Rise To Stardom - Chapter 63

Chapter 63: A Man of Commitment…
The days on the set went by at a steady pace.

The shooting was also going quite smoothly, save for the few occasional, technical issues and acting hiccups that would crop up here and there.

All in all, things were dandy.

Today though, one of the more intense action scenes would be shot and Kyle, along with his co-actors who would be acting out the scene, were all ready to go.

Following up from the last few scenes in the movie that had already been shot, Sam would slowly begin to find leads that shed more light onto the serial suicide bombing case.

Banks, industries, malls, literally anywhere with an influx of people was targeted and the casualties were piling up each and every month but the Agent was hard at work, slowly uncovering the plot.

Apparently, a manufactured microchip which could be remotely detonated, was the cause of said suicide bombings.

It had also been the one that had been planted into the unsuspecting Pierce’s briefcase on the day he had retired.

And unfortunately for him, the massive explosion that ensued on that day, had given rise to collateral damage in the form of all the innocent people in the apartments.

The government, as at that moment, had painted Pierce as the instigator and the general public saw him as a diabolical, irredeemable psycho who would rot in the deepest depths of hell.

However, now that the same situation was in the light again, Sam was hell-bent on uncovering the real culprit orchestrating all these machinations behind the scenes.

Having gotten a firm lead, one that would lead him to a particular Russian mob who donned the moniker of ‘The Spider’ and was a major supplier of the chips, Sam found himself heading over to an underground club.

However, upon getting there, he was greeted with the sight of dead bodies lying here and there, all of them brutally murdered in cold blood by a culprit unknown.

In addition to that, The Spider whom he was searching for, wasn’t even in the basement beneath the trapdoor and the whole place had been ransacked, confusing him even more.

This wasn’t the first time he had gotten a lead, only to realize someone else had beaten him to it and Sam was reaching the limits of his sanity and patience with this ghost culprit.

The events that had ensued before this though, was as a result of Alex’s actions of course – the vigilante who also had his own goals to achieve.

That was the scene they were about to shoot.

“Remember guys. It’s a long single take. There’s no rapid A to B cutting so you can’t afford to mess it up like the previous corridor scene.” Director Mark sternly warned Kyle’s co-actors.

“You’ve been doing a pretty fantastic job so far so let’s keep it up.” he then praised them immediately after and went to the director’s seat.

All of them nodded in understanding, glad that the Director appreciated their efforts up till now despite the few hiccups from them on the previously choreographed action scene they had shot.

It made them want to perform even better and they started taking deep breaths to prepare.

Kyle too, did the same, exceptionally prepared for the scene.

It was really going to put one of the most highly choreographed fight sequences he had learnt to the test.

—

{Epoch One | 11th April 2019 | Act 2 | Scene 4 | Take 1}

Firmly gripping his Glock 26, a weapon he felt right at home with, Alex steps echoed as he made his way down the staircase that led into the underground club.

Walking down the short, dark corridor, a door just ahead of him, Alex soon heard the sound of speakers thumping ahead.

At the exact same time, the two intimidating bouncers who were guarding the doors to the underground club, realized that the young man was an uninvited guest and instantly, decided to take matters into their own hands.

Running towards them, Alex executed a barrel roll, shooting both in their legs before they could even retrieve their guns.

Both were much larger than him so he needed to be smart.

Now screaming in pain, he quickly kneed the first bouncer in the jaw, causing his eyes to roll backwards and popped a bullet into the other bouncer’s skull.

Ensuring he finished the job, emptied two more bullets into each of their skulls before opening the doors to the club.

Assaulted by the loud thumping and electronic beats from the speakers, Alex walked into the club with purpose and locked the door behind him, his eyes quickly making a headcount of ten men.

Some of the men in the club, all of them Russian Mafioso in their own right, were assigned to protect The Spider, their leader.

Noticing the presence of an unfamiliar face, they glanced over, wondering who this fucker was and why the bouncers simply let him in.

Some ladies who also hung around the men, their outfits skimpy as they draped over them like jewelries, glanced over, confusion similarly etched on their faces.

Not minding their gazes, Alex shot the closest Mafioso straight in the head, blood spurting out of the orifice in his head like a fountain and spraying over one of the ladies beside him.

An instant shock, unexpected to the others present in the room, cascaded over their entire beings, their conundrum evident as the reality dawned on them.

The unfamiliar fucker was an enemy!

“Oh. I’m sorry. Were you not expecting that? Did I perhaps, ruin your reverie?” Alex asked, a genuinely surprised expression on his features.

What ensued next following those words, was a full-on gunfight, the shrill screams of the ladies piercing through every corner of the room!

Like drops of rain from the sky, bullets rained in hail of destruction and yet, Alex dominated the entire room.

Picking up the body of his first victim and using it as a meat bag, he rushed forward to the closest Mafioso, pushing the cold, limp body towards him.

Having distracted said Mafioso for a split moment, he delivered a brutal kick to the latter’s knee that caused his legs to bend unnaturally, a terrifying scream of agony escaping his lips.

Quickly, Alex popped two bullets into his body; one in his chest and the other in his eye socket, his body going limp immediately.

Ducking beneath a couch that had been riddled with bullet holes, Alex kicked it forwards, causing the two who were about to shoot again after reloading to trip.

Not missing that opportunity, Alex shot the two of them through the whorls on their head in mere seconds, sending both of them straight to the afterlife.

Now there were six.

Hiding behind a pillar as he reloaded his Glock, two of the Mafiosos took the opportunity to jump him but the young man, having employed an effortlessly fluid magazine reload flip, was faster.

The moment both of them stepped within range of the pillar’s corners, he shot both through their shoes, causing them to stumble onto the ground and curse in excruciating pain.

Not minding their cries, Alex quickly grabbed the closest one before he fell, jammed the pistol straight into his neck and then shot the other who was trying to get up from the floor right in the chest via his back.

Returning his attention back to the previous that was holding his neck as he tried to catch his breath, Alex popped a bullet straight into that same neck and another into his skull.

Four left.

Barrel rolling to the far left, Alex kicked up a table, used it as a barricade of sorts and then shot the single fluorescent bulb in the room, leaving only the colored, moody ones intact.

Using the dimmed visibility as a cover to move to a better hiding spot, the never ending rain of bullets persistent, Alex soon realized that he had incurred a gunshot wound to his lower abdomen.

However, it wasn’t lethal. That was good.

Groaning a bit, he peeked up from the wine counter, only for a bullet to nick a few strands of his hair.

Ducking immediately, his breath heavy, Alex crawled sideways and peeked out, shooting one of the Mafioso in the groin.

Three left.

And so were the remaining bullets in his gun.

Needing another form of distraction, Alex removed his leather jacket and threw it up into the air.

The Mafiosos’ upon seeing this, didn’t really notice it wasn’t him due to the dimmed visibility and simply riddled the jacket with holes, an opportunity Alex used to his advantage.

Peeking from the sides again, he shot Mafioso three and Mafioso two in the head and liver respectively.

Instant death.

One Mafioso left. One bullet left.

Immediately vaulting over the counter, he aimed for Mafioso one’s chest but the latter evaded, the bullet hitting the pistol in hands and disarming him instead.

Already noticing this, Alex dashed forward and engaged in close combat with the man.

However, this Mafioso wasn’t half-bad in close quarters either and a tired Alex, needing to treat his wounds and also still needing to kill The Spider, struggled to keep up.

Landing a few cheap shots that staggered him backwards a bit, Alex bit his tongue and regained clarity if only for a split moment.

At the exact same time, as he watched the next cheap shot from the Mafioso, almost collide with his face, he grabbed said arm, twisted it, bent the Mafioso’s body sideways and jammed a knee hook straight into the side of his ear, disrupting the latter’s center of equilibrium.

Dizzy from the sudden counter, Alex made full use of the man’s vulnerable state and jammed a few punches onto his face while grabbing his collar, opting to finally twist his neck and finish off the man.

Watching as the body went limp, Alex with his ragged breathing, his chest heaving up and down from the stress, staggered forwards a bit and then leaned onto a nearby pillar, his objective almost complete.

The ladies whom had already huddled up in one corner of the room while watching the entire thing play out, whimpered in fear but Alex payed them no mind.

Resting on the bullet-riddled pillar for a few seconds, the young man took in a deep breath, willed himself with a determined expression and then moved towards a trapdoor that led to the basement further underground.

That was where The Spider should be located at.

Since Donovan had informed him he would be in this underground club and there were seemingly no other door present asides the one he had come through, Alex was sure that this was it.

And although he knew that the Russian Mob Boss would’ve already known about their gunfight because they weren’t exactly being quiet, that wouldn’t stop him from killing the bastard.

“CUT!”

—

Watching as the environment in the club returned to normal after his [Deep Dive] was deactivated, Kyle clutched his abdomen only to realize that there was no actual gunshot wound.

‘I really felt like I’d been shot…’ he sighed in relief as he thought to himself, sweat dripping down his face.

As for the other co-actors, they simply got up from their hiding corners and dead positions whilst quickly moving to get ready for the next scene.

Some of his male co-actors though, most of whom were wearing specialized face masks that would be used to digitally edit the supposed headshots they had incurred during the action sequence, removed it as they began to praise him.

“You did good rookie.”

“That was intense. Good job.”

“Keep it up kid.”

And so did Mark too after checking the cameras.

He really liked how despite the amount of things Kyle had to keep in mind during the long take, he didn’t make a single mistake even once.

His expressions had also been on point throughout the take, making the man even more impressed.

But what had really impressed him the most, was that one scene during the take where Kyle had employed a super-fast magazine reload flip as the others approached the pillar he had been using as cover.

‘What the hell is this kid?! That wasn’t in the script but it was so cool!’ he couldn’t help but think to himself while moving over to Bob to discuss a few things for the next scene they would be shooting.