Among Us: Trace goes Live- Acts One and Two
Story by
Laura, Amber and Autumn
Teleplay by
Laura
"Trace"
TEASER
OPEN ON BLACK
CHLOE (V.O.)
One of them was meant to save the world. Another to destroy it. An oversimplification, but that's what it came down to. And I couldn't help getting wound up in all things Kryptonian.
SLOW FADE UP TO:
INT. BOITZOV MANSION - UNDERGROUND - CHLOE'S ROOM - BOSTON
NIGHT (A WEEK FROM NOW)
CHLOE SULLIVAN types away on her laptop, a journal entry for her eyes only.
CHLOE (V.O.)
The things that didn't add up, that added up to more than they ought to have...Those 'weird' things gave my life a purpose. Wasn't I living my fairy tale?
I thought that I was the wild card. I was free from their destiny; I could keep things from going haywire. I could keep them apart. Alive.
MONTAGE - FLASHBACK
-- Davis at the wheel, driving away from an unnamed gas
Station;
-- Chloe casting a fleeting glance away from him, to her
old life.
-- The phone booth, Clark. Her past.
-- Turning determinedly back to Davis, almost smiling back.
BACK TO SCENE.
CHLOE (V.O.) (CONT'D)
Was I wrong? We are all marked for death. No matter who. What we are.
ON Chloe, deep in thought.
EXT. GRAVEYARD - METROPOLIS -- DAY (4 DAYS AGO)
CLOSE IN to a patch of dried ground, weeds straggling their way over dry dirt.
Clods of ground clump over where the coffin would be. The ground seems to have recently been disturbed. Animals? A coyote perhaps. Something else.
Nothing human has been there for quite sometime. DAVIS BLOOME, the rough headstone reads.
CUT TO a small, grave piled high with flowers. HENRY JAMES OLSEN, the stone reads.
A BLONDE WOMAN in businesslike attire huddles over the grave for a moment, slides her hand over the smooth marble.
The CRACKLE of a twig sounds behind her. She is not the only one there. Startled, turning, she reveals herself as CHLOE.
DR. EMIL HAMILTON approaches from the path behind her, hands empty. His hair and attire is rumpled unusually, as if he came straight from the lab.
CHLOE: A little late to pay your condolences don't you think? Oliver get out of his gear long enough to send me a baby-sitter?
DR. HAMILTON
I came on my own. Something's been nagging at me.
CHLOE: And you couldn't get to Oliver?
Sorry. He's been working the late shifts. A drug bust at forty seventh, then that Kryptonite trafficking gang sting, not to mention Lois, Clark, and some of the league have gone MIA...
DR. HAMILTON: It's important.
CHLOE: The return of Chloe, the desk reference.
(sighs)
What do you need?
DR. HAMILTON
I've been analyzing some of the remnants of the explosion at the factory. It doesn't add up. I have been able to isolate some fragments...But the genetic centerpiece is missing. From my analysis of Doomsday's mutating cells…
I can't understand how he could have been destroyed.
The word destroyed resonates on Chloe's face. How could her life have been so ruined?
DR. HAMILTON (CONT'D)
(clearly uncomfortable)
Do you visit here often?
CHLOE: When I can. On break. I don't have much more left as it is. The Watchtower has pretty much been going haywire ever since...
DR. HAMILTON…Clark left.
Chloe turns away, not concealing the tightness in her expression.
CHLOE: Davis murdered Jimmy.
DR. HAMILTON: Davis was fixated on you, but before...He attacked Oliver before Jimmy…
CHLOE: Davis snapped. That's all. One minute I kissed Jimmy, the next minute there were three inches of metal piping coming out of his chest.
Chloe begins to stand.
Dr. Hamilton approaches the headstone and tries to lay a hand on a distraught Chloe's arm. She stares back at him.
DR. HAMILTON: I'm sorry you lost both of them like that.
CHLOE: It should have worked. I split him like Clark wanted...And then it turned out Davis's human half-
(voice breaks)
Chloe sits down again, looking back at the headstone.
DR. HAMILTON: You tried to save them both and couldn't. It's normal to feel pain.
CHLOE: Pain?
DR. HAMILTON: You were desperate to save Davis before.
CHLOE: I've always wanted to help people…
DR. HAMILTON: You say the human Davis did this?
CHLOE: You never knew Davis.
DR. HAMILTON
I know the past. The flaws in the destroyer's design; Davis's emotions were the only reason Doomsday didn't rampage all over Metropolis. Davis went vigilante, then he attempted to kill himself and made himself more powerful. He tried to avoid destruction; however …wrong his methods might have been, he did seem to have good intentions.
(bewildered)
Yet the first action Davis commits as a human is murder?
CHLOE: I didn't know him. I thought I did. He was a psycho.
DR. HAMILTON: (quieter)
The man was the psycho, not the destroyer, then the destroyer dies?
CHLOE:(impatient)
Have you ever heard of Fenrir? Well I put my hand in his mouth and he bit my arm off.
(beat)
I have no husband, no best friend. I did my best…
DR. HAMILTON: You trusted Davis. I just don't understand how he could've-
CHLOE: (interrupting)
He must have felt betrayed. Possessive. Dangerously obsessed. He said I was the only one who ever loved him.
Dr. Hamilton turns to Chloe in surprise.
CHLOE: (CONT'D)
I thought I loved Davis because it would make it less unbearable to leave everything behind.
DR. HAMILTON:
Chloe, if you thought you loved him, you did.
Chloe turns hastily away, propping her hand on the stone. A unique branding catches Dr. Hamilton's eye.
INSERT - MARK ON CHLOE'S HAND
A pale, almost translucent loop embedded into Chloe's skin.
BACK TO SCENE
Dr. Hamilton averts his gaze from her hand, his thoughts turning inward.
BEGIN FLASHBACK:
INT. LAB -- (OCTOBER 1996) NIGHT
YOUNG DR. EMIL HAMILTON stands over the charred skeleton of a facility. He stops every two or three minutes, not baffled with the apparent lack of accelerant in the area.
There is a WOMAN at the center, their second known human torch. His colleague, DABNEY DONOVAN, remains at his side.
DABNEY: A lab experiment? Maybe she was already infected.
YOUNG EMIL:
She died in a car wreck a week ago. Donated her body to science. You saw us dissect it. It's still at the university. This-
(pause)
It's like she appeared from thin air. Again.
DABNEY: (not taking it seriously)
A clone would be a first wouldn't it? People are still making a fuss over sheep. If this is real, can you imagine? (laughs)
A white-haired man, the two colleagues' mentor, PAUL WESTFIELD, in a lab coat, senior pathologist, calls to him.
PAUL: Hamilton!
SOUND of SIRENS. The official police force will be there any second.
YOUNG EMIL (to himself): A clone...
Young Emil quickly pushes the material in the bag with tweezers, in his haste jostling the body.
The hand shifts and for a moment he can see a TATTOO, the burn of a near perfect circle.
END FLASHBACK.
EXT. GRAVEYARD - METROPOLIS - DAY
Chloe interrupts Dr. Hamilton's thoughts.
CLONE CHLOE (CHLOE): Well? No more advice?
CLOSE IN on Dr. Hamilton's face as he makes the connection.
DR. HAMILTON: (averting his eyes from the mark with constrained effort)
If there's anything you need...
CLONE CHLOE
I don't need you to be my psychologist. Especially if I'm going to be working with you.
Unless you have something more than scientific curiosity, I think you should leave.
INT. DR. HAMILTON'S MEDICAL LAB - DAY
Dr. Hamilton rushes into his lab.
He scurries through his file cabinet over dusty files. He pulls out a thick file with CADMUS labeled on the front.
Dr. Hamilton flips through the pages, until he finds what he is searching for.
INSERT - PICTURE
The clone symbol implanted on the hand of a woman.
BACK TO SCENE
DR. HAMILTON: Clones. If they were both-
He makes his way tentatively to the back of the room, pushes open a panel and inserts a key. A refrigerated safe opens.
Dr. Hamilton takes out a rack of test tubes, shifts one to the other on a rack, carefully sorting through them.
At the very back there is one vial missing. DAVIS BLOOME.
INT. CADMUS LABS - METROPOLIS - DAY
The lab is much more modern; empty; a sealed laboratory.
The walls are lined with tanks, filled to the top with a gel-like transparent substance.
Inside the tanks drift EXPERIMENTS, FAMILIAR FACES. Three of CHLOE with vacant eyes.
BLACK CANARY. IMPULSE. An empty tank.
The camera PANS past the walls of the lab, taking you deeper into the facility. The tanks are secured with thicker glass. Thick steel bars. PROJECT ULTIMATE.
The tanks are full of BODIES. FACES. Including some LEX
LUTHORS.
DAVIS. DAVIS. DAVIS, again. The very last tank is empty.
OFF CLOSE UP of the panel. The light FLASHES red.
INSERT - PANEL
The CAMERA PUSHES IN on the word "ACTIVE."
FADE OUT.
[END OF TEASER]
ACT ONE
FADE IN:
INT. ABANDONED CABIN - NORTH COUNTRY -- DAY (4 DAYS AGO)
CLOSE IN on CHLOE, REAL CHLOE, shifting through papers restlessly, as she sits on a cot, researching for the next hole in the wall to disappear to. She looks different. Paler by far than her clone.
It's dark inside; the blinds drawn down. She reads with the little bit of light that creeps through the blinds. She sneaks a look at a pile of semi-recent Daily Planet newspapers.
INSERT - NEWSPAPER HEADLINE
"Daily Planet Alum Jimmy Olsen's Heroic Death"
INSERT - NEWSPAPER HEADLINE
"Where is the Red Blue Blur?"
INSERT - NEWSPAPER HEADLINE
"Daily Planet Star Reporter Lois Lane Reported Missing."
BACK TO SCENE
Chloe flips to the next paper, a silent tear falling down her cheek.
INSERT - NEWSPAPER HEADLINE
"Jimmy Olsen kills Cornfield Killer"
BACK TO SCENE
DAVIS BLOOME, REAL DAVIS, sleeps on a cot. Chloe's eyes shift across the room briefly, making sure Davis is still asleep before running a hand across her forehead, grimacing.
Not closer to a solution than she started. The past month has been like treading on eggshells.
SERIES OF SHOTS - DAVIS'S NIGHTMARE
A) A flash. Davis with his hand around someone's throat, forcing them down.
B) Camera goes OUT OF FOCUS.
C) A HOLLOW SOUND, like the breath leaving human lungs.
Davis snaps awake, throwing the covers aside, breathing heavily. Chloe moves over from her cot to his.
CHLOE: (sitting next to Davis to comfort him)
There you are. You were sleeping like the dead for a minute there.
Not a single shift.
(feeling his brow) More nightmares?
Davis stiffens and stares at Chloe's hand.
DAVIS: Actually-
(He stops, rethinks it) No. Just the cold.
Chloe nods, skeptical, trailing off into silence. She steps away from the cot and back to her papers, shuffling to hide the newspapers, so as not to remind Davis of painful information.
DAVIS (CONT'D):
(breaking the silence)You got up again.
CHLOE: Being on daytime is a hard habit to break. We've got six more hours until sunset, so we have to sit pretty.
Davis stands, turning his back, half-dressed, tugging the covers from the bed and taking them over.
DAVIS: (approaching Chloe from behind as he throws on a t-shirt)
You okay?
CHLOE: (feeling his presence) I've been looking over... (she wets her lips as if she's afraid to stop talking)
All these print outs. There's one paragraph that I thought-
Davis peers over her shoulder, making her nervous.
CHLOE (CONT'D): I'm starting to miss super smarts. Or at least a nice quick search engine.
Chloe turns around in her chair and laughs up at Davis.
They stare at each other for a moment, Davis averting his gaze first, still unable to talk about the underlying sexual tension.
DAVIS (backing away): The phone doesn't work either.
He stops, trying to read her for clues, his eyes steering upward with a peaked curiosity.
Who could she call anyway?
CHLOE: Hey, the best hideout doesn't always mean 'technophile friendly.'
DAVIS: I'm no mechanic, but I can see about hooking you up. We've got that energy converter.
CHLOE: Careful. Can cook, jack of all trades, saves people, buys me candy...sounds too good to be true.
Davis looks away with a sad smile. It is.
CHLOE (CONT'D): Thanks for the thought, okay?(pause)
We have to lie really low these days. That can be tracked like an eddy on a pool by someone with the right equipment. I'm not going to let that happen.
Most of the world might think you're dead. But not everyone.
They lapse into silence, side by side, Chloe now standing, not comfortable. Not uncomfortable, really. Just there.
CHLOE (CONT'D): Four hours, you think?
DAVIS: We can stop if you need to.
CHLOE: I don't.
That's almost become a habit.
DAVIS: Has it?
Davis looks at her without "looking" at her. Still. Pressing her for clues.
CHLOE: Yes, a habit.
DAVIS:
Chloe is this really all...fine? Is there something more? I can't just watch you- (swallows)
I don't want to trap you.
Chloe half-smiles at his serious expression. She's gotten used to reading it.
CHLOE: I think we're both remarkably sane under the circumstances.
DAVIS: It's not about circumstances. It's about this.
Talk to me?
Davis once again invades Chloe's personal space, inching toward her.
CHLOE: I'm fine.
DAVIS: (Putting on a smile halfheartedly) We could talk about the computers. Or you could tell me about the school newspaper again.
(looking down) Krypton if you want.
Chloe sits down, opens her mouth, closes it again.
CHLOE:
Did I ever tell you that I died before? (thinks) I was one of the meteor freaks on the slabs with the needles in me. You could say I got over it.
That was my power. Healing. Coming back. When Brainiac was in me, I think I lost that.
So this life is the one chance we've got.
DAVIS
I won't let that happen again.
Chloe smiles up at him, now barely two inches away. Breathes in. The words sound so familiar.
CHLOE: Everything may have gone to hell, but right now I'm happy. When I was a little girl, I used to dream of a place like this. Of course, it was about seventy-five degrees and there was plenty of iced coffee...but...otherwise.
(pause)
We're just living the ultimate adventure. I mean look out there, dark, unknown...creeping about in it...untraceable...I can get a kick out of it.
DAVIS: Your classic Batman and Robin. Their spiky friend. The constant threat of milling humans getting turned into blood orange juice.
CHLOE: The brothers Grimm? It's all about the dark and scary.
DAVIS: Not like this. It's a burden, always wondering if we'll get out this time, or if it will be the next time I snap.
Chloe sneaks a glance down to her watch.
DAVIS (CONT'D): We'll be fine. I can keep watch.
Davis turns, wanting to reassure Chloe.
CHLOE: Then we hit the road.
DAVIS: So you need the sleep, first step.
CHLOE (covering her face, barely biting back a yawn): Really, I'll go stir crazy if I sleep a second longer.
Davis puts his hands between his knees, tense.
DAVIS: It's okay, Chloe. I'm calm. You don't have to.
Chloe shakes her head, caught between affection and exasperation.
CHLOE: It's not about having to...I trust you, okay?
(voice breaks off) You're not a burden.
DAVIS:
Then let me carry it...whatever it is. For a little while.
A SOUND interrupts their conversation, like a CRACKLE of a radio. Davis blinks, realizing Chloe hasn't heard it. She
smiles at him, confused. Maybe the sound is just a dream.
Davis smiles back, closes his eyes, breathing in, getting ready to wait the rest of the night out.
Chloe and Davis sit next to each other on his cot. Chloe rests her head on his shoulder. It's kind of unbelievable that such a little thing...
The CAMERA PANS OUT and BEHIND THEM, past the unfurnished room, the scratched paint of the cabin. Out and away which brings us into-
THE WOODS
A few lights BLINKING, DARK SHAPES moving ever closer in the undergrowth.
EXT. LUTHOR MANSION - SMALLVILLE -- NIGHT (PRESENT DAY)
It is eerily silent. The night lit by the skyline lights of Metropolis, instead of stars. Within the mansion, there is
only one light.
The ground below is cleared out. Smoking. The grass is singed in a geometric pattern of glowing green light. A MAN stands in the center, nude and invulnerable. His features are almost obscured by the light flickering across his skin.
Aside a crude wooden coffin, the coffin of the deceased Clone Davis, there is a SOUND, an inhuman CHANT.
The man flexes his hand experimentally, eyes lighting up with red flame. A patch of grass lights, smokes, burns away.
The coffin follows.
INT. LUTHOR MANSION
Within the mansion, TESS MERCER watches the dimming light in a haze. She draws the curtains back, halting, lingering behind them like a shadow. This is what she'd waited for. He's come.
EXT. LUTHOR MANSION
The man turns, his face revealed as a carbon copy to Davis. There are older harder lines to the face of what used to be
Clone Davis, inhabited by something much more aged. More powerful. ZOD.
Zod diminishes the space in a moment, makes the curtains billow and float.
INT. LUTHOR MANSION
He pushes Tess's head down, and she is kneeling. A salute. Tess doesn't move, half-transfixed. There is a fanatical gleam in her eye.
Zod sees his face in the ornate mirror over her head, turns this way and that to become accustomed to his new body, his
vessel.
ZOD: (Mechanical, without emotion) It is a good vessel.
TESS: (finally raising her glance) As the head of your mission, I can tell you it was perfected through hundreds of trials.
ZOD (amused): You wish to be rewarded.
TESS: Only by the completion of your promise.
ZOD: This world will be remade. You have started it all off. You will usher in a new age.
TESS: And this?
Her voice is almost impatient. There is more.
Zod straightens out, moves forward, predatory. Not breaking eye contact.
Tess moves toward the desk, carefully removes something. It is the STAR BLADE, hooked and curved, at the center a green stone.
Zod takes it and Tess barely winces as the movement crushes her fingers.
ZOD: This can destroy Kal-El? Such a small, pitiful thing.
TESS: Appearances can be deceiving. As you will be. Every cell of yours is his exact duplicate, and you have none of his weaknesses. No pain. No emotion.
When the time comes, you will have an army. Identical to you in every way. Hundreds, who will follow your will alone.
ZOD: And yours, as you have created them under this...
TESS: X.
ZOD...brought all this together.
Tess nods her head, looking up, smiling almost ironically.
TESS: All that remains is your mission. I have done my part.
ZOD: You have served me well in your betrayal of Kal-El. You will be rewarded for your service.
Zod rests the blade on her shoulder as in confirming her knighthood. He shifts the knife upward, watches as a bead of
blood flows from her neck.
ZOD (CONT'D): Remembered.
CAMERA PANS to Tess, lifting her head, clear-eyed and afraid.
INT. ABANDONED CABIN - NORTH COUNTRY - NIGHT
There are SOUNDS, like SCRATCHES ON GLASS, NIGHT SOUNDS, ELECTRONIC SQUEAKS. The SOUNDS increase in volume.
Davis is propped up against the wall, running a shaky hand along his forehead. Trying not to shift too much, unnerved by the noises.
Chloe appears to be asleep. Her eyelids flutter, she pulls away from where she leaned against Davis.
She still sits on the cot.
CHLOE: I can't sleep. Something isn't right.
DAVIS (shakes his head): I haven't been up to it either. I'm sor-
CHLOE: It's too quiet out there.
DAVIS: It's not. Quiet.
CHLOE: Paranoia setting for you too, huh? As long as it's not voices in your head we're good.
DAVIS: I thought- I'm just starting to get used to this- I think I can hear-
CHLOE (wide-eyed): You think someone is out there?
DAVIS: No, it's just...
I'm starting to hear things.
Chloe pulls away from him completely, biting her lip. Stands.
CHLOE: You didn't tell me?! You know you can trust me.
For all we know, being Kryptonian, you're starting to develop some of Clark's abilities, like superhearing.
She sits back down and turns back to Davis.
CHLOE (CONT'D)
What things are you hearing?
DAVIS
There is a buzz...always. In the back of my head. I didn't want to add to everything...first Clark...
And then- I couldn't expect you to take those problems too.
CHLOE: (understanding) How close?
DAVIS
I don't know. It could be nothing. Maybe I'm just hearing the town noises. It's all starting to blend together.
CHLOE: And if it's not? (quieter) They've found us.
Davis looks up at her, swallows, pulls the keys from his jacket draped on the headboard.
CHLOE (CONT'D): For your own good, you can't keep things from me. You know that. We
really should get moving again anyway.
DAVIS: But what if I'm right? What if I'm a monster? And I'm destined, even
with a cure...
(glancing at Chloe)
...to kill. These things...happening to me-I can't control them.
CHLOE What happened to Jimmy. That wasn't you. You can't blame yourself for something you never did.
If I'm right, some division of Luthorcorp has opened up their cloning laboratories, and we've become their latest target. I've been Lex's lab rat before, and I have no intention of letting that happen again.
Chloe walks over to Davis.
CHLOE (CONT'D)
I know you. And what I know, is that you're not a monster.
Chloe pulls Davis in for a hug. Davis closes his eyes. Winces.
There is a SOUND, a steady THUD, speeding up. Chloe's HEARTBEAT. Chloe opens her eyes as she hugs him with an expression of doubt.
FADE OUT.
[END OF ACT ONE]
ACT TWO
FADE IN:
INT. DAVIS'S CAR - ABANDONED CABIN - NORTH COUNTRY - NIGHT
Davis turns on the gas, pushes on the accelerator. The car jerks to a stop with a GRINDING SOUND. The wheels WHIR under the car, kicking up dusty grass. Something holds it still.
CHLOE (bravely): This is positively the worst time for an engine stall. I knew we should have forked out an extra five hundred for the transmission. This lemon is...
DAVIS: It's not...
Chloe nods quickly, in case someone is listening.
DAVIS: It's not a lemon.
CHLOE: Call it whatever you want. (smiles briefly)
Next time I'm picking it out.
Davis hides a smile.
Suddenly, FOOTSTEPS approach from the brushes. Chloe and Davis turn to each other in fear. Chloe gropes under the
glove compartment and pulls out a gun; an old version of a Glock. She clicks the chamber. She holds up a finger at
Davis. One bullet.
CHLOE (CONT'D): Tell me what our options are.
Davis tightens his fingers on the wheel, eyes reddening in spurts, senses activating again. His eyes flicker open, as if he has a headache.
DAVIS: There are at least fourteen of them.
The SOUNDS get louder. CHIRPS of equipment, the CRACKLE of twigs. No one tries to mask the movement.
A MALE VOICE outside, speaks, voice low and deep, warped by the speaker horn. A policeman's voice.
MALE VOICE: Surrender willingly, and you won't be harmed.
DAVIS: She has nothing to do with this. Let her go.
MALE VOICE: I will hold this vehicle in place until you retreat. If so, we will allow the woman to drive away. You will remain with us. We can contain you. You won't kill again.
Davis opens his eyes, hesitates. Looks straight at Chloe.
DAVIS: Maybe it's police?
CHLOE: Contain? That's a cage. No way those are cops.
(pause)
Davis, they know what you are.
Chloe leans over Davis and unlocks his door. She nods to him.
CHLOE (CONT'D): I'll be right behind you.
Davis pushes at the latch. The door won't open. He pushes again. Powerful outside sources cause the car to bevel inwards, trapping Davis under the steering wheel.
CHLOE (CONT'D)
We've made our way out of tight spots before. We can do this.
Davis puts more force into it and the glass windshield SHATTERS, a piece of glass right above his neck. The car hood CRUMPLES, pushes closer to his throat, to the darkening skin there. He squeezes his eyes shut.
Chloe throws herself to his side of the car and tries to tug at his hand. It is trapped under the metal. Davis's eyes are still open.
CHLOE (CONT'D):
(floundering, afraid to touch him) Okay!
(softer) Davis, stay with me...
DAVIS: I've been impaled already. They can't kill me like that again.
CHLOE: You can't do anything else at will right? If you can, tell me, because that would be really helpful right about-
Davis smashes through the crumpling door with his hand.
CHLOE (CONT'D): (surprised and a little impressed)
Now.
INT. WATCHTOWER - METROPOLIS - NIGHT
Clone Chloe sits at the screen keying in queries. Equipment is scattered everywhere. There are twenty to thirty computers on at once. She holds the earpiece up to her ear and stops typing for a moment. Almost smiling.
CLONE CHLOE: Watchtower in.
OLIVER'S voice speaks to Chloe through the headset.
OLIVER (V.O.):
(over phone, filtered) Tracked Impulse to his last known location, again. Apparently the good people of Metropolis are not the last that that Kryptonite smuggling section of the Intergang got on the bad side of. The facility is just cinders, other than those particulates. Please tell me you have something.
CLONE CHLOE: No locations yet. The ground is unusually sterile. No life in it.
Nothing to track. I've still got a few options left.
OLIVER (V.O.):
(over phone, filtered)
In closing, another mission's a bust.
CLONE CHLOE: Wrap up and come in, then, Arrow. Something's got to look up.
There is a CRACKLE on the line.
CLONE CHLOE: Oliver? Tell me it's not the police radio again?
OLIVER (V.O.): (over phone, filtered) It's the police radio again.
CLONE CHLOE: Don't get yourself into too much trouble.
OLIVER (V.O.):
(over phone, filtered) Will do. Arrow out.
The BUZZ of STATIC replaces his voice. With a sigh, she loosens her earpiece. The computers on standby.
There are no useful signals from the trackers.
Chloe WALKS away from the computers and over to the lab equipment where she carries a tiny vial filled with light, reddish dirt in her hand. She places it rather unceremoniously near the microscope and her laptop.
Chloe is interrupted by a KNOCK.
DR. HAMILTON (O.S.): I hear you could use some help.
Clone Chloe paces to the door.
CLONE CHLOE: (Slamming the open door, leaving a crack) So you're here. Again. To help me, I suppose. Who sent you?
DR. HAMILTON
Oliver, actually. He mentioned something about dirt to be able to find Bart. This is still my job.
CLONE CHLOE:
It's okay, I get it. This is one of these uneasy truces, isn't it?
You want something. More of my observations on that Dying Destroyer project of yours?
Or is this just more of Oliver thinking I need a baby-sitter? Well news flash, I'm not made of glass. You can tell Oliver I'm fine and that he can trust me.
Chloe attempts to shut the door, but Dr. Hamilton's hand pushes it back open, his foot the anchor below.
DR. HAMILTON: You help me, I'll help you.
Chloe thinks about it and then finally opens the door completely.
CLONE CHLOE: We'll see.
Dr Hamilton glances over the desk, walks further inside to the computer lab.
DR. HAMILTON: You certainly have the technology at your disposal now.
Dr. Hamilton slows at Chloe's center of operations. Along the walls there are the profiles of Impulse, Black Canary hanging. On the desk, there's not a single personal photo of Chloe's. Not Clark, Jimmy, not herself. It's all very drab. Scientific.
CLONE CHLOE (following closely behind):
I learned to compartmentalize. I can't look at the past. All I can do is save people now.
(peers up at Dr. Hamilton)
This is not a sightseeing mission. Help me or get out.
Dr. Hamilton opens his mouth to say something. Thinks better of it. Sits down in her chair.
DR. HAMILTON (keying into her computer screen): You're tracing it by sediment? That's rather inexact.
CLONE CHLOE (annoyed): We can't afford to take breaks when our teammates are still out there.
DR. HAMILTON: And you won't give up on them.
CLONE CHLOE: Of course not. They're my boys.
(pauses)
You know, Oliver broke into the mission site that first week, four times after Bart disappeared? All he could find was this weird dirt. So call me crazy, but I'm going to study the heck out of it. It's all we've got.
DR. HAMILTON (Clicking through different analysis screens): No biological particulates at all?
CLONE CHLOE: Checked. Double checked. Triple Checked. There's no life in it.
Who has the technology to completely sanitize their dirt? Who can afford it? Who needs to? That should narrow it down a bit, but we can't exactly take out an ad in the paper. Suggestions?
Dr. Hamilton stands up and walks over to the lab quarters.
DR. HAMILTON: Well, there's always Luthorcorp.
Some hospitals maybe. A lab. Top secret government projects. People like us.
Chemistry is the best bet. I can't say I'll find an address. It's not like Bones. We can't find a complete match, but with this dirt sample, I might be able to pinpoint a likely location.
CLONE CHLOE: We just need to find somewhere close with this soil makeup.
DR. HAMILTON: I think your machines can help with that. First the rare stuff.
He goes to his briefcase, pulling out two pairs of gloves.
DR. HAMILTON (CONT'D): I'm going to test for boron. That color, it's kind of distinct.
CLONE CHLOE: Anything you've got.
Dr Hamilton finishes his setup.
DR. HAMILTON (watching her closely): Hold that still for me, if you can. The solution can be rather active.
CLONE CHLOE: If it leads us closer to the truth. Not to another theory.
DR. HAMILTON (conversationally): How come you want to find the truth every other way except one? You can't just leave all the past behind, make yourself forget. It's not healthy.
CLONE CHLOE chooses to ignore him.
Dr. Hamilton lightly pours in the mixture with a sigh.
Clone Chloe holds it in a hard grip, still doesn't look up, angry. She tightens her fingers unconsciously as Dr. Hamilton keeps pouring.
The test tube breaks, knocking shards of glass everywhere.
DR. HAMILTON: I am so sorry. I must have poured in too much. Are you cut?
He tries to reach for Chloe's hand to take a look. She pulls away.
CLONE CHLOE: No.
(laughs)
Who's the emotionally distraught one again?
Dr. Hamilton shrugs, almost amused by her tetchiness. He takes out some sanitary towels to clean up the mess. The remaining shards of the tube glow bright red.
DR. HAMILTON At least we know it is boron.
CLONE CHLOE: I'm fine, really. I'm just going to let you handle this part on your own.
DR: HAMILTON: Watch yourself.
Dr Hamilton hands her paper to mop the liquid off her hands.
Clone Chloe does, discards the gloves.
CLONE CHLOE: Sure, I'll do some of your research. After I try and find more resources for you to work with. Finding them is our first priority, but I'm staying away from your experiments.
Clone Chloe washes her hands off. Dr. Hamilton continues to clean up the mess.
DR. HAMILTON: That seems like the best idea.
Clone Chloe sits at the desk, almost eagerly, typing with new speed.
CLONE CHLOE: Watchtower in.
Dr. Hamilton nods to her for a moment, does a double take.
The glove on her hand is ripped. Clone Chloe rubs the pinprick of dark blood oozing from her finger, absentmindedly, without an expression on her face. She is not capable of feeling the pain.
CLOSE IN on Dr. Hamilton's shocked face.
EXT. ABANDONED CABIN - NORTH COUNTRY - NIGHT
Chloe and Davis flatten against the misshapen car some feet apart on the ground.
Encircling them is a group of MARKSMEN, dressed in dark colors. Black masks cover their faces. They are clearly prepared, leaving them surrounded completely.
CHLOE: (whispering)
They definitely know about us.
Davis falls to his knees, glass flicking off his fingernails.
The others approach; there is the SOUND OF TRIGGERS being COCKED. Closer and closer until Chloe jolts slightly forward. SOMEONE presses a gun between her shoulder blades.
She stiffens.
There is a swift movement, super speed, and the SHOOTER is knocked backwards by Davis. He crouches at her back, red eyed, wary. Spikes are starting to curl over his fingers.
Davis pushes himself farther back, panicking the beast will emerge.
DAVIS: No!
(clenching his half transformed hands)
I'm with you, Chloe.
Chloe barely notices his transformation. She is half kneeling, looking for an opening. The almost-empty Glock is on the floor next to her hand. They are both as good as unarmed.
A MASKED MAN approaches them; Davis still hasn't moved. He struggles to contain the change.
Chloe finally becomes aware of the situation and takes charge.
CHLOE: I don't know who you are, but I promise you, no matter what you think he is, you have no idea what you're getting yourself into.
MASKED MAN: (smugly) Then why aren't I dead?
Davis's eyes are shifting, quickly, but the spines haven't broken through his skin yet.
MASKED MAN (CONT'D)
(His voice a milder form of the voice on the horn): Sullivan, right?
CHLOE (taken aback): Do I know you?
MASKED MAN:
Everyone knows you. Chloe Sullivan, ex reporter, friend of the weird, the cure to Davis Bloome.
(pause)
We'll have to take you as well.
Davis coughs, on his feet in a split second. A solid, unmovable mass between the man and Chloe. His eyes still
red from the half-formed transformation.
DAVIS: You're not taking her anywhere.
MASKED MAN (comfortingly): We know what you are.
DAVIS (tightly):
Oh yeah? What's that?
MASKED MAN
A creation, a genetic masterpiece. Worthy of respect. A being to be understood and emulated, not to be chased down like an animal.
(reverently) The destroyer.
CHLOE: (looking only at Davis)
You want to use him, exploit him for your own purposes.
The masked man says nothing, shifts his gun between them both. His eyes are black, excited.
DAVIS: I won't let that happen. We're not going with you.
MASKED MAN: Now that is an unreasonable demand.
CHLOE: Whatever you've been told, it's wrong. You can't contain him, you can't use him; you'd be dead before you started to study him. Drugs won't do it. You can't stop the destroyer. You can't put him in a box.
Chloe moves two feet behind Davis. They can't afford to get separated.
CHLOE:
If you do you will die. Now you have a chance.
MASKED MAN:
After searching for half my lifetime?
Behind him, the others keep their guns pointed on Davis. The masked man loosens his hand, drops his gun to the ground.
MASKED MAN (CONT'D): We'll do well enough.
The gun swivels back into the air, the masked man using powers of telekinesis, hovers, trained straight at Chloe. The reanimating skeleton of the car hurtles towards Davis.
Davis grabs onto the car, gritting his teeth. It impacts the ground with a heavy SOUND.
Chloe THROWS herself to the side, behind the metal of the fallen crushed hood, scrabbles at the moving gun with her hands, seizes hold of the butt. The gun twists, slamming her against the car hood.
DAVIS: Put the gun down.
Davis holds the masked man by the throat, clearly losing his fight to stay calm. Sweat breaks across his hairline and dark pinpricks appear on his skin.
MASKED MAN: I don't want to hurt her, but I will. I let her live if you let me go. Only then.
Chloe flicks the catch, dropping bullet casings from the gun. They surround her in a whir, cut her off from Davis.
One bullet grazes past her forehead, barely missing, yet causing her to bleed. Chloe is clearly losing the fight.
Davis tightens his grip, the man doesn't blink. Davis pushes the masked man back; he hits the metal car hood. The bullets don't stop circling Chloe. Davis snarls.
DAVIS (advancing):
She has nothing to do with this. You won't hurt her. I can hurt people.
Behind him a marksman fires a warning shot from a tranquilizer gun. The bullet sprays splintered metal.
MASKED MAN (hoarsely):
He's new.
(louder)
Lower your weapons! We need him alive.
The marksmen hear the Masked Man's instructions too late.
Davis snatches a bullet from the air, another takes its place. The others spray at him in a torrent, a heavy cloud ripping into his human body, blinding him. He releases the Masked Man.
Davis throws himself out blindly fighting them off. Two marksmen fall. The other ten raise their guns. The Masked
Man takes hold of Chloe.
MASKED MAN (CONT'D)
You can stop this. You just have to stop fighting us.
DAVIS (roughly): Let Chloe go first.
Black begins to curve from where the bullets go into him, the spikes threatening to appear. Chloe winces, closes her
eyes. Unable to look.
CHLOE
You won't take either of us willingly.
(calls to Davis) And I won't leave you.
MASKED MAN:
Your choice.
The gun slams down on Chloe. Davis yells out. Black spikes push out of his skin.
Clearly panicking, one of the marksmen aims. He shoots. The others follow.
Davis falls, shot full of tranquilizer darts. He looks up at Chloe, almost peaceful. Not at risk. He smiles painfully, looks down at his hands. The spikes pull back in.
Around them, the marksmen begin to approach.
The CAMERA blackens. From the floor, eyes closing, Chloe sees Davis, lets out an unsteady breath as the masked man still holds onto her. She struggles to move. The tranquilizer darts won't work for long.
Blood trickling from her forehead, Chloe pushes herself to her knees while the Masked Man, distracted, stares at Davis.
She makes a quick grab for the gun on the ground, and raises the Glock.
Chloe FIRES the one bullet in the chamber straight at the Masked Man.
There is a loud WHIR, and a WOMAN dressed in back lands on the ground, knocking the Masked Man unconscious, before Chloe's bullet reaches her target.
The bullet DENTS the car hood instead.
The CAMERA ZOOMS in on Chloe as she gets a good look at her unlikely savior. Ahead we can see a black boot and a slender figure, twisting, blending into the night shadows. The woman is ANDREA, THE ANGEL OF VENGEANCE.
ANDREA: Amiga, I said I’d be seeing you.
Andrea's voice is drowned out by the ringing of GUNFIRE. Blinding light illuminates the clearing, for the first time revealing the OTHERS hidden within the ravine.
SHOOTER: Contain them!
Andrea throws herself against the line of shooters.
Chloe crawls along the ground near Davis. Struggles on the ground with the Masked Man, who has woken up. Metal pins her right hand to the ground, keeping it immobile.
The Masked Man uses his telekinetic ability again. A rifle aims straight at her heart. Chloe yells in anger, trying to catch the shooter off guard with bravado.
ANDREA: Listen to my friend. We don't agree with you.
Andrea tackles the SHOOTER, forces the rifle from his hand. The Shooter struggles, forces the butt of his rifle into her face.
Andrea takes his spare gun out of his belt, tosses it to Chloe. Breaks the rifle hinge.
As soon as Chloe catches it, she begins to strain. The Masked Man looks up at her and the gun. Smiling. The gun nearly jerks Chloe's arm out of joint as he pulls it to him.
Chloe suddenly LETS GO. It flies straight into him, hitting his forehead and drawing blood.
Chloe pulls the gun away, fires a few warning shots at Andrea's attackers. In the commotion, Andrea leaps over the line, shoots a tranquilizing dart straight at the Masked Man.
CHLOE: (out of breath)
He's got some sort of telekinetic power. Watch out.
ANDREA: He won't be up for a while. Those tranquilizer bullets can knock down a herd of elephants. Standard issue for these operations.
(Looking down at Davis)
I'm thinking that's what happened to him.
CHLOE: We need to get out of here.
Chloe scrambles to Davis, dropping the empty rifle on the ground.
Andrea raises an eyebrow, picks it up and crosses it over her shoulder like a sword. Andrea TWISTS and deflects back just in time. The redirected volley of bullets shatters the car's remaining side windows.
CHLOE (CONT'D)
(raising her voice) Tranquilizer darts really won't work for long.
Davis groans, reaches Chloe's hand on the ground. His eyes are brown now. Recognizing her.
ANDREA (giving up, ducking behind the car hood):
Good. There are at least twenty more coming. Mind taking a leap?
Chloe puts her arm around Davis as he regains his strength and gives Andrea an encouraging nod.
FADE OUT.
[END OF ACT TWO]
Acts Three and Four
Act Five
And the Discussion Post is Up Here. XD