Okay - that wraps up Year One of Knights Of Columbus.
In the event that you're reading this, there's still a little I'd like to do in regard to previous issues - most importantly, I'd like to go back and do some narration on a couple of "Sheep's Clothing" issues that don't have it, because I feel it could bring the issues' disparate parts together a bit better - but otherwise, this means I can start trucking into Year Two.
Year Two will be an interesting one, even if only 4 months have passed in our Heroes' first year.
With Andrew off to Central America with fellow PDI Team Captain Mark Shepard to investigate the Akashi, and Landon off to play rescue worker for the political turmoil taking place at his old stomping grounds in the Brotherhood, poor Beth is left all alone to face Palmer's considerable displeasure in the wake of Milo's supernatural Public Service Announcement.
Meanwhile, Donovan and Rhiannon have taken a HUGE step forward and officially started to wander into the risky waters of romance, but with Donovan struggling to accept this substantial breach in his contract with God, and Rhiannon still trying to take him even further down the road of ::ahem:: ALTERNATIVE outlets for his Spirituality, we can assume things will only get more complicated from here.
Milo, now having moved on from his self-inflicted servitude to Chris, is beginning his new relationship with the enigmatic David, who still has a lot of explaining to do. But will Milo and David be able to survive the pressures that lay ahead, in the form of a big heaping helping of personal DRAMA for our mister Milo Woodyard?
And, speaking of enigmatic, what the hell's Malice up to?
Trust me, I'm getting there. All this will finally come to light in the second year, as the team moves past the getting-to-know-each-other stage and begins their sojourn into much darker territory...
It won't be a HAPPY year.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Knights Annual #1
Knights Annual #1: Kill Your Parents OR Prelude and Outer Space
PAGE ONE
1/ This is a FULL PAGE SPLASH depicting the celestial alignment of the planets on July 10th, 1993 – seen from the outer rim of the Solar System, with Pluto being closest to us as viewers. The planets dwindle backward in perspective, with the bright flare of the Sun burning in the distant BG like a beacon. A bisecting line shoots across the image, drawn from Galactic Central Point in the distance. Perhaps the line is labeled, for clarity.
CAPTION: July 10th, 1993.
PAGE TWO
1/ Close on the hand of an adolescent boy, turning a key in a lock in a dimly lit home.
CAPTION: Milo.
2/ Maintain perspective as the owner of the hand turns away from the lock and makes his way out of the panel. It should be clear that the person who just locked the door is no older than twelve or thirteen, though we see only his hand and a small portion of his midsection.
3/ Continue the low, obscuring perspective as the preteen who locked the door comes around a corner, entering what appears to be a living room (from what we can see) from the direction of the foyer he just left. Sitting on a console table that dominates the front of the shot, we see a framed photograph of a young boy, maybe 5 years old, wearing Milo’s signature glasses and possessing his dark shock of hair – though it does not contain what will eventually become his famous blue highlight.
4/ Switch perspective as the boy enters the living room. We maintain the eye level we’ve been viewing from, but our angle is reversed – and beyond the older boy’s shadow we can now see the same boy from the photograph, his glasses awkwardly skewed, peeking over the edge of the couch he’s currently hiding behind. Around him, we get a better glimpse of the home he lives in. It’s an older, 80’s era double-wide trailer home, and though it has been decorated to be as homey as possible, it’s clear that its owners have allowed the home to fall into a certain degree of filth and disarray.
5/ Long panel as our POV changes to be that of young Milo’s, looking up at his current baby sitter: a young man of 13 with a smattering of dark colored hair and eyes the color of used up charcoal. He smiles down at Milo, though his posture is more threatening, belying the breezy demeanor. Meet Tommy Chapel.
TOMMY: It’s just you and me now, ELLIOT.
TOMMY: You know the drill.
6/ Milo sits up straighter, looking frightfully at Tommy and attempting to back away, though he knows he has nowhere to go.
7/ Close on Tommy, his eyes narrowed in threatening determination.
TOMMY: Take off your PANTS.
PAGE THREE
1/ Long panel as we CUT TO Milo’s parents, dining out at an Italian restaurant that, though nicer than they are probably accustomed to eating on their budget, is still on the lower end of the classiness scale. They pick at their plates of Spaghetti as they smile at each other, enjoying their night away from home. Milo’s father looks like a stockier, heavier version of ADULT Milo, while his mother doesn’t look all that different from Rhiannon, though she has cinnamon brown hair and eyes to match, along with a more colorful, darker face than Rhi.
MOM: Jacob called while you were at work, today.
DAD: Oh, no? I missed it?
DAD: How IS our boy?
2/ Long panel, on Milo’s mom as she smiles across the table at her husband, twirling her spaghetti on her fork.
MOM: He sounds like he’s having a great time.
MOM: We were right to send him to SUMMER CAMP. He’s making a lot of friends.
3/ Long panel, as Milo’s dad nods proudly, laying his fork gently down on the table as he picks up his cloth napkin, preparing to dab at his face.
DAD: Well, it’s not as though he’s ever had any trouble with THAT.
DAD: I just hope that ELLIOT gets past this SHY phase he’s stumbled into and eventually takes after his BIG BROTHER.
4/ Milo’s mom picks at her plate of food, looking worried.
MOM: Think he’s okay?
MOM: I always hate leaving him alone for this LONG, knowing how scared he gets of everything…
DAD (OFF PANEL): He’s FINE, Elise.
DAD: He’s not alone.
5/ Close on Milo’s Dad, looking encouragingly at his wife.
DAD: Tommy Chapel’s a GOOD BOY. He always takes good care of him.
PAGE FOUR
1/ CUT BACK to Milo, laying on his back and looking up out of the panel toward Tommy. Milo now has his shirt off and he cringes as he pleads with his older friend, still wearing his glasses.
MILO: I don’t WANNA do this again, Tommy.
MILO: (small font, whispered) This game isn’t fun.
2/ On Tommy, removing his own shirt. He looks challengingly at Milo.
TOMMY: You ALWAYS say that, Elliot. And we ALWAYS wind up having fun.
TOMMY: Besides, you wouldn’t want me to tell your parents you were giving me a HARD TIME, would you? Because I can always DO that…
3/ Milo curls up into a fetal ball on the bed, covered by a sheet. We can see dirty clothes and discarded fast food wrappers strewn around what is clearly not Milo’s bed, but his parents’ bed. The bedside lamp at the edge of the panel casts Milo in a stark light, and he turns away from it uncomfortably.
MILO: No.
MILO: We can play.
4/ Tommy glowers down at him, sadistic glee on his face.
TOMMY: Good.
TOMMY: Now lie down on your stomach. We’re gonna do something a little DIFFERENT this time.
5/ Milo obeys, flopping over so that his face is facing the unwashed pillow, propping himself up with his hands as he looks over his shoulder at Tommy in confusion.
MILO: What is this?
MILO: We never did this before…
6/ On Tommy, from a very low angle – standing over Milo like an intractable menace as he saunters ever closer to the bed, his eyes wide open with anticipation.
TOMMY: Just something I saw in one of my Dad’s MOVIES.
TOMMY: Don’t worry. It’ll feel GOOD.
7/ EXT shot of the Trailer itself. It is dark outside, and the only light that illuminates the small clearing of the trees in which the trailer is located is cast by the yellow porch lamp mounted over the trailer’s door. The yard is strewn with discarded toys and toppled bikes, and a black metal grill sits idly on its side, the cooking utensils still clinging to its handlebar edges. The grass is in desperate need of cutting, and the rotten wooded porch built onto the front of the house looks as though it could cave in at any moment. In the extreme FG of the shot, we see a garbage man, glancing over at the noise coming from the trailer as he collects the trash. He shakes his head in dismay, and we can see that his nametag reads “NED.” From inside the trailer, tailless word balloons emanate.
MILO (TAILLESS): Tommy, what are you - ?
MILO (TAILLESS): Tommy, that HURTS! Tommy, NO!
8/ Close on Milo’s face, back inside the trailer. Tears roll down his cheeks.
TOMMY (OFF PANEL): How does it FEEL, Elliot?
TOMMY: Tell me how it FEELS, ELLIOT!
MILO (small font): It feels good, Tommy. It feels good.
PAGE FIVE
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH depicting another Celestial Configuration – this time, the alignment of the planets on April 14th, 1995. Again, the image is bisected, though our solar system’s sun is slightly closer to the line drawn from Galactic Central Point. The key difference between this splash and the first is that THIS one features the issue’s TITLE, CREDITS, and INDICIA.
CAPTION: April 14th, 1995.
PAGE SIX
1/ VERY LARGE PANEL depicting the already-once-described scene in which Andrew’s informational ability emerges. He sits, with his back to us, in a wooden chair in his elementary school’s library, pulled up close to a large wooden table. He stares unmoving up at the gigantic glowing tableaux of information, playing out before his eyes in the web of interlinking connections that will eventually become part and parcel of the way he thinks. His drink, in a small Styrofoam cup, has tipped over – spilling its contents all over the stack of books by his side. A pencil falls from the table.
CAPTION: Andrew.
ANDREW (small font): Oh, my God.
2/ HIGH-ANGLE, looking down at young Andrew, only ten years old, as he stares up at the reader and off into the glow of info with a bewildered and fascinated look on his face.
ANDREW: But, it’s…
3/ Andrew looks down at his hands, spread wide, and it becomes clear that he is in shock – unable to cope with this sudden burst of new sensory input. He shakes, and his eyes go wide as he makes one startling revelation after another.
ANDREW: It all makes SENSE now…
4/ A young female teacher rounds the corner of one of the library’s book cases and finds Andrew there. She is around 28 years old, with short, reddish hair and a beautiful face. She smiles warmly, unaware of what she’s walking into.
TEACH: Andrew, honey, STUDY TIME is over.
TEACH: It’s time to return to CLASS.
TEACH: Andrew? Oh, my god…
5/ The teacher shakes Andrew, trying to snap him out of it, but he is unresponsive. His eyes have glassed over, and he looks not AT her, but right THROUGH her, lost in the overload of data. The teacher panics, losing composure in the face of this unprecedented experience.
TEACH: Andrew!
TEACH: Andrew MacTiernan!
6/ Close on Andrew as his eyes roll back in his head and, simultaneously, a drop of drool crawls down the edge of his mouth and a drop of blood oozes from his nose. The teacher reaches into the panel to caress the side of his face, comforting him.
TEACH (OFF PANEL): Don’t worry, Andrew, I’m gonna get an AMBULANCE on the way RIGHT NOW.
PAGE SEVEN
1/ Long Panel as we CUT TO a speeding Ambulance, its sirens ablaze, as it careens down the street on the bright spring day.
SOUND EFFECT: WEEEOOOO WEEEEOOOO WEEEEOOO
2/ Long panel, inside the Ambulance, as the EMTs tend frantically but efficiently to the young boy that now lays unresponsive on their small stretcher. At the end of the stretcher, freaking out, is the Teacher.
TEACH: Andrew! Please, wake up!
TEACH: PLEASE, GOD!
EMT: Ma’am, we agreed to let you come along, but if you can’t CALM DOWN –
3/ Long panel as the Teacher turns furiously on the EMT, her hair flipping about.
TEACH: How can you tell me to CALM DOWN?
TEACH: My best STUDENT is acting like he’s gone into a COMA on MY TIME!!!
4/ Long panel as the EMT calmly and directly lays down the line, staring stoically into the Teacher’s eyes. We see the name tag secured to his EMT’s uniform, and it reads “NED.”
NED: Miss, your student is reacting to a SUDDEN and UNEXPECTED burst of overwhelming STRESS. Now, we’re doing everything we CAN, but whatever the cause may BE, if you can’t act as a CALMING influence?
NED: I’m gonna have to ask you to get the hell out of my Ambulance.
PAGE EIGHT
1/ Long Panel as we CUT TO a bright hospital room, as Andrew lays on his bed, awakening slowly as his Father leans against the door frame, smiling at him. The monitors hooked to Andrew glow and blink, but as the two make eye contact they know everything will be fine. Andrew moves his hands, adjusting to waking up in the hospital.
DAD: Hey, Kiddo.
2/ On Andrew, as he groggily turns to face his father.
ANDREW: Hey, Dad.
3/ Andrew’s dad approaches the bed, taking his son’s hand in his. They have a comfortable relationship, and they speak to each other like old friends.
DAD: Watcha doin’?
ANDREW: Thinking.
ANDREW: Been thinkin’ a LOT, actually.
DAD: You gave us quite a SCARE.
ANDREW: I’m sorry. I didn’t MEAN to.
4/ On Andrew’s Dad as he looks seriously down at his son.
DAD: Hey, you’ve got nothing to be sorry for, Bud.
DAD: That TEACHER of yours, MRS. GABBERT…she took good care of you. She’s a little shaken UP, but she’s a HERO.
5/ On Andrew as he turns away from his Dad, staring idly up at the ceiling. For a moment, he appears to mentally go elsewhere. He looks resigned.
ANDREW: She is.
ANDREW: But her job is too STRESSFUL for her.
ANDREW: This is probably what it took to push her over the edge. In five years, she’ll retire.
6/ Andrew’s dad laughs and rubs his son’s head, tousling his hair.
DAD: Andrew, you can’t possibly know THAT.
7/ Andrew smiles sardonically, already knowing it’s futile to try and explain. He turns to his dad, looking a little bitterly amused.
ANDREW: Sure I can.
ANDREW: It’s inevitable. I can see that.
ANDREW: All you’ve gotta DO is look at the FACTS.
PAGE NINE
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH as we CUT to another Celestial alignment. This time, it’s the alignment of the planets on August 5th, 1990. Since this is earlier, the Sun in farther from alignment with Galactic Central Point.
CAPTION: August 5th, 1990.
PAGE TEN
1/ Long panel as we meet Beth at the age of FIVE. She sits on the edge of a long, elevated receptionist’s window in her father’s Therapy Office. Sitting at the receptionist desk, looking up at her daughter as she swings her five-year-old feet back and forth in antsy anticipation, is Beth’s Mother, the receptionist. Beth’s mother looks a lot like Beth, but with thick, curly hair as opposed to her daughter’s straighter, lighter hair.
CAPTION: Beth.
BETH: Mommy, I’m BORED.
MOM: You’ll have to wait a bit LONGER, sweetie. I’m sorry.
BETH: Why?
2/ On Beth’s mom as she looks up from her computer screen to face her daughter; smiling dismissively as she tries to concentrate on her work.
MOM: Because Daddy’s with a PATIENT, Beth.
MOM: I’m almost DONE here, but we’re going to have to hang around a bit LATER until Daddy gets done.
3/ Beth looks despairingly at her mother.
BETH: But I’m BORED, Mom!
4/ Beth’s mom smiles and hands Beth a red rubber ball, motioning to the hallways connected to the receptionist’s desk.
MOM: Go play with your BOUNCEY BALL in the waiting room, hon. I promise it won’t be TOO much longer.
5/ Beth runs out of the receptionist’s area with her red ball, as a tall man enters the area from the nearby hallway, only his midsection in sight since we’re following Beth at the moment. Beth’s mom slides her swivel chair out to watch Beth leave, and shouts after her.
MOM: Be good!
6/ Beth’s mom turns in her chair to acknowledge the man who has arrived, and we see Beth’s dad. He is a tall, dark man of about 30 years, with a full beard and thick brown hair. He drinks from a featureless white coffee mug, straightening his red tie as he looks down at his wife in her chair.
MOM: Almost done, Scott?
DAD: It’ll be a little LONGER, I’m afraid.
DAD: Mr. WILLIAMS here apparently just HAD to see me today. Such is the life of a THERAPIST, I suppose.
7/ On Beth’s dad as he sips at his coffee, brandishing a file folder to his wife. On the edge of the manila envelope, the tab reads “NED WILLIAMS.” He sighs over his coffee, looking discontent.
DAD: I’ll tell ya, Sharon.
DAD: There was a time when I thought this job would be EXHILARATING.
DAD: Now? Not so much.
PAGE ELEVEN
1/ Long panel as Beth sits in the waiting room, bouncing her ball and looking exceedingly uninterested in it.
BETH: Bouncy Bouncy Bouncy.
2/ Beth loses control of the ball, and it bounces away from her. Her eyes narrow, resenting the failure.
BETH: Boo.
3/ We see the ball bounce around a corner, and then change course to bounce down a long office hallway, passing nondescript doors as it goes.
4/ Long panel as Beth chases the ball down the hallway, stumbling a little over her own feet, as she freezes and looks up, catching something out of the corner of her eye. The ball bounces away from her.
5/ Close on Beth, looking friendly.
BETH: Who are you?
6/ We see Beth’s new friend – a young female ghost, shimmering transparently as she looks shyly at Beth and folds her hands behind her back. She is dressed in period clothing, as though she’s been dead for a hundred years. She looks at Beth with odd recognition.
GHOST: You’re the DOG LADY.
PAGE TWELVE
1/ Long panel as Beth and the Ghost face each other, Beth smiling and reaching out a finger, trying to see if her hand will pass through the ghost. The ghost moves, preventing Beth from poking it, but examines Beth’s outstretched finger instead – as though she is as intrigued by Beth’s solidness as Beth is by the Ghost’s translucence.
BETH: I’m not a DOG, Silly.
BETH: I’m a PEOPLE.
2/ Close on the Ghost, looking scared as it issues its warning. The little girl’s eyes crinkle in concern, and she looks as though she might cry.
GHOST: You WILL be.
3/ Beth and the Ghost face off, and the Ghost pulls back a bit, studying Beth from a careful distance. She looks as though she could interview Beth for hours, and regrets that she doesn’t have the time.
GHOST: Will you bark like a dog for me?
4/ Long panel as the Ghost suddenly explodes into thin air, leaving behind only a poof of trace energy. Beth pulls backward a bit, surprised but not scared by the sudden burst of energy like a popped balloon.
SOUND EFFECT: FOOM
5/ Beth’s Dad peaks his head around the corner, looking for his disappearing daughter.
DAD: Beth?
DAD: Are you OKAY back here?
6/ Beth turns to face him, looking up at him with an excited grin.
BETH: I’m fine!
PAGE THIRTEEN
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH depicting yet another Celestial Alignment. This time, it’s Sept 3rd, 1998. In this particular configuration, however, we see a glittering comet shoot by in the outer reaches of the solar system, flying past our view of the sun and causing a blinding flash of refracted light to glint off the edge of the comet, the sun’s illumination shining brightly behind the ancient chunk of space rock. This time, the sun grows closer to Alignment with the Central Point.
CAPTION: September 3rd, 1998.
PAGE FOURTEEN
1/ Long panel as we cut to Rhiannon, at the age of ten, curled up in the fetal position on a plush red carpet. She is weeping softly to herself, and pulls in tight to protect herself from what’s going on around her. All around her, scattered over the panel, are word balloons depicting two very different kinds of voices: the normal tailless balloons depicting human beings who are speaking off panel, and the ethereal, translucent tailless word balloons that represent the onslaught of supernatural voices that only she can hear – the voices of countless ghosts, assaulting her from all angles.
CAPTION: Rhiannon.
HUMAN VOICE: Thank you for EVERYTHING, Mrs. McRhea. The ceremony was beautiful.
RHI’s MOM VOICE: Of course, Mr. Kelly. And again, we here at the funeral home are terribly sorry for your LOSS. You wife was a remarkable woman.
GHOST 1: Where am I? What’s happened to me?
GHOST 2: You’re dead, lady. Get used to it.
HUMAN VOICE: Well, thank you. You and your family have been remarkable. Your daughter was so kind to my kids. Please tell her that they appreciate everything she’s done for them. It was difficult for them, to lose their mother at such a young age.
RHI’s MOM VOICE: Rhiannon’s just eager to help. She’s a good girl. I’ll tell her how much it meant to them.
GHOST 1: I’m dead? Who’re you?
2/ Long panel, closer on Rhiannon. She puts her hands up over her head, trying to shut out the experience. Tears stream down her cheeks as she slams her eyes shut, gritting her teeth in terrified frustration.
GHOST 2: We’re dead, too. We all had our funerals here, same as YOU.
GHOST 1: Are you stuck here?
HUMAN VOICE: I’ll make sure to recommend you. My neighbor, Jim Willis…it doesn’t look like his father is going to pull through. When the time comes, we’ll send them here. I’ll tell them how attentive you’ve been.
RHI’s MOM VOICE: Well, we certainly appreciate that, but our best goes to Mr. Willis and his family…sometimes miracles really CAN happen, so long as you hold out hope.
GHOST 2: No, silly. Why would we be stuck here? We just came back to get you.
GHOST 1: Are we going somewhere?
GHOST 2: It’s complicated, Mrs. Kelly. But we’re here to make sure you aren’t frightened. It’s – wait, what?
GHOST 3: (font too small to tell what it says, indeterminate whispers)
GHOST 2: She can hear us? The little girl?
GHOST 1: Oh my, the poor thing.
HUMAN VOICE: Well, thank you again.
3/ Long panel, as Rhiannon’s mom appears, helping to pull Rhiannon up from the floor and into a sitting position. She is almost Rhiannon’s double, though markedly more open and bright than Rhiannon has been until recently. She smiles a beautiful smile at Rhiannon, her perfect teeth lighting up as her shining eyes pierce through Rhiannon’s fear. Her hair flows in waves, bobbing naturally as she moves.
MOM: Baby, what’s the matter?
4/ Long panel as Rhiannon looks up into her mother’s eyes, weeping – though the waterworks are slowing down now that her mom is present. Her lip quivers as she speaks.
RHI: I can HEAR them, Mom.
RHI: The new one, she’s CONFUSED. She doesn’t know.
PAGE FIFTEEN
1/ Over Rhiannon’s shoulder as her mother looks at her, concerned. She brushes Rhiannon’s already thick black hair away from her face.
MOM: Hear who, Rhiannon?
MOM: The Kellys just LEFT.
RHI: The DEAD ones, Mom. The ghosts.
2/ Rhiannon looks at the ground in shame, embarrassed by what she knows sounds silly.
RHI: I can hear the ghosts. They came to get Mrs. Kelly.
RHI: It’s stupid, isn’t it?
3/ Rhiannon’s Mom plops down on the floor beside her, getting comfortable. She looks to be an odd combination of resigned and relieved. Rhiannon looks at her in confusion.
MOM: I thought this might happen.
RHI: Thought WHAT might happen?
4/ Rhiannon’s mom turns to look at her, comforting and gentle.
MOM: You have the GIFT, sweetie.
5/ Rhiannon warms up a little, misunderstanding. She turns to face her mother with an awkward smile, the tears still rolling down her cheeks.
RHI: You got me a GIFT?
6/ Rhiannon’s mom smiles, clearly amused by the misunderstanding, and reaches over to wipe the tears from her daughter’s face. She makes direct eye contact.
MOM: Not like a PRESENT, no.
MOM: It’s something special that you can DO, with your MIND. When you heard the ghosts, were they actually TALKING?
RHI: I mean…not REALLY. It’s more like they were…thinking. Or feeling. It wasn’t out loud. I think my brain was just kind of SORTING them into words.
MOM: That’s what I thought. Mommy’s been able to do that her WHOLE LIFE. Sooner or later you’ll be able to do it with PEOPLE, too.
MOM: I’m afraid Daddy never liked it much, but we’ve been starting to think that maybe you can do it, TOO.
7/ Rhiannon looks forward, off into the distance. She looks as though she just realized something unpleasant.
RHI: Daddy didn’t like it…and now I’M doing it.
RHI: Is that why…?
8/ Rhiannon’s mom looks at her seriously, dropping – for a moment – the mother/daughter approach and speaking to Rhiannon as if she were an adult.
MOM: That’s probably why, Rhiannon.
MOM: But he’s GONE now. He’ll never lay a hand on you AGAIN.
PAGE SIXTEEN
1/ Long panel as Rhiannon’s mom grabs Rhiannon gently by the face and turns her, so they are eye to eye again. She returns to nurturing mode, speaking gently and sweetly to her daughter, a tear welling up in her OWN eye.
MOM: My sweet girl.
MOM: You are beautiful. And now you’re even more special than you already were.
2/ Long panel, again with the two of them facing each other. Rhiannon’s mom reaches around her neck and removes the necklace that becomes Rhiannon’s lifelong keepsake. Rhiannon watches with interest.
MOM: I wanna give you something.
MOM: My mother gave this to me when MY gifts emerged. She wasn’t LIKE us, but she was a very loving, understanding woman, and she wanted me to have a little extra protection…so she gave me this NECKLACE.
RHI: It’s pretty.
3/ Long panel as they continue to face each other, Rhiannon slipping on the necklace as her mother watches with pride.
MOM: It IS pretty. And it’s also powerful.
MOM: The ring is a talisman, blessed by an old White Sorceress, and I’ve worn it my whole life, imbuing it with my OWN energy.
MOM: With it, you’ll always have a part of me, guiding you in everything that you do.
4/ Long panel as Rhiannon’s mother stands up and out of the panel, except for her legs. Rhiannon looks up at her admiringly.
RHI: Thank you, Mom.
MOM: Of course, baby.
MOM: Now, let’s get you washed up.
PAGE SEVENTEEN
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH, again with a Celestial Alignment – now November 5th, 1996. A step back in time, so a step away from Solar Alignment with Central Point.
CAPTION: November 5th, 1996.
PAGE EIGHTEEN
1/ Long panel as we CUT TO a panel-filling image of a hospital’s EKG machine, the green monitor dominating our view as a long, green line draws across it with sickening finality – no longer spiking with the telltale signs of life.
CAPTION: Donovan.
SOUND EFFECT: BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.
DOCTOR (TAILLESS, OFF PANEL): I’m sorry.
DOCTOR: There was nothing we could DO.
2/ Young Donovan, nine years old, sits at the edge of a hospital bed, staring dumbstruck at its now-deceased occupant. The hand of the deceased rests in the panel, just inside Donovan’s reach – though he does not reach for it. The back of the dead hand is covered in violent scratches, fresh blood oozing from the wounds. At the bedside table situated next to Donovan, we see a scattered rosary, its beads hanging slightly over the edge of the table top.
3/ Angle reverse, now over Donovan’s shoulder, as we see his newly departed mother. She lies crooked in the bed, a look of horror frozen on her face for the rest of time. Donovan reaches out to her, slightly.
DON: Mom…?
4/ Outside the room, in the hospital hallway, Donovan’s father confers with a Catholic Priest. The father is both grief stricken and frightened, while the priest mostly looks shifty, as though they are hiding something and he’s the only one adequately concerned.
DAD: The doctors said her HEART finally just GAVE IN. Stopped beating.
DAD: It was all TOO MUCH for her.
PRIEST: Do they know what really happened?
DAD: I haven’t SAID anything yet…but they’ve GOT to WONDER, right?
5/ Pull in on the two men, looking furtive as they lower their voices.
PRIEST (small font): They’ll never believe you.
DAD (small font): I have to tell them SOMETHING.
PRIEST (small font): Anything but the TRUTH.
6/ The priest looks over his shoulder, into the hospital room. His face finally shows some real amount of grief for his friend’s loss, and he holds his bible tightly to his chest.
PRIEST: How do you tell a MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL that your wife was POSSESSED by a DEMON?
PAGE NINETEEN
1/ Long panel as we return to the room, and to Donovan. He clings sheepishly to the side of his mother’s bed, looking distraught. He begins to cry.
DON: Mom!
DON: Come back, please!
2/ Long panel as Donovan leaves his chair, climbing up onto his mother’s bed in the abandoned room. His mother’s corpse continues to stare off into space, lifeless. Donovan clings to her.
DON: You CAN’T be dead!
DON: It doesn’t make sense! It isn’t FAIR!
3/ Long panel as Donovan clings to his mother’s corpse, cuddling with her as though she were alive and he had climbed into bed with her, seeking refuge from a nightmare. He buries his head in her chest, sobbing.
DON: I’m not even TEN YEARS OLD!
DON: I’m not READY to not have a MOM!
DON: Please, Mom, PLEASE don’t be dead! I LOVE YOU!
4/ Suddenly, Donovan’s mother’s eyes open and she turns to face him, grinning.
MOM: I love you, too.
PAGE TWENTY
1/ Donovan leaps from the bed, terrified, as his mother lunges. Her face contorts in fury, controlled by the demon still hanging on inside her corpse. Spittle flies from her mouth as she screams at him, clawing at the air.
MOM: YEAARGHHHH!
DON: Mom, NO!
2/ Out in the hallway, Donovan’s dad and the priest realize what’s going on and leap into action, turning to run into the room.
DAD: Oh, my God, DONOVAN!
3/ Donovan scrambles backward on the bed, trying to get away, as his mother claws and swings at him, screaming incessantly. Blood and spit fly from her mouth, cascading Donovan and terrifying him even more.
DON: No! Mom!
DON: PLEASE!
MOM: You can JOIN HER!
4/ On Donovan’s mother, as she screams demonically at him. Her eyes are bloodshot and blinded, the scars that cover her hands also slashed across her face in horrifying deep gashes, barely healed over.
MOM: JOIN YOUR ROTTING MOTHER IN HELL!
5/ Donovan’s father and the priest swoop into the room. Donovan’s dad grabs Donovan and pulls him forcefully from the bed, leaping out of the way as Donovan kicks and screams in terror. The priest lunges for the demonic woman, leaping on the bed to pin her down. She thrashes violently, yanking tubes from her arms and tearing the sheets to shreds. It’s total chaos.
DAD: Donovan, hold on!
DON: DAD!
6/ The priest pins the woman down, blinking as she spits blood and saliva into his face. She roars at him furiously, fighting him with all her might. The priest reaches frantically for the rosary, sitting in the extreme FG on the edge of the table.
7/ On Donovan’s mom as the priest presses the rosary’s cross pendant hard against her forehead, causing her to cry out in anger and pain. She claws upward at him, trying to escape the pendant’s power.
PRIEST (OFF PANEL): THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!
8/ Donovan clings to his father, burying his face in the big man’s chest. His father holds him tight, trying to shield him from the violence with only moderate success. In the extreme FG we see flailing limbs drift by the panel, a sign of the chaos occurring out of sight as the young Donovan watches, the scene forever leaving an imprint on him.
PRIEST (OFF PANEL): THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!
PAGE TWENTY-ONE
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH depicting – you guessed it – a Celestial Alignment. This time, we’ve skipped ahead a few years, to May 1st, 2008. The sun is now harrowingly close to alignment with Central Point.
CAPTION: May 1st, 2008.
PAGE TWENTY-TWO
1/ EXTREME CLOSE on Beth’s eye as it pops suddenly open.
CAPTION: Beth.
2/ Beth lays in a bed, in a less than tidy apartment. She faces us, lying on her side, but we can see a male arm reaching around her, holding her close. Beth looks startled and disoriented, unsure of her surroundings. She is now 24 years old.
BETH: Oh, my God.
3/ She bolts up into a sitting position, looking terrified and furious. The bed sheets are all that cover her otherwise naked body.
BETH: Where am I?!
4/ Next to her, in the bed, is Landon – who looks basically exactly the same as he does now. He smiles at her, propping his head up on his hand as he leans elbow-first on the bed. In spite of his smile, he looks vaguely concerned that she might be angry.
LANDON: My place.
LANDON: After all that CRAZINESS last night, I thought…
5/ Long panel as Landon joins Beth in sitting up in the bed, though he continues to lean against his outstretched arm. Beth looks down at her own hands in bewilderment, assimilating the information around her uncertainly. Landon is also naked, save for the sheets.
BETH: I thought that was a DREAM.
BETH: That wasn’t a DREAM?
LANDON: Nope. No dream.
PAGE TWENTY-THREE
1/ On Beth as her eyes narrow in anger, glancing over at Landon.
BETH: I see.
2/ Beth leans over the edge of the bed, discovering her purse there. She digs through it with a look of determination on her face, as Landon starts to worry.
LANDON: Wait, what’re you - ?
3/ On Beth’s hand, as she pulls a handgun from out of the bag.
4/ Long panel as Beth whirls and points the gun straight at Landon’s head. She leans away from him, looking as though she could pull the trigger without hesitation, though she continues to cover herself with the sheet via her free hand. Landon holds up his hands in surrender, sufficiently startled.
BETH: Back OFF, asshole.
LANDON: Whoa, whoa!
LANDON: SERIOUS misunderstanding!
5/ On Beth, with an EXTREME POV as the gun points right at us. She looks down the edge of the gun with a determined grimace.
BETH: Misunderstanding my ASS, dickhead. Silver-tipped BULLETS.
BETH: You turned me into a WEREWOLF. We are NOT friends.
6/ Landon looks fearfully at the end of the gun, still holding his hands out in surrender.
LANDON: Wait, you KNOW?
LANDON: I was expecting a need to EXPLAIN things. Regular bullets would do the TRICK, by the way. The silver thing’s a myth.
PAGE TWENTY-FOUR
1/ Beth continues to glower down the edge of the gun, though she’s softening up a bit.
BETH: I’m a parapsychologist. I study the OCCULT. Of COURSE I know what you are.
BETH: And I KNOW about the silver thing, okay? I just figure…better safe than sorry.
2/ Landon’s brow furrows as he calls her bluff, glaring into the end of the gun.
LANDON: You’re NOT a parapsychologist. You’re an ASPIRING parapsychologist. I saw your student I.D., BETH.
3/ Long panel as Beth continues to hold the gun to an oddly innocent-looking Landon’s head, though her attention wavers as she looks around the room for her clothes – still holding the sheets up to her chest. Landon gestures to a pile of clothes off to the side, seeming mostly bewildered that his hospitality has gone unnoticed.
BETH: Whatever.
BETH: Who the hell DOESN’T know what a werewolf is? You sound like one of those bad ZOMBIE MOVIES where nobody’s ever heard of a goddamn ZOMBIE before.
BETH: Where are my CLOTHES?
LANDON: They’re in the LAUNDRY. Borrow some of MINE.
LANDON: Look, I brought you here because I LIKED you. Much the same reason I didn’t EAT you, actually.
BETH: Yeah, well, don’t get too comfortable, Romeo.
LANDON: You’re holding a gun to my head. That’s the DEFINITION of an antithetical statement. I’m trying to be NICE to you.
4/ Beth stands, pulling one of Landon’s old shirts down over her otherwise nude torso. She wears polka-dotted pink briefs with little cartoon ghosts on them. The shirt is a blue and red KISS shirt, its logo cracked with age. She scowls at Landon.
BETH: You could argue that turning me into a MONSTER might have been better saved for a THIRD date, Michael J.
BETH: You gotta NAME, or do I just call you DOG-BREATH?
5/ Landon smiles up from the bed and extends a polite hand. He remains undressed, but covered by the sheets. He couldn’t look more genuinely nice in the face of Beth’s attitude, even if he DID just turn her into a werewolf against her will.
LANDON: Landon.
LANDON: Landon Adams.
PAGE TWENTY-FIVE
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH depicting another Celestial Lineup. August 29th, 1999. Again, a step back in time is a step away from Solar Alignment.
PAGE TWENTY-SIX
1/ Long panel as we discover Milo, thrashing around playfully on the floor as his brother, Jake, tickles him relentlessly. Milo is 12 years old, and is beginning to look more like the Milo we know, though he does not yet have his blue chunk in the front of his hair. He laughs uncontrollably, trying desperately to pry his older brother’s hands free of his sensitive sides. Jake looks like an older Milo, though he lacks Milo’s solid black hair, in favor of a light brown.
CAPTION: Milo.
MILO: Ha ha ha!
MILO: JAKE! QUIT IT!
2/ Angle switch, as we see them from across the room. Clearly, their family has ditched the crummy old trailer in favor of a large, but very old, house. It’s dark outside, and dim table lamps light the room from different angles, working hard to make up for the lack of overhead lighting in a house so old. The boys thrash around in an upstairs bedroom- most likely Jake’s, judging from the pictures of rock bands and action movies plastered all over the walls.
MILO: Quit TICKLING me!
3/ On Jake, laughing as Milo successfully pries his grip free and holds his older brother’s hands up, struggling to maintain his brief advantage as Jake’s hands writhe in the air, dying to return to their target.
JAKE: I’ll quit tickling when MOM AND DAD get home!
JAKE: NOT UNTIL THEN!
4/ Milo retreats, pulling his arms tight around his sides in defense. He lies on the floor, looking up at Jake as he tries to catch his breath.
MILO: When do Mom and Dad get home?
5/ Jake lunges for Milo’s armpits and Milo screams.
JAKE: Midnight!
MILO: Midnight!?
MILO: It’s only EIGHT O’CLOCK!
PAGE TWENTY-SEVEN
1/ Milo tries to twist free as Jake struggles to pull Milo’s shirt off. Milo starts to look genuinely scared, no longer playing around.
JAKE (OFF PANEL): Oh, when I get your SHIRT OFF, you are going to be SO SORRY!
MILO: Jake, WAIT!
2/ Milo overreacts, hitting Jake hard across the face with his forearm as he fights in self-defense. The punch hits Jake at just the wrong angle, and we see blood squirt from his mouth as his head twists sideways in response.
MILO: WAIT!!
SOUND EFFECT: THOK
3/ Milo sits up, looking shaken. He looks at Jake in concern and embarrassment.
MILO: Why would you SAY that?
4/ Jake leans back on his haunches, rubbing his throbbing jaw. He glowers at Milo.
JAKE: Because I was TICKLING you, JERK. Don’t be a little GIRL.
JAKE: Now you’re REALLY going to get it!
5/ Jake lunges at Milo once again, startling him. They both laugh, not expecting what comes next.
MILO: Ha ha!
MILO: Knock it OFF, Jake!
6/ Suddenly, as Jake tickles him, Milo’s face turns from playful to terrified. Unaware of what’s going on, he watches in horror as his hands burst into flame. Blue smoke leaks from the edges of his eyes, obscuring his vision as the flames travel up his arms.
MILO: Oh, my God, Jake, WAIT!
MILO: STOP IT!
PAGE TWENTY-EIGHT
1/ Jake holds his arm up in front of his eyes, protecting himself from the sudden burst of flame that leaks up into the bottom edge of the panel, from Milo’s direction. He looks confused and angry, not sure what to do.
JAKE: Milo, what’re you - ?
2/ Outside the house, at night, as we see the entire upper story explode. The windows shatter outward and the walls themselves buckle from the pressure as flame shoots out into the night from inside the old, beaten down house, sending boards and glass flying out in every direction.
SOUND EFFECT: KA-DOOOM
3/ Back inside, Milo holds his arms in front of him for protection as he stands in the midst of the inferno, looking around in startled despair. His glasses are covered in soot.
MILO: Jake?!
MILO: Where ARE you!?
MILO: We have to get OUT of here!
4/ Close on Milo’s face as he removes his glasses and something catches his eye. His face turns to stunned horror as the image sinks in.
MILO: NO!
MILO: Jake?
5/ Long panel as young Milo stands in the collapsing upper floor of his home, flames licking up all around him as he struggles to keep his footing, dumbstruck by the consequences of what he has done. He stares straight toward us, at the thing that caught his sight when he removed his glasses…and in the extreme FG, we see the charred, blackened remains of Milo’s brother, his arms twisted at an unnatural angle. Jake is dead.
PAGE TWENTY-NINE
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH, another Celestial alignment. October 10th, 2004. The sun is closer to Galactic Central point, though of course not as close as it was in the 2008 lineup.
CAPTION: October 10th, 2004.
PAGE THIRTY
1/ A teenaged Rhiannon wanders up the hallway of her high school, looking as Goth as any teenager should ever look. Her hair is pulled back, revealing her young face through the Goth makeup she wears so proudly, and she carries a stack of books in her hand. Banners all over the walls proclaim Beaver Local Football, advertising the upcoming homecoming game with glitter and magic marker on red, black and white poster board. Students mill about in the halls, but one particular student – another Goth girl – races after Rhiannon from behind.
CAPTION: Rhiannon.
GIRL: Rhiannon!
GIRL: Wait up!
2/ Rhiannon turns to face the girl, smiling through what is clearly a veil of sadness.
RHI: Dee?
RHI: This is so WEIRD…
3/ The other girl, Dee, pulls Rhiannon tight and the two of them share a passionate kiss. Dee is a little taller than Rhiannon, with similar dark hair – though she keeps it cut short. She wears skull and bones earrings, and her Hot Topic brand clothing is outdone only by Rhiannon’s. Rhiannon closes her eyes and melts into the kiss.
DEE: I know, sweetie.
DEE: How could it NOT be weird, coming back only TWO DAYS after a SCHOOL SHOOTING?
4/ Close on Rhiannon, looking around furtively to make sure she isn’t heard by her classmates. She looks as though she’s been crying.
RHI: That’s not really what I MEAN, Dee.
RHI: I mean I don’t know if I, in PARTICULAR, can DEAL with this…
5/ Dee looks to Rhiannon with concern, grabbing Rhiannon’s face in her hand and smiling gently at her. She pulls her backpack up on her back, adjusting its weight. All along the strap are buttons of Invader Zim and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.
DEE: Oh, GOD, Rhi – I didn’t even THINK about it.
DEE: I’ll bet everybody’s EMOTIONS are all OVER the place.
PAGE THIRTY-ONE
1/ Rhiannon reaches into her locker, placing her stack of books inside. Dee stands next to her, watching in concern.
RHI: They are.
RHI: I’ve had to concentrate so HARD all day, just to keep it under CONTROL.
RHI: It’s giving me the WORST headaches.
2/ Dee grabs Rhiannon by the shoulder, forcing her to face her.
DEE: Rhi, honey…come here.
3/ Long panel, from a slight distance. Standing in the hallway, next to the lockers, Dee pulls Rhiannon into a warm hug, closing her eyes and burying her head in Rhiannon’s shoulder. The two remain that way for a moment. Down the hallway a bit, we see a janitor – and closer inspection reveals him to be the same Ned we’ve seen throughout this issue.
DEE: Soak it in, babe. See if it does any good.
4/ Rhiannon pulls back, grimacing in pain as she shuts her eyes tightly. She puts her hand to her forehead, trying to massage away the splitting headache.
RHI: Aghhh!
5/ Dee looks on, feeling a bit dejected for her inability to help Rhiannon.
DEE: Rhi, what’s wrong?
DEE: Is the BAD stuff hitting you? I tried my best to help…
PAGE THIRTY-TWO
1/ Long panel as Rhiannon struggles with the headache, Dee reaching out to try and help in any way she can.
RHI: It’s too much. TOO MUCH!
RHI: God, I just want it to go AWAY!
DEE: You want me to cast a PROTECTION spell?
DEE: I can DO that…
2/ Rhiannon throws her hands up in frustration.
RHI: I’ve DONE that! It doesn’t WORK!
RHI: I’m just too sensitive…
3/ Dee thinks.
DEE: Look, Rhiannon…
DEE: When I’m doing DIVINATION stuff, and I have to leave my MIND open to possible ATTACK? I visualize a WALL. It helps a lot.
4/ Rhiannon shuts her locker as Dee continues to explain.
DEE: Now, I know you need something a LOT more powerful than that…
DEE: …but you said that you were able to convert EMOTION into ENERGY and stuff. Could you build a REAL wall?
DEE: Something inside to DAMPEN these ATTACKS you have?
5/ Rhiannon turns to Dee, impressed with the idea. She smiles.
RHI: You know, that’s actually not a bad IDEA…
PAGE THIRTY-THREE
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH. Celestial Alignment. May 2nd, 2008. We return to the stage in which the sun is very, very close to alignment with Central Point.
CAPTION: May 2nd, 2008.
PAGE THIRTY-FOUR
1/ Long panel as we find Andrew in a dark, disgusting sewer. The tunnels wind off into the distance as Andrew creeps along, brandishing a clunky bow with a quiver of arrows strapped to his back. He is 23 years old, but has been at this for a while and is clearly a professional when it comes to lurking around in cramped spaces in search of monsters. His thickly booted feet splash into the green water as he creeps along, hunched over in anticipation as he looks into the next system of tunnels. Pipes and valves line the slime-covered walls, and rats scurry along the floor.
CAPTION: Andrew.
ANDREW: Come on, come ON.
ANDREW: Where are you HIDING, you son of a BITCH?
2/ Andrew loads an arrow into his bow and pulls back, preparing to fire as he rounds the next corner.
3/ Suddenly, a vampire leaps out from behind him, seemingly appearing from nowhere as it descends from its hiding spot on the ceiling. It looks like a feral combination of the Nosferatu/Blade 2/Turok-Han (from Buffy Season 7) styles of Vampire than the elegant, classy, humanized Vampires that have become popular in recent years. Andrew leaps, startled.
VAMP: Yaghhh!
4/ Long panel as Andrew spins on a dime, letting the arrow fly. It strikes the vampire square in the chest, and the vamp explodes – showering Andrew with its dust.
SOUND EFFECT: FOOM
PAGE THIRTY-FIVE
1/ Andrew lets his bow fall to his side, catching his breath as his phone beeps.
ANDREW: Jesus.
ANDREW: How many of you are DOWN here?
SOUND EFFECT: Breet breet
2/ Andrew wanders further down the tunnels, answering his phone as he slings his bow over his shoulder and walks nonchalantly into the face of danger.
ANDREW: Not the best TIME, Julie.
ANDREW: I followed a VAMP down here and I think he’s led me right to a pretty nasty NEST. These guys are vicious….
3/ Cut to a young African American woman with round glasses and hair pulled back tight. This is Julie, and she sits at a wooden desk in a dimly lit office, speaking to Andrew on a cord phone.
JULIE: I can call back later, if you WANT, but I have a new CASE for you.
JULIE: Is SAMSON with you?
4/ Back to Andrew, looking around wearily as he speaks into his phone.
ANDREW: He’s coming in from the other DIRECTION. I’m alone.
ANDREW: I think I’m okay for a minute, but make it FAST. Things are about to get interesting down here, and I have CLASS in the morning.
5/ Long panel, Back to Julie, and now we see more of the office. There are numerous unsolved case files pinned to the wall on a giant corkboard, and a long table with a coffee machine and box of donuts sits abandoned, the coffee machine looking musty from disuse. Outside the office window, we see the Manhattan Skyline. Julie flips through a file folder on her desk.
JULIE: Looks like we’ve got a disappearance.
JULIE: Last time this girl was seen, it was during a pretty intense WEREWOLF attack in the VILLAGE. But there’s no BODY or even CHUNKS of body, so we’re thinking it may be a HOSTAGE situation, or they’ve TURNED her.
JULIE: Either way, I’ve got some concerned friends and family looking for ANSWERS.
PAGE THIRTY-SIX
1/ On Andrew, from behind, as he wanders down the tunnels, still speaking into his phone as he goes.
ANDREW: Girl gotta name?
2/ On Julie, skimming her files as she informs Andrew of the details.
JULIE: BETH.
JULIE: Elizabeth REILLY, to be more precise. And get this: arseholes that did this? The bloody BROTHERHOOD, if our INTEL’s correct.
3/ Andrew looks shocked, facing the phone in surprise.
ANDREW: The BROTHERHOOD!?
ANDREW: One of Chancellor Burgess’s rare HUNTING PARTIES, then. Bit early in the YEAR for him to lay it on the LINE like that, isn’t it?
4/ Julie raises an eyebrow, looking unimpressed.
JULIE: Said it yourself, Mate: Brotherhood’s been damned UNPREDICTABLE lately. Drama in the UNDERGROUND, it seems.
JULIE: The SUCKERS you’re after now – THEY’RE not Brotherhood, are they?
5/ Long panel as Andrew finally reaches the nest. The walls of the sewer are lined with human bodies, dripping blood and gore from their spots on the cold cement walls. Even more human hands reach up from out of the muck, stained with blood. More importantly, though, are the five frightening looking vampires who are now approaching Andrew, looking ready for a fight.
ANDREW: No, Ma’am.
ANDREW: This does NOT look like Brotherhood TERRITORY.
ANDREW: Julie? I’m gonna have to call you BACK.
PAGE THIRTY-SEVEN
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH. Celestial Alignment. September 21st, 2001. A step back for the Solar Alignment to Central Point.
CAPTION: September 21st, 2001.
PAGE THIRTY-EIGHT
1/ Long panel as we see a possessed woman, tied to a bed with numerous buckled straps, thrashing violently in her attempts to free herself of her imprisonment. Her face is contorted and grotesque, a reflection of the demon inside that is beyond her ability to control. She hisses and screams, her long hair tossing about, baring her teeth.
CAPTION: Donovan.
WOMAN: HELL AWAITS YOU!!!
WOMAN: DARKNESS FIGHTS FOR YOUR SOUL!!!
WOMAN: So much DEATH in your FUTURE, BOY!
2/ Angle reverse, we now see down the length of the bed as the demon woman continues to scream at the young man who peers hesitantly around the corner of the bedroom doorway, sheepishly investigating the terrifying amount of noise the woman is letting loose through the halls. The building itself is an old convent, and we can see the dark lacquered wood that lines the walls and floors, shining brightly with polish. Various religious artifacts hang from the walls, and a small wash bin rests on a console table opposite the bed. The boy peering around the corner is Donovan, at 14 years old.
WOMAN: What’s the matter, BOY!?
WOMAN: AFRIAD to come CLOSER?
WOMAN: AFRAID of the TRUTH?!
3/ Pull in on Donovan, staring around the corner in fright. He clings to the edge of the door frame, his fingernails digging into the wood. He does not hide his fear as the woman continues to taunt him.
WOMAN (OFF PANEL): The DARK WITCH will show you the WAY, boy!
WOMAN: She’ll sense your FEARS, the EARTH-MOTHER will, and SEIZE on them!
4/ Outside the room, in the hallway, as a tall middle-aged priest walks up and rests a hand on the frightened Donovan’s shoulder. Donovan turns to look at him, confused.
DON: What’s WRONG with her, Father?
DON: I’ve seen it BEFORE, but I still don’t UNDERSTAND it.
5/ The Priest drops down into a crouch, achieving eye-level with the young Donovan. He squeezes Donovan’s shoulder to comfort him, smiling reassuringly. We can see that the Priest is the same priest who was present at the death of Donovan’s mother, though he has aged.
PRIEST: She’s POSSESSED, Donovan. Just as your MOTHER was.
PRIEST: The DEMON has HOLD of her, and doesn’t want to let go. But, you see, we’ve sent for a SPECIALIST in these things.
PAGE THIRTY-NINE
1/ Standing behind the priest, looking down at the young boy and his currently crouched mentor, is a man in his late thirties. He is tall, with a somewhat darker complexion, and dark messy hair. The priest begins to stand up in an effort to greet the new man. He wears all black, with long dark pants and a button-up smock of a shirt, with a familiar looking cross printed on the front….
PRIEST: Donovan, this is WILLIAM PAUL. He’s an EXORCIST of some RENOWN, and he’s here to HELP our good sister.
PAUL: A pleasure, Father.
PAUL: Donovan.
2/ The two grown men look into the possessed woman’s room with sincere but professionally distanced looks of sadness, the Priest focusing more on disseminating information to William Paul than on the woman herself. Paul is strictly business.
PAUL: How’s SISTER ALVERA?
PRIEST: She’s been RESTRAINED for hours now, Mr. Paul.
PRIEST: I’m not sure how much longer we can HOLD her.
3/ Paul looks down at Donovan, offering his hand in greeting.
PAUL: Put her THERE, pal.
PAUL: You holding up okay?
DON: I guess. It’s a little SCARY.
4/ Donovan accepts the offered hand, and the two shake. William Paul gives Donovan a genuine, warm-hearted smile.
PAUL: That’s true, Donovan. It CAN be scary.
PAUL: But I’m William Paul, and I’m the best there is at what I DO.
5/ Paul stands up, looking seriously at the Priest.
PAUL: I realize this can be a bit MUCH for a CHILD, Father.
PAUL: I have a son of my OWN, a bit older. SAMSON.
PRIEST: Oh, I’m not the boy’s ACTUAL Father.
6/ On the Priest, looking forbiddingly at Paul, wishing he’d let the subject drop for Donovan’s sake, more than anything.
PAUL (OFF PANEL): Oh, I’m sorry. Are you - ?
PRIEST: The Father’s DECEASED.
7/ On Paul, looking foolish for asking.
PAUL: I’m sorry. And the MOTHER?
8/ On the two of them, as the Priest just locks eyes with Paul, answering the question with his silence. Paul lowers his eyes.
PAUL: I see.
PAGE FORTY
1/ William Paul enters the Sister’s room, carrying something in his hands and matching eyes with this demonized woman immediately. He glares challengingly, trying to get a rise from the demon.
PAUL: Sister Alvera.
2/ The demonic woman freezes in her thrashing, stopping instead to glare menacingly at her new guest. She clearly recognizes him, and does not like the sight of him.
WOMAN: YOU.
3/ Paul looks down at the object in his hand – a small pendant, in the shape of a pentagram, made of sparkling crystal. It glints in the dim light of the room, and he stares at it importantly.
PAUL: Yes, that’s correct. ME.
PAUL: So I can safely assume I’m NOT talking to Sister ALVERA, am I, DEMON?
4/ The woman begins to scream and thrash once more, though now her demeanor has shifted from angry to scared – screaming more for help than anything else.
WOMAN: GO AWAY!
WOMAN: We know who you ARE and you’re a BLIGHT upon the WORLD!
5/ One large panel, with an inset in the upper left-hand corner.
INSET: Paul bends down to the floor, gently placing the pentagram pendant on the ground and smiling to himself as he does.
PAUL: Yeah. You people are NEVER happy to see me, are you?
PAUL: Well, I guess I know WHY.
PANEL: Paul stands back and the room is suddenly lit with a flare of orange as the pendant ignites, sending a huge arc of flame along the floor before him in the shape of the pentagram, blazing away and illuminating Paul from beneath as we view over his shoulders. He drops his hands to his sides, satisfied with this step and preparing to leap headlong into the exorcism.
PAUL: Some jobs, the better at it you are, the more ENEMIES you have.
PAGE FORTY ONE
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH, with the FINAL Celestial Alignment. The bisecting line through the image reveals that on this NEW date - January 30th, 2012 – the sun of our solar system is closer to alignment with Galactic Central Point than it has been over the entirety of the time span depicted in this issue – and it will only get closer. The line nearly connects with the orb of the sun itself.
CAPTION: January 30th, 2012.
PAGE FORTY TWO
1/ Long panel as a somewhat beat-up looking sedan pulls up to the front of the house on Campus we’ve come to recognize as Rhiannon’s home. It’s a snowy afternoon, and a black cat Zips across the porch as the car idles in its place.
RHI (INSIDE CAR): And here we ARE.
2/ Inside the car, in the passenger seat, Rhiannon turns to her driver: Dee, the girl Rhi dated in high school. Steam shoots from their mouths in the cold as they speak, smiling familiarly but a bit awkwardly at each other.
RHI: Thanks for everything, DEE.
RHI: It’s been good to see you again.
DEE: Same to you, Rhi.
3/ On Dee, trussed up in layers of puffy coats and scarves, as she gives a red-faced grin to her passenger, nervous to be around Rhi after all this time. Rhi leans into the panel, her hair showing from under a wool cap.
RHI: And taking me all the way back to COLUMBUS was awesome of you.
RHI: Are you SURE you don’t want any GAS MONEY?
DEE: Not a chance.
DEE: It was nice just to get away from EAST LIVERPOOL for a day.
4/ Rhiannon begins to say something as Dee leans across the car, pushing against the steering wheel to reach over into the passenger seat and lock lips with a startled Rhiannon. Rhiannon pushes her away.
RHI: Oh, I’m sure it - !
5/ Rhiannon looks at Dee, gentle but firm in her rebuttal.
RHI: Dee. I told you.
RHI: I’m not a lesbian anymore. I never really WAS. It was just a weird place in my life.
6/ Dee smiles awkwardly, a little embarrassed but taking it like a grownup. She raises a sincere eyebrow.
DEE: It’s a SHAME, Rhi.
DEE: Coulda been fun.
PAGE FORTY THREE
1/ Rhiannon stands outside in the snow, steam issuing from her mouth as she watches Dee’s car drive off down the muddy winter streets of the North Campus Neighborhood.
2/ On Rhiannon, looking both confused and amused, if a little sad.
RHI: Wow. Strange.
3/ Rhi enters her home, calling out to her roommates, who appear to be away at the moment. She shrugs off her wool scarf, standing in the open doorway.
RHI: Anybody HOME?
4/ She walks past a small end table by the living room couch and notices the blinking message light on the voice mail machine. She nudges it absentmindedly with her finger as she verbally acknowledges it.
RHI: Message.
RHI: Perhaps for me?
5/ Close as Rhiannon’s hand reaches out and pushes the button on the Voice Mail.
SOUND EFFECT: BEEP
6/ Long Panel as Rhiannon rifles through the kitchen refrigerator in the far BG, while the voice mail machine rattles off the message in the extreme FG. Rhiannon discovers a jug of milk and lifts it into better light, checking the date.
MACHINE: Rhiannon, my name is Andrew MacTiernan.
MACHINE: You don’t KNOW me, but I would very much like to MEET with you…
PAGE FORTY FOUR
1/ LONG PANEL as we CUT TO Andrew’s personal office. In particular, we are focused on the items sprawled across his desk: a stack of non-descript papers, a chewed and weathered pencil, a cell-phone, and a sheet of yellow legal paper with a list of names. ELLIOT WOODYARD and RHIANNON McRHEA are listed at the top, and both are scratched out. DONOVAN THATCHER remains, but is circled with a small annotation in less careful handwriting indicating that “Palmer is taking care of it.” All that remains is the last name, in noticeably more deliberate handwriting, underlined repeatedly, and surrounded with doodled question marks. It says “BETH ADAMS.”
ANDREW (OFF PANEL): Hey, Beth.
ANDREW: It’s ANDREW MacTIERNAN. How’s a trip to COLUMBUS sound?
2/ Andrew stands beside the desk, looking down at his list and scratching his head in frustration. He rests his free hand on his hip and grimaces, feeling stupid about his inability to get past the “Beth” hurtle. He stands in blue flannel pajama bottoms and a green Marvel Comics t-shirt, his hair unkempt as he has not left his house yet today.
ANDREW: Nice, Andrew.
ANDREW: Of COURSE you’d rip it off like a band-aid. How could she not go for that?
3/ Andrew paces, gesturing innocently with his hands in mock irony.
ANDREW: Hi, Beth. It’s ANDREW!
ANDREW: Hey, how’s your MARRIAGE? Recover sufficiently from my selfish attempt to SABOTAGE it yet? Landon have any INTEREST in the two of us spending a bunch of TIME together?
4/ Andrew picks up his list, staring at it helplessly.
ANDREW: Hi, Beth. How’s LANDON?
ANDREW: Got any CUBS I should know about? You can CUB-sit, while LANDON and I head down to the bar and sort this out like GENTLEMEN!
5/ Andrew drops the paper and looks off into the distance, feeling defeated.
ANDREW: I can’t DO this.
PAGE FORTY FIVE
1/ Andrew stands silently in the door to his bedroom, having a massive internal debate. We can see his unmade bed, and in the very FG there is a tall dresser on which sits a framed photograph, turned away from us.
2/ Andrew approaches the dresser and picks up the photograph, examining it. It is still turned away from us, but Andrew looks at it with heartfelt nostalgia.
ANDREW: You know…
3/ Long panel as we see the image in Andrew’s hand. It is the same photograph of Andrew, Beth and Samson Paul that we have seen before, framed in a polished wooden frame.
ANDREW (OFF PANEL): This would be a whole lot EASIER if YOU were here, man.
4/ Andrew sighs as he places the photo face down on the dresser and looks up, realizing he has to get his act together.
ANDREW: ::sigh::
5/ He picks up the phone and begins to dial, looking as though he’s just stepped in front of an execution squad.
ANDREW: Alright.
ANDREW: Here goes nothin’.
PAGE FORTY SIX
1/ Long panel as we CUT TO Donovan, looking suddenly very, very worried as he stands at the foot of an unfamiliar bed. He looks poised for action but uncertain of what to do, as if every fiber of his being is simultaneously screaming “Oh, Shit,” at the top of its lungs.
DON: Crap.
2/ Don leaps onto the bed and begins shaking at the comatose woman he was just moments ago trying to help via his exorcism skills. She does not respond, and we realize that Donovan is trying to rouse a dead woman, terrified for his own life if he could be attributed to her death as the very cause himself.
DON: Come on! Come ON!
DON: Wake UP!
3/ On the dead woman’s face, looking, well…dead.
4/ Donovan looks down at her, his face suddenly deeply forlorn as he realizes that it’s hopeless. He drops back on his haunches and lets his hands sink into his lap in defeat.
DON: No.
5/ He shifts, choosing instead to sit on the side of the bed and hang his embarrassed head.
DON: Don’t be dead.
PAGE FORTY SEVEN
1/ Suddenly, in the doorway, we see Mr. Palmer – the government director of the Knights of Columbus’ regional branch of the Paranormal Defense Initiative. He is dressed like a business man, in a tailored suit and conservative appearance, and he lingers in the doorway as though he’s completely casual, with no regard to the dead woman on the bed.
PALMER: Donovan Thatcher.
2/ Donovan looks up at the side of the bed, turning in horror as he realizes he’s been found out, that everyone will know he’s a failure and that his inadequacy is responsible for this woman’s death. He recoils slightly.
DON: This isn’t what it LOOKS like.
3/ Palmer walks casually into the room, brandishing a business card and holding it out to Donovan. He looks completely unimpressed by any of the drama that has just exploded in Donovan’s life.
PALMER: What it looks like is an EXORCISM gone tragically WRONG.
PALMER: So I’m assuming it’s EXACTLY what it looks like.
4/ Donovan looks down at the card, confused and ashamed.
DON: I know. I’m sorry. Mr.…PALMER.
DON: I don’t know what to say. Besides that I thought I was cut out for this, and I’m obviously NOT.
5/ Over Palmer’s shoulder as he sticks a fat brown cigar in his mouth and Donovan looks up at him, confused. Palmer lights the cigar.
PALMER: Now, now, Mr. Thatcher. You can’t save ‘em ALL.
PALMER: But I can certainly offer you the chance to TRY.
DON: I don’t understand…what’s - ?
6/ Low Angle as Palmer extends his hand to Donovan, seen from Donovan’s POV. He takes a big puff on his glowing cigar, a cloud of smoke forming around his face.
PALMER: As you already KNOW, the name’s PALMER.
PALMER: I’m with the UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.
PAGE FORTY EIGHT
1/ CUT TO Landon and Beth’s house in New York, the one and only time we’ll ever see it. Landon stands in a doorway in the BG, looking confused and intrigued, as we see Beth’s hand place the cordless phone back into its cradle in the extreme FG, resting on a shiny end table near the same end table lamp we’ve seen in their Columbus home. There is a framed photograph of Landon and Beth resting near the phone, as they cuddle and smile for the camera.
LANDON: Who was THAT?
2/ Close on Beth as she bites her lip, not sure if she really wants to be honest with him at the moment. She glances away.
BETH: Um…
3/ Beth turns away and fiddles with her fingers near the end table, looking at the floor.
BETH: Andrew MacTiernan.
4/ Landon continues to hold his position in the doorway, taking the news in stride and responding in carefully measured tones to what he surely is not happy to hear. He keeps his own head lowered, but his eyes look steadily in the direction of Beth.
LANDON: Are you serious?
BETH (OFF PANEL): I am.
5/ Long panel. Landon leans against the door frame and folds his arms, beginning to look indignant but not fully angry yet. Beth turns and faces him uncertainly.
LANDON: And what could HE possibly want?
BETH: He wants to put together a TEAM. Paranormal thing.
BETH: I think it’s for the GOVERNMENT. He said I’d have to be BRIEFED and –
LANDON: Wait.
LANDON: Stop talking.
PAGE FORTY NINE
1/ Close on Landon, eyes narrowed, anger rising.
LANDON: Andrew MacTiernan thinks he can just call here and RECRUIT you?
LANDON: After everything that happened in Rome.
2/ Beth tries to diffuse the situation by acting casual, trying to convince Landon that he’s just overreacting. She turns dismissively and walks in the direction of the kitchen, speaking breezily.
BETH: Landon. This isn’t LIKE that.
BETH: This sounds like a GOOD thing. Getting away from all this BROTHERHOOD stuff, and –
3/ Landon turns to follow her progress visually, though he does not physically pursue her as she heads toward the other room. He remains rooted in his spot, keeping eye contact with what, at the moment, is the back of her head. He maintains his calm anger.
LANDON: Beth, if it involves ANDREW, it’s not a GOOD thing.
LANDON: And why does he think he can just CALL here, after TWO years –
4/ Beth keeps her back to him, but looks back at him over her shoulder. She leans her hand against the doorframe in the archway to the kitchen, eyes cast down at the ground in shame as she makes the crushing admission.
BETH: Because I never stopped talking to him.
5/ Landon looks at her, aghast.
6/ He casts his eyes downward and hangs his head for the first time, humiliated.
LANDON: Fine. Whatever.
LANDON: Fill me in LATER. I’m going to the BAR.
7/ Landon rounds the corner into the foyer and disappears, headed out into the night.
8/ Beth continues to linger in the door to the kitchen, leaning against the frame as she hangs her own head in disgust at herself. She does not feel bad about maintaining contact with Andrew, but she does feel bad about lying to Landon.
BETH: Dammit.
PAGE FIFTY
1/ CUT TO a CLOSE UP on Milo’s hand, filled with his HIV medication in capsule form, with the stained and ancient ceramic sink seen in the background as we look down at the hand from Milo’s POV. He holds the bottle in his other hand, also in panel, with cotton sticking out the top. Toothpaste and a toothbrush are scattered along the back of the sink, the toothpaste oozing out onto the ceramic.
2/ Milo tosses his head back and shoves the pills down his throat, grimacing.
3/ Finished taking his medication, Milo stands in the bathroom doorway, looking out into his studio apartment and staring at the voice mail machine sitting next to his unmade bed. His art hangs scattered all over the walls, vividly colorful depictions of frustration, anger and regret, painted onto the canvas to get them out of his head.
MILO: Alright. Decision time.
4/ Milo approaches the machine and presses the button, nodding as though he’s listened to the message a hundred times already. He pushes the button to stop it before it gets even halfway through.
MACHINE: Hello, Elliot. My name is Andrew MacTiernan, and –
SOUND EFFECT: BEEP
MILO: Yes, Andrew MacTiernan. I know why you’re calling.
MILO: I’ve listened to your voicemail about thirty-seven times. I just don’t know how to REACT to it at all.
5/ Milo turns, acknowledging a weathered old Dungeons and Dragons poster on his wall, depicting an ornately drawn Wizard with his staff, gesturing dramatically atop a mountain. Beneath the poster are hundreds of painted miniatures – orcs and goblins, mages and rangers – scattered about in such a way as to suggest that it’s been a while since Milo’s done anything with them.
6/ Milo looks away from the poster, realizing it gave him an idea.
MILO: Yeah, yeah.
MILO: That’s not a bad IDEA.
7/ Milo walks down the steps of his apartment building, approaching the big metal door that leads to High Street below. He talks on his cell phone as he goes, leaning against the metal railing on his way down.
MILO: Yeah, can I get a CAB?
MILO: I’m going to EKADANTA. The Goth Club. Yeah, on the west side.
MILO: I’m on the SHORT NORTH. Just meet me at the CONVENIENCE STORE.
8/ Milo closes his cell phone, now standing on High Street and pulling his hoody tightly around him as the cars zip by in the night. He looks off into space, unaware that he is about to walk right into the first page of our Comic Book Series by visiting Mr. Wizard.
MILO: Alright, Mr. Wizard.
MILO: Looks like you and I need to have a little CHAT.
CAPTION: Next – Missing Link!
PAGE ONE
1/ This is a FULL PAGE SPLASH depicting the celestial alignment of the planets on July 10th, 1993 – seen from the outer rim of the Solar System, with Pluto being closest to us as viewers. The planets dwindle backward in perspective, with the bright flare of the Sun burning in the distant BG like a beacon. A bisecting line shoots across the image, drawn from Galactic Central Point in the distance. Perhaps the line is labeled, for clarity.
CAPTION: July 10th, 1993.
PAGE TWO
1/ Close on the hand of an adolescent boy, turning a key in a lock in a dimly lit home.
CAPTION: Milo.
2/ Maintain perspective as the owner of the hand turns away from the lock and makes his way out of the panel. It should be clear that the person who just locked the door is no older than twelve or thirteen, though we see only his hand and a small portion of his midsection.
3/ Continue the low, obscuring perspective as the preteen who locked the door comes around a corner, entering what appears to be a living room (from what we can see) from the direction of the foyer he just left. Sitting on a console table that dominates the front of the shot, we see a framed photograph of a young boy, maybe 5 years old, wearing Milo’s signature glasses and possessing his dark shock of hair – though it does not contain what will eventually become his famous blue highlight.
4/ Switch perspective as the boy enters the living room. We maintain the eye level we’ve been viewing from, but our angle is reversed – and beyond the older boy’s shadow we can now see the same boy from the photograph, his glasses awkwardly skewed, peeking over the edge of the couch he’s currently hiding behind. Around him, we get a better glimpse of the home he lives in. It’s an older, 80’s era double-wide trailer home, and though it has been decorated to be as homey as possible, it’s clear that its owners have allowed the home to fall into a certain degree of filth and disarray.
5/ Long panel as our POV changes to be that of young Milo’s, looking up at his current baby sitter: a young man of 13 with a smattering of dark colored hair and eyes the color of used up charcoal. He smiles down at Milo, though his posture is more threatening, belying the breezy demeanor. Meet Tommy Chapel.
TOMMY: It’s just you and me now, ELLIOT.
TOMMY: You know the drill.
6/ Milo sits up straighter, looking frightfully at Tommy and attempting to back away, though he knows he has nowhere to go.
7/ Close on Tommy, his eyes narrowed in threatening determination.
TOMMY: Take off your PANTS.
PAGE THREE
1/ Long panel as we CUT TO Milo’s parents, dining out at an Italian restaurant that, though nicer than they are probably accustomed to eating on their budget, is still on the lower end of the classiness scale. They pick at their plates of Spaghetti as they smile at each other, enjoying their night away from home. Milo’s father looks like a stockier, heavier version of ADULT Milo, while his mother doesn’t look all that different from Rhiannon, though she has cinnamon brown hair and eyes to match, along with a more colorful, darker face than Rhi.
MOM: Jacob called while you were at work, today.
DAD: Oh, no? I missed it?
DAD: How IS our boy?
2/ Long panel, on Milo’s mom as she smiles across the table at her husband, twirling her spaghetti on her fork.
MOM: He sounds like he’s having a great time.
MOM: We were right to send him to SUMMER CAMP. He’s making a lot of friends.
3/ Long panel, as Milo’s dad nods proudly, laying his fork gently down on the table as he picks up his cloth napkin, preparing to dab at his face.
DAD: Well, it’s not as though he’s ever had any trouble with THAT.
DAD: I just hope that ELLIOT gets past this SHY phase he’s stumbled into and eventually takes after his BIG BROTHER.
4/ Milo’s mom picks at her plate of food, looking worried.
MOM: Think he’s okay?
MOM: I always hate leaving him alone for this LONG, knowing how scared he gets of everything…
DAD (OFF PANEL): He’s FINE, Elise.
DAD: He’s not alone.
5/ Close on Milo’s Dad, looking encouragingly at his wife.
DAD: Tommy Chapel’s a GOOD BOY. He always takes good care of him.
PAGE FOUR
1/ CUT BACK to Milo, laying on his back and looking up out of the panel toward Tommy. Milo now has his shirt off and he cringes as he pleads with his older friend, still wearing his glasses.
MILO: I don’t WANNA do this again, Tommy.
MILO: (small font, whispered) This game isn’t fun.
2/ On Tommy, removing his own shirt. He looks challengingly at Milo.
TOMMY: You ALWAYS say that, Elliot. And we ALWAYS wind up having fun.
TOMMY: Besides, you wouldn’t want me to tell your parents you were giving me a HARD TIME, would you? Because I can always DO that…
3/ Milo curls up into a fetal ball on the bed, covered by a sheet. We can see dirty clothes and discarded fast food wrappers strewn around what is clearly not Milo’s bed, but his parents’ bed. The bedside lamp at the edge of the panel casts Milo in a stark light, and he turns away from it uncomfortably.
MILO: No.
MILO: We can play.
4/ Tommy glowers down at him, sadistic glee on his face.
TOMMY: Good.
TOMMY: Now lie down on your stomach. We’re gonna do something a little DIFFERENT this time.
5/ Milo obeys, flopping over so that his face is facing the unwashed pillow, propping himself up with his hands as he looks over his shoulder at Tommy in confusion.
MILO: What is this?
MILO: We never did this before…
6/ On Tommy, from a very low angle – standing over Milo like an intractable menace as he saunters ever closer to the bed, his eyes wide open with anticipation.
TOMMY: Just something I saw in one of my Dad’s MOVIES.
TOMMY: Don’t worry. It’ll feel GOOD.
7/ EXT shot of the Trailer itself. It is dark outside, and the only light that illuminates the small clearing of the trees in which the trailer is located is cast by the yellow porch lamp mounted over the trailer’s door. The yard is strewn with discarded toys and toppled bikes, and a black metal grill sits idly on its side, the cooking utensils still clinging to its handlebar edges. The grass is in desperate need of cutting, and the rotten wooded porch built onto the front of the house looks as though it could cave in at any moment. In the extreme FG of the shot, we see a garbage man, glancing over at the noise coming from the trailer as he collects the trash. He shakes his head in dismay, and we can see that his nametag reads “NED.” From inside the trailer, tailless word balloons emanate.
MILO (TAILLESS): Tommy, what are you - ?
MILO (TAILLESS): Tommy, that HURTS! Tommy, NO!
8/ Close on Milo’s face, back inside the trailer. Tears roll down his cheeks.
TOMMY (OFF PANEL): How does it FEEL, Elliot?
TOMMY: Tell me how it FEELS, ELLIOT!
MILO (small font): It feels good, Tommy. It feels good.
PAGE FIVE
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH depicting another Celestial Configuration – this time, the alignment of the planets on April 14th, 1995. Again, the image is bisected, though our solar system’s sun is slightly closer to the line drawn from Galactic Central Point. The key difference between this splash and the first is that THIS one features the issue’s TITLE, CREDITS, and INDICIA.
CAPTION: April 14th, 1995.
PAGE SIX
1/ VERY LARGE PANEL depicting the already-once-described scene in which Andrew’s informational ability emerges. He sits, with his back to us, in a wooden chair in his elementary school’s library, pulled up close to a large wooden table. He stares unmoving up at the gigantic glowing tableaux of information, playing out before his eyes in the web of interlinking connections that will eventually become part and parcel of the way he thinks. His drink, in a small Styrofoam cup, has tipped over – spilling its contents all over the stack of books by his side. A pencil falls from the table.
CAPTION: Andrew.
ANDREW (small font): Oh, my God.
2/ HIGH-ANGLE, looking down at young Andrew, only ten years old, as he stares up at the reader and off into the glow of info with a bewildered and fascinated look on his face.
ANDREW: But, it’s…
3/ Andrew looks down at his hands, spread wide, and it becomes clear that he is in shock – unable to cope with this sudden burst of new sensory input. He shakes, and his eyes go wide as he makes one startling revelation after another.
ANDREW: It all makes SENSE now…
4/ A young female teacher rounds the corner of one of the library’s book cases and finds Andrew there. She is around 28 years old, with short, reddish hair and a beautiful face. She smiles warmly, unaware of what she’s walking into.
TEACH: Andrew, honey, STUDY TIME is over.
TEACH: It’s time to return to CLASS.
TEACH: Andrew? Oh, my god…
5/ The teacher shakes Andrew, trying to snap him out of it, but he is unresponsive. His eyes have glassed over, and he looks not AT her, but right THROUGH her, lost in the overload of data. The teacher panics, losing composure in the face of this unprecedented experience.
TEACH: Andrew!
TEACH: Andrew MacTiernan!
6/ Close on Andrew as his eyes roll back in his head and, simultaneously, a drop of drool crawls down the edge of his mouth and a drop of blood oozes from his nose. The teacher reaches into the panel to caress the side of his face, comforting him.
TEACH (OFF PANEL): Don’t worry, Andrew, I’m gonna get an AMBULANCE on the way RIGHT NOW.
PAGE SEVEN
1/ Long Panel as we CUT TO a speeding Ambulance, its sirens ablaze, as it careens down the street on the bright spring day.
SOUND EFFECT: WEEEOOOO WEEEEOOOO WEEEEOOO
2/ Long panel, inside the Ambulance, as the EMTs tend frantically but efficiently to the young boy that now lays unresponsive on their small stretcher. At the end of the stretcher, freaking out, is the Teacher.
TEACH: Andrew! Please, wake up!
TEACH: PLEASE, GOD!
EMT: Ma’am, we agreed to let you come along, but if you can’t CALM DOWN –
3/ Long panel as the Teacher turns furiously on the EMT, her hair flipping about.
TEACH: How can you tell me to CALM DOWN?
TEACH: My best STUDENT is acting like he’s gone into a COMA on MY TIME!!!
4/ Long panel as the EMT calmly and directly lays down the line, staring stoically into the Teacher’s eyes. We see the name tag secured to his EMT’s uniform, and it reads “NED.”
NED: Miss, your student is reacting to a SUDDEN and UNEXPECTED burst of overwhelming STRESS. Now, we’re doing everything we CAN, but whatever the cause may BE, if you can’t act as a CALMING influence?
NED: I’m gonna have to ask you to get the hell out of my Ambulance.
PAGE EIGHT
1/ Long Panel as we CUT TO a bright hospital room, as Andrew lays on his bed, awakening slowly as his Father leans against the door frame, smiling at him. The monitors hooked to Andrew glow and blink, but as the two make eye contact they know everything will be fine. Andrew moves his hands, adjusting to waking up in the hospital.
DAD: Hey, Kiddo.
2/ On Andrew, as he groggily turns to face his father.
ANDREW: Hey, Dad.
3/ Andrew’s dad approaches the bed, taking his son’s hand in his. They have a comfortable relationship, and they speak to each other like old friends.
DAD: Watcha doin’?
ANDREW: Thinking.
ANDREW: Been thinkin’ a LOT, actually.
DAD: You gave us quite a SCARE.
ANDREW: I’m sorry. I didn’t MEAN to.
4/ On Andrew’s Dad as he looks seriously down at his son.
DAD: Hey, you’ve got nothing to be sorry for, Bud.
DAD: That TEACHER of yours, MRS. GABBERT…she took good care of you. She’s a little shaken UP, but she’s a HERO.
5/ On Andrew as he turns away from his Dad, staring idly up at the ceiling. For a moment, he appears to mentally go elsewhere. He looks resigned.
ANDREW: She is.
ANDREW: But her job is too STRESSFUL for her.
ANDREW: This is probably what it took to push her over the edge. In five years, she’ll retire.
6/ Andrew’s dad laughs and rubs his son’s head, tousling his hair.
DAD: Andrew, you can’t possibly know THAT.
7/ Andrew smiles sardonically, already knowing it’s futile to try and explain. He turns to his dad, looking a little bitterly amused.
ANDREW: Sure I can.
ANDREW: It’s inevitable. I can see that.
ANDREW: All you’ve gotta DO is look at the FACTS.
PAGE NINE
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH as we CUT to another Celestial alignment. This time, it’s the alignment of the planets on August 5th, 1990. Since this is earlier, the Sun in farther from alignment with Galactic Central Point.
CAPTION: August 5th, 1990.
PAGE TEN
1/ Long panel as we meet Beth at the age of FIVE. She sits on the edge of a long, elevated receptionist’s window in her father’s Therapy Office. Sitting at the receptionist desk, looking up at her daughter as she swings her five-year-old feet back and forth in antsy anticipation, is Beth’s Mother, the receptionist. Beth’s mother looks a lot like Beth, but with thick, curly hair as opposed to her daughter’s straighter, lighter hair.
CAPTION: Beth.
BETH: Mommy, I’m BORED.
MOM: You’ll have to wait a bit LONGER, sweetie. I’m sorry.
BETH: Why?
2/ On Beth’s mom as she looks up from her computer screen to face her daughter; smiling dismissively as she tries to concentrate on her work.
MOM: Because Daddy’s with a PATIENT, Beth.
MOM: I’m almost DONE here, but we’re going to have to hang around a bit LATER until Daddy gets done.
3/ Beth looks despairingly at her mother.
BETH: But I’m BORED, Mom!
4/ Beth’s mom smiles and hands Beth a red rubber ball, motioning to the hallways connected to the receptionist’s desk.
MOM: Go play with your BOUNCEY BALL in the waiting room, hon. I promise it won’t be TOO much longer.
5/ Beth runs out of the receptionist’s area with her red ball, as a tall man enters the area from the nearby hallway, only his midsection in sight since we’re following Beth at the moment. Beth’s mom slides her swivel chair out to watch Beth leave, and shouts after her.
MOM: Be good!
6/ Beth’s mom turns in her chair to acknowledge the man who has arrived, and we see Beth’s dad. He is a tall, dark man of about 30 years, with a full beard and thick brown hair. He drinks from a featureless white coffee mug, straightening his red tie as he looks down at his wife in her chair.
MOM: Almost done, Scott?
DAD: It’ll be a little LONGER, I’m afraid.
DAD: Mr. WILLIAMS here apparently just HAD to see me today. Such is the life of a THERAPIST, I suppose.
7/ On Beth’s dad as he sips at his coffee, brandishing a file folder to his wife. On the edge of the manila envelope, the tab reads “NED WILLIAMS.” He sighs over his coffee, looking discontent.
DAD: I’ll tell ya, Sharon.
DAD: There was a time when I thought this job would be EXHILARATING.
DAD: Now? Not so much.
PAGE ELEVEN
1/ Long panel as Beth sits in the waiting room, bouncing her ball and looking exceedingly uninterested in it.
BETH: Bouncy Bouncy Bouncy.
2/ Beth loses control of the ball, and it bounces away from her. Her eyes narrow, resenting the failure.
BETH: Boo.
3/ We see the ball bounce around a corner, and then change course to bounce down a long office hallway, passing nondescript doors as it goes.
4/ Long panel as Beth chases the ball down the hallway, stumbling a little over her own feet, as she freezes and looks up, catching something out of the corner of her eye. The ball bounces away from her.
5/ Close on Beth, looking friendly.
BETH: Who are you?
6/ We see Beth’s new friend – a young female ghost, shimmering transparently as she looks shyly at Beth and folds her hands behind her back. She is dressed in period clothing, as though she’s been dead for a hundred years. She looks at Beth with odd recognition.
GHOST: You’re the DOG LADY.
PAGE TWELVE
1/ Long panel as Beth and the Ghost face each other, Beth smiling and reaching out a finger, trying to see if her hand will pass through the ghost. The ghost moves, preventing Beth from poking it, but examines Beth’s outstretched finger instead – as though she is as intrigued by Beth’s solidness as Beth is by the Ghost’s translucence.
BETH: I’m not a DOG, Silly.
BETH: I’m a PEOPLE.
2/ Close on the Ghost, looking scared as it issues its warning. The little girl’s eyes crinkle in concern, and she looks as though she might cry.
GHOST: You WILL be.
3/ Beth and the Ghost face off, and the Ghost pulls back a bit, studying Beth from a careful distance. She looks as though she could interview Beth for hours, and regrets that she doesn’t have the time.
GHOST: Will you bark like a dog for me?
4/ Long panel as the Ghost suddenly explodes into thin air, leaving behind only a poof of trace energy. Beth pulls backward a bit, surprised but not scared by the sudden burst of energy like a popped balloon.
SOUND EFFECT: FOOM
5/ Beth’s Dad peaks his head around the corner, looking for his disappearing daughter.
DAD: Beth?
DAD: Are you OKAY back here?
6/ Beth turns to face him, looking up at him with an excited grin.
BETH: I’m fine!
PAGE THIRTEEN
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH depicting yet another Celestial Alignment. This time, it’s Sept 3rd, 1998. In this particular configuration, however, we see a glittering comet shoot by in the outer reaches of the solar system, flying past our view of the sun and causing a blinding flash of refracted light to glint off the edge of the comet, the sun’s illumination shining brightly behind the ancient chunk of space rock. This time, the sun grows closer to Alignment with the Central Point.
CAPTION: September 3rd, 1998.
PAGE FOURTEEN
1/ Long panel as we cut to Rhiannon, at the age of ten, curled up in the fetal position on a plush red carpet. She is weeping softly to herself, and pulls in tight to protect herself from what’s going on around her. All around her, scattered over the panel, are word balloons depicting two very different kinds of voices: the normal tailless balloons depicting human beings who are speaking off panel, and the ethereal, translucent tailless word balloons that represent the onslaught of supernatural voices that only she can hear – the voices of countless ghosts, assaulting her from all angles.
CAPTION: Rhiannon.
HUMAN VOICE: Thank you for EVERYTHING, Mrs. McRhea. The ceremony was beautiful.
RHI’s MOM VOICE: Of course, Mr. Kelly. And again, we here at the funeral home are terribly sorry for your LOSS. You wife was a remarkable woman.
GHOST 1: Where am I? What’s happened to me?
GHOST 2: You’re dead, lady. Get used to it.
HUMAN VOICE: Well, thank you. You and your family have been remarkable. Your daughter was so kind to my kids. Please tell her that they appreciate everything she’s done for them. It was difficult for them, to lose their mother at such a young age.
RHI’s MOM VOICE: Rhiannon’s just eager to help. She’s a good girl. I’ll tell her how much it meant to them.
GHOST 1: I’m dead? Who’re you?
2/ Long panel, closer on Rhiannon. She puts her hands up over her head, trying to shut out the experience. Tears stream down her cheeks as she slams her eyes shut, gritting her teeth in terrified frustration.
GHOST 2: We’re dead, too. We all had our funerals here, same as YOU.
GHOST 1: Are you stuck here?
HUMAN VOICE: I’ll make sure to recommend you. My neighbor, Jim Willis…it doesn’t look like his father is going to pull through. When the time comes, we’ll send them here. I’ll tell them how attentive you’ve been.
RHI’s MOM VOICE: Well, we certainly appreciate that, but our best goes to Mr. Willis and his family…sometimes miracles really CAN happen, so long as you hold out hope.
GHOST 2: No, silly. Why would we be stuck here? We just came back to get you.
GHOST 1: Are we going somewhere?
GHOST 2: It’s complicated, Mrs. Kelly. But we’re here to make sure you aren’t frightened. It’s – wait, what?
GHOST 3: (font too small to tell what it says, indeterminate whispers)
GHOST 2: She can hear us? The little girl?
GHOST 1: Oh my, the poor thing.
HUMAN VOICE: Well, thank you again.
3/ Long panel, as Rhiannon’s mom appears, helping to pull Rhiannon up from the floor and into a sitting position. She is almost Rhiannon’s double, though markedly more open and bright than Rhiannon has been until recently. She smiles a beautiful smile at Rhiannon, her perfect teeth lighting up as her shining eyes pierce through Rhiannon’s fear. Her hair flows in waves, bobbing naturally as she moves.
MOM: Baby, what’s the matter?
4/ Long panel as Rhiannon looks up into her mother’s eyes, weeping – though the waterworks are slowing down now that her mom is present. Her lip quivers as she speaks.
RHI: I can HEAR them, Mom.
RHI: The new one, she’s CONFUSED. She doesn’t know.
PAGE FIFTEEN
1/ Over Rhiannon’s shoulder as her mother looks at her, concerned. She brushes Rhiannon’s already thick black hair away from her face.
MOM: Hear who, Rhiannon?
MOM: The Kellys just LEFT.
RHI: The DEAD ones, Mom. The ghosts.
2/ Rhiannon looks at the ground in shame, embarrassed by what she knows sounds silly.
RHI: I can hear the ghosts. They came to get Mrs. Kelly.
RHI: It’s stupid, isn’t it?
3/ Rhiannon’s Mom plops down on the floor beside her, getting comfortable. She looks to be an odd combination of resigned and relieved. Rhiannon looks at her in confusion.
MOM: I thought this might happen.
RHI: Thought WHAT might happen?
4/ Rhiannon’s mom turns to look at her, comforting and gentle.
MOM: You have the GIFT, sweetie.
5/ Rhiannon warms up a little, misunderstanding. She turns to face her mother with an awkward smile, the tears still rolling down her cheeks.
RHI: You got me a GIFT?
6/ Rhiannon’s mom smiles, clearly amused by the misunderstanding, and reaches over to wipe the tears from her daughter’s face. She makes direct eye contact.
MOM: Not like a PRESENT, no.
MOM: It’s something special that you can DO, with your MIND. When you heard the ghosts, were they actually TALKING?
RHI: I mean…not REALLY. It’s more like they were…thinking. Or feeling. It wasn’t out loud. I think my brain was just kind of SORTING them into words.
MOM: That’s what I thought. Mommy’s been able to do that her WHOLE LIFE. Sooner or later you’ll be able to do it with PEOPLE, too.
MOM: I’m afraid Daddy never liked it much, but we’ve been starting to think that maybe you can do it, TOO.
7/ Rhiannon looks forward, off into the distance. She looks as though she just realized something unpleasant.
RHI: Daddy didn’t like it…and now I’M doing it.
RHI: Is that why…?
8/ Rhiannon’s mom looks at her seriously, dropping – for a moment – the mother/daughter approach and speaking to Rhiannon as if she were an adult.
MOM: That’s probably why, Rhiannon.
MOM: But he’s GONE now. He’ll never lay a hand on you AGAIN.
PAGE SIXTEEN
1/ Long panel as Rhiannon’s mom grabs Rhiannon gently by the face and turns her, so they are eye to eye again. She returns to nurturing mode, speaking gently and sweetly to her daughter, a tear welling up in her OWN eye.
MOM: My sweet girl.
MOM: You are beautiful. And now you’re even more special than you already were.
2/ Long panel, again with the two of them facing each other. Rhiannon’s mom reaches around her neck and removes the necklace that becomes Rhiannon’s lifelong keepsake. Rhiannon watches with interest.
MOM: I wanna give you something.
MOM: My mother gave this to me when MY gifts emerged. She wasn’t LIKE us, but she was a very loving, understanding woman, and she wanted me to have a little extra protection…so she gave me this NECKLACE.
RHI: It’s pretty.
3/ Long panel as they continue to face each other, Rhiannon slipping on the necklace as her mother watches with pride.
MOM: It IS pretty. And it’s also powerful.
MOM: The ring is a talisman, blessed by an old White Sorceress, and I’ve worn it my whole life, imbuing it with my OWN energy.
MOM: With it, you’ll always have a part of me, guiding you in everything that you do.
4/ Long panel as Rhiannon’s mother stands up and out of the panel, except for her legs. Rhiannon looks up at her admiringly.
RHI: Thank you, Mom.
MOM: Of course, baby.
MOM: Now, let’s get you washed up.
PAGE SEVENTEEN
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH, again with a Celestial Alignment – now November 5th, 1996. A step back in time, so a step away from Solar Alignment with Central Point.
CAPTION: November 5th, 1996.
PAGE EIGHTEEN
1/ Long panel as we CUT TO a panel-filling image of a hospital’s EKG machine, the green monitor dominating our view as a long, green line draws across it with sickening finality – no longer spiking with the telltale signs of life.
CAPTION: Donovan.
SOUND EFFECT: BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.
DOCTOR (TAILLESS, OFF PANEL): I’m sorry.
DOCTOR: There was nothing we could DO.
2/ Young Donovan, nine years old, sits at the edge of a hospital bed, staring dumbstruck at its now-deceased occupant. The hand of the deceased rests in the panel, just inside Donovan’s reach – though he does not reach for it. The back of the dead hand is covered in violent scratches, fresh blood oozing from the wounds. At the bedside table situated next to Donovan, we see a scattered rosary, its beads hanging slightly over the edge of the table top.
3/ Angle reverse, now over Donovan’s shoulder, as we see his newly departed mother. She lies crooked in the bed, a look of horror frozen on her face for the rest of time. Donovan reaches out to her, slightly.
DON: Mom…?
4/ Outside the room, in the hospital hallway, Donovan’s father confers with a Catholic Priest. The father is both grief stricken and frightened, while the priest mostly looks shifty, as though they are hiding something and he’s the only one adequately concerned.
DAD: The doctors said her HEART finally just GAVE IN. Stopped beating.
DAD: It was all TOO MUCH for her.
PRIEST: Do they know what really happened?
DAD: I haven’t SAID anything yet…but they’ve GOT to WONDER, right?
5/ Pull in on the two men, looking furtive as they lower their voices.
PRIEST (small font): They’ll never believe you.
DAD (small font): I have to tell them SOMETHING.
PRIEST (small font): Anything but the TRUTH.
6/ The priest looks over his shoulder, into the hospital room. His face finally shows some real amount of grief for his friend’s loss, and he holds his bible tightly to his chest.
PRIEST: How do you tell a MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL that your wife was POSSESSED by a DEMON?
PAGE NINETEEN
1/ Long panel as we return to the room, and to Donovan. He clings sheepishly to the side of his mother’s bed, looking distraught. He begins to cry.
DON: Mom!
DON: Come back, please!
2/ Long panel as Donovan leaves his chair, climbing up onto his mother’s bed in the abandoned room. His mother’s corpse continues to stare off into space, lifeless. Donovan clings to her.
DON: You CAN’T be dead!
DON: It doesn’t make sense! It isn’t FAIR!
3/ Long panel as Donovan clings to his mother’s corpse, cuddling with her as though she were alive and he had climbed into bed with her, seeking refuge from a nightmare. He buries his head in her chest, sobbing.
DON: I’m not even TEN YEARS OLD!
DON: I’m not READY to not have a MOM!
DON: Please, Mom, PLEASE don’t be dead! I LOVE YOU!
4/ Suddenly, Donovan’s mother’s eyes open and she turns to face him, grinning.
MOM: I love you, too.
PAGE TWENTY
1/ Donovan leaps from the bed, terrified, as his mother lunges. Her face contorts in fury, controlled by the demon still hanging on inside her corpse. Spittle flies from her mouth as she screams at him, clawing at the air.
MOM: YEAARGHHHH!
DON: Mom, NO!
2/ Out in the hallway, Donovan’s dad and the priest realize what’s going on and leap into action, turning to run into the room.
DAD: Oh, my God, DONOVAN!
3/ Donovan scrambles backward on the bed, trying to get away, as his mother claws and swings at him, screaming incessantly. Blood and spit fly from her mouth, cascading Donovan and terrifying him even more.
DON: No! Mom!
DON: PLEASE!
MOM: You can JOIN HER!
4/ On Donovan’s mother, as she screams demonically at him. Her eyes are bloodshot and blinded, the scars that cover her hands also slashed across her face in horrifying deep gashes, barely healed over.
MOM: JOIN YOUR ROTTING MOTHER IN HELL!
5/ Donovan’s father and the priest swoop into the room. Donovan’s dad grabs Donovan and pulls him forcefully from the bed, leaping out of the way as Donovan kicks and screams in terror. The priest lunges for the demonic woman, leaping on the bed to pin her down. She thrashes violently, yanking tubes from her arms and tearing the sheets to shreds. It’s total chaos.
DAD: Donovan, hold on!
DON: DAD!
6/ The priest pins the woman down, blinking as she spits blood and saliva into his face. She roars at him furiously, fighting him with all her might. The priest reaches frantically for the rosary, sitting in the extreme FG on the edge of the table.
7/ On Donovan’s mom as the priest presses the rosary’s cross pendant hard against her forehead, causing her to cry out in anger and pain. She claws upward at him, trying to escape the pendant’s power.
PRIEST (OFF PANEL): THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!
8/ Donovan clings to his father, burying his face in the big man’s chest. His father holds him tight, trying to shield him from the violence with only moderate success. In the extreme FG we see flailing limbs drift by the panel, a sign of the chaos occurring out of sight as the young Donovan watches, the scene forever leaving an imprint on him.
PRIEST (OFF PANEL): THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!
PAGE TWENTY-ONE
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH depicting – you guessed it – a Celestial Alignment. This time, we’ve skipped ahead a few years, to May 1st, 2008. The sun is now harrowingly close to alignment with Central Point.
CAPTION: May 1st, 2008.
PAGE TWENTY-TWO
1/ EXTREME CLOSE on Beth’s eye as it pops suddenly open.
CAPTION: Beth.
2/ Beth lays in a bed, in a less than tidy apartment. She faces us, lying on her side, but we can see a male arm reaching around her, holding her close. Beth looks startled and disoriented, unsure of her surroundings. She is now 24 years old.
BETH: Oh, my God.
3/ She bolts up into a sitting position, looking terrified and furious. The bed sheets are all that cover her otherwise naked body.
BETH: Where am I?!
4/ Next to her, in the bed, is Landon – who looks basically exactly the same as he does now. He smiles at her, propping his head up on his hand as he leans elbow-first on the bed. In spite of his smile, he looks vaguely concerned that she might be angry.
LANDON: My place.
LANDON: After all that CRAZINESS last night, I thought…
5/ Long panel as Landon joins Beth in sitting up in the bed, though he continues to lean against his outstretched arm. Beth looks down at her own hands in bewilderment, assimilating the information around her uncertainly. Landon is also naked, save for the sheets.
BETH: I thought that was a DREAM.
BETH: That wasn’t a DREAM?
LANDON: Nope. No dream.
PAGE TWENTY-THREE
1/ On Beth as her eyes narrow in anger, glancing over at Landon.
BETH: I see.
2/ Beth leans over the edge of the bed, discovering her purse there. She digs through it with a look of determination on her face, as Landon starts to worry.
LANDON: Wait, what’re you - ?
3/ On Beth’s hand, as she pulls a handgun from out of the bag.
4/ Long panel as Beth whirls and points the gun straight at Landon’s head. She leans away from him, looking as though she could pull the trigger without hesitation, though she continues to cover herself with the sheet via her free hand. Landon holds up his hands in surrender, sufficiently startled.
BETH: Back OFF, asshole.
LANDON: Whoa, whoa!
LANDON: SERIOUS misunderstanding!
5/ On Beth, with an EXTREME POV as the gun points right at us. She looks down the edge of the gun with a determined grimace.
BETH: Misunderstanding my ASS, dickhead. Silver-tipped BULLETS.
BETH: You turned me into a WEREWOLF. We are NOT friends.
6/ Landon looks fearfully at the end of the gun, still holding his hands out in surrender.
LANDON: Wait, you KNOW?
LANDON: I was expecting a need to EXPLAIN things. Regular bullets would do the TRICK, by the way. The silver thing’s a myth.
PAGE TWENTY-FOUR
1/ Beth continues to glower down the edge of the gun, though she’s softening up a bit.
BETH: I’m a parapsychologist. I study the OCCULT. Of COURSE I know what you are.
BETH: And I KNOW about the silver thing, okay? I just figure…better safe than sorry.
2/ Landon’s brow furrows as he calls her bluff, glaring into the end of the gun.
LANDON: You’re NOT a parapsychologist. You’re an ASPIRING parapsychologist. I saw your student I.D., BETH.
3/ Long panel as Beth continues to hold the gun to an oddly innocent-looking Landon’s head, though her attention wavers as she looks around the room for her clothes – still holding the sheets up to her chest. Landon gestures to a pile of clothes off to the side, seeming mostly bewildered that his hospitality has gone unnoticed.
BETH: Whatever.
BETH: Who the hell DOESN’T know what a werewolf is? You sound like one of those bad ZOMBIE MOVIES where nobody’s ever heard of a goddamn ZOMBIE before.
BETH: Where are my CLOTHES?
LANDON: They’re in the LAUNDRY. Borrow some of MINE.
LANDON: Look, I brought you here because I LIKED you. Much the same reason I didn’t EAT you, actually.
BETH: Yeah, well, don’t get too comfortable, Romeo.
LANDON: You’re holding a gun to my head. That’s the DEFINITION of an antithetical statement. I’m trying to be NICE to you.
4/ Beth stands, pulling one of Landon’s old shirts down over her otherwise nude torso. She wears polka-dotted pink briefs with little cartoon ghosts on them. The shirt is a blue and red KISS shirt, its logo cracked with age. She scowls at Landon.
BETH: You could argue that turning me into a MONSTER might have been better saved for a THIRD date, Michael J.
BETH: You gotta NAME, or do I just call you DOG-BREATH?
5/ Landon smiles up from the bed and extends a polite hand. He remains undressed, but covered by the sheets. He couldn’t look more genuinely nice in the face of Beth’s attitude, even if he DID just turn her into a werewolf against her will.
LANDON: Landon.
LANDON: Landon Adams.
PAGE TWENTY-FIVE
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH depicting another Celestial Lineup. August 29th, 1999. Again, a step back in time is a step away from Solar Alignment.
PAGE TWENTY-SIX
1/ Long panel as we discover Milo, thrashing around playfully on the floor as his brother, Jake, tickles him relentlessly. Milo is 12 years old, and is beginning to look more like the Milo we know, though he does not yet have his blue chunk in the front of his hair. He laughs uncontrollably, trying desperately to pry his older brother’s hands free of his sensitive sides. Jake looks like an older Milo, though he lacks Milo’s solid black hair, in favor of a light brown.
CAPTION: Milo.
MILO: Ha ha ha!
MILO: JAKE! QUIT IT!
2/ Angle switch, as we see them from across the room. Clearly, their family has ditched the crummy old trailer in favor of a large, but very old, house. It’s dark outside, and dim table lamps light the room from different angles, working hard to make up for the lack of overhead lighting in a house so old. The boys thrash around in an upstairs bedroom- most likely Jake’s, judging from the pictures of rock bands and action movies plastered all over the walls.
MILO: Quit TICKLING me!
3/ On Jake, laughing as Milo successfully pries his grip free and holds his older brother’s hands up, struggling to maintain his brief advantage as Jake’s hands writhe in the air, dying to return to their target.
JAKE: I’ll quit tickling when MOM AND DAD get home!
JAKE: NOT UNTIL THEN!
4/ Milo retreats, pulling his arms tight around his sides in defense. He lies on the floor, looking up at Jake as he tries to catch his breath.
MILO: When do Mom and Dad get home?
5/ Jake lunges for Milo’s armpits and Milo screams.
JAKE: Midnight!
MILO: Midnight!?
MILO: It’s only EIGHT O’CLOCK!
PAGE TWENTY-SEVEN
1/ Milo tries to twist free as Jake struggles to pull Milo’s shirt off. Milo starts to look genuinely scared, no longer playing around.
JAKE (OFF PANEL): Oh, when I get your SHIRT OFF, you are going to be SO SORRY!
MILO: Jake, WAIT!
2/ Milo overreacts, hitting Jake hard across the face with his forearm as he fights in self-defense. The punch hits Jake at just the wrong angle, and we see blood squirt from his mouth as his head twists sideways in response.
MILO: WAIT!!
SOUND EFFECT: THOK
3/ Milo sits up, looking shaken. He looks at Jake in concern and embarrassment.
MILO: Why would you SAY that?
4/ Jake leans back on his haunches, rubbing his throbbing jaw. He glowers at Milo.
JAKE: Because I was TICKLING you, JERK. Don’t be a little GIRL.
JAKE: Now you’re REALLY going to get it!
5/ Jake lunges at Milo once again, startling him. They both laugh, not expecting what comes next.
MILO: Ha ha!
MILO: Knock it OFF, Jake!
6/ Suddenly, as Jake tickles him, Milo’s face turns from playful to terrified. Unaware of what’s going on, he watches in horror as his hands burst into flame. Blue smoke leaks from the edges of his eyes, obscuring his vision as the flames travel up his arms.
MILO: Oh, my God, Jake, WAIT!
MILO: STOP IT!
PAGE TWENTY-EIGHT
1/ Jake holds his arm up in front of his eyes, protecting himself from the sudden burst of flame that leaks up into the bottom edge of the panel, from Milo’s direction. He looks confused and angry, not sure what to do.
JAKE: Milo, what’re you - ?
2/ Outside the house, at night, as we see the entire upper story explode. The windows shatter outward and the walls themselves buckle from the pressure as flame shoots out into the night from inside the old, beaten down house, sending boards and glass flying out in every direction.
SOUND EFFECT: KA-DOOOM
3/ Back inside, Milo holds his arms in front of him for protection as he stands in the midst of the inferno, looking around in startled despair. His glasses are covered in soot.
MILO: Jake?!
MILO: Where ARE you!?
MILO: We have to get OUT of here!
4/ Close on Milo’s face as he removes his glasses and something catches his eye. His face turns to stunned horror as the image sinks in.
MILO: NO!
MILO: Jake?
5/ Long panel as young Milo stands in the collapsing upper floor of his home, flames licking up all around him as he struggles to keep his footing, dumbstruck by the consequences of what he has done. He stares straight toward us, at the thing that caught his sight when he removed his glasses…and in the extreme FG, we see the charred, blackened remains of Milo’s brother, his arms twisted at an unnatural angle. Jake is dead.
PAGE TWENTY-NINE
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH, another Celestial alignment. October 10th, 2004. The sun is closer to Galactic Central point, though of course not as close as it was in the 2008 lineup.
CAPTION: October 10th, 2004.
PAGE THIRTY
1/ A teenaged Rhiannon wanders up the hallway of her high school, looking as Goth as any teenager should ever look. Her hair is pulled back, revealing her young face through the Goth makeup she wears so proudly, and she carries a stack of books in her hand. Banners all over the walls proclaim Beaver Local Football, advertising the upcoming homecoming game with glitter and magic marker on red, black and white poster board. Students mill about in the halls, but one particular student – another Goth girl – races after Rhiannon from behind.
CAPTION: Rhiannon.
GIRL: Rhiannon!
GIRL: Wait up!
2/ Rhiannon turns to face the girl, smiling through what is clearly a veil of sadness.
RHI: Dee?
RHI: This is so WEIRD…
3/ The other girl, Dee, pulls Rhiannon tight and the two of them share a passionate kiss. Dee is a little taller than Rhiannon, with similar dark hair – though she keeps it cut short. She wears skull and bones earrings, and her Hot Topic brand clothing is outdone only by Rhiannon’s. Rhiannon closes her eyes and melts into the kiss.
DEE: I know, sweetie.
DEE: How could it NOT be weird, coming back only TWO DAYS after a SCHOOL SHOOTING?
4/ Close on Rhiannon, looking around furtively to make sure she isn’t heard by her classmates. She looks as though she’s been crying.
RHI: That’s not really what I MEAN, Dee.
RHI: I mean I don’t know if I, in PARTICULAR, can DEAL with this…
5/ Dee looks to Rhiannon with concern, grabbing Rhiannon’s face in her hand and smiling gently at her. She pulls her backpack up on her back, adjusting its weight. All along the strap are buttons of Invader Zim and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.
DEE: Oh, GOD, Rhi – I didn’t even THINK about it.
DEE: I’ll bet everybody’s EMOTIONS are all OVER the place.
PAGE THIRTY-ONE
1/ Rhiannon reaches into her locker, placing her stack of books inside. Dee stands next to her, watching in concern.
RHI: They are.
RHI: I’ve had to concentrate so HARD all day, just to keep it under CONTROL.
RHI: It’s giving me the WORST headaches.
2/ Dee grabs Rhiannon by the shoulder, forcing her to face her.
DEE: Rhi, honey…come here.
3/ Long panel, from a slight distance. Standing in the hallway, next to the lockers, Dee pulls Rhiannon into a warm hug, closing her eyes and burying her head in Rhiannon’s shoulder. The two remain that way for a moment. Down the hallway a bit, we see a janitor – and closer inspection reveals him to be the same Ned we’ve seen throughout this issue.
DEE: Soak it in, babe. See if it does any good.
4/ Rhiannon pulls back, grimacing in pain as she shuts her eyes tightly. She puts her hand to her forehead, trying to massage away the splitting headache.
RHI: Aghhh!
5/ Dee looks on, feeling a bit dejected for her inability to help Rhiannon.
DEE: Rhi, what’s wrong?
DEE: Is the BAD stuff hitting you? I tried my best to help…
PAGE THIRTY-TWO
1/ Long panel as Rhiannon struggles with the headache, Dee reaching out to try and help in any way she can.
RHI: It’s too much. TOO MUCH!
RHI: God, I just want it to go AWAY!
DEE: You want me to cast a PROTECTION spell?
DEE: I can DO that…
2/ Rhiannon throws her hands up in frustration.
RHI: I’ve DONE that! It doesn’t WORK!
RHI: I’m just too sensitive…
3/ Dee thinks.
DEE: Look, Rhiannon…
DEE: When I’m doing DIVINATION stuff, and I have to leave my MIND open to possible ATTACK? I visualize a WALL. It helps a lot.
4/ Rhiannon shuts her locker as Dee continues to explain.
DEE: Now, I know you need something a LOT more powerful than that…
DEE: …but you said that you were able to convert EMOTION into ENERGY and stuff. Could you build a REAL wall?
DEE: Something inside to DAMPEN these ATTACKS you have?
5/ Rhiannon turns to Dee, impressed with the idea. She smiles.
RHI: You know, that’s actually not a bad IDEA…
PAGE THIRTY-THREE
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH. Celestial Alignment. May 2nd, 2008. We return to the stage in which the sun is very, very close to alignment with Central Point.
CAPTION: May 2nd, 2008.
PAGE THIRTY-FOUR
1/ Long panel as we find Andrew in a dark, disgusting sewer. The tunnels wind off into the distance as Andrew creeps along, brandishing a clunky bow with a quiver of arrows strapped to his back. He is 23 years old, but has been at this for a while and is clearly a professional when it comes to lurking around in cramped spaces in search of monsters. His thickly booted feet splash into the green water as he creeps along, hunched over in anticipation as he looks into the next system of tunnels. Pipes and valves line the slime-covered walls, and rats scurry along the floor.
CAPTION: Andrew.
ANDREW: Come on, come ON.
ANDREW: Where are you HIDING, you son of a BITCH?
2/ Andrew loads an arrow into his bow and pulls back, preparing to fire as he rounds the next corner.
3/ Suddenly, a vampire leaps out from behind him, seemingly appearing from nowhere as it descends from its hiding spot on the ceiling. It looks like a feral combination of the Nosferatu/Blade 2/Turok-Han (from Buffy Season 7) styles of Vampire than the elegant, classy, humanized Vampires that have become popular in recent years. Andrew leaps, startled.
VAMP: Yaghhh!
4/ Long panel as Andrew spins on a dime, letting the arrow fly. It strikes the vampire square in the chest, and the vamp explodes – showering Andrew with its dust.
SOUND EFFECT: FOOM
PAGE THIRTY-FIVE
1/ Andrew lets his bow fall to his side, catching his breath as his phone beeps.
ANDREW: Jesus.
ANDREW: How many of you are DOWN here?
SOUND EFFECT: Breet breet
2/ Andrew wanders further down the tunnels, answering his phone as he slings his bow over his shoulder and walks nonchalantly into the face of danger.
ANDREW: Not the best TIME, Julie.
ANDREW: I followed a VAMP down here and I think he’s led me right to a pretty nasty NEST. These guys are vicious….
3/ Cut to a young African American woman with round glasses and hair pulled back tight. This is Julie, and she sits at a wooden desk in a dimly lit office, speaking to Andrew on a cord phone.
JULIE: I can call back later, if you WANT, but I have a new CASE for you.
JULIE: Is SAMSON with you?
4/ Back to Andrew, looking around wearily as he speaks into his phone.
ANDREW: He’s coming in from the other DIRECTION. I’m alone.
ANDREW: I think I’m okay for a minute, but make it FAST. Things are about to get interesting down here, and I have CLASS in the morning.
5/ Long panel, Back to Julie, and now we see more of the office. There are numerous unsolved case files pinned to the wall on a giant corkboard, and a long table with a coffee machine and box of donuts sits abandoned, the coffee machine looking musty from disuse. Outside the office window, we see the Manhattan Skyline. Julie flips through a file folder on her desk.
JULIE: Looks like we’ve got a disappearance.
JULIE: Last time this girl was seen, it was during a pretty intense WEREWOLF attack in the VILLAGE. But there’s no BODY or even CHUNKS of body, so we’re thinking it may be a HOSTAGE situation, or they’ve TURNED her.
JULIE: Either way, I’ve got some concerned friends and family looking for ANSWERS.
PAGE THIRTY-SIX
1/ On Andrew, from behind, as he wanders down the tunnels, still speaking into his phone as he goes.
ANDREW: Girl gotta name?
2/ On Julie, skimming her files as she informs Andrew of the details.
JULIE: BETH.
JULIE: Elizabeth REILLY, to be more precise. And get this: arseholes that did this? The bloody BROTHERHOOD, if our INTEL’s correct.
3/ Andrew looks shocked, facing the phone in surprise.
ANDREW: The BROTHERHOOD!?
ANDREW: One of Chancellor Burgess’s rare HUNTING PARTIES, then. Bit early in the YEAR for him to lay it on the LINE like that, isn’t it?
4/ Julie raises an eyebrow, looking unimpressed.
JULIE: Said it yourself, Mate: Brotherhood’s been damned UNPREDICTABLE lately. Drama in the UNDERGROUND, it seems.
JULIE: The SUCKERS you’re after now – THEY’RE not Brotherhood, are they?
5/ Long panel as Andrew finally reaches the nest. The walls of the sewer are lined with human bodies, dripping blood and gore from their spots on the cold cement walls. Even more human hands reach up from out of the muck, stained with blood. More importantly, though, are the five frightening looking vampires who are now approaching Andrew, looking ready for a fight.
ANDREW: No, Ma’am.
ANDREW: This does NOT look like Brotherhood TERRITORY.
ANDREW: Julie? I’m gonna have to call you BACK.
PAGE THIRTY-SEVEN
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH. Celestial Alignment. September 21st, 2001. A step back for the Solar Alignment to Central Point.
CAPTION: September 21st, 2001.
PAGE THIRTY-EIGHT
1/ Long panel as we see a possessed woman, tied to a bed with numerous buckled straps, thrashing violently in her attempts to free herself of her imprisonment. Her face is contorted and grotesque, a reflection of the demon inside that is beyond her ability to control. She hisses and screams, her long hair tossing about, baring her teeth.
CAPTION: Donovan.
WOMAN: HELL AWAITS YOU!!!
WOMAN: DARKNESS FIGHTS FOR YOUR SOUL!!!
WOMAN: So much DEATH in your FUTURE, BOY!
2/ Angle reverse, we now see down the length of the bed as the demon woman continues to scream at the young man who peers hesitantly around the corner of the bedroom doorway, sheepishly investigating the terrifying amount of noise the woman is letting loose through the halls. The building itself is an old convent, and we can see the dark lacquered wood that lines the walls and floors, shining brightly with polish. Various religious artifacts hang from the walls, and a small wash bin rests on a console table opposite the bed. The boy peering around the corner is Donovan, at 14 years old.
WOMAN: What’s the matter, BOY!?
WOMAN: AFRIAD to come CLOSER?
WOMAN: AFRAID of the TRUTH?!
3/ Pull in on Donovan, staring around the corner in fright. He clings to the edge of the door frame, his fingernails digging into the wood. He does not hide his fear as the woman continues to taunt him.
WOMAN (OFF PANEL): The DARK WITCH will show you the WAY, boy!
WOMAN: She’ll sense your FEARS, the EARTH-MOTHER will, and SEIZE on them!
4/ Outside the room, in the hallway, as a tall middle-aged priest walks up and rests a hand on the frightened Donovan’s shoulder. Donovan turns to look at him, confused.
DON: What’s WRONG with her, Father?
DON: I’ve seen it BEFORE, but I still don’t UNDERSTAND it.
5/ The Priest drops down into a crouch, achieving eye-level with the young Donovan. He squeezes Donovan’s shoulder to comfort him, smiling reassuringly. We can see that the Priest is the same priest who was present at the death of Donovan’s mother, though he has aged.
PRIEST: She’s POSSESSED, Donovan. Just as your MOTHER was.
PRIEST: The DEMON has HOLD of her, and doesn’t want to let go. But, you see, we’ve sent for a SPECIALIST in these things.
PAGE THIRTY-NINE
1/ Standing behind the priest, looking down at the young boy and his currently crouched mentor, is a man in his late thirties. He is tall, with a somewhat darker complexion, and dark messy hair. The priest begins to stand up in an effort to greet the new man. He wears all black, with long dark pants and a button-up smock of a shirt, with a familiar looking cross printed on the front….
PRIEST: Donovan, this is WILLIAM PAUL. He’s an EXORCIST of some RENOWN, and he’s here to HELP our good sister.
PAUL: A pleasure, Father.
PAUL: Donovan.
2/ The two grown men look into the possessed woman’s room with sincere but professionally distanced looks of sadness, the Priest focusing more on disseminating information to William Paul than on the woman herself. Paul is strictly business.
PAUL: How’s SISTER ALVERA?
PRIEST: She’s been RESTRAINED for hours now, Mr. Paul.
PRIEST: I’m not sure how much longer we can HOLD her.
3/ Paul looks down at Donovan, offering his hand in greeting.
PAUL: Put her THERE, pal.
PAUL: You holding up okay?
DON: I guess. It’s a little SCARY.
4/ Donovan accepts the offered hand, and the two shake. William Paul gives Donovan a genuine, warm-hearted smile.
PAUL: That’s true, Donovan. It CAN be scary.
PAUL: But I’m William Paul, and I’m the best there is at what I DO.
5/ Paul stands up, looking seriously at the Priest.
PAUL: I realize this can be a bit MUCH for a CHILD, Father.
PAUL: I have a son of my OWN, a bit older. SAMSON.
PRIEST: Oh, I’m not the boy’s ACTUAL Father.
6/ On the Priest, looking forbiddingly at Paul, wishing he’d let the subject drop for Donovan’s sake, more than anything.
PAUL (OFF PANEL): Oh, I’m sorry. Are you - ?
PRIEST: The Father’s DECEASED.
7/ On Paul, looking foolish for asking.
PAUL: I’m sorry. And the MOTHER?
8/ On the two of them, as the Priest just locks eyes with Paul, answering the question with his silence. Paul lowers his eyes.
PAUL: I see.
PAGE FORTY
1/ William Paul enters the Sister’s room, carrying something in his hands and matching eyes with this demonized woman immediately. He glares challengingly, trying to get a rise from the demon.
PAUL: Sister Alvera.
2/ The demonic woman freezes in her thrashing, stopping instead to glare menacingly at her new guest. She clearly recognizes him, and does not like the sight of him.
WOMAN: YOU.
3/ Paul looks down at the object in his hand – a small pendant, in the shape of a pentagram, made of sparkling crystal. It glints in the dim light of the room, and he stares at it importantly.
PAUL: Yes, that’s correct. ME.
PAUL: So I can safely assume I’m NOT talking to Sister ALVERA, am I, DEMON?
4/ The woman begins to scream and thrash once more, though now her demeanor has shifted from angry to scared – screaming more for help than anything else.
WOMAN: GO AWAY!
WOMAN: We know who you ARE and you’re a BLIGHT upon the WORLD!
5/ One large panel, with an inset in the upper left-hand corner.
INSET: Paul bends down to the floor, gently placing the pentagram pendant on the ground and smiling to himself as he does.
PAUL: Yeah. You people are NEVER happy to see me, are you?
PAUL: Well, I guess I know WHY.
PANEL: Paul stands back and the room is suddenly lit with a flare of orange as the pendant ignites, sending a huge arc of flame along the floor before him in the shape of the pentagram, blazing away and illuminating Paul from beneath as we view over his shoulders. He drops his hands to his sides, satisfied with this step and preparing to leap headlong into the exorcism.
PAUL: Some jobs, the better at it you are, the more ENEMIES you have.
PAGE FORTY ONE
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH, with the FINAL Celestial Alignment. The bisecting line through the image reveals that on this NEW date - January 30th, 2012 – the sun of our solar system is closer to alignment with Galactic Central Point than it has been over the entirety of the time span depicted in this issue – and it will only get closer. The line nearly connects with the orb of the sun itself.
CAPTION: January 30th, 2012.
PAGE FORTY TWO
1/ Long panel as a somewhat beat-up looking sedan pulls up to the front of the house on Campus we’ve come to recognize as Rhiannon’s home. It’s a snowy afternoon, and a black cat Zips across the porch as the car idles in its place.
RHI (INSIDE CAR): And here we ARE.
2/ Inside the car, in the passenger seat, Rhiannon turns to her driver: Dee, the girl Rhi dated in high school. Steam shoots from their mouths in the cold as they speak, smiling familiarly but a bit awkwardly at each other.
RHI: Thanks for everything, DEE.
RHI: It’s been good to see you again.
DEE: Same to you, Rhi.
3/ On Dee, trussed up in layers of puffy coats and scarves, as she gives a red-faced grin to her passenger, nervous to be around Rhi after all this time. Rhi leans into the panel, her hair showing from under a wool cap.
RHI: And taking me all the way back to COLUMBUS was awesome of you.
RHI: Are you SURE you don’t want any GAS MONEY?
DEE: Not a chance.
DEE: It was nice just to get away from EAST LIVERPOOL for a day.
4/ Rhiannon begins to say something as Dee leans across the car, pushing against the steering wheel to reach over into the passenger seat and lock lips with a startled Rhiannon. Rhiannon pushes her away.
RHI: Oh, I’m sure it - !
5/ Rhiannon looks at Dee, gentle but firm in her rebuttal.
RHI: Dee. I told you.
RHI: I’m not a lesbian anymore. I never really WAS. It was just a weird place in my life.
6/ Dee smiles awkwardly, a little embarrassed but taking it like a grownup. She raises a sincere eyebrow.
DEE: It’s a SHAME, Rhi.
DEE: Coulda been fun.
PAGE FORTY THREE
1/ Rhiannon stands outside in the snow, steam issuing from her mouth as she watches Dee’s car drive off down the muddy winter streets of the North Campus Neighborhood.
2/ On Rhiannon, looking both confused and amused, if a little sad.
RHI: Wow. Strange.
3/ Rhi enters her home, calling out to her roommates, who appear to be away at the moment. She shrugs off her wool scarf, standing in the open doorway.
RHI: Anybody HOME?
4/ She walks past a small end table by the living room couch and notices the blinking message light on the voice mail machine. She nudges it absentmindedly with her finger as she verbally acknowledges it.
RHI: Message.
RHI: Perhaps for me?
5/ Close as Rhiannon’s hand reaches out and pushes the button on the Voice Mail.
SOUND EFFECT: BEEP
6/ Long Panel as Rhiannon rifles through the kitchen refrigerator in the far BG, while the voice mail machine rattles off the message in the extreme FG. Rhiannon discovers a jug of milk and lifts it into better light, checking the date.
MACHINE: Rhiannon, my name is Andrew MacTiernan.
MACHINE: You don’t KNOW me, but I would very much like to MEET with you…
PAGE FORTY FOUR
1/ LONG PANEL as we CUT TO Andrew’s personal office. In particular, we are focused on the items sprawled across his desk: a stack of non-descript papers, a chewed and weathered pencil, a cell-phone, and a sheet of yellow legal paper with a list of names. ELLIOT WOODYARD and RHIANNON McRHEA are listed at the top, and both are scratched out. DONOVAN THATCHER remains, but is circled with a small annotation in less careful handwriting indicating that “Palmer is taking care of it.” All that remains is the last name, in noticeably more deliberate handwriting, underlined repeatedly, and surrounded with doodled question marks. It says “BETH ADAMS.”
ANDREW (OFF PANEL): Hey, Beth.
ANDREW: It’s ANDREW MacTIERNAN. How’s a trip to COLUMBUS sound?
2/ Andrew stands beside the desk, looking down at his list and scratching his head in frustration. He rests his free hand on his hip and grimaces, feeling stupid about his inability to get past the “Beth” hurtle. He stands in blue flannel pajama bottoms and a green Marvel Comics t-shirt, his hair unkempt as he has not left his house yet today.
ANDREW: Nice, Andrew.
ANDREW: Of COURSE you’d rip it off like a band-aid. How could she not go for that?
3/ Andrew paces, gesturing innocently with his hands in mock irony.
ANDREW: Hi, Beth. It’s ANDREW!
ANDREW: Hey, how’s your MARRIAGE? Recover sufficiently from my selfish attempt to SABOTAGE it yet? Landon have any INTEREST in the two of us spending a bunch of TIME together?
4/ Andrew picks up his list, staring at it helplessly.
ANDREW: Hi, Beth. How’s LANDON?
ANDREW: Got any CUBS I should know about? You can CUB-sit, while LANDON and I head down to the bar and sort this out like GENTLEMEN!
5/ Andrew drops the paper and looks off into the distance, feeling defeated.
ANDREW: I can’t DO this.
PAGE FORTY FIVE
1/ Andrew stands silently in the door to his bedroom, having a massive internal debate. We can see his unmade bed, and in the very FG there is a tall dresser on which sits a framed photograph, turned away from us.
2/ Andrew approaches the dresser and picks up the photograph, examining it. It is still turned away from us, but Andrew looks at it with heartfelt nostalgia.
ANDREW: You know…
3/ Long panel as we see the image in Andrew’s hand. It is the same photograph of Andrew, Beth and Samson Paul that we have seen before, framed in a polished wooden frame.
ANDREW (OFF PANEL): This would be a whole lot EASIER if YOU were here, man.
4/ Andrew sighs as he places the photo face down on the dresser and looks up, realizing he has to get his act together.
ANDREW: ::sigh::
5/ He picks up the phone and begins to dial, looking as though he’s just stepped in front of an execution squad.
ANDREW: Alright.
ANDREW: Here goes nothin’.
PAGE FORTY SIX
1/ Long panel as we CUT TO Donovan, looking suddenly very, very worried as he stands at the foot of an unfamiliar bed. He looks poised for action but uncertain of what to do, as if every fiber of his being is simultaneously screaming “Oh, Shit,” at the top of its lungs.
DON: Crap.
2/ Don leaps onto the bed and begins shaking at the comatose woman he was just moments ago trying to help via his exorcism skills. She does not respond, and we realize that Donovan is trying to rouse a dead woman, terrified for his own life if he could be attributed to her death as the very cause himself.
DON: Come on! Come ON!
DON: Wake UP!
3/ On the dead woman’s face, looking, well…dead.
4/ Donovan looks down at her, his face suddenly deeply forlorn as he realizes that it’s hopeless. He drops back on his haunches and lets his hands sink into his lap in defeat.
DON: No.
5/ He shifts, choosing instead to sit on the side of the bed and hang his embarrassed head.
DON: Don’t be dead.
PAGE FORTY SEVEN
1/ Suddenly, in the doorway, we see Mr. Palmer – the government director of the Knights of Columbus’ regional branch of the Paranormal Defense Initiative. He is dressed like a business man, in a tailored suit and conservative appearance, and he lingers in the doorway as though he’s completely casual, with no regard to the dead woman on the bed.
PALMER: Donovan Thatcher.
2/ Donovan looks up at the side of the bed, turning in horror as he realizes he’s been found out, that everyone will know he’s a failure and that his inadequacy is responsible for this woman’s death. He recoils slightly.
DON: This isn’t what it LOOKS like.
3/ Palmer walks casually into the room, brandishing a business card and holding it out to Donovan. He looks completely unimpressed by any of the drama that has just exploded in Donovan’s life.
PALMER: What it looks like is an EXORCISM gone tragically WRONG.
PALMER: So I’m assuming it’s EXACTLY what it looks like.
4/ Donovan looks down at the card, confused and ashamed.
DON: I know. I’m sorry. Mr.…PALMER.
DON: I don’t know what to say. Besides that I thought I was cut out for this, and I’m obviously NOT.
5/ Over Palmer’s shoulder as he sticks a fat brown cigar in his mouth and Donovan looks up at him, confused. Palmer lights the cigar.
PALMER: Now, now, Mr. Thatcher. You can’t save ‘em ALL.
PALMER: But I can certainly offer you the chance to TRY.
DON: I don’t understand…what’s - ?
6/ Low Angle as Palmer extends his hand to Donovan, seen from Donovan’s POV. He takes a big puff on his glowing cigar, a cloud of smoke forming around his face.
PALMER: As you already KNOW, the name’s PALMER.
PALMER: I’m with the UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.
PAGE FORTY EIGHT
1/ CUT TO Landon and Beth’s house in New York, the one and only time we’ll ever see it. Landon stands in a doorway in the BG, looking confused and intrigued, as we see Beth’s hand place the cordless phone back into its cradle in the extreme FG, resting on a shiny end table near the same end table lamp we’ve seen in their Columbus home. There is a framed photograph of Landon and Beth resting near the phone, as they cuddle and smile for the camera.
LANDON: Who was THAT?
2/ Close on Beth as she bites her lip, not sure if she really wants to be honest with him at the moment. She glances away.
BETH: Um…
3/ Beth turns away and fiddles with her fingers near the end table, looking at the floor.
BETH: Andrew MacTiernan.
4/ Landon continues to hold his position in the doorway, taking the news in stride and responding in carefully measured tones to what he surely is not happy to hear. He keeps his own head lowered, but his eyes look steadily in the direction of Beth.
LANDON: Are you serious?
BETH (OFF PANEL): I am.
5/ Long panel. Landon leans against the door frame and folds his arms, beginning to look indignant but not fully angry yet. Beth turns and faces him uncertainly.
LANDON: And what could HE possibly want?
BETH: He wants to put together a TEAM. Paranormal thing.
BETH: I think it’s for the GOVERNMENT. He said I’d have to be BRIEFED and –
LANDON: Wait.
LANDON: Stop talking.
PAGE FORTY NINE
1/ Close on Landon, eyes narrowed, anger rising.
LANDON: Andrew MacTiernan thinks he can just call here and RECRUIT you?
LANDON: After everything that happened in Rome.
2/ Beth tries to diffuse the situation by acting casual, trying to convince Landon that he’s just overreacting. She turns dismissively and walks in the direction of the kitchen, speaking breezily.
BETH: Landon. This isn’t LIKE that.
BETH: This sounds like a GOOD thing. Getting away from all this BROTHERHOOD stuff, and –
3/ Landon turns to follow her progress visually, though he does not physically pursue her as she heads toward the other room. He remains rooted in his spot, keeping eye contact with what, at the moment, is the back of her head. He maintains his calm anger.
LANDON: Beth, if it involves ANDREW, it’s not a GOOD thing.
LANDON: And why does he think he can just CALL here, after TWO years –
4/ Beth keeps her back to him, but looks back at him over her shoulder. She leans her hand against the doorframe in the archway to the kitchen, eyes cast down at the ground in shame as she makes the crushing admission.
BETH: Because I never stopped talking to him.
5/ Landon looks at her, aghast.
6/ He casts his eyes downward and hangs his head for the first time, humiliated.
LANDON: Fine. Whatever.
LANDON: Fill me in LATER. I’m going to the BAR.
7/ Landon rounds the corner into the foyer and disappears, headed out into the night.
8/ Beth continues to linger in the door to the kitchen, leaning against the frame as she hangs her own head in disgust at herself. She does not feel bad about maintaining contact with Andrew, but she does feel bad about lying to Landon.
BETH: Dammit.
PAGE FIFTY
1/ CUT TO a CLOSE UP on Milo’s hand, filled with his HIV medication in capsule form, with the stained and ancient ceramic sink seen in the background as we look down at the hand from Milo’s POV. He holds the bottle in his other hand, also in panel, with cotton sticking out the top. Toothpaste and a toothbrush are scattered along the back of the sink, the toothpaste oozing out onto the ceramic.
2/ Milo tosses his head back and shoves the pills down his throat, grimacing.
3/ Finished taking his medication, Milo stands in the bathroom doorway, looking out into his studio apartment and staring at the voice mail machine sitting next to his unmade bed. His art hangs scattered all over the walls, vividly colorful depictions of frustration, anger and regret, painted onto the canvas to get them out of his head.
MILO: Alright. Decision time.
4/ Milo approaches the machine and presses the button, nodding as though he’s listened to the message a hundred times already. He pushes the button to stop it before it gets even halfway through.
MACHINE: Hello, Elliot. My name is Andrew MacTiernan, and –
SOUND EFFECT: BEEP
MILO: Yes, Andrew MacTiernan. I know why you’re calling.
MILO: I’ve listened to your voicemail about thirty-seven times. I just don’t know how to REACT to it at all.
5/ Milo turns, acknowledging a weathered old Dungeons and Dragons poster on his wall, depicting an ornately drawn Wizard with his staff, gesturing dramatically atop a mountain. Beneath the poster are hundreds of painted miniatures – orcs and goblins, mages and rangers – scattered about in such a way as to suggest that it’s been a while since Milo’s done anything with them.
6/ Milo looks away from the poster, realizing it gave him an idea.
MILO: Yeah, yeah.
MILO: That’s not a bad IDEA.
7/ Milo walks down the steps of his apartment building, approaching the big metal door that leads to High Street below. He talks on his cell phone as he goes, leaning against the metal railing on his way down.
MILO: Yeah, can I get a CAB?
MILO: I’m going to EKADANTA. The Goth Club. Yeah, on the west side.
MILO: I’m on the SHORT NORTH. Just meet me at the CONVENIENCE STORE.
8/ Milo closes his cell phone, now standing on High Street and pulling his hoody tightly around him as the cars zip by in the night. He looks off into space, unaware that he is about to walk right into the first page of our Comic Book Series by visiting Mr. Wizard.
MILO: Alright, Mr. Wizard.
MILO: Looks like you and I need to have a little CHAT.
CAPTION: Next – Missing Link!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Knights of Columbus #12
Issue Twelve: “Sheep’s Clothing, epilogue: Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space”
PAGE ONE
“Previously” page.
PAGE TWO
1/ Long panel establishing shot of the corner of Broad & High, later that night. It’s late enough that downtown is essentially abandoned, with only the spare pedestrian in sight. The intersection is lit up brightly by the glowing marquees of the NBC building, highlighting the Statehouse in the BG. The traffic lights switch on and off, in spite of the absence of vehicles to direct.
CAPTION: Downtown, later that evening.
2/ Pull in on the alley between two buildings, empty save for a pair of beat-up tin trashcans. Rats scatter, feeling the electricity in the air as the edges of the trashcans spark slightly, caught in an invisible field of rising electromagnetic energy.
3/ The field finally climaxes, sparks and energetic discharge materializing in the vague form of a human being. The trashcan closest to us is toppled by the burst, spilling its contents into the alley.
SOUND EFFECT: FSSHHHAKKK
4/ The energy cloud finally takes definitive form, revealing none other than Donovan’s new friend LEGION as he fades into existence, the energy cloud dissipating as he takes form. He squints from the effort of materializing, holding his hands at his sides rigidly as though the shift caused him physical strain.
SOUND EFFECT: POP!
5/ Close on Legion, as he flicks his longish hair from his eyes and grins.
LEGION: Heh.
6/ He looks down at himself, running his isotoner-clad hands down the velour of his long black coat. He grimaces a little, flinching from his own manifest form.
LEGION: Always forget how it smells to go CORPOREAL.
7/ Leaving the alleyway, Legion wanders off into the city as we follow him from behind, the lights of downtown casting his long, ominous shadow over the abandoned sidewalk.
LEGION: Down to BUSINESS, then.
PAGE THREE
1/ Cut to a late-night television program, where two men debate the rise in superhuman activity. The host is an older, conservative-looking man in a gray suit, the only remaining hair on his head localizing itself around his ears like a crown. His companion is a younger, liberal, professorial type, with longer hair and a tweed jacket, resting a bit too comfortably in his host’s guest chair.
HOST: So you do NOT feel that these people are a threat to our NATIONAL SECURITY?
GUEST: Well, sure they are, I guess.
GUEST: But what’s NOT, these days?
2/ On the guest, talking over his folded hands.
GUEST: In post-911 America, EVERYTHING is viewed as a threat to national security in some way. Rather than focusing on the GOOD that is to be found in human development, we’ve become obsessed with the possible DANGER any sort of substantial CHANGE represents.
GUEST: It’s either the OLD order, which has MORE than made itself obsolete in the last ten years, or it’s reckless and ANTI-AMERICAN.
3/ On the host, looking irritated but intrigued as he gestures over-dramatically.
HOST: You posit that these…SUPERHEROES we’ve got cavorting all over the country are a NATURAL step in the course of human development.
HOST: That not only are they ACCEPTABLE, they’re INEVITABLE.
4/ Long panel on the guest, as he leans forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees as he wrings his hands nervously. He’s clearly an academic type, unaccustomed to spots on television programs.
GUEST: It’s the LAW of ACCELERATING RETURNS, Bill.
GUEST: Humanity has changed so radically in the past THOUSAND YEARS, the past TWO HUNDRED years…hell, the last FIFTY years. It was only a matter of time before the leap in development became DRASTICALLY and UNEXPECTEDLY biological.
GUEST: But if this is where we’re ALL headed, we can’t possibly expect to be able to run the world the same way we always HAVE. Things are going to have to CHANGE to accommodate these people, and what SCARES me is how frightened we are – as a species and specifically as AMERICANS – by the prospect of these kinds of changes.
GUEST: We’ll need a NEW kind of world, with NEW kinds of laws.
5/ On the host, looking challengingly at his guest.
HOST: And you think, in the interim, that we should just let these people run AMOK?
6/ Close on the guest, shaking his head to refute the claim.
GUEST: Well, that’s a different story, Bill.
PAGE FOUR
1/ Cut to a long panel as Donovan bursts in the door to his apartment, carrying Rhiannon in his arms as she dangles her arms lifelessly toward the floor. He looks terrified, sweat dripping down his brow as he stares pleadingly into her glassy eyes.
CAPTION: Clintonville. Donovan’s apartment.
DON: Come on, come ON!
DON: Hold ON for me, Rhiannon.
NARR (RHI): TRANSCENDENCE.
NARR: The DICTIONARY defines it as SURPASSING OTHERS, PREEMINENT or SUPREME. Not really a fair thing to SAY, in the most TRADITIONAL sense.
2/ He lies her down on the bed, carefully resting her head on his pillow as he does. We watch over his shoulder as her head slumps weightlessly back.
DON: I’m gonna take care of this, Rhi, I promise.
NARR: It also goes on to say LIVING BEYOND the ORDINARY RANGE of PERCEPTION. Getting better, right?
3/ Close on Donovan, looking worried.
DON: It’s just not gonna be EASY.
NARR: Finally, we are told that TRANSCENDENCE means BEING ABOVE and INDEPENDENT of the 'MATERIAL UNIVERSE.' That's sort of on the right TRACK now, but funny how it's still not quite RIGHT, isn't it?
4/ Long panel as Donovan pulls up a wooden chair, perching by Rhiannon’s bedside as he takes her hand in his. He looks her in the face, continuing to speak to her in spite of her comatose state, not wanting to accept the possibility that she can’t hear him.
DON: I have to admit I’m a little nervous.
DON: I’m still so NEW at all this crazy PSYCHIC MIND JUMPING stuff, and it’s all OLD HAND to you. I wish to god it were someone else, and you were here to HELP me with this…
NARR: See, the problem with LANGUAGE is that for all its ELOQUENCE and BEAUTY, there are some things it just can't seem to wrap its many USES around.
DON: …but you’re NOT, so we’re gonna have to hope I’ve been paying ATTENTION in our little TRAINING SESSIONS.
5/ He squeezes her hand and takes one last longing look at her comatose face, his own features collapsing into despair.
DON: I’m gonna need your help on this, Rhi. Whether you’re conscious of it or NOT.
NARR: The ESOTERIC is one of them.
NARR: As much as you would love to sit down and tell someone ALL ABOUT the beauty of PERSONAL SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE, you'll find that all too often the words just AREN'T THERE.
6/ EXTREME CLOSE on Donovan’s face, as he squeezes his eyes shut and hopes for the best. The edges of the panel go white as he slips into the astral plane, drawing on his demonic powers to step into Rhiannon’s mind.
NARR: No, when it comes to things like TRANSCENDENCE, it's better to be SHOWN. To EXPERIENCE. To be GUIDED.
PAGE FIVE
1/ This is a FULL PAGE SPLASH, featuring the issue’s TITLE, CREDITS, and INDICIA. We see basically what Donovan sees, though his head is in the panel, very close, to our left. He stares in shock at this new vision of the Astral Plane. It is a vast and dried up desert wasteland, its endless sand-brown surface cracked and crumbled with the sheer deadness of the land. The gray and black sky is filled with countless flashes of lightning, streaking this way and that, illuminating the nightmare landscape to a near thing of beauty. In the center of this tableaux, perhaps fifteen feet from Donovan, is Rhiannon. She hovers a foot or so off the ground, her legs firmly planted outward in a Superman stance, as though she were standing flat-footed on the air itself. Her hands are held rigidly at her sides, seemingly controlling her elevation. Her long, dark hair whips around in the winds, flashing in the glow of lightning as it strikes the deadened ground.
She smiles sweetly, innocently.
RHI: Donovan.
RHI: I’ve been waiting for you.
NARR: And for DONOVAN, that's what I'm about to DO.
PAGE SIX
1/ Cut to Milo and David, enjoying their late date in a crowded Italian restaurant. They stop throughout their conversation to occasionally take a bite of their food, but for the most part, they are completely absorbed in conversation. Throughout the entire scene, all panels are LONG PANELS.
CAPTION: The Short North. Milo and David’s first date.
MILO: So, you’re not actually saying you AGREE…
2/ On David.
DAVID: Not that I agree, no. Only that I can UNDERSTAND it.
DAVID: How is this a good time in world history for America to stand up and say “Hey, we’ve got a growing army of super-powered vigilantes running around fighting CRIME?”
DAVID: It’s a Public Relations DISASTER.
3/ On Milo, confused. He takes a bite.
MILO: I guess I don’t follow.
DAVID (off panel) Milo, look-
DAVID: Are you SURE you don't wanna go be with your FRIEND while she's in a COMA? Maybe you could be USEFUL there...
MILO: No, it's okay. Donovan wants to handle this, and I think that's what Rhiannon would want, too. She was as EXCITED by this date as I was, and I think she'd want me to go out and make the BEST of it.
4/ David leans forward, speaking with his hands.
DAVID: Okay, then...I guess what I'm saying is this: We spent AGES in Iraq, and just as long tearing AFGHANISTAN to shreds.
DAVID: We took a comparatively small hit – what, three-thousand people? – and we used it as an excuse to rampage around the MIDDLE EAST, devastating everything in sight and labeling everybody that didn’t like it a TERRORIST?
DAVID: It just hasn’t been that LONG since the Bush Administration. People don’t forget that quickly.
PAGE SEVEN
1/ On both, Milo setting down his fork as David takes a bite.
MILO: So you’re saying the fervor over the SUPER-TEAMS, it’s because of the WAR ON TERROR?
DAVID: I’m saying it’s about America’s standing on the WORLD STAGE right now.
2/ On David, chewing.
DAVID: Bush did not understand the principle of proportional RESPONSE, and it led us into a years-long nightmare of playing WORLD POLICE, telling people they can’t do THIS and they can’t do THAT, while doing whatever the hell WE wanted to, including TORTURING PRISONERS.
3/ On Milo as David continues. Milo takes a bite of his own food.
DAVID (OFF PANEL): It was this attitude of “We’re AMERICA. You can’t mess with US,” because we genuinely BELIEVED it.
DAVID: And in the name of FREEDOM, we decided to try and prove to the WORLD that Americans can walk the globe with a CHIP on their shoulder.
4/ On David, dabbing his chin with his napkin.
DAVID: Trouble is, last time somebody had that attitude toward the rest of the world, it was the ROMAN EMPIRE.
DAVID: Empires fall for a REASON.
PAGE EIGHT
1/ On Milo, gesturing with his fork as he agrees with David.
DAVID (OFF PANEL): And in the midst of ALL of this, we run around telling people they can’t hold onto their WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
MILO: While continuing to expect that no one would object to OUR possession of WMD’s, because we have them for “PREVENTATIVE MEASURES.”
2/ David leans back in his chair a bit, looking satisfied that Milo sees where he’s going.
DAVID: EXACTLY.
MILO (OFF PANEL): So you think that people like US, with these ABILITIES – we’re WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
DAVID: As far as the REST of the world’s concerned.
DAVID: And frankly, they’re RIGHT. You ARE. You saw what Rhiannon did back there. And I WATCHED you taking out WEREWOLVES all by yourself.
3/ Milo smiles sheepishly.
MILO: You helped a LITTLE.
DAVID (OFF PANEL): That’s true. But my point remains the same.
DAVID: The rest of the world has NO REASON to trust America if it possesses its own potential army of SUPER-POWERED BEINGS.
4/ On David, looking intense.
DAVID: And America has no reason to expect the rest of the world won’t respond with FORCE if they start to feel uncomfortable.
DAVID: What we’re looking at is the possibility of a super-human COLD WAR.
DAVID: And that’s a BEST-CASE scenario.
PAGE NINE
1/ Cut to a long panel establishing shot, inside a dimly lit bar somewhere on Campus. Andrew sits at the bar with Mark Shepard, director of the New York branch of the Paranormal Defense Initiative – the team known as PARALLAX. Shepard knocks back Magic Hat no. 9’s while Andrew sips at a Blue Moon, looking a little less comfortable in a bar than Mark does. They’ve clearly been talking for a while.
CAPTION: Campus. Andrew meets with MARK SHEPARD, Director of PARALLAX.
MARK: Going forward, I think the biggest problems we’re going to face are the institutions and TRADITIONS the generation BEFORE us worked so hard to put in place.
2/ On both of them, as Andrew sips his beer and Mark sets his down on the bar.
MARK: The BOOMERS have fought very hard to ensure that the system runs like a well-oiled MACHINE, and nothing unexpected gets into the EQUATION.
3/ On Andrew, as he fidgets with the edge of his glass, listening to Mark.
MARK (OFF PANEL): Gen-X, on the other hand, has done NOTHING to fix that system, besides pumping out a bunch of insincere movies and TV shows that fly in its FACE.
4/ On Mark, as he looks over at Andrew and takes a swig from his bottle. He grins cynically as he drinks, his facial stubble looking a day too long to be flattering.
MARK: But even in a world with WILL & GRACE and CHASING AMY, gays still get voted SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS in 2004.
5/ On Andrew, not sure if he fully agrees, but onto what Mark’s trying to say.
ANDREW: And you feel this is all the Boomers’ fault.
6/ Long panel, over Andrew’s shoulder as Mark turns to him, serious.
MARK: It most certainly IS the Boomers’ fault.
MARK: They’ve spent DECADES working their ASSES off to ensure that this country moves farther and farther away from ENLIGHTENMENT. They prefer to use IGNORANCE as a way to hide their heads in the sand when the world changes around them.
MARK: Even on an individual basis! Do you know how many Boomers still don’t know how to use e-mail? And when that kind of person gets in power, look out. They DO NOT. Want the world. To change.
PAGE TEN
1/ Long panel on Andrew, preparing to take a sip and looking at Mark over the edge of his glass as he does.
ANDREW: And this phenomenon is what you blame for all the OPPOSITION we’re facing with the PDI. Because the system is predicated on a world without posthumans.
2/ Mark leans closer, a little tipsy. He is growing more emotionally involved in the conversation the more he drinks, and it shows.
MARK: The system is DESIGNED in such a way that it CAN’T work with posthumans in the picture.
MARK: But rather than fix the SYSTEM, this American culture would rather fix the POSTHUMANS.
3/ Andrew leans back a little, setting his drink down to try and break the tension a bit.
ANDREW: Well, then, it’s our generation’s responsibility to lead the way for REFORM. I've got a TEAMMATE sitting in the OFFICE in a COMA because she was willing to risk life and LIMB to help SAVE people in this country that doesn't want us.
ANDREW: We HAVE to make people SEE that. If, God forbid, Donovan can't SAVE her, then she DIES for these people and we STILL somehow have to PROVE that we're here to HELP?
ANDREW: That's just SICK.
4/ Mark lifts his bottle, preparing to take another drink. He gestures it towards Andrew as if to say he’s toasting to Andrew’s sentiment.
MARK: Damn straight it is.
MARK: What we NEED to do is move toward a more EASTERN philosophy. Make the need for UNDERSTANDING be something we prize over the need for COMFORT. Get people to understand that change is an inevitable part of the SYSTEM.
MARK: American philosophy ::hic:: has become the opposite of that.
5/ On Andrew, looking intrigued at this next statement of Mark’s.
MARK (OFF PANEL): What the BIG WIGS fail to realize is that it’s not only INEVITABLE…
MARK: …this POSTHUMAN stuff has happened BEFORE.
ANDREW: What do you mean?
6/ Long panel as Mark leans forward, eyes darting around conspiratorially as he pulls Andrew in to the drama of the moment.
MARK: What do you know about Central America?
PAGE ELEVEN
1/ Cut to a Long Panel as we find Beth and Landon sitting side by side in their dimly lit living room, an end table with a lamp and flower positioned between their respective easy chairs. Across from them, closest to us, are Landon’s Mother, Magda, and two of her cronies, all in human form, with their backs to us. They sit in awkward silence.
CAPTION: Bexley. Beth, Landon, and an awkward family reunion.
2/ On Landon, folding his hands in his lap as he makes eye contact with his mother. His jaw is set, his gaze determined.
LANDON: I’m not taking the position.
3/ Magda, sharing the loveseat with her two followers, draws back, defeated and vaguely offended. In human form, she looks like an exhausted Sigourney Weaver, wearing large and ornate hoop earrings that correspond to the piercings she wears in wolf form.
MAGDA: You can’t –?
LANDON (OFF PANEL): I can’t be bribed, CAJOLED, or convinced in any WAY.
4/ Close on Landon, not giving in. He never breaks eye contact with Magda.
LANDON: I’m NOT taking the position.
5/ Magda sits back in her seat, folding her arms. She looks more annoyed than anything.
MAGDA: So you’re dooming us.
6/ Long panel as Beth folds her own arms and raises a confrontational eyebrow at her Mother-In-Law. The table lamp at her side highlights the dirt still caked in her hair from their recent wolfed-out battle.
BETH: He’s not “DOOMING” you.
BETH: He’s just not handing YOU, in particular, the DE FACTO control of the Brotherhood you thought you were gonna get by pulling this little COUP of yours.
PAGE TWELVE
1/ Magda looks coolly at Beth, moving only her eyes as she maintains her position facing Landon. She waves a hand dismissively.
MAGDA: Landon, your COW is mooing.
2/ On Beth and Landon, as Beth leans back in her chair and takes a sip from the glass of red wine at her side. Landon leans forward in his chair, gesturing diplomatically to underscore his threat.
BETH: Eat shit, Magda. Rhiannon is in SERIOUS condition because YOU decided that your POLITICAL MANEUVERING was worth getting INNOCENT PEOPLE HURT.
LANDON: Look, Mom…
LANDON: I’m trying to figure out a way to HELP without caving in to this POWER PLAY you’re so desperate to slip under everyone’s radar. You either genuinely want my help, or NOT.
LANDON: Keep comments like that to YOURSELF or get the hell out of my house.
3/ Magda turns to face Beth, looking as insincere as she sounds.
MAGDA: My apologies, Elizabeth.
MAGDA: You’re not a cow.
4/ Beth sets her glass of wine down on the end table, not returning Magda’s glance.
BETH: Again: Eat shit, Magda.
5/ Close on Landon, choosing his words carefully. He is clearly very aware of Beth’s presence at his side, and is not pleased to be saying what he’s saying.
LANDON: I WILL come to New York.
6/ Long panel, pull out as Landon leans forward, resting his wrists on his knees as he clasps his hands together, maintaining steady eye contact with his mother as he speaks.
LANDON: I’ll come and see to it that this transition goes SMOOTHLY, and that the BROTHERHOOD LEADERSHIP falls into whomever’s hands I’m comfortable with, within the rights and powers of my office as heir to the SEAT.
7/ On Beth as Landon speaks. She stares straight forward, doing a less than adequate job of concealing her displeasure. She grinds her teeth as she brings her glass of wine to her lips, staring at Magda over the rim of her glass.
LANDON (OFF PANEL): But Beth’s going to stay HERE and hold down the FORT until I get home.
8/ Close on Landon, nodding as he finishes, still maintaining eye contact.
LANDON: Because I AM coming home.
PAGE THIRTEEN
1/ Long panel as we CUT to the outside of Donovan’s apartment, in the alleyway that Milo and Rhiannon used in Knights #6. The fire escape catwalk can be seen extending upward near the top of the panel, and the emergency light placed over the top of the solid metal ground-floor exit door casts the scene in a yellowish hue. Approaching the side of the building, right beneath the fire escape, is Legion. He holds an unlit cigarette in his lips and fiddles with a lighter, shaking it as sparks fly.
CAPTION: Clintonville, outside Donovan’s building. A clandestine meeting.
2/ On Legion as he finally manages to get the lighter to work, puffing heavily as he lights the cigarette. He doesn’t glance upward, but is aware he is no longer alone.
LEGION: You’re LATE.
3/ Above him, peeking over the edge of the fire escape and looking somewhat intimidated by Legion’s presence, is Ozymandias – Donovan’s demon familiar.
OZ: Took him a few minutes to get into the DREAMTIME.
OZ: I would have been NOTICED if I’d slipped out any earlier.
4/ Long panel as Legion puffs away on his cigarette, not deigning to even look at Oz as the smaller demon hangs down from the fire escape, his upside-down head appearing next to Legion as it dangles. Legion looks annoyed and Ozzy’s concern grows, fearing his master’s rage.
LEGION: Things are starting to look an awful lot like Divinity’s PLAN, Oz. Is there a reason for that?
LEGION: Because I’d hate to think you were going to let me DOWN.
5/ Oz switches positions, draping himself down from the fire escape like a monkey hanging on a branch. He looks pleadingly at Legion, now that they are oriented the same direction.
OZ: These aren’t EASY people to MANIPULATE, Legion.
OZ: They’re strong-willed. Their friendships are getting TIGHTER.
6/ Legion finally looks directly at Oz, and it seems a blessing when he wasn’t. The man’s eyes flash bright orange, like coals in an open fire, as his eyebrows narrow in barely subdued anger.
LEGION: Exactly how well do you think you can HIDE things from me, Ozymandias?
LEGION: Care to take any BETS on it?
PAGE FOURTEEN
1/ Long panel as Oz drops down to the ground, looking defeated at Legion’s dark-booted feet. He drags his knuckles on the ground in embarrassment, looking away from his master and off into the distance.
OZ: Okay. I admit it. I like the guy.
OZ: I like living INSIDE him.
2/ Closer on Oz as he contemplates.
OZ: There’s something…EXHILARATING about this whole experience.
OZ: I don’t know how to explain it.
3/ Legion looks away, as though he’s uninterested in this entire meeting. He ashes his cigarette, flicking it gently with his wrist.
LEGION: Have I lost you to him, Oz?
4/ Oz jumps up on Legion’s shoulder, perching like a parrot as he looks beseechingly at his master. He clings to Legion’s velour coat as he perches, desperately hoping he won’t be abandoned.
OZ: Of COURSE not, sir!
OZ: When the time COMES, I’m your man. I promise!
5/ Legion looks pleased enough, bringing his cigarette to his lips and preparing to take a drag. He denies Oz anything like an approving glance.
LEGION: Good.
LEGION: I’ll be GOING, then.
6/ Long panel as Legion departs, flicking his cigarette off into the distance as Oz hangs from the fire escape, watching him leave.
LEGION: People to manipulate, SITUATIONS to complicate.
LEGION: You know how it is.
PAGE FIFTEEN
1/ Long panel as we CUT back to Rhiannon and Donovan, on the Astral Plane. Rhiannon turns as Donovan walks past her, taking in their bizarre surroundings with unconcealed awe. Lightning continues to tear the landscape to shreds.
DON: Rhiannon, what IS this place?
RHI: It’s the ASTRAL PLANE, Donovan. We’ve talked about it a bit.
RHI: At the moment, my VIEW of it is DAMAGED.
2/ Donovan turns back to her, looking worried.
DON: So your MIND…is on the ASTRAL PLANE?
DON: Or your soul. Mind or Soul, I don’t know which is RIGHT.
3/ Rhiannon looks comfortingly at him, the warmth in her smile melting the cold in the air around them.
RHI: Mind. Soul. Whatever.
RHI: Let’s go with ESSENCE.
4/ Rhiannon bends to the ground, picking a single flower that has sprung up between the cracks in the craggy ground. Donovan stands at her side, surveying the world around them, unable to pull his eyes from the sight.
RHI: My essence seems to have taken REFUGE here until my BODY repairs whatever DAMGE I did to it with that ANGER-BLAST.
RHI: Stuff like that…it’s a lot of energy to channel through one HUMAN BODY.
DON: And that’s why you’re in a COMA?
5/ Rhiannon stands, examining the flower with interest. Its bright colors look out of place in this tattered wasteland. She brushes her hair out of her face.
RHI: Seems that way, yeah.
RHI: Interesting that it let you use my BODY as a portkey. I don’t know how else you could have been led right TO me out here. I could be anywhere, in terms of location. That stuff’s sort of…FLUID, really, when you’re dealing with the DREAMTIME.
RHI: I guess the PHYSICAL tether’s not so weak, after all.
6/ Donovan steps up to her from behind, pulling her attention from the flower. He looks at her seriously, fear in his eyes.
DON: We need to get you BACK, Rhiannon.
DON: The longer you’re away from your BODY, the more likely you are to have BRAIN DAMAGE.
7/ Rhiannon smiles at him.
RHI: We will.
RHI: But first…why don’t you take a look over that ledge? It’s pretty interesting.
PAGE SIXTEEN
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH, with two smaller INSETS in the lower right hand corner. Donovan and Rhiannon crest the edge of a vast ravine, an as yet unseen break in the monotonous landscape. Lightning continues to crash, striking a single dead tree that clings to an outcropping on the edge of the ravine, but the real sight is in the ravine itself. Swirling relentlessly in midair, suspended in the depths of the ravine, is an undulating sea of brightly colored masks- resembling theatre masks, or the faces of the great stone monoliths of Easter Island. They swirl together, expressionless faces that pulse like a tidal wave, threatening to rise up over the edge of the ravine. At the edge, Donovan and Rhiannon stand watch, Donovan frozen in awe.
DON: Oh my God.
INSET ONE: Donovan turns to Rhiannon, awestruck. Close on his face.
DON: Where ARE we?
INSET TWO: On Rhiannon as she grins, brandishing the colorful flower at him.
RHI: Ha. Where aren’t we?
RHI: Oh, and by the way? There were no flowers here until YOU arrived.
PAGE SEVENTEEN
1/ Long panel as we CUT to Milo and David, still enjoying their date together. The walk down High Street together, arriving in the Downtown area as they each lick feverishly at an ice cream cone and continue their conversation. The lights of passing cars fly by, barely noticed by the two of them.
MILO: But it’s happening all OVER!
MILO: Anybody with even a LITTLE BIT of the SHINE, the SIGHT, whatever you wanna call it…they’re all being DRAWN to one another, like…like MOTHS or something.
DAVID: It’s true. More and more people I meet don’t look at me like I’m crazy anymore when I talk about PSYCHIC ABILITIES, or encounters with GHOSTS.
DAVID: It’s SPREADING.
2/ Milo takes a lick of his ice cream and faces David over the top of the melting scoop.
MILO: When these people get TOGETHER, it’s only a matter of time before somebody BREAKS THE ICE with a conversation about GHOSTS or something, and before you know it Pandora’s Box is open and they start to realize OTHER PEOPLE are experiencing the same kinds of THINGS on a daily basis.
3/ David looks at Milo and smiles, winking flirtatiously.
DAVID: Or they break the ice by fighting WEREWOLVES together.
4/ Long panel as they make their way down the street, holding hands comfortably.
MILO: Well, or that.
DAVID: I do agree with what you’re saying, though.
DAVID: Those few people who REALIZE they’re not alone…they start to let OTHERS know, and then, well –
MILO: The ball’s ROLLING.
5/ On David as he thinks, voicing his thoughts aloud.
DAVID: And together, those people only serve to ENHANCE each other’s OWN abilities, just as you and your FRIENDS have been doing all this time.
6/ Milo turns to David, serious.
MILO: Next thing you know, a COMMUNITY is forming.
MILO: David…the realm of the FANTASTIC doesn’t belong to the select FEW anymore. No more hiding in BASEMENTS and NEW AGE CLUBS, pretending its all some GAME we’re playing.
MILO: More and more, this world belongs to the people who choose not to be AFRAID.
PAGE EIGHTEEN
1/ David breaks the tension by gesturing with his ice cream cone, smiling.
DAVID: Can you IMAGINE anything more EXCITING, though?
DAVID: I’m so GRATEFUL we get to live through this TIME together.
2/ Milo turns to David, feigning disbelief. David returns a warm, sincere look.
MILO: Oh, DO we now?
DAVID: I certainly hope so.
MILO: David –
3/ Close on Milo, head cast to the ground as though he knows this next is about to bring their date to a screeching halt. He locks eyes with David.
MILO: I’m HIV POSITIVE.
4/ They stare at each other in silence for a moment, lit by the glow of the nearby buildings. Neither appears to have any idea what to say. Milo is on the verge of tears.
5/ Over Milo’s shoulder as David gives his terse response, attempting to be both comforting and bewildered by this unexpected turn of events.
DAVID: Milo…
DAVID: So am I.
6/ Close on Milo for an uncomfortable moment as he doesn’t believe David. He chokes back the tears that almost came.
7/ Pull back a bit, as Milo struggles with the information.
MILO: You’re SURE?
8/ David smiles and takes a lick from his ice cream cone, clearly delighted that they’ve found each other. He flirts with his eyes.
DAVID: Positive.
DAVID: Like I said.
PAGE NINETEEN
1/ Long Panel as we CUT to Beth, standing intensely over the kitchen sink, gripping the edges of the marble countertop as though they are her only balance in the world. Her hands, even in the death grip, shake violently as he face belies her desperate struggle to maintain composure. Behind her, in the kitchen doorway, Landon appears, looking very aware of how upset she is.
BETH: Hi.
BETH: Landon.
2/ On Landon, leaning in the doorway, his posture revealing that even though he knows he made the right decision, he is sorry for having made her feel the way she clearly feels about his decision. He fiddles with the woodwork on the doorway with his hand, looking at the ground.
LANDON: Beth. They’re gone.
3/ Closer on Beth, in profile, as she looks down into the sink. Her hair falls over her face, mostly obscuring her. She is unmoved by the news.
BETH: I know.
4/ Close on Landon, approaching cautiously from behind.
LANDON: Are you mad at me?
5/ Beth continues to keep her back to him, but raises her line of sight to look out the kitchen window, mounted over the sink she still leans on. She pushes her hair out of her face, tucking it over her ear.
BETH: No.
BETH: I understand the DECISION.
BETH: Even if I don’t AGREE with it.
6/ She finally turns to face Landon, though she doesn’t make eye contact. He pulls back a little, still scouting her mood.
LANDON: I sense a silent “BUT.”
7/ Beth shrugs a bit, but mostly remains serious.
BETH: BUT…
BETH (small font):…not so silent…
BETH: …that PLACE. Those PEOPLE. It’s not a GOOD world. They’re not GOOD people.
PAGE TWENTY
1/ Landon reaches out and cups the side of her face in his hand, sliding his fingers underneath her hair, which has fallen from her ear. He tilts his head, smiling gently at her to soften his disagreement.
LANDON: You’re making GENERALIZATIONS, Beth.
BETH: No, I –
2/ Close on Landon as he looks serious, a little stern.
LANDON: WE’RE good people, Beth. WE’RE from that world.
3/ Beth turns her head, warming to his touch and allowing her head to sink into it. She closes her eyes and speaks softly, barely opening her mouth. It’s a rare admission:
BETH: I know.
4/ Landon pulls his hand back a bit, leaving the tips of his fingers on her chin as he meets her gaze, and speaks gently but reassuringly.
LANDON: My job is to make sure the GOOD people stay in CHARGE.
LANDON: The BAD won’t get a FOOTHOLD, not if I’m there. And I’ll be FINE.
5/ On Beth, making truly solid eye contact with him for the first time in the scene. She looks almost desperately worried.
BETH: Promise?
6/ Large Panel, filling out the rest of the page, as Landon pulls Beth into an embrace and the tension melts away, lost in the most sincere kiss the two of them have shared in a very long time. Beth puts her arms around Landon’s neck, looking more vulnerable than she ever lets herself look.
LANDON: I promise.
PAGE TWENTY-ONE
1/ Long Panel as we CUT back to Andrew and Mark, still sitting in the same bar. Mark lunges into his explanation for the “Central America” comment, as Andrew listens intently. Throughout the scene, they continue to sip at their drinks. Mark is very enthusiastic, and gestures empathically with his hands.
MARK: Look, you’re a PHILOSOPHY professor, and you’re way into WORLD HISTORY, so you probably already KNOW a good bit of this, but bear with me.
ANDREW: Okay.
MARK: Like, 1400 BCE, or thereabouts, the OLMECS show up. Now, we don’t know much about the Olmecs, but what we DO know is PIVOTAL.
MARK: They developed reliable CALENDARS, built these LUDICROUS statues, had one of the FIRST solid examples of a WRITING SYSTEM, and they seemed to have kicked off this MESOAMERICAN trend of having a REALLY IMPRESSIVE understanding of mathematics and technology.
ANDREW: Right.
2/ On Mark, gesturing with a bottle of beer as he explains.
MARK: But what most people don’t REALIZE is that they started several OTHER trends that would become important to Mesoamerican culture, as WELL. Not only were these people the first to talk about the FEATHERED SERPENT GOD that would eventually come to be known as QUETZALCOATL, but they appear to have been the first WERE-PEOPLE.
3/ On Andrew, over Mark’s shoulder, as he looks up with interest and confusion.
ANDREW: WERE-PEOPLE? But Lycaon…
MARK: LYCAON began the reign of the EUROPEAN WEREWOLF, and he’s where we get the term LYCANTHROPE, but occultists are slowly coming to accept the possibility that he wasn’t the FIRST.
MARK: The evidence is STRONG that the Olmecs had their fair share of WereJAGUARS living among them.
ANDREW: WereJAGUARS? Huh.
4/ On the two of them, as Mark continues to explain. Andrew drains his beer, but another is already being dropped for him by the bartender. Mark ticks off the topic of Olmecs on his fingers as he moves on, making a mental checklist.
MARK: Next up, we got the Mayans. RAISED THE BAR in terms of genius in mathematics and ASTRONOMY. I’m talkin’ like, EVERY SINGLE RITUAL these people performed, it was something to do with the CELESTIAL CYCLES.
MARK: They weren’t just worried about what went on HERE, they wanted to know what the whole UNIVERSE was up to.
MARK: They believed in the Heavens, the Earth, and the Underworld – and the UTMOST in Spiritual ENLIGHTENMENT was to realign your worldview so that you don’t SEE those as three different things, but as one UNIFIED REALITY where it’s all the same. And the SYMBOL of that belief? The feathered serpent, Quetzalcoatl. As ABOVE, so BELOW; flies like an EAGLE, slithers like a SNAKE.
ANDREW: Okay…
5/ On Mark, setting his beer down but still gripping the bottle at the top as he speaks directly to Andrew, who is now off panel. Mark’s beer is almost empty.
MARK: But everyone knows that.
MARK: Everyone knows they had ridiculously accurate calendars, everybody knows how many of their PROPHECIES have come TRUE…but what’s NOT really known is that the numerous GODS of their PANTHEON are just numbers in an EQUATION.
MARK: One big MATHEMATICAL EQUATION, each deity an essential integer in solving the great puzzle of the UNIVERSE – a GRAND UNIFIED THEORY, Mesoamerican style.
6/ Andrew turns to Mark, again surprised by this information. Mark hands his bottle off to the bartender as the bartender hands him another.
ANDREW: Is that TRUE?
MARK: Bet your ass it is. Look it up.
MARK: Next on the list is the AZTEC HEGEMONY.
ANDREW: Hegemony?
7/ On Mark as he takes the first swig from his new beer. He raises his eyebrows as if to say “what, you didn’t know that?” but refrains from anything cockier.
MARK: Hegemony.
MARK: Commonly mistaken for an EMPIRE, I know. But the Aztecs actually allowed all the lands in their possession to MAINTAIN whatever rulers and practices they had in place before the AZTECS got there, so long as everybody was willing to pay TRIBUTE to the dudes with the biggest PYRAMIDS. Ergo, a hegemony, not really an empire.
MARK: The Aztecs coined the term “MEXICA” to describe the land in which they lived, and the word means “Navel of the Moon.”
PAGE TWENTY-TWO
1/ Long panel, showing both of them as they carry on their conversation. Andrew scoffs in disbelief at the name, and Mark smiles as he gestures broadly. At this point, it’s safe to say that Mark is drunk, but not wasted, since he’s still coherent.
ANDREW: God! Could there BE a more PSYCHICALLY LOADED name?
MARK: I KNOW, right?!
MARK: See, THESE people believed in what they called “Teotl,” which is actually pretty similar to the TAO: an impersonal FORCE that permeates the universe, rather than a benevolent or malevolent GOD-HEAD. The various DEITIES they appeared to worship were actually “Teixiptla;” IDOLS or AVATARS, merely ASPECTS of the Teotl.
MARK: What’s INTERESTING, though, is that their most PROMINENT Teixiptla was the god Huitzilopochtli, a SUN god.
ANDREW: So they name their land “Navel of the Moon,” but turn around and worship a SUN GOD. Very YIN and YANG of them.
2/ Mark smiles as he sets his beer on the bar.
MARK: Well, it’s not just very yin and yang – it’s very QUETZALCOATL. See, the merging of multiple aspects of REALITY is a recurrent THEME, here.
MARK: Now, by THIS time, this stuff had started to SPREAD, even reaching so far as the northernmost end of SOUTH AMERICA. The INCAS had emerged, and they’re not only routinely performing SKULL SURGERY with a remarkable success rate, but they believe in reincarnation and even have a RAINBOW FLAG to represent their nation.
3/ On both of them as Andrew laughs to himself. Mark looks momentarily confused.
ANDREW: Milo would get a kick out of that.
MARK: Who’s Milo?
ANDREW: Never mind. I see what you’re saying, though. Another example of the HEAVEN-MEETING-EARTH motif.
4/ Long panel, featuring the two of them but focused on Mark. He looks more intense now than he has throughout the scene, as he prepares to reach his conclusion.
MARK: Right.
MARK: Now, it’s also worth MENTIONING that the Incas claim to have arrived at their home by WALTZING OUT OF THE WATERS OF LAKE TITICACA. Religious myth, or are we looking at possible Atlantean descendants, rising from the water to start a new life?
ANDREW: That’s a little far-fetched.
MARK: I know, but still. Forbidden archeology. Sometimes you have to say these things.
MARK: Now, MOST of this form of SHAMANISM and ESOTERICSM in Central America went out of STYLE over the centuries. The last known ORIGINAL worshippers of Quetzalcoatl were the TOLTECS: artisans and wise men who were PRIESTS of Quetzalcoatl until they EXILED him.
ANDREW: Exiled him?
MARK: They turned from his teachings, abandoned all studies in MAGIC, SHAMANISM, PSYCHISM, and any other spiritual world-bending, and they metaphorically cast the god OUT to wander the world – waiting for his TIME to be right again.
MARK: The MAYANS had prophesied Quetzalcoatl’s eventual RETURN, and history shows that the Mayans usually get this stuff RIGHT.
5/ On Mark, with Andrew out of panel. Pull in close on Mark as he maintains steady eye contact with Andrew in spite of his own intoxication. His eyes light up like he’s announcing that he knows where to find the Arc of the Covenant.
ANDREW (OFF PANEL): Why are you telling me all this, Mark? What’s happened?
MARK: Because on my last trip ABROAD, I FOUND something.
MARK: An ACTIVE tribe, in Central America, calling themselves the AKASHI.
MARK: These people are off the CHARTS, Andrew. They’re psychics, healers, empaths, telekines…
MARK: …you NAME it, they’ve got it.
6/ Andrew smiles, and raises his glass in toast.
ANDREW: Well, then.
ANDREW: Sounds like we have a TRIP to plan.
PAGE TWENTY-THREE
1/ Long panel, as we CUT BACK to the Television Debate Program we saw earlier in the issue, with the long-haired commentator looking intensely past us at his host, who is currently off panel.
GUEST: I think that the TRANSITION we’re about to face…it’s going to be a LONG one, a DIFFICULT one, and it’s going to be FRAUGHT with violence.
2/ Long panel, as we CUT BACK to Rhiannon and Donovan, standing on the edge of the chasm and watching the swirling faces. We see them from below, and we ourselves are down amidst the faces, as though we are one of them, looking up at our observers. Donovan turns to Rhiannon, perplexed. Rhiannon smiles.
NARR (RHI): Sooner or later, the ways you've been DOING THINGS - the EYES through which you've been VIEWING the WORLD - are going to become OBSOLETE.
DON: I’m serious, Rhi.
DON: What IS this?
RHI: It’s the COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS, Donovan.
RHI: The essence of EVERYONE, the world over. The place where each individual’s subconscious mind comes to meet all the others on the ASTRAL PLANE.
3/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Milo and David, on their date, as Milo turns to David and asks him a serious question. They are now in the heart of Downtown, walking together past the Statehouse on their way back up toward the Short North.
MILO: So what do you think we should DO about all this, this crazy telepathic world of the FUTURE?
DAVID: Well, I think we should lead the WAY.
DAVID: As the people who already KNOW the direction the future seems to be TAKING, I think it’s our job to carry the future’s banner openly and PUBLICLY.
DAVID: I guess I’m just not sure HOW.
MILO: Well, you know how we could START?
4/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Rhiannon, turning to face Donovan, who is off panel. The landscape behind her remains the same desert wasteland, but near the spot where they are standing, we can see greenery and plant-life emerging all around.
RHI: If it weren’t for THIS PLACE, we wouldn’t have Jungian Archetypes. We wouldn’t have a ZEITGEIST. We wouldn’t have KISMET. All forms of human interconnectedness stem from this source.
DON (OFF PANEL): The collective unconscious is a PLACE?
RHI: It’s not just a place, Donovan. It’s everyplace, and it’s no place.
PAGE TWENTY-FOUR
1/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Milo and David. David stares in shock as Milo begins to lift upward off the ground, looking to the sky as he extends his hands away from his sides. Electricity begins to fly from his body in every direction, the bioelectric energy from his body extending outward and pushing him away from the earth.
DAVID: Oh, my God. Milo, what are you DOING?
MILO: Watch.
2/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to the television show. Focus on the host, looking intrigued, but the guest is the one who continues his speech off panel.
GUEST (OFF PANEL): I think that before the people of the world are ready for life alongside POSTHUMANS, extreme care will have to be taken with what they DO and DO NOT know.
3/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Donovan, looking fretfully at Rhiannon, who is off panel. Behind him, the tattered and withered tree that once highlighted the edge of the chasm has sprung back to life, though lightning still threatens to strike it dead once more.
DON: Rhiannon…
DON: Everything’s moving so FAST anymore. I don’t know how to PROCESS all this information that’s being THROWN at me.
DON: Not without LOSING myself in it.
NARR: You'll step back, and in one HORRIFIED, seemingly ENDLESS moment, you'll realize what's happened and you'll say "I've lost TOUCH."
4/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Milo and David. Skewed camera angle as we see, in the distant BG, an image of Milo now commandeering the digital screen of the NBC building. He stares forward from the monitor like Big Brother, delivering his message to the people of the city. In the Extreme FG we see the back of Milo’s legs as his feet now hover almost a yard off the ground. Electricity still sprouts from all over, lighting the scene. Between the two Milos we see David, striking a pose of tense uncertainty. He looks up at the floating, glowing Milo with awe.
MILO: I’m leading the WAY, David. Like you said.
MONITOR MILO: Do not adjust your sets. I have complete control of your TELEVISIONS, for the DURATION of this BROADCAST.
PAGE TWENTY-FIVE
1/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Rhiannon looking seriously at Donovan, who is off panel. She is being firm, but not aggressive – speaking to him in measured tones.
RHI: It’s not about LOSING yourself in it, Donovan.
RHI: It’s about letting it become a PART of you. You don’t lose yourself in basic world information – you simply accept that it’s TRUE, and it becomes a part of your reality. This is no more overwhelming to accept than the fact that the sky is BLUE.
RHI: You only believe it is.
NARR: Now, for MANY, the easy way out is to SCRAP the OLD and become something ENTIRELY DIFFERENT.
2/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Landon and Beth, entering the Living Room in surprise, having heard Milo’s voice on TV. They are still holding hands from the embrace they had just been sharing, and they stand horror-struck before the television as they absorb the reality of what’s happening.
BETH: Landon, what the hell’s he DOING?
MILO ON TV: We have lived too long with the burden of ARROGANCE in our BELIEFS. We believe we know the world, that we know its WORKINGS.
MILO ON TV: All that we can ever know is that the things we think we know about the world have always been true BEFORE TODAY, and with that information in tow we arrogantly truck forward, thinking that the things we believe will STILL be true when we wake up in the morning.
3/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to the television show, focused on the Guest.
GUEST: And I think that any POSTHUMAN who attempts to SUBVERT a gentle and PEACEFUL transition, who attempts to introduce CHAOS into the system, must be met with the FULL STRENGTH of the United States Defense Capabilities.
4/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Donovan, looking into the chasm of faces with uncertainty and an even mix of awe and terror. Rhiannon approaches him from behind, placing a hand on his back. The floating faces swirl by, glowing brightly.
DON: How do I become a PART of this without losing my IDENTITY?
DON: How do you join a COLLECTIVE without sacrificing INDIVIDUALITY?
NARR: Reinvent yourself. Start OVER. But that's a mistake.
PAGE TWENTY-SIX
1/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Milo, facing us directly on the Big Monitor Screen, digital fuzz making his image quake slightly, though his gaze remains stoic.
MONITOR MILO: The truth is that you are IGNORANT.
MON MILO: In a world where information is forever at your FINGERTIPS, you chose to remain STUBBORNLY IGNORANT.
MON MILO: The time for this CULTURAL LAZINESS is rushing to an END. The world has some difficult lessons to LEARN, and for AMERICA perhaps the most difficult of ALL.
2/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Donovan and Rhiannon, seen from a distance as the chunk of rock they are standing on descends downward into the chasm, floating them gently to a point where they are surrounded by a wall of hovering faces. They look around in awe.
RHI: It’s not a COLLECTIVE, Donovan. It’s a COMMUNION.
RHI: You don’t forsake who you are; you let your uniqueness ENRICH it.
NARR: No...when the time comes, and you find yourself reevaluating everything that you are and wondering what comes NEXT for you, don't embark on the FOOL'S ERRAND of starting from SCRATCH and becoming something DIFFERENT.
3/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Monitor Milo, staring right at us. We are closer this time, with only his face allowed in the panel.
MON MILO: For those of you who are like US, who can intuitively FEEL the PARADIGM SHIFT that is HURTLING toward us – I want you to know that you are NOT alone.
MON MILO: There are those who would have you believe that your gifts are IMAGINED, that you belong in an INSTITUTION. These are LIES.
MON MILO: You are not CRAZY.
MON MILO: You are not alone.
4/ Long Panel as we CUT BACK to the television Host, turning to face the camera, openly shocked by his guest’s opinion. He is, however, pleased to hear it.
HOST: You heard it here FIRST, folks. Even the LIBERALS are behind it.
HOST: Posthumans. We aren’t READY. And any posthuman attempting to push the world in a direction that we the people don’t WANT?
HOST: Must.
HOST: Be.
HOST: Silenced.
PAGE TWENTY-SEVEN
1/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Donovan and Rhiannon, facing each other on the floating rock as the faces whirl around them. Their hair and clothes are now flapping around, caught in the wind created by the mystical tumult. Donovan looks frightened, and Rhiannon moves in to comfort him, preparing to reach out and touch him.
DON: What we’re heading toward – what the WORLD is heading toward?
DON: It terrifies me.
DON: It’s so NEW, so DIFFERENT. I don’t know if I can face it ALONE.
RHI: You don’t have to. We’ll face it together.
RHI: You, me, and everyone else.
NARR: Do it right. Be mindful of what you WERE, but learn how to take the next STEP. Don't become DIFFERENT, just become MORE. Put the PAST in its PLACE and move ONWARD, UPWARD.
2/ Long panel as we CUT BACK, even closer to Monitor Milo. His eyes narrow, intense.
MON MILO: There will come a DAY, very soon, when we will either COME TOGETHER, or the future will DIE.
MON MILO: My name is Elliot Milo Woodyard, and I am one of the KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS.
3/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Donovan and Rhiannon. They come together, locking lips in a kiss for the first time. Donovan slides his hand beneath Rhiannon’s flowing hair, and she places her own hand on the back of his neck, pulling them tighter together. The floating faces whip by in a manic rush.
RHI: Everything’s going to CHANGE, now.
NARR: Don't run. Don't hide.
4/ EXTREME CLOSE as we CUT BACK to Monitor Milo. Only his eyes and the front locks of his hair are visible.
MON MILO: Everything’s going to CHANGE, now.
MON MILO: Goodbye.
5/ Small panel, as we see only the gray and black static that remains when a television has lost its signal.
PAGE TWENTY-EIGHT
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH as Donovan and Rhiannon snap back to reality, with Rhiannon laying on her back, wide awake, on Donovan’s bed. Donovan is on top of her, propping himself up with his hands. They are still kissing, as they were on the astral plane. They both smile at each other.
NARR: Transcend.
RHI: Donovan.
RHI: This is all real, here.
DON: I know.
PAGE TWENTY-NINE
1/ Cut to a TALL PANEL, as poor Detective John Spacey hangs against a cold stone wall in rusty iron manacles. He has been beaten to hell, and is covered in open wounds and dark bruises. We see a shaft of light fall over him as the door to his room is opened.
SOUND EFFECT: CREEEKKK
2/ Spacey looks straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge the owner of the shadow that has fallen over him as his captor surveys him.
CORA (OFF PANEL): John.
3/ Panel remains exactly the same, though Cora’s hips and hands (which are resting on her hips) have entered from the left.
CORA: Anything to say to me?
4/ Panel remains exactly the same, though Cora now turns abruptly and walks out of view, her hand swinging behind her.
CORA: Fine.
5/ From behind, we see Cora, looking back over her shoulder at John. The dungeon around her is dark and dank, with torture devices mounted on the walls. She smiles coyly, flirting with her eyes.
CORA: Snub WIFEY. See how she deals with it.
6/ John finally looks up at her, grimacing at the pain.
SPACEY: You’re…not…her.
PAGE THIRTY
1/ Long panel as Cora bends down to hold John by the face, caressing his heavily stubbled cheeks and rubbing her thumb over one of his wounds. She grins wickedly at him as he tries to look away.
CORA: Well, SURE.
CORA: I suppose that’s TRUE. But I thought we could at least have a bit of FUN.
SPACEY: Go to hell.
2/ Tall panel as Cora stands up, pulling a knife from seemingly nowhere as she smiles at John, flipping her hair out from her eyes.
CORA: Hey, now. Don’t count me out YET.
CORA: I may have fire and brimstone in my FUTURE, but I’ve got plenty more fun to have before I kick the BUCKET.
3/ She leans down and jabs a finger into John’s face, pressing against his forward and forcing him to tip his head back as he strains against her.
CORA: You, on the other hand? Not so much.
4/ Tears stream down John’s face as he looks away from her, unable to see his dead wife’s face on whoever this is.
SPACEY: Please. Please….do whatever you WANT to me.
SPACEY: Just, please, for the love of God…don’t be HER when you DO IT.
5/ John jumps and his eyes go wide as Cora rams the knife into his gut, off panel. A little blood spurts out of his mouth. She grimaces with the effort, but clearly enjoys it.
CORA: Sorry, honey.
SOUND EFFECT: SHUNK
CORA: I don’t take requests.
6/ Close on the dripping knife that Cora holds in her hand, filling the FG of the shot as, in the BG, the door opens once more. A silhouette fills the doorframe, leaning tentatively on the jamb and shifting uncomfortably.
SHADOW: Um, Malice, sir?
SHADOW: Is everything OKAY in here?
CORA/MALICE (OFF PANEL): Of COURSE, Thomas.
7/ Cora turns to reveal the face of Malice, having satisfied himself that Spacey is dead. He looks determined, as though he’s just been hit with a stroke of genius. Having killed Spacey, he loses interest in maintaining the Cora charade and heads toward the door, glancing at Thomas as he goes.
MALICE: But why don’t you DIG UP a few extra SUPPLIES for me, Thomas?
MALICE: I have a MACHINE to build.
Next: Knights Annual #1!
PAGE ONE
“Previously” page.
PAGE TWO
1/ Long panel establishing shot of the corner of Broad & High, later that night. It’s late enough that downtown is essentially abandoned, with only the spare pedestrian in sight. The intersection is lit up brightly by the glowing marquees of the NBC building, highlighting the Statehouse in the BG. The traffic lights switch on and off, in spite of the absence of vehicles to direct.
CAPTION: Downtown, later that evening.
2/ Pull in on the alley between two buildings, empty save for a pair of beat-up tin trashcans. Rats scatter, feeling the electricity in the air as the edges of the trashcans spark slightly, caught in an invisible field of rising electromagnetic energy.
3/ The field finally climaxes, sparks and energetic discharge materializing in the vague form of a human being. The trashcan closest to us is toppled by the burst, spilling its contents into the alley.
SOUND EFFECT: FSSHHHAKKK
4/ The energy cloud finally takes definitive form, revealing none other than Donovan’s new friend LEGION as he fades into existence, the energy cloud dissipating as he takes form. He squints from the effort of materializing, holding his hands at his sides rigidly as though the shift caused him physical strain.
SOUND EFFECT: POP!
5/ Close on Legion, as he flicks his longish hair from his eyes and grins.
LEGION: Heh.
6/ He looks down at himself, running his isotoner-clad hands down the velour of his long black coat. He grimaces a little, flinching from his own manifest form.
LEGION: Always forget how it smells to go CORPOREAL.
7/ Leaving the alleyway, Legion wanders off into the city as we follow him from behind, the lights of downtown casting his long, ominous shadow over the abandoned sidewalk.
LEGION: Down to BUSINESS, then.
PAGE THREE
1/ Cut to a late-night television program, where two men debate the rise in superhuman activity. The host is an older, conservative-looking man in a gray suit, the only remaining hair on his head localizing itself around his ears like a crown. His companion is a younger, liberal, professorial type, with longer hair and a tweed jacket, resting a bit too comfortably in his host’s guest chair.
HOST: So you do NOT feel that these people are a threat to our NATIONAL SECURITY?
GUEST: Well, sure they are, I guess.
GUEST: But what’s NOT, these days?
2/ On the guest, talking over his folded hands.
GUEST: In post-911 America, EVERYTHING is viewed as a threat to national security in some way. Rather than focusing on the GOOD that is to be found in human development, we’ve become obsessed with the possible DANGER any sort of substantial CHANGE represents.
GUEST: It’s either the OLD order, which has MORE than made itself obsolete in the last ten years, or it’s reckless and ANTI-AMERICAN.
3/ On the host, looking irritated but intrigued as he gestures over-dramatically.
HOST: You posit that these…SUPERHEROES we’ve got cavorting all over the country are a NATURAL step in the course of human development.
HOST: That not only are they ACCEPTABLE, they’re INEVITABLE.
4/ Long panel on the guest, as he leans forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees as he wrings his hands nervously. He’s clearly an academic type, unaccustomed to spots on television programs.
GUEST: It’s the LAW of ACCELERATING RETURNS, Bill.
GUEST: Humanity has changed so radically in the past THOUSAND YEARS, the past TWO HUNDRED years…hell, the last FIFTY years. It was only a matter of time before the leap in development became DRASTICALLY and UNEXPECTEDLY biological.
GUEST: But if this is where we’re ALL headed, we can’t possibly expect to be able to run the world the same way we always HAVE. Things are going to have to CHANGE to accommodate these people, and what SCARES me is how frightened we are – as a species and specifically as AMERICANS – by the prospect of these kinds of changes.
GUEST: We’ll need a NEW kind of world, with NEW kinds of laws.
5/ On the host, looking challengingly at his guest.
HOST: And you think, in the interim, that we should just let these people run AMOK?
6/ Close on the guest, shaking his head to refute the claim.
GUEST: Well, that’s a different story, Bill.
PAGE FOUR
1/ Cut to a long panel as Donovan bursts in the door to his apartment, carrying Rhiannon in his arms as she dangles her arms lifelessly toward the floor. He looks terrified, sweat dripping down his brow as he stares pleadingly into her glassy eyes.
CAPTION: Clintonville. Donovan’s apartment.
DON: Come on, come ON!
DON: Hold ON for me, Rhiannon.
NARR (RHI): TRANSCENDENCE.
NARR: The DICTIONARY defines it as SURPASSING OTHERS, PREEMINENT or SUPREME. Not really a fair thing to SAY, in the most TRADITIONAL sense.
2/ He lies her down on the bed, carefully resting her head on his pillow as he does. We watch over his shoulder as her head slumps weightlessly back.
DON: I’m gonna take care of this, Rhi, I promise.
NARR: It also goes on to say LIVING BEYOND the ORDINARY RANGE of PERCEPTION. Getting better, right?
3/ Close on Donovan, looking worried.
DON: It’s just not gonna be EASY.
NARR: Finally, we are told that TRANSCENDENCE means BEING ABOVE and INDEPENDENT of the 'MATERIAL UNIVERSE.' That's sort of on the right TRACK now, but funny how it's still not quite RIGHT, isn't it?
4/ Long panel as Donovan pulls up a wooden chair, perching by Rhiannon’s bedside as he takes her hand in his. He looks her in the face, continuing to speak to her in spite of her comatose state, not wanting to accept the possibility that she can’t hear him.
DON: I have to admit I’m a little nervous.
DON: I’m still so NEW at all this crazy PSYCHIC MIND JUMPING stuff, and it’s all OLD HAND to you. I wish to god it were someone else, and you were here to HELP me with this…
NARR: See, the problem with LANGUAGE is that for all its ELOQUENCE and BEAUTY, there are some things it just can't seem to wrap its many USES around.
DON: …but you’re NOT, so we’re gonna have to hope I’ve been paying ATTENTION in our little TRAINING SESSIONS.
5/ He squeezes her hand and takes one last longing look at her comatose face, his own features collapsing into despair.
DON: I’m gonna need your help on this, Rhi. Whether you’re conscious of it or NOT.
NARR: The ESOTERIC is one of them.
NARR: As much as you would love to sit down and tell someone ALL ABOUT the beauty of PERSONAL SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE, you'll find that all too often the words just AREN'T THERE.
6/ EXTREME CLOSE on Donovan’s face, as he squeezes his eyes shut and hopes for the best. The edges of the panel go white as he slips into the astral plane, drawing on his demonic powers to step into Rhiannon’s mind.
NARR: No, when it comes to things like TRANSCENDENCE, it's better to be SHOWN. To EXPERIENCE. To be GUIDED.
PAGE FIVE
1/ This is a FULL PAGE SPLASH, featuring the issue’s TITLE, CREDITS, and INDICIA. We see basically what Donovan sees, though his head is in the panel, very close, to our left. He stares in shock at this new vision of the Astral Plane. It is a vast and dried up desert wasteland, its endless sand-brown surface cracked and crumbled with the sheer deadness of the land. The gray and black sky is filled with countless flashes of lightning, streaking this way and that, illuminating the nightmare landscape to a near thing of beauty. In the center of this tableaux, perhaps fifteen feet from Donovan, is Rhiannon. She hovers a foot or so off the ground, her legs firmly planted outward in a Superman stance, as though she were standing flat-footed on the air itself. Her hands are held rigidly at her sides, seemingly controlling her elevation. Her long, dark hair whips around in the winds, flashing in the glow of lightning as it strikes the deadened ground.
She smiles sweetly, innocently.
RHI: Donovan.
RHI: I’ve been waiting for you.
NARR: And for DONOVAN, that's what I'm about to DO.
PAGE SIX
1/ Cut to Milo and David, enjoying their late date in a crowded Italian restaurant. They stop throughout their conversation to occasionally take a bite of their food, but for the most part, they are completely absorbed in conversation. Throughout the entire scene, all panels are LONG PANELS.
CAPTION: The Short North. Milo and David’s first date.
MILO: So, you’re not actually saying you AGREE…
2/ On David.
DAVID: Not that I agree, no. Only that I can UNDERSTAND it.
DAVID: How is this a good time in world history for America to stand up and say “Hey, we’ve got a growing army of super-powered vigilantes running around fighting CRIME?”
DAVID: It’s a Public Relations DISASTER.
3/ On Milo, confused. He takes a bite.
MILO: I guess I don’t follow.
DAVID (off panel) Milo, look-
DAVID: Are you SURE you don't wanna go be with your FRIEND while she's in a COMA? Maybe you could be USEFUL there...
MILO: No, it's okay. Donovan wants to handle this, and I think that's what Rhiannon would want, too. She was as EXCITED by this date as I was, and I think she'd want me to go out and make the BEST of it.
4/ David leans forward, speaking with his hands.
DAVID: Okay, then...I guess what I'm saying is this: We spent AGES in Iraq, and just as long tearing AFGHANISTAN to shreds.
DAVID: We took a comparatively small hit – what, three-thousand people? – and we used it as an excuse to rampage around the MIDDLE EAST, devastating everything in sight and labeling everybody that didn’t like it a TERRORIST?
DAVID: It just hasn’t been that LONG since the Bush Administration. People don’t forget that quickly.
PAGE SEVEN
1/ On both, Milo setting down his fork as David takes a bite.
MILO: So you’re saying the fervor over the SUPER-TEAMS, it’s because of the WAR ON TERROR?
DAVID: I’m saying it’s about America’s standing on the WORLD STAGE right now.
2/ On David, chewing.
DAVID: Bush did not understand the principle of proportional RESPONSE, and it led us into a years-long nightmare of playing WORLD POLICE, telling people they can’t do THIS and they can’t do THAT, while doing whatever the hell WE wanted to, including TORTURING PRISONERS.
3/ On Milo as David continues. Milo takes a bite of his own food.
DAVID (OFF PANEL): It was this attitude of “We’re AMERICA. You can’t mess with US,” because we genuinely BELIEVED it.
DAVID: And in the name of FREEDOM, we decided to try and prove to the WORLD that Americans can walk the globe with a CHIP on their shoulder.
4/ On David, dabbing his chin with his napkin.
DAVID: Trouble is, last time somebody had that attitude toward the rest of the world, it was the ROMAN EMPIRE.
DAVID: Empires fall for a REASON.
PAGE EIGHT
1/ On Milo, gesturing with his fork as he agrees with David.
DAVID (OFF PANEL): And in the midst of ALL of this, we run around telling people they can’t hold onto their WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
MILO: While continuing to expect that no one would object to OUR possession of WMD’s, because we have them for “PREVENTATIVE MEASURES.”
2/ David leans back in his chair a bit, looking satisfied that Milo sees where he’s going.
DAVID: EXACTLY.
MILO (OFF PANEL): So you think that people like US, with these ABILITIES – we’re WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.
DAVID: As far as the REST of the world’s concerned.
DAVID: And frankly, they’re RIGHT. You ARE. You saw what Rhiannon did back there. And I WATCHED you taking out WEREWOLVES all by yourself.
3/ Milo smiles sheepishly.
MILO: You helped a LITTLE.
DAVID (OFF PANEL): That’s true. But my point remains the same.
DAVID: The rest of the world has NO REASON to trust America if it possesses its own potential army of SUPER-POWERED BEINGS.
4/ On David, looking intense.
DAVID: And America has no reason to expect the rest of the world won’t respond with FORCE if they start to feel uncomfortable.
DAVID: What we’re looking at is the possibility of a super-human COLD WAR.
DAVID: And that’s a BEST-CASE scenario.
PAGE NINE
1/ Cut to a long panel establishing shot, inside a dimly lit bar somewhere on Campus. Andrew sits at the bar with Mark Shepard, director of the New York branch of the Paranormal Defense Initiative – the team known as PARALLAX. Shepard knocks back Magic Hat no. 9’s while Andrew sips at a Blue Moon, looking a little less comfortable in a bar than Mark does. They’ve clearly been talking for a while.
CAPTION: Campus. Andrew meets with MARK SHEPARD, Director of PARALLAX.
MARK: Going forward, I think the biggest problems we’re going to face are the institutions and TRADITIONS the generation BEFORE us worked so hard to put in place.
2/ On both of them, as Andrew sips his beer and Mark sets his down on the bar.
MARK: The BOOMERS have fought very hard to ensure that the system runs like a well-oiled MACHINE, and nothing unexpected gets into the EQUATION.
3/ On Andrew, as he fidgets with the edge of his glass, listening to Mark.
MARK (OFF PANEL): Gen-X, on the other hand, has done NOTHING to fix that system, besides pumping out a bunch of insincere movies and TV shows that fly in its FACE.
4/ On Mark, as he looks over at Andrew and takes a swig from his bottle. He grins cynically as he drinks, his facial stubble looking a day too long to be flattering.
MARK: But even in a world with WILL & GRACE and CHASING AMY, gays still get voted SECOND-CLASS CITIZENS in 2004.
5/ On Andrew, not sure if he fully agrees, but onto what Mark’s trying to say.
ANDREW: And you feel this is all the Boomers’ fault.
6/ Long panel, over Andrew’s shoulder as Mark turns to him, serious.
MARK: It most certainly IS the Boomers’ fault.
MARK: They’ve spent DECADES working their ASSES off to ensure that this country moves farther and farther away from ENLIGHTENMENT. They prefer to use IGNORANCE as a way to hide their heads in the sand when the world changes around them.
MARK: Even on an individual basis! Do you know how many Boomers still don’t know how to use e-mail? And when that kind of person gets in power, look out. They DO NOT. Want the world. To change.
PAGE TEN
1/ Long panel on Andrew, preparing to take a sip and looking at Mark over the edge of his glass as he does.
ANDREW: And this phenomenon is what you blame for all the OPPOSITION we’re facing with the PDI. Because the system is predicated on a world without posthumans.
2/ Mark leans closer, a little tipsy. He is growing more emotionally involved in the conversation the more he drinks, and it shows.
MARK: The system is DESIGNED in such a way that it CAN’T work with posthumans in the picture.
MARK: But rather than fix the SYSTEM, this American culture would rather fix the POSTHUMANS.
3/ Andrew leans back a little, setting his drink down to try and break the tension a bit.
ANDREW: Well, then, it’s our generation’s responsibility to lead the way for REFORM. I've got a TEAMMATE sitting in the OFFICE in a COMA because she was willing to risk life and LIMB to help SAVE people in this country that doesn't want us.
ANDREW: We HAVE to make people SEE that. If, God forbid, Donovan can't SAVE her, then she DIES for these people and we STILL somehow have to PROVE that we're here to HELP?
ANDREW: That's just SICK.
4/ Mark lifts his bottle, preparing to take another drink. He gestures it towards Andrew as if to say he’s toasting to Andrew’s sentiment.
MARK: Damn straight it is.
MARK: What we NEED to do is move toward a more EASTERN philosophy. Make the need for UNDERSTANDING be something we prize over the need for COMFORT. Get people to understand that change is an inevitable part of the SYSTEM.
MARK: American philosophy ::hic:: has become the opposite of that.
5/ On Andrew, looking intrigued at this next statement of Mark’s.
MARK (OFF PANEL): What the BIG WIGS fail to realize is that it’s not only INEVITABLE…
MARK: …this POSTHUMAN stuff has happened BEFORE.
ANDREW: What do you mean?
6/ Long panel as Mark leans forward, eyes darting around conspiratorially as he pulls Andrew in to the drama of the moment.
MARK: What do you know about Central America?
PAGE ELEVEN
1/ Cut to a Long Panel as we find Beth and Landon sitting side by side in their dimly lit living room, an end table with a lamp and flower positioned between their respective easy chairs. Across from them, closest to us, are Landon’s Mother, Magda, and two of her cronies, all in human form, with their backs to us. They sit in awkward silence.
CAPTION: Bexley. Beth, Landon, and an awkward family reunion.
2/ On Landon, folding his hands in his lap as he makes eye contact with his mother. His jaw is set, his gaze determined.
LANDON: I’m not taking the position.
3/ Magda, sharing the loveseat with her two followers, draws back, defeated and vaguely offended. In human form, she looks like an exhausted Sigourney Weaver, wearing large and ornate hoop earrings that correspond to the piercings she wears in wolf form.
MAGDA: You can’t –?
LANDON (OFF PANEL): I can’t be bribed, CAJOLED, or convinced in any WAY.
4/ Close on Landon, not giving in. He never breaks eye contact with Magda.
LANDON: I’m NOT taking the position.
5/ Magda sits back in her seat, folding her arms. She looks more annoyed than anything.
MAGDA: So you’re dooming us.
6/ Long panel as Beth folds her own arms and raises a confrontational eyebrow at her Mother-In-Law. The table lamp at her side highlights the dirt still caked in her hair from their recent wolfed-out battle.
BETH: He’s not “DOOMING” you.
BETH: He’s just not handing YOU, in particular, the DE FACTO control of the Brotherhood you thought you were gonna get by pulling this little COUP of yours.
PAGE TWELVE
1/ Magda looks coolly at Beth, moving only her eyes as she maintains her position facing Landon. She waves a hand dismissively.
MAGDA: Landon, your COW is mooing.
2/ On Beth and Landon, as Beth leans back in her chair and takes a sip from the glass of red wine at her side. Landon leans forward in his chair, gesturing diplomatically to underscore his threat.
BETH: Eat shit, Magda. Rhiannon is in SERIOUS condition because YOU decided that your POLITICAL MANEUVERING was worth getting INNOCENT PEOPLE HURT.
LANDON: Look, Mom…
LANDON: I’m trying to figure out a way to HELP without caving in to this POWER PLAY you’re so desperate to slip under everyone’s radar. You either genuinely want my help, or NOT.
LANDON: Keep comments like that to YOURSELF or get the hell out of my house.
3/ Magda turns to face Beth, looking as insincere as she sounds.
MAGDA: My apologies, Elizabeth.
MAGDA: You’re not a cow.
4/ Beth sets her glass of wine down on the end table, not returning Magda’s glance.
BETH: Again: Eat shit, Magda.
5/ Close on Landon, choosing his words carefully. He is clearly very aware of Beth’s presence at his side, and is not pleased to be saying what he’s saying.
LANDON: I WILL come to New York.
6/ Long panel, pull out as Landon leans forward, resting his wrists on his knees as he clasps his hands together, maintaining steady eye contact with his mother as he speaks.
LANDON: I’ll come and see to it that this transition goes SMOOTHLY, and that the BROTHERHOOD LEADERSHIP falls into whomever’s hands I’m comfortable with, within the rights and powers of my office as heir to the SEAT.
7/ On Beth as Landon speaks. She stares straight forward, doing a less than adequate job of concealing her displeasure. She grinds her teeth as she brings her glass of wine to her lips, staring at Magda over the rim of her glass.
LANDON (OFF PANEL): But Beth’s going to stay HERE and hold down the FORT until I get home.
8/ Close on Landon, nodding as he finishes, still maintaining eye contact.
LANDON: Because I AM coming home.
PAGE THIRTEEN
1/ Long panel as we CUT to the outside of Donovan’s apartment, in the alleyway that Milo and Rhiannon used in Knights #6. The fire escape catwalk can be seen extending upward near the top of the panel, and the emergency light placed over the top of the solid metal ground-floor exit door casts the scene in a yellowish hue. Approaching the side of the building, right beneath the fire escape, is Legion. He holds an unlit cigarette in his lips and fiddles with a lighter, shaking it as sparks fly.
CAPTION: Clintonville, outside Donovan’s building. A clandestine meeting.
2/ On Legion as he finally manages to get the lighter to work, puffing heavily as he lights the cigarette. He doesn’t glance upward, but is aware he is no longer alone.
LEGION: You’re LATE.
3/ Above him, peeking over the edge of the fire escape and looking somewhat intimidated by Legion’s presence, is Ozymandias – Donovan’s demon familiar.
OZ: Took him a few minutes to get into the DREAMTIME.
OZ: I would have been NOTICED if I’d slipped out any earlier.
4/ Long panel as Legion puffs away on his cigarette, not deigning to even look at Oz as the smaller demon hangs down from the fire escape, his upside-down head appearing next to Legion as it dangles. Legion looks annoyed and Ozzy’s concern grows, fearing his master’s rage.
LEGION: Things are starting to look an awful lot like Divinity’s PLAN, Oz. Is there a reason for that?
LEGION: Because I’d hate to think you were going to let me DOWN.
5/ Oz switches positions, draping himself down from the fire escape like a monkey hanging on a branch. He looks pleadingly at Legion, now that they are oriented the same direction.
OZ: These aren’t EASY people to MANIPULATE, Legion.
OZ: They’re strong-willed. Their friendships are getting TIGHTER.
6/ Legion finally looks directly at Oz, and it seems a blessing when he wasn’t. The man’s eyes flash bright orange, like coals in an open fire, as his eyebrows narrow in barely subdued anger.
LEGION: Exactly how well do you think you can HIDE things from me, Ozymandias?
LEGION: Care to take any BETS on it?
PAGE FOURTEEN
1/ Long panel as Oz drops down to the ground, looking defeated at Legion’s dark-booted feet. He drags his knuckles on the ground in embarrassment, looking away from his master and off into the distance.
OZ: Okay. I admit it. I like the guy.
OZ: I like living INSIDE him.
2/ Closer on Oz as he contemplates.
OZ: There’s something…EXHILARATING about this whole experience.
OZ: I don’t know how to explain it.
3/ Legion looks away, as though he’s uninterested in this entire meeting. He ashes his cigarette, flicking it gently with his wrist.
LEGION: Have I lost you to him, Oz?
4/ Oz jumps up on Legion’s shoulder, perching like a parrot as he looks beseechingly at his master. He clings to Legion’s velour coat as he perches, desperately hoping he won’t be abandoned.
OZ: Of COURSE not, sir!
OZ: When the time COMES, I’m your man. I promise!
5/ Legion looks pleased enough, bringing his cigarette to his lips and preparing to take a drag. He denies Oz anything like an approving glance.
LEGION: Good.
LEGION: I’ll be GOING, then.
6/ Long panel as Legion departs, flicking his cigarette off into the distance as Oz hangs from the fire escape, watching him leave.
LEGION: People to manipulate, SITUATIONS to complicate.
LEGION: You know how it is.
PAGE FIFTEEN
1/ Long panel as we CUT back to Rhiannon and Donovan, on the Astral Plane. Rhiannon turns as Donovan walks past her, taking in their bizarre surroundings with unconcealed awe. Lightning continues to tear the landscape to shreds.
DON: Rhiannon, what IS this place?
RHI: It’s the ASTRAL PLANE, Donovan. We’ve talked about it a bit.
RHI: At the moment, my VIEW of it is DAMAGED.
2/ Donovan turns back to her, looking worried.
DON: So your MIND…is on the ASTRAL PLANE?
DON: Or your soul. Mind or Soul, I don’t know which is RIGHT.
3/ Rhiannon looks comfortingly at him, the warmth in her smile melting the cold in the air around them.
RHI: Mind. Soul. Whatever.
RHI: Let’s go with ESSENCE.
4/ Rhiannon bends to the ground, picking a single flower that has sprung up between the cracks in the craggy ground. Donovan stands at her side, surveying the world around them, unable to pull his eyes from the sight.
RHI: My essence seems to have taken REFUGE here until my BODY repairs whatever DAMGE I did to it with that ANGER-BLAST.
RHI: Stuff like that…it’s a lot of energy to channel through one HUMAN BODY.
DON: And that’s why you’re in a COMA?
5/ Rhiannon stands, examining the flower with interest. Its bright colors look out of place in this tattered wasteland. She brushes her hair out of her face.
RHI: Seems that way, yeah.
RHI: Interesting that it let you use my BODY as a portkey. I don’t know how else you could have been led right TO me out here. I could be anywhere, in terms of location. That stuff’s sort of…FLUID, really, when you’re dealing with the DREAMTIME.
RHI: I guess the PHYSICAL tether’s not so weak, after all.
6/ Donovan steps up to her from behind, pulling her attention from the flower. He looks at her seriously, fear in his eyes.
DON: We need to get you BACK, Rhiannon.
DON: The longer you’re away from your BODY, the more likely you are to have BRAIN DAMAGE.
7/ Rhiannon smiles at him.
RHI: We will.
RHI: But first…why don’t you take a look over that ledge? It’s pretty interesting.
PAGE SIXTEEN
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH, with two smaller INSETS in the lower right hand corner. Donovan and Rhiannon crest the edge of a vast ravine, an as yet unseen break in the monotonous landscape. Lightning continues to crash, striking a single dead tree that clings to an outcropping on the edge of the ravine, but the real sight is in the ravine itself. Swirling relentlessly in midair, suspended in the depths of the ravine, is an undulating sea of brightly colored masks- resembling theatre masks, or the faces of the great stone monoliths of Easter Island. They swirl together, expressionless faces that pulse like a tidal wave, threatening to rise up over the edge of the ravine. At the edge, Donovan and Rhiannon stand watch, Donovan frozen in awe.
DON: Oh my God.
INSET ONE: Donovan turns to Rhiannon, awestruck. Close on his face.
DON: Where ARE we?
INSET TWO: On Rhiannon as she grins, brandishing the colorful flower at him.
RHI: Ha. Where aren’t we?
RHI: Oh, and by the way? There were no flowers here until YOU arrived.
PAGE SEVENTEEN
1/ Long panel as we CUT to Milo and David, still enjoying their date together. The walk down High Street together, arriving in the Downtown area as they each lick feverishly at an ice cream cone and continue their conversation. The lights of passing cars fly by, barely noticed by the two of them.
MILO: But it’s happening all OVER!
MILO: Anybody with even a LITTLE BIT of the SHINE, the SIGHT, whatever you wanna call it…they’re all being DRAWN to one another, like…like MOTHS or something.
DAVID: It’s true. More and more people I meet don’t look at me like I’m crazy anymore when I talk about PSYCHIC ABILITIES, or encounters with GHOSTS.
DAVID: It’s SPREADING.
2/ Milo takes a lick of his ice cream and faces David over the top of the melting scoop.
MILO: When these people get TOGETHER, it’s only a matter of time before somebody BREAKS THE ICE with a conversation about GHOSTS or something, and before you know it Pandora’s Box is open and they start to realize OTHER PEOPLE are experiencing the same kinds of THINGS on a daily basis.
3/ David looks at Milo and smiles, winking flirtatiously.
DAVID: Or they break the ice by fighting WEREWOLVES together.
4/ Long panel as they make their way down the street, holding hands comfortably.
MILO: Well, or that.
DAVID: I do agree with what you’re saying, though.
DAVID: Those few people who REALIZE they’re not alone…they start to let OTHERS know, and then, well –
MILO: The ball’s ROLLING.
5/ On David as he thinks, voicing his thoughts aloud.
DAVID: And together, those people only serve to ENHANCE each other’s OWN abilities, just as you and your FRIENDS have been doing all this time.
6/ Milo turns to David, serious.
MILO: Next thing you know, a COMMUNITY is forming.
MILO: David…the realm of the FANTASTIC doesn’t belong to the select FEW anymore. No more hiding in BASEMENTS and NEW AGE CLUBS, pretending its all some GAME we’re playing.
MILO: More and more, this world belongs to the people who choose not to be AFRAID.
PAGE EIGHTEEN
1/ David breaks the tension by gesturing with his ice cream cone, smiling.
DAVID: Can you IMAGINE anything more EXCITING, though?
DAVID: I’m so GRATEFUL we get to live through this TIME together.
2/ Milo turns to David, feigning disbelief. David returns a warm, sincere look.
MILO: Oh, DO we now?
DAVID: I certainly hope so.
MILO: David –
3/ Close on Milo, head cast to the ground as though he knows this next is about to bring their date to a screeching halt. He locks eyes with David.
MILO: I’m HIV POSITIVE.
4/ They stare at each other in silence for a moment, lit by the glow of the nearby buildings. Neither appears to have any idea what to say. Milo is on the verge of tears.
5/ Over Milo’s shoulder as David gives his terse response, attempting to be both comforting and bewildered by this unexpected turn of events.
DAVID: Milo…
DAVID: So am I.
6/ Close on Milo for an uncomfortable moment as he doesn’t believe David. He chokes back the tears that almost came.
7/ Pull back a bit, as Milo struggles with the information.
MILO: You’re SURE?
8/ David smiles and takes a lick from his ice cream cone, clearly delighted that they’ve found each other. He flirts with his eyes.
DAVID: Positive.
DAVID: Like I said.
PAGE NINETEEN
1/ Long Panel as we CUT to Beth, standing intensely over the kitchen sink, gripping the edges of the marble countertop as though they are her only balance in the world. Her hands, even in the death grip, shake violently as he face belies her desperate struggle to maintain composure. Behind her, in the kitchen doorway, Landon appears, looking very aware of how upset she is.
BETH: Hi.
BETH: Landon.
2/ On Landon, leaning in the doorway, his posture revealing that even though he knows he made the right decision, he is sorry for having made her feel the way she clearly feels about his decision. He fiddles with the woodwork on the doorway with his hand, looking at the ground.
LANDON: Beth. They’re gone.
3/ Closer on Beth, in profile, as she looks down into the sink. Her hair falls over her face, mostly obscuring her. She is unmoved by the news.
BETH: I know.
4/ Close on Landon, approaching cautiously from behind.
LANDON: Are you mad at me?
5/ Beth continues to keep her back to him, but raises her line of sight to look out the kitchen window, mounted over the sink she still leans on. She pushes her hair out of her face, tucking it over her ear.
BETH: No.
BETH: I understand the DECISION.
BETH: Even if I don’t AGREE with it.
6/ She finally turns to face Landon, though she doesn’t make eye contact. He pulls back a little, still scouting her mood.
LANDON: I sense a silent “BUT.”
7/ Beth shrugs a bit, but mostly remains serious.
BETH: BUT…
BETH (small font):…not so silent…
BETH: …that PLACE. Those PEOPLE. It’s not a GOOD world. They’re not GOOD people.
PAGE TWENTY
1/ Landon reaches out and cups the side of her face in his hand, sliding his fingers underneath her hair, which has fallen from her ear. He tilts his head, smiling gently at her to soften his disagreement.
LANDON: You’re making GENERALIZATIONS, Beth.
BETH: No, I –
2/ Close on Landon as he looks serious, a little stern.
LANDON: WE’RE good people, Beth. WE’RE from that world.
3/ Beth turns her head, warming to his touch and allowing her head to sink into it. She closes her eyes and speaks softly, barely opening her mouth. It’s a rare admission:
BETH: I know.
4/ Landon pulls his hand back a bit, leaving the tips of his fingers on her chin as he meets her gaze, and speaks gently but reassuringly.
LANDON: My job is to make sure the GOOD people stay in CHARGE.
LANDON: The BAD won’t get a FOOTHOLD, not if I’m there. And I’ll be FINE.
5/ On Beth, making truly solid eye contact with him for the first time in the scene. She looks almost desperately worried.
BETH: Promise?
6/ Large Panel, filling out the rest of the page, as Landon pulls Beth into an embrace and the tension melts away, lost in the most sincere kiss the two of them have shared in a very long time. Beth puts her arms around Landon’s neck, looking more vulnerable than she ever lets herself look.
LANDON: I promise.
PAGE TWENTY-ONE
1/ Long Panel as we CUT back to Andrew and Mark, still sitting in the same bar. Mark lunges into his explanation for the “Central America” comment, as Andrew listens intently. Throughout the scene, they continue to sip at their drinks. Mark is very enthusiastic, and gestures empathically with his hands.
MARK: Look, you’re a PHILOSOPHY professor, and you’re way into WORLD HISTORY, so you probably already KNOW a good bit of this, but bear with me.
ANDREW: Okay.
MARK: Like, 1400 BCE, or thereabouts, the OLMECS show up. Now, we don’t know much about the Olmecs, but what we DO know is PIVOTAL.
MARK: They developed reliable CALENDARS, built these LUDICROUS statues, had one of the FIRST solid examples of a WRITING SYSTEM, and they seemed to have kicked off this MESOAMERICAN trend of having a REALLY IMPRESSIVE understanding of mathematics and technology.
ANDREW: Right.
2/ On Mark, gesturing with a bottle of beer as he explains.
MARK: But what most people don’t REALIZE is that they started several OTHER trends that would become important to Mesoamerican culture, as WELL. Not only were these people the first to talk about the FEATHERED SERPENT GOD that would eventually come to be known as QUETZALCOATL, but they appear to have been the first WERE-PEOPLE.
3/ On Andrew, over Mark’s shoulder, as he looks up with interest and confusion.
ANDREW: WERE-PEOPLE? But Lycaon…
MARK: LYCAON began the reign of the EUROPEAN WEREWOLF, and he’s where we get the term LYCANTHROPE, but occultists are slowly coming to accept the possibility that he wasn’t the FIRST.
MARK: The evidence is STRONG that the Olmecs had their fair share of WereJAGUARS living among them.
ANDREW: WereJAGUARS? Huh.
4/ On the two of them, as Mark continues to explain. Andrew drains his beer, but another is already being dropped for him by the bartender. Mark ticks off the topic of Olmecs on his fingers as he moves on, making a mental checklist.
MARK: Next up, we got the Mayans. RAISED THE BAR in terms of genius in mathematics and ASTRONOMY. I’m talkin’ like, EVERY SINGLE RITUAL these people performed, it was something to do with the CELESTIAL CYCLES.
MARK: They weren’t just worried about what went on HERE, they wanted to know what the whole UNIVERSE was up to.
MARK: They believed in the Heavens, the Earth, and the Underworld – and the UTMOST in Spiritual ENLIGHTENMENT was to realign your worldview so that you don’t SEE those as three different things, but as one UNIFIED REALITY where it’s all the same. And the SYMBOL of that belief? The feathered serpent, Quetzalcoatl. As ABOVE, so BELOW; flies like an EAGLE, slithers like a SNAKE.
ANDREW: Okay…
5/ On Mark, setting his beer down but still gripping the bottle at the top as he speaks directly to Andrew, who is now off panel. Mark’s beer is almost empty.
MARK: But everyone knows that.
MARK: Everyone knows they had ridiculously accurate calendars, everybody knows how many of their PROPHECIES have come TRUE…but what’s NOT really known is that the numerous GODS of their PANTHEON are just numbers in an EQUATION.
MARK: One big MATHEMATICAL EQUATION, each deity an essential integer in solving the great puzzle of the UNIVERSE – a GRAND UNIFIED THEORY, Mesoamerican style.
6/ Andrew turns to Mark, again surprised by this information. Mark hands his bottle off to the bartender as the bartender hands him another.
ANDREW: Is that TRUE?
MARK: Bet your ass it is. Look it up.
MARK: Next on the list is the AZTEC HEGEMONY.
ANDREW: Hegemony?
7/ On Mark as he takes the first swig from his new beer. He raises his eyebrows as if to say “what, you didn’t know that?” but refrains from anything cockier.
MARK: Hegemony.
MARK: Commonly mistaken for an EMPIRE, I know. But the Aztecs actually allowed all the lands in their possession to MAINTAIN whatever rulers and practices they had in place before the AZTECS got there, so long as everybody was willing to pay TRIBUTE to the dudes with the biggest PYRAMIDS. Ergo, a hegemony, not really an empire.
MARK: The Aztecs coined the term “MEXICA” to describe the land in which they lived, and the word means “Navel of the Moon.”
PAGE TWENTY-TWO
1/ Long panel, showing both of them as they carry on their conversation. Andrew scoffs in disbelief at the name, and Mark smiles as he gestures broadly. At this point, it’s safe to say that Mark is drunk, but not wasted, since he’s still coherent.
ANDREW: God! Could there BE a more PSYCHICALLY LOADED name?
MARK: I KNOW, right?!
MARK: See, THESE people believed in what they called “Teotl,” which is actually pretty similar to the TAO: an impersonal FORCE that permeates the universe, rather than a benevolent or malevolent GOD-HEAD. The various DEITIES they appeared to worship were actually “Teixiptla;” IDOLS or AVATARS, merely ASPECTS of the Teotl.
MARK: What’s INTERESTING, though, is that their most PROMINENT Teixiptla was the god Huitzilopochtli, a SUN god.
ANDREW: So they name their land “Navel of the Moon,” but turn around and worship a SUN GOD. Very YIN and YANG of them.
2/ Mark smiles as he sets his beer on the bar.
MARK: Well, it’s not just very yin and yang – it’s very QUETZALCOATL. See, the merging of multiple aspects of REALITY is a recurrent THEME, here.
MARK: Now, by THIS time, this stuff had started to SPREAD, even reaching so far as the northernmost end of SOUTH AMERICA. The INCAS had emerged, and they’re not only routinely performing SKULL SURGERY with a remarkable success rate, but they believe in reincarnation and even have a RAINBOW FLAG to represent their nation.
3/ On both of them as Andrew laughs to himself. Mark looks momentarily confused.
ANDREW: Milo would get a kick out of that.
MARK: Who’s Milo?
ANDREW: Never mind. I see what you’re saying, though. Another example of the HEAVEN-MEETING-EARTH motif.
4/ Long panel, featuring the two of them but focused on Mark. He looks more intense now than he has throughout the scene, as he prepares to reach his conclusion.
MARK: Right.
MARK: Now, it’s also worth MENTIONING that the Incas claim to have arrived at their home by WALTZING OUT OF THE WATERS OF LAKE TITICACA. Religious myth, or are we looking at possible Atlantean descendants, rising from the water to start a new life?
ANDREW: That’s a little far-fetched.
MARK: I know, but still. Forbidden archeology. Sometimes you have to say these things.
MARK: Now, MOST of this form of SHAMANISM and ESOTERICSM in Central America went out of STYLE over the centuries. The last known ORIGINAL worshippers of Quetzalcoatl were the TOLTECS: artisans and wise men who were PRIESTS of Quetzalcoatl until they EXILED him.
ANDREW: Exiled him?
MARK: They turned from his teachings, abandoned all studies in MAGIC, SHAMANISM, PSYCHISM, and any other spiritual world-bending, and they metaphorically cast the god OUT to wander the world – waiting for his TIME to be right again.
MARK: The MAYANS had prophesied Quetzalcoatl’s eventual RETURN, and history shows that the Mayans usually get this stuff RIGHT.
5/ On Mark, with Andrew out of panel. Pull in close on Mark as he maintains steady eye contact with Andrew in spite of his own intoxication. His eyes light up like he’s announcing that he knows where to find the Arc of the Covenant.
ANDREW (OFF PANEL): Why are you telling me all this, Mark? What’s happened?
MARK: Because on my last trip ABROAD, I FOUND something.
MARK: An ACTIVE tribe, in Central America, calling themselves the AKASHI.
MARK: These people are off the CHARTS, Andrew. They’re psychics, healers, empaths, telekines…
MARK: …you NAME it, they’ve got it.
6/ Andrew smiles, and raises his glass in toast.
ANDREW: Well, then.
ANDREW: Sounds like we have a TRIP to plan.
PAGE TWENTY-THREE
1/ Long panel, as we CUT BACK to the Television Debate Program we saw earlier in the issue, with the long-haired commentator looking intensely past us at his host, who is currently off panel.
GUEST: I think that the TRANSITION we’re about to face…it’s going to be a LONG one, a DIFFICULT one, and it’s going to be FRAUGHT with violence.
2/ Long panel, as we CUT BACK to Rhiannon and Donovan, standing on the edge of the chasm and watching the swirling faces. We see them from below, and we ourselves are down amidst the faces, as though we are one of them, looking up at our observers. Donovan turns to Rhiannon, perplexed. Rhiannon smiles.
NARR (RHI): Sooner or later, the ways you've been DOING THINGS - the EYES through which you've been VIEWING the WORLD - are going to become OBSOLETE.
DON: I’m serious, Rhi.
DON: What IS this?
RHI: It’s the COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS, Donovan.
RHI: The essence of EVERYONE, the world over. The place where each individual’s subconscious mind comes to meet all the others on the ASTRAL PLANE.
3/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Milo and David, on their date, as Milo turns to David and asks him a serious question. They are now in the heart of Downtown, walking together past the Statehouse on their way back up toward the Short North.
MILO: So what do you think we should DO about all this, this crazy telepathic world of the FUTURE?
DAVID: Well, I think we should lead the WAY.
DAVID: As the people who already KNOW the direction the future seems to be TAKING, I think it’s our job to carry the future’s banner openly and PUBLICLY.
DAVID: I guess I’m just not sure HOW.
MILO: Well, you know how we could START?
4/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Rhiannon, turning to face Donovan, who is off panel. The landscape behind her remains the same desert wasteland, but near the spot where they are standing, we can see greenery and plant-life emerging all around.
RHI: If it weren’t for THIS PLACE, we wouldn’t have Jungian Archetypes. We wouldn’t have a ZEITGEIST. We wouldn’t have KISMET. All forms of human interconnectedness stem from this source.
DON (OFF PANEL): The collective unconscious is a PLACE?
RHI: It’s not just a place, Donovan. It’s everyplace, and it’s no place.
PAGE TWENTY-FOUR
1/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Milo and David. David stares in shock as Milo begins to lift upward off the ground, looking to the sky as he extends his hands away from his sides. Electricity begins to fly from his body in every direction, the bioelectric energy from his body extending outward and pushing him away from the earth.
DAVID: Oh, my God. Milo, what are you DOING?
MILO: Watch.
2/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to the television show. Focus on the host, looking intrigued, but the guest is the one who continues his speech off panel.
GUEST (OFF PANEL): I think that before the people of the world are ready for life alongside POSTHUMANS, extreme care will have to be taken with what they DO and DO NOT know.
3/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Donovan, looking fretfully at Rhiannon, who is off panel. Behind him, the tattered and withered tree that once highlighted the edge of the chasm has sprung back to life, though lightning still threatens to strike it dead once more.
DON: Rhiannon…
DON: Everything’s moving so FAST anymore. I don’t know how to PROCESS all this information that’s being THROWN at me.
DON: Not without LOSING myself in it.
NARR: You'll step back, and in one HORRIFIED, seemingly ENDLESS moment, you'll realize what's happened and you'll say "I've lost TOUCH."
4/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Milo and David. Skewed camera angle as we see, in the distant BG, an image of Milo now commandeering the digital screen of the NBC building. He stares forward from the monitor like Big Brother, delivering his message to the people of the city. In the Extreme FG we see the back of Milo’s legs as his feet now hover almost a yard off the ground. Electricity still sprouts from all over, lighting the scene. Between the two Milos we see David, striking a pose of tense uncertainty. He looks up at the floating, glowing Milo with awe.
MILO: I’m leading the WAY, David. Like you said.
MONITOR MILO: Do not adjust your sets. I have complete control of your TELEVISIONS, for the DURATION of this BROADCAST.
PAGE TWENTY-FIVE
1/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Rhiannon looking seriously at Donovan, who is off panel. She is being firm, but not aggressive – speaking to him in measured tones.
RHI: It’s not about LOSING yourself in it, Donovan.
RHI: It’s about letting it become a PART of you. You don’t lose yourself in basic world information – you simply accept that it’s TRUE, and it becomes a part of your reality. This is no more overwhelming to accept than the fact that the sky is BLUE.
RHI: You only believe it is.
NARR: Now, for MANY, the easy way out is to SCRAP the OLD and become something ENTIRELY DIFFERENT.
2/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Landon and Beth, entering the Living Room in surprise, having heard Milo’s voice on TV. They are still holding hands from the embrace they had just been sharing, and they stand horror-struck before the television as they absorb the reality of what’s happening.
BETH: Landon, what the hell’s he DOING?
MILO ON TV: We have lived too long with the burden of ARROGANCE in our BELIEFS. We believe we know the world, that we know its WORKINGS.
MILO ON TV: All that we can ever know is that the things we think we know about the world have always been true BEFORE TODAY, and with that information in tow we arrogantly truck forward, thinking that the things we believe will STILL be true when we wake up in the morning.
3/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to the television show, focused on the Guest.
GUEST: And I think that any POSTHUMAN who attempts to SUBVERT a gentle and PEACEFUL transition, who attempts to introduce CHAOS into the system, must be met with the FULL STRENGTH of the United States Defense Capabilities.
4/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Donovan, looking into the chasm of faces with uncertainty and an even mix of awe and terror. Rhiannon approaches him from behind, placing a hand on his back. The floating faces swirl by, glowing brightly.
DON: How do I become a PART of this without losing my IDENTITY?
DON: How do you join a COLLECTIVE without sacrificing INDIVIDUALITY?
NARR: Reinvent yourself. Start OVER. But that's a mistake.
PAGE TWENTY-SIX
1/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Milo, facing us directly on the Big Monitor Screen, digital fuzz making his image quake slightly, though his gaze remains stoic.
MONITOR MILO: The truth is that you are IGNORANT.
MON MILO: In a world where information is forever at your FINGERTIPS, you chose to remain STUBBORNLY IGNORANT.
MON MILO: The time for this CULTURAL LAZINESS is rushing to an END. The world has some difficult lessons to LEARN, and for AMERICA perhaps the most difficult of ALL.
2/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Donovan and Rhiannon, seen from a distance as the chunk of rock they are standing on descends downward into the chasm, floating them gently to a point where they are surrounded by a wall of hovering faces. They look around in awe.
RHI: It’s not a COLLECTIVE, Donovan. It’s a COMMUNION.
RHI: You don’t forsake who you are; you let your uniqueness ENRICH it.
NARR: No...when the time comes, and you find yourself reevaluating everything that you are and wondering what comes NEXT for you, don't embark on the FOOL'S ERRAND of starting from SCRATCH and becoming something DIFFERENT.
3/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Monitor Milo, staring right at us. We are closer this time, with only his face allowed in the panel.
MON MILO: For those of you who are like US, who can intuitively FEEL the PARADIGM SHIFT that is HURTLING toward us – I want you to know that you are NOT alone.
MON MILO: There are those who would have you believe that your gifts are IMAGINED, that you belong in an INSTITUTION. These are LIES.
MON MILO: You are not CRAZY.
MON MILO: You are not alone.
4/ Long Panel as we CUT BACK to the television Host, turning to face the camera, openly shocked by his guest’s opinion. He is, however, pleased to hear it.
HOST: You heard it here FIRST, folks. Even the LIBERALS are behind it.
HOST: Posthumans. We aren’t READY. And any posthuman attempting to push the world in a direction that we the people don’t WANT?
HOST: Must.
HOST: Be.
HOST: Silenced.
PAGE TWENTY-SEVEN
1/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Donovan and Rhiannon, facing each other on the floating rock as the faces whirl around them. Their hair and clothes are now flapping around, caught in the wind created by the mystical tumult. Donovan looks frightened, and Rhiannon moves in to comfort him, preparing to reach out and touch him.
DON: What we’re heading toward – what the WORLD is heading toward?
DON: It terrifies me.
DON: It’s so NEW, so DIFFERENT. I don’t know if I can face it ALONE.
RHI: You don’t have to. We’ll face it together.
RHI: You, me, and everyone else.
NARR: Do it right. Be mindful of what you WERE, but learn how to take the next STEP. Don't become DIFFERENT, just become MORE. Put the PAST in its PLACE and move ONWARD, UPWARD.
2/ Long panel as we CUT BACK, even closer to Monitor Milo. His eyes narrow, intense.
MON MILO: There will come a DAY, very soon, when we will either COME TOGETHER, or the future will DIE.
MON MILO: My name is Elliot Milo Woodyard, and I am one of the KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS.
3/ Long panel as we CUT BACK to Donovan and Rhiannon. They come together, locking lips in a kiss for the first time. Donovan slides his hand beneath Rhiannon’s flowing hair, and she places her own hand on the back of his neck, pulling them tighter together. The floating faces whip by in a manic rush.
RHI: Everything’s going to CHANGE, now.
NARR: Don't run. Don't hide.
4/ EXTREME CLOSE as we CUT BACK to Monitor Milo. Only his eyes and the front locks of his hair are visible.
MON MILO: Everything’s going to CHANGE, now.
MON MILO: Goodbye.
5/ Small panel, as we see only the gray and black static that remains when a television has lost its signal.
PAGE TWENTY-EIGHT
1/ FULL PAGE SPLASH as Donovan and Rhiannon snap back to reality, with Rhiannon laying on her back, wide awake, on Donovan’s bed. Donovan is on top of her, propping himself up with his hands. They are still kissing, as they were on the astral plane. They both smile at each other.
NARR: Transcend.
RHI: Donovan.
RHI: This is all real, here.
DON: I know.
PAGE TWENTY-NINE
1/ Cut to a TALL PANEL, as poor Detective John Spacey hangs against a cold stone wall in rusty iron manacles. He has been beaten to hell, and is covered in open wounds and dark bruises. We see a shaft of light fall over him as the door to his room is opened.
SOUND EFFECT: CREEEKKK
2/ Spacey looks straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge the owner of the shadow that has fallen over him as his captor surveys him.
CORA (OFF PANEL): John.
3/ Panel remains exactly the same, though Cora’s hips and hands (which are resting on her hips) have entered from the left.
CORA: Anything to say to me?
4/ Panel remains exactly the same, though Cora now turns abruptly and walks out of view, her hand swinging behind her.
CORA: Fine.
5/ From behind, we see Cora, looking back over her shoulder at John. The dungeon around her is dark and dank, with torture devices mounted on the walls. She smiles coyly, flirting with her eyes.
CORA: Snub WIFEY. See how she deals with it.
6/ John finally looks up at her, grimacing at the pain.
SPACEY: You’re…not…her.
PAGE THIRTY
1/ Long panel as Cora bends down to hold John by the face, caressing his heavily stubbled cheeks and rubbing her thumb over one of his wounds. She grins wickedly at him as he tries to look away.
CORA: Well, SURE.
CORA: I suppose that’s TRUE. But I thought we could at least have a bit of FUN.
SPACEY: Go to hell.
2/ Tall panel as Cora stands up, pulling a knife from seemingly nowhere as she smiles at John, flipping her hair out from her eyes.
CORA: Hey, now. Don’t count me out YET.
CORA: I may have fire and brimstone in my FUTURE, but I’ve got plenty more fun to have before I kick the BUCKET.
3/ She leans down and jabs a finger into John’s face, pressing against his forward and forcing him to tip his head back as he strains against her.
CORA: You, on the other hand? Not so much.
4/ Tears stream down John’s face as he looks away from her, unable to see his dead wife’s face on whoever this is.
SPACEY: Please. Please….do whatever you WANT to me.
SPACEY: Just, please, for the love of God…don’t be HER when you DO IT.
5/ John jumps and his eyes go wide as Cora rams the knife into his gut, off panel. A little blood spurts out of his mouth. She grimaces with the effort, but clearly enjoys it.
CORA: Sorry, honey.
SOUND EFFECT: SHUNK
CORA: I don’t take requests.
6/ Close on the dripping knife that Cora holds in her hand, filling the FG of the shot as, in the BG, the door opens once more. A silhouette fills the doorframe, leaning tentatively on the jamb and shifting uncomfortably.
SHADOW: Um, Malice, sir?
SHADOW: Is everything OKAY in here?
CORA/MALICE (OFF PANEL): Of COURSE, Thomas.
7/ Cora turns to reveal the face of Malice, having satisfied himself that Spacey is dead. He looks determined, as though he’s just been hit with a stroke of genius. Having killed Spacey, he loses interest in maintaining the Cora charade and heads toward the door, glancing at Thomas as he goes.
MALICE: But why don’t you DIG UP a few extra SUPPLIES for me, Thomas?
MALICE: I have a MACHINE to build.
Next: Knights Annual #1!
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