London Calling, Issue 2

In which more is revealed about Michael Darrow, and Bad Things begin to happen.

PAGE 1

PANEL 1:

INT. TROCADERO ARCADE, DAY

We’re inside the Trocadero arcade on Shaftesbury avenue, two
floors of game machines inside a shopping/cinema complex. A
group of 5 friends are clustered around the controls of a
fighting game, BOY 1 and BOY 2 intent at the joysticks.
They’re a pretty good subsection of London teenagers. Black,
Indian/Asian, White. Dressed in fashionable street clothes.
They’re around 16-17 years old. One of the group is Danny, a
young asian man pretty indistinguishable from his friends.

PANEL 2:

Closer on the group. BOY 1 is looking pissed off in a
good-natured kind of way, BOY 2 laughing as he beats him,
BOY 3 and BOY 4 laughing with him. Danny is in foreground
turned away from them, taking out his cellphone which is
ringing/vibrating in his hand.

BOY 1
What! No! You BASTARD. You
cheating… BELLEND.

BOY 2
Hahahaha

SFX
*musical notes from phone*

PANEL 3:

Small panel. CU. on Danny’s phone, he’s got a text message.

PHONE DISPLAY
~SARAH~  Just got off tube at
Leicester sq

PANEL 4:

Danny is walking away from his friends, raising one hand as
he calls back at them. BOY 2 looks over his shoulder from
the controls of the game while BOY 3 takes BOY 1’s place, 1,
2 and 4 all grinning as they taunt their friend.

DANNY
Gonna go pick up Sarah from the
station, back in a bit.

BOY 4
Oooooooh, SARAH!

BOY 2
Haha, take as long as you want,
mate.

BOY 1
*mwah!* *mwah!* (kissing noises)

PANEL 5:

Danny makes his way though the crowded Trocadero, which is
bustling with people - it’s a Saturday so there’s schoolkids
and parents and tourists. Typical West End weekend mob.

PANEL 6:

CU on Danny pushing open a glass door, half out onto
Shaftesbury avenue, having walked through one of the
tourist-tat shops to get out. He’s shielding his eyes from
the light, his eyes not quite adjusting. Which is just as
well really given what’s coming on the next page.

PAGE 2

Splash page. Title, credits etc. Danny stands at the
Shaftesbury Ave. entrance to the Trocadero, looking towards
Piccadilly Circus. The city looks like something out of the
better class of disaster movie, no lights, no people.
Everything is grimy and dilapidated from years of neglect.
Many windows are broken. Grass grows in the gutters, there
are large pools of stagnant water. Black cabs stand rotting
in the streets. The statue of Eros has moss and weeds
growing around it. The sky is a glowing overcast grey/white,
so I suppose some things never change. Even the Trocadero
that Danny has just stepped out of is a grimy semi-ruin.

PAGE 3

PANEL 1:

EXT. Queen Elizabeth Hospital, morning. A complex of
two-story buildings with a weird sail-like canopy out the
front like an inverted tent. It’s a pretty ugly building
really, but for once it’s a sunny day.

CAPTION:
QUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL, WOOLWICH,
LONDON

PANEL 2:

INT. Hospital. We’re seeing the door to Parfett’s room from
Darrow’s POV, his shadow an outline on the closed door, a
small window showing a glimpse of the room beyond. On a clip
mounted on the door is a chart with the words “EMILY
PARFETT” clearly visible.

PANEL 3:

We’re now inside the room, still from Darrow’s POV. The
single hospital bed is empty but obviously slept in, an IV
with an empty bag at its side with the tube dangling
lifelessly. Sleeping in a chair next to the bed is Wace, his
arms crossed over his chest, his head tilted back, mouth
slightly open. He’s still wearing the same clothes we saw
him in last issue. And on the foot of the bed is a folded
piece of paper with “Michael” written on it in neat
handwriting.

PANEL 4:

Framed on the note so we can more clearly see it, Darrow’s
arm reaching into frame to pick it up. Dark suit jacket
sleeve with white shirt, expensive cufflinks.

PANEL 5:

The note. Handwritten on a small piece of lined paper, like
a notepad.

NOTE
Dear Michael, Get fucked. - Emily.
X X X

PAGE 4

PANEL 1:

Now we see Darrow, he’s looking up from the note, a thin,
humourless smile on his face.

PANEL 2:

Wace is waking up, rubbing his eyes. He’s still groggy, and
has no idea that Parfett has done a runner.

WACE
Ughhh… what time is it?

PANEL3:

Darrow slips the note into his breast pocket his smile
disapearing, still looking straight ahead, not bothering to
face the confused Wace.

DARROW
It’s too late, Wace.

PANEL 4:

We’re back to Darrow’s POV now, staring at the open window,
the curtains being blown around slightly by the breeze.

CAPTION (DARROW)
…Too bloody LATE.

PAGE 5

PANEL 1:

Tall, page length panel. Full body shot of Parfett as she
hails a cab on Artillery Road. She’s barefoot but
determined, her long coat buttoned up around her, a hospital
gown just showing underneath.

PARFETT
Taxi!

PANEL 2:

Parfett gets into a typical Londond Black Cab, the driver
looking back at her in his rear-view mirror.

DRIVER
Alright miss? Where to?

PARFETT
Firstly; where exactly am I?

DRIVER
Uh…Woolwich.

PANEL 3:

CU on Parfett as she looks out the window, her head close to
the glass, an amused, wry smile on her face.

PARFETT
(quietly to herself, smaller font
than usual) Christ… SOUTH of the
river?

PARFETT
(normal volume/font) Just take me
to Blackheath, would you?

PANEL 4:

The cab pulls away into the busy traffic.

PARFETT
Not QUITE civilisation, but it will
have to DO.

PAGE 6

PANEL 1:

Darrow strides away from the front entrance of the hospital,
a grim expression on his face. A short distance behind is
Wace, hands spread in a pleading gesture.

WACE
Look, how was I supposed to know
she’d wake up and do a runner?
She’d been in a coma for 19 hours!

PANEL 2:

Darrow’s driver holds the door of his car open for him, a
large dark-grey european luxury sedan. Wace is still trying
to explain.

WACE
None of the nurses could stand to
be in the same room with her for
long, I think she still had some
sort of residual.. weirdness even
asleep.

PANEL 3:

Inside the car. Darrow and Wace sit in the backseats as it
pulls away. Darrow has finally snapped, and is about to give
Wace a piece of his mind. Wace, on the other hand, is
frantically patting down his pockets.

DARROW:
I give you ONE fucking job, Wace,
and you…

WACE
Oh SHIT.

DARROW
WHAT?

PANEL 4:

CU on Wace’s face. He’s looking worried and slighly
sheepish.

WACE
…She’s nicked my wallet.

PANEL 5:

CU on Darrow, rolling his eyes with a disgusted expression
on his face, clearly wondering why he saddled himself with
this idiot.

PAGE 7

PANEL1:

Back to a two-shot of Wace and Darrow, Wace looking
despondant, Darrow very carefully controlling himself as he
stares out the window next to him.

DARROW
Your incompetence is the stuff of
LEGENDS, Wace. Generations of
mothers will lull their children to
sleep with tales of how utterly
USELESS you are.

DARROW
Fortunately for you, I have other
options for keeping track of Ms
Parfett.

PANEL 2:

CU on Wace as he looks sideways at Darrow.

WACE
Victory Ace?

PANEL 3:

Back to Darrow, his face reflected in the glass of the
window giving us another hint of his dual nature.

DARROW
You don’t go looking for a needle
by burning down the haystack. No,
the man we’re going to see… I
would call him an old friend.

PANEL 4:

EXT. Nightmarish London Street, night. Similar framing to
panel 3, but it’s a much younger Darrow - about 30 years
younger, his face all blues and greys in the weird night.
He’s yelling at someone off panel.

CAPTION (DARROW)
Though I’m sure he wouldn’t say the
same of ME.

DARROW: KYROS!

PAGE 8

PANEL 1:

EXT. Nightmarish London Street, night. Large panel.

Someone has taken a normal street and warped it into
something horrible. The brick terrace houses are distorted,
their tops jagged points, the city as a maze. FRANK BLAKEY
stands in the middle of the street, shadows stretching from
him in every direction, the cause of the twisted aura of
darkness. He’s an older man, late 50s but still stocky and
powerful. His grey hair is thinning under his flat cap,
crude tattoos cover his knuckles and arms. He’s obviously
been in a fight, one eye swollen, scrapes on his face, his
shirt torn. He’s holding KYROS ANDREOU at knife point, a
tall, lanky man about the same age as Darrow, dressed
similarly but in dark brown rather than charcoal, a
switchblade just grazing his throat. A short distance away
is Darrow, a pistol raised towards them, two dead bodies at
his feet, victims of Blakey’s aura.

CAPTION: 1977

PANEL 2:

Mid shot on Darrow. His eyes are glowing white, no pupils.
The first time we’ve seen him exhibit any actual powers.

DARROW
Let him GO, Frank

PANEL 3:

CU on Blakey and Andreou. Blakey is sweating, his teeth
gritted with the effort of resisting Darrow. Andreou looks
scared, a trickle of blood running down his neck from where
the point of the knife has dug in.

BLAKEY
Shut your gob you fucking CUNT. I’m
not one of your little PUPPETS. I
know what you REALLY are.

ANDREOU
Michael…

PAGE 9

PANEL 1:

CU on Darrow. His expression is even more grim, if that’s
possible, his glowing eyes open wide as he uses his
abilities.

PANEL 2:

CU of Andreou. His expression is suddenly blank, his eyes
going white as he’s affected by Darrow’s power.

PANEL 3:

Wide. Andreou suddenly throws himself sideways, blood
erupting from his neck in a dramatic spray as he drags
himself across the edge of the blade.. Blakey hasn’t even
had time to react.

PANEL 4:

Darrow opens fire on Blakey.

SFX: BLAM

PAGE 10

PANEL 1:

Wide. Blakey has begun to react, shadows coiling up in front
of him like water, an instinctual move that’s completely
ineffectual as Darrow’s bullet punches through them and hits
him in the shoulder.

PANEL 2:

Back to Darrow.

DARROW: DROP.

PANEL 3:

Long on Darrow and Blakey. Blakey is still standing, but
swaying slightly. Darrow still has his pistol raised,
pointing directly at him. Andreou lies on the ground
motionless.

PANEL 4:

Same as 3, but Blakey falls to the ground.

SFX: THUMP

PANEL 5:

Darrow stands in the middle of the street, the scene now a
normal London street at night, lit by orange streetlamps,
his gun lowered, a contemptuous look on his face.

DARROW
You have NO idea.

PAGE 11

PANEL 1:

EXT. Myddleton Road, Bounds Green, London. Present day.
Similar framing to Panel 5, Page 10, but Darrow is in the
middle of the (different) street because he’s crossing it,
Wace following behind.

PANEL 2:

Darrow and Wace have stopped outside a menswear shop that
looks like it hasn’t been open since sometime in the 80s.
Dusty, faded gloves, ties and jackets crowd the dingy window
displays, stained, greying curtains behind them hiding the
interior of the shop. A “closed” sign hangs in the doorway.

WACE
Doesn’t look like anyone’s…

PANEL 3:

Darrow ignores a slightly-shocked looking Wace, pushing open
the unlocked door and stepping into the shop.

PANEL 4:

INT. shop. The interior of the tiny shop is just as bad as
the exterior, ancient mannequins dressed in unfashionable
clothing, dusty and unloved. Darrow ignores all this, moving
purposefully towards the back of the dimly lit room, heading
for the faint illumination coming from windows somewhere in
another room at the rear of the building.

DACE:
…should we really be…

PANEL 5:

EXT. Backyard, day. Darrow pushes open the back door of the
house/shop, stepping out into the sunlight again after
walking through the building.

PAGE 12

PANEL 1:

EX. Backyard, day. Large panel. Andreou sits at a
wrought-iron outdoor table-and-chair set. He’s a tall, lanky
man about the same age as Darrow, dressed in a loose shirt
and khaki slacks. His hair is short and thin, but a long
beard frames his face, obscuring the ugly scar on his neck.
Large dark glasses cover his eyes - or rather the ruined
sockets where his eyes were. His hands rest on the top of a
cane. Behind him is his garden, a miserably small plot of
land like all North London back yards, but one that he’s
made into a tiny eden. The grass is neatly trimmed,
healthy-looking plants are everywhere, in hanging baskets,
in neat rows in the ground etc. In contrast the fences that
surround the small plot are high and mismatched. Crumbling
brickwork at the back, thin horizontal strips of wood at the
sides.

ANDREOU
Well Michael, what have you come to
take from me THIS time, hm? My
BALLS perhaps, to better make me
your TIRESIAS?

PANEL 2:

Darrow pulls out one of the chairs, about to sit down.

DARROW
Perhaps another time. You know why
I’m here, Kyros.

PANEL 3:

CU on Andreou.

ANDREOU
Of course I do. What surprises me
is that you came ALONE.

PAGE 13

PANEL 1:

Wace stands awkwardly behind Darrow, who has a tight smile
on his face, pleased that he’s about to have the upper hand
again.

DARROW
Kyros, I don’t beleive you’ve met
Mister Wace. Thomas Wace, this is
Kyros Andreou.

WACE
Hello.

PANEL 2:

Andreou recoils in horror, as if a ghost has spoken to him,
unable to sense Wace’s presense at all.

ANDREOU
WHERE… Why can’t I…

PANEL 3:

Back to Darrow and Wace, the latter looking distressed at
Andreou’s reaction but not sure what to do about it.

DARROW
Go into hysterics in your OWN time,
Kyros. I need ANSWERS.

PANEL 4:

Andreou pulls himself together with an effort, wiping a
handkerchief across his forehead.

ANDREOU
Yes, well…. Yes. Let’s go
somewhere where I can get a better
VIEW, shall we?

PAGE 14

PANEL 1:

EXT. Alexandra Palace, day. Wide, establishing shot taking
in the radio tower.

PANEL 2:

Another wide panel. We’re behind Darrow, Andreou and Wace as
they stand looking down at London from outside the palace
buildings, the city spread out in front of them. Clouds have
begun to gather but the sky is still bright.

ANDREOU
(italics, he’s quoting) Consult the
genius of the place in all;/That
tells the waters or to rise, or
fall;/Or helps th’ ambitious hill
the heav’ns to scale,/Or scoops in
circling theatres the vale.

ANDREOU
(normal font again) She’s a
somewhat MUCKY garden but I’m sure
you take my point.

DARROW
I would rather you ARRIVE at one.

PANEL 3:

Now looking towards the three, Alexandra Palace behind them.
Andreou is now wearing a coat as proof against the wind.

ANDREOU
What do you see down there,
mysterious Mister Wace?

WACE
Uh… buildings.. some trees…
um…

ANDREOU
- tsk - Michael? I know YOU can see
more than that.

PANEL 4:

CU, on Darrow’s profile, a frown creasing his features,
caught in an almost vunerable moment of concentration.

DARROW
There are… shadows on my city.

PANEL 5:

Andreou places his hand on Darrow’s shoulder.

ANDREOU:
You’re getting OLD, Michael. Let me
show you what I see.

PAGE 15

SPLASH PAGE

Similar to Page 14, panel 2, but Wace is missing and Darrow
and Andreou are silhouettes, K still standing with his hand
on Darrow’s shoulder. What was once the normal cityscape of
London is now a weird glowing double, triple, quadruple
exposure, buildings from several eras overlaid on each other
with no sense of scale. There’s fire and war and chaos as
well, all jumbled together like several cyanotypes all
mashed together.

PAGE 16

PANEL 1:

Darrow and Andreou stare at the eerie view, all colors
washed out by the weird light. K points out at the view with
his free hand.

DARROW
My GOD.

ANDREOU:
IMPRESSIVE, isn’t it? The
conjunction is quite advanced now.
People will be already slipping
through the CRACKS, never mind the
inevitable increase in ghosts,
black dogs and the like. Look, see
the hot spots? There, there and..
THERE. Those were your “shadows”

PANEL 2:

CU on Andreou, the lenses of his sunglasses reflecting the
weird glow.

ANDREOU
All your.. all OUR sacrifices last
time, it appears they weren’t
ENOUGH. This looks even WORSE, so I
hope you’ve got a damn good plan
rattling around in that icy BRAIN
of yours.

PANEL 3:

CU on Darrow, his expression unreadable, obviously thinking
about what Andreou’s shown him. None of this is much of a
surprise but it does force him to accellerate his plan.

DARROW
Hm.

PANEL 4:

We’re back to reality as Andreou takes his hand from
Darrow’s shoulder. Wace is wondering what’s going on, not
being privy to any of the visions, just the conversation
that accompanied it.

PANEL 5:

Close on Darrow.

DARROW
Where is EMILY, Kyros?

PAGE 17

PANEL 1:

Andreou smiles sadly at Darrow

ANDREOU
Ah, I SEE.

PANEL 2:

Andreou turns away from Darrow, staring back at the city.

ANDREOU
Impressive return wasn’t it? Like a
punch to the stomach.

ANDREOU
South… she’s near Blackheath,
Michael. Not for long, I would
imagine, she can be very evasive
when she wants to be. What will you
do if you don’t find her?

PANEL 3:

CU on Darrow, the same unreadable expression on his face. He
knows that Andreou is aware of his likely fate if Parfett
can’t be tracked down.

PANEL 4:

We’re back to Andreou.

ANDREOU
Yes, well. I shan’t make any long
term investments, shall I?

PAGE 18

PANEL 1:

Andreou, Wace and Darrow walk back up towards Alexandra
Palace and Darrow’s waiting car.

ANDREOU
I’ve had about as much of you as I
can stand for the moment, Michael.
Go and do what you feel you must. I
can find my own way home, it isn’t
far.

DARROW
I’ll be in touch.

PANEL 2:

Andreou watches the departing car, his hand on his neck,
rubbing the long scar that’s hidden by his beard.

PANEL 3:

CU on Andreou’s neck so we can see his thumb running along
the evil-looking scar.

PANEL 4:

Inside Darrow’s car. Darrow is speaking into his cellphone,
while Wace cranes his head back to catch a final glimpse of
Andreou through the back window.

DARROW
Hello Comissioner. Good, thank you,
and you? Listen, I have some
information about that terrorist
attack in Woolwich…

PAGE 19:

Montage, no dialogue. Pages 19 and 20 will mirror each
other. Page 19 will be Order, 20 will be Chaos. Panel 1 will
be long (page height), LHS of page, with panels 2-4 beside
it on the right, regular sized and taking up the rest of the
page

PANEL 1:

Ext. South London street, late afternoon. Two policemen are
asking passers by if they’ve seen Parfett, showing them a
b/w composite sketch.

PANEL 2:

CU, side view of a red marker making a circle on a map

PANEL 3:

CU of Darrow looking pensive, the back end of the marker
against his lips like a shh-ing finger.

PANEL 4:

Darrow is silhouetted against a wall-sized map of London.
Red circles dot the map in a strange, mandala-like pattern.

PAGE 20:

Layout mirrors 19, Panel 4 will be long (page height), RHS
of page, with panels 1-3 beside it on the left, regular
sized and taking up the rest of the page

PANEL 1:

Ext. Aldgate High Street, late afternoon. Shoppers are
shocked and frightened by the shadowy apparition of a grim
plague cart stacked high with bodies rolling slowly down the
street.

PANEL 2:

A man bursts into flames in his bathroom, screaming into the
mirror as he combusts

PANEL 3:

CU of one of the Sphinxes at the base of Cleopatra’s Needle
beside the Thames. Weird, glowing green tears run down its
cheeks.

PANEL 4:

Ext. Ruined London, corner of Charing Cross Road and Long
Acre. Outside Leicester Squre tube station entrance. P
stands looking up at the Undground symbol, which is half
hidden by unhealthy green moss. Around him the city is still
deserted and ruined, damp and partially overgrown.

PAGE 21

PANEL 1:

Wide. Andreou sits on a bench on the park just below
Alexandra Palace. It’s early evening now, soon getting dark,
the city lit up below. There’s not as many people around.

PANEL 2:

Almost exactly the same as panel 1.

ANDREOU
He didn’t know you were here, did
he?

PANEL 3:

The same as panels 1 and 2, but now Victory Ace is standing
behind Andreou, his arms crossed.

VICTORY ACE
Mister Darrow doesn’t hold my
LEASH, Mister Andreou. No matter
how much he’d like to THINK so.

PANEL 4:

We’re look looking back at Andreou and Victory Ace. Andreou
hasn’t bothered to turn around to look at VA, still looking
out at the city, his hands on his cane.

ANDREOU
Hm. Underestimating Michael is a
very good way to end up as a
CORPSE.

ANDREOU
I know why you’re HERE Ace, so I
would thank you not to
underestimate ME as well.

VICTORY ACE
Do you?

PANEL 5:

As panel 4, but Andreou has taken off his glasses to clean
them with his handkerchief, revealing his ruined eyesockets.

ANDREOU:
We are both sick of being his
PUPPET, are we not? I just hope you
are able to accept the
CONSEQUENCES.

PAGE 22:

PANEL 1:

Large Panel. A beam of white/green light shoots from Victory
Ace’s outstretched hand and strikes Andreou, who is reduced
to a glowing white silhouette as he’s erased from existance.
His dark glasses fall from his hands, miraculously
unscathed.

PANEL 2:

Victory Ace examines Andreou’s sunglasses, seemingly unmoved
by the fact he’s just disintegrated someone.

VICTORY ACE:
We’ll have to see.

.

.

PANEL 3:

Classic overhead shot of Victory Ace flying towards the
reader and up/away from the bench, Alexandra Palace and
London a fish-eye panorama beneath him.

PANEL 4:

Small. Andreou’s sunglasses sitting on the empty bench.

PAGE 23

PANEL 1:

Ext. South London Street. Evening. Wace stands on his
doorstep at the top of a small set of concrete stairs,
unlocking the door.

PANEL 2:

Small. CU of doorbell/plate at side of (now open) door. It’s
a list of the people that live in the 4 flats that the
building is divided into, with seperate doorbell buttons
beside each. The panel is centered on the listing for flat
2; THOMAS WACE. Just so we know he’s going home and not
breaking into someone else’s house.

PANEL 3:

We’re now inside the doorway, stairs leading to the upper
flats, a short hallway leading to the ground-floor
apartment. Wace is looking down at the mail that’s arrived
for him today, just bills as always. He hasn’t bothered to
turn on the light, so the room is dim, lit mainly from the
street outside.

PANEL 4:

Wace pushes open the door to his flat proper, the interior
brightly lit. He’s still looking down at his mail, so he
hasn’t noticed anything’s awry.

PARFETT
(from off-panel). Hello Mister
Wace…

PAGE 24:

Splash Page. Parfett stands in Wace’s flat, still wearing
her long beige coat but now wearing stylish but not flashy
modern clothes, her hair trimmed shorter than when we last
saw her. A WW2-era pistol is in her hands, pointed square at
Wace in a very businesslike fashion. Wace stands
openmouthed, envelopes falling from his hand.

PARFETT
…let’s have a little CHAT, shall
we?

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