Complete story — includes the ending
Jack Horner, a day after leaving Fabletown, is on the road in a rental truck that's hauling a fortune in treasure he stole from Bluebeard vault. Jill, the lilliputian who stole the key to the vault room in exchange for Jack helping her escape the Farm, now sits on a book up on the dashboard, unsatisfied because she has no way to travel. Mundy birds and rats would just as soon attack her than let her ride them, and Jack already told her he fulfilled his part of the bargain by taking her away from Fabletown. In other words, now that she escaped, she had nowhere to go.
After a few more days drive, they reach Hollywood. Jack is very careful to never let the truck full of loot out of his or Jill's sight. Even after stopping at a motel, he forces her to take shifts with him at night, so that one of them always has an eye on it.
Bernard Stein, financial attorney and theatrical representative, met Jack for the first time the next morning when he swaggered into his office like he owned the place. They shake hands with Jack introducing himself as "Mr. Trick" and asking "Bernie" if he's ready to make some real money. He hires Bernie to teach him the ropes of the Hollywood industry, how to identify the real players from the ones who are just blowing smoke. Bernie agrees wholeheartedly. First, he shows Jack an abandoned studio lot that was up for grabs; it was in a good location, Bernie assured him, it just needed some repairs. Jack tells Bernie to buy it. Next, Jack wants him to find a producer. Young and up-and-coming, not yet as well known, but knows to go for the jugular in business. Bernie has a few names in mind, already.
Moss Waterhouse drives up to the Nimble Studios lot, where he's expected. By that point, the name "Mr. Trick" was being gossiped about around Hollywood circles. He's a mystery newcomer that everyone claims to know but no one has actually met. Moss was now face to face with the man himself. Just from his eyes, Moss couldn't help but think Jack was older than he looked. Jack hired him after Moss gave a short spiel about himself. Then Jack turns and fires Bernie Stein, right then and there.
Mr. Trick, like all of Hollywood's greatest, has his own idiosyncrasy: Collecting dollhouses. But Jack's real reason is to provide Jill with dram homes to keep her happy, even though he doesn't feel that he has any obligation to. But Jill is still upset. She can't leave, and she has to hide whenever mundies come into the office. She was bored all the time. Jack argues that she was free to leave at any time so long as she didn't get seen. But Jill actually misses the Farm and wants to go home. Jack tells her the bad decisions she's made are her own fault and leaves.
Some time passes, Nimble Studios is already getting plenty of script offers, but Waterhouse has been turning them all down. He informs the studio crew in a meeting that they already had their own big project to work on. Mr. Trick comes in to give them the pitch; a trilogy of big budget films, which is financially already taken care of, much like the Lord of the Rings, that tells the story of Jack the Giant Slayer. The first movie will be of Jack's childhood, when he climbed the beanstalk and met his first giant. The second will tell of his giant-killer days when he was older. In the third movie, he comes to America, beats the devil in a poker games, seduces other fairy-tale princesses like Snow White and Cinderella, and defeats the Big Bad Wolf. The crew, minus one who is quickly fired, are in awes at the idea, and scramble right away to find screenwriters to write the script.
Production moved along swiftly, with Moss in charge of approving everything, from costume and set design, to casting. He keeps up being the public face of Nimble Studios while the owner, "John Trick" remains elusive. Jack stayed out of the public eye for good reason, as he tells Jill, as he knows from experience which of the Fabletown laws are okay to break and which aren't. The punishment for what he's doing so far can get him sent to the Farm doing chores for a few years, whereas if he exposes himself in public, breaking the anonymity rule for Fables, he'd most likely face execution. Even so, this time he's not planning on getting caught.
After a few more days drive, they reach Hollywood. Jack is very careful to never let the truck full of loot out of his or Jill's sight. Even after stopping at a motel, he forces her to take shifts with him at night, so that one of them always has an eye on it.
Bernard Stein, financial attorney and theatrical representative, met Jack for the first time the next morning when he swaggered into his office like he owned the place. They shake hands with Jack introducing himself as "Mr. Trick" and asking "Bernie" if he's ready to make some real money. He hires Bernie to teach him the ropes of the Hollywood industry, how to identify the real players from the ones who are just blowing smoke. Bernie agrees wholeheartedly. First, he shows Jack an abandoned studio lot that was up for grabs; it was in a good location, Bernie assured him, it just needed some repairs. Jack tells Bernie to buy it. Next, Jack wants him to find a producer. Young and up-and-coming, not yet as well known, but knows to go for the jugular in business. Bernie has a few names in mind, already.
Moss Waterhouse drives up to the Nimble Studios lot, where he's expected. By that point, the name "Mr. Trick" was being gossiped about around Hollywood circles. He's a mystery newcomer that everyone claims to know but no one has actually met. Moss was now face to face with the man himself. Just from his eyes, Moss couldn't help but think Jack was older than he looked. Jack hired him after Moss gave a short spiel about himself. Then Jack turns and fires Bernie Stein, right then and there.
Mr. Trick, like all of Hollywood's greatest, has his own idiosyncrasy: Collecting dollhouses. But Jack's real reason is to provide Jill with dram homes to keep her happy, even though he doesn't feel that he has any obligation to. But Jill is still upset. She can't leave, and she has to hide whenever mundies come into the office. She was bored all the time. Jack argues that she was free to leave at any time so long as she didn't get seen. But Jill actually misses the Farm and wants to go home. Jack tells her the bad decisions she's made are her own fault and leaves.
Some time passes, Nimble Studios is already getting plenty of script offers, but Waterhouse has been turning them all down. He informs the studio crew in a meeting that they already had their own big project to work on. Mr. Trick comes in to give them the pitch; a trilogy of big budget films, which is financially already taken care of, much like the Lord of the Rings, that tells the story of Jack the Giant Slayer. The first movie will be of Jack's childhood, when he climbed the beanstalk and met his first giant. The second will tell of his giant-killer days when he was older. In the third movie, he comes to America, beats the devil in a poker games, seduces other fairy-tale princesses like Snow White and Cinderella, and defeats the Big Bad Wolf. The crew, minus one who is quickly fired, are in awes at the idea, and scramble right away to find screenwriters to write the script.
Production moved along swiftly, with Moss in charge of approving everything, from costume and set design, to casting. He keeps up being the public face of Nimble Studios while the owner, "John Trick" remains elusive. Jack stayed out of the public eye for good reason, as he tells Jill, as he knows from experience which of the Fabletown laws are okay to break and which aren't. The punishment for what he's doing so far can get him sent to the Farm doing chores for a few years, whereas if he exposes himself in public, breaking the anonymity rule for Fables, he'd most likely face execution. Even so, this time he's not planning on getting caught.
Sources and content license
Source and revision history ↗ · Adapted from DC Database contributors, Fables Vol 1 34. Illustrations and reference markup removed; synopsis paragraphs combined. · Content license