Flash Gordon Page #9

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DALE:

That creep bastard comes anywhere near me, I will bite off whatever you goons have down there! (she snatches the clothes he offers from him and throws them back) I’m not putting on anything! And I’m not going to marry that a**hole! You can tell that disgusting bag of garbage he can go to Hell!

The HIGH PRIEST smirks and exits.

INT. ATOMIC SHAFT – MONGO

We look down at the sheer immenseness of the man-made abyss. We see from a high distance that MING, ZARKOV, and two MECHANICAL MEN walk along a wide balcony on the wall of the shaft. Huge turbines whir as gigantic electrodes shoot arcs of electricity back and forth across the abyss.

ZARKOV:

Mein Gott! The amount of radioactive energy here is enough to power a thousand worlds!

They walk along a mezzanine displaying a row of large, glass tanks. In each tank, floating in translucent yellow liquid, we see a hawkman, a lizardman, a lionman, a shark man, and so on. Several scientists in black goggles and long, white doctor coats work about the tanks. Others stand at tables, dissecting corpses.

MING:

With each conquered world, I test the population. I experiment on their genetics to create subjects who are easier to bend to my will.

ZARKOV:

Those people in the throne room? You – you created them?

MING:

To an extent. I altered the original male and female. They bread as the rest. Thousands of years ago. The entire population of Mongo is a direct result of my experimentations with genetics.

They walk along a bridge spanning the shaft.

MING:

Our science has conquered the threat of mortality, doctor. I, myself, am over six thousand years old. No one dies of age on Mongo. Only through the impermanence of combat, or attack by a random beast in the wild, does one find the long sleep.

On one side of the shaft, suspended by a network of girders, a HUGE MACHINE hums and spits arcs of electricity suspended by beams of light.

MING:

I am currently attempting to perfect certain radioactive isotopes, Doctor Zarkov, refined from my mines. An element not known on your earth.

MING approaches a terminal. Presses a button, turns a dial, flicks a switch. The console lights up streaming data. He motions for ZARKOV to read the stream. ZARKOV reels back in amazement.

ZARKOV:

You have achieved dark matter fission?!

MING:

Eons ago.

ZARKOV:

That is the source of your power! It is how you brought your entire planet into our solar system!

MING:

Very clever, Zarkov. You conclude then that my visit is no accident. That Mongo is no casual wanderer through the cosmos.

ZARKOV:

I have already warned the governments of earth of your attack!

MING:

And what was your reward, Doctor Zarkov? Did they cease their bickering and backstabbing to heed your forewarnings?

ZARKOV:

It does not mean they will not discover the truth for themselves.

MING:

They’ll be laid to waste by then.

ZARKOV:

You’ll never conquer Earth! Never!

MING:

Incompetent savage! I explained to you that was never my intention. Earth will destroy itself, with my aid. Which is why you are alive, Zarkov, to assist me.

ZARKOV:

Do you actually think I will help you destroy my own planet?!

MING violently grabs ZARKOV by the throat and begins choking him. ZARKOV struggles, but MING is more physically powerful than he lets on. The two MECHANICAL MEN point their rifles at ZARKOV’S head.

MING:

You have no choice, Zarkov! You will work willingly or as a mindless automaton to do my bidding!

WHIPE TO:

INT. TUNNEL OF TERROR – MINGO CITY

AURA leads FLASH down a hallway and into a small hangar. Parked in the middle of the hangar is a rocketship. Small, it is dull chrome and resembles a CESSNA with curved fins instead of wings. There is an open hatch on the side.

AURA and FLASH stand at the hatch.

AURA:

You will be safe in here, earthman. I will return once I have spoken to my father.

FLASH:

No, no, no. I don’t think so. I’m going with you. I have to find out what happened to Dale.

AURA:

I forbid it. You will only cause great harm, earthman. The wrath of my father should not be taken lightly. I, alone, can save your female.

AURA gestures to the open hatch. Begrudgingly, FLASH climbs up into the rocketship. AURA snaps the hatch closed and locks it. She kicks away the hatch steps.

INT. ROCKETSHIP – HANGAR

FLASH is looking through the small porthole in the hatch. He attempts to open it, then bangs on it.

FLASH:

Hey! Let me out of here!

INT. HANGAR – MINGO CITY

AURA begins to back away from the rocketship, keeping her eyes on FLASH.

AURA:

You will remain here until after my father weds the earth girl. You will never see Dale Arden again.

She runs off into the palace.

INT. ROCKETSHIP – HANGAR – MINGO CITY

The inside cabin of the rocket is bare. There is an “engine” towards the back with pipes and conduits leading through the exposed, curved grillwork of the fuselage up to a single pilot seat behind a control panel. Across from the hatch there is a locker attached to the side.

FLASH momentarily watches as AURA disappears around a corner. He stands, shaking his head in frustration. He looks around the cabin. Opening the locker, he pulls out a blue, long sleeved tunic, a pair of black leather shorts, and boots. He glances down at his filthy and shredded clothes. FLASH begins to undress.

WHIPE TO:

INT. MING’S LABORATORY – MINGO CITY

Escorted by the two MECHANICAL MEN, MING and ZARKOV return to the laboratory.

MING:

...you will design for me a way of harnessing the positronic rays of the...

The HIGH PRIEST walks into the laboratory. He approaches MING and bows. MING sneers at being interrupted and nods.

HIGH PRIEST:

The earth girl refuses to obey your royal commands, my emperor.

MING:

What?! She refuses to become my bride?

HIGH PRIEST:

It appears so, your majesty.

MING:

Very well. As High Priest, you know what to do.

HIGH PRIEST:

Your majesty? You don’t mean the de-humanizer?

MING:

Precisely what I mean.

HIGH PRIEST:

But, the danger of cerebral aneurysms or seizures...

MING:

Not if you see to it that the hypnotic symptoms lasts only long enough for you to perform the marriage ceremony.

MING waves the HIGH PRIEST away.

MING:

Oh, and priest. If she dies, I will see to it you die a million times over.

The HIGH PRIEST bows and slinks away. MING notices the dismay on ZARKOV’S face. MING approaches the doctor menacingly.

MING:

Science will overcome all things. Even human emotion.

WHIPE TO:

INT. ROCKETSHIP – HANGAR – MINGO CITY

FLASH is dressed in the uniform he found in the locker. After adjusting the tunic here and there, he casually sits in the pilot’s seat. It is both archaic instruments and high-tech. Switches, dials, levers, and vacuum tubes mixed with LED light monitors and screens.

FLASH looks the panel over. Flips a switch. Nothing. Turns a dial. Nothing. Pushes a button. The control panels spring to life. The generator in the back hums.

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