Bab 115: 111.2 Mounting Frustration, New Experiences, Escaping A Cult and Finally Back Home.
Disclaimer: The story takes place on an Alternate Earth with a slightly different timeline of events. Therefore, people may be born earlier, later, or not at all. This gives me more freedom to write about the characters as I want.
Additionally, the characters in my story are not accurate portrayals of their real-life counterparts. Please remember that this story is just a wish fulfillment tale set in Urban Hollywood with some fantasy elements due to the system's shenanigans, so please don't take it too seriously.
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{Opening Author's Note – I am happy to make this post on time, also I am grateful and happy to announce that a new patron has joined me since my last public post. Thank you very much Ravi Bh***.
Special Announcement. From now on all the polls will be on my pat re on and will be available for all members. Paid and free. You can be a free member and still vote. I had a long discourse with the support at pat. Re on and it has been fixed. So if you would like to vote on my polls then join my pat re on for free and you'll be able to do so.
These were the two most recent pole on my pat. Re on -
1. Poll for Marvel's Originals.
Gender selection for Apotheosis - The Cultivator reborn in Marvel.
Male – 31%
Female – 69%
Winner – Female gender selected.
2. Poll for Cartoon Network's #1
• Spider-Man – 30%
• TMNT – 47%
• X-Men 91' – 16%
• Transformers – 4%
Winner – TMNT.
Now this is the second part of the previous chapter. I hope you guys will like it. If you have any suggestions or comments then please leave behind a comment to let me know. Now let's go on with the chapter –
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"Fu**! I can't take it anymore." A beautiful Asian woman screamed in frustration.
"Hinata, take a deep breath." Her friend, assistant, and social representative - Sakura, said, trying to calm her down.
"What does he think I am?!" The now identified Hinata or Heather Brown exclaimed in frustration.
"Just because I have a crush on him, and he pays me well, does he think I will work at this absurd schedule on top of leading multiple teams?"
"But Hinata.. I am the one leading the team." Her voice got smaller with each word she said, until the final word was only whispered under her breath.
"You!" She exclaimed, looking at her in frustration.
"Sorry." Sakura immediately apologized as she ducked her head.
Looking at Sakura being scared of her made her calm down. She took her advice, took a deep breath, and let it go with a sigh.
"Even if you do, you just have to relay my orders. I'm still the one who has to plan everything ahead of time and prepare a schedule that everyone will have to follow so that we can pump out one chapter every freaking week."
She said in frustration as she turned her chair around and looked at the calligraphy artwork on the wall behind her desk. It read perseverance; it had been a gift from her mother.
It was as if her mother already knew just how hard she would have to work in this new office. She was right; Mark worked her to the bone. He paid her really well, but he also made her work so hard that she really felt like she earned her salary.
"I can't do this anymore. Tell him that I need more people; just 6 people won't do. We need a standard, I would say at least 10 people for each comic issue."
"Miss." Sakura whispered, but Hinata paid her no heed.
"And they must all be professionals with at least 3 years of work experience. I am not taking anymore Masterclass apprentices."
"Miss." She tried again but failed nonetheless.
Her expression softened as she said. "They aren't bad per say but they still have a long way to go before they can actually help us around here."
"That's fair." Sakura replied, resigning her friend to her fate.
"So how many do you want exactly?" she asked, because it was the question that her now-present boss would want the answer to.
"Well the Naruto team has 2 teams of 6 professionals each and they are working in rotations so that they can have a few days of break and relaxation."
"But if we can get that number up to 10 people on each team, then the work would get done much faster, and we would have much more time to think about how to lay out the next chapter."
"This will also improve the quality of the chapters; tell Mark this. He is a big sucker for improving the quality, so he will definitely fall for it."
"So, I am a big sucker now huh?" Mark finally spoke, with a smirk on his face enjoying this rant.
"What?! Mark!" She couldn't help but exclaim, as she got up and turned around.
"Hello, Hinata." He replied with a smirk on his face, and his arms folded against his chest.
"How long have you been here?" she asked, wanting to know if he had heard her calling him her crush.
"From the moment that dear old Sakura here had been trying to whisper to you to warn you about my presence," Mark replied with a smirk.
'So he probably didn't hear me say that.. UFF.. thank god.' She thought to herself as she dodged a bullet.
"I didn't really me–." She tried to speak up in her defense, but Mark waved it off.
"It's not like what you said wasn't true. By the way, you can take a break if the work gets too much. I will find a temporary replacement for you if you truly need it."
"Also your need for the extra members has been heard and approved. We will start hiring as soon as possible."
"Thanks, Mark," she replied as she blushed in embarrassment.
"It's fine, come let's discuss the coloring of the jutsus that the team 9 will be using for their real graduation exam." He said, as he sat down in front of her desk and took out a file.
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"Why the hell did you call me here?" she whispered accusingly as she sat down and looked around the dingy, borderline questionable establishment for a meet-up.
"You know just as well as I do that we can't be seen together."
"We have separated, Tom. Please try to understand that if a pap took a picture of us together, it won't be a pretty sight; the media will really drag us through the mud for being fake." She went further to illustrate her point.
"We are just on a break, Nicole; it will be fine. What's not fine is what I found in that dark place." Tom finally replied after letting her rant so that she could calm down.
"I thought about distancing myself from them, you know.. but then I thought.. Maybe I should look into it first."
"I wanted to see for myself just what it is exactly that they do and if most of what Mark said is actually even true." He said as he leaned forward with his elbows resting on the table.
"What did you do, Tom? Please don't tell me that you're in even deeper shit than before." She asked worriedly for his sake.
"Don't worry, I was more careful. I anonymously paid a guy to approach a higher-ranking member of the church and ask them for information." He replied confidently with an easy-going smile that put her at ease.
"Won't they be suspicious about such a person?" she asked, now taking the situation more critically rather than worriedly.
"Not if the person acts like he really believes in their cause and just wants a more in-depth explanation about what it is they stand for and do." He replied with a smirk.
"So, what did you find out?" She was intrigued to know if you found any new information.
"Not a lot, unfortunately, as they're very tight-lipped about the higher-ranking secrets." He replied with a shrug.
And then he went on to explain his thought process. "But this secrecy made me even more suspicious that what Mark had said might actually be true."
"After all, what other religion in the world tries to hide their beliefs and teachings from their own believers? It just makes no sense."
"And you know how they allow the other members to climb up the ranks?"
"I hope you're gonna tell me," She said with a smirk, finally relaxing in knowing that he had taken the correct path to distance himself from these kinds of people.
"To climb up from the lowest ranks, one needs to add at least 3 new members to the church and also donate some money to get to a higher rank."
"The requirements just get more and more demanding as they go up the ranks. I don't even know how much money one would need to spend so that they could be part of the inner circle."
"You know what it looks like, right?" He asked to see if she was following along.
"Yup, a fucking pyramid scheme. To think they are so blatantly running a pyramid scheme cult and casually disguising it as a church to hide behind." And she did; she found herself disgusted by what they did and what they stood for.
"Only the members of this inner circle are allowed to know about all the secrets of the group."
"I suspect that Mark must have hired an investigator and paid him handsomely to join the group, infiltrating it so that he could get information about them." Tom replied, coming to the conclusion that Mark did the same as him but even more thoroughly and paid a whole lot more money.
"So what are you going to do now?" Nicole asked, wanting to know what his next move was going to be.
"You must have gotten an invitation to the test screenings for the new movie, right?" Instead of answering, Tom asked her a question in reply.
She nodded her head in acceptance.
"Great, then I need you to take me as your plus one." He said in a pleading tone.
"But we are—" She said, trying to reject him.
"I know what we are.. I just need to meet Mark one last time."
"I have already distanced myself from the church and hired a better security team as well for my own sake of safety."
"The things they have allegedly done at the church, Nicole.. just make me want to puke."
"There is no evidence, but I have heard of the higher-ranking members using the low rank one's for their own deviant pleasures by sexually assaulting them and physically abusing them; there were even rumors floating around of a few murders."
"My god.. I really didn't know just what I had gotten myself into. I am lucky I got to know about this sooner, and now I can get myself out before I get into deep trouble, as you said."
"Get myself out before it gets to a point where they would have something on me, something they could use to make me a figurehead in their schemes and use my popularity for marketing."
"Think about it, Nicole. At the height of my popularity when I had just done Top Gun, if I had said that I was a member of the Church of Scientology, and I believe that it is the best religion in the world, and it will help people better their lives and find purpose and meaning in life."
"Just how many unsuspecting youths and families would be destroyed just because I endorsed them?"
"I finally realized that when one becomes a public figure, they have a responsibility and accountability for the words they put out there into the world because our words have a lot of influence on the world, whether we like it or not."
"It seems like you have done a lot of soul-searching in the last few months." She replied, feeling impressed about the changes that Tom had made to himself; he seemed like a new man, one with a better heart.
"I did; I saw the kind of man that I had become, and I am not going to lie. I didn't like it one bit. I know I am a narcissist and an egotistical person. But that's just who I am, and I am not going to change that; I don't know if I even can." He said ending his introspection.
There was a brief silence between them, he let out a sigh of relief at getting it off his chest and then told her what his intention was with meeting Mark.
"For now, I just need to see Mark and ask him if he is willing to help me out."
"Help you out to do what?" She asked, puzzled.
"To turn things around.. I realize now that I had lost my way after making it big with Top Gun."
"I was angry at the critics that said that I am not a good actor, that the only thing I am good for is action movies."
"Maybe it was because of those comments that made me select movies with more drama and subdued action."
"I didn't play to my strengths, and it almost ended up ruining my career."
"I got blinded by my ego and even got fooled into joining a cult. I don't know what to say to you, Nicole. I am sorry."
"But I do know that if you give me your chance, I promise you I won't let you down."
"Okay, I'll bring you with me.." she replied after putting a lot of thought into the matter and decided to give Tom a second chance.
She did so because it was something that Mark would want to do. He might humble Tom and tease him, but he would definitely help him turn his life around.
Because deep down, Mark was a good man who helped others, and he did so well that he made a profit out of it because he was a smart one at that.
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She didn't think she would be back again soon for the movie, but they had said that they needed some dubbing that needed to be done, so here she was.
Life had been great for young Scarlett Johansson; she dreamt of being in a movie and had been part of the theater and drama club since she was six.
But she could never have imagined that she would be selected based on the audition tape her parents had sent in. She had gotten a very minor role with only a few lines. It was to play the role of Kevin McCallister's older sister.
Her mother told her that they only paid her around 10,000 dollars for the role. But that was enough for her already, and she had given it her best.
Though now that she thought about it, maybe it had been too good. Because before, she could leave the set and be back on her way home. She found herself in a meeting with Mr. Spector's manager - Ms. Evelyn Thorne.
She told her that she would be perfect for the role of Brooke Gordon, a supporting role in the film that Marc was directing himself. They had discussed her payments and also about her being signed in with the CAA.
Shooting on the set of the movie that Marc had been filming was very different from that of the comedy film that she had seen being filmed before. The mood was tense, yet the people were energetic and smiling, happy to work on the film.
And the performances by her fellow actors were just bone-chilling; the way that Mr. River would act as the Joker just made her skin crawl. It made her feel really uncomfortable, and at times she even cried watching him in action.
She didn't think that she would ever want to watch this movie herself. But after reading the script and having the story explained to her by a pretty older sister, she understood that it would be a good film, but one that was also very dark at times.
The kind older sister, whom she had come to know as Jenny, also had a supporting role just like her, and she would always give her tips on how to control her expressions.
She would also look out for her so that nothing untoward happened to her there, though she thought it might not be needed, as everyone on set was very civil and kind.
The shooting of the film had ended a few days ago and she was only here because in some of the scenes her voice wasn't properly audible or because they wanted her to say a few names differently, like the name of a few characters and especially the name of the city.
Even though the name of the city in the script was Stygian, she was now being told to call the city Gotham.
She found it odd as Gotham was the fictional city in the comic book that her younger brother loved reading about, but she paid it no mind and just did her job as she was told.
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"So you finally remember that you have a home." She recognized that voice instantly; it was her dad, and even though he sounded grumpy, she knew that inside he was happy to see her again.
"Dad, it's nothing like that; it's just that I was a little too busy while working," she replied, trying to escape the scolding.
"I am sorry." She apologized in the end seeing his wilting stare.
Mr. Coppola sighed, "It's fine; I know how it is. I used to neglect you guys sometimes when I used to work as well."
"You didn't; you are always there for us, dad." She tried to stop him from thinking about bad thoughts and putting himself in a depressive mode.
"Maybe for you.. but not for everyone." He replied feeling a bit down.
"Hey, are you getting all emotional on me, dad?" She said, trying to lift his mood.
"Can't I?" He asked back frankly, surprising even her.
"Of course you can; it's just that I have never seen you like this. What's the matter?" She replied positively, but then asked what it was that was eating him on the inside.
"I heard there was a fire on the set." After staying silent for a minute or so, he finally asked about the thing that had been bugging him and had been keeping him awake at night.
"Oh yes.. It was a very.. intense affair." She replied with a measured tone, trying to find the words to properly express how she felt about it.
"You want to speak about it?" He asked with a hopeful look in his eyes, wanting for her to share her experience with him so that she could feel better after getting it off her chest.
"Yeah, but not here." She obliged but asked for a change of location.
"Of course.. how could I forget? Come, let's get you something to eat; you must be hungry."
"I could do with some pasta."
"Rita will get it ready by the time you are done washing up.. now go," he said, gesturing for her to leave as he thought about calling for Rita to get a quick dinner started.
She nodded and left. He stood there, watching her leave. It was a relief after seeing her face-to-face; his heart had been in unrest after hearing about the fire incident on the set where she was working.
The dinner had been mostly a quiet affair as they shared amicable silence. But after it was done, she recounted all her experiences on the set. From the principal photography they did in New York.
About the various locations they went around in the city to shoot, and about the tense mood on set, unlike Knives Out's jovial and lighthearted one. The crazy performances that River gave in the various scenes of the film made her feel like this was his peak.
But he surpassed it every time with an even better performance. She recounted the scene of the joker entering the party and how River completely improvised the scene. And also how Mark quickly adapted to keep the scene going and made it feel natural. Like it was part of the script.
At last, she finally recounted her experience when she saw their set—an eight-storey building being burned down in front of her eyes. She told her father how the fire had spread from the eighth to the third floor, but the second and first were safe.
She told him how up on seeing the fire Mark wasn't afraid or angry but rather he thought of it as an opportunity to get the perfect shot.
How he immediately called for the crew and entered the fire himself, shouldering the camera to film a completely improvised scene that only made the film even better.
"Dad, I don't know the kind of corruption that goes on at the Oscars or how much discrimination Mark will face because of his young age."
"But I do know that the Oscars in 1992 will be swept by the Killing Joke." She replied with a confidence that was borne from watching Mark and River create a masterpiece on screen.
"To make you feel this confident about his chances, his film must really be a phenomenal one." He said with a knowing smile.
"It was." she replied with a gracious smile, grateful that she got the privilege to work on this movie.
"Here, dad. Mark sent you an invite for the test screening." She replied, as she handed him his invite.
"Test screening?" He asked, feeling puzzled as those things were handled by the pr team. But he felt happy that Mark wrote him a letter personally to invite for the screenings.
"Yes this is an invite for the screening where Mark will show the final cut of his movie."
"He was grateful that you reached out to the city officials and tried to smoothen things out for us. He wanted to thank you in person." She explained what it was exactly for.
"What for? It's not like he even needed it. He pulled out of New York the very next day." He replied indignantly.
"It's the thought that counts, dad. Will you please come see it, for me? I worked very hard on this." She has said calmly trying to make him see reason.
"Okay." He finally accepted grumpily, though inwardly he was happy.
"Great! Inside you will find an NDA to not reveal the contents of the film that you will be shown."
"I have already signed mine." She said so that he wouldn't be angry about Mark not trusting him.
"Just what is he going to show us?" He asked back with the irked look on his face.
"Something truly special." She replied with a knowing smile because she knew once her father watched the movie, he would be glad that he came for the screening.
— To be continued…
In the next episode of F̶A̶L̶L̶O̶U̶T̶
*Cough* *Cough*
I meant in the next chapter of Hollywood: Head-Hunting System.
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Word Count: 3541 words (after excluding the disclaimer, opening Author's Note and the closing Author's Note.)
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{Closing Author's Note: I am glad that I was able to upload this chapter on time while actually I am a few hours early but I guess that is better right? Anyways I will just do my mandatory patr. Eon plug and be on my way thank you for reading.
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