"The Johnny Bravo Picture Show"

As I was running down the sidewalk, something was going on a few blocks away. One of the houses was the residence of Johnny Bravo. On this night, he had planned to watch a bunch of scary movies that he had rented at the video store earlier that day. However, his Momma was unamused.

"Johnny, those movies will give you nightmares!" cried Johnny's mother, as she watched Johnny pop himself a bag of popcorn.

"Nonsense, Momma," argued Johnny, as he watched the bag of popcorn spin around slowly in the microwave. "Those movies are nothing but a bunch of sap-headed actors in bad costumes and fake blood. They don't scare me. Nothing scares me!"

At that moment, a rogue popcorn kernel knocked against the microwave door, causing it to open. Popcorn kernels started flying out of the microwave and into Johnny's face.

"AAAAUUUGH!! KILLER POPCORN!!" yelled Johnny and tried desperately to get them out of his greased hair.

Johnny's mother sighed with dismay. "Well, I don't know..."

"Aww, Momma, I've been waiting all week for this. I promise I'll go to bed after the third or fourth one, okay?"

"Well, alright," she said, finally giving in. "But don't leave the light on again, okay?"

"Okay, Momma," said Johnny as he watched her go upstairs. "Momma doesn't think I'm man enough to watch a few scary movies," Johnny pouted to himself. "Well I'll show her." As he said that, one final popcorn kernel flew out of the microwave and landed in Johnny's ear.

"AAUGH!! It's trying to eat my brain!! Get it out!! Get it out!!"

Five minutes later, Johnny popped the first scary movie into the VCR and sat down in front of the TV with his bag of popcorn. The first movie was called "Attack of the Devil-Demons." As Johnny sat watching the screen with wide eyes (behind his sunglasses of course), the first scene was playing. A few people had just gotten lost during a hiking trip, and they were trying to find their way back. Just then, a mysterious smoke started floating through the forest. Then, a red glow illuminated the woods. Finally, the hikers gasped in horror as large demon with big, glowing green eyes appeared with a large, flat knife! He was standing next to a large pit filled with flames! Then, he ran to the terrified hikers, raised the knife, and let it fall, just as the movie's title appeared.

Johnny finally remembered to breathe at this point, and he let in a mighty gasp of air. He was already shaken up by that scene, and he hoped that it was the only scary scene in the film.

It was at around this time that I showed up. I stopped on the sidewalk to catch my breath, and I happened to glance in the window of the house I stood in front of. Silhouetted against a TV screen, I saw the unmistakable outline of Johnny Bravo. I ran towards the window. If he saw me, maybe I could spend the night here! I peered into the window and saw Johnny staring transfixed at the screen. To get his attention, I pounded on the window with my fist.

Johnny leaped into the air, crying out in that high-pitched shriek he does sometimes. His mother came running down the stairs with a robe on and curlers in her hair.

"Johnny," she scolded. "Didn't I tell you those movies would scare you?"

"N-No, Momma," said Johnny shakily. "There was someone outside the window. Looking in at me!"

By now, I had found the doorbell and rung it.

"Oh, Johnny, it's just someone at the door." She walked to the door and opened it. There I stood, a lonely teen looking as pathetic as a lost teen could look.

"Can I help you, sir?" she asked.

"Um, excuse me, ma'am, but I seem to be a little lost, could I stay here for a few hours to catch my breath? I've been walking all day." Part of this was true, at least.

"Oh, you poor dear! Come right on in!" said Johnny's mother, sympathetically.

"Who was at the door, Momma? Was it a devil-demon?" asked Johnny behind a pillow.

"No, Johnny. Just a kind stranger who'd like to rest a bit. Um, what did you say your name was?"

"Jonathan," I said.

"What! You mean some Nobody is responsible for scaring me half to death?!" exclaimed Johnny.

"Johnny! Where are your manners?" demanded his mother.

"Sorry, Momma," reiterated Johnny. "Make yourself at home, Jonathan."

"Thank you," I said. I turned to Johnny's mother. "I'm actually a little hungry. Could you order me some food?"

"Yeah, we're all out of popcorn," said Johnny, who showed his mother the empty popcorn bag.

"Certainly, boys," she said. "And I know just the person to call." She ran into the kitchen and dialed a phone number.

As I went to the bathroom, Johnny was about to unpause the film, when another film caught his eye. "The Stranger," said Johnny as he read the title. Johnny began reading the back of the box. "Friendly stranger.....invited into home....turns out to be.....a bloodthirsty killer who butchers the ones who live in the home??!! (Gasp) OH-NO!!! Momma and I are in danger! We've got to get out of here before..."

"Hi, Johnny," I said as I returned from the bathroom.

"AAUGH!!! Get back! I have...uh..." Johnny quickly looked around for a weapon and grabbed a pillow. "I have a pillow!"

"Johnny!" shouted his mother, who was returning from the kitchen. "What's wrong now?"

"Get out, Momma! Save yourself! This man is going to kill us all!"

"What??!!" exclaimed Johnny's mother.

"No I'm not," I explained. "I'm just...." Just then, my eyes fell on the TV. "Hey! Are you watching horror flicks? I love these films!"

"Really?" said Johnny. He quickly unpaused the film. "In that case, you're gonna love this next scene!"

Johnny Bravo's mother breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't forget boys! The food will be here in a short while!"

"Sure, Momma!" cried out Johnny, his eyes glued to the TV. His momma walked upstairs.

Johnny turned to me. "Hey, uh, sorry I thought you were a bloodthirsty killer," said Johnny.

"No problem," I said. "I get that all the time."

We watched the movie for a while. Then, I heard something outside.

"Did you hear that?" I asked Johnny.

"Hear what?"

"It came from outside!" I pointed towards the front door.

"Aw, cut it out, Jonathan," said Johnny.

Suddenly, a few knocks on the door made Johnny Bravo and me jump. Johnny started freaking out, but I said, "It's probably the pizza that your Momma ordered for us."

"Pizza! Oh boy!" said Johnny. He quickly got to feet, ran to the door, and flung it wide open.

Johnny's jaw unhinged itself as he screamed, "Not you! AAUGH!!!"

"Who?!! Who is it?!!" I cried out.

"The scariest person imaginable!" yelled Johnny as he stepped back to reveal......

Carl.

"Hey, Johnny," Carl said in an annoyingly nasal voice.

"Carl!" said Johnny in an angry voice. "What in the world are you doing here?"

"Don't you remember? You told me you were having a scary movie festival at your house tonight, so here I am!"

"Carl, even if I did invite you, I must've been mistaken. I alone am watching these movies!" declared Johnny.

"Oh yeah? Then who's that?" Carl pointed at me.

"Oh, that's Jonathan. He's some wandering weirdo that stopped by to watch movies with me."

"Well, if he can watch movies, then I can too!" Before Johnny could stop him, Carl entered the house and introduced himself to me. A moment later, the three of us were watching the devil-demon movie. Johnny agreed to let Carl stay "as long as he kept quiet."

An hour later, the movie ended. It was a terrible movie, in my opinion, but Carl and Johnny seemed to be pretty spooked by it.

"Did you see the way those demons exploded at the end?" asked Carl in a shaky voice.

"Yeah. Still it's only a m-movie," answered Johnny.

"Hey!" I said. "Carl didn't see the first scene!" So we rewound the tape and played the first scene for Carl again....the one with the hikers. Then we stopped.

"Guys?" asked Carl. He seemed really terrified for some reason. "Do you think something like that could happen in real life?"

"No," I sighed. "Why?"

"Cause you might want to look out the window!"

I looked and my eyes widened with amazement. "Wow! How did it get so foggy?"

Outside, a wispy mist was flowing by the windows. As I walked toward the window, Carl said, "That's not fog."

That's when I smelled it. It smelled like something was on fire. I realized that the misty cloud outside wasn't fog.

It was smoke.

"Just like in the first scene of the movie," said Johnny with fear in his voice. "The hikers encountered a thick blanket of smoke in the forest!"

"C'mon, guys," I argued. "It's probably just some neighbor's chimney, or a car exhaust. That's all."

As soon as I finished saying that, a red-orange glow leaked through the window. I had made the mistake of turning off the TV, the only light in the room, so this strange reddish light illuminated the living room like a jack-o-lantern.

"Oh no!" shouted Carl.

"The demonic red glow! Just like in the..."

"Will you guys cut it out??!!" I bellowed. "This movie is going to your heads! This light is probably from a car out on the street. Look, I'll prove it to you." With that, I got to my feet and began to open the front door.

"NO!! Don't open it!!!" yelled Carl and Johnny, but they were too late. All three of us gasped as we saw what lay before us.

In the front yard was a large black device that looked like an incinerator pit or something. Fiery flames were shooting out of the top! But standing next to it was a horrible, fat demon with glowing green eyes!!! He had a long machete in his hand and he was laughing demonically.

Carl, Johnny, and I were screaming demonically, grabbing onto each other like it was the end of the world. We probably would've screamed all night if Momma Bravo didn't come down to the front door at that moment.

"Is the food here, boys?" she asked. At the same time, she turned on the porch light.

We stopped screaming. The porch light had shed a little light on our "demon."

"Pops!" cried Johnny.

It was Pops, the proprietor of Pop's Diner. He was standing next to a giant catering grill. That was where the fire and smoke was coming from. Hamburger patties were being cooked over a mass of flames. The "machete" was actually a spatula. Pops was also wearing strange glowing goggles for some reason.

Carl seemed pleased upon seeing us. "Hello, Johnny! Carl! Some other guy!" (Me, of course.)

"Pops!" shouted Johnny. We quickly let go of each other. "What is all this?"

"Ahh, Johnny, this is my new catering service! Appeal to the masses, I always say. Johnny's mother called me and said you guys needed food, so here I am. I've been secretly catering to the good people of this city for a week now, and I'm now making my public debut!"

"Wiggy!" said Johnny.

"But why are you wearing those funny glasses?" asked Carl.

"Oh! You mean my night-vision goggles?" Pops took them off his head. "It's so I can see what I'm cooking in the dark."

Since the flames provided some light, I felt that the idea was pointless. But I didn't bring that up.

"Hey, everybody!" said a small girl with her mouth full. It was Susie, the annoying red-headed girl who lived next door. "This catering service will put Pop's Diner on the map, right Pops?"

"You said it, little lady. Anybody want a burger?"

So Johnny, Momma, and Carl each got a hamburger.

"You want one, buddy?" Pops asked me.

"No thanks," I said. "I've had enough excitement for one night. In fact, I'm thinking about heading out of here right about now."

"Are you sure you can't spend the night here?" asked Johnny's mother.

"Sorry, ma'am, but I'm on a mission to get back home. A wanderer like me can't depend on the kind hospitality of others. A true wanderer must sleep under the stars, y'know? Live life on my own, like a loner. A renegade. A rebel."

Everyone just stared at me.

"Well, at least have a burger before you go," said Pops, who quickly offered me a hamburger.

"No thanks. The food I eat must....um.....you have some condiments I could put on it?"

So I left Johnny Bravo's house chewing on a hamburger with everything on it. I scarfed down the whole thing in no time. I knew Johnny was a bit of a doofus, being so scared over something like what had just happened, but that's what made him funny. In fact, Carl and I were scared as well. I thought to myself, "Y'know? I'm a funny guy! I could get used to being a cartoon character!"

But then I remembered that I had no family here. I had to go on until I found someone who could take me back to my own world.

The burger was beginning to make me incredibly sleepy. Without knowing what I was doing, I walked onto someone's lawn, lay down under an enormous tree, and fell right to sleep.

(Why was that tree so huge? Find out in the next thrilling chapter, "Mission Objective: S.T.R.A.N.G.E.R. Featuring the Kids Next Door.)