Break Stuff/Synopsis

## Break Stuff

Joe was down, but he wasn't out. When Yaslatol tries to move in, Joe delivers a ferocious backfist that sets the creature back. Unfazed, Yaslatol admits that Joe is strong, and Joe informs him he's strong enough to kick his ass. The creature says maybe, and then the Vulture attacks Joe from behind with his talons, pointing out that Yaslatol is not alone. Joe tells the Vulture is doesn't matter as he grabs the bird around the neck from over his shoulder. The Toad leaps into the fight, only to be battered down when Joe flings the Vulture at him. Joe continues, saying he won't let the creatures hurt his parents. Yaslatol rams Joe in the back with his horns, telling Joe he can't stop them. Joe slides to a stop, digging gouges in the wooden flooring with his talons. Joe answers that he's gonna try. Joe leaps to get back into the fight, only to be taken down, in an ironic twist, by the chuckling Toad using his slimy tongue to wrap around Joe's ankle and pull him out of the air. Joe impacts the floor with an almighty **KRAK** that shatters floorboards.

Outside of  Walker's Point High School, people are slowly gathering in the courtyard in front of the building. Sarah Gomez is showing anyone who will look a photo of Joe on her phone, trying to find her son. Jason Gomez is staring back towards the gymnasium, distracted by what he thinks he knows. Sarah calls to her husband, trying to get his attention. He's recalling the way the great horned ape had spoken, and the way Joe had reacted in the living room the night before. Pulled from his reverie by his wife, he listens as Sarah tells him she can't find Joe or any of his friends. She fears they're still inside with … whatever that was. To Sarah's dismay, Jason admits that he thinks Joe is still in there.

In the gym, Corkindale is straightening out his clothing after literally pulling himself back together, and he chides himself, again, for being a stupid, stupid old man. Standing up, with one last rat climbing his back carrying his cap, he reaches for the fire alarm, saying the firefighters and cops are already coming, sprinklers and alarms can't make it worse. He needs to get Joe out before he realizes… Not finishing the thought, Corkindale quickly analyzes the fight, and with a sly smile, he opts to let matters play out.

The locker room is empty. Muffled voices can be heard through a door in the back. Paulo is holding the door in back of the equipment room open that leads outside, again urging the others to leave, that they need to go. Fletcher agrees with Paulo, but Sean says no. Charlotte tries to get him to see reason, but he's not having it. He won't leave without Joe. He tells the others they can do what they want, but he's going to go out there and… Something hits the door leading from the locker room with a resounding ***whOmp.*** Charlotte tells Sean she thinks he doesn't need to go out. ***whOmp.*** Something is coming in. Taking his guitar by the neck, Sean asks if the door is blocked, but Charlotte admits a trash can might not do much. Fletcher isn't happy about that. ***whOmp.*** Sean calls Joe's name, hoping it might be him. ***whOmp.*** Holding *his* guitar by the neck, Fletcher confesses he doesn't think it's Joe. ***whOmp.*** Holding a pair of jaggedly broken drumsticks, Charlotte tells the others she's sure that's not Joe. Standing in the open doorway, Paulo holds his laptop like a shield in front of him, wondering why he's even there. The door gives way with a final ***SMASH*** and the bottom of a fire extinguisher extends into the room past the broken latch plate. Phoebe stands in the doorway, a nearly man-tall fire extinguisher in her arms. She tells the band members she can't begin to explain or even sum up, so they're going to have to trust her on this. Sean, Charlotte and Fletcher stand ready to throw down. Paulo is hovering by the back door, looking like he might bolt. Phoebe announces they need to help Joe.

Yaslatol taunts Joe that he's all alone. Joe slowly begins to lose the fight. The creature carries on, saying he has so many shapes, but he has no control. Joe pulls back after gouging the Vulture with his rhinocorn's horn. Grabbing him by the throat, Yaslatol tells Joe that maybe he *is* nothing. As Joe chokes out, panicking and defensive, he begins to return to his human form, finally hanging naked and limp in Yaslatol's grasp, conceding he can't. Yaslatol tosses him to the ground, telling him he's not good enough, not like this. The beast is startled when Sean's voice rings out with a challenge. Standing before him is the rest of Baby Heist, along with Phoebe and her fire extinguisher.

"Well then, goatboy, I guess it's good he's got his band with him."

## References

1. ↑ See No Tourists for the last time he said this.