THE LEADER, PART 1

Originally Aired: February 7, 1999
Written by: Jessica Scott and Mike Wollaeger
Directed by: Shawn Levy

At Visser 3’s headquarters, Visser is with a scientist, who is in front of a bunch of contraptions. A cockroach is on a table in front of Visser.

VISSER:
Do you know how a beetle finds its prey? It smells fear. The smaller insect is afraid because it knows it’s weak. The beetle senses that fear and hunts it down.

SCIENTIST:
Yes, sir.

VISSER:
Do you know what Andalites do when they are afraid? They morph into something that makes them feel strong because in their own form they are weak and full of fear.

SCIENTIST:
Yes, sir.

VISSER:
The Andalite bandits must be captured!

SCIENTIST:
They will be, sir--with this. (holds up a small machine) It will detect morphing energy. No matter how big or how small the morph. The Andalites won’t be able to escape their fear any longer. This new sensor will be their undoing. Their morphing...the very thing they count on to triumph, will be their greatest weakness. (turns machine on and points it at Visser 3)

Visser 3 begins to turn blue as he begins to morph into an alien. The machine turns on and begins beeping.

VISSER:
(in a low, echoed voice) My superiors are waiting for this world to fold. There are other Vissers waiting in the wings to take my place, should I fail. (he returns to his human form) No more failures! Install these devices in our most sensitive places. (he picks up the cockroach and holds it) The Andalites have attacked before. They shall attack again. This time, we’ll be waiting, ready for the hunt.

THEME

At Marco’s house: Marco’s dad is mixing paint as Marco jogs up to to him in a nice blue shirt and jeans.

DAD:
You’re going to paint in that?

MARCO:
Save it Pops, I’m ready for action.

DAD:
All right. Here you go.

Marco’s dad picks up a bunch of painting accessories. As Marco tries to take one, his dad keeps whisking them out of Marco’s reach. He does this a couple of times. The third time, Marco grabs the cover of a paint roller and it comes off. The next time, he grabs the roller to the paint roller, but his dad won’t let go.

MARCO:
Give me it.

Marco’s dad laughs as he lets the paint roller go. Marco mimics his dad’s laugh.

DAD:
Okay, now.

He takes a painting off the wall where a crayon drawing of a ‘hand-made’ turkey is.

DAD:
Remember this?

MARCO:
Yeah.

DAD:
You dragged the ladder in from the hall, got out your best crayons and... You wanted to help your mom out with the Thanksgiving decorations. So you did. (laughs)

MARCO:
(touches the drawing lightly) She was really mad.

DAD:
Naw, not that mad. Believe it or not, she thought it was pretty cute. You wanna do the first stroke.

MARCO:
Yeah.

DAD:
Grab the ladder. (goes to pour some paint)

MARCO:
(narrating and running his hand over the drawing) Change isn’t so bad. Sure you gotta leave some things behind. But when you do, new things open up.

DAD:
Okay, here we go. (walks over with a pan of paint)

Marco takes the paint roller and rolls it in the paint.

DAD:
Start up there. Oop. (as some paint drips)

Marco starts painting and begins to lean over.

DAD:
Hey you might wanna move the ladder there, Picasso.

MARCO:
I’m all over it, Dad. (continues to paint and lean over)

DAD:
Marco! (as Marco begins to fall)

Marco leans over too far, falling off the ladder and landing in the pan of paint.

MARCO:
Uh, oops. (paint is all over him)

Marco’s dad helps Marco up.

DAD:
You all right? Huh? (chuckling) Ooohh man. (laughing)

Marco accidentally gets some paint on his dad and tries to wipe it off.

MARCO:
Oh. Oh, sorry about that. Sorry. Uh, sorry.

DAD:
Oh yeah, well. Don’t sweat it.

MARCO:
(rolls the paint roller over his dad’s face) That’s better, Dad.

Marco’s dad takes a paintbrush and paints Marco’s face. They then get into a paint fight.

At Jake’s house: Jake is blaring rock music in his room.

MAN:
Jake, turn it down!

JAKE:
All right, but it helps me concentrate.

Starts going around his room, rhythmically beating on his belongings and on the walls with some drumsticks. He turns the music off, sits down, and opens a book to a picture of some horses.

JAKE:
Been there, done that. (turns the page to a tiger) Been there, done that. (turns the page to a warthog) Haven’t been there, don’t wanna do that. (turns the page to some sort of sea coral) No, thank you. (phone rings) I got it!

Jake runs to the doorway of his room where Tom is picking up the phone.

TOM:
Hello? Hey. (looks at Jake who is eagerly waiting) It’s for me.

Tom goes to his room and sits down on his bed.

TOM:
Yes, I finished the installations. (a golden retriever, Homer, walks in) I was at the E.G.S. tower today. The new Kandrona is secure.

Homer continues to walk in the room. Tom picks up a chew toy and Homer grabs it with the his teeth and yanks it away.

TOM:
Uh-huh. Yes, I understand how important this is. We will not let Visser 3 down. Everything will be ready for Visser One’s arrival.

Tom walks to the window. Another dog starts barking and Tom looks outside where he sees the real Homer. He turns around. The Homer in his room is gone.

TOM:
Hang on a sec.

Tom walks out of his room into the hall.

TOM:
Homer?

Tom walks into Jake’s doorway where Jake is sitting in a chair.

TOM:
Did you see Homer up here a second ago.

Jake shakes his head. As soon as Tom leaves, Jake spits the chew toy out of his mouth.

At Marco’s house: Jake knocks on the door. When Marco opens the door, they both laugh. Marco is still covered in paint.

JAKE:
Okay, this is a good look for you. (walks in)

MARCO:
Well, well. (closes the door) It’s work in progress.

JAKE:
Yeah.

MARCO:
So what’s up. I’m assuming you didn’t come to help.

JAKE:
I got some big news.

MARCO:
You ran into Buffy the Vampire Slayer at the mall and she wouldn’t give you her number ‘cause she was saving herself for this smart, charming, handsome...

JAKE:
(counting off his fingers) Modest.

MARCO:
Dude named Marco.

JAKE:
Wow. It’s almost like you were there.

They both laugh.

MARCO:
So really, what’s going on?

JAKE:
I just found out the Yeerks have a second Kandrona--they’re keeping it at the E.G.S. Tower.

MARCO:
The E.G.S. Tower? The one from the future, that that Elmo guy...

JAKE:
The Ellimist.

MARCO:
Yeah, that guy. That he showed us?

JAKE:
Yeah.

MARCO:
Ay...

JAKE:
Listen, we can sneak into the tower and destroy the Kandrona before the Yeerks even get a chance to use it.

MARCO:
(shaking his head) Count me out. (begins to walk away)

JAKE:
Hold on. (stops Marco) This gets them where it really hurts. They need the Kandrona to live.

MARCO:
Forget it, Jake. This is too big, man.

JAKE:
Huh. This is no more dangerous than anything else we’ve had to do.

MARCO:
Yeah, yeah, well I’m tired of it. I’m sick of risking my neck for the whole world.

JAKE:
Marco, we have to.

MARCO:
Why? Why, Jake? We’re kids, man! We’re supposed to have fun, to goof off! I wanna go back to the way it was. To normal problems, like zits. I want zits! Well, not really, but you know.

JAKE:
Marco, we can’t go back.

MARCO:
Maybe not, Jake. But i can’t risk taking anymore away from my dad. I wanna show you something.

They walk over to a covered bookshelf, where Marco takes out a picture of him, his mom and his dad.

MARCO:
It’s almost been 2 years. And things are finally starting to feel okay. My dad’s doing well. And I’m all my dad has now. (looking at picture, sniffling) You know, it’s funny the things we remember. Before she went out on her boat, she used to tell me the first half of a riddle. She said it was so I’d know she’d come back ‘cause she had to finish the joke.

Marco smiles, then his smile disappears and he gets tears in his eyes.

MARCO:
I miss her, Jake.

JAKE:
I know. I want things back the way they were, too. I want Tom back. But that’s not going to happen unless we keep fighting.

Later that night, at the E.G.S. Tower, Jake is creeping around the perimeter fence. He sees a shadow behind some trees.

JAKE:
Rachel.

Rachel and Cassie are kneeled down at another part of the fence.

RACHEL:
I can’t believe Marco’s not here.

CASSIE:
Don’t be mad at him, Rach. He had to make a choice. It wasn’t easy for him.

RACHEL:
Well, with Tobias and Ax laying low, this is gonna be tough.

CASSIE:
At least the Yeerks don’t have a clue that we know about the new Kandrona. What’s taking him so long?

RACHEL:
He probably got smart and went home. (sighs) Sorry. It just doesn’t feel right without Marco complaining. I actually wish he was here.

Cassie gives her a surprised look. Jake joins them.

JAKE:
There’s something wandering around out there.

RACHEL:
Security?

JAKE:
That’s my guess.

Marco joins them.

MARCO:
Did I hear someone say they miss Marco? (looks at Rachel)

JAKE:
Glad to have you back.

MARCO:
I know. But after this, I’m out. I swore off Yeerk fighting as a New Year’s Resolution.

RACHEL:
It’s nowhere near New Year’s.

MARCO:
Just say it, Rachel--you miss me already. (slides his finger under her chin)

RACHEL:
In your dreams. (shoves him into the fence)

CASSIE:
(laughing) Aren’t they cute?

JAKE:
(laughing) All right, lovebirds. Come on, let’s go.

They all stand up and head into the building. They walk into the tower’s hallway.

MARCO:
Don’t you guys think that was a little too easy.

RACHEL:
No.

MARCO:
This can’t be the place. There would have been some sort of security.

JAKE:
Shh! We should be listening.

CASSIE:
Listening for what?

JAKE:
For that. (points at a couple of closed doors with a red light coming out of the bottom grates)

They walk up to the doors which have signs saying ‘Restricted Area’ and ‘Dangerous: High Voltage.’ Jake puts his ear to the door and tries the handle. It’s locked.

JAKE:
This is the same sound we heard coming from the tower when we were with the Ellimist.

CASSIE:
There could be anything in there.

JAKE:
Won’t hurt to look. (one of the new morphing detectors is above the door)

MARCO:
Famous last words.

CASSIE:
We’ll keep an eye out.

MARCO:
I don’t remember volunteering for scouting duty.

JAKE:
Oh, come on, Marco. (begins to kneel down)

MARCO:
Wait, wait, wait. How do you tell the difference between a horse and a fish?

CASSIE:
Hmm?

RACHEL:
What?

JAKE:
He’ll tell you when we get back. Come on. Let’s get small.

Jake bends down and begins morphing. The morphing sensor starts beeping.

MARCO:
I hate small.

Marco bends down and morphs. They are both lizards. The morphing sensor continues beeping.

COMMERCIAL

Rachel and Cassie wait outside. At a front desk, a guard walks up and notices the beeping from the the monitored morphing sensor with a map showing which sensor went off. He picks up a phone.

GUARD:
A morphs detector has been activated.

MAN:
Excellent. Let’s wait and see where they’re headed.

As the morphers’ point of view, Jake and Marco morph back to human form. They see the pulsing red Kandrona surrounded by a large gate.

JAKE:
Wow. (he touches a flexible pipe and takes it back quickly) Ah! Ow!

MARCO:
Hot?

JAKE:
No, cold.

MARCO:
I thought the Kandrona was like their sun. Suns are hot.

JAKE:
Extreme heat can feel cold to the touch. Ah! (holding his hand)

Marco touches one of the pipes and pulls back.

MARCO:
Ow!

As Jake looks through the gate at the Kandrona, a loud buzzing alarm sounds off.

JAKE:
What’s that?

Outside, Cassie and Rachel are surprised by the alarm.

CASSIE:
What’s going on in there?

Marco covers his ears.

MARCO:
Looks like we stepped into alien territory.

Outside the room, Rachel raps lightly on the door.

RACHEL:
Guys!

Inside, Marco is still covering his ears.

JAKE:
Let’s go. Come on, let’s get out of here!

MARCO:
Oh no, not this again!

As they head for the door, a black wall slides in front of them, closing with a loud bang.

JAKE:
Hey, what’s going on?

They turn around the other way and another door slides in front of them.

MARCO:
Whoa!

They go another way to have yet another door bang shut in front of them. The boys both punch the wall, angrily.

JAKE:
Hey!

Another wall closes off all the sides while a wall on top closes to trap Jake and Marco inside a large box.

MARCO:
This is not a good sign.

Outside Rachel and Cassie are banging on the doors.

RACHEL:
Guys, what’s going on?!

CASSIE:
Open the door, guys!

BOTH:
Jake! Marco!

Inside the box, Jake and Marco panic, turning around and around.

MARCO:
Jake, what’s going on?

JAKE:
I have no idea.

MARCO:
What are they doing?

JAKE:
Man, I don’t know.

They run to a wall and start banging and pounding on it.

MARCO:
Get us out of here!

JAKE:
Help! Help!

Cassie and Rachel are still banging on the locked doors.

BOTH:
Jake! Marco!

Inside the box, it starts shaking.

MARCO:
Hey!

Outside, Rachel and Cassie back away from the doors as they shake and rattle. They hear a rumbling behind the doors. Inside, Jake and Marco collapse to the floor, holding their hands over their ears and yelling, as a loud, high-pitched screeching is sounded. Cassie runs to the door and tries to break it open. Rachel sees a fire extinguisher nearby and grabs it.

RACHEL:
Cassie!

Rachel bangs the extinguisher on the door. It finally breaks open. They run it but no one is in the room.

RACHEL:
Where’d they go?

CASSIE:
I don’t know. (kneels down and puts her hand near the floor) The floor is hot.

RACHEL:
It sounded like a rocket blasting off.

They look up at the ceiling.

RACHEL:
No way!

A man is heard outside.

MAN:
They’re in Sector 4.

CASSIE:
Someone’s coming.

Cassie leads Rachel over to a vent way. She tears the screen off.

CASSIE:
Get in.

RACHEL:
No, Cassie, it’s too small.

CASSIE:
Rach, get in!

Rachel climbs in hesitantly. Cassie follows and puts the screen back on just as Tom, with some other controllers, walks in. Tom dials on a phone.

MAN:
Speak.

TOM:
Alert Visser 3. The installation has succeeded. The morphing sensor was activated and the Andalite bandits have been captured. They are en route to your location.

MAN:
You did a good job. Let us know if there are any changes.

TOM:
Yes, sir. (hangs up) Let’s go.

They walk out of the room and close the door.

RACHEL:
They’ve got Jake and Marco.

CASSIE:
Yeah, but they don’t have us. Come on, follow me.

They start crawling through the the vent. Back inside the box, Jake and Marco feel around for an exit.

MARCO:
Jake, I think we’re in big trouble, man.

JAKE:
Just keep looking. We’ll be okay.

Marco finds an opening.

MARCO:
Jake!

They both pull it open.

MARCO:
Well, Toto. Where do you think we are now?

A window revealing stars whizzing by is outside the box.

JAKE:
This can’t be happening.

MARCO:
Houston...we have a problem.

JAKE:
Man, this is no time for jokes.

MARCO:
This is the perfect time for jokes, Jake. We’re rocketing into space, probably to our doom. I, for one, plan on going with a smile. (smiles)

JAKE:
Geez.

While Marco leans up against a wall, Jake just gazes out the window. Meanwhile, Rachel and Cassie are still crawling through the vent.

CASSIE:
You with me, Rach?

RACHEL:
Yeah. Yup.

Cassie comes to the end of the vent with a ledge leading to a big fall. She stands up carefully with Rachel following her, both pressing themselves against the wall. Across the way is a ledge with a fan on the wall. They both look down.

RACHEL:
We can’t morph. Who knows where they put those morphing sensors. We’re gonna have to jump across.

CASSIE:
No way.

RACHEL:
But that’s our only way out. They have to get air from the outside.

CASSIE:
Let’s just go back the other way.

RACHEL:
I make bigger jumps then this in gymnastics all the time. Look...I’ll go first. See you on the other side.

She leaps and lands on the ledge on the other side.

RACHEL:
Come on, Cass.

Cassie hesitates.

RACHEL:
Come one, Cass. You can do it.

Cassie leaps and lands with Rachel. Back in space, there is a clear view of the Mother Ship. Marco and Jake hear a clanking. The smaller ship goes into an opening in the Mother Ship.

MARCO:
What’s happening?

JAKE:
I think we’re slowing down.

A sudden jolt sends Jake and Marco banging against the wall. The engines die down. There are doors opening outside.

MARCO:
Jake, wanna know how to tell the difference between a horse and a fish?

MAN:
They’re in here.

JAKE:
Tell me when we get back.

They both kneel down and morph. The door opens where several controllers wait, armed with their laser shooting flashlights. They don’t see anything.

CONTROLLER:
Where are they?

JAKE:
(as a cockroach) Now’s our chance. Let’s go!

MARCO:
(as a cockroach) I’m with you.

You can see the cockroaches’ point of view as they crawl around the controllers’ feet. The controllers walk in the box, puzzled that there is nothing in there. Back at E.G.S., Rachel is unscrewing the bolts to the fan.

RACHEL:
Just one more screw and we can pull this thing down.

CASSIE:
Okay, then you go get Ax and I’ll see what I can find around here.

RACHEL:
It’s too dangerous to stay here.

CASSIE:
If we leave, the Yeerks are going to move the Kandrona, just like they moved the entrances to the Yeerk pools.

RACHEL:
The Kandrona is the least of our worries right now, Cass.

CASSIE:
Rachel, they have Jake and Marco! We’ve gotta find them before they move them, too.

RACHEL:
(sighs) You’re right.

CASSIE:
While we’re at it, we’ll trash the Kandrona.

Rachel smiles and nods. Back in the Mother Ship, Jake and Marco wander around in their human form.

MARCO:
My guess, we get out the way we came in.

MAN:
Let’s check down here.

JAKE:
Someone’s coming.

They turn around to be blocked by a door.

JAKE:
Now what?

Marco sees a machine on a wall and hits it with his hand. The door opens.

JAKE:
All right! Let’s go!

They run into a large room. Jake and Marco stop in their tracks. There is a platform with controllers lined up around it.

JAKE:
Down here.

They duck behind some machines.

MARCO:
I don’t like what’s behind door number one. Let’s try door number two. Come on.

He begins to stand up. Jake pulls him back down. Visser 3 walks out onto the platform.

MARCO:
Man, he’s everywhere.

VISSER:
This...is truly a glorious moment for us all. We have captured the Andalite bandits. They have fallen and soon shall Earth. In a moment, my guards will bring through the Andalite prisoners. I have delivered what I have promised. And it is only fitting that Visser One be here to witness their sacrifice. And my...and our victory. Visser One.

A gate is heard opening and controllers bow their heads.

MARCO:
I'm guessing Visser One is the head honcho.

A woman walks out. A familiar woman.

JAKE:
(looking in complete shock) Marco.

MARCO:
No!

JAKE:
It’s your mom.

TO BE CONTINUED....

© Scholastic Entertainment / Transcript by Jasmine