Oh hey, I'm actually gonna be able to finish this damn serial before it happens. My Gatekeepers keep delaying their visit. But believe me, I am anxious as hell for this. You can see how bad it's getting in this script. You can't miss it.
Shadow was forced to kill himself to satisfy a Gatekeeper.
To escape the Underworld, he had to strike a deal with the Dark Lord: Kill the Writer.
In the climax of that task, Shadow was unable to deal any finishing blows, and thus he broke the deal.
But the Dark Lord did not punish him..?
Now Shadow has regrouped with Shade and Dark, and they are on their way to New York.
DARK CHAO ADVENTURES
Season Seven: The End?
Episode Seventy-Seven: Epic Quest in A Flat Minor ACT III: Bricks
[the scene begins in a countryside at daytime]
[a rocket flies in and lands]
[out of the rocket comes Shadow]
Shadow: This doesn't look like New York, guys.
Chapter 11: The Count of Tuscany
[cut to miles down the road]
[Red is walking along the side]
[a car pulls up to him and stops]
[a young, eccentric man, bred from royal blood, is sitting in the driver's seat]
[he opens the window, then leans out]
Man: GET INTO MAH CAH.
Red: What? ...no!
Man: C'mon, let's go for a drive! Along the way, I'll be your guide....
Red: I don't wanna!
Man: Just step inside.
[Red acquiesces and sits at the passenger seat]
[the car drives off]
Red: So, um.. who are you? And where are we going?
Man: My identity is not important.. but maybe you'll recall a cannibal curator.
Red: You mean the baddie from "Silence of the Lambs?"
Man: Indeed. He was a character inspired by my brother's life, you see.
[Red looks out the window, worryingly]
[on and on, they drive.. the nearest city far behind]
[down narrow streets and dusty roads]
[at last, they come upon a picturesque estate on sprawling emerald fields]
Man: Ah, my abode. An ancient world of times gone by, no?
Red: Uh.. yeah...
[they pull up and enter the mansion]
[the man leads Red into a living room, complete with armchairs and fireplace]
Man: Pray, have a seat.
[Red sits down, as does the fancy man]
[there is a third armchair, facing the fire; a man's hand can be seen resting on the armrest]
Red: Who's that?
Man: Let me introduce... MAH BROTHA! A bitter gentleman. HISTOREEEIAN!
[the brother stands up and turns to face Red]
Brother: How do you do.
[sucking on his pipe, distinguished accent.. he's making Red uptight.]
Red: I.. um.. where is the lavatory?
[Red is directed to the bathroom, where he steps in and locks the door]
[he washes his face in the sink and speaks to himself]
Red: I wanna stay alive.. everything about this place just doesn't feel right. I don't want to die.
[he looks into the mirror]
Red: Suddenly, I'm frightened for my life. I wanna say goodbye.. this could be the last time anyone sees me alive.
[he unlocks the door and steps out-- and is immediately greeted by the man]
Man: Would you like to see our secret holy place?
Red: Um... s..sure..?
[the man leads him down into a dark room with a shrine]
Man: I come here late at night.. to pray to Him by candlelight.
[Red spots a window, and looks outside-- he sees, with disbelief, still dressed in royal clothes, the Saint behind the altar]
Man: Come. I have more to show you.
[the man leads him on to a wine cellar]
Man: History recalls, during times of war, legend has been traced back inside these castle walls.
Red: What legend is that?
Man: The soldiers came to hide in barrels filled with wine, never to escape.. these tombs of oak are where they died.
[Red spots a number of barrels nearby, and his eyes grow wide]
[down the cellar stairs, the man disappears, but his voice is heard from below]
Man: Like the angel's share.. the end is near. Moohoohaahaa.
[he pokes his head up the stairs, holding a glass of wine]
Man: Come and have a taste of this rare vintage. After all, all the finest wines improve with age.
[cut to outside the estate, Red steps outside into the gardens for a breath of fresh air]
Red: I may not survive. Knew it from the moment we arrived.
[he gazes up at the stars, and contemplates his life]
[Keep going, Red. Don't worry about it.]
Red: ..DJay?
[I'm frightened, too. My Gatekeepers aren't coming fast enough.]
Red: ..what do you mean?
[If I can stay strong when I absolutely feel like just dying, then so can you. Keep going.]
Red: .......
[Red thinks for a while, then goes back inside]
[he enters the living room and sits in an armchair; he notices he is the only one there]
Red: Could this be the end? Is this the way I die? Sitting here alone, no one by my side?
[the man enters the room, then notices Red talking to himself, and hides, listening in]
Red: I don't understand.. I don't feel that I deserve this. What did I do wrong? I just don't understand.
Man: I just don't understand?
[Red sees him]
Red: Give me one more chance, let me please explain.. it's all been circumstance, I'll tell you once again.
Man: Whatever do you mean?
Red: You took me for a ride, promising a vast adventure.. next thing that I know, I'm frightened for my life.
Man: Now, wait a minute, man! That's not how it is! You must be confused; that isn't who I am.
Red: Then who the hell are you?
Man: Please don't be afraid. I would never try to hurt you. This is how we live, strange though how it seems...
[he sighs]
Man: Please try to forgive. The chapel and the saint, the soldiers and the wine, the fables and the chills all handed down through time.
Red: ..I forgive you. I just.. I want to go home.
Man: Of course, you're free to go! Go and tell the world my story.. tell them about my brother, tell them about me...
Red: Who ARE you, though?
Man: The Count of Tuscany!
[KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK]
[the Count and Red go to the front door and open it; Shade, Dark, and Shadow are there in front of a busted rocket ship]
Shadow: Hi, um.. you wouldn't happen to know the quickest way to get to New York, would you? It's kinda my next challenge.
Chapter 12: On the Run/One of These Days
[the Count drops the chao off at the nearest airport]
[they thank him and run like hell-- next flight to New York is in half an hour]
[the four of them hurry to the ticket counter, then realize they have no money]
[Shadow runs back outside, only to find the Count has driven off]
[he goes back in, and shrugs]
[the chao come up with a plan]
[Dark runs around a bit and trips over Shade, who gets mad at him]
[the security guards come to see what's happening]
[Shadow and Red sneak around to a back hallway]
[Red gives the other two a thumbs-up; they get up and run like hell]
[security gives chase]
[the chao run through the airport, riding terminal trains, going up and down escalators, dodging checkpoints]
[they meet up in the snack bar]
[Red leads them into a back door out into the runway]
[they sneak onto a plane, and hide in the cargo holds]
[as they hide behind suitcases and luggage, a security guard enters the holds]
[the guard spots Dark's emotiball]
Guard: One of these days, I'm going to cut you into little pieces.
[Dark hears this and runs to another hiding place]
[the guard spots him and gives chase]
[Dark hops across the luggage, then runs up a ramp into the main plane]
[he is chased through business class, second class, first class, up to the flight deck]
Pilot: GET THE HELL OUT OF THE COCKPIT!
Dark: Heheh.. you said--
[the guard grabs him; he wriggles free and runs]
[he is chased back down to the cargo holds, where this time, he hides in a suitcase]
[the guard cannot find him, and assumes he has left the plane; he leaves, as well]
[the plane takes off, and the chao are now safe]
Chapter 13: In the Flesh?
[cut to a hotel in New York City]
[Shade, Dark, Red, and Shadow enter the lobby and spot a white Dark chao sitting perfectly still]
Red: ..hey, Shade. Isn't that.. Shade 2?
Shade: John. Yeah, they said he was here in New York, didn't they? Hey! John! Bro!
[they run up to John; he remains sitting, staring into the beyond]
Shade: ..bro?
John: So ya, thought ya might like to.. go to the show. To feel the warm thrill of confusion, that space-cadet glow...
Shade: Bro, what.. what's wrong?
John: Tell me, is something eluding you, sunshine? Is this not what you expected to see?
Shade: No.. John, what's the problem? Are you okay?
John: If you wanna find out what's behind these ol' eyes, you'll just have to claw your way through this disguise.
?: He's long gone.
[the receptionist is talking to the chao]
Rec: It's your next challenge, Green One. Save John.
Shadow: *gasp* Another Gatekeeper...
Shade: We have to figure out what's wrong with my brother?
John: If you should go skating.. on the thin ice of modern life.. dragging behind you, the silent reproach of a million tear-stained eyes... don't be surprised when a crack in the ice appears beneath your feet.
Shadow: Alright, c'mon, John. What's troubling you? Tell me about it.
John: Daddy's gone 'cross the ocean.. leaving just a memory. He didn't love me, anyway...
Shade: Oh.. right.. dad never loved him.
John: Daddy, what'd you leave behind for me? All in all, it was just a brick in the wall. All just bricks in the wall.
Shade: C'mon, bro.. what about our childhood? The happiest days of our lives?
John: When I grew up and went to school, there were certain teachers who would hurt the children in any way they could...
Shade: Oh, my. I.. I guess school was different back then.
John: We don't need no education, no thought control.. no dark sarcasm in the classrooms...
Red: Damn, he's lost in his world.
John: HEY. Teacher! Leave them kids alone!
[the chao stare at each other]
John: All in all, it's just another brick in the wall.. you're just another brick in the wall.
You're all just bricks in the wall.
All just bricks in the wall.
Just bricks.
[reality seems to shift away into puddles of green]
Shadow: Green.
[a green wall appears before Shadow]
Shadow: A wall. A wall?
[A wall.]
Shadow: behind him lies a courtroom
[A court? Huh? This is all a bit strange.]
Shadow: reality fades in again
Red: Shadow? Shadow, you okay?
Shadow: What? Huh? ..oh. Yeah, sure.
John: I don't need no arms around me. No drugs to calm me. I've read the writing on the wall.
Shadow: "..the writing on the wall." What wall is he talking about?
Dark: Pink Floyd. It's a.. it's a prog thing.
Red: I didn't know Dark liked art rock.
Shade: Pfft, he's crazy about it. Remember, he used to sing Genesis like crazy?
I am aware now. Of what's going on.
[reality shifts.. into view]
Shadow: wat.
[Don't talk like that, Shadow. You know how insecure we.. rather, I am.]
Shadow: DJay again? Self-insert serial, or what?
[It's relevant to the overall plot.. I've dropped hints about this throughout the show, but it'll all make sense soon.]
Shadow: But.. Deej, could you speak English? Just once?
[Insert sigh here. I'll insert another chapter, then I'll give you a call.]
Chapter 14: In the Flesh/Run Like Hell/Waiting for the Worms/Stop/The Trial/Outside the Wall
[Shadow is in an apartment]
[the phone rings; he answers it]
[Hello, Gatekeepers speaking, is Shadow there?]
Shadow: Um.. hello.
[I'm going to talk to you in private at the end of this season, Shadow. Then, we can talk about business.]
[Just you and I.]
Shadow: I've been waiting for this for so long. Thank you.
[We're getting you out of there, Ulysses.]
Shadow: ....please, DJay. It's justttttttttttttttttttssssniaastop.
[I can't.]
Shadow: Let me.
[No.]
Shadow: Tear down the wall.
[I CAN'T. Not yet. I am unable to.]
Shads=nononohangonhangon. Just please hang on. Little bit longer.
A little. Bit. Longer.
I'm being stubborn.
No, I'm not. ..okay, so I am.
But Ten Speed, if I must, then I must.
..I sigh, then I resume typing. Tears will have to wait, yet again. They've waited months; they can wait another week.
"Not until we're out. Out in the flesh."
[Just hang on until Monday. I'm having to. Please cut me some slack.]
Shadow: ..Monday. Got it. What day is it now?
[It's 3 AM on a Friday morning.]
Shadow: Alright, DJay. I'll wait until Monday.
[Thank you. Would you like to return to the hotel?]
Shadow: *sigh* Not really. Most of these challenges have been even remotely exciting, but this one's.. a big meh.
[Oh, keep going with it. I think the others have gotten the boring parts out of the way now.]
Red: Sh..Shadow?
Shadow: Guys, what day is it?
Red: Friday?
Shadow: ..well, I'll be damned. Okay. How's John doing?
John: Would you like to see Britannia rule again?
Shadow: ..I see. Well. *pulls up chair* Hello, John. What seems to be the problem?
John: Would you like to send our coloured cousins home again?
Shadow: Hm. John, are you REALLY saying all this? Or are you just not feeling yourself?
John: ...I wanna go home.. take off this uniform and leave the show. But I'm waiting in this cell because I have to know...
Shadow: And what's that?
[John leans forward and stares Shadow in the eyes]
John: ..have I been guilty all this time?
[John then grabs Shadow]
[reality revolves to reveal John's perspective]
John (voice-over, echo): As you are, I was..... as I am, you will be. View the world.. through walled eyes.
[on Shadow's left.. a giant, expansive, neverending wall]
[on Shadow's right.. a giant, expansive, neverending wall]
[in front of Shadow.. a giant, expansive, neverending wall]
[behind Shadow.. a giant, expansive, neverending wall]
[John is in court, in the defendant's chair]
[a mass of morbidly macabre maintenance mice stand before him]
Mass: Good morning, Worm, Your Honor.. the mass will plainly show the prisoner, who now stands before you, was caught--
Mouse: RED-HANDED--
Mass: --showing FEELINGS--
Mouse: FEELINGS--
Mass: Of an almost HUMAN nature!
Mouse: This will not do.
[a giant Worm abomination is sitting at the Judge's chair]
Worm: What does THE defendant.. have to SAY ABOUT himself?
John: Crazy.. toys in the attic, I'm crazy.
Shadow: John...
John: They must have taken my marbles away.
Worm: Very WELL, then! Prosecution, YOU may call your first.... WITNESS!
Mass: CALL THE SCHOOLMASTER.
[a hissing python slithers into the court, its many heads and necks looking in all directions-- except for at John]
[Shadow gets a glimpse of the eyes of one of the python's heads-- they are not eyes. They are bullet holes.]
Snake: I alwaysssaid he'd come to no good, Your Honour. Let me whip him into sshape. Let me.. HAMMER him today.
[suddenly, a swarm of giant beetles barge into the courtroom, chattering loudly and feeling everywhere-- they are all blind]
Beetle: HAY HAY HAY where's that old sunuvagun now I WANT MY SUNUVAGUN JOHN LEMME HAMMER HIM A BIT
Beetle2: I TELL YA YOUR HONOR, there ain't no guy out there half as bad or crazy as this here motherhugger
Beetle3: Just five minutes, Worm, Your Honor!
All: HIM. US. ALONE.
Bird: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
[a giant bird stomps into the courtroom, pecking at all the beetles, giving off pure carnage]
Bird: YOUR HONOR, LET ME TAKE MY LITTLE JOHN HOME!
[the Worm bangs its gavel.. somehow]
Worm: DEFENDANT. How do you PLEAD?
John: Crazy.. over the rainbow, I am crazy. Bars in the window.
Shadow: John, c'mon! You're innocent! This is all in your head!
[suddenly, every single member of the court turns their head(s) to stare at Shadow; all goes quiet]
[John slowly and cryptically speaks to him]
John: There must have been a door there in the wall for when I came in.
[John stares at Shadow]
[Shadow stares at John]
[John stares at Shadow]
[Shadow stares at John]
[John stares at Shadow]
[Shadow stares at John]
[John stares at Shadow]
[Shadow stares at John]
Worm: The evidence before the COURT is inconTROvertable. There's NOO NEED FOR the jury to retire.
Mass: Pray, do tell!
Worm: In all my years of JUDGING I have never heard before of someONE MORE deserving of the full PENALTY.. of law.
Shadow: WHAT?! How?!
Worm: The WAY YOU MADE THEM SUFFER. Your.. exquisite.... father.. and brother. Fills me. With the urge. To. ..wrrrrETCH.
[...>.<]
Worm: SINCE. My friend. You have revealed.. your deepest fears.. I sentence you to be EXPOSED BEFORE your PEERS!
[he bangs the gavel]
Worm: tear down THE wall
Mass: TEAR down the wall
Beetles: tear DOWN the wall
Jury: tear down the WALL
Worm: tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall TEAR DOWN THE WALL
All: tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall
tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear tear tear the wall
Shadow: No but this isn't fair WAIT
John: tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall tear down the wall
AAAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhhhhAHHAHHHAHHHHHhhhh
Shadow: John John John c'mon let's get out of here
John: i am paralyzed so afraid to die
Shadow: ..John?
[John runs]
[John tries to hide]
[but John is overwhelmed by this complex delirium]
[Shadow runs up to John and hugs him]
[bricks fall everywhere as the mob of angry creatures tears apart the foundations of the wall]
[Shadow and John stay in the corner while the bricks fall and fall and fall]
[ultimately, the bricks all fall, revealing a hotel lobby]
[THE hotel lobby]
[Shadow and John both fall backwards onto the floor, eyes wide]
Receptionist: Some stagger and fall. After all.. it ain't easy.. bangin' your head against some mad bugger's wall.
[the receptionist disappears]
[John simply stares at Shadow, then sees Shade and faints]
Chapter 15: After the Ordeal
[Shade, Dark, Red, and Shadow leave the hotel, carrying John with them]
[In John's mind, his corpse is being taken in a hearse out of a street filled with dead bodies.]
[Far in the distance, you think you can see what looks like the remnants of an old wall. But you're not sure.]
END ACT III
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