Legacies (2018) s04e14 Episode Script
The Only Way Out is Through
There you are.
Not so scary, are you? Not yet.
But I'm getting stronger.
It's kind of weird how everything feels so normal.
What, given that Hope's been here less than 12 hours and hasn't put anyone into a coma yet? Very.
Which is a good sign, right? Ah, too soon to tell.
Call me paranoid, but I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Unless there's not another shoe.
There's always another shoe.
I think Hope's humanity is flickering, and we might be able to help nudge it along.
Like, if there's a way that we could force her to have a profound emotional discovery.
Like, if maybe she were to get trapped inside the, uh Therapy box? I think this one's broken.
- Shoe? - Shoe.
No desire to know what that means.
You know what? How about instead of wasting your energy trying to turn my humanity back on, we develop a battle plan? Battle plan? For what? For beating a couple of gods in immortal combat.
The sooner we do that, the sooner I can go back to living my lawless and carefree life.
We don't know anything about fighting gods, Hope.
Yeah, no kidding.
That's why I called the closest thing we have to an expert, who should be just showing up.
I hope I'm not interrupting.
Not at all.
You were right on time.
We're not doing this.
I told you, dudes.
I am not talking about my family.
Plus, you two's vibe is a little mall girl for me, you know? We're here to make amends.
Our previous request was impudent and without proper reverence.
We came with a gift to assuage your anger.
What? What my antiquated friend is trying to say is we heard the gods are into offerings, so we brought a bribe.
Shrimp tacos.
And some "special" brownies.
- Dude.
- Please.
Hearing about your family is a matter of great importance to us.
Fine.
But I'm gonna need all the brownies.
This is a Manticulum.
My own design.
It uses algorithmic magic to calculate probabilities.
How's that help us fight the gods? It can't, on its own.
We have to combine it with something else.
Something like that game that you, me and Landon played once.
That's why you're here, nerd.
Oh.
Oh! It's like a tabletop RPG.
Or, like, a super-accurate D&D campaign.
This thing is, like, smart dice that will tell us the outcome of any attack or defense.
We can use this to war game what would happen in an actual battle.
All we need to do is encode our powers into the Mant the Man uh - Manticulum.
- Manticulum.
So we need to rate everyone's skills, then.
Oh, I've already done that.
This is a pointless waste of time.
Well, we signed a contract.
We have to uphold our end of the deal.
A deal with a wish-granting jinni who enslaves people? We don't have another choice.
Behold.
Another choice.
Look, I don't like it any more than you do.
But we're still helping people get to Peace.
And helping our insufferable overlord get to Peace, too! Which would free everyone enslaved to him, including us.
We're doing this together.
All right, I'll talk to the poor wayward souls.
But I don't think you're gonna like what I say.
Meaning what? Meaning you help them get to Peace while I present a counterpoint.
Maybe it's better to not let things go.
To hold onto the past, and your anger, yeah.
Forgiveness is for suckers.
That's what I say! If we go back to the jinni without any coins, we're gonna get You're trying to get us fired.
Of course I am.
The only way to get out of a terrible job is to suck at it.
Buck up, lad.
We're already dead.
What's the worst he can do to us? Oh, hell nah.
You did me dirty.
They're just preliminary guesses, which is why we need to do some tests to confirm your stats.
Speed: 92? Mine's 94.
That's what I'm saying.
There's no way he's faster than me.
Actually, he might be.
But your dragon powers give you a plus-20 to defense and a plus-40 for offense.
In a straight fight, you can definitely beat him.
But he's got to catch me first.
Let's do this.
And go! Aw.
My powers? Right.
I have the teleportation and intangibility of a Pukwudgie.
I-I can also just turn invisible which must be from another monster, but, uh, we haven't figured out exactly which one yet.
It's-it's kind of like I have two different gas pedals, and-and I'm not always sure which one I'm-I'm pressing.
I see.
Well whenever you're ready, please, try to teleport across the room.
I am.
Well done, indeed.
My, uh, stat sheet is, uh, a little out of date.
But, um, she's basically, uh Human.
I know I'm not as impressive without using my magic, but I still want to fight.
I can't stand by and watch while my friends are in danger.
I'd say courage plus-ten.
I'd like to help.
I'm sure we're all keen to see what a god is capable of.
Demigod.
But I can't join you.
I'm forbidden from fighting against my family.
It's the other side of the curse my father put on me.
But I can tell you what they would do in a fight.
I should play the side of the enemy in this game.
Well, there's only one person left to test.
No test needed.
Right, Wayne? Uh, well, I made up a humanity-off sheet for her.
And she's basically the perfect fighter.
- Hmm.
- Uh, incredible magical power levels, unencumbered by morality, with no discernible weaknesses.
Except for one little thing.
She's seeing people who aren't really there.
This is your field of battle.
You can't ignore me forever.
Vampires can move across the board in one turn.
The speed of the gods varies.
And these are your opponents.
I took the liberty of creating some automatons for the purposes of our game.
Hopefully, I did them justice.
I haven't used magic to sculpt since the last Wizard Games.
Aurora de Martel.
My erstwhile student, Jen.
Her father, Ken.
The father of an entire family of gods.
And finally Elizabeth.
Lizzie wouldn't fight against us.
How much you willing to bet? I'm afraid Hope is right.
To be sure of victory, you must plan for the worst-case scenario.
And Elizabeth is a wild card.
But I scored her loyalty to the gods pretty low.
She can still be flipped back to our side.
The two sides will alternate turns, with the Manticulum declaring success or failure of your moves based on the scores we've fed it.
We'll draw for first move.
Left one.
Got to be the left one.
Right one.
The first move is yours.
Here's all you need to know about my family.
The gods are a bunch of douchebags.
Except for Chronos.
God of Time.
Never once forgot my birthday.
Get it? Because good with time.
They all thought I was a freak, because I didn't fit in.
They were into war and destruction, and I was more into construction.
I was a blacksmith.
An artist.
My father hated me for that.
His name is Ken.
He demanded I make weapons for the gods.
But I was like, "No way am I gonna make something that takes a life.
" So I offered to make armor to protect them.
My father cast me out.
Said I wasn't one of them.
Because I had the heart of a coward.
So I worked in my cave.
Alone.
Forgotten.
Until one day, out of nowhere, my dad actually came to see me.
And he used a word he had never said to me before.
Hello, Daughter.
Your skill at the forge is unparalleled.
Um, I'm pleased to find favor, My Lord.
Well, today it is your favor that I seek.
You offered me protection once.
And for the first time we need it.
I had never seen that look on his face before, so it took me a minute to figure out what it was.
My all-powerful father was afraid.
What does an omnipotent deity fear? Gods are only as powerful as people's belief in them, which had diminished over the years.
And then, the ultimate death sentence for a god came along.
A creature that could make the world forget you ever existed.
Malivore.
If we could just talk to Lizzie, we can flip her back to our side.
Our first move should be getting her to safety.
I'd listen to him.
You're wasting our first strike.
This is war, okay? People are gonna die.
She's valuable in war, Hope.
MG vamps to Lizzie.
Hey, beautiful.
Aurora attacks MG.
Aurora kills MG.
Which turns Lizzie to your side.
Ah, so not a total loss.
In a rage, Lizzie kills Aurora.
My father attacks Lizzie.
Lizzie dies.
Well, looks like we're gonna be going to another Lizzie funeral.
The probability of success has dropped to zero percent.
You lose.
Fascinating.
As soon as Lizzie died, there was simply no move you could make that would lead to victory.
- Why? - I don't know.
But I'd presume there's a reason she is invaluable to winning.
Okay, so we have to save Lizzie.
Let's go again.
Have I thanked you yet for getting us fired? This is way better.
How was I supposed to know Zied had other jobs he could assign us to? We should give that a moment.
Elvis.
What happened to you? I was mugged, little man.
I was walking down Mulberry Street, carrying a satchel full of coins when these fellas man, they jumped me out of nowhere.
Did a number on the ol' moneymaker.
And they took my bag, too.
Yeah, pray that heartless Smurf doesn't demote you to toilet duty.
Nah, nah, he knows it ain't my fault.
It's that gosh-darned bandit, man.
He's been bushwhacking Zied's couriers for the last month.
You're saying there's a bandit who's stealing from Zied? Well, that's very valuable information.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Oh, yeah, that's real original.
I'm shook up, man.
- No.
- Oh! Whoo Whatever you're thinking, no.
You've already made our lives worse once today.
Our enemy has an enemy.
What does that make him? A thief and a bully.
He's stealing coins that were rightfully earned.
What is the man we're working for right now doing, huh? You think by following the rules that you're doing more good than bad.
But that's just what people tell themselves when they can't see another way to do it.
Now, you can stay here and suffer if you must.
I'm finding another way.
Your chance of success drops to zero.
You lose again.
You're going about this all wrong.
Your problem is that you've already lost before you even make a move.
What's the matter? Nothing.
Aurora's older, so she's faster than our vampires.
Which means we should take her out and then save Lizzie.
Except seeing any of us in danger flips Lizzie back to our side, leaving her all alone.
And if we try to save her first, we still lose her.
It's almost like no matter what move we make We've already lost.
The problem is that we're going first.
I mean, we're facing them all at once.
We should be forcing them to fight us.
I told you to pick the left one.
Okay.
I decline the first move.
Aurora attacks Hope.
I throw up a shield.
Aurora is knocked off her feet.
Let's see how a vampire does against dragon fire.
Kaleb kills Aurora.
- All right.
- Yes! Now MG vamps to Lizzie.
My father attacks them.
MG is just fast enough.
They make it out before he strikes.
Yes! Lizzie is safe.
Let's go! - That's what I'm talking - Yes.
Let's do it! All right! Okay, let's kill some gods.
Still a mouth-breather, I see.
What are you doing? Looking for a drink.
There's only so much rah-rah camaraderie I can handle.
Brings out a side of me I'm not exactly a big fan of.
Hence, something to make team building a little bit more bearable.
You're gonna need more than you think.
Because we just had a breakthrough.
Hmm.
How many people did you lose? None.
Dr.
Saltzman realized why none of our attacks were working.
Instead of using our powers, we need to take theirs away.
Lizzie.
If we buy her enough time to turn back to our side, - she can siphon a god.
- That's why we needed to be saved.
She siphoned Jen.
And it weakened her enough that I could teleport her off the board and out of the fight.
I pulled off the jump that time.
Now it's just the big guy left.
And we need your help because we don't know what move to make now.
I know what I need to do next.
So, picture this.
My dad king of all bros asks for my help so that he can hide from a fight.
So that's why you made the sarcophaguses.
It was genius.
My family would be spelled to sleep until Malivore was destroyed and, as an incentive, my father promised a boon to whoever defeated Malivore and woke us up.
A boon is just god-talk for favor.
Interesting.
A favor from the gods.
Wait, Malivore's dead.
So why didn't your family wake up? Because I lied.
The spell to wake them up never existed.
After a millennia, my father was finally offering me a place in the family by his side.
But all I could think about was how he punished humans for every little thing with earthquakes, fires, floods.
My family were the real monsters, and I didn't want to be like them.
So I locked them up and destroyed the key.
You betrayed your own family.
Big time.
And if they ever wake up and find that out, I'm in for a world of hurt.
So I can't let anyone set them free.
Including you two dudes.
Down to just Ken now.
I think this is where the Tribrid steps in.
Not yet.
I'm gonna soften him with my pawns first.
Kaleb goes airborne.
My father pierces the sky with lightning.
The lightning kills Kaleb.
Fine, MG attacks.
MG dies.
My father moves forward.
You're up, Cleo.
Cleo dies.
Big surprise.
All right, now it's him versus me.
Skip to the end.
Who wins? I'm afraid he's still too strong.
Hope would lose.
Run it again.
Here's what I don't get.
If you wanted to rid the world of your family, you could've just tossed those fancy coffins into a volcano or something.
I didn't want to lose track of 'em.
What? I didn't want to lose track of them.
Or maybe you couldn't bring yourself to actually close the door on your family forever.
I totally get it.
I have this friend, Hope.
She has done some awful things.
But when I had the chance to put her down, couldn't do it.
Which makes me assume that it wasn't so easy to betray your family as you're pretending it was.
You never destroyed the key, did you? Yeah.
Families they got a weird hold on us, huh? I couldn't kill my family.
I definitely couldn't trust myself with that key, in case I chickened out.
So I had to put it where I could never get it again.
I had a half brother.
Ben.
My family treated him even worse than they did me.
He was chained to a rock to be eaten alive by monsters and then come back to life and do it all over again.
I used to sneak bread and water to him if I could.
It was our little secret.
But this time, I had a secret he couldn't know about.
It's just you.
Good news.
Our father's asleep.
I can finally set you free.
That wasn't enough.
I had to get rid of that key forever.
Quickly.
Release me.
We can still outrun him.
I'm sorry.
But the curse will remain as long as Father lives.
You will still be hunted by monsters every day of your life, but if you can get absorbed into Malivore, it can finally stop.
This is setting you free.
No.
No.
No! And then he was just gone.
Biggest bummer is the Malivore forgetting spell doesn't work on the gods.
I remember everything.
I remember the look on his face.
With Malivore dead wherever Ben is, he's there for eternity.
So, I'll never get the chance to apologize and explain that I hated what I had to do.
But I had already gone too far.
Sometimes the only way out is through.
Mm.
So sorry for your loss.
We now see that we were wrong.
If the key is lost forever, there is no way to raise the gods.
Mm.
Well, thank you so much for your time.
You have been exceedingly generous.
Okay.
Hey, dudes.
This was a decent hang.
We could do it again sometime? Yes.
Yes, let's do it again sometime.
They all attack.
He kills them all.
But they do real damage first.
I attack next.
It's not enough.
He defeats you.
- Need my help yet? - Shut up! We need more cannon fodder.
How many students are there at the school? - Hope! - If the vampires and the wolves attack him in waves, killing them is gonna keep him occupied - until - No! W-We're done.
Okay? You've been running us into the buzz saw all day like we're expendable! You only care about yourself.
So just leave us out of it.
'Cause this version of you it ain't worth dying for.
Looks like it's just you and me, kiddo.
You wanted my attention? Fine.
Let's talk.
Keep your voice down.
Otherwise people might think you're crazy.
Enough.
I've tried this your way and it hasn't worked.
Or you didn't go far enough.
No.
No more of these mind games and riddles.
Okay? Leave me alone.
Have you learned nothing today? Alone is the exact way you can't do it.
Like it or not, you need me.
Need you? The weak little girl who was manipulated by two different fake Landons and then couldn't bring herself to kill the real one? No.
I don't need anything from you.
Except for a way to win the game.
For once, the almighty Tribrid doesn't have the answer.
That's a scary feeling, isn't it? You're gonna have to listen to me.
Let's just talk about this.
We know where the key is.
But what we don't know is if we should even be doing this.
You heard what Jen said about her father.
We can't just wake that guy up.
He murders for fun.
Okay, we made an agreement, you and I.
An agreement to raise a god.
We're just changing which god we raise.
Jen said the god of time is decent.
So we wake him up instead.
Then we can go back and fix what went wrong without rolling the dice on Dad waking up cranky.
We're trying to be better people, remember? No more revenge.
No more bloodshed.
We just want our family back.
I'm sorry about Elizabeth.
How did she seem? When you saw her.
Lost.
I think recent events have left her a little adrift.
All the people she counted on the most to help her suddenly weren't there for her.
Including me.
Maybe this never should have been our fight to begin with.
They're still kids.
Dealing with more than any kids were meant to.
True.
That's to be expected.
Every generation makes a mess of it and has to pray the next generation can break the pattern, save the world.
These students are extraordinary.
If anyone can find their way, they can.
Including Lizzie.
I know what we should do.
I want to try again.
But this time, run it with my humanity on.
All right.
I've adjusted her stats.
I'll be honest, I don't see how this is much of a battle upgrade.
Much remains to be seen, Wade.
Your move, my dear.
I wouldn't send everyone in to weaken him.
I'd put myself in danger first because I can take it.
I hold the line as long as I can, giving them the best chance.
I attack Ken alone.
You do damage.
He's still standing.
My father calls down lightning.
You're wounded.
Your life force is down to 70%.
I vamp around him drawing his fire, distracting him.
My father keeps striking.
You're hit.
You can only run so long.
Life force to 40%.
I move into close-quarter combat, inside the reach of his lightning.
Your blows do damage, but you're too weak to block his.
My father keeps attacking.
He knocks you down.
30%.
Hope, you have to get out of there.
No.
I don't run.
I get back up.
He knocks you down again.
Your vision is blurring.
20%.
I get back up.
Five percent.
You have one move left.
I'll take the hit for her.
I take the next one.
We all do.
Lizzie would, too.
My father's alive.
- Calm yourself.
- I can't calm down.
My dad's already back, which means this whole plan is pointless.
But if I don't go through with it, then this stupid blood pact will turn me into brisket.
No, it won't.
Because I won't consider you quitting a betrayal.
Go to him.
If I could have Tristan back, I wouldn't let some silly brand keep me from that.
You're not just trying to trick me into betraying you? Look, once upon a time, I absolutely would have, but we're trying to be better people, are we not? I can't deprive you of your happiness when it's right there in front of you.
I will raise the god of time to get my family back.
You go to yours.
Thank you.
And if raising him doesn't work? Then I'll do whatever I have to.
But if you try to raise Ken, I'll have to tell my dad.
They'll try and stop you.
We all will.
Then I would consider that a betrayal.
Then I die.
You have a choice to make, Elizabeth.
Stop now, risk losing everything.
Or keep going.
Help me raise the better god and see it through to the end.
They score another hit on Ken.
I don't understand.
What changed? She's giving them courage.
A belief they can win.
Having the real Hope as their leader, it's increasing each of their powers.
It might just be enough.
My father retreats.
Yes.
Let's go.
It's time to finish him.
We attack as one.
You succeed! Yes! Yes! Yeah! That was rather exciting.
See? We can win.
Just turn it all back on.
Let me out before you lose control.
This is all just a stupid game.
No, it's not real.
It's just a spreadsheet.
You are pathetic.
Little boys role-playing war.
And you're all gonna die.
Don't you see that? You're just disposable.
I mean, you mean nothing to me.
- Hope.
- And you.
You're a liar.
And a martyr.
And you're never gonna save the people that you love because you're just not strong enough.
What are you all doing?! Don't you see I'm about to kill you all?! Someone take me out! Someone take me out! The therapy box is good as new.
And I've added a few settings.
An upgrade, if you will.
I've heard you were quite skilled at magic yourself.
I'm afraid those days might be behind me.
Perhaps.
Perhaps not.
May I? I find it rather curious that you experience pain when trying to do magic.
Most of the time, when a witch loses her connection to magic, it's all or nothing.
We often associate pain with something going wrong.
In reality, pain is merely a signal that something is changing.
Hey.
Look, I know I'm not supposed to be putting myself in charge of protecting you, but today wasn't cool.
I'm not okay with none of that.
- Now, I can't stand by - No, no, you're right.
I think it's time to figure out what is happening with me.
Hey, man.
That was one hell of a jump you pulled off in the game, E.
Yeah, it felt good to finally be in control for once.
But it also made me realize that, if I don't get better at my own powers, people might die.
Um or it it could happen either way.
Wade told me that, in the final moments of the battle, at least two of us would have died.
There's no version of us winning without losing someone.
I think you and I should make a promise.
That, no matter what, it won't be Lizzie.
No matter what, it won't be her.
Whatever shall I do?! This bag of coins is so heavy! Hope my tired muscles are strong enough to haul this take to Zied! Laying it on a little thick, don't you think? Ah.
I see.
You're here to scuttle my plan the same way I interfered with yours.
No, I'm here to help.
With my bags full of all the coins I earned today! What happened to your high-minded ideals about following the rules? We're partners.
The first rule is you don't leave each other behind.
Though I still think this is a bad idea.
What if this Bandit is, like, I don't know Vlad the Impaler? Oh, Vlad was a softie deep down.
Okay, just do me one favor if this Bandit guy is worse than the jinni, we find another way.
Deal! I have no desire to swap one tyrant for another.
Get off me! To theoretical victory.
Ugh, I am so glad that's over.
Thinking like my father is one of the more unpleasant things I've ever done.
Felt awful, having to kill you all.
Really? You feel bad about something? Wow.
Are you suggesting that I'm How do you say it? Uh, a downer? Well, just, um not exactly an optimist.
But I did feel optimistic today.
For the first time ever, I saw that there's a chance.
However small and fragile that someone could finally stop my family.
Silly to get my hopes up, I'm sure.
Well, today I got a crash course reminder in how short and unpredictable life can be.
Made me want to appreciate all the good things and the good people while we have them.
So I say hold on to that optimism.
It's worth protecting.
You know, I think if we're not careful you might wind up making me a better person, Jed.
Yeah.
Same.
I should, uh, check up on Finch real quick.
Uh, she's been handling the pack for me.
But after that, refills coming up.
Okay.
Hello, Ben.
Last time we met I didn't put up much of a fight.
I can promise you I won't be so easy to defeat this time.
Well, of course not, darling.
That's why I brought help.
I've been worrying about my girls today.
I'm glad you called.
No.
Nothing from Lizzie.
I know.
I think you and MG were right about Hope.
She's close.
So, whatever you're planning I think now's the opening you've been waiting for.
Not so scary, are you? Not yet.
But I'm getting stronger.
It's kind of weird how everything feels so normal.
What, given that Hope's been here less than 12 hours and hasn't put anyone into a coma yet? Very.
Which is a good sign, right? Ah, too soon to tell.
Call me paranoid, but I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Unless there's not another shoe.
There's always another shoe.
I think Hope's humanity is flickering, and we might be able to help nudge it along.
Like, if there's a way that we could force her to have a profound emotional discovery.
Like, if maybe she were to get trapped inside the, uh Therapy box? I think this one's broken.
- Shoe? - Shoe.
No desire to know what that means.
You know what? How about instead of wasting your energy trying to turn my humanity back on, we develop a battle plan? Battle plan? For what? For beating a couple of gods in immortal combat.
The sooner we do that, the sooner I can go back to living my lawless and carefree life.
We don't know anything about fighting gods, Hope.
Yeah, no kidding.
That's why I called the closest thing we have to an expert, who should be just showing up.
I hope I'm not interrupting.
Not at all.
You were right on time.
We're not doing this.
I told you, dudes.
I am not talking about my family.
Plus, you two's vibe is a little mall girl for me, you know? We're here to make amends.
Our previous request was impudent and without proper reverence.
We came with a gift to assuage your anger.
What? What my antiquated friend is trying to say is we heard the gods are into offerings, so we brought a bribe.
Shrimp tacos.
And some "special" brownies.
- Dude.
- Please.
Hearing about your family is a matter of great importance to us.
Fine.
But I'm gonna need all the brownies.
This is a Manticulum.
My own design.
It uses algorithmic magic to calculate probabilities.
How's that help us fight the gods? It can't, on its own.
We have to combine it with something else.
Something like that game that you, me and Landon played once.
That's why you're here, nerd.
Oh.
Oh! It's like a tabletop RPG.
Or, like, a super-accurate D&D campaign.
This thing is, like, smart dice that will tell us the outcome of any attack or defense.
We can use this to war game what would happen in an actual battle.
All we need to do is encode our powers into the Mant the Man uh - Manticulum.
- Manticulum.
So we need to rate everyone's skills, then.
Oh, I've already done that.
This is a pointless waste of time.
Well, we signed a contract.
We have to uphold our end of the deal.
A deal with a wish-granting jinni who enslaves people? We don't have another choice.
Behold.
Another choice.
Look, I don't like it any more than you do.
But we're still helping people get to Peace.
And helping our insufferable overlord get to Peace, too! Which would free everyone enslaved to him, including us.
We're doing this together.
All right, I'll talk to the poor wayward souls.
But I don't think you're gonna like what I say.
Meaning what? Meaning you help them get to Peace while I present a counterpoint.
Maybe it's better to not let things go.
To hold onto the past, and your anger, yeah.
Forgiveness is for suckers.
That's what I say! If we go back to the jinni without any coins, we're gonna get You're trying to get us fired.
Of course I am.
The only way to get out of a terrible job is to suck at it.
Buck up, lad.
We're already dead.
What's the worst he can do to us? Oh, hell nah.
You did me dirty.
They're just preliminary guesses, which is why we need to do some tests to confirm your stats.
Speed: 92? Mine's 94.
That's what I'm saying.
There's no way he's faster than me.
Actually, he might be.
But your dragon powers give you a plus-20 to defense and a plus-40 for offense.
In a straight fight, you can definitely beat him.
But he's got to catch me first.
Let's do this.
And go! Aw.
My powers? Right.
I have the teleportation and intangibility of a Pukwudgie.
I-I can also just turn invisible which must be from another monster, but, uh, we haven't figured out exactly which one yet.
It's-it's kind of like I have two different gas pedals, and-and I'm not always sure which one I'm-I'm pressing.
I see.
Well whenever you're ready, please, try to teleport across the room.
I am.
Well done, indeed.
My, uh, stat sheet is, uh, a little out of date.
But, um, she's basically, uh Human.
I know I'm not as impressive without using my magic, but I still want to fight.
I can't stand by and watch while my friends are in danger.
I'd say courage plus-ten.
I'd like to help.
I'm sure we're all keen to see what a god is capable of.
Demigod.
But I can't join you.
I'm forbidden from fighting against my family.
It's the other side of the curse my father put on me.
But I can tell you what they would do in a fight.
I should play the side of the enemy in this game.
Well, there's only one person left to test.
No test needed.
Right, Wayne? Uh, well, I made up a humanity-off sheet for her.
And she's basically the perfect fighter.
- Hmm.
- Uh, incredible magical power levels, unencumbered by morality, with no discernible weaknesses.
Except for one little thing.
She's seeing people who aren't really there.
This is your field of battle.
You can't ignore me forever.
Vampires can move across the board in one turn.
The speed of the gods varies.
And these are your opponents.
I took the liberty of creating some automatons for the purposes of our game.
Hopefully, I did them justice.
I haven't used magic to sculpt since the last Wizard Games.
Aurora de Martel.
My erstwhile student, Jen.
Her father, Ken.
The father of an entire family of gods.
And finally Elizabeth.
Lizzie wouldn't fight against us.
How much you willing to bet? I'm afraid Hope is right.
To be sure of victory, you must plan for the worst-case scenario.
And Elizabeth is a wild card.
But I scored her loyalty to the gods pretty low.
She can still be flipped back to our side.
The two sides will alternate turns, with the Manticulum declaring success or failure of your moves based on the scores we've fed it.
We'll draw for first move.
Left one.
Got to be the left one.
Right one.
The first move is yours.
Here's all you need to know about my family.
The gods are a bunch of douchebags.
Except for Chronos.
God of Time.
Never once forgot my birthday.
Get it? Because good with time.
They all thought I was a freak, because I didn't fit in.
They were into war and destruction, and I was more into construction.
I was a blacksmith.
An artist.
My father hated me for that.
His name is Ken.
He demanded I make weapons for the gods.
But I was like, "No way am I gonna make something that takes a life.
" So I offered to make armor to protect them.
My father cast me out.
Said I wasn't one of them.
Because I had the heart of a coward.
So I worked in my cave.
Alone.
Forgotten.
Until one day, out of nowhere, my dad actually came to see me.
And he used a word he had never said to me before.
Hello, Daughter.
Your skill at the forge is unparalleled.
Um, I'm pleased to find favor, My Lord.
Well, today it is your favor that I seek.
You offered me protection once.
And for the first time we need it.
I had never seen that look on his face before, so it took me a minute to figure out what it was.
My all-powerful father was afraid.
What does an omnipotent deity fear? Gods are only as powerful as people's belief in them, which had diminished over the years.
And then, the ultimate death sentence for a god came along.
A creature that could make the world forget you ever existed.
Malivore.
If we could just talk to Lizzie, we can flip her back to our side.
Our first move should be getting her to safety.
I'd listen to him.
You're wasting our first strike.
This is war, okay? People are gonna die.
She's valuable in war, Hope.
MG vamps to Lizzie.
Hey, beautiful.
Aurora attacks MG.
Aurora kills MG.
Which turns Lizzie to your side.
Ah, so not a total loss.
In a rage, Lizzie kills Aurora.
My father attacks Lizzie.
Lizzie dies.
Well, looks like we're gonna be going to another Lizzie funeral.
The probability of success has dropped to zero percent.
You lose.
Fascinating.
As soon as Lizzie died, there was simply no move you could make that would lead to victory.
- Why? - I don't know.
But I'd presume there's a reason she is invaluable to winning.
Okay, so we have to save Lizzie.
Let's go again.
Have I thanked you yet for getting us fired? This is way better.
How was I supposed to know Zied had other jobs he could assign us to? We should give that a moment.
Elvis.
What happened to you? I was mugged, little man.
I was walking down Mulberry Street, carrying a satchel full of coins when these fellas man, they jumped me out of nowhere.
Did a number on the ol' moneymaker.
And they took my bag, too.
Yeah, pray that heartless Smurf doesn't demote you to toilet duty.
Nah, nah, he knows it ain't my fault.
It's that gosh-darned bandit, man.
He's been bushwhacking Zied's couriers for the last month.
You're saying there's a bandit who's stealing from Zied? Well, that's very valuable information.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Oh, yeah, that's real original.
I'm shook up, man.
- No.
- Oh! Whoo Whatever you're thinking, no.
You've already made our lives worse once today.
Our enemy has an enemy.
What does that make him? A thief and a bully.
He's stealing coins that were rightfully earned.
What is the man we're working for right now doing, huh? You think by following the rules that you're doing more good than bad.
But that's just what people tell themselves when they can't see another way to do it.
Now, you can stay here and suffer if you must.
I'm finding another way.
Your chance of success drops to zero.
You lose again.
You're going about this all wrong.
Your problem is that you've already lost before you even make a move.
What's the matter? Nothing.
Aurora's older, so she's faster than our vampires.
Which means we should take her out and then save Lizzie.
Except seeing any of us in danger flips Lizzie back to our side, leaving her all alone.
And if we try to save her first, we still lose her.
It's almost like no matter what move we make We've already lost.
The problem is that we're going first.
I mean, we're facing them all at once.
We should be forcing them to fight us.
I told you to pick the left one.
Okay.
I decline the first move.
Aurora attacks Hope.
I throw up a shield.
Aurora is knocked off her feet.
Let's see how a vampire does against dragon fire.
Kaleb kills Aurora.
- All right.
- Yes! Now MG vamps to Lizzie.
My father attacks them.
MG is just fast enough.
They make it out before he strikes.
Yes! Lizzie is safe.
Let's go! - That's what I'm talking - Yes.
Let's do it! All right! Okay, let's kill some gods.
Still a mouth-breather, I see.
What are you doing? Looking for a drink.
There's only so much rah-rah camaraderie I can handle.
Brings out a side of me I'm not exactly a big fan of.
Hence, something to make team building a little bit more bearable.
You're gonna need more than you think.
Because we just had a breakthrough.
Hmm.
How many people did you lose? None.
Dr.
Saltzman realized why none of our attacks were working.
Instead of using our powers, we need to take theirs away.
Lizzie.
If we buy her enough time to turn back to our side, - she can siphon a god.
- That's why we needed to be saved.
She siphoned Jen.
And it weakened her enough that I could teleport her off the board and out of the fight.
I pulled off the jump that time.
Now it's just the big guy left.
And we need your help because we don't know what move to make now.
I know what I need to do next.
So, picture this.
My dad king of all bros asks for my help so that he can hide from a fight.
So that's why you made the sarcophaguses.
It was genius.
My family would be spelled to sleep until Malivore was destroyed and, as an incentive, my father promised a boon to whoever defeated Malivore and woke us up.
A boon is just god-talk for favor.
Interesting.
A favor from the gods.
Wait, Malivore's dead.
So why didn't your family wake up? Because I lied.
The spell to wake them up never existed.
After a millennia, my father was finally offering me a place in the family by his side.
But all I could think about was how he punished humans for every little thing with earthquakes, fires, floods.
My family were the real monsters, and I didn't want to be like them.
So I locked them up and destroyed the key.
You betrayed your own family.
Big time.
And if they ever wake up and find that out, I'm in for a world of hurt.
So I can't let anyone set them free.
Including you two dudes.
Down to just Ken now.
I think this is where the Tribrid steps in.
Not yet.
I'm gonna soften him with my pawns first.
Kaleb goes airborne.
My father pierces the sky with lightning.
The lightning kills Kaleb.
Fine, MG attacks.
MG dies.
My father moves forward.
You're up, Cleo.
Cleo dies.
Big surprise.
All right, now it's him versus me.
Skip to the end.
Who wins? I'm afraid he's still too strong.
Hope would lose.
Run it again.
Here's what I don't get.
If you wanted to rid the world of your family, you could've just tossed those fancy coffins into a volcano or something.
I didn't want to lose track of 'em.
What? I didn't want to lose track of them.
Or maybe you couldn't bring yourself to actually close the door on your family forever.
I totally get it.
I have this friend, Hope.
She has done some awful things.
But when I had the chance to put her down, couldn't do it.
Which makes me assume that it wasn't so easy to betray your family as you're pretending it was.
You never destroyed the key, did you? Yeah.
Families they got a weird hold on us, huh? I couldn't kill my family.
I definitely couldn't trust myself with that key, in case I chickened out.
So I had to put it where I could never get it again.
I had a half brother.
Ben.
My family treated him even worse than they did me.
He was chained to a rock to be eaten alive by monsters and then come back to life and do it all over again.
I used to sneak bread and water to him if I could.
It was our little secret.
But this time, I had a secret he couldn't know about.
It's just you.
Good news.
Our father's asleep.
I can finally set you free.
That wasn't enough.
I had to get rid of that key forever.
Quickly.
Release me.
We can still outrun him.
I'm sorry.
But the curse will remain as long as Father lives.
You will still be hunted by monsters every day of your life, but if you can get absorbed into Malivore, it can finally stop.
This is setting you free.
No.
No.
No! And then he was just gone.
Biggest bummer is the Malivore forgetting spell doesn't work on the gods.
I remember everything.
I remember the look on his face.
With Malivore dead wherever Ben is, he's there for eternity.
So, I'll never get the chance to apologize and explain that I hated what I had to do.
But I had already gone too far.
Sometimes the only way out is through.
Mm.
So sorry for your loss.
We now see that we were wrong.
If the key is lost forever, there is no way to raise the gods.
Mm.
Well, thank you so much for your time.
You have been exceedingly generous.
Okay.
Hey, dudes.
This was a decent hang.
We could do it again sometime? Yes.
Yes, let's do it again sometime.
They all attack.
He kills them all.
But they do real damage first.
I attack next.
It's not enough.
He defeats you.
- Need my help yet? - Shut up! We need more cannon fodder.
How many students are there at the school? - Hope! - If the vampires and the wolves attack him in waves, killing them is gonna keep him occupied - until - No! W-We're done.
Okay? You've been running us into the buzz saw all day like we're expendable! You only care about yourself.
So just leave us out of it.
'Cause this version of you it ain't worth dying for.
Looks like it's just you and me, kiddo.
You wanted my attention? Fine.
Let's talk.
Keep your voice down.
Otherwise people might think you're crazy.
Enough.
I've tried this your way and it hasn't worked.
Or you didn't go far enough.
No.
No more of these mind games and riddles.
Okay? Leave me alone.
Have you learned nothing today? Alone is the exact way you can't do it.
Like it or not, you need me.
Need you? The weak little girl who was manipulated by two different fake Landons and then couldn't bring herself to kill the real one? No.
I don't need anything from you.
Except for a way to win the game.
For once, the almighty Tribrid doesn't have the answer.
That's a scary feeling, isn't it? You're gonna have to listen to me.
Let's just talk about this.
We know where the key is.
But what we don't know is if we should even be doing this.
You heard what Jen said about her father.
We can't just wake that guy up.
He murders for fun.
Okay, we made an agreement, you and I.
An agreement to raise a god.
We're just changing which god we raise.
Jen said the god of time is decent.
So we wake him up instead.
Then we can go back and fix what went wrong without rolling the dice on Dad waking up cranky.
We're trying to be better people, remember? No more revenge.
No more bloodshed.
We just want our family back.
I'm sorry about Elizabeth.
How did she seem? When you saw her.
Lost.
I think recent events have left her a little adrift.
All the people she counted on the most to help her suddenly weren't there for her.
Including me.
Maybe this never should have been our fight to begin with.
They're still kids.
Dealing with more than any kids were meant to.
True.
That's to be expected.
Every generation makes a mess of it and has to pray the next generation can break the pattern, save the world.
These students are extraordinary.
If anyone can find their way, they can.
Including Lizzie.
I know what we should do.
I want to try again.
But this time, run it with my humanity on.
All right.
I've adjusted her stats.
I'll be honest, I don't see how this is much of a battle upgrade.
Much remains to be seen, Wade.
Your move, my dear.
I wouldn't send everyone in to weaken him.
I'd put myself in danger first because I can take it.
I hold the line as long as I can, giving them the best chance.
I attack Ken alone.
You do damage.
He's still standing.
My father calls down lightning.
You're wounded.
Your life force is down to 70%.
I vamp around him drawing his fire, distracting him.
My father keeps striking.
You're hit.
You can only run so long.
Life force to 40%.
I move into close-quarter combat, inside the reach of his lightning.
Your blows do damage, but you're too weak to block his.
My father keeps attacking.
He knocks you down.
30%.
Hope, you have to get out of there.
No.
I don't run.
I get back up.
He knocks you down again.
Your vision is blurring.
20%.
I get back up.
Five percent.
You have one move left.
I'll take the hit for her.
I take the next one.
We all do.
Lizzie would, too.
My father's alive.
- Calm yourself.
- I can't calm down.
My dad's already back, which means this whole plan is pointless.
But if I don't go through with it, then this stupid blood pact will turn me into brisket.
No, it won't.
Because I won't consider you quitting a betrayal.
Go to him.
If I could have Tristan back, I wouldn't let some silly brand keep me from that.
You're not just trying to trick me into betraying you? Look, once upon a time, I absolutely would have, but we're trying to be better people, are we not? I can't deprive you of your happiness when it's right there in front of you.
I will raise the god of time to get my family back.
You go to yours.
Thank you.
And if raising him doesn't work? Then I'll do whatever I have to.
But if you try to raise Ken, I'll have to tell my dad.
They'll try and stop you.
We all will.
Then I would consider that a betrayal.
Then I die.
You have a choice to make, Elizabeth.
Stop now, risk losing everything.
Or keep going.
Help me raise the better god and see it through to the end.
They score another hit on Ken.
I don't understand.
What changed? She's giving them courage.
A belief they can win.
Having the real Hope as their leader, it's increasing each of their powers.
It might just be enough.
My father retreats.
Yes.
Let's go.
It's time to finish him.
We attack as one.
You succeed! Yes! Yes! Yeah! That was rather exciting.
See? We can win.
Just turn it all back on.
Let me out before you lose control.
This is all just a stupid game.
No, it's not real.
It's just a spreadsheet.
You are pathetic.
Little boys role-playing war.
And you're all gonna die.
Don't you see that? You're just disposable.
I mean, you mean nothing to me.
- Hope.
- And you.
You're a liar.
And a martyr.
And you're never gonna save the people that you love because you're just not strong enough.
What are you all doing?! Don't you see I'm about to kill you all?! Someone take me out! Someone take me out! The therapy box is good as new.
And I've added a few settings.
An upgrade, if you will.
I've heard you were quite skilled at magic yourself.
I'm afraid those days might be behind me.
Perhaps.
Perhaps not.
May I? I find it rather curious that you experience pain when trying to do magic.
Most of the time, when a witch loses her connection to magic, it's all or nothing.
We often associate pain with something going wrong.
In reality, pain is merely a signal that something is changing.
Hey.
Look, I know I'm not supposed to be putting myself in charge of protecting you, but today wasn't cool.
I'm not okay with none of that.
- Now, I can't stand by - No, no, you're right.
I think it's time to figure out what is happening with me.
Hey, man.
That was one hell of a jump you pulled off in the game, E.
Yeah, it felt good to finally be in control for once.
But it also made me realize that, if I don't get better at my own powers, people might die.
Um or it it could happen either way.
Wade told me that, in the final moments of the battle, at least two of us would have died.
There's no version of us winning without losing someone.
I think you and I should make a promise.
That, no matter what, it won't be Lizzie.
No matter what, it won't be her.
Whatever shall I do?! This bag of coins is so heavy! Hope my tired muscles are strong enough to haul this take to Zied! Laying it on a little thick, don't you think? Ah.
I see.
You're here to scuttle my plan the same way I interfered with yours.
No, I'm here to help.
With my bags full of all the coins I earned today! What happened to your high-minded ideals about following the rules? We're partners.
The first rule is you don't leave each other behind.
Though I still think this is a bad idea.
What if this Bandit is, like, I don't know Vlad the Impaler? Oh, Vlad was a softie deep down.
Okay, just do me one favor if this Bandit guy is worse than the jinni, we find another way.
Deal! I have no desire to swap one tyrant for another.
Get off me! To theoretical victory.
Ugh, I am so glad that's over.
Thinking like my father is one of the more unpleasant things I've ever done.
Felt awful, having to kill you all.
Really? You feel bad about something? Wow.
Are you suggesting that I'm How do you say it? Uh, a downer? Well, just, um not exactly an optimist.
But I did feel optimistic today.
For the first time ever, I saw that there's a chance.
However small and fragile that someone could finally stop my family.
Silly to get my hopes up, I'm sure.
Well, today I got a crash course reminder in how short and unpredictable life can be.
Made me want to appreciate all the good things and the good people while we have them.
So I say hold on to that optimism.
It's worth protecting.
You know, I think if we're not careful you might wind up making me a better person, Jed.
Yeah.
Same.
I should, uh, check up on Finch real quick.
Uh, she's been handling the pack for me.
But after that, refills coming up.
Okay.
Hello, Ben.
Last time we met I didn't put up much of a fight.
I can promise you I won't be so easy to defeat this time.
Well, of course not, darling.
That's why I brought help.
I've been worrying about my girls today.
I'm glad you called.
No.
Nothing from Lizzie.
I know.
I think you and MG were right about Hope.
She's close.
So, whatever you're planning I think now's the opening you've been waiting for.