QuantumA Story by LuminousLuciano An auld project... Should it get forgotten, I would just cry for it could mean that the boy inside the man is ready to... die? Say it isn't so Luciano! It isn't so Luciano...! ;) from poetry to... sequential art! PAGE ONE (splash)1. CAP: LEGENDS OF ANCIENT LORE SPEAK OF KINGS AND WARLORDS LOCKED IN ETERNAL COMBAT IN THE REALM OF THE GODS WHOSE DOMAIN THEY NOW SHARE. 2. CAP: MYTHICAL WARRIORS FOR THE MOST PART, WHO FOUGHT THEIR QUARRY BEYOND DEATH ITSELF AND AGAINST ALL THE LAWS OF A STILL UNBORN SCIENCE. 3. CAP: ONE COULD SEE THEM, UNCOUNTED FABLES SAID, IN THE SKY, AFTER DUSK, BATTLING ON AMONGST THE STARS. 4. CAP: THEY WERE THEMSELVES AS INCANDESCENT AS STARS - GIANTS IN THE SKY, IN A SORT OF JOINT BLESSING AND CURSE BESTOWED UPON THEM BY THE VERY GODS THEY WORSHIPPED. 5. CAP: THE ECTOPLASMIC LEGERDEMAIN OF THESE ASTRAL TITANS WAS TO LAST FOREVER, FOR ALL TO SEE AND ADMIRE. A TRULY COSMIC LEGACY. ONE THAT BELIED THE TRUTH. PAGE TWO (four panels) Panel one: Ensemble shot of our galaxy, the magnificent Milky Way in all its splendor, complete with a medium-size tenth planet for good measure...! Comets streak by... Meteorites dance in swirls... Asteroids are zooming by, too... The works! No need to milk it any more than that, hmm? 1. CAP: AS MANKIND EVOLVED, PRIMITIVE BELIEFS WITHERED. AGE-OLD SAGAS WERE EVOKED AS NO MORE THAN THE EARLIEST FORM OF FICTION. 2. CAP: BUT WHAT IF THESE ANCIENT ALLEGORIES WERE TO BE FOUND SIGNIFICANT IN A TOTALLY UNEXPECTED WAY? AND WHAT IF THESE EARLY EPICS WERE TO BE FOUND AS CREDIBLE ACCOUNTS OF EVENTS YET TO TAKE PLACE...? Panel two: Establishing shot. A fleet of awe-inspiring alien spaceships is seen orbiting a tiny yellowish planet devoid of any natural satellites. The ships -one after the other, all in a row- form two rings encircling the planet; one for the northern hemisphere and one for the southern. They are vaguely saucer-like ships, but spiky and embossed in some exotic manner - I leave the final design up to you. A large gap between the two rings is visibly covered by a brimming hot orange-tinted force field, which vaporizes any space debris that may enter in contact with it... 1. CAP: EVENTS THAT WOULD TAKE PLACE IN A REMOTE -VERY REMOTE- FUTURE...?!? Panel three: Medium shot, zooming in on the spaceship at the center of the northern hemisphere. No activity around it -yet- but details could be added... The important thing is that the focus is on a window which enables the reader to peek inside - though all seems to be quiet and there is nothing stirring anywhere... Much less a mouse... 1. CAP: ONLY THE NAMES WOULD NOT BE THE SAME - FOR THESE WOULD BE REBORN LEGENDS THAT HAD NEVER BEEN ALLOWED TO TRULY BE BEFORE THIS DAY... LEGENDS THAT HAD GONE FORGOTTEN FOR HAVING VANISHED TOO SOON IN THE MISTS OF TIME, BEFORE HAVING EVEN BECOME A PART OF ANY MYTHOS... 2. XALA (off-panel, but clearly from inside the ship!): SIR OLIVER, KNIGHT OF GLASTONBURY... Panel four: Full shot of the dark room, seen from the inside now, and we discover it full of scintillating machinery. Light emanates from a door at the extreme right end of the panel; a yellowish/orangeish light... The shape of a woman is seen outlined in said light... 1. CAP: LEGENDS THAT TRULY BEGIN TODAY! 2. XALA (the woman): ... ARISE FROM YOUR SLUMBER, FOR YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED TO BATTLE AT LONG LAST!  PAGE THREE Splash of the room, as the lights come on and a sleeping compartment deploys itself vertically, from the wall on the left side of the panel. Sir Oliver is there all right -awakening from one nightmare onto another. He shakes off the cobwebs painfully, grimacing as he struggles to get out of the apparent custom-made module. He is a typical knight of Camelot - with a vague eagle-like emblem somewhere on his armor... He is dark-haired with some silver streaks running through his locks dastardly... As for Xala, she is now fully seen too and her looks (combining alien facial traits with a stunning bone structure and reddish-blonde hair cascading down her long neck...) are quite astonishingly as paradoxically... stunning! 1. OLIVER: BY THE LORD JESU ALL-MIGHTY... 2. OLIVER: WHO GOES THERE? WHO ART THEE? WHERE... AM I?!? 3. CAP: "Warriors,warriors we call ourselves. We fight for splendid virtue, for high endeavor, for sublime wisdom, therefore we call ourselves warriors." - Aunguttara Nikaya (THE LOGO & CREDITS ALSO APPEAR HERE; NO OTHER STORY TITLE NECESSARY FOR THIS INAUGURAL ISSUE...)  PAGE FOUR (five panels)Panel one: Medium shot of Oliver and full shot of Xala who stays on the threshold as the knight continues to thrash about ever so slightly. Her left hand is on a console on the wall - her right hand is extended towards Ollie here in typical ''we come in peace'' FIRST CONTACT pose... 1. XALA: You have seen me before; in your dreams. Or at least you believed to have been dreaming... But I am real. I am Xala of Zurtopia, the peaceful planetary kingdom you are sworn to defend now, against its worst enemies... 2. OLIVER: S-Sworn...? My duty is to my king and to my Lord Alone... Panel two: Ensemble shot of the room as three other ''sleeping beasts'' (as opposed to sleeping beauties) are awakened through the exact same proceedings... Smoke fills the room, as these cold chambers crack open and out come these giants, one by one... Easy on the smoke though; just enough to shroud in mystery the three other warriors a little while longer...! Ollie looks stunned by all that's happening... 1. XALA: Your ability of recollecting the events that brought you here will return progressively. And that applies to all of you... 2. OLIVER: By Jesu...!!! Panel three: Full shot of the Musketeer, as he emerges from the smoke dramatically and with panache... but looking less than happy! The huge stylized cross on his chest, the full regalia of a musketeer - complete with feather in hat - he is by far the most stylish of the four warriors present here... 1. XALA: The count du Vallon de la Fère - one of the most meritorious MUSKETEERS ever... Panel four: Full shot of the well-built (hence beefier) Outlander of service in this case, as he comes forth now... Topless and bald, he appears to be garbed from the waist down with some animal skin that he hunted for himself... 1. XALA: The wanderer who originated from Athens; and whose wish to remain known only as The Outlander we will respect... Panel five: Finally, a full shot of ''Argon'' (really Harkhon) - the Viking Warrior with a predestined name! He too steps out of the mist dramatically... Has redhair and beard & mustache to match - a muscle tone that rivals Outlander's and more... And he is himself barely dressed really... 1. XALA: And the valiant seafaring Norseman known to some as Argon The Brave...  PAGE FIVE (six panels) Panel one: Ensemble shot of the suddenly crowded room, as a visibly ticked-off Sir Oliver begins to think he's fallen into a sorcerous trap and that, quite obviously to him, this ''Xala'' could perhaps be Morgaine Le Fay in disguise...! He draws his sword which was still in its sheath after all this time spent in suspended animation... 1. XALA: Welcome to Zurtopia - all of you... 2. OLIVER: Enough, mischievous lass! Thy lies cannot confound one of the Table Round! Thee art Le Fay - or worse! And these art thy devilish pawns that thee has sent after this knight! At thee, demons! Panel two: Medium shot of Argon, as HE draws his weapon as well - a double-edged AXE, which was still tied-up to his waist belt too. He lifts it angrily in the air, preparing to swing it at Oliver with lethal force - Sir Oliver is seen from the back in the panel's foreground... 1. ARGON: By Hela! You will pay for what you have just said! Argon the Brave may be many things - but he is not a demon! You will die for this...! Panel three: Same exact shot, only Argon has stopped his motion and looks rather perplexed moreso than angry now... Oliver is clearly raising his sword, meanwhile, and about to stab "Argon" where it will incapacitate him immediately... 1. ARGON: What are these words that are coming out of my own mouth...?!? How... how am I able to converse in such a strange manner?!? How can I even understand it...? This is not my native tongue... not at all! 2. OLIVER: Thy attempts to further confound are in vain... demon! Panel four: Close-up shot of Argon as Oliver's sword comes within a hair of his left eye - but it is stopped just short of its trajectory by another (though thinner) blade; the Musketeer's! 1. OLIVER: This one said AT THEE... --- ?!? Panel five: Medium shot of the Musketeer staring down the Knight - their swords still crossing... 1. MUSKETEER: En garde, mon "ami"! If you want a fair duel, it is I who will engage ''thee''...! 2. OUTLANDER (off-panel): I see no fairness in a fight opposing one to two... Panel six: Medium shot of The Outlander now - brandishing a scimitar no less and threatening the Musketeer with it... Xala's slender shadow is cast right at his side, partly over him... 1. OUTLANDER: ... truth be told though, I also see no reason for this to take place now. I suggest we all lower our weapons... 2. XALA (off-panel): Wise words, Outlander. I did not expect anything less from one who immersed himself in the great traditions of the Orient... 3. XALA (off-panel): May we calmly discuss this... I beg of you...? Let me tell you all how you came to be here... how you came to be... the way that you are now... Copyright © 2001-2007 and beyond - Luciano A. Pimentel All Rights Reserved.
© 2012 LuminousLucianoReviews
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LuminousLucianoCanadaAboutBorn in the Age of Aquarius, destined to seek out truths in many an art form, trained as a historian and a journalist but truly a prose-lover... Luciano is out to dispel any clichs and reinvent them a.. more..Writing
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