In LESS Than a Second..?

[Shadow's Lair]

The Valeyard : 

You see, Princess, You cannot 

Escape Your Destiny.

ASTRA: 

My Destiny. 

The Valeyard : 

It is for this that you were born. 

The Sixth Child of The Sixth Generation 

of The Sixth Dynasty of Atrios. 

Born to be The Sixth and Final Segment 

of The Key to Time. 

Come, Princess, 

Prepare Yourself. 

ASTRA: 

I am Ready. 

(Astra reaches for the tracer, and turns into The Segment.) 

SHADOW: 

Ah! 

MERAK: 

Astra! 

(K9 blasts through the wall, disrupting 

The Shadow's ecstasy.) 

The Valeyard :

What is This? 

K9: 

Apologies, Master. 

The Valeyard :

You mechanical idiot. 

K9: 

But there is An Intruder here. 

The Valeyard :

I ordered her to eliminate him.....

K9: 

It shall be done. 

The Valeyard :

Wait. Where is The Doctor? 

(K9 trundles past the Key and turns to face The Shadow.) 

K9: 

Ahem. The Doctor and Drax 

have been eliminated. 

The Valeyard :

Good. Then These Two 

shall stay and witness 

My Moment of Glory, 

My -- apotheosis. 

K9: (sotto) 

Master. 

The Valeyard :

Mine at last! 

(The Shadow reaches for The Tracer.) 

K9: 

Now, Master. 

(A panel opens in K9's side, and 

The Doctor and Drax jump out.) 

ROMANA: 

No, you'll break the time loop! 

MERAK: 

Millions will die! 

The Valeyard :

A small Beginning. 

Bwahahahahaha! 

Tom : 

The stabiliser, Drax, now! 

(Drax restores the Doctor to normal height, then himself. The Doctor pounces on The Sixth Segment.) 

The Valeyard :

You interfering fool -- No one can resist 

The Power of Darkness! 

(The Doctor shines The Light of The Key 

into The Shadow's eyes, and he recoils.) 

Tom :

Quick, back to The TARDIS! Quick!

[Outside The Shadow's lair]

DRAX: 

You go on, Doctor. I'll hold them off. 

Tom :

How will you get back? 

DRAX: 

The TransMat shaft. 

See you on The TARDIS.

[Shadow's lair]

The Valeyard :

Stop him! He must be stopped! Stop him!

[Outside The TARDIS]

Tom :

Good. 

(The Doctor goes inside.) 

ROMANA: 

Come on, Merak. 

Tom : 

Come on, Romana. 

Merak, get inside! 

MERAK: 

No! 

Tom :

Quick, get inside, man! 

MERAK: 

No, Doctor, I'm staying here. 

Tom :

What! 

MERAK: 

I'm staying here to look for Astra. 

ROMANA: 

But what about The Shadow? 

MERAK: 

Astra! Astra! 

(Merak leaves.) 

Tom : 

No, Romana, come on.

[TARDIS]

Tom : 

Set the coordinates for Zeos. 

(The hole in the fake piece has grown.) 

ROMANA: 

We're Murderers. First Astra 

and now Merak. 

Tom : 

Romana, it wasn't our idea to use 

The Royal House of Atrios 

as carriers, was it? 

ROMANA: 

No, but what happened 

to Astra was Our Fault. 

We're just pawns here to do 

The Guardian's dirty work. 

Tom : 

I don't like it any more than you do, but it's done. 

Have you set those coordinates yet? 

ROMANA: 

Is that all you can say? She was a living being, 

and now what is she? A component. 

And Merak thinks she's still alive. 

No power should have that right, 

not even The Guardians. 

We must Do Something! 

Tom :

Well, you could start by setting 

the coordinates for Zeos. 

ROMANA: 

Why? 

Tom : 

Romana, you get carried away --

If you don't set those coordinates, 

millions of people will die and this time 

it really will be our fault. 

Have you forgotten the time loop? 

ROMANA: 

No, I hadn't forgotten the time loop. 

Can't you put the new segment in? 

Tom : 

In LESS than a second?

Adopt, Adapt and Improve

 

Orchid hunting is a mortal occupation. 

Victorian-era orchid hunter William Arnold drowned on a collecting expedition. 

Osmers vanished without a trace in Asia. 

Augustus Margary survived toothache, rheumatism, pleurisy and dysentery, 

only to be murdered when he completed his mission and traveled beyond Bhamo. 

Laroche loved orchids, but I... 

I came to believe he loved the difficulty and fatality of getting them almost as much as he loved the orchids themselves. 

John Laoche, Orchid Hunter :

I've been a professional horticulturist for like 12 years. 

Uh, I owned my own plant nursery, 

which was destroyed by the hurricane. 

I'm a professional plant lecturer. 

I've given over, like, 60 lectures 

on the cultivation of plants. 

I'm a published author, 

both in magazine 

and book form. 

And I have extensive experience with orchids 

and the asexual micropropagation of orchids 

under aseptic cultures. 

That's laboratory work. 

It's not at all like your 

nursery work. 

Um... 

I'm probably the smartest person I know.

Pee and Em

 

Inside JIM's living room. 

The television is on, but only a hum comes from it, and the screen is a flickering gray. 

The FATHER sits lumpily in a chair by the fireplace, still dressed but with his collar open. 

The sound of JIM's step in the dining room makes him open his eyes. Fear of facing his son makes him shut them again. The boy comes in, a bottle of milk in his hand. 

Seeing his FATHER there, he stops short--his impulse is to flee. Instead he comes in and looks down at the sleeping man whose eyelids, fluttering in the FATHER's masquerade of sleep, make him seem to be having a dream. 

JIM is torn between his desire to leave and his need to speak. He turns off the television quietly, then lies down on the couch across the way. 

He mumbles the things he would say to his FATHER 

and the answers he feels he would get. 

The old man opens his eyes once, 

sees the boy there, head banging upside down from the couch. 

Then he shuts them again.

Upside down long shot. Room (JIM's viewpoint). 

Suddenly, inverted in his vision, the MOTHER appears at the head of the stairs, in bathrobe and nightgown. She pauses a moment, then runs down crying:

MOTHER 

He's home! You're home! 

You're all right!

The camera rights itself suddenly.

JIM as he completes his turn, pulling his head up and sitting.

FATHER as he pretends to awaken with a start.

Full shot, room as the MOTHER hurries to JIM, holds him, inspects him, kisses him.

 

MOTHER 

What happened, darling. 

We were so worried. 

I was going to take 

a sleeping pill, but I wouldn't 

till I knew you were home.

JIM 

I have to talk to someone, Mom. 

I have to talk to you both. 

And Dad this time you got to 

give me An Answer.

FATHER 

Go ahead.

JIM 

I'm in terrible trouble.--

You know that big high bluff 

near Millertown Junction?

FATHER 

Sure--there was a bad accident there. 

They showed the pictures on T.V.

JIM 

I was in it.

MOTHER 

How!

JIM 

It doesn't matter how. 

I was driving a stolen car--

MOTHER 

Do you enjoy doing this to me or what--

 

JIM 

Mom--I'm not--

MOTHER 

And you wanted him to make a [Christmas] list!

FATHER 

Will you let him tell it!

JIM 

She never wants to hear. 

She doesn't care!

MOTHER 

I guess when I nearly died giving birth to you--

that shows how much I don't care!

FATHER 

Just relax, please relax!

JIM 

I told you Dad, 

it was a question of honor. 

They called me chicken-- 

you know, chicken!

I had to go or I would 

never have been able to face 

any of those kids again. 

So I got in one of these cars 

and a boy called Buzz 

got in the other. 

We had to drive fast and jump 

before the cars went over 

the edge of the bluff. 

I got out okay but 

Buzz didn't. 

He was killed.

MOTHER 

Good Lord!

JIM 

I can't keep it to myself anymore--

FATHER 

Well, just get it off your chest, son.

JIM 

That's not what I mean. 

I've never done anything right. 

I've been going around 

with my head in a sling for years...

I don't want to drag you into this 

but I can't help it. 

I don't think I can prove anything 

by going around pretending 

I'm tough any more, 

so maybe you look like one thing 

but you still feel like another.

FATHER 

You're absolutely right!

JIM 

Are you listening to me? 

You're involved in this! 

I want to go to The Police 

and tell them I was mixed up 

in this thing tonight?

FATHER 

You what?

MOTHER 

No!

FATHER 

Did anyone see you there? 

I mean did they get 

your license number 

or anything?

JIM 

I don't think so--

FATHER 

Well--

 

MOTHER 

What about the other boys--

Do you think they'll 

go to The Police?

JIM 

What's that got to do with it?

MOTHER 

Why should you be 

the only one.

FATHER 

Look Jim. Far be it from me 

to tell you what to do, 

but there's--

MOTHER 

Are you going to preach now? 

Are we going to have a sermon?

FATHER 

I'm just explaining what you mean! 

You can't be An Idealist all your life! 

Nobody thanks you 

for sticking your neck out!

MOTHER 

That's right!

JIM 

Except yourself!

FATHER 

Will you wait a minute?

JIM 

You don't want me to go.

MOTHER 

No! I don't want you 

to go to The Police! 

There were other people and why should you be the only one involved!

JIM 

But I am involved! 

We're all involved, Mom! 

A boy was killed! 

I don't see how 

we can get out of that 

by pretending it 

didn't happen!

FATHER 

You know you did Wrong. 

That's The Main Thing, isn't it?

JIM 

No! It's nothing! Just nothing! 

You always told me to 

Tell The Truth. 

You think you can 

just turn that off?

MOTHER 

He's not saying that! 

He's saying 'Don't Volunteer!'

JIM 

Just tell a little white lie?

FATHER 

You'll learn as you get a little older, Jim.

JIM 

I don't want to learn that!

MOTHER 

Well, it doesn't matter anyhow-- 

because we're moving.

JIM 

No! You're not tearing me 

loose any more.

MOTHER 

Do I have to spell it out?

JIM 

You're not going to use me 

as An Excuse again, Mom. 

Every time you can't face yourself 

you want to move and you say 

it's because of me or the neighborhood 

or some other phony excuse. 

Now I want to do 

one thing right 

and I'm not letting 

you run away. 

(silence) 

Dad?

 FATHER 

Son--this is all happening so fast--

 JIM 

You better give me 

something, Dad. 

You better give me something — 

(stops as he sees the emptiness in them) 

Mom?

MOTHER 

Jimmy, you're very young--

and a foolish decision now 

could wreck your whole life.

 

JIM 

Dad -- Answer Her -- 

aren't you going to 

stand up for me?

The FATHER is mute, helpless... 

Suddenly JIM screams.

JIM 

Dad?

He leaps at his FATHER, dragging him to his feet, hands at the man's throat.

MOTHER 

Stop it! You'll kill him! 

Jim! Do you want to 

Kill Your Father?

Suddenly JIM loosens his hands and rises. He looks swiftly at each of them--moves a few steps toward the door, looks back at them again--then rushes out of the house. 

The parents stand frozen.

DISSOLVE TO:

Outside Precinct Station. 

JIM's car comes to a stop at the curb. JIM gets out and approaches the flight of steps leading up the entrance. A bare bulb on either side is the only illumination. As he mounts the first step, the double doors above him swing open revealing several people. JIM stops short. So do they.

Low angle. CRUNCH, MOOSE and their parents. JIM's back in f.g. The boys stare down at him.

High angle. JIM (from the boys' point of view) as he stares up at them. MOOSE's father takes his arm and starts him down the stairs, the others moving too.

MOOSE 

Let go of me--

MOOSE'S FATHER 

You want a good crack in the mouth?

JIM starts forward up the steps. CRUNCH grabs him.

CRUNCH This place appeal to you or something?

They move down the steps as JIM breaks away and continues up. He goes through the doors.

Inside doors as JIM comes through and stops. He looks back through the glass. We see the group reach the curb where their cars are parked. There is a brief discussion which we cannot hear, then CRUNCH and MOOSE move off to MOOSE's car. JIM turns back. He looks worried as he passes camera.

Med. shot. CRUNCH and MOOSE. They stop at MOOSE's car and look back at the entrance. The parents are seen beyond them, getting into their cars. CRUNCH is near tears with anger.

 

CRUNCH What's he going to pull--

 

MOOSE Nothing, Crunch. They picked him up like the rest of--

 

CRUNCH You see any cops?

 

MOOSE'S FATHER (yelling) You monsters start home. We're going to--

 

MOOSE Yeah. Yeah.

 

MOOSE'S FATHER We're following you so better get there.

 

CRUNCH You see any cops?

 

MOOSE No--

 

CRUNCH He's going to cheese, I tell you. Nobody arrested him!

 

MOOSE I think I should go home.

 

CRUNCH No. We're going to bring him down.

 

MOOSE Crunch--my father's--You going to kill him?

 

CRUNCH (crying) You clean out of your head? Come on!

CRUNCH gets into the car. MOOSE follows. They gun the motor and throw the car into a sharp U-turn. MOOSE'S FATHER jumps into his car. He steps on the starter but nothing happens--just the empty whirring, over and over. Finally it starts, but the boys have gone.

Inside Precinct Station. Juvenile division. A desk sergeant is writing in the record book. Facing him across the desk and handcuffed to an officer is a young hoodlum, very different in appearance from the kids we have met--a typical duck-tail 'cat'.

 

SERGEANT (spelling) W-O-J-T-what?

 

HOODLUM O-W-I-C-Z. Wojtowicz. What's the matter, man? That's the craziest name in town! It swings!

 

JIM Excuse me--but--You know where I can find--I mean I don't remember his last name--

 

SERGEANT Look--can't you see I'm writing?

 

HOODLUM (combing his duck-tail) Man, this cat never stops. He just keeps going like Big Jay at a session! OFFICER Shut up.

 

HOODLUM He's writing a book about me--

 

SERGEANT What I could write about you they wouldn't print.

 

JIM I think his first name's Ray--I have to see him. It's very important.

 

SERGEANT What's the charge?

 

OFFICER Assault with a deadly weapon.

 

JIM Listen--

 

SERGEANT (annoyed) 

He's not here. He's not at Juvenile Hall. I don't know where he is. He's out on a call and he'll be out all night. How old are you?

 

JIM My parents know I'm out. They know I'm here.

 

SERGEANT Come back tomorrow.

 

JIM I'll wait for him.

 

SERGEANT Why don't you come back tomorrow, son? (to hoodlum) Ever been booked before?

JIM turns away, notices a phone on the wall--puts in a coin, asks for a number. 

The Human Flame

He would not fall in.

“Again, you don't need to know anything about them. Because the more you know about these guys, the lamer they become," laughed Morrison. "I'd rather have people pick up the book and see Libra for the first time done the way I want to see him done and the same goes for The Human Flame character.

"The reason I chose them was because Libra came from my favorite ever run of 'Justice League of America' and he's never been used again. He was a character who had stolen all the powers of the Justice League, but then couldn't handle it and ascended to some kind of screaming godhood where he became a million transparent body parts spread across the sky. So I thought if I was doing a thing about the New Gods, he'd be an interesting guy to bring back because I needed a masked mystery man to start a new recruitment drive for the Secret Society of Supervillains, because they become almost a terrorist sect. Under Libra's guidance, they start doing quite bad things, even to superheroes' wives and families, crossing the line. So there's that element to the story and I needed a masked guy, who people didn't really know that well. And I remembered Libra and the fact that he is connected to this ascending to godhood thing tied him in really quite nicely. What's really going on under the hood will be revealed later in the series.

"With The Human Flame, I wanted a Martian Manhunter villain, and I couldn't find a really good one. Then, looking through the old 'Showcase Presents' books, I discovered this stupid guy called Mike, who declared himself to be the Human Flame. And he wore a homemade costume with six nipples that shot flames. So I just thought this is a great way to start this book because the idea is that Libra gives all the villains a very simple choice, he says, 'Follow me and I'll give you your heart's desire.' And that's it. 

And some of the villains naturally say, 'Prove it.' So The Human Flame is one of the first to fall in with Libra and he says, 'If you can get revenge on my old enemy, who has had me stuck in jail for the last five years, I'll follow you anywhere.'

"I needed a small-scale dumb guy, who could make very big waves and open the book with a shock moment and the Human Flame fit the bill. Also the name is great, because he's the first of the villains to succumb to the Anti-Life Equation. And the idea of the Human Flame being 'extinguished' in this way was just too cool for me to let go of it.

"All of these guys were chosen for roles in the story, not because they are fan favorites. I just don't play that game. I wish I could. So I don't want readers to run back to their 'Who's Who' thinking that there will be some big revelation about these characters in there. All the stuff you need is in the book. And these two are just the tip of the iceberg, every DC villain appears in this book. There's a cosmic murder mystery running through the book and the really big bad doesn't turn up until the very last issue. There's a lot going on but I've noticed that no matter what I say about the content of 'Final Crisis,' there will still be online fans who'll swear blind they have no idea what the book is about so I'll leave it at that."

And while "Final Crisis" features two relatively obscure villains, Libra and Human Flame, Morrison is certainly no stranger to DCU's larger threats. In "All Star Superman," Morrison has Lex Luthor, in "Batman" he plays with Joker and in "Final Crisis," Darkseid is front center.

The three could be considered the Anti-Trinity for lack of a better term. "Yeah, pretty much. Now that you mention it, I've never actually thought about it that way," said Morrison. "Luthor is the meanest because he is the most fucked up with bitterness which at least is a recognizable human emotion. The Joker would do worse things to you, but you might just get away with it depending on how he felt that day. Actually, you probably wouldn't. He would do mucky, seedy things to you more than likely. And Darkseid, would just annihilate you and your family's free will and have you all slaving in the fire pits with no memory and no hope AND your entire environment ruined forever.

When asked to pick the biggest DCU baddie, Morrison said it depends what your fears are. "Luthor is intellectual evil and the Joker is perverse evil and Darkseid, he is just cosmic evil - evil as an unstoppable idea."

Going the other way, Morrison said only one supervillain would ever consider fighting the good fight. "Luthor, definitely Luthor. The Joker has no meaningful potential for good but Luthor actually has the potential. If he gets rid of Superman, he might be a better person," explained Morrison. "In 'All Star Superman,' though, I am basically saying that he wouldn't be a better person. That he just uses Superman as an excuse and a scapegoat for doing nothing. And I kind of like to use him that way. He talks a big game but if you actually give him a challenge, he's not up to it. Luthor needs validation and to be acknowledged as special, so I think there is the possibility of him helping his fellow men, as long as they put up a statue afterwards and rename the planet Lexor.

Morrison confirms "little clues" to "Final Crisis" are to be found in his megaseries "Seven Soldiers of Victory," but that they are not required reading to follow the 2008 event

"Luthor actually gets his big choice in 'Final Crisis' #3. Everybody gets a big choice in that issue. And after that, choice itself is eradicated by the Anti-Life Equation."

In August, "Final Crisis" will take a one-month break before returning in September with #4. There are a number of reasons for the pause both within the series and in terms of pacing, but the main motivating factor is the Fastest Man Alive. "The main reason for the break after #3 is, for reasons I won't go into here, The Flash winds up running a month into the future. He runs right into #4 at the end of #3. So you kind of get a snapshot of what has happened to the world in that month before finding out all the details in #4. The first three issues show things slowly going wrong, as the steady creep of evil advances so by the end of #3, the Evil Gods are actually manifesting in their full power to possess the planet Earth. And when #4 begins, a month has elapsed and suddenly we're in a whole new world, with very different rules. So that's why we made that break," said Morrison. "The series ramps up into new territory and transforms with #4 and what happens in #4 through #7 is going to have huge ramifications for the DCU in the aftermath."

The Flash, historically, has proved to be a vital cog in all the 'Crisis' events. In "Crisis on Infinite Earths," Barry Allen, the second Flash, died while stopping the plot of the Anti-Monitor to destroy the world. He returns, briefly, in "Infinite Crisis" to team up with the other Flashes - including Wally West, Bart Allen and Jay Garrick - to push Superboy-Prime into the Speedforce, eliminating that threat. Wally and Jay are active and Barry and Bart are dead, but both are rumored to make a return in "Final Crisis."

CBR News asked Morrison point blank, which Flash runs a month ahead into "Final Crisis" #4. He replied with a laugh, "It's not Jay Garrick! In #3 we have a race between the Flash and the Black Racer, who is, as you know, the New Gods' version of Death. So you go and figure it out."

** It should be noted that it was announced in the DC solicitations for July that Geoff Johns' "Rogues' Revenge" Flash miniseries will be tied directly to "Final Crisis. **

Morrison drew huge inspiration from Jack Kirby's New Gods stories, all of which are reprinted in the "Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus" collections

Morrison continued, "The break also allows us to do a few specials that fit neatly into the gap. I'm working on a Superman book called 'Superman Beyond,' which I'm hoping will have a 3D section. It's going to be the Superman strand of 'Final Crisis' because he's taken out of the picture in #3. And this is about where he goes and what he does and it has a team of alternate Earth Supermen: Captain Marvel from Earth 5, Ultraman, the evil Superman from the Anti-Matter Earth, Captain Atom from Earth 4 and the 'Nazi Superman', Overman, from Earth 10 in a kind of 'Jason and the Argonauts' voyage beyond the Multiverse.

Again, it's very tied-in to the main story in 'Final Crisis' and the secret origin of the Multiversal Monitors which plays into the whole thing in a big way. Partly it's to get some suspense and anticipation built up, get readers thinking, 'Christ, what's HAPPENED to the world between #3 and #4.' We're setting up the new look of the DCU for the next decade and the specials help to broaden the scope of the whole event.

"Geoff [Johns] and I are doing one of the specials together. You are going to see one particular character on the streets, on the ground during the occupation. Just to see what it's like for ordinary people during the evil gods takeover. So that's the one Geoff and I am going to be doing. But I can't tell you the character yet, although he is a current member of the Justice League."

And while he wouldn't give up THAT character's identity, Morrison did tease a few more of the book's usual suspects. "Everybody is in it. In addition to the big guys, the third issue has Captain Marvel Jr., Supergirl, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Green Arrow and Black Canary. It's got everyone. Pretty well from #4 to #7 is one big battle royale. I want to leave lots of room for the fight. There's about ten issues worth of fighting," said Morrison. "If you've got a favorite character, I am sure he's in it. Supergirl and Mary Marvel are in it. They have a big climatic battle to decide how femininity should be portrayed in superhero comics!

Which begged the question, isn't Wonder Woman in that fight? "Wonder Woman already has problems of her own by that point," laughed Morrison. "Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman get targeted by the New Gods pretty quickly. Those are the first big targets that the Gods have to bring down but you'll see Wonder Woman's confrontation with Mary in #3."