1. Death & Rebirth

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works. If you recognize it from somewhere else, surprise, it isn't mine.

Instructions:

"words" means a dialogue said out loud.

'words' means an internal dialogue, just thoughts.

[words] means a system panel or Information from the system.

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"hahaha Damn that was hilarious"

Devon Shaw was coming back from work listening to a podcast where stand-up comics were discussing their live shows and dissing the low IQ and idiotic behavior of some of their haters and hecklers. Devon couldn't help but chuckle at this. He always felt a connection with stand-up comics and their ability to make people laugh. He could relate to their struggles and appreciated their art.

But suddenly from out of nowhere a bus drove up on the sidewalk and smashed right into him. His body, broken and battered, was flung into the air and crashed on a nearby wall. He could barely keep himself conscious for a few seconds before he died from excessive head trauma.

What he didn't expect was waking up from that accident. And a lot had changed, his name, his face, his nationality; his whole life was different. Well it wasn't bad per say but just different.

Another very different thing was the year. It was July 1st, 1960 and he was born in America, the land of the free and brave. A place where he once dreamed of moving to; to fulfill his dream of one day becoming a film director and making it big in Hollywood.

But it all stayed just that, just a dream. Eventually he became a small tv show director and screenwriter and never made it into the big leagues. But he had the experience and now as a young man once again, armed with the knowledge of the future. He will fulfill his dream of making it big in Hollywood, breaking the monopoly of the Big 6 studios, and creating a film studio that will rival the likes of Disney in the future.

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POV Mark (MC) -

In this world, I was Mark Spencer, an unassuming youth with a tall and fit body trained from a young age for endurance and stamina through a healthy diet and strict exercise routine of calisthenics.

My family was very supportive of my filming & writing endeavors as well. My dad, Harvey Spencer was a former Assistant District Attorney for the New York County District Attorney's Office. And now the senior partner in New York's finest Pearson & Gardner. My mom was a retired professor of linguistics at NYC, now just trying to enjoy a peaceful married life with her small family.

You see, even though I had transmigrated into an alternate timeline from the future timeline of 2023, I didn't get any benefits as is the norm with stories of this kind. And trust me I tried a lot of different things to awaken my system. It became one of my most embarrassing memories from childhood that my mom still uses to tease me to this day.

But I wasn't disheartened because being reborn and getting to live my life once again with all my experience and knowledge from the previous timeline was quite a big cheat in itself. I pushed myself to be considered a child prodigy, learning to speak properly at just 2 years old. Even skipped some grades in middle school, but I didn't just complete school in one go because I wanted the free time to do more important things.

Like writing (copying) novels but not exactly novels from my previous life but franchises and IPs that went to become cash cows for the big production houses. But I had to be smart about it, I can't just make stuff out of thin air. I needed to have a proper creative process behind my creation for it to look legit like how I came up with the idea for the story, what inspired me to write, etc.

After giving it much thought I decided on writing Ben 10, a beloved cartoon show that I used to love watching and had re-watched multiple times. I was very well acquainted with the plot and the characters. To explain my creative inspiration, I watched Star Wars IV(1977) and Aliens (1979) on DVD a year after they came out. And then I also watched an interesting movie called "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"(1978).

Star Wars helped explain the inspiration for different alien species and societies, Aliens, about how humanoid alien creatures would fight and behave. And body snatchers for the DNA alien arc in my second book Ben 10: Alien Force.

Though I only started writing a year later after my 10th birthday, so that I have a believable excuse for why my protagonist was only 10 years old while he was going on life threatening adventures, fighting against giant mecha robots, alien mercenaries/hunters, and even an evil space warlord with an octopus for head.

Writing Ben 10 was truly a challenge. For I had to adapt a cartoon into written words and yet not lose my audience (readers) interest. They must be able to feel the adrenaline rush and excitement when Ben transforms into his aliens and to be honest it was a tall task but my previous experience and my new creative brain carried me through.

I came up with a brilliant idea of writing it like a visual novel with character illustration and artwork rather than just a simple novel as people in the 80s and 90s might find it difficult to imagine the aliens and different spaceships and gadgets. Drawing and painting came easy to me as it was one of my favorite hobbies from the past.

I went to my dad in his home office to show him my work, he already knew that I was working on something, how could he not after I vehemently requested for him to buy me a typewriter as a gift for my upcoming birthday. But he had no clue what it exactly was that I was writing, to say he was surprised would be an understatement.

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POV Harvey Spencer (Mark's dad) -

I had been in my study reading up on some case files when Mark came to me wanting to show this book, which he has been diligently working on for the last few months. But I didn't think much of it at first, as even though my son is a genius and a brilliant student.

But the kind of creative genius and command over language that is required to write a novel is beyond his teen years and would need more experience. But I am glad that he found his passion early on and started working on it, as I believe everything can be achieved if only one is willing to work hard enough for it. Before I even opened the book, I was proud of my son for writing a book to completion at such a young age.

But it was only after I read the first two chapters that I realized just how much I had been underestimating my son. This is simply unbelievable, if I hadn't seen him hunched over his desk writing till late at night I couldn't believe my 11-year-old son wrote this mind-boggling and thrilling novel all by himself.

If this is his first work at just 11 years old I can't even imagine what kind of stories he will create when he grows and gets even better. Will his name be taken in the same breath as some of the great authors and novelists of our time? I don't know the answer to that but it is my duty as his father to help him grow and provide him with all the necessary tools to fulfill his goals.

This book here is already good enough that after being edited and proofread once or twice it can go for publishing. But first I must discuss this further with Mark about how he wants to proceed with his journey to become an accomplished author.

"This is some great work my boy. So tell me, do you want to be an author when you grow up?" asked Harvey.

"I am not sure dad, I do love writing novels and I have many more ideas for novels as well. But I want to do something else" replied Mark finishing his reply with some hesitance in his voice.

"Come on now, out with it. You have created such a fascinating story at such a young age. I don't think there is anything in this world you can't achieve if you put your mind to it" encouraged Harvey for Mark to speak his mind.

Taking a few deep breaths Mark replied with the most serious poker face he could pull off "Dad, I want to be a film director. I want to make it big in Hollywood. I want to be remembered, I want to tell stories on the big screen of things no one has ever even dreamt about".

"Hmm you have really seemed to have thought a lot about this. But I still feel the need to ask why make movies, can't you tell your stories perfectly well from books as well" asked Harvey wanting to understand the thought process of his genius son.

"Well dad it's simply about impact and reach. Movies are more impactful and with the upcoming innovation in the field of computers. Movies are just going to get bigger and better, and when it does. I want to be a part of it." replied Mark with conviction and determination out of place on the face of an eleven year old.

'Hmm he really wants to pursue this path. Well it won't be a smooth and easy road, but I will try my best to get him there' thought Harvey

{Author's note: The first two chapters of this book have been written from the second person perspective to give it a summary kind of feel as I don't want to go into his childhood in detail and detract from the actual theme of the novel that is Hollywood. Also I am a first time amateur author and English is my third language. So please if you find any mistakes or have some suggestions please write them down in the comment section. Please share your feedback in your review. Thank you for taking your time to read my work.}