SD Gundam Fan Fiction ❯ Lights, Camera, Zako! ❯ Heeeere's Bob! ( Chapter 3 )

Shute and Captain arrived at a clearing near the city limits. All around them they could see film equipment being set up. Various GMs and human workers were busy unloading the audio-visual stuff, as well as lights and fakes walls to be used for scenery. In the center they saw Mayor Margaret's aide, Prio, directing the work.

“Hey!” Shute waved. “Prio!”

Prio turned from his task as overseer to respond. “Ah, Shute, Captain. Good to see you.”

The boy-Gundam duo walked up to the aide. “Mayor Margaret told us this is where the main shooting will be.” Captain said. He look around. “This is very impressive, Prio. Are you in charge?”

Prio sighed. “Not exactly. All this equipment showed up, but there was no one around. The Mayor put me charge of setting it up.”

Shute looked confused. “No crew? What about that filmmaker she told us about?”

“No except for you and these workers I had hired showed up- what's that?” Prio's attention was diverted by the appearance of a yellow taxi cab. The cab stopped directly in front of the three, and out from it stepped a very peculiar man.

This man wore a trench coat and fedora assemble that looked torn straight from the days of Capone and Ness. His left and right shoe appeared to be from different brands, and he wore dirty white magician gloves over his hands. But the thing that stood out the most was how tall this man was. Even though his knees were bent and his back was hunched, he still stood a good 3 inches over Prio, who was no shrimp himself.

Not bothering to acknowledge the three, the tall man turned to the cab driver.

“All right, what do I owe ya?” He received some indecipherable mutterings for a response. “What?! From Atlantis to here, for that much? That's an outrage. I toldja not to take the parkway, you knew it was all jammed up- Never mind, here's your money, now scram, I don't ever wanna see you again.”

After the cab had driven away, the tall man began to inspect the surroundings. “Ah, excellent, everything's on the way. Good, good.”

“Excuse me,” Prio said, recovering from his shock. “But who are you?”

The man straightened up, making himself appear almost giant-like. “Name's Bob Djinito, filmmaker to the planets.”

A surprised expression appeared on Prio's face. “Oh! You're the man going to make the movie! Mayor Gathermoon told me about you.”

Captain cocked his head. “Isn't the expression, `To the stars'?”

“Stars can't watch movies.” Bob said, shrugging sadly. “I know, I've tried.”

Shute and Captain exchanged odd looks. This guy was a little strange…

“Uh, where's the rest of your crew?” Shute asked, trying to ignore the feeling foreboding he felt.

“What crew?” Bob asked, looking surprised.

“The ones who'll be operating your film equipment,” Captain explained, “You don't plan on making the film by yourself, do you?”

Bob laughed. It sounded ominous, for some reason. “I'll just hire some local hands, I always do. It's cheaper!”

The ominous feeling got even heavier. Bob, noticing their uncomfortable looks, said, “Oh, it'll be fine. All my stuff's easy to work with, even a ten-year-old could use it. Here, I'll show you.” Bob walked over to what might have been a camera and began to gesture wildly. “First, we have, uh… Well, over here there's, ah… Quick, get me a ten-year-old, I can't find the `on' switch!”

Shute, Captain, and Prio facefaulted.