Knights of Columbus #9

Issue Nine: “Sheep’s Clothing, part 2: The Brotherhood”

PAGE ONE

“Previously” page.

PAGE TWO

1/ Long panel, depicting an ancient Conqueror standing proudly before his kingdom, staring off into the distance as his flag whips violently in the wind at his side. He is poised atop a craggy cliff face, and the tide breaks against the rocks as a tropical storm thunders across the sky, illuminating the monolithic towers of his kingdom in the BG.

CAPTION (NARR/LANDON): Long, long ago, in a time before DOCUMENTED HISTORY, there lived a man named LYCAON.

CAPTION: Lycaon was the first KING OF ARCADIA, and superstition held that King Lycaon was WITHOUT AGE, spanning down through the CENTURIES to take his rightful THRONE, with ambitious eyes set on controlling ALL LANDS, as far as the eye could SEE.

2/ Depiction of an ancient but highly advanced civilization, with spires reaching upward toward the heavens that would rival even the greatest modern skyscrapers. This city has the appearance of both ancient imperialism and ultra-futurism, like a combination of Star Wars’ NABOO and the city from the JETSONS or the FIFTH ELEMENT, with both classic architecture and rows upon rows of flying vehicles swerving this way and that. Neon signs declare Lemurian Sovereignty over the world, and ticker tape parades trumpet through the streets below.

CAPTION: What Lycaon’s subjects DIDN’T realize is that they weren’t ENTIRELY off the mark.

CAPTION: Lycaon was all that remained of an ancient and ADVANCED race known as the Lemurians – ageless WARRIOR-POETS who called this world their own even before the true ATLANTEANS raised their towering spires to the sky.

3/ Lycaon stands before a vast Army, waving his sword over his head as he shouts a terrible battle cry, thunder and lightning splitting the red sky in half as the Army marches across the long-forgotten landscape of prehistoric Earth. Sharp and threatening rocks reach up dangerously into the sky in places, as the Army pours around them – unfettered in the bloodthirsty quest for immortality.

CAPTION: Though the Lemurians did not AGE in any discernable way, they were all too aware of the consequences of suffering a MORTAL WOUND, and to STAVE OFF threat from the WILD WORLD around them became their penetrating OBSESSION.

CAPTION: To this end, they developed POWERFUL ARMIES – and as their GENERAL, they elected LYCAON, mightiest warrior of them ALL.

4/ The Earth, as seen from space, with its continents closer together than we think of them today. Storms rage on the surface as the planet is rent asunder, a time of volcanic violence and constant change sending the planet below into a devastating tailspin of forced evolution – extinctions caused and forgotten about, only to give rise to new races that would soon be extinct themselves.

CAPTION: But the WORLD WANTS what the world wants, and even the MIGHTIEST army is useless against the shifting of TECTONIC PLATES.

CAPTION: As the world CHANGED, so did the delicate ECOSYSTEM that supported the Lemurians, and a day soon came when their race was NO MORE…

5/ An elf-like being guards the gates to his OWN gleaming city, with its golden and blue towers reaching high into the sky against the island coastline of the nation Atlantis. The sun shines brightly from on high, reflecting off the metal and stone facades of the beautiful city, and the Atlantean elf-being that resides outside the gate smiles broadly against the shine of it, his own ornate staff gleaming in his hands.

CAPTION:...and the ATLANTEANS claimed the world in their TURN.

6/ Long panel as Lycaon walks alone across an ancient and untouched landscape, rolling fields and mountain ranges splayed out behind him like a pristine post card of a world that once existed, the setting sun turning the world ablaze with red hues. Lycaon looks on with grim determination; his tattered clothes the only remnant of his lost society. But he would rise again, as King of Arcadia, and once his career in Greece had ended, he would move on into the world once more.

CAPTION: But Lycaon ENDURED.

CAPTION: Down through the centuries he came, until ONE day – and a FATEFUL meeting.

PAGE THREE

1/ A Young Boy is chained to a dungeon wall, his arms strung up above him in wrought iron manacles, his elbows bruised and bloodied from the strain of supporting his weight. The boy’s hair is ratty and caked with sweat and dirt, his face and chest laced with bloody scars – especially his chest, where the bright red marks of barbed whips still show their deep grooves, left by torturous punishment for nothing save for nationality. The boy’s hatred seethes in his eyes, almost a red glow.

CAPTION: The life of VLAD TEMPES had been a difficult one, to say the least.

CAPTION: Born in a MILITARY STRONGHOLD in the city of Sighisoara and inducted into the ORDER OF THE DRAGON at only five years of age, he was subsequently remanded as a hostage to the OTTOMAN EMPIRE by his bastard father, VLAD DRACUL.

CAPTION: Tortured and punished for YEARS by his sadistic, EXPANSIONIST captors, he slowly nurtured his hatred and hatched his plans for the day he would take his rightful place on the throne of WALLACHIA.

2/ Vlad stands alone in the center of a great meeting hall, surrounded by many Hungarian government officials, all clambering and debating and pointing, reaching conclusions about how this boy could be useful to them in the war against the Ottoman Empire. Vlad simply smiles, knowing the power his hatred has borne him.

CAPTION: After many years and many political shifts in the TIDE, Vlad fled to HUNGARY, where the government quickly RECOGNIZED the value of his hatred and intricate KNOWLEDGE of the Ottoman Empire.

CAPTION: They promptly took him on as ADVISOR, and it was THEN that Vlad made his own MASTER STROKE.

3/ Vlad kneels on the floor of his stone-walled quarters, contorting in pain as the ethereal form of Legion, the great demon who spoke to Donovan during his trip to hell, poses over him – a wispy tail of blue smoke descending from below Legion and into Vlad’s chest. Vlad screams to the sky, his arms held out triumphantly and defiantly.

CAPTION: On the night before the invasion to reclaim his HOMELAND, Vlad sold his SOUL to the Daemon Legion – in exchange for a portion of Legion’s own ESSENCE to exist in HIM, where his soul once SHONE.

4/ On a thunderous and bloody battlefield, Vlad leads the Hungarian army to sack the walls of Wallachia, thrusting forward into the air with his sword as the army crashes against the great stone walls.

CAPTION: And so it was that in 1456, with the aid of Legion’s DAEMONIC transformation, Vlad led an ARMY to Wallachia and violently DROVE OUT the Ottoman Occupation, taking his place as RULER.

5/ A shadowy alley, lit only by the oil lamps mounted on the brick walls of nearby buildings, as we see the dark figure of Vlad consorting with a prostitute in the darkness of the space between buildings. His eyes glow red in the black depths of the alley – as does the blood that pours from the prostrate prostitute’s raw and shredded neck. In the shadows, we can see that Vlad has become something different, with the distorted features and alien hands of the Vampire Nosferatu…the archetypical classic Vampire, replete with long, curving claws.

CAPTION: He became known as VLAD THE IMPALER, and later VLAD DRACULA, and whispers spread throughout Wallachia and Transylvania – the country of his birth-in-exile – that Vlad could be seen wandering the STREETS at night, drinking the blood of unsuspecting COURTESANS.

CAPTION: And yet, no one made a PEEP to object. How could they? He had freed them from Ottoman RULE, and he continued to protect his country with a RUTHLESS and INHUMAN drive – not yet a SLAVE to the night, and still able to walk in the daylight if he so DESIRED.

6/ A Vlad look-alike, but noticeably NOT the real Vlad, sits on the throne of Wallachia, surrounded by soldiers with spears who point their weapons at his head. He looks righteously indignant, staring off into space and trying his best to ignore his attackers.

CAPTION: But, having tasted the DARKNESS, Vlad grew tired of his REIGN. In 1462, he secretly ABSCONDED, posting an imposter in his place just days before he would have been IMPRISONED by his brother RADU.

CAPTION: His replacement suffered that fate in his STEAD, later returning from captivity to RECLAIM his throne, and even later being DEPOSED by his own people – but it mattered little to VLAD.

7/ Vlad wanders off into the night, leaving the kingdom of Wallachia behind him. We watch as he walks off into the moonlight, viewed over the stone towers of Wallachia, standing tall in the FG of the shot as Vlad’s figure fades into the distance.

CAPTION: He was CONTENT to wander EUROPE at night, FEEDING and thriving, as DRACULA – the first VAMPIRE.

CAPTION: And then he met LYCAON.

PAGE FOUR

1/ Gruesome image of Vlad sinking his vampiric teeth into the exposed neck of Lycaon, caught alone under a tree in a woodland grove. Lycaon twitches, trying to fight back.

CAPTION: When Vlad met Lycaon alone on a wooded path, he STRUCK. After drinking Lycaon’s sweet LEMURIAN BLOOD nearly to the last DROP, he began the tedious ritual of TRANSFORMATION, planning on Lycaon’s rebirth as yet another of Vlad’s newly-converted vampire BROOD.

CAPTION: But what Vlad had expected was NOT what he received.

2/ Lycaon transforms violently and painfully into a werewolf, his arms stretching and contorting into wolf form as he screams in pain. The world around him becomes red, bright lines of searing agony shooting off of him as he completes the transformation, to Vlad’s visible horror.

CAPTION: Lycaon did indeed emerge ANEW from his near-demise, but not as the Vampire that Vlad had sought to create. In the Vampire’s place emerged something NEW: Half-man, half-WOLF, bloodthirsty and STRONG, transforming only under the light of a FULL MOON.

3/ Vlad and Lycaon, in human form, work together in an advanced science lab, riddled with devices that are simultaneously three-hundred years old and state of the art, cobbled together with the benefit of an immortal’s lifetime of research. They stare at glass tubules of colored liquid, and fidget with dials on obtuse machines, looks of intrigue and excitement on both their faces.

CAPTION: After a brief BATTLE, the two became fast FRIENDS. As the numbers of Vampires and Werewolves GREW, the two friends sought to understand what had HAPPENED that fateful night – and in their quest, they became the world’s first GENETICISTS. What they discovered was startling.

CAPTION: Lycaon’s transformation had been caused by the gene-sequence of Lemurian DNA, REINTERPRETING the Legionic Curse and making it NEW, with wholly different manifestations of ABILITY than the vampires that had come BEFORE. All subjects undergoing the transformation ritual who manifested as WEREWOLVES harbored the SAME dormant gene-sequence – they were ALL unknown descendents of the ANCIENT RACE.

CAPTION: Likewise, all those who were able to manifest as VAMPIRES harbored their OWN shared gene-sequence – though whether it was Atlantean, or POLARIAN, or HYPERBOREAN remained a mystery.

4/ Vlad wraps his claws around the edges of a microscope, staring intently into its view-finder as he reviews his findings. All around him are potted plants, in many cases chopped up onto little trays full of leaf shavings. On the base of the microscope rests a small clear tab of glass, dripping with a sticky green substance.

CAPTION: Eventually, they even discovered the BIOLOGICAL underpinnings of the TRANSFORMATION RITUAL: the process was set in motion by two DRUG-LIKE substances present in both Vampire and Werewolf SALIVA – tetrodotoxin and datura, both found elsewhere only in PLANTLIFE.

5/ Lycaon and Vlad stand before a gathering council of Vampires, Werewolves, and humans clad in mystical accoutrements, greeting them all from two identical podiums in a large, subterranean chamber. The gathering bounces and writhes and protests, and Lycaon slams his gavel down on his podium, calling the chaos to order.

CAPTION: In 1889, in the wake of a VERY PUBLIC series of killings perpetrated by one of their OWN – calling himself JACK THE RIPPER – Vlad and Lycaon formed a BROTHERHOOD.

CAPTION: They called it the VLADIC Brotherhood, in honor of Vlad’s initiation of Lycaon into the occult, and they swore to protect their kind by disappearing into the underground and operating in secrecy, forming stringent rules regarding Brotherhood KILLING PRACTICES.

6/ An old, yellowed photograph of Armin Vambery, one of many inspirations for Stoker’s Abraham Van Helsing.

CAPTION: Their ranks eventually expanded to include a growing cult of SORCERERS and WITCHES, and both Lycaon and Vlad were slain by the hunter ARMIN VAMBERY shortly thereafter – going to their unnatural graves as friends and chosen brothers.

7/ A modern laboratory, as white-coated scientists with cat’s eyes work alongside the modern descendants of Vlad – now able to stand upright and resembling humans far more closely, though still gray in skin color with pointed ears and long, sharp-nailed fingers. Together, this group mills about in a state-of-the-art underground laboratory, with computer monitors displaying gene analysis and centrifuges swinging colorful bottles in wild circles. One of the werewolf scientists, with his yellow slanted eyes, stands closest to us, examining the contents of one colored bottle.

CAPTION: The Vladic Brotherhood, however, lives ON.

CAPTION: To this day, it practices their carefully conceived RULES regarding minimum interference with the world ABOVE GROUND, and they continue the SCIENTIFIC EFFORTS begun by Vlad and Lycaon so long ago – most recently creating the drug LYCANTHROPENE, eliminating the MOONLIGHT RESTRICTION on werewolves and putting the TRANSFORMATION under their CONTROL.

CAPTION: No such drug has yet been discovered to free VAMPIRES of their many LIMITATIONS, though progress is made DAILY.

8/ A shot low to the ground, as a group of shuffling, rotting creatures walk toward us, only their lower halves visible. Their hands dangle down into the shot, hanging limply at their sides as they drag their broken and contorted feet forward, dragging bloody streaks as they walk. They wear rotten and tattered clothes, falling off in places.

CAPTION: The one thing that haunts the Brotherhood STILL, it bears mentioning, is one of the VERY FIRST discoveries the two dear friends made in those first halcyon DAYS – the mindless, emotionless, ambitionless creatures created when one attempts to initiate and individual who LACKS that crucial dormant genetic heritage – that senseless being with its lumbering gait and foolish stare…

PAGE FIVE

1/ Cut to Beth and Landon, as they finish their story. They stand in the offices of the Knights of Columbus, at night, leaning against the conference table as they address the group as a whole. Landon props himself against the table with his arms extended behind his back, as Beth leans against it with her arms crossed against her chest. They have changed clothes since last we saw them, and so, of course, are no longer in their underwear. Landon wears a light gray zip-up coat, and Beth wears a brown, detective-style trench coat.

BETH: …THE ZOMBIE.

CAPTION: The Atlas Building, Knights of Columbus Headquarters.

LANDON: Like those things we faced TODAY.

2/ Milo and Rhiannon look on, incredulous. Rhiannon has changed from her jogging clothes, now wearing a black t-shirt labeled “A Perfect Circle,” and a cream-colored thermal undershirt sticking out from under the t-shirt. She has also applied her trademark Rhiannon Goth-ish makeup, but significantly less than before – making her look more like an Indy chick than a Goth chick. She fiddles with her mother’s ring as Milo speaks, he brushing a stray chunk of his hair from his eyes. He has not changed clothes, still bearing the “Also Sprach” t-shirt, though he has added his Firebird hoody.

MILO: You mean to tell me that Vampires, Werewolves, and ZOMBIES…are all the same damn thing?

3/ Long panel as Landon and Beth explain, Landon gesturing broadly and Beth remaining stoic, arms still crossed.

LANDON: Not that they’re the same thing. Only that they come from the same SOURCE.
LANDON: They’re completely separate creatures, all created along whatever lines SUIT them, but only when the TRANSFORMATION PROCESS is performed on them – hence creating whatever effect the Legionic curse is supposed to have on them, GENETIC HERITAGE permitting.

BETH: At least at FIRST. Once a Zombie has been accidentally – or DELIBERATELY - created, he or she doesn’t need to do the transformation process anymore to create Zombies. They just automatically create them. So a Zombie can’t accidentally create a VAMPIRE. It only works the other way around.
BETH: And it all makes sense, really, because Tetrodotoxin and Datura are the keystone drugs used in HAITI when they create MAN-MADE Zombies from living beings.

4/ Image of Vlad and Lycaon attacking a stranger on a cobblestone street in 18th century England. Lycaon circles while Vlad approaches the man from behind, sinking his fangs into the man’s vulnerable neck.

CAPTION (BETH CONT’D): The difference in THIS case being that the victim is drained almost COMPLETELY of his BLOOD while the drugs are being biologically administered.
CAPTION: So, taken to the brink of death and then STAYED in this world by the Legionic CURSE, they become a real-life horror-movie UNDEAD Zombie, instead of the phony ones created by the HAITIANS.

5/ Close up on the face of a rotting Zombie.

CAPTION: They take on the appearance of the drugs having their NORMAL human effect, wherein they become mindless and robotic, and since the CURSE MUTATION doesn’t ever TAKE, they begin to essentially be rotting CORPSES, needing to feed CONSTANTLY, lest they wither away.

CAPTION (MILO): So, are werewolves UNDEAD?

CAPTION (BETH): No. Though both Zombies and Vampires are undead, actually drained to the point of death and then RESSURECTED by the Legionic Curse, Lemurian PHYSIOLOGY – for some reason – allows WEREWOLVES to be taken NEAR death, and then restored by the mutation before the POINT OF NO RETURN.

6/ Close on Andrew, looking as irritated as ever. He, too, has changed from his suit-coat-and-tie teaching uniform to a navy blue t-shirt and brown bomber jacket, with a white Hanes t-shirt sticking out the collar from beneath it all.

ANDREW: Why are they HERE, Landon?
ANDREW: That’s all that matters to me right now.

7/ Close on Landon, with Beth close-by in the BG.

LANDON: That’s what we need to FIND OUT.
LANDON: If the BROTHERHOOD is HERE, nothing good can possibly come from it.

PAGE SIX

1/ Cut to a LONG PANEL as Malice stands alone in a high-tech laboratory, facing off across the panel with a dormant, but very HUMAN-looking robot. Malice wears his red-and-black ensemble from the first two times we met him, and he brandishes a small hand-held tape recorder for the duration of the entire scene, holding it up near his mouth as he wanders the lab, taking verbal notes. The lab has been trashed, by both Malice and the scientists attempting to escape before he killed them, their bodies strewn about the lab in tortured, bloody heaps. It’s not clear HOW Malice killed them, but he did.
CAPTION (NARR): Boston, Massachusetts.

MALICE: Omega Research Project, part three: ROBOTICS.

MALICE: I’m here at CAMBRIDGE DYNAMICS – where the personnel have been so kind as to obligingly DIE so as to facilitate my forced entry onto the more SECRETIVE regions of the premises – and I’m currently face-to-face with a nifty little bugger the developers here affectionately refer to as SINGULAAR.

MALICE: He’s cute.

2/ Malice gets closer to the robot SINGULAAR, looking it right in the face. The robot is very humanoid in its design, but not “human looking” at all. It has no flesh and no attempt has been made to approximate a human appearance beyond having a bipedal humanoid body-type. Attached to its shoulder is a small artillery launcher, and its armored chest plate has a serial number printed across it that reads 01-01-03. Its bears a striking resemblance to the “Tetra Vaal,” made famous in an internet video that can be found on YouTube.

MALICE: SINGULAAR appears to be a prototype ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE in the form of – as I suspected – a ROBOTIC FOOT SOLDIER, replete with heavy ARTILLERY.

MALICE: According to the paperwork I’ve been able to drudge UP, here, it seems that Mr. Robot was a JOINT venture, between the affable gentlemen here at Cambridge Dynamics and our good buddies at DARPA – the DOD’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

3/ On Malice, as he surveys the off-panel robot with his eyes, speaking into the recorder.

MALICE: DARPA’s been sneaking up on us with surprises like this since SPUTNIK got a bug up our collective BUTTS, so little surprise HERE – though it IS interesting to note ONE particularly subversive tactic at play, even for the Department of Defense.

4/ Malice holds up an office memo, torn physically from what must have been a much bigger book. He smiles wryly as he summarizes its contents for the recorder.

MALICE: It seems that DARPA was DIRECTLY involved in the now-NOTORIOUS bit of short-film GENIUS known as the “TETRA VAAL,” a supposedly FICTIONAL account of a possible A.I. soldier that made waves a few years back. According to this report, Tetra Vaal was designed from information disseminated down from DARPA itself to cast DOUBT on the REALITY of the experiment by presenting it in a popularized, FICTIONAL light.

MALICE: Sneaky, sneaky.

5/ Malice walks past SINGULAAR, dismissing it as he moves on to the next point of interest. He casts off the paper memo, ignoring it as it floats away into the bloody lab.

MALICE: Also notable are some of the OTHER projects being developed here in tandem with DARPA.
MALICE: Made public in recent years, the CYBORG INSECT project moves forward at an ALARMING rate, though just HOW advanced the technology has become has not been widely SHARED.

6/ Behind Malice, as he stands before a large metal and glass cage. It reaches up to the ceiling, containing hundreds of flying, buzzing, modified insects. He presses his hand against the glass exterior, marveling at the cyborg bugs.

MALICE: I stand this moment before an ENORMOUS glass case containing HUNDREDS of modified insect forms, altered SURGICALLY to include MICRO-ELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEMS useful in infiltrating enemy encampments and extracting vital information.

MALICE: It’s astounding.

7/ Alternate view, as Malice presses even closer to the glass, trying to see one of the insects closer up. One of them flies up to the glass and taps against it – a colorful beetle with myriad robotic implants sticking off of its insectile form, clicking and whirring.

MALICE: They appear to be controlled by MECHANO-SENSOR ACTIVATION technology, and have all survived well into ADULTHOOD with their biomechanical alterations INTACT.

SOUND EFFECT: vvvrr vvvvr

PAGE SEVEN

1/ Viewed over a table cluttered with greasy mechanical parts and strewn with memos and faxes, Malice reads from a thick stack of papers he’s picked up, leaning against the table as he speaks into the recorder.

MALICE: FURTHERMORE, we see here EXTENSIVE notes regarding attempts to duplicate CHINESE experiments on implanting ELECTRODES into the brainpans of PIGEONS, enabling remote-controlled FLIGHT…

2/ Close on Malice, reading the papers and scanning the pages with his eyes.

MALICE: …and still MORE dissertations on successful implantations into SIMIANS that enable them to move CURSORS across COMPUTER SCREENS using only their MINDS – though no TEST SUBJECTS are currently PRESENT.

MALICE: Pity.

3/ Long panel, over Malice’s shoulder, as he looks down at the room at a massive collection of four-legged robotic creatures, like large mechanical dogs or bears, lined up in neat rows. The robots have no heads, but are instead comprised of wide mechanical bases packed down with storage compartments, perched atop the robotic equivalent of greyhound legs, hydraulic pistons pointing out this way and that.

MALICE: Perhaps MOST startling, however, are the two projects which appear to have yielded the most REMARKABLE success.

MALICE: Not only do I see a veritable FLEET of the robotic HOUND DOGS we’ve read so much about in recent years – lined up like so many HARLEYS at a DIVE-BAR…

4/ Malice walks forward, toward us, as he looks up at whatever has caught his attention off-panel. As he approaches, he is lit by an ocean-blue glow, casting its colorful hue on everything that gets near it. He smiles wickedly.

MALICE: …but in this innermost chamber beneath the surface of BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTES lies what may well be the largest AQUATIC SUPPORT TANK in the northern HEMISPHERE.

5/ On Malice, as he approaches the glowing blue tank, his reflection smiling back at him from the surface of the glass as he speaks into the recorder.

MALICE: And in that tank, you ask?

6/ Longish panel, as Malice looks up at the magnificent contents of the tank: an army of robotically enhanced Great White sharks, their fins and faces tricked out with gadgetry and circuitry galore, the metropolitan landscape of computer circuitry winding all over their sleek gray bodies and making them look like an H.R. Geiger nightmare, armed to the gills with tiny but devastating-looking gun turrets – currently deactivated, and thus hanging limply at the sharks’ sides.

MALICE: Oh, how I wish I’d brought more than a simple DIGITAL AUDIO RECORDER, for Lo, before me this day, in the crystal blue waters of this gargantuan man-made ocean, swims the largest assemblage of ROBOTICALLY-ENHANCED, mind-controlled SHARKS ever gathered in one SACROSANCT space.

7/ Close on Malice, smiling in the blue glow.

MALICE: That’s right, boys and girls. Sharks with frickin’ LASER BEAMS on their heads, in a manner of speaking.

PAGE EIGHT
1/ Long panel, Over Malice’s shoulder, as he looks back over the trashed lab.

MALICE: Though it saddens me to report that I can’t take any of these delicious goodies HOME with me, I do have only so many CHAFF GRENADES at my disposal – given that they don’t officially EXIST, after all – and the security systems will be back online before you can say MAD SCIENTIST.

2/ Long panel. Walking toward the exit, Malice stops momentarily at a long table scattered with experimental projects and picks up a futuristic looking gun, wires and gizmos clinging to it like parasites as he brandishes it admiringly in the air.

MALICE: Perhaps they have something more EFFECTIVE than my pithy grenades here, amidst their silly toys of FUTURE WAR.

MALICE: Oh well. Perhaps I’ll have to swing by this way again SOON.

3/ Long panel. A dying scientist, drenched in his own blood, reaches a shaking hand up toward Malice from the floor. Tears of pain roll down his face as he struggles to speak.

SCIENTIST: Who….
SCIENTIST: Who ARE you?

4/ Low angle, the scientist’s POV, as Malice dangles the high-tech gun at his side.

MALICE: Me?
MALICE: I’m your worst NIGHTMARE.

5/ Same shot, except that Malice now points the gun in the scientist’s (and our) face.

MALICE: Now go back to sleep.

SOUND EFFECT: Click!

6/ The panel goes white, the gun’s blast decimating the scene.


PAGE NINE

1/ Cut to a FULL PAGE SPLASH, with the issue’s TITLE, CREDITS, and INDICIA. Andrew stands in the office of the Knights, speaking excitedly on the phone – once again – with Mr. Palmer. As he speaks, he fiddles with his fingernails, a new nervous habit he’s picked up. It is still night in Columbus, and the lights of downtown can be seen through the window of Andrew’s private office.

ANDREW: Yes, Mr. Palmer, sir…I’m well aware that I was rather CURT with you on the phone today.
ANDREW: Well, I’m just not sure what you would like me to DO about any of this, sir. I AM aware of what people are saying, and I DO think it’s important that public opinion not work AGAINST us, but I don’t know how we could possibly be any more DISCREET then we are and still expect to get anything DONE.

CAPTION (ANDREW): See, the tricky thing about being a LEADER…
CAPTION: Is getting people to come around to your POINT OF VIEW.

ANDREW: The spotlight’s not only on US, sir.
ANDREW: What about PARALLAX? The New York team. I’ve definitely heard my share of high-profile mentions about THEM in the daily news.

CAPTION: Because the thing about POINTS OF VIEW is that everyone’s GOT one – and they’ve USUALLY spent their whole life DEVELOPING it, beating it into their own heads until it CONGEALS and FESTERS and eventually becomes DOGMA.

ANDREW: With all due respect, sir, I don’t believe that the government “DEALING” with them is going to be any more helpful than your attempts to “DEAL” with me. They’re doing good work out there, and all this is going to ACCOMPLISH is INTERFERING with that work.
ANDREW: And yes, I’m aware that the public has their RESERVATIONS about our activities, but I’m yet to see any one person actually attempt to DO anything about ANY of it. It’s all TALK.

ANDREW: No, sir, I don’t think it’s because they’re SCARED of us. I think it’s because, DESPITE their I-DON’T-LIKE-CHANGE bluster, people realize that we are a necessary next step in their SOCIETY.

CAPTION: And once an IDEA becomes DOGMA? Once someone’s REALLY set in their WAYS? They will fight you to the DEATH before they ever CHANGE their MIND.

ANDREW: What do you MEAN, what do I mean by “next step?” I’m talking about the FUTURE, here, Mr. Palmer!

PAGE TEN

1/ Donovan, Beth and Landon cluster around the end of the conference table, in various places. Donovan leans against the table, arms crossed. He, too, has changed his clothes from earlier. He now wears thick black work boots, dark (slightly torn) denim jeans, and a newer, non-damaged version of his black Iron Cross T-shirt that he inherited from Samson Paul. On his wrists, he wears matching black leather wristbands, presumably purchased from Milo’s store. Beth leans backward against a wooden chair, her elbows propped up behind her on the edges of the chair, and Landon sits lazily in his own wooden chair, his feet up on the seat and his arms resting on his upward-extended knees.

DON: So, I have a question.

BETH: Shoot.

2/ On Donovan, looking confused.

DON: What’s the deal with Andrew?
DON: He has no POWERS or unusual abilities like the rest of us, so what’s his STAKE in all of this? I don’t understand his motivations at all.

3/ Beth looks up at Donovan.

BETH: Well…Andrew isn’t POWERLESS, exactly.

4/ Don looks even more perplexed than before.

DON: He’s NOT?

5/ Beth gestures with her hand, imitating Milo’s fire blasts as she bugs out her eyes in explanation mode.

BETH: You’re right – he can’t shoot FIRE, or channel DEMON POWERS, or TRANSFORM into a MONSTER or anything like THAT…

6/ On Landon, watching uncomfortably as Beth talks about Andrew in detail.

BETH (off panel): …but he DOES have a POWER, albeit a significantly more SUBTLE one than the rest of us.

7/ Donovan listens.

DON: What is it?

8/ Beth motions in the air, explaining, and as she does the scene behind her is replaced with a theoretical image. What we see behind Beth is glowing blue web of sorts, with many threads of numbers and letters connecting to pivot points throughout. The pivot points, in turn, are small representations of ideas, whether it is an encyclopedia entry, or an equation, or a set of musical notes, etc. Along the data threads connecting the ideas, little pulses of light flow to and fro - representing the ideas communicating with each other.

BETH: Andrew has a different way of processing information than the average person.
BETH: Whereas MOST people accumulate knowledge like they accumulate BOOKS, or MP3’s – in an ever growing collection of elements, one on top of the other, connections only drawn if they’re LOOKED for – ANDREW has what he’s occasionally referred to as the WEB.
BETH: When he learns something NEW, it automatically finds its place in the web, and the connections are made instantaneously. This bit of information isn’t just a bit of information all by ITSELF, per se, but rather another link in the WEB that immediately enhances his understanding of all the OTHER links in the web by way of CONNECTIVITY.
BETH: THIS idea brings to light this factor of this OTHER idea that he already has, and that in turn sheds new light on THIS idea, which puts the ORIGINAL idea into its appropriate CONTEXT, and so forth.
BETH: ALL people can do this to SOME extent, but the immediacy and DEPTH to which Andrew can do it without even TRYING is STARTLING – as a matter of fact, it’s SUPERHUMAN.

PAGE ELEVEN

1/ Over Donovan’s shoulder as Beth continues, the web imagery no longer behind her.

BETH: Think back to the BLOODY MARY case, back in FEBRUARY.
BETH: How Andrew was able to just flip through those books and automatically pull out the relevant bits of information and tie them together, despite the hundreds of conflicting reports we had to shuffle through.

BETH: It was ultimately RHIANNON who put it all together, but – and no offense to her intended by this at ALL – only because Andrew had managed to siphon off all the irrelevant information without even really TRYING.

2/ Donovan looks both impressed and incredulous.

DON: So, Andrew’s ability is essentially a superhuman form of PATTERN RECOGNITION?

BETH (off panel): Exactly.

3/ Over Beth’s shoulder, as she continues. Landon watches, growing ever more annoyed with the lengthy discussion of Andrew’s wonderfulness. He shifts uncomfortably.

BETH: He was YOUNG when his powers emerged, but it CHANGED him forever.

4/ On Beth, explaining and clearly picturing it in her head, her eyes glassing over a little as she imagines what it must have been like.

BETH: In that MOMENT, he saw the world as it WAS at that TIME, and the world as it had BEEN before THAT.

5/ Long panel showing a Young Andrew from behind, looking up at the vast information web that has appeared before him and trembling in awe. Deep in the web, buried under layers of information, we see hints of Andrew’s vision of the future – excerpts from Nietzsche regarding the concept of man-into-superman, pictures from classic golden-age superhero comics, the OMEGA symbol and excerpts from Teilhard de Chardin’s “The Phenomenon of Man,” the phrase “FM-2030,” the Star-Child from “2001: A Space Odyssey,” an image of the Mayan plumed-serpent god Quetzalcoatl, an image of subatomic particles and a DNA strand, and a hazy, but barely perceptible image of the fall of the WTC Twin Towers.

CAPTION (BETH): As all that information came together in his head for the FIRST TIME, Andrew finally understood something about the FUTURE.

CAPTION: Though he’s never been able to really ARTICULATE what he saw that day, he knows one thing for sure: the WORLD is CHANGING.
CAPTION: And it’s going to need people like HIM – people like US – to be here when things start to get REALLY crazy.

6/ On Donovan, looking officially impressed as Beth finishes.

BETH (off panel): So, yes, Andrew may seem like a simple MUNDANE, as some less-than-humble people would have the audacity to call him - but even if he CAN’T channel RAW HUMAN EMOTION into a CONCUSSIVE BLAST of ENERGY, he’s still far too important in the grand scheme of things to EVER be called anything as insulting as “mundane” or “powerless.”

7/ Beth returns to her resting position in her chair, placing her elbows behind her.

BETH: He has as much a role to play as ALL so-called MUNDANES do.
BETH: He – and they – are a balancing force against a VIOLENTLY changing tide.


BETH: Besides –
BETH: Do you honestly think the FOUR of us could have gotten this team together on our OWN? Some of us are lucky if we can show up with MATCHING SOCKS.

PAGE TWELVE

1/ Long panel as Milo and Rhiannon converse, leaning on a short card table positioned next to the water cooler. Milo drinks water from a paper cone cup.

RHI: So, whatever happened to that DAVID guy?
RHI: You know, the cute one who knocked you on your ass. TELL me you managed to bump into him again – ‘cause there was TOTALLY a spark there. I felt it.

MILO: Actually, I SAW him earlier today.

2/ Close on Milo, smiling sheepishly.

MILO: We have a DATE.

3/ Rhiannon gestures enthusiastically, practically leaping for joy.

RHI: Milo! That’s GREAT!
RHI: I’m so excited for you!

4/ Milo darkens a bit, watching as a drop of water dribbles off the edge of the cup.

MILO: On ONE level, yeah. I mean, it’s nice to know someone’s INTERESTED.
MILO: But at the same TIME…I’m kind of a hard pill to SWALLOW, these days, aren’t I? Like…between the HIV and the KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS…?

5/ Close on Rhiannon. She looks concerned, leaning in to talk seriously.

RHI: Well, yes. All of those things are TRUE.

6/ Long panel, reversed angle from the first panel. Rhiannon looks beseechingly at Milo, who is lost in drinking from his cone cup.

RHI: But that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve HAPPINESS.
RHI: All you can do is be HONEST with him and hope for the BEST.

PAGE THIRTEEN

1/ Close on Milo, looking at her nervously.

MILO: I just hope it’s that SIMPLE.

2/ Back on the other side of the room, Beth, Landon and Donovan still gather. Donovan motions to get up and excuse himself, as Beth and Landon smile obligingly.

DON: If you’ll excuse me for a moment?

3/ Donovan makes his way across the office, to the door, but he catches Rhiannon out of the corner of his eye. He looks over at her, and she notices him.

4/ Pull in a bit, on Rhiannon, who smiles warmly at Donovan as she continues to listen to Milo, who still stands at her side.

5/ On Donovan, giving Rhiannon a bit of a forced smile in return. He is sweating a little, clearly feeling the need to get out of the room.

6/ Out in the hallway of the Atlas Building, Donovan sinks against the wall, the door to the office safely shut behind him. He lets his weight collapse against the support of the wall, clearly relieved to get away. From out of nowhere, Ozymandias appears on his shoulder, reaching around to look him in the face as he speaks.

OZZY: (demonic balloon) Hey, Donovan.

7/ Close on Ozzy. He looks importantly at Donovan.

OZZY: Think it’s time you and I had a little CHAT.

8/ Back in the office, Andrew furiously hangs up his phone, pressing the button as though he intends to push it through all the way to the other side of the receiver.

ANDREW: GOD!
ANDREW: I HATE that guy!

9/ He turns to the others with a confused look on his face, recovering from his anger.

ANDREW: Hey, where’d DONOVAN go?

PAGE FOURTEEN

1/ Cut to a Long Panel in the hallway outside the office. Donovan leans against the wall as Ozymandias continues to perch on his shoulder, the two conversing in heated, hushed tones.

DON: What do you WANT, Oz?

OZZY: (demon balloon) Seeing as you’re my VESSEL now, and as you seem determined to change the whole DYNAMIC into a relationship I’ve NEVER had with a vessel before, I’m starting to get the sense that we’re in for the LONG haul. Is this correct?

DON: Look, man…I dunno. Just…say what you wanna say.

OZZY: I need to tell you what I’ve SEEN, Donovan. I need you to realize what’s COMING. It’s in BOTH our best interests now.

2/ Long panel. Ozzy leaves his perch on Donovan’s shoulder, electing instead to cling to the front of Donovan, with his demon claws gripping Donovan’s shirt for support. He stares straight into Donovan’s eyes as he speaks, hanging from his chest with a tiny, forked demon tail waving in the air behind him.

OZZY: The things you’ve SEEN since you’ve been a part of this TEAM…you think they’re remarkable, that they’ve given you some kind of NEW PERSPECTIVE. But I’m telling you, they’re NOTHING.
OZZY: Nothing you’ve seen so far can even hold a CANDLE to the kind of crap coming down the line in just a few short spins of this miserable planet of yours.

3/ Long panel, on Donovan. He looks startled and confused.

DON: What are you TALKING about?
DON: What’s coming?

4/ Long panel, as Ozzy has now left Donovan’s chest and crawls upward on the opposite wall, slowly crawling toward the ceiling as he looks back over his shoulder to address Donovan. His claws leave little shatter marks on the wall, breaking through the drywall.

OZZY: You’ve only been INTRODUCED to this world, yet, Donovan. You aren’t KNEE-DEEP in it yet. But you WILL be, before this ends. And sooner than you THINK.
OZZY: First time out of the gate, things look pretty crazy. But by the time you’re REALLY in the thick of it, nothing’s gonna look too pretty anymore. And there will STILL be a long way to go before there’s a light at the end of the TUNNEL.

PAGE FIFTEEN

1/ Long panel, close on Donovan. His eyes narrow as he questions Oz.

DON: What have you SEEN, Oz?
DON: Just tell me what’s gonna HAPPEN.

2/ Long panel as Ozzy has now made his way onto the ceiling, looking down on Donovan from above. He leaves a trail of little holes in the drywall behind him.

OZZY: I can’t tell you EVERYTHING. It’s life. Nothing’s set in STONE.
OZZY: All I can tell you is to be PREPARED.

3/ Long panel. Donovan looks up at Oz as Oz hangs upside-down from the ceiling, dangling into the hallway and looking face-to-face with Donovan. Donovan looks annoyed, but Oz appears to be an infinite well of patience.

DON: But for WHAT!?
DON: Can you tell me anything USEFUL?

OZZY: Do you know what your NAME means?

DON: I…no.

OZZY: The name DONOVAN means “DARK WARRIOR.” You didn’t know that?

4/ Long panel as Ozzy drops down, hanging from the ceiling by the claws of one hand and staring forward at Donovan, off panel. His demeanor becomes very serious as he lays it on the line for the final time.

OZZY: Because you need to be prepared to ACCEPT that mantle and everything that comes along WITH IT.
OZZY: The deeper we get INTO this, the more you’re going to have to accept that maybe the universe doesn’t really FIT into the neat little orderly package you’ve always BELIEVED it does.
OZZY: Already, the limits of your FAITH have been tested as you’ve begun to UNDERSTAND just a little BIT. But old habits DIE HARD, and your life with the KNIGHTS over the next few months is only going to KEEP KILLING THEM.

OZZY: Are you ready for THAT?
OZZY: Because you’re gonna HAVE to be.

PAGE SIXTEEN

1/ Long panel as Donovan jumps, his surreal conversation with Ozzy shattered by Andrew’s appearance in the hallway, hanging out the door to the office. Don spins his head abruptly to acknowledge Andrew, and Andrew seems oblivious to the presence of Ozzy, who we do not see.

DON: ANDREW!
DON: Hi.

ANDREW: Are you okay?

DON: Yeah…yeah. I just needed to, um… clear my head.

2/ Long panel, on Andrew as he addresses Donovan, all business.

ANDREW: Well, I hope your head’s CLEAR now. We’re heading out.
ANDREW: Milo says he KNOWS a guy. Pretty big INFORMATION trafficker when it comes to the OCCULT.

3/ Long panel, on Donovan, as he raises and eyebrow.

DON: So it’s time to do the SHAKEDOWN bit?
DON: I’ll be right in.

4/ Longish panel as Andrew returns into the office and we pull back to see that Donovan is now alone in the hallway. There are no visible claw marks on the wall. Donovan looks around in relief as the stress of Ozzy’s appearance subsides.

5/ Small panel as Donovan approaches the wall and rubs his fingers on the spot where some claw marks should have been left by the demon. He looks baffled.

DON: Sneaky bastard.

PAGE SEVENTEEN

1/ Cut to a Long Panel displaying a night-time establishing shot of the Goth Club from issue #1 – EKADANTA. The group approaches the club through the gravel parking lot, walking in a side-by-side row: Landon, Beth, Milo (slightly toward the front), Rhiannon, Donovan, and Andrew. They pass parked cars and approach the large wooden deck that marks the front of the club, currently filled with twenty-something Goth Kids all smoking cigarettes and bobbing their heads to the music coming from inside. We see it all from a Bird’s Eye-View.

CAPTION: The West Side.

DON: So this guy will know what’s going on with the BROTHERHOOD?

MILO: If something’s going down in Columbus, ESSPECIALLY of the paranormal variety, you can count on him to know what he’s TALKING about – even if he IS kind of a DOUCHE.

2/ Donovan glances over at Rhiannon as he speaks, curious.

DON: WHY do they call this place EKADANTA?

3/ Close on Milo, in the FG, as Rhiannon and Donovan walk behind him, listening.

MILO: It’s another name for GINESH, the Hindu ELEPHANT GOD.

4/ Donovan’s still confused, and Rhiannon turns to him, giving her own input.

DON: Why name a GOTH CLUB after a Hindu ELEPHANT GOD, exactly?

RHI: You’re probably reading too much into it.
RHI: I’m sure they just like the way it SOUNDS.

5/ On Donovan, as he turns to Rhiannon, quizzically.

DON: Did they say it out LOUD first?

6/ Long panel as the group strides toward us, walking past the wooden deck and preparing to enter the club. They kick up dust from the dirt & gravel parking lot as they go. Imagine this as one of those group shots that gets slapped on a movie poster, everyone walking toward us in a row in a faint cloud of dust, ready to take names and kick ass.

ANDREW: Alright, everybody.
ANDREW: GAME FACES on.

PAGE EIGHTEEN

1/ Milo and Rhiannon make their way across the panel, completely bypassing Cordy, the door-girl. She looks up from her book (A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle) and screws her face up, annoyed by Milo’s dismissal of her and confused by the entourage.

CORDY: Uh…MILO?

2/ Behind Cordy, over her shoulder, as we see Milo stop and glance back at her.

CORDY: If this is some KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS thing…

MILO: This is SERIOUS, Cordy.
MILO: Besides, HOW are you planning on STOPPING us?

3/ Cordy sits at her desk, busting out an emery board and filing her nails as she decides to let them pass. She gives it a dismissive shrug and cocks her eyebrow in conceit.

CORDY: Fair enough.

4/ Milo leads the group, in the FG of the panel, as they enter the crowded club and are assaulted by the lights and sounds of the dance floor (off panel). Rhiannon, behind him, holds her hands to her forehead, wincing in pain. Behind them even further, we see the denizens of Ekadanta milling about, clad in leather and rubber fetish gear, being led on leashes by masters or polishing thick, black, decorative boots.

RHI: Gyah!
RHI: I feel like I’m being ATTACKED in here!

MILO: Probably ARE.
MILO: I would dial that inner WALL of yours up to ELEVEN in this place, Rhiannon…

5/ Long panel displaying the panorama of the club, viewed from behind the group – all of whom are splayed across the panel with their backs to us, looking shocked (except for Milo, who remains stoic). Ravers dance wildly and Goth Kids coalesce in corners for private conversations, while rubber clad bartenders in chaps pour glowing green drinks and club security passes out glowsticks.

MILO:…because if you think you’ve dealt with a psychically charged ROOM before, you don’t know anything.
MILO: THIS PLACE…is psychic WARFARE, and they don’t even KNOW it.

6/ In the basement, where the line waits for Mr. Wizard’s readings, we see the group descend the steps single file, Milo in front. They cut their way through the line, and garner angry looks from the patrons for doing so. Donovan stares down a spiky-haired kid in a sleeveless shirt adorned with a pentagram, chains dangling from the piercings on his face.

MILO: Don’t mind us, folks.

DON: Official BUSINESS.

7/ Inside Mr. Wizard’s office, the door flies open to reveal Milo, leading the team inside. Milo points at Wizard with both hands, hunching his back over and grinning stupidly like they’re old frat brothers who haven’t seen each other for a while.

MILO: HEY THERE, Mister WIZARD!
MILO: Long time no SEE, good BUDDY!

PAGE NINETEEN

1/ Full page splash of Mr. Wizard, poised to fight off Milo if need be. He stands in a melodramatic karate stance, his bulging gut hanging over his pants and sticking slightly from the bottom of his shirt. His greasy pony tail flaps in the air as he battle-readies himself against the debris of his office – his desk flipped over in anger and fear when he realized that Milo was coming for him. His last patron, an 18 year old boy with an unruly amount of Goth make-up on, huddles in a corner, terrified.

WIZ: Bring it ON, Woodyard.
WIZ: I knew it was only a matter of TIME before you brought your ridiculous little SUPER-TROUPERS here to HARASS me, and I’m MORE than ready for you.
WIZ: DO.
WIZ: YOUR.
WIZ: WORST.

PAGE TWENTY

1/ Long panel of the group, looking on in amusement. Rhiannon leans over to Milo, speaking in a concealed mutter from the side of her mouth.

RHI: He knows we can SEE him, right?

2/ Over Milo’s shoulder as he address Wiz, the latter still poised for a fight.

MILO: We’re not INTIMIDATED, Wiz.
MILO: We’re not GOING to be.

3/ Milo gestures, explaining the situation patiently.

MILO: Unless your buddies in SECURITY show up to RESCUE you –
MILO: (small font) -which I SINCERELY doubt -
MILO: (back to regular font) – you’re looking at SIX against ONE.

MILO: Multiply those odds against the fact that MY side’s packin’ TWO werewolves, ONE NINJA (sort of), ONE possessed former EXORCIST, a PYROMANCER, and – are you ready for this? – The CONDUIT.

4/ Wiz continues his combat pose, but begins to falter, looking a little scared.

WIZ: The Conduit?
WIZ: For real?

5/ Milo smiles deviously.

MILO: Yeah.
MILO: So all that FEAR you’re pumping out? PUTTY in her HANDS.

6/ Beth steps up to Milo’s side, unbuttoning her brown trench coat to get comfortable and gesturing toward Mr. Wizard, off panel.

BETH: Milo. May I?

MILO: Of COURSE, Beth.

7/ Long panel as Beth grabs Wiz’s arm and twists it violently behind his back. Wiz spins, looking away from Beth and off the page, as he is bodily spun by Beth, who remains straight faced and shows no sign of exertion.

WIZ: AHH!!
WIZ: OWWWW!

BETH: There we go.

PAGE TWENTY ONE

1/ Beth leans down to speak right into Wiz’s ear as he winces in pain, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead.

BETH: My name is Beth.
BETH: I’m one of those WEREWOLVES that Milo was referring to.

2/ Beth returns to her standing position, holding Wiz’s arm up behind him. She brushes a lock of hair from her eyes, with her free hand, strictly casual.

BETH: Now, you’re GOING to can it with the HOSTILITY and tell us what we wanna KNOW, because otherwise…well, Rhiannon?
BETH: Care to enlighten the man with some CONDUIT-Y goodness?

3/ Rhiannon bends down and places a hand on her knee, reaching eye-level with the doubled-over Mr. Wizard. With her free hand, she holds up a glowing and vibrating ball of white energy, hovering in mid-air an inch from her hand. Steam rolls off of it as she speaks, while Wiz struggles to keep his eyes open as she addresses him.

RHI: Gladly.
RHI: See this ball of LIGHT I’ve got here, Mr. Wizard? That’s your FEAR.
RHI: Since we walked in the DOOR, I’ve been stockpiling it in this neat little cluster of white-hot KINETIC ENERGY, which – if you know anything about PHYSICS – is just DYING to stop being RESTRAINED like this.

4/ Wiz tries to pull away as Rhiannon reaches into the panel and holds the light closer and closer to his face, causing huge rivulets of sweat to roll chaotically all over him.

RHI (off panel): Would you like to know where I’m going to SHOVE this ball of FEAR if you won’t talk to us?
RHI: Because the longer we play this GAME, the hotter this puppy GETS.

WIZ: Look!!!
WIZ: I KNOW what you want me to TELL you about! But you gotta REALIZE….
WIZ: They’ll KILL me!

5/ Rhiannon holds it so close to his face we can start to see smoke rolling off of his eyebrows where the hairs are being singed. He closes his eyes tight and relents.

RHI (off panel): Seriously, man, I’m NOT playing around.

WIZ: OKAY! OKAY!

6/ Donovan turns to Landon, both of whom have been watching this scene play out. Landon crosses his arms and smirks mockingly as Donovan looks at him oddly.

LANDON: What does it say about YOU guys that the two most intimidating people on this little TEAM of yours are the WOMEN?

DON: That you’re a misogynist?

7/ Pull back a bit to reveal Andrew standing beside them, arms also crossed, surveying the scene without looking away. Landon and Don glance his way as he speaks.

ANDREW: I don’t know, but I would TOTALLY watch that porno.

8/ Landon and Don turn to Andrew, jaws dropped as they are aghast at his statement. He turns back to them, looking defensive.

ANDREW: WHAT!?

PAGE TWENTY TWO

1/ Close on Wiz as he relents, eyes closed tight and drenched with sweat, as tears roll down his face. He shouts desperately, no longer as scared of the Brotherhood as he is of the Knights.

WIZ: I’ll TALK! Just STOP!

2/ Rhiannon stands up and lets the ball of energy dissipate, as Beth releases Wiz’s arm from its uncomfortable twisted position.

RHI: I thought so.
RHI: Now, Milo fingered YOU as the guy who KNOWS everything around here, so why don’t you tell me…

3/ Wiz crawls backward, pushing himself up against the wall in fear.

WIZ: What do you wanna know?
WIZ: I’ll tell you anything…

4/ Group shot, with Beth and Rhiannon closest to us, framing the panel as they look down at Wiz, who is currently off panel.

RHI: What is the VLADIC BROTHERHOOD doing on the streets of Columbus?

5/ Long panel of Wiz, pressed up against the back wall, recovering from his ordeal.

WIZ: Okay, look…
WIZ: It’s not the WHOLE Brotherhood. It’s just the WEREWOLVES.
WIZ: And they’re here because there’s been an ASSASSINATION.

6/ Landon pushes his way toward the front of the group, shocked.

LANDON: An assassination!?

7/ Wiz twitches, looking nervously up at Landon, off panel.

WIZ: Chancellor BURGESS has been killed.
WIZ: Nobody knows who DID it.

PAGE TWENTY THREE

1/ Long panel as Beth and Landon exchange shocked looks, the rest of the team behind them looking confused and worried.

BETH: But that means…

LANDON: I am PAINFULLY aware of what it MEANS, Beth.

2/ Long panel as Milo and Andrew look at each other, Milo confused and Andrew quietly and seriously assessing the situation, taking in all the information and pairing it up with what he already knows.

MILO: Wait, what does it MEAN?

ANDREW: It means that LANDON is next in line to control the BROTHERHOOD.

MILO: Oh.
MILO: Well, awesome, then.

3/ Long panel as Beth and Landon, who had been up at the front of the group, turn to address Milo, looks of foreboding shattering anything that could be good about Landon seizing control. Beth looks nervous and upset, and Landon looks annoyed and stressed.

LANDON: No, it’s not.
LANDON: Because I don’t want anything to DO with the Brotherhood.

BETH: And as far as THEY’RE concerned, I’M the reason he doesn’t want anything to DO with them.

4/ Wiz looks up from his position against the wall.

WIZ: Exactly.
WIZ: Which is the reason they’ve been sent here to KILL you.

5/ Close on Wiz, looking very serious now.

WIZ: Maybe all of you.

PAGE TWENTY FOUR

1/ Cut to a long panel, deep inside the darkness of an industrial warehouse. The walls are stained with rust as slimy black water leaks down the sides of them, cutting into the metal over the years and forming huge rotten holes laced with fiery orange. To the far right of the panel, we see Detective John Spacey, leaning with his head back against the wall. His face is bruised and broken, having been tortured here for months, and blood runs down the edge of his gaunt-looking jaw. His hair is caked with sweat and dirt. A door slams, off panel.

CAPTION: Elsewhere.

SOUND EFFECT: SLAM

CAPTION (ANDREW): But, then…what happens to these people, so set in their ways, when it all falls apart right in FRONT of them?

2/ Long panel. We see a woman’s legs – the rotten and decaying legs of his deceased wife, Cora – enter a panel identical to the last. She holds in her hands, dangling into the panel, a steaming soldering iron.

CORA: Mr. Spacey.
CORA: Wifey’s here to see you, again.

3/ Long panel, same layout, as Spacey looks up at her and she descends into the panel, her rotten but still beautiful face mocking him with a smile. She holds the soldering iron inches from his face, smiling sadistically as he flinches away from it.

CORA: Now, you’re going to tell me all about the KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS, or else you’ll get the SOLDERING IRON again. Is that clear?

SPACEY: Cora…

CAPTION: When everything that’s been DRIVING them all this TIME lies shattered and broken on the floor, DISPROVEN beyond a SHADOW of a DOUBT?

4/ Long panel as Cora’s face turns to anger and frustration, twisting hideously as Spacey stares straight at her, refusing to give in, his face a mask of determination.

SPACEY: Whoever you’re ::COFF:: working for…
SPACEY: …I won’t be a part of whatever they have planned.

CORA: You WILL crack, John! It’s only a matter of TIME!
CORA: Why are you protecting these IDIOTS when you see what it GETS you!?

SPACEY: Because ::COFF:: you’re obviously not the person I…thought you were.
SPACEY: And I won’t give decent people to someone like YOU.

5/ Long panel as Cora angrily presses the iron to John’s forehead, John contorting with pain as he writhes against the wall, screaming.

CAPTION: Well, I’ll tell you - it’s not PRETTY.

SOUND EFFECT: ssssss

SPACEY: AHHH! GYAHH!

PAGE TWENTY FIVE

1/ Long panel as she removes the iron, John looking relieved as she stares at him patiently. She rests her arms on her extended knees, the soldering iron waving in the air with a small chunk of melted flesh dangling off the end. As John coughs, a fleck of blood flies from his mouth.

CORA: Anything? Or are we still going to continue this game?

SPACEY: ::COFF::
SPACEY: Go to hell.

CAPTION: But then, what do you DO in that situation? What could ANYONE do, when everything you believe in gets DESTROYED before your very EYES?

2/ Long panel as she stands up (and out of the panel), dusting off her knees. John looks up at her, shaking.

CORA: Well, then.
CORA: I suppose I’ll see you TOMORROW, then.

3/ Long panel, featuring only John (like the original panel) as Cora apparently walks toward the door. John calls out to her, pressing harder up against the wall as he does.

CAPTION: The question doesn’t HAVE a simple ANSWER.

SPACEY: Are you even HER, Cora?
SPACEY: (small font) Were you EVER her?

CAPTION: How could it? It’s not a simple QUESTION.

4/ Long panel, the first one to show a different angle on the room, though it’s pretty much the same, as Cora approaches the big metal door through which she entered. She is at the far left of the panel, and she turns back, over her shoulder, to address John.

CORA: Well, John…
CORA: I guess that’s for me to KNOW, and for you to sit there in a heap of your own FECES and wonder about till you DIE, isn’t it?

5/ Long panel, identical to the original panel, as John sits alone against the wall. The door slams shut behind Cora as she leaves, leaving John crumpled up against the cold metal surface once again.

CAPTION: When it all falls apart?

SOUND EFFECT: SLAM

CAPTION: What.

CAPTION: Do.

CAPTION: You.

CAPTON: Do?



SPACEY: ::COFF::
SPACEY: Cora.



CAPTION: Next – NO SURPRISES!