"Bummer, Man"
Disclaimer: I just can't seem to get rid of these things.
Open on the ice cream parlor. Night. Continuing from before, the employee heads to the very back of the parlor. He looks over his shoulder and then pulls out his cell phone. He dials and then puts the phone up to his ear. After three rings, the person on the other line answers.
"Yeah, it's me." The man looks over his shoulder once more. "No, he just left. He told me everything." The man laughs. "That's right. How are you making out on your end?" The person on the other line says something that makes the employee grin. "Excellent. All right, so, listen to this. It's called the Altered Orb. … Yeah, it allows you to shape shift. Pretty wild, huh?" The other line says something and the employee nods.
"Yeah, the stuff I fed him – it seemed to work. He fell for it." He nods again. "You sure you got it from here?" He looks over his shoulder one last time and then rubs the back of his head. "Ok. All right. … Talk to you later, Marty."
Cut to black.
Open on the Las Vegas strip. Jack paces back and forth in an empty alleyway while talking to himself.
"Ok, so the first thing I have to do – the most important – is find a way back to China. My heli-bot's out of gas, so that's out … Maybe I can hitchhike?" He groans and rubs the back of his head as he goes deeper in thought. "I guess if my Jack-bot made the trip here without any trouble, then he could take me back the same way."
He groans again and kicks a nearby trash can in frustration. Lying in the shadows close to the trash can is a bum that was just awakened by the noise. Jack shakes his head, realizing something.
"I left my Jack-bot at the hospital." He paces back and forth some more as the bum starts to stand up. "That's it! I'll just go back to the hospital and sneak it out of there. Oh … wait." He proceeds to rub his chin as the bum approaches Jack from behind. "They know my face. They could've already found my Jack-bot and reported me missing! The police could be searching for me. Oh, no … I'm a fugitive! … Hopefully, they'll just pin all this on Ashley."
Suddenly, the bum taps Jack on the shoulder. The evil boy genius flinches and whips around.
"Spare change?" the bum asks while holding his hand out. Jack raises his arms like he's being held at gunpoint.
"T-take it easy there, friend. Here."
Jack empties his pockets once again and loose change scatters everywhere. He then takes a step back while closely watching the bum. The man looks around suspiciously.
"Uh … ok." He bends down to start gathering the change, but at the same time, Jack gives the bum a swift kick to the face which sends the guy flying back into the trash cans.
"Ha! Wasn't expecting that, huh? How does it taste?" Jack chuckles while the bum groans and holds his face.
"What the hell, man! I wasn't mugging you! I just asked for some change! Geez …" The bum grunts and tries to stand up. He takes his hands off his face revealing a bloody nose. Jack stares at his nose while the bum loses his balance and falls right back into the trash cans.
"Hey …" Jack says as he walks over to the bum.
"Don't touch me, man. I'm serious," the bum says while pinching his nose and trying to stand at the same time. Jack doesn't listen and helps the man up. He then leans him against the wall.
"You know, that looks like it could be broken."
"Thanks, Doc, I don't know what I'd do without you," the bum sarcastically says while slightly rubbing his nose. Jack grins real big.
"You should get that checked out at the hospital," Jack suggests.
"Leave me alone." The bum pushes Jack away and slowly walks past him. Jack turns and beings to follow.
"If it's money you're worried about, I got lots of it back home. My parents are loaded." The bum mumbles something unintelligible and places his hand up on the wall for support. "You'd be doing me a big favor if you just went into the hospital and grabbed something I left behind."
"I told you to get away from me!" the bum shouts. Jack frowns and thinks for a moment.
"All right, what do you want? Huh? You obviously don't want my money." The bum stops and faces Jack.
"That's because you kicked me in the face the last time I asked!"
"Just … please, I need you to do this! Ok? I'm desperate here! You want to know what I've been through ever since I got to Vegas?"
"No, but you're gonna tell me anyway," the bum says with a deadpan tone. Jack breathes in deeply.
"I've been run over by a bus, flat-lined in the hospital, left in the middle of the freakin' desert butt naked, poisoned by a bodybuilder in said desert, had my freakin' fingers bitten off, got a major sunburn, had my mother show up in the hospital only to yell and beat me up, found out that the same bodybuilder is dating my mom … had constant dreams that the girl I like married the guy I loathe, the other girl I like married the other guyI loathe, the third guy I loathe the most turned into a dog (which is really the only upside to all this) and took my room … and don't even get me started on the first girl's dad … and then I learned that the third girl I liked told me we could never happen! I haven't even gotten to the part where I dropped a whole scoop of my ice cream!"
Jack beings to pant hard, trying to catch his breath. The bum shakes his head in astonishment.
"Wow. That's messed up," the bum replies. "You know what? … I'll do it." Jack looks up in surprise and raises his eyebrows.
"You - I - Really? You'll do it? You'll help me out?"
"I thought I had a messed up life. Man. I mean, I live in Vegas -- Nutjob City." Jack scoffs as the bum looks him over. "I'll need something for collateral, though … so I know you're for real." Jack quickly searches his pockets.
"I got nothin' on me," Jack says. The bum rubs his chin.
"That coat will do."
"My coat? This is all you want?"
"I'm a bum! What do you think?" Jack shrugs and takes his coat off. He hands it to him as the man wastes no time in putting it on. He looks down, admiring it. He then gives Jack a thumbs-up. The evil boy genius smirks and then brings the bum into a huddle.
"Ok, so here's what I want you to do … Hey. I never got your name," Jack says.
"Oh. Right. … It's Marty." Jack stares blankly at the bum for a few seconds.
"… Yeah, that isn't gonna work."
Cut to black.
Open on the hospital. Same night. Numerous police squad cars are parked at the front. Inside, Ashley and Jack's nurse are being questioned by a detective outside of his room as the Jack-bot is being carried away by two officers who are wearing latex gloves.
"How does a patient just disappear? Does this happen often?" he asks the nurse. She frowns and shakes her head in disbelief. The detective turns to Ashley.
"I was told that you brought Jack Spicer in." She nods. "He was in pretty bad shape … any idea how he got that way?" Ashley opens her mouth to answer but no words come out. She has no clue what happened to Jack. Even so, the detective continues to drill them with questions.
"His mother said that she didn't even know he left China … let alone come to Vegas. Simply saying that he ran away is an understatement. What made him come here, of all places?"
"Look, you're asking the wrong person," Ashley says. "I just found him out in the desert –"
"Yeah, I know you two have a past." Ashley glares at the detective. "I also know that you've always despised him … but you moved away. And then one day, in part of this grand coincidence, you manage to find him in the middle of nowhere … all alone. Later, you decide to bring him to the hospital –"
"Now, wait a minute. Are you suggesting –"
"I'm simply stating the facts, ma'am. Although, the nurse told me you were the only one in the room with him when he was reported missing," the detective says.
"I fell asleep in the chair next to his bed, and when I woke up, I saw the Jack-bot laying there in his place –"
"Yeah, I read in his report that he has an affinity for building robots." Ashley shrugs. "Tell me about that …"
Nearby, Marty the bum walks out of an elevator that just took him to Jack's floor. He looks around and then sees the receptionist's desk. He walks over to it while clutching his nose. The receptionist looks up at him with a smile.
"Can I help you?"
"Yeah, I think my nose is busted." The receptionist's phone rings and she tells Marty to hang on. While she answers, Marty takes this time to glance around to find Jack's room. After looking for a few moments, he notices a detective and two ladies standing in front of one of the rooms. The receptionist hangs up.
"I'm sorry about that. I have – Sir?" She notices Marty is looking another direction. "… Sir?"
Cut to the outside of the hospital. Jack is hiding behind parked cars about four meters from the hospital. He notices the police squad cars and begins to worry.
"Come on … Hurry up," he whispers to himself about the bum. All of a sudden, two officers walk out of the hospital carrying the Jack-bot. Jack gasps real deep and immediately ducks down behind a car. He grabs the sides of his head and starts to hyperventilate. His heart begins to race rapidly.
"Oh, no … oh, crap."
Back inside, Marty continues to stare nervously at the detective while the receptionist tries to grab his attention.
"Sir!" Marty snaps out of it and looks back at her.
Over by the detective, Ashley, and the nurse …
"I suppose that's all the questions I have for right now," the detective concludes. Ashley slightly nods while staring at the floor, and the nurse nods as well. He turns around to make his way to the elevator. However, he stops dead in his tracks when he sees Marty. The detective studies the bum for a moment and then reaches into his pocket. He pulls out a piece of paper that has a sketch drawing of Jack on it wearing his regular clothes. The detective tilts his head up at Marty and then back at the paper.
Marty finishes talking to the receptionist and turns around to notice the detective staring him down. The bum quickly looks down at himself and instantly becomes aware of what's going on. It's the coat.
Marty's eyes widen as the detective scowls and stuffs the paper back into his pocket. He then takes a step forward towards Marty as the bum just stands there, frozen. He wants to run, but he's unable to move. A bead of sweat drips down his face as the detective approaches with a stern look.
"Oh, crap …"
Cut to black.
A/N: First off, I just want to thank everyone for their great feedback! I really appreciate it. Second, I know I said in the last chapter that the Warriors, Wuya, and Marty would return in this one, but I decided to run with this idea instead for now. No worries - they'll return soon enough. Thanks again for reading. The next chapter will be up shortly.