Arcade

It's really no choice at all.  Her guts says "Screamer".

Alex leaps and SMASHES into the mirror at full speed.  The world is filled
with SHATTERING GLASS and a shower of infinite reflections and then we...

        CUT TO:

EXT.  LEVEL SEVEN, PIER -- DAY

The sound of SHATTERING GLASS carried through as Alex EXPLODES out of the
sky.  And it's the sky itself that seems to be shattering...

Title reads "LEVEL SEVEN -- SEA OF DARKNESS"

ALEX

continues her fall.  She lands hard.  No blue desert sand to cushion her
here.  It takes her a moment to rise...

Alex is on a slat-board pier extending out into a sea of black water.  The
shore is completely desolate with the exception of the pier.  Storms
clouds have gathered above, and if you've seen a storm blowing in on the
open sea, you know what it looks like...

...the and of the world.  A strange and scary yellow/green sky presses
down on us.  It's a hurricane sky.  The calm before the storm.

ON THE HORIZON,

TWO CITIES can be seen.  Techno-cityscapes, angular and metallic-looking,
towers jutting up from the sea like knives.

AT THE END OF THE PIERS

are two boats.  Standing in them are two pale-faced, cloaked FIGURES.
Like Charon, the boatman on the river Styx.

Somewhere off in the distance, the RINGING can be distinctly heard now.
But Alex is preoccupied now.  As she moves down the pier, recognition
dawns on her.

It's Laurie and Stilts.  They are dressed completely in black, hair
slicked back and eyes empty.  White-faced Gothic harlequins.  Each is
holding a wooden staff, staring into space.

    ALEX
  Guys!  Oh my God...

Alex rushes forward, excited, but as she sees their faces excitement
fades.  A chill wind picks up and the sea laps at the pier like a
metronome, lulling the world into stillness.

    ALEX
   (unsure)
  Laurie?  Stilts?

Neither of them acknowledges Alex with their eyes.

    STILTS
   (like ARCADE)
  You may ask one of us a question.
  One tells the truth, and the other lies.
  Who you ask, remains your discretion.
  But if the answer is wrong,
  the questioner dies.

Laurie motions to the techno-cities behind her.

    LAURIE
   (like ARCADE)
  One of these cities, is the place you seek.
  The Teller of Truths will take you there.
  But the City of Lies, is dark and bleak.
  And death is certain if you enter, beware.

    STILTS
  I am The Liar.  Where should I take you?

    LAURIE
  I am the Truth Teller.  Where should I take
  you?

Alex stares at them a moment, utterly confused.  The sky above darkens,
and the wind picks up.  She looks to the horizon, from one city to
another, then back at her friends.

    ALEX
   (horrified)
  What did he do to you?

    LAURIE
  Is that your question?

    ALEX
   (realizing)
  Wait!  No!  That's not it!

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!  Alex doesn't even need to look at her wrist display
anymore.  She begins to pace on the end of the pier, nervously glancing at
the horizon.  And yes, there's the FLASH followed by the SHRIEK/SONIC
BOOM.

    ALEX
   (to herself)
  Think!  I want to go to the City of Truth,
  and the Truth Teller is from there...but
  which one is which?  The liar...think!

    LAURIE
  You have no time.  What is your question?

    ALEX
   (snapping back)
  I'm thinking!

    LAURIE
  You have no time.

THE SCREAMER

is visible now, arms opening to engulf Alex.  Talk about pressure.

    ALEX
   (she stops pacing)
  The liar...Truth Teller...liar...liar...

Alex rushes over to Stilts.

    ALEX
  Liar.  Did you come from the city on the
  left, or the city on the right?

    STILTS
   (pointing)
  I came from the city on the left.

    ALEX
   (grins)
  But you always lie, so you didn't come from
  there.  That means the city on the left must
  be the City of Truth.

THE SCREAMER

has reached the pier now, rocketing over the wooden slats and shaking the
entire structure...

Alex turns to Laurie.

    ALEX
   (quickly)
  Take me to the city on the left!

Laurie nods and steps aside, making room for Alex to climb into the boat.
She does and...

THE SCREAMER

dissipates just before it reaches Alex.  It turns into mist and vanishes,
the HOWL lingering as an echo long after the Screamer itself has gone.

At once, the boat begins to glide through the water, away from the pier.
Alex gets a last glimpse of Stilts standing in his boat, diminishing as
Alex and Laurie move away from him.  He looks like the loneliest person in
the world.

"LEVEL EIGHT -- CITY OF TRUTH"

EXT. LEVEL SEVEN, OPEN SEA -- LATER

As Alex and Laurie near the city, its features become more apparent.  It
is truly a Necropolis, black and angular. It's a shadow on the sunset
horizon, empty of all life and looming above them.

Just then, Alex hears a tiny VOICE.

    VOICE
   (weak)
  Help...help me...

A SMALL FIGURE

bobs in the water about fifty yards in front of them.  It waves it's hands
frantically, sinking below the water's surface, then rising once again.
It's a little BOY.

Alex's boat is going to pass right by the boy.  She grabs hold of the
gunwale and reaches out for him...

    ALEX
  Grab my hand!

Their hands lock and Alex YANKS the boy out of the water as the boat
cruises by.

THE BOY

can't be more than seven or eight.  Small and frail-looking, he shivers in
her arms.

    BOY
   (terrified)
  Where are we?

Just then the boat comes to a CRASHING stop, slamming into the black rocks
which the city rests on.  Alex and the boy are violently pitched forward
and out of the boat.

They land roughly on a beach of black gravel.  Alex turns.

LAURIE

stands in the boat.  In an instant, night has fallen.  She is a silhouette
in the moonlight.

    LAURIE
   (in a voice like Death)
  The City of Truth.

And Laurie literally fades before their eyes.  In her place, is a small
golden key.

Alex snatches up the key.  Alex turns back to the boy and...

INT. LEVEL EIGHT, CONCRETE WASTELAND -- NIGHT

...Alex and the boy are now standing on the top of a concrete incline.  It
extends downward into a system of tunnels and viaducts.  The RINGING
starts immediately, followed by the FLASH on the horizon.  Time's already
up. The little boy reaches for Alex's hand, frightened.

    ALEX
  How did you get here?  Did you play the
  game?!

    BOY
  Yes...

    ALEX
  Thought so.

Alex removes pulls her Thrasher board from her back and drops it on the
lip of the incline.  There's a FLASH and the board has changes into a
motorcycle.  A sleek black one.