Episode 14

A Tower Showdown... Tale of Two Helicopters... Fate of Family... 

Voice Actors: Joe Valdes, Daniel Sorrick, Josh Mihal, Dan Paragon, Sam McMorris, Matthew Abergel, CJ Cinco, Tara Kempton, James Rand, Conner Her, Andy Bates, and Scott Wike. 

Written, Narrated and Produced by Mark Johnston
www.constellationaudio.biz 

Photo Credit: Seth Steward 

Music by Mark Johnston

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:19

Constellation Audio proudly presents Revity by Mark Johnston. Episode fourteen.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

What in the hell do you think you're doing? Oh, we were just going to take a break. You know, some R and R.

SPEAKER_04 0:58

Lawrence immediately lowers his body, pivots to the left, and sends a compact right hand directly into Ephraim's rib cage. On his way back up, the giant boxer coils his left fist, pivots back to the right, and lands an uppercut squarely on Laszlo's jaw. Sending him flying, unconscious, back into the security room. He lands with a thud, his arms rigid from the vicious knockout punch. Ephraim is wheezing from his cracked rib. Lawrence grabs him by the throat and slams the slender intruder into the wall across from the doorway, holding him in a position for questioning. What are you doing here?

SPEAKER_10 2:00

Have you worked with him before?

SPEAKER_00 2:02

No. I saw him for the first time yesterday. He returned my phone to me in the parking garage. I still don't know how it got out of my purse.

SPEAKER_07 2:11

Lawrence, get up here now! You know, I get mistaken for other people a lot. I have one of those faces.

SPEAKER_04 2:19

Gage immediately darts past Colette and out of the room at full speed. Reuben and his daughter look at each other confusedly.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

What's going on?

SPEAKER_10 2:29

I don't know. But I don't like it. We better go check on our hostage.

SPEAKER_04 2:49

In his hurried escape, Gage takes a wrong turn in his search for the elevator and finds himself in an unfamiliar hallway. Desperate for a way out, he continues down the long hall until he passes another off to his left. In the corner of his eye, he sees two distressed figures as he runs past. Realizing what he saw, Gage turns around and looks again down the perpendicular hall to see a giant enforcer holding Christian's friend Ephraim by the throat. Without hesitation, Gage barrels down the hall and slams his body weight into the giant bear. It's not nearly enough to knock him down, but ample energy to release Ephraim from his angry grip. While Lawrence recovers from his surprise attack and his victim gasps for needed oxygen, Gage jumps onto the back of the behemoth and throws his arms around the rigid tree trunk neck. With no experience or knowledge of chokeholds, Gage simply holds on for dear life as the rabid Hulk reaches over his head to desperately remove the bothersome parasite from his broad, bulky shoulders. Ephraim is back to his hands and knees, but still catching his abducted breath. Inside the security stronghold, Laszlo slowly regains his consciousness, shaking his head two or three times to reawaken his senses. Through foggy vision, he notices the struggle taking place through the doorway. Once able, the dazed companion rises to his feet and eagerly searches the small room for a weapon. Out in the hall, Lawrence's giant paws finally find purchase on Gage's arm, and he flings the irritating pest off of his frame and down the hall with ease. The smiling champion turns to admire his work when Laszlo comes bursting out of the monitor room with a fire extinguisher and slams the heavy cylinder into the side of Lawrence's knee, bringing him briefly down into a kneeling position. Before the monster can recover, Laszlo swings the canister with all his might right into the back of the exposed and oversized head. The massive menace has been subdued, laying lifeless on the hallway floor, letting out a robust and thunderous snore. Laszlo quickly collects his two companions and helps them to the stairwell for a discreet exit.

SPEAKER_06 5:29

Finally.

SPEAKER_04 5:30

Okay, let's get the heck out of here. Christian pulls the bandana back over his nose, grabs Jem by the hand, and leads her out of the dull cardboard cell. They make it almost halfway across the open floor when the lone door begins to creak open. The surprised savior grabs his rescue and pulls her with him behind the nearest concrete pillar, both now holding their breath in silence.

SPEAKER_10 5:56

Something fishy's going on. Methinks we are being fucked with.

SPEAKER_04 6:05

Ruben and Colette march across the long room to the boxed holding area. They turn around the stopgap wall to find an empty, rustled cot with a single item propped up on the deflated pillow. A small 10 by 15 inch frame containing a masterful arrangement of inspirational contour and color. The painting. Brevity. The agitated mob boss storms over to the cot and snatches up the frame.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

But Dad, you got what you wanted. We have the painting.

SPEAKER_10 6:44

Not everything I wanted.

SPEAKER_04 6:46

The furious father turns back and kicks over a stack of boxes before walking out of the cordoned-off prison chamber. As he turns the corner, he sees across the expansive corridor the tattooed hostage being led by the hand out of the main door and back towards the lift. Colette, come on! Reuben moves across the high-rise warehouse as fast as his heavy, seasoned bones can take him. He swings the door open wide and finds himself staring into the open elevator at the two escapees. The frightened and bespectacled woman, along with the same white-masked intruder that obliterated his showpiece at the gala. As the elevator doors promptly close to shield the fleeing duo, Ruben glances quickly at the direction board to see the up arrow briefly highlighted in a glow as the lift carries the fugitives away. He briskly walks up to the panel and reignites the light behind the up indicator and clenches his right hand with a vengeance. To Christian's delight, there is a beautiful black helicopter waiting for them on the landing pad with blades already churning through the warm, windy air. Coral jumps out and races across the building roof with outstretched arms. Upon reaching Jem, she lets out a squeal as the two best friends embrace each other tightly. Come on, we gotta go. As the trio moves closer to the chopper, Christian can read the lettering on the side of the aircraft, Haroldson and Greenlaw. He also sees that Ephraim, Laszlo, and Gage are already safely on board the waiting vessel. Great work, Coral! You really came through.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

So did you!

SPEAKER_04 9:02

The two newfound friends share a quick hug before Christian helps Gem and Coral onto the helicopter. Then, instead of jumping on himself, Christian leans into the vessel and shouts to the pilot.

SPEAKER_06 9:15

Take her away! Get them out of safety!

SPEAKER_04 9:18

Christian, wait! What are you doing? Come with us!

SPEAKER_06 9:22

No can do. It's time for me to uphold my part of the bargain. Don't worry, it'll be okay. Go, go, go!

SPEAKER_04 9:32

The dark, lustrous aircraft lifts off of the helipad slowly. Christian loosens his grip with Coral's hand just enough to not pull her out, their fingers clinging to each other until the helicopter's elevation forces them apart. The door to the stairwell bursts open, and a fuming Reuben Archimbow sternly marches toward the masked invader while the chopper promptly floats away. Christian takes a deep breath as he looks into his father's rage-filled eyes, then reaches behind his head to begin untying the bandana. Reuben continues on his unrelenting advance, gripping with white-knuckled tightness to the painting with his left hand. With his right hand, he reaches inside his suit and pulls out a loaded, glistening revolver. Without missing a step, he fires a single shot into the heart of the mysterious artist standing right before him. Christian's eyes open wide before falling to his knees. His arms swing down and pull the rest of his body with them. Now lying on his side, the wind gently blows the white bandana off of his neck to reveal a lifeless face. The shooter takes two more steps until he recognizes his own son lying still on the painted tower helipad. He first drops his pistol, then the painting, and finally, his entire body weight all the way down to rest on his shins.

SPEAKER_09 11:12

Christian! I don't understand! My my boy, my my sweet boy, why are you here? What have I done?

SPEAKER_04 11:23

The weeping father crawls over to the collapsed body and buries his face into his youngest son's chest.

SPEAKER_08 11:30

Oh no!

SPEAKER_04 11:30

Letting out a muffled and primal yell.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

Oh no! What did you do?

SPEAKER_04 11:40

The aching man looks up from his agony and turns to find Colette, jaw agape with a dreadful look of despair.

SPEAKER_08 11:48

Colette, I don't I don't know. I I didn't know, I didn't know, I didn't know.

SPEAKER_04 11:53

Colette walks forward and picks up the discarded weapon. Her chest rapidly pumps with air as she slowly points the gun at her father.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

You killed him? I've fucking had it. I can't do this anymore. Do you have any idea how much stability I've tried to maintain for this family and this empire? In spite of all your aggressive, bravado bullshit? With no recognition, no gratitude? I've been helping you dodge bullets and put out legal fires for decades now. And all you do is up the stakes and throw it on my back. And now your insatiable ego and untamable vengeance has gotten my little brother killed. You killed him! Colette, please! Shut the fuck up. You are a disgrace. I can't believe I helped you launder all that money. Conceal your greedy drug smuggling, hide damn near 80% of your income from the government, and also you could just give the whole family enterprise to fucking Lawrence? The idiot whose only contribution to this empire is cracking skulls and disappearing bodies. We could have gone legit a long time ago, but you had to be the biggest, baddest, richest, sleaziest crime lord in Charcoal City. This family's legacy is tough niche, but you've lost sight completely of what your grandfather built. He would croak in his grave if he saw what you have done to his labor unity, his blue-collar solidarity, putting power and greed above the strength of this city's backbone, the footman. You disgust me.

SPEAKER_04 13:30

Colette turns the gun away from her father and raises it to her head.

SPEAKER_09 13:35

Colette, what are you doing? Please please, please put down the gun. Put down the gun. We can work this out.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

I've had enough. I don't want to be a part of this family anymore. It makes me sick to think of what I've been involved in. That I've stuck by you after what you did to mom.

SPEAKER_10 13:53

Honey, your mom. She hurt herself. She was an addict. There was no getting her back.

SPEAKER_00 13:58

You drove her to that. You could have helped her. You didn't care at all. Have you no shame? Have I no shame in turning a blind eye?

SPEAKER_04 14:10

Both distressed Archimbos turn their heads. Approaching the mountainous skyscraper rooftop is another helicopter. As it comes into view, it manifests as a different aircraft than the sleek black bird that took off just moments prior. This chopper is painted in blue and white, with six large letters emblazoned across the side. P-O-L-I-C-E. Colette presses the gun firmly into her temple, grits her teeth, and lets out a guttural scream before dropping the pistol to the ground and collapsing into tears. Following them is Commissioner Charles Dobrowski.

SPEAKER_05 15:10

Chuck, listen, I can explain. Hold it right there, Ruben. You and your daughter are under arrest. Hey, Chuck, it's me. Come on! Ain't nothing I can do for you, Rube. We've been tipped off to an audio live stream from a very popular social media account. Your daughter just made quite the confession. What?

SPEAKER_04 15:29

I don't understand. Ruben looks around with confusion, then picks up the face-down painting and holds it in his hands. After staring for a moment at a freshly papered backing, the Cajun crime lord slowly rips the brown paper away. His eyes move down past the green prism signature, past the seven-digit telephone number, to a small microphone attached to the bottom of the innermost part of the frame. The defeated mobster drops the painting to the ground before burying his face back into the chest of his deceased son. A swap member handcuffs his sobbing daughter and escorts her to the municipal aircraft while five more men enter the stairwell in pursuit of Lawrence. Lastly, with the help of another officer, the commissioner lifts the big boss to his feet. Let's go, Rue. Then chains his hands together and walks him onto the prison-bound helicopter. On the blood-soaked concrete of the eventful tower concourse, paramedics desperately attempt to keep Hugo alive. After several minutes of drastic CPR and a hopeful pulse check, their efforts are unfortunately halted.

SPEAKER_09 17:14

Hugo!

SPEAKER_04 17:16

Freddy sobs for his murdered friend. The tower entrance bursts open. Exploding out of the exit, Lawrence lumbers through the courtyard, making for the street as fast as he can. Freddy sees the menace and jumps to his feet without hesitation to catch the escaping monster. Moments later, five SWAT members come pouring out of the building in pursuit with guns drawn. Freddy manages to gain ground on his fatiguing target, oblivious to the officers right behind them. Just as Lawrence passes by the open metro station entrance, Freddy launches his body into him, sending both men tumbling down the long heart stairwell. At the bottom of the subway descent, both Freddy and Lawrence lay battered and bruised. Freddy pushes through the pane, back to his knees, and crawls over to the wheezing giant. The SWAT team hustles down the stairs as Freddie mounts his enemy. Two rage-fueled strikes land squarely on the monster's face before the policemen reach Freddy and frantically push him off. Both men are put in handcuffs.

SPEAKER_05 19:09

Dan Paragon, Sam McMorris, Matthew Aberzell, CJ Cinco, Tara Kempon, James Rand, Connor Hurst, Andy Bates, and Scott White.