Nocturnum
Episode 6: Escape from Pittsburgh
Original Air Date:10/1/2006Original Episode notes will be posted soon.
Special Guest Stars:
Marisa Tomei as Amara
Heath Ledger as Daniel
Nicole Kidman as Michele
Eric Stoltz as Raphael
Synopsis
The Cast winds down after handing William his first major defeat, and after John and Katherine work out their rage and grief at losing Cyan, everyone retires for the evening. Drake sits with Amara until she awakens and reassures him that she will be fine. When she asks to be alone for awhile, to take a walk and explore the new headquarters to center herself, he consents. As he sits on the bed, thinking about everything that has occurred, he recieves a visit from his long-dead wife, Katherine. Katherine has come to Drake before leaving once again for the Death Realms, to thank him and Amara for risking so much to save her, Cyan, and all the other souls trapped within the orb, and to tell him that she always loves him, and that she blesses his union with Amara and is happy for the both of them. Drake is relieved and grateful for her blessing. He resolves then and there, that it is time to make a change in his status with Amara.
In Matthew's room, he lays down to sleep, and receives a nocturnal visit of his own: his mother comes to him in his dreams, clearer than he's seen her in a very long time, and tells him that she's almost found a way to get through the barrier to see him, and hopefully help them all escape somehow. He fills her in on everything that's happened, and she says that she hopes very much to be there soon, but warns him that her brother Raphael has, she suspects, caught up with her at last.
Anita and Klaus get blitzed on Scotch. Katherine heads to bed after announcing (just to traumatize Anita and John) that she's going to get laid.
The next morning, everyone awakens to the smell of eggs cooking (Anita throws up). Katherine has risen early and made breakfast for everyone (powdered eggs and milk, but it's better than nothing). As they eat, the group discusses their next move, which seems to be to head for CMU and research these mysterious "keys" to fix whatever went wrong with the timeline. They discuss contingency plans for running into William, but in the end decide that they'd best just expect the worst and play it by ear if he shows up.
The trip to CMU seems almost too easy. Oakland is like a ghost town; where usually they can sense deadites in every shadow, there's not a sign of a demon anywhere. They surmise that William has consolidated his forces to defend him while he attempts to assess how much damage the Cast did to his powers, and how he can get back. Regardless of the reason, they enter the CMU library without incident. They are unsurprised (but disappointed nevertheless) to discover that save for some general occult tomes which Anita already has, all the "good" books have gone missing. Still, the books here might be of some use and they decide to look through them while they're here.
As the Cast researches, Drake discovers a trap door concealed in a corner. He opens it and descends. Katherine sees him go down and begins to follow him. Each of them suddenly, for a fleeting moment, has the absolute certainty that the other is trying to murder them. As the moment passes, they both admit to feeling a bit paranoid. Suddenly, a creature seems to leap out of a corner where the stairs meet, bear Drake to the bottom of the stairs, then meld back into another corner in the dark. Katherine charges down the stairs and is herself accosted by the (or another?) creature. She manages to stab it before it vanishes, but notes that her sword does very little damage to it.
Anita, Klaus, and Matthew rush to the trap door to see what the ruckus is. As battle is joined, Anita identifies the creatures as Hounds of Tindalos, monsters of the Mythos that prey on those who mess with time. They are nigh invulnerable to physical damage. The Cast discovers, though, that Klaus's Shadow Bolts and Matthew's blessed sword do affect the creatures and in the end, they defeat all six of the monsters. During the fight, Anita notices a stack of five genuine Mythos tomes on a table in the storage room, and she and Katherine rush to grab the books and get out.
The Cast returns home with the books and begins their research. During the trip home, Drake veers off, explaining that he has to "go shopping." After a brief "this is a bad idea" debate, the Cast lets him go.
At home, the research begins in earnest. After an hour or so, Drake returns home, checks in, then goes to see Amara, who has just risen for the evening. He gives her a black rose (exactly like she used to leave for him in the 1600's), in the pedals of which he has placed a large diamond ring. He goes to his knee and proposes marriage. Amara gleefully accepts.
They join the Cast back in the offices, where Amara shows off her ring and everyone congratulates the couple. The research continues. Anita starts to get a bit twitchy as she reads the books (Matthew and Drake decline to look at them). Suddenly (and before she shares any information she gleaned from the research), she announces she has to go to the bathroom, and leaves.
A few minutes later, the Cast hears a scuffle from the vestibule area. They rush to the door and see none other than their old comrade Michele, who has apparently blasted her way through the barrier to get in and help the Cast work out their problems. As they get re-acquainted, she drops a bombshell: Matthew is in fact her son, and had been watching the Cast for quite some time before the barrier went up, trapping them all in Pittsburgh. In fact, he is familiar with all of their exploits, having been biding his time until his destiny came to pass and he had to step forward to help them fix a great cosmic wrong.
After awhile, they notice that Anita hasn't returned from the bathroom. Katherine goes to check on her and finds the bathroom empty. When she tries to call Anita, the phone rings through to voicemail. They talk with Michele a few mintues longer, and Katherine tries again. She is shocked when a man answers the phone. He claims to be "everybody's friend" and asks Katherine if she wants to be his friend. Finally, Anita gets on the phone and Katherine demands to know why Anita isn't with them.
Suddenly, Anita appears in the room. That's when Katherine recognizes the man's voice as that of Ebonor, the man who appeared at the ruins of Presby. Drake, John, Klaus, and Amara are not happy that Anita was off chatting with Ebonor, but as usual, Anita is guarded about what went on, saying that they should all know by now that he just likes to mess with them all, and her in particular.
Anita then shares the information that she has gleaned from their research. The Cast needs to find something called the Keys of Destiny, and join them together at the Tree of Life which rests outside of time at the center of all worlds. To accomplish this task, they must find an ancient sage named Yad-Thaddag, who is reputed to be an avatar of an Elder God, cousin to the Great Old One Yog-Sothoth. This sage is reputed to live somewhere in the Himelayan Mountains. Yad-Thaddag, like Yog-Sothoth, is a guardian of keys and gates, and spells invoking him have the power to break through mystical barriers, but require an insane amount of power--the kind of power where a miscasting could result in destruction of the entire city. She has a specific spell in hand, but besides the sheer amount of power, it requires a massive manipulation of the scales of fate. Michele, it seems, can handle the fate part, but the only way they can think of to create such a massive reaction of power is to throw the Elder Sign into the Hellmouth, which could be disastrous unto itself, and would be fatal to any of the Cast who even tried to get close.
That's when another scuffle occurs outside, this one sounding like a fight. The cast rushes forth again, to discover the Archangel Raphael in their domain, having caught up with Michele after hunting her for centures. His intention is to take her back to the Celestial Chorus to stand trial for desertion. Michele points out that getting into a prison is easier than getting out, and that they are all now trapped inside unless the spell the Cast found works to release them. He and Michele trade insults, and when he threatens Matthew, Michele looks ready to throw down with him (which could be just a tad destructive to, say, the entire city block). Anita reminds everyone that they're all trapped here and there are more pressing concerns. Showing nothing but disdain for the humans (he refers to them as "monkeys" at one point), Raphael accompanies the group back to council. When Michele offers herself in trade for his assistance, the archangel reluctantly agrees to help the Cast escape from the city. His job will be to fly the Elder Sign to the Hellmouth and drop it in, while the Cast works the spell at the weak point in the barrier, halfway through the Liberty Tunnels. Daniel agrees to stand in for Matthew at the casting, since one caster must be present for each person to leave, and Matthew by his nature cannot work magic. Matthew, then, agrees to stand with Amara, Father Bob, Kay Hito, and Dana Green to help defend the circle while the spell is being cast.
As the Cast convenes at the barrier, they see a literal swarm of darkness converging on the Liberty Bridge, as almost every demon in the city runs to the barrier, attracted by the mystical energy released when Michele and Raphael blasted their way through. The battle is joined. Michele fries the first wave of demons with Celestial Fire, then turns her attention to manipulating the scales of fate. Matthew stands with the rest of the heroes, battling wave after wave of demons, until a massive creature Anita indentifies as a Star Spawn of Cthulhu emerges seemingly from nowhere (summoned, perhaps?) and knocks Michele to the ground, then attacks the group. Matthew and Amara move to fight it. During the battle, Amara is killed outright when the creature decapitates her with its claws. Drake screams in anguish but is unable to break the casting. Matthew disembowels the creature.
Just then, Michele stands, eyes alight with fire, and cries, "Now, Raphael!" A wave of dark energy pours over the city as the Elder Sign meets the Hellmouth, and the spell reaches its crescendo. A portal to the Astral Plane opens up at the center of the circle. Daniel takes Matthew's place on the front lines, and Matthew follows the Cast in, as Michele again turns her power against the weak spot in the barrier, feeding on the Sadicas released from the explosion to boost her fire.
The Cast emerges on the other side of the barrier and turns to look back. Through the mystical haze, they see Daniel open up a Walkgate back to base and their friends dash through as the horde of demons overruns their position. Many demons are disintegrated on contact with the barrier.
Then it's quiet again. A few seconds later, Michele emerges, having successfully blasted through. She informs the Cast that she can't stay; she has no intention of going home with Raphael when there is still work to be done against Leviathan here on Earth. She bids everyone good bye, comforts Drake on his loss and promises to do what she can to save Amara's soul, embraces her son, and walks away.
The Cast then soaks up the fact that they are outside of the city. Emerging from the tunnel, they all look up where above them, the sky is not glowing a sickly green, but clear and full of stars on this late summer night (it's after midnight on May 1, 2026). Drake and John make a few phone calls to get the process of reclaiming the Cast's funds and identification; between the two of them the Cast will have access to money and identification by morning. Drake has his people charge hotel rooms at the Bethel Park Crowne Plaza for the entire Cast, and has a cab called and charged as well. John sees to it that Katherine's money comes out of trust and chats for awhile with Max and Lisa, who are overjoyed to hear that he is alive (he, as well, is glad to discover they haven't been killed). They arrange also to have John's cell phone re-activated. Each of them remembered to bring their old wallets with them, so they have some cash on hand.
The Cast go to the hotel and get cleaned up. They revel in simple pleasures such as electricity, hot running water, and cable television, and then Anita realizes that there is an Eat n' Park all night diner across the street. They gorge themselves on the kind of food they haven't had in four years. All, that is, except for Drake, who stays in his room all night, and asks only to be left alone with his sorrows.
Great Quotes:
[CUT SCENE READING]Jason (Director): "Dammit!" she cried, and invoka..involuntarily cast her ass...eyes...okay, let's start this over again, shall we?
[Re: Anita's dreams of Alan]
Katherine: Do you really not want to dream anymore? How badly? Is it worth a migraine?"
Klaus: Katherine, you are not hitting your aunt Anita over the head with a frying pan again.
Anita: Ooooh, but I like the dreams. I really like the dreams. It's just that I hate waking up, because then they're not real anymore.
Katherine: Well, I'm going to go get laid and go to bed. Night, all!
Anita: I think I'm going to be sick.
John: I WILL SHOOT HIM.
Michele: I think Raphael might have finally caught up with me.
Matthew: Well, as long as Leonardo, Michaelangelo, and Donatello aren't with him you're okay.
Michele: Why would him having long-dead painters along make a difference?
Matthew: Because they're heroes in a half-shell.
Katherine: It's going to be a good day today!
Klaus: And who sold you ze crack?
John: You have electricity? Where'd you get electricity?
Anita: We have sorcerers. It can get a little dangerous, but it gets the job done.
[Off discussion about baking bread]
Matthew: Hey, if we've got yeast I say screw the bread; let's make beer!
Anita (to Katherine): I didn't bring you into this world, but I will take you out of it!
Anita (to Matthew): Only in our group of compatriots would you get the fifth degree for making yourself presentable. Believe me, I feel your pain.
Klaus: Anita, do you always have to be so cynical?
Anita: Yes. Yes, I do.
[Re: William's whereabouts]
Klaus: He's not quite at Emo, yet. He's only reached Goth.
Drake: So he's tragically pissed?
[Re: CMU's library]
Anita: Yes, we've all done research here. And we've all made out behind the stacks after closing! (off blank stares of everyone else) Oh, wait, I guess that'd just be me.
[Metagame conversation]
Jason (Director): Drake, you're about halfway down the stairs when you see Katherine mount the top of the stairs behind you.
Kalie (Katherine): HUH?
Jason: I was talking about you mounting something.
[Out of game conversation]
Jason (Director): No, we're TV-14, here, so you can say "ass." You can say "ass," "bitch", "bastard"...pretty much everything except George Carlin's list. Sometimes people say worse and I edit it for TV...TV being the website.
Mike (Matthew): I wasn't sure. See, my original concept for Matthew was Sam Jackson from Pulp Fiction, but I thought that might be pushing it.
[Out of game comment]
Robert (Klaus) (In Pirate voice): ARRR!!! THAR BE MYTHOS IN THIS BASEMENT!!!
Klaus: I'm heading for the noise
Matthew: I'm heading for the door, as well.
Anita (whispers): I'm staying with the books.
[Out of game comments]
Kalie: WHAT?
Jason: Matthew draws his sword, Kalie.
Kalie: Oh, well...it glows when you pull it out, that's all I heard!
Klaus: Matthew, I didn't know you had a mother!
Anita: Do we have any painkillers?
(Anita gets lippy with two Archangels)
Anita: Hi, Daniel!
Michele: I can't stick around. My brother might get out at any time and I have no intention of going with him. Yes, I know I said I would. I lied.
Matthew: Everyone has a mother.
Anita: It's bad. You get your body eaten, your soul destroyed...
Michele: You get impregnated...(Anita glares at her) What? I'm just trying to help!
Katherine: Yeah, we have the morphine we took from the hospital.
Anita: Uh, I meant like TYLENOL. I have a headache.
Anita: Look, in case you hadn't noticed there are more pressing matters going on right now. If you two want to fight, then fine. But find somewhere else to do it, so we can do our jobs, kay?
Daniel: Hi, Anita, what's up?
Anita: I love you.
Daniel: I love you, too...what do you want?
Anita (hugs him): You're my friend, right?
Daniel: Yes, very good friends. We've been through a lot together. What do you want?
Anita: You know I love you, right? And not in a weird, creepy, stalker way...in a good, friendly way.
Daniel: Anita, WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT?
Anita: You're not going to like it.
Daniel: I gathered that much already.
Klaus (Mock disbelief): NO! An angel? Lied?
Matthew: Hey, sometimes you gotta lie.