Jingle All the Way (Extended Cut) - Scene #18 - Showtime (2/2)

Описание: Jamie and Johnny sat on the curb, fidgeting with impatience. They had long since gotten tired of dancing toys and pretty girls riding in the local auto dealers’ best cars. There was only one thing they wanted to see.

Then Liza Tisch’s perky voice crackled out of the PA system. “And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for!” A triple-decker float turned the far corner of the parade route and headed for the reviewing stand. “Here he is, boys and girls—live and in person! TURBO MAN!”

The crowd cheered as the float lumbered forward. Then every kid whooped and yelled, and parents clapped heartily as the hydraulic lift brought the costumed Howard and his fuzzy pink sidekick to the top of the float.

Howard stood frozen in panic, staring at all the cheering people lining the street. Booster nudged Howard with an elbow. “Wave, you idiot! Wave!”

Howard waved at the crowd. The audience responded by doubling their volume. Flashbulbs popped, kids squealed, and grown men raised their fists in happy salute. The intense wave of emotion made Howard tingle. The projected good feelings warmed him, loosened him up, and he started waving in earnest. He spread his legs in a superhero pose and threw out his chest. Now he wanted to look the part.

Down the street, Jamie and Johnny jumped up and down as the float approached. Liz made it through the crowd to stand next to her son. She clapped her hands and added her whistles to the excited clamor.

Howard’s entire world shifted gears. All the manic frustration of the day drained away as he soaked up the adulation of his adoring fans. He was Turbo Man now. People cheered and squealed when he waved directly at them. Overhead, an announcement from the viewing stand added to the frenzy. “Liza,” Gale’s voice bubbled, “in a few moments, Turbo Man himself will select a special child from the audience!”

Not to be outperked, Liza smiled harder and added in her cheeriest voice, “And that child will be the lucky winner of a special edition Turbo Man doll!”

Booster reached into a hidden compartment on the float and took out a Turbo Man doll, and displayed it to the crowds. The winter sunlight reflected off the gleaming doll, whose golden parts were plated with genuine gold. The pink saber-toothed tiger waited until Howard’s cycle of waving brought him around to face his sidekick again. “Here,” Booster said, thrusting the doll at Howard. ”You’re supposed to be holding this!”

“Hello?” yelled Booster. “Wake up! You’re missing all your cues!”

Howard took the doll, staring at it in awe. Then he raised it up over his head to the deafening cheers of the crowd. Howard blew them kisses.

Booster watched Howard’s grandstanding with wonder and scorn. He leaned over and stage-whispered into his ear, “Hey, Rock Star! Better stay on your toes. Dementor’s jumping the float in a couple of blocks.” He waved in the general direction of a tall building up ahead.

The building was crowned with a gigantic metal Christmas tree, the town’s central display. Hundreds of lights and ornaments sparkled and shone. At the base of the tree, out of sight from spectators below, a steel rig anchored a cable that ran from the roof downward to the street. A young stuntman in a Dementor costume checked the rigging and looked at his watch. It was almost time. He hefted the costume’s helmet, but before he could don it, a shadowy figure hit him in the head with one of the oversized ornaments from the tree. The stuntman fell limply to the roof. The attacker dragged the body into the shadows…