“The Villain Saga” – Episode 5, Part 1

(Table of contents) (See previous)

FADE IN.

We open on a wide shot displaying Erewhon Prison. It’s a rare non-stormy day, where bits of sunlight can actually be seen through the fog. The island is in perpetual shadow, but you can just barely tell it’s afternoon.

CUT TO inside the prison, on the first floor near the doors. Only a couple guards are stationed there, one sleeping and the other playing a game of solitaire on a work computer.

The camera heads to the elevator, then speeds up the building. We at last arrive at Floor 13, where a guard is leading DR. HARE into the medical and testing side. The doors to JUPITER’S strange machinery remain closed and locked.

The two enter the medical room. Suddenly, the prison seems to burst into chaos. A man in a lab coat is chasing WIDOW around the room, dragging a medical rolling cart along with him. It’s full of all sorts of devices and monitors.

DR. HARE

(to GUARD)

So…what does this exactly have to do with normal prison activities?

THE GUARD ignores him.

GUARD

Jupiter! The rabbit man’s here!

DR. HARE

Hare!! They’re different things you dunce–

JUPITER gets up from his computer and approaches them.

JUPITER

Ah, I’m glad you’re here! I just wanted to speak to you about something.

DR. HARE

No needles, right? I don’t mind putting them in others just not myse–

JUPITER

No, not at all.

JUPITER points at his desk. A small metal helmet lays on it, with antennae in the shape of bunny ears.

JUPITER

You wouldn’t by any chance know what that is?

HARE

…That’s mine! How did you get it?

JUPITER

We managed to gain access to all your lairs, save for Mordred’s. 

(He goes back to the desk and lifts the helmet)

I understand this is a mind control device? Would you…ahem, mind explaining a bit about it to me?

DR. HARE

First, terrible joke. Second, that’s my technology and mine alone. I will never–

DR. JUPITER’S gaze darkens. Some aura around him grows threatening, and HARE can clearly sense it, although the man’s usual smile has not disappeared.

JUPITER

I never said you had a choice.

HARE is lead to the chair near him, sitting down in handcuffs while JUPITER pulls out a screwdriver to begin disassembling the helmet. HARE takes a look over his shoulder. BINARY BARD is sitting on a medical table in a corner, dozing off while two doctors study some surface-level robotics on his head.

DR. HARE

Did you give him something? I don’t think I ever see him sleep.

JUPITER

Just a bit in his food.

HARE

What’s with wherever he’s from, anyway?

(He points at a crate near the desk with both his cuffed hands. It’s filled with swords and maps)

You seem to have got your hands on Crawfish’s things.

JUPITER

The Binary Bard is from a land called the Kingdom of Arturus. It’s one of the most closed-off places in the world, having centuries with no modern development. According to him, it was only after his family that technology was introduced to the kingdom.

(He unlocks a drawer, pulling out a very odd looking plasma gun)

Hence the foreign nature of it all.

HARE

Wait. That looks similar to some weird things I saw in space…

FLASHBACK showing DR. HARE in his rocket ship. His face that isn’t covered by his hood and goggles shows a bit of blond stubble, and he’s digging through a drawer near the control panel. Small carrot ends fly out of it as he scavenges for food.

HARE (V.O.)

I was at the end of my food supply, when I saw a bunch of lights.

HARE jumps as several ships speed past his window. He rushes to it, pressing his face against the glass like a child looking into a Christmas toy store display. The rockets are futuristic, not like the industrial design of his own creations. Neon green lights blast from them as they begin their descent to the planet.

HARE (V.O.)

I had never seen anything like them!

(con’t)

I thought maybe they were aliens at first. At the time, I really wanted to meet whoever designed them.

CUT BACK to the lab room, where HARE is sitting on his chair in a “The Thinker” pose.

HARE

Of course, now I know I’d rather step on Legos than have a conversation with that guy.

(con’t)

A shame, but he’s a bear trap when it comes to his designs anyway.

JUPITER

If someone could find his lair, or if we could reach the land he’s from, we might be able to get our hands on the blueprints.

HARE

I’ll take a note for whenever I’m finally out.

JUPITER laughs.

HARE

What??

CUT TO RINGMASTER RAVEN, who’s just kind of sitting by himself. He’s in the lab but no one’s paying much attention to him.

A woman passes him–almost skipping instead of walking-carrying about a dozen clipboards.

RAVEN

Uh–hey?

DR. NYAH stops, turning to him. Her smile once again reveals her odd canine teeth.

NYAH

Yea?

RAVEN

Why exactly am I here? I think I’m the only prisoner kept on the top floor.

NYAH

(balancing the excessive amount of clipboards)

We’re just making sure you’re doing ok! The others below can make things a mess…very, very fast…

RAVEN

Ah?

(pause)

Wait, I think I remember you…

NYAH

Aw, really?

RAVEN looks at the floor.

RAVEN

Thanks…for what you did…I guess…

NYAH

You guess?

RAVEN

No, no, it was good, I just…

(pause again)

It’s just…so weird to finally be aware of everything again.

NYAH tilts her head, thinking for a while. RAVEN keeps his gaze to the floor.

Taking one of the clipboards, NYAH taps it on the top of his head.

NYAH

Boop!

She runs off.

RAVEN

H–Hey! I’m an established circus professional, you know! What was that “boop”–

Crashing sounds. Several clipboards fall to the floor, with NYAH out of sight. RAVEN winces.

NYAH

Sorry!

CUT TO HARE again. A clipboard flies past him and DR. JUPITER, and he watches it clatter on the floor.

HARE

Huh, that voice was…familiar. Who was it?

JUPITER

Just one of my assistants here.

CUT TO CRAWFISH. He’s with a couple doctors, who are trying to interview him with a computer which makes all the clipboards from earlier completely useless.

DOCTOR #1

All right, could I have your date of birth please?

CRAWFISH

(pointing peg leg toward desk)

What is that bright thing? All of you seem so enamored by them.

DOCTOR #1

It’s called a “computer”. I’m just putting information into it.

CRAWFISH

What in the…

(He leans over to get a better look of the desk)

Where does it keep everything?

(He knocks on the wooden surface)

Seems pretty thin. Where’s the drawers?

DOCTOR #1

(sighs)

It’s all kept in the computer, not the desk.

CRAWFISH

Does it shrink everything?

DOCTOR #2

Please just…cooperate. Two of you tried lecturing us about how bad our technology is and the other tried to punch a hole through it.

CRAWFISH

Ha! That sounds like Widow’s doing. I feel inclined to side with her.

DOCTOR #2

Please don’t.

CUT BACK to DR. JUPITER. He’s getting up from his desk, and a guard has come back to take DR. HARE.

DR. JUPITER

Bring him with me.

They head out the door, and down the hall, to a room right next to the locked off area. HARE stops in the middle of the doorway, looking at a window. It looks straight into the next room. Even more employees are in there, a mix of scientists and construction workers operating beeping machinery and yelling as they create some large structure.

DR. HARE

What–

JUPITER draws the shutter for the window. The room is now completely dark, save for the glowing lights of a few computers–and a light shining on a petri dish. The GUARD leads HARE to a chair right in the center of the room.

DR. JUPITER

Just some preparations for a larger…experiment of my own. Perhaps I’ll let you tinker with it some day.

(He turns away, toward the desk, and looks into a microscope over the petri dish)

It does use some of your own technology, after all.

DR. HARE

I hope I get some credit. I patented all of that, you know.

We see JUPITER’S view through the microscope. Little sculptures are floating in it, almost too small to discern what they are. He puts on some latex gloves, and reaches with some tweezers into the dish. It grabs on one of the sculptures, a tiny golden carrot.

DR. JUPITER

Now, this will be very quick and–mostly–painless.

(He turns to HARE)

I just need you to hold perfectly still.

HARE suddenly looks a little frightened.

HARE

What are you doing?

JUPITER

Oh, this is just another stage in our…treatment. Each of these has been perfectly modeled and tuned for all four of you. You’ll be feeling far better once this is done, trust me.

The GUARD puts his hands on HARE’S shoulders, holding him in place. JUPITER comes very close to HARE, holding the tweezers up at his face.

DR. HARE whimpers.

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Castori honorem ~ Maryann/Smart Bubbles