[Versus]

CUT TO AN OBSCENELY LARGE SHOULDER AND BICEP PROFUSE WITH MANLY PERSPIRATION. CAMERA PANS DOWN AS THE UNAPPROPRIATED LIMB WRITHES WITH POWER IN AN INDISCERNIBLE TASK.

CUT TO MOC AND RENATUS LOADING AMMUNITION. A DISTINCTIVE 'SHIK-SHIK-SHIK' SOUND CAN BE HEARD AS EACH INDIVIDUAL CARTRIDGE IS PRESSED AND SECURED INTO IT'S BOX MAGAZINE.

Ren: What do you think?

MOC: About what?

Ren: The mission.

MOC: I don't know, honestly. I don't post enough to really establish a caricature of myself and provide any basis for how I would react in this kind of situation.

Ren: I was pondering the same thing. What is the meaning of life? Why am I here? What am I here for?

MOC: No, no, no. I meant in this fan fiction. I really don't understand what purpose I serve in a story like this. It seems so out of place.

Ren: You're probably going to die first.

MOC: Don't say that!

Ren: It's the only plausible explanation. Versus has made it abundantly clear that he doesn't like you, or at the very least, that you are a scrotum leech on his manhood.

MOC: "Scrotum leech" is very out of character for you, too, though.

Ren: But what IS in character for me? I hardly post about anything poignant, either.

MOC: Exactly. Maybe you'll die first.

Ren: [Stopping his task as if struck by an epiphany]

MOC: Yeah. See?

CAMERA CUTS TO A TEN INCH TALL BLACK LEATHER BOOT BEING LACED BY A PAIR OF EXCEPTIONALLY MANLY HANDS RIDDLED WITH CALLOUSED SKIN FROM SOME KIND OF MASCULINE PHYSICAL LABOR THAT MUST HAVE OCCURRED OFF-CAMERA, ESTABLISHING THAT WHOEVER OWNS THIS PAIR OF BOXING MITTS MUST HAVE LIVED A HARD LIFE BUT COME OUT OF IT A TOTAL BAD ASS.

CUT TO SAYA AND SOLUMINA. SAYA IS OILING A LARGE MACHINE GUN THAT EASILY SPANS ALMOST TWICE HER WIDTH. SATISFIED, SHE RACKS THE CHARGING HANDLE BACK AND FORTH AND LISTENS ATTENTIVELY TO THE "KA-SHINK KA-SHINK KA-SHINK' FOR ANY EXCESSIVE METAL ON METAL GRINDING. SOLUMINA LEANS OVER A LARGE MONITOR.

Sol: [Turning to Saya] What are you doing?

Saya: [Frantically] I don't know! [Racking the charging handle again] I think I'm being drawn into a male power fantasy. I don't know anything about guns, let alone MIL-SPEC automatic weapons. It's silly that I would be doing this.

Sol: [Quizzically] Aren't you a pacifist who supports demilitarization?

Saya: [Sheepishly] YES! This goes against everything that I believe in. My ovaries hurt.

CUT TO PREVIOUSLY SEEN MAN HANDS DIPPING INTO A TIN OF MULTICOLORED PAINT. THE INDEX AND MIDDLE FINGERS DIG DEEP INTO THE SUBSTANCE, LEAVING WIDE CRACKS AND DIPS IN THEIR WAKE.

CUT TO DESPANAN AND ASHLEYO. THEY BUZZ AROUND THEIR CHOPPER MAKING FINAL CREW CHECKS, DOUBLE CHECKS, TRIPLE CHECKS; ANYTHING FOR THE PIECE OF MIND THAT THEIR SLICE OF SANITY WILL FLY LIKE A FINELY-TUNED, WELL-OILED MACHINE.

Despanan: [Shouting from the crew compartment to AshleyO in the cock-pit] We are some hard working MOTHER FUCKERS!

AshleyO: FUCK YEAH! And punctual, too!

Desp: Punctual as shit! I'm going to pull so much ass with this flight suit and chopper!

AO: [As if recovering from a blow to the throat] Whoa, dude. Hang on. [Turning behind him to look at Desp] I thought we talked about this.

Desp: What are you talking about?

AO: [Sullenly turning back to his controls and indicators] Nothing... [Inaudibly to himself] It's nothing... [Peering into the distance as the memories over-take him] Nothing at all...

CUT TO OVER THE SHOULDER VIEW. IN THE FOREGROUND, THE BACK OF A SHAVEN HEAD THAT SITS ATOP A MOUNTAIN OF MUSCLES CAN BE SEEN. IN THE BACKGROUND, AN OUT OF FOCUS MIRROR IS HELD UP BY A MAN HAND. REFLECTED IS AN UNIDENTIFIABLE FACE BEING SMEARED WITH PAINT.

CUT TO HUMAINPAIN AND UNDERWATER OPHELIA. OPHIE SITS IN HER TALL CHAIR, IT'S BACK FACING THE CAMERA AND OBSCURING HER FROM VISION EXCEPT FOR AN OCCASIONAL HAND TO FLICK THE ASHES OF A CLOVE CIGARETTE TO A NEARBY ASHTRAY. AN INTERMITTENT BILLOW OF THICK SMOKE IS SEEN WAFTING FROM THE HIGHEST PART OF THE CHAIR.

CAMERA PANS SLIGHTLY TO REVEAL HUMAINPAIN DRAMATICALLY PLAYING A SOFT PIECE OF MUSIC ON AN ANCIENT LOOKING PIANO. UPON FINISHING, HE TURNS TO OPHIE.

HP: [In a almost imperceptibly low voice] Your loyal servant requests permission to speak, ma'am.

Ophie: [After a moment] Speak!

HP: [Even lower] I love you. That is all.

Ophie: [Throwing her cigarette at HP in rage] WELL I GOD DAMN HOPE SO, because if you don't deliver the goods I'm going have your fucking balls on a plate! [Throwing the ashtray at HP violently] DO YOU HEAR ME? On a fucking PLATE!

HP: [Taking the shattering ashtray to the face without flinching] Do not fret, my dear. [Reaching down to recover the pieces and deposit the remnants into a nearby trash bin] I have the utmost confidence in Versus' ability to accomplish the mission. He possesses an almost inhuman tenacity and force of will, with no regard for his own safety. If it means dieing to accomplish his mission, then he will die.

Ophie: [Lighting another cigarette and speaking with another cloud of smoke] Good.

HUMAINPAIN MOVES ADJACENT TO UNDERWATER OPHELIA AND PLACES AN OPEN HAND WHERE THE ASHTRAY ONCE WAS. UNDERWATER OPHELIA FLICKS A LARGE CLUMP OF BRITTLE ASH INTO IT.

Ophie: [Quietly to herself] Good...

SCREEN FADES TO BLACK. AFTER A MOMENT, A QUIET WHIRRING SOUND CAN BE HEARD WITH A LOW THUD EVERY FEW SECONDS. AS IF FROM A GREAT DISTANCE, HUMAINPAIN'S VOICE CAN BE HEARD CALLING FOR VERSUS. THE WHIRRING INCREASES IN VOLUME TO A DEAFENING ROAR AMONGST A CACOPHONY OF MACHINE GUN FIRE BURSTS AND SUBSEQUENT SNAPS, CRACKS, AND POPS.

HP: Versus!

CUT TO VERSUS STANDING WITH THE TEAM AS THEY ASSEMBLE NEAR THE PREPPED CHOPPER. IT'S ROTORS CREATE A TORRENT OF WIND THAT HURLS DUST INTO THE FACES OF THE ASSEMBLED MEN AND WOMEN. THEIR HAIR CAN BE SEEN AT HORIZONTAL ANGLES FROM THEIR FACES, AND THEIR CLOTHES AND UNIFORMS SHARPLY CONFORM TO THEIR BODIES TO ACCOMMODATE THE RUSHING AIR PUMMELING THROUGH THEM.

HP: [Trying to shout over the noise of the chopper to Versus] You've got 36 hours to finish the mission! Anything past that, and we can't afford to wait for you any longer! God speed!

THE TEAM LOADS INTO THE CREW COMPARTMENT BEFORE VERSUS. A LITANY OF BUCKLES AND STRAPS CAN BE SEEN AS THEY ARE THROWN ABOUT FROM THE TEAM SECURING THEMSELVES AND THEIR EQUIPMENT WITH SYNCHRONIZED AND WELL PRACTICED PRECISION. VERSUS, CONFIDENT THAT THEY ARE READY, TURNS FROM HP AND TAKES A STEP TO THE CHOPPER, BUT STOPS TO TURN AROUND AGAIN.

Versus: [To HP] Do you remember when Ophie said I was caught in her web?

HP: I can recall.

Versus: It's true. [Registering HP's silence for a moment.] You're the only one I can trust, Colonel.

VERSUS HURLS HIMSELF INTO THE CABIN, AND KNEELS NEXT TO DESPANAN AND ASHLEYO TO GIVE THEM A CONFIDENT 'THUMBS UP.' THEY RESPOND WITH HITTING A SEQUENCE OF SWITCHES THAT CAUSE THE CHOPPER'S ENGINE TO INCREASE IN PITCH TO A THUNDEROUS WHINE. SAYA MOVES NEXT TO THE OPENING TO MAN THE MACHINE GUN MOUNTED WHERE THE DOOR SHOULD BE AND RENDERS HP A QUICK SALUTE BEFORE ASHLEYO CAN BE SEEN THRUSTING A THROTTLE HANDLE FORWARD. IN AN INSTANT THE HELICOPTER IS CATAPULTED INTO THE NIGHT SKY WITH SUCH A VIOLENCE THAT IT CAUSES THE TEAM TO LURCH AS THE MOMENTUM SHOOTS THROUGH THEIR BODIES AND INTO THEIR GUTS.

STILL STANDING AT THE LANDING PAD, HUMAINPAIN CAN BE SEEN WATCHING THE CHOPPER UNTIL IT IS WELL BEYOND THE DISTANCE WHICH IT COULD BE SEEN ANYMORE. HE MOUTHS AN INAUDIBLE WORD TO HIMSELF BEFORE SOLUMINA CAN BE SEEN JOINING HIM. WITH A GENTLE HAND ON HIS SHOULDER, SHE BECKONS HIM INSIDE TO THE COMMAND CENTER.

CAMERA PANS UPWARD TO THE NIGHT SKY AND RESTS THERE FOR A MOMENT, THEN PANS DOWN AGAIN TO REVEAL A DIFFERENT SETTING. A LIGHT CAN BE SEEN THROUGH A DENSELY WOODED JUNGLE. CAMERA ZOOMS IN TO REVEAL A LARGE CAVE COMPLEX. CAMERA ZOOMS IN FURTHER ON ONE OF THE ENTRANCES UNTIL THE SCREEN FADES TO BLACK AGAIN.

A MONITOR FLICKERS ON, AND SUPERMAN CAN BE SEEN WHEN THE IMAGE FOCUSES.

Superman: HEEEEEEYYYYO! Dat inside agent gave da phat signal!!!

SCREEN FLICKERS OFF.

???: They've made their move.

???: Give the command to intercept.

???: At last, we will reveal ourselves to g.net. At last, we will have our revenge.