Chapter 3 of Part 2 Exterminators

<body> <center> <table border="0" width="730"> <tr> <td> <center> <table border="0" width="730"> <tr> <td> <a href="#ironsnake">The Iron Snake</a><br> <a href="#walkingdoom">Walking Doom</a><br> <a href="#endall">End All</a> <br></br> <br></br> </td> <td> <a href="#whiteleviathan">White Light Leviathan</a><br> <a href="#dustheap">The Great Dust Heap</a> <br></br> <br></br> </td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="730"> <tr> <td> <a name="ironsnake"></a> <h2>EXT- EXPANSE- DAY</h2> <p>Cutting the rugged tundra, smoke trails from the train, fading into the red air of dawn.</p> <h2>INT- PASSENGER CAR- DAY</h2> <p>It's not a car anymore, more like a tiny church on wheels. Elegant in an old, medieval way: the seats are pews and the frame gothic. So much, that it lulls AGATHA into morose meditation.</p> <p>She's troubled, keeping her head nuzzled in a wide-eyed JOHN. He watches the expanse blur with BOB, seeing it like he never has.</p> <p>Away from them all is MAGWITCH. Eyes closed, he doesn't sleep, but instead focuses on something invisible.</p> <p>She watches him from John's shoulder: brooding, scared at his beyond human calm. But a touch breaks her trance - John.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> Hey, it's going to be over soon.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>AGATHA<br> Tell me about that simple life.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> Not much else to say: you wake up, you herd, and just breath in every day... a day at a time.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Taking his hand, she pushes into him, watching the window, trying to forget.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>AGATHA<br> Maybe that wouldn't be so bad.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> No harm in trying, right?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>AGATHA<br> So few things are that way.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Her gaze perks to the scenery.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>AGATHA<br> (cont'd)<br> We're here.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Peering out with her, he and Bob are taken by the sight.</p> <h2>EXT- THE CITY- DAY</h2> <p>The ancient skyscrapers rise over the train like gods. They swallow that puny snake, engulfing it under claws of fallen infrastructure.</p> <p>But this is the city before the river. The one beyond, the one holding the Bianox, dwarfs it still.</p> <h2>INT- PASSENGER CAR- DAY</h2> <p>MAGWITCH opens his eyes.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> Agatha...</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>AGATHA doesn't look, just stays close to JOHN.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> (cont'd)<br> Your lover is here. Why don't you go find him?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <h2>INT- CARGO CAR- DAY</h2> <p>In the dark, SARGOS whispers to ALDRIC.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>SARGOS<br> Is he God now?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>He sneers at the animal face.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> No, he's worse.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Shifting, Aldric huffs himself back in the game.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> (cont'd)<br> I think we're far enough from the orcs, don't you?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>SARGOS<br> They turned?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> Like you said, he's God now.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <h2>INT- ENGINE- DAY</h2> <p>Sweaty, stained, HELGA keeps the engine raging with another shovel of coal. But BOB stops her motion.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> They're here.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>She wipes the scum from her face and follows, taking her sword.</p> <h2>INT- CARGO CAR- DAY</h2> <p>Cranking the door back, JOHN eases into the sun streaked wooden shaft, gun trained. But AGATHA shoves him aside. Sword up, her ears perk to the squeaks and creeks from the other side.</p> <p>It's a door sliding back. At first it reveals nothing but the next car. But ALDRIC and SARGOS are there, being felt as much as they feel them.</p> <p>So Aldric talks.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> Use your head, Agatha. I know you smell it in him. Should you waste your time fighting us?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>BOB and HELGA come in behind her. Agatha smiles.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>AGATHA<br> How much time?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Everyone ducks, shots spitting in all directions. Walls spark and crates shatter, but they remain zero for zero.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> Hey, Agatha. Let's kill each other now - give Magwitch what he wants. The nightmares are coming. This is our last chance!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>She's thinking, watching John as he waits for a shot.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> (cont'd)<br> Dammit girl, you can murder me later!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>John looks to her, seeing the worry in her eyes. But MAGWITCH steps between them.</p> <p>No more debating: Aldric's hair stands up.</p> <p>Instantly, he's in the air, watching that KEY's brilliant white stream from him to Magwitch's cool smile.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> You want to know this power? Well, here it is.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Its white surges through Aldric, crushing his wail to a whimper.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> (cont'd)<br> Quite the feeling, isn't it? Turns a frown upside down, eh?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>The energy throws Aldric across the car. That mist taking Agatha's blade and sending it right to Sargos, tip held at his throat.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> (cont'd)<br> Not the same time, Aldric, I have no more worries now. Let me show you.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Instead of cutting Sargos, the sword flies to and impales...</p> <p>Bob.</p> <p>Blood leaking down his chin, he gazes up to John's lost eyes. Like Agatha, like Helga: that sense of the sinister has been made real to him. Even Aldric can't believe it.</p> <p>Feet fumbling, Bob staggers, huffs, and falls from the train.</p> <p>Not thinking, John dives after him.</p> <p>All is dark and draining... except for Magwitch who whips around, delighted.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> (cont'd)<br> You see, now I'm down two players. Want to try me again?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> In time.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> Better be soon.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>He and Sargos leap out too. Which leaves Helga and Agatha. Magwitch smiles at them, seeing their long stares. It makes him remember.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> (cont'd)<br> Oh.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Not even bracing for a fall, he hops off the speeding train. Helga and Agatha go right after him.</p> <a name="walkingdoom"></a> <h2>EXT- FIELD- DAY</h2> <p>HELGA and AGATHA tumble through the long grass, catching up with the casually strutting MAGWITCH.</p> <p>In the dense wheat, he finds with ease the speared BOB. JOHN, next to his friend's side, sees Magwitch and draws. A spark knocks the weapon from his hand and punches him back.</p> <p>Helga rushes in, holding Bob.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> Life or death - say it now.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Bob tries to speak, but the sword is yanked from his gut with his shout. Magwitch tosses it aside and suspends the KEY over the wound.</p> <p>He glances to Helga.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> (cont'd)<br> Keep him still.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>The key's spin is slow as that hue drifts down, now soft. It caresses Bob's wound and seeps in.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> (cont'd)<br> It's a beautiful thing, seeing life degraded into a mere utility. So much power, you can make everything right. Break it, fix it: no fears.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>As he talks, the wound bubbles. Bob cringes. Helga grips him tight. But, from all the pain, sizzles out a cut - a mortal blow - that never was.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> (cont'd)<br> Who wouldn't want something so wonderful?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>She hugs Bob, thankful. But John isn't feeling that, instead he keeps his brooding stare on Magwitch. It's a stare that the old man faces.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> (cont'd)<br> But that's the answer. We can't control the thing we are. There are some things, despite the need, that we are meant to be slaves to. It's balance.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> Maybe we'll learn that.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>The key closes. And Magwitch smiles, both sad and mad.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> You never will.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>It's Agatha he turns to next.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> (cont'd)<br> I want to see the wrongs righted. I want the universe back in order. I want the Bianox gone. Is that in you?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Agatha is too frozen to answer.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> (cont'd)<br> Then come, come.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>He walks over the hill. Reluctantly, fearfully, Agatha follows. But it's John who stops her, forcing her to look at him.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> You think anything will get in his way? That anything will change the outcome now? Your part's done.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Gently, she blows him off. But he only grips tighter.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> (cont'd)<br> Agatha, you won. It's over. Please... let it be over.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Her voice cuts. Eyeing the darkness marching away. She can almost agree. Still...</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>AGATHA<br> I hope those prairies are as fulfilling as you say. Maybe in the next life you can let me know.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Even as the words are, she says it with all the love she has.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>AGATHA<br> (cont'd)<br> Be who you are and run - as fast as you can. When this ends, be far away.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Her empathy surrendered, Agatha maternally knees his crotch. Shoving the pained John back down the slope, she waves for Helga and they both dart through the grass to Magwitch - to walking doom.</p> <p>Despite the burning ache, John claws up that slope, desperate to reach her. But it's too late, he and Bob have been left behind.</p> <h2>EXT- FIELD- DAY</h2> <p>JOHN marches through the grass, away from the great city. BOB is behind him.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> Where're you going?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> I don't know.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Sounding across the land, Bob hears the dragon call. High above, the shadow of ISAGOTH appears and lands to the horizon.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> John, it's happening. It's happening now and you're walking away?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>No answer, John is just beating through brush.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> (cont'd)<br> Always the coward.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>To that, John whips around, ticker than hell.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> Fine, I'm a coward! Go kill yourself and I'll be the sensible coward!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>He bites his tongue, for the first time seething.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> (cont'd)<br> It's my father all over again: fields of blood just so he can have more land, more power. There was no right or wrong. It was just land and power.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> It isn't about that.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> Yeah, such honorable men. Honorable men take arm for such bastard causes: my cousins falling on the swords of other honorable men for that man's greed. And I'm supposed to think it's right.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>He again tries for his style of reason.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> (cont'd)<br> Bob, it's a con. Agatha is going to die for a con. And I can't stop her. I'm better off pretending she lived. I'm better off walking away.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Not interested in finding the words for a rebuttal, Bob decks him. Holding his chin, John looks high from the grass - stunned. Scowling tough love, Bob cracks his knuckles.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> That was for Lucy. I don't like you, John.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>But right after he extends an open hand.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> (cont'd)<br> But you're still my charge.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>He pulls John back to his feet, hard hand clapping the prince's shoulder.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> (cont'd)<br> Do you love her?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>John's got something to say, but...</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> (cont'd)<br> Do you love her?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>He forgot it. A thought much heavier has sunken in.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> (cont'd)<br> Do... you... love her?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Though not saying it, John's answer is clear.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> (cont'd)<br> Because, in the end, that�s all there is.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Still...</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> No guns, no swords, not even any horses.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> How about you ask them.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>He finally looks, seeing down the cliff to the massed ORC ARMY below.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> It's fate, John.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> Remind never to piss her off again.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <h2>EXT- CLIFF- DAY</h2> <p>JOHN and BOB slide down to GREYGEN and his ORCS.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>GREYGEN<br> We fight the holy war of Magwitch. You are our saints. Lead our army.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>A sigh and a shrug, John gives up.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> What about the Black Beasts?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>GREYGEN<br> Tests of the faithful.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> Do we get horses?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Greygen nods. Two orcs dismount. They load them up with armor and weapons and surrender those horses.</p> <p>Now geared up, John and Bob spearhead the army.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> (cont'd)<br> It's good to be on God's side.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Bob smiles and they charge, the army flowing behind them.</p> <h2>EXT- BIANOX- DAY</h2> <p>PRIESTS gaze in awe, seeing past AGATHA and HELGA to the brilliant KEY held above MAGWITCH.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> Let us pass.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <h2>EXT- THE CITY- DAY</h2> <p>ISAGOTH howls, bringing ALDRIC to the BIANOX, for its apex.</p> <h2>EXT- BRIDGE- DAY</h2> <p>Horses thundering, the ORCS take the old bridge, charging straight for the great towers.</p> <h2>INT- BIANOX ELEVATOR- DAY</h2> <p>Lights flash down MAGWITCH's stone face as AGATHA and HELGA stay in the corner, watching him close.</p> <h2>EXT- THE CITY- DAY</h2> <p>Through monolithic skeletons, across lush dewy greens, the ORCS stampede.</p> <h2>EXT- BIANOX- DAY</h2> <p>From a balcony, SARGOS right behind him, ALDRIC marches inside. Entering a side of machined catacombs, the light dims them, making Aldric hesitate.</p> <p>He turns to Sargos, a feeling of last words overwhelming.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> The orcs are coming. I know they will.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>With hand on his shoulder, he sends Sargos off.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> (cont'd)<br> Use everything. It's all or nothing now.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>SARGOS<br> What about you?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Seeing his hand, sensing something new, Aldric grips it into a fist.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> I was touched. Within it, answers you can only feel to understand. We'll see if it's any good.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Finding a wasp tube, Aldric takes it under arm and keeps moving.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> (cont'd)<br> And, if I'm wrong, we won't have anytime to regret it.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>He storms into the darkness, leaving Sargos to ready a battle.</p> <h2>INT- BIANOX CONSOLE- DAY</h2> <p>Steel jaws grinding open, the PRIESTS rise from their toil to a light seeping in. Like the sun: the KEY is surging against MAGWITCH's hand, bleeding sheer power up and through.</p> <p>Keeping back, almost hand tied with confusion, AGATHA and HELGA simply watch.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> Everybody out.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>They're not fast enough. A flash from the key and all sixteen of them fall dead.</p> <p>And it is done. They are alone to do their deed... or his deed. Turning to Agatha, Magwitch beams with his other worldly confidence.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> (cont'd)<br> Are you ready for a divine end?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>AGATHA<br> Do it.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>And he does, going straight to the console. Helga comes close to Agatha, whispering.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>HELGA<br> Divine end to what?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> To what was started: nature's anomaly.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>HELGA<br> Us?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Agatha now gets it.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>AGATHA<br> Man.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>The key splays open and charges up in a whirl. That cold determination returning, Magwitch is set for murder.</p> <p>And Agatha starts shooting. Still bewildered, Helga has only one choice but to fire with her sister.</p> <p>Like dense, living brush, the key blocks the barrage.</p> <p>Hand on her gun, she stops Helga and gives up her arm to her. She points to a higher position and Helga leaps to it.</p> <p>Dropping to her belly, Agatha's limbs curl and she crawls: a spider stalking a glowing fiend.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="730" cellspacing="20"> <tr> <td> <img src="ag4wa1.jpg" width="400" alt="Agatha spider"> </td> <td> <p>Helga keeps up the lead beating. But the bullets just pop away, doing nothing to a focused Magwitch. Looming over the keyhole, he begins aligning the two, unaware of Agatha slinking closer.</p> <p>Twisting to its mate, the hole splays like a mouth, thin bolts sparking between them. It cranks into a spin. Together, the pieces sink into a single twirl dance, kicking up lightning with every increasing roll.</p> </td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Electricity nicking her, Agatha struggles to hurry, crackles and gun rattles drumming her ears.</p> <p>Drawing the light into a single, throbbing beam, Magwitch arches his arm. And, with jowls tight, he thrusts down, right into Agatha's awaiting hand.</p> <p>Pulling the spinning key away, her gaze locks with his face, watching those cold, surging eyes twist to hers. The sparks prick her skin, energy burning her. She slices at him, the blade snapping with a flash.</p> <p>Then a bolt takes her, launching Agatha to the grate. Whirling about, Magwitch throws raw energy everywhere, making Helga duck and cover, and making Agatha flee.</p> <p>She squirms underneath the bridge, Magwitch frying it. She screams to the shock, jumping. Scurrying back, she leaps to the pipes above, shards of energy nipping her heels.</p> <p>A second bolt knocks her back to the bridge. She tries to run, but he zaps her back, keeping Agatha right there.</p> <p>He scowls up a smile.</p> <p>But those steel jaws open again. Both Agatha and Magwitch stop and look. Robes stretching behind, ALDRIC is at the bridge's end. Behind him, in the black, echoes the clicks of a timer.</p> <p>To her, from his lips, come but one word.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> (mouthing)<br> Duck.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>She does. And, to Magwitch's grin, Aldric lifts his arms, letting loose the mother of all WASP swarms. Flesh against life: the beasts are coming for Magwitch.</p> <p>But Agatha's skin glows white, tendrils gripping and lifting.</p> <p>She's flung before the charge.</p> <p>Magwitch has taken hold, using Agatha to soak up the hundreds of hungry mouths. The fluttering engulfs her. Her screams, her bare form, are buried beneath the buzzing army of wings. Soon her blood plummets like rain.</p> <p>And Aldric shrieks.</p> <p>Letting the speedy feast sustain, satisfied; Magwitch sears the bugs away, letting what's left scatter upon the grates.</p> <p>It's a chatter that echoes in a moment vacuumed. The lights, the sounds, are gone. All that remains are Agatha's bones and Aldric's tears.</p> <p>A moment Magwitch absorbs just before returning to his keyhole.</p> <p>But those white tendrils are pulled and the key yanked from him. He whips to and holds it steady, finding that spinning key at even lengths between him and a newly empowered newly enraged Aldric.</p> <a name="endall"></a> <h2>EXT- BIANOX- DAY</h2> <p>In the whisper of wind, SARGOS is on ISAGOTH on the ledge. With a PRIEST, he scans the silence wisping through those gnarled rusted hulks.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>PRIEST<br> Maybe there's no army.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>But then they hear it, the trampling dirt: hundreds of hooves, thousands of feet. In all its glory, they watch it lurch out from every jagged crevice - the ORCY ARMY.</p> <p>There it forms, at the edge of the Bianox's scorched earth: all those mutant apes with every weapon of man since history born.</p> <p>Before the battlefield, before the hordes of BLACK BEASTS and MEN: GREYGEN arches tall next to the slouching JOHN.</p> <p>Above the waiting war, John spies the BIANOX's tip. He sees those white flames billow high: that writhing, ghostly leviathan.</p> <p>He swallows, stuttering to BOB.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> She's up there, isn't she?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> No doubt. Is this your war now?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>His eyes drift, feeling it. In the silence of the ORCS, in John's silence, Greygen's voice roars.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>GREYGEN<br> Who here among is afraid? Who here cowers before the mass?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>New guilt, new passion, is entering John.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>GREYGEN<br> (cont'd)<br> Not I. I charge the fire in the name of good. I charge for the one God! I know I die for truth. And I will bare my pain. And I will surrender life with all the courage in my heart to the one true right... MAGWITCH!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>One brow spikes on John's face. And, championed by cheers, Greygen aims his ax high and dives his steed to battle.</p> <p>Just closing his eyes, John holds on tight to his self-inspired horse and rides hard into glorious suicide.</p> <p>From his perched Isagoth, Sargos watches the horde cometh.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>SARGOS (on radio)<br> Fire at will.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Below, the men launch what they have, dispersing the orcs. Above, Sargos kicks his dragon, sending potent fireballs into the advance.</p> <p>The orc army is being carved down. Their only survival is to cower behind debris.</p> <p>Dirt flies, flames roll. And John is pissed.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> Great plan!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>GREYGEN<br> Aldric always made the plans!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Automatic fire rings around and from them as the armies get into a shooting match.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> I'm no general, but we are matched!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>GREYGEN<br> We have them out numbered!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>An explosion rips up a body of orcs, sending them flying.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> That won't last!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Luckily, Greygen spots the horn on Bob's belt.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>GREYGEN<br> That horn, Razorback, you have it for a reason!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Bob looks to him.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>GREYGEN<br> (cont'd)<br> Call the dragon!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>He spots a building.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> I need to be higher - there!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>GREYGEN<br> Cover fire!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>To that, the orcs unload. Bob is up and racing to that building.</p> <p>He hits into one long sprint: not stopping, not stalling.</p> <p>Sargos sees him, watching close.</p> <h2>INT- BUILDING- DAY</h2> <p>BOB leaps into the concrete shell. Spotting a path up the skeleton, he climbs.</p> <h2>EXT- BIANOX- DAY</h2> <p>Honing in on BOB, SARGOS thinks. Then he sees the horn. Quickly pulling ISAGOTH's scowling head, aiming on the building, he fires.</p> <h2>INT- BUILDING- DAY</h2> <p>The flames rock and blast the building as BOB holds on. He shields himself, pinned until the next break.</p> <p>Then he goes again, driving fast up the rusted beams. Another wave: Bob pulls close the jagged corner, letting the fire cut past.</p> <p>The building tilts, making him slip. But one hand saves him from falling.</p> <h2>EXT- BIANOX- DAY</h2> <p>Its chest full of fuel, mouth dripping with those potent germs, ISAGOTH sends another blow.</p> <h2>INT- BUILDING- DAY</h2> <p>Metal giving way, the jagged relic is falling. The building crashes into the next one, knocking BOB into the beams. The horn falls, his hand just snatching the strap.</p> <h2>EXT- BIANOX- DAY</h2> <p>Heaving deep, glands almost bursting, SARGOS kicks ISAGOTH into launching once more.</p> <h2>INT- BUILDING- DAY</h2> <p>Keeping to his only protection, BOB takes his chance.</p> <p>Framed by the inferno, he arches high, sounding that horn into a deafening call. It blares, a trumpet to the heavens, shooting echoes to the sky and across the battle.</p> <h2>EXT- BIANOX- DAY</h2> <p>JOHN and GREYGEN hold their ears.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> Will he hear?!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>GREYGEN<br> Oh he'll hear! He always hears!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <h2>EXT- EXPANSE- DAY</h2> <p>The howls race across the landscape, ring through the city and out to the woods.</p> <p>Another blast sounds past the trees and over the mountains. Deeper in the range, the wail drifts to a whisper until it is only wind.</p> <p>But still, among those peaks, RAZORBACK peers up to what nothing else can hear. From its neck blooms two enormous radar ears: tilting to the whisper of Bob's call.</p> <p>With a tightening scowl, grated by that awful sound, it dives, speeding over the range and woods to kill that damned nuisance.</p> <h2>EXT- BIANOX- DAY</h2> <p>SARGOS scowls against fear as the shadow passes over him.</p> <p>The horn blares. And a beastly screech is heard above. GREYGEN and JOHN can only stare as it lands, slinking out from the great buildings, great it self - RAZORBACK.</p> <h2>INT- BUILDING- DAY</h2> <p>BOB blows the horn again, but stops. RAZORBACK is already peering, zeroing in on Bob.</p> <p>He smiles and jumps on the dragon's head.</p> <h2>EXT- BIANOX- DAY</h2> <p>RAZORBACK shrieks, desperately trying to shake BOB off like nasty bug.</p> <p>GREYGEN grins wide with JOHN's gawk.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>GREYGEN<br> You see?! The dragon is his!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Ramming its head into the dirt, Razorback tries to rub Bob out.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> Yeah, nothing but love.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>But despite the thrashing and the scratching, Bob manages to lock himself in, adorning both coat and helm.</p> <p>Sargos's MEN and BEASTS are frozen. They're not shooting. Frantic, SARGOS roars to them.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>SARGOS<br> Shoot it. Shoot it!!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>One man nervously fires one bullet into Razorback's toe.</p> <p>Seizing, the dragon forgets Bob and, in an instant, torches the entire resistance. Within a long stretching blast, all man and beast is swept away, rolled under lifting dirt in screams.</p> <p>Eyeing in awe, Greygen and John see, in amazement with the rest, not one foe left. Roaring the ORCS into cheering cries, Greygen drags John and leads the charge.</p> <p>Sargos, powerless to stop them, is left to only flap ISAGOTH and rise with Razorback. Both dragons throw themselves high, almost to the peaks of those Babel like towers.</p> <p>In that second of steady air, Bob's eyes lock with those pale orbs of the man/beast, both wanting this end all match.</p> <p>Then the dragons dive, swooning over the invading orc army and after each other.</p> <h2>INT- BIANOX- DAY</h2> <p>Rushing into a black chasm of haloed pipes and machinery, the ORCS slow, getting steady and ready. Leading JOHN in, GREYGEN points.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>GREYGEN<br> Down there.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>His finger is aimed at a corridor across the way.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>GREYGEN<br> (cont'd)<br> In there is how we get to the top.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="730" cellspacing="20"> <tr> <td> <img src="bb2wa1.jpg" width="400" alt="Black Beasts attack"> </td> <td> <p>The army moves ahead. But, landing before their paths, BLACK BEASTS block the way. Hearing the snarling, the clawing, all eyes leer up.</p> <p>Above them, seething like the most hideous of nests, hundreds of BLACK BEASTS writhe down the inner pyramid.</p> <p>It's an ambush, and the orcs are caught, sight swallowed by the horde crashing in.</p> </td> </tr> </table> </center> <h2>INT- CONSUL- DAY</h2> <p>ALDRIC, in spectacular flashes, is thrown and smashed high up into the transformer. The KEY is cutting and burning his face.</p> <p>MAGWITCH just grins. He's winning, not even HELGA can stop him. Though she still tries, slinking out and aiming for that one shot.</p> <p>Aldric spots her.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> Helga!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>A tendril stabs out and lashes her. She screams but only squeaks, hitting metal and going limp.</p> <p>Taking his chance, Aldric sends a surge from key to Magwitch, knocking him back.</p> <p>Quickly, Aldric floats back to the grate, twirling that spinning key in hand and launching another blast.</p> <p>It grabs Magwitch, hurling him across the console. Aldric pounds him again, then sucks it back out.</p> <p>To that a scream and a recovery, for the key flies from Aldric's hand and smacks him in the face. Hovering freely, Magwitch jabs and pulls more energy from him.</p> <p>But, though hurting, Aldric still manages to take the key and put them back at stalemate.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> You've learned.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> It's amazing what one touch will do.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> Then you should be like me.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> You think this is what the universe wants? Then I'm not the universe.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>The key shoots to Magwitch's head but is fired back. They keep going.</p> <h2>EXT- THE CITY- DAY</h2> <p>ISAGOTH cuts ahead, RAZORBACK right behind. They parallel, launching fireballs back and forth. Dodging the skyscrapers, the dragons split around the buildings and reconnect.</p> <h2>EXT- RAZORBACK- DAY</h2> <p>BOB spots SARGOS and draws his sword.</p> <h2>EXT- ISAGOTH- DAY</h2> <p>Seeing BOB coming, SARGOS blocks the strike. He tracks RAZORBACK and pulls the stick. Isagoth wails to that blue surge and turns.</p> <h2>EXT- THE CITY- DAY</h2> <p>Arching high and diving back, ISAGOTH is right on RAZORBACK. They crash into each other, beasts twirling and ramming a building.</p> <p>The dragon is gone and Razorback is left clinging to the skyscraper.</p> <h2>EXT- RAZORBACK- DAY</h2> <p>BOB holds on to the reins, seeing the ground far below. With a huff, Razorback recovers and perches itself at the building's peak.</p> <p>ISAGOTH is off to the clouds, circling in the distant red sky.</p> <p>Looking down the way, he notices Razorback is also watching and is aiming itself to the open sky. The buildings are almost like a ramp before it, about three hundred feet worth.</p> <p>Bob starts to get it. He tugs the stick. Feeling the sparks, the beast just glares at him.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> Hey. No.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Razorback arches out and curls up, leaning right out into the bare air.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> (cont'd)<br> Hey!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>No saying "no." It pushes off, plunging into a straight dive as Bob screams. The buildings rocket past, almost cutting them in half as they blur to the sheering speed.</p> <p>Almost impaling them on the old docks, Razorback finally arches. And, on a hard wind, they're shooting to the sky better than a jet.</p> <h2>EXT- SKY- DAY</h2> <p>Spotting RAZORBACK flying in fast, ISAGOTH obliges and dips to, aiming to ram. But Razorback has already ducked to a spin, and knocks the dragon out of flight.</p> <p>It flaps from the fall and gives chase.</p> <p>Into the clouds they go, slicing like knives through the blazing puffs.</p> <p>Isagoth fires a blast. Razorback swerves and disappears.</p> <h2>EXT- ISAGOTH- DAY</h2> <p>Caught by exploding mist, SARGOS is ambushed by RAZORBACK, Isagoth rammed.</p> <h2>EXT- CLOUD- DAY</h2> <p>RAZORBACK too gets surprised when ISAGOTH cuts it off on the upturn.</p> <p>Through the bright orange clouds, the dragons dive and dodge with shadows and flames, like sharks in the depth.</p> <h2>EXT- RAZORBACK- DAY</h2> <center> <table border="0" width="730" cellspacing="20"> <tr> <td> <p>The mist is consuming. Up and down don't exist anymore. When BOB sees the last blow come, that great mushroom of fire, it's from above.</p> <p>Razorback spins, taking the brunt.</p> <p>They're in the open air. The blue canvas, the water, is closing fast... they're falling.</p> <p>Bob spins with the dragon as it locks into a dive. Great wings flexing against the force, Razorback takes control.</p> </td> <td> <img src="rzbk3wa1.jpg" width="400" alt="Razorback fall"> </td> </tr> </table> </center> <h2>EXT- WATER- DAY</h2> <p>Inches from the river's surface, RAZORBACK swoons back into the sky.</p> <h2>EXT- ISAGOTH- DAY</h2> <p>Hammering that stick, punching sparks against Isagoth's head, SARGOS whips into a nosedive.</p> <p>He yanks up the bracing bar, pulls the rifle, racks a round and aims.</p> <h2>EXT- RAZORBACK- DAY</h2> <p>BOB sees Sargos coming. He also finds Razorback looking back at him. Eye to eye, him and the dragon, that simpatico thing happens.</p> <p>He readies his sword.</p> <h2>EXT- SKY- DAY</h2> <p>Making its move, RAZORBACK turns to ISAGOTH with a blast of flames, blocking its view. From the flames it appears, right under his mount's belly.</p> <h2>EXT- RAZORBACK- DAY</h2> <p>BOB spies ISAGOTH's underbelly, bracing the blade, and slicing through the glands. Isagoth's body seizes, its fuel spraying.</p> <h2>EXT- ISAGOTH- DAY</h2> <p>Isagoth winces and drops back, SARGOS holding on.</p> <h2>EXT- SKY- DAY</h2> <p>Whipping about, facing the beast, RAZORBACK sends one true punch of fire. The leaking fluids ignite, streaking like an arrow right back to ISAGOTH.</p> <p>Now a missile, it ignites the dragon, bursting it section by section.</p> <h2>EXT- ISAGOTH- DAY</h2> <p>To his wide eyes, SARGOS can only watch the rolling explosion come. Defeated, with nothing, he roars a farewell and is consumed.</p> <h2>EXT- THE CITY- DAY</h2> <p>Burning bright, smoking black, ISAGOTH falls to the city.</p> <h2>EXT- RAZORBACK- DAY</h2> <p>Razorback landing on a high building top, BOB rips off his helm. With the dragon he watches that hot tipped trail cut the sky.</p> <p>Vengeance has been won and Bob arches tall, glistening blade extended as holy. Below him RAZORBACK breathes deep, howling out a ring of fire that halos them both as heroes.</p> <h2>INT- BIANOX</h2> <center> <table border="0" width="730" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td> <p>BLACK BEASTS leap over the ORCS, out maneuvering and out numbering them. But the orcs fight: slashing, shooting, throwing the animals about.</p> <p>But they're getting swallowed in the flood.</p> <p>JOHN is back to back with GREYGEN, cutting what he can.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> We're losing here!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>GREYGEN<br> To the corridor!!!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>The orcs push and shove their way through the horde, getting devoured one at a time.</p> <p>Orc backsides crush John. His whole body jammed up, he's forced to go with the flow.</p> <p>But Greygen and the orcs cut and carve and make it. They shove John into the tunnel and block the passage.</p> </td> <td> <img src="orc1wa1.jpg" width="400" alt="orc"> </td> </tr> </table> </center> <h2>INT- ARMORY</h2> <p>Leaving behind the howls and the screams, GREYGEN leads JOHN past the shelves of weapons to the elevator.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>GREYGEN<br> This is where we part, father.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> Hey, why don't you just come with me?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="730" cellspacing="20"> <tr> <td> <img src="grywa1.jpg" width="400" alt="Greygen last stand"> </td> <td> <p>A smirk and Greygen lobs John into the elevator. The doors close. He sends him up.</p> <p>Going right to a long line of crates, he starts smashing through lids, his hurry making splitters twirl high.</p> <p>From a shelf, Greygen unsheathes a clock with two prongs almost touching. He checks it. The tips spark.</p> <p>The hands are ticking, though the sound is drowned by screams. But Greygen just smiles and rams the clock into one crate, pushing it deep into the black powder.</p> <p>A quiet prayer and he takes up his ax, walking back to the terror around the corner. Red teeth stretched wide, claws skidding across smooth flooring, those horror BLACK BEASTS are racing in.</p> <p>With a defiant roar, he greets them and his death with fighting steel.</p> </td> </tr> </table> </center> <a name="whiteleviathan"></a> <h2>EXT- BIANOX- DAY</h2> <p>RAZORBACK lands on the Bianox. Sword out, BOB is already charging in.</p> <p>But he stops. Turning back to the grizzled beast, seeing through its hard glare, there's something he has to do.</p> <p>He lowers the blade and, with a couple flicks, unhinges the saddle clamps and lets the brutal rider's seat fall.</p> <p>The act stuns Razorback, makes it stumble.</p> <p>Just for the sake of it, Bob gives one last try. Sword up, he thinks it over once more, eyeing that true animal face of ignorance and confusion.</p> <p>Still he does. With that gentle twirl of steel, Bob kneels: forcing his homage upon a daunted Razorback yet again.</p> <p>But, in the end, this dragon's understanding is but wishful thinking.</p> <p>So, Bob stands...</p> <p>Almost. For just then, he ducks, gazing high to a howl of flames stretching bright overhead. Razorback has answered, surrendering to Bob the power of a dragon's worst weapon: its own salute of fire.</p> <p>And Bob is frozen: chilled by warming. For he has been honored - honored by the gruff and crazed Razorback now lucid and thankful before him.</p> <p>To him, the dragon gives a stoic nod, one of reverence, and then returns to the air. It finally freed. Bob finally redeemed.</p> <p>But the moment is short, for that blinding white is surging, calling Bob. The purest of hell is raging just below, and it's time for him to do what he always does: fight.</p> <p>Ducking searing tendrils with barely any fear, Bob runs, runs hard, down to the chaos.</p> <h2>INT- CONSUL- DAY</h2> <p>The KEY burns wild, spraying trails of white all over. The blades are glowing hot.</p> <p>Sneaking in, BOB keeps low, not seeing Aldric or Magwitch as the sparks fly. But he does find HELGA, still limp.</p> <p>For a moment, he forgets the battle, quick and desperate to reach her. Easing her over, he finds Helga heaving, but she's breathing. Wasting no time, Bob drags her further from the flashes.</p> <p>Hand to her face, he brings her back, eyes drifting his way. Sure she'll live, he's going to the battle.</p> <p>But Helga doesn't let go.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>HELGA<br> You can't fight this.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Snapping from her grasp, he goes anyway and stands over the searing light show. There they are - MAGWITCH and ALDRIC, absorbing and pounding energy back and forth. Bob is ready to jump, but he's confused.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> Who do I kill?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>HELGA<br> Magwitch!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> Magwitch?!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Their conversation has stopped the fight. Magwitch and Aldric are looking at him. A shot of energy and Bob is thrown - discarded too.</p> <h2>INT- ARMORY</h2> <p>BLACK BEASTS crawling on him, GREYGEN still swings and carves. He rams himself into the wall, knocking some off. But he gets slashed in the stomach and stalls.</p> <p>That's when one beast locks its teeth into his neck.</p> <p>Greygen drops the ax, trying to pry the jaws apart. But the beast holds tight. So, he whips about, throwing it. That only rips his jugular.</p> <p>Slimed in his own blood, Greygen crawls from the beasts like moving red phlegm, gagging on every word.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>GREYGEN<br> You should know something. I fight for the good. And good always wins.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>To that, he chatters the most maniacal laugh. Like a pure villain, his cackle of triumph echoes through the snarling black beasts: the creatures only slowly picking out the ticking within it.</p> <p>Honing down on the tiny rhythm of that clock, one beast finds the timer wedge in the powder. Greygen's howl pounds louder as the ticks wind to a stop. In the one moment of silence, that one beast slurps a confused snarl, unknowing as the spark shoots into the black sand.</p> <h2>INT- BIANOX</h2> <p>To the wide eyes of ORCS and BEASTS, the plume rolls in. It's a fire that swallows all. Good and evil.</p> <h2>INT- ELEVATOR</h2> <p>JOHN smacks the wall, the whole elevator cabin almost shaking apart.</p> <h2>INT- CONSOLE- DAY</h2> <p>The quake breaks the fight, distracting MAGWITCH. But ALDRIC isn't. He sends that KEY right into the old man's belly.</p> <p>It punches Magwitch to the console, flipping him over.</p> <p>He tries to stand, desperately tugging at this elegant machine wedge in no better than a knife. But it stays and he drops to his knees. Magwitch slumps against the console, his face back to rotting... defeated.</p> <p>Using his new skills, Aldric calls the key with a wave. Tearing Magwitch's bowels, the machine twirls to Aldric, surrendering to its new master.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> So much for the universe, old man.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Magwitch can only cough and spit in response. Forgetting him, Aldric remembers Agatha, sadness seeping in from her bones. Hovering over what's left, his victory is nothing but cold.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> (cont'd)<br> What was Agatha so afraid of?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>HELGA looks down from BOB, finding Aldric, finding his pleading gaze.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> (cont'd)<br> If I can bring her back, what is there to be afraid of?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>He sees Magwitch as his answer. It makes him think, gripping that key.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> (cont'd)<br> This is the risk to take.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Aldric goes, but stops to the sound of the opening gate. He turns, facing JOHN.</p> <p>Scanning the scene, everything in him stops dead on Agatha.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> (cont'd)<br> When she's saved take her. I surrender her to you, to please make her whole again.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Solemnly, he returns to the console, key in hand.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> Wait.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> What?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>HELGA<br> John, let him do it.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> Bob?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> Yeah.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> Hold Helga.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Bob does, getting smacked for it.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> I can make those bones live again. I can bring her back.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> Doing the one thing she died to stop.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> So?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> I know!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>He drops his head, feeling pulled apart. But, with a grimace, he makes his stance.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> (cont'd)<br> Agatha believed in it. So I believe in it. And now... I fight.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Helga's eyes drift, getting it. Aldric levitates the key into his cloak.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> Now, you fight. Well, it's nice to see you found something to believe in. Time to die.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>He draws his sword. John readies his.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>HELGA<br> Be careful, John.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> What's the big deal? I'm young. He's old.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> And he also has four hundred years worth of practice.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Aldric is not even poised. He just goes. The steel flashing around John, Aldric's uses his blade to back him into a corner.</p> <p>John swings: Aldric blocks and punches. John leaps back. Aldric is on him again. Every move that's made is already countered.</p> <p>The dance is making John's head spin. Aldric gets his blade. One more punch and John is down. Aldric is marching away.</p> <p>But a sword lands near John, making Aldric look up.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> Helga!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>HELGA<br> Just let it go, Aldric.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> Helga... Pick... a damn... side!</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>He shakes his head as John rises.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> Nice to have friends, huh?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> Better to have skill.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>They charge to one another: Aldric grabbing John's sword arm, slapping the blade out, elbowing John's face, and throwing him down. Before John can recover, Aldric has kicked him in the head.</p> <p>He throws all the swords over the railing, kicking John one more time. Ah, hell, he heels his head just for luck.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> (cont'd)<br> Enough, no more waiting. Maybe you can let love go, but I won't.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>The key snaps open across his palm.</p> <p>With a great surge of light: Aldric charges the console through his key, aiming for the keyhole. The white streaks pull between the blades and their home.</p> <p>No stalling, Aldric rams the key in, smiling to Magwitch.</p> <p>He pushes in and turns the lock. Suddenly, all that energy, every ounce of white rage is sucked back in to a meager spit.</p> <p>The quiet becomes crushing... and everyone watches.</p> <p>For then it comes, trickling up the pendulum: a humble angelic flow. But scaling Aldric's arm, it's growing. That trickle is sparking, stretching with erupt bursts.</p> <p>Like celestial spiders, the power is enveloping him, oozing through. Beyond the engulfing light, he finds Magwitch hateful glare.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>ALDRIC<br> (cont'd)<br> This time god wanna be, man wins.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>And he laughs: laughs as the light takes him. He cries.</p> <p>And then he fries.</p> <p>Like an electric chair, his body seizes. That light, once under such strict control, now crumbles to raw electricity. And Aldric can't let go. The voltage has him.</p> <p>So he burns. He screams. He bubbles. The god generator - the Bianox - sparks and sizzles. It's melting down... and roasting Aldric with it.</p> <p>In the end, he drops a smoking corpse as manmade divinity whirls and winds to a worthless halt.</p> <p>And then it's done. The light show is gone: the mystic wonder has vanished into industrial junk. And everyone is left to peer and stare and ponder over Aldric's charred remains.</p> <p>Except for Magwitch, breaking the silence with a sarcastic huff.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>MAGWITCH<br> To think, for all our fears and hopes, we were too afraid to test the damn thing.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> What does he...?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>HELGA<br> It doesn't work.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>John hears this, but he doesn't move. Instead he lies there, lost in Agatha's skull. He doesn't move, just absorbs Magwitch's hideous cackle.</p> <p>Top jaw slipping, lower jaw sagging, cheekbones disappearing, Magwitch still laughs as he fades to ooze. But he hasn't left, for his gurgle of a giggle remains to haunt them all.</p> <a name="dustheap"></a> <h2>EXT- BIANOX- DAY</h2> <p>Quietly, BOB and HELGA mount a horse. They ride over to JOHN who just broods over the pyramid - the BIANOX.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> Off to fight another war?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>BOB<br> It's who we are.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>With a soft smile, he links forearms with Bob.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> That it is.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>But before they go...</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> (cont'd)<br> Helga?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>They stop, both turning back.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> (cont'd)<br> Everyone I know condemns this past. But not Aldric...</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>HELGA<br> You can't bring her back.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> I know, but I need to do something for her.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>HELGA<br> The mountains to the north: that's were Aldric started. There's a cave within. I think you'll find your answer there.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>A nod to his old friends and Bob takes Helga away, riding to anywhere.</p> <p>He doesn't see them off. Instead, he walks on, holding a satchel to him. Whatever is in there, he keeps it close.</p> <h2>EXT- DUNLAN CASTLE- DAY</h2> <p>At the tip of the expanse, encased by lush pines, yet still upon cliff's edge, is a classic castle - DUNLAN CASTLE.</p> <p>Of dirty stone and smelly rows: it is as close to a majesty gem as the dark ages will get.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>HALUS (vo)<br> You deny your kingdom. Reject your heritage. Turn upon me. Abandon me.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <h2>INT- KING'S QUARTERS- DAY</h2> <p>Within that streaking sun, KING HALUS looms and leers over his seated son, JOHN, now alone to face his father.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>HALUS<br> What would you want: tears and open arms?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> I don't expect anything. I'm just not hiding anymore. I'm here to make the decision yours.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>And Halus scoffs.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>HALUS<br> This kingdom needs a conqueror. Not a sniveling little brat who doddles over moral implications.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> This kingdom needs someone who can keep it.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>He leans close: to his father's steady gaze, bold enough now to say this.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> (cont'd)<br> You captured land. Good for you. But your vast armies are gaining so many conquered people that soon they'll tear down these walls and put your head on a stake. And you won't be able to stop them: for they'll be your own army.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Those kingly eyes, black eyes, have found him; like a viper patiently finding its prey. Still, John is undeterred.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> (cont'd)<br> You need someone to turn these captured lands into a civilization. You need someone to conquer these peoples' hearts: to keep what you've won.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>HALUS<br> And your holiday has some how provided wisdoms that my years of rein have not?</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>In face of that insidious glare, John looks back.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> In the mountains of the north, there's a cave...</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <h2>FLASHBACK</h2> <h2>INT- CAVE</h2> <p>Metal creaking, wrenching: JOHN pries open the old steel door, shedding light on ancient dust. His beard is long, his clothes haggard. The journey has been weeks, maybe years: all leading to this point, this cave within.</p> <p>At first, all he finds are black boxes, neatly snapped and buckled. They are simple in material - plastic. But their design is elaborate, meant to keep whatever's inside sealed for millennia.</p> <p>Snapping buckles, letting those straps fly, John undoes the bond like a combination. But, with sword, he still has to pry, break the eons of melded crud.</p> <p>It does. In a sudden burst, that black box splits, almost jumping from the force. A glimpse of this egg's yoke is shown: a dim white. When John pushes the shell away, that's all it is - a square solid of dim white.</p> <p>The square, though, is many squares, John picking one up... and flipping its pages. It is a gift from that ancient age of wonder. For any time, anyone, they have given a crate of books.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN (vo)<br> Inside, there's a world...</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>Drifting up from those typed words, John finds more: a horizontal abyss, filled with those crates as far as the eye can see.</p> <p>And John reads...</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN (vo)<br> (cont'd)<br> Obiter Dicta: "That great dust heap called...'history.'"</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>It's not so much the words that are amazing, but the fact that he can read it.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN (vo)<br> (cont'd)<br> Written in our language...</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <h2>END OF FLASH BACK</h2> <h2>INT- KING'S QUARTERS- DAY</h2> <p>To King HALUS's questioning but awed gaze, JOHN speaks of his tale with reverence and hope.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> ...the whole knowledge of that ancient world we came from. The past is there, father, enough to make our tomorrows better for a whole future to come.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>And, there he sits, allowing the thought of this treasure to sink deep into that old viper king.</p> <h2>EXT- GARDENS- DAY</h2> <p>In the soft breeze, JOHN goes to garden's edge - to a spot that is special, or to be special, only to him. Hanging by his side is that satchel, the one that he still keeps close.</p> <p>Beside a small mouth he's dug into moist earth, he sets that satchel down. And, with tender love, he slips out Agatha's silvery skull.</p> <p>Caressing it to dirt with care, he buries the one bone of his beloved. Like those books, she has been sealed: preserved into memory for anytime, anyone.</p> <p>Resting his hand upon that soil, touching it like he would her cheek; John holds not only tears but a smile for her.</p> <center> <table border="0" width="230" cellspacing="10"> <tr> <td></td> <td> <p>JOHN<br> You're home now.</p> </td> <td></td> </tr> </table> </center> <p>His home, the Kingdom of Dunlan: now, made for her sake, the spark of the future.</p> <h2>EXT- THE CITY</h2> <p>Across the trees, past the shore, deep within those monoliths of old, there sits a majestic pyramid amidst a graveyard - the BIANOX.</p> <p>Through twilight and dawn it will remain with the Earth: the greatest con, and our eternal curse.</p> </td> </tr> </table> </center> </td> </tr> </table> </center> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="760" height="60"> <tr> <td body align="center"> <br></br> <p><a href="brhmpg.htm">Home</a>|<a href="cntctpg.htm">Contact</a>|<a href="aboutit/abtit1.htm">About it</a>|<a href="gallerygatepg/gllrygt.htm">Gallery</a>|<a href="extermgatepg/extgt.htm"> Exterminators</a>|<a href="gdgatepg/gdgt.htm">God Dog</a>|<a href="../index.htm">Gate</a></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center"> <p>© all rights reserved, artwork and screenplays, E Felter 2003. 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