FINAL SIN - ORIGINAL OUTLINE

So this is essentially the original outline for my short film screenplay task, which I've decided to entitle Final Sin.

PROLOGUE

13.8 billion years ago, the celestial body of the universe came to be. And like most bodies, it needed a way to remove anything that didn’t belong, if it should ever come along. The Antibody, created from antimatter, fulfilled the universe’s need. And for billions of years, the Antibody did it’s job. Until it developed a selfish, biased taste; a taste for sentience.

6,000 years ago, as it craved more than it could attain, it created six children. Using powers of a destroyed ancient race, the children had unique abilities to assist the Antibody. Pride, Greed, Wrath, Lust, Sloth and Envy grew up to be feared across the universe, spreading their armies from planet to planet to feed their father. They were known as The Sins.

Then the seventh Sin came to be.

2,000 years ago, Gluttony was born. He was dejected by all his siblings… but not his father. Antibody trained each of the Sins from birth to tap into their ancient powers, extract a soul and feed both themselves and their father. But Gluttony’s training ended differently. In a room on their planet, the AntiDomain, Antibody trains a 10 year old Gluttony.

PRESENTATION DAY

Gluttony dressed unusually clean and formally as a child. He wore tuxedos with large bow ties, smart pointed shoes and had combed-over hair atop a greyscale head. When he spoke, it was in the voice of what the human race would identify as a 1920s upper class male.

“What will you teach me today?” Gluttony asked his father, a faceless giant whose slimy antimatter body somehow managed to drip upwards.

“TODAY,” Antibody responded, in a loud voice that also seemed to whisper. “YOU WILL NOT BE TAUGHT ANYTHING. BUT YOU WILL SHOW US ALL SOMETHING.”

“Us?”

An opening in the training chamber formed, and the other Sins walked through. Pride led the pack; being the eldest, this was the norm. Gluttony froze to the spot. He had never been close to his siblings; they had barely ever been home and when they had been, they shunned and ignored Gluttony.

“How long will this take? I have 7 worlds in dire need of my attention.” Pride boasted, obviously disinterested in the task at hand. He gave a smirk from his animatronic face, as he gauged the reaction to his statement.

“7? Ha!” laughed Envy, dressed in her formal warlord attire. She points to Pride with her sewing needle cane. “Try 12!”

Pride didn’t like that.

“SILENCE.” Antibody needn’t raise his voice or add any inflection; what he says goes. The Sins all stood to attention.

“TODAY IS THE DAY WE ALL SEE IF YOUR BROTHER IS READY TO JOIN YOUR RANKS.”

The Sins were all quite stunned. They honestly didn’t think Gluttony would live to see this day. Gluttony himself didn’t believe it either. Antibody turned around to face his youngest son, towering a good 6 feet above him. Though his father had no face, he found comfort in it.

“OUTSTRETCH YOUR HAND, GLUTTONY.” Antibody commanded.

Gluttony obeyed, albeit slowly and with trembling fingers. He had done small tests of his abilities with his father, in a safe environment with no one around. What could happen with other people around that could get hurt? The seconds until they all found out ticked down.

“BUILD UP AS MUCH ENERGY AS YOU CAN.”

He once again obeyed. Gluttony closed his eyes, with his hand outstretched towards his brothers and sisters. Though he could not see them, he could hear their murmurings:

“Bet you he doesn’t even make a spark.” he could hear Pride mocking him.

“Deal!” responded Greed, always the type to make a bet. 

But as he charged himself up, as he always had in training, he began to grow worried when his father wouldn’t tell him to stop. It had been 10 seconds more than usual; then 20, then nearly a minute. Gluttony still trembled, and heard snickering from in front of him. But in the span of 5 seconds, those laughs turned into white noise. This had never happened before.

“GO.”

Gluttony opened his eyes. They were bright cyan, glowing with power. He couldn’t see anything but white. The Sins weren’t laughing anymore. And in an instant, a wormhole formed from Gluttony’s palm! It was a relatively small wormhole, but still large and dangerous enough to make the Sins all step back in fear. But not all of them managed to step back far enough.

“I’m caught!!” screamed Envy, as she started to get dragged into the wormhole. A noticeable green glow started to form, starting from Envy’s body and ending at Gluttony’s palm. Sloth, the most physically strong Sin, started to try and pull her out of the wormhole.

“GLUTTONY, THAT’S ENOUGH.” Antibody commanded.

But Gluttony was rooted in place. He turned his head to stare at his father standing to his right with pupil-less eyes. He then turned back to Envy. Sloth wasn’t going to be able to drag Envy back.

“ENOUGH!!!”

Antibody’s shout sent a wave throughout the domain. He had never had to raise his voice until that moment. The shock pushed Gluttony back to normal, regaining his eyesight. He fell to the floor, closing the wormhole. Envy fell forwards onto Sloth. The Sins crowded Envy, seeing if she was ok.

“Ugh… I don’t feel so good…” Envy groaned. The Sins all looked to their father, hoping he would scold Gluttony for what he did… whatever it was he did. But Antibody simply stood, observing the scene. After a few silent moments, he turned to Gluttony, putting his hand on his shoulder.

“CONGRATULATIONS. YOU ARE NOW A BONAFIDE SIN.”

Gluttony’s eyes lit up! He smiled, finally he would be accepted by his siblings! Or at least, that was the dream for all of 3 seconds.

“NO!” Pride shouted. He walked over to Gluttony and Antibody, ready to confront them both. His walk was fast paced, eerie for an animatronic. Joints squeaked and pistons hissed as he approached.

“He damn near killed Envy! You think we’re going to want him as a Sin if that’s going to happen to the rest of us?? What will you do when we’re all gone because you weren’t there to stop him?”

“PRIDE, I WOULD SHOW SOME RESPECT TO YOUR BROTHER.”

Pride was taken aback. He was so used to being on the same side as his father, finally being on the opposite end was shocking. His eyebrows squealed quietly as they slid down to make an angry expression. His head clicked as it turned to look at Gluttony.

“You may be a Sin,” Pride seethed. “But you’ll NEVER be our brother.”

The metal Sin turned around and helped his siblings supporting a staggering Envy. Gluttony, on the other side of the room, was heartbroken. Tears started to roll down his cheeks.

Antibody knew what sadness was, but didn’t understand it. He put a comforting hand on Gluttony’s shoulder.

“I’VE SEEN EVERY EVENT IN ALL OF HISTORY,” he began. “TRUST ME, MOST OF THE TIME WHEN PEOPLE SAY THINGS LIKE THAT, THEY DON’T MEAN IT.” Antibody tried his best to act as an actual parent. And it evidently worked; Gluttony looked up, bloodshot eyes and tears still rolling down his face. But he had a smile. He stretched his arms out to hug his father. Antibody recoiled at this.

“WE WILL TRAIN YOU MORE. THEY WILL SOON SEE HOW VALUABLE AN ASSET YOU CAN BE.”

Gluttony’s smile disappeared, only for a second. It came back, somewhat weaker, and started to make his way to bed.

“Father?” he called.

Antibody turned around.

“Love you!”

Antibody simply stared. He didn’t understand love either. He never did. But he was damn good at acting it.

As soon as the opening Gluttony walked through closed, Antibody approached a window.

“NONE OF THE OTHERS EVER HAD POWER THAT RAW AND UNCONTROLABLE.” he thought to himself. He had trained his children in the exact same way, what made Gluttony so special? But then it hit him what his youngest had done. The green glow he absorbed from Envy, he had seen it before; he literally created his children, he knew what they were made of. The green energy was a dampener Envy had to supress her empathetic emotions.

This didn’t worry Antibody too much. If anything, it brought a sinister idea to mind.

“IF HE CAN ABSORB AN ENTIRE COMPONENT AT THIS AGE… THINK WHAT COULD HAPPEN IN YEARS TO COME.” 

“I MAY ONLY HAVE USE FOR ONE SIN.”

ULTIMATE SIN

2 years ago, Gluttony stood in the same room he had done almost 2,000 years ago. But then he was a boy; now he stands there a man. Tall, slender, with fingers like knives. He still dressed formally, with full tux and bow tie. A pencil-thin moustache rested upon his top lip. The only other change to his attire was a blue flower in his tuxedo collar. Fauna was rare on the AntiDomain. 

“One of the others must have brought it back from an invasion” Gluttony wondered upon seeing it.

Just as it was millennia ago, Gluttony had no idea what he was doing in the chamber. He had trained for years since that fateful day, missing only the days his father had to be with another Sin taking part in their invasions. He still shook in anxiety. What could be different this time around? Would the other Sins be involved? 

His questions would be answered sooner than expected. The Sins entered through an entranceway, with Pride once again leading the pack. The animatronic sin was freshly buffed, his metal gleamed in the moonlight that flooded the room. Sloth was close behind Pride, who were then followed by Lust and Wrath; the two were still acting very chummy after a successful invasion hours before. Greed stumbled behind them, with the last in the group, Envy, cautiously side stepping into the room. She had avoided Gluttony like the plague since that day… but had strangely felt bad about doing so.

“Ah, the circus master, right?” Pride mocked Gluttony. “What roadside attraction do you bring us this time? A clown act, perhaps?”

Gluttony was visibly upset about this. Had he been around his siblings more, maybe he’d have built up a resistance to this type of bickering. He wanted to lash back with an insult, but thought it best to keep his mouth shut.

“You can talk, you glorified automata.” Lust retorted on Gluttony’s behalf, although it was for her own amusement. Pride glared at his sister. She just smiled back.

“Stop it, you two.” Envy whispered. The Sins all looked at her with an expression of confusion.

Before a full scale argument could break loose, Antibody appeared. His slimy body slumped through the floor, before reforming into the muscled, 10 foot tall creature they called their dad.

“Right, which one of us are you sacrificing tonight?” Pride joked, once again tried to act the class clown. “How about Lust? She could do with a rib removal or two to fit into that wedding dre—”

“NOT NECESSARY.”

The Sins all stood to attention. Except Pride, who was left confused by the line. “’Not necessary’? Why not just ‘no’?”

“NEARLY 2,000 YEARS AGO, YOUR BROTHER STARTED TO SHOW PROMISE OF HIS OWN ABILITIES, YET YOU ALL DEJECTED HIM.” Antibody started to deliver a speech.

“TODAY, HE SHALL SHOW YOU HIS GROWTH, AND HOW HE CAN BE WORTH ALL OF YOU PUT TOGETHER.”

Ouch. The Sins were all put in their place. Except for Gluttony and Pride. They were both confused by that line as well.

“YOU HAVE ALL BEEN GIFTED ABILITIES FROM A RACE YOUR FATHER CONQUERED EONS AGO, AND TODAY, YOUR BROTHER WILL SHOW HOW MUCH HE HAS LEARNT ABOUT HIS.”

“GLUTTONY IS THE ACT OF TAKING MORE THAN YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO. SOME COULD SAY THIS IS OUR MISSION STATEMENT.”

A few of the Sins nodded in agreement. Even Wrath, who was but a floating skull, managed to perform the act. But Pride still stood in place, in a world of his own confusion.

“AND THE ULTIMATE FORM OF TAKING MORE THAN YOU SHOULD IS FOUND IN THE STARS… THE BLACK HOLES. THEY ABSORB AS MUCH AS THEY CAN, EVEN LIGHT ITSELF. AND WE’VE FOUND…”

Antibody displays Gluttony. His hands are behind his back, with a pair of his daggered fingers crossed. Gluttony gulps. “What’s going on?”

“… GLUTTONY HERE CAN USE THOSE TO HIS WILL.”

Envy gave a look of disappointment.

“You called us all here to tell us something we already know?”

“NO.” Antibody responded, in a more chilling manner than usual. This struck fear into the Sins.

“YOU’RE HERE TO SEE EXACTLY WHAT HE’S LEARNED.”

Antibody turned to Gluttony, reaching his hand out. Gluttony looked at it for a second. Then to his father’s ‘face’. He wasn’t entirely sure what to do. His training the past 100 years had been in wide open spaces, dragging planets from the skies to the ground using wormholes. He had done that exercise so much, the AntiDomain was losing moons and neighbouring planets as quickly as it gained them. How could he demonstrate that to his siblings here?

“Right guys, so let’s step outside and we’ll get this show on the—” Gluttony started to walk towards an opening that lead outside. But as he walked, he was stopped by his father’s towering body. “… Road.”

“HERE.” Antibody demanded.

Gluttony gulped again, this time harder than last time. He started to outstretch his hand toward a hole in the ceiling. But as he did, Antibody gave a wave of his hand. This caused the gap to close, like skin repairing itself on a much faster scale.

“HERE.” Antibody repeated. Gluttony was visibly confused.

“B… but how…”

“NOW, GLUTTONY. DO IT NOW.” Antibody pointed to the Sins. “RIGHT THERE.”

At this point, Gluttony had tears in his eyes. His siblings had never loved him, hell, they never even LIKED him. But he refused to put them in harm’s way again.

“I… I can’t!” he sobbed.

“THAT’S IT!!” Antibody roared. He placed a hand on Gluttony’s head. The moment he did, his son’s eyes turned bright magenta. This wasn’t Gluttony activating his powers… this was his father doing it for him.

The ground started to shake. Storm clouds started to swirl around the chamber they inhabited. A bolt of lightning struck the room, which only led to more dramatic lighting. It was at this point Pride had realised what was going to happen. But it was too late. The youngest sin raised both his hands, palms facing his siblings. They all looked petrified. After a few seconds of tremors…

Silence.

A leviathan black hole had formed from Gluttony’s palms. It absorbed all the sound and light surrounding them, even managing to drag their sun a little closer to the planet. And right in the path of it were the Sins. Their screams didn’t matter in the slightest; only one person could hear them, and at this point, they didn’t care. Antibody ignored the screams of his children as their very essence was ripped from them. He watched without care as their bodies were torn apart, multitudes of brightly coloured energy being sucked into the black hole.

The more he absorbed, the more Gluttony started to mutate. His hands were no longer just sourcing the black hole, they became black holes of their own. His body started to resemble his father more and more, with upwards dripping hair and a muscular chest. There was a certain point where Antibody could no longer hold his son’s head, and let go. But it didn’t matter anymore. Gluttony was out of control.

He grew to a 50 foot tall hideous beast. Large wormholes for hands, a grotesquely proportioned body, pupiless eyes that also seemed to stare into your soul… the Black Hole was born. Gluttony was a shell of his former self… it was the only thing he recognised at that time. He roared in agony, unable to make out words but very clearly crying for his father.

But Antibody did nothing. He stared. He watched… with glee. He witnessed everything that happened, how his youngest son managed to rip and tear his siblings to make himself more powerful.

And Antibody felt pure joy. He finally understood what it meant to love his child.

But he couldn’t use these powers for his own gain while Gluttony was in the Black Hole form. Antibody thought for a moment, and realised how he could change him back. Stretching his elastic body up high, he approached the face of the beast. And the beast looked back.

“IT’S ALRIGHT, BLACK HOLE,” Antibody assured his son. “IT’S ALRIGHT.”

He started to pump more antimatter into his hands, making them fifty times the size there were prior. He stretched his arms out, hands swinging back with slight delay… and then they both met opposite sides of the Black Hole’s head.

The Black Hole screamed a high pitch wail as the sting from whatever his father was doing affected him. He was unable to see what was going on at that point, but that didn’t stop him from flailing his arms about wildly. What he failed to notice was his wormhole arms slowly starting to resemble hands more. His legs reformed, as did his more human features. After a minute or two, Antibody had calmed the beast and returned him back to normal. Gluttony was back.

But as soon as they reached the ground again, Gluttony fainted immediately. He had never used such power before, and most of it came from his father’s pure unbridled anger. Antibody looked at his son’s body, unconscious, but still alive. 

“I’M PROUD OF YOU, SON.” He whispered.

“PROUD. PROUD…” 

Antibody turned around. He saw pieces of his other children strewn across the chamber; arms, legs, weapons… all that was left of the other Sins. Antibody picked up what was left of Pride’s body; cold, with chunks of metal missing. On the back, he noticed the pullstring that Pride often used in battle to deceive enemies. He took the ring, pulled it as far as he could and…

Nothing responded for a good few seconds.

“Father…” a dilapidated voice box responded. “Faaatheerrrrr…”

The voice box failed. Sparks shot out of what used to be Pride’s neck. This message didn’t affect Antibody though. He crushed the body in his hand, turning it into a pure orange ball of energy; small in size, but powerful enough to power a city. Antibody curled the ball up into his fist, as it shot through his arm and fed into him. He scavenged the rest of the pieces for any trace of Sin energy as he could, to not much avail. Gluttony had taken the rest.

A few minutes later, Gluttony woke up. He stood up, and patted down his suit. It had a tear in it now.

“Oh bother, that won’t do.” He thought. Tilting his head up, he saw his father. He smiled very briefly, but that was lost when he noticed the absence of his siblings.

“Where… where is everyone?” Gluttony questioned. He had a dreadful thought, a thought that harkened back to Pride’s earlier hypothetical of further damage. Had he killed his brothers and sisters?

“THEY WERE VERY IMPRESSED,” Antibody explained. He lied. “SO IMPRESSED THEY ALL DECIDED TO PREPARE EXISTENCE FOR YOUR NEW REIGN.”

Gluttony was confused, but ultimately believed. What use would his father have to lie?

“BUT WE ARE GOING TO CHANGE HOW WE DO THINGS FROM NOW ON. YOU AND ME WILL CONTROL EVERYTHING.”

“Everything?”

They both looked to the stars.

“YOU WILL TAKE THE PLANETS FROM NOW ON. YOU’VE BECOME SO VALUABLE AN ASSET TO THE SINS, THEY WOULD FEEL ASHAMED BEING IN YOUR SHADOW.”

Gluttony had never received genuine praise before… little did he know these were lies designed to manipulate him.

Antibody pointed to a star.

“THE C4N-WH6 SYSTEM. A PLANET KNOWN AS EARTH REQUIRES A VISIT FROM THE SINS.”

A hand was placed on Gluttony’s shoulder.

“CLEANSE THE UNIVERSE FOR US, GLUTTONY. YOUR LIFE BEGINS NOW.”