THE MOMENT
Soulblade, the hero with the magic sword, stared at the bald showrunner with wide eyes. He'd been pulled into Lenny's office trailer after shooting wrapped for the day and given some unexpected news with a smile. He began shaking his head even as he put his thoughts to words.
"...and what if I don't go along with this heel turn?" Wendell Soulblade asked.
"Wendell, buddy," Lenny grinned. "I think you already know the answer to that question. The directive comes from the top, my hands are tied. Either you become the anti-hero of the new format..," he shrugged. "...or Soulblade gets remembered with a throw-away line of dialogue. You'd still be the lead; but, edgy and gritty are 'in' right now."
"Have the execs even seen the show??" Wendell asked. "My sword is magic BECAUSE of my good-guy persona!"
"Of course they probably have," Lenny shrugged the answer. "Obviously you'd get a new power set too."
"Huh?" That was somewhat of a bombshell if he understood correctly. "I thought the whole thing was I couldn't change class," he said. Soulblade wasn't a Super exactly; his 'powers' were game mechanics available to the Swordmage class. He didn't quite understand everything about the 'AlterNet' game. But, he still managed to enjoy playing when he wasn't in front of the camera. At the time he landed the position, he was told he couldn't change class within the game and was locked as a Swordmage even if he left. "...are we going to start doing special effects or something?"
"Not at all," Lenny shook his head. "But, there's a new AlterNet patch coming out soon, and with it, a one-time class change to all players. The format change is of course meant to promote the new patch like Soulblade helped create a generation of Sword Mages. The best I could do is let you pick your Class this time," Lenny shrugged. "If you don't stay on the show, you'll still get the class change. So, the only question is do you want to stay in front of the camera?"
"Of course I do!" Wendell replied. ".... what are the new classes?" When he was young, Wendell wanted to be a famous actor more than anything. Even then, he never imagined the reality of having trillions of fans across several hundred alternate Earths. He would agree to almost anything to keep that audience. It made the decision that much easier when Lenny explained about the new patch. Sharp Development created the AlterNet and the network his show was on. He knew Lenny meant it when he said his hands were tied.
"They're adding five new classes. The All-star is a sports-themed class, and the Cyber Icon is designed with influencers in mind. The Hobbyist makes toy minions, the Shaman is pretty much what you'd expect, and the Warlock too." Wendell sighed. Despite Lenny's assurance that he could choose his new class, he still felt rather trapped.
"Warlock seems the most appropriate for my new role...," Wendell commented.
"It was written with the warlock in mind; but, we can shoehorn in any of the others if you prefer."
"No, no," Wendell shook his head. "My fans deserve the best writing possible; I don't want to make it any more complicated for the writers."
"Oh good, then you won't mind being locked into a specific Patron either," Lenny grinned. "Your new persona will be named BlackSoul, the warlock of the Whispering Void."
"That's fine," Wendell nodded. He had no room to argue and at least the sample script he was given made more sense now. Though, he still felt his new anti-hero character was bordering on cartoonish. He hoped that things would improve as the writers adjusted to the new format. "So, anything else I should prepare for?" Wendell asked.
"Nope, that about covers it," Lenny grinned as he rose from his seat to walk Wendell out. "The season finale is being rewritten though, so you'll probably want to come in early to get started on your new lines." Wendell stood and let Lenny guide him to the door where he got a solid pat on the back.
"Oh, and make an appointment with the art department here in the next couple of days, they need to take some reference shots."
"Yeah, okay," Wendell tried not to sound like a whiney teenager; but, it was exactly the mood he was in. "Gotta get the new promos up and running, huh?" he made an idle comment as he stepped out of the trailer.
"Oh, yeah, no," Lenny shook his head. "I might've forgotten to mention it; we're going animated."