Scene 13

Setup: Summerton High, out at the football field. It's been a week or so since Stephanie's rescue. A group of guys are fooling around on the track, racing and shoving each other. They are being followed by a newbie, who just started to hang out with them, and used to be a nerd. This guy, not watching where he's going, runs straight into a flagpole and falls over. The guys around him start teasing him and laughing at him, saying that he's clumsy, and start cracking jokes. Over by the entrance, Karli sees the whole thing play out from a distance.

Karli: Hmmm… (Walks away.)

[Down in room 77, after school, the 3 guys and 2 girls are meeting. Karli and Charlie are debating over whether to help the guy or not.]

Charlie: Why are you so insistent about doing this? We've only been out for a week, and you're already saying that we need to go back out. Does anyone in this room understand what a break is?

Virgil: Charlie, that guy who tripped was a freshman. This could scar him for life, like us.

Charlie: I thought you were over that by now.

Virgil: I am!

Karli: Charlie, this is the 6th incident that we've blown off already! People are staring to talk. Every time you guys ignore a problem, more people start to wonder where you are.

Charlie: Exactly. And once they give up on us, then we come back. After the guys out to catch us give up.

Virgil: Charlie, we are going against what we stand for with this. And those guys, they'll always be on the lookout no matter how long we sit out. So if you're going to insist that we wait until this dies down, we might as well take a sledgehammer to the machine right now.

Karli: Not to mention the fact that they'll try to narrow down on how we do what we do.

Charlie: What does that have to do with sitting out?

Karli: (exasperated sigh) It has everything to do with it! (Points to door) Right now, everybody outside that door except Virgil's girlfriend –

Virgil: She is NOT my girlfriend.

Karli: Oh, whatever! The point is that except for us and one other person, everyone thinks you guys have psychic powers. What happens when you don't show up anymore? They get suspicious. They'll start to wonder how exactly you save people and if you guys really are psychic. And when they get nosey, someone's bound to figure it out. Especially when they don't have many options to work with in the first place.

[Knock on the door]

Stephanie: Virgil? You in there?

Virgil: One second.

[Virgil gets up, opens the door, and walks out where Stephanie is standing.]

Virgil: What's up, Steph?

Stephanie: Well, I just wanted to talk to you guys about – you know, that. (Jerks her head towards door)

Virgil: Um, okay. Come on in.

[Virgil opens the door and Stephanie come over to where the others are sitting.]

Stephanie: Um, hi. Well, anyway, I noticed you guys have been sitting out for a while, and I was just curious why.

Zeke: Charlie insists on going under until you ex-boyfriend backs off.

Stephanie: Uh, bad idea. If you're going to wait that long, you might as well call it quits, because those guys will be on your tail until graduation.

Virgil: That's exactly what I was going to tell Charlie.

Stephanie: And, Charlie, Derek's getting nosy. He's randomly grabbing kids and trying to make them confess. He's even more fueled up because you guys have disappeared. You might cut down his investigating if you fix everything up.

Jeanette: (puts her arm around Charlie) C'mon bluebird. Do you want to do this or not?

Charlie: (groans) Ugh, are you guys never going to stop pushing this?

Virgil: Give in and we're done.

Charlie: (exasperated sigh) Okay, fine.

Virgil: Yes!

Charlie: (stands up, and walks around to boot up the machine as he talks) Okay, get the suits. We have 6 incidents to make up and not a lot of time.

[Everyone starts moving around, getting suited up, and setting up the machines.]

Karli: Uh, Stephanie, you might want to wait outside for a few minutes.

Stephanie: Um, okay. (She leaves)

[10 minutes later, the guys are taking a rest break.]

Virgil: Okay, so what do we have left?

Karli: (typing at the computer) At this point we only have the flagpole incident left. You guys ready?

Zeke: Yep.

[Jeanette turns on the machine, and the guys jump back. But the machine is making a weird noise.]

Karli: Hey Jeanette! Do you hear that?

Jeanette: Yeah. It sounds like a fizzy noise.

Karli: I think the flow cable's fraying. I meant to fix that this morning.

Jeanette: Is that bad?

Karli: No, just give me a second to tape it up. I'll replace it later.

[Karli gets out of her chair, and grabs some electrical tape. She moves in to fix a heavy-duty cable on the outside of the body of the machine. When she bends down, she grabs the frayed cable to fix it, but her hand touched the exposed wire. She is electrocuted, and she passes out, her hand still on the wire. Jeanette looks around, trying to see what's going on, clueless to what's happened.]

Jeanette: Karli? You okay?

[On the other side of the rift, the guys are moving in to help the guy who slammed into the pole. They run out, and Virgil grabs the guy before he hits the pole. At the very same time, Derek and his Minutemen haters spot the trio, and they head over to the scene.]

Zeke: Guys they're here! Let's beat it!

[The guys start running, and Virgil and Zeke are staying away from the group. But Charlie falls back and gets caught by the group. A group of bystanders start to form]

Derek: (steps forward) All right then, let's see who you are.

[Derek pulls off Charlie's mask as another group member pulls off his hood.]

Derek: Whoa. Charlie Tuttle?

Charlie: Yeah, that's right. You have a problem with that?

Derek: Well, I was kind of expecting –

[Zeke comes up while Derek is speaking and socks him in the stomach. Derek doubles over and his group backs up a bit.]

Zeke: Drop him!

[The group drops Charlie, and Charlie looks up at them.]

Charlie: Guys, just…take off your masks.

Virgil: What?

Charlie: They'll figure it out eventually. Take them off.

[After a second's hesitation, Zeke and Virgil unmask. There are several gasps from the bystanders, and Derek stares at Virgil in shock.]

Derek: Verge? It…it's you?

Virgil: Yeah, not that you really care.

Derek: What's that supposed to mean?

Virgil: You use us to boost your popularity, and this is the thanks we get? Sad.

Derek: Verge, I…I don't know what to say.

Virgil: I do. Jerk.

Karli: You guys are gonna have a dozen more problems if you don't move right now.

[The 3 guys turn around and see Karli standing at the front of the crowd.]

Virgil: Karli? What are you doing here?

Karli: It doesn't matter. What does matter is that you get back to where you need to go safely.

Charlie: (mutters) Karli, be careful what you're saying.

Karli: Oh, does it matter? They already know who you are; they might as well know the other half of the equation. This morning, I found a frayed cable on the machine, but I couldn't fix it. (looks at her watch) Right now, it is 12:39. I haven't fixed the cable yet.

Charlie: What do you mean by…(realizes what she is talking about) OH.

Karli: Yeah. Oh. We need to move, now.

[The guys start running for the school along with Karli.]

Derek: Wait! What were they saying about a machine?

[The guys run through the cafeteria to the door that leads to the basement. They run all the way to room 77, and open the door. Inside, the vortex has become extremely unstable. ]

Charlie: (anxious) Oh, this is not good.

Karli: (runs over to the flow cable to fix it. As she speaks, the guys are checking the monitors and getting position to jump) We need to move, fast. Once you guys get back over, get control over the rift, and get Stephanie away from the room and above ground. Charlie, do you have electrical tape?

Charlie: Sure. (Grabs a roll) Catch! (Throws it to her, and Karli catches it)

Karli: (tapes up the cord, and the vortex begins to re-stabilize) Okay, you're good to go.

Virgil: Wait! How did you know that Stephanie's waiting for us?

Karli: Um…

Charlie: Virgil, just go!

[The guys jump and are sucked into the vortex. Just after they leave, a jolt of electricity comes out and hits Karli. It connects with her body for a few seconds, and then is sucked back into the vortex. Karli goes unconscious for a minute, and then wakes up, confused.]

Karli: How did I get here?

[On the other side, the guys come out of the vortex. Jeanette is struggling with the controls.]

Charlie: Jeanette? Are you going to shut it down?

Jeanette:I can't! It won't let me!

[Charlie goes over to a monitor tracking the path of the rift.]

Charlie: That's odd. It says that there are still objects coming through.

Virgil: Hey Karli! Can you give us a hand?

[No answer.]

Virgil: Karli? Are you there?

[Virgil walks around to the side where Karli is lying unconscious. He sees her body, and gasps.]

Virgil: KARLI! NO!

[The other guys rush up behind him.]

Charlie: Oh my gosh!

[Virgil tries to make a grab for her, but the guys grab him.]

Zeke: Verge, no!

Charlie: We can't touch her! Her hand is still on that wire! We need something to move her!

Jeanette: How about this? (Tosses Charlie a broom)

Charlie: Perfect.

[Charlie grabs the broom and starts moving it towards Karli's unconscious form. But before he touches her, the jolt of electricity that hit Karli on the other side of the rift come out and hits Karli again.]

Charlie: Aaah! (Drops the broom and backs up with the other guys)

[After ten seconds, the stream of electricity ceases, and the machine shuts down. Karli starts to stir.]

Karli: Mmmm… What happened? (She looks up where the guys are back up against the wall) And why are you backed up away from me like that?

Virgil: Um, because a huge stream of electricity just came out of the machine and hit your already unconscious body?

Karli: Um…explain, please?

Virgil: That's what I was hoping you'd do.

Jeanette: Are you all right? (Comes over to help Karli up.)

Karli: Not really. Ow! (Looks at her hand. On it is a bad burn mark.)

Charlie: What happened? (Comes over to see her hand) Oh my gosh!

Karli: It's nothing. We don't need to worry about it.

Virgil: Of course we do!

Karli: No, we don't! Keep in mind that you guys just blew your cover!

Virgil: Oh yeah. Right.

Karli: You forgot in the three minutes since it happened?

Virgil: Dealing with an unstable vortex and seeing one of your friends electrocuted tends to do that to you.

Karli: You were barely freaking out when the vortex went ballistic.

Virgil: Well…wait a minute. So it was you!

Charlie: Hold it! (Pause) I think we need to hear about what each of us saw to make sense of this. Karli, tell us your side.

Karli: Well, after you guys jumped back, I noticed that the flow cable was fraying. When I went to fix it, my hand hit the wire. When it did, I passed out for a second, and then I was standing outside the school. Then I saw you guys, and Charlie getting tackled, so I went over to help.

Charlie: Anything else?

Karli: Well, after you guys went back into the vortex, this huge current of electricity shot out of the vortex and hit me. Then everything went black again, and I was here. So, what's your side, Virgil?

Virgil: When we got back here, you were passed out on the cable. Then that current thing you described came out and hit you.

Karli: Okay. Charlie, you have any ideas?

Charlie: Karli, you said that after you touched the cable, you were standing outside. Right?

Karli: Yeah.

Charlie: Do you remember seeing the incident from your original standpoint? When you first saw it?

Karli: Um…(Thinks) No. I don't.

Charlie: Oh boy.

Zeke: What?

Charlie: I think I know what happened. But I need some time to make sense of it.

Karli: Okay, now that that's out of the way, what are you going to do about blowing your cover?

Virgil: Is there anything we can do? I mean, we can't go back and save ourselves.

Charlie: I think we just have to go with the flow this time. It probably won't be that horrible. By the way, Karli, do you think…?

Karli: The battery had nothing to do with it, Charlie.

Zeke: Are you guys never going to stop talking about the battery?

Karli: Probably not. Let's just go.

[The guys go upstairs, and are greeted by Derek and his group. Derek is smiling at them like they're friends.]

Derek: Hey guys! Verge! How ya doing?

Virgil: Um, fine.

Derek: Great. You know, I was thinking about the whole Snowsuit Guys thing, and I think it's not so bad after all. I'm having a party at my place this weekend, and you need to be there. What do you think?

Virgil: Uh…Sure.

Derek: Great! See you later! (Walks away)

Charlie: What just happened?

Virgil: Um, the football team is being nice to us.

Karli: I have a feeling they're not the only ones.

[On the way to class, students are constantly coming up to the group to talk to them or compliment them until they reach their classes.]

Charlie: That was a lot more painful then it should've been.