117 112.1 The Press Screening of The Killing Joke. (Part 1)
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 feel really happy and grateful to announce that four new patrons have joined my pat reon page as paid members and even more have joined as free just so they could vote on the polls. Thank you guys, I really appreciate the love and support.
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Recap of the Previous Chapter –
Ted Turner is very happy about how Cartoon Network is growing and how the shows are doing. So he calls Mark to give him the news as well. Mark is happy to find out that people are liking the shows and that over a million homes have already subscribed to their channel.
Ted then asks him how he is able to make two shows and even improve the old originals that belong to HB. Mark explains how the collaborative effort of HB and Pixar made this miracle a reality.
The scene then shifts to Ms. Hinata, and her assistant, Sakura Hinata is frustrated about the growing workload as she is working under Mark as an illustrator for his comics. Mark overheard this as he had decided to give her a visit, and he decided to accept her unasked request.
He promises to introduce more work staff so that the workload of every individual is reduced to a significant amount, and they are given proper rest days. The POV shifts to a young Scarlett Johansson, who is doing the dubbing work for the killing joke.
She ruminates about how she got the job so unexpectedly; she was actually cast in the role of Kevin's elder sister in Home Alone. But seeing her great performance, they also offered her the role of Brooke Gordon.
Then we see Tom Cruise meet up with Nicole Kidman, and they talk about him investigating the cult and planning his escape. He tells her that he has already distanced himself from the church and told her that he has already taken measures so that he won't be implicated with them.
In the end, he requests that Nicole take him to the press screening of The Killing Joke so that he can talk to Mark one more time. The scene then again changes to miss Sophia Coppola, who has finally come back to her home after spending months away working on the set of The Killing Joke.
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~ Quote of the Chapter ~
"I'm an agent of chaos. Oh.. and you know something about chaos? It's fair."
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It had been roughly three months since that incident. It is rightly said that shameless people have the thickest skin. She thought to herself as she saw the press bustling about trying to get an interview with her son before the screening.
It was March 20th, a Wednesday, it was the day that Mark had selected for the press screening for his new film – The Killing Joke. She could hardly believe that these people belonged to the very media houses that had condemned her son.
Shamelessness of the highest order, and a total lack of integrity was what it really was. She might have forgotten, but her husband was a vindictive one; he remembered each and every single media house that had targeted their son's public image.
For he had the express of pleasure in ripping them a new one for printing falsified and speculative information with the intent of harming his clients public image.
Yes, to the outside world, Marc Spector was just a client of Harvey's, one the Spector had rumored to have spent top dollar to hire the best goddamn lawyer in the city.
They had arrived yesterday by flight, and she spent almost the entire day with her son, just accompanying him as he went about his usual work day. While doing so, she reads books to pass the time or ask him questions regarding his work.
Books had always been a source of comfort for her, especially books written by her son – as they always seemed to carry in them a sense of optimism for life no matter how bleak a world they were set in.
For dinner, Mark them his new idea. It was a meal kit, with all the necessary ingredients pre-portioned and partially prepped. He said that he was thinking about providing it as an alternative to fast food and people who eat out too much.
But they only had 1 dish figured out currently; it was a dish that they introduced to the menu of Ichiraku's over a month ago, and it had already become the crowd favorite.
It was the [Chuka Soba Style Ramen], and even though it was slightly on the costlier side of fast food, it never failed to sell out, according to their latest sales report.
And taking a slurp of the broth, she could see why that was, it simply tasted divine. It wasn't too salty or umami, but rather just perfect. Mark explained to them that it was specifically created for the western palate that didn't like too strong flavors or spices.
It was also much lower in sodium than even the ones they were already selling at Ichiraku's. After talking to him about his new book, it was already noon, and the time for the screening to start was getting near, but her mind still remained on the story she read yesterday.
[Prince of Persia: Sands of Time] told the story of a rambunctious swashbuckler prince who unwittingly unleashes a magical sandstorm that transforms the kingdom's inhabitants into monsters.
To undo his mistake, he must journey with a princess and his ally to find a way to reverse the curse, all while battling powerful foes and navigating treacherous traps within an ancient palace.
Though the thoughts of the boisterous prince immediately left her mind as the movie truly began, Mark had described it as a cautionary tale, one that had something to offer everyone who watched it.
For her, it was scenes where Arthur showed his caring side, taking care of his mother despite the hardships. Not stepping down, no matter how inconvenient or messy it got.
But then things took a turn for the worse; his mother's hospital bills were being paid by the [White Lotus Foundation]. It was the organisation he had recently started a few months ago, mentioning it in the movie was just another way her son had tried to advertise the charitable foundation.
She was glad that he was doing these good deeds, though she knew what spurred him to do so.
It was the reason why Mark didn't have any siblings; it was not for a lack of trying on their end. But rather the unfortunate side effect of a drug that had rendered her infertile. They had thought about adopting at first, but she couldn't bring herself to go through with it.
As these dark thoughts warred in her mind, she saw Arthur get betrayed and thrown into a canal of toxic waste disposal. The reason? Because he showed his brilliance and came up with a better plan for the heist, which bruised the ego of the crook in charge.
Mark knew first just how far a man whose ego had been hurt was willing to go; it turned out a lot, actually. She knew this sitting arrangement must have been pre-arranged, as she knew coincidences of such an order don't just happen on their own.
After all, Michael Eisner was sitting just directly one row in front of her, and she could hear him grinding his teeth as he was watching the movie and coming to the same conclusion as everyone else in the audience.
Mark, her little genius, had done it again. It was a spectacular movie. But the spectacle had only just begun as Arthur's chapter in this story came to an end. She watched on as the poor man was thrown into a wave of toxic waste.
But his mind was already gone, as he just closed his eyes and accepted his death. The angle they took the shot from was just gorgeous, with the moonlight shining from above.
The view of his back as he just sunk into the bottom of the sea and slowly they could see the darkness creep in from the edges of the screen.
Mark had told her that they had collaborated with [Industrial Lights & Magic] studios for the VFX work on the movie. He even proudly told her that Mr. Lucas had wanted to give him the friends and family discount.
But as a businessman himself how could he accept such a deal, he paid the full price but asked for frequent updates and full priority of his work in return. And it showed, as every single detail looked real; it looked like it was shot in real locations.
But it couldn't be true, as Mark had told her that the entire heist sequence that eventually led to Arthur's "death" scene was actually shot in-doors on a set.
After the screen had slowly been consumed in darkness, suddenly it came back on as Arthur broke out of the water and somehow made it onto the river bank.
Hearing the sounds of his haggard breaths gave her goosebumps as he suddenly broke down, laughing as he laid on his back. She, just like the rest of the crowd, was left unaware that what crawled out from the river wasn't Arthur but rather the Joker.
But would they all get to know about this development soon enough, as Arthur goes back home as if nothing happened. He took a bath to clean himself off and applied his face paint.
After doing so, he left for the hospital, where his mother was. He was practicing his speech about being able to raise the money for her operation. But what he found there, after showing up, made her happy as can be.
Talking to her nurse, he found out that the foundation has expanded its operations, and now the underprivileged patients of this hospital are also on their medical aid list.
As he heard the nurse joyfully congratulate him for his mother's being saved, her voice faded in the background, and the shot panned close as they saw the Joker's face morph into an ugly grin as he started to maniacally laugh.
He laughed so hard that he collapsed on the ground, but they heard his internal monologue. And hearing it gave her goosebumps, as she was transfixed and couldn't look away.
As the nurse tried to get him to calm down and stand up, he eventually did, apologizing and extending a card that had information about his condition. But she said that she already knew about it and didn't mind.
He made his way to meet his mom, but when he opened the door, he found her dead with bullet wounds on her chest. It broke him down as he read the letter beside her corpse; he found that it was from his former criminal employer.
But then suddenly the flashback was over with a bang as Detective Gordon smashed his first into the table and commanded him to stop his lies. He shouted at him that he knew what the truth was and that it could not be hidden no matter how many lies he tried to spin.
She then saw another flashback but this time the internal monologue of the Joker came true. As his laughs stopped, the Joker got up and stabbed the nurse with the shiv that he had picked up from somewhere.
After killing her, he dragged her body to the supply closet and stashed her there. It was methodical and well-thought-out, but it was the joker's monologue that made her shiver in fright.
His ideology was that the world was an unfair place, because, even though Arthur had sacrificed his life trying to save that of his mother.
In the end, it was all for nothing because, while Arthur died drowning in that river, his mother would survive because of the kindness of someone else. His actions and sacrifice in the end were futile and amounted to nothing except freeing him.
So he swore that he would get revenge for him, and after doing so, the Joker immediately headed in to meet his mom. He apologizes for being unable to get the money for her operation.
She told him that it's gonna be fine, that she has lived a long life, and she wouldn't regret much if she didn't live much longer.
Meanwhile, the Joker could only think, "really?!" but then told her how this hospital was under the foundation and that they were gonna take care of her. He then observed how she completely changed her tune, eager and desperate to survive.
By this time, Arthur had gotten the extra pillow from the side closet. Now in the script, it only calls for the Joker to come up to the mother, growling how even though Arthur died for her sake, she had the audacity to try to live by herself.
The woman was clearly shaking and afraid with the trembling voice she asked, "But aren't you my Arthur?"
"Oh.. No. No. You see.. Arthur died for your sake; he drowned in the Stygian Spring. I am what crawled out of that hell."
"Wh-who?.. Are.. you?" She asked in a broken, sad tone, yet she was still hopeful that Arthur was just playing around with her.
"I'm the Joker." He said with a smile and then lunged at her, smothering her with the pillow. Though feeling her struggle, he grew irritated and immediately started punching her through the pillow.
It was a brutal scene, and by the time he was done, the once pristine white pillow had turned red with her blood.
She had clutched the mouth to hold back her scream, while a few tears escaped her eyes as she whimpered in fear. Harvey interlocked his fingers around hers in an attempt to comfort her.
The Joker removed the pillow to show the deformed and beat-up face of the mother they had come to love just a few minutes ago. They all collectively hated Joker's guts now, and this was exactly what Mark wanted; he didn't want Joker to be idolized or his actions justified.
This scene was actually improvised by River, as there was no punching in this scene. So Mark had to spend extra time working together with ILM studios to ensure that the blood splatter, the pillow's slowly turning a crimson red with each punch, and Arthur's mother's deformed head looked real.
Thankfully, Lucas' studio came through, and it did, it looked so real that she felt like throwing up. Mark had succeeded in creating an original iconic scene that might just be the breaking point. The point after which almost every person who watched the movie would hate the Joker for his actions.
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Hayao-san, who was in the audience as well, was truly shaken after watching Arthur beat his mot—.. No, after watching the Joker beat Arthur's mother to death. He was completely stunned by the movie Mark had made.
He had arrived a few weeks earlier, at the invitation of Mark himself, who had called him in saying that he needed his help to guide him in directing an animated film because his original director had been stolen, and he was now trying to pick up the slack.
Hayao-san knew that Mark wasn't a proper animation artist, but after seeing how they were animating at Mark's studio, he realized that maybe it was a strength rather than a weakness, because if Mark didn't know what was and wasn't possible, he could truly go beyond and innovate.
He really liked Mark's idea and approach of combining CGI animation with traditional hand-drawn animation. It was said to be impossible to do before, but Mark did it with his creative problem solving skills.
And after seeing just how beautiful the finished product looked, Hayao-san had also made up his mind to try out this technique after he learnt CGI animations himself better, but for now he focused on just helping his friend make [Beauty and the Beast].
He was now with his friends—Tatsuhiro and Hiroshi—and his daughter, Chifuyu.
Hiroshi's favorite bits were those involving detective Gordon's mysterious friend, Bruce. He said seeing him reminded him of Mark, especially when he fought the mobs as a vigilante.
'To tell or not to tell?' "Hmm." He hummed in thought and then shrugged; it wasn't like it wouldn't be revealed in the end credits.
"Well, it should; after all, behind that mask is Marc." He finally said after deciding that seeing his friend's reaction would be more fun, though his eyes never strayed from the screen too long.
"What?! He can act as well." Hiroshi was surprised to hear that his son-in-law could even act as well.
"You aren't surprised he can fight?" He asked as he watched Bruce get caught on purpose so that they would bring him to brooke and also to serve as a distraction.
"Nah, I heard about that from Chifuyu already and even saw it firsthand today when he sparred against his guards." Hiroshi replied casually. Though his eyes were stuck on the screen, he could feel that this was gonna be a powerful scene.
"Quiet, it's just starting to get good." Tatsu finally spoke, his eyes still focused on the movie, as a director and studio owner himself. He wanted to see what kind of movie Mark would make this time around.
"He got himself caught on purpose? Didn't he?" Hiroshi asked, speculating.
"Obviously, dad, I think he knew he couldn't reach her on time, so he did this to take their attention away from the child." Chifuyu said, anticipating the moment when Mark would say that dialogue.
She had read bits and pieces of the script, and for some reason, reading that scene just made her blood rush with excitement. She could just imagine the level of violence that scene would entail and the hype it would build up for the film.
"How could you do this to a child?! What kind of monster are you?! Brooke! Brooke, are you—" He couldn't even finish his sentence as he struck behind the head and in the back of his knee, forcing him to go down.
But his knee still didn't hit the ground, as they saw a flashback. It was Bruce; he was being taught martial arts by a mysterious figure shrouded in darkness.
The man said, "Never kneel before your enemies; it is a sign of respect reserved for only your parents and God."
Then the scene changed again, and they are back in the present situation. Bruce is pleading with them to not hurt Brooke anymore, as she is only a child and has never hurt anyone, and that she is innocent but unfortunately Joker's second in command.
The deranged man, whom the media called Punchline, wasn't hearing any of it; he looked back at one of the grunts and said, "Take him out of here and kill him."
"Yes sir." A grunt replied as he moved towards Bruce.
"Punchline, wait, don't touch her. She is just a child; let her go." But the madman ignored his call and kept walking towards Brooke, who just lay there with one of her kneecaps already smashed in.
Bruce tried to hold it together but his anger wanted him to let loose. He was being beaten down and about to be dragged away when he saw Punchline loosening his belt. After that all he saw was red.
In the blink of an eye, he stole one of the axes from the goons belt and pushed him off. In slow motion they saw Punchline's disgusting face leer down at Brooke as she closed her eyes in fear.
But then all she felt was some warm liquid hit her face, and then a loud thud followed the most guttural scream she had ever heard. What happened was before Punchline could lay his hands on her.
Bruce threw the axe he had stolen with precision and such great force at Punchline that it cut almost completely through his offending arm and stuck it to the wall behind him.
As he did so, the BGM shifted, and the crowd's blood boiled in excitement from seeing these evil men finally about to face their retribution.
"I told you.." Bruce muttered as he walked forward, though nobody dared to stop him this time.
"I told you not to touch her." Nobody dared to even come close after seeing him so casually cut their leader's arm off.
"Didn't I tell you not to touch her?" Bruce asked the "unarmed" Punchline who could only grunt and scream in pain.
"The fuck are you idiots looking at? Kill him!" Punchline shouted, though his voice was now hoarse from the pain.
"No one touches her." Bruce announced, looking back towards them, though some of them had already rushed off to get their weapons.
— To be continued…
In the next episode of FALLOUT
*Cough* *Cough*
I meant in the next chapter of Hollywood: Head-Hunting System.
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Word Count: 3142 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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