Scribblers

**(Ok- so I thought it would be fun to write a comic strip based on the superheroes we created for ourselves. It was a beautiful creation in expressive stickmen and wild sticking out hair that didn't really attach to the character's skull. However my scanner isn't working and I can't be bothered to fix it. So instead I just wrote up the dialogue. For the scenes which were largely just pictures of action I've tried to recapture the fast-paced gritty realism of the adventure through witty description in italicised brackets. Enjoy!)**


[Downtown warehouse: grim and simply lit by a single bulb, flickering overhead.]

The Insider:

HERE. TAKE THIS. KEEP IT SAFE AT ALL COSTS.

[a small package is handed to Shift. She uses her morphing power to absorb the parchment into her skin, to hide the information.]

Shift:

TRUST ME. I WILL DO.

[With a loud thud a door behind the two bursts open and thugs pour into the room. Shift realises they'll have to run and grabs the arm of the insider, dragging him behind as she leaps for safety.]

Shift:

COME ON! FOLLOW ME!

Thug 1:

THERE SHE IS!

Thug 2:

STOP HER!

[Pulling out a gun, one of the thugs shoots the Insider. Realising, Shift turns back, bristling in rage.]

Shift:

NO!

[Using her morphing power, Shift transforms into a leopard and pounces on the man who shot the Insider, knocking the gun from his hand. More thugs turn up, including a man who is clearly the boss.]

Mr Sintaro:

YOU'RE TOTALLY SURROUNDED. YOU MIGHT AS WELL GIVE UP NOW.

Shift:

(thought bubble) THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE WRONG MR SINTARO

[She uses her morphing power to turn into a tree, punching through the concrete floor with her roots to hold herself upright. Mr Sintaro glares at her, the thugs mark her with their weapons.]

***

[Meanwhile, in the Scribblers HQ, Finesse and Amity are sitting in the lounge.]

Amity:

SO HAS CHRONAL SAID WHERE SHIFT'S GONE?

Finesse:

NO. BUT IT'S APPARENTLY PART OF SOME BIG SECRET DEAL.

[Suddenly Amity jumps up, grabbing her head]

Amity:

IT'S SHIFT! THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG!

Finesse:

WHAT IS IT? WHAT'S HAPPENED?

Amity:

I'M NOT SURE... I FELT A SUDDEN JUMP IN EMOTION... BUT NOW SHE'S JUST GONE, TOTALLY GONE.

Finesse:

SHE'S NOT...?

Amity:

I'M NOT SURE.

[Finesse stretches out her arms and uses her catalytic ability to reinforce Amity's power.]

Finesse:

HERE- I'LL USE MY POWER TO BOOST YOURS. THAT WAY YOU MAY GET SOMETHING.

[Amity concentrates harder, screwing her hands up against her face.]

Finesse:

ANYTHING?

Amity:

YES... FAINT... BUT DEFINATELY THERE. IT'S LIKE SHE'S UNCONCIOUS OR SOMETHING.

Finesse:

WE'D BETTER TELL CHRONAL.

Amity:

YES. DO YOU KNOW WHERE HE IS?

Finesse:

OUTSIDE LAST I SAW.

[On the terrace, Chronal stands with his hands behind his back, looking out over the land in contemplation. Enter Finesse]

Finesse:

AMITY'S PICKED SOMETHING UP. SHIFT'S IN TROUBLE. SEEMS SHE'S STUCK SOMEWHERE. POSSIBLY UNCONCIOUS.

Chronal:

OK. YOU AND AMITY GET THE TRANS-JET READY. I'LL GO GET LYRIC AND WRAITH AND UPDATE THEM ON THE SITUATION.

[Lyric and Wraith are practising their powers in the Control Room when Chronal enters.]

Chronal:

YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING ON HOLD. WE HAVE A SITUATION.

[Wraith and Lyric stop what they're doing and walk over to talk to Chronal.]

Wraith:

WHAT'S UP?

Chronal:

SHIFT'S IN TROUBLE. SEEMS THE DEAL FELL THROUGH. WE'LL HAVE TO GO IN NOW.

Lyric:

WHAT'S HER STATUS?

Chronal:

CRITICAL. WE'LL HAVE TO MOVE FAST.

[Using their lovely and entirely aerodynamic and environmentally sound super-jet, the team set off for the down town warehouse. They arrive, park the jet and scope the building.]

Amity:

THIS IS THE PLACE. I'M SURE OF IT.

Chronal:

OK TEAM, HERE'S THE PLAN: AMITY, I NEED YOU TO TRACK SHIFT'S LOCATION. FINESSE, KEEP BOOSTING THE SIGNAL AND US THREE WILL KEEP ANY TROUBLE OFF YOUR BACKS.

[The Scribblers burst into the warehouse, Finesse and Amity in the centre, tracking Shift. Chronal, Wraith and Lyric on the outside ready to pick off random thugs that attack them. A handy bunch of thugs gets in the way in preparation for the gratuitous fight scene.]

Thug 3:

IT'S THE SCRIBBLERS! SOUND THE ALARM!

[Much fighting is afoot. Chronal zipping around using his power over time; Lyric throwing words at people; Wraith punching people from behind his veil of invisibility. Finesse occassionally throws out a boost to aid in the fighting- she mainly concentrates on helping Amity, who is walking through the middle, tracking Shift]

Amity:

THE VIBE IS STRONG HERE. WE MUST BE CLOSE.

[there is a door in front of them. They burst through it with no thoughts of the consequences like all good superheroes.]

Amity:

I THINK I'M GOING TO BE SICK.

[in the middle of the room, Shift's tree is still standing, but trying to get information out of her, the baddies have been torturing her quite nastily. some branches have been sawn off, some bark stripped away and she is on fire in places. Mr Sintaro is standing nearby.]

Mr Sintaro:

I WAS WONDERING WHEN YOUR SHAMBOLIC CREW WOULD MAKE AN APPEARANCE. UNFORTUNATELY FOR YOU, YOU'VE WALKED STRAIGHT INTO MY TRAP. GUARDS!

[Loads more baddies turn up with nasty looking weapons and such. Time for more gratuitous fighting- never get tired of that.]

Amity:

FINESSE CAN YOU TRANSFORM SHIFT BACK?

Finesse:

THERE'S SO LITTLE OF HER LEFT... IT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE. BUT THE SHOCK MAY KILL HER.

Amity:

WE HAVE TO GET HER OUT OF HERE THOUGH! WE CAN'T HOLD OFF THIS MANY PEOPLE FOR LONG.

Finesse:

OK, I'LL TRY. BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO HELP ME BY BALANCING HER MENTAL STATE WHILE I PHYSICALLY CHANGE HER. WE NEED TO CONTROL HER PAIN, TO STOP HER FROM GOING INTO SHOCK.

Amity:

OK. HOLD ON.

[Using a combination of their powers, the girls manage to change Shift back. It was a gruesome and graphic process- there was not enough strength in Shift to allow to repair any of the physical damage she has sustained. Thus her human form is also burnt, bleeding and missing a few fingers and such like. Finesse and Amity pick up Shift between them.]

Amity:

WE'VE GOT HER!

Chronal:

LET'S GO!

[Fighting their way out, the heroes make it back out to their jet and sail off into the sunset. Hooray!]