4. A SHORTCUT TO GUTBOMBS.
{Kurt and Kitty make their way through the countryside surrounding Bayville. Kitty suddenly halts halfway through a field.}
KITTY: Like, this is it.
KURT: This is vhat?
KITTY: If I take, like, one more step, then it'll be, like, the furthest away from home that I've ever been.
KURT: Come on, Kitty. Remember what Uncle Forge used to say. "It's a dangerous business, Kurt, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."
{The two young mutants continue on.
Scene shifts briefly to a hill overlooking Bayville. One of the black-clad horsemen is atop the hill, gazing down at the town.
Scene shifts next to Magneto's castle. As Xavier wheels his way up the ramp leading to the front door, Magneto is standing just outside the door, currently wearing civilian clothes (a conservative-looking suit).}
MAGNETO: Smoke rises from Mount Gloom. The hour grows late and Professor Charles Xavier comes here seeking my counsel. For that is why you have come, is it not, my old friend?
XAVIER: It is, Eric.
{Xavier and Magneto are now in the wooded gardens surrounding Magneto's castle, talking.}
MAGNETO: You are certain of this?
XAVIER: Beyond any doubt.
MAGNETO: The Ring of Power has been found.
XAVIER: All this time it was in Bayville, under my very nose.
MAGNETO: But you did not realize it until now.
XAVIER: Yet we still have time. Time enough to counter Apocalypse if we act quickly.
MAGNETO: Time? What time do you think we have?
{Xavier and Magneto are now in Magneto's study. Magneto's familiar helmet rests on his desk, at his elbow.}
MAGNETO: Apocalypse has regained much of his former strength. He cannot leave his castle as yet, but his gaze penetrates everything. You have seen what I speak of, Charles.
XAVIER: The eyes of Apocalypse.
MAGNETO: He is gathering all evil to him. Very soon he will summon an army great enough to launch an assault upon Marvel-earth.
XAVIER: You know this? How?
MAGNETO: I have seen it.
{He shows Xavier a small dark orb resting on a pedestal in one corner of the room.}
XAVIER: A Seeing-stone is a dangerous tool, Eric.
MAGNETO: Why? Why should we fear to use it, Charles?
XAVIER: The lost Seeing-stones are not all accounted for. We do not know who else may be watching!
{He hurriedly places a cloth over the Seeing-stone, covering it. There is a brief glimpse of Apocalypse's eyes flashing in the darkness.}
MAGNETO: The hour is later than you think. Apocalypse's forces are already moving. His Horsemen have left his domain.
XAVIER: The Four!
MAGNETO: They now take the form of riders in black. They are making their way even now towards Bayville, to recover the Ring, and to kill the one who bears it.
XAVIER (alarmed): Kurt!
{He wheels towards the door, but Magneto gestures towards it. The door is made of iron and steel, and so obeys his magnetic summons and slams shut before Xavier can reach it.
Even more alarmed now, Xavier attempts to reach the opposite door, but Magneto does the same thing, trapping him in the room.}
XAVIER: Eric, what are you doing?
MAGNETO: Why should we continue to help the very humans who fear and persecute us, Charles? They would gladly see us all dead or incarcerated; they will not share this world with us. But if Apocalypse were to triumph, then those same humans will be no longer in any position to endanger us. Their power will be broken, and this world will be ours at last.
XAVIER: You cannot mean this, Eric! Apocalypse is a greater danger to us than the humans are! His triumph would mean slavery for mutants as well as for humans!
MAGNETO: That is true. However, if one of us were to possess the Great Ring, we could use it to check Apocalypse and defeat him, once he has served his usefulness in ridding us of our other enemies. Don't be a fool, Charles. Tell me where the Ring is now.
XAVIER: No, Eric. That is the one thing that I cannot do.
MAGNETO (with a sigh): I gave you the chance of aiding me willingly, Charles. But since you have refused it....
{He gestures towards Xavier's wheelchair, which skeeters backwards, out of control. Xavier attempts a psychic blast at Magneto, but the master of magnetism has already donned his helmet which protects him from Xavier. Xavier is helplessly borne away, now upwards towards the highest point of Magneto's castle.}
XAVIER: When am I going to learn to switch to a plastic wheelchair?
{Back in the Bayville area, Kitty emerges from a cornfield. She looks around frantically, having noticed that Kurt's no longer in sight.}
KITTY: Kurt? Kurt? Like, where are you?
KURT (joining her): I'm right here, Kitty.
KITTY: Thank goodness! I mean, I thought that I'd lost you.
KURT: Vhat are you talking about?
KITTY: It's, like, something the Professor said.
KURT: Vhat did he say?
KITTY: He said, like, "Don't you lose him, Kitty Pryde!" And I'm not going to.
KURT: Come on, Kitty, we're still only just out of Bayville. Vhat could possibly happen?
{As he speaks, there's a commotion in the Gutbombs restaurant a little way to their right. Bobby and Evan come dashing out in great haste, with half the staff chasing after them in fury. The manager pauses long enough to hang posters of the two boys in the front beneath a sign saying "Do Not Admit Under Any Circumstances", next to a similar mug shot of Tabitha.
Bobby and Evan, running on, collide with Kurt.}
EVAN: Kurt? Hey, Bobby, it's Kurt!
BOBBY: Hi, Kurt.
KITTY: Like, what's going on here?
BOBBY: Not now! They're gaining on us!
{All four young mutants make a run for it into the woods to get away from the angry Gutbomb staffers.}
BOBBY: I don't know why they're so upset. I mean, all that I did was ice the floor a little so that they could have an indoor skating rink.
EVAN: Yes, and threw some snowballs at the assistant manager. And freeze the ovens while showing off in front of Jubilee. And - .
BOBBY: All right, all right, Evan! My point is, they're clearly overreacting.
{They plunge into the woods, but then lose their footing and tumble down a slope onto a dirt road below. The four of them pick themselves up.}
BOBBY: You guys hungry? We've still got a couple of Gutbombs left.
KITTY: Eww, like, no thanks! Eat a dead cow? No way?
KURT: Vell, if she doesn't want it, I'll take it.
{He suddenly halts and pricks up his ears, listening worriedly.}
KURT: I think that we'd better get off the road.
EVAN: Why? What do you mean?
KURT: Just do it!
{Hoofbeats can already be heard in the distance, drawing closer. All four young mutants dash across the road and crouch beneath some tree roots just below it. Kitty motions to Bobby and Evan to be quiet.
A black-clad horseman comes into view and slows down his horse, halting. He sniffs about, drawing closer to the hiding place of the young mutants. Kurt finds himself pulling out the Ring and looking at it closely, then brings one of his fingers closer to it, about to slip it on. Kitty sees him doing so and hurriedly nudges him to "snap him out of it". As Kurt comes to himself, blinking, Bobby throws his Gutbombs bag into the woods. The horseman turns and gallops off in the direction of the noise.}
BOBBY: What was that all about?
{Kurt merely looks down at the Ring in his hand and says nothing.
The four mutants continue on through the woods, with periodic shrieking cries off in the distance. One of the horsemen rides past, but they again get under cover just in time, not emerging until it is gone.}
EVAN: Anything?
KURT: Nothing.
EVAN: What's going on?
BOBBY: That horseman was looking for something... or someone. Kurt?
KURT: I have to leave Bayville. Kitty and I have to get to Northbrook.
BOBBY: Right. The ferry. Follow me.
{They dash on through the woods towards the river. Just as they reach the ferry, a horseman gallops out of the woods. Bobby, Kitty, and Evan scramble onto the ferry, but Kurt has fallen behind. The horseman closes in on him.}
KITTY: Kurt! Like, hurry!
{The horseman has almost caught up to Kurt when he manages to teleport onto the ferry, as Bobby and Evan row it away from the shore. The four of them watch as the horseman halts his horse, then goes riding off.}
KURT: How far to the nearest bridge?
BOBBY: Twenty miles. Now, you want to explain what this is all about, Kurt?
KURT: Trust me. It's a long story.
{Kurt and Kitty make their way through the countryside surrounding Bayville. Kitty suddenly halts halfway through a field.}
KITTY: Like, this is it.
KURT: This is vhat?
KITTY: If I take, like, one more step, then it'll be, like, the furthest away from home that I've ever been.
KURT: Come on, Kitty. Remember what Uncle Forge used to say. "It's a dangerous business, Kurt, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."
{The two young mutants continue on.
Scene shifts briefly to a hill overlooking Bayville. One of the black-clad horsemen is atop the hill, gazing down at the town.
Scene shifts next to Magneto's castle. As Xavier wheels his way up the ramp leading to the front door, Magneto is standing just outside the door, currently wearing civilian clothes (a conservative-looking suit).}
MAGNETO: Smoke rises from Mount Gloom. The hour grows late and Professor Charles Xavier comes here seeking my counsel. For that is why you have come, is it not, my old friend?
XAVIER: It is, Eric.
{Xavier and Magneto are now in the wooded gardens surrounding Magneto's castle, talking.}
MAGNETO: You are certain of this?
XAVIER: Beyond any doubt.
MAGNETO: The Ring of Power has been found.
XAVIER: All this time it was in Bayville, under my very nose.
MAGNETO: But you did not realize it until now.
XAVIER: Yet we still have time. Time enough to counter Apocalypse if we act quickly.
MAGNETO: Time? What time do you think we have?
{Xavier and Magneto are now in Magneto's study. Magneto's familiar helmet rests on his desk, at his elbow.}
MAGNETO: Apocalypse has regained much of his former strength. He cannot leave his castle as yet, but his gaze penetrates everything. You have seen what I speak of, Charles.
XAVIER: The eyes of Apocalypse.
MAGNETO: He is gathering all evil to him. Very soon he will summon an army great enough to launch an assault upon Marvel-earth.
XAVIER: You know this? How?
MAGNETO: I have seen it.
{He shows Xavier a small dark orb resting on a pedestal in one corner of the room.}
XAVIER: A Seeing-stone is a dangerous tool, Eric.
MAGNETO: Why? Why should we fear to use it, Charles?
XAVIER: The lost Seeing-stones are not all accounted for. We do not know who else may be watching!
{He hurriedly places a cloth over the Seeing-stone, covering it. There is a brief glimpse of Apocalypse's eyes flashing in the darkness.}
MAGNETO: The hour is later than you think. Apocalypse's forces are already moving. His Horsemen have left his domain.
XAVIER: The Four!
MAGNETO: They now take the form of riders in black. They are making their way even now towards Bayville, to recover the Ring, and to kill the one who bears it.
XAVIER (alarmed): Kurt!
{He wheels towards the door, but Magneto gestures towards it. The door is made of iron and steel, and so obeys his magnetic summons and slams shut before Xavier can reach it.
Even more alarmed now, Xavier attempts to reach the opposite door, but Magneto does the same thing, trapping him in the room.}
XAVIER: Eric, what are you doing?
MAGNETO: Why should we continue to help the very humans who fear and persecute us, Charles? They would gladly see us all dead or incarcerated; they will not share this world with us. But if Apocalypse were to triumph, then those same humans will be no longer in any position to endanger us. Their power will be broken, and this world will be ours at last.
XAVIER: You cannot mean this, Eric! Apocalypse is a greater danger to us than the humans are! His triumph would mean slavery for mutants as well as for humans!
MAGNETO: That is true. However, if one of us were to possess the Great Ring, we could use it to check Apocalypse and defeat him, once he has served his usefulness in ridding us of our other enemies. Don't be a fool, Charles. Tell me where the Ring is now.
XAVIER: No, Eric. That is the one thing that I cannot do.
MAGNETO (with a sigh): I gave you the chance of aiding me willingly, Charles. But since you have refused it....
{He gestures towards Xavier's wheelchair, which skeeters backwards, out of control. Xavier attempts a psychic blast at Magneto, but the master of magnetism has already donned his helmet which protects him from Xavier. Xavier is helplessly borne away, now upwards towards the highest point of Magneto's castle.}
XAVIER: When am I going to learn to switch to a plastic wheelchair?
{Back in the Bayville area, Kitty emerges from a cornfield. She looks around frantically, having noticed that Kurt's no longer in sight.}
KITTY: Kurt? Kurt? Like, where are you?
KURT (joining her): I'm right here, Kitty.
KITTY: Thank goodness! I mean, I thought that I'd lost you.
KURT: Vhat are you talking about?
KITTY: It's, like, something the Professor said.
KURT: Vhat did he say?
KITTY: He said, like, "Don't you lose him, Kitty Pryde!" And I'm not going to.
KURT: Come on, Kitty, we're still only just out of Bayville. Vhat could possibly happen?
{As he speaks, there's a commotion in the Gutbombs restaurant a little way to their right. Bobby and Evan come dashing out in great haste, with half the staff chasing after them in fury. The manager pauses long enough to hang posters of the two boys in the front beneath a sign saying "Do Not Admit Under Any Circumstances", next to a similar mug shot of Tabitha.
Bobby and Evan, running on, collide with Kurt.}
EVAN: Kurt? Hey, Bobby, it's Kurt!
BOBBY: Hi, Kurt.
KITTY: Like, what's going on here?
BOBBY: Not now! They're gaining on us!
{All four young mutants make a run for it into the woods to get away from the angry Gutbomb staffers.}
BOBBY: I don't know why they're so upset. I mean, all that I did was ice the floor a little so that they could have an indoor skating rink.
EVAN: Yes, and threw some snowballs at the assistant manager. And freeze the ovens while showing off in front of Jubilee. And - .
BOBBY: All right, all right, Evan! My point is, they're clearly overreacting.
{They plunge into the woods, but then lose their footing and tumble down a slope onto a dirt road below. The four of them pick themselves up.}
BOBBY: You guys hungry? We've still got a couple of Gutbombs left.
KITTY: Eww, like, no thanks! Eat a dead cow? No way?
KURT: Vell, if she doesn't want it, I'll take it.
{He suddenly halts and pricks up his ears, listening worriedly.}
KURT: I think that we'd better get off the road.
EVAN: Why? What do you mean?
KURT: Just do it!
{Hoofbeats can already be heard in the distance, drawing closer. All four young mutants dash across the road and crouch beneath some tree roots just below it. Kitty motions to Bobby and Evan to be quiet.
A black-clad horseman comes into view and slows down his horse, halting. He sniffs about, drawing closer to the hiding place of the young mutants. Kurt finds himself pulling out the Ring and looking at it closely, then brings one of his fingers closer to it, about to slip it on. Kitty sees him doing so and hurriedly nudges him to "snap him out of it". As Kurt comes to himself, blinking, Bobby throws his Gutbombs bag into the woods. The horseman turns and gallops off in the direction of the noise.}
BOBBY: What was that all about?
{Kurt merely looks down at the Ring in his hand and says nothing.
The four mutants continue on through the woods, with periodic shrieking cries off in the distance. One of the horsemen rides past, but they again get under cover just in time, not emerging until it is gone.}
EVAN: Anything?
KURT: Nothing.
EVAN: What's going on?
BOBBY: That horseman was looking for something... or someone. Kurt?
KURT: I have to leave Bayville. Kitty and I have to get to Northbrook.
BOBBY: Right. The ferry. Follow me.
{They dash on through the woods towards the river. Just as they reach the ferry, a horseman gallops out of the woods. Bobby, Kitty, and Evan scramble onto the ferry, but Kurt has fallen behind. The horseman closes in on him.}
KITTY: Kurt! Like, hurry!
{The horseman has almost caught up to Kurt when he manages to teleport onto the ferry, as Bobby and Evan row it away from the shore. The four of them watch as the horseman halts his horse, then goes riding off.}
KURT: How far to the nearest bridge?
BOBBY: Twenty miles. Now, you want to explain what this is all about, Kurt?
KURT: Trust me. It's a long story.
