Bloodshot (Fan-Fic)

[Abishai100]

The modern pop-culture graffiti is the Mad-Libs friendly comic book 'pedestrianism-consciousness' fan-fic (or a personalized/casual interpretation/translation).

This is a simple fan-fic I wrote based on Bloodshot comics, and now there's an upcoming movie adaptation of this unusual and lesser-known comic book 'anti-hero,' so maybe this fan-fic will generate the right buzz for a film I'm excited about. John Wick creators are involved in the project.


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Angelo was betrayed by the FBI and then the US government after he promised to testify against his old mafia associates who betrayed him! Angelo was placed in a lab where nanocomputer-chips were inserted into his body, giving him the ability to shape-shift, regenerate, and interface with technology. Angelo woke up and realized he was a freak, so he escaped from military control and went underground and became the L.A. vigilante known as 'Bloodshot.' Angelo/Bloodshot made his peace with those he left behind and turned his attention to new menaces stalking Americans on the streets.

Bloodshot was trailing Jason (a hockey-mask wearing, machete-wielding serial killer) and Wolfman (a man supposedly raging like a werewolf and either in wolfman-costume or even a real werewolf!). Jason and Wolfman had combined to kill ten police officers in just three months. Jason also killed a post office worker, and the Wolfman killed a female U.S. senator going to her parked car after leaving a celebrity nightclub. Bloodshot knew his ability to regenerate would render him invincible to the otherwise furious and frightening stance and blows of Jason and Wolfman, so he was not afraid. However, Bloodshot was about to find the weakness and strength of the human heart he started forgetting (as a freak!).

A little girl in a red hood and cape carrying a basket of green apples walked up to Bloodshot one Halloween Eve when she noticed the vigilante was standing in the middle of the street (in Los Angeles) pensively looking around for criminals to curb. She told Bloodshot her name (Anastasia), and he confided in her (finding her to be very innocent and pure) that his name was actually Angelo. Bloodshot told Anastasia his sad story, and the little girl told him to call her Red Riding Hood, so he did. He found her to be strange, but she told him she would find him every now and then, and that he should find her every now and then for some words of wisdom and perspective. Bloodshot liked her sense of fair-play and magic.

Bloodshot realized he was haunted by the child-like optimism of Red Riding Hood and wondered why her name was Anastasia. He became obsessed with her and wanted to know her history, so he started asking around about 'Red Riding Hood.' A mysterious old man hanging out in a social pit one night in LA told Bloodshot that there was an urban legend that the ghost of the Russian princess Anastasia was wandering around the city dressed as Red Riding Hood; the real kicker was that some believed she was the real Red Riding Hood trying to warn the people of the city that the Wolfman was a real werewolf.

As the threat of facing Jason and Wolfman simultaneously approached, Bloodshot considered the possibility that he was somewhat unnerved by his newfound friendship with Red Riding Hood. "If Anastasia is right about Wolfman, then I have to keep her (and everyone else) away from the ghoul while I try to tackle him. However, a part of me, for the first time, wants to leave crime and crime-fighting behind and simply take care of Red Riding Hood!" Bloodshot was a tough guy who worked out in the gym a lot as a young man, and he remembered how the presence of girls and women can distract someone who is busy exercising. Bloodshot wondered if the newfound warmth in his heart (given to him by Anastasia) would render him somehow too sensitive (and hence vulnerable) to deal with Jason and Wolfman.

When Bloodshot stood face-to-face with Jason and Wolfman who had teamed up to tackle him, he remembered the words of Red Riding Hood: "Don't kill unless you feel the reward outweighs the cost in terms of public safety and the sanity of life itself!" Bloodshot knew he was dealing with two real demons in Jason and Wolfman. When Jason threw his machete at Bloodshot, the vigilante shape-shifted to look like a curved tree, so the machete missed him. When Wolfman lunged towards Bloodshot with stretched claws, Bloodshot shape-shifted to become a very thin man, making it difficult for the demon to scratch at him while he was dodging his lunges. Bloodshot took one blow from Jason's machete (on his right leg) and one scratch on his face from Wolfman but he quickly regenerated and used his pistols to shoot holes into their eyes, so they couldn't see.

After burning the dead bodies of Jason and Wolfman, Bloodshot ran to find Red Riding Hood (Anastasia). At first, he couldn't find the bright young spirit anywhere but finally she walked up to him under a street light at 3 a.m. "Congratulations," she said, "You dispelled the ferocious Wolfman and Jason too! They were actual demons in LA." Bloodshot replied, "I know, how could anyone know a government-freak (like me) betrayed by the mafia would become some kind of skulking vigilante with the miraculous power to do away with Wolfman and Jason?" Just then, Red Riding Hood's internal body disappeared and her red hood and cloak fell to the ground empty. He looked at her cloth in amazement and realized she really was the ghost of Russian princess Anastasia. "Meeting her was my reward for becoming an 'American action-figure'!" Bloodshot decided he was a symbol of real intelligence. He was about to face a new nemesis named Leatherface (a chainsaw-wielding cannibal). "I love Los Angeles," Bloodshot whispered with eerie courage.

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Bloodshot Reborn (Comic Online)

 

[Abishai100]

Chapter 2: 'Maniac Cop'


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As Bloodshot was ruminating on the parameters of his newfound vigilantism-realm powers and tracking LA's newest nemesis, the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface, yet another menace rose to prominence. This menace was a rogue officer of the LAPD named Stoney who wanted to take matters into his own hands after feeling the frustration of mismanaged jurisprudence politics in Los Angeles (and America). Stoney kept by his side his adopted baby Randolph on whose forehead Stoney taped a lightweight plastic unicorn-horn sculpture. Stoney would walk around LA at night with a hand-axe and Randolph (with his unicorn horn), pretending to be a legitimate member of the LAPD.

Bloodshot knew that Stoney's angle was to rouse up public mistrust of the police and stir up sentimentality towards 'rogue vigilantism' in a city he felt had become a pit of demons. Stoney was the penultimate 'maniac cop,' and to do satisfactory 'environmental' research, Bloodshot decided to spend some time spying on the LAPD, getting a good idea of the personalities of cops in the unit. He wrote a memoir of his accounts and used them to formulate a systematic way to use 'standard vigilantism' to pursue Stoney and Leatherface and demystify their social allure in the proverbial 'court of public opinion,' which was now inevitably 'magnified' by the media (Stoney and Leatherface were all over the news).

"I've spent about six months 'scoping' out the members of the LAPD, which I must say is comprised of very colorful characters. I'm glad I was never an official cop; the LAPD seems stifled by the weight of mental labors. There's a cop in the unit named Rune who is in charge of illegal-immigration related crimes, and he's very anxious about 'expediting' due process (is that good or bad?). There's another cop named Louis who's in charge of gang-related crimes, and Louis' new partner (a rookie) is very eager to tie gang crimes to economic inequalities, but Rune is not buying it (so the interplay between the two is very entertaining). There's another cop named Bertrand who's in charge the LAPD's official correspondence with Internal Affairs (which investigates corruption within the LAPD); Bertrand hates the media with a vengeance. Finally, Commissioner Jackson spends much time sweet-talking every new recruit while reminding the veterans that L.A. is an oasis for evil-doers."

Bloodshot felt he had enough background information about the composition of the LAPD to get a fair idea of how to demystify Stoney and Leatherface's 'mystique' in the court of public opinion and detangle the messy web of crime-glorifying idol worship in the media. Bloodshot decided he would try to trap Stoney and Leatherface in a one-on-one confrontation, so the two would be compelled to fight each other (and hopefully on camera!). Bloodshot sent an anonymous note to the Los Angeles Times, which read, "I am Leatherface, and I challenge Stoney to fight me outside the Lakers arena on Halloween Eve!" Leatherface was not sure who wrote the notice, so he showed up to meet and fight Stoney outside the Lakers arena on Halloween. Stoney showed up with Randolph and his hand-axe, and Leatherface ran towards him with his terrible buzzing chainsaw (it was midnight).

Bloodshot swung into the scene with his video-camera. He first used a rope-gun to grab Randolph and keep him away from Stoney while the 'maniac cop' fought Leatherface. Bloodshot told Stoney, "I have your baby, but he's safe, so you focus on your engagement with Leatherface over there!" As Leatherface ran towards Stoney, Stoney threw his hand-axe at Leatherface's arm, and it gashed the brute's limb. Leatherface dropped his chainsaw, giving Stoney the timing to disarm the brute and declare himself the victor. Bloodshot recorded the entire incident on camera before LAPD arrived and Louis and his rookie-partner cuffed and carried away Stoney and Leatherface to prison. Bloodshot had already fled the scene with Randolph (his newfound 'child-guardian' spirit following the disappearance of Anastasia), but he left behind the videotape of the Stoney-Leatherface fight for Louis to find, which would change the way Americans conceived of 'permissible vigilantism.'

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LA Confidential (Film)

 

[Abishai100]

Chapter 3: The Postman


I used a picture of Prince William and wife Duchess Kate and family, but I'm using them here as models for a fictional royalty-group from Canada.



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Bloodshot decided to travel to Canada where the royalty there was rumored to be troubled by malevolent spirits. He decided to camp out in the woods where no one would bother him and from where he could skulk towards the Quebec castle where the Prince (and king-to-be) and his Duchess wife were staying with their children, preparing for a special tour of British Columbia. While in the forest, Bloodshot had a strange dream of an electric-woman in red-cloak warning him about a strange 'witch.' When he awoke, he was shocked to find a red-cloaked woman sitting in front of him by his campfire.

"Are you Red Riding Hood or know of the spirit of Anastasia?" Bloodshot asked his strange female visitor. "No, I'm more like Robin Hood (female-version!). I wear red to signify my fascination with blood and feminine energy. I'm here to warn you about something." Bloodshot asked her what her name was, and she simply said, "Just call me 'Scarlet'." Bloodshot then asked Scarlet what he should be ready for and what her 'omen' referred to, and Scarlet explained there was a demonic female witch skulking around these woods observing the royal family in their Quebec castle from a safe distance (just like Bloodshot!).

Bloodshot wanted to know more about this strange 'witch' stalking the royal Canadian family, but Scarlet offered no more clues. She just told him, "If you lure the witch into the forest and find a way to keep her there, I can use my powers to fight her. I've been pursuing her (she is known as The Black Rose) for many years now, and I fear she is cooking up a scheme to drive the Canadian prince and duchess apart somehow, and I fear the scheme may involve the kidnapping of one of the royal children!" Bloodshot was fearful but now convinced Scarlet was telling her the truth. "Alight, Scarlet. I'll be your Huntsman to your Snow-White. Just don't fail!"

Bloodshot went scouring across the forest in search of The Black Rose. Finally, one moonlit night, he walked up to a female figure cloaked in black and singing by a campfire. He walked up to her and said, "I know you are The Black Rose. I demand you stay here with me by your comfortable campfire until my female friend Scarlet arrives to engage you further. If you try to flee, I'll shoot you in the forehead with my crossbow!" The female figure was indeed The Black Rose, and she replied, "You obviously have me at your command [Bloodshot]." Bloodshot stood over her with his crossbow, waiting for Scarlet to arrive, but she never came. Frustrated, he let The Black Rose go but warned her, "If you skulk around these woods, or if I catch you spying on the Quebec castle and the royal family inside, I will kill you!"

Confident he had compelled The Black Rose to draw away from the royal Canadian family, Bloodshot returned to watch over the Quebec castle and the Canadian prince and duchess and their children. "If anyone asks me why I'm interested in 'protecting royalty,' I will simply say, 'Institutions of the civilized world demand guardianship and protection from the forces of terror'!" Bloodshot watched the prince and duchess come out of their castle entrance and wave to the crowds with their adorable children. "If I was born a prince with a lovely duchess-wife like that, I'm sure I would want someone like me to protect my castle from monsters such as The Black Rose." Bloodshot wondered what the heck happened to Scarlet. He simply hoped she wasn't dead.

Bloodshot watched over the Quebec castle for an entire summer until he realized there were no real threats to the Canadian royal family by malevolent spirits. The duchess gave an interview to reporters during which she stated, "It seems God or some protective angel has been watching over our castle, so there is really no certain fearful threat by a black or evil presence, as we earlier were suggesting to our guardsmen and priests." Bloodshot read the interview and decided to blog on the Internet about the value of defending a monarchy and the charm of the Canadian royal family. A strange blogger (calling himself 'The Postman') replied to Bloodshot's post with the eerie message, "I'm an ally of The Black Rose and I've killed her only rival, Scarlet with a poisoned-arrow. I will help The Black Rose dismantle the 'superficial mystique' of Canadian royalty!" Bloodshot realized his work in Quebec had just begun. He had to find this 'potluck-misery postman.'

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THE ROYAL CANADIAN FAMILY:

THE BLACK ROSE and SCARLET:

 

[Abishai100]

Chapter 4: Mage


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"What the hell are you supposed to be?"

"I'm a mage."

"What's your name?"

"That's my name. That's it...Mage."

That was the recording received by the LAPD on Halloween Eve, the night the police discovered the body of a cop gashed by a chainsaw (most likely) and left to bleed to death in an alley dumpster. Two weeks later, the LAPD received an anonymous note:

"My name is Mage. I'm on a horror-pageant to show Americans that young girls should not be coerced into piercing their ears (just to buy earrings!). It's a meaningless 'initiation ritual' no more 'civilized' than bizarre female puberty initiation rituals practiced among primitives in the jungle. Piercing your ear hurts, and there's no reason we should tell young girls that they have the 'jewelry-store' opportunity to procure fancy earrings if they pierce their ears!"

The LAPD was not sure what to do, so they called Bloodshot who had just returned from Quebec after successfully dealing with a demonic character known as 'The Postman' who was terrorizing the Canadian royal family. Bloodshot listened to the LAPD's recording of the killed police officer on Halloween and read the 'anonymous' note sent by someone claiming (once again) their name was simply 'Mage.' Bloodshot wondered what a chainsaw-wielding pseudo-terrorist would be doing around LA 'preaching' about the 'superficiality' of young girls piercing their ears so they can buy earrings. Given that the 'ghoul' chose to be called 'Mage,' Bloodshot concluded that the psycho was interested in disseminating some pseudo-anarchism message about the frailty of the human body (as it relates to consumerism indulgences such as fast food and QVC jewelry perhaps).

Bloodshot considered the possibility that on the following Halloween Eve in LA, Mage would make one more desperate but devastating gesture against the 'tentacles' of consumerism. Bloodshot wagered that 'Mage' would show up at a drive-in restaurant or fast-food joint and run in with his chainsaw and create bloody murder and then deliver some 'apocalypto' message about the 'cholesterol-insanity' of an FDA-oblivious Burger King 'universe.' Bloodshot did, however, ask himself, "If Mage wants to say something about the 'metaphysical violence' of ear-piercings, is he really obsessed with sanity itself?" When Bloodshot staked out a drive-in restaurant (serving pulled-pork sandwiches) on Halloween Eve, he found Mage ready to attack with his chainsaw (and wearing a potato-sack mask) and swiftly killed him with a crossbow shot to his left eye which pierced the psycho's brain. Mage bled to death, and Bloodshot told the LAPD, "This guy may have been a genuine 'mock-artist'!"

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[Abishai100]

The Orphanage

Here's a short-story which I think reflects how comic book art addresses a pedestrian demand for youth-targeted entertainment/media.


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Bloodshot decided to visit Los Angeles even though he was now living in Switzerland. Bloodshot wanted to visit his American actor/celebrity friend Tom Berenger who lives in LA. Berenger was about to attend a special art symposium about X-Men (Marvel Comics) adapted Hollywood (USA) films and how they spoke to younger audiences. Berenger believed such art was representative of a valuable social investment in child welfare politics and how far America has come from the days of orphanages and Oliver Twist!

Bloodshot liked comic books himself, and when he got to Berenger's LA celebrity palace (on Halloween Eve), he realized his friend was babysitting a Latino-American child named Isabela. Berenger was dressed in a Halloween costume and so was Isabela. Berenger was dressed as the X-Man character Cyclops (a laser-vision centurion), and he dressed Isabela as Cyclops' female young sidekick Jubilee. Bloodshot remarked how well Berenger and Isabela looked like Cyclops and Jubilee! The trio went trick-or-treating. Bloodshot simply put on a trench-coat and top-hat and pretended to be a 'generic vigilante.' The trio had a great time trick-or-treating in the posh end of Beverly Hills.

Bloodshot felt secure, since the trio was driving in a Hummer driven by Berenger's armed bodyguard. Isabela/Jubilee started talking about how comic books made her think about playgrounds, masks, and kid-teams. Bloodshot remarked, "If you and Cyclops do a special magazine photo-spread, it might just become a nice social advertisement for the happiness/welfare of kids in America!" Berenger really liked the idea and quickly arranged a media photo-shoot. He told the photojournalist at the shoot, "I want people to see this photo of Cyclops and Jubilee (me and Isabela, the daughter of my college friend) and think about how American federalism has evolved since the days of Oliver Twist." He then donated $3 million to UNICEF. He cited Jubilee as his inspiration.

Bloodshot was thrilled at this community values directed activity of his good friend Tom Berenger and gave him a set of X-Men comic books for his birthday. Bloodshot then submitted a special citizen's anonymous op-ed to the LA Times: "The modern American city cries for federal attention for the homeless and socially-challenged youth who represent our nation's future. We make action-packed films for kids such as Iron Man and The Avengers, but how far have we really progressed from the orphanage-days of Charles Dickens?" A psychopath read the op-ed and responded with one of his own: "If the capitalism-subjective Trump Administration is receptive to ideas about progressive political change, then the kids of America really should feel hopeful, but if we've simply elected a 'capitalism-baron' as U.S. President, then we're in for a heart-break much worse than the one delivered by Reaganomics, in which case, I intend to wreak havoc on Harvard and M.I.T.!"

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ISABELA (Jubilee):

BERENGER (Cyclops):

 

[Abishai100]

The Terrorist


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Bloodshot was in Chicago to monitor a rock concert where the CIA suspected a terrorist might strike. Bloodshot was informed that the terrorist was a Japanese-American (named Nimo) working for a rogue North Korean pro-nationalist radical faction called Red Day. Nimo apparently always wore a trench-coat and would leave little playing-cards with photos of trench coats on the back at the scene of his terrorist attacks. Nimo was responsible for the bombing of a police station in France, an army barracks in Saudi Arabia, and a government post office in British Columbia.

The intention of Red Day was to use random and sporadic acts of terrorism across the globe to create fear and panic and draw attention to the US and UN's lack of ultimate control in the emerging mercantilism-gauged geo-political climate (e.g., European Union, NATO, etc.). Bloodshot's mission was to deduce Nimo's scheme at the Chicago rock concert and spot him and prevent him from doing anything before he did it. The heroic vigilante showed up at the concert with special night-vision lenses fitted to his sunglasses and carrying an extra-long range silencer-pistol.

When Bloodshot spotted a mysterious man walking through the right side of the crowd towards the stage with a balloon, Bloodshot, deduced the man was not simply carrying a harmless helium balloon but some kind of 'gimmick' toy tied to an explosive of some kind which would go off once he popped the balloon right in front of the stage. Bloodshot used his finely-honed aiming skills to spot the moving man (wearing a heavy tan-colored trench-coat) and shot him in the back of the knee. When the man fell and screamed and people around him looked confused, Bloodshot (who was wearing an Arabian genie costume with veil to hide his face) ran up to Nimo (who was lying on the ground grimacing) and yelled, "Don't worry! I know this man!"

Bloodshot turned over Nimo to the authorities, and the FBI/CIA took it from there. Bloodshot found a dropped playing-card left where Nimo fell on the ground at the concert arena. It had a picture of a trench-coat on the back. Bloodshot wondered for a second if Nimo dropped it by accident when he was shot or if he intentionally left it there. Bloodshot deduced that if Nimo intentionally left it there, his arrest was a gimmick itself and the whole fiasco was a distraction! Bloodshot phoned the CIA liaison working with him on the case and told him, "I'm pretty sure there's a major terrorist attack planned somewhere else in Chicago tonight!" Sure enough, one hour later, a bomb went off by the Chicago subway-train tracks (though no train was crossing at the time).

Nimo was questioned by the CIA and asked if his concert stunt was a distraction for the subway track bombing. Nimo coldly replied, "Of course it was. While you cops and heroes were busy following me around, I had my protege plant a bomb in the rail-tracks. Tomorrow, the press will say, 'Cops and government officers involved in a cat-and-mouse chase involving terrorists at two different sites with no apparent connection'!" When the CIA asked Nimo why there was no connection, the terrorist told them that the pure absurd lack of connection would create the general pedestrian panic necessary to deliver home the message that new age terrorism has no fingerprint of predictability, only one specific goal --- destroy the West. Bloodshot was assigned to analyze emerging new cells and teams of terrorists operating all across Europe. Bloodshot muttered to himself, "I wish I was in Switzerland --- the last bastion of scholastic neutrality!"

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NIMO: