Act 3, Scene 3: Back to the Future


%HND% Curtain - open

%AMB% 1101 - Apocalypse Underground

%LIG% Lights stay out (eventually 10% depends on torchlights)

%HND% Torch on

%ACT% Vesonia and Aurelia breathe sickly

%SND% 1102 - Door Opens + Outside Apocalypse

%ACT% Marcus comes in through the "door" [1], wearing his makeshift respirator, carrying Vinnie on his back

%ATT% Maybe we should put a bandage on Vinnie, with a visible blood clot on it.

%LIG% (fiery red light (like a single red PAR64 off stage [1]) and smoke comes in, then the door closes again and it gets dark)

%SND% 1102 (cont.) - Door Closes

%ACT% Marcus (carefully) drops Vinnie

%ACT% Vinnie wakes up, coughing

Vinnie: "Marcus? I knew you wouldn't abandon us ... I knew it ..."

%ACT% Marcus drops the respirator and draws a deep breath

Marcus: "I should never have left you."

Vinnie: "Nobody's perfect. You came back to save us, and that's all that counts."

Marcus: "Well, at least for the time being. We know that this room will still be intact in 2000 years, but I'm afraid the air won't last quite as long."

%ACT% Vesonia and Aurelia begin to stir, coughing and moaning

%ACT% Marcus produces another torch and lights it with the other torch

%ACT% Vinnie follows Marcus closely

%ACT% Marcus walks towards Vesonia and Aurelia, shining the light on them, carefully checking them out

Marcus: "Vesonia? Vesonia!"

%ACT% Vesonia wakes up. She coughs miserably.

%ACT% Vinnie checks out Aurelia

Vesonia: "Marcus? Is that you? I'm so glad to see you!"

Marcus: "You almost didn't make it. But you're safe now! The gas nearly killed you."

Vesonia: "What are you talking about?"

Marcus: "Sulphur Dioxide. It comes from inside Mount Vesuvius - you can't see it, but it burns your lungs, and it poisons the air."

Vesonia: "I've never heard of Sulphur Dioxide before."

Marcus: "No wonder. It hasn't been discovered yet."

Vinnie: "Marcus! Aurelia's barely breathing!"

%ACT% Vesonia stops looking at Marcus, stands up, and turns her attention towards Aurelia

Vesonia: "Oh, my poor little sister. She really looks awful."

%ACT% Vesonia looks around, checking out the room

Vesonia: "I wish we had fresh water to clean her wound with. And yours, too."

Vinnie: "I can stand all the pain in the world as long as I know Aurelia will be alright."

%ACT% Aurelia coughs

Aurelia (faint): "Vinnie? Sister? Everything hurts! Am I going to die?"

%ACT% Vinnie hugs/holds Aurelia

Vinnie (anxious): "No! Not as long as I am here, I promise!"

%HND% The torch in front of the statue flickers, then goes out.

%LIG% Lights dimms out

%SND% 1103 - Swishhhhhhhh

%ACT% Vesonia and Vinnie gasp!

Aurelia: "What ... what was that?"

Marcus: "We're running out of air. I had hoped we'd have more time."

%HND% The torch Marcus is holding goes out, too. It's now pitch black.

%SND% 1104 - Swishhhhhhhh

%ATT% Setup for Scene 3-4 begins in the darkness while the dialogue continues. We need to figure out if we need to close the curtain or not.

Vinnie (very nervous): "Oh no! What's your plan, Marcus?"

Marcus: "I'm out of plans."

Vinnie: "So the next lights going out will be ours?"

Marcus: "I hope not. You know, I thought a lot about which divine providence brought us here, and why. And I think we're here for a reason."

Vinnie: "You're not talking about the chocolate sacrifice, are you?"

Marcus: "Do you remember how you asked the Goddess to make my greatest dreams come true?"

Vinnie: "For a mars bar? But that was supposed to be a joke!"

Marcus: "And yet the Goddess pitied us. Although, for such a meager sacrifice, she decided to make it a challenge."

Vinnie: "How do you know?"

Marcus: "I had a dream in which the Goddess talked to me. And despite all misery, most of the things I had wished for have indeed come true."

Vinnie: "But not all of them."

Marcus: "No. One final wish remains. And one final achievement. Vesonia?"

Vesonia: "Yes?"

Marcus: "I love you."

Vesonia: "I love you, too, Marcus. And I am so sorry for lying to you ..."

Marcus: "I know you had no choice. But you know what? I'm not a carpenter from Vindobona either. I'm a scientist from the future. Can you imagine that I saw the ruins of this city, two thousand years from now? If I had told you the truth, would you have believed it?"

Vesonia: "No. But I believe you now. Because I also sent my wishes to the Goddess. And they all came true as well ... except for one. And I think it's the same as yours."

%SND% 1105 - Increasing rumble

Vinnie: "Oh shit! That was the final blast!"

Vesonia: "Does that mean our fate is sealed?"

Marcus: "No. There is no fate. Just a world of possibilities. Hold on tight."

%SND% 1106 - Great Collapse
%SND% 1101 - FADE
%SND% 1105 - FADE

%HND% Curtain - close(?)