This issue opens immediately after the previous issue ended, so locations, characters, and weather conditions are all the same as depicted there (see ISSUE #29). It is a dark night with heavy rain.
The issue is narrated by PAUL SMITHSTEEN, in the form of notes from his private professional files -- his patients' "casebook". His narrative captions should be lettered in some plain (serif) typeface and will be labelled PAUL's NOTES to differentiate them from his speech.
Full-page splash panel of JAMES looking out-of-panel at the reader. His face, or what we see of it (his mouth and chin, plus his eyes through the eye-slits of his cowl), is calm but determined. His SHIELD is raised in front of him so that the disc protects his upper torso but he can still see over the top. He has both arms through the shield's straps (behind the shield, so obviously we can't see this) to brace it against an expected impact. His legs are planted firmly, feet wide apart, but muscles tensed for instant movement. His figure fills the page and the sound effect on this page runs right across the top of the panel.
SFX:
vmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
James.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
He stands there, unarmed apart from the shield that once belonged to his father, and faces certain death. He shows not a flicker of fear, because he knows he won't die.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
He makes no claims to being immortal. He has no superhuman powers to save him. He doesn't really believe that his father's bullet-proof costume, nor that alloy disk which he holds on to like a talisman, will stop the megawatts of destructive energy currently aimed at him.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
He just knows he will survive. Because he is on the side of right and justice, and in his black-and-white world the good guys always win.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
It's a level of total confidence in his principles that is a little awe-inspiring, more than a little frightening, and totally, flat-out insane.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
And the worst thing is—
Close up on a hand taking hold of a thick, black cable which we can see is connected to some big piece of machinery by a big, industrial-strength plug.
SFX:
vmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
—That he's always right.
The hand has yanked the plug from the machine.
SFX:
vmm—*
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
Damn it.
A wider view shows us PAUL standing on the flatbed trailer which carries the laser weapon. It's his hand that has just yanked out the power cable. HENRY STURM (aka MAELSTROM) stands at the control station, looking at PAUL with a frenzied expression.
STURM:
You imbecilic—
STURM pulls a gun on PAUL, who holds his hands up in a concilatory manner.
PAUL:
Now let's not do anything hasty!
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
The other minds that share my body clamor for attention: Harry wants to shoot him; Jerome will just charge him and trust to his reflexes; Jesse believes the power of the Lord will protect him.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
I don't let any of them take control. Because—
A close-up on STURM as JAMES's gloved fist smacks him on the jaw.
SFX:
Crack!
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
The good guys always win.
JAMES and PAUL are lowering STURM to the ground. FRED and SARA are walking towards them. CHI-YUN is flying down to join them -- in fact, the panel can depict CHI-YUN in mid-change between bird and girl as she lands, which should make it clear to readers who she is.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
And just like that, it was over. An anticlimax.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
We blundered into this and stopped it without ever finding out what was going on. There was no sense of closure.
Now PAUL by himself, standing by the weapon and talking to a police officer. A couple of patrol cars are nearby, lights flashing. It's still dark but the rain has stopped, so time has obviously passed.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
The others made themselves scarce while I gave the police a statement.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
We're still supposed to be undercover, keeping a low profile. But James won't leave until he's certain the authorities have things in hand, so this is our best compromise.
Same scene, but now a small helicopter has landed and PAUL is talking to two men in suits. The Helicopter has the GREEN INDUSTRIES corporate logo on the side (we showed the same logo in the first panel of LAST ISSUE).
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
Then the security reps from Green Industries turned up and I learned a bit about what was going on.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
A disturbed ex-"super villain" with a twenty-year-old grudge against Tim Green, GI's CEO.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
It's amazing how often we run into that.
PAUL and one of the suited men are at the edge of the ravine that JAMES crashed into last issue. Looking down with them, we can see the shape of the RV, half-submerged in swirling flood waters.
PAUL:
Having an organization like Green Industries grateful to you is pretty useful. They offered to salvage the recreational vehicle and fix it up, for us, no questions asked.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
The GI man seemed to understand about keeping secret identities.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
Not surprising, when you consider who his boss is.
It's now daylight, a bright sunny morning. We see a car -- a big SUV -- driving along a highway.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
But still, fixing the RV was going to take time and we couldn't afford to stay put for too long.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
So after a night in a motel, we set off for New York in a rental.
Now we are looking into the vehicle. It can be coming towards us, then in the next panel it can be driving away from us, to give the impression of travelling (and to make the static conversations a bit more interesting). PAUL is driving, FRED next to him, SARA, CHI-YUN, and JAMES (in civilian clothes) in the back seat. SARA is holding a phone -- not to her ear, but as if she's just finished a call.
SARA:
Don says we should have the RV shipped to Luey so he can fit some special stuff to it.
SARA:
Oh, and he said to say hi to everyone.
FRED:
And then we're supposed to drive all the way back to Cali in a hire car to pick it up? Terrific.
CHI-YUN:
We could fly back.
Now we look into the vehicle as it is driving away from us.
JAMES:
Not a good idea. Flying leaves too much of a trail that people can follow.
PAUL:
James is right, Chi-Yun. We need to avoid airports.
PAUL:
But it's not going to be ready for a couple of weeks at least. Let's just concentrate on keeping a low profile in New York.
Now a distant view again as the SUV drives along the highway, away from us. Caption placements should match seating positions we already established in the previous panels.
FRED (from vehicle):
Low profile. Ha!
CHI-YUN (from vehicle):
Are we there yet?
The vehicle can now be a distant dot lost in traffic.
FOUR VOICES (from vehicle):
No!
A table in a small apartment. We don't need to show much of the apartment itself in this scene but it should be sparsely furnished, shabbily decorated, showing signs of only one (male) occupant. And that occupant is sitting at a table by a window. It's night outside and he is working by the light of a single desk lamp. He is MIKE DOYLE, last seen in these pages LAST ISSUE. Spread on the table is a map of North America, a couple of books (we don't need to see what they are -- maybe one is a phone book) and a pad of paper which DOYLE is writing on. There is a mug of coffee. There is also a stack of newspapers -- we can see the top one, at least, is the LOS ANGELES GLOBE. In contrast to most similar scenes in this comic, there isn't a computer in sight. An old-fashioned-legwork kind of guy.
CAPTION:
Washington, DC.
CAPTION:
Federal bounty hunter Mike Doyle.
Close-up on the pad of paper. It's a simple lined writing pad, probably yellow, and he's written in block capitals:
MARCUS CARTER
DON NEWMAN
MAJOR DEMOCRACY
These names are circled, with an arrow pointing sideways to the words "LOS ANGELES", which he is in the process of scribbling a thick line under. Below this he has:
JAMES
CHI-YUN — CHINESE
BLONDE — ??
These names are also circled, with an arrow pointing up to "LOS ANGELES".
No dialogue.
He is taking a drink of coffee, holding up the LOS ANGELES GLOBE and reading something from it (we don't see what he's reading).
DOYLE:
Huh.
Back to a close-up of him writing on the pad. Beneath what he wrote before (of which we will only repeat as much as fits comfortably in the panel) he has drawn a thick line and below that he has begun a new train of thought:
SEPT. 14 —> SLASHER —> WEREWOLVES???
No dialogue.
He sits back in his chair, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.
DOYLE:
What the hell am I getting in to?
The exterior of a high-rise hotel in New York. Yes, it's a Hailey Hotel (they always are).
CAPTION:
New York.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
After weeks of bouncing from one crisis to the next, we all need a vacation.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
In New York we get it.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
Maybe it's Sara's luck. Maybe it's the calm before the storm and we'll pay for it later. But for whatever reason, we get almost three weeks of much-needed R&R.
A crowded city street. CHI-YUN and SARA are walking along, laughing, window shopping, probably eating something like a hot dog (but remember that Chi-Yun is vegetarian), and obviously having a carefree time.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
It's the first time in the Big Apple for all of us, and we make the most of it.
Now JAMES and SARA are on a boat -- a passenger ferry. They are standing at the rail and JAMES is looking ahead with a big smile on his face. We can see that he's looking at -- come on, you must have guessed it -- the Statue of Liberty. SARA is also smiling, but she's watching JAMES...
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
In our own particular ways.
A crowded dance floor in a dimly-lit club thick with smoke. FRED is going through some wild gyrations.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
Some of them frankly incomprehensible.
PAUL sits on a bed alone, reading a book (we can see the title on the cover -- "The Occult Philosophy of the Elizabethan Age".)
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
I remain in control the whole time. It's the longest I've kept my ancestors in check since I first discovered they were sharing my mind.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
And the weirdest thing is, I don't feel comfortable.
PAUL is still reading, but has looked up as SARA sticks her head round the door.
SARA:
Doc? We're getting tickets for that Broadway show. Want to come along?
PAUL:
Thanks, Sara, but I'll give it a miss. Not really my thing.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
I don't fit in their world.
SARA, FRED, JAMES, and CHI-YUN, all dressed up for a night out, are getting into a taxi in front of the hotel.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
And it's not just the 15-year age gap. It's what they are, and what I'm not.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
Sara, Chi-Yun, and Fred have abilities — powers — that make them more than human. James may have no powers but has the whole legacy of his superhero father.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
How can I relate to that?
SARA, FRED, JAMES, and CHI-YUN, dressed as in the last panel, are now in a crowd of people streaming OUT of a theatre (i.e. we've jumped ahead to after the show). CHI-YUN is beaming, JAMES and SARA look vaguely amused and FRED looks disgusted. The marquee above the door reads "X FILES: THE MUSICAL".
CHI-YUN:
That was so cool!
FRED:
I can't believe I wasted three hours of my life on that.
They have crossed a busy road, leaving the crowd behind and walking alone. CHI-YUN is skipping round, doing some kind of dance.
SARA:
Come on, Fred. It wasn't that bad.
CHI-YUN:
I loved the flashlight dance in the possessed house!
SARA:
Ok, maybe it was.
JAMES leads them through an open wrought-iron gate. Beyond it, we see trees, bushes, and a path illuminated by decorative lamp posts.
JAMES:
Come on, we can cut through the park.
FRED:
Central Park at night. Fabulous.
They are walking through the park, following the path. It's dark, with deep shadows off to either side.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
No—It's not even what they are. It's what they want to be.
JAMES:
Don't worry. Mayor Stevens has done a lot to cut the crime rate in—
VOICE (off-panel):
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
JAMES is running in the direction of the scream.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
What they're destined to be, maybe.
JAMES:
Someone needs help!
FRED (softly):
He was hoping that would happen.
JAMES bursts into a clearing where they find a lone woman being menaced by a group of three TROLLS. The thugs have sticks, chains, even a knife, and of course they all look huge and menacing with their troll regalia and tusk implants.
JAMES:
Leave her alone.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
I want to be a successful professional. Own my own yacht. Join a country club. Holiday in Hawaii.
The TROLLS turn on JAMES, making a semi-circle around him and brandishing their weapons.
TROLL #1:
Who's gonna make us, shorty?
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
And they—
SARA, FRED, and CHI-YUN have come out of the trees to stand beside JAMES.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
They want to be heroes.
JAMES:
Oh, I thought my friends might.
Close-up on the faces of our four heroes, standing side-by-side. They all look serious but, naturally, not afraid of these thugs.
FRED:
They're high on Dust.
JAMES:
Well, try not to hurt them too much.
Close-up on one of the TROLLS, face twisted into a snarl.
TROLL:
Hurt US?
One of the TROLLS swings a stick at JAMES, who blocks the blow with his left arm -- the one that normally holds the shield, of course.
TROLL:
Yahhhhhhh
SFX:
CRACK!
JAMES:
Yow!
CHI-YUN leaps high over a TROLL'S head as he swings his chain through the space she was standing in.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
Chi-Yun has a heart almost as great as her power.
CHI-YUN (thought):
Frog!
SFX (chain):
swish
At the top of her leap, CHI-YUN reaches out a finger and touches the TROLL's neck. The TROLL's legs are folding under him.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
She'll always fight for what she sees as right.
CHI-YUN (thought):
Jellyfish venom!
TROLL:
uhhhhh
Close-up on FRED's face, with another TROLL reflected in his eyes.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
Even Fred. He acts uncaring but he just needs the right cause to fight for.
FRED (thought):
Sleep
That TROLL is pitching face-forward onto the ground.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
God help the world when he finds it.
TROLL:
zzzzzzzzzzz
JAMES and SARA tackle the last TROLL simultaneously. She has delivered a straight kick to his stomach, causing him to double up, allowing JAMES to finish him off with a chop to the back of the head.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
And James and Sara were born to this.
SFX (kick):
Thud
SFX (chop):
Whack
Our four heroes stand over the bodies of their erstwhile opponents. They haven't even broken a sweat, though JAMES rubs the arm that was hit.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
You can't imagine them doing anything else.
SARA:
"Look, Ma, no shield!"
JAMES:
I suppose I've got too used to relying on it.
JAMES is standing by the woman who was being menaced by the Trolls. She appears to be in shock. He is bending down to pick her purse up from the ground.
JAMES:
Your purse, ma'am.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
Somewhere out there, other kids are playing at being heroes.
JAMES hands the woman her purse. SARA is also visible in this panel.
SARA:
We'd appreciate it if you didn't mention us to anyone.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
The theory, as I understand it, is that anyone born after the Event 21 years ago could have "super powers".
SUZI G stands in the middle of a crowd of young people. They are all looking in the same direction, towards an off-panel speaker. It's a well-lit indoor scene (actually it's inside the marquee of the Temple of Unity). SUZI is dressed similarly (not identically) to her appearance last issue.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
What are they like, without the moral grounding of a Major Democracy or a Don Newman to guide them?
CAPTION:
Houston, Texas.
CAPTION:
Troll rock vocalist Suzi G.
THOMAS (off-panel):
Society has let you down. Thrown you on the streets. Abandoned you.
Now we see the stage from which BROTHER THOMAS is speaking. He is flanked by the TEMPLE SISTERS, with FAITH on his immediate left. He has turned from microphone to look at FAITH. Her eyes are wide with fear.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
And how will we deal with them when we meet them?
THOMAS (softly):
Faith?
FAITH (thought):
So...much...power...
THOMAS:
Faith?
A close-up on FAITH's blue eyes. They are wide, and inside them we see (standard imagery for psychic powers) the faces of SUZI and KLOUD (see LAST ISSUE).
FAITH (thought):
Enemies!
FAITH (thought):
Get us out of here!
The Temple security thugs are suddenly on the stage. Two move FAITH and THOMAS towards the back of the stage, hiding them with their own bodies. The rest of the Temple sisters are left to fend for themselves and are looking scared, running in random directions, screaming, etc. Two more security guys are at the front of the stage and have drawn handguns One of these will be shouting.
THUG #1:
Everybody stay where you are! No sudden moves!
Well what do you expect happens? Yep, the crowd begins panicking and running for the exits. And this panel shows us the chaos that ensues. In the middle of the crowd, we can clearly see SUZI pushing her way towards the stage (that is, in the opposite direction to everybody else). We also see KLOUD, who should be recognisable from the glimpse of him last issue. He is also pushing through the surging crowd, apparently following SUZI. We can still see FAITH and THOMAS being hustled towards the back of the stage. This probably needs to be a big panel to establish all this.
No dialogue.
Small close-up of FAITH's eyes, with KLOUD's face visible in them.
FAITH (thought):
Get him!
Small close-up panel of KLOUD.
KLOUD (thought):
Klimb! Get the girl!
Now we see another youth in the crowd: KLIMB. We saw him LAST ISSUE, too, but not in any detail. He's Caucasian, tall, thin, spiky blond hair, wearing faded blue jeans and matching jacket. Under his jacket he has a rope wrapped several times around his waist. It's the kind of tough, thin rope that climbers use and he probably has several metres, which he's currently unwrapping.
KLIMB (thought):
On it.
This panel shows SUZI running towards our POV. Behind her, we see the end of the length of rope snaking through the air towards her. KLIMB is in the background, holding the other end. His posture isn't that of a man throwing the rope, however. He's just holding it. It should be obvious that this isn't natural, and he's got some sort of power to control the rope.
No dialogue.
A similar view. The rope has caught SUZI and wrapped tightly around her neck, yanking her backwards and off her feet. Her mouth is open and her eyes bulging -- it actually looks as painful as you might expect. In the background, KLIMB still casually holds the other end of the rope.
SUZI:
Urk!
SUZI is on the ground, hands clawing uselessly at the rope tightly bound around her neck.
No dialogue.
Back to KLOUD. A Temple security goon is smashing the butt of a pistol on the back of his head.
KLOUD (thought):
Not that g—
KLOUD:
Uhhh
As KLOUD falls to his hands and knees, another figure is in action. This is apparently a woman -- She is small and slim, wearing a long, loose skirt and a hooded top. The hood is up and effectively concealing her face. In fact, the hood and the panel layouts should be contrived so that we don't see her face at all in this scene. (I'll call her KRIKIT in the script, but as she won't speak or be spoken to the reader isn't actually going to learn her name in this issue.) Anyway -- the action: she is leaping into the air and delivering a powerful spinning kick to the chest of the security goon. Her skirt flares up in such a way that we can see that it's actually her shin that hits him, not her foot.
SFX:
WHACK!
KRIKIT stands just looking at the guy she's just kicked. With this perspective, we can see that she's not very big -- maybe five feet tall, and very slim. In comparison, the thug is a foot taller and much broader. He is, however, in the process of crumpling to the ground. Across his chest, right where she kicked him, is a row of three puncture wounds, all bleeding copiously. It's as if she has a row of spikes, or spines, down her legs (though her skirt and our viewing angles mean that we don't know for sure). But it doesn't look like the thug is going to be doing any more hitting (or even walking) for a while. KLOUD is still on his hands and knees in this panel. People are still milling around in panic in the background.
KLOUD (softly):
We've got to get out of here.
KLOUD (thought):
It's going to turn into a bloodbath.
Close up of another temple thug, levelling an automatic weapon (something like a MAC-11) at on off-panel target.
THUG (shouting):
You—
Same view. The end of KLIMB's rope is wrapped several times around the thug's wrist, pulling the arm violently to the side. This may have helped whoever the thug was aiming at, but unfortunately the thug is firing anyway and we see bullets spraying in an arc, following the movement of his arm.
SFX (gun):
Brrrrattttt! Brrrrattttt!
SCREAMS (off-panel):
Aaaaaaaaaaaa!
SCREAMS (off-panel):
Aaaaaaaaaaaa!
SCREAMS (off-panel):
Eeeeeeeeeeeee!
SCREAMS (off-panel):
Help!
SUZI is still on her hands and knees, trying to rise, among a crowd of running legs. She's no longer held by the rope, but her hand is on her throat and she's obviously in some pain.
SUZI:
Ahh-huh ahh-huh
SUZI (softly):
help me...
KRIKIT has KLOUD over her shoulder and is running towards the tent's entrance. Despite her slight stature, she's obviously managing his weight easily. He is not resisting being carried, by the way. Shots are being fired from off-panel (show this by bullet streaks across the panel), and at least one man in the background, apparently an innocent bystander, is hit. Blocking the entrance are two big thugs, who look like they intend to forcibly stop KRIKIT. Note that the two "thoughts" in this panel have no obvious origin -- unlike KLOUD's and FAITH's telepathic thoughts, which obviously originated from them. I'll leave the "thinker" as a mystery for now. (Don't worry, all these characters will reappear one day and things will be explained.)
SHOT BYSTANDER:
Urghhhh!
KLOUD (thought):
Clear the exit for us.
THOUGHT:
Water.
THOUGHT:
Acid.
The two thugs at the entrance are suddenly on the ground. One is rolling around clutching at his throat and coughing up water. The other is on his hands and knees and spewing blood all over the floor. There is no sign of external injuries, however. (Yes, it's very graphic. I'm trying to contrast the brutality of this scene with the more restrained violence normally shown by our main characters.)
KRIKIT, still carrying KLOUD with apparent ease, is leaping over the two disabled thugs.
No dialogue.
FAITH and BROTHER THOMAS are in a smaller tent, presumably behind the main marquee, surrounded by a group of armed guards (who are looking outwards, for evidence of attackers). Despite this group of guards, this panel needs to clearly show FAITH and THOMAS. He has grabbed her by the upper arms and is shouting at her. He looks very shaken by events, almost on the verge of cracking up. She, in contrast to him, has recovered from her initial shock and is staring calmly back at him.
THOMAS:
Faith! What happened in there? What was that?
FAITH:
Superhumans. The tent was crawling with them.
FAITH:
All of them out to bring us down.
FAITH:
And one of them — I haven't felt power like his since—
In a darkened hotel room, FRED sits up suddenly in bed.
FRED:
Ahhhhhhhh!
FRED is out of bed and walking across the hotel room towards the half-open bathroom door. (He's probably naked but shadows and careful viewing angles mean we can keep the scene decent.)
FRED (softly):
God damn it.
FRED (thought):
Pull yourself together, Fred.
FRED is now in the bathroom -- it's a typical small, white, sterile hotel bathroom with glaring white lights. He's at the basin, head leaning over it, splashing water into his face. There is a mirror on the wall above the basin (though we can't see FRED's reflection because his head is down).
FRED (thought):
It was just a dream.
FRED (thought):
With the crazy stuff we've been doing, it's no wonder I'm imagining stuff like th—
FRED has lifted his head -- dripping water -- to look into the mirror. From our viewing angle, we see FAITH's face staring back at him.
FRED:
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
FRED is back in the bedroom, sitting on the bed, and carefully rolling a cigarette from the contents of the plastic bag next to him.
No dialogue.
The sitting room of the hotel suite. CHI-YUN and PAUL sit on the floor in front of a huge TV screen. Each holds a game controller of some description. They are riveted on the screen and furiously working the controls. This POV doesn't show us what they are playing.
SFX:
Bleep!
SFX:
Bloop!
SFX:
Blattt!
CHI-YUN:
No, eat a power pill!
SFX:
Splop!
PAUL:
What the hell's a power p—
SFX:
Blaaaarp!
VOICE FROM TV:
You have been eliminated.
PAUL tosses his controller aside.
PAUL:
Moronic game.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
I need to start thinking about my own life.
PAUL stands at the window and we look down with him over Central Park, where the trees are brown with late autumn leaves.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
I belong back in Los Angeles. I should be trying to salvage what's left of my practice.
CHI-YUN (off-panel):
C'mon Paul.
PAUL:
I'm no good at those things.
CHI-YUN (off-panel):
You could let Jerome out? I bet he would—
PAUL has turned to face into the room.
PAUL:
Not today, Chi-Yun.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
Jerome's a man four centuries out of time. But he fits here better than I do.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
Even Harry has more in common with them than I do.
PAUL picks an overcoat off a peg by the door.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
But it's my body. My life.
PAUL:
I need some air.
The hotel corridor. PAUL is exiting from their suite, the coat draped over his arm. Coming down the corridor towards him are JAMES and SARA. JAMES is reading a newspaper. They are dressed for outdoors -- presumably returning from a walk of their own.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
Maybe it's time I started being a bit more selfish with it.
JAMES:
—need to go to Houston.
SARA:
It's miles and — Hi, Paul — the RV's still at Luey's.
SARA and JAMES are now in the suite. She is taking her coat off. JAMES tosses the newspaper onto a convenient table.
JAMES:
Well, let's at least call a team meeting about it.
CHI-YUN (off-panel):
Hey! Who wants a game of Hunterman?
A close-up of the discarded newspaper, prominently displaying the headline:
Bloodbath at Religious Meeting
And below that, the following snippet of a story (text cut off by either a fold or the panel edge, as convenient.
Houston, Texas. Trouble flared at the Memorial Park mission of the Temple of Unity last night. The marquee where the charity ran a soup kitchen for the homeless was raided by a gang of youths, possibly under the influence of drugs. Seven people were killed and a dozen more are being treated in hospital. The attack occurred at
VOICE (off-panel):
Sure, Chi-Yun.
It's the sitting room of FRANKLIN and CARLA MARKS, which we saw way back in ISSUE 4 PAGE 17 -- a cosy, comfortable room lined with books. FRANKLIN and CARLA sit in their big, comfortable armchairs. He's reading a newspaper so we can't see his face at the moment. (It's the LA GLOBE; yes, they live in San Francisco, but the LA GLOBE gets everywhere.) She is reading from her laptop computer balanced on her knee, and frowning. It's evening, as we can deduce from the drawn curtains and lamps lit around the room. This page is a bit dialogue-dense, but it should fit because the images are relatively simple (and static) and the plot exposition is the main point of the scene.
CAPTION:
San Francisco.
CAPTION:
Franklin and Carla Marks.
CARLA:
Oh no.
FRANK:
Hmmm?
CARLA:
Diana Just has been given experimental time on SQuARC.
Close-up of FRANK, who has put down the paper and looks bemused.
FRANK:
Squawk?
CARLA (off-panel):
The Superconducting Quark Accelerator Rapid Cyclotron at Princeton.
Now a close-up of CARLA, who has taken off her glasses and looks very worried.
CARLA:
We have to stop her.
FRANK (off-panel):
She's a physicist, hun. It's kind of her job.
Back to a wide view of the two of them.
CARLA:
It's not that she's using it, it's why she's using it.
FRANK:
You've lost me.
CARLA:
She hasn't said so, but it's there, hidden in her research—
CARLA:
She's trying to crack the dimensional barrier.
Back to a close-up of FRANK -- and now it's his turn to look worried.
FRANK:
That's—that's not possible, post-Event—
CARLA (off-panel):
It's not possible the way we used to do it. The laws of physics still allow it, in theory. I worked out the math for it ten years ago.
FRANK:
What? You did what?
FRANK is reaching for the phone. (Which I don't think we've established as being next to his chair; it's best if it is, but if he has to stand or cross the room, that's ok. Regardless, his hand should be on it in this panel.)
FRANK:
I'll call Astra.
Back in the hotel room. JAMES sits on the couch with a road map unfolded on his lap. SARA slouches next to him.
JAMES:
See? Then the Ten through New Mexico and Arizona—
SARA:
Oh God. How many nights in Bates motels?
Wider view to take in CHI-YUN who is climbing up a wall of the room (her feet sticking to it, naturally).
CHI-YUN:
Hey! I always get attacked in Bates motels!
JAMES:
Only once, Chi-Yun. And what are you doing?
CHI-YUN:
Your plans drive me up the wall. Get it? Up the wall!
Close-up on JAMES and SARA, who are looking at each other and sharing the kind of expression you've probably got after reading that last line.
SARA:
Oh God.
JAMES:
Now do you see why we need to move on?
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
Heroes.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
It's not just a label. It's what gives their lives meaning.
CHI-YUN is now sticking to the ceiling by her feet, so that her upside-down head is in front of, and level with, JAMES and SARA.
CHI-YUN:
Bored!
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
They need that next challenge on the horizon. The cry for help, the mystery to investigate, the injustice to right.
In the sitting room of FRANKLIN and CARLA MARKS, FRANKLIN is talking on the phone.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
And it will turn up. It always does.
FRANK:
Yes, I promise I won't go and try to stop Diana myself.
FRANK:
She'd kill me.
FRANK:
Thanks, Astra. Talk to you soon. Bye!
FRANK is hanging up the phone.
FRANK:
She's going to call Don. He'll deal with it.
FRANK returns to reading his newspaper. CARLA returns to reading from her laptop.
No dialogue.
CARLA looks up at FRANK again. He answers from behind his paper.
CARLA:
Don's still working with those children, isn't he?
FRANK:
Teenagers. I suppose he still is.
CARLA:
James — he carries the shield—
FRANK:
Not the shield.
Close-up on Carla for her monologue.
CARLA:
We don't really know. Imagine, for a second, it is.
CARLA:
I've done the math Frank. I know what's coming out of that cyclotron, and it's not what Diana's expecting. We don't want it within a million miles of James.
FRANK is reaching for the phone once more.
FRANK:
I'll call Astra.
CARLA (off-panel):
Then you're going to have to call Sylph.
FRANK (softly):
Oh, joy.
CAPTION (PAUL's NOTES):
They're lucky like that.
Next issue: Avatar
Copyright © 2006, 2020 by David Meadows. All rights reserved.