A TALK BEFORE BATTLE

A Talk Before Battle

Jade sitting after waking up, reading the note from Dave.

Jade appears on LOTAK above Dave, Terezi, and Dirk.

Jade waves excitedly to Dave as he yells at her. Terezi and Dirk stand awkwardly in the background.

Close-up of Jade smiling and showing the red ring on her finger.

JADE: looks like you gave me a little assignment in case i woke up
JADE: which i intend to do! but first...
JADE: i hope you wont mind, but theres someone id very much like to say hi to first
JADE: :)

Close-up of Jake English lying down on LOMAX, looking sad.

Zoom out, showing that he is lying with his arms and legs splayed out.

Jade appears above Jake and he sits up, shocked.

JADE: hi! :)
JAKE: !
JADE: sorry we didnt get to talk much before... yeah...
JADE: but im awake and not evil now!
JAKE: Ah, umm... right. Jade.
JADE: so how are you!
JAKE: Um... im. Im fine.
JAKE: ...
JADE: ...
JADE: this is it huh, the big final battle! arent you excited?
JAKE: ... Yeah. Of course...
JADE: ...

Same as previous image, but they are now both avoiding eye contact awkwardly.

JADE: ...
JAKE: ...
JADE: ...
JAKE: ...
JADE: ...
JADE: so, you said youre a great adventurer!!

Close-up of Jake shouting with tears in his eyes.

JAKE: No!!! Im no adventurer! Im nothing but a fraud!!

JADE: what, that cant be true! you said in your letters-
JAKE: Im a rotten liar jade!! A rotten worthless no good liar! Oh im nothing but a lowlife coward i ruin everything and thats why everyone hates me!
JAKE: I just wish i could tell everyone... im so so sorry.

Jade floats above Jake, who is now sitting with his knees to his chest, and looks at him pityingly.

JAKE: Youre the REAL adventurer not like me...
JADE: oh come on, im no adventurer! all i ever did was stay in bed and grow plants... when rose and dave were having fun making friends and john was literally breaking space-time to save the world, i was just sitting alone on a ship in the middle of nowhere...
JAKE: Thats not true in the slightest miss! Why you were a hero you were incredible! Im not worthy to be your grandson!
JAKE:
JAKE: But then again i suppose im not am i?
JADE: no, i guess not :B

Close-up of Jade talking. She isn't making eye contact.

JAKE: ...
JADE: ...
JADE: well, what was your grandma like?
JAKE: ...
JAKE: I

Close-up of Jake looking sad and confused.

JAKE: I dont think i know.

Jake and Jade sit next to each other. Jake is talking and sitting with his knees to his chest. There are tears in his eyes. Jade sits more relaxed and is looking at him pityingly.

JAKE: When i was younger i thought she was the best. A real first rate adventuress! Shed raid tombs and slay monsters like a proper adventurer should.
JAKE: She was all i wanted to be. And i thought... I thought by becoming an amazing adventurer just like her id be. I dont know making her proud?
JAKE: I dont know its stupid. *Im* stupid. Because tomb-raiding and monster-slaying thats not what made her an adventurer.
JAKE: You... SHE. She fought for what was right even when it was all hopeless. Thats REAL bravery not my conman imitation...
JAKE: And she died for it.
JAKE: ...
JAKE: I could never do that. Im no hero or adventurer. I just stayed on my little island all alone watching movies and tricking myself into THATS what adventure is!
JAKE: Hell i didnt even know what she was fighting until dirk told me! Oh god dirk. And poor jane and roxy too. Oh im such a fool...
JAKE: A good man wouldve taken up the reigns said "screw you" to the condensce and taken her down himself!
JAKE: But instead the world got stuck with me this pathetic nitwit! This yellowbelly chicken! And its all my fault...
JAKE: Its no wonder ive found myself all alone in the corner of a deserted planet sent off just so im not in the way of the actual heroes... Only fitting for a failure like me.
JAKE: Oh cripes im doing it again arent i im talking all about myself!! Im so sorry jade please you must get going. Ive wasted so much of your time with my self pity while youve got a *real* battle to fight!

Jade suddenly slaps her hand over Jake's face, who looks shocked

JAKE: Oh its all i do isnt it i just talk and talk and talk and *SOB* people are too polite to tell me to just shut up and i end up ruining EVERYTHING! But i cant let it happen this time you need to leave and be a hero and youre SO much more important than me. Like my grandma...

JADE: shush already!!!! >:(

JADE: sorry jake but im not believing any of that!!
JAKE: **Sob**
JADE: oh jake... that is all complete nonsense, how can you think that! >:(
JADE: for starters, i can say for certain no one hates you!
JAKE: But-
JADE: shush!!!! you know what you really are jake?
JAKE: *Gulp* W- What...?
JADE: youre too hard on yourself! were about to face a bunch of guys who are literally trying to destroy the universe and youre going on about how youre the worst person in the world!
JAKE: ...

Close-up of Jade talking and turned away slightly

JADE: ...
JADE: if you keep building up this picture of youre grandma as the perfect adventurer youll just keep setting the bar impossibly high.
JADE: but the secret is jake, you dont need to pass any bar to earn kindness
JADE: your grandma was just a woman. she had her own fears and worries and she made plenty of mistakes. i know because i am her!
JADE: she didnt do the things she did because she was superior or whatever. i think... she was just very lonely. and all she really wanted was peace
JADE: because i know that when shes put in your position. thats exactly what shes like...
JAKE: ...

Close-up of Jade talking, looking sad and fully turned away.

JADE: i used to think the same way about my grandpa... i thought he, you i guess heh, was the coolest person in the world!
JADE: he was a great adventurer like your grandma. he died when i was young and, well
JADE: i guess to fill the void he left, i started building this picture of him in my head. and it just kept growing and growing until i was sure i could never live up to him
JADE: i used to sit by him in the lounge and imagine him giving long, stern lectures about his past adventures... how silly! :B
JADE: i really tried to believe it too! that he was alive and this globetrotting adventurer straight from a storybook
JADE: but in the end, all he was was stories made up by a lonely kid in an empty room...

Jade and Jake sit next to each other. Jade talks happily. Jake is smiling sheepishly and sits more relaxed than before.

JAKE: Wow... jade im so sorry.
JADE: dont be! at least i had bec to keep me company, you didnt :(
JAKE: Bec?
JADE: my dog :B
JAKE: Ah.
JADE: hes the reason im a dog now! bark bark!
JAKE: Haha. I guess we are quite similar jade! Not the dog thing thats um a tad odd. But you know!
JADE: i know!

Same as previous image but Jade has her hand on Jake's shoulder in a comforting manner. Jake looks shocked.

JADE: i think what your grandma would want is for you to be happy. she wouldnt care if youre a paragon who saves the world every week or if you made every mistake someone could ever make...
JADE: thats my thoughts at least!