The Battle Royale S2 [Round 4: Burnination Studios]

Harold Sharpe paced around the room. He'd already taken off his armor and put down his sword; if he was going to be waiting this long, at least he could be comfortable.

"Where is he?"

The director puffed on her cigarette, or at least that's what it looked like. It was impossible to see anything in the thick cloud of smoke that surrounded her head.

"It'll be little a while, Harry baby. He wasn't quite up to the role, so we sent him over to Holly. She works her magic, though, and this scene should run like a dream."

"Ah. Holly." Harold grimaced. "Yes, why hire talented actors who actually know how to play emotion when you can just hire a coach who can make them show it."

"The audience ain't gonna know the difference, Harry. 'Sides, it ain't like she don't teach 'em nothin'." She seemed to take another drag on her cigarette. "Sometimes they just need a little help seein' how things work. 'Specially the robots, some of 'em ain't quite used to the whole self-awareness thing yet."

"Last I checked, Wilson wasn't being played by a robot."

"Look, Harry, this movie has a big cast - I mean numberswise, not just, y'know. Most of 'em are real talented, but sometimes we gotta work with what we got. If we were dealin' with a small production, that'd be one thing, but Burnination Studios don't think small. Wilson ain't one of the main roles, so we ain't payin' top-dollar when we can get by with a C-lister and some magic words. Get over it."

"It's just, this is the scene I've been looking forward to for months! Everyone's seen me play a heroic swordsman, able to handle any foe with ease. But nobody's seen that swordsman attempt to solve a murder only to get shown up by an alien detective!"

"Well, you can wait a couple more hours... hang on, got a call." The director opened up her phone, which promptly disappeared with her cigarette into the smoke. "Hello? Holly! Good to hear from ya, how's tricks..."

There was a brief and awkward pause as the cigarette reappeared and then vanished again.

"I hear ya, sister. Can't win 'em all, I guess. Keep in touch."

The phone and cigarette emerged once more. Harry didn't need to attempt the impossible task of reading the director's expression to know the news was bad.

"Problems with Wilson?"

"Turns out he's immune to magic. Must have been a mixup on the info sheet - says the character is, but we ain't got nothin' about that for the actor. Gonna have to nix the scene."

"What?"

"Look, Harry honey, you been in this business long enough to know that shit happens, and you gotta deal with it. So you ain't gettin' to do this scene. So what. They'll be other scenes in other movies. Yeah, maybe you're gettin' typecast, big fuckin' deal, you're still gettin' paid. You're still the biggest goddamn star in a movie that's gonna make fuckin' history."

"That's another thing. Why should I be the star? This movie is supposed to be about the kaiju. I'm happy to be a part of it, but I don't want to be the main reason people buy tickets."

Harold walked over to his armor and put it on, then strapped on his oversized scabbard.

"And if I'm not even getting to do the scene I wanted to do, honestly, I've got half a mind to quit."

"Ya know that ain't an option, Harry. In show business, a contract's a contract."

"I know, I know, I walk away from you and I'll never work in show business again. Did it occur to you that maybe I'm happy with that? That perhaps, just perhaps, I'm tired of working in show business if this is what it means? The same shallow role over and over, all in service to the almighty dollar?"

"You ain't gonna quit, Harry."

"You think you know me. But you don't. I got into acting because my life was stagnating. I wanted to be someone different. Now I think I just want to be myself again."

"Ugh." The director put down her cigarette, not that the cloud of smoke got any thinner. "I ain't lettin' you walk away, Harry. It'd be the biggest mistake of your life. Tell you what. I'll give you one chance with the kid we got for Wilson. If the scene works out, it's in. If it doesn't, it ain't and we get on with the movie. You think you can make this scene work without Holly's magic, be my guest."

Harold Sharpe smiled genuinely for the first time in several weeks.

"I do believe I'll accept that challenge."