Workshop Wednesday

We continue this episode with a a bit of superhero back and forth and then a good spot of action. The tension certainly mounts in this episode as the hero and villains plot lines finally properly collide. This will easily lead to a great confrontation in the final act (next week).

Remember to catch up on the previous adventures of The Follower in the Works of Mike FinkelsteinWhat's that, you want to read various creative works from Asteroid G Lead Editor Mike Finkelstein? Well, if that's what you want... archive before reading this section.

The Follower: Episode 3, Part 2

"Etiquette Goes Down" Continued

FADE IN.

EXT: MOTABA BURGER, PARKING LOT, DAY.

The Follower van pulls into the parking lot right after Bruise's vehicle, a black unmarked van. We watch as FOLLOWER, APATHY, and OBVIOUS get out of their van while BRUISE gets out of his.

INT: MOTABA BURGER, DAY.

Motaba Burger themed with jungle decor and monkeys. It's like if the Rainforest Cafe were a fast food joint. The heroes walk in and get in line behind BRUISE.

OBVIOUS:

Hey, they have banana shakes here.

APATHY looks over at a big monkey statue.

APATHY:

Of that, I have no doubt.

The line moves forward, and we hear BRUISE ordering while the heroes talk louder in their little group.

BRUISE:

Yeah, I'd like a Motaba Combo, two gorilla fries, a Banana Blast shake, and an Oranagatangy Pie.

FOLLOWER:

I'm just going to get a burger.

APATHY:

What kind?

FOLLOWER:

Kind...?

OBVIOUS:

The general public long ago declared that one burger type was not enough. Now you can get them with cheese, bacon, veggies, sauces, different meats, different breads, different serving styles-

FOLLOWER looks lost.

FOLLOWER:

I... just want a burger.

OBVIOUS:

You'll want a Single Motaba, hold the brush.

APATHY looks at BRUISE ahead of them.

APATHY:

That guy looks familiar.

BRUISE grabs his food and heads off to a table. The gang goes up to the counter.

CLERK:

Welcome to Motaba Burger, where the food's so good it's infectious.

APATHY:

Do you have to say that every time someone walks up to the counter?

OBVIOUS:

Besides which, would you really want to use the terminology of "infectious" when talking about burgers? That leads to thoughts of various foods scares, many from recently memory.

APATHY:

True.

CLERK:

Are you guys ordering food?

EXT: MOTABA BURGER, PARKING LOT, DAY.

The heroes leave the restaurant, food in hand. OBVIOUS and FOLLOWER as sucking down their shakes.

APATHY:

The guy looked really familiar.

FOLLOWER:

What guy?

APATHY:

The dude ahead of us in line. I know I've seen him before.

INT: CITY STADIUM, MAIN HALL, NIGHT, PAST.

We get a flashback reprise of the fight between APATHY and the GOONS back in episode two. We see BRUISE spot the action and run away as APATHY finishes up the GOON he was battling. While the flashbacks play, a little white box appears at the bottom of the screen (like in the bottom of a comic book panel) saying "see Episode 2, Season 1."

EXT: MOTABA BURGER, PARKING LOT, DAY.

APATHY:

That's where I saw him! He was one of the bad guys at the concert.

OBVIOUS: He was the goon that got away?

APATHY: The only one of them to escape. We should follow them.

FOLOWER:

I could do some following!

APATHY:

I feel like we should go get my van. Two vehicles could be useful on this op.

FOLLOWER:

No time. He could be done eating soon.

OBVIOUS:

Besides which, if he recognized the van you took, anything he was planning for the day would probably get ditched. Don't want to spook him.

APATHY:

Yeah, probably would be better if we just lay low and drove around in something less conspicuous.

They all look over at the Follower van with its big symbols painted on the sides.

OBVIOUS:

Relatively speaking.

The doors to Motaba Burger open and BRUISE steps out.

SFX: Phone ringtone.

BRUISE pulls out his cell, looks down at who's calling, and looks annoyed.

BRUISE:

Hello? (pause) Not yet. (pause) I went for a burger. (pause) It was a long wait. I got hungry. (pause) Yes, I know it's important that I be there on time and watch the bag very closely. (pause) I dunno that word, but I aint it. (pause) Right, fine. On the way now.

He puts the phone in his pocket and is just walking to the van when he has to answer it again.

SFX: Phone ringtone.

BRUISE:

What?! (pause) Sorry. Yeah... (pause) Okay. (pause) Another cell? They already got two, how did they decorate the second one? (pause) A loom? The hell is a loom? (pause) Yeah, fine. Give her the last cell. I'll be glad when she's out of our hands.

Again BRUISE closes the phone and walks to his van. The three heroes get into theirs and pull out after him.

EXT: CITY PARK, DAY.

Bruise's van pulls into the spot he was in before, while the three heroes pull into a shaded area a little ways off. They are close enough to see what's going on, but not too close to be noticed. We all watch as an unmarked vehicle drives up a trash can. A man in a suit gets out of the car and drops a black bag into the trash can. He drives away and we wait.

After a pause, BRUISE steps out of his van and looks around. He then nonchalantly walks over towards the drop spot (a feat for a guy dressed head-to-toe in a bondage outfit). With him, we spot a lady feeding pigeons, a man out for a walk, and a guy reading a paper. BRUISE sits a little ways off from the drop spot, on a bench, watching the passersby. He then pulls out his phone.

BRUISE:

Get me the ENEMY. (longer pause) It's marked!

INT: FOLLOWER VAN, CITY PARK, DAY.

Cut to an interior of the Follower Van. FOLLOWER and APATHY are watching BRUISE, eating their food, while OBVIOUS reads and drinks his shake.

FOLLOWER:

What's he doing?

APATHY:

Just making a call.

FOLLOWER:

A call? Why?

APATHY:

No clue. Can't hear him from here.

OBVIOUS turns a page, takes a sip, and never looks up from his book.

OBVIOUS:

It's a drop.

APATHY:

What is?

OBVIOUS:

What he's here for. It's a money drop. Presumably for a kidnapping, if I had to guess.

FOLLOWER:

What makes you say that?

OBVIOUS:

Simple. What reasons can you think of for someone to drop money off in a park besides a kidnapping, drugs, or maybe a hit. If it was drugs or a hit, though, I doubt there'd be all the people sitting around the park intently watching while not watching the money.

FOLLOWER:

People watching but... what did you say?

APATHY looks around.

APATHY:

You mean there are undercover cops watching the money.

OBVIOUS:

You see them when you know what to look for.

APATHY:

And you do?

OBVIOUS:

Watch a few movies, take a few notes.

APATHY looks at OBVIOUS who has still not looked up once during the entire conversation. There's a pause.

APATHY:

How's your book?

OBVIOUS:

You have any interest in quantum theory?

APATHY:

No.

OBVIOUS:

Then let's just say the book is "good".

EXT: CITY PARK, DAY.

Cut to a shot of BRUISE on the park bench. He gets a call, then heads a ways into the wooded area of the park. There, in the trees is ENEMY and ETIQUETTE. In the very distance of the shot we can see FOLLOWER and his crew slowly get out of their van and mosey a little closer so they can listen.

BRUISE:

What do we do?

ETIQUETTE:

I wanted to see the situation before I could decide our next course of action.

They look out over the park. What ETIQUETTE sees does not please him.

ETIQUETTE:

I gave them my word as a gentleman.<>/p>

ENEMY:

I think it's advisable for us to vacate the parkland for the nonce. We need to relocate and reevaluate the situation.

BRUISE nods.

ETIQUETTE:

Bruise, follow us back to the base.

Cut to the heroes.

FOLLOWER:

That's ETIQUETTE MAN! What's he doing here?

OBVIOUS:

He's probably the brains behind the goons.

Cut back to BRUISE.

BRUISE goes back to his van and we see him pull away from the wooded area, following the villains and their driver in a black car. A few moments after they leave the park, the Follower Van leaves.

EXT: CITY STREETS, DAY.

SFX: Phone ringtone

BRUISE answers the phone.

BRUISE:

Yeah? (pause) A tail? (pause) You sure?

The camera shifts around and we see, from his perspective, ENEMY in her vehicle waving at him. We also get a lot of muffled yelling through BRUISE's phone.

SFX: Muffled yelling.

BRUISE adjusts his mirror and we get a shot of the Follower Van. As he and the villains make a turn, the Follower Van (appropriately) follows.

BRUISE:

Should we try and lose them?

As more yelling comes from the phone, we pan out the side window of the van, and move towards the villain car. We sneak in through the back side window as we catch ENEMY's response.

ENEMY:

"Try and lose them?" Of course we should try and lose them! We don't want anyone following us to our headquarters.

ETIQUETTE looks at the traffic.

ETIQUETTE:

Pick up some speed, get them snarled in the traffic.

From here was watch the three vehicles weave in and out of traffic, very action-packed. Lots of near misses and high speed "oooh" stunts. Through it all, the Follower van isn't shaken.

Cut to a shot through the windshield of FOLLOWER VAN.

APATHY:

Man, where did you learn to drive like this?

FOLLOWER:

You ever try to deliver pizzas in 30 minutes or less? You learn a thing or two. Plus, I did a fair bit of pursuit driving during my time as a sidekick. There was this bank robbery, perpetrated by a villainous biker gang calling themselves the "Speed Demons." They had stupid demon masks and everything...

We leave them to Follower's story as we push out towards the Bruise's van again, ala the early shot through the side windows. He's still got one hand on his phone, talking to ENEMY.

BRUISE:

They aren't getting shaken. (pause) Split up? Yeah. Okay.

We cut to a shot of the van and the car parting ways. The Follower Van slows for just a second, then goes after BRUISE.

Cut to BRUISE.

BRUISE:

Yeah I got 'em. (pause) Well I don't know if can lose them or not. They seem pretty good.

There's a pause, then BRUISE smiles.

BRUISE:

Sure, boss.

BRUISE pulls out his gun. He turns, aims, and fires. We follow the bullet as it smashes through the window, speeds towards the Follower van, goes right through the middle of the windshield on a course directly for OBVIOUS, who is still reading his book. At the last second, he tilts his head just enough, and the bullet goes by and out the back window. The camera rotates around OBVIOUS, who hasn't once pulled away from the written word, and we see APATHY starting, open mouthed.

APATHY:

How did you know?

OBVIOUS:

You mean the bullet?

APATHY nods.

APATHY:

You were reading. How did you know to dodge that bullet?

OBVIOUS:

It's easy to dodge bullets.

APATHY:

You're joking.

OBVIOUS looks up from his book.

OBVIOUS:

The simple fact is, to dodge bullets simply see where the gun is aimed and not be there.

APATHY:

(pause) That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

OBVIOUS goes back to his book.

OBVIOUS:

No, it's just the simplest, and most direct, answer.

We cut to an aerial shot of the pursuit. As they go speeding down the road, a cop turns on and his lights. After a few moments, the Follower Van pulls over and the BRUISE drives off at high speeds.

EXT: CITY STREETS, FOLLOWER VAN, DAY, PRESENT.

COP:

So you were chasing the kidnappers of MARSHA STEINGARDEN?

OBVIOUS:

Exactly.

COP:

And you knew they were kidnappers because they were at the park and they ran from the surveillance in the park at the drop off point.

OBVIOUS:

Yeah.

COP:

And you knew it was a kidnapping because there was all the surveillance.

OBVIOUS nods.

COP:

But how-

OBVIOUS:

How did I know it was the kidnapping of STEINGARDEN?

The COP nods.

OBVIOUS:

Just a guess, but it would be my assumption that something big enough to get the attention of ETIQUETTE MAN would also have to be high profile enough to make the regular newscasts. And the only kidnapping story big enough...

COP:

Was STEINGARDEN.

OBVIOUS:

Precisely.

COP:

But what about that whole part of the story with the meeting of the... the villains in their headquarters. That was what you called them.

FOLLOWER:

Superhero term, officer.

OBVIOUS:

Conjecture, but most of it I will guess was true.

COP:

Well it sounded good... Say you don't happen to remember the license plate number of the van, do you?

OBVIOUS nods.

OBVIOUS:

BRS-1872. Black Ford Econoline. 2005, if I had to guess. Right front tire looked a little flat and I tasted a hint of ozone on the air so I don't think it's been in for an inspection recently.

COP:

(pause) Fair enough. Let me... let me just run that...

FADE TO BLACK.

COMMERCIAL BREAK.

End Episode 3, Part 2:

So there we are for now. One more act puts the heroes and the villains into a direct conflict and then... well, who knows from there. My intention is to post all five episodes I have to the site, but I just went through the last two and found they were unfinished. Looks like I might be actually finishing those episodes for posting, we could actually have new Follower content moving forward.

But that's a project for later next month. For now, come back next week for the exciting conclusion of Follower, Episode 3. Same Follower Time, Same Follower Channel.