FADE IN:
EXT. IMPERIAL HIGHWAY - NIGHT
Needle, Hobbes, Diver and Jack are walking down the sidewalk
of Imperial Highway, a major 6 lane street running the north
south length of the Metroplex. The group is walking through
an industrial area, with most of the nearby properties being
fenced off and belching various smokes from their
smokestacks. The road itself is cracked here, the massive
weight of the regular freight trucks compressing the blacktop
to the point of brittleness. While the road is busy with
trucks the sidewalk is practically empty. Our group is
talking amongst themselves, save Jack who is using his palm
top, barely paying attention to where he's walking.
NEEDLE
(to Jack)
Anything?
Jack looks up, as if noticing they're walking for the first
time.
JACK
Well, I've been picking over what's
left of H-T, trying to see if I
could pick up her trail and back
trace it but that's useless; she
leaves no trace.
Diver looks at Jack and snorts.
DIVER
Then what good are you? I'm
starting to believe the black guy.
Bad shit does happen when you're
around.
Jack says nothing for a moment, though Hobbes grins as they
continue to walk.
NEEDLE
So you have nothing?
Jack looks at Diver as he talks, indignation in his voice.
JACK
I didn't say that. Since I can't
back trace her I tried something
else. I started looking at the
inventory of H-T assets and
comparing them to external lists,
like at the IRS or the county
recorder.
Hobbes looks over his shoulder at Jack.
HOBBES
And?
Jack looks at Diver again, this time triumphantly.
JACK
There's an office building in Long
Beach that belongs to H-T but isn't
listed in their inventory. The
building's power is being billed to
a data haven.
Hobbes looks questioningly at Jack as Jack nods.
JACK
In Cairo.
A feral grin begins to spread across Needle's face.
NEEDLE
Got you.
FADE OUT:
FADE IN:
EXT. COOLIGE'S OFFICE BUILDING
The building, as seen from the outside, is a 3 story tower of
glass and white concrete built onto the pier so that it seems
to rise out of the water to meet the land.
A small, gated, parking lot sits between the building and the
rest of the dock works. The parking lot is guarded by two of
Coolige's soldiers, each blatantly armed with a large assault
rifle and wearing armor. As we watch a bus pulls up across
the street and begins to disgorge a crew of dock workers,
arriving for their next shift.
ANGLE ON BUS
Last to come off the bus is a large black man wearing a black
trench coat, black pants, a black shirt and black leather
engineer's boots; it is Hobbes. As he steps off the bus he
looks down the dock to another warehouse and taps his brow in
salute quickly before joining the others from the buss.
CUT TO:
EXT. LONG BEACH DOCKS
Diver and Jack are sitting on the docks in front of the
warehouse Hobbes saluted at looking at Coolige's Office
building and Hobbes as he joins the others from the buss.
Jack is tapping quickly on his palm-top, a look of
concentration on his face while Diver looks back towards the
office building and nods as she touches her ear.
CUT TO:
EXT. COOLIGE'S OFFICE BUILDING
Needle is standing on the roof of the building, just out of
view of the guards, looking towards Diver and Jack.
DIVER
(Off Screen)
Jack says he can't get into the
building's computers with his new
toy but he thinks he can seal the
docks off from the rest of the net
for 10 minutes. That enough time?
Needle waves quickly.
HOBBES
(O.S.)
That's plenty. Give the go.
There's a tense pause for a moment.
DIVER
(O.S.)
He's got it, go!
Needle bursts into action, disappearing from view on the
roof. Hobbes turns to the guards at the parking lot and
walks towards them, pulling two revolvers from his jacket as
he goes, each a .60 Caliber pistol with a massive gaping maw
for a barrel framed by a heavy hammerhead shaped counter
weight and a complex system of tubing and piping around the
cylinder and wrapped down the barrel to reduce the weapon's
recoil. The guards, unprepared for Hobbes are slow to turn
and bring their weapons to bear, but Hobbes wastes no time
firing three rounds from each pistol. As the guard's gun
come in line with Hobbes to fire the soldiers are rocked
back, their black armor cracking like the shells of cooked
crabs as the massive rounds slam through their bodies and
tear through the armor on the other side. Hobbes doesn't
even stop, sweeping past the corpses and approaching the
front of the building.
CUT TO:
EXT. COOLIGE'S OFFICE BUILDING, THE ROOF
Needle, crouching low, approaches a door set into the roof.
Reaching into the cargo pockets of his gear he pulls out a
flat gray wafer of material which he presses into the keyhole
of the door's lock. Needle steps out of the way as we hear a
muffled thump and see the lock pop out of the door. Needle
returns to the door opening it slowly and peaking inside,
seeing no one he steps inside and closes the door quietly
behind him.
CUT TO:
INT. COOLIGE'S OFFICE BUILDING, LOBBY
The lobby of the office building is an expansive open-air
affair with a balcony from the second floor that is linked to
a double staircase coming down the center of the far wall and
splitting half way down to meet the 1st floor at either
corner of the wall. To either side of the front door are
placed large couches and tables; little meeting areas or
places for clients to wait. A horseshoe shaped concierge
desk sits between both runs of the stairs. 4 Guards are
crouched behind the desk, each aiming an assault rifle at the
front door as Hobbes steps through. Seeing the Guards he
quickly rolls to the left behind one of the couches as gun
fire erupts in the lobby.
CUT TO:
INT. COOLIGE'S OFFICE BUILDING, 3RD FLOOR
Needle is walking quietly through the main hallway of the
building's 3rd floor. As he approaches a door on the left
hand side of the hall way it opens, leaning quickly against
the wall Needle waits as a soldier steps through the door.
Needle grabs him before he can react, spinning him around and
getting arm around his neck. Contracting his arm quickly
Needle brakes the soldier's neck. As the body slumps to the
ground, Needle slips through the doorway as the door swings
shut quietly behind him.
CUT TO:
EXT. LONG BEACH DOCKS
Jack and Diver are watching the office building as the front
windows of the lobby shatter from intense gunfire inside.
Dock workers scramble out of the area, leaving the docks
practically deserted. Diver tenses at the sound of the
gunfire but Jack is calm as can be, working on his palm-top.
JACK
Relax. This is what they do.
In the distance there are 4 quick shots of some high-caliber
firearm. Suddenly all other sounds of conflict die away.
JACK
And they're the best there is.
CUT TO:
INT. COOLIGE'S OFFICE BUILDING, LOBBY
The lobby is now destroyed, bullets have destroyed every
glass window in the lobby's front wall and peppered the front
wall with holes from assault rifle fire. The concierge desk
is covered in gore, the corpses of 4 Guards sprawled across
it, each with half a head or less left. Hobbes is standing
in the lobby approaching the stairs as he drops his massive
pistols and draws two automatics from the depths of his coat.
He vaults the railing of the left stair case on his way up to
the second floor.
CUT TO:
INT. COOLIGE'S OFFICE
Coolige is at his desk, the boxes sitting on his desk in a
nest of cables. He has his headset on and is apparently in
the middle of a conversation. Muffled gun shots can be heard
in the distance.
COOLIGE
They're here.
Nodding to himself he begins to organize the mess of cables
connecting the boxes.
COOLIGE
I'm leaving now.
As Coolige removes his headset he reaches behind his chair
and pulls up a metal travel case. Placing it on the desk he
opens it to reveal the shapes of the two boxes cut out of the
foam lining the bottom half of the case.
The top half of the case appears to contain a computer with a
wireless connection and batteries for extended function.
Coolige unplugs the boxes from the desk and places them in
the case, running their cables through a recess in the foam
to the computer in the upper half of the case. Once he
connects the boxes to the computer he closes the case and
thumbs the lock built into the handle. A loud series of
clicks confirms that the case is locked tight. Satisfied the
case is secure he hefts it and walks towards the door. As he
steps through the door we...
CUT TO:
INT. COOLIGE'S OFFICE BUILDING, 3RD FLOOR
Needle steps through an open door into a huge dim room, the
home of a sea of cubicles bathed only in the glow from the
displays of various terminals scattered throughout. Needle
moves quietly through the cubicles but as he reaches the
halfway mark through the room the sound of keyboard keys
typing fills the cubes. Needle is obviously not alone.
Quickly backing against a cube wall he moves towards the
sound. As he edges his way to a cubicle lit by a computer we
can see the flickering shadow of its occupant, likely a
hacker in Coolige's employ.
PUSH IN ON NEEDLE
As Needle reaches the edge of the cube wall and peeks around
we can see a man, a Tech, sitting at his desk typing
furiously. The display on his terminal shows the security
setup for the building's network, the tech is apparently
working to keep the security measures in operation.
ANGLE ON TECH
TECH
This guy's good.
Needle stands quietly, stepping behind the tech. As he
raises his hands we can see a glimmer of something between
them, a superfine thread of monomolecular polymer chain,
unbreakable but impossibly thin. Needle loops the thread
around the tech's neck and pulls, strangling the tech who
thrashes silently as he struggles to get the thread, nearly
invisible, away from his neck. Within seconds he slumps
over, unconscious, likely dead and we...
CUT TO:
EXT. LONG BEACH DOCKS
Diver is pacing back and forth as Jack works on his palm top.
Suddenly Jack looks up, surprised.
JACK
Hey! I'm in.
Tapping furiously he continues.
JACK
Tell Needle and Hobbes I'm in. I
can begin relaying tactical
information in just a second.
Diver pulls the radio out her pocket and reaches for the
headset to send the message. Just as she is about to sling
the earpiece over her ear a look of shock explodes on her
face.
CUT TO:
EXT. LONG BEACH DOCKS - REVERSE ANGLE
From over Diver's shoulder we can see the Office building, A
window on the first floor of the side wall smashes open and
Coolige steps out. Looking around quickly as he brushes
himself off he then runs for a black sedan parked nearby in
the parking lot.
CUT TO:
EXT. LONG BEACH DOCKS
Diver throws the radio to Jack as she reaches into her pocket
again, this time coming up with her dozer, she yells at Jack
as she runs towards the office building.
DIVER
(yelling, excited)
That's Coolige! Tell Needle!
Jack grabs at the radio and quickly dons the headset and
begins speaking frantically.
CUT TO:
INT. COOLIGE'S OFFICE BUILDING, 3RD FLOOR
Needle stands hovering over the terminal, the corpse of the
tech tucked away in the side of the cube. As he turns to
continue his movement through the building Jack's voice
crackles through on his radio.
JACK
Needle, Hobbes, Coolige is in the
parking lot, Diver's going after
him.
Needle sprints down the hall, racing for the stairs.
Reaching to the his headset he calls into the radio.
NEEDLE
Stop her Jack. NOW.
As Needle makes the stairs we hear Hobbes on the radio.
HOBBES
I'm on it. Be there in 10 seconds.
Rushing down the stairs Needle seems to ignore Hobbes'
message.
CUT TO:
EXT. COOLIGE'S OFFICE BUILDING, PARKING LOT
Coolige is climbing into his car, the metal case in the
passenger seat as Diver runs, impossibly fast, into the
parking lot, obviously high on Munge. Coolige starts the
sedan as Diver runs up. Grinning through the windshield he
revs the engine, obviously planning to run the girl over.
The engine roaring, the sedan squeals forward towards Diver.
Time slows as the sedan reaches Diver and she leaps up, cat
like as the sedan reaches her, kicking off the bumper she
runs up the hood of the sedan, smashing the windshield with
the force of her steps as she tries for the roof but the
windshield collapses beneath her leaving her tangled in its
frame as time resumes it's normal pace and the sedan
screeches out of the parking lot. Hobbes, busting through a
second story window and somersaulting to the roof of a car
below, fires at the sedan with both of his automatics but
cannot stop Coolige from fleeing. As Needle comes rushing
out the front entrance the sedan takes off into the distance,
out of their reach. Needle and Hobbes look at each other
quickly, the look on Hobbes' face one of sincere regret.
Before either can say anything soldiers still alive in the
building spill out into the parking lot and begin firing at
the pair. Dodging to safety the faces of both gunmen erupt
with fury. Spinning back into the fray they stand side by
side, guns blazing as soldier after soldier falls dead under
the assault. They seem to be untouchable, dodging shots with
ease and yet completely accurate, never missing a shot even
as they flip, spin, and jump through the combat. Soon all
the soldiers lie dead at their feet. As the fight comes to a
halt we can see they are not as immortal as they seem, Hobbes
is bleeding from a graze across his shoulder and his coat is
shredded in numerous locations, revealing the Kevlar inner
lining while Needle is bleeding from a graze across his right
cheekbone. Jack trots up to them as they stand looking off
in the direction of Coolige's sedan.
JACK
I got the plates, I can track him
with this.
Waving the palm top at them he turns as if to leave but
neither Hobbes nor Needle follow.
JACK
(angry)
Let's GO! She may not be dead yet.
Needle and Hobbes turn to follow Jack, heading away from this
scene of carnage.
FADE OUT.
FADE IN:
INT. COOLIGE'S CAR
The car is peppered with bullet holes and several foot shaped
dents form a line from the smashed bumper to the shattered
windshield. Diver lays in a heap on the glass covered seat
next to Coolige who sits in the driver seat, concentrating on
the road. The case containing Mother one and the M-2 lies on
the floor on the passenger side. Diver groans loudly and
begins to sit up. Looking around she remembers where she is
and strikes out at Coolige, smashing his nose across his
cheek in a Munge enhanced blow. The sedan careens across
several lanes but before Diver can use any of the chaos to
her advantage she finds herself with a straight edge razor at
her throat, in Coolige's hand. He's letting his nose bleed
freely, driving with one hand and keeping the razor at her
throat with the other.
COOLIGE
Try that again and I'll kill you
here and now.
DIVER
(defiant)
Then do it asshole!
Coolige chuckles as quickly folds the razor away.
COOLIGE
(still laughing)
I like you girl. You've got guts.
Lashing out with his fist he smashes her cheekbone, sending
her sprawling into the passenger door, unconscious.
COOLIGE
But not a lick of brains.
Grinning to himself, his face a blood smeared mask, Coolige
returns his attention to the road.
CUT TO:
EXT. PARKING GARAGE
Needle, Hobbes, and Jack are walking quickly through a
parking garage. They seem to be inspecting vehicles as they
go. Jack, between quick glances at cars, is still working on
his palm-top, his stylus flying across the tiny screen.
Finally Hobbes stops dead in his tracks, standing in front of
a 20th century hemi 'cuda, painted a glossy black and
sporting tinted windows and a chromed blower from its hood.
HOBBES
(grinning)
This'll do! Look at this thing.
Hobbes practically caresses the car as Needle and Jack look
on.
JACK
Too small.
Hobbes stands up quickly.
HOBBES
Yeah but look at it! You don't get
cooler than that man. I bet it
tops 150 easy.
Needle shakes his head in resignation but motions to the car.
NEEDLE
Then go ahead.
Hobbes gets an indignant look on his face and give Needle a
withering glare.
HOBBES
I don't know how to steal no
fucking car man. What you see a
black man and immediately think,
"Oh no there goes a car thief?!"
Shaking his head and grumbling about "fucking racist
bullshit" Hobbes steps away from the car. Finally fed up,
Needle walks up to the car, smashes the diver side window in,
pops the lock, and opens the door. Reaching for the ignition
system as he steps in he speaks.
NEEDLE
I just assumed,
Hobbes, still indignant, comments as he walks over to the
passenger side.
HOBBES
(indignant)
You're damned right you --
Needle interrupts as Jack, followed by Hobbes steps into the
car.
NEEDLE
That any operative worth employing
would possess basic job skills.
Turning to look out the windshield Needle says nothing more
as the car roars to life. Closing the doors the trio drives
off and we...
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. COOLIGE'S CAR
Diver still lays unconscious in a heap on the passenger side,
the travel case on the floor in front of her. Coolige is
driving with one hand, holding a blood soaked handkerchief to
his busted nose. As he drives a phone rings from his jacket.
Grunting to himself in annoyance he puts the kerchief down
and reaches into his jacket for his palm-top. Thumbing the
activate button he answers the phone, on the PDA's screen is
the now familiar black tree against a field of fractal white
clouds. Holding the PDA to his ear like a Cell phone he
speaks.
COOLIGE
I'm en route now. The package is
safe.
Coolige listens for a moment then quickly glances over his
shoulder, out the rear window.
COOLIGE
Followed? There's nothing there...
He curses quietly as he listen to the phone.
COOLIGE
I don't think my hacker made it out
of the office, I can't stop them.
Should I deliver the package to a
new location?
Coolige smiles through the blood on his face.
COOLIGE
Very well. I'll make sure a
suitable welcome is prepared. Good
hunting Mother.
Coolige thumbs the PDA off again and tosses it to the seat
between him and Diver. Coolige glances at Diver quickly, who
is still unconscious, then turns his attention back to the
road.
COOLIGE
Compared to your friends little
girl, you're getting off easy.
CUT TO:
INT. HOBBES' CAR
The interior of the 'cuda is done in white leather and
chrome, a stark contrast to the black of the exterior. Jack
sits in the back seat leaning over the center of the front
bench seat. Needle is driving intently and Hobbes is holding
onto the dash, a look of sublime joy on his face. Turning to
Needle he says something but it is drowned out by the throaty
roar of the car. Yelling louder he continues.
HOBBES
(Yelling)
Now THIS is a car!
Turning to look at Jack he continues.
HOBBES
Where to now?
Jack motions at the front windshield.
JACK
(yelling)
Right at the next light. He's in
downtown. He's slowing down so he
must be close to where he's going.
We're about 10 minutes behind him
at this rate. We need to hurry.
Hobbes nods and looks at Needle just as Needle throws the car
into a power slide around the street corner. Shifting the
car into a new gear Needle simply nods and flips open the top
of the stick shift revealing an unassuming red button and a
pressure gauge, currently in the green. Hobbes, seeing the
button, scrambles to buckle his seat belt but grins the whole
time.
NEEDLE
(yelling)
Hang on.
The car slams them back in their seats as Needle hits the
button, activating the Nitrous and sending the car leaping
down the road. As Hobbes hoots in joy we...
CUT TO:
EXT. DOWNTOWN WAREHOUSE
The battered remains of Coolige's car pulls into the gated
lot of a squat unassuming one story warehouse in the garment
district of downtown. Armed soldiers slide the gate closed
behind the car.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. GARMENT DISTRICT
From an overhead view we can see Hobbes car pull onto the
street of Coolige's warehouse. Soldiers are taking position
within the lot, preparing for their arrival, the steel doors
of the warehouse itself are sliding shut as Hobbes' Car parks
across the seat and the doors open.
CUT TO:
EXT. HOBBES' CAR
Now parked across from the warehouse we can see Needle and
Hobbes step out of the car, each wearing a grim look and
sporting nasty looking pistols. Hobbes turns to look back
into the car, at Jack.
HOBBES
Stay here. Shut them down.
Jack is about to protest but Hobbes and Needle both slam
their doors shut, ending any argument.
As they turn towards the warehouse the gates trundle open
revealing a row of 4 armored soldiers.
CUT TO:
EXT. DOWNTOWN WAREHOUSE
Hobbes leaps forward at the soldiers in the warehouse
gateway, firing both pistols. Time slows as they return
fire, we see Needle spin out of the path of several bullets,
all the while keeping his pistols on the gateway and firing
his magnetically accelerated flechettes at the soldiers. Two
of the soldiers go down, tiny holes perforating the
plexiglass shields of their helmets. The bodies slump to the
ground as blood begins to smear the clear plexiglass. The
remaining two turn to focus on Needle as Hobbes lands in a
roll nearby. Not even stopping he continues the roll and
springs into a leap bringing him over and behind the soldiers
at the gate, his automatics aimed at their necks. The bodies
slump forward as he pulls the triggers of his pistols.
Needle lopes into the gateway to join Hobbes as we...
CUT TO:
EXT. DOWNTOWN WAREHOUSE - LOT INTERIOR
Hobbes spins around to face the warehouse and the lot that
stands between him and its entrance. A scaffolding, likely
some sort of freight loading mechanism for freight trucks
operating at the warehouse, dominates the lot. Standing on
the scaffolding, barely visible from our POV on the ground is
a sniper, the glare from his scope the primary tell of his
location. Needle and Hobbes, however, are currently occupied
by the 6 soldiers near the warehouse's entrance proper. They
are position between several stacks of crates, using them as
barriers and secured firing positions. As the lot erupts
into gun fire, Needle spins out of the way, taking refuge
behind a crate just large enough to offer him refuge.
Hobbes, having no where to go throw his coat around him like
a cloak and weathers the storm of gun fire. He continues to
walk forward as the gun fire shreds the outer layer of his
coat, fully exposing the kevlar lining beneath.
As the gun fire dies down and the soldiers move to reload
Hobbes unwraps the coat from around him and we can see the
feral grin on his face as he leaps over the crate barriers
into the group. Firing in mid air he easily dispatches them
but as he fires his last shot we hear one more loud bang and
Hobbes slams to the ground rolling into the steel door of the
warehouse, blood welling from a wound in his left leg.
Scrambling for cover he calls out.
HOBBES
(yelling)
Sniper!
Needle pops up from behind his crate and there is another
load bang, a corner of the box splinters to his right,
dropping back down for cover Needle curses.
NEEDLE
(yelling)
Did you see the shooter?
Hobbes, busy wrapping a piece of the tattered outer layer of
his coat around his leg like a bandage grunts loudly.
HOBBES
(yelling)
Nope but he's got a bead on me; I'm
pinned.
NEEDLE
(yelling)
Same here.
Needle begins reloading his weapons as he leans against the
crate, thinking.
CUT TO:
INT. HOBBES' CAR
Jack is sitting in the driver seat staring at his palm-top.
A video feed of the warehouse's lot fills the screen. Jack
can clearly see Hobbes and Needle are pinned down by the
sniper.
Tapping on his stylus he pulls up a new menu and resumes
hacking into the warehouse systems, focusing on "freight
loading operations." As he taps we...
CUT TO:
EXT. DOWNTOWN WAREHOUSE - LOT INTERIOR
A tense silence has fallen across the lot; Needle and Hobbes
remained pinned down behind crates, with no way to get at
their assailant. As they wait a loud whining noise suddenly
fills the lot, the sound of multiple electric motors whirring
to life.
CUT TO:
INT. HOBBES' CAR
Jack is still busy on his palm-top. As he taps away we can
see the display change to a simple menu labeled "Automatic
freight loading and sorting" Jack taps a command on the menu
labeled "Full load/Unload"
CUT TO:
EXT. DOWNTOWN WAREHOUSE - LOT INTERIOR
Two massive loading claws suspended from the freight gantry,
previously inert, now clank to life as Needle and Hobbes
watch on.
ANGLE ON SNIPER
The sniper glances at the two claws as they begin to move on
either side of him but shrugs them off, thinking himself self
safe. As he returns to the scope of his rifle we can see his
PDA, dangling from a chain on his belt, spring to life, on if
the red chaos symbol against the field of black, Jack's Tag.
Blaring from the PDA's speaker we hear Jack's voice.
JACK
(O.S.)
I'd say something clever but you're
pressed for time.
Looking around in surprise the sniper realizes for the first
time that the loading claws are moving towards each other at
high speed. A look of terror fills his eyes as the massive
winches of the claws crash together, squeezing him between
them into a bloody pulp and ripping the scaffolding apart, as
the twisted metal collapses under the weight of the now freed
winches we...
CUT TO:
INT. HOBBES' CAR
Jack is still tapping at his PDA. Looking out the window at
the warehouse he speaks quietly to himself.
JACK
Get it? Pressed for time?
Snickering to himself he looks back down at the PDA and
resumes his work on the building's systems. He laughs
triumphantly and stabs at the PDA with finality.
CUT TO:
EXT. DOWNTOWN WAREHOUSE - LOT INTERIOR
Needle leaps over the barriers to join Hobbes who is just
standing, looking up at the twisted and broken scaffolding
that once held the sniper. The entrance to the warehouse,
the large steel doors, begin to slowly roll open. Needle and
Hobbes take position against the wall next to the doorway,
cautious of anyone coming to investigate. Hobbes looks at
Needle quickly as motions to the door and then the
scaffolding.
HOBBES
Jack?
Needle nods.
NEEDLE
Jack.
Hobbes reloads his pistols and looks again at Needle.
HOBBES
All right then. Let's do this.
Needle says nothing but spins around Hobbes and rolls through
the doorway into the warehouse.
FADE OUT.
FADE IN:
INT. DOWNTOWN WAREHOUSE
Needle and Hobbes come through the doorway guns ready but the
warehouse is basically empty, not much more than a large shed
with concrete floor, empty that is, except for along the back
wall. No soldiers threaten them as they enter. Instead
along the back wall is a massive computing grid, a collection
of no less than 32 super computers wired together and cooled
by a complex liquid nitrogen system snaking through them.
Coolige stands in front of the grid, his suit jacket and
shirt discarded somewhere along the way, with one hand on his
straight razor, which is poised across the throat of Diver,
who he holds tightly in his other hand.
COOLIGE
I never should have hired you
Needle. You're bad for business.
Needle moves as if to step closer, his gun trained on Coolige
and Diver. Coolige tenses his right hand, the hand holding
the razor, and a trickle of blood runs down Diver's neck.
COOLIGE
I wouldn't. I don't know why but I
know she means something to you.
Mother told me.
Hobbes looks at Needle slowly, as if asking him how he wants
to play this out. Needle meets his gaze but otherwise says
nothing.
COOLIGE
Here's how this works. My employer
and I are going to finish the
business we have.
As he speaks he motions, and soldiers pour through the
gateway, 6 in all, with their guns trained on the two gunmen.
COOLIGE
Drop the weapons.
Needle looks left and right with his slowly, finally he turns
to Hobbes as if motioning for him to comply. As he moves to
lower his gun Needle says quietly,
NEEDLE
(quietly)
Get the girl.
From his position, hunched over, Needle fires at the soldiers
as Hobbes springs into to action, firing quickly over
Coolige's head. Coolige laughs and makes as if to kill Diver
but suddenly white fog hisses from the pipes of the super
computing grid. Dropping Diver, who quickly dodges out of
the way, he turns and throws up an arm as if to ward off the
white fog. Screaming in pain as his arm flash freezes he
turns to run as the remaining soldiers spring into chaotic
action. Hobbes grabs Diver and, wrapping her in his the
folds of his coat, moves to leave.
HOBBES
Play time's over samurai let's get
out of here!
Needle is a blur of activity amidst the 3 remaining soldiers
who cannot seem to bring their weapons to bare on the gunman.
As time slows we can see Needle bashing the gun barrel from
one soldier out of line with his elbow while he kicks another
soldier with his foot, finally pivoting around to the last
soldier who he dispatches with both of his pistols, turning
his unprotected face to hamburger. As the body slams to the
floor the remaining two soldiers hit the ground, unconscious.
Without thinking about it, Needle fires rounds into both
unconscious soldiers as he runs to join Hobbes and Diver. As
he crosses the threshold of the warehouse's doorway we...
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. GARMENT DISTRICT
Needle, Hobbes and Diver approach Hobbes' car. Jack, still
in the driver seat, roles down the window.
JACK
Did you have to hit the computer?
All that refrigerant will fuck up
the systems, both those boxes are
ruined!
Needle, guiding Diver, moves to the passenger side door. As
he opens the door for Diver he speaks.
NEEDLE
That was the point, we were paid to
destroy them.
Needle steps into the passenger side and closes the door
behind him. Hobbes, still on the street, opens the driver
side.
HOBBES
Now be a good boy and get the fuck
out my seat. No one drives my car
but me.
JACK
You're car? It's stolen.
Jack crawls into the back as Hobbes sits down in the driver
seat.
HOBBES
Man shut up. And someone tell me
about how we're splitting this
money. I've had it with you
people.
As he closes the door the car roars to life and pulls down
the road, from off screen we can hear Jack.
JACK
(O.S.)
Yeah about that...
As the car roars away we...
FADE TO BLACK.
CREDITS
After a few seconds of total blackness a single white pixel
sits in the center of the screen, in a moment it expands into
a sphere of fractal white that fills the screen, in it's
center a black tree, leafless, fades in. The image remains
on screen for a moment then fades to black as the credits
begin to role.
FADE TO BLACK.