Reach For the Role

Reach For The Role is the 58th episode of Season 11.

Summary
Disney Junior Elementary School is hosting a play of the Incredible Tales of Weirdwood Manor, and Connor hopes to get the role of his hero, Oliver Gryffon. But worries that Cameron might get it first.

Plot
The episode begins at Disney Junior Elementary School where Connor is walking to his next class when suddenly, he sees a group of students gathering around a blue paper on the bulletin board which read ''The Incredible Tales of Weirdwood Manor Play! Coming soon on January 31! Sign up today to become part of the story and experience the magic of arts, literature, and inventing, and imagination in Weirdwood Manor! ''

And underneath the words was a special quote from the great artist, author, and inventor, Arthur Weirdwood, "The line between reality and imagination is sometimes blurred."- Arthur Weirdwood.

Connor asks Amaya and Captain Jake what was going on when he walked towards them as Amaya explains that everyone is signing up to play in the Weirdwood Manor play coming up soon. Interested by the news, Connor decides to join in and play as his favorite hero, Oliver Gryffon, but Captain Jake tells him that he is not the only one wanting to play as Oliver when Greg points out a thumb at the direction he was pointing and they see Cameron walking up to them with a sign up sheet. As Cameron approached them, he waves a paper in front of Connor's face and tells him that he is going to win a chance to play as Oliver Gryffon, and Connor was beginning to become annoyed at what he was saying as he replies that he will play as Oliver and will sign up today, leaving Cameron to laugh mockingly and tell Connor that he won't make a great Oliver Gryffon.

Before Connor could lose his temper again and snap at his rival, Amaya, Greg, and Captain Jake jumped to his defense and tells Cameron that their friend will make a good Oliver because of not only is he the best drawer, but also the best leader. And he will do a great job at being Oliver Gryffon if he gets the chance. However, Cameron just scoffed at them and walked away, leaving the four friends alone with slight glares but Connor was suddenly thinking: what if Cameron was right? What if he can't make a great Oliver Gryffon after all? But his friends gave him encouraging looks and giving them a grateful smile, Connor signs up for the play to get the part of Oliver Gryffon and prove Cameron wrong.

Later, that afternoon, Connor was practicing his lines of Oliver Gryffon. He imagined being in a limo that bounced him up whenever it went over a pothole, he read a blank piece of paper which was supposed to be a letter from Merryll Buxyll, draw the best dragon drawing while pretending to be angry and frustrated, and also pretended to be afraid of a black dragon (who was actually his pet black cat, Lucky, in his dragon form).

After Connor screamed, he let out a laugh as a confused expression appeared on Lucky's face and he asked Connor if Oliver was suppose to laugh at the dragon after screaming, but as Connor stopped laughing and took a breath, he responds that Oliver isn't really supposed to laugh but he and Lucky did a great job at the scene where Oliver fearfully faces the black dragon. And he felt ready for the play!

That night, Connor and Lucky were in bed asleep. But as Connor was sleeping...

BUMP!!!

He woke up and blinked groggily as he found himself in a limo all dressed in Oliver Gryffon's clothes and on his left side was his backpack and sketchbook! Connor looked around for the audience and his friends, but all he could see through the car's window were moss, bushes, and ancient looking trees which are not cardboard, plastic, cotton, or made out of wood, but they looked real. And the seat beneath him had a heartbeat and strangely, it was... breathing! Then he realized that he was in the limousine driving him in Weirdwood Forest to the home of Arthur Weirdwood, Weirdwood Manor! As Oliver Gryffon! Pressing himself onto the plush blue leather seat, Connor did the best he could to play as Oliver by looking around the trees and smiling. Then... BUMP!!!

The limo bounced Connor into the air once more. He barely caught Oliver's backpack and sketchbook before they had a chance to crash onto the floor. Just then, he spotted a corner of a loose paper sticking out of the sketchbook. Connor frowned as he pulled it free and realized that it was the letter from Merryll Buxyll. He knew that in the beginning of the Weirdwood Manor story, Oliver had read it at least twenty times, plus one, already, but now it was his turn to look at the letter.

Before he realized it, Connor's eyes were scanning the fateful letter. It read:

Dear Oliver,

''We regret to imform you that David and Mary Brown have requested your immediate removal from their protective custody. This have been your sixth-foster home transfer in the past year. We have exhausted all current options for home based foster care, and must unfortunately remand you to the tempor custody of the Juvenille Corrections Authority. Your case worker will fill you in on details upon your return from Weirdwood Manor. Hope you have a WONDERFUL week! Sincerely, Merryll Buxyll, Minister of Children's Services.''

Connor felt his cheeks flush. He finally knew how poor Oliver felt as he heard about the same story time after time about these strange and scary creatures haunting his favorite character and had him kicked out from one foster family to another, and then to the end. Of course, there was some "offical" reason for moving him, but Connor knew that from the stories, the true reason was always the same. Cursed! That was the word whispered - or muttered - when nobody thought he could hear. Connor hated it when everyone from the story said that, but he supposed that he, like Oliver, understood it.

As Connor looked out from the window, he had a sad look and some small sympathetic tears in his eyes as he felt sorry for Oliver. He whispered "Not his fault", even though it was all true that it was Oliver's fault.

Mary and David Brown, were Oliver's sixth foster parents and his last chance. No one else seemed willing to take him in, and so he was to be shipped off to some horrible prison for kids. Wincing, Connor gritted his teeth! It just wasn't fair! It just wasn't fair for Oliver!

Without realizing it, Connor had whipped out Oliver's pen and began to drawon the back of the letter! His anger and frustration (and even revenge on the people from the Weirdwood Manor story) poured out of the furiously scribbling pen, etching seemingly random shapes and forms onto the empty space. Connor blinked, and then looked down at what his hands have unconsiously drawn. He shivered.

It was the black dragon! The black dragon that Oliver drew and then appeared outside of the limo after it frozed just like in the story! Connor knew that he needed to put the drawing away before who knows what might happen!

Suddenly, Connor felt a rush of dark energy hurtle towards him somewhere deep within the drawing, the same energy that Oliver felt when the dragon drawing way about to come alive! As he slammed the cover of the sketchbook closed, Connor began to feel light-headed and heard the familiar ghostly whispers closing in around him as darkness tugged at him from inside Oliver's sketchbook, making his stomach churn and his muscles grow weak.

"It's getting worse than in the story." Connor thought. Luckily, the feeling slowly subsided and the sketchbook grew still. Connor let out a deep sigh of relief. But then... BUMP!!!

The limousine launched into the air over another pothole, and then, it didn't come down again. Connor hovered a few inches from his seat. The smell of old books and hot lightning filled his senses as an eerie blue glow drenched the world around him. He heard the deep thud-lump of the limousine's heartbeat, slow as a glacier.

Thud-

"Oh no! I was afraid this might happen." Connor whispered, as gravity slowly brought him back onto his seat.

Lump.

Then... FLASH!!! A dark familar blur stripped passed the window with a sound like scrapped metal and flapping sails. Connor tensed.

Thud-

A deep, rumbling growl rattled the windows. Connor felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He rubbed his eyes, and tried to slow down his breathing.

"No, no, no, no! I know this isn't real. It's just a dream, and I'm going to wake up any second now!" Connor said, wanting ti know vaguely if he was trying to convince himself or the big hulking thing outside.

Lump.

Just then, the growling stopped, and Connor held his breath. Thud-lump. Just the throbbing heartbeat of the limo as Connor let out a deep breath. He couldn't be sure, bit it seemed like the world around himwas slowly turning back to normal. Connor let out a deep sigh and said "Well, that could've been worse."

But just as he thought it was over, an ear-scattering roar broke the silence! Teeth and claws squealed against the metal and glass of the limo's exterior! Connor through himself against the opposite side of the car just like Oliver did when facing the dragon, spinning to face his attacker! Their eyes met and Connor cried out in surprise and terror!

The dragon- more real than any drawing, more solid than any dream- bore its teeth in a hungry grin! It breathed on the limo with a deep throaty growl. The window, the door, the curtins, everything began to dissolve as it were nothing more than a fog or a mist. Pushing himself against the the opposite door, Connor felt his heart pounding in his chest and his palms were slick with sweat.

First the part were he wakes up in a limo, then the dragon drawing, and then that strange energy that Oliver always felt, and now this! Connor was living the dream- or rather, nightmare! He was no longer Connor, he was just Oliver Gryffon! An orphan boy with a love for drawing, a plague of nightmares, and is now going to be eaten up by a black dragon!

He stammered to the dragon that he was not real, but the evil creature grew more solid. Suddenly, Connor felt the same dark energy surround him, pressing in on such force he could barely breath. Connor fought it, pushed against it with all his might, but it was too strong.

Then, Connor's insides twisted as the power snaked through his body, pulling his mind down into a deep darkness. He screamed, but all he could hear was the roar of the black dragon... and something else. The dragon was... talking to him? It called his name and told him to wake up, and also tell Connor that he was dreaming.

Opening his eyes and straightening himself from his bed, Connor gasped and rubbed his eyes, and saw an anxious Lucky looking at him. It was still nighttime as he looked around and found himself back in his bedroom and back to wearing his pajamas. He was no longer in a limousine wearing Oliver Gryffon's clothes, and best of all, there was no dragon. Slowing down his breathing, Connor apologizes to Lucky for the screaming and patted him on the head.

Then, Connor sighs heavily and reaches for the cup of water with trembling hands. Then takes it from his night cabinet as he takes a few sips while Lucky asks him if he is having that nightmare because he was nervous about the play. But Connor just shook his head until he admits that he is nervous because he of not just the play, but he was thinking that maybe Cameron might be right about him not getting the Oliver Gryffon role this year.

After putting his cup down, Connor laid his head on his pillow despairly as Lucky shook his head and told his owner to not think about what Cameron said and that he will get the Oliver role this year, just to make Cameron eat his own words. Determination surged in Connor and he thanks Lucky for always being with him as the two of them went back to sleep.

The next morning, Lucky was up and early for breakfast when he skipped into the kitchen and went to his food bowl to eat the eggs and sardines. Behind him, Connor came in too, only Lucky noticed that he didn't looked very good. In fact, he was sulking, walking slowly, his hair was a mess, and he had bags under his eyes. He looked like a zombie as he tried to go to the table to eat his breakfast, but he only bumped into it instead as his mom came with a plate of bacon and eggs and places in on the table for Connor to eat. She looked worriedly at her son who was trying his best to stay awake and finish his breakfast, but his face landed on the bacon and eggs and he was asleep again. Then he jerked up and quickly finished his breakfast before rushing off.

Later, after breakfast, things went from bad to worse. When Connor took Lucky for a walk, he started bumping into people or objects, and he started having hallucinations about the black dragon from his nightmare! Rolling his eyes, Lucky suggests to his sleepy owner that maybe they should go to Cupcake Magic! for a cupcake, just to help Connor stop worrying about the Oliver Gryffon role and get rid of his hallucinations. But that only made it worse when Connor saw the new dragon-themed cupcakes in the shop's window, but he shook it off and he and Lucky went inside to order their cupcakes.

After ordering their morning cupcakes, Lucky was enjoying his sardine flavored cupcake while Connor munched on his peach flavored cupcakes. He felt better after eating his cupcake just as Amaya and her pet snowy owl, Snowdrop, and Greg and his pet draco lizard, Glider, arrived at their friend's table to join them and eat some cupcakes with them. While they were eating, Greg asks Connor how he was doing at practicing his lines for the play.

Trivia

 * The episode's title is a pun on the phrase "Reach For The Goal."