Crestfall part 4-ish

EXT. NEON CITY - ROOFTOPS - NIGHT


CRESTFALL stands atop a gargoyle and surveys her city. She’s above most of the street lights and the stars are clearly visible. The city sprawls for miles in every direction.

CRESTFALL (V.O.)
Neon City. My city. I haven’t been here in years. The stillness of the night betrays the vibrant underbelly that I know exists just below the surface.

As she speaks we see glimpses of serene middle class city life. Fathers and mothers coming home from work, sitting down to a home cooked meal. College students studying the night away. College students partying the night away.

CRESTFALL (V.O.)
It’s there, the evil of the city. Hiding in the dark alleys and the shadows. It’s in the places most people are afraid to look.

In an alleyway we see a figure draped in shadow. The figure is wearing a trench coat and hat like something out of a 1950’s noir film. The figure backs slowly into the shadows and disappears.

CRESTFALL (V.O.)
It’s the feeling you get when you’re walking down the street at night by yourself. Suddenly you feel as though someone’s watching you. Like they’re right behind you but you can’t bring yourself to turn around and look. So you quicken your pace. You don’t look back to see if anyone’s there because seeing it would make it real.

As she’s speaking we see a MAN about 23 doing exactly what she’s describing.

CRESTFALL (V.O.)
In Neon City, chances are someone is right behind you.

The man is walking briskly in a panic. He glances over his shoulder and sees a HOODED TEEN matching his pace and gaining on him slowly. The man darts down an alley.

CUT TO:


EXT. NEON CITY - ALLEY - IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING


The man is trying to catch his breath and is kneeling behind a dumpster. He pokes his head out from behind the dumpster to make sure the hooded teen has passed. He doesn’t notice the teen. The man closes his eyes and regains his composure. He stands up straight and turns to leave the alley.

The hooded teen is standing there with a menacing grin. He has a retractable baton in his hands and he slowly makes his way towards the man.

MAN
Please. I don’t want any trouble.

HOODED TEEN
Neither do I. I want your wallet, and I want you to scream a little.

The man nervously pulls his wallet from his pocket and throws it on the ground.

MAN
There. That’s everything I’ve got! Honestly. I can’t even make rent this month. Please don’t hurt me, man. Times are tough. I gotta work.

HOODED TEEN
How rude. You threw it on the ground? Man, I was only going to ding you up a bit. Now I’m thinking I need to break something to get your respect.

MAN
Please. Please don’t do this.

The man falls to his knees, tears streaming down his face. The hooded teen stands over him with the baton raised. The man braces for the hit. Nothing happens. The man is confused.

CRESTFALL (V.O.)
If someone’s behind you. I’m the one who’s behind them.

* IF I CAN INTERRUPT MY SCRIPT FOR JUST A MINUTE. THAT LAST LINE BY CRESTFALL IS CORRECT IN SENTIMENT BUT NOT CONTENT. I NEED TO ADJUST IT BECAUSE I HATE IT. IF YOU CAN THINK OF SOMETHING BETTER, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. - TIM *

The man looks up and sees the hooded teen on the ground. Crestfall stands over the teen with her wings spread. Lightning CRACKS across the new clouds in the sky.

Crestfall picks up the man’s wallet and hands it to him.

MAN
Thank you so much!

CRESTFALL
Next time, don’t run into alleys. Just go home.

MAN
Next time?

CRESTFALL
You know what I mean. Get out of here.

The man runs away. In the shadows a figure watches. Crestfall is unaware.


EXT. NEON CITY - SKYLINE - LATER


Crestfall flies slowly through the cloudy skies of Neon City. The neon lights add an eerie glow to the atmosphere.

CRESTFALL (V.O.)
This city needs me. I hear its cries day and night. I’ve been back a couple of weeks now. Living on the streets among the rats and the homeless. Bob wanted me to uncover some kind of conspiracy but I don’t see anything more organized than a few gang attacks and some half hearted bank robberies. I’m starting to wonder if I maybe overreacted. I don’t know what that symbol was. Did I fall prey to some sick joke from a senile old man? Did I run away from my only chance at a normal life?


INT. PARKING GARAGE - SAME NIGHT


The parking garage is abandoned. No one uses it except a community of homeless people. Crestfall is accepted as one of them. She goes to a corner where she’s rigged some old blankets over a clothes line. Inside of her rig is a dirty mattress. She lays down and the mattress and folds her wings around herself to keep warm.

BILLY an elderly homeless man approaches her “room” from the outside and calls to her.

BILLY
Hey, superhero! We’ve got some extra cans. Saved you some! Gotta keep up your strength girl!

Crestfall begrudgingly exits her corner. When Billy sees her, he smiles like a proud father. Crestfall stretches her wings and appears to relax a little. This is her home and these people are her family.

She walks over to the center of the community where there’s a bonfire lit in an old barrel. There are four or five other homeless folks there eating various items out of various cans. Some use rusty forks, others just use their fingers.

Billy excitedly hands her a can. She hesitates before she takes it.

BILLY (CONT’D)
You’ve earned it, Superhero! Ever since you cleared that gang out of here, you’ve earned yourself first picks! And if you ain’t here for first picks then old Billy here is gonna make sure you at least get SOMETHING!

CRESTFALL
Thank you Billy. This means a lot.

She is exhausted and can barely stand. She slumps down on the ground in front of the fire.

BILLY
Come on, Superhero! You gotta eat! Gotta keep up your strength! You can’t get weak on us now.

She drops the can. She’s too wiped out to even stand. She can barely speak.

CRESTFALL
How did... you know.. about...

Billy bunches up an old blanket for her to use as a pillow and slides it under her head.

BILLY
Oh, he’s told us a lot about you. He’s the one who keeps bringing us food. He says we can share it as long as you always get some. But that’s not why I like to make sure. You work hard for us. You deserve it. You get some sleep though. You can eat in the morning.

CRESTFALL
Who?

She glances up and as her vision blurs she sees the man in the trench coat step out of the shadows.


INT. GARBAZ’S APARTMENT - MORNING


Crestfall groggily awakes in a bed. Confused she looks around at the small apartment. The bed she’s on is folded out from the couch in the small living room. There are two doors that lead to other rooms. The kitchen is small and tucked away in the corner. Her recon stops when she sees the dinning room table.

On the table is a neatly made omelet with bacon and hash browns. A tall glass of orange juice sits next to it.

She scrambles over to the table and devours the food. As she does so, the door opens and a man of 70, CHARLES GARBAZ enters. He’s the man who has been draped in shadow, watching her for the past couple of weeks. He’s carrying a full grocery bag. They startle each other. She readies herself for a fight, he drops the bag.

CRESTFALL
Who are you? In fact, where am I?

He slowly bends down to pick up the groceries.

GARBAZ
My name is Charles Garbaz. I’m an old friend of your father’s. I’ve been keeping an eye on you for some time.

CRESTFALL
My father? Keeping an eye on me? Who the heck ISN’T watching me? I’ve got some mysterious corporate tool who’s supposedly been watching me since birth, I had all kinds of cameras on me in that place! Now I’ve got you saying that you’re watching me! What the hell is going on?

She glances around the room, the reality of her situation is dawning on her.

CRESTFALL (CONT’D)
How did I even get here? Are you kidnapping me? Why am I rambling?

He walks over to the table and offers her a seat.

GARBAZ
Here. Sit. I’m going to make some more food, then I’ll fill you in on everything you need to know.


INT. GARBAZ’S APARTMENT - LATER


There’s a stack of plates in the sink. She’s been eating all morning. They sit together at the table as she eats more food.

CRESTFALL
So let me see if I understand this. You’re an old friend of my dad’s and you’ve been keeping tabs on me since my parents died. You knew about my accident but thought I didn’t make it until Bob called you and told you I was on my way... Who are you? How do you know all this?

GARBAZ
I wasn’t just friends with your father. We were co-workers. We worked for The Facility when it was first started by Alexander Quitlove’s father. Our team was your father, myself, and Robert. We were tasked by Quitlove to create a enhancement serum for soldiers. Something that would add to their strength, endurance, stamina what have you. And we were successful. We created a compound that, when injected, boosted the human potential tenfold. But this wasn’t enough for Quitlove. He wanted bulletproof soldiers. He wanted unstoppable Marines. He wanted indestructable troops and he wanted to make sure it never wore off. This didn’t sit well with your father. He told Quitlove that he was finished. No more experiments, no more research, no more nothing. His wife, your mother, was pregnant with you at the time and he had to put his family first. Your father walked out.

CRESTFALL
Well that’s a nice story. It doesn’t explain anything though.

GARBAZ
Listen to you! Jumping the gun. I haven’t had visitors in ages. Sometimes an old man just wants to tell his stories.

Crestfall is grinning at him.

CRESTFALL
I’m sorry.

GARBAZ
Good. Now shut up.

The playful banter sets Crestfall’s mind at ease.

GARBAZ (CONT’D)
Robert and I continued our research based off of your father’s notes. We made some shocking breakthroughs. We found a way to alter a human’s genetic code through a mixture of... I can’t remember what we mixed. Suffice it to say, the mixture was a success. On paper at least. When we tried to mash the compound up with human DNA strands in the lab, they would bond for a fleeting moment, then dissipate. We came to discover that your father had been using bits of his own genetic code as the base for the original compound. We took a sample of his DNA from The Facility’s files and our new enhancement mixture took like a charm. Bonded completely. It enhanced his genetic sample to scientifically amazing... I’m getting off topic.

CRESTFALL
So wait. You’re saying that you created the perfect super human but it only works with my dad’s blood?

GARBAZ
Essentially, yes.

CRESTFALL
How does this relate to me? I mean besides the obvious.

She flexes her wings for emphasis.

GARBAZ
Your parents death was no accident. It was retaliation for what Quitlove saw as a grave injustice on your father’s part. Alexander Quitlove could not stand for this dishonor and he paid to have your parents taken care of in a manner that seemed like an accident.

CRESTFALL
No...

GARBAZ
Once he received word that only your father’s DNA could bond to the serum, Alexander Quitlove’s father killed himself and left his empire to his son. This new Quitlove learned quickly that crime pays in large doses. He now runs the crime in this city from his ivory tower. When he learned that you survived the accident, he made sure that you were never far from his sight. He had me keep tabs on you.

CRESTFALL
So you’re the who sent the bomb?

GARBAZ
No! No no. The bomb was Quitlove’s own doing. My job was to keep tabs on you. When the explosion killed your team, I feared you were lost forever. With you gone, I had no reason left to work at The Facility. I retired and gathered my pension. I’ve been in mourning since. Until a month ago when I got a call in the middle of the night from Robert telling me that not only had you been found. But you had been the victim of our serum. He notified me of you expected arrival and I’ve been watching you ever since.

CRESTFALL
If you’ve been watching me ever since... Why have you only approached me now? Why have you been paying Billy and the others with canned food and only watching from a distance?

GARBAZ
I had to be sure.

CRESTFALL
Sure of what?

GARBAZ
Sure that you were still in charge of your own facilities. The last thing I need is to have Quitlove and flunkies burst in here. I’m going to take him down. But I’m going to need your help.

CRESTFALL
What can I do?

GARBAZ
We need evidence against him. We need a direct line to Quitlove. I need you to continue doing what you’re doing every night already. But I need you to get information from the thugs and bullies. We need to find something concrete in order to pin him to the wall.


EXT. NEON CITY - ROOFTOPS - NIGHT


CRESTFALL stands atop a gargoyle. Neon tubing runs down the sides of monumental skyscrapers throughout the city’s skyline. Crestfall is in her normal jumpsuit, her blood red wings folded back as she surveys her city.

CRESTFALL (V.O.)
It’s cold tonight in Neon City. The air is still. It’s going to rain soon.

It begins to rain. Crestfall leaps into the air and spreads her wings. She flies into the night sky.

CRESTFALL (V.O. CONT’D)
The drops on my wings are refreshing. But I know that the thugs in this town like the rain. They’ll be coming out of the shadows soon. Like roaches.


EXT. NEON CITY - ALLEY - NIGHT


A WOMAN shuffles her feet through puddles in the rain. She’s clearly nervous and questioning her decision to cut through the alley. She turns a corner and is met face to face with a wall. She’s startled.

WOMAN (TO HERSELF)
Now you’re jumping at walls. Just turn around and head back to the street.

She turns around and notices a small group of THUGS standing before her. Some of them hold baseball bats. They snicker amongst themselves. The THUG LEADER stands at their forefront, dressed in a tacky leather outfit.

THUG LEADER
You know, I was just talking to Lenny (he’s my best bud y’see) and I says to him, I says ‘Lenny, you know what I really want?’ And he says in his typical deadpan Lenny fashion, he says ‘Nope sure don’t’.

Tears are streaming down her face as thugs move in closer with each word spoken by the leader.

CRESTFALL (V.O.)
They’re roaches, and I’m the exterminator.

THUG LEADER
So I explained it to Lenny. I says ‘What I really want is a new plaything.’ And baby,
I want to play with you!

The woman’s SCREAMS fade into the rainy night sky.

CRESTFALL (V.O.)
My name is Crestfall.

The leader grabs the woman by the arm. He’s tapped on the shoulder.

CRESTFALL
Excuse me.

The leader turns around to see Crestfall standing behind him. Her wings spread ominously. The few thugs that aren’t already on the ground, knocked out by her, are huddled off to the side cowering in fear.

CRESTFALL (CONT’D)
I don’t think she feels like playing right now.

The leader pushes the woman to the ground.

THUG LEADER
What are you ladies waiting for? Get her!

As their leader barks out order, the thugs gather their bearing and attack Crestfall.

CRESTFALL (V.O.)
This is my favorite part.

She makes quick work of them utilizing a specialized hand-to-hand combat technique. Part of the technique involves using her wings as a weapon, folding her wings back and thrusting them forward. She makes quick work of the remaining thugs as the leader watches. If he’s nervous he doesn’t show it. The woman is slumped on the ground in the alley, drenched by the rain.

Crestfall opens her wings again. She turns around and stares the leader in the eye.

CRESTFALL
Now you and I get to play.