(In Logan's apartment, he is sitting at the computer while Asha looks over his shoulder at the screen.)

ASHA: So what's the deal on this hit man?

LOGAN: He's an independent contractor. Rumor is he got into town last night.

ASHA: This the same guy they brought in to do the Rivera hit last year?

LOGAN: Yeah. It's-- (He accidentally knocks her book off the desk.) Sorry.

(Asha bends down to pick it up. Logan sees Max standing behind them, across the room.)

LOGAN: Hey, Max. Didn't hear you come in.

MAX: How's it going?

ASHA: Hey.

MAX: Just came by to cadge some coffee.

LOGAN: Ah, sorry. The market's been out for a week, which is ironic, considering Seattle was the coffee capital of North America back in the day.

MAX: Sounds like you guys got a situation. Who the bad guys looking to whack this time?

LOGAN: Not sure yet. But you can bet it's one of the good guys.

MAX: What do you need me to do?

LOGAN: Ah, don't worry about it. We got it covered.

MAX: Oh.

ASHA: Me and the S1W are gonna do some recon--narrow the list of potential targets.

LOGAN: Yeah, I didn't want you to worry about it. I know you got your plate full these days.

MAX: Yeah. Well, good luck. I gotta jet. What are you doing later on? There's a party at Crash. It's Halloween.

LOGAN: Ah...you know, we'll probably be working on this all night.

MAX: Okay. Later.

(At Jam Pony)

ORIGINAL CINDY: So Blondie was there at eight A.M.

MAX: Gotta get up pretty early to save the world.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Mm-hmm.

MAX: Don't even go there. You should see them together. They're both so into their hero stuff.

(Normal is behind his desk with signs posted nearby that say "NO HALLOWEEN COSTUMES DURING BUSINESS HOURS.")

NORMAL: Hot run. (No one pays attention.) Hello? People? HELLO? (He steps out from behind his desk. Many of the employees are costumed and most are ignoring him. One employee is dressed as Normal.) Great. I'm talking to myself.

(Sketchy rides in dressed as Dracula and Normal attempts to hand him a package.)

NORMAL: 237 Magnolia. Take off that getup. You look like a weirdo.

SKETCHY: For your information, I am the shape of things to come. Demons, mutants, monsters, creatures out of this world walking among us. (Max overhears him from across the room and turns to look.) Says so right here.

(He hands Normal a tabloid whose cover story is TRANSGENICS: WHAT DO THEY WANT FROM US? The headline is accompanied by a pencil drawing of a wild, furry, angry man with fangs.)

NORMAL: What is this folderol?

SKETCHY: It's alternative press following up on the Eyes Only story about the escapees from Manticore. Everything that the government doesn't want you to know.

NORMAL: You have an ass where your head should be. Now bip bip bip.

SKETCHY: It's three o'clock, man.

NORMAL (thumbing through the tabloid): Yeah, that's the time. D'you wanna give me the weather?

ORIGINAL CINDY: It's Halloween. The whole town's shuttin' down early.

NORMAL: Just another business day as far as I'm concerned.

ORIGINAL CINDY: I'm not hearin' that. Why you gotta be so salty?

NORMAL: You can whine all you like in that illiterate dialect of yours, but we're not closing early! Capisce?

MAX (smiling): Normal, when it comes to a test of wills, you're gonna win, hands down.

ORIGINAL CINDY: 'Cause you the man.

MAX: But at what price? I mean, you're gonna lose half a day tomorrow easy, just getting the toilet paper off the building.

(They stare him down for a minute, and then he sighs.)

NORMAL (calling to all the workers): All right, last run today will be at four o'clock. (They cheer.) But I want all of you in here extra early tomorrow. Losers.

(Max and Original Cindy laugh and turn to walk away. Rafer enters.)

RAFER: Max.

MAX (turning back around): Hey.

RAFER: How's it going?

MAX: Oh, you know. Just another day in a broken world.

RAFER: Yeah. There's a party going on tonight at Crash. I was wondering if you were gonna go.

MAX: Thinkin' on it.

RAFER: So maybe I'll catch you there.

MAX: Maybe. (Turns and walks away.)

(Later, Max and Original Cindy are waiting at a stoplight on their bikes.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: What'd old boy want?

MAX: To hang out.

ORIGINAL CINDY: And you said...?

MAX: Maybe.

ORIGINAL CINDY: "Maybe"? That is a sign of mental health.

(A homeless man walks up to them.)

MAN: Hey, I ever tell you ladies the one about the priest, the minister, and the rabbi?

(Original Cindy waves her hand in front of her nose to brush away his smell.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Ooh. Every day, Murray, every day.

MURRAY (chuckling): Heh, heh. Good one.

(He walks away. The light changes and they ride down the street.)

MAX: So what are you gonna go as tonight?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Either Snow-Ho and the Seven Little Pimps, or Rick James. I'm thinkin' Superfreak, but it depends on how much curl activator I can get.

MAX: Can we go by Joshua's? I got some groceries I gotta drop off.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Let's say hey to doggie-dog.

(In his house, Joshua is looking out the window at trick-or-treaters walking down the street. Someone knocks on his door. He sniffs the air, approaches the door, and slowly opens it. Three kids in costume are standing on his porch. As he emerges from the doorway, one of the trick-or-treaters screams.)

INTRODUCTION: They designed her to be the perfect soldier--a human weapon. Then she escaped. In a future not far from now, in a broken world, she is haunted by her past. She cannot run; she must fight to discover her destiny.

(The girl continues screaming. Joshua begins screaming right along with her. Max and Original Cindy arrive and run onto the porch.)

MAX: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

(They stop screaming.)

GIRL: Trick or treat. Did I scare you?

(Joshua still looks shaken. Original Cindy pats his hand.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Why they call it Halloween, boo.

GIRL: So, you got candy? 'Cause me and my crew here got a carton of eggs. (A girl behind her holds up said carton as proof.)

MAX: Here's five bucks. Beat it.

GIRL (to Joshua): Cool costume, mister. (She and her friends leave.)

MAX (smiling): You all right?

(Joshua smiles and shrugs it off, pretending he wasn't scared. They go inside.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Whoo. I used to live in a crib kinda like this, with a Dominican sister named Veronica. Ay, mami.

MAX: Joshua, we can't stay too long. We're going out tonight.

JOSHUA: Halloween. (Imitating the girl) "Cool costume, mister."

MAX: Huh?

JOSHUA (excited): Max and Joshua. Outside with up-there people.

MAX: Oh, no.

JOSHUA: Oh, yes.

MAX: Do you wanna end up in a cage?

JOSHUA: Lived in cage. Down-there cage. Basement.

MAX: No, I mean a real cage, like an animal in the zoo. And that's if they don't just kill you.

JOSHUA (pleading): Tonight up-here people look like Joshua. Tonight...safe.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Man's got a point. Halloween's the one night when he can get his swerve on.

JOSHUA (smiling): Get my swerve on. Tricks and treats.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Come on. What's the worst thing that could happen?

MAX (to Original Cindy): I know you think you're trying to help. Don't. (To Joshua) You gotta promise me you won't go out. You have to lay low. (Joshua looks disappointed.) Trust me. I'm looking out for you.

JOSHUA (sadly): Okay. Lay low. (He picks up a book and sits in an armchair.) Read Father's books. Little Women...woo-hoo.

(There only sadness in his voice and Max feels bad. She reaches into her bag and tosses him something.)

MAX: Good. I brought you some of those snack cakes you like.

(He catches them, but neither really smiles.)

(That night, Max is wearing a bathrobe and carrying hot water from the stove to the tub.)

MAX: I been thinking about a nice, hot bath all day.

ORIGINAL CINDY: And I been thinking about poor Joshua, all alone in his crib while the rest of the world is out having a par-tay.

MAX: What am I supposed to do? Let him tag along with me tonight? "Hey, gang, say hi to Joshua, my transgenic mutant friend."

ORIGINAL CINDY: You saw for yourself. Everyone's just gonna think it's a costume.

MAX: He's better off where he is. No one can ask him any questions or make any judgments.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Judgments about who...him or you?

(Max looks at her. Original Cindy has hit a nerve.)

MAX: Look, all I wanna be is a nice, normal girl...and have a nice, normal Halloween.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Whatever "normal" means.

(Max looks at her for another moment while putting her hair up in a clip, and then removes her robe and gets into the tub. She relaxes happily. Max stays in the tub a long time, falling asleep. Finally, Original Cindy reenters the bathroom, dressed as Rick James. She goes to the tub and nudges Max.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Wake up, boo.

MAX: I'm awake.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Your boy is here.

MAX: My boy?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Your date. Rafer.

MAX: Oh.

(Max gets out of the tub. A short time later, she finishes putting on her shoes in the bedroom and goes out to the living room. Rafer is waiting there, dressed normally.)

MAX: Hey.

RAFER: Hey. No costume?

MAX: I don't really do Halloween. What about you?

RAFER: I'm a, uh, genetically-engineered killing machine escaped from a government lab. (Max looks aghast. Rafer turns around and shows her a cardboard barcode he has stuck to his neck.) What, you don't read the tabloids?

MAX: Um...weren't we supposed to meet at Crash?

RAFER: Yeah. Um...this is kind of embarrassing, but...would you mind coming by my mom's place with me?

MAX: Your mom?

RAFER: She really wants to meet you. Is that a problem?

MAX: No. Not at all.

(At Rafer's mom's place)

RAFER'S MOM (dressed as a gypsy): Rafer. And this must be Max.

MAX: Nice to meet you.

(Max goes to shake her hand, but Rafer's mom cups Max's face with her hands instead.)

RAFER'S MOM: Oh, he's told me so much about you, and I said I must meet this special girl.

MAX: Oh, I'm not so special.

RAFER'S MOM: Oh, come. Let me tell your fortune.

MAX: I don't know. Um...

(She pulls Max by the hand to the table, on which rests a crystal ball.)

MAX: I can really see the family resemblance.

(Rafer's mom begins looking into the crystal ball and becomes very worried.)

RAFER'S MOM: Max is not your name.

MAX: You two have the same nose.

RAFER'S MOM: Your name is--

MAX: Guevara. Max Guevara.

RAFER'S MOM: No.

MAX: Says so right here on my sector pass.

RAFER'S MOM: You have no name. Only a number.

(Max begins looking worried herself. Rafer's mom gets more and more dramatic.)

RAFER'S MOM: I see secrets...dark secrets...wrapped in mystery...shrouded in illusion...You are not what you seem!

MAX: Guess you busted me on my push-up bra.

RAFER'S MOM: You are running from something. Running from your past.

MAX: I was gawky in high school.

RAFER'S MOM: But no matter where you run, there is danger. I see danger all around. (Breathing heavily) And then I see...I see...nothing. Except...a face!

MAX: Whose face? Is it a guy? (Rafer's mom shakes her head.) A girl, then. With blond hair, right?

RAFER'S MOM (nearing hysteria): It is neither man nor woman. It is the face of...death!

(She moans and Rafer goes over to her.)

RAFER: Mom, you okay? Let's get you some water, okay?

(He leads her out of the room as she continues moaning.)

MAX: Great first impression.

(She notices a noise at the window and pushes aside the curtain to reveal Joshua standing outside.)

MAX: I thought I told you to stay home.

JOSHUA (urgently): Max and Joshua outside.

(Joshua ducks away from the window. Max notices and whirls around to see Rafer has entered the room. She smiles and touches the curtains.)

MAX: You just don't see fabric like this anymore.

RAFER: My mom's all right. Sometimes she gets a little carried away, but she really likes you.

MAX: That's great.

RAFER'S MOM (from other room): Rafer...my son...

RAFER: Be right back.

(He leaves the room again and Max turns back to Joshua.)

JOSHUA: Max and Joshua gotta blaze.

MAX: Go home.

JOSHUA (pointing to something offscreen): Pretty whack.

MAX: If I go out there for one minute, will you go away?

JOSHUA: Lay low 'til you say so.

MAX: Okay.

(Max goes outside and they step into the street.)

MAX: How'd you find me?

JOSHUA: Original Cindy said (Imitating Original Cindy) "She's with hot boy."

MAX: What was so damn important it couldn't wait?

JOSHUA: Sally.

MAX: Sally? Sally who?

JOSHUA (pointing): Sally.

(A short distance away lies a man whose head is backwards. His body is face down and his head is face up.)

MAX: Is he dead?

(The man perks up and begins speaking.)

SALLY: Do I look like I'm dead? Do I sound like I'm dead? Criminy, I thought you said she was an X5.

JOSHUA (nodding): X5.

MAX: What happened?

SALLY: All you need to know, dollface, is I had an accident. Being a Manticore alum myself, I can't exactly beat feet to the emergency room, now, can I?

MAX: You're a nomlie.

SALLY: An anomaly? Hell, no. I'm exactly what they wanted. Designed with cartilage instead of bone. Good news is I don't fracture on the battlefield. Bad news...I get bent out of shape sometimes.

MAX: I guess.

SALLY: Well, don't just stand there gawking like a couple of chuckleheads. Do something.

MAX (to Joshua): Uh...I'll immobilze his upper body while you...rotate his head back into position.

(Max lifts up the man's shoulders and Joshua grasps his head.)

MAX: I'll move his shoulders this way; you move his head the other way.

SALLY: Put your back into it, dog-breath. I haven't got all night.

MAX: On three. One...two...three.

(Joshua starts to turn Sally's head. It comes off.)

SALLY: Now you've done it.

MAX: This can't be happening.

SALLY: What's the matter--you never seen a soldier whose parts are self-sustaining and regenerative?

JOSHUA: Starfish. Starfish in his cocktail.

SALLY: I can take a direct mortar hit and shake it off. (A firecracker goes off nearby.) Incoming!

(Max and Joshua duck as some boys toss some more firecrackers. Sally's body runs away. Joshua tosses Max the head and runs after the body.)

MAX: What the hell are you doing? Get your ass back here!

SALLY: What do you want me to do? Body's got a mind of its own. Rover doesn't have a prayer. I run like the wind, baby.

(Joshua runs back.)

JOSHUA: Body's gone. Very fast.

SALLY: Like I said.

MAX: Yeah, well, we gotta do something, and fast. I have enough problems without a headless transgenic on the loose!

RAFER: Max!

(Max tosses Joshua the head just as Rafer approaches. Joshua hides the head behind his back.)

RAFER: Where'd you disappear to?

MAX: Rafer. Say hi to my friend Joshua.

JOSHUA: Tricks and treats.

RAFER: Hey. Cool costume.

MAX: Rafer, I--I was wondering--maybe we could borrow your car? Run an errand?

RAFER: Sure. Yeah. I guess.

MAX: Cool. Meet you out front.

(Rafer walks away. Max and Joshua start to follow, with Joshua still holding Sally's head.)

SALLY: We're gonna need reinforcements. We're gonna have to call some people.

MAX: Who?

SALLY: Coupla transgenic colleagues of ours happen to be in town.

MAX: Sure that's a good idea?

SALLY: Just get me to a phone.

(Max gets into the passenger seat of Rafer's ambulance. He is already waiting in the driver's seat.)

RAFER: Hey. We set to go?

MAX: In a sec. They just--I mean...he just...needed to make a phone call. Joshua...needed to make a phone call. (Pretending to make conversation.) So...you're a paramedic.

RAFER: Yeah. Right.

MAX: Cool. You probably see some really gruesome stuff out there, right?

RAFER: Yeah, sometimes.

MAX: Torn-off limbs...guts hanging out...decapitations.

RAFER: Not a lot of those, thank God.

MAX: But you'd know what to do, right? I mean...if someone's head was off and...needed to be put back on...you could handle it.

RAFER: Once, uh, someone's head comes off, it pretty much stays off.

MAX: Right.

(At a pay phone, Joshua is dialing while holding Sally's head.)

JOSHUA: It's ringing.

SALLY (annoyed): Okay, Lassie, you align the receiver to my ear so I can communicate verbally with the person who's going to answer on the other end. (Joshua does so, but backwards.) Other way, moron.

(Joshua turns Sally's head around so the phone is at his ear the right way. A woman answers the phone. She is painting her toenails. Her eyes have vertical pupils like a cat's, and her voice and mannerisms are catlike as well.)

WOMAN: Hello?

SALLY: Hey, baby, it's me.

WOMAN: Me who?

SALLY: Come on, don't be like that. Sally.

WOMAN: Oh, you mean Sally, who stood me up for the third time straight last night? I'm not talking to him.

SALLY: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I will make it up to you later, kitten. Right now I'm in a situation, extreme in nature. Get my drift?

WOMAN: Let me guess. The business part of you's run off again.

SALLY: Matter of fact, yes. But I still got mad skills, sugar. (Audibly waggles his tongue.)

(She giggles, then catches herself and becomes serious.)

WOMAN: Don't even try and get on my good side.

SALLY: Fun and games aside, I gotta get the rest of me back, pronto. Hook me up with your lizard buddy. We gotta strategize.

WOMAN: Hold on.

(She hits a button for three-way calling and a phone rings in a house. A man with green, lizardlike skin, wearing desert fatigues and a football helmet, puts it on speakerphone. He talks while feeding bugs to a lizard in an aquarium.)

MAN: Speak.

WOMAN: Sally's on the line. His body's gone AWOL again, and we're putting together a search party.

MAN: Sorry. Me and Chad are going to a Halloween party.

SALLY: Chad? Who the hell is Chad?

MAN: My life partner. And watch your language.

WOMAN: We've been out of Manticore for three months and you've already got a life partner?

MAN: You never know when love will find you. Chad's been working on his costume all week. I can't let him down. (Eats some of the bugs himself.)

SALLY: You listen to me, frog-boy. I'm in a major situation and I need backup. You tell your life partner you've made other plans, and you get your slimy butt in gear. Capisce?

JOSHUA (into phone): Gotta blaze. (Hangs up.)

(A short time later, Rafer is driving while Joshua sits in the passenger seat. Max is sitting in the back and Sally's head is lying on a seat, under Max's leather jacket.)

RAFER: So where we going?

MAX: To meet some friends.

RAFER: Am I going the right way here?

(Joshua grabs the wheel suddenly and the ambulance turns onto another street.)

SALLY: Good thing I'm without my stomach currently. I'd be losing it right about now.

MAX: Quiet!

RAFER: Huh?

MAX: Quiet...the ambulance sure is quiet without the sirens going.

RAFER: So Joshua, um...you're, what, a Wookiee? A Planet of the Apes guy?

JOSHUA: Uh-uh. Special. First.

RAFER: First what?

MAX: First prize. He...won first prize for his costume...at school. He's...an exchange student. You know, English as second language.

RAFER: Way to go. Where you from?

JOSHUA: Father.

MAX: Father...land.

RAFER: I always wanted to visit Germany.

SALLY: This is gonna be a long night.

(Max smacks him through the jacket.)

RAFER: So what kind of errand are we running, anyway, guys?

JOSHUA: Looking...(Sighs)...everywhere.

MAX: See, it's like a tradition in Germany this time of year to look for stuff.

RAFER: You mean like a scavenger hunt?

MAX: Exactly.

RAFER: Kind of like an Oktoberfest thing.

MAX: Exactly.

RAFER: I'm down with that.

JOSHUA: Fest thing. (Grabs the wheel.) Stop!

RAFER: Where?

(The ambulance screeches to a stop outside a café.)

JOSHUA: Here.

(Joshua gets out of the ambulance. Rafer starts to get out but ducks back in to talk to Max.)

RAFER: You coming?

MAX: Yeah. Um, my foot fell asleep. Be right in.

RAFER: All right.

(As soon as Rafer enters the café, Max uncovers Sally's head and talks to him angrily.)

SALLY: I'm suffocating under here.

MAX: While we're in there, not one peep out of you. (Stuffs his head in a bag.)

SALLY: Easy. Ow. Come on.

(Inside, Rafer and Joshua are sitting at a table with the catlike woman and the lizardlike man. The man salts his coffee and then licks the saltshaker. The woman laps milk from a saucer she's holding. Rafer gives them an odd look. Joshua sips his coffee through the stirrer.)

RAFER: You guys from Germany too?

(The man and woman exchange a look. Max enters with the bag containing Sally's head and sits down, setting the bag on the floor.)

MAX: Um...yeah. This is...Dieter and Katarina.

("Dieter" drinks coffee straight from the coffeepot. "Katarina" extends her hand.)

KATARINA: Call me Kat.

RAFER (shaking her hand, then pointing to Joshua): You know, I thought his costume was great, but you guys are tight. (Looks at Dieter.) What are you supposed to be? Some kind of desert-acclimated combat soldier?

DIETER: Wide receiver.

JOSHUA: Reinforcement.

MAX: He means they're...part of our..scavenger-hunt team. (To Dieter and Katarina) Right?

DIETER AND KATARINA: Right.

(Joshua and Dieter continue drinking their coffee. Katarina continues lapping her milk. Joshua belches and Katarina takes away Dieter's coffee.)

KATARINA: Easy on the caffeine.

(A waitress approaches.)

WAITRESS: Tonight's special is haggis.

MAX: Haggis? What--what's haggis?

WAITRESS: Heart, liver, lung of a sheep, minced with suet, onions, and oatmeal, boiled in the animal's stomach. Comes with French fries or coleslaw.

JOSHUA: Haggis. (Pounds the table in excitement and laughs.) Yum.

KATARINA: I'll have the haggis.

DIETER: I'll have the haggis.

RAFER: Just water.

MAX: Nothing for me, thanks.

WAITRESS (reviewing the orders): Haggis, haggis, haggis, one water, one nothing.

(Rafer looks over Katarina's shoulder, searching for something. She notices and points.)

KATARINA: The sandbox is over there.

(Rafer nods and walks away.)

MAX: Here's the deal. Under no circumstances do I want that guy to know he's rolling with a bunch of transgenics. Mess up and your mutant asses will be kicked.

JOSHUA (punching his palm): Yeah.

(Max bends down to talk to Sally, whose head is still in the bag on the floor.)

MAX: Do you have any idea where your body might be?

SALLY: Not a clue.

MAX: Think!

SALLY: Excuse me for being a little light-headed, no thanks to you. I think I'm supposed to meet somebody.

MAX: Who?

SALLY: A female. Yeah. Redhead. Great set of hooters, nice round bubble butt. Me and this hottie were supposed to hook up.

MAX: Where?

SALLY: Can't remember. No--wait. First I'm supposed to get something.

MAX: What?

SALLY: Package. I was waiting for a delivery, but it never showed, 'cause the messenger service closed early. So I was gonna go get it myself--after hours, if you know what I mean.

MAX: Where?

SALLY: Some place in Sector Nine.

MAX (annoyed): Can you be a little more specific?

SALLY: I can't remember the name. Jam Clydesdale? Clam Pony?

MAX: Jam Pony?

SALLY: Yeah. That's the one.

MAX: Oh, my God.

(Max closes up the bag and stands up.)

MAX: We gotta blaze.

(Max sees Normal across the room, wearing a Scottish outfit.)

JOSHUA: Blaze now? Before haggis?

(Normal sees Max. She sits back down and tries to hide her face behind the menu.)

NORMAL: Max, looks like you're hanging out with a higher class of people than usual.

(Max gives up, drops the menu, and covers her face with her hand. Normal approaches the table and introduces himself to Katarina.)

NORMAL: Reagan Ronald's the name.

KATARINA (offering her hand): Call me Kat.

NORMAL (kissing it): Ah. I'm charmed.

JOSHUA: Cool costume.

NORMAL: It's not a costume. It's for haggis night. Le spécialité de maison.

(He sneezes.)

NORMAL: I'm sorry. Allergic to cats. (To Katarina) Not that you're really a cat, of course, but...just goes to show you the power of the human mind. I see a cat, I sneeze.

(He sneezes again. Rafer returns to the table.)

SALLY: I can't breathe in here.

(Max kicks him.)

NORMAL: What was that?

MAX: Dieter can throw his voice. He's a scream at parties.

RAFER: Can you make that saltshaker talk, too?

SALLY: Moron..

(Max kicks him again.)

RAFER: Better keep practicing.

MAX: We're outta here.

RAFER: I thought you people wanted haggis.

MAX: They ran out. See ya.

NORMAL (to Katarina): Great to meet you.

(They leave. Normal sneezes again.)

(The ambulance pulls to a stop outside Jam Pony.)

MAX: We'll be right back.

RAFER: What are you looking for here?

MAX: Ming vase.

JOSHUA (at same time): Saxophone.

MAX: You know, one of those fourteenth-century, royal Chinese saxophones?

(Max, Joshua, and Katarina exit the ambulance.)

RAFER: Aren't you going with them?

DIETER: You remind me of my friend Chad.

(Inside Jam Pony)

MAX: How big's your package?

SALLY: Let's just say I don't get any complaints.

MAX: How'd you like me to reach in there and pluck out your eyes? Now tell me what I'm looking for.

SALLY: A package. That's all I know.

MAX (to the others): Everybody take a pile.

(She angrily drops the head to the floor.)

SALLY: Ow.

(They start sifting through piles of envelopes and packages, but are soon interrupted by Normal opening the door and leading some costumed men inside.)

NORMAL: This way, everyone.

KATARINA: It's Reagan Ronald!

(Max and the others hide under Normal's desk.)

NORMAL: Let's go. Hurry up. C'mon, let's go!

(The men all enter Jam Pony.)

NORMAL: Okay, gather round. (They all stand in front of him.) Clear the way. (Two of the men step aside so he can walk through.) I'm pleased to announce our greatest fears have been realized. Mutant transgenic monsters live among us. I surreptitiously photographed these fiends earlier on this evening.

(He passes around pictures of Joshua, Katarina, and Dieter.)

NORMAL: Unfortunately, my undercover activities forced me to relinquish my post here at Jam Pony. While I was out, a headless mutant broke in and stole a package. Surveillance video caught the entire thing. (Sneezes.) Is there a cat in here? Someone bring a cat in here?

(Normal sneezes again. One of the men speaks.)

MAN: Excuse me, sir, but the, uh, package that this mutant absconded with--do we know what was in it?

NORMAL: No, we do not. However, in this vermin's haste to flee, he dropped this piece of paper, which reads, "Be at the coordinates at ten P.M."

(Normal sneezes again and reaches behind his desk from the other side, looking for Kleenex.)

NORMAL: I hate cats. Vile creatures. They're always sleeping and licking themselves.

(Max holds up a box of Kleenex. Normal takes some and sneezes into it.)

NORMAL: Oh, lovely. (He puts the Kleenex away and passes out baseball bats.) As for this headless mutant, he will not succeed in his nefarious mission. While I coordinate operations here at HQ, you will scour the night, you will find him, and you'll beat him into a transgenic paste. But first--cake and ice cream upstairs! Yeah? An army marches on its stomach.

(Normal and his friends walk out.)

SALLY: What a loon.

MAX: What does that mean? "Meet at the coordinates at ten P.M."?

SALLY: Got me. I told you before--I was planning to hook up with that redhead.

MAX: Where are you meeting her? And talk fast, or the left eye goes first.

SALLY: Some bar. Munch? Crunch? Smash? Rash?

MAX: Crash?

SALLY: That's the one.

MAX: Oh, this just gets better and better.

(At Crash, they walk down the stairs and look around. Lots of people are in costume.)

RAFER: What are you looking for here? Waffle iron...ukelele...stuffed moose head...whatever?

MAX: It's not even like that. We're, uh, playing by German rules. Can you get me a beer?

RAFER: Yeah. One brewski, coming up.

(Rafer walks away. Max gives the others hand signals and they split up. Max sees Original Cindy sitting by herself and approaches.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Look at my girl, comin' correct and takin' Joshua for a night out on the town.

MAX: That is so not what's happening.

(She lets Original Cindy peek into the pillowcase.)

SALLY: Hey, brown sugar, what's cookin'?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Sweet baby Jesus! Tell me I did not see what I just saw.

(Max nods. She looks across the bar and thinks she sees Logan and Asha kissing.)

MAX: Hold this. I'll be right back.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Ugh!

(Max angrily approaches the couple.)

MAX: I thought you two were tracking down a hit man.

(The couple stops kissing to look at her, confused. Max sees it is not Logan and Asha after all--just a couple of people who vaguely resemble them.)

WOMAN: Excuse me?

MAX: Oh, sorry. Have you two seen a headless body around?

WOMAN: Back room.

(Joshua waves Max into the back room. Inside, she sees a woman snuggling up to Sally's body. Joshua growls at it. Sally's body grabs a gun and runs away. Rafer and Sketchy enter the room.)

RAFER: Hey, Max. (Sally's body runs past.) Cool costume, bud.

SKETCHY: Just been discussing the mutant infestation with your boy here.

MAX: Not right now, Sketch!

(Max and Joshua push past them and see Sally's body leaving Crash. Dieter is sitting at the bar, chugging a beer from the bottle, while Katarina and Original Cindy talk nearby.)

(At Jam Pony, Normal is eating a piece of cake at his desk. Sketchy's voice comes over Normal's watch and Normal speaks into it.)

SKETCHY: Alpha leader. Come in, alpha leader.

NORMAL: Roger. This is alpha leader. Over.

SKETCHY (still at Crash, speaking into his own watch): This isn't Roger. This is Sketchy.

NORMAL: "Roger" is an acknowledgement in the affirmative, not some person's name, moron. And how many times have I told you? Say "over." Over.

SKETCHY: Acknowledged. Over over.

NORMAL: No, not "over over." "Over." Over.

SKETCHY: Well, that's what I just said. "Over over."

NORMAL: Oh, God, never mind. What do you got for me? Over.

SKETCHY: The headless mutant trangenic male caucasian subject just left, armed with a sniper rifle. The others went after him. Over over.

NORMAL: Roger. Guess we know what was in that package he was after. All right, this is alpha leader clear.

SKETCHY: Now you forgot to say "over over." Over over.

NORMAL: Nitwit!

(Outside, Sally's body is riding a motorcycle while the ambulance chases it, siren blaring.)

RAFER: Why are we chasing this guy?

MAX: That rifle he's got--he stole it from us, and we need it to win.

JOSHUA: Other team.

RAFER: Isn't a rifle kind of a weird thing to get for a scavenger hunt?

MAX: German rules. Step on it!

(The ambulance sputters to a stop.)

MAX: What?

RAFER: We're out of gas.

(Sally's body gets away.)

MAX: Great. Just great.

(Later, Dieter and Joshua push the ambulance up to a gas station while Rafer steers. He steps out to get gas.)

RAFER: Thanks, guys.

(They climb in the back of the ambulance as Max angrily talks to Sally's head.)

MAX: Okay, start talking. Why's your body packin' heat?

SALLY: Seattle's a rough town. Maybe I wanted some personal protection.

MAX: A rifle as personal protection? Try again.

(Dieter plays around with the oxygen tank, using the mask on himself.)

SALLY: You'll never get it out of me.

(Max covers his mouth and nose. He grunts, unable to breathe. After a minute she lets go.)

SALLY: Fine. Fine. I'm in town on a mission, all right?

MAX: A mission?

SALLY: For Manticore. Sheesh.

MAX: Manticore's gone. Finito. Kaput.

KATRINA: No more missions? (Dieter wheezes loudly, grinning.) For any of us?

MAX: Your mission from now on is to lay low, which is why we can't have this idiot running around waving an assault rifle!

(Dieter wheezes again, still grinning.)

SALLY: Manticore or no, I take pride in my work. And Mr. Lemkin expects the job to be done.

MAX: Lemkin? Pierpont Lemkin?

SALLY: I can't believe I just said that.

MAX: You're the hit man Logan was talking about.

DIETER (laughing): Lemkin. Lumps in my Lemkin.

(Katarina snatches the oxygen mask away from him.)

KATARINA: Give me that! (To Sally) How can your body complete a mission without the rest of it tagging along?

SALLY: Muscle memory. I trained for months for this job.

MAX: Who's the target?

SALLY: No way. I've said too much already.

MAX: Now you listen to me--

(Rafer approaches the ambulance.)

RAFER: Okay, we're good to go.

(Max stuffs Sally's head back in the bag. Rafer gets in the driver's seat.)

MAX: There's been a change in plans. We're going to Logan's.

RAFER: You wanna go to your ex-boyfriend's house?

MAX: He's not my ex-boyfriend. I mean, we're not like that.

(At Logan's apartment, Max stands behind Logan while he sits at his computer. The others are playing charades in the living room. Asha is acting something out, Dieter is playing in Logan's wheelchair, and Joshua and Katarina are guessing.)

JOSHUA: My Girl.

KATARINA: Breakfast at Tiffany's.

JOSHUA: Pretty Woman.

(Joshua gets an idea and gasps.)

JOSHUA: Little Women.

(Asha touches her nose. Joshua and Katarina cheer.)

JOSHUA: I read that. (Looking a little sad) Beth dies.

(Katarina gives him a hug.)

MAX: So I'm thinking my head is your hit man.

LOGAN: Could be. We still need to figure out who the intended victim is.

SALLY: Good luck.

MAX: Zip it!

(Now Rafer is acting something out.)

KATARINA: Tokyo Decadence.

JOSHUA: Idle Hands.

ASHA: Born Free. Born Free.

RAFER: No.

KATARINA: Faster, Pussycat! Kill, Kill, Kill!

(Joshua gives her a look. Shortly afterwards, he takes his turn.)

JOSHUA: Look at me. Look at Joshua!

KATARINA: Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

ASHA: The Voyage Home.

LOGAN: Bingo.

MAX: You found something?

LOGAN: No, I got bingo. (His computer screen shows a winning bingo game.)

MAX: Logan, how is this going to help us find the target?

(Logan's phone rings and he answers it.)

LOGAN (into phone): Yeah...Mm-hmm...Good work. Thanks. (Hangs up.) That was my informant. According to him, the target is either a priest, a minister, or a rabbi.

MAX: Why do I feel like I've heard this joke before?

LOGAN: It's not a joke, Max. A man's life is at stake. Father McCallister, Reverend Beckwith, and Rabbi Stutz are outspoken religious leaders with a lot of clout in the community. Any one of them could have tangled with Lemkin and bought themselves this hit.

MAX: You can't narrow it down any more than that?

LOGAN: Not unless that head starts talking.

(Max carries Sally's head into Logan's bathroom and closes the door behind her.)

MAX: Let me break it down for you, Sally. You're gonna tell me what you know, or you're in a world of hurt.

SALLY: I can take anything you dish out.

MAX: Yeah? You ever had a swirlie?

(Max lifts the toilet seat and holds Sally's face in the water as she flushes. After a couple of minutes she lifts him out to look at her.)

MAX: You ready to talk, Sally? Huh?

(He smirks and squirts water at her through his teeth. She coughs and angrily gives him another swirlie. Rafer walks in.)

RAFER: Max? What are you doing?

(She straightens up and faces Rafer, Sally's head still in her hands. Rafer looks shocked. Sally sputters, thoroughly soaked.)

SALLY: All right, all right! I'll tell ya. It's the priest--Father McCallister.

RAFER: That's a--

MAX (speaking very quickly): Battery-operated, voice-activated, fully articulated animatronic head. Realistic, isn't it?

RAFER: Yeah.

(Rafer pokes at Sally's face. Sally bites his finger.)

RAFER: Ahh!

MAX: There's a perfectly simple explanation for this.

(Rafer stares at Sally's head in fear and shock.)

SALLY: Boo!

(Rafer runs out of the bathroom.)

MAX (to Sally): I've had enough of you!

(She sets Sally's head face down in the sink and stalks out of the room. Rafer enters the living room, panting.)

RAFER: Head...talking...no body...

LOGAN: It's okay, man. We're all friends here.

(Rafer looks at Dieter, Joshua, and Katarina.)

RAFER: Wait a minute. You're not really German exchange students on a scavenger hunt. You're monsters!

(Max comes into the room.)

MAX: Rafer, I had a real nice time. Call me.

(She knocks him unconscious.)

MAX: All right, team, we're moving out. (To Logan) Can you keep Rafer entertained?

LOGAN: No problem.

MAX: Let's go. Come on, kids.

(Joshua, Max--carrying Sally's head in the bag--Dieter, and Katarina walk in slow motion through an auditorium hallway. Joshua tosses his hair back. Suddenly they walk at normal speed again.)

MAX: Here's the deal. Logan says Father McCallister's receiving a humanitarian award on Sunday night.

JOSHUA: Father?

MAX: Different Father. Stay with me here. Tonight they're doing a run-through. Not a lot of security; perfect opportunity for a hit. We need to fan out and search the place top to bottom. Joshua, you take the basement.

JOSHUA (rolling his eyes): Joshua in basement. Always the plan.

MAX: Fine, take the roof. (To Dieter) You take the basement. (To Katarina) You handle backstage. I'll do the catwalks.

KATARINA: I think I might be better suited to handle the catwalks.

MAX: How 'bout you do what I say and we don't have a problem?

JOSHUA (to Dieter): Catfight.

MAX: Let's get moving.

(They split up. Max sets the bag down. She sees something moving on the catwalks. She uses a stage rope to rise to the catwalks and arrives to find herself staring down the barrel of Sally's body's gun.)

MAX: Uh-oh.

(The body fires and Max ducks. She rises, kicks the gun from the body's hands, and begins fighting it. Sally's head works the bag down and spits out a gag. Max and Sally's body continue fighting. The body throws Max against a wall, grabs its gun, and runs away. Father McCallister enters with a group of people and walks past Sally's head.)

McCallister: So I walk over here to the podium, where I am to accept my award- -well-deserved, I might add--and I wait 'til the applause dies down, and I give my acceptance speech, and I promise you, there won't be a dry eye in the house.

(Sally's body points the gun at Father McCallister.)

SALLY (muttering to his body): Come on, come on, what are you waiting for? (Calling to Father McCallister) Yo! Father McCallister, over here!

McCALLISTER (following Sally's voice): Who--who's that calling my name?

SALLY: Uh...a great admirer of yours. How 'bout an autograph, Your Eminence?

(Sally's body begins to pull the trigger. Max swings over to the body on a rope and kicks it. She lands on the catwalk and they begin fighting again. Dieter, Katarina, and Joshua run, grab Father McCallister, and push him out of range.)

McCALLISTER: Let me go!

SALLY (muttering to his body): Kick her ass!

(Max kicks his body in the groin. He groans. Max kicks his body over the edge of the catwalk and it lands on the floor below.)

(A short time later, Max talks to Father McCallister while Dieter and Catarina put Sally's head back on his body.)

McCALLISTER: So this was some kind of a--a drunken Halloween fraternity prank?

MAX: Apparently so, Your Worship. That hooligan was intending to egg you as part of a pagan initiation ritual.

McCALLISTER: Oh, thank you, my children, for putting a stop to this heathen plan.

(Logan walks in with Asha.)

LOGAN: Don't thank her, Your Godliness.

ASHA: Thank us. We're the ones that saved you.

MAX: Now just hold the phone.

(Logan dramatically removes his glasses.)

LOGAN: I'm Eyes Only.

ASHA: I'm Supreme Commandant of S1W.

McCALLISTER: Saints preserve us.

LOGAN (putting his arm around Asha): When you have a moment, Your Cleanliness, would you marry us?

McCALLISTER: It would be a privilege, my son.

(Max and Asha smile at each other. Max rolls her eyes. Normal and Sketchy run in, followed by police.)

NORMAL: There they are, constables! Do your duty!

(Father McCallister looks at them. Logan puts his glasses back on.)

SKETCHY: Pardon the interruption, Your Significance, but these people are monsters. Max, get away.

(A cop handcuffs Joshua.)

JOSHUA: Max...

MAX: No--he wasn't hurting anybody!

COP: And what do you know about it? Are you one of them?

(Max looks around, unsure how to answer. Everybody looks at her.)

RAFER: Well, answer him, Max.

MAX (quietly): No. I'm not one of them.

COP: Well, then, move along and mind your own business.

JOSHUA: Max...

(The police take Joshua, Dieter, Katarina, and Sally away. The camera focuses on Max's face as her voiceover begins. When the camera pulls back, Max is sitting on top of the Space Needle.)

MAX: All I wanted was a normal night out. But I guess for a girl like me, normal is just too much to ask. And the thing of it is--

ORIGINAL CINDY'S VOICE: Boo.

(Original Cindy walks out onto the Space Needle.)

MAX: What are you doing here?

ORIGINAL CINDY: Checking in on you. (Sits next to Max.) Poor Joshua's gonna spend the rest of his life in a cage.

MAX: I know, and it's all my fault.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Got that right.

(Max flashes back to earlier that day in Joshua's house.)

JOSHUA (in flashback): Max and Joshua. Outside with up-here people.

MAX (in flashback): Do you wanna end up in a cage?

OC (in flashback): Come on. What's the worst thing that could happen?

(The flashback ends.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: What the hell was that?!

MAX: Flashback. Happens all the time.

ORIGINAL CINDY: Thought I was trippin' there for a minute.

MAX: This whole evening's been one great big nightmare.

ORIGINAL CINDY: But the worst part wasn't some talking head in a bag, or anomalies eatin' haggis, or even Joshua gettin' hauled off by the po-pos. It was my girl denying who she really is...denying the people that she loves. Shugga, that's the worst thing that you ever coulda done. That's the worst thing that coulda happened.

(Max looks sad.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: But can I ask you one question? Where are your clothes?

(Max looks down and suddenly she is naked. She covers herself and looks up in shock. The camera pans away from the Needle and onto Max's bathtub. Max is still asleep. Original Cindy, not dressed in costume, is trying to wake her up.)

ORIGINAL CINDY: Boo. Hey. (Max wakes up.) What are you gonna be for Halloween? A prune?

MAX: I just had the weirdest dream.

ORIGINAL CINDY: You better put some clothes on. You're gonna be late for the party at Crash. And your boy Rafer is waitin' on your ass.

MAX: Tell him I couldn't make it. There's something I gotta do.

(In his house, Joshua is asleep in the armchair. Little Women is in his hands and a fire is going in the fireplace. Max wakes him up.)

MAX: Hey, big fella. Whatcha doing?

JOSHUA: Lay low.

MAX: I've been thinking. You and me aren't like other people. We're different, and nothing's gonna change that.

JOSHUA: Joshua and Max...different.

MAX: Yeah. Some people might even call us freaks.

JOSHUA (smiling at the word): Freaks.

MAX (smiling): Which is why we gotta stick together. So I'm gonna take you out. Even if it's just for one night. Come on.

JOSHUA: Tricks and treats?

MAX: What's the worst that could happen?

(Shortly afterwards, Max and Joshua stand in the street outside the house. Joshua is holding a bag for candy and looking around at the people passing by in costumes. A headless body walks by. Max looks panicky.)

JOSHUA: Cool costume.

(Max relaxes and takes Joshua by the hand. Joshua does a little hop and they walk into the night, under a full moon.)