The greatest Failure
Chapter one: A Deal with the devil
The sounds of gunfire and people screaming echoed throughout the desert one a late and horribly hot evening over at Amity Park's Canyons, the light brown rocks and sand were covered in the blood of a group of travelers who died protecting their wagons and families while fending off a band of bandits who mercilessly fired their revolvers and lever-action rifles, the bandits cheered and taunted the men daring them to continue fighting and face certain death, the battle had reached the point in which women were forced to take hold of their slain husbands weapons to avenge them. One by one, the travelers' numbers began to dwindle, men and women cried as their allies tried to stop the bleeding however they could.
Two very young blonde-haired girls screamed in horror as an obscenely fat bearded man lasso tied their ankles together and began dragging them away from the wagon's protection, the rider's fat cheeks wiggled in rhythm to his horse's gallop as he maliciously chuckled. Four gunshots to the bandit's back granted by a cowgirl dressed in a red shirt and blue pants ended his life in less than a second, her dual-wielding was beyond words as she easily took down two more riders via a simultaneous headshot each as they approached allowing for the girls to escape back into the circle. Their faces were red and exhausted with tears running down their cheeks.
"Thank you, miss Jasmine!"- the two spoke in unison as they headed behind a few crates for further protection.
Several men and women entered the only wooden coach to try and fight off the bandits, rifles poke out from the windows as they tried to take down as many of the bandits as they could, but it was as if they had an almost infinite number of fighters as no matter how many were murdered, they just kept on coming. Everyone watched in utter horror as an outlaw's head was suddenly blown to pieces as he came far too close to a double-barrel shotgun owned by a voluptuous woman with short brown hair, the stage couch owner, the woman immediately reloaded her shotgun and split a second bandit in half with a single blast.
"Oh no, we are doomed! Doom, I tell you!" – A second woman with short orange hair wearing several pieces of jewelry and a very expensive dress said as she cried on the floor.
"Pull yourself together, Mrs. Pamela, this isn't over yet."- the coach owner spoke firmly yet her words were unheard as the orange-haired woman passed out.
Pamela's blonde-haired husband kneeled beside her making sure that his wife was unharmed, seeing that she had only passed outdo the intense situation was that he began aiming his Le Mat revolver towards the horse riders outside the window who taunted and cheer the caravan as they continued their cruel onslaught, there was no stopping them. For each one that was murdered two more appeared with even more vicious intent in their eyes, the man fired his Le Mat but the blast was so powerful that it flew right off his hand forcing him to take hold of his wrist in an effort to quell the pain.
It was then that a brave cowboy climbs over the coach's rooftop aiming his Sharps rifle at the outlaws as they run around the wagon circle making good use of their horses' speed and their own excellent marksmanship, nevertheless, two bandits were gun down by the cowboy who landed a gunshot to the first rider's chest leaving a large hole where the heart should be while the second one receives a well-placed shot between the eyes splitting his head in half. The cowboy's bravado was rewarded by an array of bullets that riddle his torso and blew off his left arm allowing for his lifeless body to roll down the wagon, landing on the ground with a loud thud as blood formed a puddle underneath him drenching his son and daughter as they kneeled next to his corpse crying inconsolably.
All of the travelers suddenly turned their attention towards the front where they heard the most dreadful sound of all coming, automatic fire. It was the terrible sight that befell the people as they laid eyes over a small wooden coach with iron sides slowly, but steadily making its way around the wagon circle firing a Gatling gun, bullets tore through the couch killing three unlucky individuals, the cowboys then answer the attack with their revolvers but the bullets ricocheted upon impact as the travelers tried their very best to hit inside the tiny window from where the Gatling gun could be seen protruding, the idea was to hit the gunner or the driver, but distance and the coach's movement made it into a titanic endeavor.
None of the travelers were seasoned fighters saved for one or two men who served as confederate soldiers during the civil war just a few years prior and had unfortunately just died. The outlaws were a problem, but the Gatling gun was the biggest and most difficult menace to deal with due to the rapid-fire it laid over the wagon circle which provided little to no protected against such brutal punishment, the female redshirt gunslinger managed to slay four more bandits but had run out of bullets, forcing the girl to crawl underneath the coach to retrieve the fallen Sharps rifle, even with her remarkable aim, she couldn't kill the gunner inside the iron coach.
Without so much as a warning, Jazz and the surviving travelers watched in utter amazement as the iron coach blew up in a sudden ball of fire sending several pieces of metal across the desert, some impaling or even decapitating the nearby bandits. It was from within the flames that a brave cowboy dual-wielding a pair of revolvers leap over the fiery wall, effortlessly shooting two bandits straight in the head, four more met their end in the same gruesome fashion, the black stallion that the hero mounted was abnormally fast for its massive size that made the rider seem much smaller than what he should be, but more impressive was the deadly accuracy shown by the lone ranger. Bandits fell off their horses in a matter of seconds as the unknown gunslinger rushed around the wagon circle exacting justice over the outlaws.
People cheered in utter delight as only a few men continued shooting fearful that their savior could be met with an untimely death by an extremely lucky outlaw, yet it seemed as if bullets avoided him altogether, it was a matter of minutes before the battle finally came to an end. Jazz in the company of three men walked over to the rider who remained mounted on his black stallion, the girl took off her hat to whip the sweat off her brow allowing for her long red hair to dangle freely in the wind as she gazes upon their unexpected helper, she had to admit that his riding technique was a bit odd, but his marksmanship was undeniably supreme as he was able to kill several men in quick succession.
His outfit was rather queer, to say the least as she hadn't seen anyone wearing a yellow button shirt under a black leather vest, the blue pants and long brown boots didn't seem like a local brand nor cheap, followed by a white hat that protected his head from the dreaded sun and a red bandana covered half his face leaving only his blue eyes exposed. The revolvers were still in hands allowing for the girl to realized that they were two Navy Colt 1851, the rider then masterfully spins them in his fingers for a few brief seconds before sliding them inside the holsters.
"Thanks for the help stranger"- Jazz said as the people came out from their hiding spots. "Who are you? If you don't mind me asking."- she asked while taking notice of his small stature once off the horse, the man wasn't a man but a mere boy who stood a whole head below Jazz.
"Name's Phantom."- The blue-eyed gunslinger said.
"Cut!"- a man with long white hair tied in a ponytail yelled through a loudspeaker.
(XXXXXX)
It was then that the dead from both sides stood up including the slain horses who gallop towards their legitimate owners, the fires over the wagons suddenly died down as valves were closed and the cameras operated via a moving crane lowered themselves allowing for the user to get off and head over for a cold drink and a snack from the buffet just a few meters away from the wagon circle. The bandit who got his head blown off rushed towards the table while opening his jacket to reveal his true head as he took hold of a thick and rather tasty-looking sandwich, several more bandits and cowboys surrounded the buffet table and gorge themselves with the food and drinks. The icy cold sodas and water bottles were the first to disappear due to the unbearable heat.
Quite a handful of women armed with cold bottled water or sodas headed over to the chemical bathrooms installed further down the desert just in between the only trees around for kilometers this for shading purposes, the last thing anyone wanted was to have to endure the disgusting stench of human waste under the scorching summer heat. The lone ranger watches as his horse is taken away by the handler, though the boy wasn't all that alone as he stood next to the redhead gunslinger who was giggling as the brown-haired shotgun wielder busy herself by patting and even pinching the boy's cheeks at one point while complimenting his acting and riding skill yet making him blush madly.
"Mom! I'm trying to look cool here!"- the boy remarked yet allowed for his mother to clean the dirt off his face.
"Daniel! That was great! Excellent work."- Director Vlad Masters spoke loudly making sure to catch the boy's attention. "And you, Maddie… Jazz… for being complete rookies, that was great. The way you delivered the dread and sense of urgency was perfect, oh! And Daniel, once again, I'm really sorry for the whole horse incident this morning."- the man spoke.
"No biggie uncle Vlad. Nothing broke."- Daniel or Danny as he likes to be called spoke while showing a long and wide smile.
Earlier that morning, Danny had a most unfortunate accident with his horse just as the first take was about to begin, the rehearse was perfect and without any problems making Danny look as if had ridden a horse all his life, but once the cameras began rolling was that the black stallion, buttercup, suddenly when insane, jumping and twirling for several scores of dreadful minutes as they handlers and his aid tried to calm the beast down, yet to everyone's horror end up tossing the young boy several meters in the air, it was nothing short of a miracle that Danny managed to flip midair and land firmly on his two feet without even straining a single muscle, though required a new pair of boots.
Danny Fenton wasn't Vlad's first choice for the lead role as he wanted a tall muscular macho man with a thick mustache and deep manly voice to play the part of the long frontier vigilante named Phantom, not some scrawny fourteen-year-old boy with thin arms and an almost girly face, unfortunately, the boy was his only option due to the extremely limited budget. Despite Danny and his older sister Jazz constantly addressing Vlad as uncle, they weren't blood-related, the man was an old college friend of their parents. His sudden calling one evening caught the whole family by surprise as they hadn't heard from him in almost twenty years despite sending each other holiday cards, their surprise was further intensified when he asked them to participate in his new action movie, it did help greatly that the Fenton was being paid far less than the minimal.
"Care for a drink fen-tur… mister Fenton."- A tall muscular teen with short blonde hair dressed like a waiter said while grinning his teeth and offering a cold soda that rested over a tray.
"Why yes, mighty kind of you, mister Baxter."- Danny replied with a southern accent that made Dash Baxter want to knock him out.
Vlad's associates along with the only producer wanted to trade Danny in favor for the handsome and most popular quarterback Dash Baxter once appeared on set almost demanding the lead role just a few hours before shooting began, much to Danny and Vlad's dislike was that Dash Baxter was allowed an audition, yet the boy was dumber than a brick as he couldn't even memorize a single line and constantly miss his cues along with being unable to get on the horse turning him into a laughing stock, Danny on the other hand, was able to memorize his lines and play out his part after reading the script only once earning him a round of applause.
"Keeping him around was very generous of you, Danny. Not many actors would keep someone who tried to steal their part around." A small fat man said approaching the kid and the director. "He may not be the brightest bulb out there but he makes himself useful at times." The man added.
"What can I say, mister Box. I'm a generous soul"- Danny replied knowing all too well that Baxter could hear them despite being several meters away.
Everyone complimented Danny for being not only forgiving but kind enough to allow Dash Baxter to remain within the production as his personal assistant despite his clear intentions of stealing his lead role, perhaps with the passing of time Baxter might learn the trait by seeing him act, Vlad and producer Box saw this as a pure act of pure uninterested generosity and kindness. Little did anyone know was that Dash is a known bully across Casper High where Danny studies, often being the target of the quarterback's bullying, this was the perfect chance for a little payback. Danny and his sister then retired to the next location so they could start filming.
(XXXXXX)
The producer watched in silence as Danny walked away towards the next location, he recalled the deafening silence that was broken only by the constant ticking of a clock that hang over the crystal door which held a particular sign reading, "Plasmius Films Industries," followed by gently footsteps in the hallway that faded away in the distance making an obese man, Gregory Box, feel most uncomfortable as he quietly looked around the office, the first thing he noticed was the two large metallic cabinets pressed by the corner with several unorganized files protruding from each drawer, a half-dried plant was placed over the corner a few meters away from the door. Just behind him was an old worn-out black leather couch that was in dire need of refurbishing accompanied by a camera mounted on a tripod aimed directly at the couch, framed movie posters of all kinds were hanging all around could be appreciated.
"Brilliant!"- Box suddenly hear bring his attention to the front as he heard a voice exclaimed.
Emerging from a mountain of papers and files stood a man who despite his long white hair was only in his early forties, the man had been reading the movie script which Gregory brought over with great interest, flipping each page like a child reading an adult comic book for the first time in life, making sure to burn each word into his brain. Vlad Masters, movie producer, film director, even cameraman when needed and all-around entrepreneur had his dark blue eyes scanning each sentence over and over until he was fully satisfied, it was very rare that he came across such good material, not many ever bother coming to see him directly.
"I told you, this is high-quality material."- Gregory said leaning forward on his chair.
"I love the inner struggle the protagonist has to go through, traveling across Texas, imparting vigilante justice while seeking vengeance for his murdered family. The drama, the intrigue… it's perfect."- Vlad spoke with almost childish passion.
Movie producer Gregory Box watched with a smile as the film director paced around the office making several personal comments about the movie, the locations, and how it should be filmed, even stopping to call his assistant and verified if they still had the new high definition camera, Gregory could only nod in agreement to each statement as he too added his own remakes. Once the initial excitement began to die down was that the duo came to realized their main issue was not the camera nor the locations as just a few hours from Amity Park one could find a long stretch of desert, only problem was the budget, plain and simple.
Vlad was so enamored with the idea that he immediately called his assistant and ordered her to cancel his only ongoing project, "Karate Fighters from outer space" in favor to favor for Box's western once the man had put the check over the counter, the woman on the other side of the line immediately complained about already having bought the sci-fi probs to which Vlad ordered her to return them at once and get ready to travel to Amity Canyons which is located just a few hours ride between Amity Park and Dimmesdale. A truly perfect place to shoot a western.
Even though twenty million dollars sounds like an impressive number, it was considered nothing more than mere pocket change when it came down to making a movie. Everything was expensive, from actors to locations, probs even the wardrobe cost an arm and a leg. This didn't intimidate Vlad in the least as he made productions with a far smaller budget, in some cases using his personal wardrobe to dress the actors along with improvising many of the probs, unfortunately, none of his movies had become a hit or star for more than a few days at the local movie theater after giving a hardy donation to the movie theater owner, to make matters even worst, his best and latest production had earned the wrath of a local religious group.
Vlad Masters was a B-movie director at best, often using cheap probs, never filming on location, instead of making use of a studio as that was cheaper, he was well known for employing unknown actors who claimed their careers were ruined by Vlad despite their extremely lacking acting skills and diva attitude that got on everyone's nerves, on the bright side, Vlad was truly a remarkable director with vision and style, but his growing bad reputation had put him in the black list making it nearly impossible for him to hire professional actors leading him down a dark path just to meet ends and keep his studio alive, the man was deep in depts and had mortgaged his studio twice making this movie his last chance.
"We're gonna have to cut around the edges a little bit, like with the actors… stunt doubles, you know to get someone… cheap… unknown for the lead role." Box said with a businessman smile.
"I got the perfect guy!"- Vlad retorted. "He's inexperience but I've seen his work."- The man continued.
Box took that as his cue to leave and excuse himself allowing for Vlad to take over, he already had his own crew and people at the ready despite being the co-producer which made Box feel most relief as he walked down to his car with a long and triumphant smile drawn across his entire face.
(XXXXXX)
"Action!"- Vlad yelled breaking Box's memory lane.
Phantom quietly rode his horse into town taking notice of the many wooden buildings across the main square and what seemed to be the town hall at the edge of town, though unlike the rest of the town was made with brick and concrete, people looked at him with concern from windows and doors which were close as he approached the well in the middle of the plaza where he saw to the far right the caravan that he helps rescue earlier that day, a few grateful nodes and smiles sent his way to which he acknowledges with a tap of his hat before turning his attention towards the saloon.
Aggressive looking men armed with revolvers stop playing their card game as pair of men with bandoliers and lever-action rifles such as the ever-popular Winchester stood up glaring at Phantom as he entered the saloon, the boy ignored the scowls while heading over to the counter where he asked for a shot of milk allowing for an outburst of laughter, Danny couldn't help but blush madly as he expected his character to order a whiskey like in many other western films, but Vlad told him that he didn't want to be censored for having underage drinking in his movie, apparently, it was alright to have a teenager indiscriminately murdered a group of bandits but was strictly forbidden to having drinking booze on-screen even if it was apple juice.
"Heard from the convoy that a cowboy dressed in a yellow shirt help them fight off a group of bandits."- A strange boy with green hair spoke while sitting next to Phantom.
"Long time no see, Youngblood."- Phantom replied without taking his eyes off the milk glass nor showing any emotion. "Glad to see you're still alive, heard what happened."- the boy added.
"we're gonna get him, even if it's the last thing I do"- Youngblood remarked.
It was then that a fat bearded gunslinger wearing a furry vest marched into the saloon alongside three more men who stood behind the man while glaring at Danny, forcing the pianola player to stop his cheerful tune. Only then was that Phantom was finally forced to look away from his drink and straight at the men, their eyes filled with murderous intent. The leader's heavy boots resounded within the now silent saloon as patrons stood up from their tables leaving their card game and money abandoned as they made their way into the backrooms or pressed themselves against the corner, the prostitutes in the upper floor quickly locked themselves inside their rooms hoping for a peaceful resolution which almost never happens.
"You the boy? You know I think you're the boy!"- the bandit said almost drooling due to a minor malformation on his jaw.
"Don't know what you're talking about."- Phantom said in a cold voice while staring at the strange man.
"Well look at you mister popular. Not even a day in town and you're already making new friends."- Youngblood remarked with a smirk as he stood up.
"That shooting iron work?"- The outlaw taunted as he placed his hand over the revolver.
The camera made a close up of the bandit's deliberately ugly face as he licks his dried-up lips before lowering the lenses towards a metallic skull on his chest, it was then that Phantom drew his revolver with speed faster than lightning and shot the bandit between the eyes, his brain scattering over the floor, blood spilled over two nearby outlaws as everyone stares in awe and shock unable to believe the outlaw remained on his feet with his mouth ajar, blood running down the large hole in his head made by Phantom's smoking gun which he then spins around his finger and put back into the holster.
"Appears to do so, yes."- the boy mocked as the bandit fell to the ground.
The three outlaws broke out of their stupor as they tried to reach for their guns, only for Phantom to pull out his revolver with surprising speed and instantly shot them down with mere seconds between each pull of the trigger, one bullet for each man. Phantom's attention then shifted over to the group of aggressive-looking men who initially glared at him and now tried to attack him, once more, Phantom proved to be the better gunslinger as he headshot two men before running out of bullets. Youngblood then draw his revolver and took down the remaining four men.
Everyone within the saloon watched in utter horror at the two gunslingers marched over to the dead men by the door, women trembled in fear as they heard the cowboy's spurs echoed. Phantom slowly reload his revolver as did Youngblood followed his example while yawing loudly. As the last bullet when into the cylinder was that Phantom along with the rest of the patrons took noticed a single bandit trying to drag his body out the door, yet no one dared move an inch out of fear of the two gunslingers.
"Seems like you miss the vitals on this poor son of a gun…"- Youngblood said with a smirk, not caring to finish the job.
"Sloopy shooting on my part."- Phantom replied as he holsters his revolver.
The two boys finally acknowledged the trembling crowd that surrounded them, though had to pretend they didn't see the cameramen strategically spread across the saloon and in between the crowd, it took Danny and his co-star a titanic effort not to burst out laughing upon seeing a woman dressed in a pink t-shirt holding the microphone over their heads. The boy then saw Vlad's serious expression as he waves his hand, ordering to carry on with the next scene, Danny discreetly sighs as he walked forward to the pianola.
"Surly Joe, the gambler. He will gamble nevermore. His days of stud and hold 'em, they are done" – Phantom began singing as the musician started to play the pianola. "Surly Joe, surly Joe, oh, wherever he's gambling now, I don't know. He was slick, but I was slicker, he drew quick, but I was quicker. And the table stopped his ticker Surly Joe, yee-haw!"- Phantom continued singing as the entire crowd join in the banter stomping their feet and lifting their glasses.
Vlad slowly moves his shoulders following the music along with guiding Danny with his fingers as he sang and performed some sort of improvised cowboy dance that he practiced several times more than he did horse riding, while the extras added the choirs in perfect synchrony. It was fair to say that the boy couldn't see the director at all or his instructions, yet Danny knew what to do and when to do so, the director along with the producer gasped in unison as Danny did an unscripted yet impressive backflip landing over the counter where he continued with the final part of the song no longer blushing or feeling out place.
It was then that Vlad pointed over to the swinging doors allowing for a slightly overweight woman to rush in gun in hand, her expression one pure horror upon seeing the body of her husband who laid dead on the floor while everyone sang about his demise. It didn't take much for her to realize the murder was non-other than the queer-looking cowboy in a yellow shirt thanks to the song's lyrics, Phantom came down from the counter with the help of two extras as was rehearse only for him to be intercepted by the woman who tied her long brown hair into two braids, her face covered with wards along missing two of her front teeth.
"You coward son of a bitch, you shot my husband, shot in the back like a dog"- The woman said having to lower her head to see Phantom.
"I'll cut you some slack since you're a woman and you are grieving, but I'll have you know that your man and his compadres tried to pull on me first"- Phantom retorted as he took several steps back.
With a loud and painful cry was that the woman pulled her revolver out ready to kill her husband's murderer, but just as Phantom was about to draw instantly noticed the wooden chandelier coming loose and heading straight for him, the boy had least than a second to react and so, quickly jumped behind missing the heavy chandelier by mere inches, the ruckus pulled everyone's attention including the dead bandits who stood up moments after hearing the crash. The oil immediately started a fire but was quickly controlled by the emergency crew who were not expecting a fire.
"Cut!"- Vlad screamed as he rushed towards Danny who was putting out a small fire from his shoulder. "By Nocturne! Are you alright?! Doctor! Get your ass over here!"- the director demanded.
"I'm fine, it's nothing, just the shirt."- Danny assured, nevertheless was forced to take off his shirt bringing about a few curious glances.
The scene was changed after Danny's suggestion for a quick gun duel outside in the saloon between himself and the widow, seeing that the chandelier wrecked part of the counter along with leaving a huge hole on the rooftop left Vlad without any other option yet the scene was better fitting than having Phantom mercilessly kill the bandit's widow out of reaction once she pulled her revolver.
(XXXXXX)
Later that night Gregory Box walked into his motel room carrying a large pizza and a paper bag that contain fried chicken and a few sodas, it had been a long and very productive day. The fat man was more than eager to enjoy his dinner while watching some of his favorite old films on the television that had seen better days. It was ironic to end the day watching movies after helping make a movie, there was a certain satisfaction in the matter.
"How you convinced me to give you twenty million dollars should be a movie in itself."- A deep voice said coming from the dark corner. "Why is that brat not dead yet?"- The voice continued.
"Minor setback, mister Dark, I'm working on it and we're still on schedule. But it's like the damn kid's got nine lives or something, the horse knocked him off and even trampled over him several times, but he got up as if nothing happened. Then I added more dynamite to the stagecoach, that was a sure thing, completely wreak the dummies we had nearby and he just leaps through it like in the script, I even had some retarded douchebag untie the chandelier and Danny simply got out of the way, it's like he has some sort of radar in his head or a magic charm on him."- Box said without stopping for breath. "I brought some pepperoni pizza and fried chicken if you want dinner."- Box added as two of Dark's goons put their hand over his shoulder.
"I don't even know why I agree to follow with this plan."- Dark said pinching his nose.
"Mister Dark, I did my homework, you think all this is random, no sir. This-this guy Vlad Masters, he ain't made a real movie in all his career 'cause he's not a real movie director"- Dark raises an eyebrow at this revelation. "His last hit was Sexy Confessionary, that's a porno. He's a porn movie director, not a real director. And his lead actor is his own damn nephew, the kid never acted before, so accidents are bound to happen, once Danny has a date with death, I… we collect the insurance money, forty for you and ten for me, like agreed. Meanwhile, Vlad gets all the heat, he's not using stunt doubles or taking any real precautions. It's perfect."- Box concluded, Dark on the other hand remained in silence.
"You said you brought pizza"- Dark said standing while his men put out several plates.
Gregory let out a sigh of relief as he joins the mobsters for dinner.
To be continued.