STORMWATCH: TEAM ACHILLES #24 "LAY FALLOW" by Micah Ian Wright First Draft 5/06/04 Wildstorm Comics 888 Prospect Avenue La Jolla, CA 92037 StormWatch: Team Achilles #24 “Lay Fallow” Written by Micah Ian Wright First Draft May 06, 2004 PAGE 1 PANEL ONE Full page wide panel (important that panels 1 & 2 are wide to separate out the rest of the page). Tavern on the Green restaurant, New York City, nighttime. Candles illuminate all of the tables with soft, love film lighting. In the foreground, Baron Chaos and Mandy, the Red Cross Worker who rescued him from The Authority last issue are having a quiet meal. The Baron has his back to camera and none of his armor on, wearing a nice Armani 4-button suit instead. The back of his head is all scarred up like last issue. BORDERLESS LOCATION CAPTION Tavern on the Green, New York City CAPTION Twenty minutes ago... MANDY Well, gosh, Kenny, that was just about the best meal I ever done did eat! Thank you so very much! BARON CHAOS No, it is I who wish to thank YOU, Mandy. You’ve brought something out of me that I thought had died long ago. PANEL TWO Full wide shot. C/U of Mandy, she smiles at the Baron. MANDY Oh, you’re not dead, Kenny! You’re the most alivest man I ever seen! What was it that hurt you so bad? BARON CHAOS It is a sad story, one that goes back several centuries. I have not told it to anyone in a long, long time... but for you? Anything. PANEL THREE Okay... go grab an issue of SLEEPER... see how they do the “character backstory game” with the little square cube-boxes two wide and three tall with a white border around them? 2. CONTINUED: That’s what we’re doing here, only we’re doing it with Baron Chaos’ Origin Story. The backgrounds are simple, the layouts very straightforward, no exotic camera angles, and the colors a little paler and washed out than the story around them. In this panel, a young boy with a crown sits on a throne, bored. Chin on his hand, elbow on the throne, crown tilted to the side. BARON CHAOS (CAPTION) Once upon a time in a small Eastern European country, there was a curious Prince who was very bored. PANEL FOUR Side shot. On the left, a young peasant in chains kneels before the throne, staring upwards at the Prince. On the top right, the Prince stares down at the peasant. BARON CHAOS (CAPTION) One day a poor beggar child was brought before the Prince for stealing food from the Royal kitchens. PANEL FIVE Close-up. The two twins face-to-face; they’re identical except one’s dirty and the other wears the crown. BARON CHAOS (CAPTION) The prince and the peasant were astounded to discover that they looked just like one another. PANEL SIX The Prince stands before a mirror. Now he’s dressed in rags but still with a clean face. He still wears the crown. BARON CHAOS (CAPTION) The Prince wished to see how the common people lived, so he disguised himself as the beggar boy... 3. PAGE 2 Same layout, with the small cubes. PANEL ONE The Prince (clean-faced) in rags walks out the front gates of a palace, wide-eyed and smiling. BARON CHAOS (CAPTION) And so the Prince went forth in his land to see how his people lived. PANEL TWO The Prince buys a meal with coins from a leather purse. BARON CHAOS (CAPTION) The Prince went immediately to a tavern and ordered the food and drink of his people. PANEL THREE The Prince’s food sits before him, untouched. There are several empty tankards of drink in front of him, though. BARON CHAOS (CAPTION) The Prince found the commoners’ food not to his liking... but their wine was another story. PANEL FOUR The Prince staggers from the bar. BARON CHAOS (CAPTION) He grew quite drunk and left the tavern... PANEL FIVE The drunken Prince stares at a streetwalker’s cleavage. BARON CHAOS (CAPTION) And met a comely young lass... PANEL SIX The prince is beaten by a group of thugs. BARON CHAOS (CAPTION) Who lured him to a nearby alley where he was robbed and beaten to a pulp by the woman’s companions. 4. PAGE 3 PANEL ONE The prince stands at the palace gates. A guard stands before him, arms crossed over his chest, blocking his path. BARON CHAOS (CAPTION) The next day, the Prince returned to the castle where he was told to go away. PANEL TWO The prince screams at the guard. BARON CHAOS (CAPTION) The Prince screamed and the guard and told who he was and that when returned to power, he would have the guard’s flesh torn from his bones. PANEL THREE A group of guards beats the Pauper-dressed Prince to a pulp. BARON CHAOS (CAPTION) The guard and his friends beat the Prince to a bloody pulp. PANEL FOUR The guards carry the unconscious Prince onto a ship. BARON CHAOS (CAPTION) And then the guards press-ganged the Prince into his own navy. PANEL FIVE Widescreen. Back in the restaurant. Mandy puts her hand over her mouth. MANDY Why that’s the most horrible thing I’ve ever heard! What happened to the fake Prince? The Pauper boy? BARON CHAOS He grew old, became King, and had false princes whose bastard descendants were swept from power by the Communists. 5. 3 CONTINUED: PANEL SIX Widescreen. On Baron Chaos. Frontal shot, but we can’t see anything but his glittering, scarred eyes and shining teeth. The rest of his face is concealed in shadows. BARON CHAOS I killed the last of his line and was about to reassume my rightful throne when StormWatch captured me. Santini and his comrades shall pay for that effrontery... 6. PAGES 4-5 TWO PAGE SPREAD PANEL ONE Giant two-page spread. Draw your guts out... A million dead African zombies march up a hill, firing machine guns at Santini & crew. Crew = Santini, Ajit Singh, Flint, & Jager. Everyone fires back at the approaching rotting zombies. Jaeger carries the unconscious Jukko over one shoulder and fires back and he falls back backwards up the hill. BARON CHAOS (CAPTION) ...any moment now. BORDERLESS LOCATION CAPTION Congo, Africa. Project Entry Universe. JAEGER Jukko is out of it, sir! The pain feedback must be too much for him! SINGH We’re getting FLANKED, Colonel! SANTINI FLINT! Do something about our right flank! FLINT I’m on it! 7. PAGE 6 PANEL ONE Flint tears a HUGE rock out of the ground... FLINT Hrrrrnnnnaaaaaaaaah! PANEL TWO ...and hurls it down the hill towards a group of Zombies... FLINT Faaaaaaaaaghhn! PANEL THREE ...the rock RIPS through a group of the Zombies, flinging them everywhere... FLINT GO! PANEL FOUR Small panel. C/U on Santini. SANTINI Go! Chase the hole! TEFIBI! TEFIBI (OVER RADIO) SIR? SANTINI (yellng bubble) YOU AND HALLIBASTARD GIVE ME SOME FUCKING AIR COVER! TEFIBI (OVER RADIO) We’re on it! 8. PAGE 7 PANEL ONE The team runs downhill as fast as they can, leaping over half- smashed zombies who are reaching out to grab them. NO DIALOG PANEL TWO Far above the ground, Over the shoulder shot as HALLIBASTARD/GIANT flies downwards towards the ground, hands out in front of him in the classic Superman pose. COLOR NOTE: Color GIANT/HALLIBASTARD without the Red Tint. He’s the only thing that looks normal here, a side-effect of him being “perfect”. HALLIBASTARD (small font) Three... Two... One... PANEL THREE Giant sweeps through a wave of Zombies, going so fast that he’s just a blur of bright colors. Zombie Chunks fly everywhere. HALLIBASTARD Booooo-yaaaaaaaaah! 9. PAGE 8 PANEL ONE High above the battleground, we see Tefibi stuffed into the Magnateer costume. He’s got the visor flipped up so we can see it’s him. TEFIBI Colonel Santini, you’re gonna want to lie down for the next twenty seconds. SANTINI (OVER RADIO) What are you doing, Tefibi. TEFIBI Just do it, sir. You’re headed right towards a massive problem. PANEL TWO Looking down on the battlefield, we see that Tefibi is right... emerging from the tall grass is a huge group of Zombies, firing their rifles. TEFIBI Well... here goes nothing... PANEL THREE Tefibi slaps the mask into place. TEFIBI Watch out you Zombie Motherfuckers... Here comes THE MAGNETEER! PANEL FOUR Tefibi speeds towards the ground on his flying disks (think: Kirby Mr. Miracle). He holds the giant Magnet Rifle in his hands. NO DIALOG