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PART 2
EXT. CAPITOL BUILDING - WASHINGTON D.C. - DAY
An angry mob outside the Senate hearing. Voices roar in dissent
when Jean emerges, coming down the steps without hesitation.
She sees signs condemning mutants, a scarce few supporting them.
A group of reporters are behind her and more meet her in front,
closing her in. Microphones are shove in her face.
REPORTERS/VARIOUS
Dr. Grey, how do you feel about the
Senator's Statement / How is the
mutant community reacting? Is it true
that mutants are dangerous? / Is there
a mutant plot to overthrow the
government?
She ignores them all, trying to push through.
ANGLE ON:
A KID IN THE CROWD holding a full can of Coke. Smiling
to his friend beside him. He fires it over the heads of everyone
toward Jean. Perfect trajectory. Closing fast.
Suddenly:
Silence falls over the crowd. A total silence. An absolute silence.
All eyes watch in awe at the can and its liquid trail, frozen
in mid-air a few inches from Jean's face. It simply hovers there.
JEAN
We¨ªre not the ones to be afraid of.
Using telekinesis she slowly lowers the can to the ground. She
shakes her head, almost ashamed of the display. Almost as if to
say ¨¬I didn¨ªt want to do that.?
The can rolls down the steps. People move away from it as though
the can itself were dangerous.
The crowd steps back in genuine fear. Jean simply moves
ahead now, unimpeded, still shaking her head.
EXT. CABIN IN THE SNOW COVERED WILDERNESS - DAY
Smoke curling from the chimney, warm light emanating from
the window.
A well-worn pick-up truck parked axles deep in the snow, the back
filled with a cord of cut wood. A hand painted scrawl on the door
reads:
Firewood for Sales
A slope, just behind the cabin leading to a frozen lake.
PUSH IN SLOWLY TOWARDS THE CABIN. Ten beers sit cooling in the
snow outside the door. We hear LED ZEPPELIN¨ªS ¨¬BLACK
DOG.?
INT. CABIN - DAY
Music thunders, quite a contrast to the surroundings. A cosy little
abode, showing signs of neglect, as though decorated with a gentler
touch that passed not too long ago.
A large shelf replete with books. An electric mix from Sun Tsu¨ªs
The Art of War to Mark Twain¨ªs The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn.
A fire burns in the fireplace. On the mantle sit a few old black
and white photos of a slightly younger Logan posing with a group
of HARD-CASE MILITARY TYPES in a heavily wooded area. We can not
tell if they are true Military or simply mercenaries.
In the wall above the mantle, a sketch of a beautiful woman.
And finally we come to the occupant of the house, sitting at the
only table in the center of the room. His back is to us. His hair
is coarse and black, sprouting wildly from his head. He is LOGAN.
We will come to know him well. As well as we can.
Despite the loud, pounding music, he is working with the
meticulousness of a watch maker. At the same time, he smokes a thick
cigar. A tall bottle of beer on the floor next to his chair. A SINGLE,
SILVER DOG TAG hangs from his neck from a battered chain. As we
get closer, we look over his shoulder and see what he is working
on so intensely.
Pencil rubs against paper furiously. He is sketching, what we
cannot see. But he is definitely caught up in his own minds eye.
HIS HEAD SUDDENLY TURNS. He listens to something we
cannot begin to hear. A momentary pause, and he goes back to sketching.
Just as he seems to be settling back into the details again.
WHACK
He reaches over and shuts off the music coming from the box beside
him. He listens.
He stands, turning around slowly in a circle. He drops the sketch
pad on the chair.
Only the crackle of logs in the fire.
LOGAN¨ªS P.O.V.
We follow his gaze around the room. Past the fire which sounds
suddenly like a blazing inferno, past the clock which ticks as loud
as clapping hands, past the simmering tea-kettle which hisses like
a seething cauldron. Finally, he glances at the cigar which we hear
crackling nearly as loud as the fire.
Logan¨ªs senses are amplified many times more then ours,
he walks to the door.
E.C.U.
His nostrils flare.
He raises his fist beside his face. For a moment, it seems as
if he is just chinking. Then -- SHOOK - THREE STEELY CLAWS some
nine inches long, emerge inexplicably from the skin just above Logan¨ªs
knuckles.
Logan barley turns his head before.
BOOM
THE WINDOW EXPLODES, letting in freezing wind and
billowing snow.
Logan is hit from behind.
The attack is so ferocious that we are unable to make out the
attacker. Whatever it is, it is HUGE. We can hear it snarling and
see flashes of its claws as it slams Logan back.
EXT. CABIN - DAY
The front door SMASHES OPEN. The two combatants roll
madly down the hill obscured by flying snow.
Finally, we see Logan separate from his attacker and CRASH THROUGH
THE ICE of the frozen lake.
E.C.U. - A MASSIVE CLAW-LIKE HAND lifts into frame the
SHINING DOG TAG hanging from it. The tag¨ªs chain slides
off and too the ground.
UNDER ICE
Logan struggles, already short of breath.
As he struggles -- water starts to fill his lungs. His skin goes
pale. He is drowning.
EXT. ABOVE ICE - DAY
We hear an angry grunt as the thing starts to hunt for Logan.
It stalks across the ice, searching. We catch a glimpse of shoulder,
a CLAWED FOOT, a MANE OF HAIR.
UNDER ICE
Logan¨ªs struggle has decreased somewhat as his strength
wanes.
CRACK
The ice above Logan shatters as a clawed hand reaches
through.
EXT. ABOVE ICE - DAY
A violent YANK. The ice gives way to the soaked and half-
frozen Logan.
The creature picks Logan up by his face, CUTTING DEEPLY
into his cheek, and holds him up like a rag doll. The two are face
to face. This is called SABRETOOTH. The reasons are obvious.
Teeth like said animal and cat¨ªs eyes to match.
A mutant, certainly a member of a class remote in the extreme.
And then it speaks.
SABRETOOTH
It¨ªs not gonna be that easy.
Logan, half-drowned, opens his eyes and looks right at Sabretooth
as though he¨ªs going to say something. Instead, a LUNG-FULL
OF WATER comes shooting out.
With that, Sabretooth ROARS, as he hoists Logan up and
throws him. Logan flies nearly ten yards. He lands head first.
Sabretooth skulks over to him.
With the sound of Sabretooth¨ªs breathing comes the rising
of the wind...
Snow from the ground begins to swirl in the bitter cold air.
Sabretooth is nearly upon Logan now and the wind rises further,
until he must shield his eyes from the bitter icy air.
As he approaches, we see a fresh cut on Logan¨ªs face
HEALING BEFORE OUR VERY EYES, leaving not so much as a scratch.
THEN:
A SUDDEN FLASH OF LIGHT
Lightning. No. Lightning is not red.
Sabretooth looks around, puzzled, then down at Logan¨ªs
motionless body. Then to his feet where a hole in the ice sprouts
bubbling water.
The wind blows so violently now that he nearly misses two
figures standing only a few yards away - mere silhouettes in the
icy haze.
A closer look tells us it is a man and a woman, THEY WEAR
STRANGE UNIFORMS of form-fitting material - the man wears a reflective
visor that hides his eyes. The woman¨ªs face
is care revealing dark skin, penetrating eyes and unusual white
hair.
ANOTHER FLASH - one that seems to come from the man¨ªs
visor itself. An intense beam of red light.
Sabretooth looks down and sees the ice at his feet has
broken away.
He plunges through the ice like a mark in a carnival dunking tank.
His massive weight and hairy coat quickly suck him down.
The TWO FIGURES - CYCLOPS (Scott Summers) AND STORM
(Ororo Munroe) - obviously two of the children we saw earlier now
grown - move over the hole and calmly watch Sabretooth gather himself
and swim back to the surface.
Storm looks down at the hole, concentrating her intense gaze.
The wind whips further and the water in the hole begins to freeze
over.
UNDER THE ICE
Sabretooth wisely concedes.
With one last look at the two mysterious figures now nearly obscured
by the ice, he turns his body and swims away with the same agility
he had on land.
ABOVE THE ICE
THE SNOW AND WIND ARE NOW VIOLENTLY RAGING
Cyclops and Storm walk over to Logan and look down at him
curiously.
LOGAN¨ªS P.O.V.
They look at one another, wondering. Above them, a black
shape looms into frame, bringing with it the whining of
jet engines.
This is the X-JET and it is like no other plane we have seen before.
Logan¨ªs eyes begin to close as they obscure the last
of all perceptible detail.
INT. CAVERNOUS ROOM - NIGHT
CLOSE UP ON:
The Periodic Table of Elements. A chart made up of blocks depicting
the elements and their chemical symbols.
Among the standards like Gold (Au) and Iron (I) and Oxygen (O2)
is a new square on simple red construction paper tacked to the top.
It contains simply a large letter ¨¬A.?
TRACKING SHOT THROUGH:
We are in a laboratory of sorts, quite different from any we have
ever seen -- and so are its occupants.
MORTIMER TOYNBEE, a dim, loyal thug whose agile leaping
ability and superhuman strength have earned him the name
TOAD.
Across the room, JOHN ALLERDYCE, a wiry redhead whose
ability to control fire with his fingers has earned him the name
PYRO.
In the corner we see BLOB, no explanation needed, devouring a
BUCKET of cereal, preariously balanced on his huge belly.
They are a bestial and sinister bunch.
Toad and Pyro are working on:
A MACHINE
A fantastic device which occupies a hallowed space in this lab.
It is meticulously designed, and with its intricate circuitry, wires,
and power boards, it resembles most closely (and only resembles,
because truly it¨ªs like nothing we¨ªve ever seen
before) a combination of an upright torpedo and a fantastic light
source -- only far more dark and foreboding.
Pyro holds a stick of solder in one hand. He lights a lighter
with the other, then drops it. Strange thing -- the flame remains
hovering about his finger. Quickly the flame intensifies and turns
blue, melting the solder over a small circuit board. Then, the flame
is gone.
He sticks out his hand like a surgeon.
PYRO
Hand me the dykes.
Toad, both hands occupied, flicks his long tongue and grabs a
pair of pliers which he rests in Pyro¨ªs hand, leaving
them slicked with SLIME. The flame in his finger goes out. The slimy
coat over the pliers quickly HARDENS, freezing their action.
PYRO (cont¨ªd)
I asked you not to do that.
Blob laughs. Toad shrugs.
In the background, almost ignored by them, something is on the
television. The news.
NEWSCASTER (O.S.)
Preparations are nearly completed for
the upcoming anniversary gala
celebrating the formation of the
United Nations. With nearly every
invitation confirmed, the occasion
promises to be the largest single
gathering of world leaders in history.
The image in the screen is a helicopter shot of ELLIS ISLAND,
with Liberty Island and the famous Statue in the background.
NEWSCASTER (cont¨ªd)
Ellis Island, once an arrival point
for thousands of immigrants crossing
the Atlantic with the hopes of a
better life, will open its doors
again. Only this time it will be to
leaders and their families from over
200 nations.
Blob belches his skepticism deafeningly.
TRACK FURTHER THROUGH THE LAIR AND OUT THE DOOR as the
Newscast drones on.
INT. CORRIDOR/OFFICE - NIGHT
WE MOVE through subterranean corridors and past dozens of
projects that share some similarity to the machine we have seen,
including crude designs that have been rejected or stripped of their
good ideas.
FAINTLY we become aware of a clicking sound. Almost like
a stopwatch very far away, always growing louder.
The newscast has faded and another voice is getting closer from
somewhere down the hall.
Sabretooth emerges around a corner heading towards us,
turning just as we get to him. The clicking is loud and clear now.
Sabretooth enters an office and we follow him. Seated at a desk
in the center of the room is MAX LENSHERR - age - somewhere after
sixty, but strong and vital for his years. He is more often called
MAGNETO.
The clicking is from the sound of an executive pendulum thingy
on his desk. The six steel balls hang onto one another from string
supports in formation depending on how many are let to fly from
either end. One ball strikes one and one ball swings out from the
other. Two balls and two, and so on.
Slight difference. There are no strings supporting the balls,
thus defying gravity.
A chess set - all of its pieces made of beautifully crafted iron
- sits on the far end of the desk.
He is watching television, or more accurately listening - his
eyes looking off into space, deep in thought.
INTERVIEWER
...and the leading voice in the call
for Mutant registration is Senator
Scott Frank Kelly, of Florida, who
claims to support the constitutional
rights of the genetically enhanced,
but whose crusade to register mutants
is gaining popularity.
Now Kelly is on the screen. Magneto shakes his head.
MAGNETO
Not this one again.
When Sabretooth clears his throat, the clicking balls instantly
freeze and hover there.
The volume on the television drops, though no remote is in sight.
Magneto notices Sabretooth¨ªs apparent exhaustion, his
torn clothing, including the slashes in his side. His look asks
¨¬what happened??
Sabretooth crosses the room and places the shining dog tag on
the table. The one he ripped from Logan¨ªs neck. He sits
at the desk, puzzling over it.
MAGNETO (cont¨ªd)
Your expression tells me the news is not good, brother.
SABRETOOTH
I lost him.
MAGNETO
How?
SABRETOOTH
It was Xavier¨ªs people. They knew.
Frustrated. Magneto inspects the dog tag.
MAGNETO
I want him. That is all they know because that is all you know.
Nothing odd about the tag at a glance, military dog tag,
weathered and beaten, but certainly plain, Canadian Military, Logan¨ªs
name, rank, and a faded serial number. His thumb feels the indention
of the word at the bottom of the tag that does not seem to fit here.
WOLVERINE
We hear the voice of Senator Kelly on the TV. Kelly is on the
screen giving good face.
As he turns up the television, and again, we don¨ªt see
how, he places the dog tag on his desk, thinking.
KELLY
I think the President¨ªs pre-occupation
with international affairs has drawn
his attention away from this problem.
American¨ªs deserve the right to decide
whether they want their children to be
in school with mutants. To be taught
by mutants. They also have the right
to know the dangers. That¨ªs the
purpose of registration. And mark my
words, if the President isn¨ªt strong
enough to do what needs to be done...
As the Senator continues we PULL BACK and see Magneto
watching this. He begins speaking over Kelly¨ªs diatribe.
MAGNETO
And you may mark my words, Senator Kelly. All your plotting, all
your hatred. I have plans for you. I¨ªve seen you come,
and I will see you go.
As Magneto turns Logan¨ªs dog tag between his fingers,
we
can¨ªt help but notice FADED PURPLE SERIAL NUMBERS
TATTOOED IN HIS ARM.
He then drops the dog tag on the desk, Magneto stands and
heads for the door, Sabretooth follows. The television shuts off
and Magneto waves a hand as though beckoning
someone to follow. Or some thing.
He stops and looks back at the dog tag on the desk and waves again.
A paper clip just next to the dog tag skips off the desk and into
Magneto¨ªs hand. He drops it, annoyed and tries again.
A slight rattle, then nothing more, as though the dog tag were
held down by an unimaginable weight.
He walks over and picks up the dog tag, inspecting it, then trying
to bend it. Nothing.
MAGNETO (cont¨ªd)
Can it be..?
He puts it back on the desk. Now Magneto concentrates -
sending a wave of magnetic force that ripples the air around it.
The tag trembles, but does not budge. He looks at Sabretooth and
smiles.
SABRETOOTH
Is that what you¨ªre looking for?
MAGNETO
A piece. Only a piece.
SABRETOOTH
Is it enough?
MAGNETO
Enough for a test.
And as Magneto looks up at Kelly on the television we:
PAN OVER TO A BULLETIN BOARD on the wall beside him.
To a periodic table, smaller than the first.
But still with that red square and added letter ¨¬A?.
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