EXT. ALLEYWAY – CITY OF SAUDI ARABIA.
The air was dry. Silent. The alleyway barely lit by a flickering streetlamp. Then, a gust of wind kicked up. Sand spiraled violently into the tight corridor.
From within the swirling dust, a figure emerged. The sand dropped away from him, dissolving into the concrete as he unsummoned his powers.
Stanford Turner Kaze stepped into the dim light, his eyes sharp, body cloaked in a torn black coat. His bare feet touched the sand-covered pavement as he walked out of the alley like a storm preparing to strike.
INT. WAREHOUSE ENTRANCE
Two armed security guards stood by the rusted entrance of a CADMUS-affiliated warehouse. One of them noticed the approaching figure.
Security Guard: (raising a hand) Hey! Who're you supposed to be?
Stan: (calmly, coldly) Where's Dex?
Security Guard: (gripping his weapon) I asked you first. Who the hell are you?
Stan didn't answer right away. His eyes glowed with a faint golden hue.
Then he spoke, low and dangerous.
Stan: My name… is Kaze.
Without another word, sand erupted from beneath the guard's feet, wrapping around his entire body like a constricting serpent.
Stan: SAND CRUSH.
"SNAP! CRACK!"
Bones shattered inside the guard's body as he screamed for a second then fell silent. The lifeless husk dropped to the ground.
Stan walked past him without a glance.
INT. WAREHOUSE – MOMENTS LATER.
Inside, chaos had begun.
The remaining guards and CADMUS scientists screamed and fired as sand surged violently throughout the warehouse, slicing through equipment and men alike.
Civilians outside began gathering dozens of people standing across the street, confused and fearful as the warehouse windows trembled from within.
Suddenly "CRASH!"
A body smashed through the second-floor window and landed on the street outside with a sickening crunch. The man's limbs were twisted, his chest crushed another victim of the desert storm within.
The crowd screamed and scattered.
INT. WAREHOUSE – SECOND FLOOR.
Amid broken lights and swirling sand, Stan stood like a demon in a sandstorm. His head was half-missing, disintegrated by a high-caliber round but it was regenerating. Slowly, piece by piece, the sand formed his skull again.
Around him, scientists and guards cowered. He moved like a wraith, even as one last bullet struck his right arm severing it clean off.
He didn't even flinch.
Sand surged from his body to fill the gap as he used his left arm to grab the armored attacker Bloodsport.
Stan: (low, growling) You picked the wrong contract.
With brute force, he slammed Bloodsport into the concrete floor "BOOM!" cracking it like glass, sending a shockwave through the building.
As his head and arm fully regenerated, Stan turned to the rest of the trembling personnel.
His voice echoed across the bloodstained floor:
Stan: Next.
Stan's eyes scan the ruined floor, blood and sand mixing with shattered debris. Then his gaze locks onto something.
A vent partially hidden behind scorched crates. His eyes narrow.
Suddenly, BOOTS THUNDER down the hall.
Twenty CADMUS Security personnel pour into the warehouse, weapons raised, eyes sharp but Stan is gone.
Security Captain: (cautious) Spread out! Find him!
They step deeper inside the ruin, one by one checking corners, shadows.
Then a voice echoes behind them.
Stan: Looking for someone?
The squad whips around but it's too late.
Stan emerges from the shadows behind them, both of his arms morphing into jagged, curved sand blades like deadly scimitars formed from living dust.
"SHIKK! SHIKK! SHIKK!"
He moves like a blur stabbing, slicing, tearing through them in fluid motions. One by one, bodies fall shouts turn to gurgles, gunfire silenced in seconds.
Stan: (calmly, as the last one gasps) Impetuous… and pathetic.
The final blade pierces the last man's chest. Stan retracts his arms, letting the bodies slump to the ground.
Then slow, deliberate clapping.
VANDAL SAVAGE steps out from the far end of the room, untouched by the carnage, dressed in a dark suit with gold trimming, his eyes full of ancient malice.
Vandal Savage: Well done... Impressive work.
Stan's eyes sharpen.
Stan: (growling) Who the fuck are you supposed to be?
Vandal Savage: (smirking) Call me anything you want. Some call me a conqueror. Others, a relic. I've worn many names.
Stan's tone becomes more suspicious.
Stan: You with Project Cadmus?
Vandal Savage: Once. Now, I'm interested in you. You see… I believe your power is tied to the lost Atlantean war magic. The kind the world tried to bury. I can help you master it. Join me.
Stan: (laughs darkly) Sorry. I work alone. I'm not joining your league of children.
Savage's smile fades. In a blink, he's in front of Stan, grabbing him by the neck, lifting him off the ground with unnatural strength.
Vandal Savage: I've lived for over 50,000 years… And in that time, I've never met someone this foolish to refuse me.
Stan's eyes flash gold. He smirks through the chokehold.
Stan: Oh yeah? I've got a word for you.
Vandal Savage: (mocking) And what's that?
Stan: SANDSTORM!
A violent eruption of sand bursts outward from Stan's body like a living explosion. The entire warehouse shakes, walls buckle, the ceiling begins to crumble.
The sandstorm consumes everything, visibility drops to zero. Screams echo from surviving CADMUS staff as they're ripped apart or buried alive.
From outside, the ground rumbles. Civilians gasp and run as the entire warehouse implodes, collapsing in on itself in a massive cloud of sand and smoke.
As the dust settles…
No one can tell if Stan survived.
But somewhere in the distance, carried by the wind his voice whispers:
Stan: My name… is Stan of the Desert. But my enemies call me… Kaze... Remember it...
The dust is still heavy in the air, but Stan stands tall, emerging from the rubble, unaffected by the destruction. His silhouette cuts through the debris like a god of the storm, and he eyes the collapsed remains of Vandal Savage, buried under the wreckage, his figure barely visible beneath a mound of crushed concrete and twisted metal.
A sudden voice cuts through the stillness, a woman's voice, sharp and familiar.
Beatriz: (calmly) You think this is over, Stan?
Stan's gaze snaps up to the two figures emerging from the smoke Beatriz Da Costa (Fire) and Tora Olafsdotter (Ice). His expression twists into an immediate, seething anger.
Stan: (gritting his teeth) You…
Before Beatriz can speak, Stan cuts her off, his tone ice-cold.
Stan: I know what you're trying to do. Beatriz, trying to recruit me? Not a chance.
Beatriz: (surprised, stammering) Ho-how…?
Stan's eyes glow golden, his hand reaching up, and suddenly, he focuses a ripple surrounding his head.
Stan: (grimly) Sand Technique: Third Eye.
The sand flows up around his head, forming a third eye a symbol of his heightened awareness. His perception sharpens. Beatriz and Tora freeze as they realize the extent of his power.
Tora: (urgently, pleading) Stan, please listen to me. You need help. Maybe… maybe I can help you cure..
Stan: (cutting her off, eyes burning) Not a chance!
In a split-second decision, Stan splits into two clones, both versions of himself dispersing in opposite directions, each a perfect mirror image of the other.
Stan: (shouting) Catch us… If you can!
Stan: (Shouting) Catch us... If you can!
The clones dart off, separating as they move with unnatural speed. One heads toward the left while the other shoots off toward the right, moving faster than the eye can track.
Beatriz: (shouting to Tora) Chase the other one!
Tora: (nodding, determined) Got it!
Beatriz, fiery and focused, chases the second clone, flames igniting around her fists. Tora shoots a look at Beatriz before chasing after the first clone, her ice powers crackling in the air, leaving a trail of frost in her wake.
As they pursue the clones, the real Stan's figure is now lost in the chaos. But in the rubble, a hand twitches beneath the debris.
Vandal Savage, buried and seemingly defeated, is not out yet. Slowly, his hand tightens into a fist, his ancient, malicious power stirring from beneath the rubble.
Vandal Savage: (gritting his teeth, voice rough) You think you've won? This is far from over, Kaze...
The chase is on. Stan's clones are running, but the real danger has only just begun as Vandal Savage begins to recover and plot his next move?