Friday, October 28, 2011

46 & 2 Issue Eight

SUPER ID
46 & 2 Issue 8:
By
Zachary Smith

PAGE 1.  PANEL 1.

Myung is about to leave her house dressed for work, she answers her phone as she is opening the door.

Myung:  “Hello?  Hey Mala.  No…I tried calling last night.  Yeah, I’ll give you a shout when I see…”

PAGE 1.  PANEL 2.

Chino is slouched over in front of Myung’s apartment door, passed out.  She is so startled she is dropping her phone and purse, and screams.

Myung:  “AHHHHHHHHHHH.”

PAGE 1.  PANEL 3.

The phone is on the ground.

Mala (through the phone):  “Are you okay?  MYUNG!  HELLO?!”


PAGE 2.  PANEL 1.

Blicero is in his dark office dealing out cards.  A man is walking in.

Man:  “Sir, I think we’ve located that energy spike.  There have been energy fluctuations throughout the Central Valley of California.  The stronger psychics agree that this is where the energy emission from Coachella ended up.”

Blicero:  “This is good.”

PAGE 2.  PANEL 2.

Blicero turns over a card, it is the Knight of swords.

The Man:  “They say only patient one’s power levels have spiked this high.”

Blicero:  “I was wrong.  This is excellent.  Make sure you are using the dampeners on patient one, her will seems to be getting stronger.”

The Man:  “Yes sir.”

PAGE 2.  PANEL 3.

Blicero has turned over another card, it is the Judgement card.

The Man:  “Sir?”

Blicero:  “Hmmm?”

The Man:  “What would you have us do?”

PAGE 2.  PANEL 4.

Blicero turns over the last card, it the Justice card.

Blicero:  “Send in Narcissca.”


PAGE 3.  PANEL 1.

Fingernails are being manicured on a left hand, female hands apply are using a file to sand down his fingernail.  The fingernails belong to Cassius Narcissca.  The hands are descending from a grey suite with a white button-up shirt.  His phone is ringing.

Narcissca:  “Continue, I’ll use my other hand.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 2.

A smile creeps across a face with perfect teeth.

Narcissca:  “Hello?  Patrick, you old cuss, how are you my boy?  That sounds delightful.  Uh-huh.  I haven’t used the devil’s handbook in so long, I always just go where I feel.  Yes, yes, lovely food and service.  Uh-huh.  No, I tend to use good ol’ fashioned bar soap and cold water.  Yep.  Get’s the red right out.  Okay.  I’m meeting with your brother Sean in a week or so.  Yes, yes, that wonderful place that you said you couldn’t get into.  I’ll have to let you know how it is.  Give Jean my love, and give little Patrick a hug.  Ta.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 3.

His right hand is putting the phone away.

Narcissca:  “Back to it.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 4.

His hand comes to rest on top of some blonde hair.

Narcissca:  “Let’s see how far we can get it down.”


PAGE 4.  PANEL 1.

A young, naked, girl kneels at Narcissca’s lap, she is performing oral sex on him and he is forcing her head down with his right hand.  The woman manicuring his nails continues with her job as if nothing is out of the ordinary.  She is dressed up in a fetish maid suit. 

Narcissca:  “Now, don’t bite, I didn’t take you from that restaurant because I thought you would be savage.  You need to be gentle.  That’s it.”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 2.

The girl repels backwards, falling to the floor.

Narcissca:  “Did we get our fill?”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 3.

The girl is wiping her mouth.  Narcissca looks down at her.

Girl:  “Please…cough…please let me go back.  I was supposed to see my boyfriend two days ago…ahhhhh…”

Narcissca:  “Ah ah, don’t make a mess in here.  Let’s put a plug in that.”

PAGE 4  PANEL 4.

Narcissca comes forward, and all we can see is his backside with some of her the back of her head as he forces himself upon her again.

Narcissca:  “Nice and smooth.  You’ll be ready to join the rest in no time.”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 5.

We pan out from the scene and see the manicurist packing up her supplies, and notice an ankle brace on her left leg, it has a glowing green light.

Manicurist:  “If there is nothing else sir, I’ll return to my quarters.”

Narcissca:  “That’ll be good.  Send in Nia, I think she may need to clean up this mess once I’m don here.”

Manicurist:  “Will do.”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 6.

Behind Narcissca and the exiting Manicurist is a few maids dressed in fetish maid suits, watching idly.  No expression, in perfect alignment.

Narcissca:  “You couldn’t wait to leave when we met.  You forgot all about that boyfriend.  When I saw you, I knew…”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 7.

Show all of their fee in a row. On each left leg is a brace, with a glowing green light.

Narcissca:  “…I must make you mine.”


PAGE 5.  PANEL 1.

Another phone call is being answered by Narcissca as he is peeing in the toilet.

Narcissca:  “Boy, am I popular.  Hello?  Yes.  I understand.  He needs me to go when?  Okay.”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 2.

Narcissca finishes his call.  He is looking down at the toilet.  He continues to pee.

Narcissca:  “I thought that girl drained everything out.”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 3.

Narcissca is at the airport.  He is talking to an attractive attendant.

Attendant:  “I.D.?  Thank you.  Here you are--Cassius Narcissca.  Here’s your ticket.  Your gate is 72.”

Narcissca:  “Boy, this flight isn’t for two hours.  What can I do till then?”

Attendant:  “We have a bar near your terminal.”

Narcissca:  “You should join me.”

Attendant:  “Sir, I’m working.”

Narcissca:  “You should join me.”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 4.

The attendant looks at Narcissca, almost like she is seeing him for the first time.

Attendant:  “Okay.”


PAGE 6.  PANEL 1.

Narcissca sits on a plane, in first class.  He is receiving a drink from the flight attendant.

Flight Attendant:  “I’ll be by again to check on you.”

Narcissca:  “Thank you dear.”

Caption:  “…flight from New York to Los Angeles is will be departing soon.”

Narcissca:  “What will I do till we leave?”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 2.

A plane bathroom door.  It reads that it is occupied. 

PAGE 6.  PANEL 3.

Narcissca is leaving the bathroom, we only see him from the waist down.  In the background is the flight attendant, mascara running down her eyes, her neckerchief is tied tightly around her neck, she looks at Narcissca as he is walking away.

Narcissca:  “Hope that was good for you.”

Flight Attendant:  “Mmm.”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 4.

Narcissca is smoking on the plane.  A different flight attendant has come by to talk to him.

Flight Attendant 2:  “I gave the captain your message.  He said its fine.”

Narcissca:  “Thanks you dear.  Have a seat.”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 5.

Narcissca puts out his cigarette in cup.  The flight attendants head is in his lap.

Narcissca:  “Almost there.  Hope I get to finish this Mad Men episode.  It is delightful.”

Flight Attendant 2:  “Mmmm…”


PAGE 7.  PANEL 1.

Chino leans against the couch, knees held up against his chest.  Myung is sitting next to him, putting a coffee cup down on the table in front of the couch.  Myung has a cup in her hand as well.  She is dressed for work. 

Myung:  “Baby...Hey, are you okay?  Your arm is a mess.  Do I need to take you to the hospital?” 

Chino:  “No, just…let me stay here for a while.”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 2.

Myung is pulling Chino’s arm to her.  She is unwrapping the bandage.

Myung:  “How did this happen?”

Chino:  “…”

Myung:  “Please, just tell me.”

Myung:  “Look, Chi told me about what you used to do when you were upset.  I know already.  Just please tell me that you’re feeling now, okay?”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 3.

Chino runs his hand through his hair.

Chino:  “Something happened while we were in Coachella.”

Myung:  “I know, after you came out of the hospital you’ve been different.  I think that head trip was a lot worse that you’ve been letting on.”

Chino:  “You have no idea.  Things have been messed up in my head, and I can’t think straight.  It’s like I keep going into these…states…and it’s like distant dreams and memories.”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 4.

Myung has finished unwrapping the bandage and is looking over it.

Myung:  “Do you remember doing this?”

Chino has pulled his arm against himself.  He looks away from Myung as she continues to look at him.

Myung:  “Fei?”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 5.

Repeat the same panel.

PAGE 7.  PANEL 6.

Myung has moved closer to Chino.

Chino:  “I’m so fucked up.  You don’t even know.  All this shit that I just can’t control.  I need to be able to stop myself, but I can’t.  I just drink, smoke, get high, and do whatever I want.  It needs to stop.  People could get hurt.”


PAGE 8.  PANEL 1.

A panel of the security guard burning in flame in his car.

Chino (caption):  “Innocent people.”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 2.

A panel of the dude bros from the last issue, hauling away their injured friend.

Chino (caption):  “People caught up in my wake.”

Myung (caption):  “Fei…”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 3.

A panel of Myung trapped by an invisible wall, glowing eyes behind her.  The burning man in front of her.

Chino (caption): “People that I…”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 4.

Myung is running her fingers through his hair.

Myung:  “Stop.  You’re not hurting anybody.  Those guys in the truck didn’t get hurt, and they were being assholes anyway.”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 5.

Chino looks at Myung.  The door is opening as Chino is talking.

Chino:  “I’m not talking about them, I’m talking about…”


PAGE 9.  PANEL 1.

A man with a hat is driving Narcissca around.

Man:  “…and that is the objective, sir.”

Narcissca:  “I wish they would have sent somebody more…feminine.”

Man:  “Sorry sir, but I’m one of the only soldier to have been given a partial brain transplant to house the brain of one of the test subjects.”

Narcissca:  “How very boring.  I’m going to smoke.  Maybe there is a bar we can stop at.”

Man:  “Sir, it is 8:00 A.M., plus we are getting…”

PAGE 9.  PANEL 2.

Narcissca is holding a gun to the head of the man with hat.

Narcissca:  “I do believe I asked nicely.  Please do not stand in the way of what I want to do, unless you want to lose that new precious brain of yours.”

Man:  “No…no sir.”

Narcissca:  “Great...”

PAGE 9.  PANEL 3.

Narcissca has put his gun away, he leans back and his hands are behind his head in a relaxed position.

Narcissca:  “I knew you’d see it my way.  Let’s find a young, hip place.”

PAGE 9.  PANEL 4.

Narcissca is leaning in to the car window and talking to the man in the hat.  In the background we notice Mala on her cell phone, walking out of a coffee shop with a to-go cup of coffee.

Narcissca:  “Wait here.  Let’s see how this place turns out.”

PAGE 9.  PANEL 5.

Narcissca is looking around outside the bar and notices Mala.

Narcissca:  “Scratch that, I’m in the mood for Mexican.”


PAGE 10.  PANEL 1.

Mala is talking into her cell phone as Narcissca is approaching her.

Mala: “Are you okay?  MYUNG!  HELLO?!”

Narcissca:  “Cell phone service is always to terrible.  We really need to come up with a better network.”

Mala:  “Huh?  Yeah, whatever.”

Narcissca:  “Maybe I can be of assistance?”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 2.

Mala is putting her phone away, she is guarded, wearing a cautious look upon her face.

Mala:  “No, I’m cool.”

Narcissca:  “You misunderstand miss, I really want to help you.  I think you need my help right now.”

Mala:  “Well…no, no.  I’ll be okay.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 3.

Mala is holding her head.  Narcissca is grabbing onto her arm.

Narcissca:  “Come.  We must get you somewhere more comfortable, and into something a little more…feminine.”

Mala:  “No, get off of me.”

Narcissca:  “Don’t struggle miss.  You will only make it harder on yourself.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 4.

Mala is throwing her coffee cup into Narcissca’s face.  Narcissca screams in pain.

Mala:  “FUCK YOU.  GET OFF OF ME.”

Narcissca:  “AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 5.

Mala is running, she passes the man in the car with the hat.

Mala:  “PERV!”


PAGE 11.  PANEL 1.

The man in the hat has run up to Narcissca, Narcissca is covering his face.

Man:  “Sir, we must follow that girl, she is somehow linked to—“

Narcissca:  “FUCK FOLLOWING HER.”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 2.

Narcissca is cocking his gun.

Narcissca:  “…WE’RE GOING TO FIND THAT CUNT AND I’M GOING TO SHOW HER…”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 3.

The man with the hat looks away as Narcissca looks at him, we only see the back of Narcissca head.  It hasn’t been revealed to us yet.

Narcissca:  “THAT WHEN I WANT SOMETHING…”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 3.

Narcissca has uncovered his face.  It is badly burned from the coffee.

Narcissca:  “…NOTHING STANDS IN THE WAY.”


PAGE 12.  PANEL 1.

The burning man is driving in a van down a city street in an big urban area.  He is exiting Chicago.  There is sign indicating that he is taking a highway west (I’ll found out which highway soon).

The Burning Man:  “Wait.”

PAGE 12.  PANEL 2.

The burning man has pulled to the side of the road in his van.  He is getting out of the front door.

PAGE 12.  PANEL 3.

The burning man is opening the back of the van.  All we can see is his back to us.

PAGE 12.  PANEL 4.

He has placed a tarp on the ground, and now he is dropping duffle bags on it from inside of the van onto the road side.

PAGE 12.  PANEL 5.

He is driving away.  The duffle bags are in the foreground.

PAGE 12.  PANEL 6.

We get closer to the duffle bag and realize that they are very lumpy and that they are leaking.


PAGE 13.  PANEL 1.

Chino is talking to Myung on the couch as the door is being knocked on.

Chino:  “…Talking about…”

Mala (off panel/from behind door):  “LET ME IN!”

Myung:  “Mala?”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 2.

Mala has hurried into the apartment, she is standing over Chino.  Myung is shutting the door.

Chino:  “What happened?”

Mala:  “This guy tried to grab me as I was having my coffee.  I was headed over here anyway because I heard you scream.  Was it because of him?  Where the hell were you?  Abe’s walking around like he’s a kid again, and you’re nowhere to be found.  What’s up?”

Chino:  “Um…”

Myung:  “Mala, give him a break.”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 3.

Mala takes a seat on the table, as Myung sits down.  Chino has covered his arm.

Mala:  “Come on cuz, what’s up?”

Chino:  “Nothing, I just had some thinking to do.  I need to reconsider what I’m really doing with myself.  Look how quickly a life could end.  Abe could have been crippled, or even dead.  Shit, that was almost me a few days ago, all because I wanted to get messed up at a concert.  We need to be smarter, more responsible.”

Myung:  “I agree, but I think you’re taking this really hard, more than you need to.”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 4.

Chino has gotten up, and is walking to the hallway.

Chino:  “No!  Not hard enough.  I’ve been awful and I need to control myself.”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 5.

Chino has left the room, Mala looks at the couch with the bandage on it.

Mala:  “Damn.  He’s started doing it again.”

Myung:  “Oh!  Yeah, I think he’s just trying to process so much that it’s overloading him.”

Mala:  “That, or he’s feeling bad about something.”

Myung:  “What do you mean?”

Mala:  “Nothing.”


PAGE 14.  PANEL 1.

Chino is putting a band-aid on his left arm.

Chino:  “Gotta control it.  Can’t let it out.  Nothing is getting past me.” 

PAGE 14.  PANEL 2.

Chino is now looking at himself in the mirror.  As he does this items behind him begin to become disturbed, almost like a magnet is pulling them up.

Chino:  “Keep control.  Contain.  Hold it in.  You can’t lose control again.  No—“

PAGE 14.  PANEL 3.

The toothbrush is falling towards the ground.  Chino is looking at it as it falls.

Chino:  “--more accidents.”

PAGE 14.  PANEL 4.

Chino has stopped the toothbrushes fall, he is looking down at it.  Behind him are other items floating.  In the mirror is the faint image of Man in the White suit, Wikki, and Mythos.

Chino:  “…”

Man in the White suit:  “The Final…”

Mythos:  “…Puzzle piece...”

Wikki:  “…in place.”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 1.

Mala is having a drink of water, Myung is drinking her tea.  Chino is coming into the room from the bathroom.  He has covered his arm with a band-aid.

Mala:  “Feel better cuz.”

Chino:  “Yeah, Myung, do you think…”

Myung:  “Coffee coming right up.”

Chino:  “How did you know?”

Myung:  “I don’t know…I just had a feeling that you really wanted coffee.”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 2.

Mala is talking to Chino, who has taken Myung’s seat.

Mala:  “When this guy was trying to grab me I had this feeling for second that I wanted to go with him.  Like I knew that’s what he wanted me to do and I had to do it.”

Chino:  “That is weird.”

Mala:  “He was somehow forcing me.  There was this thought pushing on my mind that I had to fight or else it would break—“

PAGE 15.  PANEL 3.

An older model (1950’s) car comes crashing through the wall of Myung’s apartment.

PAGE 15.  PANEL 4.

Myung and Mala have hit the ground in panic.  Chino is not in the panel.  It is kind of dusty, so it’s hard for them to see each other.

Mala:  “YOU OK?”

Myung:  “YEAH.  THE HELL WAS THAT?  CHINO?  CHINO, YOU OK?”


PAGE 16.  SPLASH PAGE.

Chino is standing in the dust.  Pieces of glass are floating in front of Chino, his hand extended, like Neo in the Matrix when he is stopping bullets.  The car doors are opening as Chino stands there.

Chino:  “I’m fine.”


PAGE 17.  PANEL 1.

Narcissca has exited the car, as well as the man in the hat.

The man in the hat:  “This is our target sir.  The girl was connected to him like I thought.”

Narcissca:  “I want the girl.  If this fucker is standing in my way then he’s dead.”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 2.

Narcissca fires two shots at Chino.  The glass is still held in front of Chino.  Mala is crawling away.

Man in the hat:  “NO!”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 3.

Chino has stopped the bullets in front of him.  The glass is still being held up.

Man in the hat:  “Amazing.”

Narcissca:  “Hmmmm…I want that.”

Chino:  “I want you to put down the gun.”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 4.

Narcissca throws the gun away, Chino has lost control of the glass and bullet and they are falling to the ground.

Narcissca:  “How…”

Chino:  “No…”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 5.

Narcissca punches Chino.

Narcissca:  “Can’t block this.”


PAGE 18.  PANEL 1.

Narcissca is kicking Chino while he is on the ground.

Man in the hat:  “Sir, we need him.”

Narcissca:  “This won’t kill him.  You’ll still have plenty left.”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 2.

The man in the hat is checking on Chino.

Man in the hat:  “This is definitely him.  Did you see his level of telekinesis?  How were you able to get him to drop it?”

Narcissca:  “I wanted him to.  Remember soldier, I always get what I want.  Speaking of which…”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 3.

Mala is helping Myung up off the ground.  Narcissca’s arm coming down to grab Mala.

Mala:  “We need to get out of here before…”

Narcissca (nearly off panel):  “Before what dear?”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 4.

Narcissca is pulling Mala towards him, his hands are pulling and pinning her arms against her.

Narcissca:  “Don’t you want to stay?”


PAGE 19.  SPLASH PAGE.

A big shot of his burnt face from Mala’s perspective, skin peeling, sinister grin and mad eyes that are determined to make Mala his slave.

Narcissca:  “Give me a kiss.”


PAGE 20.  PANEL 1.

Chino lies on floor, somewhat conscious.  We see him from above the man in the hat leaning over him.

Man in the hat:  “Power levels of your size…it’s just amazing.  We’ll be unstoppable now.”

PAGE 20.  PANEL 2.

We see Chino’s face, tighter shot, not from above.  The man in the hat only has his hand in the panel, with the hat in the hand.  Chino is looking up at the man.

Man in the hat (somewhat off panel):  “Blicero is going to have you cut open and examined, and shoved into different soldiers.  I’m jealous of whoever gets your brain.”

PAGE 20.  PANEL 3.

We see the man in the hats full face and scarring on his head.  Make it look pretty awful.

Man in the hat:  “They had to test five different brains until they could find one subservient enough for me.  Five times cutting open and stitching.  I hope you’re less trouble.”

PAGE 20.  PANEL 4.

Chino is closing his eyes, he is concentrating very hard.

Chino:  “Help…help…help”

THE END



Thursday, September 29, 2011

46 & 2 Issue Seven

Old Armor
46 & 2 Issue 7:
By
Zachary Smith

PAGE 1.  PANEL 1.

The burning man is hitting someone, repeatedly.  We cannot see who it is yet, merely shadows struggling.  They are in an alley way at night.  Light barely creeps in from around the buildings.

PAGE 1.  PANEL 2.

We see a fist arched in the air, ready to come down again.

PAGE 1.  PANEL 3.

He continues to hit this person, and blood is starting to collect on his gloves.

PAGE 1.  PANEL 4.

A blood spurt splashes across the alleyway wall.

PAGE 1. PANEL 5.

The burning Man looks up, as if he sees us.


PAGE 2.  SPLASH PAGE.

An open wound bleeds, a cut on Chino’s arm.  The wound is not huge, but it is enough to have some blood pour out.  I want one single drop descending from the bottom of his forearm.  Blood is coalescing in the sink, making the water look murky, and dark.  On both hands his knuckles are severely bruised and have caked blood on them.

Chino (caption):  “Thinking about all the pain…I just wish that it would wash away.”


PAGE 3.  PANEL 1.

Chino is putting a bandage over the cut in the bathroom. 

PAGE 3.  PANEL 2.

Chino looks in the mirror.

Chino (caption):  “Do you remember the last time you did this?  Pain and blood.  Trying to make yourself…”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 3.

Chino looks in the mirror, but now he’s younger.  This is 15 year-old Chino who just broke up with Breanna and had a Fight Club fight with Chi.  He has bruises on his face, and some cigarette burns on his arm.

Chino (caption):  “…numb.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 4.

Chino opens up the cabinet of the bathroom mirror.

Chino caption:  “Block out the world.  Ruiner playing over and over in your head:”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 5.

Chino has a pair of scissors in his right hand pointed in a stabbing motion over his left arm.  His left arm is waiting.

Chino caption:  “You didn’t hurt me, nothing can hurt me.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 6.

Chino is moving in a stabbing motion towards his arm.

Chino caption:  “You didn’t hurt me, nothing can stop me now.”


PAGE 4.  PANEL 1.

Chino sits alone under the bleachers, this goes back to the scene when Breanna left him after she was disgusted with his actions. 

Chino caption:  “You didn’t hurt me…”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 2.

Chino is burning his arm with a cigarette like at the beginning of issue 4.

Chino caption:  “…nothing can hurt me.”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 3.

Breanna is yelling at Chino, he looks away.

Breanna:  “FUCKING ASSHOLE!”

Chino caption:  “You didn’t hurt me…”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 4.

Chino is looking at the wound the scissors made, blood pours out again.  His house phone is ringing.

Chino caption:  “nothing can stop me now.”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 5.

Chino is wrapping up his arm with some gauze and medical tape.  Answering machine gets the message.

Message Caption:  “…after the tone…BEEP”

Joshua (on the phone):  “Hey boyo, It’s the Rev., just seeing what you’re doing.  Chi told me to give you a call.  Everything okay?  I’m going to pick you up tomorrow at 8, be ready, and have something to eat before I get there.  BEEEP.”


PAGE 5.  PANEL 1.

Young Chino is waiting outside of his house in the morning, he has a long sleeve shirt on that is covering his cut on his left arm.  A car is pulling up.

PAGE 5.  PANEL 2.

Chino is in the car with Joshua, putting his seatbelt on.  Chi and Frankie are in the backseat of the car.  Chi is a little bruised.

Joshua:  “Mornin’.”

Chino:  “Morning.”

Joshua:  “Frankie, as you were saying.”

Frankie:  “I was just reading this magazine article in TRYSTERO about a black hole at the beginning of time that’s pulling us all backwards.  It’s weighing us down, and may eventually pull us all in.”

Chi:  “That’s crazy.”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 3.

Joshua pats Chino on the arm to get his attention.  Chino is wincing in pain as he does so.

Joshua:  “That is some crazy stuff Frankie.  Did ye hear that Chino?”

Joshua:  “Ye alright?”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 4.

Chino looks away from Joshua.

Chino:  “Yeah.  Just fine.  Nothing’s wrong.”

Chino: “Where are we going?”

Joshua:  “I thought it might be good idea to take you boys out to do something productive.  These summer days get ye to be just useless.  Pretty soon you’re staying out all hours and getting…

PAGE 5.  PANEL 5.

Joshua is looking into his rearview mirror at Chi, who has bruising from the night before.
Chino and Frankie laugh at Chi’s joke.

Joshua:  “…inta trouble.  That right Chi?”

Chi:  “Yeah, we don’t want no troubre.”

Chino and Frankie: laughter.


PAGE 6.  PANEL 1.

Joshua pulls into a school’s parking lot.  There is a sign that says: ASBP Blood Drive.

Chino:  “It’s not time for school yet.”

Joshua:  “Good, ‘cause we’re going to be doing something different.”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 2.

The boys are lined up at a desk, a middle aged woman is talking to them.

Volunteer:  “Thank you Reverend for bringing these boys in.”

Joshua:  “It was their idea, I just brought ‘em over.”

 PAGE 6.  PANEL 3.

Chino is being poked with the needle, he has his right arm rolled up, and is looking at the nurse.

Nurse:  “Did that hurt.”

Chino:  “No.”

Nurse:  “Tough, I like it.”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 4.

Joshua is outside of the school, smoking.  Chino is just coming out of the door.

Joshua:  “You done already?”

Chino:  “Yeah.”

Joshua:  “Chi and Frankie?”

Chino:  “Still waiting.”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 5.

Chino is just staring off into the distance.

Joshua:  “So, do you wanna tell me what happened last night?”

Chino:  “Not really.”

Joshua:  “Come on.  You know I won’t tell anybody.”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 6.

Chino keeps staring into the distance, saying nothing.


PAGE 7.  PANEL 1.

Older Chino is laying in his bed, a bandage around his arm.  His cellphone is ringing.  He ignores it.

Chino caption:  “Funny thing about the pain is that you can’t ignore it.  You begin to like it, and eventually a little bit is not enough.”

Chino caption:  “You want it so much to overload you so that there’s nothing left.”

Music caption:  “In these demon days it’s so cold inside, so hard for a good soul to survive, you can’t even trust the air you breathe, ‘cause mother earth wants us all to leave.

PAGE 7.  PANEL 2.

Chino looks at the missed call, it is a missed call from Myung.

Music caption:  “When lies become reality you numb yourself on drugs and TV.”

Chino caption:  “Take it all away.  Nothing can get through.”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 3.

Chino is watching Abe eat.

Caption:  Earlier that day.

Abe:  “I feel great.  What happened again?”

Chino:  “You were stabbed multiple times.  There was blood poisoning due to the fact that he pierced you intestinal track, and your shit started to damage your blood.”

Abe:  “The fuck?”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 4.

Chino looks at his right wrist, without a bandage, which still has a burn on it.  Abe has put his food down.

Abe:  “So how did I get better?”

Chino:  “I…”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 5.

A panel showing a burned out carcass in a car that has also been ravaged by the same fire.  This is the security guard and his car after they put the fire out.

Chino:  “…need to go home.  I’m going to leave a message for the Rev.”

Abe:  “Chino?  Wait…”


PAGE 8.  PANEL 1.

Chino is riding on a bus after leaving the hospital, late at night.

PAGE 8.  PANEL 2.

Chino is walking past a stone wall.

PAGE 8.  PANEL 3-4-5

Chino starts hitting the wall, over and over, again and again. 

CHINO:  “FUCK!”

CHINO:  “FUCK!”

CHINO:  “FUCK!”


PAGE 9.  PANEL 1.

Chino looks at his knuckles.

PAGE 9.  PANEL 2.

He picks at a scab.

PAGE 9.  PANEL 3.

It begins to bleed.

Chino (caption):  “Where does it all go?”

Joshua (caption):  “What?”

PAGE 9.  PANEL 4.

Back to young Chino and Joshua standing outside the school.

Chino:  “The blood?  Where does it go?”

Joshua:  “To someone who needs it.”

PAGE 9.  PANEL 5.

A black panel with only a caption in it.

Caption:  “INCOMING!”


PAGE 10.  PANEL 1.

Black caption.  Just dialogue bubbles.  The burning man is just barely waking up

Soldier 1: “MEDIC!  MEDIC!”

Soldier 2:  “Fuck, oh fuck.  There’s no skin left.  Is he dead?”

Soldier 3:  “Medic coming.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 2.

Blurry images of the three soldiers and a medic attending to the burning man.  These next few panels will be from his perspective.  It’s a cityscape, Bagdad most likely. 

Medic:  “Hey man, you’re going to be okay.  I swear it.  I need a stretcher.  We need evac now.   Get me something to wrap him in, we’ve got to limit infection.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 3.

The burning man is being hoisted, the medic is over his head and one of the other soldiers is lifting him by his boots.

Soldier 1:  “This is some fucked up shit.  He went up like the human torch.  Clothes and skin wiped away.”

Medic:  “Thank god you put him out.  Let’s get to some cover and wait for that evac they called in.”

Soldier 3: “I think I’m going to…”

Soldier off panel:  “No skin.  No skin.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 4.

He is now propped up against a building, and he is looking at the medic.  Some vomit comes in from the side of the panel.

Soldier 1 (barely in panel):  “Damn it Johnson.”

Medic:  “You’re okay man.  This will help you not feel anything for a while.”

Soldier 2 (off panel):  “No skin.  Nothing there.”

Soldier 3: “eeeeeehhhhhhhh.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 5.

The burning man is looking down as the doctor is injecting him with a sedative/barbiturate.

Medic:  “You’ll be numb in no time.”

Soldier 2(off panel):  “No skin.  Nothing…”

Medic:  “Shut the fuck up.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 6.

The burning man is looking up at the soldiers and the medic, the medic is shaking one of the soldiers.  The vision is blurry again because he is passing out.

Medic:  “SHUT UP!  HE’S THE ONE HURTING, JUST SHUT UP.”

Soldier 2:  “Nothing there, nothing there, nothing there.”


PAGE 11.  PANEL 1.

The burning man is being willed in on a gurney.  An I.V. is sticking out of him.  A nurse and two doctors follow as he enters the medical area on the base.  Some wear scrubs, some weir camo.  The place is almost like a tent.  Now that we can see him there are burns and bleeding everywhere.  His clothes are almost completely gone.

Nurse:  “BLOOD!  WE NEED BLOOD!”

Doctor 1:  “HURRY!”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 2.

One doctor is putting the blood bag onto the same I.V. stand, while the other injects him with a needle.

Doctor 1:  “We’ll need more.  Bring in all of it.”

Doctor 2:  “As much as we can.”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 3.

The burns begin to scar, and the doctors are shocked.

Doctor 1:  “The hell is…”

Doctor 2:  “Miracle, it’s a miracle.”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 4.

Though the burns are scarring, he is not restored to what he was before.  He looks like Freddy Krueger, minus the costume.

Doctor 1:  “What was that?”

Doctor 2:  “I don’t know, but it healed him.  He’s still ugly as fuck, but it healed him.  I think he’s going to make it.”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 5.

Doctor 1 pick up the dog tags next to him on the gurney.

Doctor 1:  “You’re going home to Baltimore, kid.”

PAGE 11. PANEL 6.

In the background there is someone taking the blood transfusion bag.

PAGE 12.  PANEL 1.

A black female and male detectives stand over a body on a city corner in Baltimore.  There are some crime scene investigators standing around them taking pictures/gathering evidence.    The female detective is squatting.  She is wearing a pant suit, and has pulled back hair.  She’s mixed, skin is a little lighter (Kima from The Wire).  The male detective is also black, he smokes a cigar, is kind of fat, a flat top, mustache/goatee facial hair (Bunk from The Wire).  We won’t name them for copyright purposes.

This is the same kid that was shot way back in issue 1.

Caption:  Baltimore.  3 years later.

Kima:  “I know, I know, me giving a fuck when it’s not my turn.”

Bunk:  “Wasn’t going to say anything.”

Kima:  “Bullshit.”

Bunk:  “What do we got?”

PAGE 12.  PANEL 2.

Kima is pointing with her pen at a hole in the boys head.

Kima:  “Dead corner boy.  No one saw anything.”

Bunk:  “You don’t say.”

Kima:  “First time for everything.  A lot of his boys have been past looking, like they didn’t know it happened.  Whoever got the kid, got him when no one else was around.”

Bunk:  “Been hearing about some new kid brandishing a shotgun, thought it’d be a good idea to take over for Mr. Little.”

PAGE 12.  PANEL 3.

Kima is now standing next to bunk.  He holds his cigar in his hand.

Kima:  “Not a shotgun wound though.”

Bunk:  “Works with a kid who uses a pistol.  You never know.”

Kima:  “No cartridges on the ground, so no make or model on the weapon until we find the bullet.”

Kima:  “Look at that.”

PAGE 12.  PANEL 4.

Kima is pulling money out his back pocket.  It is a big wad of money.

Kima:  “Not the bank roll for the stack, but a big wad.  Why kill him and not take anything?”

Bunk:  “Got another name to go in the red.”

Kim:  “Shit.”

PAGE 12.  PANEL 5.

Bunk is putting out his cigar.

Bunk:  “Hell of a case so far.  No motive, no weapon, no witness.”

Kima:  “Fuck you very much.”

Bunk:  “Drinks are on Lester after work.”

Kima:  “Damn straight.”


PAGE 13.  PANEL 1.

Blicero sits at a desk, there is a glowing floor beneath him with the Tree of Life emitting light from the floor.  Think Gendo’s office in Evangelion.  I even want the same effect of only the glasses emitting light, the rest of Blicero is in shadow.  A man is walking towards the desk with a briefcase.

Operative 1:  “We have another incident.  This blood suddenly healed an almost dead soldier.  The man was burned beyond recognition, but this transfusion gave him back some semblance of life.”

Blicero:  “Was he completely healed?”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 2.

The briefcase with the blood packet is opened upon Blicero’s desk.

Operative 1:  “Not enough of it.  If there had been two bags, its possible that he could have been completely restored.”

Blicero:  “We can classify this with the rest of the group.  This project is going to need more funding.  Contact Minderbender right away.”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 3.

The operative is leaving.  Blicero calls out.

Blicero:  “Bring the girl in, I’m in need of some entertainment.”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 4.

Scarlettt is wheeled in, in a wheelchair.  She is bound and gagged, doped up, and groggy.  She is clothed, barely. 

Blicero:  “Finally.”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 5.

Blicero holds a riding crop in one hand, ready to strike.

Blicero:  “Let’s see how much we can make you bleed today.”


PAGE 14.  PANEL 1, 2, 3.

Blicero unleashes a flurry of whips upon Scarlettt’s body, and face.

PAGE 14.  PANEL 4.

We see the aftermath of the strikes, blood streaming down from the cuts.  Wide open wounds from how hard Blicero struck.

PAGE 14.  PANEL 5.

The wounds are smaller, the blood is less.

Blicero:  “It disappears as quickly as it came.”

PAGE 14.  PANEL 6.

Scarlettt looks at Blicero, whose back is turned, intense hate burning in her eyes, her wounds are almost completely gone, as if they were never there.

PAGE 14.  PANEL 7.

Blicero has tunred around, he holds a barbed wire modified whip.

Blicero:  “The fun, Gretal, is only beginning.”

Scarlettt (caption) :  “Not Gretal.”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 1.

Chino is walking on sidewalk, smoking.  He has a bottle of liquor with him.  His left arm has started to bleed some more, soaking the bandage a little.  Let the focus be on this blood seeping through.

Scarlettt (caption):  “Scarlettt.”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 2.

There is a group of three white men, early twenties, dude bros., that are hanging outside of a bar, Chino is about to walk upon them.  The three men are smoking, that’s why they are outside of the bar.
Guy 1:  “Did you see the way that bitch was looking at me.  Totally wanted to fuck me.”

Guy 2:  “Sluts man, they’re all sluts.”

Guy 3:  “If there is one thing I’ve learned in my twenty some-odd years is that all women are whores.”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 3.

The guys continue to talk, as Chino walks closer.

Guy 1:  “Totally down to fuck, if her fucking cunt friend will get out of the way then I’ll get my dick in.”

Guy 2:  “Remember when that nigger was cock blocking me.  “FUCK YOUR COUCH NIGGER, FUCK YOUR COUCH.”

Guy 3:  “Haha, yeah.  It’s cause you pussies can’t close the deal, faggots.  I’ll show you how to use a cock.”

Guy 1:  “Fuck you, you pass out tonight I’m going to shove mine down your throat.”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 4.

Chino is now in front of them.  He is looking at them.  Bottle in one hand, cigarette in the other.

Guy 2:  “The fuck you looking at?”

Chino:  “Cowards.  A bunch of cowards.”

Guy 3:  “Hahaha, fuck off.”

Chino:  “Or what?  Gonna shove your cock down my mouth?  I think you’re boyfriends might get jealous.”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 5.

The three men are now walking towards Chino.

Guy 1:  “What’s you say?”

Chino:  “Jealous.  He doesn’t want to share your tiny cock, ‘cuz there’s not enough of it.  It’s tiny, remember?
Guy 2:  “Gonna fuck you up little kid.”

Chino:  “You can try.  I’ve been trying to get fucked up all night, nothing seems to be working”


PAGE 16.  PANEL 1.

Guy 3 has hit Chino across the face, and he is falling backwards, at a 45 degree angle.  His arms kind of go up, and straight, but he holds onto the liquor bottle, so he can hit them later.

Guy 3:  “Eat this, faggot.”

Guy 1:  “Yeah.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 2.

Chino has not fallen over, but rather been rocked backwards, and he has caught his feet.  Think when an Evangelion gets knocked backwards, but doesn’t fall.  His liquor bottle is still in hand.  His head is down, arms hanging, body hunched over.  When Chino gets hit he won’t bleed, he’s already begun morphing into the Shadow, which feels no pain.

Chino:  “Try again, try harder.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 3.

Guy 1 steps up and hits him with an uppercut, causing Chino to look up.

Guy 2:  “Fuck yeah, mess him up.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 4.

Chino has swung the bottle of liquor and hit Guy 1 across the face.

Chino:  “Not hard enough.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 5.

Guy 1 is on the ground, bleeding, Guy 2 and 3 are stepping over him to get Chino.

Guy 3:  “You’re dead.”

Chino:  “Not yet, but lets see if you can help me get there.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 6.

They both have swung, one is hitting Chino in the face, the other in the stomach.


PAGE 17.  PANEL 1.

Chino is getting stomped on the ground, his face is blank.

Guy 2:  “Yeah.”

Caption:  “You didn’t hurt me…

PAGE 17.  PANEL 2.

They have dragged Chino up, and he is getting hit in the stomach by Guy 3, while Guy 2 holds him.

Guy 3:  “You like this?  Shouldn’t have fucked with us.”

Caption:  “…nothing can hurt me.”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 3.

Chino is getting hit hard in the face, but still no blood or cuts.

Caption:  “You didn’t hurt me…”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 4.

Guy 3 holds his hand in pain.  Guy 2 has thrown Chino aside to check on his friend.

Guy 3:  “FUCK!  AHHHHH!”

Guy 2:  “What happened?”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 5.

Focus in on Guy 3’s hand.  It has bones shattered, and busted in it.  I’ll give you an example from a Preacher book.

Guy 3:  “The hell?”





PAGE 18.  PANEL 1.

The two guys are looking at Chino, completely in silhouette, no color emitting, just a black outline.

Chino:  “You failed me.”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 2.

The two guys are looking at each other, Guy 3’s bloody hand in the middle of them.

PAGE 18.  PANEL 3.

Outline of Chino’s face, still all in shadow.

Chino:  “Run.”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 4.

The two Guy’s are carrying Guy 1 away.

PAGE 18.  PANEL 5.

Chino is smoking, the only light emitting from his face is his cigarette cherry, but it only illuminates his mouth.


PAGE 19.  PANEL 1.

Chino walks by a convenience store window, he looks into the window.

PAGE 19.  PANEL 2.

Chino has gotten close enough that we can see his reflection and there are no signs of a fight at all, he’s perfectly fine, except for some blood on his cheek, from when Guy 3 hit him and broke his hand.  He is bringing his hand to his face.

Chino:  “Not mine.”

PAGE 19.  PANEL 3.

Chino wipes his hand on a piece of newspaper trash in a public trash can.  The headline reads:  UNKNOWN CAUSES FOR GANG MEMBER DEATHS.

PAGE 19.  PANEL 4.

Chino walks away into the night.


PAGE 20.  PANEL 1.

Back to the alley from the beginning of the issue.  The burning man is looking directly at us, and is smiling.  Blood covers his face.

PAGE 20.  PANEL 2.

He is now wiping the blood from his face.

Burning man:  “Blood is such a marvelous thing.”

PAGE 20.  PANEL 3.

He walks out of the alley, back to us.  A dead gang member with a missing eye and bludgeoned face lies in the middle of the alley.

THE END