"Control" Part 3 by Dawvitch Night-Fall Additions by DJ Clawson First draft - 5/3/00 Edited by Rygar 1/8/04 SCENE 1 - LOBBY, DRAYKE CORPORATION, ULTESS GUNNER DEADEYE DUCK and DALLION are standing in front of the main reception desk in the building. They seem to be getting a little impatient. The mink receptionist, JESSIE, sits behind the desk. DALLION I thought that you said you and this guy were good friends. DEADEYE We are, mate. He's just busy, or ... JESSIE (interrupting) Mr. Drayke will see you now. Take the last of the five elevators that you come to down the hall. It's an express elevator straight up to Mr. Drayke's personal office. The two proceed to head over to the hallway with the five elevators in it. The fifth elevator opens up by itself just as they get to it. With the doors open, SHARD, one of Drayke's assistants, is visible inside the elevator. DEADEYE Shard, is that you? SHARD Shiver me timbers! Deadeye, I haven't seen ye in ages! Deadeye enters the elevator to greet Shard as Dallion also enters. SHARD (pointing to Dallion) An' who's this big fella? DEADEYE This is Dallion, one of me newest mates. The doors to the elevator close. SCENE 2 - DRAYKE'S OFFICE, DRAYKE CORPORATION DRAYKE is by himself in his office, sitting at his desk. A light brightens above a set of elevator doors, and the doors open. Deadeye steps out of the elevator, with Dallion following him out. Just as they are out, the doors shut. Drayke rises to his feet and walks around to the front of his desk. DRAYKE Deadeye, long time no see. Deadeye walks up to Drayke to shake all four paws with him. Dallion remains near the elevator doors. DEADEYE (humorously) Drayke, ye no-good lucky deck scrubber! Ye're just about th' only pirate to become th' target o' almost every other pirate in th' aniverse. DRAYKE (gives a quick glance to Dallion, then turns back to Deadeye) Ex-pirate, Deadeye ... just like you, I gave that all up. But yes, I'm pretty much the target of many pirates now. DEADEYE (walking over to the windows to look out over the city) Yeah, but ye're such a long ways away from when ye *was* a pirate. DRAYKE You could say that. It still amazes me when I think about how much I've accomplished. DEADEYE I really don't have time fer making up fer lost time between us, so I'll get right to th' point. DRAYKE What can I do for you? DEADEYE Do ye still keep in contact with any black markets and underground rings? DRAYKE (smiling) My knowledge of the underground is still one of my biggest advantages over other corporate syndicates, Deadeye. What do you want to know? DEADEYE (turning back to Drayke) Do ye know of any major toad activities? Maybe somethin' that involves takin' in large amounts o' laundered simoleans? You know, somethin' that just stands out more than normal. Might even involve kidnappin'? Drayke's face hardens for a second, then softens back. He then places a finger under his beak while crossing his arms. DRAYKE (thinking) Hmmm. To tell the truth, Deadeye, the underground has been pretty toad- free for a while. It has been mostly run by our former pirate comrades and the same select group of sleazasaurs. Of course, all of the minor groups, gangs, and syndicates are still there. Their business with the Toad Empire hasn't been out of the ordinary recently. DEADEYE So there hasn't really been any major toad influence, then? DRAYKE Not to my knowledge. You think the toads have something going on? DEADEYE Well, we have our suspicions, but not much else. DRAYKE I see ... (looks back over to Dallion) So, who is your companion? DEADEYE This here is Dallion. He's th' other reason I'm here. He could use yer help as well. Dallion walks up to both Deadeye and Drayke. Dallion offers his paw out to Drayke who, in turn, grabs and shakes it. DRAYKE So, Dallion, what can I do for you? DEADEYE How much toad trouble do ye have, Drayke? DRAYKE (to Deadeye, releasing Dallion's paw and shaking his head) More than I like. They're always interfering with my production lines. I'm hit by toads more than pirates, to be honest. DEADEYE Well, as long as yer fightin' toadies, Dallion here is guaranteed ta be an asset. DRAYKE Really? (to Dallion) Is that right, Dallion? DALLION As long as you can help to keep my cybernetics upgraded, I will get rid of any toads that are a problem to you. The conversation is interrupted by a beeping coming from Deadeye. He reaches down to pull up his comm and activate it. BUCKY (over comm) Deadeye, are you finished yet? You need to be back here. DEADEYE I'm on me way now, Cap'n. Deadeye places his comm back on his belt. DEADEYE Well, looks like I need ta be goin', mateys. DRAYKE (to Deadeye) That's all right. It's always a pleasure. (to Dallion) Do you have to leave as well? DALLION I see no particular reason to. DRAYKE Good. Stay awhile, then. I think that I could have a use for you. DEADEYE Thanks for yer help, Drayke. DRAYKE Anytime, Deadeye. (winks) Not to sound like a total corporate jerk, but make an appointment next time you come back to see me. Deadeye just waves to Drayke over his shoulder as he heads back to the elevator. The doors open up to show Shard in the elevator again. Deadeye steps in, and then the doors close, leaving just Drayke and Dallion in the room. SCENE 3 - LOBBY, DRAYKE CORPORATION The elevator doors open, showing Deadeye and Shard. SHARD It was good seein' ye again, matey. DEADEYE Likewise, Shard. 'Course, I never expected ye ta work fer Drayke. SHARD He asked me to. He's so busy with this side o' th' market that 'e needed someone 'e trusted ta keep in touch with th' other side fer 'im. Made me an offer that I couldn't refuse. DEADEYE Take care o' yerself, matey. SHARD Same ta you, Deadeye. Shard pats Deadeye on the back as Deadeye exits the elevator. SCENE 4 - DRAYKE'S OFFICE, DRAYKE CORPORATION Dallion and Drayke stand in the middle of the office, just under the raised large black conference table. DRAYKE So, you want to keep your cybernetics modernized? DALLION That is right: modernized and maintained. To make myself a better weapon against the toads. DRAYKE Well, you certainly have your mind set on it. DALLION More than you'll ever know. Drayke then walks and sits behind his desk. DRAYKE Well, you can rest assured that you have landed yourself a job with me. Drayke opens up a panel of buttons behind his desk, out of Dallion's view. There is also a view screen next to the panel. He presses a button, and a green wire-frame image of Dallion's figure appears and rotates on the screen. A solid image then appears in the wire frame around Dallion's abdominal area. Drayke presses another button, and red crosshairs center over the image of Dallion. The words "Life Support System" appear above. DALLION I'm willing to help you whenever I can. DRAYKE Well, how about now? Drayke presses a bright red button on the panel, and the words "Life Support System Deactivated" appear. The lights on Dallion's abdominal area fade out. He grips at his heart with his left paw as he begins to gasp for air. He begins to wheeze loudly as he slowly drops to one knee, then to the floor. His body then goes limp. Drayke then presses the red button again to reactivate Dallion's life support. Dallion begins to breathe again but remains unconscious. DRAYKE (pressing a button on his desk comm) OK, better get in here before he wakes up. A door opens up from beside Drayke's desk and several toad SOLDIERS enter in, with CRAVIS behind them. He is carrying a large syringe. CRAVIS (to the soldiers) Roll him over on his back. The soldiers do so, though not without with a lot of strain. Once Dallion is on his back, Cravis injects the contents of the syringe into his neck. CRAVIS There, that sedative should keep him out for a while. DRAYKE Maybe you should give him more just in case, Dr. Cravis. CRAVIS There is such a thing as killing someone with an overdose of sedative, Drayke. (to soldiers) Quickly, get him down to the labs. We have to replace that neuro- controller as soon as possible. SOLDIER #1 Yes, sir. Another soldier enters into the room with a hover cart. He sets down beside Dallion. The soldiers then, with all their might, roll Dallion onto the cart. The cart is raised off of the floor and pushed out of the office. All the soldiers and Cravis follow. Once they are gone and the door is shut, the panel hiding the large comm screen opens up to show the AIR MARSHAL. AIR MARSHAL Well? DRAYKE Don't worry; we got the cyborg. Lucky for us, his remote commands still have their original frequencies. AIR MARSHAL Remote commands? You never mentioned any remote commands. DRAYKE It's a common practice for us to put them in early prototypes to protect us from having our technology stolen. AIR MARSHAL And what about the duck? DRAYKE He suspects nothing. He just came here to check up on the latest news from his old friends. AIR MARSHAL What was the wolf's purpose here? DRAYKE He was looking for work. AIR MARSHAL Is that all? DRAYKE Yes, that's all. AIR MARSHAL (sneering) It had better be, and you had better not be lying to me. Tension begins to build on Drayke's face. AIR MARSHAL Because if you screw this up, there will be three unfortunate occurrences in your future. The comm screen goes blank. Drayke stands still with clenched, quivering fists. SCENE 5 - ORBIT OF ULTESS Deadeye is on his way out of Ultess's atmosphere on the Croaker. Just as he is out of gravity range, another space vehicle flashes by behind Deadeye, too quick to recognize. The Croaker's sensors light up brightly as the ship passes by. DEADEYE (studying sensors) What th' ... ? (studies a little more) A double bubble, out here? (thinks for a moment) The Cap'n will have me hide if I'm later'n I am now ... (beat) ... I gots ta follow that toadie! Deadeye veers the Croaker in the direction of the other ship and takes off in pursuit. His chase leads him back down to Ultess. He re- enters the atmosphere and proceeds due east of Cayton City. The majority of the landscape is a hilly, dense forest area. The Croaker, along with Deadeye, disappears into the thick canopy of trees. SCENE 6 - BRIEFING ROOM, STATION ORBITING GENUS The small conference room is filled with desks and seats, along with a couple podiums in the front of the room. CHAIRMAN FRITZ WARNER is behind one of the podiums, and LIEUTENANT WOLF is behind one as well. Seated in the middle of the room are CAPTAIN BUCKY O'HARE, FIRST MATE JENNY, COMMANDER DOGSTAR, CAPTAIN MIMI LAFLEUR, FIRST MATE JONATHAN WEISSMAN, and a few security guards. WOLF (coming in at the end of his report) ... so, basically, nothing out of the ordinary. No real leads came out of my investigations. (beat) However, I still have a few more contacts to exploit. FRITZ Thank you, Wolf, that will be all. Wolf steps down to take a seat next to Dogstar. Fritz steps to a corner behind the podiums, where KADAF WARNER has just come into the room. FRITZ (whispering) Well? KADAF (whispering) There haven't been any more known abductions by the toads. FRITZ And Dallion? KADAF He last informed me that he was stalking a group of double bubbles. Haven't heard anything from him since. FRITZ For how long? KADAF It's been about six hours. FRITZ I see. Thanks, Daf. Fritz then steps back up to his podium as Kadaf leaves the room. FRITZ Well, unless Deadeye's investigations yield anything, we're stuck in the same spot: nowhere. (beat) Is your gunner here yet, Bucky? BUCKY (apparently agitated) No, sir. He's on his way. (thinking) SCENE 7 - FOREST, ULTESS After landing the Toad Croaker, Deadeye jumps off of it and pulls out a machete from one of its compartments. He takes one more look at his sensor reading, which indicates a toad ship nearby, then proceeds to make his way through the thick foliage. Deadeye turns his hearing aids up to pick up any sounds from around him. He also pulls out a miniature sensor device. DEADEYE (thinking) Moving through the green as quietly as he can and only cutting when he has to, he finally comes up to a double bubble. However, there are no toads in sight. Cautiously, Deadeye moves up to the ship to inspect it. Both cockpits are open and empty. Continuing to look about the area, Deadeye notices a trampled area in the brush, on the opposite side of the ship that he approached, that forms a kind of path. He jumps off of the ship to head in the direction of the path. Deadeye follows it to a circular clearing in the forest. The clearing appears to be about two hundred feet in diameter. He stops just at the edge of the clearing. His sensor is giving some strange readings. DEADEYE (looking at his sensor, thinking) (looks outward to the clearing, thinking) Looking around for a few minutes, Deadeye's concentration is broken by a rumbling noise along with some tremors from the ground. DEADEYE Dropping to one knee, Deadeye stabilizes himself. After a few moments of shaking, the ground out in the clearing seems to disappear to reveal a metallic surface. DEADEYE (surprised, thinking) The rumbling becomes louder, almost deafening. The metallic surface begins to rotate and slide open in four sections to reveal a deep, cylindrical shaft. Just as the shaft is completely open, a toad speed carrier rises out of the shaft. It instantly begins to leave the atmosphere. Deadeye looks at his sensor, which gives no reading now. As soon as the ship is out of sight, his sensor begins to give him the strange readings again. DEADEYE (thinking) Deadeye leans over to look down the shaft. It is a very long shaft, some one thousand feet deep, and has metallic siding all the way down. DEADEYE (thinking) Deadeye reaches down to his belt pack to pull out four small ring-like devices. He slips one on each middle finger. Once he has done so, he rolls over the edge of the shaft and begins to scale down the walls. The devices help him stick to the sides of the shaft. About a minute after Deadeye enters the shaft, the top of the shaft seals shut again. Now, it's almost completely dark, save for a little light that is coming from the bottom of the shaft. In the blackness, Deadeye continues his descent. SCENE 8 - TOAD HANGAR, ULTESS No noise is heard. All toad space vehicles are powered down, and only a few toad soldiers remain in the hangar, patrolling. Behind them are some crates, with movement behind them. DEADEYE (sneaking around, thinking)