Rise To Stardom - Chapter 172

Chapter 172: Splash!
(A few seconds earlier…)

Having finished up their dance routine with such finesse and aplomb, Tyler and his crew walked off the stage of the gladiatorial-looking hall fitted with giant LED screens.

Tyler especially, was feeling on top of the world, believing that even if the plot of the movie demanded that they lose, in the hearts of the audience, they’d ultimately be the winners.

The amount of effort he and his crew had put into over-performing their choreographed dance moves was nothing short of immense.

Maybe that was why, just as The Deviants passed by to take the stage, the dance prodigy, with his pride already inflated, purposely and pettily bumped into Kyle.

Yet, as the young star looked over his shoulder, about to apologize for bumping into Tyler, he couldn’t help but be slightly confused when he saw the prideful gloat on the young man’s features.

And just like that, their only actual interaction ever since he had been on set, was over.

Unfortunately for Tyler, Kyle couldn’t even be bothered to spare him his thoughts.

The young man’s focus currently, was solely dedicated to giving it his all for the dance scene.

However, for Tyler himself, after he had taken his place by the side with the rest of his crew to watch The Deviants make their stand, he couldn’t help but gently massage his shoulder.

‘What even is he? A rock?’ the dance prodigy, winced stealthily, no one else really picking on their interaction…

Well except Sean.

He saw it all and simply felt, Tyler was committing to his role as Xander.

Quietly, he whispered to the Director who then took the initiative to have their cinematographer, check the cameras to see if the brief shot was usable.

And that exactly, was how a scene which was never supposed to be in the movie, ended up making its way into the final cut.

* * *

Honestly, when Danny had been originally creating Level Up 2, there hadn’t been a character named Lance Knight.

However, in the process of writing the script, he had realized that the main cast, needed a bit more edge if they really were going to have any chances of winning against The Syndicates.

And so Lance Knight was born, a character who the Director created to be a dark horse.

A dark horse he would delude even the audience to believe, could only dance like a cyborg till the very last dance scene.

Why, you ask?

Because Danny, so much loved the character he had created, he had plans to make him the protagonist for Level Up 3.

And what better way to retain an audience and have them, come back for more of a franchise than a character whom would leave an indelible mark in their minds on the big screens.

So, with that thought process in mind, Danny, gazed at The Deviants, Kyle especially, grinned slightly and then, put the megaphone to his mouth.

As for Kyle, he let out a deep breath and then, silently muttered to himself;

“Activate [Deep Dive] and [Scene Stealer].”

“BEGIN!”

{Level Up 2 | 15th of September 2020 | Act 4 | Scene 5 | Take 1}

The stage was dim.

A slow, droning tune, played.

The Syndicates were watching.

The audience, waited in anticipation.

And then, with a single snap of a finger, the spotlights shone on Luke on the far right of the stage, frozen in time.

Vibrating a bit, he seemingly broke out of his cryo-stasis.

And the moment he did, five other spotlights, landed on the other Deviants in a circular motion, each of them breaking out of their individual stasis.

Strobing robotically towards the center of the stage where a single, circular elevated platform stood, the spotlights, shone on a seventh Deviant, yet to break out of his stasis.

Yet, the moment all six, reached the perfect range, the bass dropped!

Switching to an edgy rebellious pop song, Lance jumped from the elevated platform and onto center stage, the lights brightening up as The Deviants, broke into a powerful zombie-like dance!

The crowd cheered loudly!

The music vibrated for a moment and so did the Deviants, their limbs seemingly disjointed in eerie unison.

Stepping forward in sync, the force of their footsteps, created a rhythmic stomping sound!

Lance and Luke effortlessly exchanged positions mid-dance, same as Veronica and Rose.

The siblings were now center stage, leading the charge as the zombie leaders!

Dragging their inhuman bodies forward, their feet made a uniformed sliding screech of defiance.

These were The Deviants.

This, was a rebellion.

Music halt.

Lights off.

One step. Reverberate.

Two step. Echo.

Spotlight shift.

Lance walks forward casually.

Looks around and says;

“Who let the girls out?!”

The male Deviants;

“Woo! Woo! Woo!”

Beat drop!

Energetic pop!

Lights on!

Rose, Veronica, and Baby sassed, flaming devil sticks twirling in their hands.

Sashaying forward, the girls, using the sticks as part of their dance, vigorously executed brief side-to-side booty pops ending in sexy, arched back body rolls!

Whistles filled the air from the crowd!

Luke, Bones and B-box, positioned themselves behind the girls, raising them up like ballerinas as they threw their devil sticks upwards.

Catching it in sync with the song’s beat drop, the ladies executed a flawless split!

The crowd screamed!

Stage darkens.

Music stops.

Spotlights on.

Lance cleanly moonwalks onto the scene.

Halts before center stage;

Spotlights double.

Lands on Luke who whispers;

“Electro.”

Stage brightens!

Electro pop!

Immediately, the guys Jackson shuffled backwards and then forwards in unison.

In rhythm to the music, they side walked and then waved back into position, their movements seemingly defying gravity.

Luke and Lance took center stage, their movements in unified sync as they employed an electro swing alongside B-box and Bones.

And then, they halted mid-dance in sync with the music.

The ladies stomped forward with sass in between their rows.

Music pops!

Now it was a choreographed pop and lock, The Deviant’s movements energetic and tribal as they moved in synchrony to the song!

The crowd went wild!

And then the song stopped again.

Instantly, everyone halted, save for Lance.

Robotically, he strobed backwards and then, took his spot, right back on the elevated platform.

The platform elevated, ever so slightly, Lance standing still.

And then, water gushed out of the sides of said platform briefly, filling up the slightly depressed stage in the middle with a thin layer of water and also, the elevated platform itself.

Breathing out slightly, the lone cyborg declared;

“It’s the new style!”

Instantly, Lance jumped, powerfully dropped on his knees and bounced back up like a rubber ball, water splashing everywhere!

Bass drop!

Pop rock!

Not even a moment wasted, The Deviants, picked up from stasis, their movements vicious and unrestrained as they kicked forwards!

Now in the final stretch of their choreography, their feet moved in rhythm, sliding through the thin film of water with another splash!

Their clothes were getting wet, yet they energetically danced on, their musicality on point!

Six man down, one lone cyborg above, he mirrored their movements below with inhuman precision and technique.

Luke and Rose stepped forward, leading the dance in a pyramidal formation as the music quickly built up to a crescendo!

Seconds later, the choreography effortlessly split;

One side of the pyramid, had the ladies, spinning in pirouettes while the other side, had the guys, spinning in windmill B-boy movements, water spraying about.

As for Lance, he instantly stood still in stasis.

As the music beat stopped, The Deviants all collapsed to the ground in perfect sync!

But Lance…

Lance had started spinning on both of his heels, water flying off of them like a sprinkler!

One revolution.

Two revolutions..

Three… four… five… six… seven… eight… nine…

Ten!

Recklessly, Lance explosively collapsed to his knees, sending a ripple of energy through The Deviants, all of them coming back to life like Frankenstein…

Only to collapse once more.

The crowd roared!!!

Their sound…

It was deafening.

“C-CUT!”

–

The entire set fell silent, save for the extras in the crowd who were screaming!

Legitimately!

And it wasn’t because they were meant to.

They were just that hyped!

The professional dance crew was shocked, mesmerized to their core.

The workers and cinematographers on set, stared at the sprawled Deviants, awestruck.

Tyler…

Tyler was dazed.

Sean was beyond stunned.

Danny… Danny continuously felt an electrifying chill run up his spine, goosebumps lacing his arms.

Sure The Deviants altogether had performed the dance choreography to absolute perfection but Kyle…

Kyle had gone so hard, no one really knew what to make of it.

And as if to crown how hard he had been pushing himself, the last spin…

The last spin was only supposed to have two revolutions!

And yet, Kyle went all the way to ten!

One that even the main cast whom were sprawled on the wet stage, almost believed was unreal.

But then, they had seen it for themselves…

And they had all pivoted and improvised, further elevating how powerful the scene was.

As for Kyle, he stayed knelt in a daze, his chest heaving up and down, heavily.

His breathing was labored and his muscles were aching.

Kyle was tired… extremely tired.

For the first time in a fairly long while, Kyle Kestis, even with [Peak Human Conditioning] was tired.

That was just how hard [Deep Dive] and [Scene Stealer] had pushed his entire being.

-Ding!

| You have acted and dance before everyone and impressed them! |

| Huge bonus will be applied! |

| You have obtained a massive amount of exp. points! |

| 10,000 exp. points have been awarded! |

| Total exp. points available (10,105) |

| [Deep Dive] has increased from Grade A to Grade S! |

| A phenomenal feat has been achieved! |

| Host now has full control over [Deep Dive]! |

| [Scene Stealer]’s cooldown has been reduced to once a month! |

| Host now has full control over [Scene Stealer]! |

| Keep acting to improve your skills! |