Meta-tribes #6 Coping

Brian Bowhay [email protected] FOR MATURE READERS All characters and civilizations are purely fictional and are in no way allegorical to any groups or individuals, past or present. __________________________________________________________________________________

Zandor

Sekhmet ZANDOR FREAKS OUT

Uraeus

Kleos

L’shrq

Spartak

Zo’kigoo

PAGE 1 - FLASHBACK Inside a dark mahogany study filled with leather bound books. The room is filled with candles that are almost completely burned out, long tails of melted wax cling to the candelabras. close up/ up shot of Zandor, a clean shaven man in his 40’s with peppered hair and a muted 60’s style mod suit. He is on the floor crouching over a ouija plancheet on top of dozens of scrolls, his pinky fingers holding the sides. Papers, scrolls, stacks of books cover the entire floor. In the background Kleos is walking into the room with a serving tray and bowl of soup. She looks like Dianna Rigg with a streak in her bangs and is wearing a 60’s style dress with earth tones. Kleos, “Zandor, why don’t you take a break.” Zandor is mumbling to himself, “Drave? Drath?…death father…dark invader…” Kleos, “I’ve made you some soup, you should eat it while it is still hot.” Zandor, “There is no time, I must prepare…I have to be prepared. Pre…paired…paired before hand… hand, hand paired with what?” Kleos, “You have been going at this non-stop for days. You need your stren-” Zandor turns around with anger, “I DON’T WANT ANY #$%ING SOUP!!!” The tray flies out of Kleos’ hands and hits the bookcase beside her. PAGE 2 Kleos is upset and holding her hands over her mouth, “I’m worried about you.” Zandor, “Witchcraft…which craft? Wicked class…wiccan crass…” Kleos, “You were gone for almost a year…and then you came back and we haven’t really… talked.” Zandor is scowling, gritting his teeth and looking at his hand, “No time, the evil is coming to this world…a lunatic reaper, the harvest moon. It is bigger than our personal affairs.” Kleos, “We are in no condition to fight anything…you are a mess, look at yourself!” Zandor’s whole body is tense, “This is what it takes, sacrifice, total devotion. Anything else is going to see us all dead,” He starts grabbing things, “and all this, this, this chair and this spoon all of that is gone.” They sit in silence.

PAGE 3 – MISSION BREIFING The country is Zyga, a thriving delta city

surrounded by vast swampland. The city is Authorian-Egypt styled by the minimalism and rich colors of 60’s pop. A paranormal super group called the Aegys is hold up in a dark remote temple. The Aegys is seated around a round table, having a dinner meeting in Zandor’s temple. Kleos addresses the Aegys while Zandor sits quietly. Kleos, “In the mystic realm many of us will find our powers magnified. Spartak and L’shrq are trained and experienced soldiers, but will not find advantage in this plane, if anything you will be disoriented and will have to rely on a transference from Zandor’s aura to maintain your equilibrium.” (Zandor is putting grapes in a straight line, Spartak is looking at him) Sekhmet, “None of us is powerful enough to defeat Xian. Our strength is in numbers. And the time to train to maximize a teamwork strategy.” Spartak, “We will be paired up in a three stage rotation. Two will attack while two defend and two rest. The offense will have singular concentration on attack and like wise the defense. When it is your turn to rest you will use that time to observe Xian’s process and look for a pattern or better yet a weakness. (Zandor is lining up pistachios in a right angle to the grapes) Also it will be an opportunity for Zandor to heal and advise those of us that are not killed. We will take three weeks to train. Kleos and Sekhmet will spend mornings educating you in the theory of spiritual warfare. Afternoons will be spent in drills and sparing. (Zandor is making his silverware perfectly parallel, Sekhmet and Uraeus are looking at each other) Take the evenings to get your personal affairs in order, spend the next days as if they are your last.” PAGE 4 - ZANDOR CATCHES UP FLASHBACK Zandor is sitting with his feet on the chair and knees almost at his chin. He is skinny and pale with messy hair and a scruffy chin. He is writing the name ‘Xian’ over and over again, “Where is Sangoma?” Kleos, “I don’t know, a lot was going on when she disappeared. When you stepped into the ethereal hub to find her, you never came back.” Zandor, “I was careless when I peered through… Shot of Zandor standing in limbo looking at a curved wall of cathode ray tube monitors. see saw me…please continue.” close up shot of a Chinese woman’s eyes across the wall of monitors Kleos, “I put my efforts into finding you and…”

Kleos, “…and I assumed your identity to keep the Aegys going.” Zandor looks at her, “You ran the Aegys by yourself in my absence?” Kleos, “Forgive me, it was a difficult time. I didn’t know what else to do.” Zandor, “No, it’s alright. That’s good…” Zandor turns away, “Darno was one of the last people to see Sangoma.” Kleos, “Someone said that they were shouting at each other. But Darno is dead, or his vessel is. He went into the astral plane and was gone so long that his body died of dehydration.” Zandor, “Darno was an idiot.” Kleos, “Oocla had told me that there was a situation with Sangoma that he need to tell me about, but he was conjuring a spirit and I guess the containment pentacle wasn’t right because when I went to go see him he was just a quivering blob of gloop.” Zandor, “Sangoma doesn’t matter anymore. The harvest moon is coming…a celestial event.” PAGE 5 - SPARTAK’S LAST NIGHT Spartak and his old army buddy Rann are on a porch drinking beer watching the night sky. They are having a mind-trip pissing contest; there is a full moon. Spartak: Did you know that we are not the center of the cosmos? We’re not even close.” He motions with his hands to the sky, “There are spirals within spirals, and we’re not at the center of any of them. Rann takes a drink, “Great, just when I was starting feeling significant.” Spartak, “How’s it been with you, ‘walking the multi-verse’?” Rann, “Interesting, all different, all the same, all fractured, all asking the same questions with no answers…getting into fights with alternate versions of myself.” Spartak, “Hmm, that…that’s something.” Rann, “I’ve gone to the edge. You could tap on the red shift and hear a tapping in response that was just soft enough to be in your head. But, it’s probably just space dust, that’s what we’re all destined for.” Spartak, “Zandor says we are characters created by a cosmic scribe and our destinies are written. Everything about us comes to life because of some supreme imagination wielding a miracle brush.” Rann, “Or a laptop.” Rann takes a drink. Spartak, “Then there is the whole thing of this ‘Grand Morse Son’ that can go in and out of the cosmic scroll and is going to change everything, make us like the cosmic scribe, take us out of the scroll, even the ones in the underworld, unwrite death.” Rann, “You realize the old emperor of Persicaä used to feed us crap like that.” Spartak, “The Emperor exploited our values, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t real evils. This ‘Xian’ is coming to take this world, and for all it’s faults I still love this world more than I hate war.

PAGE 6 - ZANDOR IN THE LOST DIMENSION FLASHBACK Kleos is with Spartak, Zo’kigoo and Uraeus. They are in a dungeon fighting a flock of spider-bats. Kleos’ eyes are glowing and has a luminescent aura that looks like a demon. She is crushing the neck of one of the spider bats. Zo’kigoo is behind her smashing one against a wall and sloughing off snakes that are constricting several of the creatures. Spartak is in the air with about five spider-bats trying to grab him. Uraeus is below him in a dramatic martial art pose, there are three ectoplasmic dragons (made of green flame) blazing around him (long necks like Ghidorah) Kleos, “Zo’kigoo! Smash the gate and grab Zandor!!!” Zo’kigoo grabs the bars and thick pythons slither out of his hands and wrap around the bars. The gate is tossed aside. PAGE 7 Zandor is in the fetal position, pale and unshaven, “no…I can’t leave yet…” Suddenly a negative light is shining so dark that it hurts everyone’s eyes to look at. Kleos looks up and there is a single black silhouette of a woman approaching. Kleos has fear in her eyes and stabs something into the ground and a luminous scepter sprouts up. Kleos, “Spartak! Uraeus! Light it up! We are leaving NOW!!!” PAGE 8 Spartak and Uraeus blast the scepter. A portal opens up The rag-tag gang leaps through The smoke clears A pale hand with long finger nails picks up an ornate spike that bears the standard of the Aegys. PAGE 9 - URAEUS AND L’SHRQ Uraeus, “What is this thing?” L’shrq, “A Persicaän Spider tank. I don’t know what good it will do in the Null-zone, but Spartak insisted upon bringing it. I think he just wanted to feel like he was contributing something to the preparations. I modified it with Meranti jelly mines and Orgah cannons.

Uraeus is looking at it with reverence and puts his hand on it, “It is an old thing. Perhaps he wanted to have it in the zone incase he died there.” L’shrq, “Is that an overworld code? I’ve seen him pray. He has a jar of Persicaän soil that he kneels on. Is such a thing important?” Uraeus, “It is not the thing, it is the connection that it gives. Things have memory, the memory of things haunt the living. It is a way to hold on…to keep going after the living world has moved on.” L’shrq, “Is that why you are here? Your time has past.” Uraeus, “How can my time have past if I’m still here?” PAGE 10 - ZANDOR GETS A NEW HAND FLASHBACK The middle of the night, Zandor is sneaking around in Xian’s trophy room. There are things on display that look like the parts of bronze-age comic characters. Zandor sees a hand in a glass case. He lifts up his right arm, which ends with a stump. Zandor, “the Phoenix Fist…looks like a good fit.” Zandor now has two hands and is eating weird artifacts. He grabs a glowing amulet and holds it to his chest It is absorbed into his body. PAGE 11 - DIMENSION 8472 OF THE NULL ZONE The team is at Spartak’s house. Zandor is just finishing blessing each member of the Aegys. Spartak gets everyone on the tank, “Let’s do this thing.” Zandor raises his arms, a light engulfs them and they disappear into the null-zone. They reappear underwater. The panels are upside-down and backwards. The colors are inverted on the color wheel. There are large chunks of land floating about and strange shapes stretching across the horizon. PAGE 12 They drag themselves up on dry land. Spartak, “MY TANK!” L’shrq’s head is hurting and he feels dizzy. Spartak is laughing at him

and then starts convulsing. He falls to his knees over a puddle and starts heaving as the puddle slurps up into his mouth. Suddenly three demon creatures (like Merman from He-Man) come trodding towards them. PAGE 13 Sekhmet runs towards them. She throws her sword through the neck of the first creature, vaults off its body kicking the second one over. She puts her foot on its neck as she grapples the third monster and tears its head in half at the jaw. PAGE 14 She absorbs their life energies. Sekhmet pulls the sword out of the first monster and with a jerk motion the sword wraps around her arm, growing up her body to form armor. A new sword slinks forth from her wrist. Zandor, “It’s time” PAGE 15 Zandor raises his right hand in the air (shot lines up directly with Zandor’s hand and Xian’s castle). Thunder cracks through he air. Two giant eyes open in the murky clouds above them. The eyes start melting down with the clouds forming a funnel cloud that is touching down from beyond the horizon. From the point of touch down a line of dust is rising off the wake of something approaching very quickly. Xian is flying head first towards them just a few feet above the ground. She has a blank expression and her long black hair thrashes behind her. PAGE 16 Uraeus shoots a giant fire ball to stop Xian. She blasts right through it.

L’shrq hits the ground to make a wave in the ground moving to intercept Xian. Zandor puts his hand on L’shrq’s shoulder with his other hand outstretched to cast a hex on the stony wave. Xian hits it hard. The dust settles and she is standing before them. PAGE 17 (close up shot of Xian from the left, only the bottom half of her pale face) Xian, “Some little piggies was naughty, I’ll kill the piggies and then teach them who is the naughtiest.” (camera moves behind Xian, panning out showing head and upper torso) Xian, “Seven against one is unfair, and you did it.” (wider shot from the right) Xian turns into three people. Spartak is afraid. Zo’kigoo starts to speak to Spartak, “Do not deviate from-” Spartak darts off. The three Xians start to laugh.

PAGE 18 - XIAN EATS ZANDOR’S HAND FLASHBACK Inside magical palace with arches pillars and banners. The ceiling is 50 stories high, white marble is encrusted with gold and rubies. Down the sides of the great hall there are the heads of cattle sticking out of their oppressive corrals. Zandor approaches a woman draped over her throne. “What would your infinite gloriousness like for lunch.” Xian, “hmmm…you have a lovely hand, let’s eat a hand sandwich.” Zandor, “My lady?” Xian, “Dog dick, all those bones and fingernails. Make it a soup.” Zandor, “You wish to have a soup with someone’s hand in it?” Xian, “Why not dare reading my mind? I want you are cutting off your right hand and boil it into a broth with leeks and chutney. Then you are bring it too me after you have tasted it magnificent delicious.” Zandor’s head hangs low in silence.

PAGE 19 - THE BIG FIGHT Zo’kigoo and L’shrq are facing Xian; Spartak is flying in behind her at Mach III Xian casually waves her hand and giant centipedes fly out of her sleeves. They are covered in smiling demonic faces and wrap around Spartak, he falls to the ground in mystical bonds. Zo’kigoo bites Xian and pumps her full of poison Xian screams… “I threat you!” …and bursts into green flames, Zo’kigoo shrivels up. PAGE 20 Xian grabs her neck and barfs out the purple toxins. She looks up with purple stuff coming out of her eyes just as L’shrq hits her with a shockwave. Xian hits the ground hard and then she rises to her feet as if pivoting 90 degrees on an unseen lever. Her face is smoldering and filled with rage. “Who gave you the nerve to die today?” PAGE 21 Xian returns the shockwave blowing L’shrq several yards away. Spartak is behind Xian and blows a hole right through the center of Xian’s body. Xian’s head spins around and she shoots beams out of her eyes that knock Spartak head over heals. L’shrq is revving up for another blast. Xian’s neck is stretched out like a spring; her head is bobbing up and down like a jack-in-box. “I am damn unsatisfied to be killed in this way!” L’shrq hits Xian with another shockwave. Xian’s body blows apart. L’shrq watches as the pieces sprout spider legs and begin to crawl together. L’shrq shouts, “Zo’kigoo!!!” Suddenly snakes sprout out of the ground and begin eating the Xian spiders. L’shrq passes out.

PAGE 22 Uraeus makes tentacles out of flame that grab Xian by her extremities. They lift her into the air trying to quarter her. Xian tries to zap Uraeus, but everything passes through him Xian turns the burning ghost into burning flesh. He is looking at his burning arms of flesh with confusion and pain. Close up of Xian’s face, wide-eyed and teeth grinning like Varuca Salt. “I will eat you.” PAGE 23 Sekhmet chops Xian’s arm off… …and stabs her through the gut. Xian grabs Sekhmet by the neck and the severed arm starts punching her in the face. But now Sekhmet has absorbed some of Xian’s power and they get into a contest of counterstrikes. Xian blocks Sekhmet’s sword with her arms. Sekhmet blocks Xian’s blasts with her sword. Xian starts growing more arms. “-kill you until you are dead from it.” Sekhmet is starting to panic, “SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!” PAGE 24 Uraeus, on the ground, has burned off all his flesh and spits fire on Xian. The fire forms a hand that restrains her and lifts her off the ground upside down. Sekhmet is half screaming and crying, she drives her sword through Xian’s head and absorbs the last of the clone’s life force. PAGE 25 Kleos turns into a demon called Lushar, Xian’s magic does not affect this demon. Xian opens a portal that sucks Kleos in, Zandor’s sleeve shoots out and Kleos grabs onto it. Xian shoots off her finger nails and severs Zandor’s arm. “Not so bitchy.” Zandor falls to the ground. Kleos starts to channel another demon and Xian spits something out of her mouth into Kleos’ mouth and plugs it up. Xian crawls over Zandor’s body and grabs Zandor’s severed arm and swallows the whole thing.

PAGE 26 Zandor springs forward and touches Xian’s forehead. He shouts “cerebral vortex” and puts a burning glyph on Xian’s forehead. The glyph is sizzling on Xian’s face and she shrieks… …and whisks into the sky. Zandor, “NOOO!!!” Kleos, “It’s alright, we beat her, we did it.” Zandor is panicking, “NO! Did anybody see her? Was it a portal? Did she go through a portal?” End of Part 1

PART TWO PAGE 1 FLASHBACK, NORVAHL It is night and a hard rain is hitting the wooded mountains of Norvahl. Large pale men with dreadlocks are holding torches. They are cut like body builders and are preparing for battle. Some men in a circle are arguing, their breath can be seen in the cold mountain air. Skeld, “Wee ave to go to the ziggurat before going into battle.” Roneth, “I won’t ‘old me tongue any longer, this is thee devil’s madness.” Edgetho, “There is no point en fighting if wee can’t go first, wee need this.” Roneth, “Yoo’re sons of Norvahl, tha tis all yeh need.” Skeld, “Wee’ll be back before yeh know it.” Roneth, “We don’evn ave time fer this talk, I won’t allow it.” Virm, “Wee’re not asking permission.” Roneth, “By the gods, do yeh not see what as become of yeh?” Hirge, “Of coarse wee see, wee’re becomin gods.” Roneth, “Blasphemin devils more like it.” Skeld, “Yeh only say that because yeh doe-n’t understand.” Edgetho, “If yeh came with us yeh would see.” Roneth, “Aye, an I’d be a slave to y’same damn compulsions.” Virm, “Wee’re choosin this. An wee’re goin whether yeh like it or not.” Roneth, “Then yeh can piss off the whole damn lot of yeh. Norvahl doe-n’t need cowards.” Hirge, “Wee’ll be there Roneth, wee’ll win this, ye’ll see.” PAGE 2 LUNA’S HOMECOMING Thick snow covers a long broken and charred village. A slow flurries can barely be seen by the occasionally moonlight against the dark grey sky. The silence is broken by the thud of wet clumps of snow falling from the giant redwoods. Roneth is standing next to a doppy Yeti with vacuum tubes sticking out of it’s head and large swinging breasts. It is holding a jar with a brain suspended in liquid, there are wires dangling off the container. The other hand of the sasquatch-thing reaches the ground dragging its knuckles on the frozen dirt. Roneth, “Oo’sat with Nidasta?” The brain canister responds with a raspy vocoder voice “Z-type meta-form. Matter/energy transmutation, level six threat...” Roneth “Enough, Grend, concentrate on at un.” Grend has a mindless expression, “gooo…” Dahud and Luna are in a clearing in the distance, in the foreground two silhouetted figures take to the air, while three more approach through the brush on foot.

PAGE 3 Dahud kicks him over his head. A FIGHT IN NORVAHL Roneth speaking to Luna and descending from the sky, “Yeh jus ad’ta t’come back ere, yeh jus counda letit go.” Skeld is next to Roneth, now a cubic looking freak, “master blaster runs barter town” Luna holds up her palm and blasts Skeld with a bolt of lightning. Hirge is now a slimy zombie and trudges through the muddy slush for Dahud, his eyes look like hard boiled eggs. Dahud’s eye beams go right through it. Dahud raises his hand towards the rotted corpse but it is already on him, they go to the ground. Dahud winces at the stench, “ugh, what are you?!?!” Hirge: “CURSED…”

PAGE 4 The two creatures attack Dahud, Edgetho and Vyrm. Edgetho is a jigsaw puzzle of animal parts and is wearing his own head on a rope around his substitute wolf head. Vyrm is sealed up in a brass armored water suit ornamented as a Norse dragon. Dahud is squinting and holding his left temple. Grend is clouding his mind. Dahud shoots his eye beams at Vyrm burning a scar across his chest, but he doesn’t go up in flames. Edgtho grabs Dahud’s hand with a crudely sewn on talon. Dahud’s fist starts to glow and Edgtho quickly lets go but then clobbers Dahud with a giant bear claw attached to his right arm.

PAGE 5 Luna flies into the air, Roneth and Skeld go after. Hirge looks up, “and the gods brought war to the heavens.” Roneth has Luna in a headlock from behind; Skeld is diving for her with his hands out stretched. Up shot of the explosive aerial combat, Hirge is in the foreground, narration continues, “its beauty moves through me… a blazing azure fury.” Roneth and Skeld stay on opposite sides of Luna.

PAGE 6 FLASHBACK montage: ratty looking people foraging in the woods, living in holes in the ground. Roneth sneaks into the isolated Ziggurat, he finds the Godiac, a man, with his limbs chewed off, the rest of his limp body suspended by tubes and wires. He speaks through a speaker cone on his forehead. Roneth: “Mage! Oracle! Wake up! Y’must do somethin t’destroy these creatures.” Godiac, “Must I?” Roneth, “Thee woodland orrors are relentless, they neva stop attackin.” Godiac, “How are you any different, at least they leave me food...” Pan down, shot of feces.

Roneth, “This idn’ta game yeh mad goat.” Godiac, “…but you are better conversationalists. Bring me your warriors. I will magnify them, but there will be a price.” Roneth, “Aye, we have some gold.” Godiac, “Not gold and not now, but a day will come when you will have to pay.” Roneth, “Av’it yoo’r way, now or later. Yoo’ll help us then?” Godiac, “Yes, but remember this day. This is your choice, you could have taken your people elsewhere, but you chose to stay and be in my debt.” PAGE 7 Cut scene, a village of scrap metal and uncut lumber is going up around the ziggurat and a wall is being built. Pigs and goats are roaming freely. It looks kind of like the kind of redneck commune that has a mass graveyard for lost travelers. A muscular shirtless man descends from the air slamming a full size timber into the ground for the wall. Just beyond him a woman is skinning snakes over a barbeque. A young Luna is walking towards the ziggurat. In the foreground a toothless old woman is sitting in a rocking chair, her eyes going two different directions. In the background Roneth is chopping wood. Roneth, “Nadi! She turns around. Roneth, “Don’go in there, tisn’t safe.” Luna, “Then whysit inside ar walls? PAGE 8 A LOSING FIGHT Vyrm and Edgetho are taking turns beating on Dahud. There is a giant carcass behind them with pink and white icicles clawing down. Vyrm, “It’s been a while since I foughta man.” Edgetho, “If wee’d ad more time we coulda gone to thee ziggurat.” Vyrm is holding Dahud by the hair and looking at him close, “Wee still cahn, e’ll probly keep.” Vyrm turns to Grend, “Grend can keep an eye on im. CAN’T YE’OL GURL!” Grenda has heavy eyes and a snot bubble and is still drooling with mouth hanging open Edgetho leans in, “Gurl? Is Grend a gurl?” Vyrm, “Gren-da, whadja tink those tings wer angen off er chest?” Edgetho, “I did’n assume. Imean lookatus, wee’r fiendish.” PAGE 9 FLASHBACK Edgetho is in a cabin talking to Vyrm, “All I kin thinka bouts upgradin me next part.”

He lifts up his left arm that has been replaced with a frightening talon. “Aht’ll meself that if ah fine jus the right beast tha I’ll be doon, but asoon asah do tha deed ah jus wan another one even worse an before... I don eat or sleep… doan even care bout sex anymore.” Vyrm’s voice sounds like he’s talking in a tin can, “I wus wicha till de las part, I canna geta nough.” Outside the cabin Skeld is standing in the middle of the muddy village. There are screams coming from one of the cabins in the distance. He has a hood over his head tilted sideways, half of his face is crystallized. He’s staring and posturing at a donkey, “You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talking... you talking to me? Well I'm the only one here. Who the-” PAGE 10 A woman passes by trying not to look at him. Skeld turns his head upright and to the side like an owl, he grabs her shawl, “Nothing is over! Nothing! You just don't turn it off! It wasn't my war! You asked me, I didn't ask you! And I did what I had to do to win! But somebody wouldn't let us win!” Camera moves closer to Skeld’s face, his eyes are like Christmas ornaments, “And I come back to the world and I see all those maggots at the airport, protesting me, spitting. Calling me baby killer and all kinds of vile crap!” The woman looks around; another warrior is watching and locking the gate of the village. Skeld grabs her arm. “Who are they to protest me? Who are they? Unless they've been me and been there and know what the hell they're yelling about!” Woman, “Yessir, please, yoo’r urting me.” The woman starts screaming. Her arm has crystallized where Skeld was grabbing it. An older woman is walking away with young Luna, “Jus keep walking Nadi, an keep smiling.” Young Luna is clutching a dirty stuffed animal that covers her whole chest. PAGE 11 THE FIGHT TURNS Edgetho is straddling Dahud, Dahud is pushing Edgetho’s face away with his left hand. Edgetho bites down on Dahud’s hand, Dahud screams. Edgetho and Vyrm look up as an ambient roar rips through the air, two of Dahud’s fingers fall out of Edgetho’s mouth. One of the woodland horrors has been alerted by Dahud’s scream. Vyrm, “aw no, not now.” Grenda gets scared and runs away. Vyrm, “No, come back ere!”

Edgetho puts Dahud’s head in his entire mouth, Dahud, no longer clouded by Grenda’s mental haze, blows the back of Edgetho’s wolf head out with his eye beams. PAGE 12 Then Dahud grabs Vyrm’s wrists and turns the gauntlets (that Vyrm had to using to fry Dahud) into cinders. Vyrm’s hands are like spaghetti noodles with suction cups on them. Dahud “ughhth!!!” Dahud uses his beams to blast Vyrm’s helmet. Vyrm’s head is a brain with eyes and a mouth. “Gahh!!!” Vyrm cowers away. Dahud grabs the head off of Edgetho’s necklace and throws it at Vyrm. Edgetho stops fighting, tilts his head and starts to waddle off. Edgtho is yelling to his body, “come bahk ere! Over ere!” Dahud is picking up his fingers and stuffing them in his tunic while cauterizing his nubs with his eye beams. PAGE 13 FLASHBACK Roneth is looking for Luna. He sees Hirge hunched over by a woodpile, he has a hood pulled over his head. Roneth, “Hirge, is that you? What are you doing man?” Hirge is hitting his head against the lumber, “bad bad bad…don’t look at me.” Roneth, “Have you seen Nadi?” Hirge motions with his arm towards the ziggurat. Roneth is entering the Ziggurat He finds Luna, she is sitting on the ground, her hair is in her face and she is sucking on a tube Roneth, “Nadi?” She raises her hand to greet him, arcs of electricity are jittering off of her hand like a novelty plasma lamp. Luna looks at him and starts laughing. PAGE 14 FINISHING THE FIGHT Dahud looks to Luna. She has torn Hirdge apart, but he is still alive/undead (zombie). She shatters Skeld into pieces that are still laughing.

Grend is coming for Dahud. Grend tackles Dahud and they both go over a cliff. Grend lands on her head, Dahud bounces and falls further down the cliff. He takes to flight and joins Luna. He passes pieces of Hirdge, a reforming Skeld, He catches up with Luna in the air. “Luna, now’s our chance. Let’s get our of here!” Luna looks at Dahud and then sees Roneth on the ground. She dives for Roneth. PAGE 15 WRAPPING UP THE FIGHT Luna is diving and shoots a bolt of lightning at Roneth. Roneth blocks it with his giant sword. Dahud zaps the sword into dust. Luna connects to his chin with her whole body’s momentum. Roneth “I punished ‘im…all dose years ago, yeh killed eryone else. Why couldna jus live yer life?" Luna, “My life? My life was taken and you let it happen.” She fries him. PAGE 16 She turns to the brain in the canister. Shmoosh. there is a moment of silence Dahud looks like death warmed over, “Luna, I need you to give me an explanation.” more silence, “What is going on?” ( Luna starts rambling. They are talking over each other. ) You want me to talk? What do you want to and he’s shooting the kids and I hit him, and he know? Yesterday I working in a garden was just gone and I’m in this room full of these and then it’s raining fire and no one knows kids and they’re screaming, and there’s blood why. I was with women and children and this everywhere and these @#$%ing things are thing explodes full of these little @#$%ing crawling all over them, and the things outside monsters. The soldier starts to panic and starts just keep pounding. shooting at them, but they are all over the kids And these… these people were supposed to be

protecting us, they were our champions. They were worse than the creatures outside our walls. When the beasts attacked, you wouldn’t even know what hit you. But these, these these heroes, we had plenty of time to think about them. Luna, stop it slow down Luna, what are we doing here? this isn’t a conversation you’re not making any sense

Why did we come here? I want to know who are these people are? can you please just stop for a second Why did they attack us? I don’t know what’s going on. I want to help you but we need to talk you’re not listening to me If you don’t stop right now I am leaving Did you hear what I just said? I’m leaving you.

PAGE 17 THE NORVAHL ZIGGURAT Dahud speaks as Luna is walking away, “Your cities were destroyed…so you came here and killed these people?” She goes into the wreckage of the old temple/carcass. Luna “I thought I just killed you outside?” Godiac, “There is nothing you can do to kill me. I am everything, I am everywhere, I am-” Luna starts talking over him, “I tried to live my life. Everything I did in opposition of you was still based on what you did.” “Even after you are gone…I wonder if you will still have a hold on me? Luna steps forward, “I have come to take from you my restitution,” She grabs him by the neck with her left hand. Arcs of electricity are sprouting off her and out of her eyes, “your power for my innocence” She is pointing her index finger of her right hand at Godiac’s forehead. There are streams of bianary code spiraling up her left arm. “I was a conduit for your sadistic pleasure, now it’s my turn.” PAGE 18 FLASHBACK, THE FALL OF NORVAHL Inside the village a man in the gate tower is hammering an alarm gong. People are panicking and running around. The warriors of Norvahl rush to the gate constructed of rough-hewn timbers. A swarm of monsters is approaching, being led by a teen-aged Luna. The creatures are large furry mammals with anatomical structures like insects or dinosaurs.

Luna nears the gate and blows it into splinters with a lightning blast. A stag with bulging eyes, molting hair and multi-jointed limbs is stepping through followed by a swarm of large green hairless rats. The Northmen begin killing them as fast as they can. Something like a six-foot tall skinned Easter bunny covered with sores is oozing steaming puss everywhere. Roneth turns and looks at Luna, floating in the distance. He is confused, angry, and heart broken. PAGE 19 LUNA’S DEAL Close up of Godiac’s quadriplegic mass dropping to the ground. Luna “he would make me forget, that’s why I kept going back. “But when Roneth saw the bruises, He knew. Roneth sealed up the ziggurat.” “And each day I went without going back I started to remember more… until I remembered everything…that they let it happen so that they could be further blessed.” “When I saw Romati, the devastation was familiar, I remembered something else, something the Godiac told me, the riddle of the ziggurats. They have the power to smooth what was etched in stone and scribe a new destiny.” “I know where there is a working ziggurat, it lives but is dormant. It will roll back the cosmic scroll of time. I will write a world without suffering, none of this will have happened.” Luna looks at Dahud, “I’m going to save the world.” PAGE 20 FLASHBACK, LUNA GOES TO THE COAST This is a great view, I’ll take it. Very good mam. we’ve never had a North woman here before. I’m also looking for work. Do you know if the city is contracting warriors? The local militia probably couldn’t afford you, but the alliance is looking for champions that can patrol all three ports; Romati, B’Shemah, and Streinko.” Inn Keeper, “My uncle is on the board, I can let them know you’ll be inquiring. Your name already sounds championly.” Luna, “In my native tongue it meant ‘cursed love’, I never liked it. I needed a new start.” Inn Keeper, “Well you’ve certainly come to the right place. When visitors smell that sea air they loose themselves, become coasties, as natural as if they were born here.” Luna, “My people believed it was a sin to change your name, it was from the gods and only a god can change you…” Inn Keeper doesn’t know what to say, “Yes mam, That’s nice. And I’ll be back with some fresh

linens.” The inn keeper leaves and is talking to the cleaning lady, “Isn’t that a wonder! Ms. Norvahl is going to be our new champion.” PAGE 21 BACK TO LUNA’S VENGANCE She absorbs every last drop of energy left in the ziggurat. She is sizzling with power, her eyes are glowing white. she arcs power into an open console. Dahud confronts her, “it was you, you destroyed this place” Luna is holding the body of Godiac like ventriloquism dummy, “it was justice for some and mercy for others. And there is more to be done” “Destination: Susa, Target: Ziggurat Chrono-core. Commence space fold.” They both disappear.