Chris Fritz's Blog - Posts Tagged "writing"
Hello world it's me
Hey everybody, my name is Chris Fritz and this is the inaugural post on my writers blog. I guess I'll start out with how I became a writer. It all really started in college, I majored in filmmaking and one class really stood out to me was a class I took on script writing. In this class our big assignment for the semester was to write a full length screenplay. Once I wrote that one screenplay I quite enjoyed it. I ended up writing two more full length screenplays and several short ones. So it was shortly after I graduated college and I wanted to write another screenplay. I started brainstorming up one idea for my next story and the more I thought about it the more I realized that this one Idea was too big to be a screenplay but it might just work as a novel. Quite a long time later I published this idea into my first epic fantasy novel entitled the Universe Key. The Universe Key now available on Amazon. Ever since I published that first book independently I thought I might as well give this a legitimate shot at becoming a writer. I'm going to write this first novel into a series of epic fantasy novels so stay tuned for that. I'm currently working on the second instalment. I'm hoping this blog will help me build a fanbase and ultimately this will be a place where I can post short fiction that I work on and post updates on how my projects are going. So stay tuned and we'll see where the story takes us together.
Writing during a pandemic
I would be lying if I said the recent covid 19 pandemic hasn't affected my life in any way. When I'm not writing I'm a stand up comedian and all the comedy shows got canceled. That was the biggest bummer of my household. That job did involve a lot of writing so I think it runs parallel with my authorship. I also have a day job that I work at full time. Recently I got cut down to part time do to the pandemic. These two circumstances have given me a lot more time during the day to write. Before the pandemic my life was a precarious balancing act of work, stand up, writing, and somehow playing video games most of the time. With two of these activities pretty decimated it's given me more to write and play video games. I like to think some other authors have been given just as much free time and will use it to write some very compelling pieces of literature. I can say without hesitation that I'll release my second novel ahead of schedule. I wish I could say that the virus itself has inspired me to virus themed story but that is not the case here. From a narrative stand point I think it would be kind of boring to have a virus antagonist as it cannot be seen, heard, smelt, touched, or tasted. But maybe I'm being pedantic. I hope the general populace has had more time to stay inside and read more books. I even tried to sell my first novel by making a Facebook post that said stay inside and read my book so we can flatten the curve. Something like that. Now the only times I can go out into public are for work, groceries and black lives matter protests. With this imperative my next book will be done before I know it and it'll be a rip roaring and curve flattening read. Follow me on twitter if you can @chrisfritzcomic and I'll see you later.
What inspires me?
I recently asked myself what inspired me to become a writer and tell fantasy stories. I remember growing up with the classics, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Harry Potter, all these were immensely popular when I was growing up. I can say this was the first era of inspirational stories that brought me into the world of story telling. Also there's one thing that has probably been my biggest inspiration for most of my life and that's the show Avatar: the Last Airbender. I could write for days about everything I love about this show but I think what really made me fall in love with it was how deep it was. How it combined a lot of different sources of inspiration to create a whole series that worked on almost every single level. It's bursting at the seems with eastern philosophy, social politics, and unique psychology. If you look deep enough there's even meta commentaries. I'll definitely talk about this show more on this blog in the future. I also grew up reading comic books from Marvel and DC. I recently heard someone describe the Marvel fandom as a religion and I could do nothing but agree with that statement. I think I was indoctrinated into that Marvel cult at a young age and now I couldn't get out if I wanted to. An important moment in my life was when the first avengers movie came out. I probably saw that movie 26 times in the theatres. I thought it was so good that I just wanted to watch it over and over again until I memorized every line of dialogue and every camera shot. Like I just went crazy for a while. At the time I thought that telling a story with that many main characters interacting with each other was impossible for super hero movies. Impossible until someone did it. Eventually I put it together that someone gets paid to make these movies and that's when I decided to go to school for filmmaking. I needed a career somehow. It put me on the path to now. As some more modern sources of inspiration I like the show Game of Thrones even though I became a fan of it after the show ended. I just bought DVDS and binged watched all the episodes. I also like the Netflix show the Witcher, a show called Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, as well as the reboot of Voltron legendary defender. As for what inspired me to write the Emilaba stories that I'm currently working on I had a million little pieces of inspiration that I latched on to and it take too long to go over them now. But this post has been a good place to start.
Typewriters?
I recently watched a movie called Trumbo. It's a biopic about about Dalton Trumbo a Hollywood screenwriter in fifties and sixties. He was persecuted by the government for his involvement with communist groups. He spent time in prison and was eventually blacklisted from the industry. He ended up winning two Oscars for screenwriting but that's not what fascinated me about his story. When he was desperate for writing work he worked for a shitty movie studio and wrote a metric shit ton of shitty screenplays. All written anonymously. He had an inspiring work ethic and churned out god knows how many screenplays at a speed of approximately one screenplay every four days. To do all of this he worked sixteen hour days, smoked like a chimney and took pep pills. Definitely putting my work ethic to shame as I've only written three screenplays in my entire life. The thing that fascinated me about this was this was in the sixties and they did all of their writing on typewriters. When I think about chucking my computer and replacing it with a typewriter to do all my writing I think I would go insane. Because I make a lot of typos. Typos on a typewriter means you have to throw the page of paper away and write it again only better. This would have to go on and on for five hundred pages until I've chopped down a forest and pulled out all my hair. It makes me think that I didn't have the blessing of modern computer technology then I probably wouldn't have become a writer. To think that someone's life could be changed drastically in this way. So let me ask myself this question. Could I be a writer if I could only write with typewriters? I don't think I can answer that now. I only remember coming into contact with a typewriter once in my life. I was ten years old and I saw one for sale at a garage sale. I remember buying it and taking it home. I found it difficult to get the keys to strike the paper. Also the ribbon was old and I had no idea where to find typewriter ribbon. So I didn't use that typewriter for too much writing. So thank you computers and especially spellcheck. There's one more great question that Trumbo gave me. I ask this question of myself as well as you the audience. Is it better to write a lot of books that are just okay or to write only a handful of books that are masterpieces. Do I go forth and write a metric shit tone of crap or do I write a few glorious and spectacular pieces of literature that will be enjoyed for generations. The choice is up to you dear audience. Hurry with your answer I have a career to think about.
The Suit
There's one writing project that I've started and never finished that I kind of regret abandoning. It was a science fiction screenplay about an army ranger and a mad scientist who team up to steal a prototype, high tech, battle exoskeleton from the army and use it to fight crime on the dystopic crime infested streets of Los Angeles.
If you read that description and think it's a good story then thank you. I got half way through writing it and then gave up for two reasons I think. One was I was in college when I was writing it and when I graduated college I just got sucked into the havoc of finding a job and a place to live and actually making something out of my post grad life. Some of my time for writing screenplays had to go out the window and this screenplay was the one who had to suffer.
The second reason is I don't think the over all premise for this screenplay was very good. I think the way I wrote it was kind of a misstep and a misdirection for me and I just couldn't put myself into the world of the characters I made or go along with the plot I wanted. I think it wasn't very original and my insecurities got the better of me. So in a way I'll dispel some of my insecurities and post some chunks of my abandoned screenplay here on my blog. The title for this story was just called "The Suit" and who knows maybe I'll rewrite it someday in some incarnation if I can muster up the courage but for now here's a blast from the past of me in my college days. I can't assure the quality on this so read at your own risk.
ext. Los angeles streets - day
It is a hot summer day on the crime riddled streets of Los Angeles. Major street gangs commit crimes in broad daylight because they aren't afraid of any police and if they did encounter any they would just have a shoot out with them.
Damien(v.o.)
LA. Most people know as the city of angels where anybody can make it and become a star. I know it as some place completely different. A place where gangs and crime have turned the city into a war zone. I joined the army to help people. little did I know I would be shipped off to the middle east to police people who didn't need to be policed. Who am I? I'm Damien James and I am lost.
int. gym - night
Colonel MARK WILLIAMS enters the gym. He is wearing a formal army uniform and holding a manila folder. He looks very out of place as he crosses the gym floor and approaches DAMIEN JAMES who is finishing a set of cross legged pull ups.
mark Williams
Damien James.
DAMIEN
Hi colonel.
James gets up form the machine and the two shake hands.
DAMIEN
What brings you here?
MARK WILLIAMS
Your transfer request came through.
Williams hands him the folder and he opens it up and looks through it.
MARK WILLIAMS
It's an experimental weapons testing project. Its codename is project S.
DAMIEN
Excellent I'll do it.
Damien trys to hand the folder back to mark.
MARK WILLIAMS
Keep it. You sure you don't want to think about it? You know a lot of good men have passed on this.
DAMIEN
I don't need to think about I want to do it.
MARK WILLIAMS
You know when you asked me to find you something like this I was shocked. Didn't your first tour of duty go well?
DAMIEN JAMES
It did, I just need a change if pace.
MARK WILLIAMS
Well I hope you find it.
DAMIEN
Thanks.
The two shake hands and Mark walks away.
ext. street - night
Damien is walking back home to his apartment after a long day. He almost makes it to the door of his apartment building when he hears something. That something sounds like a struggle coming from just around the block. Damien turns away from his apartment and runs towards the sound of the struggle. He turns the street corner to find a WOMAN in her mid 50's who has been knocked on the ground and a MUGGER running away from her. Damien goes over and helps the woman up.
woman
That man stole my purse!
Damien starts running after the mugger. He starts gaining on him and their foot chase is on. After a while the mugger turns a corner and runs into an alleyway. Once he's there he runs into three gang member friends of his. He stops running once he meets up with them.
mugger
Hey guys can you help me out!
gang member #1
Oh no, what did you do this time?
MUGGER
I was trying get a payday and some loser thinks he could stop me.
gang member #2
Do you really get off on purse grabbing?
MUGGER
Hey don't judge my hobbies.
GANG MEMBER #1
Alright we'll help you this once.
Just then Damien rounds the corner into the alley way and them four of them are right there waiting with an ambush. They start a classic fist fight and Damien is eager to fight back. They all trade punches but of course with it being four on one the fight isn't very fair. Eventually they knock Damien down to his knees and one of the gang members pulls out a gun and puts it to Damiens head. This discourages him from getting back up.
Gang member #3
You got guts man. But whatever you think you're doing here isn't worth getting shot in the head. But like I said, you have guts. If you ever decide you want to do something with your life, join the 11 five mob. We can give you some much needed focus.
The gang member takes the gun away from his head. The other two members punch him in the face and throw him down into a pile of trash bags. The four criminals run off and away from their defeated opponent. Damien tries to pick himself up out of his defeat as he watches his opponents run away.
ext. desert - day
A helicopter is flying through the air across the baron desert. Damien is inside the chopper as it makes its way to the secluded testing facility.
int. army base - day
General ARMOND DIXON and Colonel Williams are walking through the halls of the facility.
MARK WILLIAMS
He arrives today. I'm sure you're anxious to get the testing under way.
Armond
Anxious is not the word I would use, I want to see the result of the millions of dollars that went into making this debacle. That doctor promised us a revolution in weaponry and so far I haven't seen anything explode.
MARK WILLIAMS
Well I'm sure we will change that today.
ARMOND
And tell me why do we have only one test subject? We can speed this whole thing up if we get more guinea pigs to test the equipment.
MARK WILLIAMS
Doctor Jordan was very adamant that as few personnel as possible were involved in the testing.
ARMOND
Yeah whatever I just hope we can finally get some results.
The two get to the door to doctor Jordans laboratory. They enter.
INT. LABORATORY - DAY
The General and the colonel enter the room it is filled with desks computer terminals. DR.DONALD JORDAN is sitting at one of the computers typing away. He doesn't greet the two as they enter.
ARMOND
Dr. Jordan.
The doctor doesn't respond.
ARMOND
Dr. Jordan!
Jordan turns.
donald
Wah! Oh general it's only you. You scared me there.
ARMOND
Working hard doctor?
DONALD
Hey I'm just going over some calculations and command protocols for the tests.
ARMOND
Well the test subject should be arriving soon. We should meet him at the helipad.
DONALD
Yes of course, let me just log out of here.
Donald turns back to the computer and logs himself out. He grabs a couple of his things and gets out of the chair.
DONALD
Okay lets go.
Donald walks over to the general and the three walk out of the room.
INT. ARMY BASE - DAY
The trio walk down the hall.
DONALD
We are going to change the world.
ARMOND
Doctor I have a serious question for you. I gave you a dozen suitable candidates for testing and you only approved one of them, why is that?
DONALD
Well I had to be very picky when it came to things like psychological profiles, health, risk factors, plus I really think we need to be cautious when dealing with experimental technologies. I mean it's not like we are driving around tanks here.
ARMOND
Yes well you've spent a lot of taxpayers money and the government does not like wasting it.
DONALD
Well depending on how the tests go we might need to wast a little bit more.
Armond flashes a strange look at Donald.
DONALD
Or everything could be perfect we'll see.
The trio reach a door. Armond opens it and lets Jordan and Williams through. It leads outside.
ext. army base - day
The fenced off base is in the middle of the desert. It is the only thing around for a hundred miles in any direction. Damiens helicopter approaches the bases airspace. It stops and hovers above a helipad. It slowly lands on the helipad. As the propellers wined down Armond and Donald approach the helipad area. The propellers stop and the door to the helicopter opens. Damien steps out and down on to the helipad. He walks up to the general and the doctor and they meet half way.
ARMOND
Damien James, my name is General Armond Dixon and this is doctor Donald Jordan.
Damien shakes Armonds hand then shakes Jordans.
DONALD
Its good to meet you.
DAMIEN
The same.
ARMOND
Come this way we'll show you what you'll be working with.
Armond leads Damien inside one of the facilities.
DAMIEN
Getting right down to business?
ARMOND
Yeah you don't have a problem with that do yah?
DAMIEN
No sir.
DONALD
You're going to love what we've cooked up for you.
They aproach the door to the testing lab. Armond opens the door and lets Donald inside.
ARMOND
Yes we will be jumping in with both feet so I hope you recover from jetlag quickly.
DAMIEN
What jetlag?
Damien enters and Armond follows right behind him.
INT. testing hangar - DAY
Jordan, Damien and Armond cross the wide open hangar making their way to the center of the room.
DONALD
So Damien I'm sure you've done the required reading.
DAMIEN
Yeah that was a really thick instruction manual.
DONALD
But you read it right?
DAMIEN
Uh yeah.
The trio make it to the center of the hangar where there is a high tech pedestal with the XY-10,000 exo-suit standing up right on top of it. Around it are two engineers, one on a computer and one moving around checking the suit and making final preparations. The trio approach the pedestal
DONALD
Well here she is the XY-10,000 exo-suit.
ARMOND
The guys around the base just call it the suit.
DONALD
I never approved of that name.
DAMIEN
So what does the suit do?
DONALD
Well it's supposed to increase your agility, speed, strength, and fighting ability several thousand percent. But we will find out the full potential of this thing when we start testing.
ARMOND
So let these eggheads strap you in and we will monitor you progress in there.
Armond points to a large window that leads to Jordans monitoring computer lab.
DAMIEN
Alright.
Damien steps up on the pedestal, Jordan and Armond walk over to an entrance to the monitoring lab.
INT. LABORATORY - DAY
There is a person at every single computer terminal. They are facing the wall sized window looking out to the the testing hangar where Damien is getting the suit on. Donald and Armond enter the room. Donald puts on a head set.
DONALD
(into head set)
Okay Damien can you hear me?
INT. TESTING HANGAR - continuous
Damien has one part of the suit on. The head apparatus that allows him to talk to Dr. Jordan in the lab. The two engineers are helping him put on the rest of the suit.
DAMIEN
(into head set)
Yeah doc I hear you.
DONALD
Alright we will be able to talk to each other through the suit. I'll be giving you instructions.
As the engineers attach the metal appendages to his limbs Damien moves around a little bit testing his own flexibility.
DONALD
We'll also be able to monitor all your actions and reactions with the equipment. This is important if you are ever in pain at anytime speak up.
DAMIEN
(sarcasm)
Really because whenever I'm in pain I'm usually as silent as possible.
The engineers finally finish putting Damien in the suit. He takes a few steps forward.
DONALD
Okay the suits on you, how are you feeling?
DAMIEN
So far so good.
DONALD
Okay we are going to take things slowly.
Damien jumps off of the platform and on to the ground. When he comes down a small crater is made at the point of impact and some of the equipment is knocked over.
DAMIEN
(startled)
Oh my god I'm so sorry.
DONALD
Um it's fine just walk yourself to the south side of the hangar.
Damien slowly walks over to the south side of the hangar. He walks a little awkwardly because he is still getting used to the suit. As he walks, the south side entrance wall opens up pretty soon the entire wall has reseated away just to reveal miles of open desert. Damien makes his way to the opening.
DONALD
Okay that's good enough.
Damien stops short of the desert.
DONALD
Right now we will test your speed. So when ever you're ready just run out into the desert as fast as you can.
DAMIEN
Okay.
Damien gets down into a runners stance.
DONALD
Just whenever you're ready.
DAMIEN
Count down.
DONALD
What?
DAMIEN
Can you just count down from three. I need to get ready.
DONALD
Okay. One. Two. Three.
Damien bursts through the opening with great speed. He runs through the open desert at an inhuman speed.
DAMIEN
WOOOOOOAAAAHHHH!!!!
INT. LABORATORY - DAY
The screens in the room light up with figures and data from the suits use. The scientists in the room are a flutter with excitement
scientist#1
He just hit ninety miles per hour.
scientist#2
Vitals are normal.
scientist#3
Suit integrity at one hundred percent.
EXT. DESERT - DAY
Damien keeps running at a break neck pace when he trips on a rock. He trips a little but does not fall down. He slows down and catches himself for a moment. As soon as he realizes he is fine he gets back to his running.
DONALD
You okay Damien?
DAMIEN
Yeah I'm fine just a little slip up.
DONALD
Do you know how fast you are going?
Damien looks at the speed icon on his headset display.
DAMIEN
Uh yeah 96 miles an hour.
DONALD
That's right, do you think you can go faster?
DAMIEN
Oh I definitely can.
Damien braces himself and starts to run even faster.
INT. LABORATORY - DAY
SCIENTIST#1
He just ramped it up to 120 miles per hour.
DONALD
(into mouthpiece)
Nice job Damien, this is a very successful test.
EXT. DESERT - DAY
DAMIEN
No I got more.
Damien jumps up in to the air he goes really high up and clears a long distance. He comes down and jumps a second time. He goes up higher and farther.
DONALD
Whoa wait a minute there hot shot we haven't cleared jumping yet.
DAMIEN
Trust me.
He jumps one more time and he goes up higher and farther then before. He flies through the air and lands on top of a large desert mesa. He crashes down on it and gets his footing back.
INT. LABORATORY - DAY
DONALD
Alright talk to me people, give me some stats.
SCIENTIST#1
Him and the suit are both in in good condition.
SCIENTIST#3
His top speed was 126 miles per hour and his top height was 512 feet.
DONALD
(into mouthpiece)
Congratulations Damien you just broke the human land speed record.
EXT. DESERT - DAY
DAMIEN
Isn't it cheating if I'm wearing this suit?
DONALD
We'll let the Olympic committee figure that out. For now you just come back to base so we can start the next test.
DAMIEN
Roger that.
Damien jumps of the large rock back in the direction of the base.
INT. LABORATORY - DAY
Jordan takes off his head set as Armond walks up to him and pats him on the back.
ARMOND
Looks like we have a success.
Armond walks away from him.
EXT. ARMY BASE - DAY
Jordan and Damien are walking across the base. Damien is still wearing the suit.
DONALD
So what do you think of the suit so far?
DAMIEN
This thing is awesome. When I signed up for this I never would have dreamed that this is what I'd be working with.
DONALD
Yeah this suit is definitely going to be a game changer. That last exercise was to test your speed this next one is to test your agility.
The two arrive at their destination which is a large obstacle course in the center of the base. The course is tremendous. It is filled with a wide array of stupendous and possibly deadly obstacles. General Dixon is stands in front of the course admiring it. He turns around and walks up to Donald and Damien.
ARMOND
Pretty impressive huh? I designed this course myself. Made it especially for these tests.
DAMIEN
It's alright. Let me guess I have to go through this course before the clock runs out.
ARMOND
Actually there isn't a clock but we can get one of you think it's too easy.
DAMIEN
Forget about it. Lets just get going.
ARMOND
Very well I'll show you to the starting gate.
Donald walks off and Damien follows Armond to the obstacle course starting gate.
DAMIEN
So just in case what is the best time for this course.
ARMOND
I don't know you're the first one to run it. Made it just these tests remember.
DAMIEN
I'm honored.
ARMOND
Yeah I can't wait until the test phase is over. I really want to use one of those suits in the field.
The two come up to the starting line.
ARMOND
Alright James good luck and don't damage the suit.
Armond walks off to the observation area.
DAMIEN
Thanks I guess.
Damien goes up to the starting line and starts stretching. Armond enters the observation area and goes up to Donald who is behind a computer terminal looking at some statistics.
ARMOND
Your first test went over pretty well lets hope this test goes over just as good.
DONALD
Yeah I hope so.
Donald goes over to a microphone on a desk and holds down a button on it.
DONALD
(into mic)
Alright Damien are you ready?
His voice comes out of speakers so Damien can hear him on the obstacle course. Damien looks over to the observation area and gives Donald a thumbs up.
DONALD
Okay we'll start on go. Ready...go!
The gate goes up and Damien gets into the obstacle course. The first obstacle is a rope jungle. He jumps up and swings from one rope to another across the area on to a platform on the other side. The next obstacle is a large swinging bar. Damien grabs the bar and swings over the gap and on to the next platform.
DONALD
Looks like he's beating your course general.
ARMOND
Those were the easy parts lets see how good he is when he has to climb over a twenty foot wall.
Damien comes up to the aforementioned twenty foot wall. When he sees it he speeds up, leads with his shoulder, and crashes through it.
DONALD
Oh ho wow.
Armond goes over to Donald's desk microphone and talks in to it.
ARMOND
You were supposed to go over the wall.
DONALD
Um you got to press the button. If you want him to hear you.
ARMOND
Oh.
Armond holds down the microphone button.
ARMOND
You were supposed to go over the wall not through it.
Damien stops running the course and turns to look at the guys in the observation area.
DAMIEN
I'm sorry I thought I had to smash through the wall! I'm gonna keep going!
Damien goes back to running the course.
ARMOND
What ever this next part is one of my favorites. The crusher.
Damien comes to the next obstacle which consists of three sections of two parallel walls that crash in to each other at random intervals. Damien runs through the first pair of walls untouched. He gets in to the second pair of walls. As the walls start to crash in on him, Damien puts his arms out to his sides catching the walls and stopping them. After a moment the machinery controlling the walls starts to spark and smoke. The machinery breaks leaving the walls wear they are. Damien walks through to the final pair of walls. He does the same thing to those walls. He holds out his arms and breaks them. He made it through the obstacle. His next obstacle is a high wire between two platforms twenty feet over a pool of water.
ARMOND
Lets see how he gets that clunky suit across that thin wire.
Damien take a running start and jumps from one platform to the next with out even using the high wire.
DONALD
That's how he does it.
Damien comes up to his last obstacle which appears to just be a large field of dirt and barbed wire.
ARMOND
Yeah, yeah.
Armond turns to his left to yell at one of his subordinates.
ARMOND
Que the land mines!
DONALD
Land mines?
Damien enters the muddy part of the obstacle course and as soon as he does land mines start going off all across the field at random intervals. He quickly runs across the field as explosions erupt at his feet. As he runs he ends up stepping on one of the land mines. It blows up under his foot and he is thrown in to the air. Donald gasps as he watches from the observation area. Damien does three flips in the air and lands right back down on his feet. As soon as he hits the ground he starts running through the mud field again. The explosions keep going off but the begin to die down as Damien exits the field. With that he has completed the obstacle course and crosses the finish line. He takes a moment to catch his breath as Donald and Armond come out from the observation area and meet him in the finish area.
DONALD
Way to go Damien you did fantastic!
ARMOND
You weren't that great.
DONALD
Oh don't mind him he's just butt hurt because you beat his course. You did great.
DAMIEN
Thanks that was one of the more difficult courses I've seen. Didn't expect the mines.
DONALD
Yeah you can thank general butt hurt for that.
ARMOND
Hey land mines are an imminent threat to anyone operating the suit. We needed to test for them.
DAMIEN
Yeah I'm sure. What was my time?
DONALD
Two minutes and twenty seconds. I got to tell ya, you had me worried at times.
Armond walks off.
DAMIEN
Oh really?
DONALD
Yeah I spent a lot of time making that suit and I would hate to see it damaged.
Donald walks off and after a moment Damien follows him.
INT. TESTING HANGAR - DAY
Damien is standing in the middle of the hanger wearing the suit. Jordan is in a smaller room in the hangar with all of the computer terminals watching Damien from behind a glass window. He pushes a button on his headset to talk to Damien.
DONALD
Okay Damien the next thing we want to test is the suits capacity to improve your fighting ability. Now do you think you are good at hand to hand combat?
DAMIEN
Yeah I think I've had my fair share of knockouts.
DONALD
Well if correct this suit should give you the martial arts skills of Bruce lee, Jet Li, and Jackie Chan combined.
DAMIEN
Thats a lot of martial arts skills.
DONALD
Yes it is.
As he says that several ropes start to fall down from the hangar ceiling. Damien notices this and looks up to find their origin. Finds a group of ninjas wearing all black pajamas and masks sliding down the ropes and landing on the ground. Some have weapons like nun chucks and sai, and some have only their fists. Soon enough Damien is completely surrounded in ninjas. He takes up a fighting stance and readies himself for attack.
DAMIEN
Who are these guys?
DONALD
They are the shoalin tigers martial arts fighting team. You're going to be testing your fighting abilities on them.
DAMIEN
Do they have health insurance?
DONALD
They all signed wavers so just go crazy.
DAMIEN
Cool.
Donald walks over to a microphone on a desk that goes out to the entire hangar. He presses the button and speaks in to the microphone.
DONALD
And ..... begin!
One by one the ninjas attack Damien and one by one he knocks them down and dish out attacks of his own. Pretty soon he is fighting like a martial arts master. In a desperate attempt some of the ninjas start to dog pile on top of Damien and his suit. Damien is quickly covered in ninjas. The pile starts to pulsate and Damien shakes off all the ninjas with an explosive move.
DONALD
Woh.
The fighters keep coming. One ninja attacks Damien with some nun chucks. Damien quickly knocks him on his back and takes the nun chucks from him. He uses his newly attained weapon to knock out three more ninjas. He wields the nun chucks with masterful precision. Finally he throws the nun chucks across the room at the last ninja standing. The nun chucks fly through the air and hit the ninja square in the face knocking him to the ground. With that all of the ninjas from the fighting team are either knocked out unconscious or writhing on the floor in pain.
DONALD
Well I think this test is a success.
DAMIEN
Yeah me too.
INT. TESTING HANGAR - DAY
Damien and Dr. Jordan are walking through the hangar towards the next test for the suit.
DAMIEN
Wow I can not believe this suit. I couldn't fight that well before I put it on. How does it do that?
DONALD
It's a special fighting command protocol. I designed it myself. It'll activate whenever the user needs it.
DAMIEN
Hopefully it'll come in handy for the field. So what's the next thing we are going to test.
DONALD
The next test is right here.
The two approach a green army jeep that is parked in the hangar.
DONALD
You see this car?
DAMIEN
Yeah.
DONALD
It weighs 3,156 pounds. You are going to lift it.
DAMIEN
Lift it?
DONALD
Yes. This exercise is to test to suits ability to increase your strength. So for all intensive purposes I want you to lift it.
DAMIEN
Okay I'll see what I can do.
Damien goes over to the jeep. He bends down and gets his hands on it. He gets a good grip on the jeep and starts to lift up. Just like the doctor said the suit allows him to starts lifting the jeep up off the ground. The doctor takes a few steps back as Damien starts to lift the vehicle higher over his head.
DAMIEN
Holy crap you were right this thing does increase my strength.
Damien starts to lose his balance. He starts to trip up and start wobbling form side to side.
DAMIEN
Oh oh no!
DONALD
Ah be careful!
Damien tries to keep his balance while holding the jeep but he does not succeed. Donald runs away as Damien falls to the ground dropping the jeep on the ground crushing it.
DAMIEN
Don't worry I'm okay. Oh man. was this test successful?
DONALD
Yes but not in the conventional sense.
DAMIEN
It means you broke the jeep.
INT. TESTING HANGAR - DAY
All the damage from the previous test has been cleaned up. Damien is wearing the suit and Donald is ready for more testing.
DAMIEN
Sorry I kind of bonked up that other test doc. What's next?
DONALD
Oh I think you are going to like this next test very much.
Donald turns to some other scientists in the hanger.
DONALD
Okay bring em in.
Some of the other scientists come up to Damien and start attaching something to the suit.
DAMIEN
What are these guys doing?
DONALD
They are giving you some fire power.
The scientists attach two gauntlet like machines to the forearms on Damiens suit. They attach some wires and make sure every thing in the suit is running well. As soon as the gauntlets are fully attached to the suit the scientists step away. Damien marvels at what they added to the suit.
DAMIEN
What are these things?
DONALD
These gauntlets are the XY-10,000's primary weapon systems.
DAMIEN
What do they do?
DONALD
We're about to find out.
Just as he says that two other scientists start wheeling in a large concrete wall with a a red target spray painted on it. They bring it in and stop it about forty yards away from Damien.
DONALD
The first weapon in the gauntlet is a new form of electro-sonic cannon. You are going to use that to destroy that wall.
DAMIEN
Great. How do I do that?
DONALD
The controls for the gauntlet are simple. First make fist.
Damien makes a fist with his right hand. The gauntlet on his right arm starts to make a whirring noise like it is powering up.
DONALD
Next point your gauntlet towards the wall.
Damien aims his right gauntlet at the wall. Donald gets out of the way between Damien and the wall.
DONALD
If you're having trouble aiming there's a targeting program that's on your display.
Without a doubt a circle with some cross hairs show up on Damiens display. As he moves his right arm the cross hairs move with it showing what exactly he's aiming at. He aims at the concrete wall.
DAMIEN
How do I fire?
DONALD
Uh right firing. Just push your four fingers in to your palm.
DAMIEN
Alright.
Damien does what the doctor told him and all of a sudden a beam of purple energy is fired out of a cylindrical barrel of the gauntlet. The shot of energy flies across the room and hits the concrete wall. The wall is shattered in to pieces.
DAMIEN
Wow!
DONALD
That's exactly what I said when I discovered it.
DAMIEN
What did I just fire?
DONALD
It's electricity bombarded with the right sonic frequency. If it's built up and aimed in the right direction it does ... well that. (points to shattered wall) I stumbled upon it back when I was in college.
DAMIEN
That's a game changer.
DONALD
That's the idea. Now I think we have enough data we need. But just to be safe would you mind testing it a couple more times?
As he says that some more scientists bring in three more concrete walls with targets on them similar to the one Damien just destroyed. In addition some concrete slabs with targets on them start repelling down from the ceiling on wires.
DAMIEN
I do not mind one bit.
DONALD
Good just let me get out of your way.
Donald moves about a hundred feet away from him and gets behind some bullet proof glass in a safety zone.
DONALD
Okay go!
Damien starts charging up the cannons on his gauntlets. He aims and fires the same purple energy as before right at the other concrete walls. He takes a couple shots and all the concrete walls shatter just like before. With those gone he moves on to shoot at the suspended targets in the air. He fires in quick succession and the targets all shatter and fall to the ground. With almost all of the targets gone Damien sees one last concrete target and it is directly above him. With out hesitation he fires at it. The target shatters and the concrete bits starts to fall down on top of him. Damien quickly does a tuck and roll out of the way. The concrete pieces fall to the ground with out hitting Damien.
DAMIEN
Whoa that was close.
DONALD
No kidding but good dodge. That really shows off the suits maneuverability.
INT. TESTING HANGAR - DAY
Damien is admiring the gauntlets on his suit. Donald and some other scientists are around him supervising and doing calculations.
DAMIEN
Wow these weapon systems sure are something. You made a really impressive suit here doc.
DONALD
Yeah it took me quite a while to perfect this beauty. But thanks to you I think we've finally got it right. There's more to those gauntlets. If you press each individual finger in to your palm it will give you a new tool.
DAMIEN
Like what kind of tools?
DONALD
Well see for yourself.
Damien presses his right index finger in to his palm. Out from the gauntlet pops a device with two metal nubs and electricity running through the two nubs.
DAMIEN
A taser?
DONALD
Yes we wanted something non lethal.
DAMIEN
Great how do I turn it off?
DONALD
Press your index finger to your palm a second time.
Damien does so and the taser recedes back in to the gauntlet. Damien presses his middle finger in to his palm and a long blade pops out of the gauntlet.
DONALD
And this one is something lethal.
Damien presses his middle finger to his palm again and the blade goes back in to the gauntlet. Damien then tuns his arm sideways.
DAMIEN
What else is in here?
Damien presses his ring finger in to his palm and out from the gauntlet comes a grappling cable. The cable shoots across the room and the three pronged end of it grabs hold of a leg of one of the other scientists in the room. That scientist falls and screams in pain.
DAMIEN
(panic)
Oh my god, oh my god!
DONALD
(panic)
Oh no!
DAMIEN
How do I stop it?
DONALD
Just push your ring finger in to your palm again.
Damien presses his ring finger in to his palm and the cable comes unhooked from the scientists leg. The cable recedes back in to the gauntlet. The scientist gets up from the ground.
DAMIEN
Sorry!
DONALD
Are you okay?
The scientist gives Damien and Donald the finger then limps away.
DAMIEN
How many gadgets are in these gauntlets?
DONALD
There's only one more.
DAMIEN
One more, so you only put four extra things in here?
DONALD
Oh I'm sorry. Did you need a whole Swiss army knife? Do you want a wine opener in there as well?
DAMIEN
Well that could come in handy if I'm hosting a diner party in the suit and don't to rummage through all my drawers to find the wine opener.
DONALD
Just shut up and press your pinky finger in to your palm.
Damien holds up his right hand and presses his pinky finger in to his palm. When he does this two large rectangular shields pop out of both sides of the gauntlet. Damien looks at the transformation that has occurred.
DAMIEN
What are these?
DONALD
Those are blast shields. They should be bullet proof. But just to test.
One of Donald's assistants wheel up a lectern to him. On top of it are a revolver, some ammunition, some eye protectors, and some ear protection. Donald puts on the eye and ear protection and starts loading up the gun.
DONALD
Hold your arm up. We're going to test the shield.
DAMIEN
Okay.
Damien holds his right arm shield towards the doctor. Donald takes aim and fires his gun at the shield. He shoots three bullets and all of them hit the shield and are repelled off.
DONALD
Now one potential problem with a shield like this is that the users arm would brake under the force. Do you feel like your arm is broken Damien?
DAMIEN
No I don't think it is.
DONALD
Good.
Donald continues to fire three more bullets in to the shield and the metal repels all of the bullets. Not one bullet makes a dent in the shield. From out of the blue general Dixon comes up to the doctor and his gun.
ARMOND
Doctor.
DONALD
Oh hi general Dixon.
ARMOND
I heard gun fire and I had to inspect it.
DONALD
Oh well we're just testing the shield system on the XY-10,000. Say you wouldn't happen to have firearm on you by any chance?
ARMOND
Are you kidding I always have my trusty 1911 on me.
DONALD
Well would you like to help us out by firing at the shield right there?
ARMOND
Well that sounds delightful.
Armond takes his gun out of it's holster and aims at the shield.
DAMIEN
Now hold on are just going to let anybody come up and shoot at me?
Armond starts firing his gun at the shield. The bullets ricochet of the shield without leaving a dent.
DAMIEN
Okay I see what we're doing now.
INT. LABORATORY - night
It is a dark night in the laboratory where doctor Jordan is entering some data in to the computer. Damien enters the lab. He is not wearing the suit as they are not doing any testing at the time. He goes up to the doctor at the computer.
DAMIEN
Hey doc.
DONALD
Hey Damien. Couldn't sleep?
DAMIEN
No, not after all the crazy tests we did this week.
DONALD
Well I hope you'll be happy to know that our testing phase is over and the results you gave us were overwhelmingly successful.
DAMIEN
Great. I just can't wait to use this in the field.
DONALD
Oh I'm sorry but you won't be using this in the field.
DAMIEN
What?
DONALD
You see what happens from now is I present my findings and give my blueprints to the army. They're going to make their own version of the XY-10,000 and send them to their military bases over seas.
DAMIEN
So we won't get to use them?
DONALD
No but you will be compensated for your service this week.
DAMIEN
That's not good enough.
DONALD
What did you think we were going to do?
DAMIEN
I thought we were going to change something. Listen I'm from Los Angeles and LA has just been filled to the brim with gang violence and street crime. Have you ever been to LA?
DONALD
Yes actually I was born in LA.
DAMIEN
Then you know, you've seen it. The city is just drowning in crime and gang violence. But we can change that.
DONALD
How?
DAMIEN
With your suit. We can take it in to the city and start fighting the gangs.
DONALD
The XY-10,000 is the property of the government. We can't just take it and do whatever we wanted with it.
DAMIEN
That suit is yours. You should be able to do some good with it.
DONALD
If we take the suit and do what you proposed. Start fighting crime like some kind of superhero. The government will come after us and they'll just kill us for committing treason. We won't even get a trial.
(beat)
DAMIEN
When I was ten years old my dad was killed. In a mugging. Gunned down for nothing more then the fifty dollars he had in his wallet. It's like he died for no reason. And it hasn't gotten better since then. I joined the army so I could help people but what I ended up doing was traveling half way across the world to police a bunch of people that didn't need to be policed. I thought I was making a difference but i wasn't changing anything.
DONALD
I know how you feel. My mom was killed when I was twelve. She was coming home and she just happened to get in the middle of two gangs shooting at each other. A stray bullet hit her temple and it killed her.
DAMIEN
That's why, that's the reason. That's the reason we need to do this. This suit, your invention is our chance to make a change. To help people. To stop LA from burning to the ground. You know I'm right.
DONALD
Fine, you're right. my invention can be used to help those people.
DAMIEN
We can save LA but we got to do it together.
DONALD
What like partners?
DAMIEN
Exactly like partners. You're the brains and I'm the brawn. What do you say?
Damien holds his hand out like he wants the doc to shake it.
DONALD
Okay, partners.
Donald shakes Damiens hand.
DONALD
So what's your plan for getting the XY-10,000 off of this base.
DAMIEN
I don't really have one.
DONALD
What?!
DAMIEN
Like I said you're the brains I'm the brawn. You're the smart one. I thought you could find a way to work this out.
DONALD
In order to work this out we would need a way to get all of my sensitive and experimental equipment out of a highly secure army base.
DAMIEN
Do you have any ideas?
DONALD
No but give me some time I'll think of something.
ext. warehouse - day
Damiens car drives through the streets of LA and up to a large white warehouse. He drives up through the gates and on to the warehouse property. There are no other cars there and the property looks to be almost empty. Damien gets out of his car and looks around. He sees an entrance to the warehouse. He walks up to it and enters the ware house.
int. warehouse - continuous
Inside the ware house it appears to be very barren. The only thing Damien sees is a large tractor trailer truck on the other end of the house. He goes over to it to find doctor Jordan come out from the other side of it.
DONALD
Hey Damien!
The two go up to each other meet and shake hands.
DAMIEN
Wow It's been a week since our little chat and you come up with all this.
DONALD
Yeah I was quite lucky to find this property.
DAMIEN
Wait, did you buy this place?
DONALD
Uh yes but the truck is rental.
DAMIEN
How much does the government pay you?
DONALD
Well without going in to actual figures I can say that the military does love their experimental scientists.
DAMIEN
So did you come up with a plan for getting the suit?
DONALD
Yes I did and like all the great plans it is simple and brilliant.
Donald hands Damien a couple pages of paper work.
DONALD
This is a list of all the hardware and components that go along with the operations of the XY-10,000. They are all still at the army base in the desert. This is an order signed by general Dixon to have all of those items transported to a facility in San Fransisco.
Donald hands Damien an official looking document with general Dixon's signature at the bottom.
DAMIEN
How did you get him to sign off on this?
int. general Dixon's office - day
General Dixon is in his office filling out some paperwork when doctor Jordan enters the room with some papers.
DONALD
Excuse me general Dixon.
ARMOND
Please don't tell me I have some more paper work to sign. If I have to sign one more thing I think I'm going to throw up.
DONALD
Well sorry to bring the bad news because I just have on more thing for you to sign.
Donald puts an official looking document on his desk.
ARMOND
Oh my god.
Armond quickly signs the document with out even looking at it. He hands the document back to the doctor.
ARMOND
Here. Now I'm going to throw up.
int. warehouse - day
DONALD
It wasn't that hard. Now the rest of the plan is simple. You drive on to the base and get them to load all this equipment in to the truck. If anybody gives you trouble just wave this document in their face.
EXT. ARMY BASE - night
Damien drives the big tractor trailer truck through the desert and up to the gate of the army base. He gets stopped at a checkpoint at the gate. Damien is wearing a baseball hat and some glasses so that nobody on the base recognizes him. A gate guard goes up to the truck and Damien rolls down his window to talk to him.
gate guard
What's your purpose here?
DAMIEN
(disguised voice)
Transporting some equipment.
GATE GUARD
I'm going to need some ID.
DAMIEN
Well I'm sorry I don't have any ID on me.
GATE GUARD
With out any ID I can't let you in.
DAMIEN
Look all I know is that I have to transport some stuff I don't even know what I'm supposed to get but here's the order I got for it.
Damien takes out the document signed by general Dixon and hands it to the gate guard. The guard looks the document over and sees the generals signature on the bottom.
GATE GUARD
Okay this will do. Go on in.
DAMIEN
Thank you. Can I get that back it's my only copy.
The guard hands the paper back to Damien. The gate opens up and Damien drives the truck on to the base. He drives up to one of the testing hangers he recognizes. He pulls his truck up and parks right beside the hanger. He opens his door and gets out of the truck. Just as he gets out two army officers come up to him and the truck.
officer #1
Can we help you?
DAMIEN
Yes you can. I need to get everything on this list on this truck so I can ship it out.
Damien hands his equipment list to the officers. The officers look it over.
officer #2
This is some really sensitive stuff. Where are you taking it?
DAMIEN
Some base in San Francisco.
OFFICER #1
Look this is some experimental we can't just give it to you.
DAMIEN
Look all I know is that I got to get the things on that list in the truck and drive all night to San Francisco. I don't even know what half the things on that list are. Look I got this order signed by some general.
Damien takes out the signed document he showed at the gate and shows it to the officers. The officers look at the document.
DAMIEN
So unless you want to wake up this general in the middle of the night with some stuff that he already knows. Then you better just start loading up my truck.
EXT. ARMY BASE - NIGHT
The tractor trailer truck is filled to the brim with all of doctor Jordan's equipment. Damien is inside of it checking to make sure all of the stuff on the list is there. The two army officers and some others are outside of the trailer. They just helped him load the stuff on to it.
OFFICER #2
Is that everything?
DAMIEN
Yeah I think that will do it.
Damien comes down to the end and steps down and out of the trailer.
DAMIEN
Well thanks guys for getting everything on there. Now I got to drive all through the night to make it to San Francisco.
OFFICER #1
Take it easy.
The officers disperse and Damien goes up and gets in the drivers seat of the truck. He starts up the truck and drives it off of the base.
EXT. WAREHOUSE - DAY
Doctor Jordan is waiting outside of his warehouse on a nice sunny day. When he sees his large tractor trailer truck drive up the street.
The truck turns on to the street and up to the warehouse. Jordan pulls open a large door on the warehouse making a big enough entrance way for the truck to come in.
The truck makes it's way up to the warehouse and goes through the large warehouse door. The truck full enters the warehouse followed by doctor Jordan who closes the door behind him.
If you read that description and think it's a good story then thank you. I got half way through writing it and then gave up for two reasons I think. One was I was in college when I was writing it and when I graduated college I just got sucked into the havoc of finding a job and a place to live and actually making something out of my post grad life. Some of my time for writing screenplays had to go out the window and this screenplay was the one who had to suffer.
The second reason is I don't think the over all premise for this screenplay was very good. I think the way I wrote it was kind of a misstep and a misdirection for me and I just couldn't put myself into the world of the characters I made or go along with the plot I wanted. I think it wasn't very original and my insecurities got the better of me. So in a way I'll dispel some of my insecurities and post some chunks of my abandoned screenplay here on my blog. The title for this story was just called "The Suit" and who knows maybe I'll rewrite it someday in some incarnation if I can muster up the courage but for now here's a blast from the past of me in my college days. I can't assure the quality on this so read at your own risk.
ext. Los angeles streets - day
It is a hot summer day on the crime riddled streets of Los Angeles. Major street gangs commit crimes in broad daylight because they aren't afraid of any police and if they did encounter any they would just have a shoot out with them.
Damien(v.o.)
LA. Most people know as the city of angels where anybody can make it and become a star. I know it as some place completely different. A place where gangs and crime have turned the city into a war zone. I joined the army to help people. little did I know I would be shipped off to the middle east to police people who didn't need to be policed. Who am I? I'm Damien James and I am lost.
int. gym - night
Colonel MARK WILLIAMS enters the gym. He is wearing a formal army uniform and holding a manila folder. He looks very out of place as he crosses the gym floor and approaches DAMIEN JAMES who is finishing a set of cross legged pull ups.
mark Williams
Damien James.
DAMIEN
Hi colonel.
James gets up form the machine and the two shake hands.
DAMIEN
What brings you here?
MARK WILLIAMS
Your transfer request came through.
Williams hands him the folder and he opens it up and looks through it.
MARK WILLIAMS
It's an experimental weapons testing project. Its codename is project S.
DAMIEN
Excellent I'll do it.
Damien trys to hand the folder back to mark.
MARK WILLIAMS
Keep it. You sure you don't want to think about it? You know a lot of good men have passed on this.
DAMIEN
I don't need to think about I want to do it.
MARK WILLIAMS
You know when you asked me to find you something like this I was shocked. Didn't your first tour of duty go well?
DAMIEN JAMES
It did, I just need a change if pace.
MARK WILLIAMS
Well I hope you find it.
DAMIEN
Thanks.
The two shake hands and Mark walks away.
ext. street - night
Damien is walking back home to his apartment after a long day. He almost makes it to the door of his apartment building when he hears something. That something sounds like a struggle coming from just around the block. Damien turns away from his apartment and runs towards the sound of the struggle. He turns the street corner to find a WOMAN in her mid 50's who has been knocked on the ground and a MUGGER running away from her. Damien goes over and helps the woman up.
woman
That man stole my purse!
Damien starts running after the mugger. He starts gaining on him and their foot chase is on. After a while the mugger turns a corner and runs into an alleyway. Once he's there he runs into three gang member friends of his. He stops running once he meets up with them.
mugger
Hey guys can you help me out!
gang member #1
Oh no, what did you do this time?
MUGGER
I was trying get a payday and some loser thinks he could stop me.
gang member #2
Do you really get off on purse grabbing?
MUGGER
Hey don't judge my hobbies.
GANG MEMBER #1
Alright we'll help you this once.
Just then Damien rounds the corner into the alley way and them four of them are right there waiting with an ambush. They start a classic fist fight and Damien is eager to fight back. They all trade punches but of course with it being four on one the fight isn't very fair. Eventually they knock Damien down to his knees and one of the gang members pulls out a gun and puts it to Damiens head. This discourages him from getting back up.
Gang member #3
You got guts man. But whatever you think you're doing here isn't worth getting shot in the head. But like I said, you have guts. If you ever decide you want to do something with your life, join the 11 five mob. We can give you some much needed focus.
The gang member takes the gun away from his head. The other two members punch him in the face and throw him down into a pile of trash bags. The four criminals run off and away from their defeated opponent. Damien tries to pick himself up out of his defeat as he watches his opponents run away.
ext. desert - day
A helicopter is flying through the air across the baron desert. Damien is inside the chopper as it makes its way to the secluded testing facility.
int. army base - day
General ARMOND DIXON and Colonel Williams are walking through the halls of the facility.
MARK WILLIAMS
He arrives today. I'm sure you're anxious to get the testing under way.
Armond
Anxious is not the word I would use, I want to see the result of the millions of dollars that went into making this debacle. That doctor promised us a revolution in weaponry and so far I haven't seen anything explode.
MARK WILLIAMS
Well I'm sure we will change that today.
ARMOND
And tell me why do we have only one test subject? We can speed this whole thing up if we get more guinea pigs to test the equipment.
MARK WILLIAMS
Doctor Jordan was very adamant that as few personnel as possible were involved in the testing.
ARMOND
Yeah whatever I just hope we can finally get some results.
The two get to the door to doctor Jordans laboratory. They enter.
INT. LABORATORY - DAY
The General and the colonel enter the room it is filled with desks computer terminals. DR.DONALD JORDAN is sitting at one of the computers typing away. He doesn't greet the two as they enter.
ARMOND
Dr. Jordan.
The doctor doesn't respond.
ARMOND
Dr. Jordan!
Jordan turns.
donald
Wah! Oh general it's only you. You scared me there.
ARMOND
Working hard doctor?
DONALD
Hey I'm just going over some calculations and command protocols for the tests.
ARMOND
Well the test subject should be arriving soon. We should meet him at the helipad.
DONALD
Yes of course, let me just log out of here.
Donald turns back to the computer and logs himself out. He grabs a couple of his things and gets out of the chair.
DONALD
Okay lets go.
Donald walks over to the general and the three walk out of the room.
INT. ARMY BASE - DAY
The trio walk down the hall.
DONALD
We are going to change the world.
ARMOND
Doctor I have a serious question for you. I gave you a dozen suitable candidates for testing and you only approved one of them, why is that?
DONALD
Well I had to be very picky when it came to things like psychological profiles, health, risk factors, plus I really think we need to be cautious when dealing with experimental technologies. I mean it's not like we are driving around tanks here.
ARMOND
Yes well you've spent a lot of taxpayers money and the government does not like wasting it.
DONALD
Well depending on how the tests go we might need to wast a little bit more.
Armond flashes a strange look at Donald.
DONALD
Or everything could be perfect we'll see.
The trio reach a door. Armond opens it and lets Jordan and Williams through. It leads outside.
ext. army base - day
The fenced off base is in the middle of the desert. It is the only thing around for a hundred miles in any direction. Damiens helicopter approaches the bases airspace. It stops and hovers above a helipad. It slowly lands on the helipad. As the propellers wined down Armond and Donald approach the helipad area. The propellers stop and the door to the helicopter opens. Damien steps out and down on to the helipad. He walks up to the general and the doctor and they meet half way.
ARMOND
Damien James, my name is General Armond Dixon and this is doctor Donald Jordan.
Damien shakes Armonds hand then shakes Jordans.
DONALD
Its good to meet you.
DAMIEN
The same.
ARMOND
Come this way we'll show you what you'll be working with.
Armond leads Damien inside one of the facilities.
DAMIEN
Getting right down to business?
ARMOND
Yeah you don't have a problem with that do yah?
DAMIEN
No sir.
DONALD
You're going to love what we've cooked up for you.
They aproach the door to the testing lab. Armond opens the door and lets Donald inside.
ARMOND
Yes we will be jumping in with both feet so I hope you recover from jetlag quickly.
DAMIEN
What jetlag?
Damien enters and Armond follows right behind him.
INT. testing hangar - DAY
Jordan, Damien and Armond cross the wide open hangar making their way to the center of the room.
DONALD
So Damien I'm sure you've done the required reading.
DAMIEN
Yeah that was a really thick instruction manual.
DONALD
But you read it right?
DAMIEN
Uh yeah.
The trio make it to the center of the hangar where there is a high tech pedestal with the XY-10,000 exo-suit standing up right on top of it. Around it are two engineers, one on a computer and one moving around checking the suit and making final preparations. The trio approach the pedestal
DONALD
Well here she is the XY-10,000 exo-suit.
ARMOND
The guys around the base just call it the suit.
DONALD
I never approved of that name.
DAMIEN
So what does the suit do?
DONALD
Well it's supposed to increase your agility, speed, strength, and fighting ability several thousand percent. But we will find out the full potential of this thing when we start testing.
ARMOND
So let these eggheads strap you in and we will monitor you progress in there.
Armond points to a large window that leads to Jordans monitoring computer lab.
DAMIEN
Alright.
Damien steps up on the pedestal, Jordan and Armond walk over to an entrance to the monitoring lab.
INT. LABORATORY - DAY
There is a person at every single computer terminal. They are facing the wall sized window looking out to the the testing hangar where Damien is getting the suit on. Donald and Armond enter the room. Donald puts on a head set.
DONALD
(into head set)
Okay Damien can you hear me?
INT. TESTING HANGAR - continuous
Damien has one part of the suit on. The head apparatus that allows him to talk to Dr. Jordan in the lab. The two engineers are helping him put on the rest of the suit.
DAMIEN
(into head set)
Yeah doc I hear you.
DONALD
Alright we will be able to talk to each other through the suit. I'll be giving you instructions.
As the engineers attach the metal appendages to his limbs Damien moves around a little bit testing his own flexibility.
DONALD
We'll also be able to monitor all your actions and reactions with the equipment. This is important if you are ever in pain at anytime speak up.
DAMIEN
(sarcasm)
Really because whenever I'm in pain I'm usually as silent as possible.
The engineers finally finish putting Damien in the suit. He takes a few steps forward.
DONALD
Okay the suits on you, how are you feeling?
DAMIEN
So far so good.
DONALD
Okay we are going to take things slowly.
Damien jumps off of the platform and on to the ground. When he comes down a small crater is made at the point of impact and some of the equipment is knocked over.
DAMIEN
(startled)
Oh my god I'm so sorry.
DONALD
Um it's fine just walk yourself to the south side of the hangar.
Damien slowly walks over to the south side of the hangar. He walks a little awkwardly because he is still getting used to the suit. As he walks, the south side entrance wall opens up pretty soon the entire wall has reseated away just to reveal miles of open desert. Damien makes his way to the opening.
DONALD
Okay that's good enough.
Damien stops short of the desert.
DONALD
Right now we will test your speed. So when ever you're ready just run out into the desert as fast as you can.
DAMIEN
Okay.
Damien gets down into a runners stance.
DONALD
Just whenever you're ready.
DAMIEN
Count down.
DONALD
What?
DAMIEN
Can you just count down from three. I need to get ready.
DONALD
Okay. One. Two. Three.
Damien bursts through the opening with great speed. He runs through the open desert at an inhuman speed.
DAMIEN
WOOOOOOAAAAHHHH!!!!
INT. LABORATORY - DAY
The screens in the room light up with figures and data from the suits use. The scientists in the room are a flutter with excitement
scientist#1
He just hit ninety miles per hour.
scientist#2
Vitals are normal.
scientist#3
Suit integrity at one hundred percent.
EXT. DESERT - DAY
Damien keeps running at a break neck pace when he trips on a rock. He trips a little but does not fall down. He slows down and catches himself for a moment. As soon as he realizes he is fine he gets back to his running.
DONALD
You okay Damien?
DAMIEN
Yeah I'm fine just a little slip up.
DONALD
Do you know how fast you are going?
Damien looks at the speed icon on his headset display.
DAMIEN
Uh yeah 96 miles an hour.
DONALD
That's right, do you think you can go faster?
DAMIEN
Oh I definitely can.
Damien braces himself and starts to run even faster.
INT. LABORATORY - DAY
SCIENTIST#1
He just ramped it up to 120 miles per hour.
DONALD
(into mouthpiece)
Nice job Damien, this is a very successful test.
EXT. DESERT - DAY
DAMIEN
No I got more.
Damien jumps up in to the air he goes really high up and clears a long distance. He comes down and jumps a second time. He goes up higher and farther.
DONALD
Whoa wait a minute there hot shot we haven't cleared jumping yet.
DAMIEN
Trust me.
He jumps one more time and he goes up higher and farther then before. He flies through the air and lands on top of a large desert mesa. He crashes down on it and gets his footing back.
INT. LABORATORY - DAY
DONALD
Alright talk to me people, give me some stats.
SCIENTIST#1
Him and the suit are both in in good condition.
SCIENTIST#3
His top speed was 126 miles per hour and his top height was 512 feet.
DONALD
(into mouthpiece)
Congratulations Damien you just broke the human land speed record.
EXT. DESERT - DAY
DAMIEN
Isn't it cheating if I'm wearing this suit?
DONALD
We'll let the Olympic committee figure that out. For now you just come back to base so we can start the next test.
DAMIEN
Roger that.
Damien jumps of the large rock back in the direction of the base.
INT. LABORATORY - DAY
Jordan takes off his head set as Armond walks up to him and pats him on the back.
ARMOND
Looks like we have a success.
Armond walks away from him.
EXT. ARMY BASE - DAY
Jordan and Damien are walking across the base. Damien is still wearing the suit.
DONALD
So what do you think of the suit so far?
DAMIEN
This thing is awesome. When I signed up for this I never would have dreamed that this is what I'd be working with.
DONALD
Yeah this suit is definitely going to be a game changer. That last exercise was to test your speed this next one is to test your agility.
The two arrive at their destination which is a large obstacle course in the center of the base. The course is tremendous. It is filled with a wide array of stupendous and possibly deadly obstacles. General Dixon is stands in front of the course admiring it. He turns around and walks up to Donald and Damien.
ARMOND
Pretty impressive huh? I designed this course myself. Made it especially for these tests.
DAMIEN
It's alright. Let me guess I have to go through this course before the clock runs out.
ARMOND
Actually there isn't a clock but we can get one of you think it's too easy.
DAMIEN
Forget about it. Lets just get going.
ARMOND
Very well I'll show you to the starting gate.
Donald walks off and Damien follows Armond to the obstacle course starting gate.
DAMIEN
So just in case what is the best time for this course.
ARMOND
I don't know you're the first one to run it. Made it just these tests remember.
DAMIEN
I'm honored.
ARMOND
Yeah I can't wait until the test phase is over. I really want to use one of those suits in the field.
The two come up to the starting line.
ARMOND
Alright James good luck and don't damage the suit.
Armond walks off to the observation area.
DAMIEN
Thanks I guess.
Damien goes up to the starting line and starts stretching. Armond enters the observation area and goes up to Donald who is behind a computer terminal looking at some statistics.
ARMOND
Your first test went over pretty well lets hope this test goes over just as good.
DONALD
Yeah I hope so.
Donald goes over to a microphone on a desk and holds down a button on it.
DONALD
(into mic)
Alright Damien are you ready?
His voice comes out of speakers so Damien can hear him on the obstacle course. Damien looks over to the observation area and gives Donald a thumbs up.
DONALD
Okay we'll start on go. Ready...go!
The gate goes up and Damien gets into the obstacle course. The first obstacle is a rope jungle. He jumps up and swings from one rope to another across the area on to a platform on the other side. The next obstacle is a large swinging bar. Damien grabs the bar and swings over the gap and on to the next platform.
DONALD
Looks like he's beating your course general.
ARMOND
Those were the easy parts lets see how good he is when he has to climb over a twenty foot wall.
Damien comes up to the aforementioned twenty foot wall. When he sees it he speeds up, leads with his shoulder, and crashes through it.
DONALD
Oh ho wow.
Armond goes over to Donald's desk microphone and talks in to it.
ARMOND
You were supposed to go over the wall.
DONALD
Um you got to press the button. If you want him to hear you.
ARMOND
Oh.
Armond holds down the microphone button.
ARMOND
You were supposed to go over the wall not through it.
Damien stops running the course and turns to look at the guys in the observation area.
DAMIEN
I'm sorry I thought I had to smash through the wall! I'm gonna keep going!
Damien goes back to running the course.
ARMOND
What ever this next part is one of my favorites. The crusher.
Damien comes to the next obstacle which consists of three sections of two parallel walls that crash in to each other at random intervals. Damien runs through the first pair of walls untouched. He gets in to the second pair of walls. As the walls start to crash in on him, Damien puts his arms out to his sides catching the walls and stopping them. After a moment the machinery controlling the walls starts to spark and smoke. The machinery breaks leaving the walls wear they are. Damien walks through to the final pair of walls. He does the same thing to those walls. He holds out his arms and breaks them. He made it through the obstacle. His next obstacle is a high wire between two platforms twenty feet over a pool of water.
ARMOND
Lets see how he gets that clunky suit across that thin wire.
Damien take a running start and jumps from one platform to the next with out even using the high wire.
DONALD
That's how he does it.
Damien comes up to his last obstacle which appears to just be a large field of dirt and barbed wire.
ARMOND
Yeah, yeah.
Armond turns to his left to yell at one of his subordinates.
ARMOND
Que the land mines!
DONALD
Land mines?
Damien enters the muddy part of the obstacle course and as soon as he does land mines start going off all across the field at random intervals. He quickly runs across the field as explosions erupt at his feet. As he runs he ends up stepping on one of the land mines. It blows up under his foot and he is thrown in to the air. Donald gasps as he watches from the observation area. Damien does three flips in the air and lands right back down on his feet. As soon as he hits the ground he starts running through the mud field again. The explosions keep going off but the begin to die down as Damien exits the field. With that he has completed the obstacle course and crosses the finish line. He takes a moment to catch his breath as Donald and Armond come out from the observation area and meet him in the finish area.
DONALD
Way to go Damien you did fantastic!
ARMOND
You weren't that great.
DONALD
Oh don't mind him he's just butt hurt because you beat his course. You did great.
DAMIEN
Thanks that was one of the more difficult courses I've seen. Didn't expect the mines.
DONALD
Yeah you can thank general butt hurt for that.
ARMOND
Hey land mines are an imminent threat to anyone operating the suit. We needed to test for them.
DAMIEN
Yeah I'm sure. What was my time?
DONALD
Two minutes and twenty seconds. I got to tell ya, you had me worried at times.
Armond walks off.
DAMIEN
Oh really?
DONALD
Yeah I spent a lot of time making that suit and I would hate to see it damaged.
Donald walks off and after a moment Damien follows him.
INT. TESTING HANGAR - DAY
Damien is standing in the middle of the hanger wearing the suit. Jordan is in a smaller room in the hangar with all of the computer terminals watching Damien from behind a glass window. He pushes a button on his headset to talk to Damien.
DONALD
Okay Damien the next thing we want to test is the suits capacity to improve your fighting ability. Now do you think you are good at hand to hand combat?
DAMIEN
Yeah I think I've had my fair share of knockouts.
DONALD
Well if correct this suit should give you the martial arts skills of Bruce lee, Jet Li, and Jackie Chan combined.
DAMIEN
Thats a lot of martial arts skills.
DONALD
Yes it is.
As he says that several ropes start to fall down from the hangar ceiling. Damien notices this and looks up to find their origin. Finds a group of ninjas wearing all black pajamas and masks sliding down the ropes and landing on the ground. Some have weapons like nun chucks and sai, and some have only their fists. Soon enough Damien is completely surrounded in ninjas. He takes up a fighting stance and readies himself for attack.
DAMIEN
Who are these guys?
DONALD
They are the shoalin tigers martial arts fighting team. You're going to be testing your fighting abilities on them.
DAMIEN
Do they have health insurance?
DONALD
They all signed wavers so just go crazy.
DAMIEN
Cool.
Donald walks over to a microphone on a desk that goes out to the entire hangar. He presses the button and speaks in to the microphone.
DONALD
And ..... begin!
One by one the ninjas attack Damien and one by one he knocks them down and dish out attacks of his own. Pretty soon he is fighting like a martial arts master. In a desperate attempt some of the ninjas start to dog pile on top of Damien and his suit. Damien is quickly covered in ninjas. The pile starts to pulsate and Damien shakes off all the ninjas with an explosive move.
DONALD
Woh.
The fighters keep coming. One ninja attacks Damien with some nun chucks. Damien quickly knocks him on his back and takes the nun chucks from him. He uses his newly attained weapon to knock out three more ninjas. He wields the nun chucks with masterful precision. Finally he throws the nun chucks across the room at the last ninja standing. The nun chucks fly through the air and hit the ninja square in the face knocking him to the ground. With that all of the ninjas from the fighting team are either knocked out unconscious or writhing on the floor in pain.
DONALD
Well I think this test is a success.
DAMIEN
Yeah me too.
INT. TESTING HANGAR - DAY
Damien and Dr. Jordan are walking through the hangar towards the next test for the suit.
DAMIEN
Wow I can not believe this suit. I couldn't fight that well before I put it on. How does it do that?
DONALD
It's a special fighting command protocol. I designed it myself. It'll activate whenever the user needs it.
DAMIEN
Hopefully it'll come in handy for the field. So what's the next thing we are going to test.
DONALD
The next test is right here.
The two approach a green army jeep that is parked in the hangar.
DONALD
You see this car?
DAMIEN
Yeah.
DONALD
It weighs 3,156 pounds. You are going to lift it.
DAMIEN
Lift it?
DONALD
Yes. This exercise is to test to suits ability to increase your strength. So for all intensive purposes I want you to lift it.
DAMIEN
Okay I'll see what I can do.
Damien goes over to the jeep. He bends down and gets his hands on it. He gets a good grip on the jeep and starts to lift up. Just like the doctor said the suit allows him to starts lifting the jeep up off the ground. The doctor takes a few steps back as Damien starts to lift the vehicle higher over his head.
DAMIEN
Holy crap you were right this thing does increase my strength.
Damien starts to lose his balance. He starts to trip up and start wobbling form side to side.
DAMIEN
Oh oh no!
DONALD
Ah be careful!
Damien tries to keep his balance while holding the jeep but he does not succeed. Donald runs away as Damien falls to the ground dropping the jeep on the ground crushing it.
DAMIEN
Don't worry I'm okay. Oh man. was this test successful?
DONALD
Yes but not in the conventional sense.
DAMIEN
It means you broke the jeep.
INT. TESTING HANGAR - DAY
All the damage from the previous test has been cleaned up. Damien is wearing the suit and Donald is ready for more testing.
DAMIEN
Sorry I kind of bonked up that other test doc. What's next?
DONALD
Oh I think you are going to like this next test very much.
Donald turns to some other scientists in the hanger.
DONALD
Okay bring em in.
Some of the other scientists come up to Damien and start attaching something to the suit.
DAMIEN
What are these guys doing?
DONALD
They are giving you some fire power.
The scientists attach two gauntlet like machines to the forearms on Damiens suit. They attach some wires and make sure every thing in the suit is running well. As soon as the gauntlets are fully attached to the suit the scientists step away. Damien marvels at what they added to the suit.
DAMIEN
What are these things?
DONALD
These gauntlets are the XY-10,000's primary weapon systems.
DAMIEN
What do they do?
DONALD
We're about to find out.
Just as he says that two other scientists start wheeling in a large concrete wall with a a red target spray painted on it. They bring it in and stop it about forty yards away from Damien.
DONALD
The first weapon in the gauntlet is a new form of electro-sonic cannon. You are going to use that to destroy that wall.
DAMIEN
Great. How do I do that?
DONALD
The controls for the gauntlet are simple. First make fist.
Damien makes a fist with his right hand. The gauntlet on his right arm starts to make a whirring noise like it is powering up.
DONALD
Next point your gauntlet towards the wall.
Damien aims his right gauntlet at the wall. Donald gets out of the way between Damien and the wall.
DONALD
If you're having trouble aiming there's a targeting program that's on your display.
Without a doubt a circle with some cross hairs show up on Damiens display. As he moves his right arm the cross hairs move with it showing what exactly he's aiming at. He aims at the concrete wall.
DAMIEN
How do I fire?
DONALD
Uh right firing. Just push your four fingers in to your palm.
DAMIEN
Alright.
Damien does what the doctor told him and all of a sudden a beam of purple energy is fired out of a cylindrical barrel of the gauntlet. The shot of energy flies across the room and hits the concrete wall. The wall is shattered in to pieces.
DAMIEN
Wow!
DONALD
That's exactly what I said when I discovered it.
DAMIEN
What did I just fire?
DONALD
It's electricity bombarded with the right sonic frequency. If it's built up and aimed in the right direction it does ... well that. (points to shattered wall) I stumbled upon it back when I was in college.
DAMIEN
That's a game changer.
DONALD
That's the idea. Now I think we have enough data we need. But just to be safe would you mind testing it a couple more times?
As he says that some more scientists bring in three more concrete walls with targets on them similar to the one Damien just destroyed. In addition some concrete slabs with targets on them start repelling down from the ceiling on wires.
DAMIEN
I do not mind one bit.
DONALD
Good just let me get out of your way.
Donald moves about a hundred feet away from him and gets behind some bullet proof glass in a safety zone.
DONALD
Okay go!
Damien starts charging up the cannons on his gauntlets. He aims and fires the same purple energy as before right at the other concrete walls. He takes a couple shots and all the concrete walls shatter just like before. With those gone he moves on to shoot at the suspended targets in the air. He fires in quick succession and the targets all shatter and fall to the ground. With almost all of the targets gone Damien sees one last concrete target and it is directly above him. With out hesitation he fires at it. The target shatters and the concrete bits starts to fall down on top of him. Damien quickly does a tuck and roll out of the way. The concrete pieces fall to the ground with out hitting Damien.
DAMIEN
Whoa that was close.
DONALD
No kidding but good dodge. That really shows off the suits maneuverability.
INT. TESTING HANGAR - DAY
Damien is admiring the gauntlets on his suit. Donald and some other scientists are around him supervising and doing calculations.
DAMIEN
Wow these weapon systems sure are something. You made a really impressive suit here doc.
DONALD
Yeah it took me quite a while to perfect this beauty. But thanks to you I think we've finally got it right. There's more to those gauntlets. If you press each individual finger in to your palm it will give you a new tool.
DAMIEN
Like what kind of tools?
DONALD
Well see for yourself.
Damien presses his right index finger in to his palm. Out from the gauntlet pops a device with two metal nubs and electricity running through the two nubs.
DAMIEN
A taser?
DONALD
Yes we wanted something non lethal.
DAMIEN
Great how do I turn it off?
DONALD
Press your index finger to your palm a second time.
Damien does so and the taser recedes back in to the gauntlet. Damien presses his middle finger in to his palm and a long blade pops out of the gauntlet.
DONALD
And this one is something lethal.
Damien presses his middle finger to his palm again and the blade goes back in to the gauntlet. Damien then tuns his arm sideways.
DAMIEN
What else is in here?
Damien presses his ring finger in to his palm and out from the gauntlet comes a grappling cable. The cable shoots across the room and the three pronged end of it grabs hold of a leg of one of the other scientists in the room. That scientist falls and screams in pain.
DAMIEN
(panic)
Oh my god, oh my god!
DONALD
(panic)
Oh no!
DAMIEN
How do I stop it?
DONALD
Just push your ring finger in to your palm again.
Damien presses his ring finger in to his palm and the cable comes unhooked from the scientists leg. The cable recedes back in to the gauntlet. The scientist gets up from the ground.
DAMIEN
Sorry!
DONALD
Are you okay?
The scientist gives Damien and Donald the finger then limps away.
DAMIEN
How many gadgets are in these gauntlets?
DONALD
There's only one more.
DAMIEN
One more, so you only put four extra things in here?
DONALD
Oh I'm sorry. Did you need a whole Swiss army knife? Do you want a wine opener in there as well?
DAMIEN
Well that could come in handy if I'm hosting a diner party in the suit and don't to rummage through all my drawers to find the wine opener.
DONALD
Just shut up and press your pinky finger in to your palm.
Damien holds up his right hand and presses his pinky finger in to his palm. When he does this two large rectangular shields pop out of both sides of the gauntlet. Damien looks at the transformation that has occurred.
DAMIEN
What are these?
DONALD
Those are blast shields. They should be bullet proof. But just to test.
One of Donald's assistants wheel up a lectern to him. On top of it are a revolver, some ammunition, some eye protectors, and some ear protection. Donald puts on the eye and ear protection and starts loading up the gun.
DONALD
Hold your arm up. We're going to test the shield.
DAMIEN
Okay.
Damien holds his right arm shield towards the doctor. Donald takes aim and fires his gun at the shield. He shoots three bullets and all of them hit the shield and are repelled off.
DONALD
Now one potential problem with a shield like this is that the users arm would brake under the force. Do you feel like your arm is broken Damien?
DAMIEN
No I don't think it is.
DONALD
Good.
Donald continues to fire three more bullets in to the shield and the metal repels all of the bullets. Not one bullet makes a dent in the shield. From out of the blue general Dixon comes up to the doctor and his gun.
ARMOND
Doctor.
DONALD
Oh hi general Dixon.
ARMOND
I heard gun fire and I had to inspect it.
DONALD
Oh well we're just testing the shield system on the XY-10,000. Say you wouldn't happen to have firearm on you by any chance?
ARMOND
Are you kidding I always have my trusty 1911 on me.
DONALD
Well would you like to help us out by firing at the shield right there?
ARMOND
Well that sounds delightful.
Armond takes his gun out of it's holster and aims at the shield.
DAMIEN
Now hold on are just going to let anybody come up and shoot at me?
Armond starts firing his gun at the shield. The bullets ricochet of the shield without leaving a dent.
DAMIEN
Okay I see what we're doing now.
INT. LABORATORY - night
It is a dark night in the laboratory where doctor Jordan is entering some data in to the computer. Damien enters the lab. He is not wearing the suit as they are not doing any testing at the time. He goes up to the doctor at the computer.
DAMIEN
Hey doc.
DONALD
Hey Damien. Couldn't sleep?
DAMIEN
No, not after all the crazy tests we did this week.
DONALD
Well I hope you'll be happy to know that our testing phase is over and the results you gave us were overwhelmingly successful.
DAMIEN
Great. I just can't wait to use this in the field.
DONALD
Oh I'm sorry but you won't be using this in the field.
DAMIEN
What?
DONALD
You see what happens from now is I present my findings and give my blueprints to the army. They're going to make their own version of the XY-10,000 and send them to their military bases over seas.
DAMIEN
So we won't get to use them?
DONALD
No but you will be compensated for your service this week.
DAMIEN
That's not good enough.
DONALD
What did you think we were going to do?
DAMIEN
I thought we were going to change something. Listen I'm from Los Angeles and LA has just been filled to the brim with gang violence and street crime. Have you ever been to LA?
DONALD
Yes actually I was born in LA.
DAMIEN
Then you know, you've seen it. The city is just drowning in crime and gang violence. But we can change that.
DONALD
How?
DAMIEN
With your suit. We can take it in to the city and start fighting the gangs.
DONALD
The XY-10,000 is the property of the government. We can't just take it and do whatever we wanted with it.
DAMIEN
That suit is yours. You should be able to do some good with it.
DONALD
If we take the suit and do what you proposed. Start fighting crime like some kind of superhero. The government will come after us and they'll just kill us for committing treason. We won't even get a trial.
(beat)
DAMIEN
When I was ten years old my dad was killed. In a mugging. Gunned down for nothing more then the fifty dollars he had in his wallet. It's like he died for no reason. And it hasn't gotten better since then. I joined the army so I could help people but what I ended up doing was traveling half way across the world to police a bunch of people that didn't need to be policed. I thought I was making a difference but i wasn't changing anything.
DONALD
I know how you feel. My mom was killed when I was twelve. She was coming home and she just happened to get in the middle of two gangs shooting at each other. A stray bullet hit her temple and it killed her.
DAMIEN
That's why, that's the reason. That's the reason we need to do this. This suit, your invention is our chance to make a change. To help people. To stop LA from burning to the ground. You know I'm right.
DONALD
Fine, you're right. my invention can be used to help those people.
DAMIEN
We can save LA but we got to do it together.
DONALD
What like partners?
DAMIEN
Exactly like partners. You're the brains and I'm the brawn. What do you say?
Damien holds his hand out like he wants the doc to shake it.
DONALD
Okay, partners.
Donald shakes Damiens hand.
DONALD
So what's your plan for getting the XY-10,000 off of this base.
DAMIEN
I don't really have one.
DONALD
What?!
DAMIEN
Like I said you're the brains I'm the brawn. You're the smart one. I thought you could find a way to work this out.
DONALD
In order to work this out we would need a way to get all of my sensitive and experimental equipment out of a highly secure army base.
DAMIEN
Do you have any ideas?
DONALD
No but give me some time I'll think of something.
ext. warehouse - day
Damiens car drives through the streets of LA and up to a large white warehouse. He drives up through the gates and on to the warehouse property. There are no other cars there and the property looks to be almost empty. Damien gets out of his car and looks around. He sees an entrance to the warehouse. He walks up to it and enters the ware house.
int. warehouse - continuous
Inside the ware house it appears to be very barren. The only thing Damien sees is a large tractor trailer truck on the other end of the house. He goes over to it to find doctor Jordan come out from the other side of it.
DONALD
Hey Damien!
The two go up to each other meet and shake hands.
DAMIEN
Wow It's been a week since our little chat and you come up with all this.
DONALD
Yeah I was quite lucky to find this property.
DAMIEN
Wait, did you buy this place?
DONALD
Uh yes but the truck is rental.
DAMIEN
How much does the government pay you?
DONALD
Well without going in to actual figures I can say that the military does love their experimental scientists.
DAMIEN
So did you come up with a plan for getting the suit?
DONALD
Yes I did and like all the great plans it is simple and brilliant.
Donald hands Damien a couple pages of paper work.
DONALD
This is a list of all the hardware and components that go along with the operations of the XY-10,000. They are all still at the army base in the desert. This is an order signed by general Dixon to have all of those items transported to a facility in San Fransisco.
Donald hands Damien an official looking document with general Dixon's signature at the bottom.
DAMIEN
How did you get him to sign off on this?
int. general Dixon's office - day
General Dixon is in his office filling out some paperwork when doctor Jordan enters the room with some papers.
DONALD
Excuse me general Dixon.
ARMOND
Please don't tell me I have some more paper work to sign. If I have to sign one more thing I think I'm going to throw up.
DONALD
Well sorry to bring the bad news because I just have on more thing for you to sign.
Donald puts an official looking document on his desk.
ARMOND
Oh my god.
Armond quickly signs the document with out even looking at it. He hands the document back to the doctor.
ARMOND
Here. Now I'm going to throw up.
int. warehouse - day
DONALD
It wasn't that hard. Now the rest of the plan is simple. You drive on to the base and get them to load all this equipment in to the truck. If anybody gives you trouble just wave this document in their face.
EXT. ARMY BASE - night
Damien drives the big tractor trailer truck through the desert and up to the gate of the army base. He gets stopped at a checkpoint at the gate. Damien is wearing a baseball hat and some glasses so that nobody on the base recognizes him. A gate guard goes up to the truck and Damien rolls down his window to talk to him.
gate guard
What's your purpose here?
DAMIEN
(disguised voice)
Transporting some equipment.
GATE GUARD
I'm going to need some ID.
DAMIEN
Well I'm sorry I don't have any ID on me.
GATE GUARD
With out any ID I can't let you in.
DAMIEN
Look all I know is that I have to transport some stuff I don't even know what I'm supposed to get but here's the order I got for it.
Damien takes out the document signed by general Dixon and hands it to the gate guard. The guard looks the document over and sees the generals signature on the bottom.
GATE GUARD
Okay this will do. Go on in.
DAMIEN
Thank you. Can I get that back it's my only copy.
The guard hands the paper back to Damien. The gate opens up and Damien drives the truck on to the base. He drives up to one of the testing hangers he recognizes. He pulls his truck up and parks right beside the hanger. He opens his door and gets out of the truck. Just as he gets out two army officers come up to him and the truck.
officer #1
Can we help you?
DAMIEN
Yes you can. I need to get everything on this list on this truck so I can ship it out.
Damien hands his equipment list to the officers. The officers look it over.
officer #2
This is some really sensitive stuff. Where are you taking it?
DAMIEN
Some base in San Francisco.
OFFICER #1
Look this is some experimental we can't just give it to you.
DAMIEN
Look all I know is that I got to get the things on that list in the truck and drive all night to San Francisco. I don't even know what half the things on that list are. Look I got this order signed by some general.
Damien takes out the signed document he showed at the gate and shows it to the officers. The officers look at the document.
DAMIEN
So unless you want to wake up this general in the middle of the night with some stuff that he already knows. Then you better just start loading up my truck.
EXT. ARMY BASE - NIGHT
The tractor trailer truck is filled to the brim with all of doctor Jordan's equipment. Damien is inside of it checking to make sure all of the stuff on the list is there. The two army officers and some others are outside of the trailer. They just helped him load the stuff on to it.
OFFICER #2
Is that everything?
DAMIEN
Yeah I think that will do it.
Damien comes down to the end and steps down and out of the trailer.
DAMIEN
Well thanks guys for getting everything on there. Now I got to drive all through the night to make it to San Francisco.
OFFICER #1
Take it easy.
The officers disperse and Damien goes up and gets in the drivers seat of the truck. He starts up the truck and drives it off of the base.
EXT. WAREHOUSE - DAY
Doctor Jordan is waiting outside of his warehouse on a nice sunny day. When he sees his large tractor trailer truck drive up the street.
The truck turns on to the street and up to the warehouse. Jordan pulls open a large door on the warehouse making a big enough entrance way for the truck to come in.
The truck makes it's way up to the warehouse and goes through the large warehouse door. The truck full enters the warehouse followed by doctor Jordan who closes the door behind him.
The worst book to movie adaption I've ever seen.
When I was a teenager one of my favorite book series to read was the Maximum Ride books. They were written by James Patterson, the first book titled the Angel Experiment came out in 2006 and there are eleven books in the series. For those of you who like manga it was also adapted into a manga series. As far as books go I give it four out of five stars. It has a lot of good sci-fi elements as well as elements from the superhero genre. It does play into a lot of tropes from the YA genre but it has a diverse cast of different characters that are well thought out and interesting. I 2016 I had heard they made a movie of this series and it immediately sparked my interest. When i saw the movie it was such an abysmal pile crap that it made me want to break a window. For a little bit of context the movie was not released in theatres it had a digital release and spent some time on Netflix. I ended up seeing it on Netflix and that's where my disappointment started. I'm thoroughly convinced they didn't even try to put it in theatres because it was so appalling. The movie adapts the first half of the first book and it fails in every conceivable category. The cinematography is horrid, the editing makes me want to have a seizure, and the CGI is stumpy and unrealistic. The acting is reminiscent of Tommy Wiseau in the room. In fact the movie probably would have been improved if they got Tommy Wiseau to play every single role. It was directed by Jay Martin whose most notable work comes from directing several music videos for Shawn Mendes. If I'm right this was his first venture into directing features and if there's any justice it'll be his last. I'm a thousand percent certain that I can call up a group of my old friends from film school and we could make a better movie than what these guys tried to do with adapting maximum ride. So if you ever complain that an movie adaption of your favorite book didn't live up to your expectation just remember this post and how disappointed Chris Frits was when he saw he maximum ride movie.
Publishing AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!
The road I went down to publish my debut fantasy novel the Universe Key was an arduous and confusing one. At first I tried the obvious route of traditional publishing. This lead to an extremely long and painful list of rejection emails from companies and literary agents. Oh for months it was just rejections as far as the eye could see. Mountains on mountains of rejections. If I had a dollar for every rejection I received then I could just skip publishing and finance a movie based on my novel. I think it could have been for the better though. I don't want just any run of the mill literary agent. I need an agent that understands my visions and wants me to achieve my goals. An agent almost as unique as me. That is just something that money can't buy. I also did talk to some vanity publishers with hilarious results. I swear all those vanity presses should be shut down, they're scams one and all. I did have the chance to show them how I really felt though. Any sleazy con artist who sent me an email or called me on the phone got a permanent headache worth of tolling from yours truly. So watch out for scams guys. Two companies I'll name are Dorrance publishing and Fulton books. Avoid them like they just tested positive for COVID 19. So with all my options seemingly exhausted where was I to go? It seemed like my last hope was indie publishing. I started off as a true novice in the indie publishing world. I only stumbled head first into how I could self publish on amazon. But the moment I hit the button and published the Universe Key I realized something. I absolutely love indie publishing. I love editing down and formatting what I wrote. I love designing my own covers and once I published the Universe Key I had this calming peaceful feeling wash over me. A feeling that told me now I can publish anything I want whenever I want to. That is the feeling of freedom. Now to end this blog post I have a message to the literary agents of the world. Get off your 15% taking butt and sign me already. So I can finally bring excitement, prosperity and wonder into your short meaningless life.
Little side note I'll give you guys an update of what I'm working on. I'm 80k words into the sequel to the Universe Key. I still have a lot to write so I think I'm going to hit 100k words.
Little side note I'll give you guys an update of what I'm working on. I'm 80k words into the sequel to the Universe Key. I still have a lot to write so I think I'm going to hit 100k words.
I'm done writing my second book
I've written a sequel to my first novel. The new book is called the Well of Destruction and it takes place exactly where the Universe Key left off. This is my covid-19 book. I've been gifted with some extra time to write recently and this is the end result, congratulations lucky readers. I have to say that with this new book I think I've outdone myself. Critics might say that some sequels don't live up to the original but I say this objectively that this second book takes all the greatest things from the first book and cranks them up to eleven. You guys are going to have so much fun reading the continued adventures of Brilan, Clara and the rest of the group. Also in my writing process I've come up with a name for this series. I'm calling it the Magic Metal War. What do you think of it let me know in the comments. Now I'm not ready to release the book just yet, I need to go through my extensive editing process and I need to design a cover. But I am ready to give you guys a little sample of what I've been writing.
“Are we there yet?” Clara asks Brilan.
“No.” Brilan says shortly.
“Are we there yet?” Clara asks again.
“No.” Says Brilan
“Are we there yet?” Clara asks.
“No.” Brilan says.
“Are we there yet?” Clara asks.
“No. Are we there yet?” Brilan spurts out in a moment of reversal.
“No.” Clara says instinctually. “Hey you messed me up!” Cara says as her annoying farce is unraveled.
“Hey I can play games too. I can keep it up all day. Just try me.” Brilan tells his sister to put an end to her annoyance.
“But I’m bored and hungry.” Clara wines to her brother. “When are we gonna…” Clara tries to wine more but she is interrupted when a ten foot tall Ferean comes stomping out of the trees and into the path that the siblings walk. Adrenaline pumps through the hearts of the kids as they see the beast that threatens them.
“RRRRREEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHH!!!!” The ferean calls out as he finds his young prey.
“CLARA DUCK STAY HIDDEN!” Brilan yells to his sister as he draws the universe key and gets in between her and the ferean. Brilan pushes his sister away into a bush aggressively encouraging her to stay away from this horror. The monster swipes at Brilan with one of its claws and he bats it back with the universe key. The young Zaubator must quickly defend against the attacks, come up with a strategy to kill it and keep Clara safe all at the same time. He keeps bashing at the beast with his key but after a few hit he can’t keep it up. The ferean uses one of his claws to swipe Brilans feet out from under him. The boy falls to the ground as the ferean looms over him.
Pretty suspenseful right? I'm going to tentatively say that this whole thing will be out by the end of the year so you'll have to wait a little bit to see how this part gets wrapped up. I'll tell you right now it's worth the wait.
“Are we there yet?” Clara asks Brilan.
“No.” Brilan says shortly.
“Are we there yet?” Clara asks again.
“No.” Says Brilan
“Are we there yet?” Clara asks.
“No.” Brilan says.
“Are we there yet?” Clara asks.
“No. Are we there yet?” Brilan spurts out in a moment of reversal.
“No.” Clara says instinctually. “Hey you messed me up!” Cara says as her annoying farce is unraveled.
“Hey I can play games too. I can keep it up all day. Just try me.” Brilan tells his sister to put an end to her annoyance.
“But I’m bored and hungry.” Clara wines to her brother. “When are we gonna…” Clara tries to wine more but she is interrupted when a ten foot tall Ferean comes stomping out of the trees and into the path that the siblings walk. Adrenaline pumps through the hearts of the kids as they see the beast that threatens them.
“RRRRREEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHH!!!!” The ferean calls out as he finds his young prey.
“CLARA DUCK STAY HIDDEN!” Brilan yells to his sister as he draws the universe key and gets in between her and the ferean. Brilan pushes his sister away into a bush aggressively encouraging her to stay away from this horror. The monster swipes at Brilan with one of its claws and he bats it back with the universe key. The young Zaubator must quickly defend against the attacks, come up with a strategy to kill it and keep Clara safe all at the same time. He keeps bashing at the beast with his key but after a few hit he can’t keep it up. The ferean uses one of his claws to swipe Brilans feet out from under him. The boy falls to the ground as the ferean looms over him.
Pretty suspenseful right? I'm going to tentatively say that this whole thing will be out by the end of the year so you'll have to wait a little bit to see how this part gets wrapped up. I'll tell you right now it's worth the wait.
God help me I finally joined Wattpad
So I recently joined a platform called Wattpad. For those of you who don't know what it is it's a place where writers can post stories that they have written and for readers to read those fiction stories. I see it as way for people to get exposed to what I've written. Before I joined I heard mixed things about Wattpad. I've heard some people say that it's not a good place to get exposure and I've heard other people say it's a place for poorly written fan fiction. Like really a lot of bad stories are being published there mostly about Harry Potter having sex with Draco. So the question here is why would I join this platform if I heard bad things about it? Well I was listening to an interview with George R R Martin and he was asked to give some advice to new writers. His advice boiled done to before you write a full length novel start out writing short stories and try to get them published in literary magazines. That will give you a better foundation in writing fiction and maybe you'll even build a fanbase. That advice is absolute garbage because literary magazines have essentially dried up and gone the way of the dodo. They were probably popular when Martin was getting his start so advice like that would seem natural for him. Unfortunately times have changed. The internet has risen and changed the way we read. Enter Wattpad. Despite its criticisms to does have a lot of users and it has done its best to create a platform for engaging with users as well as become a place to publish short fiction in an official professional capacity. Nowadays if you want to publish short fiction there are barely any traditional publishing routes to do so. Wattpad might have just well replaced those literary magazines the Martin spoke so highly of. Plus I do feel a freedom of being able to publish any bit of writing I want. That's very appealing to me. The demon monkeys that live in my hair will finally have their message heard. So if I feel I want to start writing about the sex lives of Harry Potter characters then I write to my hearts content. And who knows maybe somebody will enjoy what I've written about the sex lives of Harry Potter characters so much that they'll check out my original works and then I've gained some new fans. Oh well wish me luck and if you're on what pad right now and you want to follow me here's a link https://www.wattpad.com/user/chrisfri...
Till next time
Peace
Till next time
Peace
What Avatar the last Airbender means to me.
I started watching the show when it first came out in 2005. So I was there from day one. I can’t say that about too many things. I loved how kids were given these extraordinary abilities to bend the elements. I loved the animation style that built a world that you just want to live in. I loved the plot, the characters and the humor. I was so interested in seeing the extent of the bending abilities and I was entranced by the movement of the characters in order to use their elements. This show revolutionized the animated TV world with it’s depictions of martial arts. Back in the day I didn’t understand how television seasons worked so when I saw the season two finale I just thought the series was over and all the characters died. Twelve year old me was in a big state of shock back then. That show brought me up and took me down. It took me on an emotional rollercoaster. When I watched the series finale I had tears in my eyes. It made me feel so many things and to this day it still holds up as one of the best TV shows ever in my opinion.
But everything changed when they made the movie. The movie came out when I was sixteen and I’ll admit I was excited to see the characters I loved show up on the big screen in live action. When I left the theater the most of what I had to say was “They got a lot of the stuff wrong.” I can write forever about how bad the live action movie but I think that’s a task for another day. I can sum it all up by saying like most of the fans I hate the movie. Some of the fans even deny its existence and I can’t blame them for doing so in the slightest. So we all moved on with our lives until 2012 when Nick announced they were making a sequel series called the Legend of Korra. Even though the movie was crap this new series was a clear departure. I really like Legend of Korra. It was nice to go back to the world of avatar and the new series got the taste of the movie out of my mouth. I originally thought that nick would just do one season of Korra and it would just be a way for the fandom to say goodbye to the series once and for all. I was taken for a loop when they decided to do three more seasons of Korra. I was also thrown for another loop when I heard the final season wouldn’t be on TV but instead it would be on the Nick website. I could write more about the series but I really liked it. Some of the fandom doesn’t like the series and I don’t get those people at all. Over the years I bought both of the series on DVD and re-watch them from time to time. I even watched the series when it came out on Netflix and I was happy when it soared to the number one show on the streaming platform. I can probably keep watching the show as an adult and keep finding new things to appreciate or new meanings to find in the text. For example in season two when the gaang takes down Azulas drill she comes back and uses their strategy to take over Ba Sing Sei. The gaang takes down the drill from the inside and Azula takes down the city from the inside. That plays into a theme of fire nation defeat playing into their eventual victories. Theirs also a meta textual reading I found in it. In the episode bitter work Iroh explains a new fire bending technique to Zuko. To start off the lesson Iroh explains to him that he find influence from other bending forms. To become more powerful he should take wisdom from many different sources. Wisdom from all across the world will make him whole. He does this to explain that he developed his technique to redirect lighting from studying water benders. Meanwhile in the real world Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino were heavily influenced by Japanese anime when creating the Last Airbender. To create their fictional world they took inspiration from feudal japan, china, Buddhist monk culture and the tribes of the Inuit. Even though they were American animators their animation style for this was heavily influenced by anime from Japan. They fused that influence with western animation techniques to create their own unique art style. In the subsequent years a new kind of animated cartoon that I’ve heard some fans call Americanime arose. Some shows that would fit into this genre would be Samurai Jack and Teen Titans. These guys took wisdom from around the world and it made them better artists. Helped them make this groundbreaking show that the fandom fell in love with. Wisdom from all across the world made them more powerful just like Iroh in their show. The same way Iroh use his diverse wisdom to create his revolutionary technique Michael and Bryan used that same principle to create Avatar the last Airbender. I’ve also found a meta narrative within the Legend of Korra. In season 2 Bolin goes on a little side adventure of becoming a movie star. In their world they call them movers but it’s the same thing. In the movers Bo Lin plays a character called Nuk Tuk the hero of the south. The character is a water bending hero from the southern water tribe. Bo Lin himself has no genealogical connection to the Southern water tribe and he is not a water bender. Now lets go back into the real world. The crappy live action last airbender movie was the subject of a lot of criticism. A major talking point in that criticism was allegations of white washing. Specifically they had several Caucasian actors playing roles that would have been more loyal to the source material if they were played by people of color. For example in the movie the characters of Katara and Sokka are played by Caucasian actors when in the show they are portrayed as people of color. If the movie wanted to honor its source material more then they probably would have cast non white actors to play these roles. This point is just a drop in the bucket of criticism leveled at this movie. Now lets go back into the the legend of Korra. In Bolins movers it probably would have been better and made more sense if the character of Nuk Tuk would be played by an actor from the southern water tribe or a water bender. But instead it’s played by Bo Lin who is an earth bender from the earth kingdom. It played into the plot of the show but one could say that this character went through the in universe equivalent of whitewashing. It sure was subtle but I found an instance in the Legend of Korra where the creators of the show criticized the live action movie in a meta textual way. Just one final middle finger to M. Night Shyamalan.
Also in the season two episode the Guru guru Pahtik explains to Aang the seven chakras of the body. They explain it accurately and exhibit a cornerstone of yoga and meditation that originated in ancient India. This makes the show deeper and more vital. I love things like that, it was interesting to learn about chakras in an interesting way that played in perfectly to the narrative.
Now a days I hear of a deal to make a new live action series on Netflix rebooting the Last Airbender. Now I’m not to excited to hear the words live action when I think about this franchise and I heard the news that the original creators were attached to the show but they recently left because of creative differences. That doesn’t give me a lot of confidence in the upcoming series but I’ll probably watch it anyway. I don’t even really want a live action series that much I kind of want a third animated series following the adventures of the next avatar in the cycle. There’s a part of me that thinks stories should be updated and remade to relate to a new audience and a new generation. But maybe I’m straying away from that belief. I think the last Airbender is the Star Wars of my generation but the franchise has had a lot of missteps. It’s only until recently that I realized the stories and the Last Airbender and Star Wars are very similar.
Now I have to ask myself how has this story influenced my own story telling? I think the most important way is on a world building level. Like a said earlier the Last Airbender has a rich and vibrant world that feels so real. I even think that there should be an open world RPG based on the show. The world building is also tied in perfectly with the magic system of bending. Bending is integrated into the world in a way that it affects every character on the show. When I wrote the Universe Key I wanted to create a world that someone would love to live in and a magic system that had a major impact on the world as well as the people living in it. Both the Last Airbender and the Universe Key both have a war as their backdrop and my characters Brilan and Clara are loosely based on Sokka and Katara. Also I can’t help but admit the fact that some of the magic weapons spit out elements is based on bending. So I can say that the Last Airbender has influenced me heavily in my writing and my creative life. I hope that the franchise will become more popular in the pop culture zeitgeist. As time goes on I hope its influence will become deeper and richer.
But everything changed when they made the movie. The movie came out when I was sixteen and I’ll admit I was excited to see the characters I loved show up on the big screen in live action. When I left the theater the most of what I had to say was “They got a lot of the stuff wrong.” I can write forever about how bad the live action movie but I think that’s a task for another day. I can sum it all up by saying like most of the fans I hate the movie. Some of the fans even deny its existence and I can’t blame them for doing so in the slightest. So we all moved on with our lives until 2012 when Nick announced they were making a sequel series called the Legend of Korra. Even though the movie was crap this new series was a clear departure. I really like Legend of Korra. It was nice to go back to the world of avatar and the new series got the taste of the movie out of my mouth. I originally thought that nick would just do one season of Korra and it would just be a way for the fandom to say goodbye to the series once and for all. I was taken for a loop when they decided to do three more seasons of Korra. I was also thrown for another loop when I heard the final season wouldn’t be on TV but instead it would be on the Nick website. I could write more about the series but I really liked it. Some of the fandom doesn’t like the series and I don’t get those people at all. Over the years I bought both of the series on DVD and re-watch them from time to time. I even watched the series when it came out on Netflix and I was happy when it soared to the number one show on the streaming platform. I can probably keep watching the show as an adult and keep finding new things to appreciate or new meanings to find in the text. For example in season two when the gaang takes down Azulas drill she comes back and uses their strategy to take over Ba Sing Sei. The gaang takes down the drill from the inside and Azula takes down the city from the inside. That plays into a theme of fire nation defeat playing into their eventual victories. Theirs also a meta textual reading I found in it. In the episode bitter work Iroh explains a new fire bending technique to Zuko. To start off the lesson Iroh explains to him that he find influence from other bending forms. To become more powerful he should take wisdom from many different sources. Wisdom from all across the world will make him whole. He does this to explain that he developed his technique to redirect lighting from studying water benders. Meanwhile in the real world Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino were heavily influenced by Japanese anime when creating the Last Airbender. To create their fictional world they took inspiration from feudal japan, china, Buddhist monk culture and the tribes of the Inuit. Even though they were American animators their animation style for this was heavily influenced by anime from Japan. They fused that influence with western animation techniques to create their own unique art style. In the subsequent years a new kind of animated cartoon that I’ve heard some fans call Americanime arose. Some shows that would fit into this genre would be Samurai Jack and Teen Titans. These guys took wisdom from around the world and it made them better artists. Helped them make this groundbreaking show that the fandom fell in love with. Wisdom from all across the world made them more powerful just like Iroh in their show. The same way Iroh use his diverse wisdom to create his revolutionary technique Michael and Bryan used that same principle to create Avatar the last Airbender. I’ve also found a meta narrative within the Legend of Korra. In season 2 Bolin goes on a little side adventure of becoming a movie star. In their world they call them movers but it’s the same thing. In the movers Bo Lin plays a character called Nuk Tuk the hero of the south. The character is a water bending hero from the southern water tribe. Bo Lin himself has no genealogical connection to the Southern water tribe and he is not a water bender. Now lets go back into the real world. The crappy live action last airbender movie was the subject of a lot of criticism. A major talking point in that criticism was allegations of white washing. Specifically they had several Caucasian actors playing roles that would have been more loyal to the source material if they were played by people of color. For example in the movie the characters of Katara and Sokka are played by Caucasian actors when in the show they are portrayed as people of color. If the movie wanted to honor its source material more then they probably would have cast non white actors to play these roles. This point is just a drop in the bucket of criticism leveled at this movie. Now lets go back into the the legend of Korra. In Bolins movers it probably would have been better and made more sense if the character of Nuk Tuk would be played by an actor from the southern water tribe or a water bender. But instead it’s played by Bo Lin who is an earth bender from the earth kingdom. It played into the plot of the show but one could say that this character went through the in universe equivalent of whitewashing. It sure was subtle but I found an instance in the Legend of Korra where the creators of the show criticized the live action movie in a meta textual way. Just one final middle finger to M. Night Shyamalan.
Also in the season two episode the Guru guru Pahtik explains to Aang the seven chakras of the body. They explain it accurately and exhibit a cornerstone of yoga and meditation that originated in ancient India. This makes the show deeper and more vital. I love things like that, it was interesting to learn about chakras in an interesting way that played in perfectly to the narrative.
Now a days I hear of a deal to make a new live action series on Netflix rebooting the Last Airbender. Now I’m not to excited to hear the words live action when I think about this franchise and I heard the news that the original creators were attached to the show but they recently left because of creative differences. That doesn’t give me a lot of confidence in the upcoming series but I’ll probably watch it anyway. I don’t even really want a live action series that much I kind of want a third animated series following the adventures of the next avatar in the cycle. There’s a part of me that thinks stories should be updated and remade to relate to a new audience and a new generation. But maybe I’m straying away from that belief. I think the last Airbender is the Star Wars of my generation but the franchise has had a lot of missteps. It’s only until recently that I realized the stories and the Last Airbender and Star Wars are very similar.
Now I have to ask myself how has this story influenced my own story telling? I think the most important way is on a world building level. Like a said earlier the Last Airbender has a rich and vibrant world that feels so real. I even think that there should be an open world RPG based on the show. The world building is also tied in perfectly with the magic system of bending. Bending is integrated into the world in a way that it affects every character on the show. When I wrote the Universe Key I wanted to create a world that someone would love to live in and a magic system that had a major impact on the world as well as the people living in it. Both the Last Airbender and the Universe Key both have a war as their backdrop and my characters Brilan and Clara are loosely based on Sokka and Katara. Also I can’t help but admit the fact that some of the magic weapons spit out elements is based on bending. So I can say that the Last Airbender has influenced me heavily in my writing and my creative life. I hope that the franchise will become more popular in the pop culture zeitgeist. As time goes on I hope its influence will become deeper and richer.
