Rise To Stardom - Chapter 236

Chapter 236: Dive of Faith
{Tech Wiz: Year One | 7th of September 2022 | Act 3 | Scene 2 | Take 1}

It was an orange evening, the busy NYC streets rife with the background noises of moving cars and pedestrians.

And in a secluded alleyway, Nathan was climbing up the perron of a fairly tall old building, a few words resonating in his mind as his fingers, soon latched onto the building’s ledge.

Genius isn’t just about what you can build, Nathan…

Pulling himself up with a slight huff, he hopped onto the building’s rooftop with a lowered crouch.

Slowly rising to his feet, he then raised his right arm slowly, gently caressing the peculiar-looking wristband he had created.

…it’s about what you choose to do with the things you build.

An intimate cinematic score, layered but underpinned, cued.

“Hope this works…” Nathan muttered to himself, his eyes glowing with a brief neon-blue hue.

In response, his arm lit up in a now familiar shade of blue circuitry, connecting with the band.

Like layered dominoes falling atop the other, nano-structure-like elements, extended from the band, pavementing themselves across Nathan’s skin and clothes to reach all of his extremities.

And soon, was a suited vigilante standing tall, hands gloved, legs booted, head covered and his body, protected by the exosuit powered with an energy core.

Flexing his arms and fingers as his visor booted up, albeit with a glitchy and messy interface, Nathan remarked disappointedly, somewhat expecting it as he switched it off with a light tap to his ear;

“I’ll add it to the list…”

Field of view crystal clear, as it should be, Nathan moved towards the ledge with measured steps, the camera in first person.

Then it cut back to him, his face within the helmet, noticeably anxious as he slowly pulled backwards with similarly measured steps.

The score built up slowly, morphing into pulsating, bold synths.

Bouncing gently atop his boots to ready himself, his heartbeat rapid, the young man muttered once more, this time with a wary tone;

“Hope I live to regret this…”

With a ‘Ready, set, go!’ countdown in his mind, the vigilante bolted forwards!

And at the very ledge of the building, instead of leaping off, he swan-dived downwards with a forward barrel roll instead!

Plummeting downwards at a terrifying speed, a few pedestrians on the city streets, soon noticed his rapid, seemingly suicidal descent!

And in typical, 21st century fashion, some whipped out their smartphones to take a video.

But the sane ones amongst them, pointed hands and alerted other nearby pedestrians!

Within seconds, a small crowd formed, audience to Nathan’s foolhardy courage.

Breeze billowing in a powerful updraft as he kept falling, the soundtrack began pounding rhythmically in hard-hitting, heavy percussions!

And at just the right moment, just before he hit the pavement to meet a mushy death of flesh and bones, he spread his arms outwardly!

An orchestral heroic piece, powerful, liberating and inspiring, burst forth as the updraft of air, propelled him forwards, his wingsuit gliding and propelling him through the air as the crowd below let out shocked expressions!

About to glide headfirst into a building, Nathan retracted the wingsuit with a backwards barrel roll, foot placed forwards!

Landing on the surface of the skyscraper perpendicularly, his boots, in perfect sync, emitted a powering hue of neon-blue energy!

That was Nathan’s cue.

As if his perception of time slowed due to the adrenaline coursing through his very being and more specifically, the gravity circuit incorporated into the entirety of his suit, the very first step he took, felt extremely long.

Then his strides increased, gradually.

Slow…

Fast.

Faster!

And in the next moment, he found himself at the very top of the skyscraper’s edge.

But to the pedestrians below, all they had seen, was a blitz.

A blur.

A bursting wave of neon-blue, mixed with streaks of orange!

Nathan, at this point, had realized, just as they had.

He was fast.

Extremely, fast!

“Woooooooohooooooo!!!” he screamed like a little kid in a candy store as he flipped backwards, ejecting his grappling hook from the center hole in his pulse gauntlets!

Latching onto the alternate building, the young man retracted the hook, hurling himself forwards as he silent hovered across the air for a few seconds!

Then, flipping onto the side of another building, he ran perpendicularly sideways to it, another blur bursting forward as he found himself, soaring through the air once more with his wingsuit!

Descending to the ground, he landed on the tarred road, blitzing past a couple cars as the orchestral heroic piece swelled!

And with another yell of kid-like enthusiasm, he activated the grav boots and emitted a controlled burst of gravity that propelled him back to the very skies!

Corkscrewing through a concrete pipe hanging from a crane, Nathan launched himself once more towards the top of a one storey-building with his grappling hook once more!

And upon landing on it in a stylish crouch pose, fist planted on its very surface with a strong thud, he stated with a proud grin;

“I’m the best.”

Then the roof collapsed.

And before the young man knew it, he had fallen through, not one, not two, but rather, three floors, right bang into the middle of what seemed to be an underground basement!

With a pained groan, he watched as a plethora of individuals, each of them dressed in what seemed to be mocap attires and getups, tentatively crowded around him in a circular manner.

An uncomfortable silence descended, all eyes staring at him with a mix of puzzled befuddlement.

“Well, this is awkward.” Nathan, unable to take the awkward silence any longer, let out a passive comment, his head slumping backwards in resignation and surrender.

“Tailslate and… Cut!”

–

No sooner had Xavier checked the scene, realizing it came out far more excellent than he had imagined it would, he gave Kyle, alongside all of SpawnPoint Studios employees, a double thumbs up.

In response, all the employees cheered in jubilation, Carlos even making a small joke;

“Haha! I’m gonna be on the big screens! I’m a superstar!”

Joining in the eruption of laughter that followed on set, Kyle soon noticed that he was slowly being raised, up off the floor without his consent, his masked head, tilting slightly in concern.

Meanwhile, The Director, albeit they still had another scene to shoot just after this, one that would involve Sharon and Kyle, had another thought entirely swirling in his head;

‘Can’t help but wonder if Kyle has a wild imagination or he’s actually seeing these things for real…’ Xavier wondered to himself as he kept rechecking the scene.

Considering the CGI hadn’t even been incorporated just yet into the scene, the fact that the young man nailed the scene on his first try, especially with all the dynamic cables swinging him about, was a testament to how exceptional he was to work with.

Speaking of dynamic cables…

“Um, guys. Can someone, please let me down?” Kyle politely requested as he dangled from the cable, his body slumped over like a tired panda.

At first everyone on set angled their gaze towards the young man.

Then they angled it towards the Stunt Coordinator and the Stunt Team, only to see Sharon by the control board of the gadget as they all massaged their temples in defeat.

And with a mischievous gloat on her features, she casually remarked;

“On birthdays, we bash piñatas.”

“And right now, you look like a pretty bashable one.” she concluded, raising him further upwards with the lever.

Yet, as another wave of laughter threatened to explode on set, alongside birthday songs, cheers and wishes, the young star, seemingly unperturbed by Sharon’s shenanigans, playfully scolded in an almost grandfatherly tone;

“Don’t make me come down there, young lady.”

“Is that so?” Sharon raised him up even higher, causing another wave of hearty laughter across the room which was then, eventually followed up by a plethora of birthday songs, greetings and wishes.

Yet, unfortunately, Kyle could only receive them all as he kept twirling slowly like the bashable piñata that he was.

Not that he minded though.

He found it just as amusing.

On top of that, he was in an extremely good mood.

As Xavier watched the entire scenario play out, a light smile nestling on his lips, he was soon prompted to receive a phone call due to the familiar tune he attached to the number specifically.

“Hey dear. What’s up?” he greeted warmly.

[Nothing much sweetie.] Cass’ voice, cool and affectionate, replied, to which she then took on a formal tone;

[I did want to inform you however, that one of Clint’s stunt doubles, bailed out on us.]

“Why?” The Director inquired, his current demeanor reflecting his professionalism;

[I don’t know, Zay.] Cass sighed disappointedly, to which she then stated;

[In any case, I already found someone to replace him. He’s fairly new to the job but his past works have been excellent. Should arrive at the studio a few days from now.]

“I see…” Xavier remarked thoughtfully.

“Very well then. We’ll be looking forward to meeting him.” he gave a curt nod, his lips parting open once more in appreciation of his wife’s efforts;

“Thanks Cass.”

[Don’t mention it.] she replied in kind, the slight pitch in her voice hinting at her smile from the other end of the line.

With the transmission cut off, Xavier pocketed his phone and then, gave an audible clap that echoed slightly across the room.

“Alright guys. Let’s get back to work.” he declared, his tone authoritative as he then gestured to his actors;

“Sharon. Kyle. We take the next scene in ten. Please, get prepared.”

In response, a piñata spinning Kyle gave a curt, professional nod, and so did Sharon as she gently pulled down the lever to let him down.

Playtime was over.

{Tech Wiz: Year One | 7th of September 2022 | Act 3 | Scene 3 | Take 1}

Late into the night at a quiet neighborhood in the city, the cameras slowly panned upwards to an old water tower.

Casually dangling his legs back and forth as his eyes glowed in a neon-blue hue, the vigilante, currently unmasked and in the cover of the dark, ran a few diagnostics on the 3D model of his helmet’s visor, hoping to bug-fix its glitchy interface.

However, from the corner of his eye, he soon caught sight of someone, walking out of a quaint home shelter nearby.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t George as Nathan had expected.

Rather, it was a familiar, tired face with sleep-deprived eyes.

Considering he’d been around for roughly an hour or two and hadn’t noticed when she arrived, a mild hint of confusion graced his features as his eyes reverted to its normal shade of blue.

“Felicia…?” he muttered to himself in a questioning tone as he followed her with his gaze.

And then he spotted four shady thugs in a noticeably dark alleyway nearby, all of them smoking as they trained their gaze on the lady as she casually walked past.

Killing the butts of their cigarettes, the group of thugs, made their move, silently trailing behind the lady.

Yet, as they stalked the lady, they too, were being quietly tailed by the vigilante.

But for an initially oblivious Felicia, by the time she had noticed and quickened her steps, she was in an even more quiet area of the street, the thugs hot on her tails.

“Shit!” she instantly removed her slip-ons which were inconveniencing her and pushed herself to run harder!

Unfortunately, her steps didn’t get her very far as one of the thugs whom had taken a shortcut, flanked her, pushing her onto the wall of another dark alleyway harshly as he proceeded to strip her of her belongings.

But as if snatching her purse hadn’t been enough, the other thugs whom had arrived promptly, decided they’d strip her naked as they edged towards her, their leering and sultry gazes full of malicious intent.

But just before the first thug could rip her blouse off, he suddenly felt himself yanked into the air, screaming in fear as he vanished without a trace into the darkness of the alleyway!

“Ahhhhhhh!!”

“Who’s there?!” the one who seemed to be their boss, called out in a palpable fright, his subordinates similarly terrified.

Even an assaulted Felicia, stuck to the wall in similar trepidation as her eyes darted about warily, her heartbeat getting louder by the minute!

“Show yourself!” another thug called out, holding his penknife!

Yet, the second he’d uttered those words, someone dropped onto him, slamming his skull onto the pavement and knocking him out cold with a stomp!

The other two left, upon meeting their gazes with the glowing blue visor that bore deep into their very souls, screamed in terror!

“Stay away!!”

“Stay away from me!!”

However, before they could be granted the mercy of running for their dear lives, the vigilante, blurred towards them, forcefully smacking their skulls into the other as they dropped unconscious, both knocked out cold.

As Felicia watched it all play out in literal seconds, a stronger wave of fear gripping her, the vigilante, angled his gaze over his shoulders and looked right into her eyes.

And then, with a curt nod, he blitzed up the building and vanished into the night, leaving the frightened lady unsure of whether to be scared or thankful.

“Tailslate and… Cut!”

– Ding!

–