A Sentence of Sorts

The Pseudoscientists, Act I, scene 6: A Less Perfect Night (Inciting Incident!)

(Moreau arrives back on the scene, intent on killing the Creature. Hyde cannot resist a fight and attacks Moreau. He is successful but unfortunately attracts the attention of both Lanyon and the police. I really am afraid this section makes very little logical sense. I’m looking to see if the emotional content of Hyde’s decision is reading properly…)

The Creature* flees from his attackers, bursting a great hole in the Society’s wall in his escape. The rider follows behind, followed by Hyde, who is in turn followed by a funny little band of Lodgers, hoping to help out. The monsters are nipping at the Creature’s back and he is forced to turn and fight them. It is a messy battle, and in the chaos several gas lamps are smashed, starting a fire that begins to engulf the nearby buildings.

Jekyll’s shadow reappears: “What are you doing?? The police are going to show up any minute!”

But Hyde brushes him off again. “I’ll have this sorted before they even know what’s happened.” He is so dead-set on his goal (defeating the rider) that he hardly cares how completely unlikely that goal is. Luckily, he has a little more help this time. The Lodgers lend their blind enthusiasm to even out the odds, capturing or subduing the strange creatures before they can all fall on Hyde, who fights his way towards the rider.

 But his path is now blocked by a wall of fire. Just beyond it, he can see the Creature cornered against a wall. The rider has his gun aimed at the Creature’s heart. Hyde snarls at the particular choice of weapon: guns are too impersonal, too easy a kill! (It’s easy for him to nitpick, anyway, when there is nothing he can do to help the situation.)

He looks about him and sees a big wooden beam that the Creature has knocked askew in the fight. It is lit on on one end by the fire and teeters perilously near the rider’s head. Hyde draws back, meaning to launch himself up and grab it, but he freezes when he hears the sound of sirens behind him**. Looking back, he sees that the police have arrived on the scene! For a moment, this is all too much for him to take in and he feels overwhelmed, paralyzed. 

————————————————

Back in the crowd, Lanyon watches angrily as the police file past. He hates that the situation has escalated so far out of his control. He yells out to the Lodgers to stop their fighting, but for most of them that is not an option. The police become entangled in their fights with the monsters and one by one, everyone is dragged apart. Lanyon looks around sharply, trying to make sense of the chaos … and only then does he get a good look at Hyde. He begins to walk towards him, falling in line with a couple of the officers. “What is he doing?” he wonders.

————————————————

Jekyll is wondering the same thing. He is frantic now, begging Hyde to run before the police catch him, but Hyde is rooted to the spot. His eyes flick back and forth between the beam, the creature, and the police. He could still run now, he could still get away … but he won’t. He leaps up and pushes the beam off the last of its hinges. This sends it crashing down on top of the rider, who falls off his horse in a mass of flames.

Unfortunately the fiery beam doesn’t quite stop there. It barrels into the path of one of the fighting Lodgers and slams into the side of the Society. 

Hyde must pause to catch his breath, which gives one of the officers a chance to grab his wrist. Hyde snarls and wrestles himself free, but not before the officer can get a good look at him.

Now freed from his attacker, the Creature barrels down the street, back towards the Society. Hyde tries to get him to accompany him in fleeing the scene, but the Creature refuses to abandon his master any longer. 

As soon as he has shaken off the officers, Hyde goes the same way as the Creature, sneaking back into Society through the back way. Knowing it would be dangerous to remain in this form, he slithers back into his office and drinks the potion to turn him back into Dr. Jekyll, whom he is confident will be able to smooth over this whole disaster … somehow.

*this entire scene, but this segment in particular, make up a really poorly planned out action sequence. I don’t think I’ll end up being able to nail it down in this pass, but what I mean to get across is: Hyde is given a choice between abandoning the Creature and keeping himself (and Jekyll) safe, and helping the Creature at the expense of his own safety (and Jekyll’s reputation). He chooses to help the Creature, an uncharacteristically selfless decision that later puzzles him greatly. He will come to excuse his actions, insisting that he was merely seeking out a greater thrill by attacking the last animal.

**again seriously research how the police operated back then