[Chapter 34. The One-eyed One Man Army]
Last Time on Chapter 033 of [From Shadows To The Spotlight] —
"To the stories that make us believe," Alex replied, clinking his glass against Richard's.
In that moment, the two men—one at the height of his ambition, the other a master in the twilight of his career—shared a rare understanding. It wasn't just about movies or legacies.
It was about the connection between teacher and student, father figure and son, artist and dreamer. And for Richard, it was enough to know that his faith in Alex had not been misplaced.
Now Continuing —
~Two Days Later~
~At Studio MONARCH HQ in Burbank, California~
The late afternoon sunlight streamed through the wide windows of Alex's office. It casted a long shadow across the polished wooden desk that held mementos of his life's accomplishments and works.
Alex had just causally sat back in his chair, his fingers were absently drumming the armrest as he leafed through yet another script for the MCU. This one for a TV show that would tell the origins of Natasha Romanoff—The Black Widow.
It was passable, it could even become good with a few instructions for changes to the training, missions and emotional character arcs.
But good wasn't what he was looking for as he wanted to beat the allegations of being a sellout and using the big spectacles to hide the fact that his movies lack any substance.
To do that he needed his movies to be great, with the perfect balance of spectacle and substance. It needed to have that rare spark that would touch the heart's of the viewers and move them.
He wanted the MCU to have stories that would stay with it's viewers, remind them of good times and bring a smile to their faces.
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Daniel Castillo strode towards Alex's office, his steps quick and purposeful, projecting a calm and cool demeanor.
Though his disheveled hair and slightly crumpled shirt betrayed the fact that he'd been working non-stop, hunting down his next big pitch.
He carried a folder tucked under one arm and a lopsided grin on his face, the kind that said he knew he had something special.
Working for Alex all these years, he had learnt that while his boss was quite understanding and forgiving.
His proposal for Harry Potter would pass much easier if he had a great story to pitch before the proposal to grease the wheels so to speak.
And luckily enough for him, he had found just the thing. It had been a story he had been researching about and trying to piece together with written and verbal accounts of the events.
While it was a slow going process compared to just meeting up with the person whom the story belonged to. This research was his due diligence that allowed him to form his own perspective and narrative.
A muffled "Come in!" greeted his knocking, and he pushed the door open to find Alex seated at a table covered in papers, probably scripts for his future projects.
His brow was furrowed in concentration as he examined a large storyboard depicting an intricate battle sequence in between his examination of the scattered scripts.
"Daniel," Alex said without looking up, his tone distracted but not unkind. "What brings you here? Don't tell me you want me to extend the credit limit on your business account."
"No, it's not that, Alex. 10 is quite enough for a single work." Daniel replied with a chuckle, feeling gracious for the trust that Alex had put in him, while stepping inside and closing the door behind him.
"I've got a proposition for you, but before that I would like to tell you a story."
"A story?" Alex asked back, with an excited grin, looking like a kid whose Christmas had come early.
"Yup, I've been putting it together for nearly a year now and I think I'm ready to pitch it to you." Daniel said, dropping the folder onto the desk with a satisfying thump.
Alex glanced up, his brow arching slightly in curiosity. "What is it about, exactly?"
Daniel leaned on the edge of the desk, his enthusiasm palpable. "A war story. One that'll knock your socks off. It's got everything: action, heart, a literal one-man army. And the best part? It's true."
That got Alex's attention. He closed the script he'd been reading and leaned back, while gesturing for Daniel to have a seat and continue with his pitch.
"Okay, picture this," Daniel began once he got comfortable on the seat, his hands moving animatedly as he spoke.
"There's a street in the Netherlands—quiet, picturesque, like something out of a postcard. Nothing remarkable about it at first glance, right?"
Alex nodded already imagining the street and city.
"Except instead of being named after a local celebrity or public figure, it's named after a Canadian man."
"A Canadian?" Alex thought back on the country, and maybe because the MCU had just consumed his mind recently it brought the figure of a short grizzly man-wolf to his mind.
"Yup, he's a simple man who's lived a modest and peaceful life for the last fifty years." Daniel replied cryptically.
"Why would such a man have a street named after him but more importantly what was he before that?" Alex was quick to get to the heart of the story.
"Well it's because, before that during World War II, this One-eyed Canuck turned into a rampaging one man army and single-handedly defeated over a hundred enemy soldiers in one night and liberated a city."
Alex blinked, his lips curving into a faint smirk. "A One-eyed One Man Army that saved a city?"
Daniel nodded, his grin widening. "Oh, yeah. But that's close to the climax so let's start from the top. Our hero's name is Léo Major, and this guy—man, Alex, this guy was something else back in the day."
"He joined the army in 1940, and through pure grit and gruesome training became a sniper scout. The man then spent the next few years doing whatever scouts and snipers do."
"But things didn't really kick off until 1944 and I don't really know what he was up to in those years. So let's skip to the part where his story really picked up into high gear."
"It's D-Day!" Daniel spoke animatedly, his hands moving with his words as he painted a picture for Alex.
"Léo hits the beaches with his regiment running, and he doesn't waste any time. It was only his first day on the battlefield, but he had already captured an armored truck and a bunch of secret codes on his own after being separated."
"Impressive," Alex murmured, though his tone suggested he was waiting for the real hook.
"Oh, but he's just getting started," Daniel said, waving a hand. "A few days later, he ran into an SS unit."
"He takes out four of them, no problem, but one guy manages to throw a phosphorus grenade before Léo can take him down and finish the job."
"Wait.. SS unit? Is that like some kind of German special forces of that time?" Alex guessed.
Daniel took a small notebook out from his breast pocket and began to rifle through it till he reached a certain page. He then started speaking verbatim to Alex.
"The "Schutzstaffel" were a 'Protection Squadron'; the SS were also stylized with Armanen runes as ᛋᛋ. It was a major paramilitary organization under Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II."
"It was said that they were some of the best military forces the Nazis had and were in charge of missions to importance.
"Missions like protecting the Hitler himself." He finished with a proud grin.
"Damn! And he took out 4 of them?" Alex was getting more and more excited.
"Yup. Now back to the story. The grenade explodes right in his face, and bam—he's blind in his left eye."
"And that must've put him out of commission for a while?" Alex guessed, though he knew better.
Daniel chuckled as he replied with a smirk. "Not even close. See, Léo doesn't let something like losing an eye slow him down."
"He's a sniper, and his exact words were, 'I only need one eye to look down a scope anyway.' So now he just looks more badass while doing it as he's wearing an eyepatch."
Alex chuckled despite himself.
"Fast forward a few months," Daniel continued, pacing now as he got deeper into the story. "Léo's on a solo scouting mission—because unfortunately his best friend, Willy, is in the hospital, so it's just him this time as well."
"He's looking for some missing recruits when he stumbles across a literal company of about a hundred German soldiers."
"They're all asleep, just lying there like it's a summer camp. Now, most people in Léo's position would think, 'okay, mission over time to go home.'"
"But not Léo. He sneaks right past them—through a canal, no less—and goes straight for the commanding officer. He grabs the guy, holds him at gunpoint, and tells him to wake up the men and order them to surrender."
Alex let out a low whistle. "That actually worked?"
"Mostly," Daniel said, his grin turning wry. "A few guys in the back decided they didn't feel like surrendering and reached for their rifles."
"Léo didn't hesitate, after all, it was war. So, he swiftly took them out, right there and made an example out of them."
"And after doing so he was so unfazed that he mocked them saying something like, ''I'm glad we got that out of your systems,' and after that, the rest of them must've been like, 'Yeah, okay, we'll surrender.'
"And right as he was making his way towards his camp, the previous gun fire had attracted the attention of a nearby German artillery unit."
"And I can't even imagine the shock they must've gotten when they saw 1 allied forces soldier holding 93 German troops hostage and leading them to camp."
"Well as you'd imagine they immediately started shooting at him."
"And he survived that, too?"
"Not just survived—he thrived. He marched those 93 prisoners through enemy fire until an Allied tank finally showed up to give him a hand."
"And when he gets back to camp, they try to give him the Distinguished Conduct Medal. You know what he does? Turns it down."
Alex frowned, puzzled. "Why?"
"From what I heard he didn't like the general handing it out. Said the guy was a hack."
The room fell silent for a moment as Alex processed the sheer audacity of it all with his jaw open in awe.
"And that's just the warm-up," Daniel said, his voice dropping into a conspiratorial tone. "The real story—the one that got him a street named after him as well as an honorary citizenship—comes later."
"But I'll save that for later or do you want to hear it now?" He asked with a teasing smirk.
Alex shook his head, equal parts amused and impressed. "Dan, when you walked in you had my curiosity at first, but now.. now you've got my attention."
"So.. by all means, keep going, I want to hear the entire thing." He said as he raised a finger gesturing for him to remain silent while he called his secretary.
"Donna? Do I have any meetings in the next—" Alex took a peek at his Patek Philippe, "—half an hour?" He looked at Dan when he mentioned the time to see if they will be able to wrap up the story at that time.
Daniel quickly nodded and gave an okay gesture.
"Yup.. I don't? Great, please don't disturb me for a while unless it's really urgent. Thank you. And tell Monica that I will see her at home."
Daniel perched himself on the edge of Alex's desk as he put the phone and gave him his full attention, his grin still firmly in place. He could see the spark of curiosity in Alex's eyes now, that faint glimmer that meant he was really intrigued.
Good. Time to reel him in.
"Alright," Daniel said, his tone lowering like he was about to share a ghost story.
"Now, it's early 1945, around February. Léo's been through the wringer—broken ribs, broken ankles, a busted spine." Seeing the curious look on Alex's face, he could tell that the boss wanted to know how that happened.
So he decided to lean forward for dramatic effect, and then said in all seriousness. "Car Trouble."
"He had an accident?" Alex scrunched his brows as he tilted his head to the side in surprise as it was a bit anticlimactic.
"Well they went over a mine. And Boom!"
"Now, by all accounts, he should've been out of the war for good, he had already served the queen and country more than enough."
"So, he rested up and returned home."
Alex just raised an eyebrow in suspicion, showing that he didn't believe that sentence for a second.
Daniel grinned, and continued, "By rest up I mean breakout of the hospital and make a quick stop in Belgium.
"What was in Belgium?" Alex asked curiously, as he felt like Leo would've headed straight back to where he was stationed.
Daniel paused and then gave Alex the look that men often give each, and Alex immediately understood when Daniel was implying and the man confirmed his assumption only seconds later by answering.
"His girlfriend."
Alex laughed while slapping the armrest in amusement.
"And by returning home, I meant he showed up at his old army unit a month later."
"A month?" Alex asked again.
"A month." Daniel confirmed as a smirk slowly crept onto his face.
Alex and Dan shared a sly smirk as they both chuckled good naturedly.
— To be Continued...
{2,442 words}
{TRL: And here we see the re-appearance of an old Named Character into the story. I hope you guys liked Daniel Castillo. He will serve a friend and loyal employee to Alex in this story and he has a nose for great stories/IPs/books that will help Alex out in creating a cinematic empire.
Also would you like to read ahead? You can do so for free up to 3 chapters ahead of the public release on my Patreon page as Free Member.
Yes, free. If you're interested you'll find the link in the Author's thoughts section or just google TheRamenLord and Patreon.
If you like my work and would like to support me then by becoming a paid member you read from 10 to 20 chapters ahead of the public release depending on tier you purchase.}