A Hero Needed Tonight

by Jaime Savage

  MAN WITH SUSPENDERS

  'Rumour has it on the eighteenth hole the ball goes through into the sewers for the Gautenberg to collect'.

  MAN DRESSED IN EQUESTION ATTIRE (laughing)

  'How about the loser has to go collect them when we get there'?

  MAN WITH SUSPENDERS

  'I would not want you to suffer that fate when I win my old friend'.

  MAN DRESSED IN EQUESTION ATTIRE

  'You economists are a cocky bunch. This certainly sounds like your ''Victory in Vermont'' moment? 'Economical prosperity for our time?remember when our President said that'?

  MAN WITH SUSPENDERS

  'I think the last few weeks have proven that sluck of a President was never a proper economist. However, I think the next twenty minutes will prove that I'm one helluva golfer'.

  SCENE: HOTEL ROOM

  Luke knocks twice on Ava's hotel door and stands back. A few moments later we hear the locks clicking and the door opens.

  LUKE

  'Luke Fitzgerald. I'm your bodyguard. It's a pleasure to meet you'.

  AVA

  'I thought you were my boyfriend'?

  LUKE

  'That was the fa?ade that was recommended given?well given the state of affairs'.

  AVA

  'You don't want people to know that I come from a wealthy family'?

  LUKE

  'No of course that's not why'.

  AVA

  'Let me rephrase that. You don't want people to know that I'm from Epiphany'?

  LUKE

  'It's just going to be easier this way'.

  Ava appears to be bored out of her mind with their conversation. She feints a yawn.

  AVA

  'My name as you probably know is Avalon Smith. But never call me that-ever'!

  Luke tries to laugh it off but the girl doesn't seem to be paying him much attention; she's returned inside her room.

  AVA

  'My parents named me after a mystical "island of apples" for heaven's sake. I mean what person in their right mind calls a child that'?

  LUKE

  'I wasn't briefed on saturations. What do you want me to call you then Miss Smith'?

  AVA

  'Never say Miss Smith again either. It makes both of us look stupid. Just call me Ava'.

  LUKE

  'Ok Ava it is'.

  The only sound now is Ava writing her notes. Luke attempts to make small talk.

  LUKE

  'How are you finding the'-

  AVA

  'If you say outside world then I'm not talking to you again for the rest of the trip'.

  Luke is taken aback by this response. He is not sure if this is her strange sense of humour or if she really has been triggered.

  LUKE

  'I wasn't going to'-

  AVA

  'Yes you were'.

  LUKE

  'No I wasn't'.

  AVA

  'Yes you were. You know, you people are all the same out here. You think it's all one big joke don't you'?

  LUKE

  'What is one big joke'?

  AVA

  'You think that Epiphany and all the other lifestyle towns out west are the funniest thing in the world. Well you think it's funny when you're not trying to blow us up'.

  Luke is taken aback by how fast things have escalated.

  LUKE

  'Blow you up? First of all, Ricardo Stensnan's people tried to blow you up and in case you didn't know they're maniacs'.

  AVA

  'Well you guys all rally behind him don't you'?

  LUKE

  'I don't support him. No one I know does. He's a man who excels only in the form of human wickedness'.

  AVA

  'He's got hundreds of thousands of supporters. I've seen the images. I've even seen it firsthand last night when people lined the streets to catch a glimpse of him'.

  LUKE

  'Sure he's got some people behind him; most nutters do. You have to realize that most of these so called supporters don't know left from right. They only cling to him because of the uncertainty the world finds itself in at the moment'.

  AVA

  'What uncertainty? A schizophrenic Chicken Licken comes out and says that the world's going to end because a comet is flying thousands upon thousands of miles from Earth. Suddenly, the world is going to meet its demise. Maybe you people should talk to Mark Twain about exaggeration'.

  LUKE

  'You must realize that there's more to it than that? People are really doing it tough out here at the moment; unemployment is at all time highs, the currency'-

  AVA

  'My home city, Epiphany, is thriving, our economy has never been better'-

  LUKE

  'In Epiphany you call millionaires poor. Having all that money to play around with certainly helps in times like these. Most people out here don't have two dimes to rub together at the moment'

  Ava is clearly not impressed.

  AVA

  'Well we think it's presumptuous that you tried to bring back the Titanic and the Hindenburg'.

  LUKE

  'Hang on a minute. We didn't bring back the Hindenburg-let's get that straight now. You guys brought it back because you're too high and mighty to set foot in New York. You fly around in your air balloons and dine out devouring thousand dollar meals so you can claim you've been to the greatest city in the world without setting a single foot on the ground'.

  AVA

  'The greatest city in the world? Is that what you call it? I call it a toxic wasteland. A city that epitomises urban decay. A city that is run by a human puppet controlled by his puppeteer Ricardo Stensnan. A city that begged for the Olympics and proceeded to fuck it up in every way imaginable, including allowing men posing as woman to compete in some of the events'-

  LUKE

  'At least we're real. We don't hide away in some fenced off city. We don't live sheltered lives'.

  AVA

  'You think you are living'?

  She points to the television.

  AVA

  'Have you watched this crap? Channel after channel of so called celebrities streaming. It's like a real life Truman Show. Yet you people gobble it all up and then when you've had enough of watching that dribble you go outside and walk around wearing surgical masks attached to your faces. Living?is that living? I mean my God?imagine? we can even take a shit without seeing fucking electronic advertisements for the latest fast food burger underneath our toilet seat'.

  LUKE

  'You've got it all wrong'.

  Ava simply shrugs her shoulders and returns to her papers with a condescending look upon her face.

  LUKE

  'I'm going now. I'll be back in a couple of hours'.

  There is no reply as Luke leaves the room. Luke storms off down the hall and pushes the elevator button with such force he thinks he's broken it. The elevator opens.

  VALET

  'Which floor sir'?

  LUKE

  'Anywhere. Just get me away from here'.

  VALET

  'Ground floor it is'.

  Luke lets out an over the top sigh which startles the valet.

  VALET

  'If you wish to let out some frustrations, there's a protest going on a few blocks from here'.

  LUKE

  'What are they protesting about now'?

  VALET

  'Well this is the beauty of it sir. You can protest anything, absolutely anything'.

  LUKE

  'A no holds bar protest? It really is crazy times we live in'.

  Luke tips the valet upon reaching the ground floor.

  LUKE

  'The way the economy is turning to shit I don't know if this will be worth much in a few days time, so hopefully you can make some use of it before then'.

  The valet laughs but graciously accepts. He would be a fool not to.

  SCENE: STREETS OF MANHATTEN

  The sound of thunder in the darkene
d, overcast skies greets Luke outside. Luke has the thought that it is weather befit for the apocalypse everyone is gallivanting on about. Only yards from the hotel Luke has already sighted a crowd surrounding a doomsday prophet.

  MAN IN CROWD

  'Why these prophets are more common these days than good manners'.

  The crowd laughs at the man's remark. Some people-despite the bleak economic situation- place coins in front of the prophet.

  DOOMSDAY PROPHET

  'Your money is worthless...just as your lives will be too very shortly. Judgement day is nearly upon us, I beg you to repent. I beg you to make amends for your sins before it's too late. Hale-Bopp's Friend is edging ever nearer to us and with her comes nothing but death. The days remaining can be counted on fingers alone now my friends, you must find God and you must cling to him and beg him for forgiveness before you are cast into a fate of immeasurable despair'.

  Luke walks off but in the process gets a flyer caught to his feet. He rips it off and stares at the charismatic, youthful looking Democratic Party's Presidential nominee. He sticks it on a wall which is littered with posters for all three candidates. Further along the street Luke passes another sizable crowd formed around a newspaper rack. The crowd has the effect of masking a salesman who is attempting to sell newspapers in a fashion that pays homage to the late nineteenth century.

  SALESMAN

  'Breaking news...breaking news...the Turk is at it again...read about it now. He's back! The Turk is disrespecting Uncle Sam again...read about it now'.

  BYSTANDER 1

  'What's that crackpot saying now'?

  BYSTANDER 2

  'Hasn't someone put a bullet in his head yet'?

  BYSTANDER 3

  'Give me one of those flyers now so I can burn it'.

  In the background Luke see a monitor playing a preview address of The Turk who is donned out in his trademark Sorcerer's attire.

  THE TURK

  'America. My old adversary. The reason I get up in the morning. The first thing I think of every day when I see my Gold Medal. The Yin to my Yang. The self proclaimed greatest nation on earth. The land of the ignorant. Oh America I take my hat off to you. You are not the greatest nation in the world, nor shall you ever be again. My basketball team taught you a lesson in humility in the Gold medal match but it appears our sermon has not yet registered in your narrow minds yet'-

  Luke walks away from the disgruntled crowd. Further down the street he comes across a street band who are performing 'There is a light that never goes out' by The Smiths. The song has re-emerged onto the charts after being embraced as the unofficial song of hope for the world. The street band plays with passion and a few spirited individuals in the crowd sway to the beat. The rare moment of tranquillity is broken by the all too familiar cry of sirens and the inevitable sight of several police cars passing on route for the protest.

  SCENE: OUTSIDE PROTEST

  There is a great degree of tension in the air. Only yards from Luke, police are in the process of breaking up a fight between supporters of Dan Kent and Ricardo Stensnan. The Democrats have to win New York in order to win the election. Stensnan, the third party wildcard, is playing the ultimate role of spoiler capitalizing off his unquestioned popularity in New York and utilizing an apocalyptic tone to great effect. To say that New York had become a battleground state was a true understatement. All three candidates seem to have doubled down on winning the State.

  Luke cautiously makes his way through the insanity. As he does so he passes one of Stensnan's supporters who offers him a novelty pair of Stensnan's signature boot camp glasses.

  STENSNAN SUPPORTER

  'Vote for Stensnan. He is the only one who will take this country back from the wealthy rats living out west. These despicable people are human rats who have fled and left America to sink. They spit at us from their Zeppelin in the skies, they profit off our misery. Their time will come, mark my words'.

  Luke politely declines the man's advances. Further down the street a reporter is giving a live broadcast for one of America's largest television networks. Out of nowhere at all the report is hijacked by a maverick media reporter, a tall, powerfully built man wearing a chocolate brown coloured, multi striped wool suit and a open crown cowboy hat.

  MAVERICK MEDIA REPORTER

  'I'm sorry to interrupt you but the people need to listen to the truth. The time for lies and manipulation is over. The media is driving the sexes against each other. They're forcing men and woman to become almost indistinguishable. They're killing our families and driving our birth rates down while they laugh at us and suck what little money is left out west. It's all a very subtle form of ethical population control'-

  REPORTER

  'You need to leave?now'!

  MAVERICK MEDIA REPORTER

  'You need to tell the truth you sorry ass, talking head cheerleader'!

  The reporter turns back to the camera and attempts to end his report.

  REPORTER

  'As you can see-and as we expected- it's true carnage down here. Anything goes Sarah'.

  MAVERICK MEDIA REPORTER

  'This is what they do. It's all contrived. It is cupcake news delivered to you with a teeth whitened smile. Wake up people use what is left of your zombie brains'!

  A producer emerges to try and guide the intruder away but it is to no avail. Within seconds a brawl has erupted as bystanders converge around the scene merely encouraging the men on. To say that the news networks were synonymous with entertainment was not such an outlandish statement in recent times.

  Now only yards from the protest the only thing Luke can hear is the incessant sound of police sirens. The tension that Luke could sense blocks away is now at breaking point. It is like being at the centre point of anarchy. As he walks past different groups of protestors Luke starts experiencing spotlight effect. He starts to sense people sizing him up, assessing whether he is friend or foe and ready to take action should God forbid he be the latter.

  SCENE: THE PROTEST

  Thousands of protestors are crammed into a narrow, designated area of Midtown Manhattan. Much of the protestor's hate is-not surprisingly-directed towards the usual culprits, the Government, Corporate America and Wall Street in particular but some people are protesting about wars and events that occurred decades ago. Numerous people have lost all sense of control and are shouting in fits of rage into the vast cauldron of abomination around them. One man holds a sign which states: 'I'm protesting about the number of protests we have these days'. Even more bizarre than the premise of the protest itself is a visual artwork created by a street artist whereby several stacks of money have been tied high above the people below using a series of cables from surrounding skyscrapers. One can only imagine how the artist managed to construct the unsanctioned artwork undetected by authorities especially given the intricacies of its design.

  There is an incessant howling of whistles and the sounds of beating drums from the protest. The understaffed police watch on helplessly as anarchy escalates. Many people are beginning to direct the free for all protest into a political rally. A man on a megaphone some distance from Luke is rallying like minded supporters towards him while another man on the other side follows suit. As people jostle for position a number of small skirmishes take place.

  Just as things look to be reaching breaking point a contingent of pacifists on the outskirts of the crowd let off a captivating rainbow of helium balloons that soars casually above the pandemonium. This unexpected sight has the effect of temporarily paralysing the participants of the protest, entrapping all in attendance in a peculiar, unexpected lull of euphoria. The whistling, the drumming, the anger ceases as the rising Technicolor cyclone of balloons sways inwards with the breeze and pass overhead the heart of the riot. For a few seconds there is total silence. And just like that the eye of the hurricane had passed. The cries of the participants sound again, this time with even more vigour.

  Chapter 5

  SCENE: HOT
EL BAR

  Not ready to face Ava yet Luke makes a detour to a hotel bar. The trendy bar is dimly lit by rows of aquamarine coloured lights that run across the walls giving the bar a mystical decor. As Luke walks alongside the bar counter towards a spare seat he is swamped with the sound of despair.

  MAN AT BAR 1

  'If we pack up tonight and head for my parent's place in Toronto we might just be able to make it through this mess'.

  MAN AT BAR 2

  'Jimmy was saying that the business has gone belly up. He told us all ''don't come Monday''.

  MAN AT BAR 3

  'I don't know what I can tell the Mrs anymore. I can't keep this masquerade up any longer'.

  MAN AT BAR 4

  'I have but thirty dollars to my name Skip...give me your finest; I want to go out with some class'.

  Luke takes a seat beside a stern, middle aged blue collar man.

  BLUE COLLAR GUY

  'You see this'?

  The man points to a television screen.

  LUKE

  'Yes, that's the Secret of Youth'.

  We see images of an elderly man playing bass guitar alongside an array of eccentric individuals.

  MUSIC

  'Oh baby It's Friday Night.

  I've got my black dress on.

  I see you sitting in the corner.

  Oh baby don't you know'.