SYNC by DakinPEx SUBSCENE
TICK: Time is funny.
The things we do become the things we did.
And the things we did sometimes become our undoing.
Makes us think about the things we do do.
(chuckles softly) Told you it was funny.
Good morning, ladies.
Oh, sweetheart, not with breakfast. (chuckles)
Mwah. You're the best.
Your past is past,
-but history is a lazy Susan. -Ah. -Hi.
That thing you're pushing away
is just gonna come back around again
to bite you in your aspirations,
drag you out of the driver's seat
of your existence-- or your van.
No, no, no! No, no, no!
Stop! Please! Please don't!
No, no, no! Aah!
Aah! Why are you doing this to me?
(groans)
(electrical crackling)
(pained groaning)
No matter who you were
or how you saw yourself,
past and future never stop conspiring
to change you into someone or something entirely different.
WOMAN: And that's why I'm speaking now,
so that the whole world can understand
that what you people in the media
are calling the "Very Large Man"
was once a very normal-sized man,
and he has a name and... (sobbing)
That's right, Carrie...
Connie...
he does have a name,
and his name is Richard Cliffter,
-and he is a... -No, it's Clifford Richter.
-Sorry. His name is Clifford Richter. -Oh.
-(camera shutter clicking) -And he's a husband,
and he's a father, and I'm told he's a very talented skyscraper.
-WOMAN: Hmm? -MAN: Wow.
Landscraper...
scaper.
-Oh. -Okay.
As we search for a solution,
it is important to remember that Cliff is not a crisis
or a disaster or a thing.
Although Cliff is a thing.
He's part of a mountain.
Anyway, we shouldn't kill him.
That's the takeaway here.
-MAN: Is he going to get bigger? -Thank you.
(reporters shouting questions)
♪ ♪
Tick and Overkill are down that sinkhole.
We got to get them out of there.
How are we supposed to...
-Stay back. -Is that The Terror?
Maybe.
(gasps)
(grunts, groans)
Tick!
Arthur!
-My God... -Ah.
-Ow. Okay. Ow. -Ah. Ah.
Where's Overkill?
(Arthur exhales)
You're hurt. Here, let me look at that.
I'm fine. Don't touch me.
This little piece of you
has been the talisman that has kept me going.
Oh.
Uh, great.
Thank you, Tick.
We should get moving before The Terror
-comes after us. -The Terror's gone.
He sinkholed his lair, which means
-(mechanical whirring) -he's gone back underground.
What's going on with your hand?
Oh, that's on me-- I threw myself on top of him
before the whole thing went boom.
You saved his life?
We had one shot at The Terror...
and you two messed it up.
Excuse me?
If we had done this plan yesterday,
we'd have had the element of surprise.
Instead, your bright idea of handing Ramses over to Aegis
led to this clusterfuck-- now we have nothing.
That's not true. We-we have confirmation now
that The Terror is plotting to kill Superian.
-What? -I got that straight from Dr. Karamazov.
DOT: Who's Dr. Karamazov?
-Karamazov? -ARTHUR: He's alive.
It's kept him in prison for a long time,
but I helped him escape.
He's a lot...
smaller than he looks on the video.
Where is he? He could tell us everything.
He-he punched me in the crotch and then ran away.
Seems like an odd way of saying thank you.
-DB, are you there? -Where else would I be?
Did you find Arthur? Did you kill The Terror?
-Uh... -Scratch that. Did you find Arthur?
Yes. Get a grip.
I need you to run a sat search on the immediate area.
-What am I looking for? -An individual leaving the area.
Description: white male...
-Bald. -Bald.
-Glasses. -Glasses.
-Lab coat. -Lab coat.
About 35 inches tall.
35 inches...
-That's what I was trying... -Get back to me...
-(thump) -(grunts)
(groans)
Whoa. Robot hands,
robot eyes.
Overkill, I reluctantly dig your style.
Arthur, did you actually see him?
The Terror, he was really there?
As close to me as you are right now.
How did you escape?
He didn't escape.
No one escapes The Terror.
-He let him go. -Why would he let him go?
Well, that's the money question, isn't it?
Well, for your information, he didn't let me go, okay?
Miss Lint helped me escape-- she came into my cell
-and gave the key and told me exact... -Ah...
Uh-huh.
-(quietly): Goddamn it. -DANGERBOAT: Overkill?
-Go ahead. -Negative on sat feed.
No one matching that description exiting the area.
Copy that.
So let's recap.
We lost The Terror, we lost the scientist,
and you just got played by a walking Tesla coil.
That about sum it up?
Could you just go over it one more time?
You people are useless to me.
I'm going back to the boat.
Is he gonna come back for the recap?
I don't think the recap's happening, Tick.
Aw.
Dangerboat, how's that Uber coming?
-One minute away. -Hey!
Leave me alone.
You can't just walk away from this.
We lost our shot. It's The Terror's move now,
which means it's time for you nice folks to run.
But we know he's alive!
-We know what he's do... -We don't know squat.
Your brother screwed up my contingencies.
My brother's the only one who had it right.
Yeah, well, he's in over his head.
You got it? You both are.
So what? Arthur's not giving up; I'm not, either. Hey!
It was our family that got ruined.
The Terror took over our town.
-This is our fight. -Your fight?
You don't even know where to look.
I knew Ramses was dead.
I can find things out about the Pyramid gang...
"Find things out"?
DANGERBOAT: Your driver's name is Antonio.
I'm not talking about gossip
you may have heard by chance.
I'm talking about real intel.
Penetrative surveillance. Action!
I can take action!
Yeah?
Well, I'd advise against it.
-Antonio? -Yeah.
♪ ♪
Arthur, you sure you're okay?
No. No, of course I'm not okay.
We need to find Superian and warn him.
Warn him. Right. About what?
That The Terror is still alive
and has a way to kill him.
-We should tell Superian. -Yeah.
Overkill took an Uber.
So what do we do now?
We warn Superian.
What? No, no. We don't do anything.
You need to get far away from me, someplace safe.
I can take care of myself. What about you two?
Tick and I are going back to my apartment.
We're gonna get some things and keep moving.
You have to lay low until we find Superian.
-Arthur... -Thank you, Dot.
-For what? -For coming for me.
(Dot sniffles)
(patting Dot)
(continues patting Dot)
Let's go, Tick.
Arthur, what's an Uber?
Not important.
♪ ♪
(sighs)
(Arthur mumbling)
Okay. Uh... laptop.
Can't forget my laptop.
TICK: So, tell me, why are we doing this again?
The Terror, Tick, remember? The Terror?
But you can't just leave-- this is your home.
(quietly): Damn.
Look, The Terror knows my name, and if he knows my name,
he knows where I live, and that means he could come here
-and kill me at any moment. -Good.
-Then we could face him together. -No, not good. Bad.
-Bad? -Yes. Bad, Tick.
-(steady beeping) -(groans): Oh, God.
Oh, God.
VOICE MAIL: Arthur, it's me, Walter, your stepdad.
-Oh, hey! It's Walter! -WALTER: Funny thing,
I tried to call your cell phone, and wouldn't you know it,
your cell phone's here.
So I called you at home.
Uh, you know, it's weird, you have a land line...
(fast-forwarding)
...whole social media thing,
-I don't get. -Mm-mm. (fast-forwarding)
...and then I realized
they weren't real loganberries, they were raspberries.
Jesus Christ, that is not a compelling anecdote.
...and since Midnight's in town for a book reading
and I have his book, I thought I'd go.
Then I thought: Arthur lives in town
and he might like to hear Midnight, too.
-So I called your cell phone, -(panting): Midnight?
-and funny thing... -(beep)
Superian is friends with Midnight.
-He is? -Yeah. Yeah, Superian wrote
-the forward to his memoir. -What's a forward?
-Not important. -What's a memoir?
Really doesn't matter. Look, the point is
that Midnight could warn Superian, okay?
We have to go talk to him.
Stupid... thing.
Thank you, Tick. Oh.
You're welcome.
Good-bye, room.
Good-bye, hole in the room.
Well, if we don't try staying here,
how will we ever know if it's too dangerous to stay here?
You can guess, so we're guessing.
-TICK: Tinfoil Kevin. -Oh, great.
Kevin, can you actually keep track of the apartment
while we're gone? Just take....
track who comes and goes?
Already on it. You guys just went in there
ten minutes ago and came out right about now.
Wow, you are good.
Can, uh, I can pay you something.
-Uh... -Arthur.
Money is an addiction.
Oh, okay. That makes things easier.
(music playing on radio in distance)
(singing in Eastern European language)
(footsteps approaching)
KHUFU: What is this, Frank? This your big power move?
-Think you just get to call us all in here like dogs? -Yeah.
I didn't call this meeting.
MISS LINT: I called it, morons.
I killed Ramses, or is that not clear
from the extra-crispy corpse I left behind?
You got a lot of balls, coming here.
-Yeah. -Right.
Balls and everything else Ramses had.
His connections, his markers, his offshore accounts--
-they're all mine. -FRANK: You think
killing the boss just automatically
puts you at the top of the pyramid?
Yeah.
I can feel the metal guns
in your coats, boys.
They can't wait
to trade protons with me. Go ahead--
I'll light 'em up like the third rail.
Or you can all stay
and run my crews and I'll give a hefty signing bonus.
50 grand a head.
-(muttering) -But...
we're losing that pyramid shit. It really gets on my nerves.
-Yeah. -Right. -KHUFU: No, we're not losing anything.
You're the last freak Ramses would want running this gang.
Ironic, I know.
Oh, look-- you have a little...
...something on your face, right...
(grunting, groaning)
(groans) Aah!
(panting)
You burnt off his tattoo.
-HENCHMAN: Oh... -Branding is power.
MIDNIGHT: "It was dark when I woke.
ARTHUR (whispers): Excuse me.
-"Night crushing in around me. -Excuse me. Excuse me.
"The first thing I saw was Patrick. -Hey.
"My AEGIS handler's drawn face. I knew something was wrong.
"I could smell it on him.
-Those lingering whiffs of crusty..." -TICK: Whoa.
-The dog is talking. -Shh.
-TICK: Fantastic. What a beautiful voice. -(gasps)
You're that guy on Instagram,
saving all those people on the bus.
Well... well, yeah. I mean, "save" is a big word.
Uh, excuse me, I'm talking to him.
Oh, well, that does sound like something I would do.
-Can you sign this for me? -For me, too?
-(whispers): Arthur. -Oh, hey, Arthur, it's your dad!
-Shh! -Shh! -Quiet. He's-he's not my dad.
Excuse me, ladies.
MIDNIGHT: "...shot at point-blank range.
"Apparently,
my partner, Christian Soldier, was the first to succumb."
-ARTHUR (quietly): Hi, Walter. -TICK: Hi, Walter.
WOMAN: How rude.
I see you got my message.
-Glad you and Tick could join me. (chuckles) -Yeah.
I'm a bit of a superhero buff. (chuckles)
I got Midnight's book for my birthday.
I know. I was there.
Really fascinating read.
Did you have a chance to peruse it?
Oh, no. No, I can't wait to read it.
There are some very interesting revelations.
Did you ever realize
that there were actually six members of The Flag Five?
Walter, I just... I really don't want to miss this.
-MIDNIGHT: "...left for dead." -Oh, okay.
-ARTHUR: Thank you. -MIDNIGHT: "It was days
"before they told me Straight Shooter was finally gone.
"Friedrich Nietzsche, who also died from syphilis,
"once declared God was dead, and on the day my family died,
I learned that he was right."
(audience murmuring, applause)
(indistinct chatter)
Thank you.
All right, we only have a few minutes for the Q&A,
directly followed by the book signing.
Uh, if you do not have tickets already,
I'm afraid you are out of luck,
and you will have to leave.
Walter. Walter, do you have a ticket?
-For the signing, you mean? -Yeah, yeah.
Funny story. Woke up early this morning,
-call the 800 number for the tickets. -Uh-huh.
Turns out it was actually one of those 888 deals.
Ah, yes. You, sir. You have a question for Midnight.
No question. I just wanted to say
that I've read Good Intentions three times,
and your story means a lot
to people like me who have lost faith in organized religion.
Hey, I'm just a simple, plain-talking German shepherd
who can start fires with his mind.
But it humbles me to know that so many good people
like yourself find meaning in my secular journey.
-Yes? -WOMAN: Will you be attending
the Flag Five memorial unveiling next week?
Carl set me straight on the whole number snafu.
-You know Carl. He's our mailman. -Yeah, I know.
I know. I know who Carl is. Walter, I just... I'm sorry.
I really need to talk to Midnight,
so, do you have a ticket?
Oh, sorry. Didn't I say? I couldn't get any tickets.
There was a limited number of tickets, and I was...
Okay, Tick, you know what? Let's leave.
-(mic rumbling) -TICK: Uh, yes, I have
-a question, boy. Um... -"Boy"? (scoffs)
In chapter 18, you profess to having a crisis of identity.
Would this be a... no memory of where you came from...
-(whispering): Tick? -...no idea of who or even
what you are kind of crisis?
'Cause, canine, you're barking up my tree.
Tick, what are you doing? Ask him the Superian question.
-(audience murmuring) -Ask him what now?
Can I just get in here for a second? Hi. Hello.
Hi, everybody. Wow. Uh, uh, hi.
Midnight, you're-you're friends with Superian, right?
I'm sorry, sir, but you're gonna have to wait your turn.
Hold on one second. So, I have
some very important information that needs to reach Superian.
Would you maybe be able to help us?
Do you have a question specific to the book?
Not exactly, no.
Look, Midnight, Superian is in grave danger, okay?
The Terror's still alive.
He's coming for him. Tick, get my bag.
Listen, I know because I was there
on the day that The Flag Five
had their eyes burned out, and-and-and
Straight Shooter had his eye... his hands crushed.
Eyes and hands.
-MAN: Get him out of here. -Eyes and hands.
-Oh, my God. -MAN: Quiet.
Sorry, everybody. There's one at every reading.
Well, that was a rude ejection, and I had more questions.
Arthur, what happened in there? Are you all right?
Yeah, I'm fine. Uh, I ju...
I just need to go talk to somebody.
-One of your doctors? -No. No. Tick, stay here.
I'll be back. Walter, you're not my dad.
(footsteps running)
(indistinct crowd chatter)
(whirring)
(computer trilling)
-DANGERBOAT: Oh, yay. -What?
DANGERBOAT: It's Arthur.
-(trilling) -Hello, Arthur.
Uh, hey, Dangerboat. Hi.
What the hell happened to perimeter alert?
DANGERBOAT: Oh, but it's Arthur.
(trilling)
I need your help, Overkill.
I need to warn Superian.
Superian won't listen to me.
Yeah, but Midnight might.
What are you talking about?
Talking about Straight Shooter.
He didn't die along with his team.
Just lost his eyes...
and his hands.
You told me that The Terror took families from both of us.
Well, I think your family was The Flag Five.
I think you were there on the day that they were defeated.
Because you're Straight Shooter.
You don't know shit.
DANGERBOAT: Why hide it, Overkill?
-He's got your origin story nailed. -Stay out of this!
DANGERBOAT: It's not healthy to keep everything
bottled up inside.
Great.
Oh, my God.
Blue Blazers?
So it is true?
Now you know that. So what?
So what? So-so you have to tell Midnight
because Midnight can get through to Superian.
We can make him make the call for us.
-We're not on good terms. -Then get on good terms.
(sighs) You're right.
I lost it all when The Terror dropped The Five.
My family, my world.
AEGIS rebuilt my hands, my eyes,
put me out on their missions, but... I was never whole again.
This was supposed to be the day.
Don't you get that?
The day I paid The Terror back for what he did and end it all.
Blaze of glory.
End of story.
Well, you would've never even gotten this far
if it wasn't for us.
You wouldn't be standing here right now
if Tick hadn't saved your life.
I didn't ask him to do that.
I don't want life.
I want revenge.
It doesn't matter what you want.
There's something terrible that's about to happen,
and we can stop it! Maybe!
But you can't do it alone. No one can.
You need us, and we need Superian.
Everybody needs everybody.
DANGERBOAT: That's beautiful.
It's idiotic.
So you're really not gonna help us.
I told you-- I work alone.
Yeah. Yeah, you told me that.
DANGERBOAT: Bye, Arthur.
Bye, Dangerboat.
(doors opening and shutting)
DANGERBOAT: Well, aren't you a piece of work?
I mean, Jesus.
So Christian Soldier rescued Midnight as a puppy
from the labs of Dr. Freakmaker.
Oh, that poor, four-footed orphan.
What a tale.
Wait till you get to the part where he falls in love
for the first time. (chuckles)
Arthur.
-Hey. -(sighs) Are you all right?
Yeah. I'm fine. Hey, Walter, I'm sorry about earlier,
that you had to see me like that.
I'm-I'm sure you were worried.
Well, I won't say I'm not worried.
But, uh... (chuckles)
The Tick explained it all.
-He did? -I did.
I've had my run-ins with destiny, Arthur.
I'd like to think I'm smart enough to know it when I see it.
(chuckles)
Thanks?
Take care of your feet.
Tick.
Night, Walter.
(whispers): Tick, what did you tell him?
Just the truth.
And to lend me this cool book.
So what's the plan, man?
No plan, unfortunately.
I went to go talk to Overkill, but...
-Overkill! -Yeah, no, that's what I told him, to get ov...
-It's Overkill! -Shut your nonsense hole,
you big blue yeti.
-What are you doing here? -You left.
Dangerboat wouldn't shut up about what you said.
I mean, he really, really wouldn't shut up about it.
So I came here.
To help?
Shut up.
He seems in a good mood.
I guess, comparatively, yeah.
-Am I a yeti? -No, Tick, you're not a yeti. You're...
(trilling, beeps)
PHOTOGRAPHER: That's good. Another one just like that.
Fierce.
-Crime. -Shh.
(camera shutter clicking)
Let me see bad dog.
MIDNIGHT: You know, I got that same lens.
I shoot landscapes, mostly.
Old barns, rustic tractors--
a whole agrarian decay thing.
Midnight's got a coffee table book coming out later this week.
(chuckles) It's just a hobby. I...
Well, now, this is a surprise.
We have to talk.
Overkill, aren't you in prison yet?
Rochelle, I told you I had a weird feeling about today.
You did. Should I call security?
Nah, this is an old friend.
We were never friends.
Midnight, we've come to ask for your help.
And, also, a follow-up question,
do you ever wonder about your real parents?
Please, look, you need to listen to us. Superian is in danger.
Hey, you're the conspiracy nut
-from the Q&A. -He's not a nut.
(chuckles) Overkill, you're a psychotic.
Okay, next question is a two-parter.
First part, in your book, you write a lot about this God guy.
Tick, m-maybe you should go secure the perimeter.
-Got it. Watch the door. -Yeah. -Overkill,
what are you doing with these dime-store Zorros?
What are you doing cashing in on The Flag Five?
Cashing in? Read the reviews.
It's a major work.
Pompous jackass.
Please, Midnight,
okay, there is a plot to kill Superian,
and we need you to warn him for us.
It's The Terror.
He's still alive,
and he's on the move.
Okay, you're throwing a lot at me right now.
-Kill Superian? Please. -It's true.
And I'm just gonna ignore the Terror part of what you said,
because even acknowledging you said that
would make me seem crazy.
The Terror is alive.
The kid's research holds up.
We found his lair.
(chuckles) Sure.
Listen to me, you dumb mutt...
Okay, I'm gonna go call security.
Look, Overkill, I know we've always had...
friction. Maybe I gave you a little more crap
than I should've back in the day.
But, heck, you were the kid, always tagging along,
always wanting to be a member of The Five.
-Don't start this. -Guys, you know,
I don't want to put myself in the middle of a reunion,
I just feel like maybe now's a good time to take
-the foot off the gas a little. -Eh, it's nothing.
Just that Overkill knows he was only ever allowed
on the Flagship 'cause he was Uncle Samson's sidekick.
He was there as a favor.
You know, like a Make-A-Wish kid who wouldn't die.
I was in The Flag Five.
The Flag Five was five heroes and a mascot-- you.
The Flag Five was five heroes and a sidekick-- you.
-Mascot. -Sidekick.
Okay, okay, Midnight, honey,
you are the bigger-selling author here, all right? Please.
Listen to your publicist. Sellout.
Sidekick! (whimpers)
-God! Don't... -(barks) -(grunts)
-Let's just... Stop! -(growling)
-Let's not do this! -ROCHELLE: Stop it!
-(grunting) -(growling)
-Oh. Dogfight. -(growling)
-(grunting) -ROCHELLE: This is ridiculous!
Gentlemen, please.
He started it.
Bite me.
♪ ♪
(gunshot sounds fade)
♪ ♪
(exhales)
Shit.
...an argument which ended in the violent altercation
earlier this evening in his luxury suite
at the Excelsion Hotel.
Authorities are unsure what provoked this cowardly attack
on the superheroic dog formerly known as Onward.
But there are reports from Midnight's publicist
that he will not be pressing charges against his assailant.
-Midnight definitely isn't gonna call Superian now. -He'll call.
We've got our issues, but, deep down, he's a good dog.
He tried to chew out your jugular.
It's how we relate.
Ever hear of words?
They bleed less.
So you actually think that Midnight
will still tell Superian that The Terror plans to kill him?
I said yes. Just say thank you and stop pestering me.
-(quietly): Wow... -Which reminds me,
Tick...
you saved my life.
Oh, I don't think that talking pup would've killed you.
No, at the cemetery. You pulled me out of my grave.
I live by a code, so I owe you my life.
No, thank you. I certainly don't want that.
You can't refuse until I save yours,
which would appear to be impossible.
So my life belongs to you. (exhales)
I'll tell you what,
I'll take it
if you promise never to kill anyone again.
Man, come on.
That's cold.
I don't think my life's worth not killing anymore.
Try it. You might like it.
Anger, revenge--
they're the things that keep you alive,
moving, pushing through everything in your way.
Arthur knows that.
What? No-no, I don't. No, I'm not like you. At all.
-No? -No.
Then why are we both here right now?
15 years after the thing that put us on the same path.
You and me,
we're brothers.
Does Dot know?
-(sighs) Come on, man. -Tick, come on.
You two can crash here until you find a place to lay low.
DANGERBOAT: That will be lovely.
Thank you, Overkill.
What the hell. Like I said,
nobody's after you.
(music playing faintly)
♪ Hali hali, ho, hali hali, yah ♪
♪ Na prallelyach i meridianach ♪
♪ Again I am, waho, Vasco da Gama ♪
♪ In my headphones is Bob Marley and a-Joe Strummer ♪
♪ I'm on a quest for solar amalgamar ♪
♪ I'm on a quest for the Never-Neverest ♪
♪ With my contaminated friends ♪
♪ Yeah! ♪
♪ Hey, hey, hey, hey, hali hali, ho, hali hali, hey ♪
♪ Hey, hey, hey, hey, hali hali, ho, hali hali, yah ♪
♪ Old schools, they were just nomadic forces ♪
♪ Kill all the men, steal all the women and the horses ♪
♪ Then later on moved on to the pursuit of spices ♪
♪ And finally the rest of all devices ♪
♪ Hey, hey, hey, hey, hali hali, ho, hali hali, hey ♪
♪ Yeah, hey, hey, hey, hey, hali hali, ho, hali hali, hey ♪
♪ Cross-pollination, hali, ho, is on the way ♪
♪ Contamination, hali, ho, hali, hey ♪
♪ Hali, ho, hali, ha. ♪