The Maxx

Cops:
And sometimes it’s us! Okay, everybody freeze!

Maxx:
Damn. I was talking out loud again.

Ocono:
Yeah. You shouldn’t hang around with these creeps Miss Julie. There was another rape last night.

Julie:
If you don’t act stupid you don’t get raped.

Ocono:
Blame the victim why doncha?

Julie:
It’s a hard world out there Ocono, there’s always enough blame to go around.

Julie:
Spoken like a true fanatic! A few women who can’t take care of themselves get messed with and you ride to the rescue! Who are you to assume responsibility for their lives?

Maxx:
I am The Maxx. Answer your phone.

Maxx:
Then it wasn’t all a dream! Unless I was dreaming now.

Mr. Gone:
Too bad. I normally hate killing amnesiacs.

Jungle Queen?:
Bad doll.

Maxx:
There she is…but changed… Even her voice is different. What has happened to her?

Jungle Queen:
This is a bad doll. It keeps telling me things I don’t want to hear! And if this bad doll doesn’t shut up, I’m going to brush it’s hair right out!

Mr. Gone:
You think I don’t know you? I’ve stalked you!

Julie:
So? You see me as some little miss perfect some madonna to be seduced and absorbed! Actually I’m pretty flawed. I’ve got a fat stomach and chaff marks where my jeans cut in and bad breath from eating the wrong stuff! And my underarms are stubbly! But I can see through you like glass pal! You’ve got a problem with women!

Mr. Gone:
How perceptive! Did you figure that out when I kidnapped you …or when I tied you up with leather straps? of course I’ve got a problem with women! Everyone has a problem with women…because women taunt and tease! Because they are attractive and then they punish you for being attracted! Do you deny it? After all, I’m not the one who wears underwear outside her clothes! You claim to be a “pro-sex feminist!” You quote Camille Pagila …endlessly, I might add. But would a feminist of any stripe be so deliberately risk-taking? Or are you only a feminist when it suits you? You dropped out of college, set up this “free lance social work” of yours, started bailing people out of jail, trying to reform them….You’re nearly broke, surrounded by dangerous desperate men…and look where it’s gotten you!

Julie:
So this is my fault? You broke into my locked house and kidnapped me! This has nothing to do with the clothes I wear!

Mr. Gone:
Maxx! We can’t waste our time like this!

Maxx:
Why not? I fight evil…and you are evil!

Mr. Gone:
No, no! That’s just it! You’re no superhero! You’re a protector…Julie Win…I mean the Lepoard Queen’s protector.

Maxx:
Huh?

Mr. Gone:
The two of you are soul linked! What she feels, you feel! And she is lost. Lost in the city and in own mind!

Maxx:
Why should I believe you vile sorcerer?

Maxx:
Tell me.

Mr. Gone:
Maybe later, the truth about you is only embarrassing…Julie's truth could destroy her.

Maxx:
And this Julie and the Queen of the Leopard women…are one?

Mr. Gone:
Yep, man, this is gonna be a long night! This primitive plane, which you think is Australia and I call Pangea, is all that is real…the other world is a dream, where we are trapped playing out……our deepest fantasies.

Maxx:
When Julia Winters was hurt….never mind how…she created a fantasy world for herself. A place where she would have control. At least that’s what the villain told me. But who can believe a villain? You’ve got to go back there, to the city…find her and protect her keep her from knowing too much of the truth all at once, for the truth will destroy her! Still as I as I talk to Julie, I can’t help remembering his words, he never told me anything straight out, only in riddles, but…he implied a lot, he hinted she was in danger, maybe from herself…she seems a lot quieter since her encounter with Mr. Gone, more pensive, calmer…weirder.

Maxx:
Julie, are you gonna be okay? I mean being kidnapped ‘n’ all…

Julie:
Hey, gone tried his tricks on me, but I got the best of him . S it’s history!

Maxx (thinking):
When she got out of the hospital, she used up all of her tuition money to set up a new life as a free-lance “social worker”, trying to help other victims of the urban nightmare.

Julie:
I hate whining! And I hate professional victims! All day long I hear sob stories from idiots who can’t cope and so they pick something to blame! I was robbed…I was raped! Nobody loved me! Pheet! Time out!

Maxx (thinking):
This woman used her position to build a wall around herself.

Julie:
Everybody’s got to take responsibility for their own life’, y’know

Maxx (thinking):
She helped people by controlling them…hoping to smother her own pain…something like that. And somewhere in the wild land, in the land of dreams, in Pangea,…her better self was imprisoned, by her own self loathing.

Maxx:
I dunnno, seems like, if somebody’s raped, it’s not like a test you failed or a job where you get fired… It’s somebody else’s guilt for once! You get to have your own anger and…

Maxx (thinking):
At least that’s what Gone told me, I don’t know if I believed anything he said, least of all about Julie.

Julie:
Hey, Maxx, save the liberal feminist garbage for someone who cares ‘kay? Sorry, I know, you’re just trying to watch out for me, like you always do. But it’s over now. I cut the bastards head free, you chased him back to God knows where. It's over.

Maxx (thinking):
In fact, I was already having trouble remembering, the details of what he said. It was like a dream.

Julie:
And I’m going t’be just fine.

Maxx (thinking):
A really bad dream.

Maxx:
And who the hell are you?

Gone:
Amazing. You really don't remember any of it. Not the girl, nor the Isz, or the bloodworms, or ME.

Maxx:
Then It wasn't all a dream...unless I'm dreaming now...

Gone:
Too bad. I normally hate killing amnesiacs.

[A Dark Isz peeks from Gone's robes]

Maxx:
(to himself) No...now I remember. It was all coming back to me. I could feel the hot sun on my backskin and the grasses under my toes. Those little creatures were Isz, but twisted and changed by being moved to this world.

Gone:
True enough. Too bad you'll be eaten before you'll have the chance to mutter this to anyone.

Maxx:
....Damn. Still talking out loud.

[Sara's holding a gun to her head]

Sara:
Ok, heres the point in the story where I have this cathartic revelation that suicide's wrong, that life's worth living and everything'll be OK. Yeah, right. And that's why this story doesn't work! [throws the gun down] 'Cause I just don't buy it.

Julie:
Nobody buys it, but that's not why you go on.

Sara:
Why then?

The Maxx:
Because things'll change. You'll change.

Sara:
What about right now?

Julie:
Right now, you wait.

Julie:
You, however, have a problem with women.

Mr. Gone:
[scoff] How perceptive... did you figure that one out when I kidnapped you, or tied you up with leather straps? OF COURSE I'VE GOT A PROBLEM WITH WOMEN!

The Maxx:
Funny, but I keep seeing that doll she made of Mr. Gone... beheaded! That must mean something. The things that could be under my mask.

Julie:
Look, Maxx, that freak nearly killed us. And just because you imagine you have a rabbit's head in the Outback is certainly no reason to fear you might actually have one here. It's so classic, Maxx. You see yourself as some jungle avenger because in your in real life you're powerless. And I can't blame you. We all need some place to go away to; some place we can be who we should have been instead of who we are; some safe place where we can escape reality. Hide. I know there are things to hide from.

The Maxx:
My mask. I can feel it crawling... .

Julie:
Shush.

The Maxx:
Please! Make it stop!

Julie:
Just rest now. It's okay. It's okay.

Sara:
Mom called, said to call if you needed anything.

Julie:
Great. Hey, when you talked to your mom, did you happen to mention that there's a slight chance this entire world is all my dream and if I wake up it could end everything.

Sara:
Well I might have left that part out.

Julie:
Just as well, it's not exactly my favorite part.

Gone:
This primitive plane that you call Australia and I call Pangea is all that is real. The other world is a dream, where we're trapped, playing out our deepest fantasies. When Julie Winters was hurt, never mind how, she created a fantasy world for herself. You've got to go back there, to the city. Find her and protect her. Keep her from knowing too much of the truth all at once. For the truth will destroy her.

Maxx:
(to himself) At least that's what the villain told me. But who can believe a villain? Still, as I talked to Julie, I can't help remembering his words. He never told me anything straight out, only in riddles. But he implied a lot. He hinted that maybe she was in danger, maybe from herself.

Maxx:
Are we ready for nail clipping in this stage in our relationship?

Julie:
Ho ho, funny boy. Here, let me do it. You're too careful.

Maxx:
(to himself) She seems a lot quieter since her encounter with Mr. Gone. More...pensive. Gone told me how three years ago, a young architectural student was beaten and raped and left for dead.

Maxx:
Julie, are you going to be okay? You know, being kidnapped and all?

Julie:
Hey, Gone tried his tricks on me, but I got the best of him. So it's history.

Maxx:
(to himself) When she got out of the hospital, she used all her tuition money to set up a new life as a freelance social worker, trying to help other victims of the urban nightmare.

Julie:
I hate whining, and I hate professional victims. All day long I hear sob stories from idiots who can't cope, so they always pick something to blame. "I was robbed, I was raped, nobody loved me!" Time-OUT!

Maxx:
(to himself) This woman used her position to build a wall around herself.

Julie:
Everybody's gotta take responsibility for their own life, you know.

Maxx:
(to himself) She helped people by controlling them, hoping to smother her own pain...something like that. And somewhere in the wild land, in the land of dreams, in Pangea, her inner self was imprisoned by her own self-loathing.

Maxx:
I don't know, it seems like if somebody's raped, it's not like a test you failed or a job where you got fired, it's somebody else's guilt for once. You get to have your own anger and-

Julie:
Hey Maxx, save the liberal feminist garbage for someone who cares, alright?

Maxx:
(to himself) At least that's what Gone told me. I don't know if I believe anything he said, least of all about Julie.

Julie:
...sorry. I know you're just trying to watch out for me, like you always do. But it's over now. I cut the bastard's head free, you chased him back to God knows where. It's over.

Maxx:
In fact, I was already starting to forget the details of what he said. It was like a dream...

Julie:
And I'm gonna be...just fine.

Maxx:
...a really bad dream.

Older kid:
My dad says he's a monster, a psycho.

Younger kid:
Well my Mom says that he's a middle class hero, an avenger bringing maximum justice; that's why they call him "The Maxx". I think he's a space alien. His whole planet was killed off by space pirates, and while he was fighting them he crashed on Earth.

Older kid:
Nah, I bet he's an artificial being created in a secret government experiment, with plastic muscles and steel bones.

Maxx:
Well, maybe. But maybe he's just a normal Joe, who got caught up in things, who's in out of his depth.

Younger kid:
But then how come he's so big then, and so tough?

Maxx:
Well, suppose he was just a guy with a crappy job and no future. One day he found the mask, and when he slid it on and it hit his brain like lightning. He woke up in a place that was sort of like Australia, and sort of like the beginning of time. And he was a hero there, with a costume and the strength of twenty men. But when he came back to this world, he was trapped in the mask, and his whole life was gone.

Older kid:
Well, I GUESS that could have happened.

Younger kid:
But then how did he get his claws then if he wasn't a secret government experiment?

Maxx:
He got them in that savage dream land. He thrust them into boiling lava, and when they came out they were changed, made invulnerable, stained and tempered by the sulfurous rock.

Younger kid:
Hmm. I like the alien story better. I bet he lives in a vast secret headquarters, with a gang of wild young assistants, and a fighting Chinese cook, and a deadly training room inside-

Older kid:
Nah, you know that's not real enough. All real heroes are tormented loners. He lives in the sewers and eats stolen linguini.

Younger kid:
And every night he rises from his own grave to fight crime with his Maxx-wing, Maxx-cycle and Maxx-belt.

Maxx:
Sounds good, but I think he's just another homeless bum, living in dumpsters and drifting from shelter to shelter. He can't hold down a job and he's got no real friends. He can't even tell sometimes how much of the life he lives is real and how much is the dream land. He tries to do good, but mostly her breaks things and screws up.

Younger kid:
Nah, that's too much of a downer, mister. I think he's got an orb of fear, and he lives in the fortress of shadows that--. Oh, jeez. Look again. It's Jerry the crackhead.

Jerry:
Hey, kids. Got anything for old Jer?

Older kid:
Uh, no. We don't have any money today Jerry. Honest.

Younger kid:
No! We're not going to give into you anymore! The Maxx wouldn't! I'll count to three and then I'm gonna kick your butt!

Jerry:
Whatcha gonna do, kid? Talk me to death?

Younger kid:
One.

Jerry:
Maybe I've got a knife. (coughs) Maybe I know where you sleep at night.

Younger kid:
Two.

Jerry:
I can kill you. I can, like, kill your folks...

(Jerry sees Maxx stand up behind them)

Younger kid:
Three!

Jerry:
I can...I-I...uh...

(Maxx removes his glove, revealing his claw, to which Jerry runs away yelling)

Older kid:
We did it!

Younger kid:
We scared him off! Wooh!

Mother:
Kids, supper! Get in here and wash your hands, you two! And stop hanging around that old bum!

Younger kid (OS):
Aw, mom. We were just talking. What's cooking?

(Maxx hides his claw in his glove as the kids head inside their home)

Mother (OS):
Sloppy Joes and peanut butter shakes, how's that sound?

Younger kid (OS):
Excellent!

Mother (OS):
Good, and then I want you guys to do your homework.

Younger kid (OS):
Aw, mom, do we have to?

Mother (OS):
Yes. You don't want to end up old and alone on a curb somewhere, now do you?

(Maxx is seen standing alone in his disguise on the street as the wind blows)

[Maxx and Gone's final encounter]

Maxx:
Gone?

Gone:
That's Mr. Gone to you, Claw Boy. Actually, you're just the little bundle of negative reinforcement I wanted to talk to. I've got to tidy up my karma on this plane before I go.

Maxx:
Julie told me she's leaving.

Gone:
Really? I didn't that girl would ever read ahead in the prospectus. Did she also tell you every time I tried to inform her about her past she cut my head off?

Maxx:
But she's leaving.

Gone:
Oh, grow up! She has to, pucky! Just like I have to get things straightened out with Sara before I can go on. Oh, and by the way, Maxx, I do have some good news for you. You're not an animal after all. At least, not on this side, anyway. You see, Maxx, you just got in the way when her spirit ani-

Maxx:
But-

Gone:
I'm losing you, aren't I? In reality, Maxx, you're just some poor shmuck who's in the wrong place-

Maxx:
But she's leaving.

Gone:
*sighs* Let me try this again. She's leaving because she has to. Otherwise we'll all be trapped in here forever. Don't you want to know what your Outback is when she's not around? After all, it's not as if she needs you now-

[Maxx drops Gone's head and crushes the glass cylinder it's superimposed on]

Gone:
VERY mature.

Dave:
Dr. Pender? You in here?

Pender:
Yeah, Dave. Just thought I'd work a little late tonight.

Dave:
Kinda dark to be grading papers, isn't it?

Pender:
Oh...right. Go ahead and turn on the light. I was just thinking.

Dave:
'Bout what?

Pender:
About life. I never planned to teach at a community college--I just wound up doing it. Just makes ya think. Don't you ever regret the road your life has taken?

Dave:
I didn't plan on being a janitor, either, but I don't beat myself up about it. Hey doc, what'd you always want to be when you were a kid?

Pender:
Oh, I dunno. Maybe something exotic--a magician. Maybe an Indian. I always hated cowboys.

Dave:
Me too. Maybe you already are a magician, but you just don't know it. Heh heh. Listen, doc, when I was a little boy, and the girl nest door moved away, I thought my whole life had ended.

Pender:
And now that you're older, you see otherwise.

Dave:
I've told you this already, huh?

Pender:
Yeah, but tell me again...

Dave:
Hey, where'd that snow globe on your desk come from?

Pender:
I don't know. It wasn't there a minute ago...

#1: Maxx: The skinny one’s Teego. The Big one’s fridge. They beat people up, take their money, kill them sometimes. The cab driver gets a third. One woman, they beat her head so hard against the sidewalk, they crack the concrete. Another got away by running three blocks on a broken foot. Sometimes that’s the only way people get saved, suicidal bravery. Sometimes it’s luck that saves them. Sometimes it’s fate. Yeah, usually it’s fate… But, sometimes, it’s me.

#1:
Maxx: Oh God. It’s started again. The pounding. God I wish I was a drunk. At least that would explain this!

#1: Maxx: Starting to fade…it’s starting to come back to me now…back to Australia. Not the Australia they teach you about…Melbourne, Sydney, The Outback… No the real Australia. The smoking caves. The gods who eat mountains, the flying dragons, the rivers of gold, the Leopard Queen. Taunting me…almost an enemy…beautiful and feral as the great beasts she runs with, still she inspires me… For her I can be… …A hero!

#1:
Julie: Hi, Ocono. You gotta package here for me?

#1:
Maxx: The woman I saved yesterday was raped and mutilated, it said so on the news. I have to do something about that.

#1:
Mr. Gone: Amazing…You really don’t remember any of it! Not the girl or the !sz or the bloodworms or me.

#2:
Mr. Gone: Give it up Br’er Lappin! You…gasp… know Julie Winters is the one I want! She’s….wheezz the strong one…The one who pulls …hant your strings!

#2:
Mr. Gone: You really don’t remember anything important, do you Br’er lappin? I’m Mr. Gone!...A student of the mystic arts. Unfortunately an untalented student, or I wouldn’t have to keep shooting fools like you.

#2: Maxx: Blacking out…lost too much blood…pain…have to find…Julia… It feels good to run and leap again! To feel the soft loam under my heels! To know tat I am king in this savage place…but even a king must have his jungle queen! If I can just find her, then everything will be all right.

#2:
Mr. Gone: I ran into your friend Maxx today, Julie. He still hasn’t got a clue that you’re the key to all this. He thinks he’s some kind of superhero on this world. Can you ‘’’imagine?’’’’ I killed him of course. Shot him and locked him in a dumpster with a handful of the dark Ises. They turn meat-eaters when you bring them over. Did you know that? Ahh….life is good! This Ises are pretty interesting…Did you know that to humans they appear as whatever you dress them as?

#2:
Julie: Oh, Gawwwd! Let me guess! I’m supposed to be dressed as every cheer leader, prom queen and circus acrobat who ever turned you down for a date! And as I beg and whimper you finally achieve some sort of tawdry sexual revenge?

#2:
Julie: If all this baroque posturing is supposed to be threatening me, it’s pretty lamo-o. I mean, you can kill me sure…so can every crackhead on my block…nut you sure aren’t scaring me me!

#2:
Maxx: Dead. I awoke from the daydream of the wild place and teeth were at my throat! So I awoke and slew. But Julie is still kidnapped and the Jungle Queen is insane! I didn’t protect either of them. I failed. I wish it was time for Cheers but it’s not. It’s time for vengeance!

#3:
Maxx: The pounding in my head is like an ice pick, but I can’t stop! One minute I saw Julie Winters in my mind, dressed as the Leopard Queen and insane…The next I was back here, still chasing this little monster! The gawkers glare at me. Since to them the Isz looks like a 96 year old grand mother…But I know it is a tool of the evil sorcerer, Mr. Gone, who is a serial rapist and murderer! He will destroy the city unless I stop him! Of course, maybe they are all staring at me cause I think I just said that all of that out loud, oops .

#3:
Maxx: I hate to wake up to someone else’s nightmare. I especially hate waking up in someone else’s bathroom. And what’s worse, that bathroom has leaky pipes! I don’t know why I know this is a bathroom. I am king of the wildplaces. I shouldn’t know anything, about pipes and gashets and traps and valves…but I do. Just like I know that dream was not my dream! It belonged to the Leopard Queen, in some way I can’t explain.

#3:
Mr. Gone: You see, I know about the dream… about the doll…about everything! I know who you really are…Who you were before you found the mask lying in the mud, and what you are now, behind the mask, though you’ve been too cowardly to look!

#3:
Maxx (thinking): Gone told me how three years ago a young architectural student was beaten and raped and left for dead.

The Maxx:
It's wet. Dark and wet. The kind of weather that penetrates. Makes your skin fell itchy and oily. Dirty, kind of, but real too. That's good. It's time for cheers, Sam and Diane, Norm Peterson, the coach...and when he died, Woody. I don't have a TV now, but that's okay. The shows in my mind are always better. The theatre crowd's just arriving.

The Maxx:
Pain lasts, kid. It's how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management. Pain...Julie runs from hers, mine follows me into nightmares, and you're wading through yours. Nobody says it was easy kid.

The Maxx:
To be first in the soil, which erupts in the coil, of trees veins and grasses all brought to a boil. Wait, it's different somehow, cause this land isn't mine, and my brain has been freed, I'm not thinking in... poetry stuff.

The Maxx:
I can remember now. Mr. Gone...he said if I could let Julie go, I could find out what my own Outback is. And I would be free. And so would she.

Mr. Gone:
Most of us inhabit at least two worlds: the real world, where we are at the mercy of circumstance; and the world within, the unconscious, a safe place we where can escape. The Maxx shifts between these worlds against his will. Here, homeless, he lives in a box in an alley. The only one who really cares for him is Julie Winters, a freelance social worker. But in Pangaea, the other world, he rules the Outback and is the protector of Julie, his Jungle Queen. There, he cares for her. But he always ends up back in the real world. And me, old Mr. Gone? [laughs] Only I can see that the secret that unites them could destroy them. I could be helpful... Ah, screw it! I think I'll have some fun with them first. [diabolical laughter]

Mr. Gone:
The others cry out for you, Julie Winters. Their screams of agony are the kisses I place along your neck.

Mr. Gone:
I'm Mr. Gone, a student of the mystic arts! Unfortunately, an untalented student, or else I wouldn't have to keep shooting fools like you.

Mr. Gone:
Now surrender, hopping boy, or this charming young gyppie is added to my score! (Maxx proceeds to impale the figure's head with his claw) ....You killed my hostage. You - killed my hostage! YOU KILLED MY HOSTAGE! (Gone shoots Maxx, to which he responds "Ouch" before collapsing) Never do that again. Brother, nothing's easy.

Mr. Gone:
(Gone's recap monologue) Are you in the mood for a story? Because I've got quite a good one to tell you. It's about a little lady named Julie Winters. Mind you, if she heard me call her that, she'd cut my head off. (laughs) But I'm getting ahead of myself; she doesn't do that...until later. The Maxx. Now, how can I describe that big purple lummox? Oh, (chuckles) I just did. He lives in a box in an alley, but he thinks he's a superhero. And believe me, this city NEEDS one. See, it's being terrorized by a serial murderer. Don't tell anyone, but the bad guy? C'est moi. It's me. Mr. Gone, at your service. I attack people, sometimes kill them, and then I call Julie up and tell her. Hey, it beats a day job. These charming little fellows are Isz. They do a lot of the dirty work for me. You have to learn to delegate. The fun thing about the Isz's is they can take on the appearance of other things, like little men in raincoats, or a car full of grannies. Oh, and while they're black here in this plane, in the Outback they're pure white. Oh, I didn't mention the Outback, Pangea? Now there's someplace you must visit! Maxx and Julie do. It's kind of like their - weekend place, if your weekend place were a blasted desert filled with savage monsters and you couldn't control when or how you got there. In the Outback, Julie is a Jungle Queen, and Maxx her all-powerful protector. Don't say I said so, but the Outback probably exists only in her imagination. Hmm, heavy. Anyway, Maxx goes along fighting bad guys and looking for me, while Julie continues her crusade to turn bad fashion choices into political statements, and me, I just keep on terrorizing the city. Until I finally get around to kidnapping Julie, and just as I'm about to destroy her, she frees herself with an Isz tooth and pretty much - beheads me. Well, that's okay, no bones broken, I'll adjust. You see, Julie hates it when I play with her mind, telling her things she'd rather not face, like that she was attacked and left for dead as a student, or things about her mother and her father, and a cute little- oops! Mustn't spoil the surprise. Do you think I LIKE torturing her, seeing her confused and in pain? Of course I do. But that's not why I keep bringing her to a place she doesn't want to go, to hear things she doesn't want to hear. It's because I made a promise, and we sadistic psychopaths pride ourselves on being true to our word. Which is why it's so infuriating when hopping boy keeps getting in my face, preventing from discharging my obligation. Well, no point in being a gloomy gus. Now, meet the apple of my eye, the light of my life: this is Sarah, and what a kid! She's a breath of fresh air, a spritzer with a twist, and in a cold, bleak world, you can always count on Sarah to provide a warm ray of sunshine. Well, you know, she's at that awkward stage. Besides, I suppose her home life could have been better. Her mother's a relic from the sixties, hoping to be reunited with her lost brain cells. Sarah's mom and Julie argue about things that we serial killers don't really consider very important. Then there are the kids at school. You know how cruel children can be. Now that I think about it, Sarah's not really having such a great year. That's why she probably carries her father's gun around. By the way, did I mention that Maxx likes to watch cartoons? Can you imagine any intelligent adult doing that? Yes, sometimes he even falls asleep in front of the television. Maxx's problem is that you have to keep him busy or his mind...wanders. I do what I can, send surprise enemies his way at every opportunity. I keep hoping that one of them will take him out of the picture, so I can get on with Julie's education. But no such luck. He shrinks, he grows. Julie too. She goes to strange places, and guess who's always forced to tag along. Anyway, I promised you a story, but the best part is yet to come. See, Julie has just seen Maxx without his mask. It's causing her to think. This could be very good for yours truly. I believe Julie is finally beginning to wonder about who Maxx really is, and why they are together, and whether she wouldn't be better off exchanging him for a support group and some hand-packed ice cream. On the other hand hand, when Julie thinks, she sometimes get's angry, and that can be very bad for yours truly. It really can be quite an inconvenience being omniscient. Anyway, here's one bright spot. Sarah's learned a lot about herself from staring at a stone statue, I mean, who wouldn't? And just for laughs, I've worked it so that a foul smell is coming from Julie's place. Hmm, I wonder what it could be? Alright, you've caught me. I know what it is, and you will too if you pay attention. (laughs maniacally) I love my work!

Mr. Gone:
That's how it ends, Doc. Not with a bang, or a whimper, but with a "thwack." Little Julie never did mention that incident, neither did her mother or father. Something in Julie shut off that night. In a way she's been eight years old ever since. Julie learned something from her mom that moment, something she would use years later when she was attacked and left for dead. The ability to suppress, to submerge, and to bury. Passed from mother to daughter. The pain of facing it versus the pain of keeping it down, like all that useless junk in Julie's house she just won't let go of. I guess you could say it's a no-win scenario. But actually you couldn't say any of that, could you, Doctor? You aren't as we say "all here". Though most of you is here, but then some of you is there, and some of you is over there. Well, you know what I mean. (alluding to his dismemberment) Au revoire, Doc. It's been swell.

Julie:
As we walk back home, my mind wanders across all the lonely, misguided people in this dark city. Lot's of other people could use my help, but I always come back to old Maxx. Jeez, the poor guy doesn't have a clue. Every time he gets into trouble, he goes into this "in another world I was protecting my Jungle Queen" crap. Can't blame the guy, though. If I was a purple homeless guy, I guess I'd reduce my social worker to some bikini-clad jungle bimbo too. At least in his dreams he's some kind of superhero. Boy this city's full of people who are experts at avoiding reality, and with good reason. I'm not sure any of us wants to know what goes on at 3am in some stink ridden ally. God know who doing god know what. Best not to think about it, just push it down and go on. Maxx thinks I'm an extremist, but come on! Guys are saying that "no" means "yes". And honestly, sometimes it does. But I don't think any guy who's pulled himself off a crying woman was confused for a second about what she wants. Maxx thinks I'm heartless, too. And maybe I am. But maybe I care too much. But I have my fortress, warm and dry, far from the twisted city below.

Julie:
Somebody once said that a liberal is a conservative that's never been mugged. A few years ago I would have laughed. But today, I'm not so sure.

Julie:
This doll is telling me things I don't want to hear and if it doesn't shut up in going brush it's head, I'm going to brush and brush until I brush off it's head.

Julie:
Cartoons are so pretentious.

Julie:
I can't believe you want to get involved in that censorship crap.

Sara:
They're all necro-nerds and Sand freaks. They think death is romantic. Death is hard and cold and ugly, not some cute chick.

Sara:
Did my saying that shock you? GOOD! Writers are supposed to shock people.

Sara:
No matter how low you are on the food chain, there's always somebody lower.

Sara:
I was sitting under the Jones Street underpass yesterday. That's because I want to be a writer and writers gotta have experiences, like underpasses.

Sara:
I was sitting under the Jones Street underpass yesterday. That's because I want to be a writer and writers gotta have experiences, like underpasses. There was an old bum there too. "Hi", I said, "My name's Sara". At first, he didn't say anything, but then he said his name was Maxx. Turned out, he was a superhero fighting this villain called Mr. Gone, but he was also this jungle guy fighting saber-tooth tigers and stuff in Australia. I didn't have to make any of that stuff up, even though I am going to be a writer. I especially like the part about Gone's little cow bathroom. You say this guy was seriously nuts? Well, duh! And then, right out of the blue, he said he knew my father.

Sara:
Life is pretty pathetic when even your own hallucinations lie to you.

Sara:
What a cruel world, letting something this profound be conveyed in words this trite!

The Jungle Queen:
I'm that part of you that escapes, Julie. I reflect what's deep inside, the image of strength and independence you felt before you were... violated. But as I absorb more misery and bitterness, I change. I fear what I am becoming, Julie. But now that you have seen this, the world can never be the same size again.