Finally! Thanks to Kold, the next installment of DeadWar is out. Say thankya.
Disclaimer: All original characters are mine, but all other characters are property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.
Rating: PG
Beta: Kold
Summary: Regan and Oz finally locate the missing Slayer. Dena goes off on a "hunting trip" and finds someone....unexpected waiting for her.
TEASER
INT. SOLITA'S KITCHEN--DAY
This small but tidy room is dominated by a wooden table surrounded by mismatched chairs, leaving just enough room to make use of the stove, cabinets, and refrigerator. In fact, the table has been shoved close enough to the wall that several of the chairs are probably not used frequently. A cheap print of a Pieta scene hangs above that wall.
DEBORA, a middle-aged Hispanic woman in a flowered blouse, is sitting tiredly in one of the accessible chairs reading a report card.
DEBORA (loudly): Solita?
SOLITA enters, carrying a mathematics schoolbook and a spiral notebook. Her hair is hanging over her left eye, hiding it from view; her right hand is hidden carefully inside a jacket sleeve.
SOLITA (head down): I know, Mama. I'm sorry.
DEBORA: Solita, I'm not angry with you. I'm worried. Have you stopped studying?
SOLITA: No, Mama.
DEBORA: Then what's wrong, honey? Your grades are so bad lately, and your teachers tell me that you've been-- (She reaches out to brush the hair away from SOLITA's eye, which is bruised black and swollen.) Oh, Solita.
SOLITA: I wasn't fighting at school, Mama. Not this time.
DEBORA: Where did you get this, then?
SOLITA turns away and says nothing.
DEBORA: If someone is hurting you, dear, please...tell me. We can get help.
SOLITA: On the way home, I...ran into someone. (She glances up at the picture over the table.) Someone bad. And...not exactly a someone.
DEBORA peers at her, not understanding.
SOLITA: She had....horns. Like...like a picture of the devil. And she was really, really tall.
DEBORA: Solita, you need to tell me the truth. Who hurt you?
SOLITA (desperately): It is the truth, Mama. She said...they...were looking for me. So I hit her, and she hit me back, and I...I....
DEBORA (guessing): You ran away?
SOLITA (swallows hard, frightened): I....no.
DEBORA: What do you mean, no?
Trembling, SOLITA holds up her right hand, letting the sleeve fall away. It's covered in something black and grimy.
SOLITA: No....I didn't run.
THEME PLAYS, CREDITS ROLL
Theme: "What I've Done," Linkin Park
Starring:
Aishwarya Rai as Sadha Kaur
Ellen Muth as Dena Greer
Erica Hubbard as Regan Stacey
Roy Dotrice as Roger Wyndham-Price
Ivana Baquero as Solita Munoz
and Seth Green as Daniel "Oz" Osbourne
Guest starring:
Elizabeth Pena as Debora Munoz
Helen Mirren as Elizabeth Wyndham-Price
Philip Hoffman as Hampton Greer
Camille Winbush as Ugandan Slayer
ACT I
INT RENTAL HOUSE -- DAY
Open on HAMPTON GREER's face.
HAMPTON (chuckling): You don't call, you don't text...what's a father to do?
Camera pulls back to reveal DENA with her arms wrapped around him.
DENA: Da-ad! It's been a couple of weeks. Nothing much going on between sessions, just waiting for fall semester to start. There's, just, nothing to talk about.
HAMPTON: Well, I'm here to see how my girl is doing. How're you doing?
DENA: It's Orientation. I'm supposed to be helping the new students carry in their stuff. I'm fine, Dad.
HAMPTON: I worry about you, you know. Out here at the university, separated from your family like this, away from your church...(DENA gives him a squeeze, and he grunts.) Oof! Careful!
DENA (laughing and letting go): Dad, you just live across town!
HAMPTON (with a wink): And yet you don't call, you don't text....(more seriously) Your mother and I do worry about you. You should keep in touch...come visit more often.
DENA (irritable): I'm not my brother, Dad. Nothing's going to happen.
HAMPTON: Dena...
DENA: I don't drink, or sleep with everything that--
SADHA enters from another room, stopping well away from the open front door.
DENA: I'm not like him. I'm not going to change just because I'm out of the house.
HAMPTON nods briefly to the unfamiliar woman.
DENA: She's a teacher here. She wanted to meet some of the students who were, uh, staying between semesters.
HAMPTON (bluntly): You fight demons with her?
DENA (fidgeting with her hair): ...Yeah.
HAMPTON (reluctant): Dena, sweetheart...I'm not saying what you're doing isn't real. I've met demons. I've fought demons. I believe in spiritual warfare. But back in the nineties it was sort of a craze. You had pastors seeing demons under every doormat. I got caught up in it, and I dragged you along with me.
DENA: Dad--
SADHA is watching the conversation analytically and in silence.
HAMPTON: Not everyone who's crazy, or sick, or a sinner is possessed. That isn't how the world works. Bad things happen...people do bad things...on their own.
DENA: What I do is real, Dad. This isn't about...about kids high on PCP or something. I speak in tongues. I have...dreams, prophetic dreams. And you remember that month when I was afraid to style my hair, let alone cut it? I had a reason for that, and you know d--...very well what it was. I helped you. We worked together.
HAMPTON: Hon...I know we did. I know better than to think you're sick in the head. But you could hurt someone...or, or you could be sued. If you make a mistake--
DENA (folding her arms): I don't...make...mistakes.
HAMPTON: I know you believe that. That's why I'm worried. (looking around) Do we need all these lights on? It doesn't have to be so dark in here in the daytime. (He moves toward a shaded window.)
SADHA (putting a hand on his arm): I have a condition.
HAMPTON (apparently accepting this): Ah. Got it. I'm sorry. Are you really a teacher?
SADHA: I am. Have been for quite a while.
HAMPTON (shaking his head disbelievingly): I'm sorry, I...it's been a while since I was really involved in this sort of thing. I've done a couple of exorcisms in the last year, that's about all. Sometimes I forget not every believer's from Texas or Alabama.
SADHA (not correcting him): No, indeed not.
DENA looks between them as if waiting for her father to catch on.
HAMPTON: Look...my girl here's kind of headstrong. I know she's got good intentions, and I know what she can do, but...keep her out of trouble, okay? If you can. Don't lead her into it.
SADHA (with a half-smile): I do my best.
HAMPTON: Dena, what do you say to pizza? Your old man's buying.
DENA (glancing between her father and SADHA again): That sounds good. Uh...you mean, out?
HAMPTON: Just the two of us. (to SADHA) It's not a problem, is it? I want to spend some time with my baby girl.
SADHA (making mild shooing motions): I never eat...pizza. It upsets my stomach. Go, enjoy while you can. They grow up so quickly, don't they?
HAMPTON walks out. DENA hangs back for a moment, still looking at SADHA, seeming perplexed. Finally she closes the door behind her.
CUT TO
INT. DINING ROOM--DAY
Open on ROGER WYNDHAM-PRICE's gloating face.
ROGER (theatrically): Ah, stumbled upon my master plan, have you? Well, no matter. You cannot stop me...nothing can stop--
ROGER breaks off, clutching at his chest.
Cut to reveal ROGER is at an elaborately-set dining room table, surrounded by guests. ELIZABETH WYNDHAM-PRICE is seated next to him.
ROGER (amused): And that's when Elizabeth put a crossbow bolt through his heart, right in the middle of his monologue. One simply cannot find villains these days without a tendency to boast about their plans, or put one in deathtraps, or some other such foolishness.
The guests break into laughter.
ELIZABETH: I really do think it's the time-travelers. Demons like that ludicrous Granak fellow Sahjhan, spreading these absurd modern fictional conventions. (with a chuckle) Not that it doesn't come in handy at times.
ROGER: Of course, nowadays one normally has Slayers at hand to carry out missions like that, but back in the day there was only the one, and sometimes one had to take personal risks.
ELIZABETH: I didn't think so much about the risk, myself. It was an adventure, actually. I admit I quite enjoyed myself. Would that I still had the stamina for such things.
ROGER: Well, if only to keep you safe, I'm quite glad you don't. Missions like that are for the young.
ELIZABETH (with a deep sigh): It's such a shame about Wesley. If only he'd applied himself, made some real effort, perhaps he'd be here with us.
FEMALE GUEST (changing an uncomfortable subject): You have a Slayer working for you now, don't you? Personally, I mean?
ROGER: Ah, yes...the girl's a bit limited in some ways. Not much of an education, but under her circumstances it's not as though it were avoidable. She's bright enough, I suppose. Certainly she understands how to follow orders.
CUT TO
INT. CRYPT -- DAY
This darkened, filthy room nonetheless has walls decorated with carved stone sculpture. Inside, the UGANDAN SLAYER is tangling with a pair of wrinkly-faced demons who resemble Clem. One of them attempts to rabbit-punch her from behind, but she twists out of his way, pulling his companion around into the blow's path. Struck in the back, the second demon collapses.
FIRST DEMON: Dammit, Slayer! I said you could have the stupid thing! She's not paying us enough for this!
The SLAYER snarls something in Swahili.
DEMON: Aw, c'mon! Don't you speak Human?
Bringing her fist around for a roundhouse punch, the SLAYER flattens him. She pulls a scrap of paper from her jacket pocket to consult for a moment--it seems to be a crudely-drawn map, with flowing script describing certain locations--then goes to the far wall of the crypt and presses her fingers against a small sculptural relief, causing a panel to slide open.
We can't see the object she removes.
END ACT I
Disclaimer: All original characters are mine, but all other characters are property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.
Rating: PG
Beta: Kold
Summary: Regan and Oz finally locate the missing Slayer. Dena goes off on a "hunting trip" and finds someone....unexpected waiting for her.
TEASER
INT. SOLITA'S KITCHEN--DAY
This small but tidy room is dominated by a wooden table surrounded by mismatched chairs, leaving just enough room to make use of the stove, cabinets, and refrigerator. In fact, the table has been shoved close enough to the wall that several of the chairs are probably not used frequently. A cheap print of a Pieta scene hangs above that wall.
DEBORA, a middle-aged Hispanic woman in a flowered blouse, is sitting tiredly in one of the accessible chairs reading a report card.
DEBORA (loudly): Solita?
SOLITA enters, carrying a mathematics schoolbook and a spiral notebook. Her hair is hanging over her left eye, hiding it from view; her right hand is hidden carefully inside a jacket sleeve.
SOLITA (head down): I know, Mama. I'm sorry.
DEBORA: Solita, I'm not angry with you. I'm worried. Have you stopped studying?
SOLITA: No, Mama.
DEBORA: Then what's wrong, honey? Your grades are so bad lately, and your teachers tell me that you've been-- (She reaches out to brush the hair away from SOLITA's eye, which is bruised black and swollen.) Oh, Solita.
SOLITA: I wasn't fighting at school, Mama. Not this time.
DEBORA: Where did you get this, then?
SOLITA turns away and says nothing.
DEBORA: If someone is hurting you, dear, please...tell me. We can get help.
SOLITA: On the way home, I...ran into someone. (She glances up at the picture over the table.) Someone bad. And...not exactly a someone.
DEBORA peers at her, not understanding.
SOLITA: She had....horns. Like...like a picture of the devil. And she was really, really tall.
DEBORA: Solita, you need to tell me the truth. Who hurt you?
SOLITA (desperately): It is the truth, Mama. She said...they...were looking for me. So I hit her, and she hit me back, and I...I....
DEBORA (guessing): You ran away?
SOLITA (swallows hard, frightened): I....no.
DEBORA: What do you mean, no?
Trembling, SOLITA holds up her right hand, letting the sleeve fall away. It's covered in something black and grimy.
SOLITA: No....I didn't run.
THEME PLAYS, CREDITS ROLL
Theme: "What I've Done," Linkin Park
Starring:
Aishwarya Rai as Sadha Kaur
Ellen Muth as Dena Greer
Erica Hubbard as Regan Stacey
Roy Dotrice as Roger Wyndham-Price
Ivana Baquero as Solita Munoz
and Seth Green as Daniel "Oz" Osbourne
Guest starring:
Elizabeth Pena as Debora Munoz
Helen Mirren as Elizabeth Wyndham-Price
Philip Hoffman as Hampton Greer
Camille Winbush as Ugandan Slayer
ACT I
INT RENTAL HOUSE -- DAY
Open on HAMPTON GREER's face.
HAMPTON (chuckling): You don't call, you don't text...what's a father to do?
Camera pulls back to reveal DENA with her arms wrapped around him.
DENA: Da-ad! It's been a couple of weeks. Nothing much going on between sessions, just waiting for fall semester to start. There's, just, nothing to talk about.
HAMPTON: Well, I'm here to see how my girl is doing. How're you doing?
DENA: It's Orientation. I'm supposed to be helping the new students carry in their stuff. I'm fine, Dad.
HAMPTON: I worry about you, you know. Out here at the university, separated from your family like this, away from your church...(DENA gives him a squeeze, and he grunts.) Oof! Careful!
DENA (laughing and letting go): Dad, you just live across town!
HAMPTON (with a wink): And yet you don't call, you don't text....(more seriously) Your mother and I do worry about you. You should keep in touch...come visit more often.
DENA (irritable): I'm not my brother, Dad. Nothing's going to happen.
HAMPTON: Dena...
DENA: I don't drink, or sleep with everything that--
SADHA enters from another room, stopping well away from the open front door.
DENA: I'm not like him. I'm not going to change just because I'm out of the house.
HAMPTON nods briefly to the unfamiliar woman.
DENA: She's a teacher here. She wanted to meet some of the students who were, uh, staying between semesters.
HAMPTON (bluntly): You fight demons with her?
DENA (fidgeting with her hair): ...Yeah.
HAMPTON (reluctant): Dena, sweetheart...I'm not saying what you're doing isn't real. I've met demons. I've fought demons. I believe in spiritual warfare. But back in the nineties it was sort of a craze. You had pastors seeing demons under every doormat. I got caught up in it, and I dragged you along with me.
DENA: Dad--
SADHA is watching the conversation analytically and in silence.
HAMPTON: Not everyone who's crazy, or sick, or a sinner is possessed. That isn't how the world works. Bad things happen...people do bad things...on their own.
DENA: What I do is real, Dad. This isn't about...about kids high on PCP or something. I speak in tongues. I have...dreams, prophetic dreams. And you remember that month when I was afraid to style my hair, let alone cut it? I had a reason for that, and you know d--...very well what it was. I helped you. We worked together.
HAMPTON: Hon...I know we did. I know better than to think you're sick in the head. But you could hurt someone...or, or you could be sued. If you make a mistake--
DENA (folding her arms): I don't...make...mistakes.
HAMPTON: I know you believe that. That's why I'm worried. (looking around) Do we need all these lights on? It doesn't have to be so dark in here in the daytime. (He moves toward a shaded window.)
SADHA (putting a hand on his arm): I have a condition.
HAMPTON (apparently accepting this): Ah. Got it. I'm sorry. Are you really a teacher?
SADHA: I am. Have been for quite a while.
HAMPTON (shaking his head disbelievingly): I'm sorry, I...it's been a while since I was really involved in this sort of thing. I've done a couple of exorcisms in the last year, that's about all. Sometimes I forget not every believer's from Texas or Alabama.
SADHA (not correcting him): No, indeed not.
DENA looks between them as if waiting for her father to catch on.
HAMPTON: Look...my girl here's kind of headstrong. I know she's got good intentions, and I know what she can do, but...keep her out of trouble, okay? If you can. Don't lead her into it.
SADHA (with a half-smile): I do my best.
HAMPTON: Dena, what do you say to pizza? Your old man's buying.
DENA (glancing between her father and SADHA again): That sounds good. Uh...you mean, out?
HAMPTON: Just the two of us. (to SADHA) It's not a problem, is it? I want to spend some time with my baby girl.
SADHA (making mild shooing motions): I never eat...pizza. It upsets my stomach. Go, enjoy while you can. They grow up so quickly, don't they?
HAMPTON walks out. DENA hangs back for a moment, still looking at SADHA, seeming perplexed. Finally she closes the door behind her.
CUT TO
INT. DINING ROOM--DAY
Open on ROGER WYNDHAM-PRICE's gloating face.
ROGER (theatrically): Ah, stumbled upon my master plan, have you? Well, no matter. You cannot stop me...nothing can stop--
ROGER breaks off, clutching at his chest.
Cut to reveal ROGER is at an elaborately-set dining room table, surrounded by guests. ELIZABETH WYNDHAM-PRICE is seated next to him.
ROGER (amused): And that's when Elizabeth put a crossbow bolt through his heart, right in the middle of his monologue. One simply cannot find villains these days without a tendency to boast about their plans, or put one in deathtraps, or some other such foolishness.
The guests break into laughter.
ELIZABETH: I really do think it's the time-travelers. Demons like that ludicrous Granak fellow Sahjhan, spreading these absurd modern fictional conventions. (with a chuckle) Not that it doesn't come in handy at times.
ROGER: Of course, nowadays one normally has Slayers at hand to carry out missions like that, but back in the day there was only the one, and sometimes one had to take personal risks.
ELIZABETH: I didn't think so much about the risk, myself. It was an adventure, actually. I admit I quite enjoyed myself. Would that I still had the stamina for such things.
ROGER: Well, if only to keep you safe, I'm quite glad you don't. Missions like that are for the young.
ELIZABETH (with a deep sigh): It's such a shame about Wesley. If only he'd applied himself, made some real effort, perhaps he'd be here with us.
FEMALE GUEST (changing an uncomfortable subject): You have a Slayer working for you now, don't you? Personally, I mean?
ROGER: Ah, yes...the girl's a bit limited in some ways. Not much of an education, but under her circumstances it's not as though it were avoidable. She's bright enough, I suppose. Certainly she understands how to follow orders.
CUT TO
INT. CRYPT -- DAY
This darkened, filthy room nonetheless has walls decorated with carved stone sculpture. Inside, the UGANDAN SLAYER is tangling with a pair of wrinkly-faced demons who resemble Clem. One of them attempts to rabbit-punch her from behind, but she twists out of his way, pulling his companion around into the blow's path. Struck in the back, the second demon collapses.
FIRST DEMON: Dammit, Slayer! I said you could have the stupid thing! She's not paying us enough for this!
The SLAYER snarls something in Swahili.
DEMON: Aw, c'mon! Don't you speak Human?
Bringing her fist around for a roundhouse punch, the SLAYER flattens him. She pulls a scrap of paper from her jacket pocket to consult for a moment--it seems to be a crudely-drawn map, with flowing script describing certain locations--then goes to the far wall of the crypt and presses her fingers against a small sculptural relief, causing a panel to slide open.
We can't see the object she removes.
END ACT I
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