Deep Legend by DeYtH Banger (reading rainbow books TXT) 📖

of the
stairs.

EVEY
V! V!

Running to him, she falls to his side. His clothes are slick
with blood.

EVEY
Oh god, what happened?

V
Evey...

EVEY
You need a doctor.

V
It's too late for that...

EVEY
No, don't say that!

V
Evey, listen to me. I've not long
and there are things that must be
said.

His voice strains beneath the mask.

V
I have done that which I came to
do. Now, it is time for me to rest
and with me the past will, at last,
find peace.

Trembling, Evey holds him.

V
But the world, the world is not
saved... Do not think that, when
the fires die and the smoke clears,
there is no miracle... there is
only a path... upon which they must
learn to rule themselves.

EVEY
Yes, they need you, V.

V
Not me, Evey, not me. I told you I
am the villain. The destroyer...
But yes, they will need help...

He reaches up and wipes a tear from her cheek.

V
I kept my promise to you, Evey...
Now you must promise me.

EVEY
What?

V
Promise me... you will discover the
face under this mask... but you
will never look beneath it.

EVEY
I don't understand.

V
Promise me. Please...

EVEY
I promise.

V
Sweet Eve. Wherever I shall go, I
shall always love you.

EVEY
V, you are not going anywhere!

V
Midnight... Midnight. Eve... Make
them remember...

EVEY
You're not going to die, V!

V
Let me be there, Evey, when it
begins... Please, let me hear the
music, one last time... my music...

EVEY
I won't let you die!

V
I know you won't... I know...

EVEY
V!

V
My love... Ave Atque vale...

Holding him as tight as she can, she feels his life drain
away, slipping through her arms in the way the last grains of
sand pour through the neck of the hourglass.

She buries her face beside his and weeps.

EXT. CITY STREET

An enormous crowd has begun to gather in the streets
surrounding the New Government Building. With the crowd, a
restlessness swells against each barricade erected by the
military.

A sergeant stands on an armored car, speaking through a
megaphone.

SERGEANT
Return to your homes! There is
nothing to see! The terrorist is
dead!

RABBLE ROUSER 1
He ain't dead!

RABBLE ROUSER 2
He'll be here, just like he said!

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

Evey huddles against the stair railing, her face tear
stained, staring at the lifeless body of V.

EVEY (V.O.)
I remember... I remember staring at
the mask, at that smile.

She touches the mask, her fingers finding its edge.

EVEY (V.O.)
Part of me couldn't believe he was
dead and maybe that was why. The
smile was still the same.
It made me want to tear it off so I
could see the face, so I could see
that he was dead.

Her fingers stop.

EVEY (V.O.)
But I had promised.

V (V.O.)
You will discover the face under
this mask but you will never look
beneath it.

EVEY (V.O.)
I began to try to imagine his face.
Of course, I had long pictured my
father behind that smile but I knew
in my heart that V was not my
father.

Evey stares into the eyes, the dark, empty eyes.

EVEY (V.O.)
Yet every time I pictured another
face, any face, something was lost,
something important was somehow
diminished. V was more than a
face. V was V.

Her expression changes.

EVEY (V.O.)
And then, quite suddenly, quite
naturally, I realized whose face
must be beneath that mask. It was
the only face that mattered.

EVEY
I won't let you die.

V (V.O.)
I know you won't... I know.

A small smile creeps across her face.

EXT. CITY STREET

Midnight approaches and the crowd feels it. Spilling
everywhere, they fill the streets like a flood.

INT. TRAIN CAR

Evey sets a final violet carson on the chest of V. He is
lying on a bed made of gelignite, covered in roses.

Touching his mask, she bends over him.

EVEY
Goodbye, my love.

Tenderly, she presses her lips to the smile, her eyes
closing, her final tears blinking free.

She backs away and V smiles, his lips wet with her kiss, his
cheek wet with her tears.

EVEY (V.O.)
"Ave Atque vale."

On the train platform, Evey reaches through the window and
starts the train.

EVEY (V.O.)
I looked it up the next morning.

The wheels churn as the train lurches forward.

EVEY (V.O.)
"Hail and farewell."

V (V.O.)
"Make them remember..."

She watches the train disappear into the tunnel.

EVEY
They will, my love. They will.

EXT. CITY STREET

The crowd surges against a barricade when a voice cries out
across the city echoing through the megaphone on every
corner.

EVEY (V.O.)
"Remember, remember, the fifth of
November!"

High above the gathered mass, a masked figure steps out onto
a roof parapet.

The crowd explodes.

INT. SUBWAY

The train barrels along, screaming against its rusted rails.

EXT. ROOFTOP

Dressed as V, Evey stands on the roof's edge, speaking into a
microphone.

EVEY
I have come here tonight to keep a
promise. A promise that is over
four hundred years old. Tonight I
am here to give you your freedom!

Again, the crowd bursts into a frenzy.

EVEY
Since mankind's dawn a handful of
oppressors have accepted the
responsibility over our lives,
responsibility that we should have
accepted ourselves. By doing so,
they took our power. By doing
nothing, we gave it away.

The voice booms over the mesmerized crowd.

EVEY
Tonight, our world will change.
Our leaders will be gone and we
must choose what comes next. A
return to the chains of others or
lives of our own. A world of the
past or one of the future.

She feels the sea of humanity beneath her, almost channeling
their energy.

EVEY
Let us choose carefully, London,
and when we do, let us mark well
and remember, remember this fifth
of November!

The crowd screams as one and their scream becomes --

INT. SUBWAY

The train hurling like a bullet through a gun barrel. Ahead
the tracks end, buried beneath the rubble of the collapsed
tunnel.

INT. TRAIN CAR

Inside the rattling train, V lays in perfect repose.

V (V.O.)
Let me be there, Evey, when it
begins...

EXT. ROOFTOPS

Hidden and alone, Evey pulls the mask from her face.

V (V.O.)
Please let me hear the music... one
last time... my music.

Almost unconsciously, Evey raises her hand and coaxes the
first soft notes as he had once done.

V (V.O.)
At first, you have to listen
carefully.

The violins of the 1812 overture steadily rise.

V (V.O.)
Ah, yes. There it is. Beautiful,
is it not?

Evey smiles, her hand still gently conducting.

EVEY
Yes, my love. Yes it is.

INT. SUBWAY

With the clash of cymbals, the train crashes into the wall of
rubble.

EXT. NEW GOVERNMENT BUILDING

The entire building opens like a time-lapsed rose blooming
with brilliant orange petals of flame.

EXT. CITY STREET

The crowd is awash in the baptismal glow of erupting flame.

EXT. ROOFTOP

Evey watches the explosion, a star-burst of flaming debris
searing against the night sky like fireworks.

EXT. CITY STREET

The masses burst through the barricades with a euphoric
frenzy.

EXT. ROOFTOP

The explosion begins to slowly die.

EVEY (V.O.)
I know that there is only one way
to repay him for what he did.

She looks down at the mask.

EVEY (V.O.)
And I know that that way is going
to take a lot of hard work.

She smiles.

EVEY (V.O.)
I know this like I know the sun
will rise tomorrow and beneath that
new sun, our work will begin.

The fire fades and Evey turns, cradling the mask, and walks
away.

FADE OUT.

Imprint

Publication Date: 06-27-2017

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
To My Dear Father (Who nowadays is Dead)