Emergence

"Emergence" is the 10th episode of Sweet Escape, as well as its first season's finale.

Plot
Inside the secret underground base in a flashback, Josh is sat wearing a suit and sitting at a very expensive desk, surrounded by numerous priceless and bizarre objects. In one corner of the room stands a pure silver ball, about two feet high, on a shelf are some strange looking bones that belong to something we’ve never seen before, and the plants that are decorating the room are something we have not discovered so far. He’s on the phone to somebody and he does not look happy, in fact he looks rather panicked…in an angry way. “The illumination problem is spreading all across the tunnels” he complains to the person on the other end, “We cannot wait any longer…my people are suffering!” he yells. The person on the other line replies. “Look, do you or do you not have a solution?” Josh asks; the person on the other line replies negatively, infuriating Josh, who slams his fist on his desk, “God damn it! You’ve had years warning! Years to come up with a solution for me…and you bring me nothing” Josh states aggressively. The person on the other line begs for more time, stating they can help, but Josh wants to hear none of it, “Look, you have had your chance” he begins, “I’ve given you enough warning to come up with something that can help both of us…but you leave me no choice. It’s going to happen” he explains sternly. “You can’t do this!” the person on the other line yells, terrified out of their mind, Josh smiles evilly, “Watch me” he says, “Now you know the drill, give me a name” he orders the person. The person asks why they’d give a name since they’re out of time. “Because perhaps once I have them it’ll be a last minute motivation for you to come up with a clever little idea” he says condescendingly. The person refuses to give a name, “Look, if you don’t then I’m going to come after your family…and then you. I’ll leave you until last. Now for the last time give me a name” he demands angrily. The person on the other line gives in, defeated, and tells him a name. “Alison Morris?” he asks for confirmation. The person on the other line confirms this is the name. Josh smiles, “And where can I find Miss Morris?” he asks.

“It’s time to begin” Valentina states, looking at both Alison and Josh. Alison aims her gun at the group standing before her and she starts to squeeze the trigger. As the gun is aimed at the group, they begin to cower in fear. Bang. A shot is fired and the sound sends a sudden chill down everybody’s spine. Alison falls to the floor, dead. Josh is standing behind her, holding a gun the gun that has just been fired, his face is void of any emotion. Ben, Rena, Joe, Mary and Joanna look at the corpse of Alison Morris before them with immense shock…but also relief. Liz, however, falls to her knees and bursts out into tears…having just witnessed her best friend being murdered. Josh looks carelessly at his gun and then throws it behind him; apparently fed up with it, “I was bored playing games with her any longer” he huffs, walking towards Valentina and Justine. Everyone is left speechless and with a thousand questions that they didn’t know how to ask. “Y-You just…killed her…” Rena states in utter shock. Josh nods, “Yes”, everyone is so confused at his response, “But you loved her” Joe points out. Josh scoffs, “I can assure you that I did not” he responds, almost laughing. Liz is still on the floor, alone, completely devastated, “Are you quite done, Elizabeth?” he asks her, in a hurry. Liz stands to her feet and clutches her fists, “You’re a monster…” she growls at him, “You played with innocent people’s lives for some sick game!” she yells. “Yes and you’re a ginger who has caused the death of millions of people’s innocent lives. We can play the naming game all day long but we must hurry, please” he tells her, remaining elegant. Josh looks at the motionless group with confusion, “What’re you doing?” he asks, “Get in the elevator” he tells them, pointing towards Val, Justine and Mary. “Aw hell no I ain’t going anywhere with you” Joanna says stubbornly. Josh rolls his eyes and sighs, “Justine…” the blonde draws a knife from her back pocket an aims it right against Mary’s neck. Josh holds his arms out, asking if that’s enough motivation for them to come with him. He walks towards the lift and stands with his colleagues. Ben soon follows behind, wanting to stay on the good side of the powerful people. The cowardly Joe follows soon after that. Joanna and Liz join the group soon enough. They’re left waiting for Rena, who refuses to join. A frustrated Josh sighs, “Oh for Christ’s sake” he mutters, “Do I have to harm your little girlfriend to convince you to get on the fucking elevator?!” he yells. Rena stops for a moment to think and then he finally starts walking towards the lift. However, as he does so, he quickly runs towards the gun that Josh dropped, aims it at him and shoots…but no bullets come out. Rena is left with a horrified look on his face, Josh simply smiles, “Bad choice” he winks. He gives a small nod to Justine who stabs Mary in the arm with the knife. She howls with pain, “Next time it’ll be her skull!” Josh tells Rena in a threatening tone. Mary begins with sweat with fear, confusion and pain. Rena finally gives in and drops the gun, joining the rest of the group. “Glad you could join us” Josh smiles. Rena glares evilly in return, “I’m going to fucking murder you” he states. Josh smiles, “You know, you’re welcome” he says. Rena rolls his eyes, “For what?” he grumbles. “Saving your life” Josh smiles. A sudden look of shock overtakes Josh, “Oh dear, in the excitement of everything I almost forgot…Justine, go and fetch Alison’s corpse please”. Justine does as she’s told and picks up the corpse effortlessly. She returns to the lift and drops the body onto the floor, disgusting everyone around it. Josh looks at it and smiles before activating the elevator, causing the walls to close up and then the inside to descend underground.

On the way down in the elevator, there is an awkward silence as the unlikely group of people are forced to share the same small area of space with a corpse laid right in front of them. Liz is stood as far away from her friend as she can, trying not to look at the body. Ben moves towards Val, who gives him an odd look in return. “You know… I always liked a powerful, dominant woman” he says seductively. Val examines the man and smiles, “You look like a man of great intelligence” she points out. Ben smiles, flattered, “What makes you think that?” he wonders. “The fact that you realize I am powerful and dominant” she smiles. “Pretty too” he adds, Val grins, flattered. Josh rolls his eyes at the awkward exchanges between the two. Meanwhile, Rena is kneeling down on the ground with Mary, who is sat down, exhausted and in pain. She is trying to hold back her tears as she is so confused about what is happening, having missed Alison’s explanation speech. “What the fuck is going on?” she asks tiredly. Joanna chuckles “Oh honey boo there’s a lot we need to tell you” she comments. “We’ll explain later” Rena assures the girl before attending to her wounds. After making sure she’s okay and hasn’t got any serious damage, he stands up and squares up to Valentina, “You do this to her?” he asks angrily. Val doesn’t respond, she just stares at him emotionlessly. Rena is highly confused by the woman’s behaviour, “What the hell is wrong with you?” he asks, pushing her slightly. Justine suddenly intervenes, pushing Rena away from her superior, “Touch her with those again and you’ll lose them” she states sternly. Rena shakes his head and ignores the women. He turns his attention to Josh and demands an explanation of what is going on, “Why did you kill Alison?” he asks. “Well, other than the fact that she was going to kill all of you…? I was done with her. I simply needed a way to get you all here” he explains, Rena wonders why them, so Josh explains that there is no reason, “I just needed five people to help me with something” he explains. Rena points out that there are six of them, “Yeah…one of you is gonna help in a different way” he states. Rena is confused and asks what he’s talking about, “Never mind that” Josh says, “You wanted me to explain what’s going on? Why I killed Ali? Well, we needed her blood” he explains. Liz is hurt deeply by the mention of needing Alison’s blood. “Lots of her blood” Josh adds.

After finding out the location where he can find Alison, Josh stands waiting at his “charity stall”, waiting for Ali to make herself present to him. We flash to Ali stealing from Josh and then being chased down by him. Once he catches her, they both seem to fall in love at first sight…but Josh is simply putting on an act. “I’m going to help you. You want food? I’ll take you out for dinner” he tells her. Ali can’t help but smile at the offer given by the handsome man. Inside a local restaurant, Ali and Josh sit at a small table together as they look at the wine menus. Ali is wearing a pretty dress that was given to her by Josh, “You really didn’t have to do all of this” Ali points out, enjoying the pampering nonetheless. Josh shakes his head, “Nonsense, you’re a beautiful girl and you deserve the best” he smiles. Ali blushes, “Well you’re very handsome too” she replies. Josh smiles happily, “So I must ask, what drove you to stealing?” he wonders. Ali gets a nervous look and becomes slightly shy, “It’s a long story really…I’ve just had a bad life” she points out. Josh nods as he listens, “I take it that people are to blame” he supposes. Ali nods with a slight smile, a sad smile, “Yeah, I guess you could say that” she says meekly. “They hurt you bad?” he asks, feigning sympathy. Ali gives an angry look as she thinks about the people that have hurt her and tears form in her eyes, “Yeah. I’ve been hurt bad” she states. Josh notices the anger in Alison’s face. She suddenly shrugs everything off and wipes her eyes, “Oh my God, I shouldn’t be talking about this” she tries to laugh, “Let’s move onto something else. Something nicer” she suggests. “What would you say if I could help you?” Josh proposes to Ali, she is confused and intrigued, “What do you mean? Help me with what?” she wonders. “I can help you get back at those who have hurt you” he tells her, she seems interested. “Get back? Like, revenge?” she asks, clearly tempted. Josh smiles. Ali is shocked and speechless at this offer, but she clearly wants to take it. She tries to think of what to say, clearly conflicted, “Excuse me while I just go to the bathroom and clear my head” she says, standing up and leaving to the toilet. Once she’s gone, the waiter brings the food to the table. Josh takes out a small needle containing a yellow substance from his back pocket and he looks at it menacingly before injecting a small amount into Ali’s food. Once he puts the needle away, Alison returns to the table, clearly having thought over Josh’s proposal. “I’m in” she tells him, “Excellent” Josh smiles. Then two begin eating their food. We see a montage of moments over the next couple of months. Josh is seen injecting Alison’s food with more and more small amounts of the yellow substance. We see them at a picnic; Alison unknowingly eats the poisoned food. We see them at a house, eating a takeaway; Alison unknowingly eats the poisoned food. And we see them on a night out drinking; Alison unknowingly drinks the poisoned beverage.

Back in the present, the elevator finally reaches its destination. The doors open and the group are met by the blinding white walls and floor before them. Everybody steps out of the elevator, including Justine who carries the corpse of Alison effortlessly. She then drops it to the ground when they stop walking and stand in the middle of the hall. Josh suddenly remembers something, “Oh, right” he says before turning to Val and punching her square in the face, “That’s for sending spies after me. Remember your place” he says viciously. Valentina falls back as the punch hits her, causing Justine to rush after her, screaming “Mother!”. Val holds her cheek with pain and Justine attends to it to make sure she’s okay. “Wait, whut?! Bitch did you just call her mother?” a shocked Joanna asks Justine. “Yes! She’s my mother!” Justine angrily yells at the black woman, not understanding her confusion. “But you be like the same age. OHMAGOD ARE YOU THE GIRL THAT GAVE BIRTH AT LIKE 2 YEARS OLD. Ohma how she fit our your beef curtains” Joanna asks, intruiged. Valentina rolls her eyes at Joanna, “I’m a lot older than you think” Val reveals. “What you use some like special cream? Girl you gonna have to give me a name cos damn bitch you lookin fine” Joanna says excitedly. Val moves her hand away from her cheek, revealing no blood…however, what she reveals is something far more shocking and disgusting. Val’s skin has peeled off, revealing a scaly grey layer of skin underneath. Everyone is shocked and grossed out by the grey skin. “EWW GIRL I THINK YOU GOT SOME DISEASE ON YOUR FACE!! Is it contagious!? OMG does your vagina look like that? OMG Will MY vagina look like that if I touch you?!” Joanna panics. Valentina sighs and then looks at Josh, giving him a look that is asking for confirmation. Josh shrugs his shoulders, “They’re gonna have to find out sooner or later” he points out. “Okay” Valentina says before ripping her beautiful pale skin off. Everybody is horrified at the sight of this; Joe even vomits on the ground. Once all the skin is peeled off of her face, all that remains is a dark grey scaly skin. Her head is bald, she has small beady eyes that have a tint of gold in them. Everyone is completely stunned at the sight they’re looking at. “W-W-What the fuck?!” Rena screams, horrified and sickened. “These are my people” Josh smiles. Everyone’s minds are spinning as they stare at the strange creature standing before them. Nobody knows what to say, “What is going on?!” Mary asks, super confused, “Why do you look like that??” she asks, disgusted. In less than a second, Valentina regenerates the pale skin and black hair she once had, disguising her horrible grey interior. “Are…Are you an alien?” a scared Joe asks her. Valentina is enraged by this question, “NO! We were here long before you took over the surface!” she yells. Josh tells her to calm down and asks her to let the group cool down for a moment since they’ve taken in a lot of information. “Are you one of them too?” Rena asks Justine, she nods. The group are shocked that there is more than one of these creatures. Rena is stunned, “I can’t think…” he struggles, “But what you’re telling us is that you’re not human?” he asks for confirmation, “This has to be some sort of prank”. “No, we’re not human. Not directly. We’re the originals” she explains. Ben smiles and approaches Valentina, “So…” he says, biting his lip, “What do you plan on doing? Taking over humans?” he wonders, “Because I would be more than happy to help” he offers, smiling wickedly. Valentina seems intrigued by the man’s apparent lack of love for humanity, “Really? Well, I’m sure we could use someone of your…determination” she smiles. Ben gets close to her face and smiles too, their lips almost meet. He then turns around, grabs a sword from Justine and prepares to thrust it into Valentina. However, the blonde woman grabs him before he’s able to succeed and she holds the sword to his neck. Valentina smiles evilly, “Pity, for a moment there I actually respected you” she sighs. Ben struggles angrily, attempting to break free from the grasp of the strong Justine. “C’mon, let him go” Rena pleas. Josh nods, “Oh I will…if you all cooperate and help me” he explains, “In fact all of you will be able to leave with your lives if you cooperate” he promises them. A sudden thought comes to Rena, “Are… Are you one of them too?” he asks. Josh is silent for a moment, “No” he states bluntly.

A short while later, after everyone has had chance to calm down and process all the information they’ve been told, Josh turns to Val and orders her to power up the machine, “Oh, and take Alison with you. You know what to do” he tells her. Valentina nods and carries the body down the long white hallway before leaving everyone’s sight when she enters a room. She closes the door behind her. “What do you need with Alison’s body?” Ben asks, still in the grasp of Justine with the sword against his neck. “Good question” Josh points as he paces around the group, “Her blood is unique” he explains. The group are confused, “What do you mean ‘unique’?” Joe asks. “Another good question” Josh smiles as he begins to pace again. “The cells in Alison’s bloodstream have miraculously combined with a substance I call Illumination” he begins. “What’s Illumination?” Rena asks, Josh explains that it is a rare substance found deep underground the earth and then he describes it to have a thick yellow texture. Rena realizes something, “That’s the stuff that killed Rocky…” he says quietly to himself. “Rocky’s dead?” Joe asks, heartbroken. Rena confirms this an explains that Rocky found some of the Illumination and ate it, poisoning him, “Why didn’t it kill Ali?” he asks. Josh explains to her that he was giving her small doses over a large period of time which allowed the cells in her body to adapt and combine with the Illumination on a molecular level. Rena disgusted by the thought of this, “Why…?” he asks simply. “Because it acts as a key” Josh explains. “A key to what?” Mary wonders, so Josh explains that he needs to activate a machine. “What machine?” Mary asks sternly, Josh smiles, “Look, I really don’t have all day to answer questions” he points out. “Why are we here?!” Mary yells at him. Josh sighs and explains that another key to the machine is handprint activation from five human beings and five of Valentina and Justine’s species. “Sounds like a lot of work for some stupid machine” Mary scoffs. Josh smiles condescendingly, “It’s not a stupid machine” he snarls, “It’ll change the world”. Everyone is slightly nervous. Rena thinks to himself again and then realizes something odd, “You said that this Illumination is rare and found underground…but I found it coming out of a vent in the middle of Montana” he points out, baffled. “Ah, yeah, those vents are ours” Josh explains. Rena asks what they’re for, “Well the Illumination has begun causing a problem for my people you see… It’s spreading and harming us. We tried sending it elsewhere but there’s just too much of it” he explains. “So we ask you again, why are we here?” Rena asks firmly, “Because we’ve run out of time”.

A short while after, the group are stood waiting when the silence is interrupted by a loud electrical humming sound. Rena, Joe, Ben, Mary, Liz and Joanna all look around nervously, but Josh and Justine smile, knowing what is happening. Valentina exits the room and returns to the group, announcing to her leader, Josh, that it’s started, “It’s time for them to come with us” she tells him. Justine begins following Valentina to the room, bringing Ben with her, still holding the knife to his throat. Josh looks towards the rest and simply gives them a head signal, telling them to come with him. As he starts walking, Josh looks behind himself to see them all standing still, “Come!” he orders them. The group stand their ground, “Come or he dies” Josh snarls, pointing at Ben. Rena steps forward, “Why us?” he asks, Josh asks what he’s talking about. “Why does it have to be us? Why have you done this to us?” he asks. “You mean why I brought you all here…? Because, sorry to disappoint you, but there’s no special reason why you were chosen” he states. Rena asks why again, Josh smiles, “To be honest it was more of a game. I needed a person’s blood so I got Alison’s. I needed people to activate the machine so I got you guys, thought it’d be fun to make her actually think she was getting revenge” he sniggers. Mary is disgusted, “This isn’t a game” she tells him, “These are people’s lives you have messed with!” she yells at him, “Innocent people’s lives!” “Well from what Alison seemed to say about all of you I don’t think any of you are really that innocent” Josh says intimidatingly, “Now get in that fucking room before I kill you all in the slowest and most agonising way possible!” he screams at them. They all give in and enter the room.

Everybody enters the room that Valentina walked into earlier and they’re horrified by the sight of Alison’s body hanging from the roof with cuts all over her body and missing limbs and skin. Everyone is mortified as they see it, especially Liz, who turns away an almost breaks down into tears. In the centre of the room is a large circular white machine with ten glass panels going all the way around it, five on each side. Ben, still in the clutch of Justine, points out that he thought they needed five of both species to activate the machine. Josh confirms that this is true and then opens a door, releasing Officer Balk, Aliza Stonebrooke and Edie Winters. Joanna is shocked to see the two cops that arrested her - and Rena, Joe, Mary and Liz are shocked to see the officer that arrested them. They’re speechless, “You’re one of them?!” Mary asks. “Oh, really Mary? After everything that you’ve learned THIS shocks you?” Josh says mockingly. He reveals that it’s now time to activate the machine so orders everybody to place their hand on the panel. Edie, Aliza, Balk and Val move to their posts and place their hands down. Justine moves her mouth close to Ben’s ear “Try anything stupid and I’ll spill your guts” she hisses before releasing him, pushing him to the floor and then moving towards the panel. Josh looks towards the fugitives and lets out a frustrated sigh, “You have got to be the most stubborn group of people I have ever met” he complains, “Do as I say!” he orders them. Joanna, Rena, Joe, Ben and Mary do as they’re told. Liz stands there, watching Josh with evil eyes. “Good. Five of you, now Elizabeth, be a dear and enter the code” he says, smiling at her. “No” she states. An annoyed Josh asks “What?” so Elizabeth tells him that she’s done with his sick games. “I will not participate in this” she insists. Josh rolls his eyes and then pulls out a gun, “Is that enough motivation for you?” he asks. Liz stands her ground, “Do it. At least then I’ll know you failed. You should have given me more time” she tells him. Rena is confused, “You know him?” he asks her. Liz doesn’t respond, she simply takes a deep breath and tells Josh to shoot her. A furious Josh cocks his gun and aims it at the ginger. As he squeezes down on the trigger, a sudden voice shouts “Stop!”. Josh lowers the gun and turns around to Valentina, who shouted for him to stop. “How dare you give me orders” he hisses at her. “Sorry sir” Valentina says, moving towards Liz and holding her belly. Liz pushes Val’s hand away from her. Val stares deeply at Liz’s stomach with her golden eyes and then smiles sweetly, she turns to Josh and reveals, “She is with child”. Everybody is completely stunned. Liz is mortified, “What?!” she asks, nearly breaking down as all the memories from the rape return to her. “You want me to spare the child?” Josh asks Valentina, who points out that it’d be wise. “Very well” he says before turning around and shooting Joanna in the gut. The black woman falls to the floor, howling with pain. Liz rushes to her aid to assist her and everyone else is completely horrified. “What have you done?!” Liz angrily asks Josh, “She was the punishment for your failure. Her death is on you” he tells the ginger. “Guess I’m going to have to take her place” on the panel Josh states as he places his hand down. “YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Joanna yells from the floor, “Oh god it hurts to frickin bad!! It’s like I’m pregnant with a rake!” she cries with pain. Liz is almost in tears as she tries to help the wounded woman. Josh orders Liz and the rest to do their jobs, threatening to hurt more people. They do as they’re told. Ben, Rena, Joe and Mary join Josh on the human half of the panel, placing their hands down. On the other half Val, Justine, Balk, Aliza and Edie place their hands down on the panels. In a nearby computer, Elizabeth begins entering a code. As she’s about to press enter, she gets an intense look of guilt on her face. She pushes the button. The whole room begins flashing green and Josh smiles triumphantly.

In a flashback, Liz is sat in a laboratory, talking on the phone to someone, “The illumination problem is spreading all across the tunnels” the person complains, it’s Josh, “We cannot wait any longer…my people are suffering!” he yells. Liz replies, trying to earn herself some time. “Look, do you or do you not have a solution?” Josh asks; Liz replies negatively, infuriating Josh, who slams his fist on his desk, “God damn it! You’ve had years warning! Years to come up with a solution for me…and you bring me nothing” Josh states aggressively. Liz begs for more time, stating they can help, but Josh wants to hear none of it.

In the middle of America, in a large deserted field, a hole begins to crack in the ground, finally forming a full hole leading underground. In Africa, all the exotic animals such as Zebra and Giraffe are scared away as a giant hole begins to form in the ground. The same happens all over the world, dozens of holes emerging in every country. In New York City, a large hole emerges in the ground, shaking the nearby area, scaring everybody away. Once the shaking settles, hundreds of curious people approach the mysterious hole to look inside. They’d soon regret this. Out from the holes emerges a giant insect looking spider with armoured leg that can effortlessly dig through the ground. It has sharp teeth and dozens of eyes, watching all the terrified civilians. Followed by this creature, which is about the size of a double-decker bus, are dozens of the grey skinned scaly creatures similar to what Valentina looked like, armed with guns. Several taller brown scaled creatures follow, screeching in loud high pitched downs, deafening people around them. All the innocent civilians flee with fear as the bloodthirsty creatures begin slaughtering them in cold blood. This happens all across the world. Millions of people die instantly.

Back in the base, Mary and Joe are cowering with the wounded Joanna. They all felt the sudden shake in the earth and instantly knew that whatever they caused was big and bad. They’re all crying except for Ben, but surprisingly for him, he shows a sign of sadness and guilt on his face. “What happens to us now?” a crying Joe asks. Josh approaches the young boy and injects something into his neck. At the same time, Val, Justine, Balk, Aliza and Edie inject the same thing into Liz, Rena, Mary Ben and Joanna’s necks, getting them all at the same time as a surprise. “What the hell is that?” a furious Ben asks, rubbing his neck. “Just a way to make sure you all get out safely” Josh smiles. Ben begins to ask what that means, but he starts to drift off, as do the rest of the group. They all eventually fall to the floor, losing consciousness. Josh, Val and Justine stand towering over the fugitives, smiling down at them, “We’ve made our move, now you make yours. See you on the battlefield” their leader says dauntingly. Seconds later, Rena, Ben, Joe, Mary, Liz and Joanna all fall unconscious and everything turns to black.

15 Years Later Josh, Val, Justine, Rena, Ben, Joe, Mary, Liz and Joanna are all trapped in a room. Kristi, a psychotic prostitute enters the room and decapitates Rena with it. "NO" Joe cries, standing up and running into the chainsaw to end his misery. "You're such a mean bitch" Ben tells Kristi, being shortly decapitated afterwards. "Who's next?" Kristi asks, turning to Val and Justine before inserting the weapon into their stomachs, sending innards everywhere. Mary and Liz cry every time. Joanna laughs, "SHUT UP NIGGER" Kristi yells, kicking her in the balls. Liz faints so Kristi stomps on her head, exploding it. ":O" Mary gasps, before being decapitated. Josh and Joanna stand up crying, they hold hands and share a goodbye kiss. In one single sweep the chainsaw goes through their necks. Their bodies drop to the floor, Joanna's cracks it. Rachel, Kristi's lover enters the room and spanks her ass. "Let's go" she smiles. They leave and get in a car. They drive off a cliff in sweet romance.