Panel One: David stand at a podium next to the screen, the projector is now turned off so the screen is blank, it doesn’t need to be prominent in the panel, just show where it is for position in the room. David is standing in front of a decent sized crowd of reporters seated in rows of chairs. Some of the chairs should be empty; this is a moderately attended press conference. One of the people in the chairs is going to be the government agent that we meet a little later, so remember to draw him in now. David is in a suit with a lab coat over it. Behind the projector is a large object covered by a tarp. The object is the Gateway.
DAVID: ONLY BY WAY OF THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT HAVE WE BEEN ABLE TO OBTAIN WHAT LITTLE IS KNOWN OF THE CORPS FINAL MISSION.
DAVID: THEY WERE DROPPED INTO GERMANY TO STOP THE NAZIS FROM COMPLETING THE HYDROGEN BOMB.
Panel Two: We pull in tighter on David. All the other panels should show David as being excited at the concept of finding out what happened and visibly proud of The Corps. But in this panel he needs to have a slight bit of sadness as he tells of his grandfather’s death.
DAVID: ALL WE KNOW OF WHAT HAPPED ARE THE FOLLOWING EVENTS: THE REPORT OF A VERY LARGE EXPLOSION IN THE SOUTH OF GERMANY AND DR. MARS MYSTERIOUSLY APPEARED IN THE OVAL OFFICE AT THE EXACT SAME INSTANT.
DAVID: MARS TOLD THE PRESIDENT THAT THE MISSION WAS ACCOMPLISHED AND THEN HE FELL TO THE FLOOR.
DAVID: HE DIED FROM A GUNSHOT WOUND BEFORE MEDICAL PERSONAL COULD ARRIVE.
DAVID: DR. MARS WAS REALLY DR. PAUL MARKOWITZ, AND MY GRANDFATHER.
Panel Three: A side shot of David, just past him we see another guy in a trench coat taking down the projector.
DAVID: I’VE DEDICATED MY LIFE TO DISCOVERING WHAT TRULY HAPPENED ON THEIR FINAL MISSION AND THE FATE OF THE OTHER SEVEN MEMBERS OF THE CORPS.
DAVID: BUT SINCE THERE ARE NO LIVING WITNESSES TO THE EVENTS, I HAD TO TURN TO MORE SCIENTIFIC METHODS OF UNRAVELING THE MYSTERY.
Panel Four: David is now standing back from the podium with his hand up on the tarp. He’s getting ready to pull it off.
DAVID: THAT IS WHY I’VE ASKED YOU ALL TO COME HERE TODAY. I HAVE FOUND A WAY FOR US TO SEE WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO THE CORPS AS THE MOMENT IT WAS HAPPENING.
DAVID: WE WILL ALL DISCOVER THEIR FINAL FATE TOGETHER WITH THIS…
Panel Five: We pull the camera all the way to the back of the room so we see the agent on his cell phone in the foreground and deep in the background we see David pulling the tarp off of the gateway. Very little of the Gateway can be seen yet. The agent is trying to be quiet as he talks on this phone, maybe with a hand over it to cover some of the noise.
AGENT: WE’VE GOT A PROBLEM. HE’S GOING TO DO IT NOW, IN FRONT OF THE MEDIA.
AGENT: GET A UNIT OVER HERE NOW!
Panel One: This is our first look at the Gateway. This needs to be a very impressive looking item. It should be similar in idea to the “Stargate” but different enough in design that no one makes the immediate connection. It has an opening big enough for people to go through a couple at a time. The center needs to be blank since it’s off.
DAVID: THIS IS THE GATEWAY. WITH THIS DEVICE WE ARE ABLE TO OPEN A PORTAL TO ANYTIME AND PLACE IN HISTORY.
DAVID: I KNOW THIS SOUNDS INCREDULOUS TO A LOT OF YOU, BUT BELIEVE ME, WITH THE GATEWAY WE CAN LOOK INTO THE PAST.
Panel Two: A male reporter stands up to ask a question. The audience around him is trying to hold back their giggles.
REPORTER1: DR. MARKOWITZ? BRIAN VIERS OF THE LA TIMES; HOW DOES THE GATEWAY WORK?
Panel Three: David turns to the report to respond.
DAVID: THINK OF TIME AS A STRAIGHT LINE. EVERY WHEN AND WHERE EXISTS ON THAT LINE. ONCE WE DECIDED WHAT IN HISTORY WE WANT TO SEE, ITS JUST A MATTER OF A MATH EQUATION TO PIN POINT ITS LOCATION OR ADDRESS ON THE LINE. WE THEN KEY THE ADDRESS INTO THE GATEWAY AND IT OPENS THE PORTAL.
Panel Four: A female reporter stands to ask a question. We see this from behind David. David will be answering in this panel, so keep that in mind when designing the panel.
REPORTER2: DR? MICHELLE McCULLOUGH WITH THE REGISTER. YOU KEEP SAYING ‘LOOK’ INTO THE PAST; ARE YOU NOT ABLE TO GO INTO THE PAST YOURSELF?
DAVID: WE EXPERIMENTED WITH SENDING A LAB RAT THROUGH WITH LESS THEN FAVORABLE RESULTS. AS OF RIGHT NOW WE ARE ONLY ABLE TO SEND INANIMATE OBJECTS THROUGH SAFELY.
Panel Five: David back at the podium. He has his hands up to stop the reporters from asking questions.
DAVID: IF I COULD GET YOU TO HOLD YOUR QUESTIONS FOR A FEW MOMENTS.
DAVID: I THINK IT WILL ALL BE CLEARER AFTER YOU SEE THE GATEWAY IN ACTION.
Panel One: A small, hovering camera is floating next to David at the podium. The camera should be somewhat ball shaped but it needs to obviously be a camera and look high tech. David should be holding a remote control.
DAVID: THIS IS OUR HOVER-CAM. WE WILL BE SENDING IT THROUGH THE GATEWAY SO WE CAN SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING.
DAVID: THE HOVER-CAM HAS A LOCATOR BEACON THAT CONSTANTLY UPDATES THE ADDRESS IN THE GATEWAY, SO THE PORTAL STAYS OPEN IN IMMEDIATE PROXIMITY TO THE HOVER-CAM NO MATTER WHERE IT GOES.
DAVID: AS LONG AS THE PORTAL REMAINS OPEN, WE CAN VIEW THE SIGNAL FROM THE HOVER-CAM. IT ALSO ALLOWS ME TO CONTROL THE HOVER-CAM WITH THIS REMOTE.
Panel Two: We pull in closer on David who seems a little annoyed.
DAVID: I HAVE TO MENTION THAT FUNDING FOR THE HOVER-CAM WAS PROVIDED BY FOX SPORTS AND LOOK FOR IT TO BE USED IN NEXT YEARS SUPERBOWL.
DAVID: NOW IF DR. HOUTS WOULD BOOT UP THE GATEWAY, WE CAN BEGIN.
Panel Three: This is a good shot of the Gateway as it opens. There should be electrical pulses running from side to side and top to bottom. It should look like the last place you’d want to step into. The hover-cam should be floating right in front of it.
SFX: SSSHHHK-VRRRRRRMMMMMMMMM. (A starting up sound leading to a humming).
Panel Four: David pressing a button on the remote.
DAVID: AND NOW WE SEND THE HOVER-CAM THROUGH THE GATEWAY.
Panel Five: David walking over towards a large, wall mounted monitor just off to the side of the podium.
DAVID: NOW IF YOU ALL TURN YOUR ATTENTIONS TO THIS MONITOR, WE CAN SHOW YOU WHAT THE HOVER-CAM IS SEEING.
BOX (DAVID): DON’T BE ALARMED THAT WE ARE ONLY SEEING SKY. PART OF THE GATEWAY’S ADDRESS IS EXACT COORDINATES INCLUDING ALTITUDE. THIS ALLOWS US TO PUT THE CAMERA THROUGH AT A SAFE DISTANCE ABOVE ANYTHING THAT MIGHT BE HAPPENING AT THE TIME.
BOX (DAVID): LET ME TURN OFF THE TIME STAMP SO IT’S NOT IN OUR WAY.
Panel Two: David standing just to the side of the screen holding the remote. On the screen we see the camera has begun to swivel down towards the ground. David is looking at the screen as he’s doing this. The time stamp is gone from now on.
DAVID: OKAY, NOW LET ME SWING THE CAMERA DOWN TOWARDS THE GROUND AND SEE IF WE CAN FIND THE CORPS.
Panel Three: Back to the view from the camera. What we see is a ground littered with dead German soldiers. All of them died very violently. This should be a good-sized panel to show the emphasis of the number of bodies on the field.
Panel Four: Close up of a soldier who has been killed, his neck is snapped. There is a broken gun lying next to him.
BOX (DAVID): UMM… I’M NOT QUITE SURE WHAT’S GOING ON HERE…
Panel Five: The camera start going over a hill to see what’s on the other side of it.
BOX (DAVID): BUT THERE APPEARS TO BE SOMETHING GOING ON THIS WAY.
Panel One: Large panel of the battlefield. We now see the team in full combat uniforms, guns and other various weapons. The Germans are being decimated. The next few pages are going to be “Superheroes Saving Private Ryan”, meaning I want the stuff to be realistic and violent but not excessively violent.
BOX (DAVID): I THINK WE FOUND THEM… LET ME TURN ON THE MICROPHONES.
Panel Two: The General is snapping the neck of a German soldier while another is standing behind him cocking a sub-machine gun.
SFX: CRACK!
SFX: CHA-CHINK.
Panel Three: The General swings around with the dead soldier by the neck as the bullets riddle the corpse.
SFX: RATATATATA-TATATA
Panel Four: Mr. Chaos shooting the German with the Sub-machine gun in the back of the head with one of his two pistols.
SFX: BLAM!
CHAOS: DAMN IT, GENERAL. START WATCHING YOUR BACK.
Panel Five: Close up on the General. His face is a snarl. He has a crazy look in his eyes.
GENERAL: BACK OFF, CHAOS. HE WAS MY KILL.
Panel One: Dash running across the screen, she has a sword in her hand, but it’s turned around so the blade is running along her arm with edge out. She is slicing through soldiers as she runs. Remember, her gender here is still wrong… so she can’t be too feminine or too masculine.
Panel Two: Dash running by a tree and a shot hitting just above her head.
SFX: A GUN SHOOT HITTING A TREE.
Panel Three: Dash stops and looks towards where the bullet was fired.
DASH: HEY! THAT WOULD’VE HURT!
Panel Four: Side shot of Dash running straight at the guy and driving the sword into his chest.
DASH: YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO SHOOT THE GOOD GUYS.
Panel Five: Back in the lab. We see that all of the reporters’ eyes are glued to the screen. They are all leaning forward in silence.
DAVID: AH…. LET’S SEE IF WE CAN FIND ANY OTHER MEMBERS OF THE TEAM.
PAGE TWELVE
Panel One: We see a German soldier who has dropped his gun and is pleading towards Athena with his arms raised. She is holding sword and shield, blood drenched and ready. Dead soldier lie about her feet.
SOLDIER: NIEN! NIEN!
Panel Two: Close up of Athena as we see the end of the cut and blood flying. It’s obvious she just gutted the surrendering soldier. There is a vicious smile on her face.
Panel Three: Another large panel as we see The Eagle chasing down a group of soldier who are obviously fleeing from him. He is shooting a sub-machine gun into them, killing a few as the others run for their lives.
EAGLE: DON’T YOU RUN AWAY FROM ME!
Panel Four: Back in the lab, we see a close up of David’s face and his reaction. His eyes are wide open, his mouth is agape… he can’t believe what he is seeing.
RUSHMORE: I’M NOT REALLY IMPRESSED WITH THEIR NEW PANZER TANKS. THEY DON’T SEEM TO LAST ANY LONGER THEN THE OLD ONES.
Panel One: Chaos stands at the top of another hill, he is yelling to his teammates. We see the General below ripping a couple soldiers apart. He is in a rage.
CHAOS: LET’S MOVE IT PEOPLE! MARS HAS FOUND THE BUNKER!
Panel Two: Over head shot of the General pummeling a soldier on the ground.
GENERAL: AAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!
Panel Three: Side shot of Chaos grabbing the General’s arm in mid-swing. The General is looking back at Chaos, rage in his eyes.
CHAOS: HE’S ALREADY DEAD! PULL IT TOGETHER SOLDIER. WE HAVE A MISSION TO FINISH.
Panel Four: The team is crouched down with Dr. Mars at the opening of a tree line. There is a bunker in the clearing. Chaos and the General are running up to the group.
Panel Five: Mars, Chaos and the General hunched down together.
MARS: MY INSTRUMENTS TELL ME THE HYDROGEN BOMB IS IN THERE. WHAT’S THE PLAN ON GETTING IT GENERAL?
GENERAL: UNNGH…..
CHAOS: GREAT.
Panel Six: Chaos stands up to the rest of the team.
CHAOS: OKAY. DASH, I WANT YOU TO CHECK THE PARAMETER FOR ANY STRAYS. VALOR, I WANT YOU TO PUT RUSHMORE THROUGH THE ROOF THEN CARRY THE GENERAL IN AFTER HIM. EAGLE, YOU TAKE ATHENA IN THE SAME WAY. WHILE YOU GUYS ARE TAKING CARE OF THE GUARDS, MARS AND I WILL GO IN THE FRONT DOOR AND FIND THE BOMB.
CHAOS: IS EVERYONE CLEAR?
CHAOS: ALL RIGHT THEN… MOVE!
PAGE FOURTEEN
Panel One: From inside the bunker we see Rushmore crashing through the roof. Behind him through the hole in the roof we see the Eagle carrying Athena and Valor carrying the General.
SFX: CRASHING THROUGH A CEILING.
Panel Two: All of them are on the ground with German soldiers staring at them with guns drawn.
GENERAL: TAKE THEM OUT!
Panel Three: Wholesale mayhem in the middle of a scientific bunker. Go to town on this one.
Panel Four: Chaos with guns drawn enters the bunker with Mars.
CHAOS: YOU FIND THE BOMB; I’LL GO AFTER THEIR FILES.
MARS: RIGHT.