On the morning of the third day, Nathan and Malakai, finally having resolved the formula to stabilize the unstable isotopy of the serum, would stare at each other, a strong hint of promise in their irises.
Pulling out a makeshift laboratory table from a secret panel hidden in the wall of his basement, the young genius would then watch as his similarly intellectual professor incorporated it into the now red serum, both watching with bated breaths and a hopeful gaze.
And upon watching the serum, change from red, to an almost formless color, both parties would then share a hug and a firm handshake with a sense of unbridled achievement.
With that, Malakai would then inform Nathan, telling him that he should head on over to prepare for his matriculation, albeit the young man would be adamant on sticking around till the cyborg came around.
But with enough persuasion, and the reminder that his grandfather would in fact, be at the ceremony, Nathan had begrudgingly accepted and did as he was told.
Having left the basement, Malakai’s warm smiles would take on an apathetic shift as he walked over to his monitor and pulled up another video feed.
It was the continuation of the video feed of his transformation that had abruptly being cut off when Nathan was viewing it and also the continuation of the very first scene of the movie.
And reflected on the screen as the professor watched the video of his transformation, was his current, exact same cybernetic arm, dropping off from his body and replicating on its own in tiny, reddish-black, particulate matter to form an unrecognizable, amorphous, glowing, reddish-black metal.
Almost immediately, another cybernetic arm, grew out of Malakai’s seemingly amputated arm in the feed, its build the exact same as his current cybernetic arm.
It was at this moment that the audience would be treated to their very first rollercoaster after the initial twist, one that would only spiral on as the Professor would then repeat the same motions in real time.
And upon dropping the cybernetic arm to the ground, it would slowly morph and differentiate, not into the amorphous reddish-black metal this time but into the mystery cyborg instead.
Unfortunately for Nathan, it was at this moment that he had walked back into the room, hell-bent on convincing his professor that he should in fact, stick around till the cyborg came back.
It was also the scene that Kyle, Clint and Adam were about to shoot as Xavier, commanded;
"Lights… Camera… Action!"
{Tech Wiz: Year One | 20th of September 2022 | Act 5 | Scene 1 | Take 1}
"Prof, I really think I shou—" Nathan, jumped back into the basement, only to be met with a sight that had him shook, shocked and utterly confused.
Glancing over to him as his new cybernetic arm formed, same as his previous arm which was still morphing into the cyborg, Malakai, landed his apathetic gaze on Nathan, his tone spine-chillingly cold;
"Ah, Nathan."
"You just had to come back, didn’t you?" he rhetorically asked as the cyborg behind him took on its complete form, its mechanical visor flashing red as it stood on standby.
Clearly, it seemed to be waiting for its order.
"Well, no matter. I do have you to thank for this." Malakai retrieved the sealed vial containing the serum from the makeshift laboratory table, twirling it between his human fingers as he did.
"Now, I can finally, feel complete again."
A certain thought flashed in Nathan’s mind as he heard that, everything pointing to the fact that Malakai had in fact, manipulated him.
As a result, his eyes reflected his current emotion.
Betrayal.
"Oh don’t give me that look…" the Professor, whose voice was eerily calm, had the slightest hint of amusement as he spoke to his student whom was doing his best to remain alert despite the look of hurt in his irises.
"Why are you doing this?" Nathan then asked through gritted teeth, his expression a mix of various emotions.
Malakai let out a dry, chilling chuckle, the corners of his lips curling into a sinister smile.
"Why am I doing this?" he repeated, another sinister chuckle escaping his lips.
Then he crushed the vial in his hands as he declared with a sudden roar that caught Nathan completely off-guard!
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"Because no one else will!"
His arm suddenly glowed in a familiar red circuitry as the formless serum glomped and absorbed into his skin, his previous cybernetic arm, rapidly returning to its human form!
"They took Caitlyn away from me! Made me this! This, this thing, for years!!" he belted out with a fury that reached the depths of his soul, every iota of burning hatred, reflected in his green irises.
"And now, they’re parading their virtues around like they’re some revolutionary that wants to heal the world!" Malakai let out a sinister laughter that only served to make Nathan even more on guard.
"I won’t let them Nathan! I won’t!" the professor took a step forward in the young man’s direction, the cyborg behind him merging with his body slowly as Nathan took another step backwards.
"And anyone who gets in my way, will meet, the same fate, as theirs!" he cornered the young man whom, despite being noticeably terrified by the sudden switch in his professor’s demeanor, did a good job of holding a firm gaze as he spoke;
"Then that makes you no different from them."
Malakai sneered in response as the suit of cybernetic armor, crisscrossed to form the chest portion.
"If anyone should be hell-bent on revenge, it should be me!" Nathan continued, hitting his chest thrice with a fist as he tried to reason with his villainous professor whom was almost completely encased in the cyborg suit.
"I had her taken away from me when I barely knew what was going on but guess what?!" he returned Malakai’s hateful energy with a steady gaze that showed that he understood his pain.
"I know she’d never approve of the things you’re doing now, and neither would she approve of the man, you want to become." he spoke with a softened expression, his eyes conveying his willingness to help as he concluded;
"Rather, she’d want you, to be better than them."
Now standing at about a feet taller than his student whom he had backed completely into a corner, a plethora of emotions phased through Malakai’s irises.
And for a moment, his gaze softened as Nathan’s words, seemed to have reached him…
… only to have his burning hatred return with an unquenchable intensity.
Nathan barely had time to react before Malakai’s hand clamped around his throat, lifting him effortlessly off the ground.
His cybernetic armor, now fully formed, gleamed menacingly under the dim basement light, his green irises burning with unrelenting fury.
"What do you know, about what she’d want?" Malakai’s voice was low, venomous and seething with utter resentment.
Nathan struggled, his fingers twitching toward his concealed band beneath his long-sleeved shirt.
But before he could make a move, Malakai’s helmet sealed over his face, his voice morphing into an ominous, mechanical growl;
"This is your last warning, Nathan. Stay out of my way."
With that, Malakai hurled Nathan across the room with a terrifying force, sending him crashing into the concrete wall.
The impact left him seemingly unconscious, his body slumped against the rubble.
"Tailslate and… cut!" "Tailslate and… Cut!"
-
Xavier would’ve opted to give both of his actors a chef’s kiss gesture if not for the fact that he was currently checking the cameras.
But when he was in fact done, he couldn’t help but let out a praise;
"That was perfect! Full marks!"
Kyle, himself, having sprung up from his knocked out state the moment the clapperloader clamped the slate, swiftly walked up to Clint and extended a handshake with a genuinely impressed smile;
"That was amazing Clint!"
To that, an appreciative Clint couldn’t help but give a thankful smile as he received the handshake from the young man.
At the same time, everyone on set, similarly gave the middle-aged actor a round of applause.
Despite the scene calling for Malakai’s sudden explosion of vengeful hatred— complete with his sinister laughter and chilling chuckles— the sheer intensity with which he delivered it on his very first take was nothing short of astounding.
It was such a stark contrast to his previously composed demeanor, one that made the moment all the more terrifying.
As everyone kept applauding though, Kyle soon walked over to Adam and similarly extended a handshake with a cordial smile as he joked;
"Thank you for not choking me to death."
Adam quietly chuckled as he reciprocated the handshake.
But in his mind;
I almost did though…
Hearing such a sinister thought coming from someone who had such an amiable expression on his features, Kyle whom was similarly all smiles, couldn’t help but inwardly sigh as he affirmed;
’I need to kick this guy off the set, pronto.’
In any case, the young star still had one more scene to film today.
And that was the scene immediately after Malakai had left.
Nathan, who had been feigning unconsciousness, had timed his move perfectly as his fingers clenched around his band, activating his exosuit in the nick of time.
Now although the force of the throw had still sent him crashing into the wall brutally, the suit had already begun forming, hence cushioning the blow by reinforcing his back.
As the dust had settled around him, he had then pushed himself to his feet, the rest of the exosuit swiftly assembling over his entire body.
Now fully suited up as Tech Wiz, Nathan pulled up the analysis for Malakai’s propulsion beam in an effort to stop him, his visor once again analyzing and tracking its remnants.
That said, in one of the previous scenes, one where Malakai had entered a concealed chamber housing the cryo-pod sustaining Caitlyn North which had already been filmed, was a crucial flashback scene that would be added in the movie’s final cut, one that the audience would be shown before the cut would then transition back to Nathan waking up in his mother’s bedroom the next day.
Already shot during the first week on set, the flashback featured Clint and an extra portraying Horizon Tech’s CEO, Eccleston Wild.
In it, a distraught Malakai had stormed into a high-stakes executive meeting, his devastated gaze fixed on the CEO as he demanded the truth behind Caitlyn’s supposed death.
The response?
A room full of a sneering CEO and his executives, their silence laced with a cruel indifference that practically confirmed Malakai’s thoughts.
And so, as security dragged him from the room, the raw anguish on his face soon transformed into something far more dangerous.
Unforgiving fury.
Now, in the present day, Eccleston Wild had been invited as an honored guest to Horizon Tech’s college matriculation ceremony, a rare opportunity Malakai had no intention of letting slip by.
…
…
…
Vance stepped into his motel room, locking the door behind him with a quiet click.
The past few weeks on set had been nothing short of exhausting if he was being honest.
The stunts alone had been physically draining, but what frustrated him even more was his inability to make any real progress towards his true goal on set, a stark contrast to his usual efficiency.
At the very least, he’d secured the full plot of the movie, twists and all.
That information alone would be enough to tank its box office performance once he leaked it in the weeks leading up to the movie’s release.
Still, there was one unexpected factor that had complicated things.
Kyle Kestis.
Lately, the young star had been staying at the studio well into the night, sometimes even sleeping over.
On the surface, it made a lot of sense to the Hollywood Fixer.
After all, with so many CGI-heavy scenes left to shoot, particularly the climactic showdown between Tech Wiz and Professor Overclock, minimizing travel time between set and home was a logical move on the young star’s part.
But for Vance, it was a genuinely annoying inconvenience.
For him, it made hiding his gear around the studio while simultaneously scouting the most efficient way to burn the place down significantly more difficult.
’Well, it works in my favor anyway…’ he said to himself as he opened his mini fridge to retrieve a bottle of beer.
The less attention he drew to himself, the easier it would be for him give them all the slip once he was done with his job.
Popping open the beer, the fixer then leaned back into his chair, methodically mapping out his plan for the next few days.
And after a lot of careful deliberation on his part, he’d settled on the perfect moment.
The final day of filming.
Conveniently…
’That’s just a week away…’ Vance downed the drink with a resolute expression on his features.