Stranger Things Have Happened Chapter 3: Opportunity Knocks on Wood, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Title: Stranger things have happened

Author: Sakura Takanouchi

Summary: The lights are off, the camera's batteries died…but there's no lack of action when a bet forged throws two of the unlikeliest people together in one of the most extraordinary of circumstances.

A/N: SPRING BREAK!!! Break me off a piece of that Spring Break!

Disclaimer: Don't own YGO characters or any pop culture references. But let's count how many movies I try to take a stab at, shall we?

Chapter Three: Opportunity knocks on wood

"Hey, Serenity, what's up? You've barely said anything?" Mai asked her friend. They were both relaxing, enjoying iced coffee in an outdoor café situated on Serenity's apartment block. It looked new, and the drinks they served were delicious. Serenity's French braids rustled in the wind; she was glad that she pulled her hair back. Mai looked impeccable, as usual. She hadn't toned down much when she became engaged, and Serenity admired that. She was able to be in a relationship and maintain her individuality (and distinct personality and style traits Serenity thought would never leave her). Perhaps this was why Serenity liked being around the boisterous blonde.

"Oh, well, I'm just thinking." At Mai's expectant stare, Serenity continued. "This is the first summer where I don't have to do anything. I don't have school anymore and my job is nothing more than a job. I don't need to prepare for anything. I can just do what I want to do." 'Now if I can just figure out what that is…'

Mai took a large sip of her drink. "You're sure you want to just be an artist? Freelance is a tough road."

'Like you'd know.' Serenity kept her cool, just continuing to sip her beverage. "I just want to do what makes me happy, Mai."

Mai smiled secretively. "Lilies."

"Hmm?" Serenity's head jerked up at the new conversation topic.

"We've decided that Lilies will be the main flowers at the wedding," Mai gushed, as if revealing a secret. Serenity squealed; lilies were beautiful flowers. "I wanted birds of paradise, but your brother put his foot down."

"So that's the inspiration for the wedding?"

"We'll see." Mai said, with a knowing look.

"But I can't believe that tomorrow is going to be the big shopping excursion!" Serenity wanted to talk about what was occupying her thoughts for the past several days. "You're going to look so beautiful in whatever dress you choose."Serenity looked around, her breathing slow. 'This really is relaxing. And who knew that this café was so close?'

"You don't know how many magazines we've got laying around the house. And most of them are subscriptions. I don't know what Joey's going to say once we actually tie the knot, and they keep on coming." She chuckled softly.

Serenity sucked at her drink; the gurgling noise signified it was almost empty. The girls were interrupted from their reveries by a large commotion coming from around the street corner. Their drinks and wedding daydreams instantly forgotten; the girls stood up from their chairs to get a better view of what was going on. Faint music was getting louder. "It looks like it's coming from the direction of my apartment…" Serenity noticed.

They watched as a tall truck came around the corner, driving on the street towards them. It was the type of vehicle that had marquees on the sides, and there seemed to be a flashing light and music attached to the car. Serenity sighed; this was absurd. Didn't these people know that just being loud and obnoxious didn't get anything across? 'I feel like a genie is waiting right behind that truck to announce Ali Ababwa.' She turned to her friend, who looked much more interested than she was. "Can you believe this?"

"Hey, I think that it's kind of cool," Mai said. Serenity's eyebrows rose. She was defending this parade? Charade was a better fit. The first truck was indeed followed by more trucks; each having scrolling ads on the sides. Over the music, a voice was blaring. "The hottest label to hit Japan is launching its newest project! Now you, too, can have the chance to star in this new movie! Open auditions will be held starting tomorrow! Head over to MKE's studio to sign up and you could be a STAR!"

Serenity grimaced. Who in their right mind would support something like this? And what did MKE stand for, anyways? This was a publicity stunt, and that voice even was annoying. But obviously, no one else thought the way that she did. People were gawking, watching, cheering, and not even caring that the entire street was blocked off. There was balloons and confetti. Everywhere. If looks could kill, the whole thing would have gone up in flames.

"Earth to Serenity?"

"Oh! Sorry…" She snapped back out of the haze and focused more on her friend. "What did you say?"

"You should enter it." Mai said, smirking at Serenity's expression, a mix of frustration and horror. Mai let out a laugh. "Come on, it would be perfect. You already know how to act; you were in the play your senior year, weren't you?"

Serenity paled. "Now's a great time to bring that up… I don't even want to think about that experience." Serenity was a part of the team that painted sets for plays. She was just playing around, and without even meaning to audition, she was cast as a supporting role in that play. It was, actually…a lot of fun, but that was something she'd never admit to Mai. Serenity was never one to shy away from new things, but there was no way in hell she would support something this obscenely extravagant. It just seemed wrong to her.

"Why don't you want to? You said it yourself, you have a free summer. What do you have against this?"

Mai's words rang through Serenity's head. She turned, confused, watching the parade slowly move past where they were seated, once again, in front of the café. 'This could be my opportunity to actually do something, to free myself from this cycle of life that I can't seem to escape.' And that was when Serenity Wheeler discovered that she really, really, wanted a role in that movie. She wanted to get involved and change everything that had so disgusted her. She had to believe that she could make a difference.

Running a hand over her hair to smooth any flyaways, she looked inquisitively at Mai. "So, do you think that I can do it?"

"I know you can! In fact," she added, winking, "If you don't sign yourself up, I think I just might for you…"

Serenity ' s eyes darted back to rest upon the face of her friend. She froze. 'Friend,' she scoffed. 'Friends don't try to control your life! I'm perfectly capable of making choices on my own, regardless of the consequences. Starting with this one.'

Blinking slowly, Serenity managed a weak smile. "Look at all of these people. The contest is probably just a publicity stunt. Some famous actress is going to get the role. I'd rather focus my time on painting."

Mai nodded. "That makes sense…kind of. Alright, I've got to go meet Joey, but you don't forget about our shopping tomorrow! We're going to find the perfect dresses for all of us!" Waving goodbye, Mai threw her empty cup into a garbage can, walking down the road in the opposite direction of the now-gone parade. Watching Mai's retreating figure gave Serenity an idea. Quickly throwing her cup into the same trash can, she darted down the street like a nervous rabbit before all courage left her.

Serenity panted for breath. She had to lean against the wall of the building for support, and she kept checking around her, to make sure nobody recognized her. She felt like an idiot. She had just run in a huge lap around her apartment building complex. But it was all worth it to her. Because right now, she felt much like Dorothy would upon seeing the gates of the emerald city for the first time.

'I am Serenity, the small and meek.'

Damn straight. She looked up until she felt her neck cry out in protest. Who knew that MKE had their headquarters in her building? Serenity gulped. She should learn to watch her back- literally. Swarms of people rushed past, in and out of those elegant rotating doors. Everyone seemed so…purposeful. So confident. Serenity just hoped some of that got rubbed off onto her. 'So…let's sign up!'

She joined the river of people through the doors, and once inside, Serenity became a boulder in that river. The lobby of MKE was just so stunningly cool, that she had to stop for a moment to take it all in. The walls were a beautiful shade of purple, and she gasped as she caught sight of the speedy glass elevators, giving those inside a view that Serenity would kill for. Before she knew what was happening she had become her own coach. 'Be confident…they won't hire someone who looks like they're lost!' Striding up to (what she hoped was) the reception desk, she released a smile.

"How may I help you?" The receptionist looked friendly, but bored.

"I'm wondering where I can sign up for the open auditions, for MKE's new movie," Serenity tried to keep her voice low and even, but it ended up coming out as more of a squeak.

The receptionist (Serenity saw that her name tag read 'Reiko') laughed in an easygoing way, hoping to put the shy girl at ease. It worked, sort of. At least Serenity wasn't looking like she was going to bolt without warning.

"Just fill out this form, dear, and someone will be in touch with you today. Your audition should be tomorrow," Reiko smiled again at Serenity's astonished expression. "Yes, things do tend to run pretty fast here at MKE. But don't worry; everyone will get a chance to audition for the director himself!" Reiko sounded excited, handing her a pen. Serenity rolled it between her fingers upon instinct, almost tucking it behind her ear. Upon closer inspection, she noticed the gold-colored impression of the letters MKE emblazoned onto the writing utensil. Nodding her head in thanks, she retreated to a comfortable leather chair in the corner of the lobby to complete the form.

Many other people were doing the same thing, she realized. People were using coffee tables, the walls, even each other's backs to fill out the questionnaire. Serenity found the armrest of her chair an adequate substitute writing surface, and happily began to answer the questions. They were mostly involving her information: name, age, address and telephone number, but there were other questions where Serenity wrote about her experiences with theater and how the arts played such a huge role in her life.

Even though she finished quickly, Serenity was content to lounge in the chair, staring dreamily around the lobby. Although it was busy, she found it rather soothing. She always felt better in the middle of things; this at least was testament to that. Watching the steady flow of people into the elevators made her wonder what happened beyond this lobby. This was an entertainment label, but Serenity wasn't exactly aware of what that meant. They were making a movie. Did they hire for other facets of the industry? What exactly constituted 'entertainment?' 'Certainly not that parade earlier.'

Kicking her feet against the soft leather of the chair, Serenity decided she had been there long enough. Quickly dropping her form into the bins, Serenity gasped at the sheer number of applications already being handled. It was astonishing how big this had become.

Shakily she left the MKE studio and turned the corner to head to the lobby of her own apartment complex. It dawned on her now that she would need a miracle to get any part on that movie, even if it was just as an extra. But most of all, Serenity just wanted something that was hers, and hers alone- something she didn't have to share with Mai and Joey, or worry about what everyone thought about her life. She entered her apartment, both proud and apprehensive about what she had done.

"Mokuba, I've been hearing the strangest news floating around the office." Seto's voice was calm, but Mokuba could tell without seeing his brother's face that he was one thing away from an explosion. "Would you like to know what I'm hearing?"

"Uh…sure, Seto, what?" Mokuba waved in Reiko, who was staggering under the weight of a ream's worth of paper.

"People were talking about some disturbance happening only blocks away from my building. Something about trucks, ads, and music. That whole part of downtown was blocked off and people were swarming around the MKE studio. Now, I thought to myself, why did I have to hear this information from my employees? If my brother was going to act like an idiot and throw this spontaneous parade—"

'Tirade is more like it,' Mokuba thought, holding the receiver a distance from his ear.

"You'd think he would let me know! I offered to help you with this movie, don't insult that by pulling another stunt."

"You done?" Mokuba yawned. He could practically hear Seto fuming on the other end of the line.

"Now, I need you to come by the studio tomorrow. Now, I know you will do anything to not be drawn in by the magnetic charm of my establishment, but as a lot of the filming is done in the studio, I need you to be there. You also need to meet a few of the higher-upps in this endeavor. So, be sure to swing by at noon-ish, and we'll get started. Oh, and Seto?"

Seto grunted in response.

"You've got to admit that party had style."

Seto sighed as he heard the telltale click that the conversation was over. He had been fully intending to chew out his brother for that parade earlier in the afternoon, but instead, Mokuba had turned the tables on him and forced him to abandon his working time, and his lunch time, to go into his brother's studio. He had sworn that he'd never enter it, but he guessed he'd have to live with that. Sighing, he resumed his work, fingers moving methodologically over his keyboard, eyes narrowed in concentration.

Back in his office, Mokuba was leafing through the ream of paper that Reiko brought in. Here was every document compiled on the movie. On top sat the treasured screenplay- the base on which the movie rested. Mokuba pulled the first page from the stack and began to read. 'Do you believe in love at second sight…?'

A/N: Honestly, guys, is this even worthwhile? I think this story has great potential, but no one wants to encourage me. I know you shadow-lurking readers are out there somewhere, and if you've already spent the time to read, why not send a comment along?

Quick Question: I'm not sure I like this title. I mean, it's supposed to represent the quirky and situational humor at large in my story (right?). If I changed it to anything, it would probably be 'Love at Second Sight' or something…let me know if you like that better, or have any suggestions.

I'll be bringing my computer to the warm beachy place where I'll be in seclusion for awhile…but hopefully chapter four will come your way in no more than a week. Look out for it!

Sakura Takanouchi