Chapter Twenty One

(Hey, y'all!

Fun Fact:

Who Framed Roger Rabbit probably makes itself the first and only film that had Disney and Warner Bros starring together. An idea for that was if two major stars are going to play in the movie, each character needs to have an equal amount of lines. In Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny's each had five lines in the movie.

Anyway, I'm getting to the point of this chapter.

Here are two links for two songs:

watch?v=vt3TBGbHcoU : "I'm A Mean Ole Lion"

watch?v=-agvP3W0JG8 : "If I Only Have The Nerve"

Yes, this continues to get interesting.

Just a few more days until Christmas! I wish y'all an early Merry Christmas!

Enjoy the story and life as it goes!

Keep calm and read and drink hot cocoa or Dr. Pepper!

-imaginarytoon1)

Beatrice:

As TW, Scarecrow, Toto (who was still in my bag), and I continued to walk (with Scarecrow falling down to the ground at a few random times) through the forest, it became real. The trees, a bird that just flew by, the dark dirt on the ground, and the bushes were real. The yellow brick remained as the only thing that looked like it came from Toon Town.

Then after walking at least ten more feet (along with a couple of moments of getting tripped by the ruby sandals), the forest was growing dark. Thankfully, TW spotted a lit rectangular lamp that was hanging on a low branch. Scarecrow and I stopped for a second and waited for TW as he walked to the branch.

TW broke off the branch and the lamp was still attached to it. Almost immediately, TW decided that it was best to have the lamp hanging in front of us because holding the lamp too close wouldn't help us see where we're going. I immediately agreed that it was a good idea.

Right after I said that, a cackling noise was heard in the distance. It wasn't the Witch's cackle…it was more like a wild animal or a strange bird cackling from a faraway distance.

"So, uh," TW began, "Beatrice (Yes, I told him my name and he even told me to call him 'TW'), is there any reason why that witch wanted us to stay away from you?"

"He thinks that the more friends that I make, the more powerful that I will be along with these sandals." I replied. "The Witch really wanted these sandals after his brother died but the sandals, somehow, got on my feet and the Witch really wants to destroy me so that he can have the power."

"That's terrible."

"I know, right?"

Then, a kookaburra-like squawk is heard in the forest.

"What's the first thing that popped into your head when you saw the Witch?" Head Number One asked me nervously.

"To be honest with you, the first thing that popped into my head was this: 'He puts the 'ugh' in 'ugly''!" I replied.

"I have to agree with that thought." TW said.

"Me, too." Head Numbers One and Two replied in unison.

"UUUUUGLY!" Two voices shouted and began to laugh. For some reason, those voices sounded like Shenzi and Banzai from The Lion King.

"Seriously, I do not like this forest." I said. "It's getting really dark and getting too creepy."

More scary noises are heard and a cold wind begins to blow. Goosebumps run up my arms and up and down my spinal column.

TW, Scarecrow, and I stopped suddenly and the four of us glanced around the forest.

"I really hate to say this but…" Head Number Two began. "…I don't know about you but I think that it'll get darker before it gets lighter."

I turned to TW.

"Do you suppose that we'll meet any wild animals in this forest?" I asked.

"I have a feeling that we might." TW replied.

My eyes widened.

"What kind of animals?" Head Number One asked. "Animals that…eat…eat…straw?"

"Animals that eat garbage?" Head Number Two asked.

"We might meet some like that but I think that they're mostly lions and tigers and bears." TW replied.

In my head, I gasped in terror.

"Lions?" I asked.

"And tigers?" Head Numbers One and Two asked in unison.

"And bears." TW finished.

Then, we heard Toto groan, as if he had a headache.

"Lions and tigers and bears? Oh, my!" Toto exclaimed.

Then, slowly, TW, Scarecrow, and I began to walk slowly.

"LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS!" TW, Scarecrow, and I exclaimed in unison.

"Oh, my!" Toto exclaimed.

"LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS!"

"OH, MY!"

As TW, Scarecrow, Toto, and I repeated that, we rapidly began to speed up on everything. We began to speak so fast that our words began to sound like gibberish going in a fast-forward motion and the speed of walking was so fast that I was ahead of the group a little.

"LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS!"

"OH, MY!"

"LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS!"

"OH, MY!"

Then, all of the sudden, something flies out of nowhere and it hits the lamp, causing the tiny flame to go out and leaving TW, Scarecrow, Toto, and I in the dark.

"All right, who did that?!" I exclaimed. "Come on and show yourself!"

An unseen spotlight lights up from somewhere and it points to a tree with claw marks. A stone lion is rolled onto the brick road.

"We were afraid of a stone lion?!" Head Numbers One and Two exclaimed.

Then, a muffled roaring is heard and the stone lion breaks open. Music begins to play as TW, Scarecrow, and I jumped back in fear and surprise.

A lion stands up from the broken pieces of the stone lion and I couldn't believe what I had to see! What I'm seeing right now is a lion with matted light gold fur and a mane that looked like it had a combination of hairstyles from the 1980s, afro, mullet, feathered hair, curtained hair, dreadlocks, quiff, jheri curl, jewfro, and high top fade (Let's just say that I do my research.). The very funny thing was that his face looks like Smarty with a bunch of theater make-up and I wish that I would laugh out loud but right now, it's not a good time because the lion was getting really close to me, TW, and Scarecrow. Yes, Toto, too.

"Say what you wanna,

But I'm here to stay,

'Cause I'm a mean ole lion!" Lion began to sing.

As he continued to sing, TW, Scarecrow, and I split up and we took off running around our own different directions, disappearing into the thick forest of trees.

"You can go where you're gonna,

But don't get in my way!

I'm a mean ole lion!

You'll be standing in a draft!"

Lion begins to spin around and dance.

"If you don't hear me laugh,

And if you happen to come around,

Well, you best not make me frown,

For I just might knock you down!

I'm a mean ole lion!"

As I heard Lion growl and roar, I turned to my left and I was about to cross the yellow brick road when I felt something or someone bump in to me.

"You know I'm ready to fight,

And turn your day into night,

'Cause I'm a mean ole lion!

If you're half bright,

You'll detour to the right,

From a mean ole lion!"

I got back on my feet and Scarecrow did the same. They must've bumped into me after going around in circles.

Since running wasn't going to do any good for Scarecrow and me, we hid behind some of the trees that stood on the sides of the yellow brick road.

"All you strangers better beware!

This is the king of the jungle here!

And if I happen to let you slide,

Don't just stand here!

Run and hide!

You just caught my better side!

I'm a mean ole lion!" The Lion sang with pride.

Scarecrow and I peeked from behind the trees and watched Lion dance around and he began to walk towards us.

"Look,

You better beware!

This is the king of the jungle here!

And if I happen to let you slide,

Don't stand there!

Run and hide!"

TW walks from behind one of the trees and he takes off his hat. He walked towards the Lion and he began to use his hat like a shield. The Lion grabs his tail and uses it like a sword.

"You just caught my better side!"

With one swift push from the tip of the Lion's tail, TW landed on his back.

"I'm a mean ole lion!

I'M A MEAN OLE…LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIION!" The Lion finished and the music ended.

He begins to roar a few times. On the first roar, the Lion looked at Scarecrow, who was trembling in fear. On the second, third, and fourth roar, the Lion looked at me. I had a look of terror on my face. Finally, on the fifth and sixth roar, the Lion looked at TW, who immediately put his hat back on his head and was beginning to grab his axe.

The Lion brings up his fists like he was getting ready to fight.

"Put 'em up, put 'em UUUUUP!" The Lion exclaimed, sounding a lot like Smarty. "Which one of you 'foist'?"

He would aim his eyes at Scarecrow, TW, and then, me as he spoke.

"I'll fight you altogether, if I want!" Lion exclaimed with a frown. "I'll fight you with ONE PAW TIED BEHIND MY BACK!" After he said that, he put his left hand behind his back. "I'll fight you while I STAND ON ONE FOOT!" Lion takes his hand from behind his back and he stood on his right foot. He looks at TW. "I'll fight you WITH MY EYES CLOSED!"

I didn't see Lion close his eyes but a brief pause tells me that he did.

Then, he walks up to TW.

"Oh, pulling an axe on me, eh?" He asked TW.

Lion walks to Scarecrow.

"Sneaking up on me, eh?" He asked Scarecrow. "Why…"

He turns back to TW and he makes a sound that sounds like 'RUFF'.

"Go away and leave us alone." TW said and he looked like he was getting ready to swing his axe.

"Oh, scared, huh? Afraid, huh? How long can you stay fresh in that can?" Lion taunted and laughed. He brings his fists back up. "C'mon, get up and fight, you shivering junkyard!"

Oh, snap. I thought.

Then, Lion turned to the Scarecrow.

"PUT YOUR HANDS UP, YOU…Whatever you are." He said.

Lion begins to think over something to say to Scarecrow. After five seconds, he snapped his fingers.

"Put your hands up, you walking dumpster!" Lion exclaimed.

"Okay, now that's getting personal, Lion." Head Number One said nervously.

"Yeah!" TW exclaimed. "Go ahead and teach him a lesson!"

"Well, what's wrong with YOU teaching him?" Head Number Two asked.

"Well-well-well…I hardly know him." TW replied.

My eyes widened when I heard Toto speak up and crawled out of the bag.

"C'mon, c'mon! You want to fight?! You want a piece of me?!" He exclaimed at the Lion.

The Lion turned to Toto and Toto immediately stops exclaiming his words of action and the look on his face drops from a tough look to a look of terror.

"I'll get you, you little peewee!" The Lion said.

"Uh, I take it back! NEVER MIND!" Toto exclaimed and he began to run towards a tree in front of him.

While Lion chased after Toto, I ran ahead to the tree where Toto was heading. He disappeared into the bushes that were growing by the tree and I reached down and grabbed him. Lion dove into the bushes and I ran away from the tree in fear, hearing him growl and roar. Lion comes out from the bushes and he ran around the tree once and then, he came running towards me.

When Lion got too close to me, I put Toto down and I defensively punched Lion on the nose, releasing all of those bottled up times of being tempted to punch Smarty whenever I feel like it. I'm kind of glad that I got that out my system.

"SHAME ON YOU!" I exclaimed angrily.

Immediately, Lion's eyes were tearing up and he began to cry.

"What did you do that for?" He asked. "I didn't bite him!"

"No, but you tried to. It's bad enough picking on a straw and garbage weasel with two heads and a weasel out of tin, but when you pick on dogs…!"

Scarecrow (while carrying Toto in the bag) and TW walked behind me and they kind of nodded.

"You didn't have to go and hit me, did you?" Lion sobbed and pressed his paw against his nose softly. "Is my nose bleeding?"

My frown softens a little bit.

"No, it's not." I said to Lion.

He continues to sob and he even began to use his tail to dab his eyes.

"My, oh, my, what a fuss you're making!" I said. "Naturally, you're the kind of animal who would go right on ahead and pick on things that are smaller or weaker than you are…but really…you're nothing but a great big coward!"

I know that it wasn't a nice thing to say but I really had to talk some sense into him.

"You're right!" Lion exclaimed. "I am a coward! I don't have any courage at all. I even scare myself."

My frown melted away.

Is this Smarty look-alike for real? I thought.

"Look at the circles under my eyes! I haven't slept in weeks!" Lion exclaimed as he tried to settle down.

"Why don't you try counting sheep?" Head Number Two and TW asked in unison.

"It doesn't help because I'm afraid of them!" Lion replied.

"That's too bad." Head Number One said and he tapped my shoulder. "Don't you think that the Wizard could help him, too?"

TW nodded.

"I believe that the Wizard will help Lion." I said and I patted Lion on his shoulder.

As Lion was calming down, I asked,

"Would you like to come along with us to see the Wizard? He's going to give TW a heart."

"And he's going to give them their own brain." TW said and pointed at Scarecrow.

"I'm sure that the Wizard will give you courage." I said to Lion.

"Wouldn't you feel degraded to be seen in the company of a cowardly lion?" He asked back.

"No, of course, we won't."

Lion took a deep breath and he immediately began to speak normally.

"Gee, that's awfully nice of you. My life has been unbearable." He said.

"Well," I said, "it's all right now. The Wizard'll fix everything."

Lion took another deep breath and said,

"It's been in me…so long…I just got to tell you how I feel."

Then, music begins to play as Scarecrow, TW, Lion, and I began to walk.

"Yeah, it's sad, believe me, missy,

When you're born to be a sissy,

Without the vim and verve." Lion sang.

"But I could show my prowess,

Be a lion not a 'mou-ess',

If I only had the nerve.

I'm afraid there's no denyin',

I'm just a dandelion,

A fate I don't deserve.

I'd be brave as a blizzard…"

"I'd be gentle as a lizard..." TW sang.

"We'd be clever as a gizzard..." Head Numbers One and Two sang in unison.

"If the Wizard is a Wizard who will serve." I sang.

"Then we're sure to get a brain…" Head Numbers One and Two and put their own forefingers on the sides of their head, as if they were thinking about something.

"A heart…" TW sang and made his hands take the shape of two halves of a heart on his chest.

"A home…" I sang and smiled at Lion.

"THE 'NOIVE'!" Lion sang and smiled and crossed his eyes.

I laughed a little bit.

Then, the five of us began to sing as a group,

"Oh, we're off to see the Wizard,

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!

We hear he is a Whiz of a Wiz,

If ever a Wiz there was!

If ever, oh ever, a Wiz there was,

The Wizard of Oz is one because,

Because, because, because, because, because

Because of the wonderful things he does!

We're off to see the wizard,

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz!"

We held the last word for a little bit as we walked down the road and getting closer to some trees with bright light becoming visible.