Killer Instinct

Episode Slant

In present day, NK is being haunted by a twinge of a presence he can't quite figure out. (Real Bricking here.)

First Flashback:

A very young and eager vampire Nick is wandering, in vain, through a candle lit catacomb. He's drastically searching for someone/something.

N: [out of breath from running] "Where are you? Why have you left me like this?"

In French, a voice is heard:

LC: "I haven't left you Nicolas."

N: [continuing to walk forward, lost] "I'm looking, but I can't see you."

The young one is rapidly glancing, searching around. Candle light playing eerie shadows on the maze of pathways. He pauses, placing a hand on the cool, damp stone wall.

LC: [a whispered tone in French] "Then stop using your eyes."

Pulling his hand away, Nicholas clenches it into a fist. He slowly drops his lids in concentration and focus. (May the 'Force' be with you! ;-[) Sorry, couldn't help that.)

Fade out:

Present day:

Detective Knight is asleep in his bed, in the loft.

LC: [hushed voice in French] "Wake up Nicolas. [in English] Wake up to what you are." (Remember...? Vampire? The one who tried disposing of me, to a fiery staked death? My favorite, one and only, eternal Boy Toy?)

Nick jostles his head uncomfortably, as in a bad dream. He then snaps open his eyes at the intrusive words.

LC: "You've been asleep far too long."

NK turns to face off to the right. (Okay, Brickster, how many centuries has it been? And you've yet to recognize the speaker? Hit this puppy on the side of the head, someone!)

Later, still present day:

Knight is the first at the site of another murder. He has just been apprehended as the perp. thought to be guilty of the current killing spree. [NK hears laughter in his head, as he's being cuffed]

A shot of Lucien LaCroix standing on a rooftop, surveying the scene below. He is cackling gleefully, as he watches his 'Nicolas' being arrested for the crimes he, himself, is responsible for being commited.

LC: "Nicholasss..." [as he strolls away from the edge. A self satisfied look plastered all over his face] (NB enjoys his role way too much, I swear. ;-[) I love the depth he puts into LaCroix!)

Next Flashback:

Janette pulls away from a drained, prone woman. The camera pans to LC and then to Nick, in foreground. He is facing away from her, vamped out. A fresh red trail has run down the corner of his mouth. LaCroix speaks to him as he approaches NK from behind, on the left.

LC: "Do you feel her blood surge through your veins Nicholas..? It is an experience unsurpassed [coming close, to utter near the ear of his new child] by any other. Revel in your new found power, in the gift I've given you. Immortality, that's what all men want, isn't it? Be glad I made you what you are."

N: [French again] "What am I?" [Nick has yet to look at his maker]

LC: "My protege." [French]

N: "Your slave." [French]

LC: [a slight chuckle at his son's comment] "Then, I, too, am your slave. [walking back around, to NK's other side] For I belong to you...now. Promised to you, as your eternal teacher. [LaCroix is now in front of Nick, who is still yellow eyed and fanged, panting slightly] That I may let you know all there is to know about what you are." [Nicholas is looking bewildered, at this formidable man, saying things to him he can't quite yet fathom] (All right...who out there cannot see the blatant UFfishness of this monologue? If there is anyone, get your mind back into the Unnamed gutter where it belongs and reread some UF fiction ;-[) !)

LC: "Leave your mortal life behind, Nicholas. [Nick turns sharply to look back at Janette, a silent observer to this all, and the cold lifeless woman] You can never go back there now." [NK faces towards LaCroix again, then casts his head and sight downward, ashamed and confused]

LaCroix smiles slightly and touches his right center finger to the dark fluid still a stain on his protege's mouth. (Hints of Trophy Girl? Nahhhhh...) He brings it up easily to his own pursed lips, savoring the remains of Nick's initiation, into his new life.

LC: "Soon, you will not want to."

Nicholas, haltingly, turns his gaze towards the screen. (Read: hell did I get myself into???>)

Cut out:

Cut back:

Another, very brief, flashback:

A fervently wandering Nick, back in the tunnels. The voice, again.

LC: [French, once more] "Come back."

Present day:

Detective Knight, recently escaped from custody, stands atop a building. A man's speech draws him back into reflection...

The catacombs:

LC: "Listen Nicholas."

Fade to flashback:

LC: [French] "Listen Nicolas. Listen Nicolas. [we finally see LaCroix, bathed in flickering flame. his eyes shut, aiming his silent bond on guiding the lost soul towards him] Come back! Come back to me." (Okay, this French and sub-titling is getting annoying now.)

N: "What? [quick shot to present day, then back again] Where are you?" [all that in the native Paris tongue]

LC: "Let it come to you." [English!]

N: "Oh yes, I felt it." [vamped]

LC: "Then follow it. Follow the vibration. It is the force...that joins us." (See, I told you it was the force! ;-[) ) "And makes us what we are...just listen."

The preceding exchange skipped delightfully between shots of current Nick on the roof, LaCroix in the catacombs and Nicolas in the catacombs. It ends with Detective Knight eventually flying off to find the source he thinks he's finally recognized.

Present day:

Nick has traced the origin of his irritation to an abandoned warehouse (?). Working his way through the miscellaneous litter, (Uh, parallel to the tunnels? Great simile.) he comes around a barrier to...the voice of LaCroix. His stunned expression of surprise and amazement is one he cannot conceal, mouth is agape.

LC: "Nicholas...I knew you still had it in you. [now in full view of NK] You must have had some idea it was me."

Zip to the scene of Nick attacking and pinning LC to the wall, with the flaming shaft of wood.

Zip back to warehouse:

LC: [a scant whisper] "You didn't actually believe that you had killed me, did you? I'm much too old and powerful for that."

Nick is stunned again, as if he is staring at a spectre, or a nightmare that he should wake from.

Re-flash to a previous flashback:

N: "What am I?" [French]

LC: "My protege." [French]

N: "Your slave." [French]

Commercial--- Present day, where we left off:

N: "LaCroix. [pause] It was you, all along." [contempt in his voice]

LC: "With a little help from my new friend. He was perfectly...convenient. All I had to do was to, plant your watch, and lead you to him."

Cut out:

[interruption in dialogue by contemporary stoyline]

Cut back:

LC: "Your sham of a mortal life, is ruined, Nicholas. Like the unicorn, it is the stuff of fiction."

Nick temporarily faces the floor. LaCroix kisses then crushes, the statue of the horned steed he is holding. (Hmmm, the symbolism of that kiss. Plus...a, pissed at Nikkie, once more, Uncle.)

Cut out-Cut back:

LC: "It's time to move on. [brushing away the dust, covering his hand] To re-invent yourself."

N: "With you?" [quite composed and sure of himself, at this point] (Nikkie's cute when he is trying to be defiant.)

LC: "I've decided to take you back, to give you a second chance." (I like his casual tone and demeanor on that remark, like he's being soooo generous to allow Nick back into his life. As if we don't know why! And a second chance? This decade, maybe?)

N: "The only second chance I want is the one I've given myself."

LC: "The only, anything, you get is what I give you!" ("The only, ANYTHING?!...you get is what I give you!" What can I say, this line needs no UFfing from me. ;-[) ) [flying to stand in front of NK] "I made you!" [all fanged out] (<...And I can break you just as easily!>--Ooops...those Rocky Horror days of mine are slipping through ;-[).)

N: "What you made was a mistake." [vamping in return] (Read:I made was a mistake.>)

Big fight follows. Nick tosses LaCroix aside. Tustle, tustle. Snarl, snarl. Etc.

NK eventually rises, with two crossed boards, driving LC back. Nick's hand smoking in the process. LaCroix finally retreats, through the roof.

Present day, last shot:

Detective Knight on the rooftop. LaCroix is standing behind him, once more.

LC: "Where's the lasting value, Nicholas? Blink, and they'll all be ghosts? Blink and they'll all be gone."

Nick looks down, resigned. Knowing, again, that his master is correct.

What one does in the name of love...No, not them, me! It only consumed about six hours of my life to do all that. BUT, that is a statement of fact, not a complaint. I would do it again in a mortal's heartbeat. ;-[)