Contradicting Popular Opinion: 28.12.06

INT. UNFINISHED BASEMENT

A cheap looking radio blares angry death metal.

THE TELEVISION

A pitched battle between two warriors of the squared circle comes to its dramatic conclusion. Over the music we can hear an announcer yell something that sounds like “Milacre Ecstacy Bawmmm!!”

The Television screen grows smaller, revealing a

PARTICLE BOARD ENTERTAINMENT CENTER

Various items are stacked in no particular order including: the Tao of Jeet Kune Do, Tao te Ching, and a Silver Surfer Comic.

THE CONCRETE WALLS

slowly drip water that pools on the dusty floor.

THE EXERCISE BIKE

No bells and whistles, it looks hastily built and continually squeaks. On it we see a TEENAGE BOY. His frame is lanky. His skin is decorated with a random assortment small cuts and bruises. His muscles are small but well defined. His hair is dark, military cut. His eyebrows clash in the center in an unfortunate unibrow.

MONTAGE:
The boy is tripped walking down the hall of his highschool.
The boy pedals faster.
A FOOTBALL PLAYER dumps the contents of the boys backpack.
Sweat drips from the boy’s forehead and into his unblinking eye.
PREPPIE GIRLS giggle behind the boys back.
The boy’s eye showing no emotion.
A trench coat.

INT. SCHOOL COUNSELORS OFFICE

decorated with banal inspirational posters. THE COUNSELOR is a middle aged woman with sagging eyes and tall hair. The teenage boy sits next to her desk.

COUNSELOR
NIC, we are very… concerned about your, um, school
performance.

NIC
(distracted)
How so?

COUNSELOR
Well, let’s see. Your test scores are all very good. I see you have a 1430 on your SATs, a 31 on the ACTs. These are strong numbers.

NIC
Oh, uh, thanks.

COUNSELOR
But, well, your GPA is barely there, you miss about 3 days of school a month, you have no extra-curriculars listed. Nick, I want you to succeed.

NIC
Uh huh.

COUNSELOR
A lot of doors will be closed for you unless you have a major turn around. What is your response to all this?

NIC
Hmmf.

Nicholas shrugs his shoulders.

COUNSELOR
Nic, this is your future; you have to take it seriously.

Nicholas stares at nothing.

NIC
Uh huh.
COUNSELOR
I want you to tell me about the fight.

NIC
(Pausing to think)
Which one?

COUNSELOR
That is my point. Let’s try this latest one. Do you know that Justin needed four stitches, and right on his face. Why, it completely ruined homecoming for him. How would you feel if that happened to you?

NIC
Don’t care much for homecoming.

COUNSELOR
That is not the point. What on Earth would make you attack that boy?

NIC
Pardon?

COUNSELOR
(reading)
It says here that you “punched him from behind while he was eating lunch, scratched some sort of demonic rune on his face with your fingernails, then threw him into a tray of food.”

NIC
How does that make any sense?

COUNSELOR
I don’t know what would drive you to-

NIC
(trying to stay calm) Listen, that is a bunch of bullshit.
(rapidly)
He grabbed me from behind. I elbowed him in the solar plexus, then threw a back fist up high. That broke his sunglasses, his glasses cut his face making, apparently, some sort of crazy rune, he flaked out and fell into Steve Frankino’s pizza.

COUNSELOR
So even in your version you threw the punches. You expect me to believe that Justin Fitzgerald, Honor Society member, Class vice president and last month’s “Student of the month,” would just accost you for no good reason. Why would he do that?

NIC
I don’t know. Why don’t you ask him. Or why don’t you ask him why he and his friends try to… never mind. It doesn’t matter.

COUNSELOR
What doesn’t matter.

NIC
Are we done?

COUNSELOR
Let me help you.

NIC
I don’t want your help!

BLACK

TITLES OVER

CHANNEL 8 NEWS LOGO

ugly. Mixing colors not intended to be mixed.

CHANNEL 8 NEWS DESK

NEWS ANCHOR
-catastrophe today, or perhaps a narrowly avoided tragedy, as a school lies in ruin. We take you to the scene with KIM ROGERS.

AN IMPLODED BUILDING

KIM ROGERS
Thank you Dana, I stand here at the site of West Vista East high school where little remains standing. Miraculously only minor cuts and bruises have been reported, so far, and it looks like all of the faculty and all but one of the students has been accounted for. As of now there is little explanation for the destruction.

THE PODIUM

A UNIFORMED MAN stands behind various microphones each adorned with it’s own bland insignia.

LIGHTS FLASH

UNIFORMED MAN
yes, uh, initially, a bomb was suspected, however the nature of this, uh, senseless, destruction is not consistent with an explosive device. There are simply no traces of a bomb. There are no burn marks, we have not as of yet found any heat damage. Our best guess right now is a highly localized earthquake-

MEDIA 1 (O.S.)
Is terrorism suspected?

MEDIA 2 (O.S.)
Is this act an isolated incident?

MEDIA 3 (O.S.)
How was it that no one was injured?

THE CHANNEL CHANGES

with between channel snow.

CHANNEL 6 NEWS DESK

NEWS ANCHOR 2
At least 8 are dead and many more are hospitalized with 2nd and 3rd degree burns, as tragedy struck today at Traverse Academy. The high school’s gym inexplicably caught fire during a physical education class.

A 15 YEAR OLD GIRL, her eyes are red and unblinking; her hair is noticeably singed.

15 YEAR OLD GIRL
And it was like Patty just exploded, and uh, fire went everywhere around her.

Her voice cracks. She has to stop. A REPORTER shoves the microphone closer to the girl’s face.

REPORTER
It’s ok.

15 YEAR OLD GIRL
Kara and Nicole and… And they were just all gone…

ANCHOR 2
It remains unknown what caused the fiery explosion which instantly killed the seven students and their gym teacher; terrorism has not been ruled out. The body of Patricia Preston, said to be at the center of all this, remains unaccounted for, though some theorize that she may have been completely incinerated in the blast. Tune in for more detail at ten.

THE CHANNEL CHANGES

with between channel snow.

CHANNEL 2 NEWS DESK

ANCHOR 3
Bizarre occurrence this morning at Our Lady of Hope High school, when Laurie Madsen decided to hold her math class on the roof of the two story school.

A ROUND-FACED NUN is identified as the school’s principal at the bottom of the screen.

PRINCIPAL
Ms. Madsen was irresponsible. She endangered the lives of her entire class and herself. I had to call the fire department to get them down. We still haven’t found every student-

ANCHOR 3
How Madsen got her class onto the roof is a mystery, as there are no means of accessing the roof from inside the building. Madsen and students deny any responsibility saying they just “ended up” there. W-

MAIN TITLES FINISH

INT. LABORATORY

A tall, well-dressed BLACK MAN with a mustache speaks with a THIN-FACED MAN. They wear badge IDs that identify them as SMITH and ROURKE respectively. They stand near large metal canisters. Rourke wears a white lab coat and speaks with a slight New England accent.

ROURKE
We are all very excited about this new shipment. How well are you acquainted with our young friends here?

SMITH
I’ve only had limited experience.

ROURKE
Well then lemme give you the quickie tour. Subject one, SARAH FEY

We see a 17 year old girl’s face through a glass section of the canister. She has dark hair and is fifteen pounds heavier than what is fashionable. She is not moving.

ROURKE
Better’n average grades, mediocre standardized test scores. Prelim tests figger she can probably teleport you and 50 of your closest friends anywhere in the X Y or Z up to maybe 100 miles. I’ve heard some good things about Branson, Missouri.

SMITH
I haven’t.
ROURKE
Subject the second, one ERIC BRANCA, like the truck only with an “a.”

We see Eric’s face through the SECOND CANISTER. He has light brown hair, and forgettable features.

ROURKE
Decent head for math, pretty average all around, mentally speaking. Physically, very unique, a lot of stuff going on here. Muscle density like I’ve never seen. Slight shifts in anatomy for increased leverage, metabolism like the Flash…

SMITH
Little to train. Born soldier.

ROURKE
I would guess manufactured soldier if I didn’t know better. Let’s just hope he don’t have two left feet. Anyway, subject the number three: PATRICIA PRESTON.

The THIRD CANISTER contains an attractive blonde.

ROURKE
Founding daughters like her are the reason our founding fathers thought of statutory rape.

SMITH
You’re a class act Rourke.

ROURKE
We can’t all be monks, Smith. Above average across the board, homecoming queen, all around good girl… not counting, of course, the 7 or eight murders under her belt.

SMITH
Ten. As of yesterday.

ROURKE
Ooh, double digits, that’s like America’s most wanted level. Anyway, us techies see her potential as a pyro at about half of our old friend Luci.

SMITH
(pleasantly surprised)
Fantastic.

ROURKE
In Door Number Four we have JASON WRIGHT.

We see a square-headed teen with a short but muscular frame.

ROURKE
This guy is wicked awesome. Nothing special really mentally, but I have never seen anything like this. We don’t even know the extent of…

SMITH
He wasn’t one of mine. What can he do?

ROURKE
Well we have been calling it “shelling.” It seems like he is able to change the structure, the texture, the appearance of his skin so that it is tougher than bone. But it still keeps a lot of its elasticity.

SMITH
Bulletproof?

ROURKE
Well I can only think of one way to test that, and he might not like it.

Nic is seen in the LAST CONTAINER

ROURKE
All right then, last we have our classic underachiever here, Nicholas Black, no relation to a Pixie. The TK potential of this kid is off the charts. Probably 10 times bette’n anything we have ever seen. The psych guys say he might give us problems, but nothing you all can’t handle right?

Smith grabs a crucifix from a nearby table and tucks it into his shirt.

SMITH
Right.

INT. UNFINISHED BASEMENT

Nicholas stands near a pile of laundry. He holds a PENNY in his left hand.

THE PENNY

begins to bend, the middle raising in Nic’s hand.

THE SOUND OF THUNDER

The basement is starting to implode.

INT. GENERIC WHITE ROOM
Nic wakes up in what looks to be a hotel room. He is wearing orange pajamas that he does not recognize. He stands up too quickly, almost blacking out. Nic checks

THE DOOR

Ultra-modern, no handle is visible.

SECOND GENERIC WHITE ROOM

Sarah Fey wakes dressed in orange pajamas. She stands up staring at a dresser. She opens a drawer, full of clothes.

A KNOCK at the door makes her jump. The door disappears into the wall. Without further permission TRASK, as identified by ID badge, enters. He is of medium height, pleasant face. His is a muscular build uncomfortably resting in the confines of a 3,000 dollar suit.

SARAH
(staring blankly)
These clothes are my clothes, but not really my clothes. We had a fire once, and I had to replace all my old shirts… But I couldn’t really replace them.

TRASK
Ms. Fey, I know you are probably very confused right now…

THIRD GENERIC WHITE ROOM

Eric stands, an incredulous look on his face.

TRASK (O.S.)
…and there is a lot to be confused about, maybe even excited. Rest assured, everything will be explained very soon. No one here is out to do you any harm…

FOURTH GENERIC WHITE ROOM

Jason paces looking simultaneously, angry, paranoid and annoyed.

TRASK (O.S.)
…You have nothing to fear here…

FIFTH GENERIC WHITE ROOM

Preston sits upright on the bed clutching her knees to her chest.

TRASK (O.S.)
You have the next twenty minutes to get acclimated, put on whatever you’d like, and we are all going to meet for a nice breakfast. On the house, course.

Trask smiles.

PRESTON
We all?

TRASK
You aren’t our only guest.

FIRST GENERIC WHITE ROOM

Nic stands ready for Trask to bite him.

NIC
(cautiously)
Where do I go to eat?

TRASK
Don’t worry it’ll be the only way to go. Just in case you manage to get lost, it’ll be a right turn and down the hall. Can’t miss it.

NIC
(kneeling near the bed)
Hey wait. I’ve one quick question. I found these shoes under the bed.

TRASK
(coming closer)
Those are yours Nic, a presen-

Lightning fast, Nic delivers a punishing right, about three inches below Trask’s belt.
In one smooth motion he loads Trask onto his shoulders and lets momentum take him back off and onto the floor.

NIC
You seem like a bully.

Nic soccer ball kicks the side of Trask’s head.

NIC
I don’t like bullies.

He tries the door but finds it snapped shut.

STILL NO HANDLE

Nic hammers at the door, right, right, left, right, right, right, Front heel kick, step behind side kick, back kick. He SCREAMS like an animal, then sits on the floor, composing himself.

THE IMAGE TURNS SLIGHTLY PIXILATED

We see Nic sit from the view of a security camera.

SMITH (O.S.)
(from a hidden SPEAKER)
Nicholas.

Nic looks over his shoulder, straight into the security camera.

NIC
Here I am.

SMITH (O.S.)
What’re you trying to accomplish? WE expended a lot of effort bringing you here, so you are, at the very least, going to listen to what we have to say.

NIC
Why is that?

SMITH
Take a look around. Do you know where you are? Could you escape? Do you have you any money for food or transport if you could? We could be 3,000 miles from anybody you know. So, relax. We’re your friends Nicholas.

NIC
And if you aren’t?

Trask starts to stir.

SMITH
I don’t think you’re in much shape to do anything about it. Help Trask up and out.

NIC
I could kill him.

SMITH
I would imagine so. Help Trask up and out.

Nic brings Trask to his feet, and helps him walk to the opening door. The walk ends suddenly when Trask surprises Nic with a STUN GUN.
Nic falls.

SMITH
Trask, you’re a piece of shit.

TRASK
The kid tried to get over on me. Little f*cker hits hard. Is he power zapping me while he punches?

LATER

Nic wakes, dressed in clothes similar to what he wore with the counselor.

NIC
“…right turn and down the hall. Can’t miss it.”

NIC’S P.O.V.

A LARGE TABLE

where the four other teens, along with Trask and Smith, are sitting. All but Smith have food in front of them. Only Trask and Eric are eating, but Eric might be eating enough to make up for everyone else.

TRASK
Look who finally decided to show up.

NIC
No thanks to you asshole.

TRASK
I was merely returning the favor.

NIC
How about I do you another favor?

ERIC
Girls, you are both pretty.

All stare at Eric. No one laughs.

ERIC
(Squirming)
Too soon?

SMITH
Have a seat.

A PLAINLY DRESSED WOMAN walks towards Nic

SMITH
He’ll eat later.

She backs away and out of the room.

SMITH
Most of you are wondering how you got here, where here is, and understandably so. All of you are different. Dare I say, special. You can accomplish feats few, if any, others can. Some of you may realize this now, others might not remember much of recent events. In either case, the five of you prove that all men are not created equal. This makes you very dangerous… to yourselves, to your families, to society.

JASON
I don’t believe this crap.

SMITH
What you do or don’t believe is not my concern… However would you like a demonstration

Smith pulls a handgun from his suit.
He turns off the safety.
He chambers a round.
He shoots two holes into the wall behind Jason.
Jason, shocked, covers/hides his head in his arms.
We see that Jason’s skin has changed, taking on a coarse grayish appearance.
Smith puts the gun away.

NIC
Jesus Fuck! What is wrong with you?

PRESTON
So, you’re locking us away? I assume this is our pleasant and comfortable little prison?

SMITH
No.

ERIC
Damn, cuz I look good in stripes.

SMITH
Shut it. Ms. Preston, fire is a very dangerous tool, if you don’t know how to handle it. We will teach you to handle it. We will train you, feed you, clothe you, take care of all your worldly needs. Keep you from killing yourselves.
Consider yourselves hired for a cushy government job.

NIC
(quietly)
Indentured servants for life. Hmm, what were those called again?

PRESTON
So that’s it! Is that it? I have things. I have a family. You can’t just detain us like this. I have a family and friends.

SMITH
You have just recently lost about a dozen friends. As for your family, you are allowed to keep track of them. They, however, can’t keep track of you.

PRESTON
No, I can’t do this. I am not a menace to socie-

SMITH
Ms. Preston, again, and I don’t know if you are aware of this, but you have recently incinerated no fewer than ten people. I would say most societies would, in fact, consider you to be a menace. And, accidental or not, most religions would say that yours is a long road to redemption.

SARAH
I have a cat.

SMITH
Ms. Fey, our little teleporter. What would have happened had you transported your class sixty feet higher than that rooftop? Huh? Or two feet lower? Nic, the path you’ve been taking, I don’t think you need any special powers to be a menace. Jason, even we do not understand the full extent of your abilities. There is a whole world of possibilities of what could go wrong with you. Eric, everyday you are getting stronger. Picture prom night, you pull you date in nice and close… and crush her because you don’t know any better. We’re here to protect you from yourselves, and all we ask is that when the time comes you will protect our interests.

JASON
So, are we gonna get missions and crap?

SMITH
Eventually maybe. You have the rest of this day off. In each of your quarters you will find files describing your potentials. There is a lounge, a common room adjacent to this one. You are all free to relax there as well as your quarters.

Smith walks out.

ERIC
Man, I need some more pancakes.

INT. A GYM

We see a LARGE MAN WITH RED HAIR suspended from his ankles. He is doing sit-ups. A MAN WITH GLASSES enters.

RED HAIRED MAN
Yes Maurice?

MAURICE
The new shipment has settled in sir. Thought you’d like to know.

RED HAIRED MAN
I trust we have a babysitter?

MAURICE
Yes sir. Everything is in place. When are we planning to move?

RED HAIRED MAN
As with everything Maurice. When I say so.

INT. FOURTH GENERIC WHITE ROOM (JASON’S ROOM)

We see Jason study his file with a puzzled expression on his face.
He is talking to himself very quietly.
There is only an opening in the wall where the door once stood.
Sarah enters, looking frazzled.

SARAH
Hey, um, I’m Sarah, and I…

JASON
I have a bunch of crap to deal with right now. What is it?

SARAH
Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.

JASON
You didn’t know, huh? What the crap? Are you freakin’ retarded? How could you not know?

SARAH
I guess, I’m gonna, I’m sorry.

She leaves.

INT. SARAH’S ROOM

Sarah is on her floor, looking defeated.
Nic’s hand reaches in, knocks on the wall.
Nic enters.

NIC
Sorry I would have knocked for real. No door. Listen, I heard some, um, noise and I just wanted to make sure everything was okay…. Dumb question. Not a whole hell of a lot is okay, huh? Well, I’m sorry, I’ll just…

SARAH
No, no, s’okay. Sarah.

NIC
Nicholas.

He bends down, shakes her hand, then studies his hand like it were an idiot.

SARAH
It says I can move stuff.

NIC
Me too.

SARAH
It says that I just, uh, poofed, my entire class onto the roof.

NIC
I don’t think that I can poof.

SARAH
I don’t even understand how that could work. It’s like I’m magic.

NIC
Oh, um, well In 1972, these, uh, scientists had these two goldfish bowls. And, they filled one up and put a fish in it. They turn on their machine, and uh, “poof” the fish and, uh, the water are across the room in the other bowl.

SARAH
That can’t happen.

She grabs a piece of paper and a pen from the room’s desk.
She draws a dot and labels it “A”.
She draws a second dot, “Point B”.

SARAH
I can’t move from here to there without moving in the space between them. No Poof. Straight line is the shortest point, you know?

NIC
Okay. So “A” is where you are. “B” is where you want to be. The paper is space, maybe space-slash-time. To move from A to B you got to draw the line. But what if we didn’t move us?

SARAH
What do you mean? We’d stay put.

Nic folds the paper.

NIC
Well instead, we pull the paper, space, towards us. “A” and “B” touch. We are in both spots for like ½ a second. We stay in B instead of A, and unfold.

SARAH
Wow. Smart fish… Hey, if it space time instead of just space, does that mean I can travel in time? Like to last week.

NIC
Oh no. To do that you’d have to be magic.

MONTAGE
Eric is on the floor of his room trying a headstand.
Jason does push ups in his room.
Eric turns the headstand into a handstand.
In her room, Patty with blankets over her head.
Eric pulls his left hand off the ground, supporting the handstand with only his right.
Nic sits in his room, back against the wall, meditating.
Eric supports the handstand with only his fingertips.
Sarah uses a pen and paper to draw an elf with a squarish head.
Eric supports the handstand with only two fingertips.

INT. BARROOM

Not a yuppie or old man in sight. This is a lowlife bar complete with sawdust on the floor, and a jukebox that plays only real country music.
A LARGE MAN sits at the bar. He is nearly seven feet tall with thin, straight black hair.
The large man stares into space, speaking to himself quietly.

LARGE MAN
Come now I will make a test of pleasure; enjoy yourself. But again this also was vanity. I said of laughter, “it is mad”, and of pleasure, “what use is it?” I searched with my mind how to cheer my body with wine…

He takes a drink.

LARGE MAN
…my mind still guiding me with wisdom…

TWO MEN in leather jackets approach. One has a curly blonde MULLET, the other covers his shaved head with a confederate flag BANDANA.
Mullet gets right into the Large Man’s face.

MULLET
My friend here says your name is LUCI.

No response, “Luci” continues muttering.

BANDANA
Waddya think? Big retard?
MULLET
I say that’s a girl’s name. And you sure ain’t pretty. I’d go as far to say that you are one uuugly mother f*cker, man, woman, or tard.

LUCI
…I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens…

BANDANA
Maybe he’s deaf.

MULLET
What about that boy? You deef? You special? Huh?

Mullet pulls a knife.
Luci takes a drink.
Mullet stabs Luci, but can’t push the knife into him.
The knife breaks.
Luci sets his drink down.
Mullet grabs Luci’s arm.

LUCI
I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house.

Luci raises his arm for another drink.
Mullet is propelled across the room as if he were shot out of a cannon.
Mullet dents the wall.
But doesn’t fall down.
He sticks to the wall.
The floor below him ignites.
Mullet screams.
Luci sets his drink down.

LUCI
I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings…

The screaming continues.

INT. NIC’S ROOM

There are no windows, no clocks, but the lights have been dimmed to simulate night.
Nic can’t sleep
He flips.
No good.
Nic gets up. He throws on a wife-beater and pajama pants.
He walks out of the room through the hole where the door once was. He walks into the hall, looking at all the spots where doors once were.

NIC’S P.O.V.: Jason sleeps on his side, pillow between his legs. Preston quietly shakes, only her outline showing in a pile of covers. Sarah sleeps like the dead. Eric’s room is empty.
There Eric is, in the

COMMON ROOM

Eric is stretched out on one of the two couches that are in the large room.
He flips through channels on a flat screen TV.

TV VOICE 1
Companies are constantly selling you the latest and greatest knives, but only DavCo offers our patented Stainless Steel lifetime guarantee spoons…

SOUND OF CHANNEL CHANGING

ERIC
Howdy friend.

NIC
Oh, hey.

TV SCREEN: WHO IS THE HEX?

ERIC
Couldn’t sleep?

NIC
Plenty of time to sleep when I die. I figure that could be any minute now.

ERIC
Riiight.

NIC
You?

ERIC
Man, I haven’t slept in, f*ckifIknow. I don’t count this morning for obvious reasons, of course. It’s like I’m on this constant f*cking caffeine buzz. But I can relax with TV. TV good! Flat screen, satellite channels, good set up.

NIC
Yeah? What time is it?

ERIC
4 ish in New York. 3ish in Chicago. 1ish in LA.

NIC
And here?

ERIC
FuckifIknow. No local channels. Must cost extra.

They stare at the TV.
Eric flips past the same infomercial for spoons.

ERIC
So what are you in for, Man?

NIC
They say I can move shit with my head. So far it just looks like I can break things… like my school.

ERIC
Hmmm. Jealous?

NIC
Of what?

ERIC
Well you see my young telekinetically gifted friend, I am in perfect health. I am (dramatic pause) a super soldier. A better than the Olympics athletes athlete. Mile in no time flat. Strength like a prodigious prodigy. Balance like a Roman-Ian cat!

NIC
Oh. So what?

ERIC
Fuck man, I am Captain America. Can’t spell Cap’n America without Eric, baby. You, on the other hand, are Jean Grey. I am a hero and a legend. You don’t even have a code name.

NIC
Phoenix. Anyway, that is X-men to Avenger. You can’t make that comparison. I am thinking you’re Hawkeye and I am Iron Man.

ERIC
The haircut does look like a helmet. Naw c’mon; how are you Iron man?

NIC
Repulsor rays. It isn’t too big a stretch.

TV VOICE 2
Only 39.99!

ERIC
Man, f*ck that. You are Jean Grey, and I am Wolverine.

NIC
Does that mean you wanna date me? Why do you get to be Wolverine? You’re Bishop or something. The guy with the big head. Armadillo in the morning. He looks more like Wolverine. He’s closer in height, build.

ERIC
No, nonononononono. Little Jason grows grey armor; He’s Colossus. A not so colossal Colossus, perhaps. Then the dark haired chick is Nightcrawler then, and the blonde is Firestar or Johnny Storm-

NIC
I see you’ve thought this through.

ERIC
Man’s got lots of time to think in the joint.

TV VOICE 3
You need to reprogram you appetites.

ERIC
So you experimented?

NIC
What with a little Wolvie-Jean Grey love?

ERIC
No dumbass, with your “powers.”

NIC
Not really. I mean, aside from destroying my school. and dreams about pennies.

ERIC
Pennies?

NIC
Yeah, I bent one.

ERIC
Found this in the couch.

He flips a COIN at Nic

ERIC
I dunno though. It is a nickel.

Nic holds the NICKEL in his hand.
He concentrates.
Nothing happens.

ERIC
Nickels.

Eric shakes his head.
Nic closes his eyes.
He furrows his brow.
Nothing.

ERIC
Remember Phenomenon? You just have to ask it. Maybe you are trying too hard or something.

NIC
I hate that movie.

Nic opens his eyes.
He focuses on the nickel.
Focuses through the nickel.
Slowly at first, the center of the nickel begins to rise.
It folds in half standing up like a tent.

ERIC
Sweet!

The nickel explodes.
It flies in two directions.
Eric springs to his feet.
Half of the nickel is embedded into the wall.

ERIC
Alas, poor Tom. We hardly knew ye.

INT. JASON’S ROOM

Jason is talking to himself.

JASON
It’s not so bad. Ain’t like highschool is paradise. Yessir, no more classes, no more evil teachers, no more ugly gym uniforms.

INT. GYMNASIUM

Stylish, yet Spartan.
We can see

UGLY GYM UNIFORMS

All five are dressed in orange sweats.
Sara’s sweatshirt is two sizes too big.
She rocks on the balls of her feet.
Eric is hopping around the gym, balancing on one hand.
Nic, foregoing the sweatshirt for a wife-beater, is on his knees meditating.
Jason is pacing and looks frustrated.
He points to Nic and speaks to Eric.

JASON
How much longer is he going to do that? It’s like there’s something wrong with him.
ERIC
Hey Kung Fu, find your brother yet?

NIC
Am I offending big headed kid’s delicate sensibilities? All apologies.

JASON
Listen freak, I am in no mood.

NIC
(deadpan)
Just tell me when you are, because I can do this later, too.

Jason grabs Nic’s shirt pulling him to his feet.

JASON
I said listen you little-

Nic, unimpressed, pinches the skin on the back of Jason’s arm.
He lets go.
Nic takes a step back.

ERIC
Hey, hey guys… guys… no pinchee.

Jason shells.
Enter Smith, Trask, Rourke, a 30ish ASIAN WOMAN (nametag: NGUYEN) and a stocky, bearded, middle aged MAN WITH SMALL GLASSES (nametag: ARCHIBALD).
Each carries some sort of notepad: Rourke- a spiral notebook, Nguyen- a clipboard, Archibald- a yellow legal pad, etc.

ROURKE
Good morning, chitlens.

SMITH
Today we run.

ROURKE
By “we”, he means you.

SMITH
One mile, 4 laps around the track. Take your marks. We start in 30 seconds.

Preston, Eric, Nic, Jason and Sarah take their marks on the track.
Trask holds the stopwatch.
The Stopwatch reads 3:39, and Eric struts to a finish.
He is not tired nor sweating.

ERIC
Man, maybe next time I’ll open her up a little bit. See what this baby can do.

Jason and Preston finish at the same time, around the 7 minute mark.
Trask yells to Nic, who is half-heartedly jogging, high-stepping, running backwards, and generally goofing off.

TRASK
This is a timed event Black. You are supposed to run your hardest.

NIC
How do you know I’m not? Don’t make me give you some more of what you got yesterday.

Rourke laughs quietly.

TRASK
Knock it off Rourke.

ROURKE
I dunno if I’d push his buttons, Nic. You know they say that cat Trask is one bad mutha-

TRASK
Shut your mouth!

ROURKE
Just talking ‘bout Trask.

ERIC
Then I can dig it.

Trask slow burns until the 9Min 30sec mark when Nic finishes.
Sarah crosses the line at 10min 05sec.

SARAH
Ha! I have defeated you. Mile, you are no match for the likes of me.

TRASK
That was only three.

SARAH
Huh?

TRASK
You only ran three laps. Four laps is a mile. That means one more.

SARAH
No. That was my mile. I am done.

TRASK
Girly, you are wasting time.
SARAH
Christ.

ROURKE
Knock it off, Trask.

TRASK
You are on my last nerve, Rourke. Don’t…

SMITH
Girl’s done enough. No matter how much you or I might want it to be, this is not boot camp. Move on.

LATER

ROURKE
Okay kiddies, we are pairing off. We’ll do it a lot; get used to it. Trask, take Preston to room Alpha. There is an implied please and thank you in there Mr. Sensitive. Ms. Sarah Fey, Ms. Nguyen will lead you to room Beta. Dr. Archibald, if you be so kind as to lead young Jason to room Charlie. Nic, I gots you kid. Delta room.

SMITH
(To Eric)
Come with me.

ALPHA ROOM

TRASK
All right, we are going to start out nicely and slowly today.

PRESTON
That’s fine, but I need a square.

TRASK
Beg pardon?

PRESTON
A cig-a-rette. I haven’t gone this long without a smoke since I was twelve. Don’t even try to tell me you don’t have any. I can smell them from here. Kamels with a K if I had to guess.

BETA ROOM

SARAH
So, I was um, thinking about all this, like training and stuff, and well, I’m not even sure how to move a goldfish with my hands, let alone without them.

Nguyen hands Sarah a cup.

NGUYEN
I will need you to fill this.

SARAH
Okay, but this is pretty small for a fish… oh. Not filling it with my magic.

ROOM CHARLIE

JASON
Okay so this is going to be like the flips and battling droids, with workout montage music right?

Archibald points to a couch.

ARCHIBALDIf you could make yourself comfortable.

JASON
Okay, so, uh where are the machines.

ARCHIBALD
No machines today.

JASON
So, uhm do I do situps on this thing? Or, uh…

ARCHIBALD
How about we just start by telling me how you feel today.

ROOM DELTA

ROURKE
So, Powder, Phenomenon…

NIC
What are movies that I hate and therefore suck, Mr. Trebek?

ROURKE
Correct, you got all of the mystery seven and won the trip Aruba.

NIC
Swank.

ROURKE
To work now. I like to start small.

He grabs a pencil from his pocket, places it on a desk.

ROURKE
Don’t want you to levitate it or anything like that. I just want you to roll it back and forth.

Nic squints.
The pencil rolls away from him.

ROURKE
Fantastic. Now the other way.

Nic walks to the other side of the table.
He squints.
He purses his lips.
He gently BLOWS the pencil the other way.

OMEGA ROOM

This room is far different from the others.
It has a soft canvas floor.
Off in a far corner there is a heavy bag, speed bag, a dummy, etc.

SMITH
Today we start combat training.

ERIC
Sweet fancy danger room! So how does this work, Robots, Holograms with shields around them, clones?

Smith removes his coat

SMITH
Not quite.

ERIC
What do you mean?

Smith removes his shirt revealing the crucifix.
Smith cracks his knuckles and smiles.

SMITH
You can keep your shoes on if you want.

Smith takes his shoes off.

ERIC
Heh… oh.

ALPHA ROOM

TRASK
I not sure how I feel about giving a kid, a young lady, such as yourself a cigarette.

PRESTON
Why?

TRASK
It’s like illegal. It’s not healthy; you’re not supposed to…

PRESTON
(Scoffing)
I’m supposed to make fire! A little smoke can be explained and probably is not going to make that much of a difference health wise.

TRASK
Fine

He digs in his coat.

PRESTON
If you got a menthol, that would be great. But, my father always says only “little blonde girls and niggers” smoke them.

TRASK
Girly, I’d be careful who you use that word around.

He throws her a cigarette.

TRASK
Since I’m not little blonde girl you’ll have to make due with an ultra-light.

PRESTON
Ultra-light? You sure you’re not a little girl? Got a light?

TRASK
Consider this test one, honey. “Make fire.”

BETA ROOM

Sarah Fey is lying on a big machine in front of a big machine.
She whispers a nervous song to herself.

SARAH
Oh I’m getting my cat scanned/ I have to be quiet/ I can’t move/ or else we start over/ It’s like a moment of silence/ except without veterans/ at least I don’t think so/ Oh, I’m getting my cat scanned-

ROOM CHARLIE

Jason is lying on the proverbial couch.

JASON
So I guess I’ve always known. I guess you just try not to know some things though, huh? I, uh, when does the actual training start?

ROOM DELTA

ROURKE
You are concentrating too much. Just relax. Think about what you want to happen.

NIC
I dunno; it still seems like a sissy power to me. I’m Jean Grey.

The pencil stands up on the pointed end.

ROURKE
Hey, think of it like this. The Force. The Force is strong in you. Darth Vader. huh?

NIC
Swank.

The pencil is wobbling/spinning like a slow top.

NIC
Hey and dig that. No explosions or anything.

The eraser end of the pencil EXPLODES.
Metal flies into Nic’s palm.

OMEGA ROOM

SMITH
Don’t hold back.

ERIC
I don’t want to punch you, at least not too hard or anything.

SMITH
If I were you I would worry about me not for me.

ERIC
All right

Eric winds up like a pitcher and throws a huge right cross. Smith stop hits Branca in the shoulder, before it can land.
Eric flies down towards the mat.

SMITH
Not too bad.

Eric handsprings to his feet.
As soon as his feet touch the ground Smit’s foot smashes his chest.
Eric is airbourne.
His landing is not soft.
Most of the wind is knocked out of him.

ERIC
Okay… time to… bring the A-game, baby.

ALPHA ROOM

Trask and Preston are smoking and laughing like old friends. Preston holds her cigarette like a cowboy.

PRESTON
So everybody seems to know everything about me. Tell me about all of you.

TRASK
You are a bad influence on me girly.

PRESTON
Puhleeze.

TRASK
Okay fine. I’ll tell you about Rourke. Let’s see, he got his first fancy Ivy degree at age 19. He majored in Physics and Chemistry, and took Math and biology just for the fun of it. He’s a complete head case: gets migraines he’s so smart. He can recite everything that is going on in every part of the world, but can’t manage coordinating his socks.

DELTA ROOM

Sure enough Rourke’s left sock is white and the right is grey.
Rourke’s cheek is bandaged where he was hit with pencil shrapnel.

ROURKE
Okay, so we are going softer now. Let’s move the water in this nice Styrofoam cup.

NIC
The power to destroy a planet is trivial compared to the power of the force.

OMEGA ROOM

Smith x blocks a lightning fast left hook by Eric.
Smith takes Eric down with an arm bar, slamming him on the ground 3 times along the way.

SMITH
By the way, when this hurts too much, tap out.

ERIC
Hey, I’m the one with super-powers here.

Smith stretches Eric out further.
Eric taps like mad.

INT. COMMON ROOM/LOUNGE.

Eric is lying on the couch icing his wounds with frozen peas.
Sarah sits on the adjacent couch blankly staring at the television.

TV VOICE 4
I wouldn’t have believed that if I wasn’t standing right here. The tarnish is all gone.

Nic enters.
He plops down on the floor, cross-legged, with his back against Sara’s Couch.

SARAH
Hey. How was your exciting day of training fun?

NIC
Got to explode a pencil and be Darth Vader. All in all, a good day, suppose. My day was better that Eric’s I assume… Hey, where did you get peas?

Eric points to mini fridge and freezer at the foot end of his couch.

NIC
Swank.

Nic eats the frozen peas as if they were M & Ms during the next few lines.

SARAH
They had me, um, in this cat scan thing, yeah, and I had to stay still, but I kept on flinching, so they had to make me start over and over again. Yeah, I think I spent about 6 hours in there.

NIC
That’s harsh. Eric, I assume you spent the day getting thrown off of buildings.

ERIC
Ha, ha, no. Baby, alls I’m gonna say, don’t piss off Mr. Smith.

Nic unsuccessfully tries to throw a pea in his mouth.
He picks it up off the floor and tries again.
Unsuccessfully.

NIC
Got a mental note made. Hey, but I thought you were Captain America, the super-soldier hero man.

ERIC
Well, apparently not quite yet. But you are still not Wolverine.

NIC
Look who’s talking.

ERIC
Whatever Jean Grey.

SARAH
Can I be Wolverine?

A SCREAM
Nic, Sarah and Eric exchange glances and run to its source. We arrive in

PRESTON’S ROOM

with Jason already there.
Preston is sitting up in her bed.
Flames surround her.
The bed is being consumed.
Preston holds up her hand
It ignites
The flame grows from red to white then extinguishing, leaving no marks on its mother hand.
Jason shells.
He grabs Preston off the bed
A shower of foam falls from the ceiling.
The fire dies.

ROURKE (O.S.)
(from the P.A.)
All right kiddies, everybody out. We got some clean up to do. You got some sleeping to get to.

INT. THE LOUNGE.

All five are present.
Eric is stretching.
Nic continues eating his bag of peas.
Sarah sits Indian style on a recliner.
Jason and Preston sit on the same couch with space between them.
They stare blankly at the TV.

TV VOICE 5
Despite these crippling addictions, you were still able to perform every night-

TV VOICE 6
Well, it was more like because of instead of in spite of.

ERIC
So…

TV VOICE 5:
Truly an example…

CHANNEL CHANGES

TV VOICE 7
…can leave them in this pot of boiling water and these handles will never be “too hot to handle.”

TV VOICE 8
My god these spoons are amazing!

SARAH
So, Jason, how long have you known you can shift like that?

JASON
What do you mean?

SARAH
Well, I don’t know anything about teleporting, and I still think that they got the wrong girl. And, um, Patty, she like just torched her room on accident. Accident right?

PRESTON
Yeah. I don’t even remember doing it.

SARAH
Uh huh. And uh, Nic he blew up a nickel, and pencil, and Christ knows what else. And, no offence Eric, but you just got the Wolverine beaten out of you. Jason, though, um, you seem to be pretty good at this skin stuff.

JASON
Hon, what does it matter? I’m going to bed.

Jason exits.

Nic tries to throw the pea in mouth, misses again, picks it off the floor and slam dunks it into mouth.

NIC
Detective Sarah, How bout this one?

Nic searches for a pea.
The bag is empty.

NIC
Shit. Oh yeah, why didn’t Rourke just hose the room in the first place?

SARAH
I’m stumped.

ERIC
That is a mystery. And you know what Nic. I can’t seem to face up to the facts.

NIC
Really?

ERIC
I’m tense and nervous and I, I can’t relax

ERIC AND NIC
(Half-singing)
Can’t sleep ’cause my bed’s on fire/ Don’t touch me I’m a real live wire.

ERIC
Psycho Killer.

NIC
Qu’est Que C’est?

ERIC
fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better

Preston leaves in a huff.

NIC
(speaking)
Is she run run run run run run running away?

ERIC
Oh, oh oh oh, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. See, it’s funny cuz she’s a Psycho Killer.

SARAH
You two… ugh.

Sarah leaves.
Moment of Silence.

ERIC AND NIC
(Singing)
…You start a conversation you can’t even finish it.
You’re talkin’ a lot, but you’re not sayin’ anything.
When I have nothing to say, my lips are sealed. Say something once, why say it again?