RIFT

"Timebomb"
by
Chris Nelson
EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT

Rain pours down onto the Earth that is shaken by the

CRACKLING thunder and lit by the STREAKING lightning. FAINTLY
in the distance, the SOUND of a struggle can be heard.

FLY through the city street at a lightning quick pace,

weaving in and out of materialistic obstacles until TURNING
into a narrow alley where A MAN and a WOMAN are in engaged in
a battle.

As we PULL closer, these two persons are revealed to be GWEN

and ALEX!

Gwen throw her hands up in front of her, attempting to zap

Alex, but nothing more than fizzled static runs across her
hands. In defeat, she drops herself onto the hard and cold
ground, out of breathe and weak.

Alex stares down, with anger at the powerless women.

ALEX
It had to be like this...

He reaches behind himself and pulls a broadsword into view.

ALEX (CONT’D)
(Blank)
I’m sorry...

She looks up to him as he pulls his hand back and THRUSTS the
sword forward, into her abdomen. She exhales at the
intrusion, spitting up blood and gasping for air. She looks
up into the sky and cries out in pain.

She glances at her wound one last time before falling

sideways, dead.

WHISTLER (V.O.)
Sometimes being a Hero means doing
very villainous things. Forget
about honor, forget about what’s
right and wrong. Forget everything
your mother ever told you.

Alex stands in the rain, alone, staring down at the dead

women, remorse streaking across his face.

WHISTLER (CONT’D)
The world’s quickly approaching an
end, And as a Hero, you have to
make choices, as a hero you have to
decide what’s the right thing to do
and what’s not.
(MORE)
 2.
WHISTLER (CONT’D)
You only got a solitary moment to
pick a side. He, picked the wrong
one...

Alex grasps hold of his sword and looks away as he pulls the
sword quickly out of Gwen’s lifeless corpse. He covers his
mouth as he looks down once more at Gwen, a solitary tear
escaping his eye. Quickly that tear is followed by another
and another as he bursts at the seams and falters to the
ground, sobbing.

On his hands and knees, he pulls all the emotional strength

he has in himself and stands up, prepared for war. He stares
forward into the night, blank until he yelps out in pain and
almost stumbles towards the ground.

ANGLE ON: Alex’s leg

An arrow has been lodged in the back of his thigh.

ON SCENE

He turns around to see his assailant, MARIA! She stands there

with a crossbow held at the ready, determination the key
feature of her face.

Alex reaches down and pulls the arrow out, grimacing in pain.

MARIA
(Angry)
What’s the matter? Does it hurt!?

ALEX
Just one more scar...

He drops his arm to the side, the sword hanging and begins to
step towards Maria.

MARIA
Stop! Don’t you come any closer...

He ignores her warning and pushes forward.

MARIA (CONT’D)
I said stop!

She cocks the crossbow, ready to fire. Alex comes to a halt,

‘you’re being serious’.

ALEX
Maria, I’m on your side.
 3.

MARIA
Shut up!
(Beat)
I saw you kill her. You’re not on
my side, you’re not on our side!
You’re a murderer, according to the
rules, you’re on their side!

ALEX
I can explain...

MARIA
(Stern)
Don’t!

ALEX
You think I wanted to kill her?
(Breaking)
Do you think I enjoyed thrusting my
sword into her chest, knowing that
I would be the last person she ever
saw?
(Beat)
You know me better than that, trust
me when I say it was the only way.

MARIA
She was your friend!

ALEX
She was a timebomb. You know that
as well as I do!

MARIA
No. You’re wrong.

ALEX
I went to the Oracle. It told me
everything, it told me that it
wasn’t long-

MARIA
(Interupting)
It told you lies! Why the hell do
you think Whistler told us not to
go there or to listen to it?

ALEX
But what if it wasn’t? What if the
Oracle was right and I just saved
the world?
 4.

MARIA
Then I could forgive you.
(Beat)
But right now, I can’t.
(Beat)
I’m sorry.

Alex and Maria stare each other down. He looks at her with
sympathy, she looks at him with empathy and angst.

ANGLE ON: His eyes

ANGLE ON: Her eyes

ANGLE ON: His eyes, thrusting wide open!

PULL BACK to reveal an arrow lodged in his throat, blood

running down his front. He falls face forward onto the
ground, dead.

MARIA (CONT’D)
(Beat)
I’m sorry it had to end this way...

She closes her eyes, catching the tears that bound to escape.
When she opens them, she looks on with an empty face and
walks past Alex’s dead body and out of the alleyway.

PULL SLOWLY into the sky.

WHISTLER (V.O.)
In this day and age, there is no
room for mistakes. It’s a tough
world, it’s even tougher for a
hero. Every day is a struggle,
every day it’s life or death,
everyday you could lose it all. So
did our Heroes lose their way? Not
really, not that it matters much...

CUT TO:

EXT. EMPTY CITY STREET - MOMENTS LATER

Maria walks down the empty and silent city street. Alone, she
walks with a blankness in her eyes. Behind her, a dim outline
of blue and white light engulfs the alleyway she just walked
out of.

CUT TO:
 5.

EXT. ALLEYWAY - CONTINUOUS

Electrical Energy spreads from Gwen’s body, creating a

humongous ball of energy. Her eye’s snap open and the ball
speeds away and grows at the speed of light.

SLOW MOTION as the energy evaporates everything it touches,

zoning the earth into nothing but a black abyss.

CUT TO:

EXT. EMPTY CITY STREET - CONTINUOUS

SLOW MOTION as Maria turns to face the oncoming energy.

FREEZE FRAME

WHISTLER (V.O.)
So did our Heroes lose their way?
Not really, not that it matters
much.
(Beat)
Because today, the world ends...

BLACK OUT:

END OF SHOW

She kills him as she tries to say something “They’re

watching. They made me do it” And then she get’s ambushed by
well over 50 vampires...

No, she gets jumped by vampires... cut to Gwen’s body

radiating and eexpaning... Today, the world ends...