Dunes… All I see are dunes…

From the dawn of a tesseract’s mourning cry, a callous laugh pierces the sky. I open the holster of my rifle. Few bullets remain in the barrel. And here I was -- lapsed to my own fatigue. Looks like I’ll be getting my eternal reward after all. I lock the barrel away. The click of its gears always seemed to satiate me. It’s all I have left in this desert world. The only path I know is forward. The shackles of guilt feel weightless against the war torn lands of Arrakis. I straddle my feet across the smoldering sands. It may not be long before I could reach Eridia. My acquaintances tell me it's a myth, but my enemies spit in my beliefs and want to hunt it down. Whatever the challenge may be…

I hope they brought their weapons…

***

To the allure of a booming score, a movie closes with a message for all to take heed. Look to the path beyond the given trail if so ever the truth is revealed. The credits rolled with the movie's score accompanying its grand exit. A call of excitement could be heard from the front row. An excited individual bounced from his chair, clapping as intensely as his hands could go. A "Play it again!" could be heard from that row as dozens of patrons exited the theater. Seated in the fourth corner of the third row of the theater room were a funky, little fox and a group of quaintly dressed bunnies. A rabbit wearing a slick top hat and jacket cheered for the film while his friends basked in those who had a hand in its production.

“Dick Harrington?” one cursive bunny called out, “I didn’t know Dick Harrington was in this movie.”

"Hey, the man's gotta do something after that long retirement," A cold bunny iterated, "Did'ja see the production troubles this thing had? Why ya' gotta keep making these epic movie productions if ya' can't get a good script 'n crew to hold you down?"

"Executives, Danny," the cursive bunny, "They're always gettin' in the way of an artist's vision. No matter how much you slice it, the studio always gets their way… minus a few exceptions." While the two critics make banter about the film, a little doe wearing a polka-dot dress and a big fruit cap chimed in, peeved, and ready to leave. She could be heard from across the row as she whispered, "Harumph! Are you guys ready to go yet?" She was stuck seated at the far left of the row, and by the look on her face, she looked like she was about to snap or something.  

“What’s got yer olives in a twist, Jules?” the cursive bunny poked at, “I thought you liked these movies. Hehehehe~.” The seethed doe grounded her teeth and quietly shot back with, “Just shut up and wake the fox so we can go…” The boys poke around to find a humble fox slumped in his chair. His head drooped while his arms and legs flopped around like deflated balloons. The fox with crimson red fur was gently prodded by a quiet little doe. The little doe rubbed his fuzzy arm while politely whispering, “M-Mr. Jean-Luc…? Mr. Jean-Luc, it's time to go now.” Jean-Luc snorted and threw his body all over the seat. His pupils swirled about while his mind reconnected with reality, almost as if he had placed himself in a self-induced sleeping trance. 

"Stay back; I'm loaded!" Jean-Luc lazily alarmed. It took the little doe's gentle grab of his arm to stop Jean-Luc from performing an accidental karate chop. Jean-Luc sat for a moment to let his consciousness piece together and finally catch a glimpse of the person who grabbed him. The fumbled fox humbled and said, "Ohhhh, hi Melody. D-did the movie finish already?" Melody nodded her head and mumbled about how intriguingly deep the film's story was, even if a few elements could have been tweaked. A bouncing bunny jumped straight into the sleepy fox's laugh and egged him on for sleeping out on the movie. 

"Golly, big brother. You ain't startin' to get old on us, are ya'?" the bunny chuckled.

"Nahhhh…" Jean-Luc stretched under a tired laugh, "I ain't gonna start reachin' that until the day I become president of the United States of hurr-durr-burger-buh-durr." Ryan, the cursive bunny with a surly attitude, noted how the fox must've garnered some jetlag from the long drive. Under the behest of an impatient, fruit-capped hothead, the group of bunnies agreed that it was time to leave. The group rustled Jean-Luc from out of his seat of comfort and on his two left feet, and they carried him out of the auditorium until he had enough strength to get back on his feet. 

“You know, guys…” Jean-Luc offered, “I can walk on my two feet.”

I gotta say, The Desolation Dune Trilogy is quite a captivating venture… Oh! Hello there~! You must be wondering what our Abrasive Band of Unlikely Heroes is doing here. You see, when we last left our moronic gang of Whackos, they had just come off two states away from New Calivada due to the catastrophic loss of their home, The Town with No Name. They had just taken a detour on their progressive road trip simply to catch the latest blockbuster, Desolation Dune III: Raiders of Wrath. Not only was it a highly anticipated sequel, but it was one that was supposed to birth a series of events ripe for expansion. If only the production trouble wasn't so coarse.

Anyway, we can find the Whacko gang still inside the movieplex, mostly loitering around the concession stand and arcade area. Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap. Nothing but the sound of endless claps could be heard down there. Danny, the straight man of the group, stood under his sleeping boss and delivered a series of steady slaps to his fuzzy little cheeks. Indeed, you'd think this would wake up the poor boy, but no. Jean-Luc was a heavy sleeper. No mere hand attack is ever gonna wake him up.

"M-maybe he needs a coffee. That could wake him up," Melody suggested softly. She knew Jean-Luc needed to wake up but wasn't too keen on attacking him. Julie, on the other hand, told them to just chuck him in the freezer instead. If anything, the cold will keep him awake for weeks. Ryan scoffed and asked what got Julie's peaches twisted, but all she could do is kiss her teeth and cut him with her eyes. 

“Whassamatta? You never liked the movie or something?” 

"No, I just-... AGH! I would have an opinion on it if I didn't get shafted with the sweaty fat bozos in between!" Julie decried, "First that one guy kept snorting and sniffling and stealing my popcorn, while the other guy was going on about stupid nonsense and the whole 'Oh, Zaria. I submit to you, My Egorian Princess!' I hated it, and I almost wanted to hate this movie because of it!" Danny shook his head lightly. He argued that Julie shouldn't let a bad experience kill an entire film for her, even if the movie -- to him -- had its own striking errors. Julie squeezed the bridge of her nose and retorted that she wouldn't have felt so if somebody booked the seats earlier. Not naming any names, but I think he might be sleeping. Julie's face was as red as her hair, and could really use something to cool her off.  

Joey waddled past his incensed beloved with some coffee and snacks in hand. Joey whistled an easy tune as the snacks and coffee came bustling in. Unfortunately, with the amount of junk obscuring his vision, he couldn't yield to a small puddle of a spilled slushie, sliding him into the air. The combination of popcorn and candy hovered in mid-air before crashing down on the stumbling bunny. However, the coffee careened across the hall and exploded once the cup came in contact with Jean-Luc's bean snout. The scalding heat of the coffee started making his eyes sizzle and… 

“YYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!!!!” Jean-Luc screamed from the bottom of his gullet. The fox rocketed from his seat, ricocheted off the slushie maker until finally getting entangled with one of the hanging movie banners. Jean-Luc choked and struggled as the flyer made knots around his stretchy body. 

“Oops…” 

“Hey, look. Jean-Luc’s finally awake.”