From: Glenn Hough Here's the beginning of a hot little idea about that hot little sweetheart Gally. Send all comments to houghg@elwha.evergreen.edu. Note: to all you wonderful people who do the translation for anime scripts. This work is in standard script format. GUNNM BATTLE ANGEL: POET'S BLADE by Glenn Hough CAST OF CHARACTERS GALLY The Battle Angel POET Revolutionary Leader VEX Revolutionary Leader DR. IDO Brilliant Cybernetic Doctor/Hunter-Warrior ZAPAN Hunter-Warrior B-1* Abandoned Child *(Note: I haven't B-2* Abondoned Child named these three yet.) GIRL* Abondoned Child DYJIK A Revolutionary MARIA Dyjik's Wife YOSHIE Dyjik's Son YUGO Gally's Dead Lover 10 Robot of the Factory which deal with the Hunter-Warriors THE SCRAPYARD The area where they live ZALEM The floating city above THE FACTORY That which supplies everything to Zalem Various Hunter-Warriors, Street Venders, Announcers, Prostitutes, Drug Pushers, Revolutionaries, and other people. Running footsteps against a black screen. Man panting. FADE IN: EXT.ALLEY OF THE SCRAPYARD-NIGHTFALL Dark and grungy street lit by a barrel fire and flickering neon. No one else around. DYJIK is terrorified. INSERT: A blade coming out of it's sheath. DYJIK rounds a corner and stumbles over headless body lying in the alley. The street is a dead end. DYJIK get up and turns around to go back. INSERT: The slash of a blade. A trail of blood. DYJIK rears back from the HUNTER-WARRIOR. Falls on his ass. Blood flowing from a cut on the right side of his face. POV: LOW ANGLE: The HUNTER-WARRIOR become visible; first his blade then the rest appears from the darkness. DYJIK I've done nothing. Hunter-warrior, there's been some mistake. HUNTER-WARRIOR Thieving rat shit. The Factory's justice has caught you. DYJIK No, it's a lie. I never stole anything, I'm not that kind of person. Please, no, I have a wife and child. NO. Nooooooo. HUNTER-WARRRIOR takes his head with the blade. He leaves with head. POET steps from the shadows panting. He kneels by body. POET Oh, DYJIK. Never question the Factory out loud. Never, never or this is what you get. Shit. I don't know how many cells we've lost now. (sing/song voice ending in a curse) Another woman without a man, Another child without a father; All hail, hail the bloody Zalem alter. Pan up from the area of DYJIK'S death, past the skyscrapers, and the Factory tubes, to ZALEM against a setting sun. Everything looks red from the pollution. ESTABLISHING SHOT OF ZALEM-NIGHTFALL WRITTEN OVERLAY IN: The great thriving civilizations of Earth have passed into the abyss of human forgetfulness. Now, there is only the midair utopia Zalem and the Scrapyard below. WRITTEN OVERLAY OUT: OVERLAY TITLE: GUNNM BATTLE ANGLE: POET'S BLADE TITLE OUT: ZALEM fades to black. CUT TO: INT.GALLY's ROOM-NIGHT MONTAGE.SLOW. Slow pans over her room as GALLY does V.O. The room is barren steel. A steel chair almost enveloped by masses of electronics and machinery. A lonely looking sleeping area; a pile of pillows, a blanket. A small table with a spare blanket and her coat. A wash basin and cracked mirror. Tools and hunting weapons neatly laid out on the toilet. Tattered curtains blown by the wind. Thunder in the distance. GALLY in chair with the machinery attaching a blade to her right arm. CLOSE UP: Her sad eyes. The blade. Her cyborg hands. POV: GALLY glances in the mirror with a crack. WIDE SHOT: Looks out upon the SCRAPYARD through the window. GALLY, her deadly mechanical beauty. GALLY (V.O.) Who is it that looks through these eyes. Who is the person with a heart so easily wounded, a mind so haughty, so afraid, and so cruel? No matter what form I wear, it's me, but it's not me...nothing but tools. CUT TO: EXT.THE SCRAPYARD-NIGHT GALLY leaves her room via the window and moves across the tops of the buildings. Intermix with GALLY's V.O. She pauses to look down on humanity in the streets. She looks fiercely determined as she starts searching. GALLY (V.O.) My Panzer Kunst, the most ancient and now lost martain combat technique for machine bodies. I learned it somewhere, somewhere in my past. I can't remember. When I'm engrossed in a fight, sometimes, for an instant, my old memories come flooding back. I can touch what I was, who I was. But I forget it all again. Panzer Kunst is the only key I have to myself. To remember who I am, I have to fight...to fight. CUT TO: INT.ROOM-NIGHT MONTAGE. GALLY at work; intermix GALLY's V.O. She tears through the cyborg enhanced men like practice dummies, taking each of their heads. CLOSE UP: her blade, her eyes, her hands covered with blood, blood splashing on the walls. WIDE SHOT: GALLY in the middle of the room, it's filled with bodies and blood. She's unscathed. GALLY (V.O.) The Damascus blade. From the cast off scrap you were forged. Honed with fire and combat until you're the razor's edge of cutting steel. It's the impurities of this place that give you life, give you purpose. I am the blade; the blade. CUT TO: INSERT.EXT.FACTORY #33-NIGHT Doors resound as they close. INT.FACTORY #33 Beam scans each head in a pile. COMPUTER Kill confirmed; identity confirmed. Kill confirmed; identity confirmed. Kill confirmed..Kill..... A pile of credit chips come up from inside the counter. TEN counts them out to GALLY. TEN One million; one, two, three, four, five hundred thousand credits to Hunter-Warrior #F33-405, Gally. Catching all of Dr. Shin's drug ring is one of the most impressive feats in my personal memory banks. A truly magnificent performance. Your bounty for this quarter alone has already surpassed the half way mark for the yearly income record. GALLY merely nodes. She shows no emotion as TEN puts the chips in a bag. TEN You're the best Hunter-Warrior, the best criminal catcher we've had in a long while. Since these criminals are bad for business, I'm giving you a bonus for your excellent work. Please keep it up. Until the next batch Hunter-Warrior. GALLY doesn't respond. CLOSE UP: 10,000 credit chip. GALLY takes chip, puts it in the bag; she turns and walks out. CUT TO: EXT.SCRAPYARD-NIGHT POET is leaning on a breezeway railing looking down at the swirling chaotic mass of people below. He looks up at ZALEM. The underside is dark but light reflects from the upper side. POET (murmurs) Zalem, Zalem, burning bright, in the darkness of the night. POET's vision of ZALEM changes to a vision of ZALEM aflame. He shakes his head to clear the vision from his mind. OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT: looking behind POET. VEX and three Hunter- Warriors enter the bar behind him. CUT TO: INT.GALLY'S ROOM-NIGHT GALLY comes in through the door, turns on a light, closes the window. She tosses the credit chip bag on the pillows of her sleeping area. She sits down in the steel chair and the machinery takes off the blade on her right arm. She moved to the pillows, digs behind them for a loosened steel plate. POV: GALLY takes the plate out, digs in the credit bag, takes out a small handful and throws the rest in the hole. Five bags, all about the same size. Closes stash up. GALLY How many millions have I made this quarter? And I need 3000 a quarter at the most. What will I do... I need so little. GALLY stuffs the credit chips into the pocket of her coat and moves to the wash basin. She wipes off the blood marks on her face before sitting in the chair and staring out the window. She nods off. GALLY starts to dream. CUT TO: Dream starts. LOW ANGLE: IDO. They're in one of IDO's surgery units. IDO Welcome back. The operation was a success. You're a woman now. GALLY looks down at her beautiful nude body. Her face is aglow with joy. IDO No more metal. No more fighting, killing. All you have to be is beautiful. GALLY Oh Ido, it's beautiful...so beautiful. GALLY hugs and kisses him. He spins her around. IDO (laughs) You'll have to eat now. You'll grow old now. Bear children. It was hell getting functioning ovaries on the parts market. (laughs) GALLY (laughs) Thank you. Thank you for everything. They're both laughing until they kiss. GALLY is crying tears of happiness. GREWICA smashes into scene. Entire OR is smashed, shattered like glass, and goes to black oblivion. GALLY GREWICA...how? You're dead. GREWICA laughs; his cutters flash and IDO is ripped apart. GALLY (scream) IDO...NO...DIE GALLY leaps at him but her human body is to slow, her blows useless against his cyborg body. She slips in IDO's blood and he captures her in his gigantic hands. GREWICA I won't kill you...my desire, pretty thing...is to rip your limbs off while you still have life... GREWICA rips GALLY's limbs off. GALLY is screaming. GREWICA ...to turn you, crying and screaming, into a living pendant with which to adorn my chest. GALLY's limbless form is framed in steel. GREWICA places Gally against his chest. GALLY No....no....please, someone help me anyone...please...help me GREWICA (laughs) There could be no greater happiness than to hear your pleading voice every moment, every day, baby... (laughs) CUT TO: INT.GALLY'S ROOM-NIGHT GALLY awakes from the nightmare with a scream. The steel chair is severely bent. She moves to her sleeping nest and huddles into a ball with her back against a wall. She's crying; her arms are locked around a pillow. CUT TO: ESTABLISHING SHOT.INT.BAR-NIGHT ZAPAN, VEX, and three other Hunter-Warriors are gathered at a table in the dimly lit place. It's filled with smoke, drunks, people using drugs. HW.1 Another round... HW.2 Ya...Ya VEX (laughs) So, mighty ZAPAN, tell me: how many heads you've taken in the last quarter? HW.3 (laughs-drunk) Not many with that bitch around. HW.2 Shut, it, idiot. HW.2 slams HW.3 ZAPAN GALLY, ZAPAN slams hand on table. ZAPAN With (HW:TS)'s death, I was all set to establish myself as top Hunter-Warrior in the entire Scrapyard. But she came back from were she's been hiding in the motorball arena... HW.3 (laughs) A 200 match undefeated champion... ZAPAN throws HW.3 across room; he's knocked unconscious. ZAPAN She's cost me plenty. Practically every kill gone to her since she returned. Shit. HW.2 Tell me about it. I had to do a thief today. Fuck. A fuck'en thief. VEX (V.O.) He did it. He killed DYJIK. INSERT: Under the table, VEX removes a 1/3rd M. long tube, wrapped with duck tape, from a special pouch on the side of her pants. She grips the handhold in the middle. VEX This guy's name? HW.2 Wha...? VEX (shouts) His name?!! HW.2 Die...jack or something. What the fuck's your problem bitch? VEX stands and brings the tube up. A blade shoots out from the end into HW.2 face. HW.2 gasps in surprise; dies. HW.1 Wha...fuck'en bitch.... VEX slices HW.1 in half as he's drawing his own blade. VEX turns her attention back to ZAPAN who hasn't moved; he finishes his drink. She glances around as another blade slides from the other end of her tube. The other Hunter-Warriors have all drawn their blades and are pressing her as ZAPAN gets up. VOICE-MAN Heh, heh, we get to see the great ZAPAN slice and dice her. VOICE-MAN-2 Yea, yea, kill her.... VEX Ok, who's first...? VEX slashes her blade around and turns to ZAPAN. VEX You...? ZAPAN Nobody helps nobody but themselves; it's the Hunter-Warrior code. If you're not strong enough to protect yourself, then you're meat. Everybody lives by eating other lives. People plunder from the weak for their own benefit everyday. Love and Mercy are not in the Hunter-Warrior code. They were obviously weak. ZAPAN turns to leave. Hunter-Warriors turn back to their drinks as VEX moves through part of the crowd. She's attacked, she kills several Hunter-Warriors and bolts for the door. Four guys chase after her. CUT TO: EXT.SCRAPYARD.RIGHT OUTSIDE BAR-NIGHT VEX gets into the deep shadows of an alley with them in pursuit. Clang of blades heard, a pain filled cry, running feet. PAN: back to the entrance to the bar. POET leaves bar; he shakes his head in annoyance. CUT TO: ESTABLISHING SHOT: daybreak over the SCRAPYARD. PAN out across the city, the moaning tubes of ZALEM, and skyscrapers in the heart of the SCRAPYARD to the outer regions of low buildings; half to most are nothing but rubble with nothing but rubble, decay, destruction further beyond. Focus on semi- intact building as VEX makes her way to it through a deserted junk filled alley. She gets in by having her right hand scanned. VEX moves through the junk cluttered rooms of crates and machinery up to an organized apartment loft. FOLLOWING SHOT: VEX goes down a hallway towards the sound of food cooking. She turns into the "kitchen". A table in the middle with chairs around. A sink and heating unit on the other side. POET is sitting in a shaft of sunlight, staring out a gaping whole in the building. Twin boys, age 14 or so, are preparing rat. B-1 VEX, you're back. B-2 Any luck? VEX Nothing. VEX sits down. VEX It was a disaster. I was talking to the guy that did DYJIK.... VEX takes off coat. There's blood on her shirt. B-1 You're hurt?! B-2, go get the kit. B-2 (assertive noise) B-2 goes to get medical kit. VEX It's nothing really. VEX takes off her shirt; she's not wearing anything underneath it. B-1 dabs at the clean slice running through the upper portion on her right breast. VEX has several other scars on her upper body. B-2 returns with a metal briefcase. B-2 How many were there? B-2 starts to run an instrument over the wound. The blood stops flowing. He applies a jell like substance. VEX Four. B-1 And only the one wound? Wow. VEX That stuff's cold. B-2 Sorry. VEX puts her shirt back on and B-1 sets a mug of coffee in front of her. She drinks half of it as B-2 leaves to put the kit away. B-1 turns back to cooking rat. POET B-1, is that almost done? B-1 A while yet. POET Would you set it aside for a moment? I'd like to talk with VEX, alone. B-1 Um...ok. B-1 turns down the flame. FOLLOWING SHOT: B-1 heads out the door as B-2 come into sight in the hallway. B-1 Come on... B-2 Wha... B-1 Serious meeting... B-2 We should be there too. B-1 Yea, but that's POET for ya. Come on. CUT TO: INT.VEX's KITCHEN-DAY. VEX gets up to pour herself another cup of coffee and sits back down. VEX I know what you're going to say. POET Good. Reckless; totally reckless. VEX But he killed DYJIK. What was I suppose to do? Walk away? POET Yes! DYJIK's death is hard enough, but for you to do his killer in the midst of all those Hunter-Warriors...you're fuck'en lucky to be alive right now. If you had died, our organization would've sustained a devastation blow. VEX I was scared POET, really scared. POET Good, maybe your fear will teach you some sense. VEX looks away from him. POET It's just that, we're to small and fragile to risk even a whisper of our existence. If the Factory knew what we thought, what we dreamed of, they'd have big enough bounties on us so all the Hunter-Warriors would be tearing the town apart in their search. VEX, we've got to be very careful in what we do and how we do it. We could of tailed that piece of shit and you could of satisfied yourself by quietly slitting his throat when he was alone. That would of been the smart way to take care of it. VEX I'm sorry.....I meant to ask you earlier, how did MARIA take the news? POET Devastated. YOSHIE is all she has left now. VEX I should of gone to see her. We should of cancelled our pick up attempt. It was a waste of time to try those scum; I could of done it anytime. POET Strange; the four that chased you had the only potential in the entire lot. VEX is dumbfounded. VEX What? That's crazy. POET Is it? Out of all those Hunter-Warriors, those four showed some sign of being outraged by your actions. They wanted you dead, even though it was none of their business and they'd get nothing for your death. They had a glimmer of loyalty. VEX Had is right. They're dead. POET I assumed so. We need people who will understand and be able to stick to a principle. It's like ZAPAN said, most only help themselves and do nothing for anybody else. VEX (sighs) The way things work.... POET (finishes) ...but don't have to. POET goes to the pot and stirs the rat stew. POET This is done. B-1 and B-2 are probably ravenous by now. VEX gets up and comes over to POET. She wraps her arms around him but he shrugs off her embrace. VEX is clearly puzzled, disturbed. POET puts on his jacket and starts to go. VEX Why? POET...POET.... POET I'll go call them, and no, I'm not hungry. I've got to go see how MARIA is holding up. VEX I'm coming too. POET You look tired VEX. Sleep a little. Go this afternoon. POET leaves and VEX is left standing there alone in the hallway. She goes into the kitchen, dishes herself a bowlful, sits down, and picks at it. She holds her head up with her hands. VEX (V.O.) My vicious past...and I still have hope for my children, if I manage to have any; hope that they won't see what I've seen. Oh POET, what was it in this horrible place that made you stop hoping and drained away your ability to love? CUT TO: EXT. A MARKET STREET IN THE SCRAPYARD-DAY GALLY moves silently through the mid-morning throngs of people. The people are a mixture of full cyborg to full human with all stages between. The only real happy looking people are the hucksters. Prostitutes and drugs are being openly sold. CLOSE UP: a guy takes a pill and his face goes blank, lost in a fantasy world. PAN back to GALLY who looks troubled, bored, and lonely. She stops in front of a bank of vid' screens where there's a milling crowd. ANNOUNCER 1 ...GALLY's retirement, there's been no one person to emerge as the preeminate player... GALLY moves on. VENDOR 1 Best ramen in the Scrapyard... VENDOR 2 High grade lub with Teflon...Miss? Miss? Can I give you a service? GALLY (V.O.) Yugo. Another bank of vid' screen comes up. ANNOUNCER 1 Tonights action in the coliseum will include three death-duels followed by the main even. The great TECKALCHI will defend his title against four challengers. You don't want to miss this one. Plenty of great seating still available... GALLY moves on. She goes to a data pole to get the latest printing of criminals wanted by the Factory. She gets the credit chips from the pocket of her coat. CLOSE UP: She has a million credit chip with her and a five. She deposits the five in the pole and a listing is printed for her. She stuffs the new list in her pocket without looking at it and moves on. CUT TO: EXT.MARKETPLACE-DAY. Down the same street, headed towards GALLY, is POET. He's engrossed in a newspaper article. CLOSE UP: the article has GALLY's photo by it. Headline reads: Notorious Dr. Shin executed. POET puts paper away. His mood is sullen. POET (V.O.) Damn it, VEX. First she jeopardizes everything and then tries to pull me down to her level of weakness by offering me her love. Love is for the weak. (chuckles) Even sex is a despicable trap in this place. It alone might produce a feeling of hope for the future. Shit. There can be no hope until ZALEM and the Factory are gone. Nothing, nothing, can stand in my way, not even VEX. WIDE SHOT: GALLY and POET pass each other in the street. POET stops, turns. POV: POET looks back at her receding into the crowd. POET (V.O.) Wha...that was GALLY. POET starts to follow her at a discreet distance. POET (V.O.) That little girl is a feared Hunter- Warrior? Hmmm? GALLY pauses by a stall filled with soft sensuous female garments. GALLY looks glum and moves on. POET moves away from the stall of used body parts to follow. POET (V.O.) She sure doesn't look like she's enjoying the wealth from her bounties. GALLY turns off the main market street. POET follows at a distance. CLOSE SHOT: GALLY. GALLY (V.O.) One person, noncyborg; he's been behind me for quite awhile now. GALLY proceeds up the steps into IDO's clinic. GALLY turns and levels a cold piercing stare at POET. POET walks on past and GALLY goes in. POET rushes around the corner and stops. POET shakes his head in disbelief and sighs. POET So she goes to see Dr. IDO. Hmmm. (V.O.) Damn, if we had someone like her.... CUT TO: INT.DR.IDO's PLACE-DAY. IDO comes out of one of his surgery units. He looks exhausted. He merely nodes to the anxious couple before collapsing on a bench. MAN How can we ever thank you? You were our last hope. WOMAN Thank you. Thank you. Patrinka is all we have. MAN We don't have the credits to pay... IDO (interrupts) We'll talk about that later. She should be waking up soon. Go on... The MAN and WOMAN go into the surgery unit. IDO gets up before he notices GALLY standing there watching him. He turns and heads into his kitchen. He takes a bottle of liquor and a glass from a cabinet and sits down at the table. He pours himself a couple of shots. GALLY stops just inside the door and leans against the door jam. She looks at the floor. IDO How you been? GALLY I...um, ok. IDO Good. GALLY It's good to see that you're helping people again, for nothing too. IDO I don't starve. GALLY I came to give you this. GALLY digs in the pocket of her coat for the million credit chip and tosses it to IDO. IDO is stunned. IDO Wha...a million...? GALLY It's for my body. I...I'm sorry. IDO I don't want your money. IDO tosses the chip back. GALLY I don't need it. You do. IDO I've seen the amounts of bounty you've been getting lately. Quite a mercenary now, aren't you? You've taken to the killing zeal with a relish I can barely imagine. Motorball was just training, wasn't it? Not for the glory of being champ, the idolization of the masses, nor the money. It was just to hone yourself. GALLY Yea. IDO Is that your only pleasure now, killing? GALLY IDO... GALLY's eyes start to fill with tears. GALLY You showed me the Hunter-Warrior path. Aren't you proud... IDO (interrupts) How can I be proud when you shut me out as if I was nothing? GALLY After YUGO died, I couldn't stay here. I wanted to die; I wanted all my memories ripped away. But that would also take away your kindness. IDO.... IDO gets up and approaches her. GALLY rushes to embrace him. She wraps her arms around him and cries against his stomach. GALLY IDO, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You're all I have. IDO wraps his arms around her. IDO It's ok. It's ok. It's ok now. GALLY drops the credit chip. CLOSE UP: the chip rolling on the floor and spinning to a stop. FADE OUT: Black screen, sounds of feet along a tiled floor. The third set sounds like they're being forced along. FADE IN: INT.A CORRIDOR-DAY. In a featureless grey corridor two men, in their teens, are forcing along a reluctant girl, age 12 or so. ZACK Come on. Come on. G. Ouch, not so hard. Bo, he's hurting me. Where are you taking me? What's go'en on? ZACK Master NINE has given orders. Come along, bitch. G. Zack...? What...have I done? Bo, please, tell me what I've done. I'll make amends. Bo....Bo? BO (yells) Shut up! Bo hits her across the face twice and kicks her as she's laying between then on the tiled floor. CLOSE UP: blood running out of her nose and mouth. G. Bo....please...I love you....I'll do anything....please..... BO I told you to shut it. BO hits her again, grabs her by a wrist, and drags her around a corner. Doorways on either side of the hallway. They start down the hallway, forcing her along. BO No good, ungrateful whore. After all the School has done for you, this is how you repay Master NINE. It's right. You're garbage; a failure. G. (crying) Master NINE? I just met with it. What have I done? Stop it; stop it. BO, please. I can do better. ZACK Stop your whining. It'll do no good. Master NINE has ordered your disposal from the School. G. Disposal? But this is the only home I've ever known. Why....? BO stops to hit her again. BO Disloyal, ungrateful, trash. Whore. You're not even a good fuck. Shit. Without the Factory you're nothing. You're garbage. You're not human. BO grabs her by the hair. FOLLOWING SHOT: they round another corner and a metal door comes into view. SIGN ON DOOR: GARBAGE CHUTE. ZACK opens the door. Nothing can be seen beyond the doorway. G. No, not the garbage chute. BO, please ...no...no. I'm not trash. I'm not; I'm not. They push her in. G. Nooooo....... The door resounds as it's slammed shut. CUT TO: EXT.SCRAPYARD-DAY ESTABLISHING SHOT: ZALEM. ZALEM's refuge comes tumbling out the center hole to crash onto the pile beneath it. CUT TO: EXT.SCRAPYARD-DAY TWO SHOT: POET and VEX are making their way down into a sewage canal. WIDE SHOT: the canal, a big canal surrounded by buildings, one of which is the School. A river of sludge is running through the middle of the cannel. It flows out from underneath the School. POET and VEX both have handkerchiefs over their mouths. VEX has her blade half extended. She slashes at something she sees. The sounds of an animal growling and scurrying away. POET stops to gaze at ZALEM as it's dumping its trash. A low rumble heard. He hurries to catch up with her.