Episode 1.09 — “Thin Places”
Aired October 27, 2026
Some doors are locked to keep something inside.
Others are locked to keep something out.
And sometimes...
the people who desperately need that door opened...
are the very reason you cannot afford to open it carelessly.
PREVIOUSLY ON THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF THE MISFITS OF MAYHEM...
The roads between realms have begun to change.
Deep inside the Primal Expanse, ancient paths shifted.
Beasts abandoned territories they had occupied for generations.
Names disappeared from the Ancestral Stone.
Not broken.
Not erased.
Gone.
Bigfoot crossed into the Primal Expanse seeking Grimva Icevein and returned changed by what he experienced there.
But part of that experience was missing.
Not forgotten.
Removed.
Then Grimva made a desperate decision.
She closed the Primal Expanse.
Completely.
Every passage.
Every portal.
Every road connecting it to the other Realms.
Not because she feared something inside would escape...
but because the Shadows were coming.
And Grimva intended to keep them out.
Unfortunately, the seal came too late for two travelers.
Peter Pan.
Captain James Hook.
Both remain trapped somewhere inside the Primal Expanse.
Their journey continues beyond the closed roads.
But outside the Expanse, Glinda and the Wizard of Oz have begun searching for another answer.
A way to understand Grimva’s seal.
And perhaps...
eventually...
a way through it.
At FAULT LINE, Bigfoot finally faced Yeti in the Arctic Wastes for the right to carry the Alpha Mantle.
Bigfoot fought.
Bigfoot endured.
And Bigfoot lost.
Yeti is Alpha.
For the first time, Bigfoot must accept the authority of the creature he spent so long challenging.
Neither knows yet that the future of the Primal Expanse may eventually require both of them.
Elsewhere, Negropolis defeated Mari Lwyd on Polar Power.
Then Mari Lwyd and Jack Frost attacked him after the match.
Now Halloween Horror approaches.
October 31.
Negropolis and Mr. Mason will team against Mari Lwyd and Jack Frost.
But Negropolis has spent his life pushing people away.
The mask keeps the world at a distance.
And every time Jack Mason tries to help...
Negropolis cannot help wondering whether everyone still sees him as the man who needs saving.
Across the world, Ace MacDougal continues searching for the truth behind the murder of his sister Catriona and the disappearance of her husband, Declan Quinn.
Dominik Rask was involved.
But he was not the man giving the orders.
Rhea Quinn remains inside the False Light Forge.
Billy Pearl remains close enough to watch her back.
And the money trail is beginning to expose something much larger.
At the North Pole, Edie Hartwell Mason is finally home.
Recovering.
Safe.
And completely unaware...
that something inside her life has already begun to change.
And then there is Fannie Wilkensen.
A supporter of Polly Mason.
A self-proclaimed best friend.
A woman who watched Polly from the crowd...
followed her backstage...
attacked Count Daculescu because she believed Polly needed protecting...
and built an entire private world around a friendship that exists only in her imagination.
Now Fannie is about to cross another line.
PROLOGUE — THE CLOSED ROAD
North Pole — Yolgrimm’s Cavern — Night
The storm has passed.
Outside Yolgrimm’s cavern, the Arctic sky is unusually clear.
Stars stretch above the frozen wilderness.
The aurora moves slowly across the horizon in ribbons of pale green and violet.
Deep inside the mountain—
the portal remains dead.
The enormous stone arch once opened onto the Primal Expanse.
Now—
nothing.
No light.
No wind.
No distant forests.
No strange skies.
Only stone.
Yolgrimm stands before it.
One enormous hand rests against an ancient rune.
Nothing responds.
Footsteps approach from the outer tunnel.
Heavy.
Two separate rhythms.
Bigfoot appears first.
He carries the aftermath of FAULT LINE with him.
Bruising across one shoulder.
A cut near his brow.
Soreness visible in the way he moves.
Behind him—
Yeti enters.
Also battered.
But victorious.
The Alpha Mantle belongs to him.
For several seconds neither beast acknowledges the other.
Yolgrimm turns.
YOLGRIMM: You arrived together.
BIGFOOT: No.
YETI: Absolutely not.
A beat.
BIGFOOT: He followed me.
YETI: You happened to be walking ahead of me.
BIGFOOT: That's generally how following works.
YETI: That's geography.
Yolgrimm gives both of them a long stare.
YOLGRIMM: I see the Arctic Wastes settled everything.
Neither answers.
Then Bigfoot looks toward Yeti.
It clearly hurts more to say this than anything he endured during the match.
But he says it.
BIGFOOT: He won.
Yeti turns slightly.
BIGFOOT: Fair.
A pause.
BIGFOOT: He's Alpha.
Yeti’s expression immediately improves.
YETI: Again.
Bigfoot looks at him.
BIGFOOT: Don't push it.
YETI: I would simply like the moment properly recorded.
BIGFOOT: You beat me.
YETI: Yes.
BIGFOOT: I accepted the result.
YETI: Yes.
BIGFOOT: You are Alpha.
YETI: Yes.
BIGFOOT: And you're still annoying.
A beat.
YETI: Alpha and annoying.
BIGFOOT: Apparently.
For just a second—
the hostility feels different.
Still there.
But no longer absolute.
A voice comes from behind them.
GLINDA: This is going considerably better than I expected.
Everyone turns.
Glinda stands near the cavern entrance.
Beside her is the Wizard of Oz.
And behind them—
silent.
Armored.
Watchful.
The Black Knight.
Dark plate armor covers him from head to toe.
A heavy sword hangs at his side.
He says nothing.
He does not need to.
His position makes his purpose obvious.
He is not here to study the portal.
He is here to make certain nothing happens to Glinda or Oz while they do.
Yeti looks between them.
YETI: More visitors.
GLINDA: You sound disappointed.
YETI: I generally am.
Oz barely listens.
His attention is already fixed on the gateway.
He approaches.
The Black Knight moves with him.
Never more than several paces away.
OZ: That's the crossing.
YOLGRIMM: It was.
Oz studies the arch.
OZ: Still is.
Bigfoot looks toward him.
BIGFOOT: Doesn't look like much now.
OZ: That's because you're looking for an open door.
He removes a small brass instrument from his coat.
Several concentric rings surround a crystal needle.
The needle begins spinning.
Then—
stops.
Points directly toward the center of the stone arch.
OZ: The road still exists.
YETI: Then open it.
Glinda looks toward him.
GLINDA: No.
YETI: Why does everyone keep saying that to me?
BIGFOOT: Pattern recognition may eventually help.
Yeti looks at him.
BIGFOOT: Alpha.
Yeti grumbles.
Glinda approaches the portal.
The Black Knight moves with her.
When she comes within several feet of the arch, he shifts slightly closer.
Protective.
Ready.
Glinda raises one hand.
Pale magic forms around her fingers.
A nearby rune briefly glows.
Then fades.
Her expression becomes more serious.
GLINDA: Strong.
YOLGRIMM: Grimva intended it to be.
OZ: This isn't destruction.
Yolgrimm nods.
OZ: The pathway wasn't collapsed.
GLINDA: It was sealed over.
YETI: By Grimva.
YOLGRIMM: Yes.
YETI: To keep the Shadows out.
Yolgrimm looks toward him.
YOLGRIMM: From every Realm.
The cavern quiets.
YOLGRIMM: She did not close one doorway.
He gestures toward the arch.
YOLGRIMM: She closed the Primal Expanse itself.
BIGFOOT: Every road.
YOLGRIMM: Every road she could reach.
GLINDA: Which means this is not simply a lock placed on this gate.
Oz looks toward her.
OZ: It's part of a larger binding.
Glinda nods.
YETI: And?
OZ: And if you tear apart one piece of a larger magical structure without understanding how the rest of it works—
YETI: You break it.
OZ: Precisely.
YETI: Then we agree.
OZ: That was not approval.
Yeti steps closer.
Immediately—
the Black Knight moves.
One step.
Nothing more.
But suddenly he is positioned between Yeti and Glinda.
His gauntleted hand rests near the pommel of his sword.
Yeti stops.
Looks down at him.
Then toward Glinda.
YETI: Does he speak?
GLINDA: When necessary.
YETI: Is it necessary now?
The Black Knight remains motionless.
GLINDA: Apparently not.
Bigfoot smiles.
YETI: Stop enjoying this.
BIGFOOT: Can't.
Glinda turns back toward the portal.
GLINDA: If Grimva sealed the Expanse to keep the Shadows from entering, then weakening this barrier carelessly could undo exactly what she sacrificed to accomplish.
That quiets even Yeti.
BIGFOOT: So you can't open it.
GLINDA: I didn't say that.
OZ: She said we shouldn't.
YETI: Yet.
Oz looks toward him.
OZ: Disturbingly, that is accurate.
Yolgrimm studies the portal.
YOLGRIMM: Then why are you here?
Glinda and Oz exchange a look.
Brief.
Subtle.
The Black Knight watches both.
GLINDA: Because a sealed road is still a road.
A beat.
GLINDA: And because we need to understand whether there is a way through it without dismantling the protection around the Expanse.
Yeti looks suspicious.
YETI: Why?
Glinda does not hesitate.
GLINDA: Because if the Shadows are moving between Realms, every sealed crossing matters.
True.
Just not the entire truth.
Yeti accepts it.
For now.
Oz kneels beside the arch.
He opens his leather case.
Brass instruments.
Crystals.
Parchment.
Small measuring devices.
OZ: First we determine whether Grimva's binding sits above the original portal structure.
GLINDA: Then we identify where one ends and the other begins.
YETI: And then we open it.
GLINDA: Then we continue studying it.
YETI: You ruin everything.
BIGFOOT: I'm starting to like her.
YETI: You have questionable judgment.
BIGFOOT: You just spent months demanding I recognize you as Alpha.
A beat.
YETI: Fair.
Bigfoot looks at him.
That may be the first time Yeti has conceded a point to him.
Neither comments on it.
Oz activates one instrument.
A low vibration passes through the stone.
Several portal markings briefly brighten.
Then vanish.
OZ: Interesting.
YETI: What?
OZ: Something underneath the seal is responding.
GLINDA: The original architecture.
YOLGRIMM: You can reach it?
OZ: Barely.
Glinda touches one rune.
Again—
a faint glow.
GLINDA: Grimva layered the seal over the existing pathway.
BIGFOOT: Can you remove the layer?
GLINDA: Possibly.
YETI: Good.
GLINDA: Eventually.
YETI: Less good.
OZ: But we'd need to understand the original pathway first.
Yolgrimm’s expression changes.
YOLGRIMM: That knowledge is old.
OZ: How old?
YOLGRIMM: Older than useful answers.
Oz sighs.
OZ: Everyone in ancient caverns talks like this.
Bigfoot has gone quiet.
He is staring at the glowing runes.
Thinking.
Then—
something occurs to him.
BIGFOOT: Wait.
Everyone looks toward him.
BIGFOOT: I have something.
YETI: What?
Bigfoot is already turning away.
BIGFOOT: A book.
YETI: A book.
BIGFOOT: Yes.
YETI: You're going to solve ancient realm magic with a book.
Bigfoot stops.
Looks back.
BIGFOOT: You're mocking reading now?
YETI: I'm questioning your reading.
BIGFOOT: Says the man who spent half of dinner last month eating the menu.
YETI: It had gravy on it.
BIGFOOT: It was laminated.
YETI: Durable.
Glinda closes her eyes.
GLINDA: Bigfoot.
Bigfoot looks toward her.
GLINDA: The book.
BIGFOOT: Right.
He disappears into the passage.
Yeti watches him leave.
YETI: I still think the book sounds ridiculous.
YOLGRIMM: Then you will be particularly annoyed if it helps.
Yeti looks toward him.
YETI: Everyone is enjoying this too much.
CUT TO BLACK.
SCENE 1 — I DIDN’T ASK YOU
North Pole Arena — Misfits Training Room — Evening
The room is nearly empty.
A heavy bag swings slowly.
Weights sit abandoned.
Medical tape and ice packs cover a bench near the wall.
Negropolis sits alone.
His coat is off.
His ribs are taped.
Dark bruising spreads across his shoulder from the attack by Mari Lwyd and Jack Frost.
On the television mounted in front of him—
FAULT LINE footage plays.
Wilber “Terrorfang” Townsend.
Northern Lights Championship.
Hell in a Cell.
Krampus.
The footage reaches its conclusion.
Wilber survives.
The championship remains his.
Negropolis rewinds.
Watches again.
The door opens.
Coach Cal Mercer enters carrying two bottles of water.
He throws one.
Negropolis catches it without looking.
CAL MERCER: Good.
NEGROPOLIS: What?
CAL MERCER: Reflexes still work.
NEGROPOLIS: Thrilling medical diagnosis.
Cal sits.
Looks toward the television.
Wilber again.
CAL MERCER: You've watched that four times.
NEGROPOLIS: Five.
CAL MERCER: Somehow worse.
Negropolis says nothing.
Cal watches the screen.
CAL MERCER: Townsend.
NEGROPOLIS: Yes.
CAL MERCER: Why?
Negropolis looks toward him.
NEGROPOLIS: He's Northern Lights Champion.
CAL MERCER: There are several champions here.
NEGROPOLIS: He's the one I want.
CAL MERCER: Why?
Negropolis becomes still.
CAL MERCER: That's not a complicated question.
NEGROPOLIS: Usually means it's a bad one.
The door opens.
Mr. Mason enters.
Black shirt.
Dark trousers.
A folder in one hand.
Negropolis’s expression changes immediately.
MR. MASON: Wonderful to see you too, neighbour.
NEGROPOLIS: What do you want?
Mr. Mason places the folder on the bench.
Opens it.
A match sheet.
POLAR POWER — HALLOWEEN HORROR.
OCTOBER 31.
MR. MASON & NEGROPOLIS
VS.
MARI LWYD & JACK FROST.
Negropolis stares at it.
Then toward Mr. Mason.
NEGROPOLIS: Of course.
Mr. Mason pauses.
MR. MASON: That sounded considerably less enthusiastic than intended.
NEGROPOLIS: They jump me.
A beat.
NEGROPOLIS: You show up.
Another.
NEGROPOLIS: Again.
Cal looks between them.
CAL MERCER: Neg—
Negropolis raises one hand.
NEGROPOLIS: No.
He stands.
Slowly.
His ribs clearly hurt.
He ignores them.
NEGROPOLIS: Every time something happens, there you are.
MR. MASON: That is generally how friendship works.
NEGROPOLIS: There.
Mr. Mason becomes still.
NEGROPOLIS: That's exactly what I'm talking about.
MR. MASON: I'm afraid you'll need to elaborate.
Negropolis steps closer.
NEGROPOLIS: I don't need you protecting me.
Mr. Mason’s expression changes.
Not anger.
Listening.
NEGROPOLIS: Mari Lwyd didn't beat me.
NEGROPOLIS: Jack Frost didn't beat me.
NEGROPOLIS: Heyman couldn't stop me winning.
He points toward the match sheet.
NEGROPOLIS: And now everybody sees this.
A beat.
NEGROPOLIS: Jack Mason swooping in to save Negropolis.
Mr. Mason says nothing.
NEGROPOLIS: Again.
There is far more behind the word than one attack.
NEGROPOLIS: Somebody needs saving.
NEGROPOLIS: Somebody needs fixing.
NEGROPOLIS: Somebody needs Jack Mason.
A pause.
NEGROPOLIS: And somehow I'm always standing beside you when it happens.
Mr. Mason absorbs that.
Cal stays silent.
MR. MASON: You think I accepted this match because I believe you cannot handle them.
NEGROPOLIS: Didn't you?
MR. MASON: No.
NEGROPOLIS: Then why?
The answer comes immediately.
MR. MASON: Because they hurt you.
Silence.
NEGROPOLIS: That's protecting me.
MR. MASON: No.
Mr. Mason steps closer.
MR. MASON: That's taking it personally.
A beat.
MR. MASON: There is a distinction.
NEGROPOLIS: Not from where I'm standing.
Mr. Mason considers him.
Then—
MR. MASON: Would you like me to withdraw?
That catches Negropolis completely off guard.
Mr. Mason gestures toward the match sheet.
MR. MASON: Say the word.
MR. MASON: I'll tell Santa Claus I am no longer participating.
NEGROPOLIS: Just like that.
MR. MASON: No.
His expression becomes colder.
MR. MASON: I will be extremely irritated.
Cal almost smiles.
MR. MASON: But if what you need is to face Mari Lwyd and Jack Frost without me—
He taps the sheet.
MR. MASON: —I will not make your fight about my feelings.
Negropolis looks down.
That lands.
Because Mr. Mason means it.
Negropolis looks toward the television.
Wilber Townsend stands frozen on the screen.
Championship raised.
Mask hiding his face.
NEGROPOLIS: No.
Mr. Mason waits.
NEGROPOLIS: We do the match.
MR. MASON: Good.
NEGROPOLIS: Don't look pleased.
MR. MASON: I'm naturally pleasant.
Cal coughs.
Negropolis looks at him.
CAL MERCER: Sorry.
Mr. Mason closes the folder.
Negropolis stops him.
NEGROPOLIS: But after Halloween—
Mr. Mason looks toward him.
NEGROPOLIS: I handle my own business.
Mr. Mason follows his gaze.
Toward Wilber.
Understanding.
MR. MASON: Townsend.
NEGROPOLIS: Yes.
Mr. Mason nods.
No joke.
No warning.
MR. MASON: Then take it from him.
Negropolis looks at him.
For one brief moment—
the hostility softens.
MR. MASON: And for the record...
Mr. Mason steps toward the door.
MR. MASON: I have never believed you were standing behind me.
Negropolis says nothing.
Mr. Mason looks back.
MR. MASON: You've always been beside me.
Then he leaves.
The door closes.
Silence.
Cal looks toward Negropolis.
CAL MERCER: You going to admit that helped?
NEGROPOLIS: No.
CAL MERCER: Figured.
Cal looks toward the television.
Wilber.
CAL MERCER: Now.
A beat.
CAL MERCER: Why him?
Negropolis sits again.
His eyes remain on the championship.
Then the mask.
NEGROPOLIS: He hides.
Cal looks toward him.
NEGROPOLIS: Behind that thing.
CAL MERCER: His mask.
Negropolis says nothing.
CAL MERCER: Interesting criticism.
Negropolis slowly turns.
CAL MERCER: From you.
The room goes cold.
NEGROPOLIS: Be careful.
Cal does not move.
CAL MERCER: There.
He gestures toward Negropolis.
CAL MERCER: That's where everybody gets stopped.
Negropolis’s hands tighten.
CAL MERCER: Jack tries.
NEGROPOLIS: Jack doesn't know when to stop.
CAL MERCER: Ace tries.
NEGROPOLIS: Ace talks too much.
CAL MERCER: Flippers.
Silence.
Negropolis looks away.
CAL MERCER: Thought so.
NEGROPOLIS: The penguin is manipulative.
CAL MERCER: Terrifying.
Negropolis looks toward Wilber again.
CAL MERCER: Maybe this isn't only about his championship.
NEGROPOLIS: It is.
CAL MERCER: Maybe.
Cal stands.
CAL MERCER: But someday you're going to have to decide whether that mask protects you—
He gestures toward the skull mask.
Never touches it.
CAL MERCER: —or owns you.
Negropolis turns sharply.
Cal is already heading toward the door.
CAL MERCER: Training tomorrow.
NEGROPOLIS: Cal.
Cal stops.
NEGROPOLIS: Don't do that again.
CAL MERCER: What?
NEGROPOLIS: Get close.
Cal considers him.
CAL MERCER: That's going to be difficult.
NEGROPOLIS: Why?
CAL MERCER: Because apparently managing the Misfits means none of you know how to leave people alone.
He exits.
Negropolis remains.
Alone.
Exactly how he prefers it.
The television continues playing.
Wilber Townsend.
Northern Lights Championship.
Mask.
Negropolis’s own reflection appears against the dark portion of the screen.
One mask facing another.
NEGROPOLIS: Soon.
He turns off the television.
BLACK.
SCENE 2 — SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Jack and Edie Mason’s Apartment — Later
Quiet.
Warm.
Normal.
Which still feels strange.
Edie Hartwell Mason stands in the kitchen wearing loose sweatpants and one of Jack’s oversized shirts.
A medical journal lies open on the counter.
Beside it—
tea.
Toast.
A half-eaten apple.
Flippers the Penguin stands directly behind her.
Watching.
Edie turns.
Nearly steps on him.
EDIE: Flippers.
Chirp.
EDIE: We've discussed personal space.
Chirp.
EDIE: Repeatedly.
Flippers does not move.
Edie points toward the living room.
EDIE: Go.
Flippers tilts his head.
EDIE: That direction.
Nothing.
Edie sighs.
EDIE: Fine.
She opens the refrigerator.
Immediately—
her expression changes.
The smell hits her.
Fish.
A large container.
Obviously belonging to Flippers.
Edie recoils.
EDIE: Oh—
She closes the refrigerator quickly.
One hand covers her mouth.
Flippers chirps.
Edie breathes slowly.
The nausea begins fading.
EDIE: Nope.
She moves toward the sink.
Waits.
Another moment.
Better.
Flippers waddles toward her.
Concerned.
EDIE: I'm fine.
Chirp.
EDIE: I am.
Another chirp.
EDIE: Do not argue with a doctor.
Flippers chirps louder.
EDIE: Especially when the doctor is me.
She sits at the kitchen table.
Flippers follows.
Edie rubs her temples.
EDIE: Probably still the ritual.
The explanation comes automatically.
Clinical.
Comforting.
EDIE: Blood chemistry normalizing.
EDIE: Stress hormones.
EDIE: Sleep disruption.
EDIE: Residual gastrointestinal response.
Flippers stares at her.
EDIE: Thank you for attending today's lecture.
Flippers waddles closer.
Then—
presses his head against Edie’s stomach.
She looks down.
EDIE: What are you doing?
Flippers presses closer.
EDIE: No.
She gently moves him aside.
Flippers immediately returns.
Same place.
Edie laughs.
EDIE: Seriously?
Chirp.
EDIE: That's weird even for you.
She moves him again.
He returns.
Again.
Edie studies him.
EDIE: Flippers.
His eyes remain fixed upward.
EDIE: I'm fine.
A softer chirp.
Edie strokes the top of his head.
EDIE: Really.
Flippers remains exactly where he is.
After a moment—
Edie stops trying to move him.
She leans back.
EDIE: But you are not telling Jack about the fish thing.
Chirp.
EDIE: I'm serious.
Another chirp.
EDIE: He'll have Van Helsing here with six hunters, two exorcists and a priest before breakfast.
Flippers chirps.
Edie thinks.
EDIE: Actually, knowing Jack, three priests.
She smiles.
Then yawns.
Long.
Unexpected.
She looks toward the clock.
EDIE: That's ridiculous.
She checks the time again.
EDIE: I've been awake four hours.
Flippers raises his head.
Edie points at him.
EDIE: Not. A. Word.
Flippers waddles toward the couch.
He grabs the edge of a throw blanket with his beak.
Pulls.
It barely moves.
He pulls again.
Edie watches.
EDIE: What are you doing?
Flippers drags the blanket several inches.
Stops.
Looks at Edie.
EDIE: Oh, absolutely not.
He pulls again.
EDIE: I am not taking a nap because a penguin told me to.
CUT TO:
Edie asleep on the couch.
Blanket over her.
Flippers curled tightly beside her.
His head resting near her abdomen.
The apartment is silent.
Safe.
For now.
Edie’s hand lies loosely across her stomach.
She does not know.
Flippers closes his eyes.
FADE OUT.
SCENE 3 — THE SAME HANDWRITING
Budapest — Private Apartment — Night
Rain streaks across tall windows overlooking the city.
Inside—
Ace MacDougal stands over a dining table covered with evidence.
Photocopies.
Payment records.
Shipping manifests.
Bank transfers.
Corporate registrations.
Old passport forms.
At the center—
MARROWGATE LOGISTICS S.A.
Beside it—
a repeating routing code found throughout the financial trail.
Fabian Falcone stands near the window, phone in hand.
Ace circles a number with a pen.
ACE MACDOUGAL: There.
Fabian turns.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Same code.
He taps another document.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Payment to Dominik.
Another.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Vehicle transfer.
Another.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Document fee.
He looks toward Fabian.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Different companies.
A beat.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Same routing pattern.
FABIAN FALCONE: Yes.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Meaning one person.
FABIAN FALCONE: Not necessarily.
Ace gives him a frustrated look.
FABIAN FALCONE: One system.
ACE MACDOUGAL: That's worse.
Fabian does not disagree.
Ace sits.
He looks tired.
Not physically.
Deeply.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Dominik was muscle.
FABIAN FALCONE: Paid muscle.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Someone authorized him.
FABIAN FALCONE: Yes.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Someone moved him.
FABIAN FALCONE: Yes.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Someone cleaned the trail after Cat died.
Fabian does not answer immediately.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Yes or no.
FABIAN FALCONE: Yes.
Ace looks down.
His anger is different now.
Concentrated.
ACE MACDOUGAL: And Rhea's standing ten feet from him every bloody day.
FABIAN FALCONE: Billy is watching her.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Billy isn't bulletproof.
FABIAN FALCONE: Neither is Rhea.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Helpful.
Fabian approaches the table.
FABIAN FALCONE: Which is why your instruction remains correct.
ACE MACDOUGAL: No confrontation.
FABIAN FALCONE: Exactly.
Ace rubs his face.
ACE MACDOUGAL: I hate being sensible.
FABIAN FALCONE: You hide it well.
Ace glares.
His phone vibrates.
A secure message.
Billy Pearl.
Ace opens it.
ON SCREEN:
RHEA SAFE.
RASK STILL DOESN'T KNOW WHO SHE IS.
NO CONTACT OUTSIDE FORGE.
NO CHANGE.
Ace exhales.
Some tension leaves him.
He types:
KEEP IT THAT WAY.
Send.
Fabian watches.
FABIAN FALCONE: You worry about her.
ACE MACDOUGAL: She's my niece.
FABIAN FALCONE: That isn't what I meant.
Ace looks toward him.
Fabian gestures toward the phone.
FABIAN FALCONE: You worry she'll become consumed by this.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Wouldn't ye?
Fabian says nothing.
Ace looks down.
ACE MACDOUGAL: She grew up without her mother.
A beat.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Without her father.
Another.
ACE MACDOUGAL: And now she's standing beside one of the men who helped make that happen.
Fabian watches him carefully.
ACE MACDOUGAL: I'm supposed to tell her to be patient.
A humorless laugh.
ACE MACDOUGAL: That's rich.
Fabian turns toward the sideboard.
He reaches into a drawer.
Removes an old photograph.
Places it on the table.
Ace looks.
The image is old.
A harbor.
Cargo containers.
Several men beside a truck.
One of them—
Declan Quinn.
Younger.
Smiling.
Alive.
Ace freezes.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Where did ye get that?
Fabian says nothing.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Fabian.
FABIAN FALCONE: Rotterdam.
ACE MACDOUGAL: When?
FABIAN FALCONE: Thirteen years ago.
Ace looks toward him.
Hard.
ACE MACDOUGAL: You were there.
FABIAN FALCONE: Yes.
ACE MACDOUGAL: You knew him.
FABIAN FALCONE: Yes.
Silence.
Finally—
an answer without qualification.
Ace steps closer.
ACE MACDOUGAL: How well?
Fabian looks toward Declan in the photograph.
FABIAN FALCONE: We were not friends.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Didn't ask that.
FABIAN FALCONE: We worked adjacent routes.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Meaning?
FABIAN FALCONE: Declan moved things.
ACE MACDOUGAL: I know what he did.
FABIAN FALCONE: You know what he told the family he did.
Ace’s expression changes.
Fabian continues carefully.
FABIAN FALCONE: He was good.
FABIAN FALCONE: Discreet.
FABIAN FALCONE: Reliable.
A pause.
FABIAN FALCONE: Until he became frightened.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Of what?
FABIAN FALCONE: He never told me.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Convenient.
FABIAN FALCONE: Frustrating.
Fabian taps the photograph.
FABIAN FALCONE: Several months before Catriona died, Declan began refusing certain work.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Whose work?
FABIAN FALCONE: That was never how it operated.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Fabian—
FABIAN FALCONE: Brokers.
A beat.
FABIAN FALCONE: Middlemen.
FABIAN FALCONE: Shell companies.
FABIAN FALCONE: Instructions passed through people who knew only the person directly above them.
Ace looks toward the Marrowgate paperwork.
FABIAN FALCONE: Declan believed someone had begun using his routes without his permission.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Using them for what?
FABIAN FALCONE: He wouldn't say.
Ace’s jaw tightens.
FABIAN FALCONE: I told him to walk away.
ACE MACDOUGAL: And?
Fabian looks toward the photograph.
FABIAN FALCONE: He said he couldn't.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Why?
FABIAN FALCONE: He had a family.
Ace stops.
That lands harder than anything else.
FABIAN FALCONE: That was the last serious conversation I had with Declan Quinn.
Before Ace can answer—
Fabian’s phone vibrates.
He checks it.
His expression changes.
ACE MACDOUGAL: What?
Fabian turns the phone toward him.
A message from Sherlock Holmes.
THE ROUTING CODE YOU SENT ME HAS APPEARED ELSEWHERE.
NOT IN THE QUINN MATERIAL.
WE NEED TO SPEAK.
Ace reads it twice.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Elsewhere where?
FABIAN FALCONE: He did not say.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Of course he didn't.
Another message arrives.
DO NOT CONTACT ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH MARROWGATE UNTIL WE SPEAK.
Ace looks up.
ACE MACDOUGAL: That's reassuring.
Fabian has become completely serious.
ACE MACDOUGAL: What?
FABIAN FALCONE: Sherlock does not issue instructions casually.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Neither do I.
Fabian meets his eyes.
ACE MACDOUGAL: Call him.
Fabian reaches for the phone.
Ace looks again toward the old photograph.
Declan smiling beside the truck.
Alive.
Before everything.
Ace lifts it.
His thumb passes across the edge.
ACE MACDOUGAL: What did ye get yourself into, Declan?
Outside—
thunder rolls over Budapest.
CUT TO BLACK.
SCENE 4 — NO INVITATION
Polly Mason and Leiton Snake’s Apartment — Night
Keys turn in the lock.
The door opens.
Polly Mason enters first.
Training bag over one shoulder.
Hair tied back.
Exhausted.
Behind her—
Leiton Snake carries two bags and a container of takeout.
POLLY MASON: If Cal says “one more set” tomorrow, I'm hitting him with the championship.
LEITON SNAKE: You said that yesterday.
POLLY MASON: Tomorrow I mean it.
LEITON SNAKE: You said that yesterday too.
Polly turns.
POLLY MASON: Whose side are you on?
LEITON SNAKE: The side that doesn't get hit with the championship.
Polly smiles.
They step inside.
Leiton closes the door.
POLLY MASON: Food first.
LEITON SNAKE: Shower first.
POLLY MASON: Wrong answer.
LEITON SNAKE: You smell like the training room.
Polly looks offended.
POLLY MASON: Champion sweat.
LEITON SNAKE: Still sweat.
She elbows him.
He laughs.
Then stops.
Polly notices.
POLLY MASON: What?
Leiton is staring toward the living room.
His expression has changed.
Polly follows his gaze.
Something sits on the coffee table.
A wrapped package.
Pale blue paper.
Silver ribbon.
Polly stares.
POLLY MASON: Did you—
LEITON SNAKE: No.
The humor disappears instantly.
Leiton puts the bags down.
Quietly.
POLLY MASON: Maybe Jack.
LEITON SNAKE: Jack would leave a note explaining why the gift was superior to every other gift ever purchased.
POLLY MASON: True.
Leiton looks toward the hallway.
Then the windows.
LEITON SNAKE: Stay here.
POLLY MASON: Absolutely not.
LEITON SNAKE: Polly—
She is already beside him.
They move through the apartment.
Bedroom.
Empty.
Bathroom.
Empty.
Kitchen.
Empty.
Balcony door.
Locked.
Windows.
Locked.
Nothing disturbed.
Nothing missing.
They return to the living room.
The package remains.
Polly approaches slowly.
Leiton catches her wrist.
LEITON SNAKE: Wait.
POLLY MASON: It's a box.
LEITON SNAKE: A box that wasn't here when we left.
Polly looks toward him.
Fair.
Leiton picks it up carefully.
Light.
No sound.
He sets it down.
POLLY MASON: Open it.
LEITON SNAKE: You open championship contracts faster than suspicious packages.
POLLY MASON: Different skill set.
Leiton carefully unties the ribbon.
Removes the paper.
Inside—
a picture frame.
Polly goes still.
It is the photograph from Polar Power.
Polly beside Fannie Wilkensen.
Both smiling.
The Queen of the North Championship visible over Polly’s shoulder.
The frame has been decorated by hand.
Small silver stars.
Tiny blue stones.
And across the bottom—
POLLY & FANNIE — BFFs FOREVER
Polly does not speak.
Leiton turns the frame over.
A bracelet has been taped to the back.
Handmade.
Blue and silver beads.
Letters spelling—
P + F.
Beneath it—
a folded note.
Leiton looks at Polly.
She nods.
He opens it.
LEITON SNAKE: “Polly.”
A beat.
LEITON SNAKE: “I knew you'd want one too.”
Polly’s face changes.
LEITON SNAKE: “Now we both have the same picture.”
Another pause.
LEITON SNAKE: “That's what best friends do.”
He stops.
Polly looks toward him.
POLLY MASON: Keep going.
LEITON SNAKE: “Love always, Fannie.”
A pause.
His eyes move toward the bottom.
LEITON SNAKE: “P.S. Don't worry.”
His voice changes.
LEITON SNAKE: “I locked the door when I left.”
Silence.
Polly stares at him.
Then toward the front door.
LEITON SNAKE: We're calling security.
Polly says nothing.
LEITON SNAKE: Now.
POLLY MASON: She was here.
LEITON SNAKE: Yes.
POLLY MASON: In our apartment.
LEITON SNAKE: Yes.
Polly looks back at the picture.
For the first time since Fannie appeared—
there is no amusement.
No confusion.
No awkward appreciation of an overenthusiastic supporter.
Only violation.
POLLY MASON: She hit Daculescu.
LEITON SNAKE: I know.
POLLY MASON: She followed me backstage.
LEITON SNAKE: I know.
POLLY MASON: She knew where we lived.
Leiton says nothing.
POLLY MASON: And she came inside.
Her voice becomes very quiet.
LEITON SNAKE: Polly—
POLLY MASON: I never told her where we lived.
LEITON SNAKE: I know.
Polly looks toward him.
POLLY MASON: How does she know?
Leiton has no answer.
That is worse.
Polly picks up the bracelet.
Studies it.
P + F.
She places it back down.
Carefully.
POLLY MASON: I smiled at her.
Leiton looks toward her.
POLLY MASON: That's all.
LEITON SNAKE: You didn't cause this.
POLLY MASON: I know.
She looks toward the photograph.
POLLY MASON: But she thinks it meant something.
LEITON SNAKE: To her, it did.
Polly’s expression hardens.
POLLY MASON: That's the problem.
Leiton takes out his phone.
POLLY MASON: Call Cal.
LEITON SNAKE: Security first.
POLLY MASON: Both.
Leiton nods.
Starts dialing.
Polly remains beside the coffee table.
Looking down at the photograph.
Her smiling face.
Fannie’s beside it.
A moment that had meant almost nothing to Polly.
Turned into something enormous by someone else.
Polly reaches toward the frame.
Stops.
Does not touch it.
POLLY MASON: Leiton.
He looks up.
POLLY MASON: We're changing the locks.
LEITON SNAKE: Tonight.
POLLY MASON: And nobody tells Fannie I'm scared.
Leiton studies her.
POLLY MASON: Because I'm not.
A pause.
POLLY MASON: I'm angry.
Leiton nods.
He believes her.
But as Polly looks toward the dark hallway—
something else is there too.
Awareness.
Someone she barely knows has stood inside these rooms.
Seen the couch.
The kitchen.
Their photographs.
Their life.
Polly looks toward the note.
I LOCKED THE DOOR WHEN I LEFT.
CUT TO BLACK.
EPILOGUE — THE BOOK
North Pole — Yolgrimm’s Cavern — Later
Hours have passed.
The portal remains sealed.
Oz’s instruments now surround the stone arch.
Three brass rods vibrate softly.
Crystals rest near specific carvings.
Sheets of parchment cover a nearby stone table.
Measurements.
Symbols.
Diagrams.
Questions.
Very few answers.
Glinda stands several feet from the portal.
The Black Knight remains behind her.
Always watching the gateway.
Always watching the cavern.
Always positioned where he can reach Glinda or Oz instantly.
Oz removes his glasses.
Rubs his eyes.
OZ: Again.
Glinda raises one hand.
Pale magic passes across the portal.
Several original runes flicker beneath Grimva’s binding.
Then vanish.
Glinda lowers her hand.
GLINDA: Nothing new.
OZ: Technically incorrect.
GLINDA: Oz.
OZ: We've discovered several additional ways it refuses to cooperate.
Yeti sits on a nearby stone ledge.
Increasingly impatient.
YETI: Open it.
GLINDA: Your contribution remains invaluable.
YETI: Thank you.
OZ: She wasn't complimenting you.
YETI: I chose to hear one.
Yolgrimm studies the arch.
YOLGRIMM: You believe the seal can be weakened.
GLINDA: Yes.
YOLGRIMM: But not safely.
GLINDA: Not yet.
Oz points toward one of his diagrams.
OZ: Grimva's binding surrounds the original pathway.
OZ: We can detect the road underneath it.
BIGFOOT: You just can't reach it.
Everyone turns.
Bigfoot has returned.
He carries an object wrapped in thick hide.
He walks toward the stone table.
Places it down.
Heavy.
YETI: The book.
BIGFOOT: The book.
YETI: I'm prepared to be unimpressed.
BIGFOOT: That's your natural state.
Bigfoot unwraps the hide.
An ancient tome lies beneath it.
Black leather.
Silver highlights worked subtly through the binding.
No title.
No spine lettering.
No obvious identification.
Glinda’s expression changes immediately.
Oz comes closer.
The Black Knight moves with them.
OZ: May I?
Bigfoot nods.
Oz does not touch it immediately.
He studies the cover.
OZ: No external inscription.
GLINDA: But the silver work isn't decorative.
Bigfoot opens the tome.
Inside—
preserved papyrus pages.
Ancient.
Fragile-looking.
Yet intact.
Dense writing covers them.
The characters look almost familiar.
Like the ancestors of several magical languages.
But not quite any of them.
Glinda bends closer.
GLINDA: I recognize pieces.
OZ: Can you read it?
GLINDA: Not completely.
YETI: So the book is useless.
BIGFOOT: We've had it open twelve seconds.
YETI: Apparently that's enough time now.
Oz looks toward Bigfoot.
OZ: Continue.
Bigfoot turns several pages.
Diagrams begin appearing among the text.
Celestial patterns.
Ancient structures.
Geometric pathways.
Then—
a pyramid.
Above it—
a black sun.
Not an eclipse.
The sun itself is black.
Glinda becomes still.
OZ: You've seen that before?
GLINDA: No.
Another page.
A threshold.
Closed.
Several figures positioned around it.
Lines extend from each figure toward the gate.
Bigfoot stops.
BIGFOOT: This.
Oz leans closer.
Bigfoot turns back one page.
Then forward again.
OZ: Interesting.
YETI: You say that too much.
OZ: Because I encounter interesting things.
YETI: And explain very few of them.
Glinda points toward the diagram.
GLINDA: They're not creating the threshold.
OZ: No.
He studies the glyphs.
OZ: They're changing its condition.
YOLGRIMM: Meaning?
Glinda studies several repeated characters.
She speaks slowly.
Testing the translation.
GLINDA: Bind.
Another.
GLINDA: Hold.
Another.
Her expression changes.
GLINDA: Release.
Oz looks toward her.
OZ: Unbinding.
The cavern becomes quiet.
Bigfoot looks toward the sealed gateway.
BIGFOOT: That's why I brought it.
YETI: You knew this was in there?
BIGFOOT: I knew what the pictures looked like.
YETI: That's considerably different.
BIGFOOT: I didn't claim to be a wizard.
YETI: Neither did he until he found a hat.
Oz looks offended.
OZ: That is an outrageous oversimplification.
Glinda continues studying.
GLINDA: This ritual doesn't appear to rely on one caster.
She points toward the figures surrounding the illustrated gate.
GLINDA: Multiple conduits.
OZ: Sharing the strain.
YOLGRIMM: How many?
OZ: We don't know.
YETI: How powerful?
Glinda and Oz exchange a look.
GLINDA: Very.
YETI: You.
Glinda looks toward him.
YETI: Oz.
He points toward the Black Knight.
YETI: Him.
For the first time, the Black Knight slowly turns his helmet toward Yeti.
OZ: He's here to keep us alive.
YETI: Useful skill.
GLINDA: And not necessarily magical.
The Black Knight remains silent.
Bigfoot looks at him.
BIGFOOT: Does anyone actually know?
No answer.
Bigfoot nods.
BIGFOOT: Fair enough.
Glinda continues turning pages.
GLINDA: Even if we translate the ritual—
She looks toward the gateway.
GLINDA: —we cannot simply perform it.
YETI: Why not?
GLINDA: Because Grimva closed the Expanse for a reason.
That ends the humor.
GLINDA: Every road she sealed is one less road the Shadows can use to enter.
She touches the illustration of the unbinding ritual.
GLINDA: If this weakens Grimva's protection here—
A pause.
GLINDA: —we need to know whether it weakens the same protection everywhere.
Yolgrimm considers that.
YOLGRIMM: A single opening may become a wound in the entire seal.
OZ: Exactly.
Yeti looks toward the portal.
His impatience gives way to something more thoughtful.
The Primal Expanse is his concern.
His responsibility.
Perhaps for the first time, the Alpha Mantle feels less like something won...
and more like something carried.
YETI: Then we don't open it yet.
Everyone looks at him.
Especially Bigfoot.
YETI: What?
BIGFOOT: Nothing.
YETI: Say it.
BIGFOOT: Didn't think you had that sentence in you.
YETI: I'm Alpha.
BIGFOOT: Which apparently also means sensible now.
YETI: Don't spread that around.
Bigfoot smiles.
Then looks back toward the tome.
BIGFOOT: But we study it.
YETI: Yes.
BIGFOOT: Together.
A small pause.
Yeti looks at him.
The instinct to challenge the word is there.
He does not.
YETI: Together.
That matters.
Glinda notices.
So does Yolgrimm.
Oz has gone back to the silver pattern on the cover of the tome.
He tilts it toward the torchlight.
The silver catches.
For a moment—
the geometry becomes clearer.
He looks toward the portal.
Back to the book.
Then back again.
OZ: Glinda.
She moves beside him.
GLINDA: What?
He turns the cover slightly.
OZ: Look at the pattern.
Glinda does.
Then looks toward Grimva’s seal.
GLINDA: Similar.
YOLGRIMM: Not the same.
GLINDA: No.
Oz studies it.
OZ: Older.
Yolgrimm’s expression darkens.
Bigfoot turns another page.
Again—
the pyramid.
The black sun.
The unfamiliar script.
The ritual.
BIGFOOT: So what does that mean?
Glinda does not answer immediately.
OZ: It means whoever wrote this understood sealed pathways long before Grimva closed the Primal Expanse.
YETI: Useful.
GLINDA: Potentially.
She looks toward the black sun.
GLINDA: Or dangerous.
The Black Knight moves closer to Glinda.
A subtle response.
Almost instinctive.
His armored hand settles near his sword.
Everyone notices.
Yeti looks toward him.
YETI: Finally something makes him nervous.
The Black Knight slowly turns his helmet toward Yeti.
YETI: Or not.
Bigfoot closes the tome.
The cavern grows quiet.
They have not opened the portal.
They have not contacted anyone beyond it.
They do not know where Peter Pan and Captain Hook are.
They do not know what is currently happening inside the Primal Expanse.
And Yeti does not even know that two travelers are trapped beyond the seal.
But they now possess something they did not have when the night began.
A possibility.
Glinda places one hand on the ancient tome.
GLINDA: We translate everything.
She looks toward Oz.
GLINDA: Every symbol.
Toward Yolgrimm.
GLINDA: Every connection to the original portals.
Toward Bigfoot.
GLINDA: Every detail you remember about where this came from and what you learned before the crossings closed.
Finally—
toward Yeti.
GLINDA: And nobody attempts to open anything until we understand exactly what opening it could allow inside.
Yeti looks toward the portal.
Then toward Bigfoot.
YETI: Agreed.
Bigfoot nods.
BIGFOOT: Agreed.
For once—
no challenge follows.
The camera slowly pulls back.
Glinda.
Oz.
The silent Black Knight.
Yolgrimm.
Bigfoot.
Yeti.
And between them—
the ancient tome.
Beyond them—
the sealed road into the Primal Expanse.
A road Grimva Icevein closed to keep the Shadows out.
A road that may have to be opened...
to bring two trapped travelers home.
The camera moves toward the portal.
Nothing glows.
Nothing moves.
Nothing answers.
The road remains closed.
For now.
CUT TO BLACK.
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