The laundromat was pretty empty at this time of the night, or rather early
morning. An elderly gentleman sat behind the counter; he was reading a
paper and not paying too much attention to the few clientele within the
shop. Though the sign on the door said NO PETS, he didn't
mind the red-head who usually came in during the wee hours of the
morning with her cat.
Maggie sat on an uncomfortable plastic chair
catching up on the latest gossip with one of those weekly Hollywood
rags. She was reading about how some actor and actress were caught doing
something rather weird and kinky and how it might affect their careers.
"How can you read that crap?" Trump asked; he was licking his paws since there was nothing else better to do.
"It stimulates the neurons," Maggie replied without looking up from the article.
"More like stimulates the morons," Trump chuckled slightly.
"I heard that!" Maggie said and glanced over at Trump and gave him a wink.
She heard the dryer click and begin to slow down.
"Saved by the dryer," Trump stated and went back to licking his paws.
Maggie
placed the magazine down on the table and went to the machine. Opening the door
and feeling the hot air rush out and escape from its prison.
"Feels like home," a voice came out of nowhere.
"I wouldn't know," Mag replied nonchalantly. She was too tired to do anything else. She began to take the laundry out and fold it.
"Ain't you going to say hi, Magenta?" the voice asked.
"That's
the colour of my name," Maggie replied. She didn't need to turn to know
who was standing off to one side; she could tell by the voice that she
hadn't heard in ages past. "It's been a hell of a long time, Jakk. What
do you want?"
Jakk leaned up against a dryer; he was dressed in a
three-piece suit, his blood red shirt sticking out in all the right
places. He looked like a GQ model, his dark blue hair cut short and
styled. The bangs not actually hiding the tattoo on his forehead.
"I just came by to chat with an old friend," Jakk replied.
Max leaned up against the wall. His guns were in his lap
and he was smoking a cigarette. They were pinned good and he was
thinking of several options. He heard the sound of a pop can being
knocked over and noticed Frank. Bullets continued to fly, letting them
know that the bad guys were still there.
Twing.
Frank gut crawled towards him and then, under the comfort of the barrier, sat up and joined Max.
Zing. Zing.
"Well, what do you think?" Frank questioned Max.
Max looked at Frank and blew out some smoke.
"I thought so," Frank replied. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a small silver thermos. Max did a double-take.
"You want some?" Frank inquired.
Twing. Zing.
"What is it?" Max asked.
"French
Vanilla," Frank replied as he poured a cup and the aroma of the
flavoured coffee lifted into the air like an angel from heaven.
The 33rd floor window smashed outwards, sending glass spiraling out like
discarded trash out of a tour bus. A desk that had been tossed and the
body that it had hit also came through.
For a fraction of a
millisecond everything seemed to hang in the air, then gravity came
calling and started pulling everything towards the ground. Including
Maggie. She was cut, battered and bruised and now she began to plummet.
The desk fell away from her.
The huge cyborg had grabbed a desk
as Maggie began to tumble across the room, though the beast had
calculated where she would be and made the throw. Tossed the huge
marble desk, and hit her through the glass like she was just a rag doll.
She could hear the sound of gunfire from the open window, which meant
Suki and Max where still engaged in combat.
Maybe they didn't
realize that she was now out of the combat zone and into a free fall
zone. Falling with the shattered glass towards the concrete floor which
she was now getting close to.
The room is bare, dusty. There is a
lot of doors in this room. Doors along the wall spaced inches apart.
Doors on the ceiling. Nothing on the floor. In the center of the room is
a wooden table.
A small fan sits on top of a wooden table. Max sits at the table with a deck of cards in front of him. He is playing solitaire.
The
door directly behind Max opens. We see a neck-down shot of a woman
entering carrying a tray. A black mug of coffee sits on the tray. She
stands besides Max and places it down on the table to his right. Beside
an ashtray full of butts and three empty packs of cigarettes, each a
different brand.
Cut to Max. As he is flipping over a card and it's blank. He places the card with other blank cards on the table.
MAX: Thanks Mildred.
Cut to Woman. She has no face.
CUT TO: INT. BEDROOM - MORNING
Max's eyes flicker open. A housefly crawling across his chest.
"It's like a journey," Maggie said. "I just don't have a map."
Suki
looked at Maggie and winked, and then she handed her a bottled water.
In other words Maggie was lost and didn't know where she was going; Suki
chuckled to herself.
Maggie sat down on a rock and took a swig from the bottle. She poured some water into her hand and applied it to her face.
"So what's the plan now?" Suki asked.
"Well," Maggie said. "I think we just sit and wait for the stars to appear."
"Astro-navigation?" Suki inquisited.
"When in doubt, wait it out," Maggie replied. "Time to find a cool place to hold up until nightfall."
The monitor went sailing across the room, slowly turning over like a
leaf in a breeze. It was coming down from an arc and when it hit the
marble floor a huge sickening crack could be heard as the glass broke
open on contact.
"That should teach you," Control said.
The monitor turned and tumbled like a drunk, glass spilling out like diamonds on black velvet.
"Well,
that didn't solve my problem," Control said as he stared at the spot
where his monitor once stood, and he focused his attention to the tower.
Max sat in the seat staring out of the window and into the blackness that the train was running through. He had a weird sense of deja vu and that was a sign that something was about to occur. Which was strange since he hadn’t had this feeling in quite some time. As the train slowed down, emerging from the darkness and into the light, that’s when his eyes caught sight of her…
INT. THE PARK - EVENING This is a strip club in a seedy part of the
city. There's a few people sitting in the establishment admiring the women on the platform. Off to one side, our heroes sit at a
corner table, with drinks in front of them. They are FRANK, GONER, MAX,
MAGGIE, AKIMOTO & AQUA
GONER: (eyes glued to the stage as Lalisa dances) Wow man, who'da thunk we'd be hanging out in this joint.
FRANK: Well, your mother probably.
Goner gives Frank a mock scowl.
AKIMOTO: (shrugs as he sips a drink with a small umbrella sticking out) Meh.
GONER: How dare you bring up my mother here.
FRANK: (points to the bar) Well, there she is over there isn't she?
GONER looks at the bar.
AQUA: Why are we here anyways?
MAGGIE: Probably
so that the lads can get their eyes on the ladies. After that other
shift where there were only men, since all the women died off due to some
genetic disease.
AQUA: That was kind of crazy to be constantly dressed in baggy clothing.
MAGGIE: I still can't understand why men wear briefs.
Angst was tanning herself, laying out on a lounge chair by a huge pool and
letting the sun caress her body. She was starting to lose that "look"
due to all the shifting in location, and it was good to have
some quiet time.
Maggie climbed out of the pool and grabbed her towel that was hanging on the back of a deck chair next to Angst.
"What
is your name?" Angst asked. The question wasn't meant to intrude but it
was a curious one. "Like, we have some cool handles but you, Max and
Frank just go buy your first names. Is Maggie your real name?"
Maggie stopped what she was doing and looked at Angst. "Why do you ask?"
"I
really want to know who you are..." Angst said; she propped herself up
and stared into Maggie's eyes, trying to read her soul, but couldn't.
"Well, I am who you think I am," Maggie replied with a smile.
He glanced down the street from the shadows of the door. He saw no
movement. He glanced at his watch; it was getting close to the hour
at hand. The sound of a helicopter overhead somewhere brought back dark
memories, memories he thought were buried underneath layers of
hallucinogenic drugs.
The Future is coming.
Max looked
down the street one more time. He unzipped his jacket and then made a
dash for it. No sooner had he taken a step out than a bullet zinged over
the brownstone.
I knew he'd be waiting.
He made it
to the car, drawing out Joy and Pain. Making sure the ladies were
dressed to kill, and they were ready to do battle. A window shattered
above him, raining down broken glass over him. He knew this hunter all
too well; after all, he was a student of his.
Max's head hurt. He opened his eyes to find himself sitting on a bench, his mind seemed to be swimming in neurological chaos at the moment. He was trying to get his bearings, he didn't know where he was and how he got there. This is not good. The sun was blaring down, his tongue felt like fuzz as he tried to spit but couldn't muster up the saliva to do so. He stood and sat right back down again as vertigo made the world around him turn. He closed his eyes, took several deep breaths and then opened them again. Better. He was on a city street, he didn't know which city it was, but at least the sun was shining. His stomach grumbled like a dog does when it's disturbed from a deep sleep, he needed to get a bite to eat and a coffee to chase away the tendrils of the fog that seem to cloud memories of his mind. He glanced around and saw a Chinese restaurant down the street. It will do. Lucky Chi's Restaurant was opened for business, Max entered and sat down at the counter. He ordered a coffee from the very pretty waitress, he picked up the menu to see what meal appealed to him today. The door chimed opened and Max did a quick glance at the grungy street kid dressed in a tattered longcoat, the kid had a skateboard tucked under one arm and he was carrying a bible in the other hand. The tattered longcoat had several buttons which declared: Choose Life, Pray Hard, God Loves You (I Might Not Like You). I should know him. Darius? His name is Darius. He's so young. Am I dreaming? Max was about to call his name, but then he noticed the big hulking fellow sitting two seats down from him. He had cop written all over him, shaved head, mustache and a goatee to boot and dressed in a long black trench-coat. The badge on his belt didn't hide the fact, as well. What's going on. What's happening here? Why is this happening again? Max took a sip from his coffee cup. Memories unlocked and he knew that any moment all hell would break loose, when the woman Wraith will enter through the door and take a seat at the back of the room then the Tongs will enter moments later to demand their "security payment". The scene will play out differently this time, he knew what he was going to do, he was going to play it cool and let everyone have their moment...
She sat up slowly, the pounding of her head confirming it wasn’t a
dream. Had she dropped in or was it up. Hard to tell here. Max had said
“Drop in anytime, Raven.” But she hadn’t imagined it to be so literal.
I’ll kick his ass, next time I see him, she thought. Never trust a man.
It
was dark and she waited for her eyes to adjust. Nope. Nothing. Damn!
She fished in her pocket for her keys and squinted her eyes, waiting for
the flash of light that exploded from the tiny fob. It hovered above
her and she looked around in the brightness. Vast expanses of grid lay
before her in all directions.
Leave it to Max. Men and their
toys. She walked toward a slight dip in the grid and the light followed
her. Ok Max, this is slightly boring, even for you. As she approached, a
box with a set of doors rose from the grid. Oh, goodie, some
excitement!
Seeing no handle or button, she stood in front of
them and they opened to reveal an empty box. She stepped inside and felt
the box rise quickly and then drop with a thud.
Doors opened and Max stood on the other side, smiling. “Thanks for dropping in, Raven.”
She
flipped the mass of red curls, which had become tangled in the drop, and
her black eyes stared at him. “You’re such a funny guy, Max. I hope
whatever you have to show me is a lot more exciting than this.” He laughed at his friend and motioned her to follow.
Light breaks through the window in a cell
over the face of MAX CUBE causing him to break out of a trance. MAX is
sitting in a lotus position in the middle of the cell; it is dark and
musty. MAX's hair is long and his face has a growth of a beard.
MAX
stands and stretches. He goes to the sink and splashes some water on
his face. He reaches up and grabs a razor, holding it in his hands and
glancing long and hard into the mirror. A smile cracks his face.
INT. PRISON BLOCK WALKWAY - DAY
TWO PRISON GUARDS walk down a cell block.
VETERAN GUARD: Well kid, today is your first day on the job and you get to meet our very own celebrity on his way out.
ROOKIE GUARD: A celebrity?
VETERAN GUARD: The great Max Cube.
ROOKIE GUARD: You mean Max Cube is here?
VETERAN: Well for the next 33 minutes he is.
INT. PRISON CELL - WALL A hand tears down a picture of MAX standing next to the Great Wall of China with a can of spray-paint in his hands.
INT. BLOCK - DAY
VETERAN GUARD The
man is considered a legend and a myth. He's been here so long that the
world has forgotten all about him. You know the day he arrived there were
hundreds of reporters standing out there; heck, he even had his own fan
club that stood outside and waited to catch a glimpse of him.
INT. PRISON CELL - WALL A
hand takes down a picture of MAX standing on the ledge of the Grand
Canyon. He is holding a pop can over the ledge ready to drop it while
looking at the camera.
INT. BLOCK - DAY
ROOKIE GUARD You mean the shanty just on the other side of the road? They are his fans?
VETERAN GUARD They be the ones.
The
two GUARDS approach MAX's cell. MAX, with his back turned, is dressed
in a nice light blue shirt and funky black tie. He turns as he hears the
key slide into the lock and the tumblers inside working.
VETERAN GUARD Well Max, it's time to get that smoke you always wanted.
