Rise To Stardom - Chapter 66

Chapter 66: Alex Hunt
{Epoch One | 1st May 2019 | Act 3 | Scene 6 | Take 1}

Not even bothering to locate the source of the gunshot, Alex got into the car with immediate alacrity.

Igniting the car’s engine, the young man put the pedal to the medal and bolted out of the area.

Now in a safe space, at least for a split moment, Alex’s eyes glanced over to the rearview mirror to see a man with jet-black hair riding a motorcycle, hot on his tail.

In addition to all that were five SUV’s, all of whom were constantly firing bullets as they chased after both he and the motorcycle man in hot pursuit.

“Well isn’t this a party…” Alex muttered, his heart palpitating in his chest as he swerved to the left, cutting into an intersection with a clean drift that was oh-so-close to colliding with a big truck.

Sam upon realizing he would die a ghastly death if he tried what the vigilante had just done, raised his motorbike in a wheelie and used a nearby car as a ramp, got some air time as he flew over said truck, and then, landed onto the other side of the road effortlessly, his eyes locked onto Alex’s Mustang.

One of the SUV’s chasing both of them though, unable to evade the truck in time, slammed headfirst into it, sending two of the goons straight to heaven.

The other four vehicles, using their fellow dead agents as an example, evaded the accident with skillful driving and continued their relentless assault.

Looking at the GPS tracker in their vehicle, the head honcho of Abraham’s goons, took notice of the flow of traffic.

Immediately, he informed the others through their wireless earpieces of what they would need to do.

Splitting up, all four followed the plan to trap both Alex and Sam at a three-way intersection that would be coming up.

Alex and Sam on the other hand, both of whom were in a heated car chase and oblivious to the plans of Abraham’s goons, continued their high-speed chase.

Eventually reaching the three-way intersection, Alex soon realized the three SUV’s blocking off the roads, each parked as a roadblock despite other cars in the vicinity honking their horns in protest.

No sooner had they gotten down from their respective vehicles though with quick, trained movements, their firearms at the ready, every other car protesting, instantly began to reverse and turn around in fear of what was about to happen.

Some drivers didn’t even bother reversing their vehicles and instead, bolted out of said vehicles, their legs carrying them away from the area as fast as it could!

As all of this was happening, literally in the span of a few seconds, the last SUV and also the fourth, instantly came to a halt a few meters behind Sam’s motorcycle, cutting off any routes of escape for both individuals.

Sam upon also noticing this, realized that they had been trapped with seemingly no way out.

However, as if to defy those odds, Alex revved the engine of his vehicle, the engine purring like a contented feline until it gradually shifted to a dominating roar of a vicious tigress.

The goons, unwilling to let Alex pull off whatever the heck he was planning, instantly began emptying their magazine onto the car but Alex, undeterred by it, initiated a continuous 360° burnout on the spot that left the entire area surrounding his car in a dense thicket of white smoke.

Visibility dimmed, the goons continued emptying their bullets onto the car while Sam, hid behind a nearby parked vehicle, his hands retrieving his Pit Viper and firmly holding onto the 9-mm pistol.

As the foggy smoke gradually cleared, leaving only the bullet-riddled vehicle in its wake, the goons were left in a state of confusion when they realized that Alex was nowhere to be found.

That confusion however, was very short-lived because without even a single warning, the goons, numbered in eight, watched as their legs were pierced through by bullets.

Dropping to the ground while screaming in agonizing pain, the others whom were yet to be shot, watched in disbelief as Alex rolled from underneath his bullet-riddled car like an expert mechanic, his hands trigger happy.

Emptying his bullets into an available skull without even a single second wasted, all with effortless and lethally skilled movements, the goons began to retaliate.

Unluckily for them, Sam joined in on the fight and it didn’t take long before the Ex-Special Agent and the Vigilante, rendered all of the goons dead and on their way to the afterlife in an unfriendly alliance.

Now done with the houseflies, both individuals faced each other for the very first time.

Alex, the Vigilante, who realized that the man before him wouldn’t let him go without a fight and Sam, the Special Agent gone rogue, who needed to apprehend the young man who might’ve been responsible for some of the suicide serial bombings.

Moving towards each other with a domineering gait, their magazine rounds already emptied from the gunfight, Alex retrieved his tactical knife while Sam cracked his knuckles.

And then, like a fuzzy drink with its cap exploding, both engaged the other in a full-on fistfight.

Trading blows, their movements a deadly dance of expertise and skill, both soon realized they were equally measured.

Both of them were going all out, intent on taking out the other and yet, none could find an opening.

While Alex twirled the knife in his gloved hands, flipping and constantly catching it in midair in a flashy yet brutally mesmerizing combo as he attacked, Sam, trained to perfection along with his wealth of experience over the years as a Special Agent, effortlessly deflected and retaliated whenever he got the chance.

Their fight continued on with their moves vicious, lethal and yet, spellbindingly arresting.

However, in a moment of weakness for Alex, caused by his previous wound opening up again, Sam disarmed the young man with an arm-lock, following up with elbow jam, right bang to his face.

Tasting the slightly sweet yet metallic tinge of blood as his lips burst open, Alex staggered backwards with a pained wince.

But despite that, a pissed expression was plastered on his face as he watched Sam take a fighting stance.

Removing his jacket and reloading his arms, Alex moved towards the man.

Seeing Alex within range, Sam threw a right hook but Alex weaved it and returned a left hook that connected squarely to the Ex-Special Agent’s jaw, his own lips bursting open too.

Shaking his head, his vision dizzy for a moment, Sam watched as Alex moved towards him, his arms already launching another punch.

This time though, Sam angled himself, right in time to direct the force of the punch into the air.

Skillfully, he executed a clean Judo throw, slamming the young man straight onto the tarred road with a ridiculous force.

Alex’s wound, once again, teared open even further, causing a serious loss of blood.

Quickly holding him in position with a knee forcefully pressed onto his chest, his fist mere inches away from the young man’s face, Sam was about to question the vigilante when his eyes caught onto something.

A peculiar yet familiar ring tied onto Alex’s neck with a black wooly material, one that had come out of its tucked space of his black, turtle-necked neck-sleeve during their scuffle.

Widening his eyes in utter disbelief, Sam whispered out loud, his voice hoarse and his tone confused;

“Pierce’s ring?”

Similarly widening his eyes, his in surprise, Alex watched as Sam’s fist unclenched slightly, only to clench even harder a moment just after;

“Why do you have that?!” he demanded, his tone furious.

‘Why would a vigilante have his dead partner’s silver ring?!’ his eyes seemed to question.

Having known his friend for the longest time, Sam knew that Pierce had a sort of emotional connection to the ring.

It was why he always wore it even on the most dangerous missions, never opting to remove it whatsoever even if his life depended on it.

Gazing up at the man who was pinning him, his stoic yet furious expression masking a layer of hurt, Alex’s eyes, seemingly going through a plethora of emotions on their own, one that rivalled even Sam’s, contemplated deeply.

Honestly, he was very tired, he was very hurt and he was losing blood – a lot of blood.

In fact, he had a feeling he was going to faint soon due to his head feeling very woozy.

However, seeing the look in the eyes of the man who had assaulted him, the pain and the question hidden behind them, Alex finally spoke out in measured, tired breaths;

“Because… it… was a gift… from my father. Pierce Hunt.”

“C-CUT!”

—

* * *

Pacing back and forth in the room, Director Mark stopped at intervals to glare at Bruce and Kyle who had wry smiles on their faces.

Oliver, Jeffrey and Tom who were also in the room, felt the anger that was coursing through the director’s blood.

And then, with a sudden stop of his pacing, Mark bellowed at them;

“Are you two insane?!”

“Actually hitting yourselves when it wasn’t even part of the script! Do you guys know how scared I was?!” he asked again, his glare fierce.

“And Jeffrey, with all due respect, couldn’t you have stopped them for goodness sake! When I saw the picture, I should’ve known you all were up to no good!”

“I thought you guys were huddling up to discuss the scene, not preparing to actually hit yourselves in the darn face!” he pointed at the old star who simply looked away, his gaze pretending as if he never heard a thing.

“Jeffrey!”

“Fine. Fine. I apologize for letting them go through with it without telling you.” the old man finally gave in to Mark, sighing as he continued;

“But still, who am I to stop an actor from giving their all to bring out the best possible performance in a scene. Besides, even you have crazy ideas you always love to implement. The stunt they pulled, wasn’t really that bad in comparison. And in all fairness, the take came out perfect didn’t it?”

Hearing those words from the old sage, everyone in the room, Mark especially, contemplated over what he said.

In all honesty, the take did come out perfect.

Too perfect even – especially when you add Kyle’s sudden shift into a full-on clone of the fictional Alex Hunt that he as the Director had always had in mind.

It was almost as if the young man had embodied the complete personality of Alex in that 10-minute long take, stealing every single frame and every single shot he was in.

His expression, demeanor, fighting skills… everything seemed to have been perfected in that moment.

Even the tactical knife scene where he was flipping the knife like an extension of his body in the coolest, most badass way possible as he attacked, was something the stunt team had never taught the young man.

It wasn’t even incorporated into the fight choreography and yet, it completely fit the screenplay of the scene.

Tom who had been watching the entire scene with keen eyes just knew; that scene alone, along with the little arm reload that Kyle did, was going to remain in the minds of so many people when the movie was finally released.

Sighing, unable to refute the truth to the old man’s words, Mark calmed down a bit and said;

“Yeah. Maybe I do have some crazy ideas every now and then but, at the very least, I prepare exceptionally well in advance for them. This two, clearly did not.” he pointed at the two guilty individuals who still had a wry smile on their lips.

“Just… just make sure to inform and run your ideas through me next time.” the Director finally gestured with his hands, indicating that he had forgiven both of them for the stunt they pulled.

Nodding their heads, apologizing for implementing something like that on their own without informing him, Bruce and Kyle, along with Jeffrey’s help, were let off the hook.

What all three didn’t inform Mark of though, was that the idea had originally being Kyle’s, one that he had known that the director would not be in favor of.

Considering he was still a fledgling actor, one that literally had no movie to his name, Kyle couldn’t afford to give his opinions to Mark even though the man had acknowledged him.

Everyone in Hollywood knew that Directors were literally the epitome of unshakeable and exceedingly stubborn most of the time with their decisions.

But still, because he wanted to elevate the scene even further, Kyle had opted to inform Bruce and Jeffrey about it, hoping that they would be in support.

And at first they had rejected the idea, calling it too dangerous.

But after cajoling them a few more times, making them see that it would really elevate the scene, both finally gave in.

Glancing over to Oliver though, Kyle felt a shiver run down his spine as his agent directed a cold glare at back at him.

The suave man’s grey eyes seemed to dig deep into his soul and if Kyle was being honest, he felt like he was currently in the principal’s office.

Considering he had never witnessed a pissed Oliver before, honestly, now that he actually was, it was a genuinely scary feeling for the young man.

However, knowing that he could never guarantee that he wouldn’t try something even more insane in the future for a movie role, or a single scene for that matter, Kyle casually spoke;

“I will do crazier shit in the future.”

“Kyle!” Oliver finally exploded at him, causing everyone else in the room who had seen their interaction to burst into laughter, all the tension in the room dissipating in an instant.