Phantasm: Ravager

Oh, man.

I sure could use a Rocket Pop right about now.

110 degrees, no food--

a few drops of water if I'm lucky enough to find it.

but it still feels good to be back home...

if this even is home.

I can't tell what's real any more

because of him.

He's a shape-shifter with super-human strength.

He enslaves the dead...

uses them to create terror.

He has the power to channel time,

dimensions, even dreams.

He was a scientist in a past life

who crossed the threshold to a red world

and came back changed.

His sentinels,

the brain-sucking spheres, have blocked every path I've had

at finding my lost friend Mike.

The bastards are toying with me.

I know they're here now, somewhere, clocking me.

This Tall Man, he's taken everything from me:

my job, my best friend Jody, and now his little brother Mike

who I swore to protect.

They're gone...

and I'm alone.

It's just me now.

My name is Reggie.

But it's good to be back home,

even if I am on foot

now that some fuck-wad jacked my Plymouth 'Cuda

that I left hidden in the desert.

So I wander,

following the Tall Man's path of destruction,

salvaging what I can

from the remains he's left behind.

Hey, you! Get out of the road!

Asshole!

Yeah, you!

Can I help you?

Give a guy a ride?

Where're you heading?

Down the road a piece.

You got any money?

I got money.

Fifty dollars.

You got it.

Hey, the fifty.

Oh, yeah.

Nice jacket.

Nice car.

You don't see too many '71 'Cuda's

driving around anymore.

Heh, funny thing.

I had one just like it.

I had to park it... on a desert road

while I took care of some business.

Of course, mine had a chrome-plated 9mm

loaded with steel-jacketed wadcutters

in the center console.

Oh, that's right...

it was in the glove box.

Please...

Get the fuck out of my car!

Thanks a lot, asshole!

Fuck.

Mike, what the hell? What's-- What's--

What's...

Where the hell am I?

- You're safe. - Yeah, I'm safe?

Oh, that's... good.

I'm safe.

Where am I safe? Where-- Where is this place?

Reggie...

Reggie, you've been my rock.

When Jody died, you were the guy that took care of me,

and... I will owe you forever for that.

But-- But why am I here?

They found you wandering in the desert...

like Moses.

Mike.

Buddy, I've been looking for you for so long...

- and now you're here! - Yes.

You're right here.

But this is not right.

Not here, this is not right.

It's complicated.

Okay, I'm listening.

Come on, spit it out, Mike!

Yeah, um...

There's been a diagnosis

and you... have... dementia.

Dementia?

Early on-set.

But there's therapies

and there are treatments...

and there's this beautiful place.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, come on, Mike.

- And we're together. - Come on!

You don't believe that crap, do you?

- 'Cause you're not alone-- - Nah, this is one of--

This is just another one of his tricks.

- Yeah, I see it all now. - Right.

Okay, listen, the doctor said

I'm supposed to keep you engaged,

keep your mind active.

So... tell me the story

from the beginning...

again.

The story's always the same, Mike.

I'm tracking you.

It starts with me coming back through one of his portals

from God knows where.

I find myself deep in the desert.

I get my car back, and I'm feeling pretty good

when I'm driving American muscle again.

I keep to the back roads,

small towns,

those overlooked places that nobody would expect...

one eye out for those spheres,

and the other for him.

And like all good stories,

it starts with a girl.

Okay, Reg.

Boy, am I glad to see you.

Oh! I'm sorry.

I thought you were someone I knew.

You mean, you know somebody else that drives around these parts

in a black '71 Barracuda?

Far out.

I'm really sorry I stopped you.

I thought you were a friend of mine.

Well, you look like you could use some help.

Um, it just kinda stopped working.

Do you know anything about cars?

- Do you think you-- - Oh, no, no.

I don't think so.

I don't think I can help you with that...

but I can give you a lift up to the next town if you want.

I'm not really in the habit

of getting into cars with strangers.

Well, hi, I'm Reggie.

- I'm Dawn. - Hi, Dawn.

See, now we're not strangers any more.

Let me just get my bag.

Let's hit it.

Well, this is it. Home sweet home.

Beautiful.

- Do you live here alone? - No.

Actually. I have a farmhand-- Demeter.

Demeter, huh?

My parents were Bulgarian,

and when they passed away,

he just stayed on with the farm.

Got it.

So...

I'm still trying to make sense of this story of yours.

Well, it-- it is complicated.

So... there's these friends of yours,

and then this big dude?

- The Tall Man. - Yeah.

And you guy's have been fighting him for years?

Yup.

Hmm.

Well, it really is an amazing story.

Epic, actually.

I think I'm gonna go hit the sack.

Hey, uh, you know there's, uh--

there's something I've been wanting to ask you.

Yeah, what?

Well, uh...

it gets hard on the road

and I just want to--

Reggie, I think I see where this is going.

and now I'm starting to think that maybe you should bunk

- outside with the horses. - No, no, no.

Yeah, don't get me wrong, okay.

I, uh...

and, um, well, I--

I wanted to let you know that in fact

I'm going to write you a song tonight.

Oh, that's really sweet, Reggie.

- Yeah? - Yeah.

Now you get some rest.

Oh, and, Reggie...

I really hope you find what you're looking for...

or it finds you.

Wow, man.

I sure hope not.

"In the warmth of your mountain cabin"

"In the glow of a new-born song"

"Put my lovin' arms around you, baby"

"And I whisper your name"

"I-- I whisper your name"

Hey, wow.

Fuck, what did she say her name was?

"As I whisper your name"

Hey, Reggie?

I was thinking...

Sweet dreams.