EXT. SOUTH PHILLY SIDE STREET — DAY
(CRICKET sprints full-tilt, duffel slapping his hip. He moves like a raccoon that just realized the trash can has a lid now.)
CRICKET(panting; to himself)
Okay—okay—okay.
We did the right thing.
We did the moral thing.
(Behind him: distant SHRIEKING. A shopping cart CLATTERS. A GUY yells something that sounds like a threat to God.)
CRICKET(faster, panicked whisper)
And heroes… get chased.
That's the deal. That's part of the hero package.
(He turns a corner and nearly collides with a HOMELESS GUY holding a handful of the "product" like it's treasure.)
HOMELESS GUY(eyes wild, delighted)
YO PRIEST RAT—THIS IS THE GOOD CURSE!
CRICKET(still running)
It is NOT a curse! It is a—
(beat; he reconsiders)
—it is a gift! Use it responsibly!
HOMELESS GUY
I'M GONNA BECOME A WOLF!
CRICKET
You can't—!
(already gone)
—okay!
SMASH CUT TO:
EXT. CORNER STORE — DAY
(CRICKET bursts into a tiny corner store like he's being birthed by the door. A BELL DINGS. A CLERK looks up, dead inside.)
CLERK(flat)
No.
CRICKET(hands up, pleading)
I'm not stealing! I'm not—
(he sees his reflection in a security mirror: filthy, gaunt, haunted)
—okay, I look like I'm stealing. But I'm not. I'm being pursued by a moral panic.
(He ducks behind a display of off-brand chips. The display immediately collapses. Chips avalanche.)
CRICKET(whisper)
Shh—shh—shh—shh—
Stay. Stay together. Stay as a pile.
(Outside the window: a MOB surges past—ten people minimum, all in different flavors of feral. One of them is still biting something. A WOMAN points at the store.)
WOMAN(outside, screaming)
HE WENT IN THERE! THE CURSE DEALER!
CRICKET(horrified whisper)
Curse dealer?!
Lady, I am a philanthropist.
(The CLERK slowly reaches for a bat under the counter.)
CRICKET(to Clerk, urgent)
Don't. Don't do that.
I'm not here to hurt you.
I'm here to survive you.
(The front door RATTLES as the mob hits it like a wave.)
CLERK(flat, resigned)
You gotta go out the back.
CRICKET(grateful, sincere)
Bless you.
CLERK
Don't bless me. Just go.
(CRICKET scrambles toward the back. He clips a shelf. A cascade of canned beans detonates.)
CRICKET(calling back, guilty)
I'll pay you back! I'm good for it! I'm—
(beat)
—I'm not good for it!
SMASH CUT TO:
INT. CORNER STORE — BACK HALLWAY — CONTINUOUS
(CRICKET shoulder-checks a "EMPLOYEES ONLY" door. It opens into a cramped alley.)
CRICKET(to himself, hyping up)
Okay. Okay.
Alley mechanics.
This is my domain.
(He runs—then skids to a stop. The alley is blocked by TWO GUYS from the mob, both sweating, both vibrating with bad decisions.)
MOB GUY #1(snarling)
There he is!
MOB GUY #2(eyes huge)
THE PRIEST RAT!
CRICKET(instant panic; then—bright idea)
Wait—wait—wait—
I can explain.
(He reaches into the duffel and pulls out a handful of tiny baggies like he's offering communion.)
CRICKET(fast-talking)
This is not a curse. This is commerce.
This is redistribution. This is—
(he sees their pupils)
—oh, you guys are past listening.
(He tosses the baggies into the air like a distraction spell. The guys lunge for them like seagulls.)
MOB GUY #1
MINE!
MOB GUY #2
GIMME!
(CRICKET bolts, slipping between them.)
CRICKET(as he runs)
That's right—fight amongst yourselves!
Like nature intended!
SMASH CUT TO:
EXT. RESIDENTIAL BLOCK — DAY
(CRICKET sprints down a row of stoops. The neighborhood is a low-budget apocalypse: people yelling at traffic cones, a man arguing with a mailbox, someone shadowboxing a trash can like it insulted their mother.)
CRICKET(running narration; desperate)
This city is already cursed!
This is just… enhancing the curse!
(A GUY stumbles into his path holding a parking meter head like a trophy.)
PARKING METER GUY(triumphant)
I WON!
CRICKET(dodging)
Congrats!
(CRICKET jumps a small chain fence, eats it, gets up anyway, keeps going.)
CRICKET(through teeth)
Pain is… holiness.
(Behind him, the MOB has grown. It's not just feral users now—it's random onlookers who heard "curse dealer" and decided that was today's community activity.)
RANDOM DUDE(chasing)
HE'S GOT CURSE DRUGS!
WOMAN(chasing, furious)
HE CURSED MY COUSIN!
TEEN(filming)
Bro this is like anime!
CRICKET(yelling back, offended)
Stop saying anime like it's a diagnosis!
SMASH CUT TO:
EXT. PLAYGROUND — DAY
(CRICKET cuts through a playground. A LITTLE KID is calmly eating sand. A PARENT watches, too tired to intervene.)
CRICKET(to Parent, pleading as he passes)
Ma'am. Ma'am.
If a mob asks—
I was never here.
PARENT(deadpan)
I never saw you.
(CRICKET leaps over a swing set. A swing whips back and clocks a MOB GUY right in the chest.)
MOB GUY(wind knocked out)
OOF—!
CRICKET(without stopping)
That's for the city!
(He hits the far gate—locked.)
CRICKET(panicked)
No no no no no—
(He looks around. Spots a trash can. Spots a stack of flattened cardboard. He gets an idea that only a man with nothing left would get.)
CRICKET(to himself, reverent)
Trash.
My oldest friend.
(He yanks the trash can lid off, slides the cardboard underneath like a makeshift sled ramp, and LAUNCHES himself over the locked gate in the ugliest parkour attempt ever filmed.)
(He clears it by an inch. Lands hard. Gets up like it never happened.)
CRICKET(gasping, proud)
I'm… an athlete now.
SMASH CUT TO:
EXT. ALLEY BEHIND PADDY'S — DAY
(CRICKET stumbles into the alley behind PADDY'S like he's crawling back to the womb. He braces on a dumpster, heaving.)
CRICKET(to himself)
Okay… okay… safe…
The bar is… a sanctuary.
(He looks down at his duffel. It's almost empty. He digs around and pulls out something small, ugly, shriveled—looks like a gross piece of jerky. He squints.)
CRICKET(disgusted)
What is that.
What is—why is that in there.
(It TWITCHES—just a little.)
CRICKET(instantly, loudly)
NOPE.
(He flicks it into the trash without ceremony. It lands with a wet little plop. CRICKET shudders.)
CRICKET
That's not mine.
That's not my brand.
(He hears the MOB turning the corner—an oncoming stampede of chaos.)
MOB (O.S.)
PRIEST RAT!
CURSE DEALER!
GET HIM!
CRICKET(eyes wide; suddenly sincere)
God… if you're real…
I am so sorry for everything—
(He bolts toward the door to Paddy's.)
CRICKET(screaming as he runs)
I'M COMING HOME!
SMASH CUT TO BLACK.