Ryou Bakura, Film Maker

If you thot Yami came off as unstable last chapter…ho boy! And as you can tell from what the 'movie' is about…heh heh. Who here can smell the set-up, anyone? Let the games begin!

Head Games

"I think you've made excellent progress." Dartz said lowly. Opposite him, in the office of the head of Paradias, Yami nodded eagerly. "Your paranoia and rage problems have been under complete control. And I know Yami, that you can keep them in control, as long as you remember the 3 Happy Rules." Yami chuckled.

"Right, Happy Rule number 1: there is no such thing as magic." He recited.

"Correct. Happy Rule number 2?" Dartz asked.

"Happy Rule number 2: there is not some dragon in a cloud somewhere, waitin' to blast me." Yami continued. Dartz nodded.

"And, Happy Rule number 3?"

"Happy Rule number 3, even if I feel like I might combust…odds are I won't." Yami said. Dartz smiled. He was not only the head of Paradias, but the best psychiatrist they had. Yami had been so challenging a case, Dartz had decided to take it himself. Plus, a few 'fees' here and there, kept his bank account nicely padded. Dartz clasped his hands together.

"Right, very good. So, what do we do?" Yami grinned.

"We keep it together. Keep. It. Together." He muttered. Dartz nodded and spoke again, this time in a less-soothing voice.

"And what do not do, under any circumstances?" He grated. Yami winced and looked away.

"I've gotta, I've gotta do iiiiit." Yami moaned. Dartz glared.

"What is it?" He demanded. Yami sighed and looked at Dartz.

"I've gotta show it to them…" He whispered.

"You cannot show it to the Laker Girls." Dartz insisted. "I know you want to show it to the Laker Girls, but you can never show it to them. Keep Little Yami in the pants." Yami groaned.

"You're kidding me!"

"In the pants!" Dartz snapped. Yami bit his lip, and Dartz stood up, holding out his hand. "Come, our support group is starting Yami. And I asked, and they are not pretending to be 'nuts', as you said, so they can infiltrate Paradias to spy on you." Yami rolled his eyes and stood up.

"Well of course they won't admit it." He mumbled.

"Remember those Happy Rules." Dartz lectured. Yami nodded.

"Right, Happy Rule number 1: there is no such thing as magic!"

- - - - - - - - - -

"It was like magic!" Joey exclaimed, pacing in Bakura's living room. Malik had arrived after Bakura had given the car back before he went to see Yami. He hadn't yet relayed the bad news about the film to the would-be cast. "I just sat down, started typing, and the story poured out of me!"

"We know, you've this story 3 freaking times." Kaiba growled, massaging his temples. "Give it a rest already." The door opened, and the 4 jumped up as Bakura marched past them into his office. Malik, Mai, Kaiba and Joey followed as Bakura headed straight for his desk and sat down, a hand rubbing his chin.

"Well?" Kaiba asked. Bakura ignored him and noticed Rochelle lying in a corner.

"Rocky!" Bakura called. Rochelle turned her head and stood up. "Come." Bakura commanded. Rochelle yawned and walked towards Bakura. "Sit." Rochelle stopped and sat down. "Good, come." Rochelle walked again. "Sit." Rochelle obeyed. "Good girl, come!" Rochelle trotted over, and Bakura rubbed her head affectionately. "Good girl, aren't you amazing?" He said. Kaiba snarled and slammed a fist on the desk.

"Damn it Ryou, what happened?" He demanded. Bakura sighed and spun his chair to face his friends.

"Okay, I went to see Pegasus, right?" He started. "And, I gave him the script, and I looked it over, and he said that he'd only finance me if I could get Yami Muto to star." Mai gasped.

"The Yami Muto?" She breathed. Bakura nodded.

"Right, and I'd like that, but I started thinking, and turned Pegasus down. Ya see, Yami and Pegasus are the big names, and if we let 2 of them in this, they'll take over from us. So, I opted for Yami, because anyone will finance us if I can get him. So I went to see Yami." Bakura paused. Joey stared.

"And!" He shouted.

"Well, I met with Yami." Bakura started. "He read over the script, and I asked him 'well Yami, will you do this movie?' And Yami looked up at me like this." Bakura looked up at Joey, and froze. His friend had a look of absolute hope on his face. Bakura looked among his other 3 friends, and internally gasped. Time to crush their hopes and dreams. Time to most likely, shatter any faith they had in him, lose them forever, and lose his last chance for the big break he had been waiting for his whole life.

What was he thinking!

"He said….yes." Bakura said slowly. Even Kaiba's eyes bulged out at that one. Mai swallowed.

"Yami Muto…said yes?" She whispered. Bakura nodded.

"Yami Muto…Hollywood's biggest star, is going to be in our movie!" He cheered. Mai and Joey cheered and happily hugged each other. Even Kaiba pumped his fist. Malik opted for having his jaw drop and giving Bakura a look of disbelief.

-Later That Night-

Malik sat on Bakura's sofa, idly flipping his cell phone open and closed. Bakura was rushing around the house, doing…something. Finally, Malik spoke when Bakura passed him.

"So when are you going to tell them?" He asked.

"Tell who what?" Bakura replied. Malik followed him into the bedroom.

"Tell your friends there isn't a movie." Malik explained.

"Oh, we are doing a movie, and we are doing it with Yami Muto." Bakura said, pulling an old metal lunchbox from under his bed.

"How?" Malik demanded.

"Simple." Bakura said, walking past him into his office. "He just won't know he's in it." Malik stood there for a moment before turning.

"Huh?" He asked. Bakura pointed to a section of wall with a series of post-it-notes on it.

"There are 5 major scenes with Yami, including the final scene. There are 25 scenes altogether. We hide a camera wherever Yami is, our actors do the line, we shoot the scenes without him on our own time, and that's that. And the best part is, I won't have to pay him, which is good, because I can't afford to pay the actors I have already."

"And what does Yami do?" Malik asked dryly. Bakura opened his desk drawer and rolled his eyes.

"It doesn't matter, that's the genius part! Atemu has lost his memories in the script! Yami won't know what's going on in real life, he won't know what's going on in the movie. It fits perfectly, it doesn't matter what he does!"

"That's insane!" Malik yelled.

"I know, but I'm desperate." Bakura growled, rummaging in his desk drawer.

"Why not wait for a star who really does want to be in the film?" Malik asked.

"Because I'm done waiting." Bakura replied, pulling an old key from the drawer. "Malik, I'm turning 30 in 5 months. I've gotten away with lying about my age. I've done 27, 25, 23. Once I got away with just plain 20. But 30 is the crest of the hill, the start of middle-age. It is a barren wasteland, and I will not miss what may be my final chance." Bakura unlocked a padlock on the lunchbox.

"What's that?" Malik asked.

"When I was 7, my father took me to see my first movie, and from that day forward, I knew that's what I wanted to do with my life. But I knew I would need money. So I started putting away 2 dollars, every week of my life, from age 7 on. And once I got older, I start putting away more money. And now we have enough to get this project off the ground." Bakura opened the lunchbox to reveal a pile of old dollar bills. "Here is exactly 2, 843 dollars." He said.

"Movies cost millions of dollars." Malik infored him. Bakura groaned.

"Oh please, that's after gross point, agent fees, flat taxes, 10 percent of the…mleh. When it comes to flat cash, every movies costs 2, 843 dollars."

"How are you supposed to afford equipment with that money?" Malik asked.

"Simple, I borrow it." Bakura said, locking the lunchbox. Malik quickly got what he meant.

"Getting you cars is risky enough, but damn Ryou, you want equipment now?" He muttered.

"I just need sound and a camera, the other stuff will be pretty useless anyway." Bakura insisted. Malik sighed.

"I'll try for the camera, and I think I can get sound."

"Perfect!" Bakura said cheerily. Malik thought.

"So, almost no equipment, almost no money, a small cast, and the star has no clue he's going to be in it. Are you sure this movie is a good idea?" Bakura shrugged.

"Sure, absolutely! What could go wrong?" He asked, walking past Malik. Malik snorted.

"I dunno, let me think. Oh, I know, how about EVERYTHING!"