Waldo
November 16th, 2020
Starring: Waldo, Finder
Deep inside a large National Park/Forest. Late Fall/Early Winter. Waldo, wearing a red and white striped sweater, a red and white beanie hat, and rounded glasses, is shouldering a worn backpack, hiking on a crudely blazed trail. He weaves through overgrown trees, over massive boulders, around mud puddles. Every so often, he’ll stop and glance over his shoulder, then continue on. He is careful, yet confident.
Waldo follows the trail up an incline, which breaks into a clearing. Beyond the clearing is a steep cliff, overlooking a canyon hundreds of feet below. Checking his surroundings first, Waldo puts his backpack down, settling down on a rock near the cliffside. He drinks some water, palms some trail mix. All is quiet. He closes his eyes and breathes deeply, trying to enjoy the moment.
PFFT. The sound of something whizzing through the air. Waldo grimaces. He opens his eyes to see a small tranquilizer dart sticking out of his shoulder, meant for his neck. His eyes widen. Waldo goes into another mode, leaping up and somersaulting behind a fallen tree for cover. He pulls out the dart from his shoulder as three more darts whiz by, barely missing him. All is quiet again. Waldo tries to peek over the log, trying to spot his ambusher. No luck. He peeks out again, seeing his bag on the ground. He assesses: should he make a run for it?
PFFT. Waldo ducks just in time before another dart snipes him. He stays down, catching his breath. He decides to make a run for it. 3...2…
FINDER
YAHHHHHHHHH!
Before Waldo can move, Finder, clad in black, falls from the sky, leaping from a tree branch, throwing a lasso towards him. Waldo rolls out of the way, but the lasso loop catches his foot, ensnaring him. Finder lands lightly on their feet, pulling Waldo on the ground towards them. At the last second, Waldo wills himself loose, spinning away while kicking Finder’s feet out from under them, shooting the lasso out of reach.
With that, Finder leaps to their feet and sprints towards him, launching at Waldo with a flying kick. Waldo sidesteps, and a badass hand-to-hand combat sequence ensues. They are both incredibly skilled fighters, bobbing and weaving, jabbing and parrying, getting their licks in.
Full-on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
At some point, Finder gets the upper hand, hitting Waldo an acrobatic uppercut, sending him flying back near the cliff’s edge. He starts to get up, but is stopped by Finder’s black boot on his chest. Finder stands over Waldo, one finger on the trigger of their tranquilizer gun, one finger pointed at his face. Through their mask, they smile:
FINDER
Got ya.
Before Finder can pull the trigger, Waldo presses a switch on his glasses, sending out a flashing light beam. It stuns Finder, staggering them back. In a swift move, Waldo kicks the tranquilizer out of their hand and knocks them off balance, sending them over the side of the cliff.
Before they can fall, Waldo grabs Finder by the arm, suspending them in-air.
WALDO
Who sent you?!
Finder just smiles and stares.
WALDO
I said, who sent you?!?!?!
Waldo loosens the grip on Finder’s arm. In doing so, Finder’s sleeve rolls up, revealing a tattoo of a pointer finger, running the length of their forearm. Waldo’s eyes widen.
WALDO
No…
FINDER
Yes.
WALDO
That’s impossible...
FINDER
You’ve always underestimated us, Wally. It’s always been your greatest flaw.
WALDO
Why can’t you just leave me alone?!?!
FINDER
Because we can’t, you know that. We’re The Finders. It’s what we do.
WALDO
I’ll drop you. I’ll drop you right now—
FINDER
My job’s done. It won’t be me, but one of us will.
There’s no escape. We’re coming. No matter where you go, you will be found.
…
Find ya later, Wally.
Finder lets go of Waldo’s arm, falling into the abyss. Waldo falls back, catching his breath. He stumbles to his feet, woozy from the dart and bruised from the fight. Blood runs down his face, blending in with the stripes in his sweater. He looks down at his soiled clothes, then pulls off his hat and peels off his sweater, then his glasses. He cradles them in his hands, as if to say goodbye, then tosses them over the cliff. Half-blind, hobbling, and dirty, Waldo throws on his bag and limps off into the trees. The chase goes on.