112.2 The Press Screening of The Killing Joke. (Part 2)
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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~ Quote of the Chapter ~
"I'm an agent of chaos. Oh.. and you know something about chaos? It's fair."
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Last time on Hollywood: Head-Hunting System. Chapter 112.1: The press screening of the Killing joke (part 1)
"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.
Now Continuing —
"Please."
Even though he didn't speak loudly, his voice seemed to resound in that room.
"I."
His eyes shone with rage, yet he held back for some reason.
"Kindly."
One of the goons understood that it must be because of the girl he was trying to rescue. So he tried to quietly capture the girl while Bruce's back was turned away from him.
"Request."
As he said the last word, he kicked up the broken shaft of an axe into his hand and he barely even turned around as he flung it back, hitting the goon right on the knee with such force that he might have just crippled him for life.
Normally, in his fights against these crooks he had always shown mercy and had gone for blows that wouldn't kill or cripple his enemies. But this time these clowns had gone too far; he still would try not to kill them, though he wasn't about to make any promises.
After all, getting Brooke out of here safely without any more harm being done to her was his first priority. But before the fight could really even begin, he heard her call out to him; it was barely above a whisper, but in the state of flow that he was in, his senses were at their peak.
He immediately whipped his head towards her to see if it truly was her calling out to him or was he hearing her voice in his head. Her eyes were red with tears. He moved in and kneeled beside her.
"I am sorry, I couldn't make it in time."
She gestured for him to come closer, and he did, leaning his head down. "It's okay; you being here is enough. But Bruce, please don't kill them; you aren't a murderer. You're a good man.. remember that." She whispered slowly as she placed her bloody palm at his chest plate where his heart would.
It helped dissipate some of his anger, but still not all of it; he was still gonna bash their skulls and make them regret that they chose the life of crime. He nodded at her words and said, "It's gonna be okay. But I need you to close your eyes. This is something you shouldn't see."
She nodded back and obediently closed her eyes as he asked hoping in her that he didn't blame himself for her condition.
Meanwhile Bruce had toppled over a few tables and chairs placed them infront of her strategically so as to provide her cover from the bullets that would start flying around in a few seconds when the goons came back.
After doing so he moved away hurriedly so that she didn't get hit by any stray bullets that were meant for him.
The goons after returning with weapons and a few guns moved in on him immediately, some of them shooting at him with their guns while other's charged at him.
Though Bruce took his time, as he slowly walked towards them as if he was out for a stroll in the park.
He glided in between their unco-ordinated attacks, using the chaos to his advantage and letting the goons that got too close served as convenient meat shields.
The violence and gore were explicitly shown; Mark had left absolutely nothing to the imagination.
Mark already knew that his movie was gonna be rated R by the MPAA and it was not for a lack of his trying but rather because of the highly successful box office run of Knives Out.
MPAA was governed by the Big Five Studios of Hollywood and he only had one of them in his court. The rest were gunning for him, they wouldn't allow his movie to get a PG rating that easily.
And there really wasn't much that Universal alone could do about it, so he decided to make it R rated anyways. He decided to embrace it and milk it to its full potential.
The answer that he had come to was heavily stylized action set pieces that had just the perfect blend of realism and "cool".
The shot changed viewpoints from Brooke or Bruce to a crook that was standing in the back, trying to shoot down the masked vigilante.
But it was of no use; the bone-breaking, blood-curdling screams seemed to unnerve him so much that he said, "Fuck this," threw his gun away, as he decided to make an escape before his turn came.
Unfortunately, as he was making his way towards the exit, he was hit by a body flung at him by Bruce's kick.
Bruce had noticed him escaping so he jumped over someone and used their body as a platform to do a roundhouse kick so powerful that it shot the person he kicked across the room right at person trying to run away.
With multiple broken bones and a nasty concussion, they were both out of the fight. Bruce was taking down these goons with the efficiency and grace of a master martial artist.
It was here that the audience was able to take a glimpse into the past of the mysterious Bruce through his actions..
"Why don't you just fucking die?!" Punchline snarled as he shot at him multiple times, but most of the time Bruce was able to use the other goons as meat shields or just dodge the bullets outright.
It was outrageous to see, but in slow motion and another narrator's voice that sounded like teacher teaching their students, they understood the logic behind the technique that Bruce was utilising.
The realised that it was Bruce who was hearing these words being spoken into is mind. While the technique seemed really simple at first glance it was near impossible to achieve unless someone had mastery over their body and the keen senses of an animal.
What Bruce was doing was simply watching the eyes of the shooters, but most importantly, tracking the angle of the muzzles of the guns to calculate the trajectory of the bullets before they were even fired.
This little trick allowed him to preemptively move before the bullet was even fired and get himself out of the line of fire. And on the off chance he did get hit, he was confident his armor could easily tank a few bullets if the situation called for it.
He was almost done clearing the room, as they saw they goons just laid out on the ground with broken bones and grunting in pain.
It was in that distraction that Punchline suddenly got a submachine gun from somewhere and started spraying bullets at Bruce praying that at least of them hit the slippery bastard.
Bruce took in the danger in front of him, analyzing the situation in a split second. After doing so, he took a deep breath, and released his brain's limiter, which allowed him to do some incredible superhuman feats.
The indication of said limits being removed was the dilation of his pupils as the world seemed to slow down from his perspective.
Visually, it was a stunning scene as they got a close up of Bruce's eyes, this scene was done by Mark showing his real eyes and not the fake contacts he wears out in public.
And with the use of VFX they were able to make his pupils dilate. Though he could actually do it in real-life without the need of VFX, he do it as he didn't want to draw too much unwanted attention on himself.
After the close-up shot, the POV shifted around as the audience saw the bullets heading towards Bruce as he ran straight in towards Punchline. Though while running, he kept making erratic movements, making him even harder to hit.
And while doing so, he ran in between the goons, forcing Punchline to choose between killing him and mistakenly killing his own men. But it seems like an easy decision for the madman, as he just shot regardless, as the entire room was mowed down.
We heard a clicking sound as the villain finally ran out of bullets.
"WHY THE FUCK WON'T YOU DIE? YOU SHOULD BE DEAD!!" Punchline screamed as he tried to see where Bruce was coming from while trying to load the magazine but found it impossible with a single hand.
He might have been able to shoot down people with a single hand, enduring the recoil with his strong body, but loading the magazine required two hands, and he found himself just unable to do so with a bleeding stump for an arm. He screamed again in frustration.
Punchline began to cry in desperation, begging as he asked, "Why don't you die?"
As he was turning here and there, suddenly Bruce appeared behind him. Punchline attacked with his one good arm but it was futile, as Bruce effortlessly blocked him and landed a kidney shot that immediately brought the hulking brute to his knees.
"Beneath this mask lies more than just a man of flesh and bones."
The moment Ron Meyer, who was also present in the audience, heard it, he got goosebumps. His hands shook a little as his heartbeat sped up when he heard that line. Marc had been one to tell him that line when they had met for the first time to negotiate a deal.
"Beneath this mask, there is an idea, Punchline, and ideas.. are.. bulletproof." He could see it now; the man on screen was actually Marc Spector.
At first, he did feel like it was him but chose to ignore it as what kind of director or studio head would perform such high-intensity stunts himself. There were barely any cuts in the fight scenes; that was the appeal of it.
It was still the early 1990s, and Mark knew that the action showcased in Hollywood movies was still very basic and performative making it look and feel fake. There was a sense of realism that the action-set pieces of the 21st-century action films would have.
And it was this very fact that Mark focused on: the realism of the fight scenes was through the roof; they were bloody, they were brutal and definitely blood pumping. It was why Mr. Hiroshi loved it so much, but he especially loved how Asian martial arts were properly displayed on screen.
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Though, Miyazaki's personal favorite would have to be the hospital bombing scene, because it brought the character of the Joker full circle, with Arthur being made to leave the hospital to the Joker blowing it up.
He had been hunting down Harvey for almost half the movie, and when he did, he successfully ruined his life and turned him into an ugly monster that probably no one could ever love.
And then what he did was go meet the man at the hospital, dressed as a nurse to disguise himself. He taunted him, calling him a schemer, about how they had plans to control their little worlds. Trying to stop everything to go to shit while ignoring the weak and underprivileged.
While Harvey blamed him for his destroyed life, the Joker just laughed him off and said that it wasn't him but rather the broken system that did so, or more importantly, it was he himself that brought this fate upon him.
"A man like me is a danger to society. You would agree now, wouldn't you, Mr. Trent? But what did you do?" The Joker said as he sat down beside him.
"You decided to put me in a mental health asylum; you wanted to cure me! Me?! I'm already cured; I saw the truth of this world."
"You know, I always used to think that my life was a tragedy, but now I realize it's a comedy."
"I don't even know you.." Harvey replied, confused as to who this deranged man was who thought he had slighted him. He had been nothing but good and kind his whole life; he didn't deserve this.
"I see.. Commissioner Gordon has been keeping you in the dark." Joker replied with a dark chuckle, trying to drive a wedge between Harvey and anyone who would try to help him.
"Just between you and me." He leaned closer, looking around conspiratorially, as if he was about to tell a secret.
"I am.. or rather.. I was Arthur Fleck." Harvey's eyes widened in recognition when he heard that name.
"But that poor man is long gone; he drowned at the bottom of Stygian, and I am the monster that came out."
"But let's get back to the story, shall we? The clock's ticking after all." As he said, we see a few more goons in disguise planting bombs around the hospital.
"So, I escaped from the asylum. O how fucking easy it was, and then I went after the man who put me there." He turned around and pointed at Harvey.
"You!"
"Me.." Harvey said, as he looked and had a flashback, he remembered Gordon saying that Arthur might still be in there somewhere and that he deserved a chance to live a normal life.
"But I don't want there to be any hard feelings between us, Harvey. After all, we are pretty even now." He said as he sat down on a chair.
"You thought I was a broken man who could be fixed, so I broke you. Now you understand how I feel every single day of my life."
"Why are you here." Harvey growled as he struggled against his restraints.
"I'm here to introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos."
"And I am an agent of chaos. Oh.. and you know something about chaos? It's fair."
"So I'll give you this chance to get back at me. If you truly think that I am the root of your problems, that ruined you perfect life, then just press this button and kill me."
"My men have been planting bombs all around the hospital. In minutes, I'll be out of here, and this place will be turned into a death trap."
"If you press that button now, the bombs will explode immediately, killing us all. You, me, and every single soul in here."
The scene cut off as we came back to see the Joker outside in the halls, using a medical dispenser to clean his hands. By this we know what choice Harvey made, he allowed the Joker to get away.
But even trying to kill him will get hundreds of innocent civilians killed, though the audiences weren't sure whether the reason Harvey let go of the Joker for altruistic reasons.
Back with the joker we see him wearing a medical mask again on his face as he made his way towards the exit.
He was joined by Punchline, his second in-command. The Joker looked around to see if the coast was clear and asked, "I hope the job is done, Punch?"
"Yes, boss, I took care of him." Punchline grunted and gave his report.
"Good." Joker replied with a crazed smile. The shot then cut back to show the office of a doctor, probably the one they were just taking about. They saw him strapped to his chair with tape binding his arms and legs, there were numerous bruises on him.
His nose was completely broken and he was dripping blood all over his expensive carpet as he tried calling for help. But it was to no avail, as even more tape was wrapped around his mouth with something stuffed in it. So he can't even call for help.
The shot then pans back as it takes in the room, but it's only for a few seconds before it cuts back to the Joker. But just a few seconds were all the keen-eyed audience members needed to recall just where had they seen the room before.
Their eyes went to the bloodied name plate that was lying on the floor. It look like it had been used as a bludgeoning weapon, and despite all the blood it was covered in. They were still able to read off the name of it's owner from it.
And they found that thejr suspicions were proven correct, that nameplate, that office were things that they had seen before because this bloodied up doctor was the very asshol* that heartlessly threw out Arthur's mother when her medicare expired.
Finally they were able to recognize that this was the very doctor's office that had humiliated and rejected Arthur's mother from being treated in his hospital because of their poor financial condition and because they were no longer covered by the Foundation's Medicare.
Life truly had come full circle as the Arthur that he had rejected and forced into despair had come back as a monster to destroy him and the very establishment that had rejected Arthur and his mother.
The Joker then casually exited the hospital from a side entrance and made his way out into the parking lot as he pressed the button on the controller, causing numerous explosions to happen around the hospital.
Muffled by the sounds of the explosions were the screams of the people still trapped inside, unaware of the Joker's schemes and the bombs planted inside. They tried to run away and escape but it was futile, because the explosions were happening from the outside in.
So the outside structures had already collapsed, leaving them no way out. This is what Joker meant when he said that this place was going to become a death trap. Though as he made his way through, he felt something was wrong.
He looked back and saw that the hospital had not been completed destroyed, he sighed and muttered about stupid henchmen and delayed charges. But then he shrugged and started laughing maniacally about false hope still being hope and walked off.
The shot pulls back to show them name of the hospital. And then even the slow audience members who didn't recognize the doctor's office were able to connect the dots after seeing the name of the hospital.
Everyone realizes that this was the same hospital where Arthur's mother was rejected from because they didn't have enough money and the foundation stopped covering his mother's medical bills, now bringing Arthur's story to a full circle.
It was officially Hayao's favorite scene from the movie, for sure, because it displayed the philosophy of two very important characters in the movie and showed their motives and goals.
While most people are enjoying the movie and loving it, Eisner just couldn't help but grind his teeth in rage. As he sees every single frame that is displayed on the big screen, he gets more angry and conflicted.
He now knew for sure in his heart that Marc was the kind of talent that only graced the industry maybe once in half a century. The talent that he had shown at such a young age made him admit in his heart that making him an enemy was a mistake.
Because if such a talent could have been fostered at Disney, then they would have been unstoppable. As live-action films still remained one of the biggest weaknesses of Disney that he had to remedy and Marc could have been the cheat code to quickly fix said problem.
But instead that, because of a clash of their egos, the kid was now a staunch enemy of his, and he knew he would have to do whatever he could to stop Marc before he got too big to be touched and dealt with by using underhanded tactics and means.
Maybe it truly was time to form an alliance with the other studios of the Big Six. After all, this budding lotus must be nipped at the bud before it could bloom in the muddy waters of Hollywood.
'Look out, Spector; I'm going to destroy you.' He thought to himself as he looked around and glanced at the other studio heads of the Big Six studios.
He knew he had to bring in Ron Meyer of Universal into the fold, so that he could take away the distributing and marketing power of Universal from Mark and render him unable to distribute his movies to theaters.
"Yes, after all, it doesn't matter how good of a film that kid can make, if no one can see it on the big screen." He muttered under his breath, with an evil, sadistic grin stretching across his face.
— To be continued…
In the next episode of Kaiju No. 8
*Cough* *Cough*
I meant in the next chapter of Hollywood: Head-Hunting System.
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Word Count: 3458 words (after excluding the disclaimer, opening Author's Note and the closing Author's Note.)
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{Closing Author's Note: Sorry for being a few hours late with the upload of this chapter. I thought I uploaded it last night before I went to sleep but when I woke there was nothing.
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