Balan Wonderworld Goes to Hell

Episode Three: The Clown Who Hid Behind a Mask

(Start in the Isle of Tims. EMMA is standing between the flower patches when LEO walks up behind her.)

Leo-Hey. You wanna hear a joke?

Emma-Ah!

(She turns around.)

Emma-You scared me.

Leo-I'm sorry.

Emma-Now, what's this about a joke?

Leo-Well, you said I was funny, so I wanted to know what you thought about this. Okay. Yesterday, I went to the beach. You know why?

Emma-Why?

Leo-'Cause life...(snicker) 'cause life's a beach.

(No response from EMMA.)

Leo-Not your sense of humor?

Emma-Nope.

(Shot of BALAN standing at the edge of the island next to door 9.)

Balan-Hey! What are you two clowns doing just standing there? We need to keep going.

(LEO and EMMA walk to door number 9, which is decorated like an amusement park.)

Emma-Oh. Clowns. I get it.

Leo-So who died in this person's backstory?

Balan-I checked. There's no death in this one. It's the absolute lowest level, bottom of the barrel not-even-sure-if-this-counts-as-a-trauma. I mean, he's nervous about confessing to a girl. Who hasn't been nervous about confessing to their crush?

Emma-Us. We're fourteen.

Balan-Oh. Well, when you get to a certain age, there's...actually, why am I still talking? Let's rip off the proverbial Band-Aid, shall we?

(They walk through the door. Opening theme. Cut to a stone walkway with a set of stairs leading from it. LEO, EMMA, and BALAN are standing on a circle. LEO runs off.)

Emma-Let's get our costumes on before we forget.

(The changing curtains appear.)

Balan-I even added a few more costumes to give you a little variety.

Emma-This one looks cool.

(She puts on the Frost Fairy costume.)

Balan-Well, Leo? What are you gonna–wait a minute, where'd Leo go?

(They run across the walkway and up the stairs. They turn left. LEO is standing in front of a giant door.)

Leo-There you are. I thought I could make it without a costume, but now I've been blocked by this door.

(He points at a switch on a high wall.)

Leo-I'd hit that switch, but it's too high.

Emma-I've got it.

(She runs onto the first stair leading to the wall. She realizes she's running on air.)

Emma-Wait a minute. This is just Air Cat.

(She runs up the rest of the stairs and makes it to the top of the wall. She hits the switch. The door opens.)

Leo-Thank you!

(EMMA runs down to join the others. They walk through the door. They are now in a courtyard.)

Balan-Well, since you passed up the changing curtain, Leo, we'll have to find you a costume somewhere in this park.

(They noticed they're surrounded by Negati.)

Emma-And we'll have to do it fast!

(She jumps up and hits a switch in the middle of the courtyard. LEO runs in an alley to the right. BALAN follows him. He finds an illusion of ATTILIO CACCINI standing in the alley standing with one knee popped and his arms raised in a shrug. LEO mirrors the position.)