Wednesday, June 27, 2012

46 & 2 Issue Eighteen

No History No Furture
46 & 2 Issue 18:
By
Zachary Smith


PAGE 1.  SPLASH PAGE.

Chino is slumped over on the ground, blood pouring out of his head.  B.M. is leaving the room.

B.M.:  “I win.”


PAGE 2.  PANEL 1.

Chino is alone in a white space.

Chino:  “Here again.  Where’s the boy, the people?”

Chino:  “Am I dead?  Is there anybody else here.”

PAGE 2.  PANEL 2.

Chino is joined by a ethereal man and woman.  The man is MYTHOS, visually based on Morpheus from THE SANDMAN, long flowing cloak, pale skin, black eyes.  The woman Wiki, based on PROMETHEA.  Mythos walks on the right side of Chino and Wiki walks on the left.

Mythos:  “The boy does not take this journey with you because you’re not going the way you need to.”

Chino:  “Where am I?”

Wiki:  “Stuck in your head.”

PAGE 2.  PANEL 3.

Mythos indicates to walk, Chino follows, closely behind, and Wiki is keeping stride with Mythos.

Mythos:  “In Hell.”

Chino:  “She just said I was in my head.”

Wiki:  “It can be the same thing.”
PAGE 2.  PANEL 4.

Mythos motions again to continue forward.

Mythos:  “Before you were at a point of ascension.  Now you are starting again at the bottom.  Which is not necessarily a bad thing.  All things start in the mud.”

Chino:  “Ascending?  To where?  Was that where I was before?  How come it was so shitty?”

Wiki:  “Because change is always difficult.  Did you think becoming Weltall would be easy?”

PAGE 2.  PANEL 5.

Mythos motions with his walking stick, which creates the cosmos. 

Mythos:  “The void, nothingness, spewing forth life.  Waiting for the trigger to be delivered.  Ain Soph Aur, meeting the crown, Keter.  Its all just dirt and dust out there at first.  Nothing living for a long time.”

Chino:  “Is this…the Universe?”

Wiki:  “Weltall.”


PAGE 3.  PANEL 1.

The three of them walk on an empty planet.  No plant life, only rocks, water, and some tiny bits of atmosphere above.

Mythos:  “Life begins in dust and mud.  Like Prometheus, Allah, and Nuwa forming man out of clay, or Yaweh breathing life into the dust.”

Chino:  “Is this earth.”

Wiki:  “No.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 2.

The clouds shoot out lighting, into the water, dust, and mud.

Mythos:  “Fire from the heavens, breathes life into the earth.  Uranus and Gaia, Odin and Fjorgyn.” 

Chino:  “Where are we then?”

Wiki:  “The first place life existed in Weltall.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 3.

Chino has stopped moving, little forms of life are springing up around him, as the other two walk on ahead.

Mythos:  “These are the first kind, they will battle that which cannot be killed.”

Chino:  “Stop this.  You’re just talking at me.  Why am I here?”

Wiki:  “You are at your end, so we thought it best to show you the beginning.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 4.

The two of them continue to walk, the life was simple in the last panel has become very technologically advanced, and looks similar in ways to human life forms, but also unique in their own ways.  Chino is still stuck, there is tree behind him.

Mythos:  “All knowledge requires sacrifice.  Like Odin on the tree, Christ on the Cross, or Prometheus bound, you now will know things that you did not before, but it’s because of the sacrifice you have made.”

Chino:  “I am dead.”

Wiki:  “Maybe.  Don’t forget what you are.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 5.

The society is supremely technologically advanced.  The nature and technology blend seamlessly, the regular tree that was behind Chino before, is now a glowing iridescent tree.

Chino has begun to run after them.

Mythos:  “These beings we watch will also make a sacrifice.  Breaching the membrane of this universe with another, and inviting something here that cannot be destroyed.”

Chino:  “You two were there when I had that dream, when I was playing chess with that bald guy, and Myung was with…oh god.”

Wiki:  “How do you know it was a dream?”


PAGE 4.  SPLASH PAGE. 

The three of them walk on now in a society in ruins.  They are on a road far below, and above them in the demiurge, but in his bodily form.  I want the most imposing, terrifying figure that can be thought of, and yet we will only see his back, and his face turned back to see the audience.  His eyes are glowing red.  The city is being torn apart by tentacled monsters, think Cthulu, and hentai monsters.

Mythos:  “They made the ultimate sacrifice: their world was butchered and obliterated.  This thing that they found in the dimensional void was just a conqueror from a dead universe, waiting for the next victim.”

Chino:  “But they defeated him right?  It hasn’t come to earth, so he must have been defeated.”

Wiki:  “It lost its battle, but it was such a strong energy force that they could not completely eradicate it.  They sent it out of phase, back through time.  The bodies destruction released energy sufficient to start the big bang, but also caused a black hole at the center of the universe, and its been growing for billions of years drawing us all towards it.  And its soul…”


PAGE 5.  PANEL 1.

Two glowing eyes are staring right at Chino as he is about to get blasted by the bullet from Blicero’s gun in Issue 4.  The three of them watch this.

Mythos:  “The soul is the possession of the owner, it cannot be given or taken away.  It sits at the transition point, the ascension point.  The top of the Tree of Life, at Keter, waiting.”

Chino:  “For what?”

Wiki:  “Something strong enough to contain it.  Maybe something like you.”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 2.

Mythos walks them pass this incident.

Mythos:  “You could not handle it, its energy and what it represented.  It would have been like Athena bursting out of Zeus’s head.  But it’s possible that you could reach a point where your body is usable, it is going through a change.”

Chino:  “46 & 2.  What is that?”

Wiki:  “For that we will need to switch over to another place.”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 3.

They are walking on the sands of Mars.

Mythos:  “Mars.”

Chino:  “It’s beautiful.  So sad and lonely here, but pretty.”

Wiki:  “I like the color.  We are here as the planet is dying.”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 4.

We now see from their perspective dying Martians, similar to J’onn J’onzz.  Choking, holding each other.

Mythos:  “They lost their atmosphere four billion years ago.”

Chino:  “That’s horrible.”

Wiki:  “Yes, but without them dying, there would be no you.”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 5.

A rocket is leaving the surface of Mars.

Mythos:  “As they are losing their atmosphere, a near by planet is finally getting to the point where it can sustain life.”

Chino:  “That thing made it to earth?  That’s what started life?”

Wiki:  “In a sense, yes.”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 6.

An asteroid slams into the rockets as it has left the atmosphere, blowing it to pieces.

Mythos (off panel):  “Maybe it was just their time to end.”

Chino (off panel):  “I hate this.”

Wiki (off panel):  “Haven’t you learned anything yet?  Sacrifice always brings on something more.”


PAGE 6.  PANEL 1.

Some of the asteroid fragments are heading towards earth.  But the continents will not look the same.

PAGE 6.  PANEL 2.

The rock is passing through some clouds that have thunder and lighting.

Mythos (off panel):  “Lighting again.  Think as to why so many of your gods have this aspect, Thor, Zeus, Indra, Susanoo, Set, and so many others.  And why so many of them are high in the pantheon.”

Chino (off panel):  “I don’t know why.”

Wiki:  “Because lighting means something else is on the way.”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 3.

The asteroid, and lighting hit the ground at the same time.  Near a coastal setting.

PAGE 6.  PANEL 4.

The three of them are watching the smoking crater be enveloped in water from the ocean, and rain.

Mythos:  “Water means life, rain means crops.  Vegetation will grow with these influences.  Mars did not have enough, which is another reason their fate was sealed.”

Chino:  “This is the start of life?”

Wiki:  “The very beginnings.  The small chemical compounds colliding over and over again until there is a mixture that is not volatile.”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 5.

A microbe is seen under the water.  The three of them are in a water bubble seeing the microbe.

Mythos:  “It will divide and spread, ad infinitum.  This is where it all comes from.”

Chino:  “I can’t believe I’m getting to see this, it’s so…”

Wiki:  “Small.  But it will get bigger and bigger.”


PAGE 7.  SPLASH PAGE.

This is a collage of the events on earth, its like the three of them are walking in a time tunnel.  We’ll see plants, fish, bugs, dinosaurs, the asteroid hitting the earth, covering it in darkness, snow and ice, woolly mammoths, saber tooth tigers, monkeys, cave people, and at the end lighting striking a bush, as a group of these cave people try to stay warm.

Mythos:  “This is life, and really how you see it flow before you is how we see it progress.  It is nothing more than moments, and then it is over.”

Chino:  “I can’t believe, I.... so much time wasted.”

Wiki:  “Hmmm…time is a funny thing.  You get so little of it, and you can never get back what you lost, but there is an infinite amount of it all around you.”


PAGE 8.  PANEL 1.

Cave people wander through the passage way of Russia and America.  The snow is harsh and blinding. 

Mythos:  “Under these icy conditions man eventually flourishes.  Like Audumla setting man and frost giants free, while simultaneously nourishing them.”

Chino:  “The first Americans.”

Wiki:  “Haha, very true.”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 2.

Volcanoes are erupting.  Ice steams up as it melts.

Mythos:  “Nifelheim’s influence ends this latest age of ice, and we have many deluges that Noah survived, Manu was saved from by Vishnu, that Kwi-wi-sens Nenaw-bo-shooo caused when the sea god killed his wolf.”

Chino:  “I wonder how many people were killed when this happened.”

Wiki:  “I assure you it was many, but it was not without hope, with the ice gone, the humans were able to farm and travel more.”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 3.

African tribesmen dealing with their cattle.

Mythos:  “This growth necessitated a change in humans.  At first they are one with the environment and each other, because they had to be, or else nature would easily kill them.  Now things are a little easier, it is time to move on and up, away from the group and focus more on the individual.  Lucifer breaking away from heaven, Loki’s motivation to survive, Prometheus’s defiance.”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 4.

Greeks dealing with their goats.

Chino:  “I never really thought about how fucked we are without each other.”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 5.

Vikings on horse back with their sheep.

Wiki:  “Hmmm…but it is not time to worry about others.  It is now the time to worry about ourselves as we begin to journey more and more places.  42 & 2 becomes what we have now, 44 & 2.  The individual mind set.  Different nations, gods, peoples, who are all the same.”


PAGE 9.  TOP HALF OF THE PAGE.

Chino is watching as there are scuffles, African Tribe vs. African Tribe, Romans and Celts,  Conquistadors on horseback and natives of South America on foot, Christians and Muslims, , Native Americans and Vikings.

Mythos:  “Brother battles brother, nation versus nation.  This is a time of great strife, horrible blood letting, and butchery.”

Chino:  “This…this is awful.  You can’t tell me that what came before this was much different.”

Wiki:  “It wasn’t, but these assaults were for different reasons: crops, livestock, wealth, land, religion.  Very little of it was about survival, and more about what could be gained.  Yet there was more to this than just common strife.”

PAGE 9.  BOTTOM HALF OF THE PAGE.

The native African tribesman heals the others head wound, Americans and Vikings are trading necklaces.  Knights are copying arithmetic from Muslims, Celts are drawing Jupiter and Latobius together, Natives from South America are seen riding horses, and herding sheep.

Mythos:  “Fire from the gods.  Each new spoil brought a new discovery to each side, they learned what they could, and traded in the purest thing: information.”

Chino:  “I sometimes wonder why we haven’t been wiped clean from the planet.”

Wiki:  “It’s because this is all sacrifice.  All this pain and hardship is working towards something that will make you better.”

PAGE 10/ PAGE 11 SPLASH PAGES.

PAGE 10:  Chinese immigrants are coming over on boats. 

The next phase/panel is Chinese workers working on a railroad.

The next phase/panel Chinese workers standing together, with a sign reading Chinese Six Companies

The next phase/panel a Chinese worker is painting letters on a shop window:  “San Francisco’s Finest Chinese Fo”

Next phase/panel A Chinese grandfather/grandmother father and mother who is holding a baby are being photographed in front of their restaurant, in Blackfield.”

A young Chinese man, this is Chino’s dad, waits on a Hispanic woman.  The Hispanic woman will be on the other side of the page.

PAGE 11:  Early 20th century Mexican farm workers are picking cotton.  A concentration of houses are around them, and there is a canal that was set up to instill farming capabilities.

Mexican workers are being turned away, Chinese workers are working the field.

The next phase/panel A Mexican woman and man are walking along the canal.

The next phase/panel The couple is now older, and are working on their farm, tending to sheep.  There is a younger couple with an infant, while teens work on the land.

The couple is driving into Blackfield: 23 miles.  The infant is now older, a little girl, and there is another infant in the car, another girl.

A young Chinese man, this is Chino’s dad, Kevin, waits on a Hispanic woman, Chino’s mom, Rosa.  This section meets at the middle of the bottom of the pages.

Mythos, Chino and Wiki will be walking around the edges, and the middle as these events take place.

Mythos:  “All this exploring leads humans to encountering each other, to merge and mix their ways, cultures, and heritages.  They will only grow stronger from this, a close system leads to death.”

Chino:  “Those are…my parents.”

Wiki:  “Yes.  In all the chaos that is modern life these two will meet, and be in love, however briefly.  And from that we get you.  Work and sacrifice.”


PAGES 12/13 SPLASH PAGES.

These two pages will be similar in structure to PAGES 10 and 11.

At the top center of the page we see his parents getting married.  His father, Kevin is on the right, his mother, Rosa, on the left, with the aisle waiting before them, and the audience cheering.

PAGE 12. Filtering down from the wedding, we see Kevin setting down boxes in a new home.

On the opposite PAGE 13, Rosa is setting up a baby room.

PAGE 12:  Kevin is working at their restaurant.  Talking to female customers.

PAGE 13:  Opposite side, Rosa is working as a Check out girl in a grocery store, pregnant.

PAGE 12:  Kevin is playing soft ball and poker with his friends.

PAGE 13:  Opposite, Rosa is nursing baby Chino, and showing him off to her Mother, Rosa Sr. and Sister, Lydia.

PAGE 12:  Kevin is shaking his head as a phone is being handed to him.

PAGE 13:  On the opposite page, Rosa is on the phone.  Chino is a little older, about two, playing next to her.

PAGE 12:  Kevin walks into the front door, drunk.

PAGE 13:  Rosa is on the opposite side, with the light on, arms crossed and pissed.

PAGE 12 and PAGE 13:  Near Bottom, center.  Kevin and Rosa argue, she points her finger into his chest aggressively.

PAGE 12/PAGE 13.  Bottom, center.  Kevin slaps Rosa.

Mythos:  “Love very rarely works out, it turns bitter and hatred arises.  The gods are fickle.”

Chino:  “Hmmm.  I knew he did those things, I just never saw.”

Wiki:  “And you haven’t seen much of him since.  But the thing that matters is that through that short union, you were born.  No matter what became of the progenitors, you came into existence at just the right time.”


PAGE 14.  PANEL 1.

A panel showing the waste that has become the ocean.  Dead sea life, oil spills, over fishing, pollution, trash.

Mythos (off panel):  “A pole shift is coming, another possible age of ice, to thin out the overpopulated world.”

PAGE 14.  PANEL 2.

Cars, smoke stacks from factories, hair spray cans, Glaciers breaking off.

Chino (off panel):  “What’s a pole shift?  Like the planet is going to flip?”

PAGE 14.  PANEL 3.

A massive crowd of people bump and plow through each other on a busy street.

Wiki (off panel): “We stand of the precipice of a new age.  The planet is in danger, and one or more things could send it over the brink.  We hope that you can prevent this massive die off, because nothing is without its use, but it may be inevitable.”

PAGE 14.  PANEL 4.

A pleasant field, trees and grass, sun and clouds.

The three of them walk upon this field.

Mythos:  “This is where you come in.  Ragnarok is here, the trumpets have sounded.  The seven bowls will spill on the earth, and the moon and sun will be swallowed up in darkness if you do not stop it.”

Chino:  “ME!?  I can’t do shit.  I’m dead remember.”

Wiki:  “For what you feel are justified reasons, and they may be so.  But you need to get past that and stand up to your destiny.  No savior was ever perfect.  Buddha was a dead beat dad, Jesus was a bastard, Muhammad liked them young.  We forgive them their trespasses because we know that what they will give to us in the end is worth the pain.”


PAGE 15.  PANEL 1.

They stand in Ice and Darkness.

Mythos:  “Three of the coldest winters precede the end times.  War, famine, disease, and death will run rampant.”

Chino:  “But that is true of any era, there is always people fighting, starving, infecting and dying.”

Wiki:  “True, but did you ever have the capability to destroy yourselves so thoroughly and so easily before?  One man realizes how easy it will be to end it all.”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 2.

The ice recedes slightly, and they see the light of a cabin.

Mythos:  “In addition to the climatic changes that are happening, there is also one amongst you who works with the destroyer.  A pariah.”

Chino:  “Who?”

Wiki:  “White death.”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 3.

They peer into a window as a man in drag is warmed by a fire, this is Blicero.  Around his lap are young men and women performing sexual acts on each other and him.

Mythos:  “You are moving towards a pole shift that will bring about a shift in human consciousness.  You are the precursors.”

Chino:  “46 & 2?”

Wiki:  “Yes.  The end of the individuality scaffold.  It has supported you long enough, now you will merge yourselves to fight something bigger.  Like white blood cells in a body work together to fight a disease, you will merge yourselves.”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 4.

Blicero has grabbed a red haired girl from the group, he has a knife to her throat.

Mythos:  “But just because you exist, does not guarantee any sort of victory for you.  You will have to work together.”

Chino:  “This all sounds well and good, but I’m dead.”

Wiki:  “’I am the resurrection and the light.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.’  Don’t forget what you are, and what you can do.”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 5.

There are five Chino’s, all with different demeanors and manners, and looks.  Superego Chino is calm and collected, clean and in control.  Id Chino is disheveled and dirty, with a smile upon his face, Shadow Chino has no expression on his face.  Anima Chino looks insecure and is about to cry.  Ego Chino has his hands in his pockets, blood pouring out of his head.

Mythos:  “A part of you clings to the old ways, like Zeus devouring Athena, yet she comes bursting out of his head.  You cannot accept the death that you caused so you split.  Your psyche is in turmoil.”

Chino:  “How do I fix it.”

Wiki:  “Accept what and who you are.  Accept yourself.”


PAGE 16.  PANEL 1.

Breanna, the old preacher, Kevin, the burning man, and dead security guard, on fire all stand before Chino.

Mythos:  “None of us are perfect.  We all have defects, but we must overcome these things to be useful.  Tyr lost a hand, but was still the bravest of gods.  Jesus questioned, but still went on to save so many.”

Chino:  “We’re all flawed, but I don’t think my crime can be forgiven.”

Wiki:  “Then don’t forget it.  It’s okay to forgive, just don’t forget, so you do not repeat your mistakes.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 2.

The burning man begins to fade, as does the old preacher, Breanna, Kevin and The dead security guard remain, but the security guard is no longer on fire.

Mythos:  “Its natural to hate your father, Kronos, Zeus, Athena, Thor, will all tell you of moments where murder was the only solution, for sometimes the father is death.  But it does not mean they were right, or wrong.”

Chino:  “I hate him with everything in me.  He’s everything I don’t want to be, some uncaring bastard, who doesn’t give a shit about anyone else.”

Wiki:  “Maybe he’s not these things, or maybe he is.  First know him.  You’ve been avoiding something since you got into this city.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 3.

Kevin is the only focus right now.

Mythos:  “Confront and overcome.”

Chino: “How?”

Wiki:  “You will know.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 4.

Chino is choking Kevin.

Mythos:  “Just because its in your head…”

Wiki:  “Doesn’t make it not real.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 5.

Chino has Kevin on the ground, he is thrashing.

Chino:  “Never loved me you piece of shit.  Never cared about anything.  Showed me the way of the world though, everyone leaves in the end.  That is why I have this bullet in my head.”

Mythos:  “Thor had the whetstone stuck forever in his head, after he slew the giant.”

Wiki:  “Let it be a reminder of two things: why you fired in the first place, and that victory comes with sacrifice.” 

PAGE 16.  PANEL 6.

Mythos and Wiki stand side by side, fading away.

Mythos:  “Don’t let the fire consume you.”

Wiki:  “You must stand against it, even if it burns you.”


PAGE 17.  PANEL 1.

Kevin has become the security guard.  The place is all black now.  The other Chino’s are behind him, he has blood rushing out of his head.

Chino:  “I’m…sorry.  Don’t leave.  WHERE DID YOU GO?  HELP ME.  I’M STUCK HERE.  PLEASE HELP ME.”

Chino (superego):  “They left.  They want us to find our own way out.”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 2.

Chino is on his knees, crying.  The security guard is now the burning man.  Blood continues to pour out of his head, the other Chino’s just look on.

Chino:  “Don’t leave me alone.  Please.  I’m sorry I’m so horrible.  Please don’t leave me here.  I’m in hell.  There’s no way out.  Please, take me with you.”

Chino (Id):  “Fucking pathetic.  No wonder they left, they couldn’t deal with your moaning.”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 3.

The dead person has shifted to Breanna.  Bloody Chino now stands with the other Chino’s.  Anima Chino is now next to Breanna.

Chino:  “I’m sorry about everything.  Maybe I can heal you.”

Chino (shadow):  “Better to be alone.  No one to hurt you.”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 4.

Anima Chino stands over the Breanna, hands out, to heal her.

Chino (ego):  “I don’t want to be alone, no matter how much it hurts.”

Chino (anima):  “If we fix her, we’re not alone.  I don’t know if I can do it alone though.”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 5

A light is forming behind Chino, and above the Breanna.  Chino is concentrating, looking down, we can’t see the Breanna.

Chino (anima):  “Is it working?”


PAGE 18.  PANEL 1.

Chino’s eyes burst open, he is in Scorpio’s apartment, his head is in the lap of Scarlettt, and Sho is above him, on his right.  Both their hands are by Chino’s head.

Chino:  “What’s that smell?”

Sho:  “FUCK!”

Scarlettt:  “HE’S AWAKE.”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 2.

They have helped Chino over to the couch.

Chino:  “You guys saved me.”

Sho:  “Barely.  It was touch and go until the end there.  I really needed you using those healing abilities but they were not coming.”

Scarlettt:  “We anchored your conscious to us, so you wouldn’t get away.  But you were dormant for so long.  We used our ability to regenerate on you, to fix your brain, but we needed your help most of all.”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 3.

Chino is holding his head.  Sho holds up his hand, with the bullet in it.

Chino:  “Where’s the bullet?”

Sho:  “Here.  There is a fragment missing.  I think its stuck in there.  We could try--”

Chino:  “No, no, that’s good.  It’ll be a reminder.”

Scarlettt:  “Of what?”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 4.

Chino looks at Scarlettt.

Chino:  “Who are you?”

Sho:  “Another one of us.  Scarlettt, this is Fei, or Chino.  This is Scarlettt Weissman.”

Scarlettt:  “Nice to meet you.”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 5.

Chino stands up.

Chino:  “Thanks for saving my life, guys.”

Sho:  “You’d have done the same.”

Scarlettt:  “You are welcome.  I’m sorry, what did you want that thing to remind you of?”

Chino:  “Oh, um, something bad that I did, and that I’ll never do it again.”

Sho:  “You better not shoot yourself again.”


PAGE 19.  PANEL 1.

Scorpio comes bursting out of the bathroom.

Scorpio:  “That fucker is dead.  I am going to kill him, and you are going to help me, right?”

Chino:  “Guess you were healed too.  I don’t know.  He needs to be stopped, but I don’t think we should kill him.  I’ve done to much killing.”


PAGE 19.  PANEL 2.

Scorpio stands with the four of them.

Scorpio:  “We don’t kill him?  The fuck?”

Chino:  “It’s not his fault he’s that way.  It’s mine.  I donated blood to the service, and he must have gotten mine after his accident.”

Sho:  “You’re not at fault either, Chino.  Whatever he became after that is his choice, so don’t let him off the hook that easy.”

Scarlettt:  “Where is he?”

PAGE 19.  PANEL 3.

The B.M. stands on the Golden Gate bridge, hat on, and sunglasses.  People walk around him.

Scorpio (caption):  “Probably looking for his next victim.”

Sho (caption):  “Possibly.  Even though Chino does not want to hurt him, he does need to be stopped.”

Scarlettt (caption):  “I believe Sho is right.”

Chino (caption):  “But how do we find him?”

Scorpio (caption):  “When the bodies start piling up, we’ll know where to start.”

PAGE 19.  PANEL 4.

All of them are fixing things in Scorpio’s apartment.

Scorpio:  “So where are you from, girlie?  Just wonder in off the streets?”

Sho:  “Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask you that question myself.  You just appeared out of nowhere.”

Chino:  “A good looking girl comes in out of nowhere, I’m not complaining.”

Scarlettt:  “Hmm.  I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you.”

PAGE 19.  PANEL 5.

Scorpio has placed himself in a chair, and lit a cigarette.

Scorpio:  “Try me.  I’ve heard my share of crazy things.”

Scarlettt:  “Nevada.”

Chino:  “Vegas?  That’s cool.”

Sho:  “No, that doesn’t sound right.  Where in Nevada?”


PAGE 20.  SPLASH PAGE.

Scarlettt tells them and they are shocked, Chino is happy.  Scorpio has dropped his cigarette, and Sho has a worried look on his face.

Scarlettt:  “Area 51.”

Chino:  “We’re fucking aliens.”

THE END

Thursday, June 21, 2012

46 & 2 Issue Seventeen

Black Dawn
46 & 2 Issue 17:
By
Zachary Smith

PAGE 1.  PANEL 1.

Chino is waving bye to Sho.  It is night in San Francisco.  The boys were at the top of a hill, near a park. 

Chino:  “I’ll let you know how the first day of work went.” 

Sho:  “Steal me some food.”

Chino:  “Yeah, and get fired on the first day.  Wait a couple weeks at least, and I’ll pay you back for this cash.”

Sho:  “When you can.  Later.”

PAGE 1.  PANEL 2.

Chino is riding the BART, he has his head phones on, he has selected “I’m On Fire,” the Bats for Lashes version.

Song:  “Hey little boy, is your mama home?  Did she go and leave you all alone, no?  Got a bad desire.  Ooohooohooooh, I’m on fire. 

PAGE 1.  PANEL 3.

Chino is exiting the BART tunnel.

Song:  “Tell me now baby is she good to you, can she do to you the things that I do.  Oh, I can take you higher.  Ooohooohooooh, I’m on fire”

PAGE 1.  PANEL 4.

Chino is walking to the apartment.

Song:  “Sometimes its like someone took a knife baby, edgy and blunt, put a six inch valley through the middle of my soul.” 

PAGE 1.  PANEL 5. 

Chino is opening the door.

Song:  “Oh, at night I lay at home with the sheets soaking wet, and a freight train running through the middle of my head.”

Chino:  “Scorpio?  You here?  You didn’t answer my text.”

PAGE 1.  PANEL 6.

Chino hits the light switch, but just a shot of his hand finding the switch.


PAGE 2.  SPLASH PAGE.

The burning man has a gun to the back of Chino’s head as Chino looks on at Scorpio, beaten and bloody on the ground.  There is a lot of blood.  There are papers strewn about everywhere, B.M. has been reading.

Song:  “But you, you cool my desire.”

B.M.:  “We’ve been waiting for you.”

Song:  “Ooohooohooooh, I’m on fire”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 1.

Chino has fallen to the ground, not sure what to do about Scorpio.  B.M. continues to hold his gun to the back of Chino’s head, waiting.

B.M.:  “He tried to fight me.  Didn’t want me to read about you.  But that’s not what got me interested.  As soon as I found this one, something was different.  It was almost as if what I’d been looking for for these past few years was almost in my grasp.”

Song:  “Sometimes its like someone took a knife baby, edgy and blunt, put a six inch valley through the middle of my soul.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 2.

Chino has put his hands over Scorpio, closed his eyes, and is thinking while B.M. talks.

B.M.:  “So we came here, and it was there again.  A feeling of nearing completion.  Trying to find something for all these years, and I’m so close.  Now I know.  It’s you.”

“Oh, at night I lay at home with the sheets soaking wet, and a freight train running through the middle of my head.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 3.

B.M. still holds the gun over Chino.  Chino is muttering to himself.

B.M.:  “I’ve seen you in my dreams, and you’ve seen me in yours.  I can sense it.  That hand of yours, I remember grabbing something in a dream once.  I tried to pull, and pull, but it wouldn’t budge.”

Song:  “But you, you calm my desire.”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 4.

B.M. lowers the gun.  Chino’s eye bust open in surprise.

B.M.:  “Go ahead.  Heal him.  I’ve read you can do it.  Come on, just like you did me.”

Chino: “What?”

PAGE 3.  PANEL 5.

B.M. stands behind Chino, flame erupting around him, like when the missile burst.

B.M.:  “You’re blood running through me, saved me.  Kept me alive.  Showed me my purpose.”

Song:  “Ooohooohoooh I’m on fire.”


PAGE 4.  PANEL 1.

B.M. lifts Chino off the ground, has pulled him towards himself.  Chino’s feet hang off the ground.

B.M.:  “Who’d have thought it’d be a little runt like you.  I thought it was something divine, or maybe some freak chemical.  This whole time it was a piss ant little cry baby.  Been reading you’re file, the only thing you do more than fucking up is crying about it.”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 2.

Chino hits him and B.M. goes flying back against the door.

Chino:  “Hehe.  That must be someone else you’re talking about.”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 3.

B.M. has his guns out, and is pointing them at Chino and Scorpio.

B.M.:  “Move one inch and he’s dead.”

Chino:  “Don’t give a shit.”

B.M.:  “How about yourself?  I don’t think you’re bulletproof, not in this state.”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 4.

Chino hesitates.  Both guns are now pointed at him.

B.M.:  “That’s what I thought.  You don’t even know what you can and can’t do.  Like you’re different people, is what he wrote.  Each side having some different ability.  That was obviously your super strength.”

PAGE 4.  PANEL 5.

Chino is growing impatient.  B.M. has started to stand, his gun on Chino.

Chino:  “You bought the trading card, good for you.  What do you want?”

B.M.:  “Since I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you, I thought it’d be wrong to kill you.  But seeing all the shit you’ve caused, the people you’ve killed—“

Chino:  “You’re one to talk.”

B.M.:  “Innocent people you’ve killed, maybe I’d be doing the world a favor.  So how about we play a game.”


PAGE 5.  PANEL 1.

They are almost standing face to face, but with the B.M.’s guns in between them.

Chino:  “Don’t like playing anything where I can’t win.”

B.M.:  “You can win or lose.”

Chino:  “What?”

B.M.:  “Everything.”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 2. 

His left hand is putting the gun away.  They don’t get any closer to each other.

Chino:  “You playing?”

B.M.:  “Have to, it’s no fun with one person.”

Chino:  “What do you win?”

B.M.:  “Same as you.”

Chino:  “Everything?”

B.M.:  “Exactly.”

Chino:  “What’s the game?”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 3.

B.M. holds a .38 snub nose revolver in his left hand.

B.M.:  “Take a guess.”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 4.

Chino looks frightened.

B.M.:  “Come on, you’re not game?  You scared?  You killed somebody, this would only be fair.”

Chino:  “A-and you?  You’ve killed people too.”

B.M.:  “That’s why I’m willing to play.  Since I was saved, I figure I was done so for a reason, and I’ve barely started.”

PAGE 5.  PANEL 5.

Chino looks confused, his hand to his head.

Chino:  “Wha-what are you talking about, who are you?”

B.M.:  “Perfect timing, Lenny.”

Chino:  “My names not…”

B.M.:  “Not Lenny, Fei.  I know.  Think for a moment, and you’ll remember what I was talking to your other self about.”


PAGE 6.  PANEL 1.

Sho is walking around a park, looking at the sky.  There is shadowy figure, not close to him, but not very far away.  Quietly approaching him.

PAGE 6.  PANEL 2.

Sho does not turn around.  The figure stops.

Sho:  “I know you’re there.  I know you’re like me.  I can’t read you, which is impressive.  What do you want?”

Scarlettt:  “Help.”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 3.

Scarlettt comes out of the shadow.  She is in ragged clothes, and flip flops.  She looks like she has never seen light before.  Sho has turned around to face her.

Sho:  “You’re one of them.  The missing ones.”

Scarlettt:  “No, not lost.  Never existed.  Can’t be lost if you were never there.”

PAGE 6.  PANEL 4.

Scarlettt collapses, and Sho goes to grab her.

PAGE 6.  PANEL 5.

Sho holds her up, but she has fainted.

Sho:  “This is going to look interesting on the BART.”


PAGE 7.  PANEL 1.

Chino and B.M. sit at a table across from each other.  The .38 snub nose sits on the table between them.  B.M. sits back, calm and relaxed.  Chino is nervous, hunched forward. 

B.M.:  “Nervous?  How about we add another dimension to this.  A bit of confession always helps the soul at this point.  So close to the end, you might need to get some things off your chest.”

Chino:  “You know everything I’ve done.”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 2.

B.M. is holding the gun, opening the cylinder. 

B.M.:  “Hmmm.  I know what you’ve done recently.  But we all have those little secrets.  Also, it would make me feel better if you’ve done something awful, and then you die.  Something you can’t blame on some alternate personality shit.  Something real.”

Chino:  “And you?”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 3.

B.M. is emptying the cylinder, five bullets are being emptied onto the table.

B.M.:  “What would you like to hear about:  The kids in Baltimore, the bikers in Detroit, the—“

Chino:  “None of that.  I want to hear about before as well.  Something that you can’t blame on me.  What you did while you were in Iraq.”

B.M.:  “Hnnn.”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 4.

B.M. puts one bullet into the Cylinder.  He is looking at Chino as he does so.

Chino:  “Deal?”

PAGE 7.  PANEL 5.

Tight shot of B.M. spinning the cylinder. 

PAGE 7.  PANEL 6.

B.M. has put the cylinder against his head.

B.M.:  “Deal.”


PAGE 8.  PANEL 1.

The desert surrounding Bagdad.  4 soldier are walking along a desert path, near a cliff.

B.M. (caption):  “We were doing insurgents checks on the outskirts of Bagdad, ten miles out, checking for some Iraqi’s who had gotten away with a military vehicle.”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 2.

B.M. is in the lead.  He has on goggles and a bandana or piece of cloth blocking his face.  Still want to avoid identifying his ethnicity.  There is something making sounds next to them in the brush. 

B.M. (caption):  “We would fan out every couple of miles to see where the tracks were leading too.  On this check, I ran into something very…”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 3.

He has gotten into the prone position.  Something is parting the brush next to them.

B.M. (caption):  “…peculiar.”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 4.

The brush is parted and the possible enemy is revealed to be a puppy.  All the soldiers are laughing, except B.M., he has simply lowered his weapon.

B.M. (caption):  “You run into strays a lot, and mostly we just shoot ‘em.  Put them out of their misery, today was different though.”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 5.

All the soldier are playing with the dog, he is reveling in the attention.

B.M. just looks on, removed from it.

B.M.(caption):  “They were having a good time, and we don’t have too many of those occasions there.”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 6. 

B.M. has now bent down to pet the puppy.

B.M. (caption):  “I knew the time had to end though.  These guys get soft for too long and it could mean death.  Plus, we can’t have dogs on the base, and no way any of us wanted to carry the thing back those ten miles.”

PAGE 8.  PANEL 7.

B.M. has grabbed the dog by the scruff of the neck, and is looking at it eye level.

B.M.:  “Cute thing.”

PAGE 9.  SPLASH PAGE.

B.M. is throwing the dog off of the cliff.

B.M. (caption):  “Fun had to end sometime.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 1.

B.M. has the gun against his head.

B.M.:  “Let’s see if I deserve to die for that.”


PAGE 10.  PANEL 2.

B.M. pulls the trigger, but there is a click, not a bang.

PAGE 10.  PANEL 3.

B.M. is handing the gun over to Chino, his other hand is reaching into his cloak.

B.M.:  “Guess God isn’t an animal lover.  Your turn.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 4.

Chino looks at the gun, B.M. has taken one of his pistols out and is pointing it at Chino.

B.M:  “Just in case you’re thinking about using that on me, I’ve got one in the chamber already.”

PAGE 10.  PANEL 5.

Chino looks determined, he is spinning the cylinder.

PAGE 10.  PANEL 6.

Chino has slammed the cylinder back into the gun.

PAGE 10.  PANEL 7.

Chino has put it against his head.

Chino:  “My turn.”


PAGE 11.  PANEL 1.

Chino is young, sitting in Church, about nine years old.  There is a preacher on the pulpit, but not Joshua Connor.  An older, white gentleman.  People in the service are clapping and nodding in agreement.

Chino (caption):  “I hate church.  I always have, even before this happened.  I hated being forced to do something that should have been voluntary.  Anyway, we used to have this preacher, piece of shit.”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 2.

The man was on the pulpit is talking in a joyful manner.

Chino (caption):  “Give you three guesses what this asshole did, and the first two don’t count.”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 3.

Kids are playing outside, on the churchyard. 

The preacher is playing hopscotch with a young, Hispanic girl.

Chino (caption):  “Not all of us.  He never touched me.  None of them talked about it, but I knew something was wrong because of what I can do.  I knew things weren’t right.  And you want to know what I did?”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 4.

Chino walks away from the Preacher as he comes towards him.

Chino (caption):  “I ran.  Anytime he got near.  I could sense that a lot of the kids were afraid of him, and when I tried to read them, in the capacity that I could back then, it was nothing but horrible images, and shame.”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 5.

Chino is eating in a restaurant with his mom.  A younger Joshua Connor is there eating in the booth across from them.  Chino is staring at him.

Chino (caption):   “I didn’t know what to do.  I didn’t know if these were my own thoughts, or theirs.  Was it real?  I didn’t want to get him in trouble if he hadn’t done anything.”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 6.

Joshua makes a funny face at Chino.

Chino (caption):  “I was out to eat with my mom when I met the man who would change my life.”

PAGE 11.  PANEL 7.

A fight has broken out between a bigger man and a smaller man.


PAGE 12.  PANEL 1.

Everyone is scared.  Chino has huddled up next to his mom.  Joshua sees how scared Chino is.

PAGE 12.  PANEL 2.

The younger guy is getting his butt kicked.

PAGE 12.  PANEL 3.

Joshua shoves the bigger guy off, putting himself between the big man and the small man.

PAGE 12.  PANEL 4.

The big man tries to get in Joshua’s face, and seem intimidating.

Chino (caption):  “I’d never seen anyone so fearless.  He could handle anything.  Maybe…”

PAGE 12.  PANEL 5.

Joshua cowers the bigger man by yelling right back at him, even though he was smaller.

Chino (caption):  “…he could fix my problem.  If I was too big of a coward, I could fine somebody who wasn’t.”  

PAGE 12.  PANEL 6.

Joshua is outside having a cigarette, Chino has wandered away from his mom.

PAGE 12.  PANEL 7.

Chino pulls on Joshua’s shirt, and Joshua looks down at him, Chino is beckoning him to come down to his height.

PAGE 12.  PANEL 8.

Chino whispers in his ear.  Joshua’s expression is normal.

PAGE 12.  PANEL 9.

Chino whispers in his ear.

Joshua appears very angry.


PAGE 13.  PANEL 1.

Chino is talking with the gun against his head.

Chino:  “That’s how I got rid of the bad guy, and got the good guy.  All the while I could have gotten rid of him much sooner if I wasn’t so fucking scared.”

Chino:  “Let’s see if God hates cowards.”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 2.

Chino eyes and mouth are clenched shut, he squeezes the trigger.

PAGE 13.  PANEL 3.

There is a click, but nothing happens.

PAGE 13.  PANEL 4.

Chino looks relieved.

B.M.:  “Hand it here.  I guess that counts.  Good thing you got rid of the kiddie fucker.”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 5.

B.M. spins the cylinder.

B.M.:  “Kids are a wonderful thing, aren’t they?”

PAGE 13.  PANEL 6.

B.M. has the gun pointed against his head.

B.M.:  “Except for when they’re trying to kill you.”

PAGE 14.  PANEL 1.
Night, inner city Bagdad.  A soldier kicks in a door. 

PAGE 14.  PANEL 2.

Other soldiers coming rushing in through the door, they have night vision goggles on, and there are tracer lasers emitting light from the tops of their rifles. 

People are starting to scatter in the foreground. 

B.M.:  “We had a tip that their was a suicide bomber hiding out, waiting to carry out their plans.”

PAGE 14.  PANEL 3.

B.M. with night vision goggles, and rifle in hand is walking down a hallway. 

B.M (caption):  “The family had all been sleeping in the same room.”

B.M. (caption):  “When they scattered, we each picked one to follow.”

PAGE 14.  PANEL 4.

B.M. has his sights on a man strapping on a bomb.

B.M (caption):  “I was the lucky one.”

PAGE 14.  PANEL 5.

Tight shot of his finger almost fully squeezing the trigger.

B.M. (caption):  “Asshole didn’t even care that he’d kill his whole family in the process.”

PAGE 14.  PANEL 6.

A smaller figure is running at B.M. as he is turning around to meet the smaller figure.

B.M. (caption):  “I heard something coming towards me and reacted out of instinct.”


PAGE 15.  PANEL 1.

B.M. has shot a kid through the head.  He is seeing it through his night vision goggles.

B.M. (caption):  “He didn’t care that he was going to kill his whole family, but when I did it, he lost his concentration.”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 2.

The suicide bomber, bomb not yet strapped to his chest, has tackled B.M.

PAGE 15.  PANEL 3.

B.M. is struggling underneath the man, as the man is trying to choke him.

B.M.:  “I should have shot him with that bullet.  It’s who it was meant for, until I fucked it up.”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 4.

B.M. is looking at the man through the night vision goggles.  His face all anger and fury.

PAGE 15.  PANEL 5.

The face of the man has changed, panic, shock, sadness.

B.M. is cutting the man’s throat.

B.M. (caption):  “I don’t regret the second kill at all.”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 6.

B.M. has gotten up, and is looking around.

PAGE 15.  PANEL 7.

A night vision shot of the dead child, small, ragged clothes.  Blank face of death.

B.M. (caption):  “This one though…”

PAGE 15.  PANEL 8.

B.M. is squeezing the trigger of the .38 snub nose.


PAGE 16.  PANEL 1.

The hammer clicks down, no bullet in the chamber.

PAGE 16.  PANEL 2.

Shot of B.M. through the muzzle.

B.M.:  “I thought for sure I would get it for that.  Your turn.”

Chino:  “It was a mistake, you didn’t mean to.”

B.M.:  “A rock or a grain of sand, in water they sink the same.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 3.

Chino is spinning the cylinder. 

Chino:  “All crimes are equal.”

B.M.:  “Eventually.”

Chino:  “Then I will probably die on this next one.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 4.

A shot of the little girl hopscotching from PAGE 11.  PANEL 3.  The preacher is behind her again.

Chino (caption):  “Like I said earlier, I never had my person violated, but it doesn’t mean that he didn’t violate me personally.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 5.

Chino is with the little girl, she is crying.

Chino (caption):  “Breanna and I grew up together.  When the asshole was disposed of we were still there, trying to pick up the pieces of the victims.”

B.M (caption):  “Rather poetic.”

Chino (caption): “Shut the fuck up.”

PAGE 16.  PANEL 6.

Chino and Breanna are a little older, around 13.  They are kissing in Chino’s room.

Chino (caption):  “Breanna was my first girlfriend, and biggest mistake.”


PAGE 17.  PANEL 1.

Breanna has pulled away, Chino leans forward wanting more.

Chino (caption):  “Neither of us understood the amount of damage that had been done.  She became a contradiction.”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 2.

Breanna is crying again.

Chino (caption):  “And I was too stupid to understand what that meant.”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 3.

Chino is in a tux, a little older.  He is wiping off his pants, Breanna is gargling mouth wash.

Chino (caption):  “Sexual one minute…”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 4.

Chino tries to hug her, and she deflects him.

Chino (caption):  “…cold the next.”

Chino (caption):  “I was kid.  How was I to know?”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 5.

Chino has been knocking on Breanna’s door, and Breanna’s arm is opening the door, and there are visible cuts and burns on her arm.  Chino and Breanna are in the same clothes from the flash back, this is a few hours before.  Chino is wearing a back pack.

Chino (caption):  “For starters I could have been more attentive.”

PAGE 17.  PANEL 6.

Breanna is covering her arm with her long sleeve as she invites Chino in.

Chino (caption):  “I could have asked her.”


PAGE 18.  PANEL 1. 

Breanna is taking out an arm load of beers from a 30 pack in her fridge, Chino is holding a back pack, giving her the thumbs up.

Chino (caption):  “Kids know what they’re doing.  That kid rushing you?  Knew exactly what he was doing.  And so did I.  Maybe if I was good, and I got her really drunk this time…”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 2.

Chino is helping Breanna over a fence at a school.

Chino (caption):  “Maybe she’d finally let me…”

B.M. (caption):  “Fuck her.”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 3.

The two of them are sitting under the bleachers at the high school.  There are beers around them that have already been drunk.  Both of them are laughing, Breanna has her hand close to Chino’s thigh.

Chino (caption):  “…yes.”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 4.

Breanna is yawning, and rubbing her eyes, shaking her head no to Chino motioning with his thumb to leave.

Chino (caption):  “But we had spent the whole night on the phone the night before, and she was tired.  I wish that would have been my sign that nothing was going to happen.”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 5.

Breanna is sleeping on Chino’s thigh.  He is looking at her breasts, the little bit of cleavage that is showing from the top of her outfit.

Chino (caption):  “I wanted to touch her so bad, I just didn’t care anymore.”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 6.

Chino is touching Breanna, and himself.

Chino (caption):  “…”

PAGE 18.  PANEL 7.

Small panel of an eye startled awake.  Breanna’s eye.


PAGE 19.  PANEL 1.

Breanna has gotten up, covering herself.  Chino looks up at her.

Breanna:  “What are you doing?”

Chino:  “I was just…just seeing if you were awake.”

Breanna:  “Yeah right!”

PAGE 19.  PANEL 2.

Breanna still covering up, but Chino now looks away from her, ashamed and embarrassed. 

Breanna:  “How could you?  You know what happened to me.  You were there for all of it, and you think that would turn me on?  Touching me when I didn’t ask you to.  That would make me want to fuck you.  FUCKING ASSHOLE!”

Chino:  “…”

PAGE 19.  PANEL 3.

Breanna is now yelling at Chino, he is trying to cover his erection.

Breanna:  “God, you’re pathetic.  I hate you so much right now.  I don’t ever want to see you again.  Don’t call me, talk to me, avoid me at school you fucking rapist.”

PAGE 19.  PANEL 4.

Breanna is storming off.  Chino sits under the bleachers.

Chino (caption):  “And I didn’t.  I never sought her out, called her, or tried to talk to her.  She was right.  Everything she said about me was right.  Who knows how far I would have gone if she hadn’t of woken up.”

PAGE 19.  PANEL 5.

Chino has the gun against his head.

B.M.:  “Pull it.  You deserve it.”

Chino:  “…I know.”


PAGE 20.  SPLASH PAGE.

Chino has pulled the trigger and the gun has fired.  The bullet goes through the side of his head, but doesn’t exit.

THE END