EPISODE NINETEEN – SWEET EMOTION

INT. GELZAK CHAPEL NIGHT

Thunder and rain peal in the night. Illuminated weakly by the moonlight, Mark Ford kneels in prayer before the crucifix. A clattering noise sounds, and he is up, broadsword in hands. But it’s just a rat, and he returns to his position.

TITLE CARD – SWEET EMOTION

INT. GELZAK CHAPEL DAY

Elli and Valentine inspect the same spot where Ford was kneeling, empty now, the sun beating down.

Elli: Well, I think this place would be perfect for the ceremony.

Valentine: But I told you, I don’t really want anything too grand.

Elli: But Marco…

Valentine: What?

Elli: Marriage! It is grand.

Her arms flail wildly in the air. Valentine looks totally uninterested. Elli looks dejected.

INT. BLUE LAGOON

Vahe serves Valentine and Remington.

Valentine: I married Su in the De Cantona Cathedral in the Crystal Triangle, the largest cathedral in the country. Her father arranged it, a clear spring day, birds singing, hope in our hearts.

Remington: I remember reading about that in the paper.

Valentine: Yes. Weddings don’t usually make the front pages. Except when they’re accompanied by the murder of your war hero father.

Remington sips his coke.

Valentine: It was as if God had to even the score somehow. For as enormous an occasion as my wedding to take place, a tragedy of equal proportions had to occur.

Remington: Two decades have passed. Maybe it’s time for you to move on.

Valentine: That’s easy to say. But it’s set the tone for the rest of my life.

EXT. VALENTINE’S HOUSE

Seth helps Valentine to load furniture and boxes on to a removal truck.

Seth: What do you think is going to happen?

Valentine: …It’s not up to me to make predictions.

Seth: You have absolutely no intention of intervening?

Valentine: Not my business.

Seth: So I’m wasting my time trying to twist your arm?

Elli appears from nowhere.

Elli: Marco, can I talk to you for a moment?

Valentine: How long of a moment?

Elli: Well, just, we need to talk.

Valentine: Oh, well I don’t know, that sounds kinda long and we’re working hard right now, we have a deadline and all.

Elli: Just leave that to Seth, I’m sure he can handle it.

Seth doesn’t look happy about that. Mei exits, clutching a satchel.

Valentine: I have to run Mei to college. Later, alright?

They go off. Elli, irritated, goes back inside.

INT. BUICK

Valentine: Have fun, pet.

He kisses the top of Mei’s head as she gets out. He drives off.

EXT. STREETS

The Buick cruises along.

INT. BUICK

Valentine’s mobile phone rings. He looks, it’s Elli, he leaves it. It keeps ringing. At length, he answers.

Elli: Why are you ignoring me?

Valentine: Hello darling, how are you? I’m fine.

Elli: Well?

Valentine: I’m not.

Elli: We’ve barely talked lately. I miss you.

Valentine: Come on, I’ve been very busy lately. You know I love you.

Elli: It doesn’t feel like it.

Valentine: I’ll check out that chapel, eh? I wasn’t really concentrating yesterday, but I’m nearby now.

Elli: See if you can book a date, I quite like it.

Valentine: Ok, bye.

Valentine hangs up, sighs, and drives.

EXT. GELZAK CHAPEL

It’s a very imposing building from the outside, elaborately decorated with sculptured murals. Valentine enters.

INT. GELZAK CHAPEL

Valentine looks around inside. He walks to the giant crucifix, almost mesmerized, and places his hand on it.

Ford: Hi.

Valentine swivels, ready to attack.

Ford: What brings you here?

Valentine: Bacman. Hee hee.

Ford: Not anymore. I’ve kind of let him go so to speak.

Valentine: When did you get out of jail?

Ford: Well, I only spent a month inside. I was able to convince the judge that there was no basis to my conviction. I hear he went on holiday to Barbados last week.

Valentine: So what brings you here?

Ford: Wasn’t that my line?

Valentine: I’m scouting out a place to get married as it happens. You?

Ford: Oh well, I’m just… preparing.

Valentine: I’d better go. It was nice to see you again. Sorry about that whole tranquiliser dart thing…

Ford: It’s ok. You were just doing your job.

Valentine starts to leave, but stops, eyes widening as-

Ford: By the way… I’d advise against holding your wedding here, seeing how tomorrow, it will be the scene of a particularly gruesome murder…

INT. RED STAR OFFICE

Valentine, Seth and Remington are hanging out.

Remington: Ford. Yeah I remember him.

Seth: CEO of Ford Corp, right?

Remington: And he’s gonna kill a bunch of people, eh?

Valentine: He says he has found the people who killed his parents. In two days, they will be at the church for a christening… And that’s when it will happen.

Seth: What are you gonna do?

Valentine: What do you mean?

Seth: Well… you’re gonna stop him, right?

Valentine: Why should I? It’s his private business.

Seth stands up, aghast.

Seth: Hey! Now I… How could you?

Valentine: It has nothing to do with me.

Seth: How can you justify horrible murders taking place in your city? Don’t you have to stop him?

Valentine: Not my city anymore.

Seth: But-

Valentine: These people, they killed his mother, they killed his father. Right in front of him. He will have his revenge. I’m not gonna stand in the way of a guy with rage like that.

Seth: What about the families of the people he intends to kill?

Valentine: You’re sounding real righteous there, Mr I Likes to Blow Up Government Buildings.

Seth (bridles): It just doesn’t feel quite right is all.

Valentine: Whatever. I’m out. If you need me, I’ll be at my new house. Making sure Elli doesn’t bugger up my furniture arrangements.

Remington: That’s ok. We won’t need you.

Seth reaches for some papers.

Seth: Well actually, there is this one case. (Shuffles papers) Racially motivated killing, vengeance wanted.

Remington: I can handle it.

Valentine (smirks): Later.

Valentine exits. Remington leans over his books, reading, scribbling furiously.

Seth: You alright?

Remington: I can handle it.

INT. GELZAK CHAPEL

Elli walks around, sadly, looking, touching. Ford watches her from the shadows. Dusk is falling fast. A priest lights candles behind the altar. She turns to leave, finds Ford in her way, looming tall and large and smiley.

Elli: Oh!

Ford: Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.

Elli: Excuse me.

Ford: You’re getting married, huh? To him. That’s right, I saw you two together before.

Elli: And you are?

Ford: I am. Guy like that? You’re doomed.

He leaves. Elli pouts.

BREAK

INT. RED STAR OFFICE

Seth enters, blood spattered trench coat.

Seth: One down, two to go.

Remington: Mm-hm. How come you’ve been checking up on Spike and Julia Ford?

Seth: Ugh.

A frustrated Seth sits down.

Seth: You gonna rag on me for that too? Valentine’s bitch, is that you?

Remington: Shut your face, you fool.

Seth: All the time, following his lead, doing what he tells you... don’t you feel pathetic?

Remington slams his palm on the table.

Remington: Alright!

Silence

Remington: What’ve we got?

Seth: Tomorrow, Gelzak Chapel. That’s all we know, ‘cause he told us. I was trying to find some information, to see who specifically he would be targeting. There’s a christening tomorrow, it might be a guest.

Remington: Well, let’s go to work.

INT. VALENTINE’S NEW HOUSE

In an undecorated room, piled with boxes, Valentine and Mei sit together, looking at some sort of scrapbook.

Valentine: Your mother never intended to be an actress. So I was always surprised by how well she took to it.

Mei turns the page.

Valentine: She was gonna be a trader. Or, at worst, a corporate lawyer.

He shows her a picture of Su, looking pretty much the same as Mei.

Valentine: I forgot I even had these. Brings back memories. Reminds me of good times, and bad. Reminds me of love.

Mei gives him a funny “weirded out” look. Valentine looks misty eyed. Elli, listening from around the corner looks teary.

INT. VALENTINE’S BEDROOM

Elli and Valentine are in bed, sitting pretty far apart and reading.

Valentine: Oh, I went back to that chapel today.

Elli: Oh yeah!?

Valentine: Yeah. I don’t think it’s the right place for us.

Elli rolls her eyeballs.

Valentine: Maybe something less elaborate.

Elli: Or maybe just not at all.

Beat.

Valentine: Yeah, maybe.

Elli: That was sarcasm. I didn’t actually mean it.

Valentine (absently): Well, we needn’t rush it, you know.

Elli throws her book at him, hitting him on the side of the head. Valentine turns aggressively, Elli slumps and hides beneath the covers.

INT. RED STAR OFFICE

A newspaper drops through the letterbox. Remington picks it up, scanning the pages.

Remington: Ooh. Desperate Housewives is on tonight.

Seth: We should get going. Too bad we couldn’t find out any more.

Remington: Pro bono work is its own reward.

Seth: Yeah, that’s true.

Remington: Oh. Ah. Hmm…

Seth: ???

Remington: I think I may know who is being targeted.

INT. REICHSTAG BUILDING

Beaufort paces back and forth. A flunky runs past.

Beaufort: Has Clifford brought the car around yet?

The flunky shakes his head. Beaufort glares and the flunky runs away. The door Beaufort was pacing in front of opens up and Shadowhite sweeps out regally.

Beaufort: Your cousin and her husband are already at the chapel, we had better get going.

Shadowhite: It’s ok. They can’t start without me, there’s no need to rush.

INT. SETH’S PLYMOUTH

Seth and Remington are parked across the road from the church.

Remington: There.

A gigantic black Audi A8 with tinted windows pulls up outside the doors. Shadowhite, Beaufort and Courtenay get out, and the car rolls away towards the parking spaces.

Seth: So if Ford is going to kill all those guys, isn’t that good? I mean we don’t like them and they tried to kill us, remember?

Remington: We still don’t know what he actually plans to do. There are too many innocents in there to risk it. Come on.

Remington gets out and Seth follows looking, around nervously.

INT. VALENTINE’S BUICK

Valentine drives into a car workshop courtyard.

Radio: …and in showbiz news, President Shadowhite will today become Godfather to his cousin’s daughter. In a statement he made to-

Valentine turns off the radio, gets out, walks over to where his rebuilt and freshly waxed Jag is.

EXT. GELZAK CHAPEL

Remington and Seth hide around the corner. In front of the church are two very large guards. Unarmed. But they don’t want to cause a scene… yet.

Remington: Back way?

Seth: Yeah. Do you think Ford is already in?

Remington: How would he have got in?

INT. GELZAK CHAPEL

Neville, Beaufort and Courtenay are seated, watching. A row of other assorted agents and government figures in dress suits are also seated, along with some civilians. Shadowhite is at the front, along with two other women (one with an Aerosmith tattoo on her hip) another man and the bishop, holding a baby. A row of priests stand watching. Among them is Mark Ford. The Bishop pours water on the baby’s head.

Bishop: In nominee Patris et Filii at Spiritus Sancti.

CUT TO

Seth and Remington have climbed in through the bell tower and find priests hung in the flue.

Seth: That’s not good.

CUT TO

The bishop hands the baby back to the mother. Ford nods. The priests pull their hoods up and file round, blocking exits. Remington and Seth drop in from the back. Ford walks forward, draws a claymore from his robes, hacks and maims the bishop.

Seth: Don’t do that!

Ford: Oh, I think I do that.

A priest draws a sword and runs, screaming a war cry towards Remington and Seth. Remington draws his gun and fires, killing the priest. Ford grabs Shadowhite and holds his sword to his throat.

Shadowhite: Oh god, not this crap again.

Remington advances.

Remington: Step off.

Ford: Oh, you. Did Valentine send you?

Neville frowns, she whispers in Beaufort’s ear.

Remington: No. I just come to pray.

Ford: That’s far enough. Unless you want our Fuhrer’s head off.

Remington: Isn’t that what you were planning to do anyway? (Beat) I know about your parents. I know it’s hard.

Ford: You can never understand.

Remington: Just cut him so we can fight already.

Ford presses the blade against Shadowhite’s throat. Shadowhite kicks, flips Ford over his shoulder. The priests gather, and Remington shoots at them. Seth and he rush forward. Remington punches Ford as he tries to get up. Ford drops the claymore. Ford jumps up, uppercuts Remington, whacks him again. Remington drops his gun. Meanwhile, Seth flicks out his spear, fights off a gang of sword wielding priests and skewers them. He slams the doors open and shepherds panicking people out. Shadowhite exits, wiping his throat.

Shadowhite: God bothering plebeians.

Remington pushes Ford down, punches. Ford goes to ground, swivels on his back, kicks out, bringing Remington down too. Ford grabs Remington by the collar, punches repeatedly, drawing blood. Seth rushes up, slashing with his spear. Ford reacts, but not fast enough and a chunk of flesh is torn from his cheek.

Ford: Shadowhite!

Ford steals Remington’s gun and runs out. Seth helps up Remington.

Remington: Ow.

EXT. GELZAK CHAPEL

Ford looks around, spies someone, aims, gets run over by Valentine in the Jag. Valentine brakes hard.

Valentine: Crazy fucking priests!

He sees that it’s Ford.

Valentine: Useless. No one but the King of Hell would ever claim the life of a bastard like Shadowhite.

Valentine gets out. Seth and Remington come out.

Valentine: I knew you wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Seth: What?

Valentine lights up.

Remington: You knew I’d go after him.

Valentine: I had a hunch.

Remington spits a little blood.

Remington: Gorram you. I averted a massacre, without your help.

He looks at Ford’s curled up body.

Remington: Mostly.

Seth: I’ll call an ambulance.

Valentine: Cigarette? (Off Remington’s look) No? Ok.

Valentine gets back in his car.

Remington: I don’t need you nannying me. You should get back to your woman. She needs you much more than me.

Valentine: Oh, that’s right! Four o’ clock, time to collect Mei.

Valentine drives off.

Seth: He’s a lot cooler than you, you know?

Remington slaps Seth on the back of the head.

END – TALK ABOUT THINGS THAT NOBODY CARES

Episode Twenty Preview

Valentine: When the heat gets to you, when tempers are flaring and the stakes are high, sometimes you just have to learn to walk away. The best option isn’t always to rise to the challenge. But sometimes it’s fun. Next episode, Walk This Way. Jealousy runs rife.