Rise To Stardom - Chapter 240

Chapter 240: Necessary Risk
In the comic, it took several issues before Nathan finally realized that his Professor was in fact, the mystery cyborg.

And for a comic book, that extended period until the revelation came, was very fitting as Nathan and Malakai had built up a pretty close, mentor-student bond, making their bitter confrontation, all that more heart-wrenching for Tech Wiz.

But for a live action adaptation, that extended period of time was a luxury they didn’t have.

For a movie that was planned to be a two-hour, thirty minute+ epic, if they tried to fit and squeeze the bond that Nathan and Malakai built over the several issues in the comics, it would just end up feeling somewhat forced, undercooked and generally unpalatable to the audience.

As a result, Kyle had seriously been pondering, way before the live action adaptation was even greenlit by him, same as Xavier whom had stumbled upon the exact same conundrum after Kyle had gotten him on board;

‘How do we overcome that barrier of familiarity in the comics within the average length of a superhero movie to reach that eventual bitter confrontation between Nathan and Malakai?’

The answer Kyle had settled upon after many months of thinking however?

“Do we really have to?” he had told Xavier over one of their many phone calls last year.

“I mean, fans love it when a live action adaptation stays true to the source material but…”

“… one thing they love even more, are welcome changes that elevates the story for the medium it’s being told in.”

“So, instead of fussing over overcoming that mentor-student bond, we could take a necessary risk instead…”

“One that’s still in line the comics but in a completely, fresh new way…” he had concluded to which the director had then asked him to share his ideas;

“Now hear me out here.”

“Professor. Overclock, has a peculiar ability in the comics due to the unstable isotopy of the botched serum he was affected by…”

“You mean–” Xavier had swiftly picked up on Kyle’s thought process.

“Yes. That.” Kyle had affirmed immediately.

“We could use that, Zay. Use it to create an unexpected yet intriguing twist that essentially, substitutes that mentor-student relationship with something similar yet different.”

“And what’s that, if I may ask?” Xavier had inquired of the young man whom had then taken a brief pause over the line before he then spoke;

“Manipulation.”

{Tech Wiz: Year One | 11th of August 2022 | Act 4 | Scene 3 | Take 3}

Nathan’s eyes flashed open as he simultaneously jerked upwards!

“Prof!” he called out in alarm, only to hear a voice respond from the side.

“I’m alright. I only suffered a mild concussion.”

Angling his gaze over, Nathan watched as Malakai, stood on his far right whilst making calculations on what seemed to be a transparent glass board.

The previously destroyed basement was now a bit less haphazard as one of the now replaced fluorescent bulbs, illuminated every corner of the room.

The collapsed bookshelves, blueprints and the likes still littered the ground but at least, it looked more like an accident and less like a full-on assault.

There was also a monitor in the corner, surprisingly, untouched even amidst all the attack that had happened.

Noticing that he was laying on what seemed to be a desk, Nathan soon sat upright while groaning in pain.

He might’ve gained superpowers but they sure as hell, weren’t the physically enhancing type.

Legs dangling from the desk though, Nathan soon interlocked his hands with a grim disposition after a while.

A moment of silence descended between both parties, the squeaking of Malakai’s white marker, filling up the somewhat heavy ambience of the room.

Then Nathan broke the silence;

“Care to tell me what’s going on?”

“If I tell you what’s going on, you’ll only find yourself in more danger.” Malakai flatly stated, unwilling to be cooperative as he kept scribbling on the board.

“Well I’m already in this hot mess with you so how bad can it get?” Nathan countered, his tone serious.

“Worse. It can get a lot worse.” Malakai, without turning his back, replied, a hint of anger in his tone.

Then he abruptly stopped, turned around to face Nathan and remarked like the angry Professor that he was;

“I warned you not to dig into the details of the experiment, Nathan!”

“Besides, how’d you even know where I live?!” he demanded in concerned annoyance with a pointed, cybernetic finger.

“I didn’t. All I did was follow the big guy when I saw him jetting through the skies.” Nathan defended calmly to which he then opposed with a glare and a flurry of questions;

“In fact, I should be the one asking questions. Why’s the hunk of metal after you? Why’s your arm eerily similar to his? And what’s this about fixing an unstable ‘nano-serum’?”

Glaring at his student whom was similarly reciprocating the glare, Malakai then let out a long, drawn-out sigh of defeated exasperation as he explained;

“It’s all because of the experiment.”

“The failed one?” Nathan clarified.

“Yes…” the professor replied, briefly pausing before then spoke again;

“Except, it wasn’t. It was a success, on all fronts.” Malakai clipped his marker as he walked over to his monitor and switched it on to pull up a video file, gesturing for Nathan to come over and take a look.

“Ten years ago, your mother and I created the nano-serum.” Malakai continued;

“It was an amazing achievement, incorporating programmed, microscopic bots into a serum to replace the DNA coding sequence.” he succinctly added to which Nathan, now by the monitor, slowly widened his eyes in realization as he watched the video clip showing test experiments of the serum.

In it, he could see as the serum, practically jumped from the petri dishes to attach to people with various disabilities, healing them in a matter of minutes.

It was so similar to the way he had gotten his powers, albeit his had been more excruciating than he could ever want to recall.

“We thought we’d finally done it. A world, soon to be with no diseases and disabilities…” Malakai spoke again, his voice hopeful.

“But the higher ups and executives, wanted to monopolize the product. Make it something only the rich and privileged could afford…” his tone dimmed.

“Caitlyn and I, we fought, tooth and nail to oppose them and in the end, in an effort to silence her… silence us, and the project since they weren’t getting their way, messed with the serum’s isotopy, so much that the electrons and protons in them became unstable.”

“And that, led to–”

“Side effects.” Nathan completed Malakai’s statement as the clip on the monitor, reflected he himself being an experimental test subject to prove the validity of the serum to what seemed to be executives of the company as Caitlyn North herself, administered it.

And then it happened, the mutation in all its glory as Clint’s arm where the serum had glomped onto, suddenly took on an amorphous swarm of tiny, red particulate matter.

Then the transmission abruptly ended.

With a slow, shaky breath, Nathan then asked, his tone wary;

“You weren’t the only one whom the tampered serum was tested on, were you?”

“Yes, unfortunately. Several subjects, had the same serum tested on them that very same day in other facilities…” Malakai gave a grim nod as he continued;

“…and all of the blame, ended up falling on Caitlyn, especially since she absconded with both the formula of the serum and the sera themselves.”

“Wherever it was she stored the rest of them, I have no idea but…” the professor moved over to the monitor once more to pull up another video, displaying it to Nathan who watched with a hint of nostalgia as he heard his mum speak;

[It’s the isotopy, Malakai. Whatever it is they did to it, it’s made it unstable.]

[If I can just stabilize it– which I most definitely will­– the serum should be good to go again.]

[In fact, by my calculations, I should be able to retain its side effects and take it in a whole new direction.]

“That was the last conversation we had before she left the company for good…” the professor pointed out.

But for Nathan, a light of complete realization surfaced in his irises as Malakai concluded with a saddened smile;

“I don’t know if Caitlyn was successful in stabilizing it as she had stated but, next I heard of her, she had died in a plane crash.”

Another wave of heavy silence descended in the room as Nathan, did his best to process everything he had heard, going as far as heading over to seat on the desk he had previously gotten off of.

And as Malakai watched him do this, he pursed his lips, after which he then spoke about a minute later;

“Look Nathan, I have no idea if Horizon Tech was able to replicate the nano-serum as I’ve stepped away from research for years now but, if in fact they have, then–”

“Cyborg’s just the beginning…” Nathan surmised, his expression bleak.

With the serum that gave them powers some of them probably never wanted, out in the limelight once more, they would probably start coming out of the woodwork, hoping for some cure if there was a chance the serum could be reverse engineered to rid them of their powers.

And with that said, the Professor, without having to say anything more, uncorked his marker and promptly resumed his calculations to stabilize the isotopy of the serum on the glass board as another wave of silence descended.

And then, about a minute later, Nathan’s voice rang from behind him as he asked;

“Do you by chance, have a spare?”

Angling his gaze over to his student whom he did in fact believe, had the genius to keep up with his intellect, the Professor, smiled lightly and then pulled another out of his pocket, extending it to the young man as he said;

“Be my guest.”

“Tailslate and… Cut!”

–

As Xavier rewatched the raw footage of the scene which was yet to be polished up to a professional movie standard, a light, smug smile tugged on the corners of his lips at the way the unaware general audience would be taken for a brief rollercoaster after the next few scenes played out.

Stretching a bit though, his tummy simultaneously rumbling in hunger, the director simply ignored it and glanced over to his wrist watch instead.

‘6:10 am.’ he inwardly stated with a casual expression.

Standing up from the chair, the director made his way out of the makeshift booth in the basement where he usually reviewed footages of the scenes they had shot in his free time.

Considering he had slept at the basement overnight though, much like Kyle whom had suddenly began sleeping over at his office upstairs for reasons practically unknown to him, Xavier wasn’t surprised to see him already on ground.

What did surprise him though, was seeing him sitting on the ground, literally.

The young man, sitting atop what seemed to be a picnic blanket, casually rummaged through a similarly pretty picnic basket, his sleep-deprived, tired eyes, gleaming in interest.

Adding to this curious scene however, was the blonde-haired lady seated next to him, her movements meticulous as she helped arrange the plates and utensils on the blanket.

“You really outdid yourself this time, blondie. Oooh, loaf cake!” Kyle stated to which Christina giggled mirthfully, both unaware of the director whom was still trying to wrap his head around what was going on here.

‘A picnic date, perhaps? But it’s so early in the morning…’ Xavier couldn’t help but ponder.

Catching sight of him from his periphery though, Kyle then angled his gaze over and called out, his tone jovial;

“Morning Zay.”

“We’re having breakfast. Wanna join?” the young man inquired of the director as the blonde-haired lady casually turned her head around, her evergreen irises welcoming as she gave a light smile and a small nod.

“Uh, yeah. Sure. Why not?” Xavier responded in the affirmative as he walked over to take a seat.

Regardless of whatever the duo was up to, the director felt it necessary to not pry into their privacy.

But more than that, he was really starving at the moment so he couldn’t really be bothered as long as he got to put something in his stomach.

Meanwhile, as this was happening, Oliver whom was also headed over to the studio quite early to check up on his ward whom had now made his office his bedroom, received a phone call.

And upon casually picking it up via his Porsche’s wireless adapter, the next few words Oliver heard from the PI he had hired to investigate Adam Shaw, had him instantly pull over the vehicle to the side of the road, beads of sweat rapidly forming on his features as he muttered to himself in realization;

“Kyle was right…”