Later, the gang gathered at Brain's house, where he allowed them to film in his basement lab. They were doing the scene where James gets his weaponry from IQ.
"What do you have for me today IQ?" Arthur asked, trying to sound as mature as possible.
"Here's a pen that's actually a laser" Brain said, handing him a regular pen, "just rotate the cap in order for it to work."
Next he produced a small hand-held camera "and this may seem like an ordinary camera, but when you push the button, it emits a smokescreen to confuse your enemies."
He then started looking around for another prop to use. Spying an old backpack, he handed it to him. "And though this may seem like an ordinary backpack, it is in fact a highly sophisticated jetpack, capable of attaining speeds of up to 120 miles per hour."
"Thanks for the gear IQ" Arthur said, putting on the backpack as he spoke "now I'm off to save the world's chocolate."
While the others made "whoosh" noises, Arthur ran around, pretending as though he had a jetpack on.
"Hey this is kind of fun" he said, breaking character for a moment. Then he noticed the big pile of clutter. "Uh-oh."
CRASH!
"You okay Arthur?" Buster asked, as he helped his friend from the clutter.
"Don't worry, we can edit that out, I think" Muffy replied.
"You think?" Arthur asked, "oh, I hope nothing else goes wrong today."
Later, the cast broke for lunch. Arthur wasn't too worried about the few little problems they'd had so far. But he might have been if he knew what was in store for later…
After lunch, the gang reassembled at the Powers' ice cream shop to film James' encounter with a sultry female.
"And, action" Muffy commanded.
Arthur walked over a table and sat down. A few minutes later, Sue Ellen approached him. She was wearing a very elegant outfit (the one she wore for painting in Sue Ellen's Little Sister) down the front of which she had stuffed two oranges. Her hair was free and long, as opposed to tied up in little tufts, like usual. Arthur was nearly taken aback, having never seen her like this before.
"May I sit here?" she asked, a hint of an accent in her voice.
"Why are you talking funny?" Arthur asked.
"I decided to try a Russian accent for my character" she explained "I think it makes her seem more exotic. You are James Hound, da?" she asked, back in character
"And who might you be miss?" Arthur asked.
"I am Jen Natalia" she said, not quite getting the joke of her name, "may I buy you a milkshake?"
"Of course, but make sure it's mixed, not blended."
Sue Ellen went over to the counter and purchased two milkshakes. Then she sat down across from him.
"So what brings a girl like you to a place like this?" Arthur asked.
"Well the Sugar Bowl was too crowded" Sue Ellen replied in her normal voice, "I mean, I was looking for you Mr. Hound. My employer, Mr. Sweetooth, wishes to meet with you."
"Sweettooh eh? Well I can see why he likes sweet things" Arthur replied, barely suppressing a groan. Sue Ellen simply rolled her eyes.
"I believe I'd like to meet this employer of yours" Arthur said, "and then maybe he can answer a few questions about some missing chocolate."
Sue Ellen got up from her chair and bowed, gesturing for Arthur to leave, "your first" she said.
However, when she bowed, one of her strategically placed oranges fell to the ground.
"Time out, I lost my 'thing'" she said, bending down to retrieve it.
"Here Sue Ellen, let me help" Arthur offered.
Unfortunately, both kids bent down at exactly the same minute and bumped heads.
"Ow!"
Arthur rubbed his sore head, only to come up too fast and slam into the table.
"Double ow!"
"This is turning into a disaster!" Muffy exclaimed "my actors are hurting themselves, the acting is atrocious, and we can't even get good location shoots. I just hope Brain's special effects can save us."
"About that" Brain began "though I may be quite intelligent, the types of effects you asked for are far beyond my capabilities. They're created by highly skilled technicians using sophisticated computer equipment. My parents won't allow me to have anything more advanced then a normal computer."
"At least things can't get any worse" Francine added. Then they heard this exchange coming from the actors.
"Hold still and let me look at your head"
"You're not going to kiss it, are you?"
"Ew, no way! Now hold still."
Muffy slapped her palm into her face. It was then she noticed that Buster still had the camera trained on them.
"You're not still filming this, are you?" she asked.
"Yup" the rabbit boy replied "this is pretty funny. We should send it to one of those funniest video shows, I bet we could win a lot of money."
"You're fired" Muffy replied.
In the next chapter, Arthur and his friends begin filming the final scenes, but things just keep going wrong. From Francine's overacting to Sue Ellen's all too real karate performance, to Fern's special appearance as "Essie Beauchamp" it's one disaster after another. How will their film turn out, and what will their friends think? Also, Muffy makes Buster her assistant, and finds out what a mistake that can be.