EXT. 80TH FLOOR OF OVERLORD'S SKYSCRAPER - NIGHT The WIND WHISTLES, otherwise all is still. OVERLORD, dressed in full body armor leaving only his mouth open, hovers above the roof of the 80th story of his building. DRAGON, 30-ish, green, bald with fin on his head, crouches twenty feet in front of OVERLORD. DRAGON It’s done, OverLord. I’ve learned your secrets. Your Vicious Circle is done, and your freaks are already looking to divide up the pie. OVERLORD I’m sure that’s what you think, Dragon. But your death is all I need to bring my sheep back into the flock. DRAGON Not that simple. I’ve come way too far, OverLord. Your grip on this city is over. You’ve done everything to me you could think of. There’s nothing left. OVERLORD’S HAND opens and reveals a triggering device. OVERLORD Oh, no. There’s still one other thing, Dragon. OverLord presses the button and THE TOP STORY OF THE SKYSCRAPER explodes. INT. WAREHOUSE - DAY A CAPTION reads “LAST WEEK.” We find a giant brawl unfurling. DRAGON is at the center of it. Above the fray is CYBERFACE, a yellow-skinned freak with an orange headpiece and some limited body armor. He’s got an earpiece and microphone attached, with which he controls the battle. In one corner of the warehouse there’s a pile of the freaks who have already fallen to Dragon’s might. Now DUNG, a short man with a receding hairline and cybernetic attachments on his arms, attacks. DUNG OH-DEY, green man! Dung stretched his arms out towards Dragon as he runs, and a load of excrement comes shooting out. DRAGON Oh, wipe me. Dragon leaps high into the air, flipping towards an astonished Dung, who doesn’t have time to react as Dragon lands on top of him, sending Dung flying into the stack of bodies in the corner of the warehouse. DRAGON Keep it in your pants next time, too, Dung! CYBERFACE (to microphone) Glowbug, GO! Glowbug, female, 20-ish, long white hair, wearing a unitard and shoulder pads, (first seen in the opening pages of the first Dragon mini-series), jumps at Dragon from behind. Dragon doesn’t see her coming; he can’t. But he raises a fist. Her head lands squae on his first. Glowbug falls to the ground. CYBERFACE Doubleheader, he’s all yours. Doubleheader charges straight at Dragon. DOUBLEHEADER (first head) Here’s our chance, at long last! DOUBLEHEADER (second head) This time he will be ours. Dragon goes down on one knee. Dragon sweeps out Doubleheader’s feet. DRAGON How man times do I have to tell you boys? Doubleheader tries to get up. Dragon kicks them in the gut. DRAGON You’re talking out of both sides of your mouth. It’s not just a really dirty habit. It’s also plain rude. Doubleheader lies motionless at Dragon’s feet. Dragon looks up at CyberFace. DRAGON Well, you gonna come down here and fight, or just keep sending the riff-raff after me? CyberFace pauses a beat. CYBERFACE (whisper) No. I still need you. CyberFace runs. Dragons stands silent, not giving chase. He looks around him at all the freak bodies piling up. DRAGON Great. Time to clean my room again. INT. TRAILER - NIGHT Inside a trailer sits EMILY SCHWARZBLATT, 60-ish, white hair, frail-looking. With remote in hand, her attention is captured by the 10 o’clock news. ANNOUNCER (from TV) It’s just another day for Chicago Police Department’s resident freak, Dragon. Today he single-handedly took out one of crime syndicate Vicious Circle’s prime drug-running operations, despite a bevy of villainous freak defense. We talked to Dragon after the commotion. ANNOUNCER (from TV) Officer Dragon, how big a bust is this? As Dragon’s face fills the screen of the TV, Emily’s hand reaches out towards it and she begins to sob. DRAGON (from TV) This is a pretty big one, and one which everyone at the Chicago PD has been working long and hard at. EMILY Rodney? (Beat) My grandson? INT. POLICE STATION - DAY Dragon is escorting Doubleheader in to the police station for questioning by the collar. ALEX WILDE, a half-hispanic police woman, 25, sits at her desk as Dragon walks by. ALEX Hey, congratulations, partner! You really nailed them this time! DRAGON Thanks, Alex, but you know the drill. I got the muscle work out of the way, now the real work begins: The bureaucracy. As Dragon moves Doubleheader further through the police station, we see the station is filled with freaks from Dragon’s bust, all being questioned by authorities. It’s driving one cop mad. HOWARD NISEMAN, 40-45, with a blond crewcut and a mean face, is throwing his arms up in the air in frustration. NISEMAN Freaks! I’m surrounded by freaks! It’s bad enough we got to work with one, now he’s bringing in all his friends to the party. DRAGON Good to see you, too, Niseman. NISEMAN Ah, let it rest, Dragon. We didn’t have all these freak problems ‘til you came around. DRAGON You’re right, Niseman. ‘s because you couldn’t catch any of them! Dragon walks past the office of FRANK DARLING, 40-ish, black, graying hair. Darling is on the phone and is distracted by Dragon walking by. Dragon stops in front of the door. He waves. Darling hesitates a moment. DARLING Hiya, Dragon. How’s it going out there? Dragon hoists up Doubleheader for Darling to see. Darling nods. Dragon walks on. Standing in front of Dragon now is CAPTAIN MENDOZA, 50, wrinkled face, sour puss. He stands with his hands on his hips, just in front of a holding cell. DRAGON Well, good afternoon to you, Captain Giggles. MENDOZA Dragon! Your conduct is unbecoming of a Chicago police officer. That freak should be walking, escorted in handcuffs, and read his rights. Have you done any of these things? DRAGON But of course. Except the handcuffs things. Too kinky. Besides, he wasn’t really conscious enough to go along with that. I’ll read him his mirandas as soon as he wakes up. Dragon throws Doubleheader into the holding cell and shuts the door, locking it. MENDOZA Fine. But I’m keeping my eye on you, Dragon. And-- DRAGON “I had better not cross the line one more time.” Yeah, yeah. Heard it all before. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a stack of paperwork from this bust to get through. Sir. Mendoza stalks off, and Dragon walks to his desk, next to Alex’s. ALEX So, Dragon, what’s new? DRAGON Nothing much, Alex. Just the usual ass-chewing. Niseman and his freak hysteria. Mendoza and his bureaucracy. And who’s Darling on the phone with? ALEX I don’t know. And it’s got me curious. He’s got a lot of phone calls directly in his office lately. DRAGON Ah, I’m sure it’s just his wife. You know how nervous he’s gotten since his wife found out she’s expecting! In the meantime, we’ve just put a huge dent in OverLord’s drug cartel. ALEX Yeah, one operation down. A Vicious Circle to go. Even with a dozen freaks taken into custody today, Dragon, we still have dozens left out there. DRAGON Yeah, but for now I can imagine OverLord is not having a good hair day. INT. OVERLORD'S OFFICE - DAY OverLord is pacing back and forth. CyberForce stands some distance away, but in front of him. OVERLORD How could you let Dragon just run right through you like that, CyberFace? CYBERFACE I didn’t have the best the Vicious Circle has to offer, boss. I had all the wimps with me guarding that warehouse: Doubleheader, Dung, Glowbug. . . I mean, c’mon! Not exactly Bludgeon and Powerhouse, if you know what I mean. OVERLORD Doesn’t matter. That was my most profitable operation. Dragon took out a dozen of my men along the way to breaking it. Something must be done. CYBERFACE Give me Powerhouse and Bludgeon and a few others. We could take him out, boss. OVERLORD Yes, so long as your hide is out of danger, right? I don’t recall hearing your brave exploits in today’s rumble. CYBERFACE I was overseeing the battle and making sure everyone functioned smoothly and -- OVERLORD (interrupting) You failed. (beat) But that is not important now to me. What is important is that the Dragon be made to pay for this. CYBERFACE I can go draft a super-team to go after the Dragon-- OVERLORD (interrupting) No. You simpleton, this is why you are where you are and I am in the position to command the freaks of Chicago! No, we must get to him in some other way. We must prolong his agony. The only thing important to him is his precious job and the cops who surround him. So we go after them, Cyberface. We’re going to take down the Chicago Police Department, one-by-one, and work our way up to the Dragon. EXT. BURNING LOT - NIGHT A younger Dragon lies naked in the middle of a ring of fire. SIRENS from on-coming fire trucks and police cars can be heard. Dragon is not moving. Frank Darling is the first on the scene and the first to find him. His voice is heard, but his lips are not moving. DARLING (o.s.) Dragon. Dragon. Dragon. INT. POLICE STATION - NIGHT Dragon has fallen asleep in front of the typewriter, filling out paperwork. Frank Darling has his hand on Dragon’s shoulder and is trying to rock him back awake. DARLING Dragon! Dragon wakes up. DRAGON Huh. What? Oh. . . Dragon takes a BEAT and looks at his watch. DRAGON What time is it? DARLING It’s late, and you should be home, getting some sleep. You can finish off this paperwork in the morning. Dragon is still a little disoriented. DRAGON Yeah, sure. Fine. (beat) Frank? What happened that night? After you found me in the fire? Frank is taken aback by this question, but then sits down. DARLING Oh, man, Dragon, it’s only been a couple of years, but the time slips by. It was a dark time for Chicago. SuperPatriot was out of commission and Mighty Man was dead. The freaks were organizing themselves into the Vicious Circle. We were outnumbered, outpowered, outclassed. When I found you in that burning field, it was like a gift from heaven. INT. HOSPITAL - NIGHT The younger Dragon is in a hospital bed, his wounds healing, although almost no longer visible already. The younger Darling sitting in a chair next to the bed. DARLING (o.s.) But your memory was shot. DARLING Hi, I’m Lieutnant Frank Darling from the Chicago Police Department. I’ve got a few questions for you. To begin with... Who are you? Dragon looks off for a beat, thinking. DRAGON I. . . I don’t know. DARLING (to himself) Terrific. DARLING (cont) Do you know where you come from? DRAGON No. DARLING You were found in a burning vacant lot. Do you have any idea how you got there? DRAGON None. DARLING Do you remember anything about your life prior to waking up here? DRAGON Nothing. Darling pauses for a moment. DARLING How come you have green skin? Were you born that way? Were you in some kind of accident? What happened to you? DRAGON I don’t know. DARLING Who is the president of the United States? DRAGON Bill Clinton. Darling stops dead for a beat. Then he cracks a smile. DARLING Okay! That’s a start. You’re not a completely blank slate. So. Who played Fred Mertz? DRAGON William Frawley DARLING Very good. Who shot J.R.? DRAGON Which time? DARLING Forget it. When’s your birthday? DRAGON I don’t know. INT. POLICE STATION - NIGHT Dragon appears lost in thought. DRAGON I don’t really have anything to call my own, Frank. I have this police department. I have this job. But I just don’t have me. I don’t even know where to begin to look. It’s frustrating. DARLING I can imagine. But what you do here is important. We need you, Dragon. INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT The young Dragon is lifting some heavy crates. FRED, 50s, black, graying, is in the background doing paperwork. FRED I’m glad you came to work for me, Dragon. You’ve been a real God send. DRAGON Well, you had good references. Frank is the best friend I have in this world. And I seem to be pretty good at heavy-lifting. I have nowhere else to go, so. . . FRED Frank tells me he offered you a job on the police department. You’d be a big help there, you know. The freak population in this city is going up every year. Frank seems really desperate. DRAGON Yeah, but that’s a lot to ask of one guy, Fred. Don’tcha think? I don’t even know who I am yet. I may never know. But I can’t be battling half the super-powered population while I find out, can I? DRAGON disappears into a back room. Fred continues his paperwork. SKULLFACE, with long orange hair, a skull for a face, and an armor of cyberware, and HARDWARE, 30s, male, vampirish, ponytail, black and red costume, crash through the door. Hardware puts a gun to Fred’s head. Skullface begins smashing open crates. SKULLFACE Where is it? Where is it? HARDWARE All we want is your money. Either that or your life. Your choice. Choose well. FRED Safe. Wall. Over there. Dragon sees what’s going on through a window. Hardware tosses Fred aside and goes for the safe. HARDWARE Gimme the combination! DRAGON(o.s.) No thanks. I prefer jabs. Dragon punches Hardware straight away from the safe. Hardware gets up. Dusts himself off. Behind him, Skullface is jumping through the air at Dragon. Dragon puts up his right fist. Skullface lands right on it, and falls to the floor. INT. WAREHOUSE - NIGHT Dragon approaches Fred. Fred barely pays attention to him, as he rifles through his desk drawers and filing cabinets, pulling stuff out as quickly as possible. DRAGON(o.s.) And unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of it. When I saw your cousin the next day he was a mad man. FRED Yeah, gonna need that, too. Damn. Damn. Damn. DRAGON Fred! What is it? What’s wrong? FRED Can’t ya see, Dragon? It’s over. Damn. I’ve spent my whole life building up this business, and you just destroyed it all! DRAGON What? But, Fred, I beat those guys. They can’t touch you. FRED You’re naive. They just wanted money. Now they’ll stop for nothing short of blood. Mine! DRAGON I’ll protect you, Fred. Don’t worry. I can handle it. Fred looks Dragon right in the eyes. FRED I’ve got one chance to get out of here before-- The warehouse EXPLODES.. As the pieces fall where they may, only one thing is left: The Dragon. He’s doubled over in the middle of the burning wreckage, similar to the way Frank found him in the burning lot. DRAGON Damn. Not again. INT. POLICE STATION - NIGHT DRAGON And here I am. That was a pretty convincing blast and-- They’re interrupted as Officer Phil McCracken (*****) runs up to them, a videotape in hand. MCCRACKEN This just came for you, Dragon! Hand-delivered. Said to get it to you right away! Dragon takes the package and starts walking over to a VCR. DRAGON Thanks, Phil. But I didn’t subscribe to the MY FAVORITE MARTIAN collection. This ought to be interesting. Sitting in front of the television with Frank, the video beings to play. It’s a still camera shot of OverLord’s face. OVERLORD Hello, Dragon. I didn’t appreciate what you did to my warehouse today. Didn’t appreciate it at all. I am sick of your barging in on all my operations and am vowing now to stop you. But killing you would be too easy, and I’m a subtle man. So I’m going to start picking off cops one by one. Eventually, there’ll be nobody left. Then I’ll take you out. Slowly. Myself. Good night, officer. Sleep tight. Dragon flips off the video with a remote control, a look of barely restrained fury on his face. DRAGON This isn’t right, Frank. We’ve let this idiot get away with too much for too long. DARLING But, Dragon, we’ve tried going up against him once already. He’s just too powerful. He threw you right off the rooftop. DRAGON Yeah, but that was business, Frank. This time it’s personal. This time he’s stepped over the bounds. This time I’m not holding back. He’s going down, Frank. I want every file we have on him. I’m going to eat, breathe, and sleep OverLord, until we find his weak spot and take him out. DARLING I hope you know what you’re doing. DRAGON Oh, I do. And I know just where to start, too. INT. POLICE STATION - DRAGON'S DESK - MORNING Dragon sits with a pile of folders in front of him. He looks tired. ALEX Hey, Dragon. Find anything yet? DRAGON Nope. Overlord’s damned good about covering his tracks. I’ve looked through the profiles of everyone we have a file on associated with the Vicious Circle -- that hasn’t done anything yet, either. The man operates in the open, yet is never seen. ALEX Hang in there, partner. I’m sure you’ll think of something. DRAGON I know I will - I just want to do it before we lose any good officers. Harold Niseman approaches Dragon. NISEMAN Damned freak! If you had never joined the force, we wouldn’t be having these problems! DRAGON (to himself) Him, on the other hand. . . ALEX Yeah, and you’d already have been killed, Niseman. Dragon’s our best line of defense. NISEMAN Sure, darling. You think that all you want. Fact is, we cops weren’t getting roughed up before Dragon came in. It was the other freaks who were - SuperPatriot, Mighty Man, alla them. NISEMAN And once they were all gone, Wilde? Then what? Who’s be left to serve and protect? Us! And we’d get slaughtered. NISEMAN Yeah, well, we’re about to get slaughtered now, because of Dragon. ALEX (in Niseman's face) You’re way out of line, Niseman. NISEMAN I never wanted no lousy freaks, Wylde. It’s bad enough we’ve got the jungle bunnies and the ‘spics... Alex SLAPS him. Dragon gets up to separate them. DRAGON Whoa, whoa, whoa. Get outta here Niseman. NISEMAN With pleasure. Niseman stomps off. Alex adjust her uniform, dusts herself off. DRAGON Look, Alex, I appreciate you defending my honor and all, but -- NISEMAN Your honor, hell! That guys the worst thing a police department can have! DRAGON Yeah, but he’s got a bunch of awards sitting above his KKK mantle from the mayor himself. And, even worse. Part of me wonders how right he is. . . EXT. CHICAGO STREET - DAY It’s a nice day in Chicago. Officer JON DAY, 40 tall, skinny, balding, thick black moustache, is walking his beat. He passes by a man, JACK KILBORN, 60, grey, bitter-looking, on his stoop. JON ‘Morning, Mr. Kilborn! How passes the world? KILBORN Rotten. As always. Damned freaks. I hear there’s a new one in town now, too. Cuththroat or something. JON Ah, yeah. The guy with a razor for an arm? KILBORN Yup. That’s the one. You know ‘im? JON Nah. I think he’s a myth. We’ve gotten to the point in this town that every two-bit nightmare any kid has is turned into some paranoid delusion. Every hobgoblin is a media terror, and a vicious freak. They aren’t all bad, you know! KILBORN Yeah, I know. Dragon’s fine in my book. And there’s still Star. And Detroit’s supposed to have one called Dart, although I don’t think she’s all that hot. She should cover herself up some more. JON Well, there’s talk from our higher-ups to get some more freaks on the force. There’s a couple of them Dragon’s friends with from The Underground who might be talked into it. KILBORN The Underground! Hah. What a waste of space that is. 100 years ago-- 80 years ago-- 60 years ago, even, it was a beautiful place to be. We hung out there as teenagers, and our parents courted one another and danced there. JON It’s the price of progress, Mr. Kilborn. The old makes way for the new. KILBORN I’m not making way for nobody yet, young man! And the way they just built layer upon layer over the old town is disgusting. They couldn’t even be bothered to raze the old buildings. No wonder all those freaks are squatters down there. JON It’s a different day. That’s for sure. (beat) Listen, you have a good one, Mr. Kilborn. I still have a lot of streets to stroll down today. And this heat’s going to kill me yet. KILBORN Yeah, we didn’t have air conditioning back in my day, either! No matter, take it easy! And Jon walks around the corner. He feels the sweat begin to pour down his face more heavily than before. He can’t wipe it off fast enough. JON What the -- ?!? INFERNO (o.s.) Ironic, isn’t it? Yeah, the heat’s going to kill you alright. Day turns around, and before him stands INFERNO, a molten man generating lots of heat, with licks of flame protruding from his body. INFERNO And know that the heat has the name of Inferno. In the name of the Vicious Circle, die! JON Oh, sh -- And FLAMES engulf the camera, as Jon SCREAMS. INT. POLICE STATION - DAY Alex is on the move. She rushes past Dragon’s desk. ALEX C’mon, Dragon, we gotta run! DRAGON What now, Alex? Can’t I just wallow in self-misery some more? ALEX It’s Kilborn. Inferno got him. DRAGON Bastard. Dragon picks up his things from his desk and follows Alex out of the police station. They walk out the door, only to have MAKO, half-man/half- shark pounce on Dragon as they get outside the door. MAKO DIIIIIIIEEEEEEE! DRAGON Oh, jeez. Can’t you guys just give it a rest? Dragon ducks and Mako misses him with his kick, landing on his feet with an audible CRACK. Dragon turns around and punches Mako out. Frank Darling rushes outside, having heard the scream. He looks surprised. DRAGON Book ‘im, Frank. I got better things to do!