Love's Reunion 31 - Preparin' for a Pummelin'

ORLANDO:        (To the Goldenbabes) Yo, ladies! Please set up the stage for the tug-o’-war! Haw-haw!

Some of the Goldenbabes push the Wheel of Destiny and the lectern to one side. They are on wheels, so are easy to manoeuvre. Orlando follows them. A pair of Goldenbabes then emerge from round the back of the stage and then head up onto it via the steps. They are carrying a very thick rope made up of multiple thick threads. It is a cream colour with a few maroon threads running through it. Each girl stands at either end of the stage so that the rope goes across the length of it, and we can see that it is extremely long. In the middle of the rope is a handkerchief-sized piece of cloth knitted on tightly to the rope. It is decorated with a picture of Orlando and Sakura’s grinning faces, above the Orlando & Sakura Games logo. A chav to the side of the stage pulls a big lever attached to its side, and suddenly a section of the stage floor slides back to reveal a thick white line (like that on a football pitch) that goes along the centre of the stage, from the front to the back, effectively splitting it in half. Orlando and Sakura make their way to the centre of the stage, standing on the white line.

SAKURA:          The first game of the Orlando & Sakura Games, the tug-o’-war, is ready to play! Challengers and Champion, please prepare yourselves!

A pair of Goldenbabes usher Satoru and Ali over to the left-hand side of the stage, while Chuck remains on the right. One of them hands the boys the end of rope, which they gingerly take hold of. We then see Chuck grab hold of his end of the rope from another Goldenbabe, putting it in his mouth and gnawing on it menacingly. The crowd are still cheering wildly. Orlando and Sakura walk over to the lectern on the far left-hand side. The music fades away and is replaced by ‘Board Party’ from Mario Party 6.

ORLANDO:        (Enthusiastically) Haw-haw! Looks like we’re ready! The rules are, like, totally simple!

SAKURA:          (Also enthusiastically) Mm-hmm! That’s right! All a contestant needs to do to win the round is to pull the rope so that the whole length of the handkerchief featuring the delightful Orlando & Sakura Games logo, which is attached to the middle, crosses the white line on the floor of the stage for more than ten seconds! That’s it!

We briefly zoom into the middle of the rope again before cutting back to Orlando and Sakura.

ORLANDO:        Haw-haw! That’s, like, totally all there is to it! You don’t need brains for this game – only pure brawn! Haw-haw!

The crowd cheer. Chuck stomps on the ground and slaps his thighs, roaring in confidence, whipping the crowd into a frenzy.

ALI:                 (Fearfully and quietly, to Satoru) You were right, Satoru! Look at how the odds are stacked against us! All these challenges are going to favour Chuck, aren’t they? They’re just using us as stooges in their plan to get re-elected! How on Earth did we get into this mess?

SATORU:          (Grimly and quietly, to Ali) I know… I can’t believe it! We’re going to be humiliated in front of the whole school and beaten up just so that Orlando and Sakura can retain their popularity! But I still don’t understand… if this was really just about defending Chuck and the fact he stole Jimmy’s KollektorKwestKardz, why didn’t they just get him to beat us up straight away?

ALI:                 You said it yourself, didn’t you? It’s so that they could launch this whole game show thing and their Head Boy and Girl campaign.

SATORU:          (Thoughtfully) I know, but the way they did it… it was so… spur-of-the-moment, wasn’t it? I mean, Orlando didn’t even realise what was going on at first…

The music quickly fades away. We hear a ‘SWOOSH!’ noise as the screen briefly turns white. We then see a flashback of the scene from earlier when Sakura turned the tables on Satoru and Ali. The edges of the screen are fuzzy and the colours are slightly saturated.

SAKURA:          (Smiling; quietly, to Orlando) Hmph. I’m surprised you can’t see where I’m going with this. Don’t you remember what we practised?

ORLANDO:        (Confused) Haw-haw! ... Er... like... no?

The screen then turns white again briefly with another ‘SWOOSH!’, before we return from the flashback to Satoru and Ali nervously holding the rope on the stage. The music restarts.

ALI:                (Puzzled) Oh yeah. Sakura seemed to be the only one who knew what was going on. But they must have planned this whole thing out in advance, though, right? It’s way too complex for them to make up on the spot.

SATORU:          (Scratching his chin) Yeah, there’s no doubt about that. They must have been waiting for the right moment to launch it.

ALI:                 But why now…? It still doesn’t explain why they didn’t just get Chuck to beat us up. What made this little incident with Jimmy’s KollektorKwestKardz the right time? Chuck nicks stuff off people all the time.

SATORU:          (Resolutely) Exactly. There must be something different this time, which made Sakura decide that this was the right moment… but why…?

We pause for a second as Satoru ponders the question. We then cut to Sakura, who is addressing the audience excitedly.

SAKURA:           Let’s start the countdown! 10… 9… 8…

We then cut back to Satoru and Ali, who are still talking between themselves as the audience join in with Sakura’s countdown.

ALI:                  (Panicking) Ack! We can work the rest out later! Let’s give this our best shot – we’ve got to at least try to protect ourselves and our dignity!

The music slowly fades away as Satoru begins to speak.

SATORU:           (Spurred into action) Right! Let’s do this! (We cut to a view of Orlando, Sakura and Chuck looking arrogant) Let’s show that lot we’re no pushovers… (We cut to the crowd and see Jimmy cheering on Satoru and Ali) … let’s show Jimmy we’re his friends… (We then cut to Satoru’s viewpoint and see Natsumi standing awkwardly and obliviously to the side) … and I’m going to show Natsumi that I’m not just a loser!