Scribblers: Locked Out

Scribblers
"Locked Out"
by Steffan Alun

1 INT. THE PIT - Day. 1830.

FINESSE, SHIFT and CHRONAL are relaxing. A bottle of Lucozade is frozen mid-pouring into a glass.

CHRONAL
It's been forty-two minutes now.

FINESSE
(bored)
Has it?

CHRONAL
It's a new record.

SHIFT
Are you bored, Chronal?

CHRONAL
A bit.

FINESSE
I'd never have guessed.

A snippet of music suddenly plays; the Cheeky Girls - "touch my bum, this is life".

FINESSE
Good grief. What on earth is that?

CHRONAL
The doorbell. I changed it. I forget why.

SHIFT
That's really horrible.

It plays again.

FINESSE
Answer it then!

CHRONAL
Nah. Can't be bothered.

Shift stands up.

SHIFT
I'll go.

FINESSE
Whoever it is, they've got zappy laser powers. Watch out for that.

SHIFT
Will do.

She leaves.

CHRONAL
I feel bad now.

FINESSE
About the bell or making Shift answer the door?

CHRONAL
Both.

FINESSE
Excellent.

CUT TO:

2 INT. PIT RECEPTION AREA - Day. 1833.

SHIFT opens a door to see a STRANGER (male, 30s, slim and muscular) wearing a grey costume - part superhero, part army combats.

STRANGER
I need to see Chronal. It's urgent.

CUT TO:

3 INT. THE PIT - Day. 1835.

FINESSE and CHRONAL are still sitting around. SHIFT leads the STRANGER inside.

STRANGER
Chronal. I need your help.

CHRONAL
Wow, really? Cool. I never get personal calls.

STRANGER
I am Captain John Harrison. I lead the western army of the Ninth Schism in the year twenty-four ninety-one.

CHRONAL
Probably the first time someone's referred to that year in the present tense.

FINESSE
This is a time travel thing, isn't it?

HARRISON
It is indeed. All soldiers are given an emergency temporal transport to get them out of sticky situations. I used it in a skirmish against the Abderian Trolls, but I can't get back.

SHIFT
They're only one-way?

HARRISON
No. But my the year's been time-locked. Must have happened after I left. I need to get back, but the technology doesn't exist in this time to unlock it.

FINESSE
Are you sure? We can contact the government. See if they have back-up time travel technology.

HARRISON
None that are good enough. My degree's in quantum history. Only one man has the power to send me back. Chronal.

CHRONAL
Me?

CUT TO:

4 INT. PIT CONTROL ROOM - Day. 1840.

CHRONAL and HARRISON are surveying the computer screens. LYRIC and AMITY are with them.

CHRONAL
I'm serious. My powers don't work like that.

HARRISON
Yes they do.

CHRONAL
I assure you, they don't. I can slow time down - sometimes even stop it completely. But I can't speed it up, and I certainly can't reverse it.

HARRISON
I don't need you to do either. You just need to send me back to my year.

CHRONAL
I can't send stuff! I can sense time windows, but I need a tool to use them. And they're not dependable.

LYRIC
I'm afraid time tech's in its infancy. I've managed to create some basic devices, but nothing like what we'd need to send you to the future. Even a few seconds is beyond us.

Harrison looks at Amity.

HARRISON
Stop that.

AMITY
Stop what?

HARRISON
You're calming me down. Lowering my stress levels. I can handle it.

AMITY
How do you know what I can do?

HARRISON
You're a Scribbler. You're famous in my time. I mean, we're not sure how reliable the sources are ...

CHRONAL
Not at all, I'd say. They've got my power all wrong.

HARRISON
They haven't. You just don't know how to use it yet.

CHRONAL
Charming.

HARRISON
Can you at least try to help me?

CHRONAL
I'll do what I can, but unless you want to drop something really slowly, I'm not sure how effective I'll be.

CUT TO:

5 EXT. BATTLE FIELD - Day. 1900.

HARRISON and CHRONAL are examining their surroundings. FINESSE, SHIFT, LYRIC, AMITY and WRAITH are at ease.

WRAITH
I wonder what the future's like.

FINESSE
Don't ask him! That's where madness lies.

SHIFT
Yeah. He's a soldier. Sounds to me like he's seen some pretty tough times. I'd rather not know.

HARRISON
(calling)
It's mostly peaceful, actually.

He walks to join them, as does Chronal.

HARRISON
Don't worry. I won't ruin the plot. But the future's nothing to worry about.

FINESSE
Even in the superhero business?

HARRISON
It's no utopia, I'll grant you. But it's not horrible either. Plenty of villains to fight, for those who choose to do so.

FINESSE
Enough, now. I don't want to know.

HARRISON
The trolls are just a passing -

FINESSE
Seriously! Stop now. You've been told.

Harrison shuffles, embarrassed.

HARRISON
Alright. Chronal, I've got an idea that might work.

CHRONAL
Yeah?

HARRISON
In our time, heroes get devices that amplify their powers.

From the leg of his suit, he disconnects a chunky grey device, straight out of 80s sci-fi.

HARRISON
Gives us the advantage on the field. It could amplify your quantum abilities, and grant you the ability to travel through time.

CHRONAL
Sounds like a plan.

Harrison takes Chronal's arm and pulls up the sleeve -

- places the device onto his bare skin -

- and it bonds, sinking little claws into Chronal's arm.

CHRONAL
It hurts.

HARRISON
Now. Everyone remain calm. That device is a bomb.

SHIFT
What?

The Scribblers are all immediately in defensive poses, ready to attack.

HARRISON
I lied, I'm afraid. There's no way back into a time-locked era. I'm here on a suicide mission.

FINESSE
You complete -

Lyric dives towards Harrison with his sword -

- and Harrison shoots his leg with a laser from his eyes -

- Lyric goes down as Finesse holds up her hand towards Harrison.

FINESSE
That's the last time you're using your powers in my presence.

HARRISON
That's what you think.

He lifts his arm, on which a device whirrs and spins.

HARRISON
Power suppressors. Standard kit in my time. Stops Amity from interpreting my true feelings, and keeps -

Darts appear in the air, hitting Harrison in the chest -

- Lyric is muttering beside him.

HARRISON
You can stop that right now.

Harrison runs for him -

- Finesse aims a hand at Lyric -

- who bellows at Harrison, creating a strong breeze -

- blowing Harrison to the ground.

AMITY
Remove the bomb.

Harrison is trying to stand up, but his legs are trapped.

WRAITH (OOV)
Sorry, Future Man, I'm not letting you go.

HARRISON
The bomb can't be removed. I suggest the rest of you run.

Finesse runs to Chronal, examining the bomb on his arm.

FINESSE
We're not running.

HARRISON
Your choice. Makes no difference, anyway.

SHIFT
What do you mean?

FINESSE
Ignore him. He knows his best weapon is his knowledge of the future.

Lyric approaches Harrison as Wraith fades into view -

- and they pin him down.

CHRONAL
I think you should go, guys. I can slow this bomb down, try to remove it.

LYRIC
The way I see it, you've chosen Chronal on purpose. He's important to the future.

SHIFT
If it's true his powers kick off, that'd make him pretty effective in a war with time-travel.

WRAITH
How do we get the bomb off?

HARRISON
I told you. This is a suicide mission. I'm happy to die here.

AMITY
I can make you deeply unhappy if I need to.

HARRISON
And you would, too. Killer of your oldest friend.

AMITY
What did you say?

Harrison kicks Wraith in the face -

- jumps up, punching back at Lyric -

- and takes a protective stance.

FINESSE
Ignore him. It's either nonsense or seriously out of context.

LYRIC
He'll blatantly pick the bits that sound awful.

Shift becomes a HAWK -

- and starts attacking from above -

- avoiding lasers from Harrison's hands.

HARRISON
Naturally. And you're a well of inspiration, Lyric - when your daughter will kill a thousand people in a single day.

LYRIC
That's a rubbish one. If she's a soldier, that's no bad thing.

Shift becomes human in mid-air -

- landing on Harrison, and pulling him to the ground.

SHIFT
And these are presumably alternate futures anyway. If we die now, this is all nonsense anyway.

HARRISON
And it might be better for you if you die now.

SHIFT
You would say that.

Lyric punches Harrison in the back of the head -

- and Harrsion falls to the ground -

- shooting a laser back at Lyric's chest.

HARRISON
If you survive, she will be unleashed.

WRAITH
Way to be vague, Spoiler Man.

HARRSION
She knows who I mean.

He's kicked back down by nothing.

HARRISON
Ooh, you son of a gun. I saved the best for last, my boy Wraith.

WRAITH
Yeah?

HARRISON
You will die at Lyric's sword.

WRAITH
Awesome.

HARRISON
Wha-

WRAITH
Scribblers don't die, Harrison.

FINESSE
Yeah. Standard rules of narrative.

CHRONAL
We're safe. We're protected.

HARRISON
No. You can't- What do you mean?

CHRONAL
See, we've dealt with reality manipulation before.

WRAITH
You know so much about the future? Maybe you're aware of Lyric's brother.

FINESSE
I learnt a lot about reality from that guy. Specifically, the limitations. He could do absolutely anything - but he couldn't just kill us off.

WRAITH
We don't know why, and we don't know how long the limitation will last.

CHRONAL
But we know one thing. This bomb won't kill me.

Chronal holds out his arm -

- and the bomb disconnects -

- attaching itself to Harrison's arm instead.

FINESSE
That's just not how the world works.

Harrison looks up, panicked.

HARRISON
There we go, then. You win.

He looks at Finesse.

HARRISON
But you'd better be warned. If you believe nothing else I told you, believe this. Your leader's faith in the Monk will lead you to destruction.

Harrison EXPLODES -

- but the Scribblers are protected by shimmering bubbles -

- and the explosion dies away.

SHIFT
Right. What's going on? Are we somehow immortal now?

A soldier materialises in front of them. Same outfit as Harrison's, but female, stocky, red-haired.

SOLDIER
That was me. I protected you.

CHRONAL
Woo, explanation time!

FADE TO:

6 EXT. BATTLE FIELD - Day. 1910.

WRAITH, LYRIC, AMITY and SHIFT are battling HARRISON, in a flashback to scene 5, with FINESSE helping CHRONAL.

CHRONAL (v/o)
Like I said, I slowed time down around us to give us more time with the bomb.

The colours around Chronal and Finesse darken, indicating time slowing down.

CHRONAL (v/o)
And that's where she was. Waiting in a single split second, already knowing when I'd manage to stop time completely.

The SOLDIER appears.

SOLDIER
My name is Shrine.

CHRONAL (v/o)
Shrine explained what we needed to do - what we needed to say. She didn't come up with it herself - she already had a transcript. Paradoxes are fun.

SHRINE
I built the bomb myself. It's time-proof. Can't kill anyone in the past, designed to take out anyone who tries.

CHRONAL (v/o)
We needed to keep her hidden from Harrison, so we let Wraith into our time bubble, updated him, and so on.

WRAITH (v/o)
I don't think I've ever been one of the first to know stuff before.

CHRONAL (v/o)
Turns out she has the power to create protective shields, hence our miraculous survival.

FADE TO:

7 INT. The PIT - Night. 2100.

CHRONAL, FINESSE and SHRINE are sat on the sofas.

SHRINE
I'm with the Time Police. Undercover in the war - plenty of soldiers abusing the rules there.

FINESSE
Thanks for the help. It's nice to talk to someone who doesn't want to play the enigmatic future visitro.

SHRINE
I hate people like that too. And Harrison was renowned for knowing nothing about history in his own time, so God knows what he thought he'd achieve spreading rumours.

CHRONAL
Speaking of which ... I can't help but notice you've got red hair, and you're a soldier. Did you ever kill a thousand people in a single day?

SHRINE
Lyric isn't my father, Chronal. Not everyone with red hair is related.

CHRONAL
Oh. Just thought it would've been nice and complete.

FINESSE
So I suppose you'll have to go back now?

SHRINE
Yeah, no - I can't go back. Harrison got one thing right - the war's time-locked, and rules are I'll have to have aged normally before returning. I'm here until the end of the war.

CHRONAL
You came just to save us?

SHRINE
You're important. And I'll say no more.

She stands up.

SHRINE
It's been a pleasure meeting you.

FINESSE
You too!

SHRINE
Really, though. You hear all these things about the past, and it sounds horrible and primitive. Just like the future sounds distopian and sinister. And the heroes - they become these impossible role models, these moral, dry creatures, challenging you from the history books. And somehow, it doesn't dawn on you that, actually - these were normal people. Nice people.

She shakes Chronal's hand, then Finesse's, keeping hold for one moment.

SHRINE
Let me know if you ever need any help.

CUT TO:

8 INT. PIT CONTROL ROOM - Night. 2350.

SHIFT is using one of the computers. AMITY enters.

AMITY
What's up, Shift? It's nearly midnight.

SHIFT
Just trying to find out if there's a superhero called the Monk.

AMITY
Because of what Harrison said?

SHIFT
Yeah. It's the only verifiable detail he actually gave in all that time. And, surprise surprise, he doesn't exist.

AMITY
Maybe Finesse supposedly has this great faith in a genuine monk.

SHIFT
Great. A genuine monk will lead us to destruction.

AMITY
Do you believe that?

SHIFT
Course not. We don't need anyone but ourselves to lead us to destruction.