sib1x13 Script created with Final Draft by Final Draft, Inc.
[previous | bottom] ACT TWO
FADE IN:
13 INT. BAR. NIGHT. 13
Back with Chris and Twist. The place is just as full, but
several empty beer bottles have gathered around the two of
them by now. Twist is still wearing her cammo paint but has
smudged it a lot, while Chris looks like he is finally
starting to loosen up with all the drinking.
TWIST
Wow. So what happened with that
girl in the end?
CHRIS
She died a few days later. I tried
to ask the guardian spirits to take
away the cancer, but they…
(beat)
It's not important. What matters is
that they rejected her. She was
damaged goods. That little
encounter did set Julie on the path
that led her to yesterday, however.
TWIST
What, you mean how she started off
as Little Miss Medical and then
started reading books dustier than
yours and diagnosing your hexed
mojo thingy?
CHRIS
I explained to her what I'd tried
to do some years later, and the
interest she showed led me to
introduce her to our world a little
more. I left her to it after that,
looks like she was a good student
in my absence.
TWIST
No arguments here! So what then?
CHRIS
Not long after that, I moved out of
Chicago and left it all behind. I
hid out up in Canada for a while,
in a cave up in one of the mountain
ranges, meditating and trying to
work out why I felt so useless all
of a sudden. And then I started to
think about the last time I felt
like that.
TWIST
Which was when?
CHRIS
(thoughtful)
Once upon a time in Austria, a
little valley town surrounded by
mountains called Zell Am See. It
was 1975, and I was on the trail of
a very territorial fire-breathing
creature…
DISSOLVE TO:
14 EXT. AUSTRIA - ZELL AM SEE - STREET. DAY. 14
INSERT OVER - Zell Am See, Austria - May 1975.
Chris walks into frame, sporting longer hair and a
particularly offensive 70's style moustache. He's dressed in
a long, brown leather coat and is wearing a pair of large
shades, a backpack slung over one shoulder as he walks down
the main street of the pleasant valley town.
CHRIS (V.O.)
The demon in question was a three
hundred year old yllib that had
just woken up from a long
hibernation period, to find that
the fields and ranges it once
'owned' were now covered with human
settlements, and it wasn't too
happy about this at all. I'd headed
out there at the request of a
friend to solve the problem. I was
in the area anyway, looking for
these rare flowers that grew up in
the mountains.
TWIST (V.O.)
Flowers? Boy, you really bought
into the Seventies, didn't you…
CHRIS (V.O.)
(a little peeved)
It was an ingredient in a spell I
was making up!
We watch as Chris retrieves a sheet of paper from his jacket
pocket, checking off the house numbers as he walks down the
street, stopping outside a house with a large, garishly
painted Cadillac parked outside.
He smirks at the car and steps up to the door, knocking twice
on it. After a beat, Chris' friend ROLF opens the door, grins
and beckons Chris inside.
15 INT. ROLF'S HOUSE. DAY. 15
The house itself is a cleanly-furnished town house, plenty of
potted plants, landscape paintings and open windows with
little balcony plantboxes outside. Rolf and Chris shake hands
warmly.
ROLF
Glad you could make it, Chris. We
were beginning to worry about what
we were going to do!
CHRIS
I'll always help out a friend in
need, Rolf. What can you tell me?
Rolf motions to a table and clears away some dinner plates so
Chris can lay his bag down. Rolf unfurls a rambler's map of
the local mountain range on the table.
ROLF
Well, here we are. This is the
town.
Rolf's fingers point out the landmarks.
ROLF (cont'd)
The demon's attacks have been in
the hotels and chalets around this
area, and also out here, near the
cable car station. It's a fair bet
to say his base is somewhere round
here.
Chris nods, pushing his shades up into his hair and using a
red pen to make marks on the map.
CHRIS
What information can you give me
about the creature itself? I don't
have any of my books on me at the
moment, I had to travel light.
ROLF
Yllibs, uh, kind of like a low
level fire elemental. Can create
small fires with low-power magic
spells, but if it has a fire
burning to start with, it can
augment that and create one much
bigger. You put a few of them
together and they could probably
start a forest fire, but
individually they're less
dangerous.
CHRIS
So why is this one causing so much
damage?
ROLF
We're not sure, we were hoping you
could find out! Do you have any
weapons?
CHRIS
A few magic items, but customs
would have picked up me trying to
board a plane with a big sword
tucked into my suitcase!
ROLF
(chuckles)
Not a problem, my friend.
Rolf walks over to a large dresser against one wall and opens
it to reveal several rows of weapons - swords, axes and
maces, glinting in the sunlight. Chris smiles.
16 EXT. ZELL AM SEE - HILLTOP. DAY. 16
Chris is hiking up into the mountain ranges, sword slung over
his back, pausing to mop his brow and scan the area. There is
a large guest house off to the right, and as we watch, the
shadow of a cable car passes overhead.
Chris looks up as it passes by overhead, and sees a small
child inside waving down at him. Grinning, he waves back.
CHRIS (V.O.)
I headed up into the hills to start
looking around, but it didn't take
me long to find what I was looking
for.
Chris spots a small house about half a mile away, the
unmistakable glow of flames rippling across its roof.
17 EXT. ZELL AM SEE - HOUSE. DAY. 17
Chris races into scene and up towards the house, a white
painted house with wooden fascias that are crackling in the
flames. A panicked looking WOMAN is screaming back towards
the house as Chris reaches her.
CHRIS
(in German)
Hey, hey! What's happened? Is
anyone still inside?
WOMAN
(in German)
My husband, he's, he's still in
there, with this… this thing! Help
him, please!
Chris nods and races up to the front door of the house.
In a slow-mo action shot, Chris heroically leaps through the
air and JUMP KICKS the door open, disappearing into the
flames that lick out at him.
18 INT. BURNING HOUSE. DAY. 18
Chris scans the inside of the house, thick with smoke and
flames, listening out for sounds of movement through the
crack of burning timbers.
He hears a YELL and sounds of a struggle, and draws his
sword, darting off to the left.
Jinking left and right to avoid the flames as he heads for
the staircase, quickly dashing up it and onto the first floor
landing.
He sees the YLLIB throttling the woman outside's husband, the
black-skinned monster dropping the dead man as Chris
approaches.
The two opponents square off against each other as flames
lick the wooden floorboards all around them. The yllib looks
like a bulky humanoid that'd been charbroiled - it's
blackened skin resembling a layer of charcoal. It growls and
takes a step towards Chris.
YLLIB
They must all die, all of them!
CHRIS
Just for living? Is that such a
crime?
YLLIB
Once, all of this land was mine. I
slept for two hundred years, and
when I awoke, they were everywhere!
Like vermin! Bacteria!
The yllib slams his fist angrily into the wall opposite him,
punching a hole clean through it. Chris gulps as he starts
to realise how powerful this enemy is.
CHRIS (V.O.)
Now, I don't think you've ever
taken on a yllib before…
TWIST (V.O.)
Yeah, I did, that forest a few
weeks back, remember? When we went
looking for that tree with the sap
you needed for the healing spell,
and then this mad monster thing
started burning all the trees down
like it wanted to signal to the
aliens or something!
CHRIS (V.O.)
So you remember how resilient and
how hot they are to touch?
TWIST (V.O.)
Still got the scars to prove it.
CHRIS (V.O.)
So have I…
The yllib PUNCHES Chris, and he flies backwards through the
air, arms flailing as he SMASHES through one of the roof
pillars, dislodging a section of burning timber.
As Chris frantically rolls to put out the flames, the yllib
marches over to him, grabs him by the coat and THROWS him out
of the landing window.
19 EXT. ZELL AM SEE – HOUSE. DAY. 19
Chris lands in a heap at the woman's feet, and she screams in
distress. Above us, we see the yllib stand in the shattered
window frame, bellowing defiantly.
YLLIB
You dare to encroach on my home, to
settle and breed like insects on my
precious land! You will all burn!
His hands IGNITE, erupting into flames, and the yllib gathers
two fireballs in each hand and launches them out of the house
towards Chris, who gathers up the woman and dives out of the
way as the fireballs SLAM into the ground where they were
standing.
The yllib leaps out of the house and lands on the hilltop,
racing off towards a cluster of buildings just over the next
rise. Chris scrambles to his feet and starts off after it,
not fast enough to keep up.
CHRIS (V.O.)
I wasn't fast enough that day. I'd
been doing what I do for almost two
years, and no innocents had ever
died because of me. Until that day.
Until I took on that thing.
20 EXT. ZELL AM SEE – CABLE CAR STATION. DAY. 20
We're looking into a creaky cable car station – the large
central building where the cars slow down to pick up and drop
off, and then the cables and gantries running down the
mountainside and into the town below, as a family including
the boy Chris waved to step out of one of the brightly
coloured cable cars.
Growling angrily, the yllib charges down the hillside towards
the station, gathering more fire in its hands.
The families see the creature and scream in terror, trying to
stampede away but finding that the only way in or out of the
central building leads back to the monster.
It bursts into the station with a guttural ROAR, and starts
hurling gobs of flame left and right. The panicked men, women
and children inside the station yell in fear and start to
crowd towards the back of the building.
The young boy gazes up as a shadow falls over him. The yllib
glares down at the boy, sneering.
YLLIB
One of the harmless little ones…
pity they do not stay that way
long! Better to end your life…
The yllib raises his hand and creates a fresh handful of
fire, holding it up over the boy. In the background, the
boy's mother SCREAMS at him to move, but he's frozen.
The yllib grins, but before it can move, Chris SLAMS into it
from behind, knocking it to the floor. The boy looks down as
Chris picks himself up.
CHRIS
Go! Schnell, schnell!
The boy scampers over to his mother, and Chris assumes a
fighting stance as the beast stands again, sword ready.
YLLIB
(furious)
You… worm!! You defy me? You defend
these… these animals?
CHRIS
(defiant)
If it's a choice between that, and
letting you murder them all, then
yes, you're damn right I'll defend
them!
The monster swings for Chris, but he has the measure of it
now and ducks the blow, slicing at its exposed belly with his
sword.
The yllib HOWLS, the sword cutting through its thick skin.
Chris urgently motions for the trapped families to get the
heck out of the station while the creature is distracted, and
they do so as Chris takes a punch and staggers back.
YLLIB
When I am done stripping the flesh
from your bones, I will burn
everything in my path down this
mountain, until I reach the
village, and then I will roast
every soul here alive! The night
shall be filled with the roar of
flames and the torment of the
dying!
It ROARS again as the flames grow in intensity all around.
Chris is on the floor, looking up at the towering form of the
yllib.
CHRIS
I really need to find out why you
ancient monsters have such a talent
for hyperbole…
He LUNGES with his sword and slides it cleanly into the
yllib's neck, and it chokes, stuttering backwards, its hands
still ablaze and dribbling flame everywhere it staggers.
Chris hears a loud PING and looks round.
The thick high tension cables holding the cable cars up are
starting to melt in the intense heat, snapping apart one
strand at a time. The metallic ringing sound of the loose
strands flailing around echoes outside.
A look of horror crosses his face as he looks out along the
cables' path.
A packed car is still on its way up the mountain, rocking
violently back and forth from the breaking cables.
CHRIS (V.O.) (cont'd)
And that was when I realised my
mistake.
Chris pants a boot in the beast's chest and drags his sword
free from its neck, before wrapping a bunch of the thick
cables in his hand and somersaulting through the air over the
creature, looping the cable round its neck.
With a heave, he pushes the yllib off the access platform for
the cars, and leaves it suspended in mid-air with the cable
knotted round its neck.
As it chokes and scrabbles at the cables, Chris grits his
teeth and pushes his sword right into its heart. The monster
ROARS one last time, and then falls still.
The flames rippling across the yllib's body run up and along
the cable, the damage there already done.
Chris races to the edge of the central building, looking out
towards the car in trouble further along.
CHRIS (V.O.) (cont'd)
I'd gotten the creature too close
to the people I was trying to
protect…
As we watch, and with terrified screams from its passengers,
the cables holding the car in the air SNAP, and the car DROPS
like a stone towards the rocky mountainside.
He tears his eyes away at the last second, shouting out in
frustration as we hear the CRASH and EXPLOSION of the car
hitting the ground.
CHRIS (V.O.) (cont'd)
… and twenty-four people died.
Chris starts to sob, sinking to his knees despite the inferno
of the flaming cable car station all around him.
21 INT. BAR. NIGHT. 21
We're close on Chris as a single tear rolls down his cheek.
CHRIS
Sometimes, I dream I can hear them
screaming out for help as the car
falls… every time, I try to save
them, and every time I fail.
Twist is silent for a long beat. She's never heard that story
before, and she's moved by how emotional Chris is.
TWIST
Chris, think about how many people
would have died if you hadn't
stopped that thing. It'd have
burned the town down, hundreds'd be
dead. It was just bad luck that
those people were in that car when
it went down.
CHRIS
I've tried to tell myself that, I
really have. But it just got harder
and harder to justify it to myself.
For almost seven years, I wandered
from place to place. I wouldn't
take on any offers of help because
I was petrified of causing innocent
deaths again.
Chris stares solemnly down into his glass. Twist takes on a
determined look, and she knocks back another shot.
TWIST
Okay, fine. That was a sucky story,
no arguments here. But remember how
you finally got your groove back?
Chris looks up, confused, and Twist grins at him.
TWIST (cont'd)
See, I know this story. Once upon a
time in Tokyo, 1986. Remember?
CHRIS
(smiles)
How could I forget…
BLACK OUT:
END OF ACT TWO
ACT THREE
FADE IN:
22 EXT. TOKYO STREET – DUSK 22
INSERT OVER - Tokyo, Japan - 1986
The City is buzzing tonight. Pedestrians crowd the busy
streets, as we pan along to rest outside a beaten-up looking
old bar.
Two Yakuza bodyguards stand outside, dressed smartly in black
suits and scanning the streets. A black limo rolls up to the
curb, and the guards step up to it as it stops. As the door
opens, we cut to:
23 INT. BEAT-DOWN BAR – NEXT 23
At a corner table sits WOO. He's an unassuming man in his
early forties, surrounded by the same two bodyguards as he
takes sips from a tiny teacup. In front of him sits a silver
briefcase.
Across from Woo sits KITANA. He's a much more menacing
figure, thirty-two years old and housing a certain intensity
in his eyes.
He puts his Glock handgun on the table respectfully, and
motions to Woo, who nods, putting a sharp dagger with a
dragon emblazoned into the metal onto the table.
All of Kitana and Woo's conversation is in subtitled
Japanese.
KITANA
(bows head)
Good evening, Mr. Woo.
WOO
(nods a greeting)
Good evening to you.
KITANA
Nice briefcase.
WOO
Yes, it is.
Beat. Woo sips his tea as Kitana shifts impatiently.
KITANA
Why did you call me here? You know
I hate the smell of this part of
town.
WOO
We need to talk, Mr. Kitana.
KITANA
Couldn't we talk over the phone?
(eyes briefcase)
So what is in the briefcase?
WOO
The truth, Mr. Kitana!
KITANA
About what?
Kitana starts to reach for the briefcase, captivated.
WOO
Matters that don't concern you.
Woo snatches the knife up from the table, and with lightning
speed STABS it down through Kitana's hand, impaling it to the
glass tabletop. Kitana grimaces with the pain, but Woo just
leans calmly forward.
W00
Don't get too close to the truth,
Mr. Kitana. It is unwise.
One of Woo's bodyguards places a hand on his arm, and Woo
nods back at him, taking his attention off Kitana.
KITANA
(through gritted teeth)
I'm afraid… I was never… very wise!
Kitana snatches his pistol up with his free hand, and in one
sweeping movement GUNS DOWN both of Woo's bodyguards. They
clatter to the floor, and Woo throws a shocked look at Kitana
as he calmly aims his gun at Woo's forehead.
WOO
You betray me? I will have you
hunted down and fed to my dogs!
KITANA
(wry smile)
I haven't betrayed you yet…
WOO
(coldly)
Et tu, Kitana?
Kitana's grin gets a little broader, before he FIRES. Woo is
killed instantly, thrown backwards with the force of the
bullet to land between his two dead guards.
Kitana looks down at his impaled hand, and with a grimace he
WRENCHES the dagger free. He howls in pain and throws the
dagger away in disgust, examining his wounded hand.
A thought strikes him, and he kneels to retrieve the dagger.
Looking up and down it, he smiles as he realises it's
actually worth something, and deftly slips it into his pocket
before tearing a strip from the tablecloth and wrapping it
tightly around his hand. He turns to leave.
Eyes shut, blood running down his head as Kitana's footsteps
start to head away. Woo's eyes suddenly FLICK OPEN, this time
heavily bloodshot.
Walking away from us, he is almost at the door when:
WOO (O.S.) (cont'd)
Mr. Kitana?
Kitana freezes, and slowly turns around, a look of disbelief
on his face.
Woo stands, smiling as he buttons up his suit jacket and
smoothes it out, vampire features now on display. His two
bodyguards also rise, not too happy about being shot.
WOO (cont'd)
It's never that simple.
24 EXT. TOKYO STREET – TWILIGHT 24
We're back on the street outside the bar. All is quiet for a
moment, before Kitana SMASHES through the window, arms
flailing before he hits the deck with a crunch.
People scream and hustle out of the way as broken glass
spills out in all directions, and Kitana, dazed, tries to
pick himself up as Woo and his vampire bodyguards step
through the bar's entrance.
Woo grins down at Kitana, blinking in disbelief, before
grabbing him by his hair and dragging him up into the air.
Despite his small size, Woo easily lifts Kitana off his feet,
Kitana yelling in pain and trying to break Woo's iron grip on
his hair.
WOO
The Beast will reign again, Mr.
Kitana! You were foolish to believe
you could stop it, and even more
foolish to think you could stop me!
Woo throws Kitana into the air, and he lands on top of the
black limo, denting its roof. Kitana groans, groggy with
pain, and tries to roll off the roof as Woo approaches,
chuckling to himself.
Somebody is watching the fracas from across the street, all
we can see is a pair of black boots as panicked citizens race
past us, away from the bar. The figure then whistles at Woo
to get his attention.
CHRIS (O.S.)
Three against one? That hardly
seems fair. Do you need any
reinforcements?
In Chris' right hand, he's holding a lit match. In his left,
a canister of gasoline.
Woo and his bodyguards suddenly look panicked.
We see Chris at last, beard thankfully neatly trimmed, and a
wry grin on his face as he drops the match in the canister of
gasoline, and throws it forward.
The can BURSTS into flames in mid-air, and lands right in
front of Woo and his bodyguards. They throw their arms up,
but the flames spill over them, and within moments the three
screaming vampires slump, dead, to the floor.
Watching as they burn, Chris' hand reaches into frame to help
him up. Kitana grins and takes the hand.
Chris helps Kitana off the limo roof and onto his feet, and
Kitana starts to straighten his clothes and hair, the epitome
of professionalism.
KITANA
I am fine now. Thank you.
CHRIS
(tongue in cheek)
Not a problem, I could see you had
everything under control.
Kitana stares at Chris as Chris kneels down to inspect the
remains of the three vampires, carefully scooping up a
handful of Woo's ashes.
KITANA
Who are you? And what… what were
those things?
CHRIS
For the first answer, I'm a friend.
(beat)
Well, actually… I'm part vampire.
But those miscreants were all
vampire.
KITANA
I have heard the stories. I have
just never seen it with my own eyes
before now… Are you like them?
CHRIS
Not exactly. See them?
(points to vampires)
Evil. And now dead.
(points to himself)
Not evil. And still going strong.
KITANA
This… this doesn't make much sense.
CHRIS
Yes, I do hear that a lot.
Chris looks off camera as we hear the sounds of approaching
police sirens, before turning back to Kitana.
CHRIS (cont'd)
Shall we have a wander? I think we
have a mutual problem that we can
help each other with, and I'd also
rather not have to explain what
just happened to the local police!
Kitana smirks and turns to the limo, yanking the door open
with some difficulty thanks to the crushed roof.
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