章節 47: 47. The Beginning of the End of DC.
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's friends talk about his sudden shift in directing skills and speculate that they might be holding him back, and decide to give their very best so that they could support Mark in making Eidolon the best studio in Hollywood.
Mark goes back to Eidolon HQ and then continues writing "Vinland Saga" but is later interrupted by Todd coming to meet him because of his request. Mark gave him some advice and told him to improve his leadership skills if he wanted to become a better director.
Mark then has a talk with Steven over the phone, they arrange a meeting and talk about the two different scripts for Jurassic Park. He invites Steven to the set of Knives Out. Steven takes a tour of the knives estate and talks with everyone there, and he is very glad to find out how well Mark is performing in his role as a director.
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~ Third Person POV ~
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Except for tasking an Overwatch operative to shadow one of Warner's executive producers and make it seem like a paparazzi incident to reveal the underhanded tactics of Warner and the critics, Mark hadn't really done anything else to ensure Batman Forever's downfall.
Because he already knew from the operatives' assessment, the Batman was even worse due to the comic industries bust. The budget of Batman had been slashed in some places, which might lead to an even worse than the original.
Also, the paparazzi incident could be waved off as an isolated case, just random paparazzi that got lucky. A coincidence. But if it happened twice or thrice, then it would draw the attention of the giants behind the studio. Attention that Mark really didn't want on himself for now.
For now, Mark himself was busy ensuring that the film shooting was proceeding as planned and on time. As the days went by, the actors got even more comfortable and used to playing their parts. Leading to less and less NG's which Mark was really glad for as it allowed him to wrap up the shooting in half of the day.
The rest of the days were spent writing the Vinland Saga and romancing Ms. Hayek and his cute pet girlfriend. Mark had taken Salma on a few dates as well, the excuse being that now she still wasn't Hollywood famous, so she should enjoy her freedom while she can.
He took her to the beach on a day off from shoot taking a break from his hectic work schedule, he tried to make it sweet and thoughtful. Mark didn't want her to think everything in their relationship was about "sex" but he had raised her sex drive to new heights.
Nowadays, she couldn't stay calm unless she had sex with him at least once a day. He hoped this would wear off with time, as even though sex with her was great. He had better ways he could use his time, he was young and on his grind. There was only so much time he could dedicate to carnally satisfying his "girlfriend".
He really wished he had the time-turner from Harry Potter. His schedule was being messed up trying to juggle both Eva and Salma with one not being aware of the other. So he introduced Eva to Salma as his first lady of his harem and told them to co-operate if they wanted to share him. Though, after seeing Mark's competence as a director and a man, she came to trust and rely on him more.
The two women in Mark's life had come to an agreement, for now they alternated their nights with him. Salma still wasn't completely on board with the idea of a harem, but she was slowly falling for Mark's charm and his skill in making passionate love to her.
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It had been over a month since Steven's visit, and a lot of the scenes had already been shot. He couldn't be more happy with River and Johnny; the duo performed exceptionally well on screen. River had the charm of a natural rascal that really brought Ransom's character to life.
Whereas Johnny had his own spin that the iconic southern drawl of Benoit Blanc. He was taking it easy today, as he had only planned for a technical scene to be shot. At the speed at which he was shooting, Mark would complete the filming at least 10 days before his estimated deadline.
This would save him hundreds of thousands of dollars, dollars which would be then anonymously donated to the charities that fund the Overwatch Initiative. Slowly this shadow organization that Mark had created to help David get back on his feet and maybe even spy on his enemies had become something far greater and will continue to become something far greater than he could have ever imagined.
| Warning Mentions Of Inhuman Acts |
Speaking of Overwatch, our Watch Commander, Mr Boggins was on a hunt himself; he had begun to pull on the thread that had started with the Olympic team coaches. The rumors of the female and male members of the swimming team being harassed had been investigated and assessed.
It had led him to find some dark, ugly things. He realized why Mark had ordered him to hold off on destroying them with the gathered evidence and keep digging into their nefarious activities. After over two weeks of 7 different operatives being planted in the suspect's lives.
They had finally gotten the missing piece of the puzzle, David had unraveled a lot of secrets. It wasn't just the swimming team members, but also the gymnastics team members who were being harassed and sexually abused.
Those monsters even went after minors, the moment he found out about it, he wanted to torture these inhuman scums with his own hands and execute them. But he held off, his instincts told him there was more to discover and that they did, after Seven a female operative of theirs was used as bait.
She had insisted to him, volunteering to bring these criminals to justice. They had placed a tracker on her (she swallowed it) and waited for them to take the bait. It was a family member of one of the coaches, after they raided his safe house following the tracker.
In a safe house which was actually a hidden cabin in the woods, they found videos of child pornography; of men raping children, violating their innocence, beating them and some were even traded around like they were slaves. A total of over 110 victims from all the evidence they were able to gather.
They had even caught the person Mark had named specifically, one, Larry Nassar, and he was one nasty piece of shit. After a thorough torture and interrogation session with the scum that was running the operations, they had enough evidence and information to bring these monsters to light.
They would be unmasked in front of the world, their reputation, their lives would be destroyed just like they did to their victims. Their crimes were enough for the court to give them the death penalty, but first this must be brought to the attention of the media properly.
Because the organization behind these monsters were very powerful and would try to protect these scum so that they wouldn't blurt out their names during interrogation or the limited stay in prison before their execution.
With the go ahead from Mark, David had contacted a few trusted journalists anonymously. These were the people who had been investigated by the Overwatch and had gone through a vetting process.
All of them were dedicated to tell the truth and expose such vile villains to the public, he had sent copies of the evidence both digital and paper to these individuals.
And now he got to sit back and watch as these monsters get their due punishment. The media companies would have a field day, going after these powerful people and exposing their dark secrets, the skeletons that they hid in their closets would be dug out.
One of the persons on the scum list was a pastor for the church. He used his position as a man of god to sexually harass and molest minor girls who didn't know any better or were afraid to call him out. Now he would be dragged out into the light, his life was over. He would rot in jail for the rest of his life.
David could sleep easier knowing that he and his team put a stop to this, that they made a difference, he could see it in the eyes of the Overwatch operatives as well. The pride they carried themselves with, knowing they brought a huge change to the lives of people who no one could save.
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~ Mark's POV ~
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Date: 18th June, 1990.
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Location: At his office in Eidolon HQ.
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Time: 03:09 pm.
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Mark was listening to news on the TV as he drew the cover of the first volume of Vinland Saga, he had already finished the finale which ended with Thors' epic battle and sacrifice, with his son Thorfinn swearing to kill Askeladd in revenge.
He dropped the brush and turned his head to focus on the news, it was one of his hunches along with actual rumors that made him ask David to launch a level 3 investigation on the Olympic team coaches.
In his past life, this incident had started in the 1990s with no specific dates, but there were over 350 alleged victims, compared to his current world where there were 110 victims.
He knew it was 110 too many, but he really couldn't do more for these unfortunate souls. Mark had already set up a few NGOs for such victims to get proper mental healthcare.
The reporter said, "the reported evidence shows how these poor children were sexually assaulted by gym owners, coaches, and staff working for gymnastics programs across the country."
| Mentions of Inhuman Acts End |
He had a hard look on his face as he thought to himself, 'I haven't ever thought of myself as a good guy and I don't make it my goal to help others. But even I just can't turn my back, when grown men prey upon children. These scum will be dealt with by the hardened criminals in prison when their crimes are revealed.'
'You can consider this to be one of my good deeds this year, O God. But don't think of me as a kind-hearted saint, I am still a man of culture after all. It's just that, I believe in consent and age restrictions.' Mark thought to himself, thinking about explaining himself to the 'Creator God' he knew reincarnated him here, watching his life.
*Knock* *knock* "Mark, can I come in?" Eva asked politely.
"Of course you can, Eva, you know you don't have to ask permission for entering my office." Mark said in an exasperated tone as she entered.
"While I am meeting you like this, I am still your agent and maintaining decorum is only appropriate." Eva replied, not missing a beat.
"Okay, ok, I get it. So what did you want to tell me? Also, did you get the tickets?" Mark asked with excitement.
"I did, it seems like the enthusiasm for Batman among the fans has already died down pretty quickly. The word of mouth is a disaster, and the CinemaScore only gave the film a C after a survey of the first three days of the audience reception." Evelyn replied with a smirk, she knew about Mark's plan to buyout Marvel after DC's Batman sinks along with any credibility for comic adapted superhero movies.
"That's excellent news." Mark said, pulling her onto his lap and hugging her waist as he rested his chin on her shoulder.
"How about a romantic dinner that we both cook together, … tonight?" She asked with some hesitation and hope, she knew his schedule was just getting more filled as he took on new projects.
Recently he had been busy, writing the first Volume of the Vinland Saga; he was even designing the Cover of said volume himself. Something about it being the first work published under the name of the Immortal Writers Association. So, he wanted everything about it to be perfect, the cover, the content, the message, even the research done on it.
He even had Peggy give it a read to get her thoughts about his book. She really liked the book, despite the near superhuman feats displayed by the characters. The story itself remains grounded in reality and shows the emotions and provides context for each character really well.
Other than shooting Knives Out, Mark was also looking into books whose film adaptation rights he could acquire. He already had made quite the list with books, comics and even games in his list of things he wanted to one day turn into movies or TV shows.
He also talked with some guy called Steve Jobs and was looking into buying his computer animation studio called Pixar. She didn't really see the appeal as from the background check performed on the company it had come out to be a massive sinkhole which was costing Steve its current owner millions of dollars every year.
But she knew Mark had his own foresight. Maybe he thought that computer generated animation might be the future of animation, unlike the hand drawn animation still being preferred and used by giants like Disney.
He had also been looking into various businesses to fund and take a stake of ownership in their business. Starbucks - a small coffee chain, California Pizza Kitchen - a small local pizza chain based in California; and finally UnderArmor - a small in development brand that envisions to mix functionality, performance and style in their clothing.
But the biggest thing that she knew drew Mark's attention to them were their in development, next-gen bulletproof vests that they were trying to create.
Mark had already secured a 55% stake in the brand with a $9.5 million dollar investment. But she knew what really had gotten them to accept Mark's investment were his idea's and plans for the brand and company.
{Author's Note: UnderArmor's name is inspired from Under Armour, a real life company. But I plan for my OC (Original Company, to surpass it eventually.) It would eventually go on to create something very special.}
Starbucks and CPK were still a work-in-progress, Mark was running around haggard, so she had ensured that today would technically be a day off for him. The romantic self-made dinner was just her idea of the perfect way to end a peaceful day, especially because she was a fan of Mark's cooking.
"Sure, we could make something nice and just relax for the night. For now though, let's go shoot, is the scene finished being prep'd." He asked as he got up and went to grab his mask.
"Yup, it's all done. We are just waiting for your call." She replied and followed after him.
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The set truly was set with following as many precautionary measures they could. A fire truck was ready to hose down the flame if it ever looked to go out of control. It had cost him a little to get them on board, but luckily the scene was only a one time shot, so it was only 2 hours.
River's character, Ransom, would be setting the coroner's office after breaking the camera's with the help of his Uncle who would be revealed as the second accomplice of his crimes at the end of the movie.
Jon and Todd had already taken flashback shots of them breaking the camera's and checking for any guards on scene, after ensuring there weren't any guards. They went in and poured gasoline on some of the furniture and the walls.
Mark had hired a stand-in for River, who would be the one to throw the homemade Molotov cocktail made from a bottle of rum from Ransom's collection. River had insisted on doing the scene himself, but Mark had somehow gotten it through his stubborn head that Ransom's scenes weren't over yet, and they couldn't afford for him to take unnecessary risks.
"Action." Mark spoke into a megaphone, the slate was hit, and the cameras were rolling. For this scene, Mark had prepared 3 different camera angles to catch the scene of conflagration.
The main was a handheld camera at a lower angle behind Ransom, which would perfectly capture his back. As he draws his right arm back and chucks the homemade Molotov at the window of the coroner's office, breaking it and setting the already flammable furniture and documents ablaze.
The fake gasoline only served to fuel it further as everything started to burn with an intense heat yet was perfectly contained to the office and the nearby structures like lamp posts on which the broken cameras were.
Mark was really happy with the pyrotechnicians he had hired, the scene was progressing perfectly. The hired extras that played the policemen and the actual fire truck he had hired came in to fight the fire.
The fire department had been miked, they had been instructed to treat the fire as it would normally, with just trying not to damage the structure too much.
The following scene of policemen scrambling to find the culprits and firemen hosing down the office and searching inside for any trapped people was perfectly captured from various angles, leaving Mark satisfied as these had been skipped on, in the original.
But Mark had gone to the lengths of creating an entire fake coroner's office just so he could burn in down later and then hose it down by real life firemen, all this to raise the realism of the movie and also because this was a scene that displayed how far Ransom was willing to go to acquire his grandfather's money.
"It came out perfectly Mark," Jon said with a happy smile on his face, it was a smile that contained the satisfaction of a job well done.
"Well, it's as real as it can get. I hope it comes out nicely in the edit, remember to use the red tint for this scene, with a shot of Ransom's face, his expressions grim yet determined. As if he had already made up his mind to do whatever it takes to get Harlan's wealth." Mark replied and reminded Jon what to focus on in the post-production.
Jon nodded, putting Mark's words in his mind. He was really grateful with all that Mark was allowing him to do, he knew that directing could only be learned through practical experience. But who would allow him to shoot their film and pay him as well when he was only an amateur director.
The beginning phase was always the hardest in any director's career. He had expected to even get a chance to set foot on a big production for at least 3 years. But here he was helping his boss and mentor, Mark, direct a $30 million dollar movie. He was very grateful for the opportunity and trust.
"Well, Jon, it's time. I have another appointment, wrap things up here carefully and give the rest of the crew a day off and then prep for the next rehearsal." Mark said at last as he walked off towards Eva and his friends, who were spectating the scene from afar.
This is something which differentiated Mark from the other directors. He put a lot of importance into practice and rehearsal, as he preferred for everyone to be familiar with what was expected of them. This had caused the amount of NG's in Knives Out to be astonishingly low, this had drawn the attention and admiration of the crew and actors.
The low amount of NG's meant less time spent shooting and; less pain and frustration on everyone who had to keep repeating a scene just because someone was a little off. Mark already shaved off almost 2 weeks off of his shooting schedule and saved hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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Mark was currently in the big van, the one he drove to pick up his friends from the airport. This time it was Mr. Kim driving, they were all dressed casually as this was just a movie watching trip among friends. Mark had removed his mask and contacts, restoring his original look.
It was his "Inner Circle", along with Eva. They were currently on their way to see Batman Forever. It had already been 3 days and the public reputation of the movie had gone down the drain. The only people who were still watching it were people who hadn't watched it before.
But he knew as that number grew over the next few days, things would only continue to get worse and worse for The Dark Knight and DC. Mark and his friend had bought popcorn and some snacks to enjoy the comedy show that was going to be Batman Forever.
He hadn't told his friends anything about the movie, as they thought they were only continuing their tradition of movie watching. As they made to watch at least 1 movie together every month, no matter how busy their schedules got.
The movie started off with the Batman suiting up gathering his batarangs and heading to the Batmobile, yes the iconic Batmobile. Put in with no fanfare or even a buildup, it's just there and while it looked cool, Mark knew about the wasted potential.
Speaking of wasted potential, that's what he felt like the movie was, with no real stakes, unnecessary jokes and punchlines that he tried not to cringe on too hard. He was munching on the popcorn and talking to Eva.
He told her to get his negotiation team to approach Mr. Perelman for the buyout of Marvel Comics in its entirety after another week. Right now, Mark had absolutely no goodwill or reputation in the film industry, so they will only think of this move of buying Marvel after the disastrous Batman movie as a fool's endeavor.
He expected some interference from Universal, as Mr. Meyer had already seen his true colors, so he won't be duped into thinking of Mark as a fool. But still, only one meeting isn't enough, and to buy Marvel at the height of its bankruptcy and reputation downturn is indeed a terrible business decision.
Well, it would be for anyone else except Mark, as with his future knowledge he knew just how to effectively turn around the situation and make bank for his buck.
He already had a game plan in mind of how he would win over the creatives at Marvel and force Mr. Perelman's hand, to hand over ownership of Marvel to him.
"I have already prepared the materials, Harry would be the one to lead the charge. Oh! Yeah, he told me thank you for the signed copies of Runeterra you sent him for him and his family. Also, how much do you want to spend on acquiring Marvel Comics." Eva asked, as that would determine the style of approach.
"I want it all, start off with a low offer, hmm." he hummed in thought.
"Start at $45 million, make it seem like we don't have much interest, then take it up slowly but play hard and make him think it's just me taking a casual interest in it. If he asks for more, we might just give up on the whole deal." Mark told her how he wanted them to take care of the deal.
"Understood, I will relay your words to Harry, he will take care of it. What is the deadline for the execution of this deal?" She asked for a deadline, as it would make Mr. Perelman, even more anxious about the sale.
"Hmm, around two weeks should be enough time to roast that pig. If he asks for a personal meeting with me, tell him that it will only be possible under the condition that he agrees to sell Marvel Comics to me and the highest I am willing to pay for acquiring Marvel is around 80 million." Mark replied and went back to watch the comedy show going in front of him.
'Hmm, if they marketed it as a comedy movie, they still might be able to save it.' Mark thought to himself, but the kind of ambiguous and stupid decisions Warner executives had taken in his previous life when it was concerned with a creative decision in regard to a movie.
They always ruin it, making Blue Beetle not be a part of the DCU at first, playing heavily on the discrimination faced by the Mexicans from the white community. Continuing to hire a person like Ezra Miller as flash, Amber Turd as Mera, replacing Henry Cavill as Superman.
Refusing to make Zack Snyder's justice league as canon and instead going with the Joss whedon's Justice league as canon, even deciding to remove the flash's time travel run to save the day, from his past life experience Warner Bros had proven to be really well versed at destroying their own DCU.
Now, with his subtle manipulation and actions, the end of DC under the hands of Warner had already begun. The first step to it was ensuring the bad reception of Batman Forever, and the second would be his movie - The Killing Joke.
He would create a cult classic, a movie so great that DC would kill themselves over trying to recreate something of theirs to match its greatness, yet they will always fall short.
Because he would have Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan under the employment of Eidolon Entertainment.
Now he wanted to see how DC and Warner would survive when he would turn his full attention on them. O' it would be a sight to see them fall and then ask for his help.
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{Author's Note: So this was a chapter that was a long time in the works, I had visualized this particular chapter for a while now, always changing bits and pieces of it in my mind. I added the Overwatch Initiative part and thought about showing just a hint of how Mark planned to destroy DC and Warner.
The "how to bring down Warner" part wasn't really mentioned here, as that would come in the later years. I don't want to tease my dear readers too much, too soon. So I hope you enjoyed this chapter as the next one will be one with surprise. One that I hope you will like.
No it's not a female celebrity, that will take some more time. Please be patient, my fellow men of culture. Also, as you might have deduced from the ending of this chapter how much I hate what Warner did to their Cinematic universe. I wish to do a better job, at least in writing.
Once again, 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.
Update schedule for this book: 1 chapter every 2 days.}
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