These in fact ARE the theme's actual lyrics. So the more you know..."
"What are you going on about with that, Bueller!?" a frowning Bender glared at him.
"Like I said, John, you probably wouldn't understand. And for the big finish...!" Ferris thrust his arm skyward at the exact moment fireworks were set off and exploded overhead in conjunction with the end of the opening. "The following movie has been rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America," he also rambled off the words on the vintage rating screen they'd attached to the feature, "Some material may be inappropriate for young children. Parents may wish to consider whether it should be viewed by those under thirteen. And so, let's enjoy the film!" he waved the other teens to the side of the stage, where folding chairs and popcorn were waiting for them. "Well, nothing much left to see in this chapter, everyone," he glanced backwards again, "Might as well go on to the next one..."