Heavy Metal Page #2

Pulling closer we can hear the worried voices of the Council

members.

COUNCILMAN #3

They're killing everyone. We

must escape!

COUNCILMAN #2

The city is burning!

COUNCILMAN #4

(throwing a parchment

before the Elder)

Even the mountains glow green and an

evil slime oozes down!

COUNCILMAN #1

Elder, we must arm ourselves! We

must fight!

ELDER:

Silence!

Everyone gets quiet. Looking at the parchment thrown before

him, the ancient, withered ELDER rises to his feet.

ELDER:

We are not a race of warriors.

We are statesmen, and scientists.

From our very beginning it was ordained

that the warrior-race of Taarak the

Defender would aid us in times of need.

This was the Pact!

COUNCILMAN #1

Taarak the Defender? His race is

dead! They cannot defend anyone!

COUNCILMAN #2

Some say that the race is not dead

- that one still lives.

COUNCILMAN #1

One? What good is one?

ELDER:

One of Taarak's blood can do much.

Outside, the sounds of battle grow louder. A boy appears at

the doorway.

BOY:

Elder! They are at the walls!

COUNCILMAN #3

Well who is this last Defender?

How can he be summoned?

ELDER:

It is Taarna, of the blood of

Taarak the Defender - the last of

the race. And must be summoned as

my forefathers summoned Taarak

himself - from within!

COUNCILMAN #2

But will this Defender answer?

ELDER:

A Taarakian has no choice. They

must answer. It is in their blood.

The clattering of armour becomes audible.

BOY:

They are in the halls! They are coming!!

ELDER:

(calmly to the boy)

Bar the door.

(to the Councilmen)

We will summon the

Defender together.

The Councilmen nod.

ELDER:

(shutting eyes)

Taarna ... Taarna ...

As the Councilmen take up the chant;

CUT TO:

THE DOOR:

As the boy begins to bar the door, it bursts open, flinging him

aside. Standing in the doorway, surrounded by his men, is

the BARBARIAN LEADER.

With a laugh, he raises a Medieval-looking multiple cross-bow

and fires a burst of arrows into the boy's chest, as the crazed

troops rush in around him.

The chanting continues as we;

CUT TO:

THE OUTLANDS:

We look down over this uncivilized wilderness with only

decaying pipelines and the occasional jagged rock structure

breaking the barren uniformity of the land. As the Council's

distant chanting fades out, all is quiet.

Suddenly from behind us, we hear the sound of flapping wings

and a huge rush of air. Just above our heads, TAARNA THE

DEFENDER comes flying in, sitting proudly in the saddle of

a giant crimson bird.

CUT TO:

TAARNA'S FACE

She is beautiful, with dark eyes and wild red hair blowing

behind her in the wind.

Below her, on the ground, she sees a humanoid running in terror,

chased by an ugly, four-legged mutant creature.

Spurring her bird forward, TAARNA sweeps down over the ugly

beast and lassoes it. She then hoists the creature up into

the air and, tossing her end of the rope over a tall jagged

rock, she leaves the snarling beast hanging helplessly.

Flying down to the grateful humanoid, she dismounts. As

she approaches we see that he has a barbarian medallion

on a chain around his neck.

HUMANOID:

I owe you my life. Let me

repay you ...

He takes off his medallion and places it around her neck.

Suddenly he twists the chain tight in his hand, pulling her

towards him. His eyes change to a bright green as he forces

her to the ground and starts ripping at her clothes. As he

molests her, TAARNA is distracted. She hears something - voices

inside her, chanting her name.

Quickly she grabs the chain and rips it apart. Then she

powerfully smashes both her hands together around her attacker's

ears. As he holds his ringing ears, she gets up, lifts him

above her head, and hurls him mercilessly to the ground.

Still hearing the chanting, she jumps on her bird, pulls out

a second rope, and lassoes the barbarian's feet. She then

lifts him up and leaves him hanging from the tall, jagged rock,

next to the growling creature.

As TAARNA flies off, the hanging beast eyes the barbarian

hungrily.

CUT TO:

AUSTIN GRIMALDI:

He is still sitting on the floor, working on his machine.

As the camera pulls closer, we see that AUSTIN is reaching

deep inside the machineworks, trying to solder a small orange

diode in place with an odd-style soldering iron. The connection

breaks, and the diode and some hot solder fall deeper into the

machine and start smoking and sputtering. As the smoke grows

thicker, the machine starts to buzz loudly.

AUSTIN:

Dammit!

AUSTIN pulls his face out of the smoking chassis, grabs a pair

of needlenose pliers, and reaches back to retrieve the part.

The camera follows AUSTIN'S arm into the chassis, where smoke

surrounds it and clouds over everything. The buzzing sound

grows, and changes into the sound of powerful, throbbing

engines. Slowly the smoke begins to clear as we hear a voice

crackling over a radiophone.

BOMBARDIER:

(V.O.)

Where the hell are we?

Suddenly the smoke dissipates and a formation of B-17 bombers

come tearing out into the moonlit night.

CUT TO:

THE GROUND BELOW

The sound of jungle night creatures fills the air. We see

palm trees silhouetted against the moon bright sky. The

scene is almost serene. The camera pans and suddenly the

nose of a large parked bomber fills the screen, and as the

camera continues panning, we pass a large red rising sun on

the bomber's fuselage. The pan stops at the tail of the

aircraft, and we see a Japanese soldier - a guard.

There is a moment of tranquillity, as jungle sounds fill the

air. The soldier almost dozes ... suddenly the cacophony of

sound stops, and for a brief moment there is complete silence

... then with an agonizing wail an air raid siren shatters

the silence and the guard looks skyward, startled.

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