James Knight: Teenage Superhuman S1 Web Series

Maximus: A Superhuman Prodigy S1 E4

INT. BEDROOM — EARLY MORNING

The sunlight barely peeks through the window in James' bedroom. Matthew calls his son's name over and over.

Matthew (V.O.): James! James!..

Matthew's voice fades into the Australian voices. Noah, in a ski mask, gets louder in his ears, shaking James awake.

Noah (V.O.): James! James! Wake the bloody fuck up, mate.

James' eyes flutter and peer open as he lays in a puddle of sweat, a purple hue illuminating the bedroom and fading away. With his hoodie flung about his masked face, a super in the corner stands watching James in concern. James' eyes pull to the super, standing there.

James: Son of a bitch.

James charges at the super, slamming and pinning him against the wall. The super's arms shoot to the ceiling to surrender, pure fear on his face.

Noah: Chill, mate. I'm not going to hurt you.

James and the super stare into the eyes of each other before James lets go of him.

Noah (wheezing): You're so strong.

The boy dusts himself off.

James: Good to know. Now, who are you?

Noah: What the fuck is with this family? Do you think I'm telling you that bloody information?

James pins the boy against the wall, raising his hands again.

James: What do you want?

James raises his fist to punch the kid, and the super shields his face.

Noah: Hey! Whoa. Easy there, Mighty Mouse.

Suddenly James is distracted by someone coming up the steps. The boy suddenly makes his move, knocking James' feet from under him and making his escape out the window. Then, Sam rounds the corner.

Sam: You good?

Sam looks down at James with a frown, realizing his situation.

Sam: Son of a bitch.

James (Angry): I should have killed him when I had the—

Sam: You know, killing him won't solve our problems. I know you don't want to live with the guilt that you murdered someone... (long hesitant beat)
I'm driving you to the mall. Matthew and Derek had an emergency meeting at work this morning and had to leave early, and you need to get out more.

James: Fuck.

Sam chuckles.

Sam: Language. (Beat) Do your super-speed thing, Super boy. I want you downstairs no later than ten minutes.

James rolls his eyes.

James (Sarcastic mumble) Great.

Sam leaves the room.

INT. MALL - EVENING

James sits against one of the empty glass store windows with Derek, licking chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream out of a cone.

James
Those two new kids in my class, they're supers and I have a bad feeling about Noah and Max.
James slurps, dripping vanilla ice cream off his thumb. Derek looks at James, his eyebrows raised, and sucks on his mint chip cone.
Derek
What?
James shrugs.
James
It just seems weird that they came out of nowhere, you know.
They sit silently, and James dips into my ice cream with his tongue again.
Derek
I mean, maybe you should trust your instinct. It could be your spidey senses tingling.
Derek lets out a laugh before biting into his ice cream whole. Who does that?
Derek
Are we almost done?
James
I may or may not have a few more bites.
James points out his two scoops of ice cream still piled onto my cone.
Derek
You're kidding, right?
James
What?
DEREK
Who bites ice cream?
Nearby, an alarm sounds at a jewelry store. They don't even notice a masked man walk by them while Derek and James are busy with our mid-afternoon desserts. This was the third robber they encounter recently besides the one James tossed on his brother's car for the sky.
Robber #3
Nobody moves, or they get a bullet in their bloody skull.
The robber seems Australian, just like those other two supers. It couldn't have been more of a coincidence.
Derek
Son of a bitch.
James and his brother simultaneously toss their ice cream in a trash can beside us and strategize for a moment.
James
Go, Derek!
Derek rolls his eyes and stays put.
Derek
You go. I'll be right behind you. You're the one with powers.
James rolls his eyes this time.
James
(mumbles)
Wuss.
Derek
I heard that.
James dons his hood, rises into the sky, overseeing a masked man's smash-and-grab at the jewelry store. Derek flees on foot, leaving shocked employees and intrigued onlookers capturing the chaos on their phones.
Derek
Hands up!
Derek announces himself, pulling his gun from his waistband beneath his hoodie, feeling mighty for a moment. But the robber turns his attention to James, floating in the air, staring down at him. James' eyes drift to Derek below, standing there watching him. Suddenly, the robber plucks the gun from Derek's hand with something simple as a thought, and it floats across the room into the robbers' hands. James sucks in a sharp breath.
James
Shit. He's super, too. Why didn't we see that coming.
The masked man suddenly lifts into the sky and matches James's height, and he points the gun back at Derek. Then he pushes his finger against the trigger, narrowly missing the young couple walking by, totally not paying attention. James is in front of Derek in a split second, and he squeezes his eyes shut. Then, as the bullet bounced off his chest, James' eyes peeked open, and he sighed.
James
Whew. I haven't done that in years.
James drops to ground level with the robber. The man's blue eyes narrow with his, and his grin drops, and he turns the barrel on the two store employees. Then, he points the gun toward James.
Robber #3
Stand up, James.
James eyes widen in panic, and he looks at Derek who is also shocked.
RoBBER #3
Bloody hell. I said, STAND UP, James Everett Knight.
JAMES
How do you know my name?
Robber #3
Ask your father who I am.
James
Noted.
James raises his hands. The robber points the gun at Derek.
ROBBER #3
You too, Derek.
Derek rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. The robber irritably points the gun back at the two employees standing cautiously with their hands in the air.
James
Leave them alone. They didn't do anything to you.
The robber turns the gun on James this time, and he bites his tongue. Then he turns the gun back to the employees. One employee, blonde and tall, eyes the counter. His hand slipped under, and he pressed a panic button. The alarm whistles. The impatient robber growls, and the gun clicks. Derek stands there, urging James to do something super as James stands there frozen in fear for the first time in his life, adrenaline pumping through his veins.
Robber #3
(yelling)
Do you want to fucking die today?
The robber adjusts his hold on the gun and employee number two, a young girl, slips her hand under the table this time, hitting the alarm again. The robber points his gun at her, and a bullet flies from the weapon. Time freezes while everything moves in slow motion. James takes off superhuman speed, swiftly rushing to both employees' aid. The remaining glass from the countertops shatters, and James knocks both employees to the ground on top of one another while the bullet pierced the wall. Then, he pulls off the two of them when he feels safe. The male employee awkwardly smiles at his co-worker from behind her before rolling off.
Robber #3
You're stupid, just like Sam.
James' eyebrows raise, and he swears Derek has the same expression painted on his face. It was the second time Sam's name came up. What dumb thing did Sam do to get us into this mess?
The robber raises the gun, pointing it at James again. James charges the man, frozen in time, and yanks the gun from his hands as they tumble in the air three stories to the ground level below. Both their eyes shift to the gun lying smashed on the floor next to them, as if it was a plastic toy.
Robber #3
What the bloody hell.
They collect themselves from the ground. James dusts debris from his shirt and shrugs. Then, as the police barge through the mall, guns were drawn on the robber. James takes a deep, relieved breath. Matthew steps forward in the crowd of cops.
Matthew
Hands up.
His eyes study his son standing there and his gun drawn on the robber for a moment. But a dozen officers turn their weapons on James. James lifts his hands in the air to surrender. Instead, his father stops them before they can pull the trigger.
Matthew
Stand down.
The officers still shakily point the gun at James.
Matthew
(yelling)
Damn it! I said, stand down.
The police retreat with their guns to the robber. James' eyes land on Derek, who races down the second-floor elevator to meet the other cops.
Matthew
Where's your brother?
Derek's eyes meet James' before he shrugs, and James' eyes shift to the floor, away from his father.
Derek
Not sure. James wandered away to get something, but I hadn't seen him since.
Matthew
Find him.
All eyes drag to the other officers' gaze shifts around the open mall.
Garrett
What the hell!