INT. UPPERWORLD, PANCHO’S CAFE - NIGHT
DIETER: So, you don’t remember anything of what I just told you?
BARBELLA: Bits and pieces are coming back to me. Its like a distant memory. I think I remember what my home looks like but I don’t remember how to get there.
A man rushes into the cafe
YOUNG MAN: The Lord Prefect is dead. The Lord Prefect is dead.
BARBELLA: Who is the Lord Prefect?
DIETER: If you have nowhere else to go, I can take you back to my place. I can sleep on the floor.
Moments later
Dieter approaches the counter and hands over some money.
CASHIER AT CAFE: It looks like your currency is no good here.
DIETER: Says who? The Lord Prefect?
He pauses
Do what you have to do, Lady. Call the cops. I’m sure they have more pressing matters to deal with.
INT. DIETER'S APARTMENT - MORNING
Dieter wakes up on the floor of his apartment. Groggily he climbs to his feet and approaches the bedroom door. He knocks but doesn’t hear anything. He opens the door to find that there is nobody there.
DIETER: Barbella
Dieter searches for Barbella throughout the apartment but there is no trace of her.
EXT. THE UNDERWORLD, PREFECT PARK, - DAY
Gustav is wandering in the small Underworld park, deep in contemplation when Tayo calls after him.
TAYO: Gustav, wait up.
GUSTAV: What do you want?
TAYO: I saw something last night. I went to the forbidden zone.
GUSTAV: Why would you do something so stupid?
TAYO: You’ll never guess what I saw.
GUSTAV: Scavengers?
TAYO: No
GUSTAV: Goblins and ten foot ogres
TAYO: Nope. A space ship. It looked like it was attacking the upperworld. Soon Gustav we will be free.
GUSTAV: And what makes you think that would be a good thing? The upperworld gave us light
TAYO: They also took it away.
GUSTAV: They give us food, shelter, protection...
TAYO: Protection from what? They have brainwashed us into thinking that they are superior and we should be grateful to them. They have destroyed our world.
GUSTAV: How?
TAYO: They live like kings while we scrape by. They take all that is good from this planet and give us the leftovers.
GUSTAV: Poppycock. You’ve never even been to the upperworld. For all I know, you’ve never been to the forbidden zone.
TAYO: Nothing we’ve been told is the truth. Everything in books and media is tailored to brainwash us.
GUSTAV: You always were a sad, lonely delinquent.
TAYO: And I thought you would listen to me. You are just like all the others. A scared little boy.
A small spaceship is seen descending from the upperworld to the underworld. Tayo runs towards it.
TAYO: One day, I’ll show you Gustav. There is nothing to be afraid of.
GUSTAV: (in a low voice) There is everything to be afraid of.
EXT. UNDERWORLD, VISITORS CAMP - DAY
The small spaceship lands on the grounds of the visitors camp. Tayo hurries to the small spaceship. Morten and Clarissa emerge from it.
MORTEN: Male, late 30’s, slim, taller than average, dressed in uniform
CLARISSA: Female, early 30’s, slim, average height, dressed in uniform
TAYO: I’m commandeering your spaceship
MORTEN: Why you’re just a boy
CLARISSA: Go easy on him.
TAYO: I’m not afraid
CLARISSA: We need your help. You and all your friends. Both our worlds are in danger. We need as many brave men as we can find.
TAYO: Why would I want to help you?
MORTEN: Gold. Treasure. Riches beyond your wildest dreams.
CLARISSA: Everything you’ve been told about the Upperworld is true. It has rivers of gold, fountains of ale.
MORTEN: You and your friends may be able to help us. Anything. Anything at all could swing the battle in our favour.
CLARISSA: The reward could be great but the time is limited. We need to act now.
INT. UNDERWORLD, GUSTAV'S FAMILY HOME, DINING ROOM - MORNING
Gustav is eating breakfast while his mother works in the kitchen.
GUSTAV: Mom. The strangest thing happened to me last night.
GUSTAV’S MOTHER: What was it?
GUSTAV: I didn’t have any nightmare
GUSTAV’S MOTHER: What are you saying?
GUSTAV: I slept the whole night. Of course I don’t remember much but...
GUSTAV’S MOTHER: Don’t bring shame on this family young man. After all we’ve done to build this home and you’ve got notions.
GUSTAV: Did you have a nightmare?
GUSTAV’S MOTHER: Why yes of course I did. Like any other underworld fearing mother.
GUSTAV: Don’t worry Mom. I’m sure its just a passing thing. There’s still loads of stuff that I’m afraid of. Like the forbidden zone and giant ants and flowers that bite.
GUSTAV’S MOTHER: Well, son. As long as it’s just a phase.
EXT. UNDERWORLD, WHOPPER HILL - NIGHT
Tayo, SALMAN and LISTER sit on Whopper Hill in heated debate.
SALMAN: 17, male, strong, taller than average, moderately naive
LISTER: 17, male, slim, average height, moderately cynical
TAYO: I say we do it?
LISTER: Why?
TAYO: Because it is an adventure. It’s exciting. What else have we to look forward to? Working in a kitchen? Doing long hours of tiring work?
LISTER: Or, get ourselves killed, for helping our persecutors.
SALMAN: How do you know that these invaders aren’t worse than the Upperworld?
LISTER: Which is the perfect reason for not getting involved. What have the Upperworld done for us?
SALMAN: They’ve given us an education, food, housing, protection.
LISTER: Brainwashing, scraps and persecution more like.
TAYO: Boys, we could be heroes. If it’s the Upperworld today it could be the Underworld tomorrow.
LISTER: Boys. Exactly. We’re just boys. And we don’t know what we’re up against.
SALMAN: Lets put it to a vote. In favour. Aye.
TAYO: Aye
LISTER: What about Gustav?
SALMAN: He’s a chicken. He doesn’t get to vote.
INT. UPPERWORLD PRISON - EVENING
Barbella enters what is now a virtually abandonned prison. She moves from cell to cell, looking for signs of life. She hears a desperate cry from a male and tries to locate it. She finds a room with an unlocked door and enters. She sees a man in pain, clearly tortured.
KYLE: Barbella?
He is very weak but something in his face triggers a memory.
BARBELLA; Kyle?
KYLE: Help me.
Barbella locates a set of keys on a deceased prison guard. She tries a number of them to see if she can unlock Kyle’s cuffs. At the third attempt she succeeds.
BARBELLA: You need a doctor
KYLE: No doctors.
He tries to sit up. She helps him.
KYLE: You were drugged. Weren’t you?
BARBELLA: Bits and pieces come back to me. Slowly.
KYLE: I’d like to say we were lovers, but you were devoted to the cause.
(he pauses to gather his energy)
Come on. Lets go
Kyle stands on his feet and he puts his arm around Barbella for support.
EXT. UPPERWORLD, CITY STREET - NIGHT
Barbella and Kyle are ambling down the street, when they come to a familiar building.
KYLE: There. Do you remember?
Barbella knocks, but there is no response. She realises that the door is open and enters.
INT. UPPERWORLD, ABANDONNED BUILDING, LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
The living room has wall paper peeling off the walls and debris from the ceiling speckled along the floor. The only furniture is a small table and three overturned kitchen chairs.
Barbella leans Kyle against the wall and pulls up a kitchen chair. She sits Kyle into it.
She cautiously moves into the kitchen. A man grabs her and puts a knife around her throat.
SNEAKER: What you doin lady? Are you a cop?
KYLE: Sneaker? Is that you?
SNEAKER: Kyle
KYLE: This is the famous Barbella. The one and only
Sneaker relaxes his grip
SNEAKER: I’ve heard many things about you. All bad of course.
BARBELLA: Can you help him?
SNEAKER: The only medicine I know involves alcohol.
An alien patrol, can be heard walking on the street
Sneaker goes to the window.
SNEAKER: I don’t know which is worse, Lord Prefect or this alien scum.
BARBELLA: What happens if it comes to a fight?
SNEAKER: I left weapons on the kitchen table. Me, I use a knife. Silent but deadly. Not much good against these guys though.
BARBELLA: We’ll see about that.
There’s a knock on the door.
SNEAKER (in a whisper) Quick. Hide
KYLE: Leave me
Sneaker and Barbella retreat to the kitchen. An ALIEN GUARD enters with a weapon. He sees Kyle and starts to scan him.
ALIEN GUARD: Small, thin, green skin, no hair, wearing clothing similar to a space suit.
KYLE: I mean you no harm. Not in my position anyway
The alien Patrol guard appears to vaporise Kyle. An angry Barbella points a gun at the alien and shoots
BARBELLA: He killed him. He killed him.
The alien is fatally wounded and disintegrates to the ground. Patrol guards rush into the abandonned house. Barbella and Sneaker drop their weapons.
EXT. UNDERWORLD, VISITORS CAMP
Gustav is wandering near the visitors camp when he sees Morten, Clarissa, Tayo, Lister and Salman in a circle within the
visitors camp. Gustav approaches them.
GUSTAV: What are you doing?
Gustav sees that in the middle of the circle Tayo is climbing onto a hovering board
TAYO: They’re called hoverboards. Want to try?
GUSTAV: No. I’m not stupid. You’ll probably break your ankle.
TAYO: And you’d probably get a nose bleed before you climbed on one
LISTER: We’re going to enter the alien spaceship and free the prisoners and claim our reward.
GUSTAV: How?
LISTER: Using these.
Tayo glides higher and higher on the hoverboard
GUSTAV: You’ll fall. All the way up there, with the wind and the rain and, and they’ve probably got lasers and guns and bullets.
SALMAN: And gold
LISTER: Your such a chicken shit Gustav
GUSTAV: There’s nothing wrong with being afraid.
Tayo is now descending on the hoverboard.
TAYO: Only when it gets in the way of what has to be done.
GUSTAV: You’re doing this for money? How are you so sure that there is any money? You’ve only met these guys. Why should you trust them?
SALMAN: Because we’re good judges of character.
TAYO: Don’t you see Gustav? All our lives the wanted us to be too afraid to make a difference. Now we can stand on our own two feet and fight back.
GUSTAV: And who are you fighting for? The Upperworld?
Ariadne approaches.
LISTER: Why don’t you go play games with your girlfriend.
ARIADNE: Gustav, would you like to go for a walk?
GUSTAV: At least Ariadne has more sense than you guys. She’s not going to do something stupid and fall a hundred metres to the ground. Come on Ariadne.
Gustav turns around, takes Ariadne by the hand and walks away.
EXT. UNDERWORLD, VISITORS CAMP - DAY
Morten and Clarissa address Tayo, Salman and Lister.
MORTEN: Ok, guys, this is it. Time is of the essence. If we don’t act now, the aliens might obliterate the upperworld.
CLARISSA: Once you make it inside the mothership, you will need to destabilise the ships power source which we believe is in the ships core
MORTEN: This is the day when the fearful, show themselves to be fearless.
Salman, Lister and Tayo, armed with weapons and explosives, climb on board their hoverboards. Steadily they rise into the air and make their way to the forbidden zone.
The three teenagers on hoverboards, pierce through the false barrier that separates the underworld from the forbidden zone. The forbidden zone, is slowly dying with little sign of animal life and vegetation that is limp and losing its colour.
Tayo can feel the wind blowing against him as he ascends to the mothership. He looks up while carefully balancing himself on the hoverboard.
INT. MOTHERSHIP LANDING BAY - DAY
A relieved Tayo, Salman and Lister arrive in the landing bay of the mothership. The alien creatures appear largely oblivious to them. In the landing bay there are dozens of small ships and several alien creatures going about their business.
TAYO: Come on. Lets go.
The trio make their way out of the landing bay and down a corridor. In front of them several guards block their paths. The trio aim their guns at the guards but a magnetic force attracts all their weaponry out of their possession and onto the ceiling.
A guard points a weapon at Salman and Lister, vaporising them.
Tayo looks dejected. A guard gestures for him to come closer with his finger. Tayo approaches them.
INT. MOTHERSHIP, CONTROL CENTRE - DAY
Tayo enters the control centre, surrounded by guards. The ALIEN SUPREME LEADER appears to be female.
ALIEN SUPREME LEADER: Welcome Tayo.
TAYO: How do you know my name?
ALIEN SUPREME LEADER: We have our methods.
TAYO: You killed my friends
ALIEN SUPREME LEADER: They are not dead
TAYO: Oh yeah. They’re just in heaven.
ALIEN SUPREME LEADER: We are not as primitive as you think. We reward virtue, but we also punish corruption. We have no issue with the underworld.
TAYO: So you are vigilantes?
ALIEN FORCES LEADER: One man’s vigilante is another’s law enforcement.
TAYO: Not from where I’m standing
ALIEN SUPREME LEADER: You have a choice. Go back to where you came from or join your friends.
TAYO: I’m not leaving my friends behind.
ALIEN SUPREME LEADER: So be it.