Page 1
Setting: Abandoned neighborhood (remember, the same neighborhood that Devlon and Jasmine fought the faceless in). Boss Dude walks toward the gang, which consists of Devlon, Elliot, Wendy, Terry, Jasmine, and Caleb.
Terry: "Who's this guy?"
Boss Dude: "Allow me to introduce myself."
Front shot of boss dude. Black guy. 6 feet. Thick in terms of muscle. Thick dreadlocks tied in a ponytail that go down to the middle of his back. The energy he gives off says he means business, but chill at the same time.
Dante: "My name is Dante. I'd heard about police units of irregulars working in the shadows. And it sounds like you'll finally be brought to light very soon."
Wendy glares at him, unable to get a read on him.
Wendy:It's that guy from before.
*FLASHBACK*
Flashback of Wendy in Iris's hospital room. This flashback displays Wendy being held in mid air by Dante's mysterious power, barely able to move as she reaches out to Dante. This occurred during their first encounter.
Wendy:Yes, I remember…
The next flashback displays the same event, when Dante pushed energy into Iris's chest to help her.
Final flashback displaying Iris sitting up in her bed with an absent-minded expression, right after Dante helped her..
*END OF FLASHBACK*
Page 2
Back to the present. Dante looks over at Wendy, intrigued.
Dante: "I'd thought for sure a human would have backed out after an encounter with an irregular like me. Seeing you again is…interesting."
Wendy: "No backing down for me; I'm here for keeps. What about you? What brings you here?"
Dante: "I have a question or two for the irregulars here in the police force. I wanted to know how they felt about this plan of integration. Is it a good idea?"
Terry: "Of course it's a good idea. Pretty soon we may not have to go around being escorted to see loved ones." I wanna see my mom without society fearing us.
Elliot tilts and scratches his head.
Elliot: "I mean, I'm kinda new to the whole thing. I didn't even realize there was a big issue with irregulars until recently."
Dante: "Don't you see the problem with that? How did you feel about irregulars before discovering you were one?"
Elliot: "Uh…I didn't really feel any way about them. I just heard that they were dangerous, so cops and bots kept them off the streets."
Dante: "And now you're part of that people that everyone is ignorant and afraid of."
Dante looks at Terry.
Dante: "You mentioned your loved ones. You see them in secret and only when the government allows it are you able to be around them in public."
Terry looks down and to the side.
Terry: "..."
Page 3
Jasmine slides in the conversation.
Jasmine: "Okay. So what are you getting at?"
Dante: "Just provoking a little thought."
Wendy: "So, where do you stand in all this? Are you in favor of integration?"
Dante: "Not at all."
Devlon: "Why not?"
Dante: "We've been feared, kept out of neighborhoods, and considered a threat for just being us. And now we're just going to be buddy buddy without addressing any of it. So if anything, I'd love a way to stop it."
Elliot: "So what you're saying is you're an enemy of ours?"
Dante looks to Elliot. He almost seems…compassionate.
Dante: "While making enemies isn't my intention, a man without enemies stands for nothing."
Elliot: "Come again?"
Dante: "I want what is best for Irregulars. But I have a hard time believing that being part of a police force that forces irregulars into submission is what's best."
Elliot: "What you talkin' bout? We're all friends here."
Dante: "A human with an irregular friend is a good public look for the human, for sure. Curious, how'd you first meet this human friend of yours?"
Page 4
Elliot smiles, throwing his hands behind his head in a laid back fashion.
Elliot: "Pshh, we go way back! We've been friends since the day she found me and…arrested me. Hmm…" Dang
Wendy shakes her head and face palms.
Wendy: "Ay Dios mio..." (Spanish for "oh my God")
Dante: "Wow. What did you do to get arrested?"
Elliot: "Well, I was detected as an irregular, and that's it."
Elliot puts his hands in front of him, shaking his head to try to correct himself.
Elliot: "Okay, I swear it isn't that bad with a little context! She's cool!"
Wendy: "For clarity, I was only told to take irregulars to a certain location. I didn't know anything more."
Dante: "If I ran you over with a truck because I didn't see you, the damage I caused wouldn't be any less because it was unintentional, would it?"
Wendy: "..."
Dante: "Ignorance isn't an excuse."
Dante turns around and begins to walk away.
Dante: "Well, I asked my questions. If you don't have any questions for me, I'll take my leave. I'll see you again soon enough."
Wendy chases after him.
Wendy: "Wait!"
Page 5
Wendy stands in front of Dante. Caleb is near Wendy, eavesdropping.
Wendy: "I don't see irregulars as a threat. I don't exactly see how coming together wouldn't be a good thing, but, part of my reasoning for joining this Special force is to learn more."
Caleb's eyes shift to Wendy.
Caleb:This one is different.
Dante: "Is that all you wanted to say?"
Wendy: "No. With everything that went on that day, I didn't get the chance. But now that I have you…I wanted to thank you. Thank you for helping Iris."
Everyone (save Caleb) is dumbfounded.
The gang: "WHAAAAAT?!"
Caleb: "Who dat?"
Terry: "This guy helped Iris?"
Jasmine: "You could have started with that, Wendy!"
Devlon: "Wait, he's also the guy that you fought, right?"
Elliot: "And you couldn't beat him, yet you casually walk up to him now with no worries?"
Page 6
Dante calmly looks down to Wendy.
Dante: "Like I said before; I didn't do it for you."
Wendy: "I know. Doesn't change the fact that I'm grateful."
Dante cracks a light smile.
The mood suddenly changes when Dante's body begins to glow with a yellow aura around him. He looks ready to fight.
With a serious, no-nonsense look, Wendy pulls out her pistol, aiming it towards Dante's face with one hand.
Wendy: "Don't move."
Terry and Elliot try to calm Wendy down.
Terry: "Hey hey! What's going on?!"
Elliot: "What kind of gratitude is this, Wendy?"
Wendy pulls the trigger.
A bullet shoots past Dante's face. He doesn't even flinch.
Dante: "I was fully aware and was about to handle it."
Wendy: "Well it's my job to look out for others. That includes all irregulars."
A closer look reveals a faceless a few yards from them. It was slowly approaching Dante from behind when Wendy shot it in the face, causing it to collapse.
Wendy: "I'm sure that bullet didn't do him in."
Page 7
Dante turns around to see the faceless lying on the ground.
Dante: "Nice shot. Hit it right where the nose would be. You think it's still alive?"
Wendy: "Yeah. We've encountered these things before. They seem to be attracted to Irregulars for some reason."
Caleb: "We're growing in popularity so fast."
Devlon steps up.
Devlon: "Yeah. Just don't let it touch you. From what we've gathered, they'll try to incapacitate Irregulars."
Wendy: "Actually, we're here to snag a sample to find out more about them. But normal attacks don't keep them down long."
The faceless wiggles to its feet, facing the gang, the bullet falling out of its "face."
The skinny faceless extends its arms out, tripling their normal length, toward Dante, its hands sharpening, becoming blade-like.
As its long arms dart towards Dante, both arms veer in opposite directions, going around Dante, then coming at Wendy. Wendy's thrown off. Why's it coming for her?
Wendy: "What the!"
Page 8
Front shot of Dante instantly pressing the faceless's head into the ground (Dante has the faceless's face in his palm). On one side is Caleb slashing the long arm of the faceless. On the other hand, Devlon slashes the other long arm of the faceless. The three of them reacted to the faceless's attack on Wendy immediately.
Wendy is puzzled.
Wendy:It completely avoided them to attack me?
Devlon and Caleb stand over the armless faceless. Dante's still pushing its head against the ground.
Devlon: "I'll take care of this before it grows its arms back."
Devlon shoves his blade into the faceless's side.
Devlon's brown eyes turn red as his bright green blade burns a fiery red, setting the faceless ablaze.
Page 9
The faceless is burnt to a crisp. Dante looks over at Devlon. He's impressed.
Dante:He swapped abilities? So it is true. "You're quick on your feet."
Devlon: "Same goes for you. But something isn't right. I've never seen it go out of its way to attack a human." Why'd it go after Wendy?
Jasmine walks over to them with a hand on her hip..
Jasmine: "Okay, I could have sworn they only came after us. But I just saw that thing avoid Dante to get to Wendy."
Terry: "Maybe it was confused or something."
Wendy pulls out her phone and makes a call.
Wendy: "Lemme get a hold of Charles and give him an update. There may be more to these faceless things than we thought. Dev, snag a sample, would'ya?"
Wendy again (over the phone): "Hey Charles, I'm gonna send you our location-"
Chase (over the phone): "Wendy! Send it real quick and we'll meet up later. I've got a faceless chasing us! I'm gonna give it the slip."
Wendy yells into the phone.
Wendy: "Wait! Try to lure it to us instead! We're on the outskirts of town in a deserted neighborhood. Lure it away from civilians!"
Chase: "You got it. Though, I'm sure they'll just ignore the humans anyway."
Wendy: "I think they're capable of hurting humans. Just get here asap."
Chase: "Got it."
Page 10
Wendy walks over to Devlon, Chris, Dante and Jasmine alongside Terry.
Wendy: "Chase is on his way. He's being chased by a faceless, so we'll ambush it here."
Dante: "You appear to be very experienced with them. I wonder where they come from?"
Wendy: "That's what we wanna know."
Everyone turns around. They're on high alert.
Devlon is irritated as he reaches for his sword handle
Devlon: "Really, where are they coming from?!"
Caleb casually reaches for his sword with a smile of excitement.
Caleb: "Worry about that later, little bro. Looks like they wanna dance."
Dante isn't phased by what he sees.
Dante: "Let's see if you cops have what it takes."
Jasmine smiles, sipping from a mug of water through a straw.
Jasmine: "I'm ready to dance when you are. C'mon, I wanna see you sweat!"
Terry is also excited. He hasn't seen any action yet.
Terry: "Yo Devlon. Leave the burning to me, okay? Don't hog all the fun!"
Elliot powers up, ready to show what he's made of.
Elliot: "Plot twist; looks like we're on the defense this time."
Wendy looks around with her eyes. She's alert.
Wendy:Seriously though, where are they coming from? "Yeah, just be careful…"
Page 11
Full page shot of everyone. They've formed a circle, backs facing each other to watch each other's backs. They're surrounded by faceless that seem to have come from nowhere.
Wendy: "Looks like we're the ones being ambushed."
Page 12
Scene change. We're in town with Chase and Iris.
Chase impatiently waits at a red light with Iris calmly sitting in the back seat.
Iris: "Who was that on the phone?"
Chase: "It was Wendy; we're gonna meet up with them."
Iris: "Awesome!"
Iris turns around to look behind them.
Iris: "I know we're at a red light, but you might wanna step on it anyway."
Chase: "That's breaking the law, Iris. Why would you even suggest that?" Sit back!
The rear view mirror shows a faceless riding a bicycle, catching up with them.
Iris: "Oh, just the faceless thing catching up to us.
Chase: "HOW'D HE CATCH UP SO FAST?!"
Chase runs the light.
Iris: "Why can't we just fight him?"
Chase: "I don't want civilians getting caught up in all this. That and…"
Chase looks down. Though he's wearing shades, you can tell he's reminiscing a painful memory.
Page 13
*FLASHBACK*
Chase flashes back on the day he held Iris when she was shot.
Chase (off screen):I can't let that happen to you again, Iris. I'd never forgive myself if you got hurt.
*END OF FLASHBACK*
Chase drives down a street.
Chase: "We're only a few minutes away. Seatbelt on!"
Iris: "Okay. What part of town is this? It looks like a ghost town."
They've entered the abandoned neighborhood.
Page 14
Back to Wendy n nem. They're surrounded by the faceless.
The faceless jump in at the gang all at once.
Devlon dodges a faceless's attempt to grab him.
Caleb blocks a faceless's attack with his sword (still in the sheath).
Terry flame kicks a faceless's arm out of the way when it tries to attack him.
Terry: "Go ahead and try that again."
Dante clashes with a faceless, his arm against its arm, looking into its "face." There's a thin layer of yellow energy that surrounds his body and is between his arm and the faceless's, possibly protecting him.
Elliot dodges the faceless coming at him, aiming an open palm at the faceless.
Elliot: "Nope."
Wendy is on guard, but isn't being attacked. The final faceless runs past her as she's ready to defend, which throws her off.
Wendy: "Say what?"
Page 15
Wendy watches as the others battle the faceless.
Wendy: The faceless from a few minutes ago attacked me. But why aren't any of these? Hold on…
*FLASHBACK*
Wendy flashes back to the faceless that she fought at the outdoor mall, moments before Iris was shot. Iris had to teleport Wendy out of the way after the faceless was enraged from being attacked.
Wendy:That faceless tried to kill meafter it was shot by a bot.
She flashes back to the time where a muscular faceless was about to go on a rampage before Elliot stopped it (back in chapter 13).
Wendy:That one was enraged, but didn't target me. But why not?
She then flashes back to just a moment ago when it tried to creep behind Dante.
Wendy:It ignored me at first, until I shot it. Then it tried to kill me.
*END OF FLASHBACK*
Wendy's eyes widen.
Wendy: "Hold on!"
She looks over to the others.
Page 16
She observes her comrades, who're all holding their own against the faceless.
Wendy:The faceless are ignoring me again. Does that mean that they ignore humans completely? Irregulars are their targets and-
As she ponders, Wendy turns her head and notices Elliot blasting a faceless away from him.
Elliot (in the background): "Wassup now? C'mon!"
Wendy:Humans are just unimportant. But because we're not important…
She flashes back to when the faceless extended its arm to kill her just moments ago.
Wendy:It doesn't matter if we live or die! They won't attack us, but if we get in their way, they kill!
She looks down for just a moment, lost in a moment of critical thinking.
Wendy: "And the first time I fought one of them back in my old apartment…it must have mistaken me as Devlon, but when it thought I was in its way, it tried to kill me!"
Wendy looks over to Elliot.
Wendy: "Wait, don't touch him!"
Wendy sees the faceless trying to hit Elliot, but Elliot blocks with his arm. Smiling, he charges another blast with his free hand.
Elliot: "This next blast is gonna end you, bruh. Take this L!"
The faceless's arm that was blocked by Elliot looks as if it's melting into a rubbery texture. It covers his arm.
Elliot: "Let go. Huh?"
The energy Elliot was gathering with his free hand begins to fade.
Elliot: "What?"
Page 17
From Elliot's perspective, the image of the faceless in front of him starts to become blurry.
Elliot: "Huh? Who diminished the resolution? These graphics are…terrible."
Elliot's eyes show he's not very alert anymore. The faceless's rubbery-like arm spreads over Elliot's entire arm, tightly gripping him. It looks as if it's trying to absorb him or something.
Elliot: "..."
Wendy jumps in, furiously punching the faceless in the "face" with a strong hook. She sheds her police jacket, leaving a sleeveless shirt, ready to brawl.
Wendy:It's not just trying to capture him. It's trying to siphon his energy! "Get away from him!"
Wendy stands with her fists up.
Wendy: "I said get away from him, you freak!" That's right. Come after me.
The faceless stands back up, letting go of Elliot. The faceless turns its head to Wendy.
It dashes at Wendy, extending an arm right at her head.
Wendy side dodges, keeping her eyes on the faceless.
Page 18
Wendy:You got this, girl. It has abnormal movements with the limbs. Empty your mind of things like bones and organs.
The faceless's other arm extends to Wendy's torso with a sharpened hand.
Wendy jumps forward, landing on the extended arm of the faceless.
Wendy: It's sturdy enough to-
Wendy runs across on the faceless's long arm towards the faceless like a balance beam.
Wendy reaches the faceless, kicking it sideways.
Wendy: (pure rage) "STAY THE HECK AWAY FROM MY FRIENDS!"
Upon landing, Wendy runs towards the staggered faceless, digging in her pocket.
She pulls out a high powered taser.
Wendy: "This will end you!"
Page 19
The faceless jumps at Wendy, but its body expands so that its entire body is rubbery. Its stretchy body almost appears to have taken the form of a parachute, coming straight at Wendy.
Wendy: "What the-"
She tries to dodge, but another faceless comes in from the side to grab her legs.
Wendy:It's the one that previously ignored me!
The faceless wraps its body around Wendy so that she can't move. Her arms are constrained tightly. The taser is still in her hand.
Wendy: "Ugh. Grrr! Let…go!"
Elliot sees Wendy struggle at a distance. He hurries to where she is.
Elliot: "Wendy! I'm coming. Someone with an elemental power, help!"
Perspective shift to Jasmine. The faceless that she was fighting is frozen in a block of ice. Only the head isn't frozen. Jasmine crosses her arms and admonishes the frozen faceless.
Jasmine: "Okay, let's try this again. Can you tell me why I put you in a time out?"
The faceless responds by trying to stretch its unfrozen head towards Jasmine.
Jasmine freezes the head of the faceless, making the entire faceless frozen.
Jasmine: "Nope. Looks like you still haven't learned your lesson, sweety. I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed."
Elliot (off screen): "Someone with an elemental power, help!"
Page 20
Jasmine turns to Elliot and Wendy's direction.
Jasmine: "Oh! That sounds like my boo over there. I gotta go!"
Jasmine effortlessly shatters the faceless and rushes over to Elliot.
Jasmine: "What's up? Where's the faceless?"
Elliot points towards Wendy.
Elliot: "Wendy saved me, but now she's in trouble. But if I blast it, I'd blast her too!"
They rush over to Wendy.
The faceless has its body wrapped around her, its body like a snake.
Wendy:I don't seem to be losing my strength like Elliot. Must be something they do to capture Irregulars. But it doesn't wanna capture me. Instead, it…
The snake-like faceless and the other faceless that had a grip on Wendy's legs slowly merge as they tighten the grip on Wendy's body. A few crunches are heard as it squeezes the life out of Wendy. She lets out a scream.
Page 21
Perspective shift to Terry.
Terry stands overa burnt faceless when he hears Wendy scream in agony.
Terry: "Wendy? I thought these things didn't fight to kill!"
Terry dashes to Wendy's rescue with a tail of fire following his feet.
Close by, Caleb holds a small brown ball as he stands next to a faceless lying on the ground. The faceless's head is impaled to the ground by Caleb's sword. He examines the small ball.
Caleb: "This thing came out of its head, huh?"
Caleb hears Wendy's scream. He dashes over as well.
Caleb: "No way I'm gonna let this happen!"
At the same time, Devlon also stands over a faceless that had been diced to pieces and burned to a crisp. Then he reacts to the sound of Wendy screaming.
Devlon: "Huh? But I thought they fought to capture, not kill!"
He dashes to where Wendy is.
Devlon: "Hang on Wendy! I'm coming for you!"
Dante holds his faceless opponent by the neck when he hears her scream. He watches on as he sees her comrades dash to her rescue.
Dante: "That's the second time she put herself in danger for one of them. They really are friends, huh?"
Page 22
Back to Wendy's perspective. The sounds of bones popping continue.
As the merged faceless continues to squeeze with the new strength of two fused faceless, Wendy tries to break free.
Wendy: "I…can't break free. It's…much stronger than I am."
The faceless extends its neck until its able to wrap its own long neck around Wendy's neck.
The gang reaches Wendy. Jasmine raises a hand in order to freeze the faceless, but its grip on Wendy's neck tightens whenever she does.
Jasmine: "Hold up. It's squeezing tighter around her neck as we try to get closer!"
Devlon: "What?! Does it know we're trying to save her?"
Terry: "Elliot, blast it from a distance!"
Elliot: "And shoot Wendy in the process? No!"
Caleb: "S-so what do we do if we can't get in close without it snapping her neck?"
Off screen voice: "Trust in your friend!"
The voice came from Dante, who just walked up. He calmly observes Wendy.
Dante: "She knew the risks and took them anyway, for your sakes. She showed tremendous strength for a moment when she fought me for that little girl back in the hospital. She'll do it again."
Page 23
Feeling powerless, Wendy's friends watch on.
Jasmine focuses. There's a trail of water about to reach Wendy and the faceless.
Jasmine:If I can just sneak this water over and freeze that freak…
The water gets closer.
The faceless responds by squeezing Wendy's neck. Wendy, eyes closed, is powerless as her mouth is forced open from the pressure put on her neck. A small amount of blood escapes her mouth.
Wendy: "Guh!"
Distressed, Jasmine quickly stops moving her water trail near them. She sincerely looks as if she's about to cry.
Jasmine: Wendy…no!
Devlon reacts to Wendy being choked.
He flashes back on Karla for a moment.
*FLASHBACK*
In the flashback, Devlon panics as he holds Karla on the ground. She's choking on her own blood.
Devlon (within the flashback): "Somebody help! S-she's choking!"
*END OF FLASHBACK*
Devlon comes back to reality, shaking his head.
Devlon: "No! Not again! Wendy!"
With a look of determination, he places a hand on Jasmine's shoulder without looking away from Wendy.
Jasmine looks at Devlon, her eyes appearing to be frozen.
Devlon: "Break free, Wendy. Break free! You have a hidden strength within you! You're the only human that can keep up with irregulars! DO IT, WENDYYYY!"
Page 24
Following Devlon's lead, Jasmine looks back at Wendy with determination as well.
Jasmine: "Wendy, kick it into high gear and break free. What are you waiting for, you lazy bum!"
Terry joins in.
Terry: "You gave me the best fight I've had in a long time. Break free like the worthy rival you are!"
Elliot: "C'mon, girl! You got this! We're rooting for you. We love you, girl!"
The faceless squeezes Wendy even harder. Wendy looks like she's trying to say something.
Wendy: "stm..m..k"
Wendy opens her eyes, which are now bloodshot red. She side eyes the faceless that's choking the life out of her. Veins start bulging out of her face…to an almost unnatural degree. Almost to the point where she doesn't even look like herself.
She struggles to move her arms ever so slightly.
Wendy: "I…said…"
Page 25
Wendy manages to raise her arms just enough to…
Wendy: "I said DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME, YOU GRAY, FACELESS FREAK!"
Wendy breaks her veiny arms free from the faceless just enough to pull the faceless's body from around her neck.
Wendy: "LET GO!"
The faceless rewraps its entire body around Wendy's abdomen and gives a hard squeeze.
Wendy: "You think that's enough to kill me? You must not know."
Wendy turns the knob on her taser to the highest setting, electricity spewing from it.
Wendy: "When someone hurts my friends…"
Page 26
Wendy turns the taser on herself and tases her chest, along with the faceless. Electricity engulfs both of them. Wendy's hair shoots up in all directions. Her eyes no longer displaying pupils, she lets out one last shout.
Wendy: "Anyone who hurts my loves will go DOWN!!!!!"
From distance, Iris and Chase stare on from outside the car. They'd just arrived and are unsure what they're witnessing. All they see from a distance is a flash of light emitting from where Wendy and the rest are.
Iris: "Woah!"
Chase: "C'mon, let's go!"