Arcade Page #12

NICK:

Oh sh*t! What if they didn't come with us?!

He stops. Reaches into a pocket, and pulls out the schematics. Breathes

a sigh of relief.

NICK:

(looking at them)

Okay. It's West.

ALEX:

The keys are supposed to be at the end of

each level. Once we get all the keys, we

can unlock ARCADE's heart. And then...

She looks at Nick, uncertain.

NICK:

...and then we go to the Final Level.

(off her look)

Hey, don't worry about it. It's a game.

How bad could it be?

Alex glances at her wrist display. The "ELAPSED TIME" bar is made up of

ten blocks of light stacked upon each other. The top block has

disappeared. One tenth of their time is gone.

ALEX:

The clock's already ticking.

NICK:

Right, then...

Nick leans forward and the board starts to float. Alex does the same, and

in seconds, they're gliding over the plains.

FROM ABOVE,

as we see their forms disappear in the smoke.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. LEVEL ONE, PLAINS -- LATER

Nick and Alex pull to a stop.

A DOORWAY:

stands in the plains, seemingly leading to nowhere. Nick reaches out and

opens it. It's just plains and empty space beyond...

...but hanging from the top of the doorway is a golden key.

ALEX:

There...

She reaches up and pulls it down.

NICK:

I don't get it. This is supposed to be the

end of the level, but it doesn't go anywhere.

Alex puts her hand through the doorway and her hand disappears.

ALEX:

It only looks like it leads to nowhere.

Nick glances at his wrist display.

NICK:

And we've still got time left. This was a

piece of cake.

ALEX:

Yeah, that's what worries me.

She steps through the doorway and disappears. Nick follows.

We hold on the empty doorway. Hold for a moment, and then...

We hear a distant, high-pitched RINGING. It's grating, seeping inside our

brains and mucking around in there. On the horizon there is a quick FLASH

OF LIGHT.

Something is coming.

CUT TO:

The words "LEVEL TWO -- DEADLANDS"

EXT. LEVEL TWO, SALT FLATS -- DAY

Alex and Nick are cruising along salt flats. Sporadic pools of water and

strange ROARING sounds in the mist. So far so good. Nick glances at his

wrist display. His "STRENGTH" only has a few blocks left.

NICK:

Hey, my strength's low. Look out for

Fireflies.

ALEX:

There...

She points North. A small BALL OF LIGHT is streaking across the sky, just

above the watery plains.

Alex and Nick swerve towards it, gaining ground. As they near it, Nick

swings out his hand, scooping the Firefly up. As soon as he touches it, it

bursts like a bubble.

NICK:

Sh*t...

ALEX:

Check your read-out.

Nick does. His "STRENGTH" is back to normal again.

NICK:

You're right. It worked.

Nick and Alex slow their boards to a stop, stepping off them.

ALEX:

(pointing)

There's another...

She sweeps left and scoops the second Firefly out of the sky. Off in the

distance we can hear that RINGING again, just at the edge of our vision.

Alex and Nick don't hear it yet.

Nick is glancing down at his schematic of Level Two.

NICK:

According to this, the doorway should be

somewhere around here...

THEIR P.O.V.

The salt flats have gradually diminished, replaced by more and more water.

Ahead of them, there's no longer anything solid to stand on...just water,

muck, and strange reeds poking through the mist.

Alex's wrist display begins to BEEP. She glances down.

WRIST DISPLAY:

Only one block of time remains and it's pulsing on and off. The RINGING is

a little louder now.

ALEX:

(worried)

Our time's up.

NICK:

What?! There's nothing here!

ALEX:

Look around...

The two of them stumble through the water, not even sure of what they're

looking for.

NICK:

(starting to panic)

I don't see the doorway!

Alex and Nick's wrist displays are BEEPING like crazy now. The beeps come

closer and closer until they meld into one piercing high-pitched TONE.

JUST THEN,

the RINGING turns into the SHRIEK/SONIC BOOM of the Screamer. A burst of

light on the horizon shatters the sky.

NICK:

What the f*** is that?!

ALEX:

Screamer.

ALEX:

plunges into the marsh-like water, waist-high, and it's then that she sees

a glow emanating from beneath the water. She dives forward...

BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THE BRACKISH WATER

Alex swims towards the GLOW. Ahead of her, the depths drop off sharply,

perhaps some hundred feet or so.

HER P.O.V.

She can just make out a doorway...down, down, down...

THE SURFACE:

Alex bursts up from the water, gulping in breaths of air. Nick is nearby.

THE WORLD:

is beginning is vibrate now, heralding the Screamer. The SHRIEK is

unbearable.

ALEX:

Nick! It's beneath the water! We have to

swim!

Nick stumbles in up to his neck. He can see the GLOW now too.

NICK:

(incredulous)

We can't reach that!

ALEX:

(over the noise)

We don't have a choice!

Alex dives beneath the surface again.

Nick glances back towards the horizon and gets one fleeting glimpse of...

THE SCREAMER:

A nightmare creation rocketing in from the East... That's it for Nick. He

dives, terrified.

UNDERWATER,

Nick follows Alex into the shadowy depths. He swims madly, but the GLOW

seems impossibly far away. Even under water, the Apocalyptic sound of the

Screamer can be heard.

NICK:

peddles his arms and legs furiously. Down, down, down...

He knows that they'll never have enough air to make it back to the

surface.

THE GLOW:

is more clearly distinguished now. It's a DOORWAY. And set in its side

is a golden key. Alex reaches it. She grabs the key and turns to see how

far behind Nick is...

NICK:

doubles his efforts, but his lungs are straining...

THE SCREAMER:

has plunged into the water above, shooting towards Nick like a torpedo, a

swirling jet-stream of bubbles trailing around it.

Nick panics, and what little air he has left escapes him.

Alex is reaching for Nick...

Nick is blacking out, one last lunge at the doorway...

The Screamer is there now. No time.

The words "LEVEL THREE -- THE BLUE DESERT" flash across the screen and

we...

CUT TO:

EXT. LEVEL THREE, DESERT -- DAY

Alex and Nick fall from the sky onto the dunes. They lie there a moment,

gasping for breath. They're an odd sight, two people soaked from head to

toe, dropped in the middle of a bone-dry desert...

...and a blue one at that. There's an eerie stillness about this Level,

even the clouds above are frozen. Nothing lives here now, and nothing ever

will.

Nick coughs, sucking in air.

Alex rises halfway, pulling up her visor. She stares at the golden key

which she clutches in her hand. Her wet hair hangs about her face in

strings and she shivers.

NICK:

(looking at the key)

So that's what we almost died for?

ALEX:

One of them, anyway...

(beat)

Did you see it? The Screamer?

NICK:

(looking away)

I don't want to talk about it.

Nick glances at his wrist display.

DISPLAY:

Even as he watches, the first of the ten "TIME ELAPSED" blocks blinks

away.

NICK:

(exhausted)

Christ...no time...

ALEX:

(rising)

There never is.

Nick heaves himself up into a standing position and looks around. They

are on the top of a massive dune.

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