Merlinsky: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

I'll handle the location.

  Harry and Jake CHANT their different chants simultaneously; they start to fade out of the scene, then POP... they're gone.

  EXT. STREET IN FRONT OF HARRY'S MANSION - CONTINUOUS

  Harry and Jake POP into the street, and rush to hide in back of a large oak tree, just as another Harry (#2) walks up to the front door. Through the window, Connie and another Jake (#2) can be seen doing their aerial ballet.

  JAKE: It's not enough that I get my head busted open... you're going to make me watch Connie get blown to bits again?

  HARRY: Shh! This is when ya gotta keep yer yap shut.

  JAKE (softly): Connie!

  Harry claps his hand over Jake's mouth... Connie has walked out of the front door, and runs down the street with a book under her arm.

  HARRY (whispering): So... she did get out... and she borrowed one of the books. I hope she puts it to good use...

  The mansion IMPLODES, as before, and the bright light turns negative. Harry MUMBLES, and he and Jake POP out of the scene.

  EXT. MAGIC CASTLE - CONTINUOUS

  Harry and Jake POP into the parking lot. The flash of the implosion is dying down. Harry takes his hand off Jake's mouth.

  JAKE: Connie's alive?!

  HARRY: Yup. While you were unconscious, Tex spilled the beans... Laszlo has her in the Castle.

  Jake turns toward the building entrance, but Harry restrains him.

  HARRY (continuing): Not now, Jake... forty days from now.

  Jake CHANTS before Harry can stop him. They fade out.

  EXT. MAGIC CASTLE - CONTINUOUS

  Harry and Jake fade back in. There's a different set of cars in the parking lot.

  HARRY (continuing): Now, any sorcerer within a mile knows we fell for Laszlo's bait.

  JAKE (contrite): Ooops.

  HARRY: That's alright... I couldn't think of a better way to get here in a hurry... but let's be cagey from now on, okay?

  JAKE: You got it. Let's go find Connie.

  HARRY: Remember... Laszlo will probably shoot first, and ask questions later.

  INT. PALACE OF MYSTERY - THIRTY MINUTES LATER

  Harry and Jake poke around backstage, in the empty theater. Laszlo's trick box is over in a corner, and there's a fun-house mirror near it.

  JAKE: We've been all over the Castle... where do you think she is?

  HARRY: Laszlo wanted us to come here... he would've hid her somewhere in the building.

  Jake ambles over to the box, and checks the padlock. It's not closed, so he takes it off, opens the box, and looks inside. Satisfied that it's empty, he closes it again.

  JAKE: I thought she might be in there.

  INTRUDER'S P.O.V., MOVING TOWARD HARRY

  Harry is making faces in the fun-house mirror... the box and Jake can be seen, in the reflection, behind him. As Harry turns toward the CAMERA, he recognizes the intruder, with a look of disgust.

  We hear the SNAP of fingers, off-screen, and Harry CHANTS quickly. An arm and finger extend from the intruder's point of view, and point at Harry, just as Harry and Jake POP out of the scene.

  ANGLE ON BACKSTAGE

  Laszlo points toward the fun-house mirror, where Harry used to be. The box in the corner IMPLODES in a bright flash of light, and the scene turns negative. Afterwards, a pile of blackened rubble sits smoking in the corner.

  LASZLO (infuriated): Drat! (philosophical) However, it was a well-executed bank shot. (pause, looks at box) Now that Harry's here, I won't be needing that girl, anyway.

  Laszlo strides offstage, without another backwards glance.

  INT. MAGIC CASTLE, HOUDINI ROOM - CONTINUOUS

  Harry and Jake POP into an empty room dominated by a large circular table, surrounded with thirteen chairs. Houdini memorabilia are scattered all around.

  JAKE: Whew! That was close!

  Harry's deep in thought, chin in hand, and Jake strolls around the room, looking at pictures and artifacts.

  JAKE (continuing): Hey, this is Houdini's door knocker!

  Harry still doesn't respond... Jake's getting antsy.

  JAKE (continuing): I really didn't get a good look at Laszlo.

  Harry moves over to the door and peeks out. The SOUNDS of people eating... silverware CLINKING and soft CONVERSATION... drift in.

  HARRY: Looks like you'll get a close up view... here he comes, across the dining room.

  Harry stands behind the door, and pulls Laszlo's jacket down over his arms, as he walks through the door. Harry keeps a hold on Laszlo from behind.

  LASZLO (venomous): Harry! So nice to see you again!

  HARRY (furiously): Spill it... why d'ya still wanna hot-flash barbecue me?

  LASZLO: Harry, you and I were once the best of friends.

  HARRY: Don't butter me up, sport.

  LASZLO: When we traveled back to Arthurian Britain, things got a little desperate. We were each thrown on our own resources.

  HARRY: We made out okay.

  LASZLO: But you made the fatal mistake of interfering in my relationship with Morgan Le Fay.

  HARRY: Morgan? She was a free spirit... and a hell of a sorcerer.

  LASZLO: I was quite smitten with her.

  HARRY: But she wasn't "smitten" with anybody... whenever she was in Camelot, we'd always paint the castle red.

  LASZLO (angry): She was teaching me the Old Knowledge, and you distracted her from that.

  HARRY: Is that why you turned her son, Mordred, into such a little snot?

  LASZLO (self-righteous): Mordred did his duty.

  HARRY (hurt): And why didn't you do yours? I was your apprentice, and you turned on me.

  LASZLO (bored): You hampered my plans, Harry. And you're still in my way.

  Behind his back, from the folds of the jacket that restrains him, Laszlo SNAPS his fingers. The coat disappears. Harry tries to hold Laszlo's arms, but it's a vain struggle.

  Another SNAP is heard; a bright flash appears where Harry once was, and the scene turns negative. A tiny pile of smoking ash is all that's left behind. Laszlo looks down on the ash with disdain.

  LASZLO (continuing): He always thought he was superior to everybody. Maybe he could learn faster... but he's not better than me anymore!

  Laszlo LAUGHS a cruel laugh and turns to deal with Jake, who is still in shock. Laszlo SNAPS his finger, and Jake wakes up to his predicament.

  In SLOW MOTION, Laszlo's arm raises to point at Jake. The door to the room swings open simultaneously, and Connie bumps into Laszlo from behind.

  Jake is in mid-CHANT, but falters when he notices Connie. Laszlo's ill-aimed flash lights up Jake's left forearm, but Jake manages to POP out of the scene, just as the room polarizes to negative.

  EXT. SIDEWINDER SALOON - CONTINUOUS

  Annie waits patiently on the sidewalk outside the saloon, holding a bucket of water.

  Jake POPS into the scene... his left sleeve is afire, and he futilely swipes at it, with his other arm. Annie douses the burning arm with water... Jake passes out, and falls to the ground.

  Presently, a couple of mean-looking two-legged desert rats exit the saloon, and tiny Annie bullies them into carrying Jake for her.

  INT. ANNIE'S COTTAGE - NEXT MORNING

  Jake lies in a single bed, still unconscious, and sweating profusely. The sun shines through a curtained window, and falls on his face. His arm is bandaged, and the old dressings from his concussion are still wrapped around his head.

  JAKE'S P.O.V.

  A red haze swims with tiny dark motes; nothing is distinct, except a RINGING sound, somewhat like an over-inflated basketball bouncing in an echo-proof room.

  Harry's smiling face appears, only to flash negative and disappear.

  ANGLE ON JAKE

  Jake sits up suddenly, eyes wide, and GROANS. Annie enters the room with a wet rag, and blots Jake's forehead.

  JAKE (muddled): How did I get back here?

  ANNIE: You were in shock, and under attack... you came to the nearest safe place you could remember.


  JAKE: Am I safe here?

  ANNIE: What did Harry say about me?

  JAKE: He said I could trust you.

  ANNIE: So trust me, already.

  JAKE: Did I jump to the Sidewinder, on the first night I met you?

  ANNIE: Yep. I knew you'd surface out there... that's why I up and left you and Harry inside, that night.

  JAKE (anxious): I've got to warn them not to go back to the Magic Castle!

  ANNIE: There's plenty of time for all that.

  JAKE (fading): Connie walked in... I've got to go back to save her...

  ANNIE: But first, you need some rest.

  INT. ANNIE'S COTTAGE - THAT EVENING

  In the kitchen of this small, homey cottage, many small varieties of potted cactus sit on the windowsills, countertops, and on the table. Annie sponges off and dresses Jake's burn, while he sits and winces.

  ANNIE: With your powers, you can go to any point in time and space.

  JAKE: Fat lot of good that'll do me... Harry's gone now.

  ANNIE: Which means you've got to stop Laszlo by yourself.

  JAKE: I wish I could.

  ANNIE: You can... in fact, I can teach you some of his secrets.

  JAKE (impatient): I should be doing something right now... warning Harry, fighting Laszlo, rescuing Connie...

  ANNIE (chiding): There's no rush... so stop worrying, and start giving some thought to plotting this out... you've got to take a hand in shaping your own destiny.

  JAKE: Shaping my destiny...?

  ANNIE: You have the tools to do practically anything you desire... do you want to use them like Laszlo?

  JAKE (appalled): No way.

  ANNIE: Then you have to find a way to stop him without destroying him.

  JAKE: But he kills everything in his way!

  ANNIE: And if you kill him, you become like him.

  JAKE (taken aback): Oh.

  ANNIE: Something else to think about is your activating mechanism.

  JAKE: My what?

  ANNIE: Harry taught you the classic method, with chanting, but Laszlo employs a snap and a point. You can turn that in your favor.

  JAKE: