Episode 13: “Ash and Shards” ⸻ FADE IN: EXT. BONE ISLAND – HUMBUG’S CASTLE – NIGHT A towering spire of bone and scrap-metal looms atop a volcanic ridge. Lightning cracks above it. The structure pulses with eerie neon veins — Accord tech fused with ancient Wublin design. Inside: HUMBUG, now fully mechanized, stands atop his throne. His new wings glint like razors. His eyes burn green. HUMBUG (echoing, metallic): Let them come. I’ll bury them beneath my bones. ⸻ INT. REBEL COMMAND SHIP – NIGHT PHANGLER, HYEHEHE, BUZZINGA, PENTUMBRA, YAWSTRICH, and the plague-masked POWEK (the only Wublin in the rebellion) prepare their assault from orbit. BUZZINGA: We’re really doing this with them? POWEK (muffled, hollow): There’s only one way to kill a monster like this. Together. He sets down a cracked metal case. Inside — a volatile core pulsing with Void and static. PHANGLER: That’ll crack the whole ridge. POWEK: Good. ⸻ EXT. SURROUNDING SKIES – LATER Two fleets arrive at once. Rebel ships from the west. Accord warcraft from the east. For a heartbeat, they aim weapons at each other. But then — both open fire on HUMBUG’S CASTLE. ⸻ INT. HUMBUG’S CASTLE – THRONE CHAMBER Alarms blare. Humbug grins as rubble falls from the ceiling. HUMBUG (growling): No no no… you don’t destroy me. I survive you. He roars, taking flight, ripping through the ceiling. EXT. CASTLE ROOF – CONTINUOUS Humbug explodes into the sky — chasing Phangler, who soars on a rebel craft’s back engine. PHANGLER (shouting): Now, Powek! Drop it! ⸻ EXT. CASTLE BASE – NIGHT POWEK, standing alone, rips the cap off the explosive core. POWEK (to himself): Your bones… for all the ones you broke. He tosses it into the chasm beneath the castle. A moment. Then— KRAK-KOOOM. A monstrous eruption. The entire ridge collapses. Shards of the castle spiral skyward. HUMBUG, caught mid-flight, is engulfed in flame. His last scream echoes — metallic and inhuman. ⸻ INT. AIRSHIP RUINS – LATER PHANGLER lands near the edge of the burning ruin. GHAST — wounded, hiding among shattered ribs of the castle — tries to escape. PHANGLER (growling): I watched G’joob fall. I saw the spark leave him. Ghazt turns, too weak to speak. PHANGLER: This… is what that cost looks like. He draws the same shard that ended G’joob’s life. And drives it into Ghazt’s chest. GHAST (faintly): …forgive… He collapses. Dead. Phangler tosses the shard aside. PHANGLER: No. ⸻ INT. REBEL BASE – THAT NIGHT Ashes rain. Buzzinga stares at a broadcast screen. “CONFIRMED: HUMBUG TERMINATED.” YAWSTRICH: Both sides hit the button. Funny what cooperation can achieve. CROCUS: They needed him gone more than us. HYEHEHE: So why does it still feel like a loss? A long beat. Then: Pentumbra walks in. PENTUMBRA: Because it wasn’t victory. It was vengeance. They all look toward the fire. ⸻ FADE TO BLACK. TO BE CONTINUED…
a highly anticipated death
