Bab 61: 61. A Cinematic Experience and Saving Spider-man.
Disclaimer: The story that I have written here takes on the names of real people, but this story is based in an alternate earth with some changes in its timeline.
This story does not intend to represent the celebrities/real people or make any commentary on them whatsoever. This story is entirely fictional, and it should be viewed entirely as such.
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Recap of the Previous Chapter -
Mark and Hinata meet up with Kevin backstage, where he introduces them to the craftsmen and artists who worked on the suits Mark had ordered. After a round of introductions, Mark requests to see the suits and is then blown by their level of craftsmanship. He congratulates them on a job well done.
Next we see the POV of Rian Johnson, our fanboy, he is at the Comic Con with his friends and family. They have a blast, reading Naruto, trying out ramen for the first time at the Ichirakus. They explore most of what Mark's E×M booth had to offer before making way for the announcement hall.
There, Mark showcases his animated short films of Halo and Doom and succeeds in blowing the minds of his audiences with the high quality suit of MJOLNIR armor of the Master Chief. He talks about the new things that will be done at Marvel and Eidolon.
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~ Third Person's POV ~
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Date: 6th August, 1990.
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Location: Backstage at Eidolon×Marvel Booth.
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Time: 05:02 pm.
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The lights went out as the hundreds of Marvel and Eidolon fans stared forward as the film projector began projecting an image of a woman standing before a holographic table.
Many people in the crowd gasped and mumbled the name of the infamous character from halo being brought to life. "Dr. Halsey", "Is that Catherine?" and many more called out.
In a second the video began playing with the woman now identified as Dr. Halsey, the creator of the Spartan program, answered her subordinate. She had been asked why they always picked children, she replied.
"This child could be more useful to the UNSC, than a fleet of destroyers, a thousand Lieutenants -- or even me. In the end, one child could be the difference between peace and an unwinnable war." Dr. Catherine Halsey said looking at the stats and reports on John-117 on a holographic display.
• {Author's Note: Please go on YouTube to watch a video titled Halo 4 Prologue Intro Cinematic by DIGIC Pictures. It has the footage of the scene described below. I have just dialed back the human experimentation scenes} •
The video then showed her again but this time much older and jaded. She seemed to be in an interrogation room, with an unnamed officer sitting against her. He asked her, "Tell me about the children?"
"Dr. Halsey." he called her name to draw her attention after seeing her remain silent.
She finally reacts and turns her face to look up at him as she replies airily. Her hands which were in her lap before were now placed on the table showing her in cuffs. "You already know everything."
"You kidnapped them." The man said his features remained hidden in the darkness.
Halsey sighed and decided to say the most logical reason despite what people might think about her. She wasn't actually a heartless monster. No, just one who knew what hard decisions had to be made at the end of the day.
And that only made her job a whole lot harder, so she had tried to seal off her heart from any human emotion or feeling that would weaken her judgment or logic. All these thoughts went through her mind in a few seconds, as she spoke.
"Children's minds are more easily accepting of indoctrination, their bodies more adaptable to augmentation." In the middle of her dialogue the scene shifted to show some of the procedures John was put through to become a Spartan.
It was relatively tame as Mark didn't want to show too much darkness and the child soldier angle on the Spartan program was already bad enough. The audience members gasped with slight scared looks on their faces as they saw a young John in a glass chamber.
"The result was the ultimate soldier and because of our success, when the covenant invaded, we were ready."
The animated movie proceeded forward as the audience forgot about their popcorn and watched as the invasion of Reach was displayed on screen. The man in the shadows leaned forward and replied.
"Dr. Halsey you're bending history for your own favor and you know it. You developed the Spartans to crush human rebellion not to fight the covenant."
"When one human world after another fell, when my Spartans were all that stood between humanity and extinction nobody was concerned why they were originally built."
"So you feel in the end that your choices were justified?" the man asked as he stood up.
'Oh no, god. No, never and it will always live with me forever.' she thought to herself, but her expressions didn't falter despite her grief and pain at losing John and the rest.
Even though she wouldn't admit it, to her they were like her own children. Every death was a burden on her mind that would haunt her forever till the day she finally died.
But just like every parent she had her favorite as well - John-117, The Miracle. She had destroyed all data and files pertaining to the genetic markers in his DNA and re-coded it to hide what she had found in his blood.
She answered without missing a beat despite her internal monologue, "My work saved the human race."
"Do you think the Spartans' lack of basic humanity helped?" he questioned her.
'They weren't emotionless machines.' she wanted to say but all she could muster was, "What are you after? The others before you were naval intelligence but you. You're something else."
He ignored her unasked question and read a line from his datapad, "Records show Spartans routinely exhibit mildly sociopathic tendencies, difficulty with socialization."
"Records show efficient behavior operating in hazardous situations." Halsey replied cutting him off as the scene shifted to the Master Chief taking down a huge monster.
"And I supplied the tool to maintain that efficiency." she said with the barest of a smile as she remembered the time Cortana chose John as her partner.
"Do you believe that the Master Chief succeeded because he was at his core broken?" he questioned trying to get a raise out of her.
She looked up again at him and for the first time in their conversation Dr. Halsey was showing her emotions visibly. "What does John have to do with this?"
"You want to replace him," she said, answering her own question, finally realizing what the man in front of her was after.
"The Master Chief is dead." the man retorted.
"His file reads missing-in-action." she replied while internally thinking, 'they have each other, they will be alive.'
"Catherine, Spartans never die." implying how the UNSC refuses to even take ownership of the sacrificed lives after their death all just to keep the myth of the Spartans being some kind of immortal soldiers alive to boost the UNSC's morale.
Halsey felt bad about not being able to do more for the children. But she didn't show it on her face, her voice was a little heavy as she replied. "Your mistake is seeing my Spartans as mindless weapons, as mere military hardware."
"My Spartans are humanity's next step, our destiny as a species."
She stood up as she said, "Do not underestimate them."
The camera panned closer on her face. "But most of all, do not underestimate him." she said with all the conviction and belief that John was still alive.
With her final words, the screen went black and dim lights came on, after a few seconds brighter lights came on as the audiences got used to the shift in brightness.
But the hype didn't let up, a person in the crowd stood up and clapped for the stunning animation they had gotten to see about Halo and the Master Chief.
Within a few more seconds more people stood up and eventually the whole crowd were on their feet giving a standing ovation for the work Mark had put out.
But the surprise wasn't over yet, a side entrance doorway near the front of the hall opened and in walked John-117, the Master Chief.
It was Mark himself wearing the suit of hyper-realistic armor, he had been strapped with a few mics that picked up the sound of his movements. The amour was heavy, nearly 75 kilograms and it showed as his footsteps pounded the floor.
The crowd gasped, in shock and awe seeing one of their beloved fictional characters come to life. The white lettering 117 on the green MJOLNIR armor, brought tears to the eyes of some fans.
It was shocking because it had barely been a month since the release of Halo 1, yet it had sold millions of copies in just the first week alone becoming a massive hit.
This animated short movie showing glimpses of the ending and even the beginning of the Master Chief and the Spartan program that remained shrouded in mystery till now was a complete game changer.
They couldn't wait to read the next installment, what would Mark reveal? Would it be the origins of the Master Chief and the Spartan program or his re-emergence after being declared MIA. These were thoughts swarming some of the people in the audience.
But most of them were just stunned watching the Master Chief just slowly walk onto the stage. The sense of anticipation building up in their hearts as he drew closer to the center of it and stopped. The audience had no clue who it was behind the suit of armor.
And as much as Mark wanted to keep the charade, he had matters to address and another cinematic animation short film to unveil. He put his right hand behind his neck and popped a lock that ensured his helmet stayed in place. After taking it out, he gently placed it in one of his side pockets.
As Mark did this, the anticipation in the hearts of everyone kept rising. They all wanted to know who it was behind the armor, the giant in green painted titanium alloy and ceramic plating armor standing at a huge 6'6ft tall looked like a behemoth to them.
Mark was already quite tall but the MJOLNIR armor only made him look even more physically imposing and awe inspiring. He removed the helmet gently and tucked under his right arm and looked ahead at the crowd.
"Greetings, fellow comic book nerds and fans of mine. It's me, Mark Spencer. What didn't expect to see me like this did'ya? Hope it was a nice surprise." Mark said, chuckling as he introduced himself to the crowd.
"Well, I wanted to start off this festival celebrating all that Eidolon Entertainment had to offer its audiences with a bang. So I thought why not make a cinematic trailer, to keep you all excited for the next installment and to also give you some good memories about the work I had already put out."
"Just the past month that I have released Halo, it has set the record as the book which reached a milestone of a million copies sold the fastest in the world. This was possible only thanks to you guys who buy and support my work. Thank you." he said bowing his head slightly.
"The recordings of this cinematic animation short film will also be available for sale tomorrow at the "Everything Eidolon Store". I appreciate the standing ovation as well, the entire creative team that worked on creating this beautiful short film couldn't make it."
"But some of them are backstage and maybe if they want, you could meet them later on as well. Anyways let's move on to the elephant in the room. Marvel Comics. I know there are a lot of rumors going around about how I might destroy the company. Or that I don't know what I am doing."
"I don't have anything to say to the haters to be honest. I prefer to prove myself with actions and results rather than empty words. But I would like to take this moment here to familiarize you all with some of the changes at Marvel."
"First of which would be that we discontinued the usage of the CCA seal and created our very own. Why? Well the short answer would be because it's too restrictive and because I have much bigger plans for the storyline of the Marvel Multiverse and other comic books I have already released or plan to release in the future."
"I know it will be hard in the next few months for our customers to purchase their comic books as they would be found in only comic book stores. But I have great news for you all here, we will be opening up a group of chain stores very soon in every city with a sizable fanbase."
"You have already seen a sample of it here, it's the - Everything Eidolon Store and just as the name suggests it will have everything Eidolon Entertainment will be putting out in it. Books, comics, movies, games, action figures, toys, clothing, cosplay, etc.
"I hope to see you there, hanging out, enjoying my work. Meeting new people with the same interests, getting into heated conversations, ah there will be so much to do. Anyways, let's get back on the Marvel track."
"The other major change I have already implemented is the discontinuation of some of the bizarre, less popular, almost even borderline hated Marvel storylines. We all know which one's I am talking about, so let's not mention them any longer."
A Lot of comic fans cheered silently upon hearing that from Mark. They didn't know just how much pain and suffering he had saved them and their comic book heroes from. Especially Spiderman, the guy in Mark's past life just couldn't catch a break.
From Gwen Stacy cheating on him with Norman Osborn and getting pregnant with twins to Mary Jane moving on and finding a guy named Paul to start a family with to even the Black Cat coming on to him and when finally Peter mustered up the courage and removed his mask.
As Peter awkwardly puckered up to kiss her, Black Cat freaked out, realizing that the man of her dreams was just a teenager. She found it so revolting that she vomited on his crotch out of disgust and ran away. Peter was awkwardly left alone on the rooftop, wondering to himself why he can't get a break.
"The excessive printing of comic books will also be stopped, there will only be a limited number of copies of the single issue published from now on. But after an arc is over that complete arc will be combined to form a trade volume."
This statement was met with another round of cheers and small applause from the comic fans in the audience.
"These volumes will be published in an unlimited number so everyone can read and follow up on our stories even if they couldn't get their hands on our single issues. I have more to say but it's already time, no, no, I didn't mean, time to leave."
"There's another cinematic animation short film that we have prepared for you guys but I would like you to give you guys a warning. It's going to be very graphic and really something I wouldn't recommend a kid watching. I know it sucks but those are the rules."
"Maybe you can watch it at home on the VHS." He said with a wink.
"Again I would like to request anyone under 17 to leave the hall, sorry for not being able to show this to you on the big screen. Don't worry, just wait outside with our staff. They will take good care of you." He waved towards some staff members approaching the audience members who were underage for the next showing.
There weren't many kids to begin with, about two dozen were escorted out. Mark had expressly stated to the staff that the kids be treated nicely and even be taken to the Eidolon store next door to choose a toy for free.
After the kids had left, a few parents had chosen to leave as well, not trusting the staff to look after their kids. Mark didn't really see it as a problem as it would be their loss. He told them that the short film would be starting shortly and left the stage.
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The lights went out again and the crowd went silent, just a second ago they were discussing all that Mark revealed to them. Most of them didn't really care about Mark choosing to stop abiding by the Comic Code Authority. As the comic book fans were familiar with their bullying tactics.
What they were really excited for and had gossiped amongst themselves were the cool things they would buy at the Eidolon store. Cutting through the silence was a raspy voice, the screen lit up by the light of the projector.
It showed an alien being in religious looking clothing dragging a man in armor, a man they recognised as the unnamed protagonist of the comic most of them read just a few hours ago. The Doom Marine.
"Against all the evil that Hell can conjure, all the wickedness that mankind can produce, we will send unto them... only you. Rip and tear, until it is done."
King Novik said as he placed the doom marine in a healing chamber of sorts and inserted something within his body. Something that would remain hidden from the masses for years to come, like a hidden easter egg.
• {Author's Note: Please go on YouTube to watch a video titled The Only Thing They Fear... Is Him by proteh. It has 3.8 million views. It has the footage of the scene described below. especially the fight scenes that I couldn't describe as well} •
The video cut off and came back on as static, it cleared up to reveal a scientist. She spoke into the recording a log entry,
"This is Dr. Elena Richardson, log entry 002 - subject analysis of Doom Slayer. January 24th, 2163."
The film then cuts to show a man holding a shotgun just menacingly standing there, it's the Doom Slayer. The film then continues to be just a montage of the slayer ripping apart and massacring demons.
But it's the electronic guitar riff and the heavy metal music that steals the show and the hearts of the audience. Mark tried his absolute best to hire people to match what the legendary Mick Gordon had created and thankfully he came very close.
"There is no chance that the subject is a demon - we have blood samples pulled from Mars base event that show his blood type is AB positive. He is male with a genome that makes him very much a member of the human race."
"But the enhanced strength, speed and athleticism would indicate otherwise. I cannot as a contributing member of the scientific community agree with the assumption by some of my colleagues that he is, for lack of a better word...a God. An avenging angel - the right hand of Doom here to save humanity from its sins."
"But... I cannot ignore that the timing of his arrival - the identity of his enemies - the fire and brimstone element to this catastrophe we currently find ourselves in has… it has definitely shaken my scientific resolve."
"Maybe he represents human kind's rage - their will to persevere, to overcome that which would threaten our survival. "
"He is uncompromising, a relentless being of violence that knows no mention of the hesitation shown by our many leaders and politicians during our time of judgment."
"The only thing they fear is HIM. He cut through them like, like a sickle through a field - his fury surpassing their own. He is faster - more relentless. I believe him now to be more than just a man - he is...DOOM."
"There is only one dominant life form in this universe and it carries a steel barreled sword of vengeance. All hail the coming of the Destroyer - the Slayer's time is now."
"And with him lies our salvation. For as he gains in strength so do they fall in numbers. The Priests command the armies to the North and South, but he controls the fight."
"We watched as the horde overwhelmed the very best and most advanced machinery and weapons technology that we could muster against the opposition. It was useless, they moved too quickly, they cared not for themselves, only sought out the blood of humanity."
"They were willing to sacrifice their own to get to the heart of our world. We slaughtered thousands and millions more followed, but then he came -
Maybe he is a God. But can he overcome them? Alone? If he can't - we, as a species, ALL species, will not survive."
"The inner circle of death is where he resides - hunting them at the far reaches of the earth and beyond. I am a believer now - I feel it is in DOOM that I have faith."
"The Slayer is the spear that stabs at the heart of our attackers, and those that would seek to harm us should feel warned."
With that last line the short film ended but the adrenaline that was pumping through the veins of the people just couldn't calm down. They screamed and applauded the most epic demon massacre they had ever seen in their lives.
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{Author's Note: Man this chapter was fun to write, I thought about describing doom slayer's fighting scenes but I know that would be an exercise in futility so I just added a link to watch or hear the "song" along with as you read the chapter.
Anywhos, moving on, thanks for reading my work. I am entirely motivated by interaction, suggestions and feedback. So please leave a comment or review and I will probably write faster.
If you like my work please throw a power stone my way so my book can climb the rankings. Slurp some nice ramen and I hope you all have a beautiful day (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧
Update schedule for this book: 1 chapter every 2 days.}
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