The Big Fight by Ricardo Serrano

This is a story is about giant gods wrestling in space. It is about the end and beginning of life, the universe, and everything. It is a love letter to the things I grew up with and that have shaped my interests as a writer. I used professional wrestling moves and images to build up the gods' fight. Other than that, it was just so much fun to write.

The Big Fight

By: Ricardo A. Serrano Denis

Page 1 (series of four horizontal shots—panels 2 and 3 are smaller than panel 1 and 2. We want space for panels 1 and 2)

Panel 1: We’re in an American desert setting, daytime. This is a panoramic view, a landscape of the desert and a single road in the middle of it (think Route 66 in the Mojave Desert). There are a few cars just parked in the middle of the road looking up into the clear, almost cloudless sky. They are looking at two giant celestial beings in a wrestling lock called a clinch (both having their arms over their shoulders), fighting with each other. These celestial beings are a blend of Galactus, Gaiman’s Celestials in The Eternals, and Kirby’s New Gods all rolled into one. And yet, they also look alive. They aren’t simple robots. Their faces are rigid but will be able to change expressions, if only slightly. They are enormous and they are in space. They are old gods and they have just started fighting. One of them has perfectly circular eyes and a cluster of smaller circles serving as a mouth. The other has triangular eyes and a rectangle with three vertical lines inside it for a mouth. We see people pointing up at the sky. There is an Old Man dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt, jeans, and a cowboy hat on standing next to his grandson, a Small Boy dressed in shorts and a striped shirt. They stand out amongst the other people on the road. They are close to their car.

Small Boy: What’s happening, Granpa?

Panel 2: Close-up of the Old Man looking up into the sky. He is awestruck, working on believing at what he’s looking at.

Panel 3: Medium shot of the two gods still in locked in, struggling. We only see them from the waist up. They are in space, so they are surrounded by stars (obvious, I know).

Old Man V.O.: I don’t know, son.

Panel 4: We pull back on the gods and take in space, the Earth and the Moon small in relation to them but not too small. Let’s say Earth is a bit smaller than the gods if taken from the waist up. Another point of reference: the wrestling gods’ hands are roughly about the size of China, respectively. As the gods continue to wrestle, we see small groups of Gods casually walking closer to the fight. There aren’t too many of them but enough for a crowd. They will be spectators. Their faces take after the geometrical shapes that characterize those of the wrestler gods. In the distance we see an older looking god (perhaps his age can be hinted at in the way he moves or stands, hunched—we will call him Old Man God) walking towards the fight with a Small Boy God walking next to him. Old Man God is grabbing Small Boy God’s hand (this is to establish their relationship, so they aren’t just casually walking next to each other—they will be always holding hands…always). They stand out. Old Man God has a square head with two sets of three horizontal lines for eyes. His mouth is composed of a single line with one circle on each corner of the mouth. The Small Boy God has two sets of three dots organized in triangular shape for eyes. His mouth resembles that of Ultron (the Marvel villain). In terms of the fight, the god with the triangle eyes looks like his breaking out of the lock.

Old Man V.O.: I don’t know.

Page 2

Panel 1: This is a back shot of the Old Man God and the Small Boy God getting closer to the fight. The other gods have made a sort of loose semi-circle around the wrestling gods. Old Man God and Small Boy God are opposite the semi-circle, looking from another angle. Triangle Eyes God is punching Circle Eyes God in the gut. Some of the spectator gods are cheering.

Small Boy God: So this is it, Grandfather?

Old Man God: Yes, boy. The Beginning of the End. And the End of the Beginning.

Panel 2: Close up of the Small Boy God looking confused, but not exaggeratedly so.

Small Boy God: Dad said it was just a fight.

Panel 3: Small panel of Triangle Eyes holding one of Circle Eyes’ arms by the wrist. Triangle Eyes is about to twist Circle Eyes’ arm. Circle Eyes is bent forward, his free arm grabbing his mid-section. Remember, he got gut-punched earlier.

Panel 4: This is a wide shot where we see the Old Man God and the Small Boy God looking in from their end as Triangle Eyes has Circle Eyes in an arm twist. The other gods are cheering the gods on for more violence.

Old Man God: To call it just a fight means to devalue the potential its violence has to transform the space it takes place in. I don’t expect you to understand just yet. It is a fight, just not solely that. You’re dad never understood that. I hope he didn’t pass that down.

Panel 5: Small panel of Circle Eyes hitting Triangle Eyes with an elbow to the face. The elbow swings upwards, as if he rose up with the elbow and reversed the arm twist.

Panel 6: Front shot of the Small Boy God and the Old Man God. We see them looking at the fight. Small Boy God is pointing at the wrestler gods. We can get a good look at them, in full detail, here.

Small Boy God: The planet is an obvious weapon, Grandfather. Why haven’t they used it yet?

Page 3 (This page will have five panels. They will see the two wrestler Gods in different wrestling locks, fighting. They are to be organized in the following manner: Panel 1 will be in the top-middle part of the page; Panel 2 will be in the middle-left part of the page; Panel 3 will be in the exact middle of the page; Panel 4 is in the middle-right part of the page; and Panel 5 will be in the lower-middle part of the page. The blank spaces will be for the text.)

Narration for page 3: Professionalism, boy. Finesse. There’s a timing to this, a pace. Violence demands such things; otherwise these fights end up being nothing but short affairs with very little meaning, much like I explained before. But they know we are not here for that. We want to see them endure. We want to see how much they can take. They must prove themselves to us. The planet will play its part. But not yet. Never forget, we come to these places for a reason. There is no such thing as coincidence in a fight. You’ll come to understand this as well. This is tradition, boy. Everything dies. Everything comes back. But tradition stays.

Panel 1: Now it is Circles Eyes time to shine. Circle Eyes now has Triangle Eyes in a headlock.

Panel 2: Circle Eyes punches Triangle Eyes on the head while still in the headlock.

Panel 3: Now Circle Eyes has Triangle Eyes locked in a Bear Hug.

Panel 4: Triangle Eyes hits Circle Eyes with both his forearms on the side of his head. That’s how you get out of a Bear Hug in wrestling.

Panel 5: Triangle Eyes is now standing again. He’s looking at Circle Eyes. He’s angry. Circle Eyes is grabbing his head in pain.

Page 4

Panel 1: Small panel of Triangle Eyes kicking Circle Eyes in the gut.

Small Boy God: I don’t like it when grownups think telling me something means I won’t be able to understand it until I grow up. Why can’t I understand it now?

Panel 2: Wide shot of Circle Eyes kneeling down and Triangle Eyes moving closer to Earth. He’s looking at the planet. We see the crowd and Small Boy and Old Man God as well. Everyone’s cheering more enthusiastically. They know the match is ending.

Old Man God: Because you can't. You grow, you understand. This is non-negotiable.

Small Boy God: Fine. Can you at least tell me one thing? Why this planet? Why do they fight so close to it?

Panel 3: Triangle Eyes is now grabbing the planet, almost like a ball. But it looks very violent. The Wrestler God’s grab creates a ripple effect in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Old Man God V.O.: Fair enough.

Panel 4: Triangle Eyes with the Earth raised above his head as if he’s going to swing it down hard. Circle Eyes is still kneeling but looking up at what’s coming. We can see the Old Man god and Small Boy God in the background.

Old Man God: It’s core.

Page 5

Panel 1: This is a wide shot and it is epic. The camera is pulled back behind Old Man God and Small Boy God. Circle Eyes, still kneeling, has his forearm raised trying to shield himself from Triangle Eyes smashing him with the planet. But the planet is already halfway through Circle Eyes forearm. The collision emits this very intense light coming out of the planet’s explosion. The light is so intense it looks like it will consume the rest of the universe. The crowd is now ecstatic, and they are also getting lost in the light. Since we’re behind Old Man God and Small Boy God we just see their silhouettes. They are still holding hands as the universe ends and begins again.

Old Man God: It makes a very big boom.

END