Ridiculust Ch. 18

"Wow, this is the best concert ever!" said Ellen as the Purple Chimps gathered to the side of the concession stand after they had all had a chance to visit the potties. They all had bottles of water to relieve parched throats and were also doing various stretches to work out the kinks. Pat and Anna were shamelessly ogling each other in the process, to the snickering amusement of the others.

"And the hits on our website have gone through the roof," Ned added as he checked his oversized cell phone.

"How are we doing?" Louisa inquired as Debbie, Joe, Sarah, John, and Jeannie came down the steps on their way to the refreshments. "How close are we to the big bang?"

"You guys have been rocking the house down!" enthused John. "I think that we're very close, maybe two or three more songs at most."

"That's good, because three songs are what's left on the play list," said Brian dryly as they moved on. "I can feel and even see what they are doing, but have no idea how they're doing it."

"I'm not sure if they know either," Sadie replied. "Poor Roger there looks like he's about to fall over." They could see that his eyes were closed and he had a smile on his face.

"So, we close with 'The Lady in Red'," said Arthur, groaning slightly as Brian expertly massaged the stiff muscles in his shoulders and neck, "and have 'The Rose' in the middle and open with 'Boogie in the Bayou'?" The others nodded and murmured in agreement. They were also beginning to feel tired and figured that three songs were about all they could handle anyway. As the band members broke up to get refreshments and use the port-a-potties, Pat casually wandered up to Brian and quietly asked,

"Hey Brian, would you do me a favour?" He had to speak up to be heard over the background noise. Brian looked up from his phone and was not fooled by Pat's attempt at a nonchalant expression.

"You want me to do a little magic on someone?" he smirked. At his rather annoyed expression, he added, "You're an amazing singer, but your acting skills would need a lot of work, if you had any."

"Oh fine," he sighed, clearly nervous. "Would you be able to turn Anna's clothes red when I make a signal during 'The Lady in Red'? I, uh, want her to be a part of it. The song doesn't have much of a drum component anyway." Brian thought for a few moments and grinned. They waved at Roger who was wandering by with a large cup of coffee, and he smiled at them and waved back as he went towards the line of potties on the far side of the stage.

"It's a very easy pun and I think it will be no problem at all." Pat's look of relief was almost comical. "You two really have the hots for each other, don't you?"

"It's not much of a secret, is it?" Pat chuckled. "It seems to be so natural to be with her. Our interest in trees and being able to work together with Urban Forest Maintenance is a big help."

"Are you ... physically compatible?" Brian was pretty sure Pat would be blushing if his skin was pale enough to show it.

"We have tested it out a couple of times," he hedged, "and so far, so good."

"And what are you two gossiping about?" asked Arthur as he walked up to them, handing each of them a bottle of water, which were gratefully accepted and consumed. Then John, Joe, Debbie, and Sarah, who had returned to the stage with Jeannie to revive the faltering Roger, suddenly charged down the stairs and ran in front of the stage towards the far line of port-a-potties. "And what's gotten into them?" Pat managed to burp a musical scale and the other two shook their heads and rolled their eyes.

"I was thinking about auditioning for Canada's Got Talent," he said with wide-eyed innocence. Before Arthur could call him on it, there was a series of flashes of light, bangs and pops as Sarah, John, Debbie, and Joe suddenly reappeared on the stage and after a minute, fired bolts of light into the crowd, making Roger appear next to them.

"And that's our cue to get back on stage," said Anna loudly, making Pat jump with surprise. "Are you all right? You're not going to crack on us, are you?" she asked worriedly, holding his face.

"I'll be fine, Anna," he replied as they all headed for the stairs. "All that power those guys are handling and throwing around is making me a bit nervous."

"I just want to get this over with so that we can go home and get some sleep," she replied, staring right into his eyes with a heat that he could almost feel.

"If you go with her, sleep is probably not what you are going to get," snickered Brian, just barely dodging a kick that would have had him singing soprano for a while.

"Ladies and gentlemen," boomed Ellen after everyone on stage had resumed their places and the audience had settled down, "we'll open up this part of the concert with Mamono's 'Boogie in the Bayou' to get you back in the groove." There is a long list of songs that are instantly recognizable as soon as they start playing, and 'Boogie in the Bayou' was one of them. Even Roger, who barely paid any attention to modern music, had become aware of it and liked it. It started with a distinctive riff on the bass guitar that had Sadie lighting up the stage with her smile and an accompanying low-register melody on the synthesizer that had the normally quiet Luisa glowing, literally, in shifting patterns of pale green, pink, and indigo. The other Purple Chimps were surprised by this sudden change, but launched into the funky rhythm as Pat and Ellen belted out the lyrics and the crowd happily grooved.

"Do you think that Luisa is The Musician?" Sarah asked as they felt the amount of love energy they were capturing was increasing. "Look at how she's glowing!"

"With all that's been going on lately, it wouldn't surprise me in the least," John replied, giving a hand a squeeze. "She's certainly an excellent keyboardist."

"I could Boogie in the Bayou with my love," said Joe, "though at my age you'd have to take me home in a wheelbarrow."

"Your age?" snorted Debbie, "Your body is only a few hours old! It would be me being taken home in the wheelbarrow!" They were all doing a little dancing of their own - it was hard not to with this song playing, and she glowered at him. "And you would take advantage of me, wouldn't you?"

"It would be a lot easier for me to practice my massage techniques on you when you aren't wiggling around," he replied with wide-eyed innocence. She knew damn well what his "massage techniques" did to her. Those gentle, loving squeezes and rubs in all the right places on her inert body could turn her pussy into a raging furnace of need that could only be quenched by hot squirts of cum delivered after several minutes of frantic pounding and riding that would leave them drifting rapidly to dreamland in a state of total ruin. Her colours flared briefly until she got herself under control. The audience certainly noticed, giving her some hoots and whistles, which earned them the middle finger and got more laughs from everyone, including her.

"We will see about that," she replied, giving him her version of The Stare that made him flinch and his colours flare briefly, to more applause from the dancing crowd. All too soon, the song came to its conclusion and everyone paused to catch their breath.

"Our next song is 'The Rose'," Luisa said with her gentle Hispanic accent when quiet had reestablished itself. "It is a song that makes you think about love, what it is, and what it means to you. Tonight, we will present it to you in a slightly different way than usual. Feel free to sing along with us if you wish." Ned tapped on his console and the lyrics appeared on the back wall of the stage. Luisa adjusted her keyboard to piano mode and started the intro.

"Some say love, it is a river," Ellen and Pat started with the first line, seeming to pour heart and soul into it. Many in the audience joined in, all seeming to be reflecting on what it meant to them. Roger winced a bit as he felt the energy level ramping up, but saw John Martin, Agnes Mzumba, Alice Marchand, and a few others who appeared to be from their club standing a few rows back from the stage. He waved to them and they, seeing they'd been noticed, waved back. Alice playfully blew him a kiss, which got a frown from Jeannie and a slight blush from him.

"Some say love, it is a razor," continued Arthur and Anna, also harmonizing the second line. And so it went, with different pairs of the band members singing each line. Even Brian, who could barely sing at all, managed to get in a line, with help from Sadie. Starting with the line "It's the one who won't be taken," it was three of them (Arthur, Luisa, and Anna), with others joining in line by line until they were all singing the second-last line "Just remember, in the winter..."

"Bill, how are we doing?" Leslie choked out, barely able to control her voice. Her eyes were leaking tears. Debbie was also barely hanging on, and Fred was irritably wiping tear drops from his console. The two pairs of raccoons were grooming each other and the fox had been joined by another one and they were cuddling and nuzzling each other.

"We're streaming this to so many places, the server is just about ready to melt down," he replied in a cracked voice.

"And if that flywheel spins any faster, it'll launch itself into orbit," said Fred. The bar of energy propelling its spin was bright enough to illuminate the whole park. The song ended as it had begun, with Pat and Ellen alone. The whole place was awash in tears, happy and sad.

"It's time," said Roger, projecting his voice. The bar of energy quickly faded and there was a pregnant pause. The auras of the six of them were all merged together in a single, multi-coloured ball. "Are you ready?" Everyone turned their gazes to the grove. "The motto of a combination of veterinarian and obedience class business could be 'Come here to heel'." He made a throwing gesture as everyone groaned and their auras flashed off in a line to where the flywheel was spinning. Fred, Debbie, Leslie, and all of the viewers online and on TV screens saw the bolt hit the whirling flywheel. There was a pause, and then powerful bolts of light flashed out from it, hitting each tree in the grove in succession clockwise at intervals of ten seconds, starting with the willow that was due north. Fred hastily moved the drone away from the grove and towards the stage as each tree erupted in blasts of light and booms and crackles as rotten wood and fungus spores were blown out and replaced with healthy heart wood.

The audience cheered and applauded at each of the fireworks displays. Debbie, who could feel and hear what the trees were experiencing, was radiant and Joe held onto her in case she fell down.

"It worked!" she shouted for all to hear. "The trees are free and clean! You saved them!" She then fell into Joe's arms and he lowered her to sit on the stage. Jeannie, however, had hustled past the band members, who were busy hugging and high-fiving each other to the back of the stage, where she picked up an unobtrusive paper shopping bag with handles and hurried back to the front. The others elevated their eyebrows when they saw that it was from a Main St ladies' clothing boutique.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the show isn't over yet!" she shouted, waving her arms to get everyone's attention. "I have a little surprise for you!" Everyone quieted down surprisingly quickly, and she suddenly felt the weight of their curiosity. She paused for a moment to concentrate, and her colours flared brightly, causing everyone to blink and shield their eyes. Roger noticed a shimmering in the air next to her. "If Aphrodite's hair had been big and poofy, would her name have been Afro-dite?" Everyone groaned, and Sarah said,

"That's it. She's gone to the Dark Side." The others laughed, while Roger and Brian glowered. Her colours shot off to the grove in a bolt of light when she gestured, and the park fell quiet.

"Look at this!" said a startled Fred, pointing to the feed of the spinning disk in the grove, as he'd edged the drone back far enough to get a view of it. Jeannie's energy struck it; it glowed briefly, and then fired about forty globes of energy upwards over the trees. As everyone watched, open-mouthed, they arced downwards and landed with loud whoomphs in the crowd. But where they hit, a shimmering ghostly figure suddenly became illuminated in a phosphorescent cloud that quickly collapsed into a human figure. They were a mixture of male and female and of a variety of ethnicities and ages, and were naked as the incorporated ghosts from the early afternoon had been. There were screams of surprise and then of recognition from the crowd as the various people were recognized.

"What the hell?" asked Jeannie. Then the flywheel exploded and sent its last pulse of energy directly into the shimmering figure on the stage. Everyone on the stage watched in amazement as the ball of energy that flashed and flowed in every colour they could see, and many that they couldn't, collapsed and condensed into a gorgeous woman with flowing curly blonde hair down to the middle of her back. She was also naked, and facing the band, who all got an eyeful before Jeannie quickly pulled the dress over her head, got her arms into it, and zipped it up in the back. It was a flowing white gown that triggered memories in Roger that he'd seemingly forgotten.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Jeannie shouted again, barely heard over the chaos of the crowd below, "may I present to you the Goddess Aphrodite, back after four thousand years of sleep!" Aphrodite turned around, rather disoriented, smiled tentatively and waved to the crowd, only a small portion of which were actually looking at the stage. There were some whistles, cheers, and applause as some semblance of order restored itself. She moved her arms and legs around, took a few steps, then spotted Roger trying to hide behind Sarah and John.

"Please excuse me," she said in her deceptively sweet contralto as she quickly moved towards them. John and Sarah looked behind them, saw Roger crouched and grinning weakly at them, and with a few snickers stepped aside so that he could be grabbed and locked in a bear hug that made his bones creak audibly. "Thank you, Roger!" she said to, pulling his head down for a kiss that lit them both up. He suddenly felt something pop in his head and a flood of fuzzy memories suddenly flowed in.

"Wait a minute! You and me and Jeannie in our dreams in the grove. Making love and plotting on how to get me to my full strength in the real world. This involved five long, hot days of hiking and helping various women in need of healing, need I add?" he growled.

"It was the only way, my love," she replied, giving him another kiss and pulling away. "You had to forget the plan or it wouldn't have worked."

"Whoa, that's one lucky dude!" said Arthur admiringly.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Ellen smirked. "I would not want to have to wrangle both of those ladies if I were him."

"Ladies and gentlemen," Pat interrupted, moving to front and centre of the stage. "We have one more song for you to end the night under this beautiful moon. It's another oldie, called 'The Lady in Red'. Given what's happened here tonight, I think that it's an appropriate way to end the show." He glanced at Brian, who nodded almost imperceptibly. The Purple Chimps resumed their positions, wondering how they would play this song so that it would not be an anticlimax. The six wizards, plus Aphrodite who had positioned herself between Roger and Jeannie with an arm around each of their waists, were relaxed and ready to listen, now that the burden of managing all of the magic had passed. Anna, who was closest to them, saw the goddess whisper something in Jeannie's ear, and Jeannie blush and her colours flicker. The people in the audience resumed their places, both anxious to leave so they could go home and get some much-needed rest, but also wanting to hear the last song just in case the band somehow found a way to top the last one. The newly-embodied had been hastily covered up by an assortment of shirts and blankets and settled in to wait for it to end. They'd waited long enough for this moment and figured that they could wait another five minutes.

The band started the intro, with gentle contributions from all of the players and Ellen humming along. "I've never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight," Pat sang, his voice startlingly clear. The stage lights were turned down a few notches and the spotlight and moon shone on him as he continued with the first verse as he moved, seemingly at random, until he wound up next to Anna. He glanced at Brian and made a small gesture. Brian had turned his wireless mike off since he knew he wouldn't be singing, and made a natural-looking pivot so that the neck of his guitar was pointing at her.

"Open a book about paint and you'll be a well-read person," he muttered. His left hand, hidden behind the body of his guitar, flared slightly and a quick bolt of energy shot across the stage and hit Anna square in the middle of her torso. There was a flash, and suddenly her black shirt was bright red.

"The lady in red is dancing with me," he sang to the astonished Anna as he took a hand and pulled her gently to her feet. She quickly put her drumsticks on her stool, took his other hand, and started to dance with him. This was greeted with surprised looks from the other band members; the audience, not knowing that it wasn't part of the act, made a few "Awww" comments as they danced slowly in the arms of their partners. Her brown eyes were shining as she looked into his, as they danced by the light of the midsummer moon, seeming to know each other's moves before they were made. "I never will forget the way you look tonight," he sang, maneuvering them to the middle of the stage, where he concluded the song with "My lady in red, I love you." He finished the song with a graceful pirouette that ended with him down on one knee and the plastic ring that he'd found earlier in the grass by the side of the stage in his hand. When she saw it, she clapped her hands to her mouth and almost stifled a scream.

"Anna Lam," he said, looking straight into her eyes, "I want to walk the ways of life with you at my side. I want you and me to be us, to share and to bear what life throws at us. Will you accept me as your partner, your love everlasting?" The music had stopped. The audience held its collective breath, a breeze rustled the leaves of the trees, and the moon shone down upon the tableau with its silvery radiance. Anna felt like she'd been struck by a thunderbolt, but looking into his eyes and remembering what they had shared earlier that evening, she knew there was only one answer.

"Yes, Patrick Marshak, I want to be your love everlasting, and want you to be mine." She extended her left hand and Pat slid the plastic ring onto her ring finger. There was a flash and suddenly they were both glowing and in each other's arms, holding on tightly, as everyone either cheered and applauded or said "Awww". There were some joyful cheers and screams from the group of parents, likely from Anna's and Pat's mothers, neither of whom was known for being quiet.

"Well, kiss her, you idiot!" admonished Sadie, getting laughs from everyone. They did as they were told with passion and enthusiasm, as the other Purple Chimps applauded and cheered them on. Aphrodite disengaged herself from Roger, finally allowing Jeannie to grab him and give him the kiss she'd wanted to give him since it all started, and strode across the stage to the happy couple.

"This is true love I see," she said, projecting her slightly accented contralto voice with seemingly little effort. "As my first act in my new life, I give you my blessing." She placed her right hand on Pat's chest over his heart, then moved it and placed it over Anna's heart, leaving behind a glowing line in her colours of sky blue, violet, and crimson. She drew another that joined her forehead to his. "You are joined, heart to heart, mind to mind. May your lives together be filled with happiness and laughter and love." The crowd, already breaking up and heading for home and, to judge by the way people looked at each other, horizontal activities, gave them one last cheer as they kissed again.