Chapter 3: Reality Check (SCRIPT) (Patreon)

I've been pretty busy working on a trailer for the first two chapters, now that they are completed. I'll probably post that pretty soon to all tiers. I'm also trying to use the COLLECTIONS option for easier management on Patreon starting with this chapter.

I'm making this available to all tiers! It is largely the same as the original, the only difference is that I've condensed Chapters 2 and 3 into one chapter. There really was no reason to have Chapter 2 in the original be JUST Lamia and Arma in the infirmary, so I combined it with Chapter 3. It still feels like a bit of an info dump, but I have some pretty nice visuals planned. I think it also explains a little more of the core plot with a stronger explanation of what Aeons are and, for the first time, I've mentioned the setting is actually on an island (though not a tropical one). 

As always, the script is in a short-hand form of scripting, since I'm writing for just myself. I do use the characters' names so if that's a spoiler for you, you might skip this post!

(font decorations, like italics, did not carry over to this post unfortunately!)

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FaLLEN Chapter 3 Reboot

Chapter 3

Title: “Reality Check”

(from song by Black Water Rising)

Page 1

Title Page.

Title page features Lamia in nurse outfit, same as the original. Would like to add two-tone faces of other girls in background, but we’ll see.

Chapter 3: Reality Check

Page 2

p1

Arma is floating through space, naked but nothing is visible. She is surrounded by a green aura. Page borders are black. Her eyes are barely open.

Munchkin oc: Wake up…

Arma: Wh…uh…

p2

Large panel takes up most of the page. Arma freaks out. Her tiny body is staring at the moon, which takes up most of the panel.

Munchkin oc: Wake up…

Arma: Wah!!

p3

Recycled art. Arma covers her mouth, her face pale.

SFX: URRP…

Munchkin oc: Wake up, Ar—

Page 3

p1

Recycled art. Arma vomits, we see just the mess on the floor with a sign.

Sign: Vomit.😜

p2

Recycled art. Arma peers over the side of a bed, some vomit around her mouth. She is very out of sorts and covered in bandages.

Arma: Wuh…

p3

Recycled art. She looks up.

p4

Recycled art. Arma is in an infirmary, no longer wearing her gown. Lamia is sitting in front of her.

Arma: It’s…

Arma: …it’s you!

Page 4

p1

Recycled art. Lamia, still wearing her gown, stares back at Arma, magazine in hand.

Lamia: It’s me.

p2

Recycled art. She returns to her magazine.

Lamia: I am not cleaning that up.

Page 5

p1

Arma pulls her sheets up over her chest and wipes her mouth. She gives Lamia a judgmental look.

Arma: After you ran away…

Arma: Didn’t think I’d be seeing you again.

p3

Lamia, feeling a little ashamed, looks away. Hands

Lamia: And miss the opportunity to model more of these couture gowns?

Lamia: Here’s a clean one for you, by the way.

p4

Recycled art. Wide shot. Arma is sitting on the side of the bed, fiddling with her gown. Lamia is pushing in her chair. We can still see the vomit on the floor.

Arma: What hospital is this?

Lamia: It’s not a hospital. This is just an infirmary.

Lamia: You better be dressed by the time I turn around!

Lamia: I’ve been flashed enough times since I met you…

p5

Arma ties the back of her gown, which hangs partially open, and looks around her, slightly suspicious.

Arma: (Hmph!) Looks like you found some kind of help, at least.

Page 6

p1

Recycled art. We see equipment in the infirmary is old and covered in cobwebs.

Arma thought: Did she bring me here?

Arma thought: This room seems old and out of use…

Arma thought: Better than being chased by giant snakes and lizards, I guess.

p2

Recycled art. Arma is dressed, but scratches at her bandages around her waist.

Arma thought: Someone bandaged my injuries.

Arma thought: They don’t really hurt anymore.

p3

Recycled art. Arma lies back, but the bed is small.

Arma: Ouch!

Arma thought: It’s like this bed was meant for a child…

p4

Recycled art. Arma remembers Munchkin. Munchkin winks. Munchkin should be in limited colors, a bit hazy.

Arma thought: A child…

Arma thought: Munchkin…

p5

Recycled art. Arma is lying down, distraught.

Arma: I’ve gotta find that little girl.

Page 7

p1

Recycled art. Lamia looks over her shoulder.

Lamia: Little girl? She’s around here somewhere.

p2

Recycled art. Arma bolts upright, Lamia is pushing her chair in, getting ready to leave.

Arma: Really??

Lamia: Yeah, but she’s still a bit jittery from whatever she went through.

Lamia: Hasn’t said much since she was brought here.

p3

Lamia is not facing Arma.

Lamia: She and the others are probably down the hall waiting in the—

SFX: *door opening* KA-CHA

p4

Small panel. Semi-recycled art. Camera is behind Lamia, who is facing the door leading out of the room.

Lamia: Hey!

p5

Lamia steps forward.

Lamia: You need to mop the—

SFX: SKISH

p6

Semi-recycled. Lamia is cartoonishly perturbed at the realization she just stepped in vomit. We see just her feet, and a tiny cartoony face gritting her teeth in her dialogue balloon.

Lamia oc: Keeek…!!

Page 8

p1

Semi-recycled. Arma has already made her way down the dark hallway. Lamia is screaming from the infirmary door.

SFX: TATATA…

Lamia oc: You’re the worst!!

p2

Arma stops, holding her breath.

Arma thought: Voices!

SFX: BA-DUMP

p3

Recycled. Unintelligible dialogue seeps out from beneath a door. Arma, waist down, walks towards it.

SFX: TATATA…

p4

Recycled. Arma’s feet walk down the hall.

SFX: TATA…

P5

Arma approaches the door. Dialogue seeps under door again.

SFX: TA…

Page 9

p1

Recycled art. Arma opens the door, with the tops of the heads of other girls in the foreground.

SFX: CRKK…

p2

Recycled art. Arma enters the room and finds Maris, Neiva, and Vesta at a shoddily put together broken table. Pillows, blankets, and one or two opened cans of beans and some bottles of water are on the ground.

Maris: She lives!

Vesta: Hello!

Neiva: … …

p3

Recycled art. Arma looks confused and slightly suspicious. Space behind her is the dark hallway.

Arma thought: How many of us are there??

Page 10

p1

Arma looks over in the corner of the room and sees Ora hugging her knees on the floor.

Arma thought: The kid from the tree!

p2

Recycled art. Ora is sitting in the corner, uneasy.

Arma thought: Ah… this is who she meant by “little girl.”

p3

Arma squats down to Ora’s level.

Arma: Hey. Remember me?

p4

Ora looks over at Arma. Tears are in her eyes.

p5

Ora tackles Arma and begins crying.

Arma: Whoa, okay!

Ora: Waaaahh….!!

Maris: I take it you two know each other?

Page 11

p1

Arma makes her way to the table. Ora has her arms around Arma’s waist.

Arma: We’ve met. Once.

Arma: Can’t say we know each other, though.

p2

Maris and Vesta look a little embarrassed. Maris points at herself.

Maris: You wouldn’t happen to know us, would you?

Vesta: We seem to have… forgotten.

p3

Arma shrugs and sits. The girls sigh.

Arma: Same here. Sorry.

Maris: (sigh) If only this Vox guy would show up and tell us who we are…

p4

Show Ora on the ground hugging Arma’s legs while Arma pats her head.

Arma: Vox?

Maris oc: Supposedly he’s the one with all the answers.

Ora: *sniffle*

Page 12

p1

Another repeat page from the original chapter, but with a picture of the crate of food in the background.

Maris: Two days ago, we woke up in this dusty old place wearing these gowns.

Maris: There was a box of canned beans, some bottled water, a few blankets… that was basically all we had.

Maris: No names, no memories, nothing. Creepy, right? Almost like a kidnapping, except there’s nobody around to make sure we stay put.

p2

Recycled art. Flashback to the girls finding Arma unconscious in the infirmary.

Maris oc: So the three of us decided to check the place out, you know? That’s when we found you.

Maris oc: There you were, face-down on a bed with stained sheets in a room that reeked of blood.

p3

Recycled art. Neiva and Arma.

Arma: Did you guys find a way out of here? Are we trapped?

Neiva: There were several doors that were locked, but only from the inside.

p4

Recycled art. Arma seems confused.

Arma: Then… why didn’t you guys escape?

p5

Recycled art. The other three girls look away.

Vesta: Well… because… w-what if…

Page 13

p1

Recycled art. Lamia suddenly makes her entrance.

Lamia: What if we don’t have a home to go to… for example?

p2

Recycled art. Arma seems annoyed.

SFX: Hmph.

p3

Recycled art. Lamia crosses the room.

Arma: I’m beginning to wonder if you’re the one behind all of this.

Lamia: (Pfft!) You cracked the case, Detective Red!

Lamia: I voluntarily elected to forgo shampooing, eat refried beans, and wear nothing but a hospital gown for three days straight.

Lamia: All part of my master plan to annoy you.

SFX: (Arma) Grrr…

p4

Recycled art. Lamia sits next to Vesta. Arma’s chair falls over as she stands, angrily.

Lamia: Watch out for this one, she’s a puker!

Vesta: (Oh my…)

Arma: Hey! That was just one time!

SFX: CLUNK

Page 14

p1

Recycled art. Neiva close-up.

Neiva: *sigh* May I request we reserve our juvenile conduct for another time?

Neiva: You do know who is responsible for this… assemblage, yes?

Neiva: I believe you mentioned something about a so-called “man behind the curtain…”

p2

Recycled art. Lamia smirks.

Lamia: I don’t know about the “man” part, but…

Lamia: His name is Vox.

p3

Vesta is confused.

Vesta: So um… where is he now?

Lamia: Hiding under the table.

p4

Recycled art. Cartoony drawings of Vesta and Maris reacting.

Vesta: Huh?

p5

Recycled art. Vesta freaks out.

Vesta: Eek! Something’s crawling up my leg!

p6

Recycled art. Vesta falls back as Vox, a mouse, jumps onto the table.

Vesta: Wah!!

Page 15

p1

Recycled art. Large panel of all the girls at the table. Vox from behind.

Vox: Allow me to welcome you to your new home…

Vox: Guardians.

p2

Recycled art. Vesta peeks over the edge of the table.

Vesta: Oh, my! A talking mouse!

Vox: I am not a mouse.

p3

Recycled art.

Vox: My name is Vox, and I am the one who has gathered you all here.

p4

Arma gasps.

Arma: Wait… I remember you…

p5

Flashback to chapter 1. Use art from Ch. 1.

Arma oc: You were the three-eyed mouse from the top of that butte.

p6

Recycled art. Vox smiles.

Vox: Correct, though this is a gem, not a third eye.

Vox: I was watching you all…

Page 16

p1

Show Lamia looking annoyed and avoiding eye contact. Several panels are recycled art.

Vox oc: I wanted to see who would run…

Lamia: (Hmph!)

p2

Ora looks ashamed.

Vox oc: Who would hide…

Ora: (Erk…)

p3

Show a cutesy Vesta and Maris.

Vox oc: Who would remain oblivious to everything around them…

Vesta: Does he mean us?

Maris: Probably.

p4

Show Arma.

Vox oc: And who would fight.

p5

Neiva looks confused.

Neiva: It sounds as though you summoned us together for some amateur psychological experiment.

Vox: Not at all.

Vox: I needed at least one of you to awaken to your abilities as a holy protector of the Mother Aeon, Terra Maya.

p6

Lamia rolls her eyes, small panel.

Lamia: Here we go.

Page 17

p1

Show a silhouette of Mater Gaia in front of the earth, with cells, birds and animals and flowers and trees, etc, surrounding her. Think Revolutionary Girl Utena styled silhouettes/shadow girls.

Vox oc: From the simplest single-celled microbes to the most complex organisms on the planet, an Aeon is the embodiment of all life on Earth.

p2

The story continues with the animals and plants running/growing into the next panel, but their skin dissolves or their leaves whither away.

Vox oc: However, as the personification of life, divine dogma dictates all Aeons are forbidden from fatally wounding others, even in self-defense. They rely on a proxy to serve and protect them in times of war.

Vox oc: The first generation Aeon was lost to this circumscription.

p3

Recycled art. Show a silhouette of the girls as warriors. Each girl has a different color correlating to their Guardian powers.

Vox: A new battle has begun, and her daughter must never fall.

Vox: You are all her praetorian guards, her cohortes praetoriae…

Vox: You are the Mayan Guardians!

p4

Vox has a determined look on his face.

Vox: And you will be their leader…

p5

Recycled panel.

Vox: Arma…

Vox: Guardian of War.

Page 18

p1

Arma is surprised, Lamia is furious.

Arma: Arma? Is that my name?

Lamia: No, stop. Back up!

p2

Show Lamia setting out food and covering the girls while they were unconscious.

Lamia oc: So even though I took care of everyone for days, even though I did everything you said…

Lamia oc: Red here gets to be in charge? Is this a joke??

p3

Recycled Vox art. Vox looks stern with Arma from the previous chapter chopping the snake in the background.

Vox: Arma was the first to awaken to her abilities. The impulse to protect is the trigger for your initial transformations.

Vox: Arma was the only one who displayed an innate instinct to guard someone else’s life.

p4

Lamia is annoyed.

Vox oc: That is what makes a great leader.

Lamia: Yeah, right. On that subject…

p5

Recycled art. Show everyone.

Lamia: …Where the hell is this Maya woman we’re supposed to be protecting, hmm?

Lamia: Kind of hard to bodyguard without a body!

Maris: That’s a pretty good point.

p6

Vox looks away.

Vox: Presently, her whereabouts are unknown even to me. She is investigating the possible source of these monsters—

Vox: The chimera, like what you encountered, as well as another more pressing issue…

Page 19

p1

Maris, Ora and Neiva looking down at Vox, maybe recycle art.

Maris: So we’re Guardians. That’s who we are?Maris: You knew Arma’s name, so what about the rest of us?

Vox: It’s not that simple.

p2

Vox close up.

Vox: You each have names according to your specific titles, but unfortunately I do not know who has what powers.

Vox: I was able to identify Arma by her abilities. She wields a magical sword, has exceptional skills in combat, and has accelerated healing.

p3

Arma looks down at her bandaged arm and picks at it with her finger.

Vox oc: If you wish to know your own identity, you must uncover it yourself by awakening to your true forms in the line of duty.

Arma thought: Accelerated healing?

p4

Arma removes the bandage, her wounds fully healed.

Maris oc: Okay, but what duty is that exactly?Vox oc: As I mentioned before, you are Guardians of the Mother Aeon. Until she returns with more concrete answers, you must defeat the chimera that are invading—

Arma: This Terra Maya…

p5

Arma flashes back to the Munchkin at the end of chapter 2.

Munchkin: I’ll go ahead and give you one little hint.

Arma: What does she look like?

p6

Vox looks thoughtful.

Vox: Her appearance? Her human appearance is quite lovely.

Page 20-21

p1

Show the earth and space. Double-page spread, recycled artwork of Munchkin floating ethereally.

Vox oc: The Mother appears to be a fair-skinned human girl, but despite her youthful visage she has, in fact, existed for over 1.2 billion years.

Vox oc: She has doe-like eyes the color of earth, and seemingly endless locks of light, curly hair that cannot hide her radiant, albeit mischievous smile.

p2

Recycled art. Arma realizes this description matches the Munchkin’s.

Arma thought: It’s her! The Munchkin! This explains everything!

p3

Recycled art. Arma is determined.

Arma thought: She lead me on this path to uncover who I am.

Arma thought: But if she’s under attack…

Page 22

p1

Show words, but not who is speaking.

Lamia oc: I think I’ll pass, thanks.

p2

Recycled art. Lamia walks away from the group.

Lamia: Guard some strange woman, get a name? No way!

Lamia: I’m not risking my life for someone I’ve never even met.

Lamia: I can’t believe I wasted three days for that.

p3

Lamia heads for the door.

Lamia: Good luck chasing fairytales, ladies.

Lamia: I’d rather take my chances with the real world, at least until someone recognizes me.

p4

Recycled art. Vox yells at Lamia from the table.

Vox: And what if no one recognizes you? What do you plan to do then, pray tell?

Vox: How far do you think you’ll get without proper identification, finances, or even clothing?

p5

Recycled art. Vox face, close-up.

Vox: In fact, consider this a rather crushing reality check for all of you…

Page 23

p1

Recycled art. Vox is angry.

Vox: This is more of an adoption than a kidnapping. Your only real options are the ones presented to you now.

Vox: You are free to investigate if you still doubt me, but there are no missing persons reports in your name.

Vox: Nobody is looking for any of you, and you have no lives to return to. Everything that you have is in this room!

p2

Recycled art. Split shot of girls shocked.

p3

Recycled art. Vox looks regretful.

Vox: Excuse my candor, but without Terra Maya’s assistance, you will never be able to know who you really are.

p4

Recycled art. Arma looks solemn.

Arma: I think we get it, Vox.

Arma: So tell us, what must we do to protect Terra Maya?

Page 24

p1

Vox recycled art.

Vox thought: Spoken like a true Guardian!

p2

Recycled art. Vox’s ear’s perk up.

SFX: Skee!

Vox: !!

p3

Recycled art. Vox zips around the table. Lamia is confused, and Arma looks at Lamia with a big question mark.

Vox: I can sense dark creatures— the chimera!

Vox: The enemy must have tracked us to this island and sent their vanguard to hunt us down before we could reunite with the Aeon!

Lamia: Island? Isn’t this Paradise Valley?

Arma: ?

p4

Show a bridge crossing water and reaching an island. The landscape doesn’t resemble anything from the first two chapters.

Vox : Pontem Isle is considered sacred land. I thought bringing you here would buy us some time…

p5

Recycled art. Vox speaks to Arma.

Vox: You have only just regained consciousness, but the chimera are on the move!

Vox: Arma, you must once again take up your sword and become a Guardian!

p6

Recycled art. Arma tries to look brave.

Arma: I don’t know how I did it last time, but…

Vox: It will come naturally to you from now on.

Vox: As a precaution, I won’t be sending you out alone.

p7

Recycled art. Vox points a paw at Lamia and Ora.

Vox: You two will join her.

Lamia: What!?

Ora: Me??

Page 25

p1

Recycled art. Ora is trying to make sense of it all.

Ora: No, wait! Why me!? I’m just a kid!!

Vox: You two were the only ones to witness the chimera when Arma initially transformed.

Vox: This puts you at a slightly higher chance of awakening to your own abilities.

p2

Recycled art. Ora sobs.

Ora: No! Please, no!! *sob* I’m too scared!! What if… what if we all d--

p3

Recycled art. Arma rubs Ora’s head.

Arma: You just leave it to me, kiddo.

Arma: I’ll protect you, no matter what. Okay?

p4

Recycled art. Ora smiles.

Ora: O-Okay.

Page 26

p1

Arma forces a smile and turns to Lamia.

Arma: I’ll uh… I’ll protect you—

Lamia: Don’t even finish that sentence.

p2

Lamia looks annoyed.

Lamia: I can take care of myself.

p3

Arma gives Lamia a sideways glance.

Vox oc: All right, you three. Stay close!

p4

Energy starts blowing around their feet.

Vox oc: We’ll be there…

p5

Recycled art. Whirring around them.

Vox: ...in the blink of an eye!

p6

Recycled art. Show the other three girls and a puff where Vox and crew used to be.

SFX: KRAKKK

p7

Recycled art. The three girls at the table.

Vesta: Bye-bye, Mousey!!

Maris: I think I’m more confused than ever.

Neiva: Indeed.

THE END