Chapter One: Adventures in the Flying Car

There it lay, one of the most prized places on earth; enjoyed by every single American day after day, always showing
something of interest to someone out there. The doors stood innocently near the ticket booth, calling to people that passed
by. People chatted happily as they waited in line. Everyone was happy, except…

"Gandalf! If you don't park this car soon I'm going to be sick!"

A red van careened through the parking lot, narrowly missing cars and people. The license plate read: Wizard. A very
annoyed Gimli sat in the middle seat, nearest to the door. Next to him were Merry and Pippin, with Gandalf and Aragorn
in the front. Legolas sat in the far back, Frodo and Sam chatting quietly beside him.

"I'd park the car if I could find a blasted parking space Master Gimli!" Gandalf snapped, keeping his eyes open for an
open space.

"So, what are we seeing again?" Pippin asked, peering out the window on his left.

"Something called Lord of the Rings," Aragorn read from newspaper article, "It is supposed to be a recap of our journey,
but with other people playing us. It was filmed in…"

"Would you shut up Aragorn? We don't care," Merry said, rolling his eyes.

"Have we found a space yet?" Sam asked from the back, "My feet are going to sleep."

Gandalf only gripped the wheel harder as he came to the last row, mumbling about hobbits. Legolas peered out the
window, his eyesight coming in use once again.

"Wait! Over there! A parking spot!" the elf exclaimed suddenly, nearly making Gandalf run into a tourist family, "Three
aisle down!"

Gandalf stepped on the gas, the car going over the speed limit and flipping onto two wheels as it rounded the corner into
the loading zone for The Gap. Six spots away from the free space, a fancy silver Porsche neared the spot, hoping that it
would soon be able to enter the movies.

Gandalf spotted the offending car, and punched the gas harder, "Hold on to something!"

Frodo grabbed onto the cup container, Sam clinging to him as Legolas flattened against the seat just as the car suddenly
streaked up a loading ramp, flew through the sky, and landed in the parking space as the Porsche was one spot away
from the space.

BAM!

The red car lurched forward as it hit the parking spot dead center. The silver Porsche screeched to a halt, beeping its horn
in irritation. Gandalf smiled triumphantly as Aragorn gripped the car handle in attempt to slow his beating heart.

"Wasn't that fun?" Gandalf chuckled, unbuckling his seatbelt.

He received seven death glares as he opened the door. The silver Porsche's owner drove by, rolling down his window
and giving Gandalf the finger.

"Would you look at that! He's giving me a sign of some sort! I'd best be friendly and do the same," Gandalf said to
himself.

The driver drove on in disgust as Gandalf gave him the same gesture back, smiling and waving the same hand. Four sick
hobbits, one almost dead king, a dwarf on a war path, and an elf looking quite paler than usual stepped out of the car,
each lurching forward as they tried to stay on balance.

"Onward!" Gandalf yelled, pointing his staff to the movie theater, "To the movies!"

His staff promptly hit another car as he lifted it up, and the car alarm started. Gimli rolled his eyes in disgust at the wizard's
antics.

Three minutes and seven death threats later…

"Hi, we'd like seven adults for the twelve thirty showing of Lord of the Rings."

The underpaid teenager looked up from her magazine, snapping her gum as she examined Aragorn. Not looking
promising, the girl gave a slight shrug.

"That'll be thirty six dollars and eighteen cents," the girl drawled, not bothering to look back up at the Fellowship and
returning to her magazine.

Turning to Gandalf, Aragorn frowned, "Do you have the money?"

Gandalf pushed Aragorn out of the way, emptying an entire sack of gold pieces onto the desk. The girl looked up in
surprise, her eyes instantly catching the gold pieces.

"Are those real gold?" the girl asked suspiciously.

"Fool of a girl!" Gandalf raged, "Of COURSE they are real gold! What else would they be?"

The girl immediately printed seven tickets, scooping the gold into a plastic bag, "Here ya go!"

The girl handed the wizard the tickets, then pulled a Closed sign onto her window. She came running out of the door,
screaming at the top of her lungs.

"I'm free from that underpaying, no good, cheapskate manager!"

The Fellowship watched her run off, Frodo shaking his head, "They sure have some weird people here."

People around the Fellowship smiled down at Frodo, saw his hairy feet, and instantly scooted away. The hobbits gazed at
them in wonder before Legolas and Aragorn pulled them into the theater.

"Seven tickets to the Lord of the Rings show!" Gandalf said proudly, handing the ticket guy the seven slips of paper.

"Dude, are you guys actors or something?" the guys asked, ripping off half of the tickets and handing them back to
Gandalf.

"We're not actors," Aragorn corrected, "We are the Fellowship of the ring!"

The ticket guy rolled his eyes as if saying 'yeah right', "Sure, and I'm the King of England. Theater seven to you left."

"Really?" Pippin asked with genuine curiosity as he walked by.

The guy only rolled his eyes and ignored the hobbit. Pippin scowled, but immediately forgot all of his problems when he
saw the popcorn machine.

"All right! They serve food!"

The Fellowship stared the snacks, a lined up and screaming 'Buy me!'. Their gaze switched to the price list, each licking
their lips at the thought of food. After all, it had been a five-hour drive to the theater.

"Do we have any money left?" Sam finally asked.

"I only have a few of these useless paper things," Gandalf replied, pulling out a handful of bills,

"These will have to do."

"If drinks are about two dollars, popcorn two, and candy about five, we will want seven drinks, three popcorns, and two
boxes of candy," Aragorn calculated.

"This sounds like a job for…" Gandalf trailed, pulling a bill out of his secret robe pocket, "A TWENTY!"

People in the lobby stopped and stared at Gandalf before hurrying on to their theaters. Employees behind the snack
counters put up closed sign, each saying "Whoa! Would you look at the time! Time for my lunch break!" and walking
quickly away.

"Fool of a wizard!" Pippin snapped, "Twenty ain't goin to cover all of that food!"

"He is right," Aragorn nodded, digging into his pocket, "This is a job for…A FIFTY!"

The hobbits cheered as Aragorn strode up to the only open cashier left, "We'd like seven drinks, three large popcorns,
and two boxes of candy."

The employee (looking rather frightened) punched in the order, "What kind of soda, s-sir?"

"What kind?" Aragorn asked, lost.

"We have Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew, Minute Maid Orange Soda, and Root Beer."

"I'll take the beer!" Pippin and Merry said simultaneously.

"It's not exactly beer…" the employee started, but was cut off by the two hobbits.

"Of course it's beer! It has BEER in its name!"

The employee shrunk back, scared and nodded in agreement, "Okay. Sure, whatever you say."

"I'll take the Sprite," Sam said, taking extra care to say the word as best as he could.

"Gimli and I will take the Dr. Pepper," Legolas spoke up.

"Coke for me!" Frodo said.

"I'll take the orange drink," Gandalf informed the employee.

"I'll take the Mountain's Dew," Aragorn said.

The employee raised an eyebrow in amusement, "O-Okay, and what kind of candy sir?"

Aragorn looked at the displays, and pointed to the candy in a bright red box and the candy in a bright blue box, "Those
two please."

The boy grabbed the candy and filled the drinks, making sure to keep an eye on the odd group. Hastily filling the popcorn
bags, he gave them their order, "That will be forty eight dollars and six cents."

Aragorn handed the youth the fifty. The boy looked at the money suspiciously and took a black marker out of a drawer.
Marking a line on the bill, the mark turned red, confirming it was not counterfeit. Reaching into the cashier, he carefully
counted out Aragorn's change, "One dollar and ninety-four cents is your change. Have a nice day."

As the Fellowship turned to leave, Legolas's cape (being worn purposely to cover up his bow and arrows) fluttered
enough for the employee to see the handles of the elf's two daggers.

"Sire, I'm going to have to escort you out," the employee said, coming out from behind the counter and putting his hand on
the elf's shoulder, "No weapons aloud in the theater."

The Fellowship stopped, and turned slowly. The employee gulped, stepping back, "Or I can just let you go and forget I
saw anything?"

Gandalf nodded, and the lad ran out of the theater. Aragorn consciously pulled his cape tighter around his sword, the
hobbits following his example. Gimli shrugged, his axe being too big to carry without people noticing it. Legolas also
tightened his cape before the Fellowship stpped in front of the theater.

"Any last words before we enter the theater?" Gimli asked, "It IS a three hour movie!"

"Yeah," Pippin and Merry said from behind the dwarf, "We're goin to need more popcorn."

The Fellowship turned to find one out of two popcorn bags empty. Everyone groaned as Aragorn pulled a five out of his
pocket, "This is a job for…A FIVE!"