Just Another Day
by
Peggy Kimbell
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Disclaimer:
FX: The Series and its characters are not mine. I'm just
borrowing them for fun - no profit involved. They belong
to Winterset Productions, Inc., Orion Pictures, Fireworks
Entertainment Inc. Productions, Rysher Entertainment and
Hallmark Entertainment. Based on characters created by
Robert T. Magginson and Gary Fleeman.
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Rollie Tyler, Australian special effects wizard, stared dazed at the ugly
face leering down at him. Abruptly coming back into focus, he recognized
the gargoyle head. The head was actually a pot, the fangs hanging over the
edge of a primitive altar. The lid could be removed by gripping its pointed
ears and twisting slightly. The gargoyle pot was a small but essential part
of the elaborate set he and Angie Ramirez, his assistant, had carefully
built with the help of the prop crew in preparation for the next day's
shoot of the movie's climactic scene. They had transformed the interior of
a New York City warehouse into a primitive temple complete with altar,
crude stone walls and arched doorways.
The work had been going smoothly and Rollie was calling the director to
come and check their work, when three men dashed in waving guns around.
They had realized how dangerous these men were when one slammed his gun
hand into the side of Rollie's face. Rollie had dropped to the floor and
the big man stomped hard on the cell phone in the lanky Aussie's left hand,
breaking the phone. Fortunately, Rollie had been wearing his special
leather gloves and the bits of the phone had not cut into his hand, however
it still felt like something could be broken. Angie tried to go help her
boss, but was thrust roughly back. The warehouse had filled with the sounds
of sirens as police units surrounding the place. The three men were bank
robbers and had taken refuge in the old building when they wrecked their
getaway car trying to evade the police. Now with the movie crew as
prisoners, the man who attacked Rollie demanded an unmarked van and safe
passage. If the police did not provide it within half an hour, they would
start killing their hostages.
Rollie and Angie recognized the voice of the police officer trying to
negotiate with the robbers, Lt. Pete Stone of the Emergency Services Unit.
Pete was a friend of Rollie's and both knew that Rollie's best mate,
Detective. Leo McCarthy and his partner, Francis Gatti, were likely out
there as well. All of them would be looking for a way to rescue their
friends, but it would be next to impossible to get inside the warehouse to
take out the robbers without endangering the hostages. Also, it was
unlikely the police could meet the time limit given, since rush hour had
begun.
Unfortunately, the robbers had not cared about the logistics of the
situation. The leader roughly tied Rollie's hands together and once more
slamming his gun hand into Rollie sent him sprawling in front of the altar
and into full view of the open doors and the waiting police. In less than
ten minutes, Rollie was scheduled to be sacrificed on the altar of violent
crime.
A minute before the deadline was reached, imperceptibly at first, but with
growing force the gargoyle head began to vibrate. A low hum filled the air,
growing steadily in volume. The three robbers were staring warily at the
head when it suddenly erupted, the lid flying into the air. Blood gushed
out of pot, pouring down on Rollie's head. With a loud rumble, the arches
surrounding the altar collapsed, sending dust everywhere. E.S.U. officers
poured in the open entrance, targeting the criminals with the red laser
sights on their weapons. Shocked by the strange experience, only the leader
had managed to fire a single wild shot in the general direction of the
helpless Tyler, before surrendering to the overwhelming firepower of the
police.
Leo and Francis darted in, right behind the E.S.U. assault, guns at the
ready. Seeing the robbers being secured by the other officers, Leo turned
his attention to where he had last seen his younger friend. "Rollie! Are
you all right? Rollie?" He waved at the dust only just now settling from
the air, and moved apprehensively forward. Only the altar was clear of
debris. The police detective was slightly surprised when the large stone he
pushed shifted easily. Recognizing that the stones were light props, the
detectives started to dig out their friend. They were quickly joined by
Angie, paramedics and some of the movie crew. Moments later, Rollie was
revealed, drenched in what Leo and Francis realized was fake blood.
Remembering that gun shot, they hoped it was all fake and the bullet had
missed its intended target.
Rollie stared up at Leo's and Angie's anxious faces, blinking rapidly,
trying to clear the fake blood and dust from his eyes. He spluttered
slightly, then gave a wry grin. "Do you think someone could get these ropes
off me, mates?"
With a relieved smile, Angie immediately moved to cut off the ropes with
an Exacto knife. The paramedics moved in to check the extent of his
injuries. Leo just shook his head in exasperation and relief.
"Wow! That was something! How'd you do it?" Francis was amazed by the
elaborate results that Rollie and Angie had created. "Angie, did you do that?"
"Not me." Angie replyed casually, trying to act like she hadn't been
worried. "That was all Rollie."
"But, how? You were tied up in front of everybody!" Gatti queried with a
puzzled look.
Rollie waved his right hand, drawing attention to the PDA strapped to his
forearm. He winced as the paramedic touched the bruise forming at his right
eye, checking his pupils.
"Looks like you're going to have quite a shiner." Leo told his friend.
"Are you okay?"
"Basically, but I guess I'll have to get my hand x-rayed. Make sure
nothing's broken." Rollie glanced at the mess surrounding him and sighed
heavily. "Man, now we're going to have to set it all back up. Looks like
we've got a long night ahead of us, Ang."
Just then, a stout, balding man entered the building, looking around in
astonishment at the cops and the mess. "Director on board." Angie murmured
to her boss and slipped away, unwilling to deal with him or his probable
attitude.
"Rollie! What's going on? Where did all these cops come from and what
happened to my set?" Somehow, he managed to sound both angry and worried.
"Ah, well you see, Fred, there were these three guys..." Rollie started
explaining.
Leo waved the weary man to silence. "Bank robbers decided to hold your
crew hostage. Luckily, Rollie here distracted them long enough for us to
capture them. Quick thinking on his part. It could have been a blood bath!"
Startled, the director rocked back on his heels for a second, trying to
reorder his thoughts to this unforeseen circumstance. "Is everybody all
right?"
"Everybody, except Rollie. They decided to beat up on him." Leo was laying
it on a little thickly, managing to give the impression Rollie was hurt
worse than he actually was without really saying so.
Fred gave a sharp look at his senior FX expert. "I think you better take
at least a couple of days off, Rol. We can shoot filler and close-ups.
We'll reschedule the climax for when you're up to it." With that, the
director bustled away.
"Not bad, Leo." Angie was back and admiring the way the older man had
handled the "important" man. She gave Leo a look of silent thanks, Rollie
really did look wiped out and she was tired, too. Re-setting the effect and
set was definitely not on her priority list right now.
"Yeah, Leo. If you ever decide you're tired of being a cop, I might put
you to work handling our business relations." Rollie was thoroughly amused
by his friend's expert dissembling. He also figured he was safe, no way Leo
McCarthy would ever take over that job!
