; void('');)
by Terry Moore
CU OF SINK WITH WATER RUNNING. LS HAND WITH RAG DIPPING INTO WATER IN SINK. RAG AND HAND ARE COVERED IN BLOOD. SINK WATER IS BLOODY.
CAP: I've been here, what, a month? And I still don't have a place of my own. I've been meaning to get a little apartment near the park, but somehow I've always found an excuse not to.
CAP: I have been a little busy.
FULL LENGTH BEAUTY SHOT OF LADY SUPREME NAKED IN A STEAMY BATHROOM (SHE HAS SHOWERED AND CLEANED UP. WE SEE HER UNIFORM HANGING TO DRY ON THE SHOWER CURTAIN ROD.) CLEANING A SLASH WOUND ON HER UPPER ARM. WE SEE SEVERAL SLASH WOUNDS ON HER, AND PARTICULARLY THE BIG ONE DOWN HER BACK. THE STEAM HIDES HER NAUGHTY PARTS. HER HAIR IS PULLED BACK IN A PONYTAIL.
CAP: I clean the wounds I suffered at the blade of Manassa this afternoon and contemplate the last few weeks on this alternative earth that once reminded me so much of my home in the future. I thought I could find a place for myself on this planet. I thought I could become useful and serve the people. Lord knows they need it.
CAP: But it just hasn't worked out that way. I don't fit in. The people haven't accepted me and I've never felt so alone in all my life.
CAP: I think about the visit I had last week from my mother, Glory, and what it did to me to watch her leave. The feeling has been getting stronger with each passing day. It's a gnawing in my gut that threatens to consume me if I lose control.
LS IS SITTING IN A CHAIR WITH A TOWEL WRAPPED AROUND HER AND HER BANDAGES ON. SHE IS BY THE WINDOW AND WE SEE HER FROM 3/4 REAR VIEW. SHE IS SLUMPED OVER, HEAD IN HANDS, CRYING.
CAP: I bandage my wounds as best I can and slump into a chair by the window of my spartan hotel room. I stare blankly at the yellow smog rising ominously from the crowded streets below and fight back the tears that well up in my eyes. The knot in my stomach has moved to my throat and I begin to curse myself for being weak. What if Supreme or Kid Supreme saw me like this?
CAP: Then I realize they won't and that's when I lose it. Nobody is going to see me. I'm alone. I'm completely alone.
EXT. OF HOTEL AS THE SUNSETS. GRIMY LOOKING DOWNTOWN SURROUNDINGS.
CAP: If I hadn't been so busy feeling sorry for myself I might have stopped to wonder about my condition. Not since I became Supreme had I suffered external injuries like the ones inflicted on me by Manassa. Her sword pierced my otherwise invulnerable flesh like a hot knife through butter.
CAP: At the time I just assumed she must have been a god or something. This Supreme body was still fairly new to me, I was still learning my powers and limits. Maybe Manassa found my Achilles' Heel.
CAP: I know better now.
SAME EXT. BUT NOW IT'S NIGHT.
CAP: I guess being in a strange place and feeling stranded confused me because I also thought my emotional breakdown was just a bad case of the blues, like a schoolgirl feeling homesick. I realize now it was all tied together but, at the time...
EXT CITYSCAPE AT NIGHT. WE SEE A NEON COFFIN INDUSTRIES SIGN ABOVE A SKYSCRAPER. THERE IS LIGHTNING
IN THE SKIES ABOVE THE CITY.
CAP: Well, they say you never see the bullet that gets you, you never see the train that hits you, you never see the missing step beneath your feet...
CAP: All you know is a striking brief moment of light and reality and you realize how asleep you always were. Then it's over.
LS LAYS IN BED AND SLEEPS. SHE IS NUDE, HER BANDAGES SHOW AND MAKE HER LOOK FRAGILE AND BEAT UP. SHE LOOKS BEAUTIFUL AND FRAGILE.
CAP: There's a popular song by Cheriel, Tori Amos' great grand-daughter that goes, "I lay down and cannot sleep. I sleep and cannot dream. I dream and cannot wake. I wake and cannot smile."
CAP: I know I am asleep and still the black of night surrounds me in my borrowed room and pushes me onto the bed. I could swear the room dissolves away the minute I close my eyes.
CAP: "I lay down and cannot sleep... "
LS PULLS ON HER LS COSTUME OVER HER BARE BODY. WE SEE THE SLASH WOUNDS AS BIG RED WELPS.
CAP: I rise the next morning and find my wounds have healed almost completely, only tender scars remain. But I feel bad, my muscles ache and I wish I could go back to bed and sleep for a week. Instead I get dressed, my joints creaking and popping like an old lady in the silence of the tiny room.
LS STANDS BEFORE A MIRROR IN A CONSERVATIVE BUSINESS SUIT. SHE IS FROWNING, CONSIDERING HER CLOTHES.
CAP: The source of the city's crime seems to be Lady Coffin and her company, Coffin Industries. So far I've resisted the temptation to "remove her from the picture" only because her business is so wide-spread it's probably autonomous. Killing her won't stop the company.
CAP: No. If I want to do serious damage, I have to infiltrate the very heart of the operation. I have to gain access to her computers.
LS SAME SCENE BUT IN A SEXY SKIRT AND BLOUSE. SHE IS SMILING NOW.
CAP: And for that I need to use a weapon of a different kind. The weapon men fall for every time.
CAP: I think this one will do nicely, don't you?
CAP: Suckers.
EXT. COFFIN INDUSTRIES BUILDING. BUSY STREET. THE COFFIN LOGO OVER THE BIG ENTRANCE DOORS IS GOTHIC DECO IN DESIGN. WE SEE LS WALKING IN.
CAP: My senses have traced all of Coffin's transmissions to the upper floor of her building. It would be so easy to simply bust through the walls and start smashing things, but I would only be shooting the messengers and that's not good enough.
CAP: I'm not interested in hurting Coffin, I'm here to destroy her!
CAP: So I walk in the front door like I belong here and vow to myself it will be the last time.
JOHN RYDER'S DEVON 4 RYDER CRAFT, THE ONE WE SAW IN ISSUE 2, LANDS ON A HELICOPTER TYPE PAD ON TOP OF THE COFFIN BUILDING. THERE ARE TWO ATTENDANTS WAITING IN THE BLAST OF AIR.
SFX: TCHEEOOOOWWW!
RYDER STEPS OUT OF THE VEHICLE AS AN ATTENDANT HOLDS THE DOOR OPEN. RYDER IS IN A GUNSLINGER TYPE TRENCH COAT, UNSHAVEN, BIG BOOTS. HE LOOKS MEAN. HE FLASHES A BADGE TO THE ATTENDANT.
ATTENDANT: Good morning, sir. You must have a Coffin Industries Permit to land here.
RYDER: Yeah, yeah.
ATTENDANT: Thank you sir. How long will you be staying today?
RYDER WALKS AWAY FROM CRAFT AND ATTENDANT.
RYDER: However long it takes.
RYDER ENTERS A BROAD HALLWAY THROUGH A STAIRWELL DOORWAY. HE ENTERS INTO A BRIGHTLY LIT INTERIOR OF MULTILEVEL FLOORS THAT CIRCLE AROUND AN OPEN MIDDLE, LIKE A DONUT. THEY ARE 70 STORIES UP. WELL DRESSED MEN AND WOMEN ARE WALKING BY WITH DOCUMENTS AND LAPTOPS.
RYDER STANDS AT THE RAILING OVERLOOKING THE MIDDLE OPEN AREAS AND ALL THE OTHER FLOORS YOU CAN SEE FROM HIS RAILING. HE HOLDS THE ATOMETER IN HIS HAND, THE ONE HE USED IN #2 TO "SEE" LS AND GLORY IN THE RESTAURANT. BEHIND HIM IN THE HALLWAY PEOPLE STARE AT HIM AS THEY WALK BY. HE DOES NOT FIT IN WITH THEIR SOPHISTICATED LOOK AND ROUTINE.
RYDER, UNDER HIS BREATH: Dammit, she's here all right. She walked right into the building! When Coffin told me to keep an eye on this Supreme chick, I never thought I'd end up back here!
RYDER GRABS A SUIT AND TIE TYPE GUY THAT'S WALKING BY.
RYDER: Hey you, where's the nearest security phone?
LS STANDS IN THE FIRST FLOOR LOBBY WAITING FOR AN ELEVATOR AND LOOKS UP AT THE 70 STORY OPEN ATRIUM IN THE BUILDING. LUSH GREENERY AND EXOTIC BIRDS FLY IN THE AIR ABOVE HER. GLASS ELEVATORS RUN UP AND DOWN IN FOUR GLASS TURRETS THAT CORNER THE CIRCULAR INTERIOR. LOTS OF PEOPLE WALKING TO AND FRO.
CAP: I never cease to be amazed at the things humans spend money on.
CAP: This building, all the expense, the work that went into it... all to house a company designed to try and make more money. And if they can't make it fast enough, they steal it.
CAP: They think they've accomplished something here, something of value. A plaque by the door said the Coffin Building was built to last a thousand years. But I know I can level the place in a matter of minutes.
CAP: It's all I can do to make myself step quietly on the elevator.
LS STANDS ON ELEVATOR WITH A GUY IN SUIT STARING AT HER WITH AMAZEMENT. HE'S STRUCK DUMB BY HER INCREDIBLE LOOKS.
CAP: My weapon strikes the first man I encounter and holds him speechless against the glass. When we stop at his floor I have to tell him twice before he understands. Sucker.
LS BEGINS TO SLUMP AGAINST THE ELEVATOR WALL, HOLDING ONTO THE RAIL BEHIND HER. SHE LOOKS SICK.
CAP: The minute the doors close it hits me. My already aching head begins to swim and I slump against the railing, holding on for dear life. I could swear everything goes double on me and begins to flicker.
LS CLOSER VIEW, HER FACE SWEATY AND PALE. IN HER EYES WE SEE HER CONFUSION AND CONCERN.
CAP: It only lasts a second or two, but it pulls the very life out of me. I feel my heart start up again and I realize I'm holding my breath because it hurts to breath. A cold sweat beads upon my face and it's all I can do to keep from laying down on the floor.
CAP: I can't do this. Not now. There's no time!
CAP: I'm here for a reason and I can't let anything stop me.
LS WIPES HER FACE WITH HER HANDS AS SHE STANDS UP AGAIN.
CAP: I feel the strength return to my body as quickly as it left. I have no idea what just happened and it scares the hell out of me. I never want to feel like that again.
CAP: I try to tell myself it was nothing, just one of those unexplainable moments we all experience from time to time. I'm just tired, a little down maybe. It's nothing. But even as I raise my head I feel the aching in my bones.
CAP: Oh god, I don't have time for this!
LS STEPS OUT OF THE ELEVATOR ONTO AN OPEN FLOOR OF CUBICLES AND WORK SPACES, EACH WITH A PERSON WORKING ON A COMPUTER.
CAP: This is what I'm looking for. All I have to do is find an available station and go to work. Nothing could be easier.
A SECURITY PERSON IN A BLUE BLAZER AND CARRYING A WALKY-TALKY APPROACHES LS.
SECURITY: May I help you?
LS: Uhm, yeah. Uh, Brenda in records asked me to come up and uh, borrow some, uh... paper.
THE SECURITY PERSON FROWNS. LS SMILES SHEEPISHLY.
CAP: Paper?! Where did I come up with that? I must have been sicker than I thought!
SECURITY: Paper?
LS: Yeah... uh... do you have any? We're all out.
SECURITY LOOKS AT HER SUSPICIOUSLY AND POINTS WITH THE WALKY-TALKY TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROOM. LS SMILES SWEETLY.
SECURITY: Yeah. There's a supply closet by the copy machine.
LS: Thanks. I mean, personally I think she just sends me up here to get rid of me, know what I mean?
LS: Mr. Stephenson never used to send me for paper. He never let me out of his sight! Heh!
LS WALKS AWAY AS THE SECURITY GUY EYES HER, SCRATCHING HIS HEAD.
SECURITY: Mm hmm... right.
LS CU FACE AS SHE WALKS THROUGH THE CUBICLES. HER FACE IS HARD AND SERIOUS AS SHE LOOKS BACK OVER HER SHOULDER.
CAP: Why didn't I expect that? Did I think I could just walk onto the floor? I curse my own stupidity as I cross the room, looking for an empty cubicle.
LS AT THE DOOR TO THE SUPPLY CABINET. SHE OPENS IT AS SHE LOOKS BACK ACROSS THE ROOM.
CAP: Nothing. I'm going to have to make an opportunity.
MED CU OF A WOMAN SITTING AT A COMPUTER WITH LS IN THE BACKGROUND STARING AT HER. THE WOMAN HAS A FUNNY LOOK ON HER FACE AS IF SHE'S JUST BEEN GOOSED. HER HAND IS ON HER STOMACH.
CAP: Fortunately for me, I do know how to do something besides smash meteors with my bare fists.
CAP: With my enhanced psionic powers I apply pressure to a very sensitive area on the computer operator in the corner. I leave her no choice but to...
THE WOMAN RUNS INTO THE WOMEN'S BATHROOM WHICH IS ON THE WALL BESIDE LS. LS SMILES AS SHE WATCHES AND HOLDS A STACK OF PAPERS IN HER ARMS. WE NEED TO BE SURE AND SEE 2 THINGS HERE, 1) THAT THE WOMAN RAN TO THE BATHROOM AND 2) THAT LS IS SMILING (IN ORDER TO LET THE READER KNOW SHE'S JOKING ABOUT THIS NEXT LINE)
CAP: I know it's a dirty trick, but it's better than smashing her to bits.
LS SITS DOWN AT THE COMPUTER AS SHE LOOKS DISCREETLY AROUND TO SEE IF ANY BODY'S WATCHING. SHE SETS HER PAPERS DOWN BESIDE THE KEYBOARD.
CAP: I'm confident all I need is 5 minutes. The technology here is far below the level I grew up with. Where I come from everything is stored and moved inside light. There's no limit to the speed or usage.
CAP: Here it's just a matter of discerning the limited mathematical patterns and language codes inherent in manufactured chip technology.
CAP: Anything they do amounts to nothing more than one thing connected to another. Despite the hype, it's all so linear.
CU LS'S FACE, FROWNING. A LOCK OF HAIR FALLS BESIDE HER EYES. SHE LOOKS STRESSED. THE COMPUTER SCREEN REFLECTED IN HER EYES.
CAP: I'm not nervous but my hands are shaking and the walls of my cubicle begin to rise continuously. It's happening to me again. I try to focus on the screen in front of me.
CAP: Four minutes.
RYDER GLARES INTENTLY AT HIS ATOMETER AS A COFFIN SECURITY GUARD (WHO HAS A MICROPHONE HEADSET LIKE JANET JACKSON OR A TELEPHONE OPERATOR) LOOKS OVER HIS SHOULDER. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF GUARDS AROUND THEM. THEY ARE STANDING IN A MONITORING ROOM WITH TV SCREENS ON THE WALL, MEN WORKING AT HI-TECH PANELS ETC.
GUARD: We're looking for a girl?!
RYDER: She's not a girl, meathead! She's one of them Halloween geeks who leveled HALF THE CITY yesterday! She's a frickin' Supreme!
TWO SHOT OF GUARD AND RYDER. RYDER IS KNOCKING THE ATOMETER WITH ONE HAND LIKE THEY DID WITH AL IN QUANTUM LEAP.
GUARD: Well, then she should be easy to find. We're looking for some Amazon woman in a costume, right?
RYDER: Wrong! She can cloak herself to look normal.
RYDER: You have to use special lenses to see through that it. I tracked her here with the Atometer. But it must be crappin' out on me, the readings are unstable. Getting weaker.
COMPUTER OPERATOR NEAR THEM CALLS OUT.
OPERATOR: Sir, we have a security breach in the network. Somebody has infiltrated our Yellow 3 files and is looking at the hex in our secure files.
GUARD: What the... ?!
RYDER: Where's it coming from?
OPERATOR: It... it's coming from our own network, sir. From data processing right here in the building.
RYDER: That's her! Move it!
RYDER AND A BUNCH OF GUARDS HAULING ASS THROUGH THE DOORWAY IN TWO DIRECTIONS.
RYDER: Sound a general call! Have all your men surround the area from above and below!
GUARD LEADER, HOLDING HIS MICROPHONE AND SHOUTING INTO IT: Storm call! Storm call! Code red! Level 70! Data Processing. Envelope maneuvers!
WIDE OF THE COMPUTER ROOM AND THE CUBICLES. WE SEE LS WORKING AWAY FEVERISHLY.
CAP: Three Minutes.
CAP: I work my way through one program veil after another until I get to the interior files. I'm shaking so badly I can hardly control my fingers. I don't have time to wonder why, I'm so close.
CU COMPUTER SCREEN AND KEYBOARD. WE SEE TONS OF DATA LOOKING STUFF. JUST MAKE IT UP.
CAP: I'm in! There before me is the heart of Coffin Industries. Financials, data storage, cell chip patents... everything. If I destroy them however, they will simply reload from backups. Instead, I plant a virus that will ruin the code of anything run on the network; programs, data, downloads, satellite commands, even telephone switching.
CAP: It's simple really. Since this level of technology relies on mathematics and math is all about relationships, I filed for divorce. Mathematically speaking.
LS MED AT COMPUTER. SHE'S LOOKING AROUND FOR TROUBLE, ONE HAND TO THE SIDE OF HER FACE AS IF IN PAIN.
CAP: In two minutes the divorce virus should infiltrate every terminal connection and every last piece of data run through Coffin's network. And when they try to rebuild, the virus will still be there.
CAP: But I have to let the virus run. It can't be interrupted. Head spinning.
CAP: A minute and a half.
LS HOLDING HER FOREHEAD AND GLARING INTENTLY AT THE ROOM AS IF SHE HAS A MIGRAINE AND CAN'T SEE WELL. HER OTHER HAND HOLDS ONTO SOMETHING.
CAP: Then it hits me again, full force. This time is worse than the first. My whole body shivers and something knocks the breath out of me. It must be affecting my head because the whole room begins to flicker and shimmy.
CAP: What is happening to me?
LS HANGS ONTO CHAIR AND DESK BUT IS SLUMPED AND IN GREAT PAIN. SHE STARES INTENTLY AT THE COMPUTER TERMINAL. WE SEE THE CUBICLES AROUND HER AND THE WHOLE SEEMS TO BE FEELING THE RUMBLING, LIKE A SMALL EARTHQUAKE. THE PEOPLE ARE REACTING.
CAP: I can't tell if it's my imagination or what, the pain is so intense, but I feel a rumbling within the earth. Everything seems to disappear and reappear with the pounding in my head.
CAP: I look at the computer screen through a red haze. The images bounce so I can barely read them.
CAP: One minute.
SFX: RRUUUMMBBLE!
LADY COFFIN STANDS AT THE HEAD OF A LONG CONFERENCE TABLE WITH BUSINESS PEOPLE SEATED ALL AROUND. THEY ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A MEETING AND EXPERIENCE THE EARTHQUAKE TOO. THERE ARE COMPUTERS, LAPTOPS, AT EVERY SEAT. THERE IS A BOX IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TABLE WITH A CABLE TO EVERY COMPUTER.
COFFIN: What the hell is that?!
MAN 1: It's the storm again! Like yesterday!
MAN: It feels like an earthquake!
WOMAN: We're not supposed to have earthquakes here! There's no fault line!
A WOMAN HANDS A PHONE TO COFFIN.
WOMAN: Lady Coffin, it's Mr. Ryder. He says it's urgent.
COFFIN: I'm in the idle of an earthquake and he thinks he has problems!
COFFIN SPEAKS INTO PHONE. CU AS SHE GLARES.
COFFIN: This better be good, John!
RYDER IS RUNNING UP A FLIGHT OF STAIRS IN A STAIRWELL FOLLOWED BY A HALF DOZEN GUARDS. HE IS SHOUTING INTO A CELL PHONE.
RYDER: She's in the building! We're surrounding her in data processing!
COFFIN VO: What the hell is she doing in there?!
COFFIN REACTS VIOLENTLY. SHE YELLS BACK INTO PHONE SO SHARPLY THAT SEVERAL PEOPLE AROUND HER LOOK STARTLED, IGNORING THE EARTHQUAKE PROBLEM.
RYDER VO: She's in the computers, Elizabeth! She's breached into the master files!
COFFIN: SHE WHAT?!!!
COFFIN LEANS OVER HER LAPTOP WHICH HAS A CABLE CONNECTING IT TO A BOX ON THE TABLE WHICH HAS A CABLE TO EVERY COMPUTER ON THE TABLE. SHE TAPS AT THE KEYS AND SHOUTS AS SHE LETS THE PHONE HANG AWAY FROM HER FORGOTTEN IN THE OTHER HAND.
COFFIN: I can't access...! Records! Statements! Even the cell chip files... all of it ruined! Every time I call something up the network eats it!
COFFIN SWEEPS THE COMPUTER OFF THE DESK IN A RAGE.
COFFIN: RUINED! EVERYTHING RUINED!!
WIDE SHOT. THE OTHERS IN THE ROOM ARE FROZEN AND STARTLED. COFFIN'S ASSISTANT TRIES TO SPEAK TO HER. COFFIN HAS HER HANDS GRIPPING THE TABLE, HER HEAD DOWN, WE CAN'T SEE HER FACE.
ASSISTANT: Lady Coffin...
COFFIN: GET OUT! Everybody OUT! NOW!
DRAMATIC SHOT OF COFFIN'S FACE AS SHE LOOKS UP WITH MURDER IN HER EYES. SHE LOOKS EXTREMELY EVIL.
COFFIN: I'll KILL HER!
MED OF LS AND HER CUBICLE AREA. LS SITS AT HER CUBICLE AND WATCHES THE PEOPLE MOVING ABOUT HER. EVERYBODY ELSE IS TALKING AND WORRIED ABOUT THE QUAKE. NOBODY IS AT THEIR STATION.
CAP: 30 seconds.
CAP: Half a minute more and I'm finished. I don't care what happens after that. All I have to do is hang on a few seconds longer and protect the terminal.
CAP: Easy for me to say. I'm so weak I can barely sit up.
CAP: Yesterday I threw a truck like a baseball. Now I just want to throw up.
CAP: 20 seconds.
RYDER AND CREW BURST THROUGH THE DOORS LEADING TO THE STAIRWELL INTO THE COMPUTER CUBICLES ROOM. THEY'RE ALL CARRYING AND POINTING GUNS AND CANNON LOOKING WEAPONS.
RYDER: Everybody back away from the computers! NOW! Up against the windows!
SFX, DOOR SLAMS OPEN: KA-BLAM!
MED SHOT OF CHAOS AND PANIC AS THE WOMEN SCREAM AND EVERYBODY MOVES. RYDER STANDS IN THE MIDDLE OF IT ALL AND HOLDS HIS ATOMETER, LOOKING AT IT AND USING IT TO FIND LS IN THE ROOM LIKE A GEIGER COUNTER.
RYDER: You can't hide from me, lady! I know you're in here!
WE SEE RYDER APPROACHING LS'S CUBICLE. OVERHEAD VIEW, RYDER CAN'T SEE HER YET BECAUSE OF OTHER CUBICLES, BUT HIS METER IS LEADING HIM RIGHT TO HER. LS SITS SLUMPED IN HER CHAIR, WAITING. WE SEE PEOPLE BEING HERDED AWAY FROM THE CUBICLES BY GUARDS WITH GUNS.
CAP: I'm too weak to move. All I can do is hold my position. Try to stall him while the virus finishes. All I need is ten more seconds!
RYDER: Well, well. Lookee here! The little magic box sez we got a little Nu-Gene treasure right over here!
RYDER STANDS BEFORE LS. HE LOOKS STRONG AND DEADLY. HE HOLDS A CANNON SOMETHING POINTED AT LS WITH ONE HAND, THE OTHER HOLDS THE ATOMETER WHICH IS BUZZING STRONGLY. RYDER SMILES MEANLY. LS IS SLUMPED. WE'RE LOOKING OVER HER SHOULDER AT RYDER.
RYDER: Jackpot!
RYDER: Hello, darlin'. I've been lookin' for you.
MED OF LS. SHE IS SLUMPED IN CHAIR, WEAK AND PALE. ONE ARM RESTS ON THE DESK, THE OTHER HAND HOLDS THE SEAT OF HER CHAIR. SHE LOOKS LIKE SHE COULD PASS OUT AT ANY TIME. BUT SHE SMILES THINLY AT RYDER AS SHE LOOKS UP.
CAP: I have to stall. Keep him talking just a few seconds more. It's all I can do to keep from passing out. Everything is flickering and I see double, when I can see.
LS: I've been right here. What kept you?
CAP: Seven seconds.
RYDER: You wanna move away from the terminal?
LS: I'd rather just sit here, if you don't mind.
RYDER: Get away from the computer before I blow your frickin' head off!
CAP: Six seconds.
WIDE SHOT SHOWING LS FROM WAIST UP IN CHAIR AND THE MEN WITH GUNS AROUND HER AND RYDER. LS SMILES WEAKLY, BLUFFING. THE GUARDS AIM NERVOUSLY AT HER. ONE GUARD TURNS TO RYDER TO SPEAK. RYDER GLARES AT LS AND KEEPS HIS WEAPON ON HER.
CAP: They don't know what to make of me. My apparent apathy is confusing them. I'm bluffing, but can't let them know that. I feel as though a fly could knock me over.
GUARD: THIS is the almighty Supreme you shut my whole building down for?!! A skinny sleaze who's so stoned she can't even sit up?!!!
RYDER: SHUT UP!
RYDER: I'm warning you lady... get away from the computer, NOW!
CAP: Five seconds.
SHOWDOWN PANEL BETWEEN RYDER AND LS. SIDE VIEW SO WE SEE BOTH THEIR FACES. RYDER GRIM AND THREATENING, LS, SLUMPED IN CHAIR, SMILES THROUGH SLEEPY EYES, HER EXPRESSION IS A WICKED SMILE THOUGH, DANGEROUS. ARMED MEN IN THE BACKGROUND AIMING WEAPONS AT HER. THE SCENE IS DIMMER AS THE LIGHTS IN THE ROOM FLICKER.
CAP: It's hard to pay attention, but I hear them yelling at me. Ordering me to move. I can't think anymore, all I can do is hang on. All I can do is react.
LS: Make me.
GUARD IN BG.: THE LIGHTS! We're losing power!
RYDER: Lady, my orders are to contain you. Now that can be in one piece, or twenty! It's up to you.
CAP: Four.
LS looks around at them and they watch her for an answer. We see barrels etc aimed at her.
CAP: They level their weapons at me. The firing pins go back, the laser sights hum. I can hear the other guards holding their breath in anticipation, their hearts pound within my ears. The head guy glares at me, waiting for an answer.
CAP: The ground begins to shake beneath me. It doesn't matter, but I think they feel it too.
CAP: Three.
MED CU of LS AS SHE SMILES WICKEDLY, EXHAUSTED.
CAP: Two.
LS: Bite me.
THE ELEVATOR DOORS OPEN AND OUT MARCHES COFFIN IN A FURY.
COFFIN: WHERE IS SHE?! WHERE IS HELL IS THAT SORRY....?!!!
CU OF RYDER LOOKS BACK OVER HIS SHOULDER AT COFFIN . LS IN BG.
RYDER: Over here! We have her cornered!
MED CU OF COFFIN, LOOKING UP AT HER AS SHE POINTS AND BARKS ANGRILY WHILE MARCHING FORWARD TOWARDS THEM.
COFFIN: SHOOT HER!! NOW!!!!
OVER THE SHOULDER OF LS AS WE SEE THE MEN AND RYDER ESPECIALLY AS THEY LOWER THEIR WEAPONS AT HER AND PREPARE TO SHOOT. RYDER HAS A GRIM UGLY SMILE ON HIS FACE AS HE PULLS BACK THE TRIGGER ON HIS CANNON LOOKING WEAPON.
RYDER: With pleasure!
SFX: KS-CHIKK!
CAP: One.
THE REMAINDER OF THE PAGE IS A FULL BLEED SPLASH OF ALL THE WEAPONS FIRING AT ONCE AT LS'S BODY. IT'S A MASSIVE HIT THAT OBLITERATES OUR VIEW OF HER EXCEPT FOR HER ARMS AND LEGS AS SHE FLIES BACK AGAINST THE WALL. VERY VIOLENT LOOKING.
SFX: K-K-BAAAM!!
SFX: PPZOMMM!
SFX: CRAAASH!
CAP: Just before they fire I look at the screen. I hear the faint metallic brush of hairpin triggers sliding in their sleeves and watch the screen go dead. I barely have time to smile before the first blast hits me square in the chest.
CU OF COFFIN, LIVID AND MAD WITH RAGE.
CAP: They continue to fire at me, blinded by their own fear and Coffin's rage.
COFFIN: AGAIN! AGAIN! AGAIN!
SFX: ZZZBLAM! ZZZBLAM! ZZZBLAM!
MED WIDE OF THE LEGS OF THE MEN STANDING AROUND. WE SEE THE WALL, THE UPTURNED CHAIR WITH IT'S LEGS MELTED OFF AND SMOKING. THE FLOOR LOOKS LIKE A BOMB WENT OFF. THERE ARE HOLES IN THE WALL BEHIND THAT REVEAL THE SKY OUTSIDE. THERE IS RUBBLE AND DAMAGED FURNITURE ETC AROUND. A LOT OF SMOKE AND BURN MARKS ON EVERYTHING. WE SEE LS'S LEGS WITH CARBON ON THEM. HER FEET ARE FACE UP BUT WE CAN'T SEE HER BODY OR FACE. WE SEE ONE ARM LAYING BEHIND THE RUBBLE BEHIND HER FEET. SHE'S NOT MOVING. THERE IS A RUMBLE IN THE ROOM.
GUARD: Jeez! I can't believe there's a body left!
RYDER: So much for the Nu-Gene myth. That is one dead Supreme.
SFX: RRUUMMBBLLEE!
GUARD 2: HERE COMES ANOTHER TREMOR!
COFFIN STANDS OVER THE RUBBLE AND BURNT BODY OF LS. WE SEE A MED OF LS LAYING ON RUBBLE, BLACK CARBON BURN MARKS AND DUST EVERYWHERE FROM THE BLASTS. LS'S CLOTHES ARE IN PIECES BUT HER UNIFORM IS INTACT AND SHINING BRIGHTLY. LS'S EYES ARE CLOSED. WE'RE LOOKING OVER COFFINS SHOULDER DIRECTLY DOWN AT LS.
COFFIN: You took away everything I ever worked for, I'm ruined because of you! I hope you rot in hell!
CLOSER SHOT OF LS WITH COFFIN'S LEGS WALKING AWAY, BACK TURNED TO LS, BUT NOW HER EYES ARE OPEN STARING STRAIGHT AHEAD INTO SPACE. WE SEE DUST AND PIECES OF CEILING CONTINUE
TO FALL AS THE RUMBLING GETS STRONGER.
COFFIN: Take her away! The sight of her makes me sick!
MALE VO: Lady Coffin! The earthquake!
COFFIN: DO IT!!
SFX: RRUUMMBBLLE!
COFFIN TURNS TO ADDRESS RYDER. BEHIND HER WE SEE FOUR MEN LEAN OVER THE BODY OF LS TO PICK HER UP.
COFFIN: I want a full damage report. Have Baker meet me in the vault to check the backups!
GUARD 1: She doesn't even notice the earthquake!
GUARD 2: I'm not going to tell her!
GUARD 3: Say, weren't her eyes closed a minute ago?
WE SEE THE FOUR MEN FLYING AS LS FISTS EXPLODE OUT OF THE RUBBLE. RUBBLE PARTS AND BITS FLYING EVERYWHERE. COFFIN AND RYDER DUCK IN REACTION.
GUARD 1: LOOK OUT!
GUARD 2: SHE'S ALIVE!
FLYING GUARD: UGH!
SFX: WHACK! WHACK!
COFFIN FACES LS AND SCREAMS AT HER AS LS GETS UP ON ONE KNEE IN THE RUBBLE. THE ROOM IS FALLING DOWN AROUND THEM, DUST AND CHUNKS OF BUILDING FALLING AROUND LS.
RYDER, IN WONDER: I knew it!
COFFIN: What does it take to kill you?!!
LS: More than you got, lady. More than you got.
COFFIN LUNGES AT LS WITH A WEAPON SHE GRABS FROM RYDER'S HANDS AND IS ABOUT TO SWING IT AT LS LIKE A BASEBALL BAT. LS IS FACING COFFIN BUT IS SORT OF LOOKING AROUND HER AS THE CEILING BEGINS TO FALL IN BITS ALL AROUND THEM WINDOWS BURST. PEOPLE IN THE ROOM CRY OUT AND COVER THEIR HEADS AS ANOTHER BIG EARTHQUAKE HITS, CREATING A CHASM IN THE FLOOR, PEOPLE FALLING THROUGH AND DOWN INTO IT.
CAP: She's so mad with hate she doesn't even notice the building as it begins to fall down around us.
CAP: Windows burst and I hear the screams of the people around us. Out of the corner of my eye I see the sky, black as night, even though it's midday. I should do something about it, but what?
CAP: How do you stop an earthquake? How do you save a dying planet? How do you stop the sky from falling?
COFFIN: DIE, DAMN YOU! DIE!!!!!!
COFFIN SMASHES LS ACROSS THE FACE WITH THE WEAPON AND IT BREAKS INTO BITS.
SFX: KKREEASH!
COFFIN STANDS HUNCHED OVER LS. COFFIN'S FACE IS IN SHADOW AND ONLY TWO RED BEADS FOR EYES SHOW FROM THE BLACKNESS OF HER FACE. SHE IS HUFFING AND PUFFING, HOLDING THE REMNANTS OF THE WEAPON IN HER HAND, HER FEET SPREAD AS SHE STANDS OVER THE FALLEN LS. LS IS ON HER BACK AGAIN, GETTING UP ON HER ELBOWS. WE SEE THIS SCENE FROM BEHIND LS.
THERE ARE NO WALLS LEFT ON THE FLOOR. ONLY SCAFFOLDING AND WIRE BUILDING FRAMES WITH CHUNKS OF CONCRETE ON THEM. PIPES ETC. THE FLOOR BEGINS TO BUCKLE. PEOPLE ARE FALLING OFF.
CAP: In a matter of moments, the building will fall. I see helpless people dying all around me, screaming for mercy in the thunder of the destruction, and I am helpless to stop them. I'm so weak I can barely move.
CAP: Coffin stands over me, lashing out in hate and frustration. She's so intent on destroying me she doesn't see the world dying around her.
LS: COFFIN! Look around you! It's over!!
MED CU OF COFFIN AS SHE LOOKS AND NOTICES THE DEVASTATION FOR THE FIRST TIME, HER MOUTH AJAR. THE BROKEN WEAPON STILL IN HER HAND.
COFFIN: No! No!
EXT OF THE BUILDING WHICH IS IN SHAMBLES AND IS COLLAPSING. THIS IS A SHOT OF THE UPPER FLOORS AT THE TOP WHERE OUR ACTION HAPPENED. WE SEE OTHER BUILDINGS COLLAPSING AROUND IT AS THE CITY CRUMBLES. AIRCARS ARE FLYING TRYING TO ESCAPE, HALF OF THEM ARE FALLING THOUGH. WE SEE A RED STREAK LEAVE THE TOP OF THE CRUMBLING COFFIN BUILDING, FLYING STRAIGHT UP. THE SKY IS WICKED LOOKING, BLACK AND BLUE WITH WHITE STREAKS IN IT.
CAP: Out of instinct I grab the only person I can reach and fly above the collapsing building as it collapses beneath our feet.
CAP: All those people. All those innocent people. Why?
Wide of LS as she stops in mid air, holding Coffin with one hand as they look back below them at the city beneath them. Both of them frowning and in shock at what they see.
CAP: Is this what I was feeling? Is this what was making me sick? The death of a planet?
CAP: But if so, why was I so tied to the fate of a planet I'd only recently come to?
LOOKING OVER LS'S SHOULDER (AND COFFIN'S) WE SEE THE CITY COLLAPSE IN RUINS, HUGE CRATERS SPLIT THE EARTH APART AND A GLEAMING WHITENESS SHINES FROM THE CREVICES.
CAP: I watch as the earth below me splits and tears apart. The adopted city I'd called home disappears in a blinding white light that shoots up through the crevices and consumes everything it touches.
CAP: It's the most frightening, most beautiful sight I'd ever seen.
MED OF LS LOOKING AT DOWN AT COFFIN IN HER ARMS. COFFIN HANGS LIMP, DEAD.
CAP: I hang there, in the sky, watching the brilliant lights below consume the planet.
CAP: Coffin slips from my weakening grip. I try to hang on to her but it's no use, she's already dead.
WIDE OF COFFIN FALLING AWAY FROM LS AND PLUMMETING DOWNWARD in the sky LIKE A LIMP BODY FALLING FROM AN AIRPLANE.
CAP: What was it all for?
CAP: Twenty minutes ago, everything was so important. Now, nothing matters.
WE SEE A WHAT LOOKS LIKE THE SURFACE OF THE SUN, BUT THERE ARE RIVERS OF WHITE MOLTEN LAVA THAT GLOW AND GLEAM SHOOTING LIGHT UP OUT OF FRAME. MAYBE WE SEE LS'S FEET AS SHE HOVERS ABOVE THIS?
CAP: I watch Coffin fall to earth like penny from heaven. The lights below lick up to catch her and she disappears in a sea of white fire.
CU OF LS, HEAD BACK EYES CLOSED AS SHE BEGINS TO FALL BACKWARDS, DOWN THROUGH THE AIR. THE BACKGROUND SKY BEHIND HER IS A GRAD OF BLUE AT THE TOP TO WHITE AT THE BOTTOM.
CAP: The earth below is a white hot sun with rivers of fire that shoot a blinding light up into space and beyond. The light devours all. It slides around me and warms me until I am no longer able to resist it.
CAP: I close my eyes and let go, falling forever through layer after layer of white sheets that flap and flutter warmly around me.
CAP: Or was it doves?
CAP: I remember the smell of honeysuckle.
CAP: And then I didn't remember at all.
CU OF LS FACE LAYING IN GRASS. POV IS LOOKING DOWN AT HER. EYES OPEN BUT SLEEPY LOOKING, SHE SMILES. SHE JUST WOKE UP.
CAP: I wake up to the scent of honeysuckle. A spring breeze cools my face and I open my eyes to see blue skies.
CAP: I'm laying in a filed of lush new grass that sweeps across a broad rolling hill. The valley below cradles a bubbling brook that winds around and out of sight.
CAP: The first thing I do is smile.
MED WIDE OF LS SITTING UP IN GREEN GRASS. SHE'S ON THE SIDE OF A ROLLING HILL OVERLOOKING A VALLEY WITH A STREAM WINDING THROUGH IT. THREES LINE THE HORIZON. MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A COUNTRY HEAVEN. SHE LOOKS PERFECT, HER UNIFORM GLITTERS AND SHINES. ((THE COLORS ARE DEEPER AND MORE METALLIC NOW))))
CAP: I have no idea where I am, but it must be heaven. My scars are gone, my body breathes and pulses with life and even my uniform glows with a brilliance it never possessed on earth.
CAP: I feel fantastic!
WIDE OF LS WALKING THROUGH THE MEADOW, CARRYING HER BOOTS IN HAND.
CAP: I take off my boots and walk barefoot through the grass. Something I never found the time to do before.
CAP: The birds sing, the clouds roll by, and for the first time in my life I don't feel alone or alienated. I can't explain it, I just have this overwhelming sense of peace and calm.
LS LOOKS BACK OVER HER SHOULDER AS SHE WALKS IN THE MEADOW.
CAP: I walk for awhile, lost in my thoughts. All the rage and bitterness I carried before into battle forgotten. Coffin, Manassa, The Keep... they all cross my mind and exit quietly, ushered out by the chirping of crickets and the call of the crow.
CAP: Then a familiar voice calls my name and I turn to find you here too.
CAP: I thought I was going to cry, I've never been so happy to see somebody in my entire life.
LARGE PANEL OF LS STANDING IN GRASS TALKING TO KID SUPREME. HE LOOKS HEALTHY AND HAPPY, HIS UNIFORM COLORS ARE LIKEWISE MUCH MORE ENHANCED THAN WE'VE SEEN BEFORE. HE SMILES BROADLY.
LS: And that's my story. That's how I got here.
LS: What about you? How long have you been here? Where are we? Are we dead? Is this heaven? Is there anybody else here?
KID SUPREME: Whoa! Whoa! One question at a time, kiddo! I just got here last night myself!
KID SUPREME TAKES LS BY THE HAND AND LEADS HER ACROSS THE FIELD TOWARDS THE HORIZON. THERE IS A GOLDEN GLOW COMING FROM OVER THE HORIZON. KID S. LAUGHS AS HE TALKS. LS SMILES AS SHE TALKS. HAPPY STUFF.
KID SUPREME: C'mon, this way. I'll introduce you to everybody and they can fill you on all the details. I didn't really pay that much attention, but trust me, you're going to LIKE this!
LS: KID! Where ARE we?!
KID SUPREME: We're in another dimension.
SIDE VIEW, SILHOUETTE AGAINST A BLUE SKY AS THEY WALK ACROSS THE HORIZON HAND IN HAND.
KID SUPREME: It used to be Limbo, but they built like, a whole universe here. Just for us!
LS: They?
KID SUPREME: The other Supremes! They're all here. Every Supreme who ever lived... and THEN some!
KID SUPREME: This is where they send you when you've been Revised, Lady. You've been Revised!
MED CU OF LS AND KS POV FROM THE WAIST LOOKING UP AT THEM. LS LOOKS PUZZLED AT K.S. BUT HE IS LOOKING AND SMILING AND POINTING OVER TO THE SIDE.
LS: Wait a minute! You're telling me I'm not dead, I've just been Revised?! What am I, some sort of BOOK?!
KID SUPREME: See? I knew I wouldn't explain it right. I'll get Sally to tell you when we get there.
LS: Get where?
KID SUPREME: There!
A FULL PAGE SPLASH OF LS AND KS STANDING ON A HILLSIDE OVERLOOKING ALAN'S GOLDEN CITY, THE SUPREMACY AS SEEN IN SUPREME 41. MAKE IT LOOK LIKE APPROACHING OZ, VERY BEAUTIFUL SKIES AND SURROUNDING AREAS. WE SEE DOZENS OF SUPREMES FLYING AND WALKING THROUGH THE OUTSKIRTS ETC. KID SUPREME IS POINTING.
LS: *Gasp!* It... it's beautiful!
KID SUPREME: Welcome to your new home, Lady. Welcome to The Supremacy!
CAP AT BOTTOM RIGHT OF PANEL: The End of LADY SUPREME.
CAP at BOTTOM OF PAGE: Read Alan Moore's kickin' new SUPREME series beginning in Supreme #41 to find out more about The Supremacy!