Film of the Week: Suicide Squad (Extended Edition)

I gave a strong review regarding why I dislike Suicide Squad. It was rushed, the Joker was hardly there, and Warner Brothers’ executives decided to take away most of the comedy and make it darker. We were given scenes in the trailers that weren’t in the final film. There were numerous problems. It was following the footsteps of Batman Vs Superman, and that means there’s an extended cut of the film. I gave Batman Vs Superman a second chance with the extended cut, and credit where credit’s due, it was better than the theoretical version, but it wasn’t perfect. It’s only fair that I give Suicide Squad another chance.

When they mean an extended cut of a film, they mean to make the film longer with scenes previously unseen, right? 11 minutes of extra film can be filled with a lot of content if used correctly, but there’s so few scenes added that it might as well just be the theoretical version again. But, let’s take a look at those new scenes. The Joker has a lot more screen time than previously, but they’ve weaved him in places that make it seem clunky and off, and from what we’ve learned over the past few months is that there was a lot of footage. I was expecting the extended cut to include pretty much everything that they shot during production, and I’m fairly confident that it wasn’t only an extra eleven minutes. It doesn’t add anything extra. It’s the exact same film as before, so I could just write what I wrote before.

Batman Vs Superman’s extended cut gave us a bit more than before; by filling in an empty shell that was the theoretical edition. It still needed a lot of work, but you could see that they put in some effort, whereas with the Suicide Squad, they put little to no effort into it, and expected us to buy it all over again. I’m disappointed, and proves that the executives overseeing the DC Cinematic Universe aren’t learning from their mistakes, or even listening to what we, the audience, has to say. To say what’s wrong with this extended edition, I’m basically going to repeat myself, so I’ll just leave a link to the previous article below this paragraph and move onto another topic.

http://www.tonyhadnouns.com/2016/08/film-of-week-suicide-squad.html

I’ve praised MARVEL’s Cinematic Universe, and disliked DC’s Cinematic Universe, and as a result, I’ve been labelled by some as a MARVEL fan-boy. I’ve been told that I need to see each film for what it is, not compare it to MARVEL all the time. A valid point, but unnecessary. DC’s Television Universe is much better than the movies. Starting with Arrow, then expanding with the Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and then the recent inclusion of Supergirl, I haven’t missed an episode of either. Arrow started to dip in quality during its fourth season because of what happened in the third. The Suicide Squad featured in Arrow, but had to end.

There were tonnes of opportunities to develop the squad, but due to Warner Brother’s own rule, they had to put an end to that because of this film. Characters that are set to appear in their films can’t appear in their TV shows – other than the main characters. Deadshot was killed off, Amanda Waller was also, and I saw no real need to do that. It was completely unnecessary but had to be done because of this film. This film ruined Arrow and a lot of people were put off from watching it altogether, especially during the fourth season. The fifth is picking up in quality, but the damage may have already been done. If it weren’t for the other three programs, Arrow would surely have perished. If it weren’t for the four-night crossover event – which I consider as being the biggest television event this side of Summer. My point is, they ruined a much-loved show to make a terrible film.

Warner Brothers have stressed that their television universe and their big screen universe will forever remain separate to allow them both to develop in their own way so it won’t get confusing and/or prevent either one of them from bringing them both down. They stressed about not doing something whilst doing it. Surely, if they really wanted them to remain separate, Warner Brothers wouldn’t have touched it in the way they already have. The shows are slowly redeeming the damage done, but before it all changed, DC’s television shows were a lot better than MARVEL’s. Now, shows such as Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and even Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, which had a weak beginning overtook Arrow during its third season. They do have some catching up to do, but this four-night crossover event, I’m confident will bring back a lot of people. Arrow’s portion within the crossover brings something else to the table, and that’s celebrating its 100^th episode. The trailers are showing that they are going bigger than before, so hopefully it’s better as well.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 131:

A purple glow ignited all around him. Something was fading into view all over his body. Behind him, a circle consisting of a complex pattern appeared, growing brighter and brighter as more of the pattern connected together. Eventually, the circle stopped growing, but the purple glow surrounding him persisted.

Strong pins and needles spread throughout my body, gradually making me numb, and it was because of that, I didn’t realise that I was being lifted up off the ground. I tried to react, to break free from this connection he has on me, but I can barely move my fingers, arms, legs, toes, head, and soon I can’t even do that. The numbness builds, and develops; parts of me start to hurt from psychological pain.

‘I’m sorry I have to do this,’ he said right in front of me. I didn’t notice that he had walked towards me. The complex circle was still behind him. The closer he gets, the stronger the unrelenting unresponsiveness all throughout my body becomes. I felt tears stream down my cheek as my body tries to get rid of this deadness, but it just wasn’t enough.

‘You fought valiantly,’ he said genuinely sympathetically. ‘I must admit, I wasn’t expecting you to be as good as you were. You’ve learnt so much over the six days. Sure, you made most of it up as you go along and hoped for the best, but I’ll let you in on a little secret of mine,’ and he leaned in closer. The numbness intensified as his face got closer to mine. ‘So did I.’ And he started to laugh.

‘But now,’ he continued, ‘it’s time to say goodbye to that watch. And after so soon as well. But no matter, I’m sure you’ll see me about soon enough. There is so much that I want to do with it. In fact, I have a list.’ He is now just stalling for time, letting me suffer for no reason other than because he can. I want to channel some of the magic through my body via control from my mind, but I just couldn’t concentrate on anything due to the now coldness running through my body.

I just want this over with. I don’t care anymore. He can do what he wants. I just want this numbness to stop now.

‘There we are,’ he smiled. ‘That’s exactly what I wanted. You to give up. That makes my taking your watch that much easier.’ This was his plan all along? I don’t care.

He pointed the red crystal toward my chest, muttering some indistinguishable words that must have been a different language. Then, as strange as it felt, pain shot through my body. Now, I have incredible numbness, and pain all through my body, increasing the uncomfortableness tenfold. I was starting to pass out. I could feel my body giving up, but whatever he is doing is keeping me awake. Then, to add to everything else, that same strange sensation that filled my senses the first time I came across the watch reactivated. Now, I have three incredible feelings running through my body: Numbness, pain, and strangeness. These three feelings are perfectly complimenting each other. My brain just cannot handle that, but it just isn’t allowed to shut down.

I could feel the magic inside me drain away. I was returning to my normal-self. And as that was happening, the pain increased. I might not have been able to look and see what was happening, nor feel anything other than those three things, but I knew that my watch was slowly becoming loose. The straps started to unravel. My skin started to peel away from its underside. The connection that I had with Interface slowly faded away, leaving me alone. This was it, I was going to say goodbye to the watch. I haven’t had it for long, yet I’ve done so much, and I know I can do so much more.

I was wrong. I do care. I can’t let him take this watch. Why have I suddenly changed my mind? Something inside is willing me to act, but I can’t. At this moment, my ability to not care has switched from him taking the watch, to my trying everything to keep it. I don’t care why I have suddenly stared to care. I just want this over and done with as soon as possible.

He had his eyes closed, still chanting something that I still cannot understand. I try with everything that I have to move even a fingertip. Nothing happens. I try again. Slight movement. How? I don’t care, just pleased that I can. My ability to move my fingertip ever so slightly allowed my brain to feel its fourth, fifth, and sixth feeling. Free will, determination, care.

I could still detect some connection between me and the watch. He could sense something was wrong. His eyes were rolling behind their lids, as if they were trying to figure that out, but he continued nevertheless. The watch was nearly off my wrist. The process was nearly complete. And that means I have to act quickly. Using every ounce of brainpower I had left, and channeling all the feelings I had to every corner of my body, I unleashed every bit of magic I had. My entire vision was engulfed with white light. It grew brighter and brighter, second after second, growing in power and density. I heard screaming before I learned that it was coming from the both of us. The numbness, pain, strangeness, all went away in seconds. Even though I couldn’t see it, I knew the circle behind him was disintegrating. For one last hurrah, I brought my arms around as fast as they could swing. The palms of my hands collided together, expelling the rest of the energy outwards, spreading it in every direction, before disintegrating quickly in the distance.

My vision cleared. The world reappeared in front of me. I couldn’t be anymore grateful to feel relieved, free, exhausted, anything. When I had regained my focus, I checked my watch. It was still there, sitting comfortably, almost proudly on my wrist. I then noticed that he had disappeared. Somehow, during my breakout from his connection, he escaped.

My legs gave way from underneath me and I fell onto the ground. I sat there, breathing hard, and contemplating. I stared at the sun as it neared the horizon. I just sat there, watching the sunset, feeling free. The salt planes look so empty now that he’s gone. He disappeared without a trace, and as a result, I was nervous. I have to make sure I’m fully recovered for when he does make his unwanted appearance, but for the meantime, this sunset is worth sitting down and forgetting about my problems.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Mum's Monday: The changes to holidays over the years

With the film set in the USA, Dirty Dancing, and the TV series set in the UK, Hi-De-Hi

At the end of the film, Dirty Dancing, Max Kellerman (Jack Weston), and when Hi-De-Hi is coming to an end and the camp is closing, Ted Bovis (Paul Shane), both mention almost the exact same thing: holidays are changing, people want to travel further, and explore places like Europe. They don’t want dance lessons; they want to see and do more.

Holidays in the past were closer to home and the activities were all mapped out for you if you wanted to take part. Holiday parks offered accommodation, food and activities on the site. People didn’t have as much knowledge or the means to get elsewhere, so opted for a one stop shop as it were. Not many people had their own cars so they were only limited to getting to the camps via trains and buses/coaches.

We still have holiday camps like Butlins, although not so many as before, Centre Parks and Potters Resorts, where activities and entertainment are available as before but modernised. However, as holidaymakers go further abroad, theme parks have grown in popularity, especially the two most well-known, Disney Land and LEGOLAND. Although the activities are different there is still rides and entertainment for the whole family, including hotels on site.

With cheaper flights, cruise ships that can take you to a different destination almost every day of your holiday, the world as the whole is getting smaller. Most people now have more disposable income and with a more understanding of what is out there in the world. You can still go on holidays via trains and coach tours, but some are further afield: coach trips around Europe and a train trip across the Canadian Rookies.

It is easy to see – with the appeal of great value holidays abroad and the draw of sun, sea and sand – why holiday camps lost some of their appeal. With people wanting to go further and get more for their money, however, whilst the sun isn’t always guaranteed when going to different countries it does increase your chances. A scene in Dirty Dancing when it rained it poured, the sun wasn’t guaranteed.

Dirty Dancing (Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey) came out in 1987 but was set in 1963. The Houseman family is having their holiday at the Kellerman’s mountain house in the Catskills mountains, in the state of New York. A Catskills Resort where holidaymakers have the opportunity to have dance lessons, enter competitions or take part in the “Hair Raising Wig Show”. We also see Mr and Mrs Houseman playing a round of golf on a course which is also available at the resort. This film is set in the US and instead of being an enclosed camp, this is set in a wider resort, so the holidaymakers could take advantage of this and the more extensive activities on offer. People in the US were also more likely to have their own car as we see the Houseman family have, so they can travel to a more remote location and enjoy a holiday of that time.

Hi-De-Hi (Starring Jeffrey Holland and Paul Shane) ran from 1980 to 1988 and was set in 1959 through to the early 60s. The show is about an English Holiday camp called Maplins and the people who work there who are called yellow coats named after the colour of the jackets they wore and oversee the activities that are available to the holiday makers. Some competitions, activities and entertainment such as “Guess who’s backside it is”, riding and dance lessons are available. There is also a children’s entertainer at the camp to oversee the children’s activities. The pool plays a big part in the show as it seems as most of the activities take place around it, with someone ending up being thrown in the pool for the purpose of entertaining the holiday makers. The camp is an enclosed camp with limited space and the location, this had to be near a railway station so holiday makers could travel easily to the camp.

Wherever people go on holiday there will always be something to cater for all tastes and budgets. And we haven’t seen the end of holiday camps yet.

Layers - Part 97

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 130:

I requested we go somewhere away from my friends on the condition that he does get the fight he wants, and he agreed. I had teleported us both into the middle of nowhere so he cannot hurt anyone else. We are now standing on the world’s largest salt plain. I figured here would be a good enough spot. You can’t get any more in the middle of nowhere than here. I sacrificed my strength and my speed. I am now just a normal human being again in terms of physical attributes, but I added something that wasn’t human at all. I now have magic running through my system, and it is that which is keeping me upright and stopping me from falling to the floor.

He looked at me in the eyes, knowing that I’ve got my determination back, and he’s smiling, ready to take what he believes is rightfully his. He’s never going to get my watch.

‘Let’s duel.’ He said. He started the first move.

The events that followed; I may never figure out how I was able to be so precise with defending myself and launching counterattacks. During our fight, I demonstrated skills that I never thought I had. Maybe it was the incredible amount of adrenaline pumping through my body, making all the right decisions for me and helping me react accordingly. Maybe I had a natural ability to fight already inside me. Maybe I just didn't want to lose.

He sped towards me at a blistering speed, but I was prepared. I had the ability to teleport out of the way, and so I disappeared, only to reappear behind him, and tap him on the back with my fist that was alight with white flames. He yelled out in pain as they burned his skin, but he quickly sidestepped out of the way, turned around, swung his staff over his head and brought it down, aiming for my head. I ducked. I could feel the wind ruffle my hair as it missed me by inches, but he wasn’t going to let me take the advantage, and he raised his knee up, smacking me in the nose. I stumbled backwards, but never falling down, recovering quickly.

‘That’s what I’m talking about,’ he said pleased, smiling sickly. I couldn’t believe that I was going along with what he wants, but it’s the only way I know for sure that he’s going down, and considering he has a strong belief that he has already won before it even begun, that blindness will help me in some way.

He kicked off the ground, flying towards me with his staff in his hand, ready to hit me across the face. His speed wasn’t that impressive so I readied myself to perform a counterattack. Unfortunately for me, it was all a setup. He disappeared just before I could do anything. The next thing I knew, he was playing my cards against him and appeared behind me, and because I was in the middle of a manoeuvre, I couldn’t turn around and prevent him from shooting me with a beam of purple light, sending me flying forwards.

I was toppling head over heels through the air, nearing the ground fast, but luckily, I was able to figure out which way was up and position my body so that I landed on my feet. I hit the floor hard, but I softened the blow by bending my knees. I lifted my head and saw that he was already in the middle of another attack, hoping that I was in no position to stop it, but I had my own light source up my sleeve. Lifting my hands up, I shot a beam of white energy towards his chest. He wasn’t expecting it, but his reaction time was good enough to prevent him from getting hit. Instead, it hit his staff and split into two beams where they continued onwards, hitting the ground and creating small craters in the salt. He spun his staff around in his hands until a shield made of wind stood in the way of my beam of light and him.

I stopped my attack, but little did I know that he was expecting me to do just that and immediately fired his wind attack in my direction. Those couple of seconds allowed him to charge up his attack and so when the wind hit, it lifted me off the ground. Once again, I flew in the air, but I had experience and so gained control quicker. Whilst in the air, I fired my beams of white light in his direction and they were successful. They hit his chest. He skidded along the salt until there was enough clumped up behind him that he came to a natural stop. I landed, softly this time. We were a few metres away, meaning any charging attack would be easily avoided, meaning there was only one attack he could do. As expected, he teleported behind me in the attempt to catch me off guard, but I swung round and punched him in the chest with all of my ordinary strength. He didn’t move anywhere, but that was OK; I knew exactly what I was doing.

White flames engulfed my fists. I increased their magnitude by as much as I could go. Before he could bring his staff around and knock me back, I released the built up energy and he was the one flying backwards. He righted himself in seconds, and he increased his terminal velocity as he dropped like onto the salt, slamming the end of the staff into the ground. Dense purple energy shot in every direction, engulfing me. It was the strongest I’ve ever felt before, but I stood my ground, never given in, never given up, never letting him get the better of me. Instead, I unleashed my own energy, countering his, and soon the air was clean once more, but not for long. Bringing my two fists around, they collided in front of me. A shockwave was formed. Solid and moving fast, he didn’t have the time to react and soon he was battling against my own magic. Whilst he was struggling with my force field, I unleashed another, and another, and another. That amount of energy concentrated in one spot, was too much for even he fell over backwards. Finally, after too long, he was on the ground.

I didn’t want to let him get back up, but I found myself waiting until he did.

‘Congratulations,’ he said. ‘I knew you had it in you. A fight that is worth my time.’

‘Why was he complimenting me? Is he generally enjoying this? That would be another indication that he is completely insane. The sooner he can leave, the better. He stood up.

‘You have just proved that you are capable of holding your own, and for that I am pleased. You have shown me that you can use that watch well, but I have to say that you are nowhere close to mastering it.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Video of the Week: Cars 3 Official US Teaser Trailer (by Disney•Pixar)

It’s dark. It’s gritty. It’s unexpected. Disney Pixar’s teaser trailer of Cars 3 shows Lightning McQueen in the lead during a race, with an unknown electric hyper car quickly closing in the gap. At first, I thought that it was going to be a simple story of Lightning McQueen having some serious competition and he has to prove that combustion engines are still the best there is… but then he crashes. A short, slow motion scene just before the words “from this moment everything will change”.

The Cars franchise hasn’t been Pixar’s best series. The first film, whilst gained a lot of praise from critics, it actually wasn’t their biggest hit, with a 74% on Rotten Tomatoes. A film that would achieve that score would be classed as a massive success, but for Pixar, that was a surprise. Their lowest score before this film was A Bug’s Life, with 92%. Even though Cars wasn’t as well received as all the other films before it, the animation was still amazing. Once again, they had pushed the boundaries and made something that the entire family could enjoy.

Unfortunately, Cars 2 scored only 39%. I didn’t know that it was possible for Pixar to dip below 50% - with all their films standing above, it was as if that side of the ratings didn’t exist to them. They were venturing into unknown territory, and it took us all by surprise. They have finally made a film that we don’t all like. The animation was once again amazing, but the story lets it down massively. Pixar has built up its reputation by creating some truly heart-wrenching stories that make you feel all kinds of emotions all at once. It had some funny moments, but I was a little disappointed, to be honest. Just before the release of Cars 2, they had broken down in puddles of tears with Toy Story 3, the ending of which will remain as my pick for the most satisfying ending to a trilogy.

Although we were only given a few seconds of footage, there’s something altogether different about this and the previous two, and that it’s considerably darker. In just a few seconds, it gives us an atmosphere that we just weren’t expecting at all. After the low reviews and ratings Cars 2 got, I was wondering whether it was absolutely necessary to make another. The first official full trailer we see will determine everything else about the film, but for now, it seems that Pixar is going to give us something on par to their other films.

Pixar has made 17 films to date. Each and every single one of them apart from 2 have been instant hits and classics the moment they hit the cinemas, and so it’s still a massive achievement that they only have 2 miss-hits. If Cars 3 is also a miss-hit, they’re not going to lose any reputation, because the sequel to The Incredibles is in production and will be out in 2018, with Toy Story 4 coming out in 2019. We have 2 years to wait for one, and 3 to wait for the other, and so we can’t say they’re going to be bad before we see anything. We know Pixar can make fantastic films, so we can’t walk away just yet. We have to trust them that they will give us what they have allowed us to expect. In a way, this does go for Cars 3 as well. Sure, the first 2 films weren’t as good as we had hoped, but that doesn’t mean that they will make a terrible film this time round. They could have truly made something that will blow us away, tug at our heart strings, and become an instant classic.

There is that possibility of the finished product not being as great as we hoped, but if it is, we probably will be distracted by the terrific CGI. The thing that you can guarantee will always improve as the years go on, is Pixar’s ability to blow us away with their animation, and this looks the best yet. It was so good, I had to take a double take to process that it was really actually just computer images, not real. The backgrounds for The Good Dinosaur were staggering; it’s hard to imagine just how much better everything will be in their up-and-coming films, Coco, The Incredibles 2, and Toy Story 4, and does bring me to ask the question: How good can computer animation get before it can’t get any better? I think that’s another article for another day.

I will be going to go see Cars 3 when it comes out, because I want to trust them. Pixar is one of the very few film companies that hasn’t been caught up in the trap of “we’re now popular, so let’s just make rubbish because people will watch it”, they do put a massive amount of time and effort into doing everything that they do. So, even though Cars and Cars 2 weren’t that well received as all the rest of the films, you can clearly see the amount of passion that they have put into making it, and that’s something you can’t really deny. Pixar loves what they are doing, and it shows with every film they do. If Cars 3’s storyline isn’t the best, at least you can marvel at all the other elements.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Layers - Part 96

Sorry it's late. I thought I had scheduled it to go up automatically at 12:00, but instead it was somehow set as a draft.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Layers - Part 95

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Film of the Week: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

I thoroughly enjoyed jumping back into the magical world once more. Set 70 years before Harry Potter’s story begins, Newt Scamander on his journey around the world rescuing and protecting magical creatures, and will eventually become the author of the famous book, and accepted textbook at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the very first book that Harry Potter reads.

On his travels, he stops in New York, where problems quickly arise, and it all starts when a Niffler escapes his suitcase to hunt down anything shiny. Trying to catch the Niffler, he runs into a Muggle – known as a No-Maj in America – Jacob Kowalski, which through a series of unexpected events, get wrapped up in the world of magic. Tina Goldstein, who works for The Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) and had been demoted from an Auror to below her skillset, arrests Newt for being an unregistered wizard in America.

During the movie, we are introduced to many more extraordinary magical creatures, increasing the size of the magical world. Even though there are so many new elements in this film, it immediately felt familiar and welcoming during the opening scene as it briefly skates over Gellert Grinderwald’s story through a montage of newspaper headlines, with the final asking the question: Where is he now?

From what we’ve learnt before this film, Gellert Grinderwald is, at the time this movie is set, the most evil and dark wizard of all time. It was announced that he would play a part in the series of films, but we only get to know just how much until the very end of the film. It has been confirmed that Gellert Grinderwald will have a much bigger role in the sequel – played by Jonny Depp.

As well as exploring an original story, we are also getting a solid backstory of the events leading up to Harry Potter’s story, including a passing mention of Albus Dumbledore, who has been confirmed to appear in the series much later on. J.K. Rowling stressed that this wouldn’t be a prequel as such, but more of an extension, and it did feel exactly that, which was a pleasing notion. It didn’t try to set up Harry’s story, because it didn’t have to. It only focused on Newt’s story and his travels around the world, along with coming into contact with an infamous wizard.

However, instead of new characters, new creatures, we’re also treated with something very unique and hasn’t appeared in any of the Harry Potter books or films. The Obscurus, a dark magical force which is created when a young witch or wizard suppress their magic through psychological and physical means, and to make the epic battle at the end better, this Obsurus is more powerful than anyone has ever encountered, which tempts Gellert Grinderwald into trying to locate the person.

Fantastic Beasts didn’t have to try and draw me into its world as much as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone had to, because the audience was already familiar, and therefore the atmosphere was relaxed. It was able to increase the number of moments of character development, which allowed me to connect with the magical world as much as the Harry Potter films allowed me to, and under the direction of David Yates, who had directed the last four Harry Potter films – from Order of the Phoenix to Deathly Hallows Part 2, it was nice to have someone who was already just as familiar as the audience was.

I am looking forward to the sequels already. It was first announced as a trilogy of films, which I was pleased about. Trying to fit Newts life into one film, and ending it with the finished book would be too much for one film to hold, and so it needed more. It has recently been announced that the trilogy would be extended to five films in total, only three less than the Harry Potter films. This sudden change will allow for more new elements, characters, and exploring of the magical world that we thought we knew so much about. I can understand the trilogy, but I am a little worried that the story would be stretched a bit too much across five films. I do trust J.K. Rowling’s writing, because she wrote a fantastic screenplay for this film, but I don’t want her to fall into the trap of unintentionally putting a tonne of filler just to fill the five films. All we can do is wait and see.

Newt’s life is packed full of incredible moments; we knew that long before the first film came out, and with the side story of Gellert Grinderwald, along with an appearance of Albus Dumbledore, there is an incredible amount of potential.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 129:

Slowly, I climbed back onto my feet and up out of the crater. My knees were weak, but thanks to my powers, they quickly regained strength, but If I want to beat him, I have to increase my strength. If I can find a way to break through his invisible barrier around him, I can then take the staff out of his hand. Then he will just be an ordinary human being, hopefully. From the looks of things, he knows how to use his staff well, meaning he has had it for quite some time. I reached for my watch and upped my strength some more. My muscles now had the same strength that they had back when I stopped all those rockets back in that parallel world. As well as my strength, my speed needed to be increased. Now, when I run towards him, I’ll be much faster and so much stronger.

I readied myself to launch another attack. He stood there, waiting. Waiting for what? Whatever it is, I don’t like the look on his face. It’s as if he’s waiting for me to do what I did before. No, he could just be waiting for me to attack so he could launch another counterattack, unsuspecting of my increased strength of my powers. He smiled. It wasn’t broad, nor was it subtle. It was packed full of meaning, I just struggled to decipher exactly what he meant, but I couldn’t shake off the thought that he knew I had just increased my powers. If he does know, why didn’t doing anything about it. Is he confident that he can deflect any attack of mine? How strong is that staff of his?

‘Are you going to do anything?’ he asked. ‘I doubt you’ve given up already. Oh, are you trying to figure out why I’m just waiting. No, you’re trying to figure out how best to beat me. Yes, I get it now. Well then, give me your best shot,’ and he raised his staff up, ready to attack. He’s not waiting for me anymore; I’m waiting for him now. He wants me to give him my best shot, yet he knows how the watch works. He wants to procure the watch for himself because he knows its abilities, yet he is teasing me by wanting me to give him everything I have. That sounds rather contradictory.

‘Will you just stop thinking,’ he snapped impatiently. ‘I know I said that I have all the time in world, but I did not mean for you to use it. Fine, if you are not going to do anything, I will just have to do it for you,’ and he launched another attack, this time, running towards me instead. I tried to dodge, but I found myself stuck once more inside an invisible cage. His speed allowed him to gain momentum, and that, in turn, allowed him to build up enough strength in his fist, smacking it hard into my chest, forcing all the wind from my lungs. I was unable to bend over in pain due to being stuck upright. This allowed him to keep torturing me with his beatings. Left, right and centre, he punched every inch of my stomach, chest, head, and back. Finally, he let the barrier fade, and I collapsed onto all fours, breathing hard, wincing in pain, and out of energy. Then, for one final blow, he pointed the crystal towards my chest where it started to glow once more. I wanted to move, but I was in so much pain, all that I achieved was falling to the floor.

‘And I thought you were going to be more of a challenge,’ he said. Then my vision lit up with purple light again, draining what energy I had left from my body. Once it had faded away, I was left lying on the floor, defeated. I just wasn’t strong enough, fast enough, invulnerable enough, and more importantly, I wasn’t experienced enough, smart enough. I may have done some great things with this watch. Its power has been a blessing, almost infinite, but, in the end, there is always someone that has more power than me, more skill than me, more intelligence that I. All that is left is for him to take the watch and leave me lying here, feeling normal.

Then, for reasons unbeknownst only to him, he picked me up. I was hovering about a few inches off the ground so that my weak legs wouldn’t have to go through the problem of trying to support me.

‘I’m being unfair,’ he said. ‘I’m not even giving you a proper chance. For all I know, you could have been on the brink of discovery; formulated a perfect plan to defeat me, but I grew impatient, did not I. I made you too weak to fight.’ He stepped up to me, and started brushing the bits of dust and dirt from my ruined clothes. ‘There we go,’ he said after a minute, ‘always help to recover when you feel a bit cleaner, more refreshed, does not it.’ This man is clearly insane. What the hell does he want from me? ‘I feel that my intentions were not a clear as I hoped,’ he continued. He then stared directly into my eyes.

‘Give me a fight worthy of winning,’ he demanded. ‘I do not care what I have to do to get what I want. Oh, but where are my manners. I haven’t even introduced myself nor have I explained how I got here. Oh, dear, my etiquette is atrocious. Please, bear with me whilst I explain, I promise it won’t take too long.

‘My name is, the one and the only, Magician, and I have been searching for the watch for so very long now. I found this staff,’ he continued, pointing to his staff as if I haven’t a clue what he is talking about, ‘and it has taught me so many things. So many things indeed. Unlimited power at my disposal. I can do whatever I want.

‘But you want to know how where I am from and how I got here, do not you? You are going to love this,’ he smiled. ‘It is really something special indeed. I did not have to search for the watch any longer for you pointed out exactly where it was. You created four new Universes. That amount of energy being concentrated in one spot does not go undetected, especially by me, leading me right to you. I have been searching for the watch for years, never coming close, and you give its location away in only a matter of days of having it. Oh, how silly of you. You are now going to lose that watch.’ I couldn’t believe it. It was my fault he’s here. By saving Tom’s parents, I brought him here, putting the very person I wanted to save in danger. It’s all my fault.

No. It can’t be all my fault. Like he said, he has been searching for the watch for years, so it was only a matter of time before he eventually found me. But it was my actions that allowed him to find me, otherwise would he have. I can’t think like that. What has happened has happened, and I have to try and put it right. I just have to. Somehow…

‘Now, I’m going to release you now, so you had better be prepared to support yourself,’ and he let me drop. It was unexpected. My legs hadn’t recovered properly. I dropped like a tonne of bricks, back onto my all fours.

‘What did I just say?’ he shouted before yelling. ‘GIVE ME A FIGHT WORTH WINNING.’

He was giving me a second chance. He’s not letting me give up so easily. What am I doing? I am giving up so easily.

‘There is the determination I want,’ he said, noticing my eyes flare up with energy once more. Then he kicked me in the stomach. I fell hard onto my side, gasping for wind. He’s trying to provoke me. I rolled over onto my side, forcing my limbs to react the way I wanted them to. Using every bit of energy that I could muster, I pulled myself up. Slowly but surely, I climbed back up onto my feet.

‘There you go,’ he said, smiling, ‘now why was that so hard earlier,’ and then he punched me. Once again, trying to provoke me. I spun around on the balls of my heels, but I was determined not to fall over. Instead, I fought with my balance, but it just wasn’t enough. I fell to the floor once more.

‘This is just getting ridiculous now,’ he said not happy. ‘All this fight is consisting of is you falling to the floor. I want more action. I’m giving you a chance here. I’m literally opening myself up for an attack and you are not even bothering to do anything about it except battle with your emotions. Fine, if that is the way you want to play it. Let us dance the foxtrot instead of the Tango.’

‘Don’t you dare,’ I said with gritted teeth since I knew he was going to attack my friends again.

‘I will do what I have to,’ he said creating a box around all three of my friends.

‘Stop this now,’ I said, struggling to get to my feet. I cannot allow this to happen. I will not let him hurt my friends.

‘I must do this,’ he said in fake sympathy. Anger boiled up in my body. I scrunched up my knuckles so hard that they turned white. My nails were digging into the palms of my hands. I was shaking with rage. It was through my anger that my legs remained strong. I’m going to put a stop to him now.

There has to be a limit to the strength of his shield. It must crack eventually. I just have to hit hard enough that it will shatter.

No, but it is magic. If it’s the right type of spell, it can keep out any amount of strength I throw at it. Does it follow that logic? I don’t have time to try and figure all that out. I have to act fast. Now.

What if I fight fire with fire? Magic on Magic? I have to try. My previous attempts to break through his shield with pure strength and speed didn’t work. I have to try this. I don’t have time to stand around and question it. I just have to do it now.

‘Interface,’ I called inside my mind.

‘Yes, Sebastian,’ he answered.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

Mum's Monday: High Tide by Veronica Henry

High Tide is a book that shows life isn’t always greener on the other side. This book follows the lives of three main characters Kate, Sam, and Vanessa, leaving it on a slightly ambiguous note setting up the next chapter.

After the death of her mother Kate returns to her home town of Pennfleet to attend the funeral and sort out her mother’s affairs. Kate has built herself, what she believes, is a glamorous lifestyle in New York, and the population of Pennfleet sees it as just that, but Kate discovers that she still belongs where she grew up. Instead of a glamorous life, it’s an unhealthy one, as she has been taking sleeping tablets for a while. She realises that her roots and personality is best suited in her home town.

There is one problem, her boss is on her back about work, even contacting her on the funeral day, which leads Kate to make the decision and quit at the very last minute, so she can stay in Pennfleet. This is good as Kate has to be true to herself, however, this is a brave decision to make. Some may say irresponsible and backwards, but if a job and/or life style is turning you into a person you don’t want to be, it is best to get out if and when you can.

Debbie, her old school friend is married with kids but after seeing her friend seemingly having this glamorous life style, she is jealous of Kate. Except, Kate is jealous of Debbie, because Debbie is settled and has kids, and Kate doesn’t due to the pressures from her lifestyle.

Debbie sees Kate running the risk of selling her mother’s house to a holiday rental company run by an old school flame of Kates, Rupert. Debbie is angry as she and her family would like the chance to buy the house; to live in the town and not be priced or bought out and left on an estate on the out-skirts. This book highlights the dilemma people have when living in a tourist heavy area. Where there is money to be made, locals get pushed out to where the tourists don’t see, although, Kate returns to live in her mother’s house.

Kate’s story ends after she has settled in Pennfleet, getting re-acquainted with her old flame, Rupert and where she has decided to take Debbie back to New York with her where she has to tie up a few loose ends, such moving out of her apartment. This is a really nice gesture and shows how their friendship is still strong after all that has happened to them over the years since leaving school. From what we have learnt of their lives we would know what would happen in New York, but it still leaves us intrigued to see if Kate isn’t tempted to be swept back up by her old life, however, Debbie will remind her of what she really wants in Pennfleet.

We learn about Sam’s life when Kate walks into his Deli. The chemistry between the two made me believe that they would get together. Sam who has lost his wife and is now a single dad to their 2 children Daisy and Jim, and is liking his new life. His kids have other ideas though. The kids intervene and sign him up to a dating website without his knowledge. We don’t see how it would work, but we don’t need to, as Daisy is dating Oscar and his mum is single so they set up a blind date. This is well written as it is done on the pretence ‘that we kids are dating and it is a parents-get-to-know-each-other-meeting’. It is nice to see the pair start dating afterwards, the kid’s plan has worked.

Another funeral on the same day as Kate’s mum’s one was Vanessa’s husband, Spencer. It wasn’t a happy marriage and although she has to get used to Spencer not being around she slowly realises that her life is now her own and she is free. Inappropriately, on the same day, Vanessa asks Nathan, the driver of the funeral Mercedes, to take her to the pub because Vanessa couldn’t face the family and Spencer’s ex-wife. Nathan having too much to drink, sharing a kiss with Vanessa and leaving the Mercedes at the pub till the next morning, probably wasn’t his best or finest day’s work. Nathan is I feel unfairly fired. It was the wishes of the widow to go for a drink and what happened was initiated by Vanessa. Unfortunately, Mr. Malcolm Toogood (Nathan’s Boss) is old fashioned and thinks that everything should be as it should. Vanessa, on finding out about Nathan losing his job, points out to Malcolm what happened and that the expensive funeral hasn’t been paid for yet and Nathan is re-hired. It is good to see justice won out, even if she did have to resort to blackmail. Although a little harsh sometimes a slight nudge in whatever legal form is a good thing to achieve a nice outcome.

This is a good book but as you get near to the end there still seems a lot of story left and the pages are running out. However, all the ends are tied up ready for the next chapter in the character’s lives. It doesn’t need to be written it is clearly seen what is going to happen next. This book is cleverly written to make this happen and well worth a read.

Layers - Part 94

 

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)

The Watch – Part 128:

‘Just don’t hurt my friends. Please,’ I begged. The red crystal on the end of the staff was glowing brighter than ever. If I can somehow take that from him, then he’ll be powerless. Somehow, he could see my thoughts inside my eyes and he commented.

‘And you reckon that you will be able to take this from me when you are stuck like that. I highly doubt that. You are powerless. You cannot do anything except stand there and watch me take that watch from you. All you can do is think.’ And he laughed.

His words gave me a brainwave. I don’t have to activate my watch via the screen…

‘Interface. Can you hear me?’ I called in my own mind. Only a couple of seconds passed, but they were long, pregnant seconds. With each passing second, the silence grows louder until.

‘Hello, Sebastian, how may I help you?’

‘I need you to activate a few things for me.’ I said.

‘Certainly.’ He doesn’t seem fazed at all about the situation I’m in. My mind’s voice is stressed and panicked, but he is cool, calm and collected. I reeled off a few things that I would like him to activate and he did so immediately. Many superpowers started to flow through my body, strengthening my muscles, toughening my skin, and hardening my bones. I stood, trapped inside his invisible hand, no longer defences. Except, even with my added strength, I still can’t move my limbs. This is some strong magic. That leaves me with only one other option, and it involves dumb luck.

‘OK,’ I said, ‘I give in. ‘Please let my friends go and you can have the watch.’ I put feeling into my words.

‘No,’ I heard Amy say behind me.

‘Oh, looks like one of your friends doesn’t want you to part with the watch, and… Look at his face,’ he chuckled. ‘That man’s face looks oh so confused. He doesn’t know that she knows. Oh, this is just beautiful. The revelations that are happening today are off the chart. You just can’t imagine how happy I am that I am getting so much more than a boring fight.’ I could feel Tom’s eyes burning against my neck. I can’t imagine what is going through his head right now.

‘Oh, alright,’ he said, releasing me from his invisible grip. ‘You are free to walk about. But if you so make a move, you will regret it so hard, you will wonder what the heck hit you.’ I turned to face Tom. He had collapsed onto his knees, but he was slowly picking himself up. Him, Amy, and Alex were all grabbing their arms in pain. Once Tom was standing up straight, he looked at me with hurt in his eyes.

‘I’m sorry,’ was all that I could say. He remained quiet. Silence is golden. Silence is loud. Silence is painful. I couldn’t bear seeing Tom like this, so I did what I could only do and turn on the spot once more, to face this truly manic person.

‘Uh, oh,’ he said, at me. He smiled as if he was enjoying himself, as if he didn’t care what happened as long as he got what he wants. He has potentially damaged my life-long friendship with Tom, and hurt him and Alex and Amy. Anger beyond anything I’ve ever felt before boiled up inside of me. He’s going to regret ever threating me and my friends.

The gap between us was only a few metres, but that was enough for me to gain the speed I needed to turn myself into a blur.

BANG.

The next thing I knew I was laying on the floor in a heap, in pain. If it weren’t for my toughened body, a lot worse would have happened. I slowly unfolded my limbs and picked myself up.

‘You honestly believed that you could have outwitted me like that,’ he said, unable to maintain a straight face. ‘I know how that watch works. I was getting so bored of this talking, of all of this getting nowhere nascence that I wondered if I had to make the first move instead. Now, that you have made the first move, I am now obliged to knock you down a couple of pegs to make you see sense. And I am going to start with your friends.’

‘Don’t you dare,’ I said, jumping up to my feet.

‘Then come at me then. Give me everything that you have.’ He wants me to attack. He wants a fight. He wants to take that watch from me after being victorious over me.

Running at him clearly didn’t work. Maybe I can…

My thinking of what to do next distracted me from his counterattack, which meant he was evening up the playing field. All around me and for an instance, dark purple light shone in my eyes. I felt my feet lift off from the ground. I was flying. How high? How far? I didn’t know. When the light faded, I found myself falling down to Earth. An invisible hand attached itself to my back and started pushing me downwards, speeding up my terminal velocity. With all my strength and speed, I tried to break through the hand, but in the end, I ended up smacking against the ground where a massive crater formed, kicking up a high amount of dust, obscuring my vision, but that wasn’t all that stopped me from seeing clearly. Bits of rubble, stars, dirt, all in my eyes. Pain shot through my body faster than my brain could process, but when it finally caught up, everything hurt all at once. I yelled out, but only ended up with a mouthful of dust and dirt, nearly suffocating me, but luckily, I was able to move my body just so that I could spit it all out.

‘Now it is time to up your game,’ he said happily.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)