Lost Episode: Puppets

If you've been trying to piece together the old plot based on my last few entries, now's where you should give up. The season 3 plot was restructured several times (my next will cover all the different versions, and dropped sub-plots, without spoiling what remains of the current and final plot). Anyways, this is the last script that I have a full intact version of that not a single scene remains of in the season.

This one is called "Puppets", and it would have ignored the early-introduction of the villain (Doom would have not lost his powers, but Wesker would have one way or another.) Wesker would not have hired Strider or brought Nemesis in for training, so this version must be from one of the rewrites where those episodes were cut. Wolverine would have been captured by mercenaries (not SHIELD), and Deadpool and Taskmaster would not have been reintroduced. The Doom/X-23 date episode would have taken place, but I don't know what version (there were several). Lastly, C Viper would have been introduced before this episode, as an old frienemy of Wesker (this still happens in season 3, so I won't go into too many details, but she would have been working with the CIA to collect superhumans and trying to keep Wesker from getting himself in trouble.) Confusing, I know. Sorry about that.

This episode begins with Max and Doom on the couch playing UMvC3, and Doom spamming the foot dive for a victory. He tries to snap in a beer, and it takes him three tries to do it (his powers are dwindling in this version - because of the villain - but he doesn't know why). When he opens the beer, it explodes and makes a mess. Max tells him to go into the kitchen and get a normal beer, not another "crappy exploding gypsy beer". Just then, Wesker and X-23 appear from the garage, armed to the teeth, and leave.

Elsewhere, we see a B.O.W. trade going down between two groups in a warehouse. Some well-dressed thugs are selling a Licker to a street gang. The deal is interrupted by Wesker and X-23, who bust in and kill everybody. Wesker plants a bomb on the Licker (who's in a containment unit in stasis) and as they exit the whole place blows up.

Ain't no fucks given here.

Back at the garage bunker, X-23 asks Wesker if he really is trying to right his wrongs. She then remembers that Wesker had made a deal with her (in this version of the plot, Wesker had only got her to go on a date with Doom by promising he'd help her find Wolverine). Wesker gives her a thumb drive with some stolen data to help her track Wolverine down. She's not pleased, but Wesker figures they're even. She leaves, kinda pissed. Then, Wesker's computer chimes up "Perimeter breach, section three."

Across the street on a rooftop, a mercenary spies on Max and Doom through the window of the apartment. Wesker goes full Batman on the poor guy, roughs him up and pins him by the throat.

Wesker: "See anything you like? Who sent you?"

Mercenary: "If I tell you, do you promise not to kill me?"

Wesker: "No."

Taskmaster then steps out of the shadows (this would have been his reveal in this version), very much not-dead. Wesker knocks the merc out and faces Tasky. We cut away to see C Viper in a CIA control room, asking another agent where Taskmaster is. She then realizes he's out on an unauthorized assignment.

Back to Wesker and Taskmaster, we have a nice tense standoff:

Wesker: "I suppose I'm interrogating the wrong person then."

Taskmaster: "Yeah, how'd that go for you last time we met? What are you even doin', Wesker? Allyin' yourself with the losers, bustin' up bio-weapon trades, and for what? You on some kinda redemption quest? Think you can be a hero after everything you done? If you didn't have your head up yer ass, maybe we coulda used ya, y'know?"

Wesker: "You work against your own kind, Masters. When there are no more superhumans to collect, they'll turn on you as well."

Taskmaster: "Nah, you aint lookin' at the big picture. See, I work for a higher power. This is just the beginnin'. The balance of the world's changin' and you're completely oblivious to it."

I guess I was really into lengthy dialogue when writing this season.

Wesker: "Oblivious is a long word for a mercenary."

Taskmaster: "Funny. Tell ya what, I'll leave ya alive so you can keep crackin' jokes, as long as you quit gettin' between me and my target."

Wesker: "That's never going to happen."

Taskmaster: "I was hopin' you'd say that."

Taskmaster and Wesker stand off Old West style, each ready to draw a firearm. C Viper cuts in through Taskmaster's earpiece. She reminds Tasky he's not on assignment, and orders him to stand down. Taskmaster complains, but she doesn't give him any edge. Tasky is of course really working for our villain, but has to keep up appearances, so he complies. He picks up the unconscious merc and makes his exit. Wesker promises him the next time they meet will be the last, one way or the other. Once Tasky leaves, Wesker drops his facade and is visibly shaken. Even with his powers, Taskmaster bested him once before.

The episode ends with Wesker standing on the roof, watching Doom and Max laugh it up in the house, completely oblivious to the danger they were just in.

This is an episode I could have probably salvaged parts from, but it would have been rather difficult because of the locations needed. Plus, with Max wanting the sub-plots removed, there wouldn't have been much context for the whole standoff with the mercenaries, etc.

Next time, I'll talk about the changing plot line of season 3. I've also got notes about things cut out from RETRO ASSIST ME!, and some about the Injustice ASSIST ME! series that never happened, and if I can land a copy, a Street Fighter X Tekken script from Simmons that never saw the light of day. That's about it as far as my notes go, but I'm also thinking about providing some insight as to the characters I play. So we'll see.