Friday, August 27, 2010

Hidden World (Part 3)

The below is printed here for posterity and as evidence of my ownership of this proposed work of comics fiction.  As this is a reproduction of a script written in MS Word, the formatting will look extremely odd when presented here.  That is okay, because the purpose of the script being placed here is solely to demonstrate that it is my intellectual property.  If I wanted people to read read the script right off of this place, I would've definitely cleaned up the formatting!:

Hidden World #1 “Divine Intervention”  Page One  Panel 1.  PIZARRO flies across a sunny metropolitan city with the effortless, dizzying speed that you would expect of somebody who is not bogged down by the laws of physics.  His eyes are amber gold, and he has waist-length black hair that is so thick that it almost functions like a cape.  He wears a pristine white trench coat with golden trim that would be heavy and cumbersome if worn by a normal person.  Matching gloves and boots complete the look.  A faint aura surrounds him most of the time to demonstrate his supernatural origin, but the aura is more intense as he flies.  Pizarro is a quintessential good guy, exuding positivity and confidence in his youthful expression at all times.  Nonetheless, Pizarro is somewhat scatter-brained from having spent eons as an invisible omnipresent extra-dimensional being with divine powers.  You can’t really fault him for that.  1 PIZARRO: Don’t fall in love don’t fall in love don’t fall in love!  2 PIZARRO (small text): At least not before I get there.  Panel 2.  Pizarro has paused in mid-air, his hands over his head in exasperation.  He bites down on his lip as he examines the city of Grand Hill below him.  Two separate shopping malls are on opposite sides of the street.  Signs denote that one mall is the “Grand Hill Mall” and the other is the “Green Plaza Mall.”  3 PIZARRO: Two different malls?  You gotta be kidding me.  4 PIZARRO: Which one is it?  Panel 3.  An exact DUPLICATE OF PIZARRO hovering above the Grand Hill Mall waves his hand at the first Pizarro.  5 DUPLICATE OF PIZARRO: Over here, me!  6 PIZARRO: Ah, good work, me!  Panel 4.  Pizarro descends on the Grand Hill Mall.  No dialogue.   Page Two  Splash page.  Pizarro looks on at TITANIA and her friend KIM, who stand patiently on an escalator within the crowded Grand Hill Mall.  They are half-way up to the second level.  Titania, age 15, looks like a Precious Moments doll, big-eyed and beautiful with a bashful demeanor.  Her hair is wavy black and breast-length and her eyes are a sapphire blue.  She wears a dress that is cute but won’t attract gawkers.  In general, Kim, age 14, has a more “modern” appearance than Titania, but Kim is not as pretty.  Titania is definitely the center of attention here.  They both carry purses that match their outfits.  Pizarro, not visible or audible to anyone around him, watches Titania with intense, gleeful interest.  If any overhanging store names are visible, they have silly names.  Take your pick:  “Ukrainian Eagle” “Toys Ahoy” “Game Planet” “Pete’s Ice Cream & Chili Dogs” “Beefcake Fitness Center”  1 PIZARRO: This will be my finest work since Anthony and Cleopatra!  2 PIZARRO (small text): Wait, was that me?  Or was that just Shakespeare?  Both of us?  3 PIZARRO: Doesn’t matter!  This romance will make Anthony and Cleopatra look like a filthy back alley hookup.   Page Three  Panel 1.  Titania and Kim are at the top of the escalator.  Pizarro, in the background, has gotten closer to continue his obsessive observation of Titania.  His fingers are together in an anticipative, slightly maniacal manner.  1 TITANIA: The girls said we should wait for them here, right?  2 KIM: Yeah.  Let’s give ‘em a few minutes, I guess.  3 PIZARRO: Yes, lovely, just stay put and your prince will be along any minute.  Panel 2.  Kim and Titania lean their backs against the railing.  Kim has her arms crossed and Titania appears poised and angelic beside her.  If one of them were to somehow fall over the railing, they would take a pretty bad fall to the level below.  Pizarro stands directly in front of Titania, his face so close to her own that they are almost head butting.  Of course, Pizarro is still invisible to everyone.  3 KIM: I hate waiting.  4 TITANIA: I don’t mind.  5 PIZARRO: You are just pretty as a pickle.  Radiant as a light bulb!  Panel 3.  Pizarro is standing in profile, perpendicular to Titania.  He is daydreaming, not paying attention to anything anymore.  Kim and Titania haven’t moved.  6 KIM: I’m hungry.  7 PIZARRO: Hoo boy.  I may be in the business of making hopes and wishes come true, but I really earned my parrot badge this time.  Panel 4.  Kim starts walking away, no longer able to see Titania.  Meanwhile, Pizarro swings his arms up in the air joyously, accidentally smacking Titania in the face (sound effect) hard enough to send her over the top of the railing.  Bet you didn’t see that coming.  8 KIM: I’m gonna grab a chili dog.  9 PIZARRO: Any minute now!   Page Three (cont.)  SFX: FWAP  Panel 5.  Vertical panel, the height of the page, going down the right-hand side of the page.  Titania plunges toward the floor below her, screaming (sound effect) the whole way down.  From the top of the railing, Pizarro looks down.  His expression is an amalgamation of confusion and morbid terror.  His hands are over his head again.  SFX: AAAHHHH!!!!!!   Page Four  Panel 1.  New scene, but still inside the Grand Hill Mall.  DANTE and ART are looking through the window of the “Petsplosion” pet store at the kittens playing in their plastic cages.  Our hero Dante, age 15, is tall and slender.  He has messy, shoulder-length black hair and wears rectangle-frame glasses.  Dante has no fashion sense, but for inexplicable reasons, he refuses to ever wear hoodies.  He is comfortable in a t-shirt and jeans.  In general, Dante has the appearance of a “likeable nerd” that would endear the reader.  He and Art are misfits, but they’re the type of misfit you would want to get to know.  Art, also age 15, is not tall by any means, a fact which is exasperated when he stands next to Dante, but Art is broad-shouldered and handsome.  He has short brown hair and studded earrings.  They both have brown eyes.  Dante and Art are best friends, always looking out for each other.  Dante has his hands and face pressed on the glass, full of glee to have the attention of the kittens.  Art, shoulders sloped, head down, is depressed.  The best way to angle this panel is from just inside the glass, so that we can see the characters’ expressions and the adorable little kitties all at once.  1 NARRATION BOX: Elsewhere in the mall…  2 ART: Dante, we are the most pathetic 15-year old males in the western hemisphere.  3 DANTE: Says who?  Panel 2.  Art is still a little gloomy, and Dante has taken his face off the glass.  Dante is comfortable with their low-man-on-the-totem-pole social status.  4 ART: Says everybody who isn’t a cat.  5 DANTE: But cats are adorable, Art.  6 ART: Cats don’t throw parties on Friday night and not invite us.  7 DANTE: They would if they could.  Panel 3.  Art and Dante share a self-deprecating smile.  No dialogue.  Panel 4.  Dante bites down on his lower lip.  Art cringes at what Dante is proposing.      8 DANTE: I can’t hold it anymore.  I gotta use the bathroom.  9 ART: The Grand Hill Mall bathroom?   Page Five  Panel 1.  Fast forwarding a bit, Dante and Art stand before the entrances to the bathrooms in a dark, secluded hallway.  The “MEN” sign on the men’s door has been eroded with time and only says “ME.”  The “WOMEN” sign on the women’s door has been similarly eroded, with the first line in the “W” missing so that it reads “NOMEN.”  Grime seems to permeate the hallway and the fluorescent lighting helps nothing.  A freakish strain of mushrooms might be growing on the floor along the wall.  Graffiti on the men’s door reads “SHIT SHRINE” with somebody strategically covering up part of the word “SHIT” in panels at all times.  1 ART: This bathroom?  2 DANTE (small text): Weren’t we just looking at cats?  How did we get here?  Panel 2.  Art tugs at Dante’s sleeve, not wanting Dante to die a terrible, stinky death.  Dante points at his crotch despairingly.  3 ART: This bathroom hasn’t been cleaned since Roosevelt took office.  The first Roosevelt!  4 DANTE: I don’t have a choice.  My bladder feels like the Hoover Dam.  Panel 3.  Dante puts his hand on the door while Art backs away nervously toward the wall.  6 ART: This is serious.  You might catch a disease.   7 DANTE: I’ll be fine.  We all have to become men eventually.  8 ART: Just be safe, Dante.  Panel 4.  Dante gives Art a perplexed look.  Art is looking overly concerned for reasons we’ll get to later.  9 DANTE: Art, it’s just a bathroom.  Panel 5.  Dante pushes open the door ever so slightly.  10 DANTE (small text): I hope.   Page Six  Panel 1.  Dante slides through the small opening he has made in the doorway.  His eyes are closed as he enters, imagining the myriad stinky terrors that might await within.  The walls are pristine white, though.  Nothing seems to be dirty yet.  No dialogue.  Panel 2.  This is an immaculate bathroom, a sparkling piece of cleanliness and tranquility.  There is not an ounce of grime or dust to be found anywhere.  The stalls are airy and inviting, and the urinals are a testament to fine living.  The row of sinks shimmers and a long mirror hangs above.  It is as if this bathroom has never been used.  Dante stands dumbfounded.  1 DANTE: Ooooookay.  Panel 3.  Dante occupies a urinal.  He looks around as he takes a well-earned whiz.  2 DANTE: Must be the mall’s idea of a big joke.  3 DANTE: I bet the employees keep up the charade so they can have it all to themselves.  Panel 4.  PIZARRO sticks his head out of one of the stalls.  Dante is facing forward and does not see him, but we can see that Dante is visibly startled.  4 PIZARRO: That’s a good guess, actually!  But no.  5 PIZARRO: And how did you know I was here?  6 PIZARRO (small text): Or are you just one of those weirdos who talks to themselves?   Page Seven  Panel 1.  Dante swings around, his hands zipping up his pants (sound effect).  He is utterly vulnerable to the whims of the psycho who has him cornered in the bathroom.  Pizarro is much closer than before, almost within arm’s reach.  Dante sees Pizarro’s hair and clothes and cannot comprehend who or what this guy is supposed to be.  1 DANTE: What the fuuuuuu--  SFX: ZIP  Panel 2.  Pizarro puts his hand over Dante’s mouth.  Dante continues to be terrified.  2 PIZARRO: Let’s save that sort of language for prison movies, ‘kay?  Panel 3.  Pizarro runs his free hand through the thick furry mass that he calls his hair.  The other hand remains over Dante’s mouth.  Dante’s hands are pressed against the wall.  3 PIZARRO: The truth is, this bathroom isn’t real.  It’s a good thing, too!  Because the real bathroom is a death trap.  I practically saved your life!  4 PIZARRO: And I really really hope that you keep that in mind once you understand why I’m here.  Panel 4.  Pizarro gives Dante a very big, very toothy, very desperate smile.  It is intended to alleviate Dante’s fears.  It achieves the exact opposite effect.  5 PIZARRO: Can we be friends?  Panel 5.  Pizarro takes his hand off of Dante’s mouth and droops his shoulders in dismay.  Dante wipes his lip with the back of his hand instinctively; Dante has an impulsive quirk that drives him to wipe himself any time he is touched on the skin.  6 PIZARRO: Okay, I can see this is going to be a long day.   Page Eight  Panel 1.  We’re back to ART now, standing patiently against the wall in the hallway, unable to hear anything going on in the bathroom.  There is a lot on Art’s mind, and the anxiety is getting to him.  In just a couple seconds, we are going to justify Art’s anxiety.  In this panel, Art is just a solitary figure in a dark place.  No dialogue.  Panel 2.  Pull in closer to Art.  He is looking at something out of the corner of his eye.  No dialogue.  Panel 3.  Extreme close-up as Art goes wide-eyed with terror.  For a light-hearted comic, these characters sure do get filled with wide-eyed terror a lot.  No dialogue.  Panel 4.  HAT MAN looms ominously at a distance in the hallway, watching Art.  “Hat Man” is a phenomenon that can be researched on the Internet, but I’ll just save you the time and tell you what you need to know.  Hat Man is a three-dimensional solid black entity that wears a trench coat and fedora hat, Dick Tracy style.  Bits of jagged blackness hover or smear around the outline of his body to suggest his ethereal nature.  His eyes are intense, malevolent white.  By his very nature, he is an embodiment of fear and desolation, and he is stalking Art.  1 ART (shout): No!   Page Nine  Panel 1.  Art falls to the ground, his face buried in his knees and his arms above his head.  Whether or not any part of his expression is visible, Art is already crying.  1 ART: You’re all in my head!  Panel 2.  Hat Man is much closer to Art now, but his posture has not changed whatsoever.  Without indicating whether or not Hat Man moves or talks, we can leave the reader guessing whether Hat Man is real or a product of Art’s crazy mind.  2 ART: Just, just get out!  I’m not a psycho.  Panel 3.  Art lifts his head.  The tears are fresh and streaming.  He and Hat Man stare each other down.  3 ART: You’re not real.  Panel 4.  Hat Man is gone.  Everything else remains the same.  No dialogue.  Panel 5.  Art stares at the ceiling with his head resting back against the wall, and his legs have straightened out.  He has reached a tenuous calm.  4 ART: Yep.  Not real at all.  You’ll never get to me.  5 ART (small text): And you can’t have him either.   Page Ten  Panel 1.  Back to DANTE and PIZARRO in the bathroom.  Dante, who considers Pizarro to be more goofy than scary now, has eased up.  Pizarro spreads his arms at his sides like he is Jesus on the cross.  1 DANTE: So, what are you?  If you have the power to zap a room full of working toilets into existence?  2 PIZARRO: Ooo, good question.  Well, some people might consider me an angel.  Panel 2.  Pizarro pounds his fist in a downward motion into his other hand.  3 PIZARRO: Those people would be wrong!  Angels don’t exist, not in the conventional sense anyway.  Panel 3.  A mysterious sparkle fills Pizarro’s eye.  4 PIZARRO: I’m what you would call a celestial.  Panel 4.  Dante is intrigued now, but not wholly convinced that Pizarro isn’t just a lunatic.  Pizarro is excited that Dante is starting to believe him.  5 DANTE: Celestial, like a heavenly body?  6 PIZARRO: Don’t read too much into it.  We just think it’s a cool-sounding word.  7 PIZARRO: The truth is, celestial is a blanket term used to describe every supernatural or paranormal phenomenon you can imagine.  Panel 5.  Dante gets a little closer to Pizarro, further indicating his growing belief.  Pizarro’s fingers are together in the same mischievous manner as they were on Page 3 Panel 1.  8 DANTE: Really?...  9 DANTE: Like what?  10 PIZARRO: Well, if you really want to know what a day in my life is like--   Page Eleven  Full-page shot.  Pizarro and Dante are hovering amidst the vastness of the cosmos.  Stars, planets, asteroids, comets—the whole shebang.  Pizarro breathes it all in (okay, not literally) with his hands in front of him, as if he has returned home.  Dante is reacting exactly how anybody would react to be staring at the vastness of the cosmos.  1 PIZARRO: --It’s like this.  2 DANTE (shout): Where are we and what happened to the floor!?  3 PIZARRO: Celestials don’t have bodies, per se.  Normally, I exist everywhere at once!  4 DANTE (shout): That answers nothing!  5 PIZARRO: Don’t you see?  The whole cosmos is my playground!  I’m omnipresent, baby!  I can exist in all places in all time periods simultaneously.  Like Santa!  6 PIZARRO: In fact, I normally have very little personality.  It is only when a celestial personifies into a physical form that he develops full personality.   Page Twelve  Panel 1.  The cosmos has gone away and we’re back inside the bathroom.  Dante is looking pretty rough around the edges and leans over a sink, staring into the mirror.  Pizarro has a look of longing on his face.  He misses the ability to be omnipresent, which he does not possess in the literal sense when he takes a physical form.  1 DANTE: Fine, I believe everything.  2 DANTE: But why are you here?  When you could be literally everywhere else right now?  3 PIZARRO: Everywhere is not an option anymore.  At least, not for the next seventy-five years or so.  Panel 2.  Pizarro stares at himself in the mirror as he steps beside Dante.  Pizarro’s expression is a little more serious as he builds toward the revelation of why he has come.  Dante turns the faucet and water gushes out (sound effect).  SFX: FSS  4 PIZARRO: I beat around the bush a lot.  That’s my style.  I guess.  Maybe?  Well anyway, it’s time I tell you the truth.  5 PIZARRO: I am a celestial created by the wishes and desires of all living things everywhere.  As far as celestials go, I’m one of the most powerful.  6 DANTE: Created by wishes?  You mean, you’re a literal manifestation of conscious and unconscious thought?  Panel 3.  Pizarro holds up his forefinger, pleased with Dante’s intellect.  Dante splashes water on his face.  7 PIZARRO: Yes, precisely!  It’s a big job.  And sometimes, lots of people wish for the same thing.  Such as… true love.  8 DANTE: Sure…  9 DANTE (small text): I bet that’s a popular one.  Page Twelve (cont.)  10 PIZARRO: Yes!  But this world has become jaded against love!  So much divorce, so much abuse.  As such, I devised a plan to bring back true love.  Panel 4.  Pizarro looks at Dante out of the side of his eye.  His other eye is closed.  Dante freezes up from what he hears, water dripping off his blank face.  10 PIZARRO: Dante, you were supposed to meet the love of your life today.  11 DANTE: What?  12 PIZARRO: Yep!  It would’ve been a fairy tale romance, so beautiful, so enduring that movies would have been made about it!  Your story would’ve been legend.  Panel 5.  Dante and Pizarro stare straight at each other.  13 DANTE: Would’ve been?  14 PIZARRO: I sent her plunging to her doom.   Page Thirteen  Panel 1.  Back to the hallway, no more bathroom.  DANTE flings the bathroom door open (sound effect) as he storms out alone into the dark hallway.  ART is taken aback by the careless strength of the push.  SFX: FWOOSH  1 DANTE: This is a weird mall, Art.  2 ART: Dante!  You were in there forever.  Panel 2.  Dante walks at a brisk pace down the hallway, his hands in his pockets and his head down.  Art stumbles after him.  3 DANTE: Let’s go to the Green Plaza Mall from now on.  4 ART: What happened in there, Dante?  Did you…  5 ART: See someone?  Panel 3.  Dante stops and turns to face Art.  They both share a sense of dread and suspicion.  6 DANTE: Like who?  7 ART: You tell me.  Panel 4.  PIZARRO pops up beside Dante in a panic, startling Dante in the process.  Art cannot see Pizarro.  People are going to start “popping up” a lot for the rest of this script, so it’s a good idea to include some action lines or a special aura to indicate that the character has materialized in a given spot.  Otherwise, things will start to look awkward and disjointed very fast.  8 PIZARRO: Please stop running!  There are rules I need to follow!  9 DANTE: Ack!  Get away from me, murderer!  10 ART (small text): Uh, what?    Page Thirteen (cont.)  Panel 5.  Dante takes off at top speed back in the direction of the main area of the mall.  Pizarro scratches his head, standing in place.  11 DANTE: Run, Art!  Just run!  12 PIZARRO: What for?  He can’t see me.  Panel 6.  A DUPLICATE OF PIZARRO blocks Dante’s path, and Dante runs right into him.  The first Pizarro is behind Dante, a little further away.  13 DANTE: Oof!  14 DUPLICATE OF PIZARRO: Me neither.   Page Fourteen  Panel 1.  Dante punches the duplicate of Pizarro in the face (sound effect).  SFX: BFF  1 DANTE: No omnipresence, huh?  Get away from me!  Panel 2.  Pizarro stands with arms akimbo next to his rattled duplicate, who is rubbing his swollen face.  Dante escapes into the distance.  2 PIZARRO: Well, now he’s done it.  3 DUPLICATE OF PIZARRO: We awe scwewed.  4 PIZARRO: At this rate, he’ll be killed next!  And I don’t want to think about what will happen to me.  Panel 3.  CUTIE pops up, sinking her long scythe into the duplicate’s spine and coming out through the heart.  The duplicate’s eyes roll back in his head and his tongue sticks out in a comical fashion.  There isn’t too much blood, since Pizarro can’t really die anyway.  Cutie is another celestial, gorgeous and curvaceous.  Her skin is violet and her hair is silver.  She wears form-fitting armor that matches her hair.  Cutie’s singular purpose is to kill, so “bloodlust” would be her defining characteristic.  She always displays an eerie closed-mouth smile, regardless of circumstance.  5 CUTIE: Maybe it’s time to start thinking about it.  Panel 4.  Having seen or heard absolutely nothing, Art stares at the empty hallway and raises an eyebrow.  6 ART (small text): Uh, what?   Page Fifteen  Panel 1.  Back to the open mall.  DANTE is still running, and several shoppers have stopped just to stare at him.  1 DANTE (small text): All I wanted to do was look at the cats!  Panel 2.  CUTIE stops Dante right in his tracks, scythe in her hand behind her back.  It isn’t difficult for Dante to decipher she is a celestial.  2 CUTIE: Oh, honey, if only it were that simple!  3 DANTE: Aw geez, not again!  Panel 3.  PIZARRO pops up between Dante and Cutie with his arms spread out at his sides.  He faces Cutie with feigned stoicism.  Dante hides behind Pizarro instinctively, since he isn’t the one with the scythe.  4 PIZARRO: If you want him, you have to go through me.  5 CUTIE: You and what army?  Panel 4.  Pizarro does not move his head, but he looks straight up.  6 PIZARRO: Well--   Page Sixteen  Panel 1.  An army of Pizarros packed to the teeth with weaponry falls out of the air toward Cutie.  Most Pizarros wear futuristic armor and wield gigantic guns or laser swords.  One Pizarro is dressed like a wizard.  Another Pizarro is dressed like a cowboy.  One Pizarro is holding a rocket launcher with the circular yellow/black “nuclear symbol” on it.  One Pizarro is dressed like Super Mario.  Throw in any other ridiculous costume that makes sense to you.  Cutie looks up, her scythe readied in both hands.  Regular Pizarro points up with glee.  Dante watches on in awe.  The shoppers notice nothing, except that maybe Dante has stopped running.  This panel should take up roughly two-thirds of the page.  1 PIZARRO: --Me!  Panel 2.  In the background, the army of Pizarros has already jumped on top of Cutie, kind of like the Neo/Agent Smith fight in The Matrix Reloaded.  Regular Pizarro takes Dante off to the side to avoid the action.  2 PIZARRO: Friend, we need to talk, now.  It’s the only way to save your life.  3 DANTE: But who is that woman?  Who are you?  Panel 3.  Pizarro puts a hand on his face in an “oops!  Silly me!” manner.  Dante is beginning to trust Pizarro again.  4 PIZARRO: Oh, I didn’t tell you my name?  That’s no way to build a friendship!  5 PIZARRO: My name is Pizarro.   Page Seventeen  Panel 1.  A few Pizarros, including the cowboy, are ripped in half (sound effect) by Cutie’s scythe.  Once again, there isn’t much (if any) blood, since Pizarro can’t die.  In the foreground, regular Pizarro points to the carnage while still staring at Dante.  Dante is listening seriously now.  SFX: KA-SEEW  1 PIZARRO: And that lady is Cutie the Executioner--as in Judge, Jury, and Executioner.  Celestials have judged you an imminent threat to our well-being.  2 DANTE: Great!  I always wanted to be assassinated by the first hottie who ever noticed me.  3 PIZARRO: Hey, chin up!  You’re only considered a threat because you won’t talk to me.  Panel 2.  Dante shrugs his shoulders, hands extended in front of him in exasperation.  Pizarro puts his hands together in a pleading gesture.  4 DANTE: Are you serious?  You really want us to talk now?  5 PIZARRO: If you do, Cutie will leave and never come back!  Panel 3.  Dante watches with despair as Cutie punches through a Pizarro soldier’s chest (sound effect).  SFX: BOOF  Panel 4.  Dante looks back at Pizarro.  6 DANTE (small text): Okay.  Panel 5.  Pizarro takes Dante by the shoulders.  7 PIZARRO: Wonderful!  Now let’s take this to a place less insistent upon using my corpse as décor.   Page Eighteen  Panel 1.  New scene.  A beach on a desert island.  PIZARRO rests comfortably in the sand, suddenly wearing shades and pink swim trunks for no apparent reason.  DANTE takes in the new sights with growing acceptance of his situation.  1 PIZARRO: That’s better.  2 DANTE: I have to admit, I could get used to teleportation.  Panel 2.  Pizarro gives Dante a thumbs-up.  3 PIZARRO: Good!  I’ll take you wherever you want to go from now on.  Panel 3.  Dante kneels down to be next to Pizarro.  4 DANTE: What do you mean by that?  5 PIZARRO: This is what I’ve been trying to tell you.  What I did to your dream girl was a total accident!  6 PIZARRO: And the rulebook states specifically that I owe you now.  Panel 4.  Dante gets up in Pizarro’s face, and Pizarro awkwardly lifts his shades to meet Dante’s gaze.  7 DANTE: Say what?  8 PIZARRO: Yep.  She was supposed to make you happy for the rest of your life.  Now she can’t!  It is my duty to compensate you appropriately.  Panel 5.  Dante puts a hand to his chin and his eyes narrow in suspicion.  Pizarro sits up and throws his hands into the air.  9 DANTE: This sounds like a scam.  If you can teleport like this, why didn’t you save my dream girl before she hit the ground?  10 PIZARRO: The rulebook forbids intentional physical contact, even if it is to undo a mistake!  This is because a mistake might undo itself without celestial intervention.   Page Nineteen  Panel 1.  Pizarro stands up.  Dante is still kneeling.  1 PIZARRO: But that sure wasn’t the case here!  Nope, that girl sunk like a scone.  2 DANTE: Like a scone?  3 PIZARRO: Isn’t that the phrase?  It’s hard to know the nuances of a language when you have to remember an infinite number of them.  Panel 2.  Pizarro materializes the open rulebook over his head.  It is an utterly massive tome that nearly crushes Pizarro under its weight.  Dante recoils at the sight of it.  4 PIZARRO: But go ahead and read the rulebook if you want.  This is the first volume.  Might take a couple eons to get through it all.  5 DANTE: No thanks!  Panel 3.  Dante is settling into the idea that Pizarro might be a good person to have around.  He stands comfortably beside Pizarro, who wipes sweat off of his face since the rulebook has abruptly disappeared.  6 DANTE: So, for the rest of my life, I have 24/7 access to you and your powers?  7 PIZARRO: You got it, pal.  And teleportation is just the tip of the iceberg.  Panel 4.  Pizarro is counting on his fingers, holding up one hand and touching one of the fingers with his other hand.  8 PIZARRO: My power is almost literally infinite.  I could make you king of your own universe if you want.  9 PIZARRO: And I can bestow specific powers upon you for personal temporary use.  I can’t make you omnipotent, but I could let you breathe fire!  10 PIZARRO: And I can read minds.  And I even know the secrets of the universe!  All the juicy stuff.   Page Nineteen (cont.)  Panel 5.  Dante goes wide-eyed, but for a pleasant reason this time.  Pizarro bites down on his lip and stares in the other direction.  In the foreground, the blade of Cutie’s scythe is visible.  It is lodged in the sand.  11 DANTE: Really?  What’s the meaning of life?  12 PIZARRO: Ooo, sorry.  There’s a rule against telling you that.  13 DANTE (small text): Stupid rulebook.   Page Twenty  Panel 1.  CUTIE approaches Dante and Pizarro without her weapon.  Dante is immediately afraid, whereas Pizarro is aware that the danger has already passed.  1 CUTIE: Seems like you made a friend, Pizarro.  2 PIZARRO: Eeeyep.  3 CUTIE: Just remember to tell him the important part.  Panel 2.  Pizarro smacks himself on the back of the head for forgetting another important detail.  Dante has not eased up yet.  4 PIZARRO: Oh, right!  Dante, you must never tell anyone about the celestials, no matter how crazy you look talking to me!  5 DANTE: Is that all?  That’s why I was an imminent threat?  Panel 3.  Cutie puts a tender hand on Dante’s cheek.  Dante, who has a pathological inability to communicate well with women, freezes up at this touch.  6 CUTIE: Not anymore, handsome.  You’re free to go.  Panel 4.  Cutie takes her scythe out of the sand, looking away from the others.  7 CUTIE: You have quite the little adventure ahead of yourselves, boys.  Panel 5.  Cutie is gone, and Dante and Pizarro smile at each other in soothing silence.  No dialogue.   Page Twenty-One  Panel 1.  DANTE and PIZARRO have returned to the interior of the mall.  Things are as normal as ever, and the Pizarro copies are all gone.  Well, actually, stick the Super Mario Pizarro somewhere in the background licking an ice cream cone.  Anyway, regular Pizarro is back in his standard garb, and Dante has his hand on the back of his head.  1 PIZARRO: Well, first things first.  Let’s go tell your buddy Art about me!  2 DANTE: Tell Art!?  But didn’t you just say--  3 PIZARRO: It’s all in the rules, my boy!  It wouldn’t be fair if you had to keep this secret from everybody.  Panel 2.  Pizarro puts a “let’s keep this between us” hand over his mouth and leans in toward Dante.  4 PIZARRO: You only become a threat if I can’t regulate your ability to tell the secrets of celestials.  5 PIZARRO: As long as you don’t become a blabbermouth, you can select three people to tell about me.  Then I will become visible to them too.  Panel 3.  ART spots Dante from the background and waves vigorously.  Dante waves back in a half-hearted way.  Pizarro stands to the side.  Super Mario Pizarro’s ice cream has slipped off the cone and hit the floor somewhere else in the background.  6 DANTE: Three people, huh?  I can’t even think of more than two.  7 PIZARRO: Not a problem.  There’s no time limit on this.  Just choose carefully.  Panel 4.  Art is visibly concerned for Dante’s safety.  Dante is thrilled to tell Art the news.  Pizarro is forced to interject as Dante starts talking.  8 ART: Dante, what happened to you?  You took off like you saw a ghost.  9 DANTE: Close enough!  You’re never gonna believe the experience I’ve had.  I just met--  10 PIZARRO: Oh no!  Stop right there!  Get the heck away from him!   Page Twenty-Two.  Full-page shot.  This is more of an abstract pin-up page.  Dante and Pizarro stand in the foreground with Art further back between them.  A massive HAT MAN looms over Art menacingly, taking up the upper half of the page.  Hat Man might have his hands to the sides of Art, as if Art is inside an invisible crystal ball that Hat Man is grasping.  Dante stares at Pizarro in distress.  Pizarro has gritted teeth and a clenched fist.  It seems pretty certain now that Hat Man is not a figment of Art’s imagination.  That’s all for this issue.  1 DANTE: What?  Why?  2 PIZARRO: I never noticed in all the excitement, but this one is off-limits to me or you.  3 PIZARRO: Your friend has been marked!  THE END

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