Lights... Camera... ACTION!!: A Hollywood Quest

[Xsplora]

…With a little help from my friends.

The Stunt demonstration for the Colombia managers has gone well and you find yourself involuntarily grinning when you over hear one of them commenting that "The Gambler" seems to be backing a good bet. Linda Lee calls back and sets a date for the meal. She hints that you should dress formally and be prepared for a business discussion. A last minute change from the planned dinner to a lunch results in Carrie and Mary unable to join you.

On your arrival a formal meal has been set up and Linda surprises you by greeting you in Cantonese, straitening your outfit and gesturing you to a place at the table. The set up of the table, if you are reading it correctly will have Linda as the host and you as the implied eldest son or Heir in the absence of the father. The implications make you wonder what exactly you have walked into.

You are soon enlightened as to why this discussion might be a bit delicate and leaning on your connection with Bruce Lee might be for the best. Linda is welcoming in Dan Inosanto, the current face of Jeet Kune Do and Jhoon Rhee, Muhammad Ali's coach for his fights against Richard Dunn and Antonio Inoki. Both are former students of Bruce Lee and technically your seniors. This is potentially going to get political.

You rise and greet them politely but receive a far more reserved greeting than you expected from each man especially considering your past experiences with them. Linda has a nervous air to her hidden under a host's mask as you sit at the table silent for a moment.

Jhoon Ree begins "I have some Loyalty to Muhammad Ali but his recent actions against you make me question him and reconsider some opinions. I am concerned enough that I am willing to offer my assistance to you in the upcoming fight. However a recent action of yours has been pointed out to me and I would like an answer… your upcoming movie, Conan?" He asks leadingly "What role does Nicholas Coppola play?"

That was not the question you were expecting. Somewhat wrong footed you begin "Nic plays a young prince who is being told the story of Conan and plays off Max Von Sydow amazingly. We wanted a young talented actor that could potentially grow into the role in future films and potentially replace Conan as the main character in his own right in future films. Nicholas fills that role even better than we expected."

Dan Inosanto and Linda Lees serous expression both lighten and the slightly oppressive air seems to disperse.

Jhoon Ree continues searching your face for something "So this Nicholas is a talented actor? He has real potential? How did he come to your attention for the role?"

"George, that is George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola go back several years. Even if they have only reconnected recently…"

Dan Inosanto interrupts turning to Jhoon "Stop. Bruce has not lost his way like you seem to think Ali has. Bruce was your recent hiring of Francis Coppola because you trapped him in a contract?"

"No." your mind goes back to a shouting match in the backrooms of Lucasfilm "We only have Francis for Two movies and the person we were seeking was Robert Evans. We have difficulty finding producers willing to work with Lucasfilm. I honestly don't know if he will stick around."

Linda smiles and takes over the conversation, both men turning to look at her. "See I told you Bruce would not be involved in the same shady practices that he has openly spoken against. He simply saw a talented actor and took a chance. Bruce is not turning into the same shady businessman he ranted about to my husband when he started out. Working with Bruce is not going to result in Bruce taking over Jeet Kune Do and pushing you out. He is still the same young man that my husband saw potential in when he told him that he wanted to be an actor and aspired to be a Legend. Now can we get to the real purpose of this meeting?"

No one sees the expression on your face as you consider that Favor Trading was the real motivation you hired Nic in the first place. You had not realized he was on the outs with Francis after arrogantly demanding a role and hiring him for Conan did not win you points with Francis. The maturity Nicholas gained on the shoot and that fact Nicholas liked working with Lucasfilm had influenced Francis far more. You open your mouth to explain but are immediately cut off by Linda

"You asked if I could get you exotic secrets such as how to get children to eat Broccoli. The answer I found is that you need to bee seen by the child eating and enjoying the same food as them. Children take their cues from the adults around them trusting them to keep them safe.

"But I don't like Broccoli" comes the almost childish whine from your throat unbidden.

All three turn to you with looks of amusement on their faces.

"Perhaps try cabbage or cauliflower then?" comes Linda's answer, like there is some secret about the three vegetables that you don't know.

"Worth a shot. Cauliflower is not bad at all."

Her smug expression means you have missed something but the conversation is moving on.

Jhoon is nodding and is the next to speak. "I apologize for questioning your character but I have heard whispers that have left me disquieted. I would like to offer my own variety of Secrets and Offer my services as a coach." His smile becomes almost Gloating "I believe you as you are now with your skill are capable of decisively beating Ali. I hope to make you even better."

"Your joking, right? You can't mean that?"

He nods and continues " I do. If you use Jeet Kune Do and not boxing in that ring I assure you Ali will go down. Even with gloves on the Kicks you Learned under Bruce will do. Ali struggled against Antonio Inoki, even with my help."

You look puzzled "But I want to fight him fairly, that means a boxing match."

Linda's smile is a little sad and conceals a great deal of worry "I am … We are concerned that Ali is not thinking well. He may not be as interested in fairness. I want you to go home safe to your wife and child."

You start to answer when Linda reaches out her and puts it on your shoulder. "My husband died when he was punched. He didn't make it back to us. If Ali goes too far, If you feel unsafe and they are not stopping I want you to do what is necessary so you go home to your family."

You hear what she is not saying and why Dan Inosanto and Jhoon Rhee are here. If you use Jeet Kune Do to destroy Ali in a boxing match, unless it is very clear that Ali should have stopped you will potentially destroy the fighting styles reputation and potentially everyone at this tables life work. The problem is by the time in a fight that it is clear to an observer that one fighter has gone too far the other fighter may be seriously injured. They need to be sure that you will be responsible before they are publicly seen with you and officially condone your actions under the legacy of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do rather than just your personal and nearly unknown branch.

You try to crack a smile but it feels like something is a little wrong. "Well then at least then the world will see if Bruce Lees fighting style can defeat Muhammad Ali in the ring."

"Jeet Kune Do is not suited to boxing and its formalized rules. It is refined streetfighting. Bruce Lee demonstrated that when he fought Wong Jack Man in 1958. Bruce won but was very much not happy about it." Dan interjects with a grin on his face lightening the mood. "That was his only official match and means he has a perfect win loss Ratio, not something Ali can boast now can he?"

"No." comes your smiling reply "No he cannot."

Joon takes over "Nor is Ali good at dealing with Kicks. What many forget is while I taught Ali the accupunch, I taught Bruce Lee how to Kick. I would also be happy to coach you for the fight. Ali is back with Angelo Dundee as his trainer so I am not needed, if I ever was."

That sparks a question in your mind "Ali's Anchor punch the one that he said it was taught to him by actor Stepin Fetchit, who learned it from Jack Johnson. The one he used against Sonny Liston and that Bruce Lee engineered the Accupunch from, did it really exist or…"

Jhoon is carefully blank in his reply "I cannot answer that question."

You drop the subject. It seems he does know the answer but that he has been asked not to spread it. There is certainly enough controversy around that fight for All it launched Alis career.

Dan takes over the conversation thread. " I think you will benefit from going back to the beginning and some of Bruce's old obsessions. Do you remember how he used to watch Ali's fights with…"

Linda laughs and almost Groans as she cuts in "With that old mirror so he could copy the footwork in real time. I think I have that Old TV somewhere. Bruce would have loved modern VCR's with their rewind function and slow play."

Dan nods with a grin "The amount of time Bruce went on about Ail's dancing feet. Still while valuable we all know that Ali's style has changed."

Jhoon nods "And that where I come in. Jeet Kune Do, as you learned it from Bruce could have set you up to fight Ali as he was. I will help you learn to fight him as he is Now. No need to flail about like you did in that Rock em sock em toy commercial."

"Hey don't knock it. It was one of my first roles. And I maintain that I would not have got it without Bruce's help."

And with that the conversation turns to reminiscence about Bruce Lee and the impact he has had. His role in the Green Hornet as Kato is brought up and when your current work with batman is mentioned the brief crossover with the Adam west series is mentioned. That leads to discussion about Warner not casing or crediting "Kung Fu" despite him developing it. That leads to a discussion of Bruce exploitation films that have snowballed after his death and how it seems to finally be coming full circle with a parody of all those Films in Enter the Fat dragon by Sammo Hung being released in July this year.

Tactics against Ali are mentioned. Things that could hurt him if you said them. Apparently Ali loved the Beatles trained to their music was very happy to see them back together. Then your lawsuit broke them apart again. Alis motivation for the fight is considered and an interview where Ali reputedly said he was broke is brought up. So is Ferdie Pacheco, Alis long time doctor leaving because Ali is supposedly having kidney trouble and refusing to face reality.

Then you move from the table and change into something more appropriate for going through some stances. Linda has Found the old TV. As promised and acquired a mirror from somewhere. She has also acquired a new VCR and one of the students drop off a series of tapes. Some of which are clearly of questionable legality. You spend the afternoon going through a familiar routine in a familiar environment, as you break down Ali's fighting style and moves as you once did with Bruce.

As the afternoon extends you start to see things in each subsequent tape times when if you were Ali's opponent you think you would have a chance to make a Gamble on Ali's next move and potentially get some good hits in. Then the magic moment when you can, if only for a second read what Ali is going to do and you Know that in that moment if you where in the ring with Ali you could have taken full advantage of it.

If you close your eyes, it almost feels like Bruce could still be here. Then reality returns and you see Linda, Jhoon and Dan. You still have friends here willing to have your back against an opponent even Bruce Lee was wary of.

Spoiler: AN

Whoo
That's me tapped out for boxing, at least for a while. Hopefully its enough

Faster and rougher than I would like but that what happens when you compete with a master like @Magoose . I thought I knew what I was getting into when I started and i know how annoying it can be to not write when you have inspiration and then when you do have time the inspiration goes.

With how this piece ends I don't see how i can choose anything other than
[X]Thanks Bruce for Everything (Unknown Effect)

Combined with the first half of this there are two possible trainers that can help Bruce against Ali. Jhoon Rhee and Joe Frazier. Though Bruce may already have the best backing possible with Bruce Lee.

I have tried to wrap a bit of trivia and early quest memories in this as well and at least one conspiracy theory. Hope you enjoy.

Fun fact Broccoli, Colliflower and Cabage are all the same plant. It is also kale, Brussel Sprouts, Collard greens, Savoy cabbage, kohlrabi, and Gai Lan. The differences are just different breeds similar to how dogs are the same species for much the same reasons. Namely human breeding.

 

[Duke William of]

Spider-Man Noir Season I
Issue #7: Old Guard



GENRE: Superhero/Noir

SUBGENRE: Drama/Gangster

FORMAT: TV Show/Comic Run (Animation/Possible Franchise)
​

Spoiler: Prominent Characters

• Peter Parker / Spider-Man​
• May Parker​
• Harold "Harry" Osborn​
• Mary Jane "MJ" Watson​
• Norman Osborn / Goblon​
• J. Jonah Jameson​
• John Jameson III​
• Cpt. George Stacy​
• Felicia Hardy / Black Cat​
• MacDonald "Mac" Gargan / Stinger​
• Daniel Brito / Fancy Dan​
• Jackson W. Brice / Montana​
• Raymond Bloch / Ox​
• Dr. Otto Octavius​

Introduced This Episode:​

• Wilson Fisk​
• Vanessa Fisk​
• Richard Fisk​
• Felicia Hardy*​
• Zebediah Kilgrave​
• Joey Quesada​

*Felicia is introduced in her civilian identity and is not revealed as Black Cat yet.

Spoiler: Old Guard

We open to the Enforcers lounging around in a safehouse with Montana and Ox playing a game of Poker, Fancy Dan ironing his clothing, and Stinger listening to the radio as he makes two sandwiches for himself. Cutting off the crusts, Mac takes a big bite out of one of them as he walks over to where Montana and Ox, asking them how the game is going as he sits down. Montana frustratedly tosses his cards onto the table and replies, "What's happening is that Ox is cheating. Again."

Ox simply shrugs and doesn't deny the accusation, stating that he just wants to keep the five dollars that he had bet. Montana throws his hands into the air in exasperation and exclaims that Ox should try to do so by actually playing the damn game instead of by cheating, to which Ox replies that that's too big a risk for him. "Then why'd you decide to play a gambling game, then," Stinger pointedly asks him before taking another bite, and Ox promptly replies that placing bets is the only way to get Montana to play cards with him.

As Montana is about to rebut that, however, Fancy Dan quickly walks over and, handing a piece of paper to Stinger, says that they just received a telegram from the Goblin about a new job they've gotta carry out soon. Stinger quickly places his plate onto the table as he snatches the paper from Fancy Dan and reads it over.

"The vigilante Spider-Man has messed with too many low-level operations and asked too many uncomfortable questions for long enough," Stinger reads out loud as the camera cuts to the message itself, "You, along with some grunts that I have hand picked, will hold the entirety of the Fisk Gala hostage to lure him into fighting you. Once he has arrived and fallen for the trap, eliminate him. You will receive a payment of $50,000 once Spider-Man's death has been confirmed. Be sure to not harm anyone other than Spider-Man or your payment will be cut significantly.

-The Goblin."

We then cut to the opening credits and theme song playing, before the Title Card drops.

Old Guard

We cut to Peter as his history class ends and walks out of the classroom. He's quickly approached by an excited Harry, who asks if Peter is free this Saturday. When Peter replies affirmatively, Harry then hands him an expensive-looking invitation card and invites him to the Fisk Gala that's happening that Saturday. "My father and I received some extra invitations to the event, so he gave me permission to bring some friends as well," Harry excitedly explains, "I asked Kitty earlier, but unfortunately she's going to be out of state for a few days." Looking over the card, Peter thinks about it for a few seconds before saying that he could probably make it, he just needs to find a good suit to wear. Harry claps Peter on the shoulder and assures him that he has faith in his friend's fashion sense. Peter jokingly remarks that he's not sure if he can say the same for Harry, to which Harry punches Peter's shoulder a little and chuckles along with Peter as the two head to their next class.

We then cut to Peter as he tries on a navy blue suit Uncle Ben once used, looking at himself in the mirror, with Aunt May commenting that it's a little loose on him but that she can fix it before the gala. Peter smiles at his reflection in the mirror and thanks Aunt May for the help before slowly taking the suit off. Handing it to Aunt May, he then asks what Uncle Ben used, to which Aunt May explains that he'd saved up to buy the suit so that he would look more respectable when he was first hunting for jobs in New York City. At the mention of jobs, Peter's face softens, and he asks Aunt May if Uncle Ben would be proud of him before immediately adding that he will make sure to help her with their financial situation. Aunt May shakes her head and lovingly retorts that Uncle Ben had always been proud of him and that Peter shouldn't be too worried. She tells him to have fun at the event, to which Peter softly smiles and says that he'll be sure to try.

We then cut to the museum where the Fisk Gala is being held that Saturday night as a limo slowly drives up to the front. As the limo stops, the chauffeur quickly gets out of the car. and opens the back door. Out step Harry, MJ, and Peter, with Peter thanking the chaffeur as they walk up the museum steps. Harry nervously smooths over his suit and hair and asks if he looks good, to which MJ giggles and reassures Harry that he always looks good. "You've never seen him right after he wakes up in the morning, then," Peter jokes as Harry sends him a mock death glare and MJ bursts into even more giggles. MJ then cheekily asks if she'll be invited to their wedding, causing Peter to sputter a little in embarrassment and Harry to smirk a little at the tables turning.The three then make their way to the entrance where some guards are letting people pass. A guard quickly checks over their invitation cards before letting them in and telling them to enjoy their evening.

A short montage then ensues as the three walk around the gala and appreciate the scenery, with Peter awestruck by the spectacle of it all while Harry and MJ enjoy their time together. Eventually, the three run into Harry's father as he talks with Zebediah Kilgrave, the CEO of the fashion and perfume company Kilgrave-Kingsley. After flirting a little with his evening dates and causing them to fluster, Kilgrave complements Osborn on the perfumes that Oscorp developed for Kilgrave-Kingsley and says that he would be willing to negotiate a second deal. Norman, scratching his neck, politely responds that while he is open to further collaboration between their companies, it will have to wait since Oscorp is in the middle of settling some private business. Kilgrave gives a vulpine smirk in response and says that Oscorp can take all the time it needs, even offering to send some of his specialists to help take care of it. Osborn curtly declines and says that he is already working on dealing with the issue, to which Kilgrave simply replies that he was just offering. Kilgrave leads his giggling dates away, after which Norman notices his son and his friends and approaches them.

Harry straightenes his posture and formally greets his father, and Norman formally greets him back. Norman asks how Harry has been doing academically, to which Harry responds that he has been getting good grades. "Then there won't be any more surprises from your chemistry grades like last year," Norman questions Harry, to which Harry awkwardly chuckles that he'll be sure of it before quickly introducing his girlfriend and Peter to Norman. Norman turns to Mary Jane with a calculating look and asks if she still aspires to be an actress, with Mary Jane politely shaking her head and answering that she's now pursuing a career in fashion. Norman nods somewhat approvingly and states that it is certainly a more worthwhile career choice before turning to look at Peter. Eyeing with him an almost hungry look, Norman slowly greets Peter and asks how he and his aunt are doing, to which Peter says that they're doing alright despite some financial issues. When Norman, with a subtle predatory glint in his eyes, asks if Peter is sure that his financial issues are manageable, Peter quickly responds that he managed to find a job at Horizon Labs, which causes Norman's expression to sour and Peter to gulp nervously. Norman warns Peter that Horizon Labs will most likely go under soon and offers him a position in Oscorp, which Peter politely declines. Nodding slightly, though obviously not too amused with Peter's response, Norman then apologizes for him and Harry not being able to attend Benjamin's funeral a few months ago, stating that he had needed to bring Harry to an important meeting at the time. Peter awkwardly rubs his neck and replies that he understands that the two had conflicting obligations and that there is no need to apologize for something out of the man's control. Norman states that he is glad to hear that Peter understands before turning to Harry and warning him to be on his best behavior. As Norman then leaves, Peter mutters under his breath that that was a bit awkward. Harry sighs and apologizes to Peter for his father's straightforwardness, with Peter shaking his head in reply and saying that it's not necessary.

The three then walk over to a nearby table with appetizers and refreshments, with Peter taking a simple glass of water while Harry and MJ get some glasses of fruit punch. As they drink, however, a genial voice calls out to Harry about how glad he is to see him here. Turning around, Harry smiles when he sees Richard Fisk, an older somewhat friend of his and the son of the host of this gala Wilson Fisk, approach them with a glass of champagne in his hand and a charming smile. The two shake hands and exchange greetings, with Richard remarking that at least he won't be completely bored here before asking him how he's doing. Harry replies that he's been doing fine before introducing him to MJ and Peter and vice versa. Richard politely kisses MJ's hand and says that it's a pleasure to meet her before cheekily asking if she couldn't find anyone better. MJ chuckles as Harry protests in mock outrage and, clutching Harry's arm, responds, "I already struck gold with Harry, so why should I keep searching for what I already have?" Richard smiles widely and turns toward Harry, saying that she's definitely a keeper, before looking over at Peter. Peter rubs his neck awkwardly before extending his hand and greeting Richard, with Richard eagerly taking his hand and shaking it back. "This is your first time at an event like this, I take it," Richard pointedly, but not impolitely, asks Peter, to which Peter hesitantly nods in affirmation. Richard grins widely as he reassures Peter that it's normal to feel like this at first and mock-whispers that he still doesn't particularly like formal events like these. Richard tells Peter to not worry too much and to just enjoy himself, adding that he'll forget about being nervous before long. Peter thinks over it in his head as Richard turns to Harry and says that they should come with him them to meet some people. Harry nods affirmatively before asking Peter if he wants to join them, to which Peter says that he actually wants to look around the gala a little. "Make sure you don't get too lost wandering around, Gulliver," Harry jokes, with Richard chuckling and Peter rolling his eyes good-naturedly.

As Harry and MJ leave with Richard, Peter walks around the gala a little aimlessly for a while before running into Jonah and John finishing an interview with one of the other gala guests. As the two Jamesons walk away, Jonah mutters about how shallow socialites can be, with John asking his father to please be a little more quiet about saying stuff like this in public. Jonah begins to rebut John, but the latter notices Peter and quickly calls him over. A pleasantly surprised Peter happily greets the two and asks what they're doing here, to which John explains that their high society reporter got hit in the head with a football so his father decided to do the reporting himself. Jonah sarcastically remarks that he's beginning to regret it before looking over Peter a little, his face softening as he asks if the suit was one of Ben's. Peter, looking down, quickly replies that it was indeed one of his uncle's, to which Jonah smiles a little and says that he thought the ugly shade of blue looked familiar. John chuckles under his breath and interjects that Peter definitely makes the suit work before teasingly asking if Peter will wear it when he marries Betty.

Peter erupts into a full-body blush as he covers his face with both of his hands in embarrassment and mutters that he hates his seven-year-old self so much, causing John and Jonah to burst into full belly laughter as Jonah playfully claps Peter on the back. Thumping his chest after coughing from laughing so hard, Jonah continues to cackle a little as John does a pretty bad impression of a young Peter babbling about how Betty is even prettier than Aunt May and how he and Betty will marry when he's older, prompting Peter to further blush as he groans in utter embarrassment. Once John and Jonah stop laughing, with John wiping a single tear from his eye, Jonah then grows a little more serious as he asks Peter how he and Aunt May are doing. Peter, taking the lifeline being offered, quickly replies that doing well enough beside some trouble with the bills. John subtly turns to Jonah with a knowing look, after which Jonah says that if Peter needs a job, he could get Peter a job as an intern or something at the Daily Bugle. Peter politely shakes his head and, smiling, replies that he's thankful for the offer but that he already has a job as an assistant at Horizon Labs. Jonah's eyes brighten, and he commends Peter for his intiative at providing for the family, assuring him that Uncle Ben would be proud of him. "Though," Jonah adds, "if that job doesn't work out for ya', don't be afraid to come to me if you need any help." Peter blushes and smiles appreciatively, though there is a little conflict in his eyes, as John asks if that's the same Horizon Labs that was targeted about a month ago. Peter simply says that he'd made a good impression on Dr. Connors before deflectively asking how the interviews have gone. John subtly eyes him with a curious look, noticing Peter's reluctance to speak on the matter, before Jonah takes the moment to launch into one of his infamous tirades and rants about how utterly bland the evening has been.

We cut to an old junkyard where Fancy Dan, Montana, Ox, and the goons the Goblin assigned to them are waiting to carry out their job, with Stinger using a payphone nearby. Ox looks at the goons with contempt and huffs to his compatriots that these fools wouldn't be able to punch their way out of a soggy paper bag, let alone take an entire gala hostage. Montana lets out a puff of cigar smoke as Fancy Dan nods in agreement, the latter then lamenting how crime has lost all of its romanticism and gravitas. "Way back when, we had the daring escapades of Lincoln Slade, the Rawhide Kid, the Gunhawks, and the like," Fancy Dan rants, "Nowadays, it seems like any random fool can pick up a gun, smash some windows, and become infamous." Montana rolls his eyes at Fancy Dan's dramatics and tells Ox that he doesn't like them having to babysit these schmucks either but that they don't really have a choice in the matter. The best they can do is have the goons distract Spider-Man before they take the nosy vigilante out for good. Ox huffs and says that he still doesn't like it, to which Montana blithely responds he doesn't have to like it, just understand it. They're interrupted, however, when Stinger rushes over and says that it's time. The rest of the Enforcers nod in assent as they instantly rise to their feet and get ready to move out. Stinger meanwhile yells at the assembled mooks to get off their bums and get into their vehicles already, causing the goons to scramble as they hurry to their assigned vehicles.

We then transition to Cpt. Stacy in uniform eating some appetizers as Jonah and John approach him for an interview. Cpt. Stacy, though a little annoyed about being interrupted like this, politely acquiesces to Jonah's request to answer a few questions. After asking some standard questions, Jonah then brusquely questions him about the seemingly lackluster response by the police to the recent surge of both organized and independent crime, with the likes of Black Cat and Paste-Pot Pete terrorizing New York City. Cpt. Stacy sighs internally, his eyes filled with subtle resignation to being asked this question yet again, before politely replying that he understands the concerns that Mr. Jameson has and that he does not fault him for holding them. However, what Mr. Jameson needs to recognize is that the police are handling a delicate situation that, if they are not careful, could boil over into a violent gang war and that the police are doing the best they can with an awful situation. Jameson is not convinced, however, and bluntly retorts that it's hard to believe that when vigilantes like Spider-Man are more effective at doing the police's job than the police themselves. Cpt. Stacy's eyes narrow subtly at the mention of the vigilante, and he replies that the actions of the Spider-Man is causing more harm than good. "His antics undermine the people's trust in the law, which makes it harder for us to do our jobs," he firmly states, "Furthermore, his blatant impatience and disregard for caution will force the criminals to escalate in order to deal with him, which puts us and the general public at even more risk." Noticing the growing tension in the air, John quickly interjects and says that he and his father neither support Spider-Man's actions nor do they wish to imply such. However, the public are understandably worried about the recent rise in criminal activity and deserve reassurances that the police are doing their best to curtail crime in the city. The tensions bleeds out as Cpt. Stacy lets out a sigh and nods his head while Jonah begrudgingly huffs in agreement. John then begins to question Cpt. Stacy on the new measures and regulations the NYPD are implementing.

We then cut to Peter as he stops to look at a model of the solar system, appreciating the exhibit's scale and beauty. As he does so, a charming voice from behind him coyly asks what a handsome young man like him is doing all alone on a night like this. A little startled, Peter turns around and comes face to face with perhaps the most stunningly beautiful girl he's ever seen, perhaps even more so than Gwen and Black Cat.

The girl smirks in amusement as Peter, blushing wildly, subconsciously smooths over his clothes and nervously replies that he's just walking around and seeing the sights. Regaining some of his composure, he then introduces himself before asking her who she might be, to which she pushes some hair behind her ear and introduces herself as Felicia. Peter tugs on his shirt collar a little before awkwardly asking if she's enjoyed the gala so far, to which Felicia replies that it's admittedly been rather boring, with the event having only slightly more passion than a funeral. Looking up at the model solar system, she off-handedly comments that she used to beg her dad to bring her here so that she could look at all the pretty planets. "I'd always appreciated it more for its artistry than its science, though," she remarks before turning to Peter with a coy smile and a curious look in her eyes and asking for Peter's opinion on the exhibit. Peter's eyes light up a little, and he begins to enthusiastically ramble about the majesty of the solar system and the science behind it, with Felicia keenly listening as she leans against a nearby railing. He rambles on for a minute or two before getting flustered and beginning to stutter in the middle when he realizes he went full nerd in front of her. Felicia, for her part, throatily chuckles and jokes that while she didn't quite understand all of it, the passion that Peter showed certainly made up for it. "It's like those paintings by Picasso," she says, "You don't have to full understand it in order to evoke some feeling out of you." Peter gains a subtle sense of Deja Vu at the mention of Picasso, but he quickly forgets about it when Felicia asks if he can recite what he just told her in simpler terms, with the two then falling into easy conversation after that.

We cut to two guards watching the entrance as a car pulls up in front of the museum, with the Enforcers quickly stepping out. As they walk toward the museum, the guards tense and approach the Enforcers, only to have Ox shove a shotgun into their faces for their troubles. A smugly amused Stinger smirks and tells the guards to take the night off as he plays around with his blade a little. The guards hesitate for just a second before promptly running away. Montana guffaws at the sight of the fleeing guards, and Stinger smirks before turning to Fancy Dan and asking if he'd like to start the night with a bang.

Fancy Dan replies that it'd be his honor as he quickly draws his pistols with a dramatic flourish and, walking into the museum with the others close behind, firing one shot from each pistol. As the nearby guests scream and stumble away in terror, Stinger struts forward and loudly declares, "Ladies and gentlemen, this right here is a hostage situation. So stick 'em up!" Chaos erupts as goons rush in from every direction, taking guests captive and corraling them into specified areas as the Enforcers split up to cover the rest of the museum. Harry and MJ are among those taken hostage while Richard manages to slip away in the midst of all the confusion and chaos.

We smash cut back to Peter and Felicia talking as gunfire suddenly erupts in the distance, the two turning in shock as the sounds of frightened screams quickly follow. Stunned into a dumb stupor, the two quickly snap back into reality as Felicia grabs Peter by the hand and pulls him into a run, saying that she knows about a nearby exit. Peter initially tries to protest that he needs to find Harry and MJ, but as more gunfire erupts from behind him, he changes his mind and realizes that it'd be safer to save his friends as Spider-Man instead. They run for a few seconds before finding the exit, but they're stopped in their tracks when three goons emerge and point their guns at them, yelling at them to get back. Peter's body tenses as he steps in front of Felicia, semi-shielding her as he clenches his fists and his Spider-sense flares. Felicia tenses as well, slowly reaching for something in her purse as the goons approach the two with malicious intent. Then, suddenly, Richard appears and swiftly knocks out two of the henchmen, with Peter taking out the last goon while he's distracted by Richard.

As soon as the goons are down, Richard gestures for the other guests near them to run now, who listen and quickly flee. He then does a double-take when he notices Felicia, who's also surprised. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Richard curtly addresses Felicia, to which Felicia smugly responds with, "Brother." Peter's eyes widen a little as he quickly looks back and forth between the two in confusion, with Richard noticing and quickly explaining that Felicia's adopted. Peter ah's in understanding as Felicia smirks and snarkily asks, "Is now the winter of your discomfort, dear brother?"

Richard, a very unimpressed look on his face, coldly retorts that only she would be so unserious during a time like this. Peter puts himself in between the two trying to play peacemaker before asking Richard to tell them what on earth is going on right now. Taking in a deep breath, Richard nods and explains that gangsters have taken over the gala and are holding the guests, including his father Wilson Fisk, hostage in the middle of the museum. Felicia's eyes widen at the mention of her adoptive father, and she immediately runs back to help save him. Peter attempts to stop her, but Richard clasps his shoulder and shakes his head, saying that he should leave while he still can and that it's useless to try to stop Felicia. "Daddy's special girl needs to show her love for him, after all," Richard mutters under his breath as he leaves, with Peter hesitating as he looks back at where Felicia ran off to with a conflicted expression. After a few seconds of silent contemplation on what to do, determination then fills Peter's face, and he sucks in a deep breath before he quickly running out of the museum.

We cut to the Enforcers, minus Montana, and their henchmen as they round up their hostages and begin to corral them into various sections of the middle of the museum, with the Enforcers personally wrangling the richest and most influential individuals into the center of the room. Jonah caustically tells Fancy Dan off for handling his son roughly but is pistol whipped in the head for his trouble, causing him to stumble to the ground in pain. He's then roughly yanked back up as Stinger proceeds to tie him up. Harry comforts a scared MJ as Wilson Fisk, Richard and Felicia's father and the organizer of the gala, and his wife Vanessa are roughly shoved forward by Ox. With his arm wrapped around his wife protectively, Wilson glares at the Enforcers and warns them that they won't be getting away with this, with Ox rolling his eyes at the man's bluster. As Ox grabs some rope to tie up the Fisks with, Montana calls out to his fellow Enforcers as he and some goons appear with Felicia and some other unconscious goons in hand.

Seeing Felicia being held captive, Vanessa and Wilson's eyes widen with both intense fear and anger as they desperately call out to their adopted daughter, with Felicia doing the same as she struggles against two henchmen holding her in place. Vanessa attempts to run to her, but she's held back by Ox as Fancy Dan, Stinger, and some mooks quickly aim their weapons at her. Wilson, a dangerous and almost predatory calm in his voice, warns Stinger that he will rue the day he was born if he or any of his crew lays so much as a fingernail on either Vanessa or Felicia. Montana gives an infuriating smirk as he replies with a condescending drawl that they'd never harm a lady before pointing his gun at Felicia and adding, "...On purpose."

Vanessa cries out in hysterics to Felicia as she struggles against Ox before Wilson sighs in a resigned manner and nods his head. He then tells Vanessa and Felicia in a reassuring tone that everything will be fine and that they're better off cooperating for now, allowing himself to be tied up and convincing Felicia and Vanessa to stop resisting. Montana then shoves Felicia toward some other mooks so that they can tie her up. Fancy Dan shakes his head disapprovingly and tells Montana that he shouldn't be treating a lady like that, with Montana scoffing that that ship sailed a long time ago. Ox finishes tying the Fisks up before noticing the knocked out goons and asking what happened to them. Montana sighs in annoyance as he explains that they were found unconscious near one of the exits, to which Ox slaps his forehead and mutters under his breath that this is why they don't bring mooks along on their jobs. Stinger then orders Montana to wake the men up already before turning to one of the goons, Joey Quesada, and calling him over. Stinger tells Quesada that he's in charge of keeping order while he and the rest of the Enforcers prepare for the arrival of the pesky Spider-Freak. "We're here to kill the Spider-Freak and the Spider-Freak only," Stinger pointedly says as he pokes Quesada in the chest, "So whatever happens, at least remember this. Don't. Get. The. Bloody. Hostages. Hurt. Am I clear, or did I use too many big words for you to understand?"

The obviously uncomfortable and slightly insulted Quesada nods in understanding before pointing out that it might be better to keep everyone together in one group so that it'll be harder for the Spider-Man to take them out. Stinger coldly stares at Quesada before flatly stating that he and the others mooks are here to follow orders and not ask stupid questions. Quesada tries to protest, but Stinger brushes him off and leaves along with the rest of the Enforcers to prepare. "Cocky bastard," Quesada mutters under his breath before telling the others to form a perimeter and keep an ear and eye out for the Spider-Freak. If they spot any odd-looking guy wearing all black, they should shoot first and shoot last, no questions asked.

We then cut to Peter now in costume as he carefully looks into the museum through a rooftop window, taking mental notes of where the goons are and the best way to take them out one by one. Taking in a deep breath to prepare himself, he then slowly opens the window before carefully entering the museum. Stealthily making his way through the museum's hallways, he takes out two guards who are out patrolling out by bashing their heads together before webbing them up. Briefly looking at his webshooters, he mutters under his breath that he should probably not use up all his webbing this early on. He then continues to make his way around the museum, picking off isolated groups of two or three henchmen before making his way to the main room.

We smash cut to Quesada as he and the rest of the goons, about six people total, watch over the hostages in the main room, the air tense and anxious as they await the Spider-Freak. Quiet sobs and anxious whispers are the only sounds that can be heard as Quesada keeps watch with a cold stare, his finger dangerously twitching near the trigger. "The patrols should have been back by now," he quietly mutters as he turns to glare at some whimpering hostages, causing them to shrink back and look away in fear. Suddenly, a loud cry is heard from off-screen, and everyone in the room, hostage and hostage-taker, whips around toward the commotion just as the cry is silenced as suddenly as it rang out. Quesada's eyes widen in fearful realization as one of the mooks attempts to run over and assist. Quesada barks at the man to stop as he and the rest of the goons aim their guns, ordering him to get the hell back here now. When the man attempts to protest, Quesada says that it's too late for the poor schmuck now and that all they can do now is stick together and pray that they're able to fill the freak with lead. The goons form a small circle as they watch from all angles for the vigilante, bodies subtly shaking with fear and sweat trickling down their faces.

As the goons and some of the other hostages panic, Felicia whispers to MJ and Harry to come over to her. After they carefully hobble over to where Felicia is, Felicia whispers that she has a plan on how to distract the guards but that she'll need their help to carry it out. Harry protests that they'll risk getting shot doing that, to which Felicia responds that they're already at risk of being shot as hostages and that they might as well take a leap of faith. Harry and MJ turn to look each other in the eyes for a few seconds before coming to a silent accord, with Harry turning back to Felicia and saying that they're in.

As the goons continue to twitch and fret, with Quesada loudly taunting Spider-Man in an effort to draw him out, they're startled by a sudden commotion. Quesada turns to see Felicia and MJ starting a vocal "fight" about Felicia eyeing up MJ's man as Harry "deaperately" tries to play peacemaker. Jonah and John watch on with incredulous befuddlement as Norman coldly tells Harry to get his date under control already. Vanessa is confused and tries to stop the fight, but Wilson, a subtle smile of understanding on his face, stops her and says that it's best to let this play out. Quesada angrily yells at the girls to shut the hell up, but he's ignored as the two continue to trade insults and barbs. He angrily approaches and once again yells for them to shut up, raising his pistol in preparation to hit them with it.

Suddenly, a potted plant soars through the air and smashes into the circle of unsuspecting goons, knocking two out and causing the other three to stumble back in shock. Quesada, startled beyond measure, lets out a frightened yelp and turns just in time to see Spider-Man shoot out a line of webbing before hurling himself towards the three other goons. Kicking one of the mooks to the ground unconscious, Spider-Man then ducks under the punch of another before grabbing the man and throwing him at the other goon, sending them flying a few foot away. Quesada quickly shakes out of his stupor, however, and begins to fire at Spider-Man, who nimbly dodges as he runs at the two other goons. As Quesada shoots, however, Harry takes advantage of the distraction to sneakily inch his way toward him before sweeping his legs from under. As Quesada falls to the ground with a hard thump, Harry quickly knocks him out with a blow to the head before slowly inching his towards the man's belt. Struggling a little, Harry then manages to grab a knife from Quesada's belt that he uses to cut himself free. As Spider-Man deals with the other two henchmen, Harry then cuts Felicia and MJ free as well before the three work on getting the rest of the hostages free.

Spider-Man takes the moment to catch his breath and, after looking around the room and believing that he's cleared all of the gangsters, lets out a relieved sigh. "Good evening, folks," he goodnaturedly quips as gives two-fingered salute, trying to reassure the hostages and ease the tension in the room, "you're all free to leave now, I'm just your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man trying to fight crime whenever and wherever I can."

Jonah ask Spider-Man a question about his motives for being a vigilante as MJ starts untying him, with MJ staring at him incredulously as John shakes his head and tells his dad that now really isn't the best time to begin an interview. Before Peter can formulate an answer, however, his Spider-Sense tingles rapidly, and he leaps to the side just as a bullet impacts the floor behind him. We then cut to Fancy Dan, who has revealed himself from his hiding spot in a nearby closet, as he opens fire on the vigilante. Diving behind a nearby bench, Spider-Man quickly peaks out of cover and fires a blast of webbing, gumming up the gun and rendering it inoperable.

His Spider-Sense tingles again, and Peter turns to see Ox, shotgun in hand, barrel-rushing at him with the intent to squash him like a bug. Peter promptly shoots a line of webbing at Ox's shotgun and tugs as hard as he can, yanking the weapon out of Ox's hands and sending it flying. The biggest member of the Enforcer is hardly phased by this and instead merely continues to charge at Spider-Man, who dodges the first few punches before leaping over Ox and pushing himself off of the bulky gangster to gain some distance from him.

Spider-Man fires out a line of webbing hoping to reposition himself, only for it to be cleanly cut through in a flash of silver as Stinger hurls his blade. Spider-Man tries to recover as he's sent tumbling through the air before a lasso snaps tight around his leg. Peter manages to turn his head just fast enough to see Montana pull down on the lasso before being unceremoniously slammed down into the ground. The rope around Peter's foot swiftly unravels right as Ox, who was still close by, punts Peter across the room with a massive kick. Peter skids along the ground for a few seconds before managing to reorient himself, swaying a little as he gets back into a fighting stance.

"The boss really should've let us run this job ourselves, the fodder just wasted time," Fancy Dan grouses as he tosses away his gummed-up gun, given that it's been rendered inoperable by Spider-Man's webbing. "Now, now, there's no need to be unkind to them," Montana lightly chides, "They were only ever here to give us cover. Besides, we weren't gonna split the money with them either way."

Stinger slowly walks forward trying to get an angle on Spider-Man, twirling his blade a little in preparation of throwing it. "Save the yapping for later, boys, we've got a job to finish here," Stinger says as Fancy Dan grumbles and Ox mentions wanting extra pay to replace his gun before the team all begin to spread out and surround Spider-Man. Stinger, however, pauses to turn to face the crowd of hostages, his bladed weapon threateningly gleaming in his hand.

"Good evening, ladies and gents," Mac loudly proclaims, "As of now, you're all free to leave. We're just here for this vigilante on account of our boss needing some extermination specialists to handle things here. If none of you decide to play the hero then you'll all come out of this ordeal alright. If any of you try and emulate Kid Arachnid over here, well...then things might get a little messy."

"What, we can't talk this out?" Spider-Man mockingly asks, "I thought between the Dandy Gunner, Texas cowboy-"

"Montana," Montana interjects lightly in annoyance, "I'm from Montana."

"Montana cowboy," Spider-Man somewhat sarcastically corrects himself before continuing with his quip, "big and burly, and fancy knife on a rope man, we could all come to an understanding as fellow costumed weirdos, and you'd let me go about my night in peace."

"We've got exactly fifty-thousand reasons not to do that" Ox says as guests take Stinger's advice and begin to flee while they can. Fancy Dan quickly adds to Ox's statement and states that there's also their professional reputation and general pride mercenaries at stake here, as well as not wanting to anger the Goblin, so that makes that fifty-thousand and three reasons actually. He then turns to Spider-Man and says that he and his buddies won't let the bug go, but he certainly won't complain if he just rolled over and made it easy for them. Montana sarcastically asks Fancy Dan if he's also going to expound about their childhoods while he's at it, with Stinger pinching the bridge of his nose and exasperatedly sighing at his companions' antics.

"I think I'll pass, thanks very much," Spider-Man retorts, preparing for things to break back out into chaos. Under the mask, Peter grows ever tenser at the brief mention that these men are working for the Goblin. Stinger tuts that that's a shame right before he hurls his weapon at where Spider-Man was standing, who quickly leaps back to avoid the strike and lands onto a nearby exhibit. He then intercepts Montana's lasso with a blast of his webshooters, pinning the rope to the ground. In response, Montana just pulls out a rifle and begins firing at Spider-Man. Peter leaps off of the exhibit and touches back down onto the ground right as Ox rushes him. Peter deftly avoids the first few wild haymakers Ox throws at him before firing back with a flurry of blows that sends Ox staggering back. Peter is then caught off guard when Fancy Dan rushes him, and despite Peter's skill in close combat fighting, he's still taken by surprise when Fancy Dan catches him with a roundhouse kick to the head that sends him stumbling away.

Alerted by the sudden tingle of his Spider-Sense, Peter then rolls out of the way of Stinger's blade lashing out toward him. He once more exchanges blows with Fancy Dan only to be suddenly knocked back by an enraged Ox, who turns a shoulder-check into a powerful backhand. Peter quickly fires out a webline and begins swinging around, trying to outmaneuver the enforcers as Montana unloads another round from his rifle and Fancy Dan draws another pistol to support his comrade.

We then cut back to the hostages with Harry untying his father. Watching the fight, a worried Harry asks if they should help Spider-Man which Norman, his eyes cold and calculating, denies, saying it's not their place to get involved with madmen and vigilante lunatics as it's too dangerous for them. This is a job for the police to handle, instead. Harry is ultimately swayed to Norman's viewpoint, and as Felicia and MJ finish up untying more of the hostages, the rest of the hostages all begin to flee. Wilson, gently wiping some dirt off his shoulder, takes his wife arm in arm and calmly marches his way out of the room, with a fleeing hostage or two turning to look at him with incredulity. At this time, George Stacy grabs Police Chief Marion Dunby and tells him to call for back up as he's going to help ensure that everyone else can get away.

We then cut back to Peter as he continues to evade the Enforcers and manages to gunk up their guns with his webs, forcing them to abandon their guns and to go on the defensive as they now need to avoid getting hit by any of his webs or else they'll get pinned. Ox and Montana take cover together behind an exhbit while Fancy Dan and Stinger hide behind some benches and occasionally make attempts to hit Spider-Man out of the air.

Ox eventually grows frustrated with the lack of progress they're making and picks up a nearby trash can before hurling it at Spider-Man with brutal speed. Peter's Spider-Sense flares violently, and he cuts the line he was swinging on out of mid-air and grabs the trash can out of the air with new weblines. He makes use of the trashcan's momentum to briefly swing it around before throwing it at Montana. Ox steps in front of Montana and blocks the blow, but it crashes into his head and knocks him onto the floor unconscious. The remaining enforcers grow enraged at this, with Montana now leaping out of cover to take on Spider-Man. Before either Fancy Dan or Stinger can assist, they hear a confident and commanding voice call them out.

"Freeze," Cpt. Stacy authoritatively yells as he aims a pistol, a trickle of nervous sweat on his brow, "All of you are under arrest!"

Stinger and Fancy Dan both look at each other before Stinger orders Fancy Dan to take the officer out. "No killing or maiming" he adds, "But make it fast, Montana's gonna need some backup."

Before Cpt. Stacy can respond, Fancy Dan rushes at him and sweeps his leg, causing George's single shot to go high and miss everyone, before slamming him back to the ground and taking his gun. Fancy Dan points the gun at Cpt. Stacy and considers more permanently disabling him, but before he can decide to follow up on that, they hear Montana cry out in shock. They turn just as Spider-Man manages to blind Montana by covering the upper half of his face with webbing, minus his nostrils, before sending him crashing into a wall with a kick to the gut.

"You'll pay for that, wallcrawler!" Stinger shouts as Fancy Dan unloads his stolen gun, forcing Peter to leap out of the way as Montana claws at his face in a futile effort to remove the webbing from his eyes. Spider-Man continues to dodge, but eventually, Stinger spots what he was looking for. He throws his weapon forward and swings, causing the rope to snap taught as the blade gleams well overhead of Spider-Man.

"With aim like that, I wouldn't be paying for anything any time soon," Peter mocks which causes Fancy Dan to laugh before giving a chilling response.

"Heh... Stinger wasn't aiming for you."

Peter's Spider-Sense then suddenly starts screaming at full strength as he spots the model of Jupiter that they'd been fighting under fall as the wires suspending it were either cut by Stinger's weapon or snapped under the additional strain. Peter fires off a webline to get out of there as fast as possible and just barely manages to make it out of there without getting crushed to death. He hears one last bark of the gun as Fancy Dan shatters the glass ceiling, causing shards of glass to rain down and denying Peter a convenient way to swing around the room as now there is far less roof to connect his line to.

"Give it up, Spider-Man," Stinger growls, "The more you struggle, the more painful it's going to be when we do finish you off." Peter takes a deep breath and readies himself, not bothering to respond to Stinger's taunts. Spider-Man then leaps out and over the downed planet exhibit before firing another web blast at Fancy Dan's gun and another at a chunk of plaster from an exhibit that was destroyed over the course of their fight. Fancy Dan manages to leap out of the way of Peter's webshot and dodges the chunk Peter pulled at him, but by the time he readies his aim again, Spider-Man has closed the distance and managed to sock him right across the face. Dan turns and attempts to kick Spider-Man in the head, but he's caught off-guard when Spider-Man fires a blast of webs at his other foot rooting him to the ground, though at the cost of the remainder of his web fluid, which causes Fancy Dan to fall to the ground with an impotent squeal. Without his maneuverability, Fancy Dan is unable to fight effectively and Peter is able to knock him out with a swift punch to the face. Now all that's left to deal with is Stinger.

Peter hears a distinct whirling noise before his Spider-Sense triggers in a now familiar tune. Peter dodges a series of strikes from Stinger's blade as it dances and contorts through the air, driven by Stinger and his desire to kill Spider-Man. "You ever think of joining the circus with that trick," Peter mockingly questions as he ducks under the blade, "I bet you clowns would be a real hit, probably make better money then your current work." Stinger grows enraged and tells Peter that the Enforcers did not come to New York from the west to be mocked by some high and mighty freak too cocky for his own good. He then rushes in and begins slashing at Spider-Man, forcing him to carefully dodge and weave around the vicious slashes, stabs, and swings.

"I'm a mocker," Peter glibly states, trying to further knock Stinger off balance, "Though, if you can't handle a little heckling, you and your gang of goons would've never made it in the circus or New York." Mac grows increasingly angry as Spider-Man continues to dodge his strikes, eventually screaming at him to sit still and die already. Spider-Man slowly but surely leads Mac over to a nearby exhibit. Mac then thrusts his blade forward, thinking thay he's finally cornered Spider-Man, only for Spider-Man to leap up at the last second, causing Mac to plunge his blade into the nearby exhibit and getting it stuck. Stinger is forced to abandon his blade before briefly trying to fight him hand to hand, but he is swiftly knocked to the floor as Spider-Man is far superior to him in this regard.

"Now, what was that you and your friends said about not wanting to piss off the Goblin," Peter coldly states, "Because as much fun as I had dealing with the clowns, I'd much rather talk to the ringmaster." Stinger, a vitriolic expression of hate on his face, just spits in Spider-Man's face, which causes Peter to jolt back a little in disgust before trying to wipe it off. "Go to hell, freak," Stinger angrily responds, "We'll hunt you down one way or another. The Enforcers don't miss a mark." Peter bluntly responds that they sure missed this mark, which causes Mac to coldly respond that he's now made it personal.

Shaking his head slightly, Peter then stands up to see Cpt. Stacy staggering forward, who declares that all of them are under arrest and that they can settle all of their petty grudges in prison. Peter decides that discretion is the better part of valor and flees, which causes George to chase after him. Mac bitterly chuckles at the irony of it all as he slowly limps his way out of the museum, though not before turning to look at the remaining Enforcers and vowing to get them out as soon as he can. As he leaves, sirens begin to flare in the distance.

We then cut to a slightly tired Peter going to school the next day as he meets up with Harry and MJ and asks how they're doing after last night. MJ smiles and says that they're doing fine, if a bit rattled, before asking Peter what happened to him. Peter chuckles awkwardly and says that he just went home after calling the police; he then apologizes for not trying to help them. Harry snorts and waves Peter's concerns off goodnaturedly, replying that Peter hadn't intentionally tried to abandon them and that it would have probably been worse had Peter gone back for them. At the end of the day, all that mattered was that they were all safe and sound now. Peter and MJ both nod at that statement in agreement as Peter smiles softly and states that he has such great friends. MJ smiles at that; but her smile slowly warps into a mischevious grin befote she cheekily asks, "Speaking of friends, how'd your little date with Felicia go, tiger?" Peter's brain comes to a full stop, and he begins to stammer incoherently as his face grows tomato red. This causes Harry and MJ to burst out in laughter before continuing to playfully tease and rib at their embarrassed friend as they walk off to class, with Harry mock-lamenting what Gwen would feel about Peter's betrayal.

We then transition to a secret laboratory somewhere in New York, with the whole thing eerily illuminated by a flickering green light. The camera passes an octopus swimming in a tank as we hear something let out a blood curdling shriek. The camera pans around and we get to see Dr. Otto Octavius, a short squat man with neatly combed black hair and square glasses, jot down some notes as the shriek rings out again from his experiment just offscreen. Otto takes a sip of bitter coffee and impassively watches just before a phone begins to ring. He then picks up a nearby phone from a table and answers the call. Osborn's voice rings out from the receiver and coolly acknowledges him, who politely greets Osborn and asks what kind of assistance he requires from Dr. Octavius. Osborn coldly and bluntly replies, "I shall make this quick and simple, doctor. Our normal measures against troublemakers have proven... ineffective at best in dealing with the Spider-Man. I will need to make use of some of your enhanced assets in order to deal with this insolent tick. I trust that you will be able to meet my needs?" Dr. Octavius's eyes widen with glee, and he gives an unsettling grin as he replies that he'll be sure to find the answer to Osborn's pest problem. Osborn says that that had better be so before giving a curt goodbye and hanging up. Dr. Octavius puts the receiver away before returning to observing his experiment, cheerfully singing "Ich Hab die Nacht geträumet" to himself as he pulls out a nearby file labelled "Project Echidna". The camera then begins to slowly pan out to show the rest of the laboratory, still illuminated by the ghastly green light. The octopus drifts in its tank, uncaring of what's going on around it as various misshapen monstrous figures that vaguely resemble twisted parodies of the animal kingdom and a few bubbling vats of unknown substances can be vaguely made out in the dark. A newfound scream can be heard, piercing through the darkness before smash cutting to black.

We transition to closing credits.

---

Author's Notes:

Gosh, was this an effort and a half to write. This is the longest Spider-Man episode pitch I've written to date, but it was worth it. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish this season soon.

Once again, a big thanks to @King crimson for being my beta reader and great advisor for these pitches, as well as providing the rough draft for the Enforcers brawl this time around. I wouldn't be able to do this without them.

Also, if any of you have the time, I'd really like to see some analysis posts about this pitch and others. I just love reading dissections of pitches and what makes them tick, so you all could do that for this, I'd be very happy. Looking at you, overmind and Kaiser Chris.

[X] Plan Fly like a Goose, Sting like a Bee

Sincerely, Duke William of.

 

[Kaiser Chris]

Storytelling 101

Kathleen Kennedy was not a good storyteller, it was a true statement that the young woman had to begrudingly come to terms with over her Hollywood career. She wanted to make good stories, she really did, but unfortunately while she had very big ideas, she didn't know how to connect them to one another to form a cohesive plot. Not to mention that Kathleen didn't really have lots of very big ideas to begin with, her favorite style being subverting expectations and creating strong female characters. Because in a town that likes to do nothing but copy the same old formulas, why can't we break and play with the tropes, and why shouldn't women in Hollywood exist as more than just romantic pursuits and eye candy?

Unfortunately, Kathleen's goals while noble were hard for her to express and create through a credible alternative due to her lack of experience. Her most infamous moment being a time in the middle of the Superman script writing where while taking notes she had without tact or thought blurted, "What if instead of getting the girl, he got the dog?"

What Kathleen meant by that was to not have a romance which on paper seemed rather cliche and lackluster to dominate so much of Superman when Lois was such a boring retread and instead just focus on Superman's greater personal life in general, just being happy and fulfilled as a hero and developing relationships with his fellow man, making him very human despite being alien? She also read a comic with Krypto the Superdog and thought he'd be an adorable addition to the film.

Unfortunately Kathleen didn't get a chance to elaborate as the script writers simply laughed at her statement, at first thinking she was joking, and when she clarified that she was serious about what she said they laughed at her than her words. What evolved from that day was an unfortunate stigma that Kathleen was an airheaded feminist who didn't know how movies worked, and what should have been her right for creative control as a producer became a daily battle that she only was able to fight thanks to her wizardly in logistics and accounting.

Since then Kathleen has bought numerous books on writing and movies, spent as much free time going to the theaters and watching films that the public and critics lauded as good over and over again, to prove she had what it took and had a right to tell stories just as much as anyone.

Still, she knew deep down she was a long way from the masters like Hitchcock, Coppola and Lucas. It was why instead of picking out a Batman script, she just brought every copy churned out by the writer's room and delivered them to Bruce on that fateful night, because she didn't have faith in her own choices and felt by picking out a script on her own she'd sabotage it or turn Bruce away.

Ah Bruce, the mere thought of the Irishman had Kathleen break out into blush more than once. Despite the heavy risk to her career that she took by going behind Alan's back and recruiting Bruce O'Brian, she was immensely greateful not only for giving her an opportunity to tell a great film as the leading producer, but that she finally got to work with someone who treated her as an equal, didn't dismiss her opinions and helped her grow instead of simply dismissing her with criticism.

She had been surprisingly open from the day they had met of her faults and flaws, and he took that all in stride and accepted her as a partner for Batman. Whenever she had a suggestion for Batman, instead of getting defensive and argumentive, he asked why, and then they had a conversation about it. Sometimes he liked her ideas, sometimes he was firmly against it; but he was always open to listening and when she was in the wrong, he explained his point of view, tried to help her with constructive advice, and at some times she could point him to his direction.

What was most impressive about Bruce was just how humble and self-aware he was. He was one of, if not the best actor in all of Hollywood and had the makings of a Director who could stand as George Lucas' equal. Instead of bragging or looking down on others from his talents, Bruce seemed to if anything be his own biggest critic, open of his own flaws and weaknesses, ready and happy to concede when he saw someone else as in the right, wanting to push everyone to their best abilities and then happy to give out credit to anyone who put in the effort.

While she was older than Bruce by about a year, it seemed like on some days that he was the wise old mentor like Obi-wan and she the young and untrained Jedi pupil like Luke Skywalker. One area where Bruce was of immense aid in tutoring was storytelling, really helping Kathleen to see the possibilities of what made a good movie.

One such example was during a shared lunch after the two had met with the art directors for how set design would be conducted and Kathleen just asked him a simple question. "Why did you chose to direct The Batman?"

Bruce gave her a confused stare, "Because you recruited me and gave me a good pitch?" He said rather dumbly.

Kathleen sighed and shook her head, "No, I mean why did you chose The Batman over the other scripts I presented you."

"Oh." Bruce said, then thought for a couple of seconds before responding, "Well for the past couple of years I've been collecting most of the Batman comics, and I wanted to do something close to the modern runs than the West show or the Golden Age material."

"There were others, like that one script where you fight the Joker and have a romance with Vicky Vale." Kathleen had actually been a bit disappointed he didn't go with that script as she had a lot of fun ideas for Vale but Sarah Essen was a good alternative and it was nice that they were setting up Barbara's rise as Batgirl.

"Eh, it's a decent film but it's a weak origin story. We see a world where Batman is a firmly established hero, he's already gone through his war with the mob and is just fighting supervillains and crooks, and Gotham and the GCPD are largely on his side. Plus Bruce himself is rather shallow and we don't really get a feel on how he is experiencing this journey as Batman. He's more of a mask for Batman." Bruce explained.

"If you want to do an Origin story, then why not the one that has him training under Ra'as and shows his literal first days as Batman?" Kathleen asked. They did a pretty good job with Clark Kent's journey in Superman and it felt weird to kind of get thrusted into the world where Batman is established.

"Because all that time showing his training is a bit of a time slog. It'll take an hour for us to actually get to Batman and the spotlight is on the training and Ra'as, not Bruce's character. Your average joe whose going to go to see this movie has a fair idea on who Batman is and what's his story, and the comic fans are definitely intimate. So since they know the surface level of Batman, we got to peel the layers and explore who he is like an iceberg beneath the waves so to speak, show how the world is reacting to the Batman and what cements Bruce as the Dark Knight. Cut the chaffe and just spotlight on Gotham, and what makes for a Batman story. Plus this movie has a lot of other neat stuff with themes and background plot." Bruce said.

"What do you mean?" Kathleen asked blankly.

"Well, instead of having the spotlight on the supervillains like Joker, having the Mafia and corrupt GCPD be the main antagonists creates lots of brilliant commentary on crime and plays with the tropes created by Godfather. Here you have a hive of scum and villainy that prides themselves on being civilized criminals and gentlemen of the underworld when at heart they're just monsters in human skin, murderers and thieves who trample on the weak for greed. Gordon's role as the deuteragonist provides a Watson to Batman's holmes and gives the audience an everyman to relate to while showing that you don't have to be rich or have powers to be a hero, anyone can rise to the occasion. We're starting off really grounded so we can escalate into a lot of the Super territory of the comics. There's a lot of heart and grit in here that gives Gotham character and shows why Bruce is fighting in his crusade. Instead of being so narrow in tunnel vision of hero vs villain, The Batman created a very alive and vibrant setting which exists beyond the plot and can go to a lot of places." Bruce very passionately monologued.

"I see." Kathleen whispered, doing her best to hide a blush of embarrassment. Everything that Bruce said went completely over her head from reading the script up until this point. She didn't think of anything beyond the surface level themes, dialogue and characters. What right did she have being the Producer when she was working with such a genius and veteran producer?

"Bruce how did you get so good at making movies?" Kathleen asked, desperate for some sort of hidden secret that could allow her to become a master producer with little effort.

Unfortunately it looked like such a path was not forthcoming as she could simply tell from Bruce's earnest smile, "Well for the most part I had a good foundation by watching and working with greater men. From there I just read a lot, practiced and focused on my strengths for characters, trying to create people who feel alive, real and relatable. I also try to focus on how the audience is going to resonate emotionally and what they are going to take away from watching. Although really I'm a complete amateur at writing compared to Carrie. All I do is take something that exists and really explore what can be done. Carrie can create masterpieces and entirely original concepts. Now that's talent!"

Kathleen didn't become a master in that one talk, but she felt she had learned something, and day by day was growing to hopefully become at the very least someone competent, someone who could be trusted to make good films without taking insane gambles with A-listers.

"Ms. Kennedy, the new scripts are ready." Announced a Columbia intern, breaking Kathleen out of her stump and melancholic stew in her office.

At this Kathleen was very confused since with it being this late into production, there shouldn't have been any major script alterations before shooting while it had finally seemed like Columbia and Bruce had reached a consensus. "New scripts, what do you mean?'

"Didn't you order them?"

"No, there's not supposed to be any changes." Kathleen protested.

"Hey I don't know, just the errand guy. All I heard was that they corrected the messy parts." The intern explained. Knowing from experience that he was not at any fault, Kathleen thanked the man and speed read through the script as fast as she could so she could manage any potential crises.

What she found was not something good. Perhaps the Kathleen Kennedy of yesteryear could have given this new draft a check of approval without much thought, but after many months working with Bruce and studying on her own, she thought herself to have some experience and forming skill, and what she found was....disjointed to say the least.

Instead of making for a dark and gritty superhero film that got to the the heart of Batman as the Dark Knight, it was really campy with a lot of elements from the Adam West show. If they just wanted a West Batman she could understand, but there were many strange things that went beyond the 60's depiction. Like the fact that the dialogue used so many quips and one-liners, with Batman instead of being the caped crusader who struck fear into the hearts of criminals being a wisecracker who just commented on everything going on. The villains lost all their nuance and depth and became saturday morning cartoon evil. Gordon was a bumbling buffoon who could do nothing without Batman and Sarah Essen, the latter of whom was very mean spirited and abrasive. The action at times seemed to explicitly go against Bruce's blocking, the serious moments undercut by forced humor and levity that did not exist in the scenes.

It may be a serviceable superhero film, but it was not The Batman film, the greatest adaptation of the Dark Knight that this was meant to be. Kathleen could use her powers as Producer to shut down this mutiny on her own, but she knew that she had to bring some muscle for this, and besides she was contractually obligated to inform the man.

Picking up the phone, she metaphorically used the Bat-signal and contacted the man who was going to make this film great, "Bruce it's Kathleen. Please come down to the studio as fast as you can, there's a mutiny and the writers want to change the script entirely."

 

[overmind]

So, this is another collaboration between me and @McLuvin for the future of the Batman franchise. We had to go through more than a couple of drafts as we tried to nail the Joker just right, while also trying to see which characters would (and should) continue, and which ones were just superfluous. It was really fun actually.

Oddly enough the main issue tended to be the Movie's title, but we eventually agreed to just put both.

So, McLuvin and I give you:

Movie Pitch:
Batman Forever/Batman: The Dark Knight

GENRE: Action/Crime/Drama

SUBGENRE: Mystery/Adventure

FORMAT: Movie ​

Set Up: Based on the Batman Comics created by Bill Finger (and owned by DC Comics). It follows the story of Bruce Wayne as Batman, the protector of Gotham, as he feels hope for the first time that the crime in the city may be eradicated as he aids Harvey Dent and Jim Gordon lead the fight against corruption and the organized families. However, a new player calling himself "The Joker" bursts into the scene with chaos following his steps. It's up to Batman, and his new partner Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) to put an end to the Clown Prince of Crime before it's too late.

Director: John McTiernan
Composer: Danny Elfman

Spoiler: Summary

We follow a group of bank robbers, each with Red Hoods, as they infiltrate and attack a bank aiming to steal the money, each of them with skills necessary for breaking through the obstacles on the way. They talk about the 'weird guy' who hired them as they move through the obstacles, separating into teams of two. Soon, as each obstacle is cleared, the other partner kills them. The Bank teller fights back, revealing the bank is owned by the Maroni mob, the seemingly last two survivors of the gang outmaneuver and defeat him, before one goes to turn in the other, only to get killed by a third survivor, who asks his 'boss' if he did good. The Boss congratulates him, has him move the money out the back, before walking up to the Teller.

In response to the Teller's threats he takes off the Red Hood, revealing a face covered in clown makeup with scars on the edges of his mouth forming a Glasgow smile. The Teller laughs in his face, claiming that the Maroni's will kill him, that he really is just a clown, the Joker smiles, gives a soft chuckle, which grows into a laugh scaring the Teller, and then ruthlessly shoves a grenade in his mouth, shooting him in both kneecaps and arms afterwards. The Joker smiles and says he's not sure if he packed the fake grenades or the real ones, so hopefully the Teller is feeling lucky.

He ties the grenade to the door handle, and slams it as he walks away…and it doesn't explode, the teller is initially relieved. Meanwhile the Joker approaches his getaway vehicle with the money, shoots the last surviving member, then leaves. Inside the vault, a bomb the Joker planted goes off, blowing up the entire bank as the Joker looks on from inside his getaway car with a dark chuckle.

Meanwhile at a charity event Jim Gordon is cornered by Harvey Dent who talks to him about the future of the city, Gordon shows concern about whether their plans will even work, not outright saying what they've done or what they're trying to do. Dent talks about bringing Bruce Wayne on board for funding and wonder where he is and asks if Wayne is even here.

Inside the Batcave, we see Barbara Gordon completing an obstacle course, doing amazing acrobatics, finishing it just in time. She feels proud, and then Bruce appears, saying "Acceptable" then to restart the whole thing with less time "Now, do it again". She's grown up a lot in the several years since the last movie, but she's grown impatient, she wants to join the fight now pointing to the finished Batgirl suit waiting for her. Bruce claims he will let her out to fight when she's ready, and not before, he trained for almost twice as long as she did in Tibet, but when pushed refuses to elaborate on who trained him, causing Barbara to get even more annoyed at his continued keeping of secrets. She wants to help him, to do what he does, Bruce replies that, with what's coming, she may not need to, but again refuses to expand.

At a Maroni meeting they discuss how the Falcone family has been too domineering, that they've failed to fulfil their part of the union, one even wondering if Sofia's daughter, Helena, is Salvatore's daughter. The attack against the Bank has gone without any reprisal from the Falcone half of the family, and they've had to start moving their money around even more. Suddenly the lights go out, the Maroni's panic, thinking it's Batman…instead it's the GCPD, come to arrest the entire group.

At a court case it's revealed that Harvey Dent has managed to get a new law passed, hidden in bureaucracy and other reforms in the state, one that means all 'organized crimes' can see anyone even tangentially connected to them charged as though they were the main perpetrator, via this law, all the Maroni leadership is being arrested for money laundering, being charged by Harvey Dent, who is running for the District Attorney spot as well. It earns the legislation the name the 'Dent Laws'.

Watching, Alfred questions if the world even needs Batman, with Harvey Dent around. Bruce states that maybe one day that'll be true, and for now, maybe the world needs Bruce Wayne more. He meets with Dent, 'allowing' Gordon and Dent to bring him into their plans for the city, supporting Dent's campaign for District Attorney. Dent promises that the Maroni's were just a test drive, all they need to do is make the Falcone's and Penguin mob trip up, and then, they'll have taken out the oldest and strongest crime families in Gotham, and can continue to crush the Cartels and Triad.

Meanwhile said crime families have met together at the Iceberg Lounge, Cobblepot notes what the new Dent Laws mean for them, and that, with the Batman to induce panic in their laundering organizations, sooner or later they'll make a mistake and their entire organizations will be able to be thrown in jail because of 'a couple missing pennies'. The meeting is interrupted by the dry sound of someone laughing, slowly clapping away mocking their talks, he continues mocking them as fearful of Batman, afraid to even show their faces in public as they used to (whenever it seems like someone is about to interrupt, he uses a fog horn), launching and chuckling as he moves around them.

He gives the table the money he stole from the Maroni's angering Sofia Falcone, who was embarrassed by the robbery and had her Familia weakened by the loss of the Maroni's it initiated. However Penguin denies her attempts at vengeance, using the fact he is the most powerful gang leader here to make her back down. Joker mentions that Dent and the police only have the courage because of Batman, and he proposes he will kill him...in exchange of half their entire collected money of course, and make the city fear the crime lords again. Sofia however again demands Joker's head, offering half her money to have him killed. Joker plops a bomb in the table, allowing him to escape. The bomb detonates, revealing itself to be a paint bomb.

Barbara confronts Bruce about the Dent acts and about not letting her take up the Batgirl mantle. Bruce states he became Batman so 'no one else would' and that Dent may one day make Batman unnecessary, causing Batgirl to grow angry that he wasted her time, accusing him of using training as an excuse to prevent her from fighting crime at all, which Bruce admits to.

After the argument, Barbara meets with Lucius Fox as he's working on some of the newer contraptions. They talk, and Barbara convinces him that she does need to do this. He shows her the prototype Batsuit he'd made for her, which she takes for a test drive. On her first routine patrol she finds one of the Triad's bases, and decides to attack. Though successful at first, her style is not as hard hitting or impactful as Batman yet, though she is able to take out the leader and have most of the gang flee. Batman appears near the end, taking down a bit more of them and causing even more panic. After the fight Bruce is angry, and their relationship is damaged. They get into another argument as he asks her what he'd tell her father if she died. However Barbara's attack makes the Triad spooked enough to move their money, allowing Dent to mass arrest them like he did with the Maroni's.

Sofia Falcone, after tucking her daughter Helena in bed, is called downstairs, where it
is revealed bounty hunters have brought Joker to her dead. She sees the body, inspects it, and seems pleased, mocking him to his face before turning to the Bounty Hunters, calling her own men, and preparing to "renegotiate" the deal. However, the Joker was alive, and he soon has her at his mercy with a knife at her throat. The "bounty hunters" worked for the Joker and soon disarm Sophia's men.


Awakened by the noise, no one notices as little Helena moves near, watching everything that's happening.

As he holds her near the Joker gives a speech about 'how he got these scars', blaming an alcoholic father who he nevertheless still loved and trusted, right until one day he killed his mother, grabbed a knife, and cut him, all the while mentioning about putting a smile on his face. He then kills Sofia as her horrified daughter watches. The Joker, hearing the noise looks and walks up to her. He kneels next to her, seeing her trembling in fear, raises his hand...and asks "Why so serious?" as he smears her mother's blood on her face in a smiling pattern, breaking into laughter as he offers the surviving Falcone men a chance to live.

Gordon and the police come to the scene, and find Joker's calling card, as well as signs of struggle, hearing how it seemed like the Falcone men fought among themselves, killing each other with whatever they could find. Dent, who's told of this later in by Gordon and Batman near the Bat-Signal, thinks this is a tragedy for the innocent child, but also an opportunity for them; the Falcone's are so crippled now that they may be able to be removed completely. He's concerned about this Joker character however; a 'nobody' that suddenly appeared and made such an impact...he's not convinced he will be willing to remain quiet for long. Batman points out the damage down to young Helena's psyche, and asks what's going to happen to her, Gordon claims she'll be sent to her closest relatives; the Bertinelli's.

Back in the Iceberg Lounge, Cobblepot and the Cartel leader are having a meeting about the recent murder of Sophia when the Joker suddenly arrives. Things seem tense, until they smile and welcome Joker to have a drink with them, praising him in completing his mission. It's revealed that both had hired the Joker to kill Sophia as both proof that he had what it took, and in order to take down a rival. The Joker is all smiles, seeming happy, when both Cobblepot's and the Cartel Leader's men approach, and tell them of something bad; there's been raids in their safe houses by Falcone men, nearly their entire funds have been taken. Both are enraged, but soon turn to the Joker as he starts to slowly laugh, growing until it becomes his signature laugh, long and loud, hitting the table as if he's heard the funniest joke. Both understand then, this was the Joker's doing (Joker used the survivors of his "recruitment" to do this). They move to take their weapons, but are shot, his men as well, by the greater Joker gang. Joker approaches Cobblepot as he lays dying, saying how this city, the Batman, deserves a new brand of foes, pushing at his wounds with his feet, before giving another speech about how he got his scars, seeing the life drain from Cobblepot's eyes as he laughs.

When asked what to do next by his men, Joker looks at them, looks at the Iceberg Lounge, then replies as he turns and leaves "Haven't you heard?...Everything burns".

During the next few days many of the judges and witnesses for Dent's trials are killed in many elaborate ways, sometimes due to bombs, shooting, but just as many through elaborate plans that could only come from a twisted and sick mind. The Joker's clearly acting to bring fear and confusion to the entire city, leaving his calling sign painted in blood on the walls of the victims. Batman, Dent and Gordon try to pool their resources and set a trap for the Joker, while also warning the next target, but the Joker sets his own, managing to kill not only his target, the Police Commissioner, but wounds Gordon as well. Afterwards, it is announced that Gordon died because of his wounds, which has people too scared to continue. As a consequence of Joker's campaign of terror, the Triad is left free, with many hoping this may cause him to stop. It doesn't work though.

Gordon's apparent death leads to more conflict between Bruce and Barbara, as she demands to be allowed to go out and hunt down the Joker in order to avenge her father. Bruce gives her a lecture on revenge v justice using his own experiences, the fight gets heated as Barbara tries to attack, with Bruce using his skill and technique to not harm her, as she breaks down crying for the loss of her father. Bruce holds her as he once was, saying "I'm Sorry" over and over again.

Bruce asks Lucius, and Alfred, to restrict Barbara's access to both the armory and Batcave, as she may try to do something she'll regret later on.

With the city in a panic, and uncertainty increasing, Dent tries to keep things calm, arguing to not bow down to fear when Joker makes an announcement through TV. He's planted bombs through all of Gotham, and to prove it he destroys a hospital, the shockwave and fire obvious to all. He threatens to bomb a random building per day unless Batman's identity is made public and he is killed. This leads to mass hysteria, with Gothamites trampling each other to try and get their relatives out, false accusations of people being Batman leading to innocents getting shot, the police being overworked trying to keep the city under control.

Bruce decides to give himself up, even though Barbara and Alfred beg him not to. Barbara leaves in anger, Bruce closes the Batcave and has a few words with Alfred, discussing about whether he did enough, if perhaps Gotham can survive without Batman. Alfred gives a few words of hope, as well as hidden encouragement for Bruce to keep on fighting, but also to know when it might be the right time to call it quits. However before he can give himself up, there is an emergency news report where Harvey Dent is once more addressing the public about the need to not let themselves to be ruled by fear, or let a maniac turn them into what they are not.

The reporters, as well as people around however want the madness to stop and are pushing for Batman to reveal himself. Bruce sees this and prepares to leave for the Police department, but then Dent stuns them all by claiming to be Batman, and letting the police arrest him. Bruce sees this and runs back to the Batcave. If he knows the Joker, and all this time has formed a profile in his mind, then he will make sure to attack in the least expected moment; right now.

Harvey is arrested and taken in by the police, and as predicted the Joker attempts to ambush and kill the Convoy. A running battle between the Police convoy and the Joker Gang ensues, when real Batman arrives and captures the Joker and his gang with the help of Gordon, who is revealed to have faked his death. Gordon had figured out that many of the men Joker had assimilated from the Falcone family knew about the moles inside the police, and the Joker was using them to monitor him and the rest. This play by him and Dent allowed them to work in the dark to find the Joker, and now they were able to pull him into the light to cut him off.

Gordon is celebrated when he arrives at the Police Station, and given the rank of Commissioner. Interrogation begin with the Joker; however he refuses to say where he placed the bombs or in which building, even when interrogated by Batman. A discussion between them hints at the Joker perhaps being born as a response to Batman, or perhaps he just wanted to see the world burn. Whatever the reason, the Joker just laughs as Batman tries to figure him out, mentioning how they will perhaps share a cell when the public turns against him.

Harvey Dent is returning home when police officers intercept him, telling him that Commissioner Gordon needs to speak with him urgently about the Joker. Harvey goes with them.

Barbara arrives at the police station and sees her father, she's angry at him, even slapping him once before hugging him, both of them talking about the need for such a scheme. Gordon wants Barbara to leave the city for now as they have yet to find the bombs the Joker set up, and they have yet to make him speak. Barbara questions why, and tires using the methods taught to her as a detective. Since Batman is too busy being distracted by the Joker it's Barbara who figures out the hospital that exploded was on associated with the Falcone family, which means the only places where the bombs could have been set would be where Falcone members have a presence...like the police station. She looks around and finds that the police station is emptier than usual. She runs to warn her father, but it's too late.

The Joker blows up the building, and in the chaos, with criminals escaping the holding cells, Joker manages to escape as Batman in his pursuit has to also fight the criminals and stop them from leaving or hurting anyone else. Barbara survives as well as her father, though he's wounded. The department is in shambles, there are dead and injured everywhere as the ambulances arrive. Gordon is stabilized and trying to bring order, and thankfully batman managed to blunt the worst of the criminals from escaping. However, he's given bad news; Harvey Dent has disappeared, witnesses claiming to have seen them going inside a police cruiser.

Their worst fears soon come true.

Dent awakens tied up and gagged to an odd device in the darkness. Soon, the lights turn on and the Joker makes his manic appearance as he begins to monologue both to Dent and to himself, talking about how he did think he was Batman for a moment, it would have been poetic in a way...but no, Dent is too boring, and making things even more boring in Gotham. The city deserves better...before laughing and asking if he wants to see something fun.

He hijacks a public broadcast and sends a message for Batman and the GCPD, presenting things like an over-the-top 60's gameshow host he shows the bound and gagged Harvey Dent, tied to a device, and with a bucket acid over him as the Joker claims they need to get to him before the timer goes off the bucket above his face is poured down, all of this is publicly televised to the people of Gotham who are still panicking.

Barbara, still angry at the Joker and wanting revenge, goes on her own to the location wearing an ad-hoc suit she made. Batman and Gordon however deduce that said location is a fake and race towards the true place Dent must be. Gordon and Batman's deductions were correct and they arrive before Dent is mutilated, moving to release him as Barbara arrives at the fake location, which triggers the trap the Joker had set up, activating the device and letting the acid pour on Dent's face, mutilating half his face in a public broadcast, as Batman was able to move him before it fell over all his face.

Dent is taken to the hospital as he screams, Batman and Gordon commiserate as they double down in catching the Joker. Gordon arrives home and finds Barbara; she's crying and a mess so he goes to comfort him as she repeats "I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." over and over again. Gordon does not know why, but he's there for her, giving her the comfort she needs.

The Joker's recent actions have caused the government to order a general evacuation, with the first refugees from the city leaving in two cruise liners, one filled with civilians and one filled with criminals. Bruce is determined to remain in Gotham and fight to the end to protect his city, but urges a defeated and still somewhat depressed Barbara to leave the city like her father wants her to.

Barbara goes to speak with Lucius one final time, admitting to him what she did, and how the acid falling on Dent was her fault as she was too reckless. Lucius admits that it was reckless, but so is giving up when she has learned from her mistakes. Barbara thinks Bruce doesn't need her, but Lucius mentions how Bruce always thought of her safety, mentioning her in several occasion, sounding almost proud of her spirit and determination. He gives her words of encouragement, that Bruce will need her more than anyone now...then leaves the room, leaving the finished Batgirl suit ready to be worn.

Gordon the Batman once more search for the Joker and find him held up in an unfinished skyscraper along with his thugs and hostages. Batman goes in and fights the Jokers thugs, but this was a trap as Joker makes an appearance in the middle of the fight, using his tricks and taking the opportunity to gas him and capture him. The Joker drags him out to see the bay with the ships in it, he reveals he has rigged both cruise liners to explode, and given each ship the detonator and a choice.

On the ship both sides have found the Joker's note, claiming that he's rigged both to explode; that one ship must blow up the other before they themselves are detonated, if they don't pull the trigger on one ship by a certain time, then both ships will explode. The civilians vote, while the prisoners almost riot.

The Joker revels to the captive Batman that he's actually made it so each ship has its own detonator, and wants Batman to see how people tear each other apart when thusly are out under pressure. How the true nature of man is that of a beast that will tear each other apart when there are no rules to keep them contained.

However, neither ship chooses to detonate the other, to the Joker's shock; The prisoner's ship has the lead prisoner take the switch and throw it overboard, while on the civilians' side, even when they voted to do it, no one was able to take the step to end a life. Batman mocks the Joker, telling him that the people of Gotham are not selfish, they are good people, they will choose to do the right thing, and stand beside each other.

The Joker seems annoyed, but then shrugs, and pulls out his own detonator for both ships, beginning to give another speech on how he got his scars, before another shadow kicks the detonator from his hands; Batgirl has arrived, surprising the Joker, and choosing to stay and fight at Bruce's side. She gives Batman a gadget to set him free while she distracts the Joker, fighting him for a while as Batman, once free, moves to aid her. Joker, finding himself cornered, lets himself fall of the building, laughing all the way down, but Batman and Batgirl manages to use their grappling hooks to catch him and capture him.

Joker laughs all the way, calling them "Guardian Angels" and how much fun they are going to have together.

Bruce and Barbara have a talk, with Barbara asserting that this is her choice, and if Bruce is willing to stand and fight for Gotham, then she also has a right to do the same. Bruce accepts it, realizing that he'd been too stubborn, and welcomes her as an ally and partner.

In the aftermath the Joker is tried and sentenced to prison. Gordon is promoted to fill the role of Commissioner. Harvey Dent is still in recovery, though yelling in anger and fury when awake. The mobs and gangs are now gone, but new criminals are rising to take their place. However, with Batgirl at his side, Batman prepares to go out into the city again, and face these smaller gangs, ready once more to protect his city.

Spoiler: Main Characters

Bruce Wayne/Batman: A wealthy American playboy, philanthropist, and industrialist who resides in Gotham City. He swore vengeance against criminals after witnessing the murder of his parents Thomas and Martha as a child. He trained himself physically and intellectually, and crafted a bat-inspired persona, and monitors the Gotham streets at night.

Played By: Bruce O'Brian

Captain James Gordon: Captain of the Gotham PD, and widowed father of Barbara Gordon. James has a deep commitment to ridding the city of crime with the aid of Batman. Though the crime in Gotham seems to be changing, he is resolved to never give up and continue fighting until it's finally rid of crime. Through the movie he risks his life to catch the Joker, and is promoted to Commissioner

Played By: Clint Eastwood

Barbara Gordon/Batgirl: She is the daughter of Captain James Gordon, and a student at Gotham University where she also works Part-Time as a librarian. EShe's been training under Batman's tutelage to finally take the mantle of "Batgirl" and fight at his side to protect Gotham. Her impulsiveness led to Harvey Dent being scarred for life, but her willingness to never give up saves Batman's life.

Played By: Jodie Foster

District Attorney Harvey Dent: A bright and upstanding district attorney of Gotham City dedicated to ridding its streets of crime and corruption. Harvey is a man of morals and principle who harbors a darkness in him that seeks retribution, a darkness that is brought to life after the Joker pours acid over his face, forever scarring him.

Played By: Robert Redford

The Joker: A homicidal artist and an agent of chaos, the "Clown Prince of Crime" is the embodiment of everything Batman fights against…and everything he fears. The Joker has no plan, and you can never predict his actions. He kills the remainder of the last "Great mob Families" of Gotham, thus opening the gates for a crazier kind of criminal to take roost in the city.

Played By: Robin Williams
Alternate: Willem Dafoe

Spoiler: Supporting Characters

Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin: Oswald Cobblepot is a Gotham City mobster, and the leader of the strongest mob in Gotham. He tries to form an alliance with his former employers and now competitors in crime, only to be offered a better deal by the Joker. He is eventually killed by the same during a meeting, making the mistake of trusting him.

Played By: Robert Shaw

Alfred Pennyworth: Bruce Wayne's loyal and tireless butler, legal guardian, best friend, aide-de-camp, and surrogate father figure following the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne. A classically trained British Butler with connections within the intelligence community. He serves as Bruce's moral anchor while providing comic relief with his sarcastic and cynical attitude.

Played By: Alec Guinness

Lucius Fox: An executive from Wayne Enterprises who usually works with Bruce when it comes to charity and urban development for Gotham. An inquisitive and creative man, he finds Bruce's secret identity, and offers his aid by showing him the old weapons designs back when the company dealt with the military. Lucius aids Barbara with some advice, and becoming her confidante when she tells him of her previous actions.

Played By: Morgan Freeman
Alternate: Danny Glover

Sophia Falcone: The daughter of Carmine Falcone, she's a ruthless, vengeful woman who will stop at nothing to have her revenge on Batman, and once more re-establish the "Roman Empire" of her father. Though her position is the weakest it's ever been, she still has a great deal of pride in her, as well as protectiveness for her daughter, Helena. She is killed by the Joker in front of her.

Played By: Cindy Morgan
Alternate: Teri Narr

Spoiler: Minor Characters

Lt. Harvey Bullock: Gordon's deputy. Stubborn, loyal, and with a strong personality. He dislikes the Batman, though he acknowledges his help.

Played By: John Belushi

Judge Harris: Judge in charge of the cases against the mob. The fear caused by the Joker has him dismiss the charges in hope that it may appease him.

Played By: Patrick O'Neal

Sun Yee On: Leader of the Triad. Captured by Batgirl and Batman, and tries to escape during the bombing of the GCPD headquarters, only to fail.

Played By: James Shigeta

Hernan Esposito: Leader of the Cartel. He made an alliance with the Penguin to get rid of both Sophia and the Batman, but is killed by the Joker alongside Cobblepot.

Played By: Cesar Romero

A.N.: So, here it is. Once more, many thanks to McLuvin with whom I worked on to get this done, and once more I hope we can turn this movie into a reality sometime in the future. If you noticed, I put one of the cast members of the Adam West Batman show as another cameo, and I do think he fits. Hopefully my choices for the Joker are fitting and accepted.

 

[Xsplora]

You beat Ali by knockout the champs career is now closed at an exclamation point by the Emerald Splash.

When Ali woke up, you just handed him over a check for 50 million. The prize money he won… and he seemed to respect that.

Maybe, you didn't know. All you knew, was that you beat him by knockout… and he respected your victory without any hesitation or complaint. He just walked back to his locker room and made a few calls.

Click to shrink...

Good Judgment

Muhammad Ali walked through the cheering crowd away from the silent actor, the check for 50 million dollars in his hand back to his dressing room and closed the door. From the walls came the slight buzz of reporters and newspaper men in a flurry of activity documenting the fight and sending the results to their respective agencies. Headlines like "Savaged by a Goose" "The last Great fight" "the New Heavyweight Champion" "Judgement Delivered" would adorn newsstands tomorrow. Analysts would talk endlessly about small details. Within the dressing room some serous thinking would need to occur.

Muhammad Ali carefully put the check on the dressing table and then sat down only to wince in protest from his ribs.

He joked once that he was the Greatest not the Smartest but still he could do some basic math. 50 million dollars. That was about the same as his total prizes for every fight he had so far. And that was for losing. It could have been more if he had won. It was for what was technically a exhibition match too.

That was his fault. When he had made the challenge, he was the heavyweight champion of the world and the reply he received from his opponent assumed that he would still be. There had been some debate about whether the fight would be an official one for his belt. Except he had gotten arrogant and lazy and lost a fight he should have won easily. Bruce O'Brian, the man who had just defeated him had kindly not let the loss of the belt affect the fight. He could have cancelled stated that Ali wasn't worth his time and Ali would have been in deep financial trouble.

Ali felt his eyes drawn to the Check again. His largest Payout ever by at least a factor of 10. Well maybe that was dramatic but it would have been close. He was unlikely to get a payout anything like it again. There where no other boxers that could draw that kind of crowd because Bruce O'Brian hadn't drawn the boxing crowd to see the fight that was his work, being the champion who misstepped and the crowd wanted to see him get back in shape and prove he was still the Greatest. The other watchers well there was the Military veterans and otherwise Who had opinions on his draft dodging who boycotted his matches on principle, there were the Christians who boycotted him because he was Muslim, there where increasing numbers of Vietnamese that simply hadn't been in the USA before Bruce rescued them from the communists and the where the politicians who much preferred O'Brians method of turning the screws on them than Ali's. Bruce had one more crowd draw. Bruce was probably the most recognizable actor and studio head in Hollywood, a man who had created a studio out of noting produced the most amazing Films anyone had ever seen won at life with a beautiful wife who was muti talented and famous in her own right. Bruce seemed to be the living embodiment of the American dream.

No boxer was going to Mach that fame, that pull. Heck Ali wasn't sure that any boxer in the ring could even match O'Brian skill. Bruce had won gold at the Olympics back in 76 and if he was assigning numbers for skill he would say that Bruce was at least a 160 pushing a 220 when he fought Sixto Soria. In the Mach out there the much younger man was at least a 300 and probably more.

When he was in his prime, and didn't it hurt to even think of it like that, he could have taken Bruce, it would have been a hard fight, but he could have done it. There was no shame in admitting that at present, O'Brian was the best and could probably get Better. It would be a long time until another boxer came along with the right combination of skill, drive and luck to take that from O'Brian.

A minor tremor in Ali's arm and an increasing feeling of stiffness reminded him that unlike O'Brian He didn't have years, heck with the damage he had just taken he probably didn't even have a year. He had worked hard to get back into shape and this fight was likely the last great fight of his career. If he had won quickly and cleanly, he might have been able to fight in a month against Spinks and get his belt back. Now he was looking at months of recovery to heal and get back into shape. It was still very tempting. There would be a significant prize pool and he Knew he could beat Spinks if he took him seriously and stayed in shape. He wanted to erase the shame of his last match with Spinks, to go all out and retire as heavyweight champion. it would be one more paycheck and a salve to his pride, But if Spinks got lucky…

Eyes turned to the Check. 50 million dollars. Potentially the last fight paycheck of his career. There were still sponsorships and endorsements, but they would dry up too now he wasn't the champ. He was going to have to bank on past glories for any kind of deal in the future. 50 million dollars didn't seem like that much money if that was the last paycheck he was going to get in his life. Ali had bills to pay and debts owing, he could do that now but also he needed to be careful with the rest of this and make it last, to downsize some of his operations and change his lifestyle now he wasn't competing. Maybe getting some finical advice would be worth it. Or he could put it off a little longer, fight Spinks and have one last payday, and if he was honest with himself after the match he had just lost any fight would be an anticlimax. The question was 50 million enough or was potentially another five million what he needed?

Unbidden two names came to mind his doctor Ferdie Pacheco who had been with him for most of his career and had begged him to stop fighting and whom Ali had ignored. Ferdie had left in protest because Ali was not looking after himself. The other was Angelo Dundee his trainer for all but two of his fights. He could give hm some solid advice for who to fight next and how to beat them.it want that Angelo didn't care but that he was too in love with the sport himself.

Ali turned to the phone on the wall there was a decision here of who to call. Ali picked up the Phone and herd it ring. Before the man on the other end could speak Ali begin with a hard statement . "You was right…"

Spoiler: AN

@Magoose THAT WAS AMAZING

Does the fight go down in history as Judgment Day LA

Ali's Voice is wrong but this is what I imagine is approximately going through Ali's head right now.

He has lost what many will consider his real Belt defense but also collected the biggest single prize of his career by a factor of about 10 from that loss. He earned about 5.45 million fighting George foreman in 1974

His OTL biggest prize was about 7.9 million against Larry Holmes which is very unlikely to happen now.

Now if only he can avoid his bad Financial habits and being taken advantage of as per OTL.

As for becoming friends with Bruce I think that it is unlikely. Ali seemed to get on well with Joe Frazier but was apparently never able to bring himself to Apologize to the mans face. He also seemed to Flip flop on the apology based on what was best for his image. Now I might be Biased in my assessment as I have already revealed myself as coming down on Frazier side of the argument but I don't think Ali would give the kind of Sincere Apology that Bruce would need before Bruce would befriend the man.

 

[Magoose]

Bruce Gets Reincarnated as Jaune Arc and falls back into old habits.

You should have dyed your hair black to make things a little bit less jarring when you looked in the mirror. The face of a young man who was not your own was just too disorienting. The Blue eyes were too striking. Too full of a life that he had seemingly stolen away. It honestly disturbed you so much that you thought that this was God's way of punishing you for your hubris… your rage and your wroth.

He had stolen you away from your life, from your love and daughter… for all the things you loved, with a fucking Truck.

But you shut the cabinet mirror. The id, the name you had, was a young teenager named Jaune Arc… and it was one of the first things that you went to change once you finally realized that this was not a dream and that your death was also a strange rebirth. You were smart, and the context clues of a different world were apparent once you stopped panicking like a crazy person, and thought rationally.

Mother always said you were a genius and in the weeks that you were here, it took you only a few weeks to realize that… Remanent was in need of some culture. This place was a dead world where creatures of darkness were trying to eat them and destroy everything they built, where people could only live in relative safety in only four locations…

And it meant all your knowledge, books, remembrance, and of course, movies were all ripe for the taking to profit on. At least until you could discover a way to return to your body, or to earth…

It was really feeling like that old story that Tomino told you about, or some of the Howard stories, Where some stranger traveled to a strange world and they must survive and thrive.

So you were moving towards the survival thing, by using your God-given talents to make a splash.

Art was always needed to give survival meaning, and everyone liked stories.
-------------------

The library was filled with eyes that were staring as you finished penning the Star Wars novel. You knew Geroge wouldn't mind, considering you helped make the damn film, and that this novel would be different enough, given that it was told from the perspective of Han, and only Han. it was a fascinating study of Han's character, and how he changed, if you said so yourself.

But most people didn't seem to realize that you had hundreds of pages in order. Paper.

You knew about the computing systems that they had, but you were not stupid, you just wanted to see the pages fill themselves with words and character, and each one was as brilliant as the last until they were a cohesive and brilliant whole. In your mind anyway…

You wondered just how the hell George, Carrie and the others could have done something like this in a few days, let alone a single day in Carrie's case. This was exhausting and took all your mental energies.

Then you saw a young woman with black hair look at you, with a bow on her head that was not just there to give her a cute look. Her amber eyes looked cat-like and you felt uneasy. "What are you writing?"

She had been watching you for a week, as words flowed from pen, and pencil onto the paper, and it was something that you honestly didn't really notice or care about too much. You were so focused, that the glance was not enough. You looked up at the woman and frowned. "A story that a friend told me." You replied.

You saw the ribbon on her back, and a… pistol handle on her side. "Must have been some story." She said, looking at the pages that you carefully maintained in order.

"His life's work… it would be a shame to not let it be told." You replied.

"Is he-" She started to ask the question. But you stopped her.

"No… just very far away."

The girl did not seem to like that answer. "What does that mean?"

"Exactly what it means." You replied. "Now, why are you watching me write?"

"Oh, it's just strange to see someone use so much paper when a Scroll would be useful." Ah yes the wonder of technology, how you loathed it. It hurt your eyes, and was not big enough to help you type… and you hated typing.

"I'm old fashioned." You replied. You then reached for your bag, and carefully placed the story into place, to not lose or crumple any of it. "And it helps me remember someone I-"

Loved was the word that died in your throat. How much you missed Carrie… and how you wanted to hold her in your arms. The girl nodded. "I understand."

You put the bag over your shoulder and sighed. "Bruce O'Brian."

"Blake Belladonna." She replied before she raised an eyebrow. "That's a strange name."

"Well, I'm a strange person." You replied.
----------------------------------------------

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THE FINAL ROUND OF THE VALE LEUGE OPEN TORNAMENT IS FINALLY HERE! WILL THE EMERALD SPLASH FINALLY TAKE HOME GOLD FROM OUR FAN FAVORITE, SUNNY DRAGON AFTER 15 GRUELING ROUNDS? OR WILL SUNNY MAINTAIN HER TITLE AS THE STRONGEST YOUTH FIGHTER IN VALE?

You spat out blood as you looked at the ice being put down on your eye. "Shit." You swore as you tried to see through the blood in your eye. That girl was tough.

And she was enjoying every moment of you punching the hell out of her as if she was getting stronger every time you hit her.

"Come on Bruce, one more round, and we'll have her by decision." Your cut man was pointing out the obvious. "Just avoid her, and then you can-"

When you had learned that fighting was co-ed, you had, under a very strange mindset, thought that it would be based on weight division, and you would fight people that would be near your size and weight.

You did not expect it to be based on a first come first serve basis, on an open invitational. And that this blonde bombshell was going 15 rounds with you, and enjoying every minute of it after you mopped the floor with over 10 people. "She's going for the knockout, I can't avoid her!" You proclaimed before you saw the bell getting ready to be rung.

Fuck it, you had to pull Ali on this shit. Though you had to avoid her kicks on your knees.

But you had one thing she didn't have, you could see it. She was acting like she already won, taking her time and making some faces to you.

You had something most people failed to see from you. A lot more spite and grit.

And a killer right hand.

The bell rang and you rose, moving across the ring and started unleashing a fury of blows to keep her on edge. You needed to make her try to do something stupid. And the best way you could do that was through something simple. Get her angry.

And it was working.

"Come on Yang, finish it!" A voice shouted from the crowd, and you swore you saw fire unleash from her hair.

But then you saw everything from your good eye.

Left, right, left, the low kick was to unbalance you. But you managed to avoid them all.

One, two, five, ten, twenty, fifty, every blow that came towards you was dodged, was avoided as you moved back, and forth, bobbing and weaving, and you managed to avoid every single attack until the bell rang. The girl was punched drunk, she couldn't stop, and you did what you could, slipped under, and brought her down to the canvas with a leg sweep.

"AND THE EMERALD SPLASH WINS!" The Announcer said.

The victory was yours yet again. Hopefully, someone would realize that you were a good actor two. eh, you'll see.

AN: I am never doing something like this again, I have wasted a whole night writing this when I could have gotten an update.

I hope you are happy.

 

[Xsplora]

Mary and the Singing Box

Mary was a good girl and rather clever. Daddy was busy with his toys playing something called Ex cer sise. Mummy liked it when Daddy played exercise. Mummy giggled a bit when she watched him do it like when she watched Mary play with her toys. Mary was going to be a good girl and sleep in her crib until Mummy came home and let Daddy do his Exercise thing. Then Mary could hug Mummy and have her laugh when Mary ate Mummy's hair. It still tasted weird. So Mary settled into her Blanket and Pillow and closed her eyes. She must have been asleep for a bit because she heard Mummy singing. There were some musical instruments as well but Mary heard Mummy singing so she must be back.

So Mary opened her eyes and pulled herself up to the side of the crib and looked at the door. The shadows had not moved much from when she had laid down and the funny thumping noise Daddy made when he was "exercising" that Mummy liked to watch and sometimes join in on was still happening.

The problem was that Mummy wasn't here. Mary could hear Mummy and when Mummy came home she would always come and give Marry a hug and kiss even if she would then put Mary back to bed if Mary was still tired. So if Mummy wasn't here and Mary could hear Mummy then Mary would have to go to Mummy so Mummy would give her a hug and a kiss. Then Mary could sleep.

So Mary pulled herself up and on the side of the crib went armed over arm to her teething ring and grasped it in one fist. Then she crawled over to the side of the crib with the pretty sticker. The words on the sicker said childproof but all it was to Mary was a pretty color and a mark that told her if she she pushed her teething ring between the bars and up two fists across from the sticker push it into the catch and twist like so…

The side of the crib dropped out of Mary's way and now she could go and find Mummy. Carefully climbing down she crawled over to the door following the sound of her mothers singing. The door handle itself was sorted by standing up tall using the frame as support and flicking the blanket just so and having it caught on the long lever arm of the door opening it.

Mary was now out of her room and in the hallway. She could hear her Mummys voice from the Jim that Daddy used. She didn't know anyone Called Jim and the room had Daddy's toys not Jims. They were clearly toys because Daddy spent as much time doing things that required a lot of focus with them as Mary did with her shape blocks and Ball. Things like lifting them up and down.

It might be like Robins room. Robin did not stay there very often but he had a bed and some cupboards. Mary had learned that they where Robins and not for anyone else the one time she had gone in there and robin had subsequently got very panicky. He needed extra long time of Mary playing with his fingers to get him to calm down after that. Mummy kept some of her music things in Robins Room because Robin wasn't here and the longer Robin wasn't her the more music things the room gained.

Jim must have been away a very long time for there to be so many of Daddys ex cer sise toys in his room and for the bed to be taken out. Like maybe months or something. A very long time indeed. But what would mummy be doing in Jims room without seeing Mary first?

Mary could hear the sound of instruments as well as Mummy singing but she was on a quest to get a hug and a kiss then she could sleep. So she set off down the corridor. Peering into Jims room. Daddy was facing away from the door lifting a bar with wheels on the ends. So she crawled in further. No Mummy. But there was Mummy's singing coming from a slivery box with two black circles on the ends and buttons and switches in the middle. The box was high on a shelf on the wall. Was mommy in the box?

Mary needed to investigate. She was getting even more tired she needed the hug and the kiss so she could sleep. Daddy was busy with his toys so she would have to investigate herself. Coming across the box she stood herself up and could almost reach the box. A black cord ran from the box to the wall. So she reached out and started to pull. Mummy's singing stuttered and the box leaned out above Mary but didn't come down. She pulled a bit harder, and the box tiled a bit more. Soon she would have Mummy out of the box and she would be happy to see Mary and give Mary a kiss. She might even pick Mary up and let Mary chew on her hair. That would be really nice

The box with Mummy's singing voice tiled even more and then… Mary was in the air and in Daddy's arms. She saw the box with Mummy singing fall and hit the ground. And then bent, crumpled and went silent.

There was a mess of parts on the floor but no Mummy. Where did Mummy go? She wasn't in the box and Mummy's singing had stopped. More importantly, Mary had not gotten her kiss yet. She was frustrated and grumpy. She screwed up her fists in rage and let it out in the nastiest meanest word she knew, worse than the one that Robin had taught her and Mommy had told her not to say again. She knew it was the worst because when she said it everyone around her was quiet for a moment and looked at her like they couldn't believe they were hearing it. So with all of her rage and disappointment she let out that terrible word "bothr".

The word did its dark business. Daddy paused and looked at her. Really looked at her and then tuned her around so he could see her face clearly.

" I just put you down to sleep. How did you get here?"

Daddy was usually good at fixing things or at least finding Mummy who more often fixed things by working out that Mary was hungry or needed her Nappy changed. Mummy was more clever than Daddy like thar.. Daddy would need to be helped to find the answer he didn't just know things like Mummy seemed to. So Mary needed to use her best words to explain her problem.

"Daddy where Mummy? Mummy singing stop when box crash. Mary sleep. Need Mummy hug and kiss"

a look of enlightenment crossed Daddy face as he stated walking, carrying Mary in her arms .

"Mary Mummy is still out. I just put you down for a nap. what you herd was a record of your mothers singing."

"Record?" Mary asked.

"Didn't you want to sleep?" Daddy asked

"What is Record now. Then sleep." Mary declared she would get to the bottom of this.

Daddy paused and then started walking towards the lounge.

"Let me show you Mary."

He walked over to another box and the box that had Kermit the Frog and his friends at certain times of the day. "Kermit?" she asked. What did Kerit have to do with Mary hearing mummy singing while she wasn't here? Kermit was a taking toy. She Knew because she could see his fur. Most of Kermit's friends where talking toys too.

Mary knew how talking toys worked. It was another game. Mummy or Daddy or sometimes Robin would hold the toy and wiggle it like it was the toy making the words and not Mummy or Daddy. They would also try to hide and pretend that it was the toy and not Mummy or Daddy doing the talking and the wiggling. Then Mary would laugh when mummy or daddy made the toy say or do funny things. The person who did it best was Robin because he could to all sorts of voices and different toy wiggles.

When they had finished doing that and Mary was finished holding the toy the toy got put back in the toybox. Thing is Kermit when he was in the Kermit Box did the best wiggles and she NEVER saw who did the wiggling and voices. Whoever they were, they played the game the best. Was this recording thing related to the toy wiggling game?

Dady laughed "Not quite. Your uncle George and I made a movie with your Mummy in it. Mummy isn't here but I can make her appear on the box. Where did that laserdisc of Star Wars." Daddy rummaged for a bit and then found a very big shiny thing which he put into another box.

Then there was some loud music and some yellow words on the screen. Then there was a big spaceship followed by an even bigger spaceship.

Mary was getting impatient as people she didn't know and flashing things appeared on screen Finally there was "Mummy" Mary yelled

Mummy was in the Kermit Box! Mummy was not a toy. Mammy had been very clear that people were not allowed in toy boxes. Even if it was soft and comfortable inside because mary might get stuck. Was mummy stuck? Mary had to get her out.

Mary crawled over as fast as she could and pushed herself up to the screen. Mummy was just there but here was glass in way and no matter how hard she pushed Mummy was still in the Kermit box.

So she tuned to Daddy to help

"Daddy. Mummy in Kermit box"

Daddy didn't help he just Laughed. And then some white clad meanies on screen shot Mummy with blue rings and she collapsed.

"Mummy" Mary shrieked

"Easy Mary. Easy Mummy's alright. it's just a recording." Daddy did something and Mummy jumped backwards waking funny. "Look just like pages on a book turning backwards" the scene played out again and then Daddy rewound again.

It was like those toys she didn't like that Uncle George had brought. Things that looked like Mummy or Daddy but were not. The lying things. They never picked Maty up and gave her a kiss so they couldn't be Mommy or Daddy. They just pretended to be.

The recording thing must be the same. The singing must be something that pretended to be Mummy singing. It wasn't Mommy so it was WRONG.

Mary understood but was tired and grumpy and still hadn't had her Mummy kiss. So she turned to Daddy and said in her most strait look "Recording bad. Silver box bad. No Mummy sing. Not Mummy. Where Mummy?"

"Out. She will be back soon, but you need a Nap.

"Noo" came Mary's reply "Need Mummy kiss." Mummy Kiss not recording Kiss"

"Would a Daddy kiss do?"

Mary considered as she got carried back to her room and Daddy pulled the side of the bed up

"Two Daddy kiss" she demanded.

If that nasty recording thing was going to pretend to be Mummy, she needed proper recompense. And while Daddy's kisses were not the same as Mummy kisses they were still good.

She smiled and giggled as Daddy did two kisses and she closed her eyes. Tomorrow she would find all of these recordings and stop them pretending to be Mummy. Be they silver wall boxes or Kermit Boxes.

Two days Later at Lucas film.

"It's the strangest thing Mary goes ballistic any time she hears any of Carries recordings when she isn't visible to Mary. She has broken three boomboxes so far."

"Sounds like she prefers the real thing. Don't frown like that, you know you do too."

"But I like working out to my wife's singing I don't want to stop."

"Soundproof the gym?'

"and have it be taken over as a recording studio the next time Queen Michael Jackson or Elvis come to visit? I would never get it back."

"Then don't. Get some headphones and use them instead."

"How? it's not like I can carry around a boombox while I go for a jog?"

A pensive look passed George face. "How much of the boombox do you Use what features."

"Just the tape deck, I think. Why?"

"I have an idea. I was talking with some people at Phillips recently. Give me a few weeks."


Bonus short one

Mary finds Jim

Mary wasn't sure what to think of the new person she was meeting.

She was hiding in mummy's arm as this was a strange person she didn't know. He was tall skinny had shaggy brown hair and a beard and was introduced as Jim Henson but he seemed familiar like she had herd him before. The he pulled out a Green Frog and suddenly it all made sense.

"Kermit Wriggler" she called excited; this wasn't a stranger this was a known person. She all but launched herself at him aiming for his hand and ignoring the offer Kermit.

If his name was Jim then she had finally solved a big puzzle. Why there was room in the house for Jim. The person who did the Kermit wiggle was Jim and obviously a good friend like Robin was. he was quick on the uptake too catching her and holding safely while she got to find out about his beard.

Jim looked bemused that she was more interested in him , a person that he had never met than the far more famous frog which was now lying on the floor. Mummy and daddy looked very surprised too. Sure she usually took some time to figure out people she didn't know but this was Jim the Kermit wriggler. He had been playing with her for Months.

Then Looking up at him she decided she had some very important things to tell him. "You best fuzzy toy wriggler ever."

Spoiler: AN

Have a tired little girl wanting Mommy to put her to bed and these fake things not pretend to be Mommy and later finding a friend she already knew.

 

[Duke William of]

Yes they are

Click to shrink...

Huzzah! Allow me to be the first to contribute, if you wouldn't mind me doing so.

---

Spider-Man Noir Season I
Issue #8: Before Your Eyes



GENRE: Superhero/Noir

SUBGENRE: Drama/Gangster

FORMAT: TV Show/Comic Run (Animation/Possible Franchise)
​

Spoiler: Prominent Characters

• Peter Parker / Spider-Man​
• Katherine "Kitty" Pryde​
• Elizabeth "Liz" Allan​
• Mark Allan​
• Bennett "Ben" Urich​
• Gustav Fiers​
• Norman Osborn / Goblin​

Introduced This Episode:​

• Dmitri Smyerdakov / Frederick Noyes / Guy Thierrault / "Mark Allan" / The Chameleon​
• Spencer Smythe​
• Josef Petkus​
• Grady Scraps​
• Roger Harrington​

Spoiler: Before Your Eyes

We open to an assembly of factory workers late at night where many have gathered to hear outspoken Communist Frederick Noyes, a slender man with swarthy black hair and jagged stubble wearing a cheap suit and newsboy cap, speak. As the crowd chatters and talks among themselves, Noyes clears his throat before calling for his fellow workers to lend him their ears. Once the crowd has settled down, he then addresses his audience before launching into a fiery speech about how all these big businesses like Smythe Forges and Oscorp have slowly but surely shackled the people into lives of abject poverty to keep the common man reliant on them for sustenance. As the crowd murmurs in angered agreement, Noyes continues and says that this deep injustice, however, is not at all insurmountable. "For a man is only enslaved if he believes that he is enslaved," Noyes confidently states, slowly growing more and more energetic as he enraptures the audience with his speech, "but if he knows that he is free, then he is free! No more will he tolerate the platitudes of the soulless corporate vampires that feast upon the misery of the people, no more will he live the lie that he is only worth the sinks or gears that he makes! The power belongs in the hands of you, the people! Take it! Take it for your wives, your husbands, and your children!"

As the workers explode into raucous cheer and applaud the speech, with the security there struggling to keep things under control, Noyes quietly slips away in all the commotion and makes his way into a dark and narrow alleyway. Cautiously looking around for a second or two, he then pulls off his glasses before quickly grabbing a nearby suitcase and opening it. He rifles through it for a few seconds as he takes off his hat and pulls off his cheap suit. We then cut to the back of Noyes's head as he ducks down and, after unclipping something at his neck, gently pulls off the full-head disguise that he had been wearing, revealing an inhumanly smooth and featureless head. We then cut to the entrance of the alleyway as the unassuming banker Guy Thierrault, a balding man with a thin pencil mustache wearing square glasses and an expensive necktie and coat, steps out from the shadows. He wipes some dust off of his shoulder and fixes his tie before casually walking back home after a long day of work.

We then cut to the opening credits and theme song playing, before the Title Card drops.

Before Your Eyes

We cut to Peter in class as his history teacher Roger Harrington begins to assign partners for a project. "Mr. Parker, you will be partnered with Mr. Vogel," he drones as Peter nods in acknowledgment, "Miss Fisher, you will be partnered with Mr. McKeever. And Miss Pryde, your partner will be Miss Allan." Peter visibly winces at the mention of the last partnership before turning to look at Kitty, who looks like a toddler who's just been told that Santa isn't real. As Liz Allan tsks uninterestedly in front of them, Peter tries to reach out to Kitty only to swiftly backtrack when his friend snaps a pencil that she'd been holding in two. "This'll be interesting at the very least," he quietly mutters to himself before jotting down some notes to distract himself.

We smash cut to the school bell ringing as Peter and Kitty make their way next to the class, with Peter nodding along as Kitty angrily rants about how she'll be stuck doing most of the work while Liz Allan polishes her nails and makes kissy face at the next jock that catches her eye. Kitty eventually stops her long-winded rant to catch her breath, after which Peter stays silent for a few seconds before saying that at least she won't have to work with Dash. Kitty deadpans that she'd phase herself into the center of the earth before letting herself be subjected to Dash's everything, which causes Peter to chuckle in amusement before replying that he'd probably look into doing that too if he were in the same position. He then gives her a soft smile and, not noticing the slight panic on Kitty's face, more seriously says that while Kitty doesn't have to like working with Liz, she will have to suck up her dislike for the girl for the time being. "You can loathe her all you want after the project," Peter advises, "but unless you're interested in failing this assignment, you'll have to shove that hatred down the drain for now." Kitty takes in a calming breath before letting another one out, smiling a little as she thanks Peter for the advice. Peter good-naturedly tells her to not sweat it as they enter their next class.

We transition to Peter in costume later that day as he parkours his way around NYC, conserving his web-fluid for the time, all the while thinking about the school project and what he needs to do to complete his part. He's stopped dead in his tracks, however, when he overhears a commotion from nearby. Turning to look at where the noise is coming from, he sees many angry workers in a Smythe Forges factory, led by Frederick Noyes, going on strike, with the few security guards there trying their best to keep the situation under control. Outside the factory, a small crowd has gathered to watch the strike, with one or two jeering at the protestors for being "Dirty Commies". Quickly making his way over there, Peter perches on top of a nearby building and watches the situation unfold, preparing himself to intervene should it become necessary. Down below, the increasingly restless strikers demand for better wages and workplace safety, chanting, "The power's in our hands! The power's in our hands!" As the guards tense and slowly reach for their weapons, Noyes asks a man beside him, Grady Scraps, to momentarily lead the strike while he goes to the washroom before quietly slipping off. As the tension in the air grows more and more restless, the strikers start pushing and shoving the guards around, who respond likewise as a full-scale brawl threatens to erupt between the two sides.

Then...

KABOOM

An explosion rattles the factory and the surrounding area as both strikers and guards are sent to the ground in shock, with Peter watching in horror as every window within a close radius shatters and a portion of the factory's roof collapses as a fire starts raging inside. As people start to desperately flee the scene, with some helping those hurt in the explosion, Peter doesn't stop to think. He moves.

Quickly shooting out a line of webbing, he swings over to the factory and smoothly swings inside through a shattered window, landing feet first on a raised platform. Coughing and hurriedly waving the darkening smoke away, Peter looks around and sees a few people either too injured to flee or trapped under pieces of debris, the fire slowly inching its way toward them. Springing into action, Spider-Man hastily drops down to the floor and begins to push debris off of people. Gently picking up an unconscious man off the ground, he turns to one of the less injured workers and asks him to get him out of here, which the guy does with little hesitation. Spider-Man then quickly works to free the rest of the trapped workers while also webbing up falling debris, the last one being an old, frail worker whose knee had been broken by a falling brick. Quickly scooping the moaning man into a bridal carry, he then rushes for the exit as bits and chunks of the roof fall behind him and flames seemingly race after him.

Spider-Man makes his way out just as the building is consumed by flames, triggering a small cascade of muted cheers to ring out as he hands the old man over to one of the other workers to be looked over. As he pauses to take a breather, Grady approaches and, offering a bottle of beer, thanks him for saving their hides earlier. Spider-Man kindly welcomes him but politely declines the beer before asking how everyone is doing. "Poor Larry's going to have to use crutches for the rest of his life, and Big Joe's gonna be out for a few weeks," Grady answers as he runs his hand through his hair, "Other than that, though, we should be good." Spider-Man nods in relief at that before asking if he knows what could have caused the explosion. Grady's face sours at that, and he answers in mild frustration that he has no idea and that they'd been just fine the last time he checked. He then tells Spider-Man he should go before the police get there; he needs to go figure out where the hell Noyes went off to. As Grady walks off, all the while muttering about how Noyes had better not leave him to do all the work, Peter stands there silently as the gears slowly turn in his head.

We smash cut to Kitty and Liz in the library as Kitty attempts to work on the history project while Liz, completely uninterested in doing any work, leafs through a fashion magazine. Seeing that Liz isn't helping, Kitty sucks in a sharp breath before asking Liz as politely as she can to please help her work on the project so that they'll get a passing grade. Liz, not bothering to look up from her magazine, condescendingly asks Kitty why she can't do most of the work herself if she's so smart. Unable to control herself, Kitty sarcastically bites back that maybe she can't do it because she becomes dumber the longer she's around Liz's stupid face. Initial shock at the insult turning into fury, Liz glares at Kitty and tells her to repeat that again, which Kitty obliges a little too eagerly. The project is forgotten as the two then begin to throw barbs and insults at each other, with Kitty calling Liz a talentless idiot who's only popular because she looks and acts like she's auditioning for that Hefner magazine while Liz fires back that Kitty is an unlikable nerd who's only kept around by her "friends" because she helps them get good grades. The argument then escalates into a shouting match as the two begin to-

We smash cut to the two being kicked out of the library by one of the employees, who nasally tells them to only come back once they're fixed those horrible manners of theirs. As the library doors close in front of them, an awkward silence fills the air as they stand there. "...Your fault," they suddenly hiss at the same time as they turn to glare at each other.

We then cut to Peter in costume as he knocks on Urich's window two days later, clinging to the wall beside it as he patiently waits for a response. After a few seconds, a grumpy and tired Urich, who's wearing a fluffy blue bathrobe, groggily opens the window before doing a double-take when he sees Spider-Man. When asked just what the heck is he doing, Spider-Man quickly replies that he needs help investigating a guy called Frederick Noyes, to which Urich hurriedly tells him to come in before someone spots them.

As Spider-Man quickly jumps in, he asks if Urich knows of the man, to which Urich quickly responds that he's been investigating the bastard ever since he heard about the explosion at Smythe Forges. "You can't trust the damn Commies with even a dollhouse without it bursting into flames," Urich remarks as he rifles through a cardboard box, with Peter rolling his eyes under his mask. Urich finds the cut out article he's been looking for and pins it to his conspiracy corkboard before inviting Spider-Man to take a gander at it all. The corkboard is now halfway filled with pictures of and articles about Frederick Noyes, apparently a former tailor who closed down his shop and became a traveling speaker and advocate for Communism. Urich grabs a cookie from a nearby cookie jar and comments that plenty of people lose their minds once they hit middle age, but the situation with Fredrick Noyes smells of something far more suspicious. Spider-Man seems to follow along but asks Urich to elaborate and clarify.

Urich, taking a bite of the cookie, states that everywhere Fredrick Noyes has shown up since he became a Communist speaker has had a series of accidents happen to nearby companies. Urich says that though he doesn't have a full picture of what's going on, he currently believes that Frederick Noyes is actually a professional saboteur who was hired by a large and powerful company to sabotage their competitors, with the whole Communism thing being an act to distract people from what's really going on. Spider-Man thinks over it before nodding and admits that it is a solid theory and that it would explain why Noyes seemingly left the protest out of the blue, though they'll need to do some more investigating before that's proven to be true. He then turns to the cookie jar and asks if he can have some, and Urich bluntly replies that he can have just the one cookie.

We cut to Osborn in his office as a furious Spencer Smythe, the aging CEO of Smythe Forges, accuses him over the phone of having been the one riling his workers into striking and causing the fire at the factory. Osborn coldly denies that he had anything to do with the fire and says that what happened that day was merely an unfortunate accident that could have happened to anyone. "An unfortunate accident?!?!" Smythe exclaims in irate astonishment before adding, "I would sooner believe that the death of Julius Caesar was an unfortunate accident than this farce!" He then pauses to clear his throat before stating that he has spoken with Mr. Manfredi and that they have both decided that business with Osborn and his associates will cease until recompense has been paid for this transgression. Osborn's eyes narrow as he retorts in a dangerous tone that Smythe has no proof that he was behind this, to which Smythe somewhat smugly replies that Osborn has no proof that he is innocent of the matter either. He then curtly bids a good day to Osborn before hanging up on him.

Osborn snarls at the slight and slams the receiver down. Taking a moment to calm himself, he then presses a button on his desk and, speaking into a microphone, calls for Gustav Fiers to come to his office immediately. A few seconds later, Gustav quickly appears and, closing the door behind him, asks, "You wished to see me, sir?" Osborn curtly nods and tells Gustav that he is to conduct a thorough investigation and interrogation of every pickpocket, enforcer, and lieutenant who answers to the Goblin regarding the fire at the Smythe Forges factory. "If I find that someone, anyone, did this behind my back, I shall drag the perpetrators into hell myself," Osborn remarks with cool anger before dismissing Gustav.

We then cut to the next day in Liz's living room, her home a small mansion filled with many gaudy decorations and furniture, as Kitty and Liz continue to struggle with working on the project, with not much progress being made as the two are not able to work without ribbing at the other every few seconds. After a while, Liz threatens to kick Kitty out of the house if she keeps running her mouth like that, to which Kitty sardonically retorts that they'll both fail the project but only one of them will bounce back from it. Liz's face subtly falters for just a second, but she quickly shakes it off and begins to return her own scathing insult. A sudden ring from the nearby telephone interrupts her, however. Rolling her eyes, she condescendingly tells Kitty that she has more important people to talk to before strutting over to the phone, with Kitty childishly sticking her tongue out behind Liz's back before continuing to work on her part of the project.

As Liz picks up and answers the phone, the scene splits in two as her step-brother Mark shows up on the right side of the screen at a payphone and playfully greets her as his favorite little sister in the whole world. Liz giggles and jokingly replies that she's his only little sister, to which her brother chuckles lightly and says that that doesn't change what he said. Liz smiles a little before asking Mark when he'll be back from work, to which Mark responds that he'll be back in about two to three hours due to having finished work early. He then asks her how she's doing on that school project due for tomorrow, which causes Liz to frown as she hesitantly says that they're working on it.

Mark, picking up on Liz's hesitation, pointedly asks her how much work they've been able to do, sighing disappointedly when Liz mumbles back that they're halfway to finishing half. "I know you hate history, I really do," Mark sympathetically states, "but you can't afford to fail it just because you dislike your partner. Besides, you know how Mom and Dad will react if you get a bad grade." Liz unhappily mutters that they only care when she makes them look bad, to which Mark sighs and asks her to at least try to get a good grade for him if she won't try for them. Liz, a small turmoil of emotions present on her face, slowly nods before saying that she'll try. Mark smiles faintly and says that that's all he asks. He then says goodbye and that he loves her, with her doing the same before he hangs up and Liz takes up the whole scene again.

Taking in a deep breath, Liz then slowly walks over to where Kitty is, who turns to Liz and curtly asks what she wants now. Liz begrudgingly answers that although Kitty is about as likable as a drunk hobo, she is willing to tolerate Kitty's presence and not insult her if only so that she won't fail this project. Kitty, a little stunned, silently absorbs what Liz just said for a few seconds before asking if they can go back to hating each other after they're done with the project, to which Liz emphatically replies yes. Letting out a disappointed groan, Kitty begrudgingly agrees to tolerate Liz as well, and the two finally begin to work on the project.

We transition to Spider-Man and Urich as they quietly observe the home of Frederick Noyes from behind some bushes, waiting for some construction workers at a nearby house to leave. While they wait, Spider-Man quickly goes over their plan of attack once again before Urich interrupts him, saying that he already got it last time and the three other times before that. Spider-Man initially tries to defend himself but stops when he sees the construction workers leave, hurriedly telling Urich that now's their chance. The two rush over to a window connected to the living room and, swiftly prying it open, infiltrate the house. Spider-Man crawls through the window with the stealthy grace of a ninja; Urich, on the other hand, strugglingly wriggles like a slug before unceremoniously plopping face-first onto the floor. Letting out a curse and rubbing his nose, Urich staggers up to his feet as Spider-Man looks around the house and mutters that it seems a bit bourgeoise for a professed Communist. Urich retorts that of course a fake Communist wouldn't exactly be a paragon of Communist virtues before saying that they should split up so that they can cover more ground. Spider-Man nods and readily agrees that it's a good idea, and the two split up, with Spider-Man checking the kitchen and living room and Urich checking the other rooms.

Although Spider-Man doesn't find that much of interest in the living room, he does note that the place doesn't seem to have been dusted in weeks as he runs a gloved finger across a desk, collecting an ungodly amount of dust on it. Shaking his head in mild disdain, he then heads over to the kitchen where he's immediately struck by a rather bad stench. Pinching his nose and gagging at how utterly putrid the smell is, Spider-Man checks the cupboards and fridge to find that most, if not all, of the food has gone rotten. "Something's real fishy about this situation right now," he sardonically comments, "and it ain't the spoiled sardines in the room." As Spider-Man walks out of the kitchen so that he can actually breathe, however, he's startled out of his wits by a sudden cry of shock and horror from across the house. Realizing that it was Urich who screamed, he dashes over and calls out to Urich if he's safe. Turning a corner, he finds an ashen-faced Urich hunched over and leaning against a wall, the hardened reporter struggling not to hurl as he sucks in sharp breaths. When Spider-Man asks what's wrong, Urich can only shake his head and point at the bathroom behind him, the door open just a crack. Spider-Man rushes into the room and, slamming the door wide open, is greeted with the rotting corpse of the real Frederick Noyes lying in the bathtub, its feet stiffly sticking out in the air as the rest is mercifully hidden by some bathtub curtains. A putrid smell wafts in the air as seemingly hundreds of flies buzz around the room, a rat or two scurrying away at the sight of a human.

Utterly horrified and disgusted, Peter clamps his hand over his mouth and nose and hurriedly stumbles back, tripping over himself and falling flat on the floor. A short and tense silence then fills the air as Spider-Man, pulling his mask up to his nose, tries to process what he just saw, heavy breathing being the only sound that is made. After a few seconds of this, Urich takes the opportunity to note that judging by the smell and look of the body, Noyes has been dead for two weeks at the very least. Spider-Man, stammering a little, incredulously asks how the hell he can be rotting away in the bathroom while also starting strikes and sabotaging factories.

Urich sighs a long and deep sigh before asking if Spider-Man has ever heard of the Chameleon Killings before. Spider-Man merely stares at Urich in confusion, which Urich takes as a "no" and says that that's understandable. He then explains that back around the spring of '37, a series of killings targeting prominent Fascists and Anti-Communists shocked the British political landscape. A full-scale manhunt was launched that would turn up the name, or rather codename, of the killer: The Chameleon—an infamous KGB agent and master of disguise wanted by every free nation of the West. If you could imagine a person, the Chameleon could become that person to a tee.

"...If the Chameleon was infamous, then surely that'd make him a shite spy, right?" Spider-Man pointedly asks when Urich finishes his explanation, to which Urich shrugs and says that it's less applicable when the spy in question can turn from an Irish sailor into a Negro porter in the blink of an eye. Spider-Man slowly nods in agreement before saying that, to get things back on track, if their "Noyes" truly is the Chameleon, then that makes things just a little more complicated since every big business is now a potential victim instead of perpetrator. Urich smiles a little and states that it doesn't actually complicate things that much, stating that the Smythe Forges factory fire was probably a test or a distraction before going for the bigger prizes. When Spider-Man, who lights up under his mask, asks who the next targets might be, Urich answers that it can only be two: Fortress Inc. or Oscorp. The two quickly hash out a plan and agree to split up once again, with Urich investigating Fortress Inc. while Spider-Man snoops around Oscorp. As they get ready to leave, however, Spider-Man tells Urich to try to not get kicked out of Fortress Inc. yet again, to which Urich responds that he can't promise anything. "Oh, grand," Spider-Man quietly mutters under his breath.

We smash cut to Liz and Kitty as they finally manage to finish the history project after an excruciating period of having to put up with each other. As the girls slump into their chairs and let out sighs of overwhelming relief, the front door opens as a tired, but happy, Mark struts inside. Closing the door behind him, he happily greets Liz and envelops her in a massive bear hug, which causes her to blush in somewhat mortified embarrassment as she whines and tries to get him to stop. He eventually acquiesces, ruffling her hair just a little, before smiling and introducing himself to a subtly amused Kitty, who introduces herself as well. Mark then turns to the finished school project and, taking a quick look, complements their fine work on covering the Korean War, boasting that they'll certainly get an A+ now. He then tells Liz that he's gonna go take a long shower now and that he bought some brownies if she wants a snack. As he walks upstairs, a beet-red Liz turns to pointedly stare at Kitty, who rolls her eyes and promises to never mention or speak of this to anyone ever. "Good," Liz replies, "I'd have to waste my precious time destroying your social life if you did."

We then cut to Peter out of costume as he walks through Oscorp Tower, ostensible there to visit Harry but really there to look around for any suspicious activity. Running into a secretary, he politely asks if she can tell him where he can find Harry Osborn. She replies that she last saw him at a nearby break room and gives him directions to said break room, after which Peter thanks her before walking off in that direction. As he walks, he quietly mumbles that Oscorp really needs to make its buildings less confusing to navigate. It feels like a labyrinth than a-

He stops dead in his tracks, having overheard a faint noise from a nearby office. Subtly craning his head, he sees an office door that is just barely cracked open, from which suspicious rustling noises can be heard. Peter's eyes widen slightly before quickly narrowing, and he clenches his fists as he carefully looks around to make sure no one is around. No one on the left, and no one on the right.

Taking in a deep breath, he then barges in... and sees a startled Mark Allan stashing some files into a briefcase. His face turning tomato red at his very embarrassing mistake, Peter stammeringly apologizes for his impoliteness and goes to leave, but Mark, after quickly closing the briefcase, tells him to please stay; the two of them need to have a private chat. Wincing, Peter turns back around and closes the door behind him, a guilty expression on his face. Mark stares at Peter for a moment before asking him what his name is, which Peter then promptly provides. "Peter," Mark says while continuing to stare at him, "though I do accept your apology, I feel obligated to warn you to not pull another stunt like this again. Snooping around in places you shouldn't be in isn't a habit you should get used to." Peter nods contritely and again apologizes for barging in on him like that, saying that he'd thought something suspicious was happening in the office and that he'd just wanted to help. Mark's face softens a little, but not that much, and the older boy sighs as he picks his briefcase up. Slowly approaching Peter, he then clasps Peter's shoulder a little roughly and says that he appreciates Peter trying to help but that he shouldn't have tried to play hero. Peter replies that, with all due respect, if no one steps up to be a hero, then bad people will be able to get away with doing evil things. Mark, his face turning contemplative, and responds that while that is a good point, Peter is still a kid with his entire life ahead of him. "You're about the same age as my little sister, kid," Mark sadly intones, "You should be worrying about pretty girls and exams, not risking your life to catch petty burglars. It's the duty of the old and wizened to protect the next generation, Peter, so let them handle their duty themselves. Now, if you may excuse me, I need to get these files to my boss." Peter, after thinking over the words silently, slowly nods his head and thanks Mark for saying that, even if he doesn't fully agree with all of it. He then turns around and opens the door for Mark, saying that it's the least he can do, which Mark thanks him for before walking out of the office. Peter quickly follows suit, closing the door behind him as he walks out.

We cut to Kitty at her place, a small but homely apartment, as she and her mother prepare some kreplach in the kitchen. The phone then rings, and Kitty's mother kindly asks her to please answer it for her as she has her hands full right now. Quickly rinsing and drying her hands, Kitty hurries over to the phone and picks it up, greeting whoever is calling and asking how she can help them. The scene then splits in two as Peter, calling from a payphone, slides onto the right side and happily greets Kitty back before asking how her day went. Kitty smiles as she answers that it went okay; at least, as okay as it could've gone with Liz Allan involved. Peter chuckles at that before asking if she completed the school project stuff, to which she responds with audible relief that she and Liz are finally done and that they can go back to hating each other now. She then slightly boasts that even Liz's older brother Mark thought that their project was amazing.

Peter's brain screeches to a halt as his eyes widen and his jaw slowly drops. "...M-Mark?" He hesitantly asks, to which Kitty, a little confused by Peter's tone, responds, "Yeah. Remember him from our class trip to our Oscorp, the friendly and enthusiastic tour guide? He's a pretty nice guy, which makes Liz's... everything even more unbearable." As Kitty continues to speak, however, Peter spaces out and inwardly panics as he remembers his conversation with "Mark" just a few minutes ago. Returning to reality, Peter quickly interrupts Kitty and says that he's really sorry but something important just came up and he needs to go immediately. He wishes her a quick goodbye before hanging up and rushing off, the scene turning whole again as a now very confused Kitty calls out his name. She slowly puts the phone away before going off-screen to continue helping her mother with the kreplach.

We then cut to Peter in costume as he hastily puts his mask on and runs up a fire escape to the top of a building, stumbling once before quickly getting back up. Once he makes his way to the top, he then parkous and swings his way back toward Oscorp Tower as fast as he can, anxiously muttering to himself as he runs. Quickly smash cutting to "Mark", we see him impatiently look at his watch as he waits at a bus stop. We smash cut back to Peter as he pauses to catch his breath, bending over as he does. Once he's done, he then begins to scan the surrounding area for the Chameleon akin to a hawk watching for its prey. After a few seconds, he spots the Chameleon right as he's boarding a bus a few blocks away, the bus doors closing behind him as it drives off. Panicking, Peter springs into action and begins to chase after the bus, racing to catch the Chameleon before he puts on a new disguise and escapes.

As Peter chases after the bus, with the scene occasionally cutting to an unsuspecting Chameleon riding the bus, he tries his best to conserve his webbing for when he eventually confronts the Chameleon. As Peter is in the middle of swinging, however, one of his web-shooters suddenly malfunctions out of the blue, blindsiding Peter and distracting him long enough that he crashes into an apartment complex. Dazed and tumbling to the ground, Peter quickly regains his senses and manages to grab onto a nearby balcony with both hands. Taking the time to groan in pain and catch his breath, Peter turns to the left to see the bus growing smaller and smaller in the distance. "Oh crap," he mumbles in horror as he shoots off a line of webbing with his good web-shooter and slings onto a nearby rooftop, after which he begins to parkour and leap his way toward the Chameleon.

We smash cut to the bus as it comes to a halt at a bus stop and the Chameleon gets off, though not before gifting the bus driver a few dollars. He casually makes his way through a busy crowd before walking off into a nearby alleyway. Navigating through some tight and dark backstreets, he emerges next to a small, abandoned junkyard. As he's about to leave, however, he slowly pauses as his eyes tensely narrow and his breathing quickens slightly. Slowly reaching his right hand into his trenchcoat, he then walks as nonchalantly as he can into the abandoned junkyard as the shot slowly pans to Peter watching the Chameleon from a nearby rooftop. Quietly dropping onto the street below, Peter stealthily makes his way toward the junkyard and hides behind the outer wall. He peers his head into the entrance and, after not seeing the Chameleon anywhere, slowly walks in as quietly as a mouse. The junkyard is a rundown and dilapidated ruin infested with rats and roaches and all other pests. Piles of various wreckage and junk litter the place as Peter nervously and cautiously stalks around, gulping to himself as he keeps a keen eye out for-

DODGE DODGE DODGE

His Spider-Sense suddenly rings out, and he dives for cover behind a heap of scrap just in time to avoid a bullet to the heart. A short distance away, the Chameleon, smoking silenced pistol in hand, growls to himself at the missed shot as he swiftly moves to find a better angle to shoot from. Back with Peter, he raggedly breathes in and out as he barely peers out to see where the shot came from, but is unable to locate the Chameleon. Getting back into cover, he quickly comes up with a plan to get as close as he can to the Chameleon without getting shot before rushing the Soviet spy once he runs out of ammo. It's not the best plan, but he doesn't have any better ideas at the moment.

Taking in a deep, calming breath, Peter then rushes to a nearby pile of junk, yelping a little as he jumps to dodge another bullet and lands on his face behind said junk. Slowly getting up, he mockingly yells out, "I might as well stand out in the open if that's the best shot you've got!", before rushing off to hide behind another pile of scrap. "And yet you're cowering like a roach from an exterminator instead," Chameleon casually retorts as he stealthily stalks his way toward where Spider-Man is. He then decides to try to get Spider-Man to reveal where he currently is by loudly saying that he should have kept his nose out of this whole business and that he's now going to have to suffer the consequences of playing hero. Peter scoffs and replies that that's a rich statement coming from the Chameleon of all people; after all, isn't it the guy's job to stick his nose where it doesn't belong? Chameleon's face darkens at the mention of his codename, and he coldly, and almost predatorily, replies that that's some dangerous knowledge to have as he sneaks toward Spider-Man's position.

Peter, however, barely notices the Chameleon turning the corner on his cover and promptly leaps out of the way of the first shot, his Spider-Sense going off as he dodges. His Spider-Sense still ringing, he then nimbly dodges the follow-up shot before shooting out a line of webbing at the Chameleon. Chameleon swiftly shields himself from the webbing with his briefcase before firing another shot at Spider-Man, forcing him to abandon the web line and flee for better cover. Smirking to himself just a little, Chameleon calmly and slowly moves through the junkyard with his pistol at the ready. He then taunts Spider-Man and asks where all the little spider's bravado went as he carefully makes his way up to higher ground, with Spider-Man replying that he's a bit busy trying to not get shot at the moment.

Chameleon peers over the gigantic pile of scrap he's climbed up, scanning the area for where Spider-Man could be. After a few tense seconds of searching, he spots the vigilante's reflection in a nearby mirror before turning to look at where he's actually hiding, a small pile of scrap close to where Chameleon is. Chameleon smirks as he slowly walks back down a few steps and places his stuff down before rolling up his sleeves. Taking in a deep breath, Chameleon then pushes the junk forward and triggers a scrap avalanche as it tumbles toward Spider-Man. His Spider-Sense going off like klaxons, Peter's eyes widen when he sees the mountain of rubbish crashing toward him, and he desperately scrambles out of the way before he's turned into a bloody pancake. Shielding himself from the follow-up shot from the Chameleon with a large piece of metal, Peter then hurls it at the Chameleon, the spy's eyes widening as he just barely dodges the metal flying towards him. As Peter runs back into cover to take a breather, he quietly counts how many shots the Chameleon has fired at him and realizes that the Chameleon must be low on ammo now. Looking around, he spots a metal pipe nearby and quickly grabs it, swinging it around a little before wielding it as a makeshift club.

Peter, with the metal pipe in hand, now patiently and intensely waits for the Chameleon to make his move, his breathing steady yet shaky as seconds excruciatingly pass by. Suddenly, a noise clatters to Peter's left, and he springs into action, rushing over to the pile where he heard the noise come from. With the metal pipe raised above his head, Peter turns the corner... and finds the briefcase innocuously lying on the ground.

As he realizes that he's been duped, Peter's Spider-Sense suddenly rings out as the Chameleon comes out of hiding to fire one last shot. Peter, thinking quickly, grabs the suitcase with a line of webbing and uses it to block the bullet. He manages to shield himself in the nick of time, but his sudden movement causes him to lose his footing and slip to the ground unceremoniously, with the Chameleon taking advantage of this slipup to cut his losses and run for the entrance. Hurriedly picking himself up, Peter rushes after the Chameleon in a mad dash to catch him before he escapes.

But he's too late, as he instead finds an abandoned mask at the entrance and crowds of people nearly flooding the streets as they go about their day. Peter takes a few steps back before unleashing a strangled cry of frustration as he slams the metal pipe onto the ground and buries his head in his hands. Ranting a little about the Chameleon playing him like a fiddle, he then drags his hand over his face, loudly sighs, and walks over to where the suitcase is. Picking it up, he mutters to himself that he might as well return these to Oscorp if only to make this entire fiasco worth something as he grabs the abandoned mask as well.

We then cut to a calmly irate Gustav as he berates the Oscorp Tower security for their negligence and incompetence in letting a thief slip away with important documents, coldly asking if they have circus clowns for security guards. The guards stammeringly try to defend themselves, but Gustav interrupts them and coldly states that failure of this scale will not tolerated by either Oscorp or Mr. Osborn, who will most assuredly be hearing about this. As the guards pale at the certainty of losing their jobs, however, an intern hurriedly rushes over and, through tired panting, tells Gustav that something urgent has happened at the tower entrance and that he needs to follow him immediately. Smash cutting to the entrance where a group of surprised and somewhat excited Oscorp employees have gathered, Gustav, the intern, and the guards quickly rush over. Pushing his way through the group, Gustav stops dead in his tracks as his eyes widen and his jaw slightly drops at the sight before him. Innocently hanging from a line of webbing attached to the entrance ceiling is the Chameleon's suitcase, with a piece of paper taped onto the side.

"Retrieved this from a very naughty thief and thought you should have it back, Oscorp. You're all very welcome."

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

We then cut to Midtown High as Kitty and Liz finish giving their presentation to a small round of applause, their smiles fake and their hands subtly twitching. Mr. Harrington monotonously congratulates the two on a good project and rewards their project an A+ before telling them to return to their seats, which the girls do with a bit too much enthusiasm. As Kitty plops into her seat and lets out a long sigh, a cheekily grinning Peter whisperingly asks if she's changed her mind on Liz at all. Kitty turns to him and deadpans that she no longer hates Liz anymore: she now utterly loathes her mere existence. Peter sniggers a little before smiling and saying that for what it's worth, that was a really great project. Kitty smiles back in thanks as the teacher then calls Peter and Vogel up to share their project, with Peter grabbing his notes and standing up as Kitty wishes him good luck.

Spoiler: Alternate Endings

We then transition to a small, dimly lit washroom in a little house as a single fly slowly and quietly buzzes through the air. The shot slowly follows the fly as it flies through the air, with a phone beginning to monotonously ring from elsewhere in the house. As the fly temporarily lands on some bathtub curtains, the phone is eventually answered as a resonant voice in a Russian accent speaks over the phone a line from the poem "Wait For Me", with a raspy voice belonging to the Chameleon responding with the next line from the poem. The fly then buzzes off of the curtain and lands on a pale hand sticking out of the bathtub, with more flies gathering around the bathtub as Chameleon says, "The Oscorp operation was a failure, and we have a new threat to worry about: the Spider-Man."

---

We transition to a public park in Moscow, Russia, where a shaggy-bearded and barrel-chested man wearing a red cardigan, brown overcoat, and velvet scarf is happily feeding some pigeons. Reaching into a paper bag but finding nothing inside, the man pouts a little as he turns to the pigeons and apologetically says that he has no more crumbs to give them. Standing up and tossing the paper bag into a trash bin, he dons a fedora and leisurely strolls away with a subtle spring to his step. Making his way to the Kremlin, he's checked over by the guards before being let through. Entering a small office, with a small nameplate on the desk labeled "Josef Petkus" in Cyrillic, Josef hangs his hat and overcoat on a coat rack just as a phone on his desk begins to ring. Picking it up, Jozef politely greets the caller, only to be greeted by the raspy voice of the Chameleon, who recites a line from the poem "Wait For Me". Joesf's face grows serious as he replies with the next line of the poem, to which Chameleon then quickly replies, "Comrade, we have a problem.

We cut to closing credits.

---

Author's Notes:

This might just be the darkest and most intense episode since the first two, and I might accidentally cause moral panic with how dark this can get. Ah, well; no risks taken, no successes either.

Once again, a big thanks to @King crimson for being my beta reader and great advisor for these pitches. I wouldn't be able to do this without them.

This time, I really want to hear feeback from you all as I have two potential endings for this and I want to know which one you all prefer.

Sincerely, Duke William of.

 

[Dr Heaven M.D.]

So, I was re-reading Spy x Family, because it's very cute, and I realized that maybe someday Mary might be inspired to get into the family business, if she gets over her distrust of the Kermit Box.

So...

Spy and Family

Genre: Comedy, Thriller, Romance
Subgenre: Spies, Crime, Action
Format: TV Series​

Pitch: The story follows a man known only by his codename: Midnight. Considered the top agent of his organization, and one of his country's most priced assets, this agent threw away his birth name and all connections in the name of mantaining world peace.

After fulfilling his latest mission, he relocates into an enemy nation that has been in a cold war with his own for years. His mission is to make contact and gain as much information as possible with a high-ranking politician of a pro-war faction. The problem is that he is intensely reclusive and paranoid. His only weakness is his family, namely, his son, who studies at a prestigious private academy.

Said academy sometimes holds parties where high-ranking students and their parents meet up.

So, Midnight must acquire a wife and child to infiltrate the school.

Cue spittake.

What follows is his efforts to juggle his identity as Loid Forger, family-man and therapist, and Midnight, man of action and spy. We see him quickly become more and more fond of his family, while running himself ragged trying to keep everything secret and stable.

Spoiler: Relevant Characters

• Midnight/Loid Forger: International Man of Mystery, competence embodied, clumsy father and fake psychiatrist.
• Anya Forger: Precocious tomboy orphan. Possibly a psychic.
• Yor Forger (née Toogood): Elegant single lady that enters a marriage of convenience with Loid after a meet-cute. Possibly an assassin.
• Yuri Toogood: Yor's brother. Secretly a member of the secret police. Extremely annoying in-law.
• Chancellor Ivan Lockheart: Midnight's target, a dangerous and paranoid member of government.
• Damian Lockheart: Ivan's snobby son. Develops a crush on Anya after she knocks him on his ass with one punch.
• Franky "Scruffy" Dimestone: Midnight's intelligence contact. Provider of gadgets, babysitting duties and comic relief.

Spoiler: Notes

• Spy X Family also has the detail of the "wife" being a trained assassin of the enemy nation, and the daughter being a psychic. I didn't add that detail in because I wanted it to be distinct, but that could be added in if people thought it amusing. Maybe a foreshadowed reveal for the end of Season 1.
• This should probably have some details sandpapered down, since the cold war is still going on, unless it gets made after that point in the story. Unless we wanna go all-in on making Russia hate us.
• Maybe Franky could be played by Robin?

 

[overmind]

Alright, I've been working on and off on this pitch since the Luke Cage one. Unlike the previous one there hasn't been that much change, mostly because I feel that the Daredevil TV Show's First season was perfection incarnate...save for perhaps Madame Gao and adding the entire plot of the Hand without doing anything with it, save perhaps just saying "They Exist" and then forget about it for so long until they finally needed it. Unlike them, I made sure to limit and only hint at The Hand until the end, where we see what they are and then make use of it for the next show to be shown...that one is going to be my Everest more than likely.

I also disliked how they used the character of Stick. I'm not saying they should have made him a loving, caring part of Matt's past. but neither did they have to make him an unredeemable asshole who just doesn't give a shit about Matt nor anything about his life. I really liked the Frank Miller's adaptation of Stick where he is more of a stoic man, always pushing Matt forward, giving advice, and though he leaves Matt without anything so much as a goodbye, there's nonetheless hints that he did care for him in some level.

Well then, I give you:

TV Pitch:
Daredevil

GENRE: Action/Legal Drama

SUBGENRE: Science Fiction/Crime

FORMAT: TV Show (1 Season) ​

Set Up: Based on the Marvel Comics Character created by Stan Lee. It follows the early days of Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer-by-day who fights crime as a masked vigilante by night, juxtaposed with the rise of Wilson Fisk, a crime lord who plans to take over the city, both in the criminal sphere and the more lawful one as well. Matt must uncover the sinister conspiracy before Fisk's plans come to fruition, all the while hiding his secret identity, deal with the dichotomy of being a lawyer and a vigilante, as well as keeping his friends safe as they dive deep into the corruption of the city to save Karen Page's life.

Showrunner: Stephen J. Cannel and Frank Lupo
Composer: Garry Schyman

Spoiler: Summary

Episodes: 13
Episode Length: 47 to 55 Minutes.

During the story, there will be flashbacks showing the past of both Matt and the Kingpin's when thematically appropriate or to the scenes of the show.

Matt Murdock is a blind lawyer who teams up with his college friend, Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, in establishing their own firm in Hell's Kitchen after being fired. Unknown to Foggy however, Matt is a vigilante going by the name of "Daredevil" who stalks the night on the lookout for criminals, as well as those who the law cannot reach because of corruption. It is during one of his patrols that Matt discovers an ongoing conspiracy to take over organized crime in the city, while as Matt Murdock he's presented a case by Resident Hector Ayala, who needs help as his building and all the tenants in are on the verge of being evicted with little to no previous warning.

Matt and Foggy soon find themselves embroiled in another conspiracy, but one seemingly related to the one already being investigated by Matt, as he finds the connection between the mastermind behind organized crime and the one behind the eviction of Hector and the tenants is one and the same. The link found thanks to one of their new client, Karen Page, who is being framed for killing a Co-Worker, due to knowing too much about their company's dealings with the mastermind. Matt agree to give her protection as she works with them it uncover more of the conspiracy, soon reaching deeper into the governmental and police departments as they start harassing the young Firm, while also attempting to kill Karen.

The Mastermind, known as Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin, is keeping in the shadows as he has his underling, James Wesley, to deal with the lawyers and the witness. Meanwhile he makes deals with a member from the Yakuza, Nobu Yoshioka, to deal with the vigilante that's been bringing their operation to light. Fisk tries to keep a low profile in order to not be involved in any criminal activities in his bid to take over the city. He meets Vanessa Mariana, an Art dealer, and forms a deep bond with her, which she reciprocates, aiding him in his endeavors.

As Matt delves deeper into the criminal underground he manages to capture one of Fisk's underlings and tries to get him to talk, but is soon ambushed by Nobu Yoshioka, who manages to keep up with him and has no sense of pain. Daredevil manages to defeat him, seemingly killing him, but the underling is deadly wounded, he will soon die unless he gets medical attention. The police soon arrives, tipped off by Fisk, and is manipulated into trying to kill Daredevil. The underling, realizing that he'll die either way, tells Matt about the Kingpin's information network and about Leland Owlsley, who has all info on him, before helping him escape in spite.

Karen and Foggy have been working on the legal side, soon getting the id of Ben Urich, a reporter who's been looking into this for a long time, but is stymied by his own boss, who is in the Kingpin's pockets. Their investigation leads them to the mother of Fisk, now an old dementia ridden woman, who nonetheless manages to let slip one of the Kingpin's secrets; He killed his father when he was child.

The Kingpin decides to go public on the advice of Vanessa, no longer hiding and taking away much from everyone's investigation to get him to jail. Foggy manages to discover Matt's double identity one night when he call him for help after escaping the ambush. Foggy feels betrayed, even as he aids Matt, and tells him that while he can understand why he feels he needs to do this, he cannot agree to the disregard of the law. Their friendship is damaged as Foggy tells him he will be leaving after the current case for Karen is over.

The search for Owlsley is fraught with danger, as Karen nearly dies at Wesley's hands before turning the tables on him and killing him in return. Owlsley betrays Fisk (after trying to poison Vanessa) when he believes he's no longer fit to lead, being killed by him in return. Fisk tries to find all information and men who worked with him, but Matt saves one of them and has him turn himself in to the police. With the evidence of the Kingpins' criminal actions in the hands of the police, Fisk is arrested and taken to prison, but not before nearly escaping thanks to his hidden assets, before Matt appears in his costume and once more apprehends him.

Foggy leaves the firm as he told Matt, returning to his previous position at their old work. Karen remains with Matt, working as his secretary. Urich quits his job, taking an offer from a newspaper "The Daily Bugle". And Matt continues taking on the mantle of Daredevil as he protects the city.

In the night, inside the sewers, the form of Nobu Yoshioka can be seen. His body has many wounds that should have killed him, yet he remains standing. Some of them seem to be healing on their own as well. As he walks through the tunnels he's challenged by a man hidden in shadows, who demands to know what "The Hand" is planning. Nobu is still confident, as he taunts the figure, who does not answer in words, but with a sudden glow that emanates from his fist.

Spoiler: Main Characters

Matt Murdock/Daredevil: He is a man who was blinded in a car accident as a child, which heightened his other senses. After the death of his father he was approached by the elderly and blind Stick, who trained to hone his senses so he can 'see' using them, as well as learning martial arts. Murdock became a lawyer later on, as well as using his skills at night to fight the criminals and those who managed to escape the law as Daredevil. Though sometimes brutal when fighting, he refuses to take a life, and is a man who always strives to save and protect others.

Played by: Mickey Rourke
Alternate: Malcolm McDowell

Franklin Percy "Foggy" Nelson: Nelson is witty, fun-loving, and sociable, yet intelligent and professional when the situation demands it. Friends with Matt since College, he appreciates Matt seeing him as an equal and hearing about the beautiful women entangled in his love life. Both were determined to start their own law firm and make a difference, yet Foggy is the more pragmatic of the duo and thinks that they should take cases that actually pays the bills while Murdock wants to take cases that defend only the innocent.

Played by: Jim Belushi
Alternate: Albert Brooks

Karen Page: She is a cunning, optimistic woman with a humorous nature and an unshakable loyalty and love for the people closest to her. A former employee of "Union Allied", she discovered its corruption and was framed for murder. She joined Murdock and Nelson when they agreed to aid and represent her, working with them and reporter Ben Urich to expose Fisk afterwards to expose the corruption within. Karens' dive into the investigation aided in finding Fisk's secret which finally put him in jail.

Played by: Sharon Stone
Alternate: Geena Davis

Ben Urich: An investigative journalist at the New York Bulletin who specialized in writing exposes on the criminal empires, leading to the arrests of many high-ranking gangsters. A cynical and heavily determined man, he is not a fame or attention-seeker, and is motivated by a high sense of justice towards crime. His work and passion had dimmed due to him taking care of his ailing wife (as well as the blocks put by his boss) until Karen came to him for help in exposing the Kingpin. His investigative knowhow aided greatly in the investigation.

Played by: Mark Linn-Baker
Alternate: Eric Roberts

Vanessa Mariana: She is an art dealer who met and became enamored with Fisk. She remained loyal to Fisk even after learning of his criminal empire and vowed to stay with him in the wake of her being poisoned by Leland Owlsley, in his attempt to refocus Fisk's attention away from her. Inquisitive, smart, wide-eyed, humorous, and with strength of character, she is crucial in Fisk nearly getting away and taking over the city, being sent away in the end in order to protect her from the fallout of his incarceration.

Played by: Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Alternate: Terry Farrell

James Wesley: He is the right-hand man and confidant of Wilson Fisk who oversaw the day-by-day activities of his criminal empire. He was tasked with controlling all interests in Fisk's empire, and crossing off anyone who posed a risk, a job he took great pleasure in. Though viewed by others as his subordinate or servant, James Wesley viewed Wilson Fisk as his friend. Wesley looked out for Fisk's well-being not only in business but also in personal and health matters. He dies as he was trying to kill Karen after she finds out too much, only for her to reverse the roles.

Played by: Kris Kristofferson
Alternate: Rex Smith

Leland Owlsley: He is a ruthless financier and associate of Wilson Fisk who played a part in Fisk's crusade to take over the city, controlling Fisk's money flow and ensuring that his large profits were almost impossible to trace. He eventually lost faith in Fisk's leadership and attempted to assassinate Fisk's lover Vanessa Marianna in order to refocus him. When Fisk learned of this, he got revenge by killing him. He can be best summed up as a sardonic pragmatist, skeptical and weary of both enemies and allies.

Played by: Roy Scheider
Alternate: Bob Hoskins

Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin: He is a powerful businessman and crime lord with an interest with controlling New York City. Though Shy and introverted by nature, he is nonetheless capable of being extremely persuasive and charismatic when he needs to be. He has a keen understanding of psychology and social dynamics, which allows him to almost effortlessly manipulate people around him and exploit their psychological and emotional weaknesses. His biggest secret is that, when he was a child, he killed his father because he was beating his mother.

Played by: Ray Winstone
Alternate: Oliver Reed

Spoiler: Supporting Characters

Jack Murdock: He was a boxer and the father of Matt Murdock. In an attempt to gain the respect of his son, he refused to throw a boxing match and allowed Matt to claim the winnings from his bet. But this action cost Murdock his life as he was murdered by Roscoe Sweeney and his men. He was a deeply devoted father and wanted his son to have everything that he didn't have while growing up. Jack was a simple man, he didn't have much luck in school which is why he wanted his son to "hit nothing but books" and end up with a good career, unlike himself.

Played by: James Caan
Alternate: Sylvester Stallone

Paul Lantom: He is a priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York in New York City who offers up moral guidance and confession to those who come to him, including Matt Murdock, whose identity as Daredevil Lantom identifies and keeps secret. Lantom continues to offer assistance to Murdock throughout his vigilante missions, despite also trying to push him away from them. A man of humor, savvy, and one who has not closed himself to the world but instead embraces it.

Played by: Adam West
Alternate: Lee Van Cleef

Brett Mahoney: He is an officer with the New York City Police Department who assist Nelson and Murdock with their law cases, which eventually leads to an investigation of Wilson Fisk. Being an honest police officer at Hell's Kitchen, Mahoney got into an uneasy alliance with Daredevil. He's usually blocked by detectives Blake and Hoffman, who are in the payroll of the Kingpin, until Hoffman is saved by Daredevil and confesses to everything about his employer.

Played by: Tom Berenger
Alternate: Lance Henriksen

Anatoly Ranskahov: He is a leader of the Russian Mafia in New York City, alongside his brother Vladimir. Seeking to forge a name for themselves in the criminal underworld, the Ranskahovs allied with Wilson Fisk to work on distribution of a new kind of drug. As their operations were at risk because of Daredevil, Anatoly yearned for a closer cooperation with Fisk, although Vladimir opposed the idea. However, Anatoly accidentally embarrassed Fisk in front of Vanessa Marianna, which prompted Fisk to murder him and use his death to destroy the Russian Mafia.

Played by: Eric Allan Kramer
Alternate: Arnold Vosloo

Vladimir Ranskahov: He is a leader of the Russian Mafia, together with his brother Anatoly. Although the Ranskahovs found success moving supplies of heroin for the Yakuza who employed Nobu, when Anatoly was murdered by Wilson Fisk, Vladimir went on a one-man war against him. Matt, knowing he had information on Fisk, went after him and managed to subdue him, only for Nobu to ambush them both. After briefly teaming up with Daredevil, Ranskahov accepted his fate and was gunned down in a final shootout after giving him the information on Owlsley.

Played by: Dolph Lundgren
Alternate: James Remar

Nobu Yoshioka: He is a high-ranking member of the "Yakuza" who worked with Wilson Fisk, sharing in the profits of their criminal activities. While Fisk's criminal empire was threatened by Daredevil, Yoshioka had taken it upon himself to kill the vigilante. During his battle with Daredevil, Yoshioka almost had victory against his enemy, before he was outwitted and burned alive. A calm and confident man, Nobu is revealed at the end to have survived and to be no worse for wear, before being confronted by a mysterious man whose hand glowed.

Played by: Ken Watanabe
Alternate: Sho Kosugi

Spoiler: Minor Characters

Hector Ayala: A Hispanic man who was being threatened, along with his neighbors and son, to be evicted. He goes to Nelson and Murdock for aid, giving them the impetus to investigate more once they discover the corruption on United Allied.

Played by: Danny Trejo

Turk Barrett: Small time crook who sells guns to criminals, managed to escape from Luke Cage and find employment under the Ranskahov brothers, before being captured by Daredevil.

Played by: Richard Pryor

Mitchell Ellison: Ben Urich's Boss and the Editor-In-Chief of the New York Bulletin. He was under the Kingpin's employ and squashed any story that may implicate him, he even let them know about Urich's work.

Played by: Harry Dean Stanton

Melvin Potter: An awkward and shy man. Melvin has problems speaking to others and relating to people, preferring to work in his workshop. he helps Daredevil after he saves his one friend, and makes him a suit he wears by the end of the series that serves as both costume and armor.

Played by: Bronson Pinchot

Stick: Matt's blind mentor. Stoic, relentless, always pushing him to improve. Stick helped Matt move forward from his parent's death, and disappeared from his life as mysteriously as he arrived in it.

Played by: Kirk Douglas

A.N.: So, I had the final part hint at Iron Fist being the next TV Show to be made. I kind of want that to be the way to link the shows together, showing first one, then hinting at the next character so they know what to see next, while also making each show their own adventure that does not need previous watching to enjoy, though it would enhance it if you did. I'm guessing that by Season two this will either succeed or will have to be rethinked, but for now it's good enough. As it is, I'll leave it like this for now, and focus on something different for my next pitch.