Rapid City #33

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RAPID CITY #33

by Josh Dahl

[email protected]

Page 1 Where are they now

This page is six equally tall panels stretching

the width of the page.

Panel 1 Charge has just returned to his feet after being

smashed to the ground. He is looking at something

off-panel with shocked amusement.

Panel 2 Low angle shot of Icicle after having her right armcut off last issue. Her eyes are wide and her face is

slack and she is looking hard away from the remaining

stump. Her left hand is grasping at the stump. She

has some ice forming on her hand and just a bit on

the stump. She is trying, with little success, to

stop the flow of blood.

Panel 3 We see some of Icicle staggering in the deep

foreground. The main focus of the shot is Coil. He

smiles with pride as bloodied wires re-wrap

themselves around his arms and wrists. He is looking

at Icicle.

Panel 4 Icicle's right arm, which has been neatly cut off

half way through the bicep, laying in the snowy

grass. Blood is melting the snow. It is still wearing

Templar's ring.

Panel 5 Templar has turned back into the old hippie he wasoriginally. He looks shocked and angry.

Panel 6 Wide shot of the whole scene. The four of them arestill in the front yard of Icicle's former residence.

The rest are looking at Icicle as she staggers away

from the house. Her belongings are still in boxes

along the curb. The sky is a darkening gray.

Page 2 The pieces

Panel 1 Coil crouching and lifting Icicle's arm by the elbow.

Panel 2 Standing now, Coil grips the arm by the forearm,close to the elbow, and holds it so that he can look

at the ring on the finger.

COIL

This is it, huh? This little ring gave you all

that power.

Panel 3 The old hippie stepping angrily toward Coil and

reaching for the ring. Coil is easily holding the man

back with his free and and moving Icicle's arm out of

d City #33 by Josh Dahl joshdahl75@g

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remove the ring from Icicle's hand.

COIL

I know what to do with power.

Panel 3 The old hippie yelling at Coil from the ground.Behind him, Icicle is still approaching. Ice armor is

forming along her remaining arm and on her head.

OLD HIPPIE

That power will destroy you!

ICICLE

Give me back my arm!

Panel 4 Wider shot showing Coil throwing the arm. The arm ishitting one of the boxes of Icicle's stuff.

COIL

How about I put it with the rest of your garbage.

Panel 5 Very low angle shot from in the street looking backtoward Icicle. In the foreground is the arm laying in

the street. Behind it, we can see that its impact

tipped the box of stuff into the street. The box was

mostly empty. Behind the box, we can see Icicle

desperately lunging for the limb.

Panel 6 Charge standing next to Coil. They are both watching

what is going on in the street. Charge looks a little

worried. Coil is smug.

CHARGE

Come on, man. Enough playin' around. We gotta wrapup this Icicle situation.

COIL

No, I think it'll be ok.

Panel 7 Similar to panel 5, but now we see Icicle over the

arm and about to pick it up with her left arm, which

is now mostly covered in spiky ice-armor. If we are

observant, we will notice the harsh shadows cast by

oncoming headlights (even though it is only early

evening).

Page 4 Splash page.

Panel 1 The entire page. A mini-van smashes into Icicle. It

is going less than thirty mph, so it is not

catastrophic, but we can see her going limp with the

impact and all of her ice armor shattering around

her.

Panel 2 Inset across the bottom of the page, a close shot

Icicle landing in the street and hitting her head

hard on the ground. Her eyes are open and rolling


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back, her face is slack.

Page 5 Aftermath

Panel 1 Stretching across the top of the page. All black.

Panel 2 Blurs and spots of light. Word balloons just float

here and there. The balloons and words can also blur

in and out.

SOMEONE

Is she ok?

SOMEONE

Her arm! Look at her arm!

SOMEONE

Call... Someone call...

Panel 3 A clear horizon line, but jacked at a 45 degree

angle. The pavement stretches toward infinity. There

are tracers of light wiggling in from the edges.

SOMEONE

This is what you choose.

SOMEONE

...issue damage. What is all...

Panel 4 Icicle's POV as she is held in the arms of the flying

superhero, Vector. He is smiling down at her.

VECTOR

Hey! There's that pretty smile! Stay with me now,ok?

VECTOR

What's your name?

Panel 5 Piledriver, wrapped partially in wire, reaching out

from darkness.

PILEDRIVER

Icicle.

Panel 6 Similar shot to panel 4, but everything is much

darker.

VECTOR

Almost there. You going to be ok.

Page 6 Hospitalized.

Panel 1 A large shot of a hospital room with one bed. Icicleis in the bed, hooked up to am IV drip. Near the foot

of the bed, Hartborn is sitting and reading a book.

All of this is slightly obscured as though there were


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super bright lights in the room.

Caption A room...

Panel 2 Tight on Icicle's eyes. They are well lit, and barely

open.

Caption In a hospital. This is a hospital bed.

Panel 3 Icicle peering weakly, but suspiciously, at the door.Hartborn is looking up from his book, but he is not

the main focus of this panel.

Caption Is this where I was going? It was supposed to

be...

Panel 4 Icicle on one side of the panel, Hartborn on the

other. She is half sitting up and trying to look at

him. He leaning forward in his chair.

Caption He's a cop. He was at a diner.

HARTBORN

You're awake. Do you want the nurse?

Caption I was hungry there and he made me mad.

Caption No, don't come here.

Panel 5 Icicle, irritated with the thin blanket, is pulling

it off. We can clearly see the bandaged stump of her

arm, though she has not noticed it yet.

Caption Why was I mad at him?

Caption Go back.

Panel 6 Hartborn standing up near his chair

Caption He's here because of Coil.

HARTBORN

I'll let the doctor know you're awake. Then you

and me are gonna have a conversation.

Panel 7 Icicle looking down at her stump.

Caption We both are.

Page 7 Coil's call.

Panel 1 Coil in a large, cement-floored, storage rooms. He is

surrounded by unevenly stacked boxes of computers and

other stolen goods. There is a lot of empty space on

the floor. He is holding up the ring and considering

it.

Panel 2 Closer on Coil. He is now using some of the thinwires that are wrapping his hand to hold the ring a


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few inches above his open palm. He is looking like he

is almost mad at it.

Panel 3 Closer still on Coil. He is losing it just slightly.He has both fists clenched (one presumably holding

the ring) up near his face, which is contorted in

silent rage. Hector's word balloon comes from off

panel. It is to the far right and bottom of the page.

HECTOR

Coil

Panel 4 Hector walking through a door into the room. He is

carrying a device bigger than a phone but smaller

than your average tablet. Coil is looking over at him

with surprise.

COIL

What is it?

HECTOR

There's a call you need to take.

Panel 5 Hector stepping toward Coil, he is pointing the

screen of the device toward an open patch of ground.

All of Shard's speech comes from the device.

COIL

What is it?

HECTOR

Is this good?

KING SHARDThat will do just fine.

Panel 6 Hector standing right in front of Coil,, he is

holding out the device, Coil is reaching for it.

HECTOR

Here. You need to take this.

Panel 7 Small shot from Coil's point of view. He is lookingat an image of King Shard on the screen. Behind the

screen image, Hector is standing there. We can just

barely see that he is moving lightning fast andattacking Coil.

KING SHARD

Go ahead, Hector.

Page 8 On the floor.

Panel 1 Tight shot of Hector's booted foot smashing into

Coil's shin.

Panel 2 Tight shot of Hector's fist smashing into Coil's


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stomach.

Panel 3 Low angle shot looking up at Coil, in the extreme

foreground, being forced to the ground by Hector.

Hector is using a grip on Coil's arm and shoulder to

guide him quickly and painfully to the floor.

COIL

Errr.

HECTOR

Part of the job, Coil.

Panel 4 Similar to panel 3. Hector is grabbing Coil's hand,which still holds the device, and turning it toward

Coil's face. The wires on Coil's arms, hands, and

neck are snaking toward Hector.

COIL

You're dead. Dead.

HECTOR

Just take the call.

KING SHARD

Coil, we have to talk.

Panel 5 Shot of the device in Coil's hand. Shard is on the

screen.

KING SHARD

You'll ignore what Hector did just now. I told him

to get your attention this way.

KING SHARD

When you're laying on the ground, I know you're

listening. Don't get up.

KING SHARD

Coil, this report that I recently received has

shaken my confidence in your ability to manage an

operation the size of Rapid City.

Panel 6 Coil laying on the ground and sneering at the screen.

COILWhat report?

KING SHARD

It is no secret that your lieutenants, Charge and

Hector, work for me. They are exactly as loyal to

you as I tell them to be. So, please, don't act

surprised to learn that they are reporting on you.

KING SHARD

Now, let me tell you why this report was so


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distressing.

Page 9 The Syndicate

Panel 1 Wide shot looking at Coil laying on the ground

holding the device. Hector stands nearby, at ease.

KING SHARD

The Syndicate operates on respect, fear, and

intimidation. Our crews are not composed of

anonymous foot-soldiers who are content to earn

their way through the ranks.

KING SHARD

No, every single person in our outfit is a

posturing ego-maniac who thoroughly believes that

he should be in the spotlight. That is the nature

of our business.

KING SHARD

We only manage to thrive under these conditions

due to to our judicious application of respect,

fear, and intimidation.

Panel 2 Looking over Coil's shoulder at Shard talking in thescreen.

KING SHARD

Try to imagine my... dismay when I heard about

your earlier altercation in which you seem to have

thrown these tools aside.

COIL

I sent a clear message.

KING SHARD

Your message was clear, Coil, but it wasn't what

you thought it was.

Panel 3 Closer on Shard as he gets more angry.

KING SHARD

The outcome wasn't the message, the fight was the

message. Syndicate bosses don't brawl in the

streets with their underlings.

Panel 4 Shot of Hector looking calmly down at the situation

on the floor.

KING SHARD

You destroy their illusion of you when you step

into their world. As word spreads of this

incident...

KING SHARD

...every single one of your men will consider, if

just for an instant, how he would fare against


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you. And just like that, fear erodes and gives way

to ambition.

Panel 5 Tight on Coil's face. He is restrained rage.

KING SHARD

A true leader, one who is respected and feared,

can turn his back on a room full of daggers.

Panel 6 Coil, still holding the device is starting to raiseup with the other hand. Sort of a half push-up.

KING SHARD

You represent The Syndicate now, and you represent

me. Your weaknesses will become our weaknesses.

And that is the Crux of it.

KING SHARD

Do whatever you have to do, Coil, to keep this

from becoming my problem. My solutions are quick

and simple.

Panel 7 Coil now standing, but still crouched.

KING SHARD

Take swift action, word is already spreading.

Page 10 At the hospital

Panel 1 Wide shot of the hospital room. Hartborn sitting, but

leaning forward to talk. Icicle is ignoring him and

touching her bandaged arm-stump.

HARTBORNLooks rough. The doctor said that you would still

be a bit groggy from the pain meds they've got you

on. That's not ideal, but I don't have time to sit

around while you recuperate.

HARTBORN

You can understand what is going on here, right?

You recognize me?

HARTBORN

My name is Lester Hartborn, I'm a special

investigator with the MRA.

HARTBORN

We spoke once before, over breakfast. Do you

remember?

ICICLE

Yes. I know who you are. Where am I?

Panel 2 Close on Icicle considering the missing arm. She

looks worried and confused. Hartborn's balloon comes

from off panel.


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HARTBORN

You're at Bronson general. You've been unconscious

for a few hours. You lost a lot of blood along

with the arm

ICICLE

Where is it?

Panel 3 Wider shot, Hartborn standing and raising a calminghand. Icicle, agitated, is raising her voice.

HARTBORN

There was nothing they could do. It was laying in

the street for a while before anyone found it. And

by the time they did, there was just too much

damage.

ICICLE

Where is it?

HARTBORNIt's medical waste now. It'll be incinerated.

Panel 4 Close on Icicle in a desperate panic.

ICICLE

It's my hand. They can't take my hand.

Panel 5 Hartborn now standing and looking very stable

HARTBORN

The doctors didn't take your arm. Coil did. These

people are helping you survive the damage that man

did. You get me?

ICICLE

What do you want?

Panel 6 Tight on Hartborn looking serious.

HARTBORN

Coil.

Panel 7 Icicle looking afraid and alone in her hospital bed.

ICICLEI can't help you. I don't know anything.

Page 11 What do you know?

Panel 1 Hartborn taking a step toward Icicle and gesturing

toward her. She is raising her stump and nodding

toward it.

HARTBORN

The man took your arm off. You must know

something. You know what makes him mad.


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ICICLE

This? This happened because I walked out of a room

without his permission. What do you think The

Syndicate will do to me if I talk to you? Get out

of here.

Panel 2 Shot of Hartborn from roughly Icicle's point of view.He is partially framed by the door behind him.

HARTBORN

I'll be going soon enough. We both will. So let me

explain the situation you're in right now. Right

out side this door are two armored agents waiting

to take you to a federal facility where you will

be charged and prosecuted for your crimes.

Panel 3 Icicle and Hartborn. She is raising her voicesnottily. He is stepping toward her and raising his

voice back at her. He is gesturing toward the door.

ICICLE

What crimes? Getting my arm torn off.

HARTBORN

Even if they've got nothing on you, they can

shuffle paper, and schedule hearings, and you

won't see daylight for years. That's happening.

That's right outside the door.

HARTBORN

And then, of course, there's The Syndicate. But

you already know about them.

Panel 4 Close on Hartborn talking in a very serious and eventone.

HARTBORN

I'm the only one that's going to talk to you. I'm

the only one interested in what you know. You walk

out that door now and you're leaving your only

chip on the table.

Panel 5 Hartborn at the bedside looking serious. Icicle

looking scared.

HARTBORNI had to pull some strings to get these few

minutes with you, Icicle. Let's not waste them.

ICICLE

You can't do anything for me. You can't protect

me.

Panel 6 From out in the hall. Hartborn opening the door tothe hospital room. The armored federal guards who are

flanking the door are turning to look at him.


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Another shot in the hallway. In the foreground,

Andrew is sitting in a chair, he had been reading a

magazine, but is lowering it to look up at Hartborn.

In the background, Hartborn is standing in the open

door, flanked by the two guards.

HARTBORN

Andrew, she wants to talk to you.

Page 12 Coil stews.

Panel 1 Coil stomping angrily down a hallway in his officebuilding. He is accompanied by Hector, who is a few

steps behind him.

COIL

Who's here? In the building, right now?

HECTOR

Not sure. Charge, Crimson Ghost, some of those

girls down from G.R. Monster's probably still

here, too.

COIL

Not enough.

Panel 2 The two of them still walking, closer on their faces.Coil is leering out the corner of his eye at Hector.

Hector's balloon is at the far right, showing passage

of time.

HECTOR

What's the plan?

Panel 3 Coil turning a leaning aggressively toward Hector.

Hector is calmly stepping back.

COIL

You got some kind of problem here?

HECTOR

Not me.

COIL

Then that attitude better--

Panel 4 Hector looking icily at Coil.

HECTOR

Coil. I'm here to get things done. That's my job.

When Shard needed you on the phone, I got that

done. And that's all it was, a job.

Panel 5 Closer on Hector still looking icy.

HECTOR

If you want to read into it, and take that


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personally, then do it. But right now, my job is

to assist you in whatever it is you're planning.

And your attitude is preventing me from doing

that.

Panel 6 Coil and Hector face to face. Coil thinking over thisnew info. Hector just watching him do that.

COILYeah?

HECTOR

That's right.

Panel 7 Coil walking off down the hall and speaking to Hector

without looking at him.

COIL

Ok, then. Get more guys here. Now.

Page 13 Andrew in the room.

Be sure that the hospital panels and the villain

panels each have their own distinct lighting, etc.

There must be no confusion.

Panel 1 Shot on Andrew's feet as he stands next to Icicle's

bed. All that needs to be clear is that these are

fairly nice shoes on a tile floor. Obviously, his

words come from off panel.

ANDREW

You're not bad, are ya? I used to think no one was

bad.

ANDREW

And, you know, everyone was just doing the best

they could.

Panel 2 Tight shot on Andrew's smiling mouth. No context for

where he might be.

ANDREW

That thinking let me get away with... well, some

stuff. I would just do whatever I wanted and get

away with it. Then I'd convince myself that Iwasn't really bad.

Panel 3 Wider shot showing Andrew standing at Icicle'sbedside. She is watching him, worried. He is just

talking.

ANDREW

You know how that works, right?

ANDREW

Anyway, that attitude really helped me when I


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became an agent. I worked mostly with protected

informants.

Panel 4 Andrew walking over to the chair where Hartborn wassitting and gesturing toward the closed door.

ANDREW

That's what Hartborn wants me to tell you about,

incidentally. If you come in, you work with us, Ican pull some strings. That's what I do. You won't

have to worry.

Panel 5 In the "rec room" at Coil's hideout. In the

foreground, Charge is chatting up the three "girls

from G.R.", Slate, Trauma, and Skyline. Hector is in

the doorway behind them, but only Slate has noticed

him. Andrew's words appear as a caption box.

ANDREW

Anyway, I could work so closely with the bad guys

because I convinced myself that they weren't

really bad. They were just being how life made

them.

Panel 6 Andrew dragging the chair over to the bedside.

ANDREW

The real upside, though, was the door that opened

for me.

Page 14 The door

Panel 1 At Coil's hideout, Claw Hammer and Crimson Ghost are

in the Ghost is distractedly pointing down the hall.Hammer is staring daggers of hate at him. Andrew;s

words appear as captions.

ANDREW

No matter what I did, so long as it wasn't worse

than what my snitches had done...

ANDREW

I couldn't be bad. I knew they weren't truly bad,

and they were worse than me.

Panel 2 Shot from the side of the bed opposite Andrew. Icicleis looking at him, worried. He is looking at her,

solemn.

ICICLE

What are you talking about?

ANDREW

Bad guys.

ANDREW

Coil.


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Shot of Icicle cradling her stump.

ANDREW

He's not like the others I've worked with. They

were all just selfish, or frustrated, or greedy...

stuff I could relate to. But not Coil.

Panel 4 Shot of some cotton balls and stuff on a dresser,

Icicle and Andrew are in the background.

ANDREW

When he first hit my case log, I figured some

stuff out about him and tried to run a game on

him. A little run-of-the-mill extortion. He

flipped it on me without missing a beat.

Panel 5 A panel larger than most of these have been. Icicleleaning slightly toward Andrew. She is sick of this

story.

ICICLE

Stop. Why are you telling me this?

ANDREW

So you'll believe me when I tell you that that man

is evil and any action you take against him must

be good.

ICICLE

Evil? Because he tricked you? You don't know what

you're talking about.

Panel 6 Andrew looking serious.

ANDREW

No, Evil because of what he did once he had me.

Page 15 Hartborn talks to the guards

Panel 1 Hartborn stands in the hall with the two armored

guards. Hartborn and the captain of the guards look

at each other in silence. There is a nurse pushing a

cart of supplies right in front of them.

Panel 2 Hartborn turning to watch the nurse walk away.

Panel 3 Similar to panel 1. The captain looks irritated.

CAPTAIN

How much longer is your boy going to be in there?

HARTBORN

I can't say, Captain. Obviously, I'm not in there.

HARTBORN

But I promise you, we want this wrapped up just as

much as you do.


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The Captain looking up at Hartborn, who is the taller

of the two.

CAPTAIN

All due respect, Inspector Hartborn, I don't think

you do. My men and I have a wanted criminal in

custody. We bring her in right now, and we all go

home tonight knowing that we did good today.

CAPTAIN

After that, you want to know something from her?

Just go see her in the lock-up.

HARTBORN

You have to know it's not that simple.

Panel 5 A large shot of the Captain, ideally running down the

entire right side of the page as he talks.

CAPTAIN

I appreciate that you are running an openinvestigation, here. I really do. But you have to

understand our situation.

CAPTAIN

In a public place like this security is an

illusion. The moment we hit our security blanket

is as tight as it will ever be. Every second after

that, the integrity of the situation erodes.

CAPTAIN

That nurse might know better than to mention us to

anyone, but the next one might not. And then itspreads exponentially. Every interaction she has

after that is another chance for her to let some

piece of information slip.

CAPTAIN

Multiply the number of people who are aware of our

presence, by the number of people they encounter

while we're here.

CAPTAIN

Loose lips will sink this ship, Inspector. I

promise you that.

Panel 6 inter cut talking about the situation.

Panel 7 Guard captain gets a call from the desk

DESK

She has a visitor. Her husband is here.

HARTBORN

That's them. They know she's here.


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CAPTAIN

Then everything that happens now is your fault.

Page 16 What he did.

Panel 1 Overhead shot of Icicle and Andrew talking.

ANDREW

Back before The Syndicate solidified, Coil was a

small-timer out on the west coast, using a few

different names.

Panel 2 Outside the villain hideout, Arachnoid andHeartattack sneak across the rooftop. Andrew's speech

is a caption.

ANDREW

Then he went away for a while and re-surfaced on

the MRA's books as an informant. I don't know how

that happened.

ANDREWBut when the file hit my desk, he had been placed

here in the Rapid City hero community.

Panel 3 In the hideout, in Coil's office. It is pretty darkand there are a ton of wires snaking out from all

over and wrapping themselves around his arms, chest,

and neck. Andrew's words appear in captions.

ANDREW

Did you know that? For a while he was working as

one of the good guys.

ANDREW

He never did much, as far as helping people. I

doubt he did any good at all. But he was able to

move in the right circles.

Panel 4 Coil standing in that darkened office. Alone with his

wires.

ANDREW

He's got no humanity...

Panel 5 Andrew talking to Icicle.

ANDREW

...you know this, so he is actually very good at

that kind of undercover work. Usually an operative

has to submerge his own identity to pass as

something else. Coil, though, has nothing to

submerge.

Panel 6 Close on Andrew, he is looking frustrated now.

ANDREW


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You understand me? It doesn't matter. The point

is, he started to meet all of these people as he

was feeding us information on them.

ANDREW

To him, these heroes were just stupid kids that he

could mess with. But to a lot of them he seemed

like the cool older guy.

Panel 7 Shot of Icicle now interested in where this story is

going.

ANDREW

Must have anyway, because this one girl... a

superhero... she fell for the image he was

projecting.

Page 17 Hourglass.

Panel 1 Andrew looking down, looking dark.

ANDREWHer name was Hourglass. I've read her file dozens

of times now. She was a sweet kid. Looking for

adventure. You know how young girls can be.

Panel 2 Icicle watching Andrew tell his story to the floor.

ANDREW

They fall in love, it makes them dumb. She

probably saw his emptiness and figured she could

get him to open up. Maybe that's how her dad was.

Who knows? But she started getting close to him.

Panel 3 Tight on Andrew, wide eyed as he remembers what

happened.

ANDREW

And he let her. Until, I don't know, maybe she got

too close. Maybe she saw what he really was. And,

just like that, he was done with her.

Panel 4 Andrew now looking up and speaking straight toIcicle. He is resolutely telling a hard truth. She is

a little shocked.

ANDREW

He used me. He used my connections. And he hired a

psychopath to murder the girl. She was just a kid,

younger than you, having fun. And he killed her.

For what?

ICICLE

I'm sorry.

Panel 5 Andrew standing up from his chair.


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ANDREW

Don't be. Not for me. I played my part in killing

that girl. I'm bad. I know I am. But I'm not like

him.

Page 18 Bad guys roll out.

Panel 1 This page is all wide panels stretching across the

page. First is a flight of villainous silhouettestaking to the skies.

Panel 2 A crew of menacing looking bad guys in the back of a

panel-van. Claw-Hammer, also inside is lowering the

door.

Panel 3 A crew of monstrous looking bad guys creeping through

a dark alley.

Panel 4 Charge pulling his pick-up truck out of the hide-out,

followed by that panel van. Coil is riding shot gun.

Panel 5 Skyline, a speedster, is running through the streets.She is keeping pace with three of the Red Alert

Motos.

Panel 6 Crimson Ghost, high above, watching these villains

move out.

Page 19 The call in the hall

Panel 1 Wide shot of Hartborn and the two guards standing in

the hall outside Icicle's room. The other guard is

touching his earpiece.

HARTBORN

Please understand, Captain, that depending on the

outcome of this conversation, we may need to take

Icicle into protective custody here.

CAPTAIN

Are you gone? This is a hospital. That's simply

not possible.

Panel 2 Hartborn smiling slightly to defuse the situation.

Behind him, the other guard is signaling to get the

captain's attention.

HARTBORN

Of course not, I meant to secure her locally

rather than federally.

GUARD

Sir, it's the shift supervisor from the ER.

Panel 3 The three of them. The Captain looks irritated andHartborn looks curious.


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CAPTAIN

What reason could he possibly have for contacting

us?

GUARD

He wants to know what he should tell her husband?

He's looking for her.

HARTBORNWho's husband?

Panel 4 Hartborn is stunned by his realization. The Captain

is angry.

CAPTAIN

You would think the man running the ER would know

what does and does not qualify as an emergency.

HARTBORN

Hang up. She doesn't have a husband.

Panel 5 The captain now angry and in Hartborn's face.

CAPTAIN

What did you just say?

HARTBORN

She's not married. Someone just found out where

she is.

CAPTAIN

Whatever happens now is all on your head.

Panel 6 Hartborn reluctantly taking his revolver from itsshoulder holster.

Page 20 The Gray

Panel 1 Wide shot of Andrew standing in the hospital room,

pointing to an imagined line on the floor.

ANDREW

Maybe there's a gray area between good and bad.

But not between good and evil. Coil's evil.

ICICLEI know.

Panel 2 Andrew stepping closer to Icicle.

ANDREW

That means whatever we do to him... hurting him,

arresting him, even killing him... must be the

right thing.

Panel 3 Andrew even closer, looking intense.


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ANDREW

And whatever else happens, I'm not going to stop

you from doing the right thing. You understand?

Panel 4 The guard and the captain coming into Icicle's room

suddenly. Hartborn is following them.

Panel 5 The guards flank the door while Hartborn grabs a

wheelchair from the wall.

ANDREW

What's going on?

CAPTAIN

Visiting hours are over people. Time to move.

Page 21 Splash 1

Panel 1 Full page shot in the hospital hall way. The smallgroup moves quickly along. The guard leads the way,

followed by Andrew who has drawn his pistol, Hartborn

pushing Icicle in a wheel-chair, and the captainbringing up the rear.

CAPTAIN

This could be nothing, but there's no way I'm

letting this situation slide any further out of

control.

CAPTAIN

We are taking the prisoner into custody

immediately.

Panel 2 Small inset panel of Icicle looking frightened atthis prospect.

Page 22 It's not nothing.

Panel 1 Full page panel. The people in the hospital'semergency room scattering as Charge's truck smashes

through a wall of windows. Charge and Coil are

visible in the truck, absolutely thrilled.

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Rapid City #33