Arcade Page #16

ANOTHER CYCLE:

appears out of side tunnels and a chase is on. The RIDER is dressed in

black with glowing death's head masks.

BOY:

(to Alex)

Dark Riders! If they touch us, we're dead!

The tunnels get narrower and narrower, as Alex keeps pushing the limit off

the bike.

Rider #1 tries to cut Alex off, charging forward and ramming her bike...

Alex almost loses it, but finds balance once again, sweeping left and up

the side of a circular tunnel...

RIDER #1

bites it. His cycle careens into the wall and EXPLODES in a shower of

GREEN LIGHT. The death's head tumbles away, spinning end over end. The

Screamer BLASTS over the remains of the Rider, having entered the tunnels.

TWO MORE RIDERS APPEARS

gaining on Alex. Rider #2 pulls a staff from his back and thrusts it

forward like a lance. CHINK! The staff hits Alex's rear wheel, nearly

throwing her. The rider pulls off a gloved and reaches a glowing,

skeletal hand towards them. Death touch. The boy SCREAMS in terror.

UP AHEAD,

a wall is rushing to meet them. Alex jams the breaks and slides/skids

sideways, cutting right at the last possible moment...

WHAM!!! Rider #2 slams into the end wall, not able to negotiate the turn.

Another EXPLOSION of green and the second death's head comes tumbling

away.

Alex looks back. There should be one Rider left, only now their are

three! Alex guns the bike and cuts sharply to the right...

NEW TUNNEL --

Alex SCREECHES to a stop, having found yet another fork. The tunnel

branches off into two directions. Two neon signs with arrows point in

opposite directions.

NEON SIGNS:

They read, "THIS WAY" and "THAT WAY". Alex checks her wrist display. Not

much time left.

ALEX:

Which way?

BOY:

(pointing)

That way.

Alex backs up the cycle and heads down the tunnel marked "THIS WAY"

instead.

ALEX:

Sorry.

THE TUNNEL:

It narrows almost immediately. Alex hears a ROAR, glances behind her, and

sees four death's head RIDERS on her tail. She makes another turn...

AHEAD,

is a crumbling brick wall with the words "WRONG WAY" painted in blood-red.

BOY:

(screaming)

It's the wrong way!

ALEX:

(over the noise)

In this world, wrong is right!

SUDDENLY,

the tunnel behind them flares with light, shaking like an earthquake. The

Screamer has found them.

A KEY:

hangs out from the wall, sort of like the brass ring on a merry-go-round.

Alex snags it as she sweeps by.

THE SCREAMER:

rockets around the corner, twisting down the narrow tunnel.

Alex grinds the motorcycle forward for all it's worth, and the Screamer is

literally breathing down her neck. She turns corner after corner, faster

and faster, scraping the bike into the scum-covered walls and shooting out

showers of SPARKS. If she takes one second too long to negotiate a turn,

pauses for even an instant, the Screamer will be on them...

A CLAWED HAND:

lashes out and tears away the cycle's tail-pipe. Another hand takes out a

chunk of the seat...

THE BOY:

is WAILING, curling low to avoid the Screamer's claws...

AHEAD,

the tunnel narrows to a dead-end. Alex and the Screamer are on a

collision course. A hundred miles an hour and gaining...

The Screamer LASHES out again, gouging a bloody gash in Alex's shoulder

and cutting clear through her armor. It's claws sink into her flesh,

latching on. Alex CRIES OUT in pain, her face contorted into a mask of

agony and fear. She pulls out a knife with her left hand a stabs blindly

into the monster...

THE SCREAMER:

LURCHES forward onto the motorcycle and opens its jaws wide. Black saliva

and ooze flow from it's mouth splashing over Alex's shoulder's and neck.

It's going to bite her head off. It's going to...

Alex and the Screamer SLAM into the dead-end and a spectacular fireball of

GREEN LIGHT consumes the screen.

"LEVEL NINE -- THE GHETTO OF GREED"

CUT TO:

EXT. LEVEL NINE, CRUMBLING HONG KONG GHETTO -- NIGHT

We're on a dark, crowded street lined by decrepit tenements which are

caving in upon themselves.

There is a flash of GREEN LIGHT. Alex and the boy suddenly appear on the

street in a whirlwind of papers, sans motorcycle, but still sliding

forward at a good thirty miles an hour. Were it not for their armor,

they'd be torn to shreds. They skid to a stop under a sputtering

streetlight.

Alex and the boy are still SCREAMING. Anguish is the word for Alex. She

clutches her shoulder which is gushing blood and stumbles to her feet.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!!!!!!

It's her f***ing wrist display again and TIME-IS-F***ING-UP!

Alex SCREAMS, pushed to the absolute breaking point.

BOOM! Once again the streets begin to vibrate as the Screamer enters the

level.

BOY:

It's here!!!

ALEX:

(manic)

Oh God...oh god...

THE STREETS --

Impoverished PEOPLE bustle back and forth everywhere. Alex grabs the boy's

hand and all but drags him down the darkened streets. It becomes a mad,

blind dash through Hell. She SMASHES into peddlers, stalls, tripping over

or knocking down everything in her path...

The SHRIEK/SONIC BOOM of the Screamer overwhelms everything else. With

each level, it's gotten louder and louder. Wind is tearing down the

streets...

A BLACK-CLAD FIGURE

spins out of the shadows, landing in front of them. It's a Ninja, two

swords spinning in its hands.

Instinctively, Alex reaches to her side, and sure enough, there's a gun

there now. She unholsters it and FIRES in a blind panic.

BLAM! Down goes the Ninja #1, spouting blood from its chest.

THWUNK! THWUNK!!! Two throwing stars imbed themselves into Alex's

chest-plate...

...and Jesus-f***ing-Christ, Ninjas are crawling out of the wood-work!

They dive out of the shadows, weapons spinning and glistening in the

moonlight. Throwing stars are flying like hail now, CLINKING! into the

concrete walls behind Alex and the boy...

ALEX:

Sh*t!!!

ALEX:

spins around, shooting indiscriminately into the crowd of bodies. BLAM!

BLAM! BLAM! Ninjas fall right and left, but in no time, twice as many

move in to take their place. They're like the hornet's nest of Alien

monsters, black-clad shadows creeping towards them.

A shot hits the streetlight above, casting a sputtering, strobing light

over the whole scene and adding to the chaos.

The world is shaking apart. It's the end of everything. It's flashes of

light and noise, nightmares and blood, chaos heaped on chaos...

Alex FIRES her gun again and again and again...

...and in the midst of this mess, here comes the Screamer again. It

shoots down the street like a guided missile.

Alex stumbles. The Boy drags at her arm, trying to pull her up...

THE BOY:

Come on!!!

Alex is crying, hysterical. She turns and sees the Screamer bearing down

on her, just like Nick did before her was ripped to shreds.

The boy is yelling something. Alex focuses...

THE BOY:

The doorway! It's here!!!

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