Page One

Panel One: Interior. An office. Dark. The only illumination is coming from a desk lamp. The shadows are thick, heavy, oppressive. There is a figure in the room, outline clearly feminine, but the only distinguishing feature that is truly visible is a set of glasses lenses--highlighted by the light from the desk lamp. This figure is ELENA and though we can't see it right now, she is speaking into a cell phone.

ELENA: Yes, sir. The relic is secure.

Panel Two: Close up of Elena's glasses, reflecting the only light in the room.

ELENA: No, sir. No one can get to it. Not even the Caretaker. The wards have been put in place by our most powerful sorcerers. If anyone tries to use it, they'll be incinerated instantly.

Panel Three: Extreme close up of Elena's glasses. Her eyes are visible--but only just--and her irises are crimson.

ELENA: Make no mistake, sir, the Heart of Eris will be ready for the ritual when the time comes.

Panel Four: Exterior. Night. Rooftop. There are several skylights littered across the expanse of the rooftop and the moon is on the wax.

CAPTION: Aron City Museum

Page Two

Panel One: Close up of the edge of the roof.

Panel Two: Same perspective as last panel. A grappling hook is in mid flight, a few inches above the edge of the roof.

Panel Three: Same perspective as last two panels. The grappling hook has taken hold of the roof's edge.

Panel Four: A black gloved hand has entered the panel, grasping the roof's edge next to the grappling hook.

Panel Five: Long shot. The owner of the gloved hand is hoisting herself onto the roof. The details of the climber are not clear yet, but with the backlighting from the full moon, it is clear she is athletic, has legs that just don't quit and is dressed all in black--head to foot--including a hood (costume skin tight, naturally) and a small pack on her back. This is LAURA JOHNSON, cat burglar extraordinaire and our eventual protagonist.

Page Three

Panel One: Laura is creeping towards one of the skylights, easing her pack from her shoulders as she goes.

Panel Two: Closer to the skylight now, Laura drops her pack next to her foot and is leaning over the skylight to investigate the security she'll be up against.

Panel Three: From within the museum, looking upwards through the glass of the skylight, we get our first glimpse of Laura's face. Her bottom lip is caught up between her teeth and her brow is furrowed with thought. She looks puzzled.

Panel Four: Same perspective as last panel. Laura is gone from our view.

Panel Five: Same perspective as last two panels. Laura has returned with goggles in place and a small, odd looking tool pressed up against the glass, cutting through it in the shape of a large circle--large enough for a person to slip through.

Panel Six: Interior. Worm's eye view inside the museum. There are exhibits everywhere, though none of their details are clear in the near pitch blackness.

Panel Seven: Same perspective as last panel. A pair of black leather boots are touching down on the floor.

Page Four

Panel One: Crouched on the ground where she landed, Laura looks extraordinarily pleased with herself. Her pack is back in its place, slung over her shoulders.

Panel Two: Medium shot, Laura's point of view, through the goggles (night vision). The museum is littered with displays of antiquities but the central piece is a large gem within a glass case. The laser beams that protect the displays are also visible and they are numerous to the point of absurdity.

Panel Three: Close up of the large gem. It is a five sided, deep red, faceted affair, roughly the size of a child’s fist, with a large crack down the center and a chip out of the top, giving it the appearance of being vaguely heart shaped (for shape reference, picture the Superman emblem but with a large chunk out of the topmost side). There is a small sign beneath the display case which reads “The Unknown Jewel” and beneath those large letters are smaller ones which disappear into the bottom of the panel. The smaller text reads “Scientists have been baffled by the molecular make-up of the Unknown Jewel since its discovery in Greece in 1923. By all accounts, the substance is indefinable and” that’s where the text cuts off.

Panel Four: Close up of Laura's face, smirking.

LAURA (whispered): Bingo.

Page Five

Panel One: Full page panel. Long shot. Laura in motion, each action melting into the last, a handspring, a flip, a cartwheel, twisting in the air and landing gracefully at the base of the gem's display case.

Page Six

Panel One: Medium shot, from behind the gem's display case. Laura looks extremely smug and is reaching for the display case.

Panel Two: Close up of the glass case. Laura's gloved hand is mere centimeters from its surface.

Panel Three: Same perspective as last panel. The very tip of one of Laura's fingers has touched the glass.

Panel Four: Close up of the gem. It has ominously started to glow.

Panel Five: Close up of Laura's eyes. The glow from the gem shows on her face, blue and eerie. She looks startled--and rightly so.

LAURA: What the f--

Page Seven

Panel One: Full page panel. A massive explosion (!!) has erupted outwards from the gem's display case, hurling Laura backwards. The room is bathed in that same eerie blue glow, emanating from the unaffected gem, glinting off the pieces of flying glass that are everywhere. The other displays are falling due to the visible shockwave. It looks like a hurricane is trying to happen in the building! Displays are in the process of being overturned, glass is being shattered--it's complete and utter pandemoneum.

Page Eight

Panel One: Close up of one of the museum's wall mounted alarm bells in motion.

SFX: BRRRRRRRRRRNG!

Panel Two: Long shot of the museum display room. The place is in shambles. There's glass lying everywhere; tables are lying on their sides, exhibits shattered on the floor and Laura is lying in a heap, looking like a rag doll that's been thrown aside by a careless child. The gem's display case is the only exhibit still standing--though the glass case around it has mostly been blasted away--and it's still giving off its odd glow, but more intensely than earlier panels, so much so that it lights up the entire room.

Panel Three: Close up of Laura's face, lying on the floor, eyes closed. One of the lenses in her goggles was shattered on impact and her face is a mass of small cuts and scrapes. What little is left of the lens frames her eye and the rest of the pieces lie on the floor near her face.

LAURA: Ungh...

Panel Four: Same perspective as last panel, but Laura has opened her eyes. The right one is now snow white and pupil-less.

Panel Five: Laura's POV of the museum display room, right side framed by the edges of the broken goggles lens so that we know we're looking through her eyes. The left hand side of the room is perfectly normal, where the right hand side appears to be waving, objects melting into one another in a nightmarish fashion.

Page Nine

Panel One: Laura in foreground, clearly disoriented. She is holding her head with one hand and struggling to scramble up off the floor. The scene around the right side of her body is blurry, while the left remains crisp and clear.

OFF PANEL: FREEZE!

Panel Two: Over the shoulder shot. Laura is looking up, still holding her head and has been confronted by a security guard with a gun. He fits the typical cop-on-the-edge look, as if he really can't wait for an excuse to squeeze the trigger.

GUARD: Hands where I can see them!

Panel Three: Laura's POV, looking directly at the guard. His face on the right side has melted into a truly grotesque demonic mask; fangs, horn, the whole nine yards.

LAURA: No...

GUARD: I said hands where I can see them!!

Panel Four: Close up of the guard's finger on the trigger of his gun.

GUARD (off panel): I don't know how the hell you did whatever you did, lady, but so help me, if you don't put your hands up--

Panel Five: Focus on Laura, shaking her head against the horrific vision of the guard.

LAURA: NO!

Page Ten

Panel One: Stony faced, the guard has pulled the trigger.

SFX: BANG!

Panel Two: Extreme close up of Laura's eyes, the reflection of the bullet heading towards her visible in them.

Panel Three: Same perspective as last shot except now, Laura's white eye is heavily mottled with black.

Panel Four: Close up of Laura, in profile, the bullet millimeters away from her face. The metal is melting in midair.

Panel Five: Focus on the guard, utterly panicked and firing at Laura repeatedly.

GUARD: What are you?!

SFX: BANG! BANG! BANG!

Page Eleven

Panel One: Normal shot. Laura looks just as panicked as the guard, but that doesn't keep the bullets hurtling towards her from melting just as the first one did before they can reach her. They are caught up in a bluish aura that is spreading outwards from her body.

Panel Two: Focus on the guard, terrified. The aura is closing in on him.

Guard: AAAAAAAH!

Panel Three: Same perspective as last panel. The guard has been engulfed by the blue glow and what little is visible through the glare isn't pretty. His skin has been singed away in places, leaving half of his face nothing but a skeleton, caught in mid-scream.

Page Twelve

Series of three, two-way split panels, comparing the aura that surrounds both Laura and the gem. The perspective of the gem doesn’t change, even though the panels focusing on Laura do.

Split Panel One: Medium shot, Laura in profile. The glow around her is strong, she looks agonized. In contrast, the glow around the gem has taken on a bluish purple hue and is weaker than it was originally.

Split Panel Two: Normal shot, Laura hunched over, appearing to be in pain. The glow is even stronger around her, making her appear ethereal. The glow around the gem is now a deep violet and the radius of the glow has shrunk considerably.

Split Panel Three: Bird's eye view, Laura has collapsed on the floor on her side, clutching her head, curled up tightly in the fetal position. The glow seems to come from within her now, spreading outwards. The gem is barely glowing now, its violet hue getting as close to black as possible.

Page Thirteen

Panel One: Full page panel. Laura lies on the ground, unconscious.

Panel Two (inset): Close up of the gem. There is a tiny, tiny spark in the very center of it.

Panel Three (inset): Same perspective as last panel. The gem has flickered out completely, leaving it cold, dead and black.

Page Fourteen

Panel One: Bird’s eye view. Laura is lying (presumably nude) in a king sized bed, tangled in its sheets. Her cuts and scrapes have been bandaged with care.

Panel Two: Extreme close up of Laura’s face. Her brow is furrowed, eyes squeezed shut tightly.

Panel Three: Same perspective as last panel. Laura’s eyes have snapped open and the right one is snowy white once again.

Panel Four: Laura has darted up in bed, clutching the sheet to her chest, looking fearful and confused.

LAURA: Where--

OFF PANEL: About time you got up.

Page Fifteen

Panel One: Over the shoulder shot, Laura’s POV. There is a man, tall, gaunt, gruff looking, roughly sixty years of age, with his arms crossed over his chest, scrutinizing her. This is THE CARETAKER.

Panel Two: Focus on Laura, pulling the sheet up even higher, with an air of barely restrained suspicion.

LAURA: Where am I?

Panel Three: The Caretaker looks mildly amused, one eyebrow raised in curiosity.

CARETAKER: A more appropriate question to ask in this situation might be ‘Who am I?’, don’t you think?

LAURA: Don’t be stupid, I know who I am.

CARETAKER: Do you now?

Panel Four: Focus on the Caretaker, smirking, eyes twinkling and looking generally far too smug for his own good.

CARTAKER: Some people wake up to find that they aren’t the same person they were yesterday. Happens all the time.

LAURA: Great, I’ve been kidnapped and stripped by a riddle nut. Just what I need.

Panel Five: Close up of the Caretaker’s face, smiling outright.

CARETAKER: I didn’t strip you. Your clothes disintegrated.

Panel Six: Focus on Laura, face twisted in disbelief as she tucks the sheet around herself in a makeshift toga.

LAURA: Well, that’s a hell of a trick. You got my clothes to disintegrate. I suppose you wrote the Penthouse forum about this miraculous power of yours, did you?

Page Sixteen

Panel One: Laura is climbing off the bed.

LAURA: Plan on selling some how-to books? I know a few guys who’d want a copy or eight.

Panel Two: Worm’s eye view of the floor near Laura’s feet. There are symbols carved into the tiles, forming a circle around the bed.

OFF PANEL: I wouldn’t step outside the circle, if I were you…

Panel Three: Laura’s eyes are narrowed with wariness and she’s pointing towards the floor.

LAURA: What, this circle?

Panel Four: Laura has put one foot outside the circle of symbols.

LAURA: This circle I’m stepping out of right now?

Panel Five: Focus on the circle, the symbols glowing gold as if the floor has been punched out in places and there’s a flashlight being shined from underneath.

LAURA: I don’t know what kind of sick game you’re playing, but--

Page Seventeen

Panel One: Focus on Laura, one foot outside the circle, one still in. The scene around her is shifting back into the strange, nightmarish melting world from the museum.

Panel Two (inset): Laura’s eyes have gone wide, the white one now with a grayish cast and a few specks of black invading the otherwise colorless orb.

Panel Three: Laura has stumbled back inside the circle and the floor has ceased glowing. The scene around her is clear and perfectly ordinary.

Panel Four: Laura’s knees hit the edge of the bed, causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards onto the mattress.

Panel Five: Laura sits on the bed, properly alarmed once more.

LAURA: What--what’s happening to me?

Page Eighteen

Panel One: Medium shot. The Caretaker’s face has turned gravely serious.

CARETAKER: Happened. Past tense.

LAURA: What?

Panel Two: Close up of the Caretaker’s eyes, narrowed. The image of Laura, clutching her sheet and looking anxious, is reflected in his eyes.

CARETAKER: You took in the Essence of Eris.

Panel Three: Medium shot, focus on Laura, confused.

OFF PANEL: You’re the new Goddess of Discord.