Part Two of Four: The Truth
Comic Book Script—Plot for 22 Pages
Devin Leigh Michaels
After Connor frees himself from the warriors, the gang finds out the truth about Connor and Addy's abduction, but just what that is might change everything.
PAGE ONE
1—Looking down at the garden from FD #11—we’re looking at Addy’s statue.
OFF: Mom’s a statue?
2—Connor’s looking away from the camera, ashamed.
Connor: Yes.
PAGE TWO
1—Ral’s hands are palm up as he’s trying to make sense of everything.
RAL: But…she’s a statue. Like, stone and rock and Mount Rushmore.
2—Connor’s shrugging this off. Ral might be new at this, but after a couple thousand years or so, you’re used to it.
CONNOR: Well, TECHNICALLY, she’s been frozen, like a Popsicle or those waffles you pop in the toaster, but—
3—Ral’s angry.
RAL (shouting): Technically!?
RAL (linked/shouting): TECHNICALLY!
PAGE THREE
1—Ral grabs Connor by the collar and shoves him against the wall of the balcony.
RAL (angry): In the last six months, I’ve been traveling the East Coast with a REINCARNATED IMMORTAL and a WERE-PHOENIX.
RAL (linked): I’ve been attacked by SHADOW WARRIORS who have kidnapped you and Mom, and I’ve been transported to another dimension through the head of Edgar Allen Poe and almost been eaten by a freakin’ live dragon.
RAL (linked): I’ve found out that the two people who have never been three feet from me my whole life are actually immortals called Sojourners, and maybe—just maybe—I might not even know them at all.
RAL (linked/shouting): And you use the word TECHNICALLY!?
PAGE FOUR
1—Connor smiles, still held by Ral.
CONNOR: Would you rather have almost been eaten by a freakin’ dead dragon?
2—Ral slams him against the wall again.
NARR: Bastard.
3—Casia’s hand falls upon Ral’s shoulder, calming him slightly.
CASIA: Connor—what’s going on? What happened to Addy, and just why are you and she here?
PAGE FIVE
1—Connor sighs.
CONNOR: Those are some loaded questions, chickie.
NARR: You have to realize something.
NARR: My uncle is the second-bravest person I know, my mom being the first. I’ve seen him take on drunken bikers, the Wayne PTA, Skadoian Warriors, and now a (live) dragon.
2—Connor ruffles Ral’s hair with a sad smile as he heads into the room. In the background, Lance is pulling off his sweatshirt.
NARR: So when he treats me like I did good after refusing to serve a drunkard, it’s weird knowing he’s not the same person I knew back then.
3—Connor sits down in a chair, a hand upon his torso. He’s in pain.
NARR: Seems like a million years ago.
4—Lance kneels before Connor like a servant kneels before a king, his sweatshirt already torn to threads. Note to Illustrator—this is the first time in a while we’ve seen Lance’s arms with the tattoos. He still should be wearing a black short-sleeved T-shirt.
LANCE: Let me dress those.
5—Connor puts a fatherly hand to Lance’s cheek/neck.
CONNOR: There are three planes.
6—Casia’s eyebrow knits.
CASIA: Planes?
7—Connor waves a dismissive hand.
CONNOR: Planes, dimensions, worlds—call them what you will.
PAGE SIX
1—Casia crosses her arms.
CASIA: Skadoia, Knightsdale, and Zenith’s Rise.
2—Connor bows his head in respect.
CONNOR: How do you know that?
3—Lance meets Connor with hard eyes.
NARR: Lance and Connor seem to speak telepathically.
NARR: I hate when they leave me out of stuff.
4—Long shot—Connor’s sitting in the middle of the room with Lance wrapping his ribs. Casia is behind Lance, arms crossed. Ral is off to the side, looking down at his mother.
CONNOR: The planes are connected by portals called THE CROSSINGS.
5—Ral turns from his mother.
RAL And you’re a Crossing…Guard?
PAGE SEVEN
1—Connor hisses when Lance tugs the bandages.
CONNOR: You…you heard that, huh?
OFF: Yeah.
2—Connor glares. Perhaps just focus on his eyes.
NARR: His stern glare pins me against the wall behind me like I’m seven again and tried one of his cigarettes.
NARR: I never did it again because of that glare.
CONNOR: What I will tell you…it will change your life.
Close-ups
3—Ral; bitter
RAL: Mom’s a freakin’ statue. I think we’re WAAAAAY past life-changing events.
4—Connor’s avoiding Ral’s eyes.
CONNOR: Stop using that word.
5—Ral; still bitter.
RAL: Would you rather I say fu—
6—Connor wipes a hand.
CONNOR (shouting): All right!
CONNOR: Zenith’s Rise represents the sun, the light. Where Skadoia has unending darkness, Zenith’s Rise has unending light. It’s a peaceful, simple kingdom that hasn’t been touched by outside forces since time immortal. It’s where the River of Life begins before it trickles through Knightsdale and collects in Skadoia.
7—Ral’s not fazed.
RAL: And your point?
PAGE EIGHT
1—Connor looks at Lance.
CONNOR (loud): MY POINT—
CONNOR (linked): The Crossing Guards are more commonly known as SOJOURNERS—or to those in Zenith’s Rise, SCIONS OF DAWN. They are those who have been BANISHED from the Rise.
CONNOR (linked): As punishment, they must serve as protectors of The Crossings and must not allow Skadoian Warriors to pass.
2—Lance is still on the floor, kneeling.
LANCE: Banished? Like, originally from Zenith’s Rise?
3—Connor’s bangs cast shadows over his eyes.
CONNOR: …Yes.
4—Casia’s eye glow.
CASIA: But…you’re a Sojourner…a Crossing Guard.
5—Same as panel three
CONNOR: …Yes.
6—Camera shot from behind Connor as he’s looking at Ral, who is still looking down at his mother from the balcony.
RAL: And…and Mom?
CONNOR: She’s originally from Zenith’s Rise, but she’s not a Crossing Guard. Not technically.
NARR: That word again.
PAGE NINE
1—Connor stands, wincing and grabbing his ribs. Lance is still before him.
LANCE: Addy wasn’t banished, right? She left with you.
CONNOR: Yes. I was…young and stupid, but that’s not important. The Warriors have been torturing me, so I’ll tell them where my Crossing is.
2—Connor comes to stand next to Ral, whose leaning on the balcony. We can see just how much they look alike.
CONNOR: They want to start a war, and Knightsdale will most likely be the battlefield.
3—Casia stands next to Lance, who’s standing now, too.
CASIA: But you’re not going to tell them.
CASIA: Why don’t they get another Sojourner to tell them?
4—Connor looks back from the garden.
CONNOR: Sojourners are hard to pin point most of the time. We don’t stay in one place too long. We fake everything from Social Security cards to driver’s licenses.
CONNOR (linked): We hardly get sick, so there are no medical records. We have no real relationships because the people around us die. There’s no point. It’s why Urban’s such a charmer.
5—Lance balks; Casia slaps him up the back of his head.
LANCE: But that’s not true. You had been living in the same house for—what? Fifteen years? You bought a bar. Addy worked as a doctor in New York. Why—Ow!
6—Ral’s still in the same position as panel two. Maybe a close-up on Ral, with Connor’s hand on his shoulder.
NARR: Me. They settled for me. All his happened…because of me.
PAGE TEN
1—Ral and Connor’s heads jerk.
SFX: CREEEAAAK!
2—Inside the apartment, a kid stands in the doorway. He’s young, can’t be much older than five, with the blondest hair you’ll ever see. He’s wiping the tiredness from his eyes. He’s wearing footie PJs, and the crew’s pointing these sharp weapons at him like he’s a Skadoian Warrior.
3—Kid takes his hands down to show his puppy-eyed innocence (green eyes, btw) and jerks.
4—Lance, Casia, Connor, and Ral are armed, blinking.
5—Kid stares at Ral. Perhaps camera behind Ral.
KID (no pointer): Selac!
PAGE ELEVEN
1—Ral looks at Connor, who puts a hand out. Perhaps fit Lance in this panel?
NARR: His mouth didn’t move.
RAL: Um….did anyone else just hear that?
LANCE: Now’s not the time to go crazy, kid.
CONNOR: No! What’d you hear?
2—Ral’s at a loss, shrugging.
RAL: Sel…AK?
3—Connor rushes toward the balcony in a panic. Everyone follows hesitantly.
CONNOR (shouting): MOVE!
CASIA: What? He’s just a—
4—The doors bust open. Shadow tentacles lunge at the camera with warriors behind them.
PAGE TWELVE
1—Casia, drops to the floor, igniting a wall of fire to block their escape.
2—Connor and crew jump off the balcony.
NARR: Oh, great. Connor’s jumping off the balcony, and guess what? I’m following.
RAL: Whooaaa!
3—Ral lands hard in the grass and rolls to his feet.
4—Ral swipes at the reader, and we can’t see what he’s swiping at.
PAGE THIRTEEN
1—A moshpit of Skadoian Warriors surround the group and attack.
NARR: This is worse an Ozzie Osborn concert.
2—Connor slices off a shadow tentacle from a warrior.
NARR: Uncle Connor fights like he’d done this before.
3—Lance kicks a warrior, while Casia sets a few on fire.
NARR: Lance and Casia fight like their lives depend upon it, which really, they don’t.
4—Ral stiffens when a warrior holds a shadow dagger under his chin.
NARR: And I try my hardest not to swallow.
5—The Shadow Warrior is the same one who spoke telepathically to Ral in FD#11. Behind Ral, we can see Connor and Lance lowering their weapons.
WARRIOR (shouting): HALT!
WARRIOR (linked): Or your runt will be euthanized.
CONNOR: Thanks for the rescue mission, guys.
LANCE: Don’t mention it.
PAGE FOURTEEN
1—Lasantra walks into the garden from one of the covered walkways, parting the warriors like the queen she wants to be but isn’t.
LASANTRA: Congratulations, Children. You have just become our number one priority.
2—Casia drops to the ground, her flames burning off on her body.
CASIA: Our?
3—A black tentacle slicks Ral’s cheek, and he shivers away.
4—The tentacle leads to a shadow person forming in the water surrounding Addy’s statue.
5—It wraps around Ral like Mr. Fantastic’s body.
SKADOIAN LORD (whispering): Embrace me…
PAGE FIFTEEN
1—It wisks around Casia.
NARR: Did I mention creepy before?
2—Around Connor.
NARR: Because we just reached the mega levels.
3—It settles before Lance. It slowly begins to take shape, first as a blob, then as a human being.
LANCE: What the—
PAGE SIXTEEN
1—His features become more distinct with high cheek bones, ruffled raven hair, and abysses for eyes. He’s young, probably not much older than Connor looks. Dark crystals and blue trim adorn his elaborate robes and black slacks, marking him as a man of power. An insignia silver torch with a unicorn’s horn as its hilt and blue flames burning on top adorns his robes.
NARR: This is the big guy. The head hancho here. The man Lasantra wanted Lance to meet in Tennessee, who Casia barely stopped from crossing into Knightsdale.
NARR: The Skadoian Lord himself.
PAGE SEVENTEEN
1—Lance’s freaking out right now. He’s barely breathing; his eyes wide like the twin moons. A soft tentacle caresses his pale cheek.
LANCE (whispering): Bergener?
2—SL is tolerant as he looks down at Lance.
SL: We meet again, Lance.
LANCE: N—No. It’s not possible. Prince Edward killed you. I saw you DIE.
3—SL turns from Lance and heads toward Ral.
SL: You saw what you needed to see, and now we must deal with the latest causality of your curse.
4— SL’s tentacles come up to caress Ral’s cheek.
NARR: They’re cold, and a wet dog smells better.
SL: So you are the HYBRID.
RAL: HYBRID?
5— Connor places himself in front of Ral, separating SL from him.
CONNOR: Leave him alone, Bergener. He’s not a part of this.
SL: Oh, but he’s the NEXUS, isn’t he, Dawson?
SL (linked): A mortal surrounded by immortals.
SL (linked): An innocent in the midst of the immoral.
SL (linked): A darkness blighted by the light.
PAGE EIGHTEEN
1—Ral’s shocked, and Connor’s keeping him safely behind him.
RAL: What!
CONNOR: Shut up.
2—Connor and the SL face off.
SL: You know I can save him, Connor. If you surrender him to me, I will make sure no harm comes to him. He will taught with the ashlings, reach his full potential as—
CONNOR: —your lapdog? You really think ADDY’s going to embrace you if you make her SON your SERVANT?
3—Close-up SL’s eyes, which are pitch black.
SL: Let us find out.
4— A tentacle tightens around Ral’s torso and his wrist especially.
RAL: Hey!
5—Close-up on Ral’s palm, as a dagger finishes slicing his skin. The SL dabs away the blood with a handkerchief.
6—As the SL walks toward Addy, Connor reclaims Ral, holding him tight.
CONNOR: It’s okay.
NARR: It’s a lie.
PAGE NINETEEN
1—The bloody handkerchief is placed in Addy’s stone hand.
NARR: My whole life has been a lie.
2— Addy’s hand now becomes flesh color.
OFF: What’s he doing to Mom?
2—A shot of SL, whose face lightens with anticipation. He’s really in love with Addy.
CONNOR (no pointer): Addy placed herself in this state to stop the Skadoian Lord from using her against those she loves. Only once she believes she can help her loved ones will she be released.
RAL (no pointer): And my blood?
CONNOR (no pointer): Proof you are here.
3—Ral lunges toward his mother’s statue.
RAL: NO!
NARR: I want her safe.
NARR: I want her some place she never be touched—
4—Close-up on Addy’s lively eyes.
NARR: —but whatever darkness that lives in Skadoia dies against the light in her green eyes.
5—Close-up on Ral’s teary eyes. They match Addy’s eyes perfectly.
NARR: In my green eyes.
6—Ral lightens now, a smile growing on his face, as he heads out of Connor’s grip.
RAL: Mom?
PAGE TWENTY
1—Ral hugs his mom tightly. This is what he’s been waiting for the last six months.
NARR: Mom.
2—Close up on Addy’s face, where Ral’s hair is brushing away her tears (sort of)
ADDY (whispering): It’s okay, sweetie. We’re going to be okay.
PAGE TWENTY-ONE
1—Addy’s still holding Ral; we see SL behind them, leering.
SL: I have returned your son to you, Adeline.
SL (linked): You owe me retribution.
NARR: She smells like oatmeal and antiseptic.
2—Lance tries to break through the wall of warriors but can’t.
LANCE: Returned? We came here on our own.
3—SL glares over his shoulder.
SL: You truly believe that, don’t you, WAIF? You believed my warriors couldn’t stop three children?
4—Casia growls. Lasantra’s hand burns a blue fire by Casia’s face—a warning.
CASIA: Children?
LASANTRA: In Nashville, in Richmond, even in Shiloh, we allowed you to believe what you wanted, what you wished.
5—Lance puts himself between Lasantra and Casia.
LANCE: Why? What was the point? If you wanted us here, you could’ve brought us at any time.
LASANTRA: Because we needed to know the truth.
CASIA: What TRUTH?
6—SL looks directly into the camera.
SL: No one can cross into Skadoia without the company of a Skadoian Warrior or—
PAGE TWENTY-TWO
1—Full page—a shot of Ral, who’s looking scared, unsure, and directly at the camera.
SL (no pointer): —an ASHLING.
To Be Continued…
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