Mr. Sandman (15 page)

Page 17 panel 4

 

Bogeyman: Oh my! They
also
transported him
out
of the Dream Zone! He is being held
captive
in
reality
! And his crippled girlfriend--
she
has also been conquered! What entertainment! I daresay, it all comes out in the
wash
, doesn't it? That'll teach her to resist
me
!

 

Hobbs: I doubt it, sir.

 

 

 

Page 17 panel 5

 

Bogeyman: And look here! The analysts predict a great deal more revilement and excruciating punishment for Adams! Magnificent! Do you
believe
it, Hobbs?

 

Hobbs (unemotionally): Of course, sir. I wrote it.

 

 

 

Page 17 panel 6

 

Bogeyman flips the paper casually over his shoulder into the air and it sparks into flame.

 

Bogeyman: Oh, that's right. One tends to forget, in the rush of things. Nevertheless, this certainly gives me a sense of great satisfaction, of a job well done! Ha ha! I feel like a craftsman, Hobbs, like an
artiste
! The consummate ruination of a human being is painstaking and infinitely creative--like the work of a painter, or a potter, or a woodworker or clothier, or...or...

 

 

 

Page 17 panel 7

 

Hobbs: Or a prostitute, sir?

 

Bogeyman: Exactly! What transcendence, what a miracle...art for art's sake. Perhaps I should move to a Emmett and take to wearing homespun.

 

Hobbs: No. I'm afraid that overindulgence is your maiden name, sir.

 

 

 

Page 17 panel 8

 

Bogeyman: It's certainly getting
darker
out here, isn't it?

 

Show Bogeyman gazing out at the view alongside the car. The sky is clouded over and black, and the landscape between the high gray walls is almost completely dark.

 

Hobbs: Yes, sir. The mad ones become madder, and the pure ones become mad. You're corrupting them quite well.

 

 

 

Page 17 panel 9

 

Bogeyman: Thank you, Hobbs. Again, I can only point to the artisan in myself. What majestic
emptiness
there is, what a tremendous
canyon
appears in men when their dreams become
polluted
. It
stirs
me, loyal Hobbs, like a woman with child.

 

Wide shot of the car moving into an even darker region. Lightning bolts crackle downward in the distance.

 

 

 

Page 17 panel 10

 

Bogeyman: Very soon, it will
all
be like this, thanks to my puissant intervention. A stunning, lunatic landscape, uncluttered by light or reason--churning and spewing and wailing with a dead, dark vision reflected in the world of the waking.

 

 

 

 

Page 18 (8
panels)

 

Page 18 panel 1

 

Bogeyman: And I will be Thomas Jefferson, the
architect
! Revered and emblazoned, a founding father of
H
ell
! And Adams?

 

 

 

Page 18 panel 2

 

Closeup of Bogeyman's sinister grin.

 

Bogeyman: Adams will be my court jester.

 

 

 

Page 18 panel 3

 

Back in the lab, the Dream Lord is still inside the clear transport tube, surrounded by technicians, security men, and observers. Commander Farley still stands by the tube, looking down at the unconscious prisoner.

 

Farley: Gantry, go ahead and wake him up. His nap time's over.

 

Gantry is a technician in Project Dream Lord uniform, operating a control panel, the size of a fuse box, set into the tube's side.

 

Gantry: Yes, sir. Applying stimulus solution now.

 

 

 

Page 18 panel 4

 

Closeup of the Dream Lord, as a green liquid drips down onto his head from the top of the tube. The liquid drips down his face and runs onto his body.

 

Farley: Hard to believe what this man's done, isn't it? For two years, he practically controlled a
universe
. He put on some tights and played Superman...but he was really a
god
.

 

 

 

Page 18 panel 5

 

View of Farley from inside the tube, the Dream Lord's perspective. Farley's image is distorted from passing through the glass.

 

Farley: He should've known better. He should've known we would still be watching, that he would eventually have to pay for his jollies. Guess he thought he was indestructible.

 

 

 

Page 18 panel 6

 

Farley (thoughtfully): Yeah, there's a lot of that going around.

 

Tomlin (watching a complex diagnostic instrument in his hand): Commander Farley, Subject Adams is reviving. All body functions steadily rising in response to the solution. His heart rate is returning to prior baseline--breathing within acceptable rates--EEG indicates standard brain activity. No damage, no irregularities--except for a slightly elevated level of body radioactivity.

 

 

 

Page 18 panel 7

 

Farley: Very good, Tomlin. I believe it's time for a wake-up call, Gantry.

 

Gantry: Yes, sir. Arousal system engaged.

 

 

 

Page 18 panel 8

 

Within the tube, a blinding, white-hot spotlight flashes on and a high-pitched, deafening whine sounds. Already roused from his coma, the Dream Lord awakens, jamming his eyes shut and holding his ears.

 

Dream Lord: Aaaaggghh!!!

 

Farley (off-panel): Rise and shine, Adams.

 

 

 

 

Page 19 (7
panels)

 

Page 19 panel 1

 

Dream Lord: AAAHHHH!!

 

Farley (to Gantry): All right, turn it off. I think we have his attention.

 

Gantry: Arousal system disengaged, sir.

 

 

 

Page 19 panel 2

 

Farley (as the light and noise stop suddenly): Well, good morning, sleepyhead. Did you have a pleasant rest?

 

Dream Lord (gripping his aching skull; the green liquid continues to drip down onto him, collecting at the base of the tube): Ohhh...where...where am I...

 

 

 

Page 19 panel 3

 

Farley: You're home, Adams, we brought you home. We transported you through the dimensional envelope, from alternate space to central space. In other words, from Slumberland to Reality, to Earth. We evicted you from your private Fantasy Island in the Dream Zone, and brought you back home to pay the rent. Isn't it nice to be back?

 

 

 

Page 19 panel 4

 

Dream Lord: Oh, God...I feel like I've had brain surgery without anesthesia.

 

Farley: Don't whine, Adams. You had it coming, mister--and we've been waiting for a long time to give it to you. There's plenty more where
that
came from.

 

 

 

Page 19 panel 5

 

Dream Lord (looking around and putting a hand against the inside of the tube): How the hell...did I get in
this
thing?

 

Farley: It's a transport reservoir, Adams--the thing that brought you here. It's the product of years of research and development, the final, instantaneous connection between Reality and Slumberland. It's the great-grandson of the equipment that sent you over there two years ago. Impressive, isn't it?

 

 

 

Page 19 panel 6

 

Dream Lord: The only thing that would impress me right now is an aspirin the size of a football, and a bottle of bourbon. Let me out.

 

Farley: No, sorry Doctor. You'll be in the tube for quite some time yet.

 

 

 

Page 19 panel 7

 

Dream Lord: Why?

 

Farley: Well, you must be decontaminated, of course. Also, there are batteries of tests you must undergo, and the tube is the most convenient place for them. It's fully equipped with diagnostic sensors and sampling apparatus. Plus, you're under arrest, and have to be confined.

 

 

 

 

Page 20 (9
panels)

 

Page 20 panel 1

 

Dream Lord: Oh, brother. Again, I'm under arrest. May I ask why? May I ask who gave you the authority to arrest me?

 

Farley: Of course, Dr. Adams--it's a free country. You are under arrest by the government of the United States of America. The charges are theft of government property, resisting arrest, attempted murder, and subversion of the government of the U.S. territory of Slumberland.

 

 

 

Page 20 panel 2

 

Dream Lord: "Slumberland" is not a U.S. territory. "Slumberland" is not a territory,
period
. You can't claim something that has no permanent form.

 

Farley: It seems to me that you are in no position to argue, Adams. Your opinion means precious little in the face of what you've done. Some would call you a traitor to your country.

 

 

 

Page 20 panel 3

 

Farley:
Some
would do worse than that. There is already a sizeable coalition on the National Security Council calling for your execution.

 

Dream Lord (shaking his head with exasperation): What government property did I steal? It seems to have slipped my mind.

 

 

 

Page 20 panel 4

 

Farley:
Yourself
, Dr. Adams. When the President was near death two years ago, you were brought in to revive him from a Gordian Nightmare. You were not
asked
to do so, however--you were
confiscated
. In return for delinquent student loans and back taxes you owed us, we
repossessed you
. As part of a new program established by the I.R.S., we would extract assets you owed us in the form of labor.

 

 

 

Page 20 panel 5

 

Farley: Actually, it's quite an effective program. The U.S. government is supplied with free labor from all intellectual strata, and the money saved negates the individual's debt. Nobody can be excused on the basis of inability to pay. Until a citizen's entire debt has been repaid, he or she is officially a ward of the government--collateral, if you will.

 

 

 

Page 20 panel 6

 

Farley:
You
fled before your debt was equalized. The I.R.S. wants your scalp... and so do we.

 

Dream Lord: "We?"

 

 

 

Page 20 panel 7

 

Farley: Project Dream Lord, Dr. Adams. You remember us. We initiated your entry into the Dream Zone, using a combination of your Dream Screen and equipment we'd already developed. We've
grown a bit since then. Now, we're the core of a new branch of the U.S. armed forces--the Night Brigade. My name is Farley, and I command this new combat force.

 

Dream Lord: What's the purpose of a military unit in the Dream Zone? What could they possibly do?

 

 

 

Page 20 panel 8

 

Farley: The defense of the territory of Slumberland, of course. Also, the infiltration of enemy minds. Through Slumberland, our agents can enter the
dreams
of enemies of our country--and
attack
! A strong disruption in a dream can permanently damage someone's mind, create a vegetable. Enough disruption can kill.