HOUSE OF PRIDE
NOTE: Written in rough comic book script style with very little page information and limited panel/scene direction; instead, the script is broken down into specific scenes. Also, the script is slightly modified to maintain a level of suspense for the casual reader.
Oh, and typical disclaimer stuff. Brian K Vaughan and Marvel own the rights to Runaways, House of M, not me, etc. etc.
PART 2 - WELCOME TO PROSPERO HIGH
Panels show a newscast in a television. On the bottom left-hand side of the screen is the acronym, MNN. A woman in professional suit is facing out at the audience, and to her left is a block title that says "The World of Magnus: Today and Now ." On the bottom of the screen is, in bold white letters the name "Julie Powers."
JULIE:
Welcome back to MNN. As part of our ongoing special reports on the legacy of Eric Magnus, our next feature covers our world's never-ending issue of mutant-sapien relations from a different perspective - from the eyes of a teenager.
Los Angeles, California. A city whose very fabric is woven in mix of cultures, histories, and mutant origins. At the peak of the Mutant-Human Wars, the city was nearly destroyed during the L.A. Riots where mutants, then underground, rose against their sapien oppressors. L.A. was engulfed in violence and flames for nearly four weeks until an unlikely alliance of mutants and sapiens, called the Pride, quelled the riots. Lead by a group of six families, the Pride peacefully ended riots, and by the time Magnus birthed the age of Mutants that fateful day in Central Park, Los Angeles had already begun a slow but steady transition to the new age.
Now, fifteen years later, Los Angeles is both the model and microcosm for today's mutant-sapien affairs. Where are we now, and where are we going? These are questions we ask of ourselves, questions we charge to our youth, the next generation. And in the heart of Los Angeles, to whom can can we pose these questions than the students at Prospero High School, the premiere private charter school in Los Angeles . . .
Series of short, consecutive panels. Victor is going through his first few days in school. Each panel is a shot of a different teach, each of them in mid-lecture.
TEACHER 1
. . . first quiz will be on chapters one through three at the end of the week. It will definitely be over first three basic trigonometric theorems . . .
TEACHER 2
. . . an eight and a half by eleven notebook, a black pen for your lab work, and a blue pen for pre-lab exercises. I will take points off if you don't have your . . . .
TEACHER 3
. . . by the time we're through with unit one, you should be familiar with the three branches of the US Government, who they report to, the four basic branches of Genoshan leadership and what they do, and be able to explain how they all relate to everyday . . .
TEACHER 4
. . . the key differences between mutant geneology and powered sapiens. This paper will be due three weeks from now . . .
TEACHER 5
. . . we'll be speaking English for now, but by the second week on we'll be speaking in tongue. The more you talk in language, the more you build on your vocabulary . . .
TEACHER 6
. . . read Shakespeare's The Tempest and Measure for Measure carefully, because for the first half of the semester we will closely study . . .
The text pours into a panel of Victor, leaning casually upright on his desk as he looks down on his piece of paper and carefully takes notes. Three wider-shot panels zoom out from VICTOR, each panel similarly shot but in different classrooms. In each of the three classrooms we see a colorful assortment of student surrounding VICTOR. However, some "cast familiars" do appear in each of the three panels. In panel one, we see a goth girl several chairs away from Victor. In panel two, one row behind Victor we see a blond male discretly pass a note over to a purple-haired woman in the front row. In panel three, what appears to be a rainbow glowing tall woman somewhat eyes VICTOR just two desks away.
Switch to several consecutive panels, VICTOR overhearing random conversations as he goes about his business.
Panel one, VICTOR opening his locker.
GIRL 1
Like, oh my god! Haven't seen you all summer!
GIRL 2
I totally stayed with my aunt over the summer at South Genosha beach
GIRL 1
No way! Seriously?
GIRL 2
Yeah, got this part-time job as a tourist guide assistant, teleporting people all over. And oh! I totally met this guy over the summer! He's like, sooo -
Panel two, VICTOR walking down the hallway.
JOCK 1
You believe this? We're still on first week of school and already we lost Perez and Jonesy.
JOCK 2
Well, that's what you get when coach puts Graham on D-line. People get smashed up.
JOCK 1
No joke. Dude's built for the line, but he's gotta figure out how to pull back on his powers. I mean, it's practice, for Christ's sake!
JOCK 2
You think we can get Stein to sub in for Perez?
JOCK 1
Dude, the guy's all Lacrosse, man. Besides, their team's prepping for the next three weeks for the season, and you know how Coach Thames and Ramsey butt heads when they share players.
JOCK 2
Not like Coach Ramsey has anything to complain about. I'm pretty sure he doesn't need his eleventy billionth Lacrosse All-State title. If only our team kicked that much ass . . .
Panel three, VICTOR waiting in line at the cafeteria.
GIRL
Man, a week into school and I already want this year to end.
BOY
Thought we were getting a Casa Grande this year.
GIRL
You'll have to ask our beloved class president for that.
BOY
Well, Prez Yorkes better get a move on. I so need a mega-fajita right now.
GIRL
Give her a break huh? She's done everything else right so far - first effective class president in like, forever, come to think about it -
Panel four, we see VICTOR sitting on the bleachers, eating his lunch alone. The rest of the bleachers are empty save one couple on the opposide side of Victor who are several seconds away from a full-blown smooch-fest, and the field before him is lightly scattered with several kids tossing a football around. VICTOR keeps to himself.
(OFF PANEL)
Yeah, you're definitely new around here.
VICTOR turns to face the speaker, who is the same rainbow-colored girl who was occasionally eyeing him eariler in one of the classrooms.
RAINBOW
Nobody eats here alone at lunch. Unless of course, you're going to make out with somebody here. (pauses) Well, Janet comes here for lunch and cries her eyes out until her boyfriend comes to make things up with her for the fortieth time, which results in them being on each other like rabid spider-monkeys beneath the bleachers. Quite disgusting, really.
VICTOR
(grins)
Hey, I could totally be with a girl who has invisibility powers. We were about to have some private time until you came along.
RAINBOW
Ha! Lisa and Rachel are already taken. Nice try, wise guy.
VICTOR
(jokingly swinging his fist)
Aw, nuts, you got me there.
RAINBOW
(extending her hand out)
The name's Karolina Dean, sir. I go by K, usually.
VICTOR
(shaking KAROLINA's hand)
And I'm Victor Mancha, me lady. Hey, wait a minute, your parents wouldn't happen to be -
KAROLINA
- Representatives Franklin and Leslie Dean, Majesdane Ambassadors to Earth? Yes, I'm totally a spoiled politician's daughter. But don't worry, I'm only mildly chemically imbalanced.
VICTOR
Well whew, thank god for that.
KAROLINA sits down next to VICTOR.
KAROLINA
Saw you in Mr. Harris's English Lit class. Seems to be a tightwad, but eh, like everything else in this school, Prospero High's not as crazy and uptight as people make it out to be. I mean, yeah, it's tought at times, but the trick is to share your experiences with other people, you know?
Two scrawny teenagers on the field attempt to chase down a long-thrown frisbee, until one of them gets frustrated and teleports right in front of it, catching the orange disk with his hands
KAROLINA
You know anybody around here?
VICTOR
. . . no, not really. And, uh, I'm not sure if people around here would let one more into their cliques, being a transfer student and all.
KAROLINA glances at VICTOR with puppy-dog eyes, almost immediately empathizing with his situation
KAROLINA
Okay, that's it. I'm showing you around.
VICTOR
Huh, wha? But wait a minute, I -
KAROLINA
Nope, no excuses. Can't allow you to graze alone in the wilderness. You are now officially my new project.
VICTOR
Project? Does that mean I'm a science fair diorama now?
KAROLINA
Shush.