The Dark Pearl Chronicles 1.1: Battle of the Half-Brothers (3 page)

ZACK: You don't look like a college scout.

PETE: Young man, I'm as much of a scout as you are an athlete. Now please come in.

(Zack comes in. He leads Zack to a waiting room where Zack sits on a couch.)

PETE: My condolences, Mister Parker, if you will excuse me, I am expecting a few more guests. I'd like to wait until they arrive before I lead you to the other room so that we can discuss your future.

(Zack sits quietly and begins to look around the room while Pete goes back down the hallway.)

(Austin walks up to the door and rings the doorbell. Pete answers.)

AUSTIN: You Pete?

PETE: Excuse me?

AUSTIN: I said are you Pete? I heard a "Pete Walsh" was looking to record me. So are you Pete or not?

PETE: I am.

AUSTIN: I'll invite myself in then. (Brushes through the doorway past Pete)

PETE: Wait! You mustn't go that way!

(Austin continues down the hall, where he finds Zack looking at the trophies in Pete's case. Pete walks in after, but is too late.)

AUSTIN: No offense, but why are you here, Zack? Did he invite you to hear me record?

ZACK: I was told this was a college scout's house.

AUSTIN (turning to talk to Pete): Care to explain?

PETE: Listen. I will explain as soon as the others arrive. I promise.

AUSTIN: Others? Forget it. I'm out of here.

ZACK: I'm right behind you.

PETE: No! Stop! I know a secret of yours and if you leave I'll tell!

AUSTIN: What secret?

PETE: I mustn't tell until the others arrive.

AUSTIN: You're bluffing.

PETE: Come here, then and I'll whisper your secret in your ear.

(Austin slowly saunters over to Pete.)

ZACK: You know he's bluffing, Austin. (To Pete) Austin and I have never kept a secret from each other.

(Pete ignores the comment from Zack and bids Austin to come closer.)

PETE (whispering in Austin's ear): I know about- (the doorbell rings)

(Pete goes to the door and opens it to find all four of the others standing there, arguing.)

PETE: Come in! Come in! All of you!

JOSH: What is he doing here? 

JAGUAR: I thought only Josh and me were going to be here?

COLE: I know this isn't a Harvard convention!

KARA: These guys aren't X-game material! I would eat them for breakfast!

PETE: Please. Allow me to explain. All of you come in.

(They all go into the house, where Pete leads them to the room that Austin and Zack are in.)

PETE (to Zack and Austin): Follow me.

(Austin spots Josh in the crowd.)

AUSTIN: What is that loser doing here? Tell me what's going on now!

PETE: Follow me and you will all soon find out.

AUSTIN (following Pete): Is this about the secret?

(Pete leads the six into his room full of machinery.)

PETE: This is my lab. Feel free to look around, but please don't break anything.

(Everyone looks at Jaguar.)

JAGUAR: Okay, so maybe I'm a little clumsy. (Leans on a shelf, and a vial falls off. Pete quickly catches the vial and shoots Jaguar a dirty look)

AUSTIN: Look. I'm not here to look at some nerdy professor's inventions. I don't even know why I'm here, but if I don't find out in the next two minutes I'm leaving, and I dare you to try to stop me.

PETE: Okay, you're right, Mister Jones... I've been avoiding the topic of today's discussion, but it's time for me to come out and say this.

JAGUAR: Oh no! Don't tell me you're coming out of the closet! I don't even know you!

PETE: No, that's not it.

JAGUAR: Phew.

PETE: Anyways, you all have something in common-a secret: a secret that I know about.

AUSTIN: Whoa whoa whoa. I have nothing in common with these losers except that I go to the same school as them. Well, Zack's not a loser, but the rest are.

KARA: Says the guy that lost his band.

AUSTIN: At least I was in one. Don't try to go all bad on me. I'm the only bad boy in this town.

KARA: Whatever.

(Austin gives Kara a look and goes into Kara's mind.) 

KARA: I apologize, your majesty. You are the only bad boy here.

AUSTIN: That's what I thought.

PETE: Oh my nucleotides! You did it! Right in front of me! I have witnessed a supernatural act of a Mesopotamian jewel!

ALL EXCEPT PETE: A what?

PETE: this is the secret I was speaking of. I know you all have Mesopotamian jewels. You know the jewels that your parents gave you that have powers inside them.

(Austin suddenly gets uneasy)

AUSTIN: I don't know what you are talking about. Zack has one, but I don't.

PETE: Okay. I see how it is Mister Hard-to-Get.

AUSTIN: Ha! You have me confused for someone else! Ask any girl at Washington High; I'm the easiest guy around!

JOSH (mumbling): And he acts like that's a good thing.

PETE: We'll see who's lying, Mister Jones.

(Pete grabs a bat and swings it at Austin's head. Austin puts his hand up and the bat stops its motion in midair. Austin swings his hand quickly to his right and the bat flies from Pete's hand across the room.)

PETE: Ha! You just used telekinesis on me! I knew it! You can't lie to me.

ZACK: What!? You have one of those jewels too?

AUSTIN: Well, I... um...

ZACK: I told you I had one! I thought I was your best friend!

AUSTIN: You are, Zack. But don't you know how weird it is to tell somebody something like that? I didn't tell anybody. It's not like I was trying to keep it from you.

ZACK: But I wouldn't have thought it was weird. I have the same secret.

AUSTIN: You just don't understand. I'm the bad boy. I don't try to be like everyone else.

ZACK: Not even your best friend.

(Austin just stands quietly.)

JAGUAR: Well, this is awkward…

PETE: Wait! Listen. The reason I brought you all here is that I've studied up the histories of the Mesopotamian jewels and their possessors, and do you know what I found?

AUSTIN: That everyone looked at them as awkward aliens? That's kind of why we're hiding these.

PETE: No, not at all. I found prophecies about these jewels-prophecies that you could bring to life.

AUSTIN: Like anyone cares about these prophecies.

PETE: So you don't want to live forever?

AUSTIN (turning his head quickly in Pete's direction): Tell me more.

PETE: You guys, if you six teamed up as one unit, you'd be unstoppable. There's no way anyone could ever defeat you, and since you're already invulnerable to nature, you'd never die.

AUSTIN: Wait. So you're telling me I'd have to team up with these losers if I wanted immortality.

PETE: Precisely.

AUSTIN (spins around to walk out of the doorway): I better go call a grave digger.

PETE: Wait! Austin!

AUSTIN: Not going to happen! I roll solo, fool! I don't need anybody! (Leaves and slams the door behind him)

(Pete sighs.)

PETE: So, I'm guessing you guys are out, too?

(Josh looks around at the people surrounding him.)

JOSH: You know what? I'm in. I don't see what it would hurt.

JAGUAR: If he's in, I'm in.

COLE: I could use a few more friends.

ZACK: Whoa, don't use that word. Look, I'm in, mainly because Austin isn't and I'm mad at him, but I'm not friends with any of you.

KARA: Why not? This could be pretty fun.

PETE: Great! I could train you on how to use your powers properly and to the maximum efficiency!

JAGUAR (eating a honey bun): I'm sorry I didn't catch that last part.

SCENE: Pete's mansion. Pete and the five are in a giant room almost empty, except for a few weapons leaning on a few walls and sitting on some shelves. Training.

PETE: Okay, so the first step is to realize what you can do and when to do it. Jaguar, you go first.

JAGUAR: What do you want me to do?

PETE: Well, what is your power?

JAGUAR: Speed. I could run a NASCAR race and win, if I don't pass out first.

PETE: Wow. I'm impressed. Okay, show me.

(Jaguar runs a few laps around the room, knocking things off of shelves, and finishing by running into Pete and they both fall. Pete checks his timer.)

PETE: Three and a half seconds. That's very impressive. Now if we could just teach you how to control yourself from running into anything. Good for the first time, though. Now we know what to improve on. Okay, who's next?

SCENE: Austin's house. Derek is home with his girlfriend, Brooklyn. They are watching a movie on TV when Austin comes storming in and slams the door.

DEREK: Wow, Austin. I would ask if it was girl problems, but you don't get those.

AUSTIN: I'm not sure how to take that, bro.

DEREK: No, not like that. (Laughs) I mean like you never get attached. No, Josh is the one I'd be picking on about not getting a girl.

(The two laugh.)

BROOKLYN: You're so mean! (Smacking Derek in the chest)

DEREK: It's true, though, babe. I mean, Austin isn't even my full brother and he is more like me than Josh is.

AUSTIN: That is true. So what are you and Brooklyn doing here?

DEREK: Watching a chick flick. (Laughs)

BROOKLYN: This is not a chick flick!

(Austin looks at the TV. A woman answers her front door to see a man on one knee proposing to her.)