by Tad Williams
GUARD #1 (OP, as CAPTION) : Because burnin’ his no-respect ass was more fun.
GUARD #2 (OP, as CAPTION) : Christ, where’d that freaky little thing go? Damn, he’s in the wastebaskets looking for food. Come help me catch the dwarf or we’ll never get back.
GUARD #1 (Cont.) : Shee-it. You hear that punk? Askin’ ME for I.D…
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PANEL ONE: CLOSE ON ANTHONY’S FACE – TINY DROPS OF SWEAT, BUT HE’S POKER-FACED.
ANTHONY THOUGHT CAPTION 1: Man, I hate this place, and I truly hate being underground. Reminds me WAY too much of the Russian’s place…and those motherfucking flies…the FLIES…
BYZANTINE (OP): Two minutes to live – it’s not a very long time, is it?
PANEL TWO: MEDIUM SHOT on BYZANTINE, FARSIGHT.
BYZANTINE (Cont..): In any case, now that I have your attention…listen carefully and understand this: You are now part of Byzantine Gates Fabrication, sometimes known as The Factory, the most successful program ever devised for training metahumans and their associates to a life in the unregulated marketplace. You belong to me.
BYZANTINE (Cont.): I am Byzantine…and while you are here, I am your god. If you offend me in any way, you will suffer. After you leave, you will still be mine until you have paid off your debt. You know this. You all accepted the bargain before you came.
PANEL THREE: CLOSE on BYZANTINE’S FACE
BYZANTINE: But spies and traitors – that is a different story. For them, there is only one penalty.
ANTHONY THOUGHT-CAPTION 2: Do they know about me? Can’t be. They don’t know about me. He’s just trying it to see if anyone flinches.
ANTHONY THOUGHT-CAPTION 3: But I don’t flinch.
PANEL FOUR: SHOT ON ANTHONY in the midst of the other ROOKIES.
BYZANTINE: Anthony Hack – Heatseeker.
ANTHONY THOUGHT-CAPTION 4: Shit. They MUST know
ANTHONY THOUGHT-CAPTION 5: Damn! No side-arm, no way to fight back — what kind of dumb-ass gets himself into something like this…?
ANTHONY: Sir?
PANEL FIVE: BYZANTINE – EVIL-LOOKING old dude, the COLD, ANGRY GRANDPA from HELL.
BYZANTINE: What do you think we do with traitors and spies here, Mr. Hack?
ANTHONY THOUGHT-CAPTION 6: Shit!
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PANEL ONE: ANTHONY and MINK and THROWBACK and SNAIL
ANTHONY: I don’t know, sir.
BYZANTINE: Letisha Angel – tagging, as you young people say, as “Mink.” Tell me what you think happens to people who spy on the Factory, Miss Angel.
MINK: Don’t know. Trouble.
PANEL TWO: SAME as ONE
BYZANTINE: Mr. Carter?
THROWBACK: Oh, f’sure. BIG trouble.
PANEL THREE: SAME as ONE
PANEL FOUR: SAME as ONE.
SNAIL: Trouble. Double.
PANEL FIVE: |EVERYONE TURNS TO LOOK AT SNAIL. HE’S STARING DOWN NERVOUSLY. ]
SNAIL (Cont.): Mister Bubble.
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PANEL ONE: BYZANTINE walks down from the PODIUM, LOOKING THEM UP AND DOWN. We see/hear his SERVO MOTORS CLICKING.
SFX: Ssss-klik. Ssss-klik. Ssss-klik.
BYZANTINE: Which of you is the one called Cell? Benny Santos?
CELL: That would be me.
PANEL TWO: BYZANTINE STOPS, stares at him like a VULTURE at a DYING MAN. We can see FARSIGHT behind BYZANTINE, still up on the PODIUM.
BYZANTINE: No, I’m afraid it wouldn’t. Mr. Farsight?
FARSIGHT: Your real name is Anselmo. You told our recruiter you’re a TP specialist for a Midwestern crime syndicate who wants to go solo. In fact, though, you’re an undercover police officer out of New Columbia PD H Plus Division.
PANEL THREE: CELL points ANGRILY at FARSIGHT.
CELL: That’s a lie, man! You got it all wrong!
FARSIGHT: I can feel him firing, sir, even through the damper effect. He’s broadcasting at full strength.
BYZANTINE: Thank you, Mr. Farsight. You see, I have my own telepath.
PANEL FOUR: CELL TURNS on BYZANTINE.
CELL: All right, you crooked bastard. You can do anything to me you want, but I just sent out a call that’s already been heard by every tp-sensitive meta in the area. You’re going to have Force Five or even U.P. all over your ass in about two minutes.
BYZANTINE: Please, give us a little credit – we’re professionals. Surely you heard Mr. Farsight mention the damper effect? The Factory has special field generators that prevent anyone from broadcasting out on any wavelength – INCLUDING the theta-plosive frequencies of most telepathy.
PANEL FIVE: SOME GUARDS are MOVING FORWARD (and ANTHONY and the others are BACKING AWAY) but BYZANTINE holds up his HAND.
CELL: Yeah? Yeah? I can still do a few tricks with microwaves — I’ll take some of your thugs down with me!
BYZANTINE: And now, Factory newcomers, we answer the question that was in all your minds: We are giving out valuable knowledge and equipment. How do we make sure our students pay us back after they graduate our little program?
PANEL SIX: CLOSE on BYZANTINE’s COLD FACE, COLD SMILE.
BYZANTINE (Cont.): The answer is — the same way we keep order among a collection of immature, super-powered sociopaths, of course. We knock them unconscious before we bring them here, then inject them with nanobots. Pyroactive nanobots that we can activate…any time we want.
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PANEL ONE: (BIG) BYZANTINE GESTURES and CELL GOES UP IN an INFERNO of FLAME.
CELL: AAAAHH! AAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGHGHHHHH!
PANEL TWO: Everybody SCRAMBLING AWAY while CELL burns.
PANEL THREE: NOTHING MUCH LEFT of CELL BUT A CHARRED SKELETON.
BYZANTINE: I trust this little demonstration has refined the thinking of our new trainees. Until you have learned all the rules, I suggest you consider your every action in the Factory very carefully.
BYZANTINE (Cont.): Welcome to Byzantium Gates.
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PANEL ONE: The SIX ROOKIES are walking back toward their SLEEPING ROOMS. Some other FACTORY “students” move either direction in the background – it’s a main corridor.
THROWBACK: Jesus! Did you SEE that?
ANTHONY: We all saw it.
ANTHONY THOUGHT-CAPTION 1: And now we’re all accessories, too.
PANEL TWO: THROWBACK, in his horrified enthusiasm, accidentally brushes COLDBLOODED’s SHOULDER.
ANTHONY THOUGHT-CAPTION 2: As far as I can tell, the ones who came in with me – or who got kidnapped and booby-trapped with me, to be more exact – are a cross-section of street kids and psychopaths
THROWBACK: I mean, that was CRAZY! They burned that guy UP! That was…it was…
COLDBLOODED: Take your hand OFFA me, cracker.
THROWBACK: Whoa, yeah, sorry…
ANTHONY THOUGHT-CAPTION 3: Like Coldblooded there. I know him, even though I never met him before today. He’s half the brothers I used to run with before I went into the service and out of the life. He’ll fight you for anything – or nothing. There’s no doubt I’m gonna have to throw down with him before this is over. The only question is, should I get it out of the way fast or wait ‘til it happens on its own?
PANEL THREE: THROWBACK has stopped to watch PROFESSOR NACHTIGAL walking by, a very tall, thin middle-aged man with gelled-down hair and a face so thin and bony you can see the SKULL underneath the skin. The other ROOKIES pay no attention.
PANEL FOUR: THROWBACK IS EXCITED. MINK notices, and watches the retreating NACHTIGAL.
THROWBACK: DUDE! Did you see? That was Professor Nachtigal, I swear it was! What’s he doing here? He’s a major supervillain!
MINK: Major or not, you can bet HE don’t get it without payin’ double for it.
ANTHONY THOUGHT-CAPTION 4: And the women, oh God, I know them too – battered, abused, living off men because they can’t see any other way, hating every minute of it.
SNAIL: Nightingale. Fight in jail.
ANTHONY THOUGHT-CAPTION 5: The white boys I can’t f
igure out at all. Well, maybe little Darren there, what’s he call himself, Snail? He’s a bit crazy to start with, and he’s from one of those backward country places like my daddy was.
ANTHONY THOUGHT-CAPTION 6: Even a life of crime is better than that.
PANEL FIVE: THROWBACK approaches ANTHONY.
CODY: You saw him, right? Professor Nachtigal?
ANTHONY: You a fan?
PANEL SIX: ANTHONY is darkly AMUSED by THROWBACK.
CODY: Not so much him, but he’s FAMOUS, man – I got one of his skins! He fought Twilight Man. He even broke out of Las Sombras, so you know he’s earnin’ the big cheddar! The Godzilla scrilla!
ANTHONY: Oh, yeah, sure. Nothing like doing time in an institution for the criminally insane to boost your earning power.
ANTHONY THOUGHT-CAPTION 7: This Carter kid – what IS his damage? He’s stronger than any of us, he can’t shut up for ten seconds, and he seems to think this whole thing is a game. A man was just burned to death in front of him, and he…
ANTHONY THOUGHT-CAPTION 8: Screw it. Doesn’t matter, Hakim. He’s picked his own path – they all have. I’m not here to save souls. I’m here to get some PAYBACK…
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PANEL ONE: An old man (his GRAMPA) opens the door to ANTHONY, in STREET CLOTHES. GRAMPA looks shocked, nervous.
CAPTION: EIGHTEEN MONTHS AGO.
GRAMPA: Hakim? Jesus, what happened to you? Those army fellows keep coming to the door, asking about whether we heard from you yet!
PANEL TWO: GRAMPA hurries ANTHONY INSIDE – a modest living room. ANTHONY is wearing his SUNGLASSES even in the HOUSE.
GRAMPA: We hear you in trouble, boy. Dorothy said they’re gonna arrest you. I don’t think she wants you around, see, and I’m sorry, but you know it IS her house…
ANTHONY: Tell Dorothy not to worry – I’m not going to be around long enough to get anyone in trouble. It’s not like there’s anything to MY side of the story…
PANEL THREE: ANTHONY looking toward a PHOTO on top of the TV.
ANTHONY (Cont.): No, forget it. I don’t have time for this. Where’s Jameel?
PANEL FOUR: We see the PHOTO – ANTHONY, about 12 years old, and JAMEEL, a skinny 8 year old with a LEG BRACE, both trying to look TOUGH in their Sunday school clothes.
GRAMPA (Off Panel): That little brother of yours is no good. Always in trouble. He left my house and my rules months ago.
PANEL FIVE: ANTHONY has let the picture FALL OVER on the television and he’s WALKING OUT.
ANTHONY: It’s not your house, Grampa, remember? It’s Dorothy’s.
GRAMPA: Now boy, come back. Don’t be that way! We’re kin!
PANEL SIX: BANG – ANTHONY hits the front door and he’s down the steps to the STREET, a seedy but not dreadful neighborhood. He looks MAD.
ANTHONY THOUGHT-CAPTION: When I heard he wasn’t there, I went cold. I knew then that everything I’d heard on the street was true. After I enlisted, Jameel had started running with gangbangers. He was small, but he had powers, just like I did. He could kind of SMELL thoughts – get a feeling for what someone was thinking, what they were going to do. And sometimes he could even make people do what he wanted. Everybody called him Headcase, and a lot of folks in the neighborhood were afraid of him, but he was still my baby brother.
PANEL SEVEN: ANTHONY with his CAP PULLED DOWN, walking out of the NEIGHBORHOOD.
CAPTION: When we were little, he used to crawl into my bed at night when Mama was fighting with one of her boyfriends. Sometimes, if the screaming got too bad, he’d be so scared he’d pee in my bed. I beat him about that a couple of times, but I never hated him for it – after all, I was all he had.
CAPTION: I guess he was all I had, too.
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PANEL ONE: In the GENERAL DORM AREA, between the MEN’S and WOMEN’S RESIDENCE. THROWBACK is still trying to get some ATTENTION from DOLLY and MINK – right now, he’s trying MINK.
ANTHONY THOUGHT-CAPTION 1: The last anyone in the neighborhood heard about Jameel, he got accepted to come here – the FACTORY. Then nothing. Nobody’s seen him, nobody’s heard from him. I turned all of South Quartz searching for him. I busted into the City Pathology Department files and looked at so many autopsy photos of unnamed DOAs that I see ‘em every night when I close my eyes – but no Jameel. He went into the Factory, but he never came out.
ANTHONY THOUGHT-CAPTION 2: I’m going to find him. And if he’s dead, I don’t care if it was Silas Winter himself who did it, someone’s got some shit to pay.
THROWBACK: So how come a girl as fine as you is in here? Gonna join the Fatal Femmes?
MINK: Look, scrub, if you HAD any I’d just cut ‘em off, so move along.
PANEL TWO: THROWBACK – BLINK TAKE.
PANEL THREE: THROWBACK points PAST MINK at DOLLY.
THROWBACK: Yo, actually, I was talking to HER.
THROWBACK (Cont. Now to DOLLY): So how come a girl as fine as you is in here? I couldn’t help noticing you got all that sexy Barbie thing goin’ on.
DOLLY: It’s kinda more like Raggedy Anne, really – that’s cause my tag is “Dolly”.
THROWBACK: Well, you’re fine. I like the way you move. You ever model?
DOLLY: Sort of. I used to be a dancer. Then I found out I could make more money in breaking and entering…
PANEL FOUR: MINK and DOLLY SQUARE OFF.
MINK: A DANCER? Bitch, please. You didn’t make your money just SHOWING it to people.
DOLLY: Are you calling me a whore? At least men like me. I heard about you — I heard how you had to kill your boyfriend…
PANEL FIVE: SPLAT! MINK KICKS — her BOOT lashes around and hits DOLLY so hard DOLLY’s head BLOWS UP! THROWBACK is ALARMED and IMPRESSED.
SFX: SKELCH!
THROWBACK: Holy SHIT!
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PANEL ONE: A river of DOLLY flies out of the COLLAR of her COSTUME from the force of MINK’S kick, leaving the costume on the floor.
PANEL TWO: The river of DOLLY-FLESH hits the ground and then two ARMS form and flip it over, back toward MINK.
PANEL THREE: The BATTERING-RAM-like FEET hit MINK in the head, knocking her backward.
DOLLY: You’re dead, bitch!
PANEL FOUR: MINK’s wrist blades come out as DOLLY reforms.
SFX: CHING-CHING! CHING-CHING!
MINK: Fine. Let’s see who stops breathing first.
PANEL FIVE: PRETTY BOY is SUDDENLY standing between them – POP! He has CAUGHT MINK’S WRIST IN HIS HAND. We can see that DOLLY has just started to SAG away from the strike.
PRETTY BOY: Ah-ah-ah. You chicas going to have to find a better way to work this out.
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PANEL ONE: PRETTY BOY in the midst of the ROOKIES, willing to be ADMIRED.
THROWBACK: Who are YOU?
PRETTY BOY: They call me Pretty Boy – yes, yes, I know you can see why. Now move along. You all supposed to be in your rooms.
PANEL TWO: PRETTY BOY is irritated with COLDBLOODED, who’s giving him the EYE.
PRETTY BOY (Cont. – to COLDBLOODED): You, too. Go on. I know you worried, first night away from your mamas
COLDBLOODED: Shut up, bitch! Don’t talk to me like you know me!
PANEL THREE: COLDBLOODED is now LEANING INTO PRETTY BOY’s grill while the others watch with various degrees of interest/nervousness.
PRETTY BOY: Oh, you going to throw some catos with me? You want to mix it?
SNAIL (quietly): Fix it.
COLDBLOODED: You disrespect me, you’re disrespecting all the Los Reyes Screwtops.
PRETTY BOY: Oh, man, you sniffin’ the big time and you’re STILL reppin’ that gang shit? Are you gonna take a shot or just stand there like a pussy?
PANEL FOUR: COLDBLOODED takes a swing. PRETTY BOY is gone.
PANEL FIVE: PRETTY BOY taps him on the shoulder from behind.
PANEL SIX: COLDBLOODED swings on him again. PRETTY BOY is gone.
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PANEL ONE: PRETTY BOY has reappeared, GRINN
ING. COLDBLOODED POINTS at him with his RIGHT HAND.
COLDBLOODED: Motherfucker…! I don’t have to hit you to mess you up!
PANEL TWO: COLDBLOODED’s HAND turns GLOWING ORANGE HOT, so fast there are little SPARKS of BURNING DUST.
PANEL THREE: PRETTY BOY hits him HARD, and so fast it seems simultaneous – we see him STRIKE THREE TIMES.
SFX: CHUD! CHUD! CHUD!
PANEL FOUR: COLDBLOODED is down on the ground with PRETTY BOY’s foot on his throat and the other on the wrist of his HOT HAND.
PRETTY BOY: Check it — there are only thirteen people faster than me in the WHOLE WORLD. You ain’t one of ‘em. Now get the hell back to your block before I pull your eyeballs out and play hacky-sack with ‘em, chavalo.
PANEL FIVE: THROWBACK puppydogs PRETTY BOY.
THROWBACK: Thirteen? Wow! You must be a Level 8. Even Overdrive’s only a Level 9.
PRETTY BOY (to THROWBACK): You into that stuff, huh? Actually, I was only number fifteen in the world until last week, then this East Coast guy named Courier got a rip in his friction suit when he was doing, like, Mach Mucho – vato blew up like a Tijuana bottle rocket…
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PANEL ONE: DOLLY and MINK are leaning in the MEN’S DORM doorway – well, DOLLY does, MINK hangs back, looking CONTEMPTUOUS. SNAIL and THROWBACK are looking at something on SNAIL’S FOLD-DOWN computer screen.
DOLLY: We’re going upstairs to get new costumes.
THROWBACK: Yo, Doll. Make sure they don’t cover up TOO much.
DOLLY: Ooh. Aren’t YOU a bad boy…
MINK: Shit. You think you’re Big Mack, but you’re only Vanilla Shake, white boy. And speakin’ of dumb as shit, what is that you’re looking at? Oh, jeesus, is that Plusdotcom? That shit is so OLD.
ANTHONY: The superhero website? Explains a lot.
THROWBACK: I hope you ain’t putting down Plusdotcom, because they got it ALL. Where else a beginner gonna get some face? Look, they got an article on one of the guys who’s in here with us! Toxin, his name is. They made him one a’ their YVORs.
MINK: Why vee oh WHAT?
THROWBACK: Young Villains on the Rise.
ANTHONY THOUGHT-CAPTION: I swear to god, has this whole country gone crazy while I was overseas?
DOLLY: Little boys and their toys.
