The Corruptor

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EXT:
NEW YORK CITY, DAY

Credits roll over establishing shots of the city. First,

primary MANHATTAN, the one tourists see on post

cards. Then slowly, we drift into Chinatown. Side

streets and back alleys so different you wouldn't

even know your in the U.S...Eventually we stop on...

EXT:
WINGS BAKERY SHOP, WEST BROADWAY, CHINATOWN

-DAY

CUSTOMERS move in and out when BOOOOM! The screen

EXPLODES in a ball of FIRE.

The bleeding PATRONS stumble into the street as

flames pour from a gaping hole that was once a

bustling Herb shop.

Across the street, a young ASIAN, poorly dressed,

lights a smoke. His body is undernourished and

covered with the tattoo insignia of the FUKIENESE

DRAGONS. But it's his eyes that get your attention.

Dark and hungry, they watch his day's work with the

detachment of one who's been taught the value of

life is zero. Meet BOBBY VU.

Oblivious to the chaos, he strides into the street

flanked by three similarly tattooed youths who we

will come to know as JACK, BLACK EYES and "THE TALL

KID". Together they encircle a middle-aged TRIAD

SYMPATHIZER dressed totally in his bakery whites,

crawling from the rubble. The young gangsters

brazenly pull pistols from their jackets.

BOBBY VU:

Fukienese Dragons not funny now.

The injured man futilely pulls a gun from his coat as

the Dragons execute their prey in a barrage of

gunfire. Smoke drifts from their weapons when Bobby

notices a frightened TOURIST lying in a puddle of her

own blood. He looks into her tear filled eyes and

raises his gun to finish her. But she dies before he

needs to shoot.

He then climbs into a rented Ford and takes off.

3. A BAD DEAL FOR THE FUKIENESE

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INT:
PHAN HO'S LAMPS, CANAL STREET, NYC-NIGHT

For a lamp store the joint is dark. The only light comes from the

merchandise burning 20 watt bulbs and a small black and white

Zenith spouting tape delayed news from the bombing site.

REPORTER (TELEVISION)

The tragic death of BETH KADELL from Fairlawn New Jersey

in this morning's Chinatown bombing has mobilized the city

and drawn attention to a six month war being waged in the

back alleys and underground corridors of the city's most

mysterious neighborhood. According to police, the Fukienese

Dragons, a new entity in the Chinatown crime scene, are

headed by twenty year old Bobby Vu from the Fukien

province of China.

The television shows a surveillance photo of Bobby Vu as the

sound of sporadic GRUNTS and a heavy WHACK...WHACK, emanates

from the back of the shop.

Sitting at a table, drowning in a shower of sweat, is a fifty

year old blob named PHAN HO. Nerves mask his face, when

suddenly his arm lurches forward as if something or someone

pulled him. WHACK!

REPORTER (TELEVISION)

Sources say the bombing and execution of a known Triad

Soldier are another chapter in the power struggle between

the Fukienese Dragons Youth Gang and the Triad run Tung

Fung Benevolent Association, Chinatown's ruling organized

crime entity for over a century, believed to be headed by

local businessman Benjamin Wong. Known in the community

as Uncle Benny.

A photo of sixty three year old Benny Wong fills the TV screen

as Phan Ho takes a five from a dwindling stack of bills and pushes

it across the table to NICK CHEN.

Chen's thirty six, and whatever money he earns is spent on clothes

and fifty dollar haircuts. He's handsome and cool, with looks

hailing more from his Hong Kong father than his mainland mom.

Phan watches as Chen takes a card from his hand and flips it onto

the table. Ace of Spades. Phan drops a three of Clubs. Back and

forth until Phan's empty and Chen's left with one card. He smiles,

taking his time as the fat man wipes sweat from his brow.

PHAN:

Throw it!

Phan's poised to strike. Chen drops the card. Jack of Clubs. Both

men move, but Chen's quicker. He pulls the card from the table

letting Phan slam his hand on nothing but wood.

WHACK!

Phan holds his palm as Chen picks up the cards and another five.

He shuffles the deck skillfully with his right hand as his left

fishes a smoke from his pocket.

PHAN:

It's late. No Fukienese Dragons come here. I close now...OK?

On cue, the bell over the front door sounds trouble.

INT PHAN HO'S LAMPS - NIGHT

The youths entering the shop are FUKIENESE. Two, Jack and "The

Tall Kid", we recognize as the shooters from Wing's. One of them,

Fuke #1, stays outside to stand guard as the others approach Chen.

TALL KID:

(Fukienese)

Time to pay.

They move purposefully toward the two men as Chen drops a

seven of clubs on the table and turns to Phan.

CHEN:

You speak Fukienese?

Phan nods as the young thugs reach the table. Chen turns over

a four of spades from the frightened shop owner's hand.

CHEN:

Tell 'em they're in the wrong store.

TALL KID:

F*** you.

CHEN:

Learned some English, good for you.

Chen pulls his .45 and lays the cannon on the table.

PHAN:

Are you crazy?

Chen drops a Jack of hearts on the pile, covers it uncontested

and takes a five from Phan's ever shrinking pile.

CHEN:

Lucky...are you?

Chen stares at the Tall Kid, goading him with his lack of

concern...Three seconds pass like kidney stones... Finally, Chen

laughs to himself, stands and puts his finger to the Tall Kid's

head as if it were a play gun.

The lack of respect incites the Tall Kid to go for his gun. But

before he can fire a shot, Chen produces a .38 from his sleeve

and puts a bullet through the gangster's head.

Phan drops to the ground as Chen dives over the card table,

grabbing his .45. He hits the floor pulling the table down with

him as a shield for Phan, then himself as Fuke #2 shoots

wildly before being taken out by Chen.

Jack retreats to behind a wall, then slowly crosses through an

archway to confront Chen from behind. As he steps out, he finds

only Phan cowering on the floor. Chen has disappeared. Suddenly

the place explodes in a hail of automatic gunfire as Fuke #1

enters the store and sprays everything in sight, producing a

blizzard of glass. Jack turns to see Chen has re-appeared and

taken up postion behind a counter full of lamps and mirrors while

he takes on both Jack and Fuke #1.

Chen skillfully uses one of the counters as cover as he makes

his way towards the front ofthe store, gets a bead on the Fuke

with the automatic and sends him flying back out the front

door in a hail of glass- pedestrians scattering for their life.

Jack, alone now, cowers behind an opposite counter, desperately

crawling along the floor trying to make his way out of there. He

peeks through an opening to his cover and find Chen nowhere in

sight.

Slowly, painfully hunched over, he backs up towards the

blown-out front door, checks for Chen one more time, then

decides to make a run for it. Suddenly he's got a foot slamming

into the side of his head sending him crashing back to the floor.

Chen has appeared out of nowhere.

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