“The Villain Saga” – Episode 6, Part 1

(Table of contents)(See previous)

FADE IN.

We open inside the window of a shop. A couple dusty toys are on display, but there’s a shiny, new ninja robot in the center of them all, with all kinds of buttons to do different actions.

A small girl with short, unruly black hair peeks into the window, gasping with joy when she sees the toy is still in stock.

She runs down the road, ignoring how her backpack hits a couple strangers on accident. The area of the city doesn’t look especially well off or fancy, and a couple more adults yell at her as she runs past, unknowingly disrupting their days with her burst of happiness.

She stumbles her way up the stairs of an apartment building, and enters a door at the top.

Her mother calls out to her, but the name is fuzzy.

The girl enters her room and pulls a few coins from her bag. Tossing it to the floor, she puts the coins into a small piggy bank next to her bed. 

GIRL’S MOTHER

Come and help! Your cousin is visiting soon.

The girl leaves her room, and returns with a small hammer.

GIRL

Just a moment!

CUT TO the girl back at the shop. She’s just leaving with a bag in her hand, holding the box with the action figure.

She’s absolutely giddy, so happy she doesn’t notice a car passing, with another young, blonde girl watching her through the window.

The girl starts to head back home. As she turns a corner, nearing the apartments, she passes by a fruit stall. Several are bruised and old, but there’s one round, shiny red apple in one. Not quite thinking her actions through, the little girl grabs the apple, inspects it, and goes to take a bite.

Immediately, a man behind the stall notices her.

SHOPKEEPER

HEY!

CUT TO the SHOPKEEPER dragging the girl home. Her MOTHER answers the door, and listens to the story with a look of horror and shame. The SHOPKEEPER finally leaves, and the door to the apartment is closed.

GIRL’S MOTHER

How could you? And especially when sister Moreau is visiting!

Two other adults are present, the parents of the blonde girl. The wife clicks her tongue in disappointment. The BLONDE GIRL steps forward. Her appearance is just as vaguely familiar, and her frilly, lacy style cements it. She walks to the shaken GIRL with her signature disdainful smile.

YOUNG MOREAU

What about that bag?

(con’t)

I saw her coming out of the toy shop, I think she stole it too.

GIRL

No! No I didn’t!

YOUNG MOREAU

Where’s the receipt?

GIRL

I don’t have–they were out of paper.

All the ADULTS glare at the GIRL, causing her to stumble over her words.

GIRL

I–I saved for it–it was my money–I didn’t.

GIRL’S MOTHER

Hand it over.

GIRL

No!

YOUNG MOREAU reaches for the bag. The GIRL refuses to let it go, and a tug-of-war ensues. YOUNG MOREAU yanks it with all her strength, causing the GIRL to fall and the bag to rip. The toy crashes to the floor from the force, breaking into pieces.

Silent, hot tears stream down the girl’s face, but she doesn’t cry out loud.

YOUNG MOREAU

That’s what you get for being a thief!

No one there asks the GIRL for clarification. YOUNG MOREAU and the ADULTS walk away, completely set in their suspicions of her.

The “bad” one.

The GIRL picks up her broken toy, and takes it into her room. Sniffling, she tries to put the pieces together, but it’s broken beyond her ability to repair.

With a frustrated cry, YOUNG BLACK WIDOW throws it against the wall.

CUT TO BLACK WIDOW back in the prison, on the bed in the upper level cells.

RAVEN

Hey.

WIDOW yells in surprise. She looks behind her, at the wall where the voice came from.

WIDOW

Who’s there?

There’s a tiny window between the two cells, blocked by rows of bars and with sliding shutters for privacy. RINGMASTER RAVEN peeks through.

RAVEN

It’s me. I think I’ve seen you in the lunch room before.

WIDOW

Ah, l’ homme poulet.

(con’t)

I didn’t know anyone was kept up here.

RAVEN

…Did you just call me “the chicken man”?

WIDOW

Yes–

RAVEN slams the shutter closed.

WIDOW

Hmph! I’m just saying what they call you!

The shutter slides back open.

RAVEN

It’s not very nice of you!

He closes the shutter again.

WIDOW

You expect politeness in a prison? I’ve been much nicer to you than many others here would be…

(She stares up at the shutter, talking to it as though he’s still there)

Why are you up here, anyway?

RAVEN opens his shutter again.

RAVEN

It’s…kind of a long story…

WIDOW

I’m not short on time.

CUT TO JUPITER’S office. He is taking a look at something on his computer, with the lights dimmed and the door closed.

Suddenly, the door bursts open, and DR. NYAH rushes in.

JUPITER

Knock, please!

NYAH

Sorry! I just wanted to ask if you wanted coffee.

JUPITER

Uh–no, no thanks.

NYAH

Plenty of cream and sugar?

JUPITER

Absolutely not.

NYAH

Black with three shots of espresso?

JUPITER pauses.

JUPITER

Make it four and we’ve got a deal.

NYAH nods.

NYAH

Oki!

(She heads out the door)

Turn your lights on, by the way–it’s depressing in here!

JUPITER sighs as the door closes. He looks back at his computer.

JUPITER

Good thing the coffee maker is thirteen floors down…

He clicks a few things on his browser. Suddenly, the screen changes, opening a barebones, retro application. A blue loading bar appears, with “CONNECTING” in large, foreboding words. JUPITER rests his chin on his fists, waiting.

The bar finishes loading.

The screen flickers several times, and the computer looks like it’s about to bluescreen or crash. Then, a grizzled face appears, sitting at a fancy desk surrounded by monitors.

AGENT “A”

Hello, Dr. Jupiter. I’m glad you remembered our meeting this week.

JUPITER

My apologies, Mr. Álvaro. I’m aware how important these are for you. 

(con’t)

But I am curious about why you seem to doubt my abilities to keep this prison safe so much.

AGENT “A”

You have several very dangerous individuals in there…

(He taps a glass chess piece sitting on a board on the desk)

My special team upholds safety for the common people, but we also want to make sure all institutions abide by the laws as well.

DR. JUPITER tries not to roll his eyes.

AGENT “A”

I’ve gotten…some notes.

(con’t)

“Doctor” Jupiter, you say you have decades of knowledge on prison reform, science, and psychology, but couldn’t find any information beyond what you wrote here.

ÁLVARO holds up a stack of stapled paper. JUPITER stares at the paper through the screen, adjusting his eyeglasses.

JUPITER

Oh, sorry, my eyesight isn’t as good as it used to be–yes, a little closer–

(con’t)

Ah! I see now. As you should be aware, it’s difficult to access information from some corners of our world. You can probably imagine how difficult it was for me to gather references.

AGENT “A”

I see…where did you say you were raised, again?

JUPITER

Hemlock Harbor. A nice, quiet place.

AGENT A

I see…

(con’t)

Well I won’t take more of your time–or mine. I expect you to check in again next week.

JUPITER

Of course, of course.

The screen dims. The connection is now disabled. JUPITER slouches in his chair with a groan. NYAH enters, holding a piping hot cup of coffee.

NYAH

Need anything else?

JUPITER

Just…send me those notes from Ms. Lesser and Mr. Davis.

He waits for the door to close. JUPITER takes a sip of the coffee, glaring at the computer’s blank screen.

JUPITER

I’ve got to send them something to distract them…

CUT TO the ÁLVARO’S office. His monitor is blank as well, and he looks down at the papers from JUPITER.

AGENT “A”

Something’s fishy about this…

A woman with burgundy hair pops up from her work. She’s at a desk on the far side of the room, among several other people working there.

AGENT “FISHY”

Yes Mr. A?

AGENT “A”

Not–

(con’t)

Wait…Agent Fishy! Dragon!

Another head pops up from the desk. The other agents around them all have their attention on ÁLVARO as well. He tosses the papers to them.

AGENT “A”

Do dimensional tracing on these papers–I want to see where they’re from.

The agents all scatter and take the papers. (Several name plaques reveal the names: FISHY, DRAGON, JOKER, FLYER, BOA, DOLPHIN, PURPLE, BUBBLES, ICICLE.)

AGENT “A”

Get it done as fast as possible!

(con’t)

Where’s Agent Bubbles?

AGENT “FLYER”

Uh…I think she went down to the basement again to work on something.

CUT TO AGENT “BUBBLES”, laughing maniacally while writing on a worn laptop in a dark room.

CUT BACK to the office.

AGENT “A”

Ugh, she’s probably distracted by something else anyway…

(He heads back to his desk)

And remember, do not let this man know of our investigation!

The camera pans up, towards the ceiling. The base seems to be underground, or at least well-hidden, as there are no windows and the only light comes from lamps and computer screens. A large logo is pasted onto the ceiling, a globe with scattered islands and large bold letters below:

POPTROPICA HEROES’ UNION.

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My doc for this whole series is getting pretty long already. I wonder what the page count will be if I reach the end of the whole series.

While the nine “agents” may seem familiar, Mr. Álvaro/Agent A is just another character created for this series and isn’t based off anyone. :>

Castori honorem ~ Smart Bubbles