The scene opens on a businessman in a bar. He sits very nervously by himself at a table. Two mafia looking men come in the room and cross over to him.

“You got the dough?” one of them asks.

“Listen, I need more time… I just can’t right now…” the man replies.

“Why not?” the other one asks.

“My son… he needs surgery… Please… I’ll get it to you, I just need more time.” The man begs.

“Joey doesn’t give more time.” Goon one says.

“Think of this as your early Christmas present.” Goon two adds.

“What?” the man asks.

“We’ll take care of your problem for you.” The Goon says.

The scene changes to a suburban house, later in the day. One of the goons walks up the front steps to the door, and rings it. A woman opens the door.

“Yes?” the woman asks.

“Delivery.” The goon replies.

The goon hands the woman a package.

“It’s from your husband. He said not to open it till he gets home.” The goon adds.

The woman takes the package inside.

“Thank you.”

The camera zooms inside the package to show a teddy bear. The camera zooms inside the teddy bear to reveal a bomb.

The opening credits roll

‘Chariot’ by Gavin DeGraw plays.

MBN

And Mac The Movieguy Productions Present

LL COOL J
is

CARTER WINSLOW

CARLA GUGINO

Is

HARPER JORDAN

JULIAN MCMAHON

Is

CHAD COOPER

MEKHI PHIFER
is

MALCOM PALMER

ALLISON MACK

Is

RENEE TAGGERT

And

RICHARD DREYFUSS
is

VIC WARNER

SPARKS

Created By Mac The Movieguy

Written By Mac The Movieguy

Episode 1

Present

The scene changes to a locker room, at the station. Carter and Chad have just come out of a shower.

CHAD
Wanna hear something funny?

CARTER
Sure.

CHAD
I remember all the stories my dad told me about being on the bomb squad in his day, and I never remember him ever talking about losing anyone.

CARTER
It wasn’t your fault. That was days ago man, let it go.

CHAD
I should have just reached in and grabbed him. Pulled him out.

CARTER
Look man, we did what we could. We all did what we could.

Malcom enters the locker room.

MALCOM

Did ya guys see the TV today?

CARTER
Refresh my memory.

MALCOM
The girl who bombed the Mayor’s car, was his mistress. She bought the system from the black market.

CHAD
How does an ordinary blonde even know where to find that stuff?

CARTER
Maybe she was from South Central?

CHAD
Please. A white girl from South Central? You were there, did you see any white chicks growing up?

CARTER
One. Maybe two.

CHAD
Exactly.

Chad turns to Malcom.

CHAD
So where’d you grow up?

MALCOM
Me? Oh, I grew up in Virginia.

CHAD
What do you remember about Virginia?

MALCOM
Lots of trees. I remember having a treehouse, and always climbing around. My nickname in school was monkey, cause I could climb anything I wanted.

CHAD
My nickname in school was 12 inch, and you can probably guess why.

Chad starts laughing at his own joke, while Carter and Malcom just roll their eyes.

The scene changes to another part in the station, with Renee sitting at a table with her laptop. Harper approaches her.

HARPER
You’re always on that thing?

RENEE
Oh. Yeah. I just got sent this CD, and I’m uploading the files.

HARPER
What’s on it?

RENEE
Last week, the NYC bomb squad encountered a prototype not in the system. Basically, it consisted of gasoline, helium, and of course, C4. They named it the Leveler.

HARPER
Oh. So you’re studying?

RENEE
Yeah. Kinda.

The boys walk over to Harper and Renee.

CHAD
Whatcha doin Renee?

HARPER
Studying.

CHAD
Oh.

The scene changes back to the house. The wife is on the phone.

“Hey Michael. You didn’t have to get Chris the present.” She says.

“What present?” Her husband replies.

“The package the man delivered to the house. It’s addressed from you to Michael. He said it was from you, and not to open it till you get home.”
“I didn’t send you a package.”
“Then who did?”

It dawns on Michael.

“Get it out of the house now, Karen. Get it out of the house!”

“What? Why?” Karen replies.

“Just do it! I’m calling the police. Throw it in the street.”

Karen hangs up the phone and runs upstairs to her kids room.

“Chris, gimme the package!” she shouts, still running.

“No! It’s mine!” he shouts, off screen.

She turns a corner at the top of the stairs and looks at her son standing in the doorway to his room, with the package on the bed behind him. She calmly walks over to him, but he slams the door and locks it.

“CHRIS!” she screams, running to the door. She tries to bang it open, push it open, kick it open, but nothing works.

Back at the station, the gang is still gathered around Renee’s computer, looking through her bomb files. Vic approaches him.

VIC
LAPD got a call, about a woman who received a package.

CARTER

Bomb?

VIC
Maybe.

Carter and the team leave to suit up.

RENEE
Maybe it’s the leveler. That’d be way cool, since I just read all about it.

VIC
The leveler?

RENEE
Never mind.

Renee joins the rest of the team in leaving.

The scene changes back to the house, later, with Karen outside Chris’s door, banging on it still.

“Chris! Come on honey, open up!” she shouts.

Finally, the door gives in and swings open. She looks in horror at the room which no longer contains the package, or the child. She looks at the open window and runs to it. The roof is flat outside the window, and runs pretty much the length of a porch. She looks down to the end, where an extension ladder is leaned against the roof.

The doorbell rings.

Karen runs out of the room, and down the stairs, hoping maybe it’s Chris. She opens the door, to see the Sparks team on the other side.

VIC
Ma’am. We’re the LA Bomb Squad.

Karen faints.

The scene cuts ahead to a few minutes later, with Karen on the couch, and Renee trying to revive her. Her laptop is already open and her headset on. Vic is also there. They are the only two members present in the room. Karen wakes up.

RENEE
You OK ma’am?

She nods her head.

RENEE
What happened? Where’s your son?

“I don’t know”, Karen replies, starting to cry.

The camera changes to an alleyway behind the house, with Chad looking around through boxes piled up.

CHAD

Hey, kid, you in here?

The camera changes to Harper and Malcom looking through the fenced in backyard. At the base of the house, Harper finds an empty package. The teddy bear has been removed.

HARPER (talking in her headset)
I found the box, empty.

Back inside the house, Carter has just rejoined the team inside, presumably from looking through the rest of the house.

CARTER
Damnit. That means it’s an illusionist. (into his headset) Harper, did you bring your kit?

“What’s an illusionist?” Karen asks.

RENEE
It’s when the bomb is disguised as something else. Like a briefcase, a VCR, or a toy. Like a stuffed animal.

Karen starts crying again.

VIC
Listen, ma’am. I need you to concentrate. We have to find your son. Where would he be?

“I don’t know…” she says.

VIC
Where does he usually go? What’s his favorite place in all the world?

“He used to have a treehouse outside, until a storm came in and ruined it. That’s where he went. His father had to tear it down.”

VIC
You said your son was ill. With what?

“He has a brain tumor. He’s supposed to go in for surgery next week.”

RENEE (into her headset)

Guys. Look in the trees.

The scene changes to back outside. Harper and Malcom both look at the large tree in the backyard. Some boards are nailed to the base of the tree, and remnants of a treehouse are in the lower branches. They look at the top of the tree, and see the boy sitting high up in the air, clutching a teddy bear.

HARPER (into headset)
Found him.

Malcom rushes to the tree, and begins climbing. Harper follows suit. We see in the background, Chad is climbing over the fence, trying to get in the backyard.

Malcom is climbing the tree fairly fast. He reaches the boy at the top and sits down next to him, holding him there.

MALCOM
Chris. My name is Malcom. I’m here to help.

Harper almost reaches Malcom and Chris, when suddenly she slips and loses her footing. She starts to fall from the tree, but grabs onto a branch.

HARPER
Malcom!

Chad runs over to where Harper is hanging from, just as Harper lets go. Harper’s head hits another branch on the way down, rendering her unconscious when Chad catches her.

CHAD (into headset)

Bad news guys, Harper’s out.

Inside the house, Carter is ready to go outside.

CARTER
You want me to go, Vic?

VIC (into headset)

Chad, status report.

CHAD (off screen, in headset)

Malcom’s in the tree, with the kid. Harper fell, and knocked her head. She’s out of it.

Carter heads out of the house.

CHAD (off screen, in headset)

I’ve got Harper’s toolkit, I’m gonna go up there and lead Malcom through it.

MALCOM (off screen, in headset)

I can do this.

VIC (into headset)

Carter’s on his way out.

The scene changes to back outside, with Chad almost up the tree. He reaches the limb below Malcom and Chris, and hands Malcom the tool kit. Carter is now down below, and kneels down next to Harper’s body.

The camera zooms into the teddy bear, to show the timer on the bomb is at thirty seconds and counting.

CHAD (into headset)

Alright, Renee. We’ve got a teddy bear.

RENEE (off screen, in headset)

Alright. An illusionist. Just what I thought. Cut open the back of the bear.

Malcom takes a scalpel looking tool, and rips open the back of the bear. Malcom pulls away some stuffing, and notices the timer is now at 18 seconds,

MALCOM
Shit! 18 seconds!

RENEE (off screen, in headset)

Listen to me carefully. There should be a tiny toggle on the front of the timer. Switch it.

Malcom looks for a toggle, but doesn’t see one.

MALCOM (into headset)

11 seconds, no toggle!

CHAD

She’s saying to cut the yellow then the blue.

MALCOM
What if…

CHAD
DO IT!

Malcom cuts the yellow than the blue. But the timer keeps going.

MALCOM
SIX SECONDS!

CHAD (into headset)
Do we cut the red? DO WE CUT THE RED?

RENEE (off screen, in headset)
No.

Malcom and Chad watch in horror as the timer runs down from three, two, one… They both prepare for the worst. The timer runs out, and nothing happens. No explosion.

MALCOM
Jesus. Oh God. My heart is racing.

CHAD (into headset)
Is that it?

RENEE (off screen, in headset)

The toggle was to stop the timer. The red and blue wires cut communication from the timer to the bomb. They didn’t have a toggle, I guess, because they didn’t intend on turning it off. It’s the first I’ve heard of an illusionist not having a toggle.

Malcom looks at the scared boy.

MALCOM

Lets go get you a real teddy bear.

The boy wraps his arms around Malcom, as Chad and Malcom climb down the tree, with Chad carrying the teddy bear.

RENEE ( off screen, in headset)
Chad. Ten seconds?

Once at the bottom of the tree, Chad separates from Malcom and Chris, and stands by himself away from everyone else. He pauses for a couple seconds.

CHAD (in headset)

Yeah, ten seconds.

As soon as Chad says yeah, Karen runs out of the house, followed by Vic and Renee. Karen runs over to Malcom, who is still holding Chris. Malcom hands Chris off to Karen, who immediately embraces her child.

“Oh my baby.” She says, kissing her son. “Thank you so much. Thank you all.” She says, as Harper awakens.

HARPER
What happened?

MALCOM
You fell.

HARPER
Who played surgeon?

MALCOM
I did.

Harper smiles at Malcom.

HARPER
Trying to steal my job?

Harper laughs, just joking around.

CARTER
Not bad kid, you might last on the bomb squad after all.

Chad and Renee carry the bomb off scene, and the camera pulls away.

The scene changes to another day at the house, with Karen moving to the front door. She opens it, to reveal Malcom, Renee, Chad, Harper, and Carter on the other side. In his hands, Malcom has a teddy bear, bigger than the one before.

Karen smiles. “Chris! It’s for you!” She motions for the team to come inside.

Chris runs down the stairs,

MALCOM
Hey buddy!

“Malcom!” Chris shouts as he runs to Malcom.

MALCOM
Look what I got for ya. And I promise, this one you get to keep.

“Neato! Thanks!” Chris says, as he grabs his new present.

Malcom rubs the kid on the head.

Renee turns to Karen.

RENEE
Did you ever find out why you were sent the package?

Michael enters in from another room.

“It was my fault.” He says. “I was in debt, and asked the wrong people to help me out. Everything is taken care of now though.”

RENEE
How so?

“We made a few sacrifices, and we paid off our debt, and still have money for Chris’s surgery.”

The scene cuts ahead to the team leaving the house. They walk down the sidewalk, and pass a “For Sale” sign. Harper glances at it.

CHAD

I guess they don’t want a house where a kid can lock himself in his room.

Some of the team snickers, and they get in their van and drive away.