INT. PADDY'S PUB — EVEN LATER
Everyone is a little pale. A little glassy-eyed. The air is thick. The "dojo" has become a sweaty trance rave in daylight.
Mac is now doing combat breathing demonstrations. He shadowboxes. He is convinced he's faster.
MAC
LOOK AT THIS!
I'M LIGHTER.
I'M A BLADE.
He throws a kick, slips immediately, catches himself on a chair. Tries to play it off.
MAC (tight)
That was…intentional footwork.
Dee returns from the bathroom, furious, hair slightly damp like she got misted. Artemis floats out behind her, serene, holding a church candle.
DEE
ARTEMIS IS RUNNING A SEX CULT IN THE BATHROOM.
ARTEMIS
It's not a cult.
It's a circle.
And Bonnie is welcome.
Bonnie claps lightly like she's at a recital.
BONNIE
I would love a circle.
CHARLIE
Ma, no—
BONNIE(already moving)
Charlie, I'm an adult.
WAITRESS
This is going off the rails.
DENNIS(to Waitress, immediate business voice)
That's just the detox stage.
Ignore it.
Breathe through it.
Pay through it.
Dee is filming her own face now, influencer style.
DEE
Guys.
I feel—
I feel like the bar is… talking to me.
DENNIS
The bar is not talking to you.
You are light-headed and stupid.
DEE
No—like—
I feel like there's… dead energy.
Charlie, sitting on the floor, stares at nothing with slow dread.
CHARLIE
We are 100% going to hell.
DENNIS
Charlie, everybody's going to hell.
It's about posture when you arrive.
Waitress stands up, weirdly calm now.
WAITRESS
…I actually feel better.
CHARLIE
You do?!
WAITRESS
Yeah.
Like… I don't care about anything right now.
It's great.
DENNIS
That's not "great," that's hypoxia.
A small, sad CO DETECTOR CHIRP starts somewhere—barely audible.
Everyone ignores it.
Rex, however, hears it and assigns meaning.
REX
That beep…
That's my body leveling up.
DENNIS
Yes. Exactly.
That's your internal warrior alarm.
MAC
Your blade is sharpening.
CHARLIE(soft, to Waitress)
See? Even Rex is becoming a blade.
WAITRESS
Rex looks like he's gonna pass out.
Rex does, in fact, sit down hard.
REX
I'm fine—
I'm just… releasing… my old self…
Frank leans in like a dealer.
FRANK
Premium releases faster.
DENNIS
FRANK.
From the bathroom: Bonnie's voice, blissed out.
BONNIE (O.S.)
I feel so light!
Like I could float away from my problems!
DEE(furious whisper)
She is STEALING my demographic.
ARTEMIS (O.S.)
Let the shame leave through the hips, Bonnie!
DEE
I will burn this bar down.
SMASH TO BLACK.