[The Gallery.]
[We hadn’t seen this place in a while.]
[That alone causes and eerie feeling.]
“Arcadia is a strange, yet magnificent kingdom.”
[Jasper Redgrave.]
[The Artist stands facing out a large double-paned window with his hands folded behind his back.]
“A Kingdom fit not just for any king, but one who can rule with a iron fist.”
“The King of Arcadia needs to be stern and hard-nosed. They need to be able to stand on their own ground.”
“As we know, Arcadia isn’t always the safest of kingdoms.”
[Redgrave steps forward, unlatching the window lock and pushing the windows open as he speaks.]
“Many of men want to be the king of Arcadia.”
“No matter what their vision for Arcadia may be, their want for power doesn’t cease to exist.”
“Now I know what you’re thinking. Jasper, Zeus is the Baron of the land.. and that may ring true for now..”
“But when’s the last time any of you have seen The Almighty Zeus himself?”
“The King of Arcadia would never hide or backdown from an Uprising.”
“Some of those men that yearn to replace him believe in strength in numbers.”
[Jasper has by this point returned to posture with his hands folded behind him once again.]
[On the window pane, a falcon lands.]
“Which brings me to The Kingdom, and more importantly The Red Falcon.”
“Falcon, you have the strongest desire of them all, I can see it. There’s a pit in your stomach that burns for power. It will not be douched until you are considered the front runner of your little rag-tag bunch.”
“You want to be King. You want to bring justice to Arcadia.”
“But there’s one slight problem, isn’t there, Falcon?”
“Your peers don’t accept you as king of your own zoo, let alone all of Arcadia.”
“And why would they?”
“Arcadia is a jungle.”
“And in the jungle, there’s only one king.”
[Jasper carefully extends a hand to the falcon.]
[Almost on cue, as Jasper points a finger outward, the falcon crawls onto a perch on his hand.]
“Though each of you represent predators in your own eco-system, there’s only one apex predator around here.”
“I am that predator. I am a lion..”
“And Arcadia is MY jungle.”
“While you’re locked away in your super secret hideout playing My Dress-Up Darling with your friends from school, the lion approaches.”
[He smirks.]
“It’s been a long winter, Falcon. I’ve been hibernating for far too long.”
“There’s a hunger that also burns inside my stomach, Falcon.”
“One that can only be extinguished by blood and violence.”
[Jasper brings his second hand around, brushing it across the head of the falcon.]
[SNAP.]
[In one swift movement, Jasper had snapped the neck of the falcon and tossed it to the ground at his feet.]
“And this week I feast.”
“It’s time you and your friends stop playing pretend and accept what is a reality.”
“This jungle isn’t in need of justice, it’s in need of a leader.”
“And that’s something that you’ll never be.”
[Jasper nudges the lifeless bird with a boot before taking a stern leave.]
[Fade.]