PAGE ONE
PANEL ONE:
INTERIOR. Medium panel. Darkness.
1 CAPTION: 6 MONTHS AGO
2 CAPTION: S.H.I.E.L.D. MEDICAL FACILITY, INTENSIVE SURGERY
3 CHRIS: (off-panel) Jessica? JESSICA?
4 CHRIS: You still with us, girl?
PANEL TWO:
INT. Chris Powell hazily comes into focus, standing above the shot. He’s dressed in surgeon’s robes and cap with the mask down, revealing a comforting smile.
5 CHRIS: HEY … thought we might’ve lost you there for a sec, babe.
6 CHRIS: Just wanted to tell you PHASE ONE is complete. Your body seems to have accepted the DNA recombinators fine.
PANEL THREE:
INT. Close on Jessica Drew’s face, her eyes half-closed, drugged out of her gourd. A clear plastic anesthesiologist’s mask covers her face, keeping her sedated.
7 CHRIS: (off-panel) There’re still about twenty-four hours left to the procedure, but you’re doing FINE.
8 CHRIS: Once it’s clear the recombinators have taken, we’re going to start the REWRITE. DR. RAO is here to make sure that all goes down right.
PANEL FOUR:
INT. Mirroring panel two, Dr. Kavita Rao hovers over Jess. Her face is masked, however, betraying no emotions or intimacy.
9 KAVITA: We’re going to be entering the critical part of this operation. It’s imperative that no matter how painful it is, you do NOT panic.
10 KAVITA: Sudden changes in your physiological state may confuse the nanites inside your body, and DISRUPT the recoding of your genes.
PANEL FIVE:
INT. Largest panel of the page. Zoom out to show Jessica lying naked on a surgeon’s table, hands, instruments, and word balloons strategically placed to cover her sensitive areas. Her eyes are rolling back into her head. A half-dozen surgeons, nurses, and technicians swarm around her, manning conventional surgical tools and monitors, and large black techno-organic nano-factories. Chris and Dr. Rao stand to either side. Chris is connected to the nano-machinery via black tendrils stemming from his body.
11 CHRIS: All right, people, let’s get her back under …
12 CHRIS: We still got a lot to do.
PAGE TWO
PANEL ONE:
INT. Chris and Dr. Rao exit the surgery room. Both are exhausted and sweaty. Chris is removing his gloves while Dr. Rao undoes her mask.
1 CHRIS: That should be it for today.
2 CHRIS: The nanites will work OVERNIGHT to speed up replacement of her old cells with the new modified ones.
3 KAVITA: Yes, I’m aware of the procedure’s schedule.
4 KAVITA: Thank you for your assistance, Dr. Powell.
PANEL TWO:
INT. Chris smiles, trying to be friendly.
5 CHRIS: Please, Kavita, it’s CHRIS.
6 CHRIS: Dr. Powell’s a little too … PROPER—-
PANEL THREE:
INT. Kavita folds her arms around her chest and furrows her eyebrows unappealingly.
7 KAVITA: --I disagree.
8 KAVITA: To be taken seriously as a doctor, relationships among colleagues must be strictly PROFESSIONAL.
9 KAVITA: Please address me as Dr. Rao and I will continue to address you as DR. POWELL.
PANEL FOUR:
INT. Chris looks forward, wearing a slightly annoyed expression on his face.
10 CHRIS: Yes, well then, DR. RAO …
11 CHRIS: I think it’s crazy how you convinced Agent Drew to undergo this procedure, considering it’s only been done on LAB MICE up until now—-
PANEL FIVE:
INT. Cut to side profile of Jessica lying in a hospital bed, recovering from surgery. She’s sedated, with various machines and tubes hooked up to her. Her hair is visibly falling out in chunks.
12 CAPTION: (Kavita) Excuse me, I didn’t “convince” Agent Drew of ANYTHING.
13 CAPTION: (Chris) What do you mean?
PANEL SIX:
INT. Close-up of Jessica. Her cheeks are poofy and red from crying.
14 CAPTION: (Kavita) She was a VOLUNTEER … before I ever ASKED for any …
PAGE THREE
PANEL ONE:
INT. Close-up on a digital alarm, the kind with the red LED
display. It reads
1 CAPTION: NOW
2 CAPTION:
PANEL TWO:
INT. A blonde boy of about thirteen lays in bed, asleep, facing the reader. The alarm clock sits nearby on his dresser.
NO DIALOGUE
PANEL THREE:
INT. Same shot, but his eyes pop open, alarmed.
NO DIALOGUE
PANEL FOUR:
INT. The boy springs out of bed, hastily throwing on blue jeans. The room is typical for a boy his age, messy and filled with posters of sport stars and pop starlets.
3 BOY: Holy crap! Mom, Dad, it’s
4 BOY: Why didn’t any of you wake me up?!? I’m like, two hours late for school!
PANEL FIVE:
INT. Largest panel. The boy is coming down the stairs in the background. The kitchen is foregrounded. The parents, both fully dressed for work, lay hunched over dead. The mother is laying against the kitchen counter, broken coffee pot in her hand. The husband is slouched over his newspaper. Large, unsightly boils appear on the skin of both.
5 BOY: MOM!
6 BOY: DAD!
PAGE FOUR
PANEL ONE:
INT. The boy recoils in horror at the site of his dead parents, tears forming at the far corners of his eyes.
1 BOY: Omigod, omigod!
2 BOY: Mom!? Dad!?
PANEL TWO:
INT. He runs for the door, full-blown crying.
3 BOY: Oh my God, I need HELP! Someone help, PLEASE!
PANEL THREE:
INT. He throws open the door, eyes closed, tears streaming down his face.
4 BOY: Mr. Sander!? Somebody!? ANYBODY!?
PANEL FOUR:
EXT. Largest panel. The boy stops, wide-eyed, as he takes in the horror of the scene. The small suburban block has grinded to a halt. His elderly neighbor lies dead at his mailbox, body similarly ravaged with boils. Other neighbors are dead in their car, slumped over the steering wheel.
5 BOY: Oh no …
PAGE FIVE
PANEL ONE:
The page is subdivided into nine equally sized borderless panels, each with a small TV shaped panel inside. Below each panel is a caption expressing what’s being said. The first shows Korean TV news anchorwoman Linda Park on GBN (Galaxy Broadcasting Network), with a small inset photo of a question mark superimposed on the Superman symbol.
1 CAPTION: … nation
still reacting to last night’s unveiling of the federal government’s latest
defense initiative, the Squadron Supreme …
PANEL TWO:
A scene from one of cable’s talking heads show. An older white man is talking on the television with the caption “Senator Robert Kelly – Tennessee (R)” emblazoned on the bottom of the screen.
2 CAPTION: … It’s
about time we put these people to work for us, Bill, and that’s why I signed
the Supreme Sanction into law. Now, if only the president would deal with this
mutant problem …
PANEL THREE:
A View-like show with four middle-aged women sitting around a table. A large projection TV shows Spider-Woman in an action shot.
3 CAPTION: … I
don’t know what she does to keep that figure, girls, but come on, is this really
a good role model for our daughters …?
PANEL FOUR:
Shot of a long line of people outside a Wal-Mart, waiting for it to open.
4 CAPTION: … Mayhem outside a local department store today, as kids and parents lined up for the release of the new Squadron Supreme toy line and video game …
PANEL FIVE:
A bearded Osama bin Laden-type terrorist sits on a mat in a grainy video.
5 CAPTION: … these
American infidels have allied themselves with abominations to Allah and will be
punished …!
PANEL SIX:
The disgruntled man on the street chimes in with his opinion.
6 CAPTION: … Squadron
Supreme? What do I care? How about they send these yahoos to
PANEL SEVEN:
The Chinese foreign ambassador stands at a podium during a press conference.
7 CAPTION: … It
is the position of the People’s Republic of
PANEL EIGHT:
A perky host to an Access Hollywood-style show.
8 CAPTION: … Variety
reporting Jake Gyllenhaal is the early frontrunner to portray Superman in the Squadron
Supreme trilogy …
PANEL NINE:
A Dave Chappelle-like comedian appearing on Comedy Central.
9 CAPTION: … Now,
how come the only brother they got on the whole team is wearing a mask that
covers his whole face? That’s some gotdamned discrimination right there!
PAGE SIX
PANEL ONE:
INT. Nick Fury reclines in a very white, very posh couch in the media room, so-called for the plethora of television screens going on at once. The channels we’ve seen and more are up and going. Fury’s got a broad smile on his face, as Sue Dibny hovers behind him, agitated.
1 FURY: It looks like you earned your paycheck this week, SUSAN. There isn’t a single news outlet or daytime talk show that isn’t talking about us.
2 FURY: Well, except for SPRINGER … he’s got the cheating transvestite hookers again.
3 SUE: We’ve got a boatload more interviews to do, Colonel. OPRAH
wants Jessica to fly out to
4 SUE: And we need someone for Larry King TONIGHT!
PANEL TWO:
INT. Fury turns around, arm still resting on the couch. Nothing can take away his high right now.
5 FURY: Who did you have in mind?
PANEL THREE:
INT. Sue counts on her fingers.
6 SUE: The Larry King stop is critical in our PR campaign.
7 SUE: I don’t want to send
8 SUE: HOURMAN and HOURWOMAN are just soldiers. The last thing we need is for those two to put an INHUMAN face on the Squadron.
PANEL FOUR:
INT. Sue continues talking, hands on her hips, as Fury turns back to the screen, a smug grin on his face.
9 FURY: And what about ME …?
10 SUE: … you’re a scary Gulf War vet with an EYEPATCH.
11 SUE: No OFFENSE.
12 FURY: None taken.
PANEL FIVE:
INT. Sue sighs, eyes closed.
13 SUE: Which leaves me CHRIS …
14 SUE: Who’s super-smart, charming, and gorgeous to look at …
15 SUE: But also YOUNG and BLACK, and I hate to say it, TOO Ivy League for some of our Bible Belters.
16 SUE: But really, I don’t think we have any other options …
PANEL SIX:
INT. Agent Jimmy Woo runs into the room, breathless, face twisted in urgency.
17 JIMMY: COLONEL! You better come see this quick!
PANEL SEVEN:
INT. A startled Fury begins to rise.
18 JIMMY: (off-panel) The THREAT LEVEL’S been raised …
PAGE SEVEN
PANEL ONE:
INT. Establishing shot of the darkened situation room. Intelligence analysts sit around the large oval table in the center of the room, each with consoles in front of them. The new arrivals, Fury and Sue stand near the doorway. Jessica Drew stands on the far wall in the corner, as Jimmy and Danny Chase stand in front of a large projection screen showing Dr. Kavita Rao. Jimmy is leaning on his fists, next to his console. Fury parts his trench coat to place a hand on his hip anxiously.
1 CAPTION: S.H.I.E.L.D. SITUATION ROOM
2 JIMMY: Now that the Colonel is here, we can begin the briefing. I want EVERYONE to listen to this emergency call, placed about three hours ago.
3 CONSOLE: “…
I-I don’t know what’s going on, I just woke up this morning and everyone was
DEAD. My parents, my neighbors, EVERYBODY. Oh .. oh God …”
4 CONSOLE: “Sir,
I need you to calm down. How did you find them, how were they hurt?”
5 CONSOLE: “I-I
don’t know, I don’t know. They just have these … these huge red blisters, like
chicken pox … just BIGGER.”
6 CONSOLE: ”I-I just had the chicken pox … was that it? Does that have something to do with it?”
PANEL TWO:
INT. Closer on Jimmy, still in the same position. Danny is looking to him for the cue to talk.
7 JIMMY: That was the pertinent portion of the call. We weren’t involved in this investigation until Homeland Security determined there was a possibility of a BIO-THREAT.
8 JIMMY: I’ll let Danny take over from here … DANNY?
9 DANNY: Right. Well, initially HS thought we might have been attacked by a biological agent, but nobody was claiming responsibility and the target didn’t make any SENSE.
10 DANNY: The outbreak occurred in a suburb 30 miles outside of Chicago, population 50,000. HARDLY ideal for spreading maximal casualties with a biological weapon.
PANEL THREE:
INT. Long shot, Fury interjects, making Danny jittery and nervous.
11
FURY: Excuse me, you said
OUTBREAK? On
12 DANNY: Y-Yes, sir, I did. Maybe Dr. Rao can shed more light on the NATURE of the biological agent involved.
PANEL FOUR:
INT. Close on Dr. Rao, who’s on the projection screen. She looks sweaty, tired, and grim.
13 KAVITA: We’re looking at the Orthopoxvirus Variola major virus. Also known as SMALLPOX. Except this particular strain is different …
14 KAVITA: It only has an incubation period of 4 to 10 days before the infected party becomes CONTAGIOUS, as opposed to the usual 14 to 17.
15 KAVITA: And UNLIKE conventional smallpox, the victim has a few days before symptoms appear, during which the virus is highly contagious by AIR TRANSMISSION.
16 KAVITA: By the time scabs are visible, fatality is all but ASSURED. We’re currently projecting a 75-90% mortality rate.
17 KAVITA: I want to stress that this virus has been MODIFIED, either naturally or unnaturally, to be HIGHLY lethal and HIGHLY contagious.
PAGE EIGHT
PANEL ONE:
INT. Return to Jimmy, who’s pointing at a chart on another projection screen.
1 JIMMY: Thank you, Dr. Rao.
2 JIMMY: We’re projecting loss of life in the millions before it could be contained, if it were to be released in a city like LOS ANGELES or METROPOLIS.
PANEL TWO:
INT. Fury folds his arms across his chest, head arched slightly forward. His face is stern.
3 FURY: This is all quite grim, Agent Woo, but you haven’t QUITE connected the dots for me.
4 FURY: What does this have to do with S.H.I.E.L.D.? Our jurisdiction is uniquely POST-HUMAN threats.
PANEL THREE:
INT. Medium shot of Jimmy leaning on his fists, looking forward and serious.
5 JIMMY: That’s the RUB, Colonel.
6 JIMMY: All of the evidence is pointing to the boy on that recording as the originator of this virus …
7 JIMMY: In all likelihood, that MUTANT boy …
PANEL FOUR:
INT. Fury strokes his chin introspectively, as his face turns grave.
8 FURY: … CHRIST.
PAGE NINE
PANEL ONE:
INT. Agents and personnel depart the meeting in a controlled fury of activity. Fury has taken Jessica aside and is walking and talking with her in close proximity.
1 FURY: Jess … I’m gonna need you to get out there to quarterback this thing for me from the FRONT LINE.
2 JESSICA: Sure thing, but do you need ME … or SPIDER-WOMAN?
PANEL TWO:
INT. Side profile of Fury, scoffing.
3 FURY: Lord, are you kidding?
4 FURY: The last thing we need is the media circus that accompanies RED and YELLOW SPANDEX on the female form.
PANEL THREE:
INT. Fury stops in the hallway, getting serious. Jess folds her arms across her chest and listens intently.
5 FURY: We’re gonna play this very down low … I don’t want anything even RESEMBLING S.H.I.E.L.D.’s fingerprints on this operation.
6 FURY: You handpick a team and retrieve this kid before any local authorities start putting the pieces together …
7 FURY: … Lord knows they don’t do it often, but I’m not taking any chances on a MUTANT RIOT.
PANEL FOUR:
INT. Jess shoots Fury an inquisitive look.
8 JESSICA: Doesn’t sound like we’re going to be wearing standard S.H.I.E.L.D. blues … what did you have in mind?
9 FURY: I want every appearance to be that you’re a normal Homeland Security HazMat team … masks, jumpsuit, the whole nine.
10 JESSICA: Yes, sir.
PANEL FIVE:
INT. Jessica turns to walk away. Fury, hands in pockets, calmly stops her in her tracks with his pronouncement.
11 FURY: One more thing.
12 FURY: When you make contact with the boy, I want you to take your mask OFF.
PANEL SIX:
INT. Jess whirls around in outraged surprise.
13 JESSICA: WHAT!?
14 JESSICA: Weren’t we just briefed on how DEADLY and CONTAGIOUS this virus is?
PANEL SEVEN:
INT. Fury calmly delivers his analysis to a doubtful Jess,
who is biting her lower lip.
15 FURY: Yeah, to REGULAR people … but you, your physiology’s been engineered to combat all matters of poisons, toxins, bacteria … AND viruses.
16 FURY: How your body metabolizes this thing might be the key to saving millions of lives.
17 JESSICA: … you seem pretty CONFIDENT that my immune system can fight this thing off AT ALL.
PANEL EIGHT:
INT. Fury turns to walk away.
18 FURY: For the amount of money we spent on your “upgrades,” you BETTER damn well be able to.
19 FURY: That’s an ORDER, Agent Drew. And NOT negotiable.
PAGE TEN
PANEL ONE:
EXT. Long panel. Re-establishing shot of
1 CAPTION:
2 CAPTION:
PANEL TWO:
EXT. Medium panel. Jess and her team of three agents walk toward the house single file, dressed in shiny blue hazmat suits. Jess’s three agents are armed with rifles. They’re wearing helmets with a see-through plastic faceplate, showing their faces. A bewildered-looking police officer trails Jessica.
3 OFFICER: Who did you people say you were again?
4 JESSICA: Homeland Security, Officer …
5 JESSICA: You want to let us do our job, or do you want to take it up with THEM?
6 OFFICER: No, of course not. We were just told not to let anyone into this area.
7 JESSICA: Your orders have CHANGED … this has become a national security matter.
PANEL THREE:
INT. Jessica and her agents bust through the front door.
8 JESSICA: Ugh … Fury, you there?
9 FURY: (off-panel, electronic) Yeah, I can hear you. Your team get through the local authorities all right?
10 JESSICA: Not without some headache … and not without getting hit on multiple times by overweight emergency responders.
PANEL FOUR:
INT. Fury is standing back at headquarter with Jimmy in front of him on a console. Both are on headsets.
11 FURY: All right, I’ve got Jimmy here on the line. He’s gonna guide you to where the boy is.
12 JIMMY: Agent Drew, I’ve got his heat signature here on thermal scan. He’s in the southeast corner of the living room, not moving.
PANEL FIVE:
INT. Jessica and her team walk through the kitchen, surveying the pustulated corpses of the boy’s parents. Jessica looks in horror and disgust.
13 JIMMY: (off-panel, electronic) … you copy that, Agent Drew?
14 JESSICA: Yeah … yeah … sorry, we just got to the parents in the dining room …
15 JESSICA: It’s not pretty, Colone—
PANEL SIX:
INT. Jessica turns to the living room, and sees the huddles form of a boy hiding behind a couch in the living room.
16 JESSICA: Wait …
17 JESSICA: I SEE him.
PAGE ELEVEN
PANEL ONE:
INT. Large panel. The boy is on the floor next to a couch near the window in a very suburban living room. Light glances through sheer blinds into the room. Dried tears and mucus stain the boy’s red and puffy face. He sits hugging his knees and the back of his head. His eyes are wide and distant.
1 BOY: Get away from me!!!
2 BOY: Go now before it’s too late!
PANEL TWO:
INT. Jessica crouches over the boy, hands reaching to take off her helmet, which has until now obscured her face and put distance between her and the scene.
3 JESSICA: Look, hon, it’s going to be all right … we’re not here to HURT you.
4 JESSICA: We’re here to take you to a place where you can get some HELP—
PANEL THREE:
INT. The boy pulls away further frantically.
5 BOY: NO!!! Don’t you GET it!?
6 BOY: I’m not afraid of YOU hurting ME …!
7 BOY: It’s YOU who are gonna get sick if you don’t leave NOW!
PANEL FOUR:
INT. Long panel. Men dressed in head-to-toe black in commando gear crash through the dining room windows. Some form of tear gas/smoke begins to fill the room. Jessica’s men whirl around to the noise, guns pointed, as Jess starts to her feet.
SFX: CRASHH!
PAGE TWELVE
PANEL ONE:
INT. First in a series of four equally spaced, tight panels. One of Jess’s men recoils as a bullet goes through his head.
NO DIALOGUE
PANEL TWO:
INT. Three bullets hit the chest of another agent, who falls backwards onto the last remaining SHIELD grunt.
NO DIALOGUE
PANEL THREE:
INT. Finally, that guy gets tagged with a bullet that cleanly passes through his throat.
NO DIALOGUE
PANEL FOUR:
INT. Close on Jess, looking straight forward at the reader, in wide-eyed shock and growing horror.
1 JESSICA: Oh, God …
PANEL FIVE:
INT. Largest panel and focal image of the page. We see what Jess sees, namely Deathstroke the Terminator stepping through the front door, gray smoke swirling around him dramatically. Like his men, he’s covered head-to-toe in functional black gear, except for some key orange accents in spots and his trademark split-face mask. Slade exudes predatory confidence here; there is no question he is the master of this situation.
NO DIALOGUE
PAGE THIRTEEN
PANEL ONE:
INT. Jess pulls up into fighting stance, but her face betrays her lack of confidence in this fight’s outcome.
1 JESSICA: Colonel, do you still copy? I need backup immediately …
2 JESSICA: Colonel …?
3 FURY: (off-panel, electronic) –-
PANEL TWO:
INT. Close-up on Deathstroke. Some features of his face show through the mask.
4 DEATHSTROKE: You’ll find that your communication devices are no longer operational …
5 DEATHSTROKE: In fact, no electronic data of ANY kind is coming or going for about a 5 mile radius.
PANEL THREE:
INT. Jessica, same pose as panel one.
6 JESSICA: …
7 JESSICA: Why the hell are you HERE, Slade?
PANEL FOUR:
INT. Vertical panel. Slade stands casually, holding his hands behind his back. In the foreground, Jess stands in a combative stance. Her men lie dead on the floor around her.
8 DEATHSTROKE: For the BOY, of course. What else?
9 DEATHSTROKE: … you aren’t really thinking of FIGHTING me, are you?
10 DEATHSTROKE: I would really HATE having to kill you, you know. Your little SQUADRON would be a lot less pretty to look at, for one.
11
DEATHSTROKE: The
PANEL FIVE:
INT. Closer on Jess, loosening her stance up a bit and gritting her teeth.
12 JESSICA: Go to HELL, murderer.
PANEL SIX:
INT. Long panel. Profile of Slade standing across from Jess. To the side, ‘Stroke’s men stand with their pointing at Jessica.
13 DEATHSTROKE: GLADLY.
14 DEATHSTROKE: Not yet, though.
PAGE FOURTEEN
PANEL ONE:
INT. Large panel and again the focal image. Jess nearly leaps out of the page executing a gorgeous jumping Savate kick. The Terminator expertly sidesteps, blocking the kick with his left arm.
1 JESSICA: HYAH!
SFX: THOK
PANEL TWO:
INT. Small panel. Slade’s hand twists and grabs her ankle.
NO DIALOGUE
PANEL THREE:
INT. From Slade’s back looking up, he grabs her neck in mid-air with his free arm, choking her. Jess’s eyes bulge as her hands instinctively go for her own throat.
2 JESSICA: HRKK--!
PANEL FOUR: