barter-teen-ashcan_stevenm

first draft

establish school and hierarchy
>Berserker the Rage is the leader of the Swordsman Club, who gets challenged for the leadership by Eric Temporaryname with his own cool-looking sword, the challenge is narrated/officiated by the student council in a big stadium on school grounds
>crowd shots showing normal students, students in superhero costumes, etc
>student council are all recogniseable for wearing similar gear
>Eric is a 'normal' student while Berserker can increase his strength
>Berserker powers up to maximum berserk, but gets beaten by Eric, abridged shonen action where Eric relies on his friends for true power
>Student councillor Toby Frank, a no-nonsense bruiser archetype, lectures Berserker on his loss, Berserker gets mad and attacks but Frank lays him out in one punch
>Big flashy spread of students ranked from top to bottom, Frank and Eric near top, Main Guy all the way at the bottom in some school hallway, other students (including councillors) can be silhouettes to save time on designing everybody

establish character
>show blase Main Guy being accompanied by Frank, whose presence intimidates some of the background students - no dialogue really needed
>show Guy in handcuffs, he's reading a list of school clubs, most of which are crossed out already - no dialogue really needed
>Eric interrupts Guy to thank him for the sword he gave him, Eric's friends want to give him gloves as thanks
>Frank offers to store the gloves away in Guy's bag, Guy says he'll do it and unlocks/relocks cuffs
>Eric and his band leave
>Frank reproaches Guy for not being more thankful or outgoing, Guy says he was
>Guy tries a little harder, jokes that he doesn't even feel like killing himself
>Frank tackles him to the ground, Guy stresses it was a joke

conflict
>Main Guy sitting in the corner of his classroom, another councillor called Bucky (metrosexual, very popular with girls, that sort of archetype) standing in front of his desk to watch him, classmates are chatting on other side of room
>Additional panels of Guy and councillors in similar or humourous scenarios, such as Frank handling cutlery or Bucky handling work on a circular saw while Guy is helpless to watch - no dialogue needed to establish that Guy doesn't like being heavily supervised
>Guy in Sewing Club, Ella (ditzy, very sweet, mainly on the council because nepotism/for her own protection) is helplessly inept with needles - drives Guy to snatch the thread away and effortlessly work on a decoration on a teddy bear's tummy
>Turns out the completed teddy was one that Ella asked for in first place and she is very pleased with the results
>Guy throwing his hands up, takes his complaint to the shadow chairwoman Amelia (pragmatic, stoic, well-respected by the councillors)
>Amelia lets him off the leash for a probationary period, simply reminds Guy he's not allowed to challenge club leaders or try on any of the school's exosuits since his compatibility with them is extremely poor

objective
>freedom, Guy doesn't know what to do with it
>Guy approached by Berserker who seeks 'inquiry' with the 'merchant' - apparently Eric told him about Guy
>Guy trying to be helpful for a change, says he isn't a merchant but just gave stuff to Eric for free - Berserker is relieved, this makes the deal a lot simpler
>Berserker asking Guy for a book on something like winning friends and influencing people
>He doesn't have it, but he asks around and trades around and gets a copy of a book with that premise
>He gets it from Eric
>Eric borrowed it from Berserker ages ago
>Guy throwing his hands up
>Guy sees some promise in the idea of people bartering across school and asks Eric and Berserker to see what people need
>People asking for music CDs, textbooks, cursed artifacts and weapons
>Amelia feeling confident in her decision, nothing will go wrong