DEAD STAR

[PAGE 1]

[Scene: Observatory – Battle Aftermath]

The observatory is wrecked. Pillars fractured. Debris everywhere. Rain stands in the center, the glow fading from his veins. His blade hums, then dims. A long silence lingers. Wind whispers through shattered glass above.

MOURN (off-panel):

Impressive...

Your power might surpass what I expected.

[Panel: Mourn sits calmly against a cracked wall, unbothered despite the chaos.]

RAIN (breathing hard):

So what? You done?

You came all this way just to get humbled?

MOURN (chuckling):

Humbled?

No.

I came to see what you were becoming.

And now... I've seen enough.

[PAGE 2]

[Mourn slowly stands. The air warps around him.]

MOURN (coldly):

Grow strong, Rain.

Let the stars burn brighter inside you.

Because when you finally reach your peak...

That's when I'll take it all.

[Rain's eyes widen. Mourn's silhouette begins to dissolve into black star particles.]

MOURN (last words before fading):

You are the one.

The next bearer of Astrael.

And soon…

You'll burn just like the rest.

[PAGE 3]

[Rain is alone now. The room is dead quiet. His blade lowers slightly. His knees shake.]

RAIN (to himself):

He was gonna kill me.

He could've killed me.

[Panel: He drops to his knees, panting.]

RAIN (thinking):

What the fuck was that?

That power… That voice… It wasn't just me.

It felt like—

Home?

[Small flashback image: A child under a blanket fort. Star map glowing. Father's hand pointing to the sky.]

RAIN (internal):

No.

Don't start thinking that shit.

He's dead.

Long gone.

[PAGE 4]

[Soft shimmer in the background – Moon Person appears again. Same awkward human disguise. This time wearing a "NASA drip" hoodie with fake Yeezys.]

MOON PERSON (grinning):

Rain...

Now you got the juice.

[Pause panel – Rain stares at them like they farted in a funeral.]

RAIN (flatly):

Bro…

Did you just quote Juice?

MOON PERSON:

Is that not… a compliment?

I thought that line SLAPPED. Tupac? He was HIM, no?

RAIN:

You sound like an undercover cop tryin' to fit in at a cookout.

You tryna be racist or just socially inept?

MOON PERSON (panicking):

NO! No! I downloaded 9,000 Earth films! Juice was trending under Black Classics. It came with… Space Jam and Baby Boy.

RAIN:

I need you to shut the fuck up immediately.

[PAGE 5]

[Moon Person kneels down beside him, less goofy now. They lower their voice.]

MOON PERSON:

Okay…

Bad timing.

But the point stands.

You felt it, didn't you?

That warmth. That presence.

That wasn't just adrenaline.

RAIN (quiet):

...So it was something.

MOON PERSON (serious now):

That power... it answered you.

But it comes with consequences.

And soon—there will be Trials.

[PAGE 6]

[Panel: Stars begin to shine above the cracked observatory dome.]

MOON PERSON (voice-over):

Other forces will notice you now.

You'll be tested. Pushed. Torn apart and rebuilt.

Not everyone survives.

And not everyone should.

RAIN:

You mean Mourn?

MOON PERSON:

Mourn is just the beginning.

You're a beacon now, Rain.

You're glowing across dimensions.

You're a walking flare to every star-hungry demon in existence.

[PAGE 7]

[Rain finally rises, gripping his blade again.]

RAIN:

And what?

I'm supposed to just deal with that?

Carry this power around like some fucking target?

MOON PERSON:

You don't have a choice.

But you do have a warning:

This gift…

can become a curse.

RAIN (scoffing):

You don't say.

[PAGE 8]

[Wide Panel – Rain walks toward the edge of the observatory, looking up at the stars. His back to the viewer.]

RAIN (thinking):

So Mourn's gonna wait 'til I'm strong…

Let me train myself into extinction just to feed on me later.

[Panel – His hand tightens around his blade's hilt.]

RAIN:

Cool.

Then I'll just have to become something he can't consume.

[PAGE 9]

[Final Panel – Close-up of Rain's face, lit by the stars above. Determined. Angry. Focused.]

RAIN (thinking):

Fuck fate.

Fuck destiny.

And fuck Mourn.

I don't care if this is a gift or a curse…

I'll turn it into a weapon.

[PAGE 10]

[Scene: Abandoned Observatory – Post-Battle]

Ash still hangs in the air. Rain's body is sore, blood crusted on his lip. His blade rests across his shoulder, humming faintly. The stars are quiet now—but not gone.

RAIN (thinking):

It wasn't a fight. It was a message.

And I heard it loud and clear.

I'm not ready.

But someone… something… thinks I can be.

[SFX: BUZZZZZZZ — Phone vibrating]

[Screen: "DAWN 💀 — 8 MISSED CALLS"]

RAIN (answering):

Dawn? What's wrong?

DAWN (panicked):

Just come home. Now. Please. It's urgent.

Click.

RAIN (thinking):

If she's hurt… if Mourn found her…

God help this whole planet.

[PAGE 11]

[Scene: Rooftops – Pre-Dawn Light]

Rain vaults off buildings like muscle memory. He's fast—unnaturally fast now. His feet barely touch down. A meteor shoots behind him in the sky.

RAIN (thinking):

I'm coming, Dawn.

Don't you fucking die on me.

[PAGE 12]

[Scene: Apartment – Balcony Shatters Open]

SFX: CRASH—!!

Rain dives through the door, eyes wild, glowing faintly.

RAIN (yelling):

DAWN?!

[PAGE 13]

[Scene: Living Room – Completely Calm]

Dawn sits cross-legged on the couch, blanket over her lap. A handmade sign in glitter marker: "INTERVENTION." A tray of snacks. Luna the cat lounges smugly beside her.

RAIN (out of breath):

You're not bleeding.

DAWN (dry):

Thanks for noticing. Welcome to your intervention.

RAIN:

…You made a banner.

DAWN:

Yeah. Glitter glue and everything. Now sit your cosmic ass down.

[PAGE 14]

[Rain sits on the floor like a child caught doing something wrong.]

DAWN:

You've been scaring the shit out of me. You're talking to walls, eating like a damn cryptid, meditating with forks—

You called the bathroom mirror a "dimensional leak."

RAIN:

It was! Something blinked back at me.

DAWN (ignoring):

You haven't slept. You barely blink. You said the fridge tried to offer you a quest. A fridge, Rain.

RAIN (muttering):

It was a side quest, but I declined.

DAWN (rubbing her temples):

Okay, WHAT DRUGS are you on? Seriously. Coke? Acid? Angel Dust? Cosmic meth?

RAIN (quietly):

Dawn… I've seen things I can't explain. I've felt fire in my blood. Not from pain. From power. Like the stars are in my lungs, trying to breathe through me.

DAWN:

Okay.

That sounds like meth.

RAIN (serious):

Something's changed.

And I think my dad is helping me from beyond. I don't hear him, but… I feel him. In the blade. In the stars.

And I can't tell if I'm being led, or… used.

DAWN (genuinely concerned):

Rain, I don't know what's happening to you.

But I'm scared.

You're scaring me.

[Luna walks between them like a therapist entering the scene.]

LUNA:

Meow. (Translation: "Finally, someone said it.")

RAIN (blinking):

…Did you just say—

DAWN:

Don't start with that again.

RAIN:

No. No, I heard her.

She said something.

DAWN (stern):

Luna. Is. A. Cat.

RAIN:

No. She's a sarcastic demon in fur. And I understood her.

LUNA (sits, tail flicking):

Congrats, dumbass. The stars gave you the Cat's Tongue. You're officially fluent in feline sass.

DAWN (backing up slowly):

I need a shot. Or six. Maybe a lobotomy.

RAIN (to Luna):

How long have you been able to—

LUNA (cutting him off):

Years. You just finally leveled up, genius. I've been roasting your ass since you brought home those hideous socks in 2020.

[FINAL PANEL: Rain sits on the floor, jaw dropped. Dawn stands in the kitchen drinking directly from a bottle. Luna stretches like this is totally normal.]

NARRATION:

Rain's body had changed. His mind too.

But now even the cat talked back.

And Dawn had no clue the universe was just getting started.