The Card

Jay’s final scene of this story is also the final scene of the whole thing (before the Aftermath).

He will earn the last remaining die for this scene, a black die no less. However, in the game Fiasco, if you play out the last scene with your character, you can choose whether you want a good or a bad outcome. You’re still locked into the color of the die that’s remaining for the purpose of the Aftermath, but at least you can shape the last scene a little more in your favored direction.

The last card of this Writer Emergency Fiasco is:

#11 Puny Humans

This is a card that invokes cataclysm, destruction, maybe even the end of the world.

Looking at how your hero might respond to a major cataclysm—asteroid, plague, tsunami, robot uprising—can offer insights into their actions at more human-level jeopardy. So start
blowing things up. Knock down some national monuments. Smash, crash and see what you get.

What’s important to your hero? Who would they save? Where would they go? And once there, would they lead the resistance, or keep their head down?

How would a cataclysm change your hero’s interaction with the antagonist? Would they still be on opposing sides?

In a way, this is all very fitting. The bomb is armed*, Bill is shot, Ash left them for dead or worse. Everything is about to come crashing down around Jay. Maybe the cataclysm isn’t threatening the entire globe, but it’s his own world that is falling apart. Just him and Bill, in that damn train, and a detonator for a bomb that might or might not be armed.

After all, the outline for this scene says, “Jay detonates the bomb.”

Try This

A comet will smash into the Earth in 24 hours. What would your hero do?

I think he’d make the best of it. Can’t stop a meteor, so why try controlling what can’t be controlled? Enjoy the last moments on earth with the people that matter, the things that bring comfort and joy. Go out with a bang, believing that somehow, somewhere, he left a mark.

Imagine your story in a post-apocalyptic world. What would change? What might stay the same?

I don’t really think this particular story would work all that well in a post-apocalyptic setting. But this prompt makes me think about what would happen if the job was a success. Would Bill, Ash, and Jay be close friends after the train blew up? Maybe they would have carried on for a while, but Bill’s secret would eventually come to haunt them. Ash might step up as a proper lieutenant, but something tells me that she would also find a way to exploit them in the end. Sooner or later, Jay would have to face the fact that his world, in any shape or form, is ending.

What if your hero was the invader? Reimagine the story if they were the conqueror rather than the conquered.

So, what if Jay succeeds at taking them in, instead? The Boss called him, told him that Bill and Ash are working together to take her down. That they have her phone. Jay manages to subdue them both—maybe Bill still catches a bullet, maybe Ash gives up. Maybe it would never have come this far, if it wasn’t for that damn “Hug the Crocodile” playing on repeat.

There’s also another version of this where Jay would have been the informant or the cop. Within the context of this story, that would make him the “invader” in a way. I think he would have been less blinded by his friends and made sure the bomb never made it on that train. He would have tried to turn them long before it all fell apart. Jay wants control, despite what he lets on, and once he is pushed far enough, he will seize it by whatever means necessary.

Final Thoughts

I always had the idea that the final scene will be the largest Showdown (as per the tilt), and end in Jay activating the bomb. Now, though, I think the scene will be a lot quieter, more personal. It’s him and Bill, who’s barely alive, having their last moments together. The bomb and detonator are important objects to their relationship, so maybe Bill will make one last effort to talk Jay out of it. And as the authorities are closing in, Jay will have to decide whether to listen to his best friend one last time, or let go of it all.