A Hero Needed Tonight

by Jaime Savage

  MICKEY

  'Now I'll allow you to find your own way out'.

  Ava and Luke stare at each other dumbfounded.

  AVA

  'We'll never find our way out of this labyrinth'.

  Mickey's cheshire smile bursts open again.

  MICKEY

  'Humour never was my strongest quality. I will lead you out but not before an honorary induction'.

  LUKE

  'An honorary induction'?

  MICKEY

  'Hann? J?g'!

  The girls and Kensington gather alongside Luke, Ava and Mickey forming a sports huddle.

  MICKEY

  'I apologise for the impromptu nature but time is of the essence. We are gathered here today to present Luke Fitzgerald with our highest and most prestigious honour. It is with my great pleasure to present to you this token of both my and the people of the underground's appreciation for your tremendous services. I hereby present you the crowbar to the city.

  The crowbar appears to be made of pure gold.

  LUKE

  'I?I?I'm speechless. I'm literally speechless'.

  Chapter 11

  SCENE: HOTEL ROOM

  Exhausted after a long day they return to Ava's hotel room. Ava rests her head on her bed, while Luke slumps into a chair and switches on the television. An interview is taking place between a late night host with boyish looks and none over than the man of the moment, Duncan Strepfield. Duncan is lapping up the attention he is receiving; his star has never burnt brighter than it has in recent weeks. With his trucker's cap, handlebar moustache and dead eyed stare he does not appear the most likely superstar but looks could be deceiving; there may not be a more influential man in America as of tonight. Many political scientists believed that his forthcoming endorsement for the US election could single handily decide the race.

  DUNCAN

  'If this is a terrorist attack-which I suspect it is-which I think we all suspect it is then I support the full and unequivocal eradication of the perpetrators. This is a cold hearted, cowardly act, and I am announcing here tonight that I will personally bear arms and hunt down these soulless bastards myself. These radicals that do these terrible acts, their mantra is centred around equality and fairness. Well let me tell you something Stevie, and again you can get me on the record. If I get my hands on the conspirators of this massacre-and you'd be foolish to rule it out- I will show them a little something about equality'.

  His brash comments send the riled up crowd into raptures.

  AVA

  'Are they pinning this on Stensnan yet'?

  LUKE

  'I doubt it'.

  AVA

  'Trust the media to shy away from the truth?they know that coward's behind it but they'll do anything, and I mean absolutely anything to shirk their way out of reporting the truth. I mean it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if he has a financial interest in the media. Is there anyone in New York he doesn't have strings rung around'?

  LUKE

  'If he is behind it they'll catch him, trust me on this'.

  AVA

  'They didn't get him for the terrorist attack back in June on the outskirts of Epiphany or any of the other attacks out west'.

  LUKE

  'He'll slip up sometime, you'll see'.

  AVA

  'He's too smart Luke. He's got too much power; they'll just end up setting up one of his pawns like they always do. I bet he doesn't even plan anything now that he's got everyone out here so brainwashed and intent on destruction. He probably just sits there and ponders the scourged earth mentality he's created'.

  LUKE

  'Hey, that's not fair'.

  She takes a moment to calm down.

  AVA

  'I'm sorry. I know there are many good people out here. I've seen them first-hand with you, but all the emotion of tonight has finally gotten to me. These attacks are being directed at my family and friends after all'.

  LUKE

  'The pits of society like Ricardo Stensnan do not prosper for long Ava. I know at times it doesn't seem like it but even in our darkest moments you'll find some light somewhere, if tonight is not an example of that than I don't know what is'.

  Luke switches channels to a delayed broadcast of the Doomsday festival that is taking place over in Barcelona. The announcer introduces the latest act, a South African band Luke had not heard of called 'Barry and the Underachievers'.

  ANNOUNCER

  'Barry and the Underachievers take the stage now. Well this may be the most hapless performance in the history of music. It is with great sorrow we reiterate the news that was broken in recent hours. The wife of the band's front man, Barry Ernest, has tragically passed away in a car accident. Against numerous attempts from organisers to cancel their slot, Barry has requested to play a one song set. Quite how the man can even stand before us tonight is beyond comprehension. This has to be the hardest thing anyone has ever done. No one can fathom the void that this man is experiencing tonight'.

  On centre stage, Barry's fellow band members radiate solidarity. The respect and compassion they have for their comrade is very much evident. As the performance begins, Ava and Luke know immediately that they are bearing witness to no ordinary performance. The band members play with vigorous intent paying their respects in the only way they know how. For three and a half minutes they were not playing for the admiring masses both at the stadium and around the world. For three and a half minutes they were playing for the deceased. The limitations and restrictions of the human body were in this time period seemingly relinquished and the band members performed their song so masterfully, so harmonically and so perfectly in sync that they operated like no mere mortals could. Sweat pulsated, their muscles flexed with every passionate, perfectly timed movement and for three and a half minutes they were in a special place few musicians had been able to attain to before.

  For all the passion, hustle and camaraderie the supporting members display they are mere side acts to their now widowed front man. An undefeated Barry stands before his comrades, pressed against the microphone. In those precious minutes the microphone acts as an out worldly portal almost as though Barry is holding his deceased wife's beautiful face in his hands. It was the final goodbye that had been cruelly stolen away from him by a horrible twist of fate. For three and a half minutes he holds her and refuses to let her go. As the song reaches its epic, majestic finish, Barry sings the ballad with absolutely everything he has left inside his fragile body. With every word that passes his lips we feel his emotions for his deceased wife flowing through.

  BARRY

  'That's why I love you'

  'That's why I love you'

  'That's why I love you'

  He belts this line out over and over, tears streaming down his face, his emotions left dry in the night sky. The song finishes abruptly and reality kicks back in. It is too much to bear. He throws the microphone forcefully onto the ground, pushes over the microphone stand as he sinks to the stage floor inconsolable. His fellow band members rush to comfort him.

  Ava looks at Luke who mirrors the stunned crowd in Barcelona. They know there and then that they have just witnessed the single greatest musical performance the world had ever seen. There hardly seems a word which could even reasonably conjure up the emotions that have emanated from that man's other-worldly performance. Luke and Ava sit there speechless, unsure of what to say regarding the performance they had been honoured to bear witness to.

  ANNOUNCER (with passion)

  'What an awe inspiring performance. This is what this concert is all about. Music is transcendent. Music can take us to other dimensions, to other levels of human emotion. It is a true universal language but it is so much more too. Accents are lost, rivalries and hatred are halted. It is the great bringer together of people. One note can say more than a million words can, one note can speak levels more than all the philosophers combined. Music is so stunningly simple, but yet so amazingly complex'.

  SCENE: HO
TEL ROOM - LATER

  An electronic alarm clock ticks over to 1 o'clock in the morning. The radio alarm has been set off.

  RADIO ANNOUNCER

  'You're listening to Safe Haven Radio. The radio station where you won't be violated with different opinion'.

  Ava slams the alarm off. A few seconds later the phone rings. Ava wearingly picks it up and answers.

  AVA

  'Hello'.

  RECEPTION

  'Avalon Smith'?

  AVA

  'Speaking'.

  RECEPTION

  'We have quite a gathering down here waiting for you'.

  AVA

  'A gathering'?

  RECEPTION

  'It's quite an entourage'.

  Ava places the phone down.

  AVA

  'What has he done? Who has he set us up with'?

  SCENE: HOTEL LOBBY

  The elevator descends floor by floor. The letter G is lit up and the door opens presenting Ava and Luke with a bizarre scene. An old man is stood performing a comedic opera performance to the awestruck hotel staff. A young women and an equally youthful, black man are stood playing a clapping game which involves the loser getting pinched. Behind them a young man runs around the lobby juggling devil sticks in reckless fashion while all the meanwhile another character is seated before the hotel piano playing with a great degree of finesse. The old man notices them and stops singing.

  DENNIS (speaking huskily)

  'Dennis. Dennis Falkner'.

  The old man approaches Luke and Ava to shake their hands. He looks like he is well into his seventies.

  REX

  'Just call him Denny's; everyone else does. Willie Turner (shakes hands)?but please call me Rex'.

  AVA

  'Rex'? Like T-rex'?

  REX

  'I guess I do like to think of myself as a Tyrannosaurus Rex of sorts, but as you can see, I'm not the only dinosaur in the group'.

  He pats Dennis on the shoulder.

  EMILE

  'He's absolutely right. He is like a Tyrannosaurus Rex; especially when he dances'.

  Everything about Emile radiates pure beauty. From her perfectly symmetrical face to the strand by strand precision of her dazzling French braid hairstyle. She gives off an aura of warmness, openness and modesty.

  EMILE (shaking Ava's hand)

  'Emile Poux. I love your hair'.

  Her genuineness and likeability is very much evident. Overwhelmed in her admiration of the woman, Ava has no response. Another member emerges from behind the others wielding a series of devil sticks he had previously been messing around with. Far removed from Emile, his hair and facial hair is unkempt while his dress sense is shabby but, nonetheless, he gives off the vibe of a good natured, down to earth individual.

  SAMSON

  'I'm Samson. And this is Kenneth Ward, a man who rides a keyboard like a surfer rides a wave'.

  Kenneth has a curly mob of hair and appears to be rather socially awkward.

  Ava does a double take and assesses the array of characters before her. She could be staring at the oddest company of people one could ever hope to lay eyes upon. It is in this moment that she realizes that not only had she seen these people before but that hundreds of millions of other people in the world had as well. The eccentric trio standing before her was none other than 'The Secret of Youth', the band that has taken the world by storm over the last six months.

  AVA

  'You're?You're that band! The Secret of Youth. The Secret of Youth is in our hotel lobby room Luke'.

  Luke nods calmly.

  AVA

  'You're number one. You're the biggest band in the world at the moment'!

  REX

  'A rather subjective statement but you are partially correct; we do have the number one single in the charts at the moment. This puts us one place ahead of ''Our next President'' by Bound by Reason featuring Ricardo Stensnan which sits at number two. As you can see I'm not sure being number one amounts to much'.

  EMILE

  'Who would have thought that politicians would release music as a form of campaigning. Just think of the free advertising he is generating? Only someone as shrewd as Stensnan could have recognised the potential'-

  So overawed by what is playing out before her, Ava doesn't appear to hear them.

  AVA

  'But what are you doing here? What are you doing in our lobby'?

  DENNIS

  'We're here to take you away'.

  EMILE

  'We heard that you need to get to the Middle East to catch a flight to Africa. It just so happened that we were crossing the Atlantic tonight and we really don't need a whole private jet for ourselves'.

  AVA

  'But?but'-

  REX

  'It's not as cosy as it sounds; Emile's luggage just about needs its own private jet'.

  EMILE

  'Speak for yourself'.

  DENNIS

  'We're flying to Barcelona in an hour's time and it would be a privilege if you would accompany us over there. We can get you a commercial flight from Barcelona to Ocean City on Sunday with plenty of time for you to see the devastation the oil spill has caused over there before you have to fly to Africa'.

  EMILE

  'The news of the oil spill makes my blood boil'-

  AVA

  'But why are you going to Barcelona? Why are you going there now, tonight, of all nights in amongst all of this'?

  It suddenly dawns upon her.

  EVERYONE

  'The doomsday concert'.

  'The doomsday concert'.

  'The doomsday concert',

  Each time Ava says the sentence everyone in the room repeats it at the same time resulting in a lengthy fit of laughter. It's a surreal moment, the unique bunch of individuals standing there cackling with laughter in the echoing lobby. Even amongst all the devastation and horrors of the needless slaughter the night had provided it felt good to laugh. On a night that had further highlighted the shortcomings and despicability of the human race for Ava and Luke it felt good to be alongside such wondrous and pure humans. Once they stop laughing Rex ushers them outside. As they leave the lobby, Dennis' forceful voice booms out once more. This time it isn't opera which passes from his lips but rather the sound of 'There is a light that never goes out' by The Smiths. Outside the hotel a spectacularly decorated stretch limo awaits them.

  LUKE

  'You really know how to travel in style. It looks like a moving kaleidoscope'.

  KENNETH

  'Anyway we can express ourselves we can'.

  EMILE

  'Let our next adventure begin'.

  Chapter 12

  SCENE: INSIDE THE LIMOSUINE

  They are seated inside the luxurious limousine.

  SAMSON

  'Our jet is waiting for us at an airfield in Brooklyn. It shouldn't take too long but police check points may slow us down a bit'.

  LUKE

  'I've lost count of the amount of checkpoints we have passed tonight. I'm surprised you were even allowed to fly. The whole commercial airline industry has been brought to a standstill'.

  REX

  'It wasn't easy; I'm not going to lie. It's lucky that we have such a fantastic manager. Apparently the only reason we were allowed to fly tonight was because he made the case that it was more dangerous to cancel our performance at the concert and face upsetting our thousands of passionate fans in Barcelona than to allow us up in the air tonight'.

  KENNETH

  'He's got a point though. Our fans are delirious'.

  DENNIS

  'All the more pressure to ensure they're happy with our music. It's brilliant really; delirious fans are the greatest check and balance on the quality of our music'.

  SCENE: STREETS OF MANHATTEN

  ('A Real Hero' by College & Electric Youth plays in the background.)

  The limo drives through the neon lit streets of New York which are eerily deserte
d; an unprecedented image if there ever was one. Despite the absence of people the infamous advertising balloons remain hovering above the streets and sidewalks. Even in the witching hour there is no escaping their reach. We see one of the balloons displaying the astronaut, Mateus Mcclure, endorsing a cola company. A message flows from the advertisement:

  'A can on Mars. Follow Mateus McClure's unique story on our website'.

  SCENE: STADIUM OF THE WORLD

  The limo passes the one hundred and forty thousand seat Olympic stadium. The lights are currently on at the stadium. It appears that the coliseum is being used as an emergency centre for the bombing. In front of the stadium a number of cameraman film live footage. Rather disconcertingly, the cameramen are not filming reporters covering the massacre but rather streamers.

  Streaming has expanded beyond seemingly all control and has since become the fixture of television programming in recent times. Many considered, it to be the final form of reality television that had swept the world at the turn of the century. It largely involved B grade celebrities filming almost around the clock showcasing their lives for the masses. Given that it required such limited production costs and that the public were still absorbed it was favored by the television networks above more thought provoking content. As the limo passes the stadium the streamers see the bizarrely painted limo and immediately react to its passing in their desperation.

  SCENE: PRIVATE AIRFIELD