Page 1
Setting: Abandoned neighborhood. Everyone stares as Wendy is engulfed in electricity, having shocked herself and the faceless with a high-powered taser. The light is so bright, her image appears as a silhouette.
The shock comes to an end. Smoke rises from the now dark grey faceless and Wendy. Wendy's pupils aren't present. With the (burnt) faceless still wrapped around her, she stands still. No sign of consciousness.
Elliot: "Um, Wendy?"
Terry: "Hey, Wendy!" Is she in there?
Devlon: "Answer us!" Oh no. Is she…
Close up on the faceless's body. It twitches ever so slightly.
Another flash of light almost blinds the gang as Wendy reacts with another high powered shock.
Wendy: (eyes still white) "You like that, huh? Here's more! Let's see who goes down first, you gray freak!"
The faceless's body releases Wendy, falling backwards. Wendy stumbles forward, smoke rising from her body.
Page 2
Wendy falls to the ground, supporting herself on all fours. Her arms are shaking. The veins that were popping out are still shown in her arms.
Jasmine walks to her, arms crossed.
Jasmine: "'You gray freak?' Pretty racist, dontcha think?"
Wendy: (still on all fours) "Sh-shut up, Jasmine."
Jasmine reaches her hand out to Wendy.
Jasmine: "Had us worried, there. And shocking yourself to take the faceless out was pretty reckless. You are one crazy chick."
Close up on Wendy's and Jasmine's hands as Wendy grabs Jasmine's hand. The veins in Wendy's arm are sinking back in.
Wendy: "Yeah, whatever." *cough
Wendy stands, hunched over with her hands on her knees.
Wendy: "I took a chance, but I think the faceless took more of the shock than I did. Still, it hurt like hell. I don't ever wanna do that again."
Terry walks over.
Terry: "I'd expect nothing less from a worthy rival." Had me worried, no lie.
Page 3
Devlon walks over to Wendy, concerned.
Devlon: "Let's get you to the car so you can rest up."
Wendy: "Rest sounds good. Lemme…catch a breather first. Walking…sounds a bit difficult right now."
Caleb: "You uh…want some water or something?"
Wendy: "I'm good. Just need a moment."
Caleb wipes his forehead.
Caleb: "That's a relief. I get all awkward when someone's hurt in front of me."
Off screen voice: "Hey, guys!"
The gang looks over to see Chase and Iris at a distance. Iris gives a cheerful wave..
Iris: "We'll be right there!"
Iris grabs Chase's hand and they zip right over.
Chase: "Please warn me before grabbing, Iris. Suddenly appearing in another spot is something I'm still not used to."
Iris: "Oh, sorry."
Iris's sudden appearance catches Dante by surprise.
Dante:It's that girl from the hospital.
Page 4
Concerned, Chase looks at Wendy, who's struggling to stand straight.
Chase: "What happened here?"
Devlon: "Long story short, we had to deal with a number of faceless."
Iris jumps in, raising her hand.
Iris: "Us, too!"
Terry: "Wait, you guys fought in the city?"
Iris: "Nope. It was following us, so we can jump it when it gets here. Should be any moment now."
The faceless that was previously tailing Chase and Iris pulls up on a bike in the distance.
Jasmine: "Speaking of…"
Close up on the faceless. It shifts its face to the left and to the right.
Page 5
Full page shot of everyone standing with their powers active and weapons ready in the most gangsta pose ever.
Wendy: "Looks like he wants to end up like his friends."
Jasmine: "Let's pick em apart."
Terry: "I'm down. I just hope he lasts longer than the one I burned."
Iris: "Ooo! Can I fight this one? Please?"
Chase: "Let's consider I haven't had a shot with the faceless yet."
Devlon: "I'll make this quick."
Caleb: "Whoever gets to him first gets to dice him up."
Elliot: "Yo, I got a better idea. Weapons and powers away. Let's stomp him to the ground, Gary, Indiana style."
Dante: "I don't know what a Gary, Indiana is, but I could go for a stomp gathering."
Page 6
Close up on the faceless, who, even though it doesn't have a face, looks like it regrets ever arriving as large sweat drops appear on its head.
The faceless turns around and starts peddling.
Everyone dashes toward the faces.
Iris: "It's getting away!"
Devlon: "Oh no it's not!"
Next panel displays everyone forming a circle as they stomp the life out of the faceless.
Narrator: "And so, the gang stomped the faceless until it became one with the earth."
Terry scorches the ground where the faceless is, melding it to the ground.
Close up on the ground. The faceless is imprinted into the ground.
Narrator: "That day, the gang created a national landmark. And because this was an abandoned neighborhood, they renamed the street 'Stomp Boulevard.' The landmark is still there, to this day."
Page 7
Moments later…
Wendy's back to standing with her hands on her knees.
Jasmine: "Probably overdid it there, sis."
Wendy: "Yeah, I need a little break."
Caleb: "Before that, you might wanna check this out."
Caleb presents the brown circular thing he got from the faceless he fought. Its perfect circular shape resembles a marble jasper.
Caleb: "I was practicing a new move on that faceless thing, and this fell out."
Wendy grabs it. She's still very tired.
Wendy: "What is this thing? Hey Charles, can you look at it with your x-ray vision?"
Chase: "Way ahead of you, ma'am."
Chase takes a closer look with his x-ray vision. He tilts his head, dumbfounded.
Chase: "What the…"
Devlon: "What is it?"
From Chase's x-ray perspective, the brown crystal just looks like a crystal.
Chase: "That's the thing. It's nothing. Nothing to see on the inside."
Wendy: "Oh. I thought you'd find something controlling it or something like that."
Behind everyone is a grey slime. It appears to be approaching them.
Page 8
Caleb, who's still holding the crystal, turns around.
Caleb: "Huh?"
The gray blob rises from the ground, advancing toward him.
Chase: "Look out!"
Caleb jumps back, dodging the blob crashing down to the ground.
It rises again, almost forming a humanoid shape, but quickly falls into a blob form again.
Wendy: "You see that? It's as if it can't maintain its shape. But why?"
The blob shoots itself at Caleb's hand; the hand holding the crystal.
Caleb dodges. He looks down at his hand, opening his fist.
Caleb:I wonder.
Page 9
Caleb: "Hey Terry, gimme a light!"
Terry: "With pleasure!"
Terry jumps in front of Caleb, waving his fiery hands.
The blob stops in front of Terry's fiery hands, backing away.
Caleb:Doesn't like fire, huh? "Terry, watch out. I wanna see something."
Terry moves out of the way, leaving Caleb to face this blob.
Caleb waves the crystal around, as if offering it to the blob.
Caleb: "Is this what you want?"
Caleb under hands the crystal towards the blob.
The blob jumps forward, creating an opening that resembles a monstrous mouth.
Chris quickly grabs his sword at his waist and slashes the orb, cutting it in two.
The blob falls to the ground, twitching.
Page 10
Caleb puts his sword back at his waist.
Caleb: "Just as I thought. This was the faceless thing I fought minutes ago. Guess it never died."
Terry and Chase walk over to Caleb.
Terry: "Want me to burn it?"
Chase: "That won't be necessary."
Terry: "Why not?"
Caleb walks over to the blob and kicks it. The blob is unresponsive.
Caleb: "Looks like there's more than one way to kill this thing. It really liked that crystal, so I assumed it was important."
Wendy: (at a distance) "Maybe that's why it couldn't maintain its form. Maybe it needed that crystal. Lemme see a piece of that crystal-"
Wendy trips as she tries to walk near Caleb. Jasmine catches her.
Jasmine: "Woah, take it easy, girlie. That's what table manners are for. Can someone please pass Wendy the crystal thingy?"
Elliot walks away from them over to where Caleb is.
Elliot: "I gotchu. C'mon, Dev. We gotta retrieve this specimen for research." I sound so scientific!
Devlon: "Right, right."
Page 11
Wendy falls to her hands and knees again.
Jasmine: "You good?"
Wendy: "Yeah, yeah. Just tired of standing. Iris, can you have Charles bring me his phone? I want to write something for Forte, but I kinda shocked my phone to death."
Iris: "Sure. But first…"
Iris walks over to Dante. She looks up to him. Of course, she's short because she's a child, but she looks even smaller in front of a man who's over 6 feet tall.
Iris: "Um, mister?"
Dante: "Yes?"
Iris bows her head to him, her eyes closed.
Iris: "I heard about what you did for me. Arigatou!" (Japanese for "thank you").
Close up on Iris's face as her eyes open.
Iris: "Huh?"
Dante has placed his hand on her head, gently smiling at her.
Dante: "No need for thanks. You are one of us, after all."
Iris grabs Dante by the arm as she pulls him along towards Caleb and Chase.
Iris: "Kya! We're all friends now! Mr. Dante, right? I'll give you a nickname. Dandan? Or maybe Taytay?"
Dante: "…I'd rather not be called that."
Iris: "Hmm, maybe I'll just slap the Dan and Tay together. Mr. Dante it is!"
Dante: "Sure, kid."
Page 12
At a distance, the irregulars and Wendy are being observed by a couple cops. They've just exited the car. On one end is Dante, Iris, Terry, Chris., Devlon, Elliot, and Chase, observing the crystal thing. Some distance away from them is Jasmine and Wendy. Wendy is still on her knees due to exhaustion.
Cop #1: "Hey, I think I recognize some of them. That little girl. Isn't she…"
Cop #2: "She was on the news, right? The irregular kid that was shot."
The cops look to the right where Wendy and Jasmine are.
Cop #2: "That one with the bluish hair was on the news, too. And…wait!"
Close up on Wendy on all fours. She still looks exhausted.
Cop #2: "I recognize her! I worked with her."
Close up on Cop #2, revealing a familiar face. Cop #2 is John, Wendy's old boss.
Cop #1: "Who is she?"
John: "That's officer Wendy! But what's she doing with all of them?"
Cop #1 pulls out his gun and aims to the right towards Jasmine and Wendy.
John: "Wait, what are you doing, JimBob?"
JimBob: "What's it look like? That officer is down! She needs our help!"
John: "Hold on! At least give them warning, first!"
Close up on JimBob's finger gripping the trigger.
Page 13
Back to Wendy's perspective. Still on her hands and knees, she looks triggered. Eyes widened, she's very alert.
Close up on her ear, along with another close up on JimBob's finger pulling the trigger.
Sfx: *BANG*
Without thinking, Wendy jumps and tackles Jasmine, both crashing to the ground.
Jasmine's on her back. Wendy is on top of her, her face buried in Jasmine's chest.
Wendy: *grunts*
Jasmine: "Wendy. Hey girl, you good?!"
Wendy: "Ahhh!"
Terry, Dante, and the others turn around to see Wendy and Jasmine on the ground.
Terry: "What the!"
Dante: "And now they are here."
Iris: "…"
Iris's eyes show that she's zoned out. The sound of the firing gun rings like an echo.
Iris collapses to her knees, holding her lower abdomen. Tears begin to swell in her eyes.
Iris: "It…it hurts." *sniff*
Page 14
Devlon drops to one knee with an arm around Iris.
Devlon: "Hey, Iris. What's wrong? Hey!"
Chase: "It's that gunshot. That sound has been a trigger for her since that incident. Take her away from the scene!"
Devlon picks up Iris and runs some distance away from the cops. Iris's face is buried in Devlon's chest as she tightly grips his shirt.
Iris: "Make him stop! Make the guns stop!"
Devlon: "I will. I promise. Just know that you're safe, okay?"
From the cop's perspective, John grabs JomBob and disarms him.
John: "I said wait! There's a kid over there!"
Jimbob: "That officer was in danger."
John: "So much so that she saved the person endangering her, right? I don't think these people are threats!"
Page 15
Back to Wendy's perspective. Her friends run over to check on her (save Devlon, who took Iris away). She's tightening her fists as her pain increases. She looks at Jasmine, still lying on top of her..
Wendy: "Y…you okay?"
Jasmine: "Are you okay? You crazy fool! You took a bullet for me!"
Wendy: "D-don't mention it. Just glad you're good."
Jasmine's eyes widen.
Jasmine: "Of course I'm good. But you took a bullet for me!"
Wendy: "Don't mention it!"
Jasmine: "No, Wendy…"
Jasmine liquifies into a puddle, leaving Wendy on the ground.
The water rises in front of Wendy and solidifies, forming back into humanoid Jasmine. Jasmine sits in front of Wendy. She points to herself with both hands.
Jasmine: "You took a bullet…for me!"
Wendy, still lying on her stomach, looks up at Jasmine with her jaw dropped.
Wendy: "Uh!"
Wendy rolls her eyes and drops her head until her face meets the ground.
Wendy: "Ayyyyy Yah mio!" I'm done. I need to go to sleep.
John walks over cautiously.
John: "Officer Wendy, is that you?"
Page 16
From John's perspective, he looks down at Wendy. Wendy gives a thumbs up while her face is still planted on the ground.
John: "It's me; John."
Wendy raises her head just to feel disappointment.
Wendy:Oh great. Now he's here?
John looks over at the others.
John: "I'm so sorry about my partner. He's…impulsive."
Wendy tilts her head to the side.
Wendy:When did he learn the word "sorry"?
Terry steps up, pulling out his badge.
Terry: "Look man, we don't want any trouble. We're here on the job, same as you."
John: "Don't worry. Odd as it sounds, I'm only here because there was a guy on a bike peddling way beyond the speed limit. I followed him here."
He turns his attention to Wendy once again.
John: "But Wendy's the priority. She needs medical attention."
Wendy: "Why are you being so nice to me?"
John: "Why wouldn't I? We worked together until your recent promotion to work with Irregulars now. Just helping out an old friend."
Elliot: "Friend? Bruh, last time we saw you-"
Wendy: "Hold on!"
Page 17
Wendy gazes at John.
Wendy:Last time we saw him, he received a Plan B. "Hey, do you remember our last encounter, by any chance?"
John scratches his head.
John: "Mmm…it's kind of a blur. Something about an encounter with a couple rogue bots. Then you and your friends helped me. Then you sent two bots to escort me to a hospital."
Flash back to a past chapter when Devlon called a Plan B with two bots busting out of the trunk of the police car with baseball bats.
The flashback shrinks into a thought cloud over Elliot's head. Elliot rolls his eyes to the side.
Elliot: "Escort? Yeeeeah. Let's go with that."
John: "I can't apologize enough for my partner over there. But I can cover all medical costs at the very least. Looks like you got grazed in the leg."
Wendy: "No need. I just need to be transported to our base. It'll be fine."
John: "Okay then. But if you need anything, just know I owe you one. You know where to find me."
Page 18
John leaves.
Elliot: "Wow. Looks like those baseball bats set em straight."
Wendy, still on the ground, raises a hand.
Wendy: "Yeah. Good for him. But uh, can we get going now? This really stings!"
Jasmine: "Ya know, you really tackled me out of fear for my life. Know what that means?"
Wendy: "That you won't mention it anymore like I asked?"
Jasmine starts dancing and smiling.
Jasmine: "It means you luuuuuv me! Hahaha!"
Wendy plants her face back into the ground.
Wendy: "Oohhhhh."
Jasmine: "And you got grazed right in the butt!"
Wendy: "Upper thigh."
Jasmine: "Close enough. Next time you shouldn't butt in."
Wendy: "Ohhhhh."
Jasmine: "Or at the very least, watch your rear."
Wendy: "Ohhhhhh!!!"
Chase: "Jazz, give it a rest."
Jasmine: "Oh, alright. I'll give it a rest and take a seat."
Wendy: "Ohhhhhhhhhh!!!!!"
Page 19
Wendy's helped to the back seat of the car by Dante. Chase hops in the driver's seat.
Wendy: (wincing in pain) "Th-thanks. You didn't have to help me out like this."
Dante: "I've seen enough to know what you're about. Though, I do have a question for you."
He leans in and whispers in her ear. Wendy's eyes widen for a moment.
She looks at Dante.
Wendy: "What kind of question is that? Why would that ever happen? How could that ever happen?"
Dante: "You don't have to answer now. Your true answer will be revealed by your actions when the time comes."
Wendy: "But who's to say that it will happen?"
Dante: "Hm. Only time will tell, I suppose. Until we meet again."
Wendy watches as Dante walks away.
Wendy:What did he mean by that?