x-men origins x-23

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    X-MEN ORIGINS: X-23

    Written by

    CHRISTIAN CHRISTOV

    Based on the comic book "Innocence Lost" by Craig Kyle

    superheroscripts.tumblr.com

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    INT. LAB1

    Right away, we hear some fast-paced music as we see DALERICE, a blond scientist in his late 30s, packing some thingsinside a suitcase - documentation, USB drives, as well as avial of liquid branded X that he is particularly careful

    with. The camera zooms in to reveal his nameplate, as well asa pair of dog-tags where the words Weapon X are prominent.

    DALEOh, God... Oh God, oh, God, oh,God, oh, God...

    INT. HALLWAY 12

    We cut to three long, metal claws as they begin to literallytear the sealed metal door apart. Two soldiers ready theirassault rifles and point them directly at the door, but its

    obvious theyre absolutely terrified - their muzzles areshaking and theres sweat dripping down their foreheads. Oncethe metal door has been destroyed, we see a bare, male footstep inside the room.

    SOLDIEROpen fire!!!

    The two immediately start shooting at the intruder, emptyingtheir magazines in just a few short seconds. The camerafocuses behind them to expose a naked, muscular man,apparently in his 30s, whose entire body is covered in bulletholes. Gradually, the bullets begin popping right out of his

    skin as the wounds close themselves. In just a moment, he hashealed completely, and we can see exactly who he is -WOLVERINE. The man is certainly not happy that he was beingshot at - he growls at the soldiers like a feral animal andquickly lunges at them, then swings his claws straight at hisvictims.

    INT. HALLWAY 23

    Dale is running for his life through one of the metalhallways of the facility. Hes holding the briefcase close tohis chest as hes desperately looking for the exit.

    DALEOh, please, God... Dont let medie... I dont want to die...

    Suddenly, Wolverines blood-covered claws pop out from thewall right in front of him. Dale shrieks and steps back, thenwatches in horror as the claws retract.

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    The scientist doesnt miss the opportunity and keeps runningas the camera follows him from the front. Behind him, thewall that was previously ripped apart by Wolverines clawsgets fully destroyed as the naked man bursts through it andchases right after the scientist.

    DALE (CONTD)Oh, dear lord!!!

    Dale clutches the briefcase even more tightly to his chestand starts running as fast as he possibly can, but hes nomatch for the animal thats chasing him. Quickly, Wolverineis catching up from behind and swings his claws, injuringDales shoulder. The scientist screams and keels over, butkeeps on running towards the exit. Hes almost made it to thedoors at the end of the hallway, where two more soldiers havealready taken position.

    SOLDIER

    There it is! Shoot it!!!

    The two open fire at Wolverine, but Dale couldnt care lessabout any of that. Instead, he simply runs right past themand out of the facility, leaving behind the soldiershorrified screams as theyre being violently slaughtered.

    EXT. SNOWY FIELD4

    The snowstorm is making it almost impossible to see anythingthats more than a few feet away. Regardless, Dale keepsrunning, fully aware that stopping would be equal to suicide

    DALEOh, please, God... Dont let--

    Suddenly, we hear the sound of loud metal screeching, andDale stops dead in his tracks. His hands start trembling asthe scientist finally gathers the courage to look down at thesource of the sound. Three sharp, metal claws are stickingright out of the briefcase, with their tips pointed straightout. The camera pans out to reveal the truth - Wolverine hasimpaled Dale from behind. The naked man pulls his claws out,which causes the scientist to stumble down on his kneesbefore falling face-first into the snow below. Without evengiving him another look, Wolverine walks away into thedistance.

    Slowly, the snowstorm subsides. The snow has mostly coveredDales body, indicating that some time has passed after hisdeath. Four men approach from behind - three soldiers led bya tall, bald gentleman wearing a black coat - MARTIN SUTTER.Carefully, Martin approaches the mans body and crouches downnext to him.

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    MARTINI am so sorry, Dale...

    He reaches down and pulls out the briefcase from underneaththe body. After a brief moment of hesitation, he also takesaway his dog-tags, one of which has been chipped by the claw

    which had pierced it.

    MARTIN (CONTD)You kept your promise. Now Illkeep mine.

    Martin puts the dog tags in his pocket discreetly and risesup, then looks towards his men.

    MARTIN (CONTD)Establish a perimeter! Weapon Xmust not be allowed to escape!

    SOLDIERYes, sir!

    The soldiers scatter as Martin remains by himself, lookingover at the sunset.

    EXT. DALES HOME5

    We see Dales home - an average house in the suburbs. The sunis shining brightly, the grass is green, the birds aresinging - its the opposite of the cold, dead place we havejust left. Outside the house, a little blond-haired boy is

    playing with a rugby ball, throwing it and catching it overand over. A black car parks right next to him. The boy stopsplaying and turns his attention towards it, his mouth gapinga little - he knows who this car belongs to, and thatpersons presence cant possibly mean anything good. The dooropens to reveal Martin, who steps out and turns his eyestowards the boy. Theres no need for words - they both knowwhats going on, yet neither of them are strong enough tospeak out the words. The boy drops his ball down. Martinwalks up to him and crouches down, then reaches inside hispocket and hands him the broken dog-tags. The little childholds them in his hands as tears start rolling down hischeeks. A second later, Martin gives him a fatherly hug. Thecamera pans out, and the only thing we can hear as the scenefades away is the childs crying.

    INT. OPERATION ROOM6

    Suddenly, the mood changes from calm and quiet to loud andintense as we are witnessing a heated surgery.

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    We hear the surgeons talking amongst each other nervously, aswell as the typical sound of a heart monitor flatlining. Ayoung man, in his early to mid-20s, with blond hair partiallyobstructed by the hat of his scrubs, is carefully heatingup two shock paddles. On his chest are Dales dog-tags, aswell as an ID badge with his name - ZANDER RICE.

    ZANDERClear!

    The other doctors in the room stand clear of the patient - anunusually large man in his late 30s, with his abdomensurgically cut open. Zander presses the paddles against hischest and releases the shock, causing the man to jump up onthe table, yet the flatlining sound remains unchanged.

    ZANDER (CONTD)Not good! Increase the voltage,lets try again!

    SURGEONDr. Rice, hes been down for almostforty minutes! Even if we resuciatehim now, the brain damage...

    Zander thinks about what he should do, with the paddles stillin his hands. No matter how he looks at it, the patient islost. In a fit of rage, he throws the paddles aside with ayell, then tears off the surgical mask from his face andheads towards the door.

    ZANDER

    Call it.

    INT. MARTINS OFFICE7

    Suddenly, the doors burst open, revealing Zander, stillwearing his blood-covered scrubs.

    ZANDERMartin, I need more specimen! Onesthat can actually survive thebonding pro--

    The camera immediately shifts back towards Martin, nowlooking at least 15 years older, sitting behind his desk andstaring straight at the blond surgeon. The office around himis quite fancy - obviously well-suited for a man with a veryhigh social status.

    MARTINAh, Zander! Theres someone Idlike you to meet.

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    Zander finally calms down a bit as he looks forward. Right infront of Martin is sitting SARAH KINNEY - a young woman inher mid-20s, with black hair tied in a bun and stunninglybeautiful deep-green eyes. Shes extremely good-looking, yetdoesnt look like the type of person whod care much abouther appearance, if at all.

    MARTIN (CONTD)Dr. Kinney, this is Dr. ZanderRice, our head of operations.Zander, meet Dr. Sarah Kinney.Shes the leading authority onmutant genetics.

    Sarah nods and gives Zander a polite smile.

    MARTIN (CONTD)Her work in mapping the mutantgenome may have great bearing on

    our project.

    Martin looks down at his desk, on which several magazinessuch as Time and Discover are laid out, all of themfeaturing Sarah on the cover. Zander stares in disbelief, notknowing what to make of this.

    ZANDERIm not sure I follow...

    MARTINZander, Ive decided to take theproject in a new direction. And

    Ive asked Dr. Kinney to lead thecharge.

    Zander sighs. He doesnt like this new development one bit,and doesnt try to hide this fact.

    ZANDERMartin, perhaps we should discussthis privately...

    MARTINThere is nothing to discuss. Dr.Kinney will simply provide you witha new specimen. Actually, shebelieves she can give you theoriginal.

    ZANDERHow?

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    SARAHCloning, Dr. Rice. Im going tobuild you a viable clone embryousing the genetic sample retrievedfrom Weapon X.

    MARTINI want Dr. Kinney brought up tospeed immediately. Youll help herwith everything she needs - budget,personnel, anything.

    Zander squints his eyes and crosses his arms defensively.

    MARTIN (CONTD)The things shes done... Theyreally are miraculous, Zander.Were lucky to have her.

    Martin looks at his protege and smiles reassuringly, in anattempt to get him to lower his defenses. Thankfully, itworks at least somewhat, as Zander gives Dr. Kinney his hand.

    ZANDERWell, then... Welcome aboard.

    Sarah smiles politely once again and shakes Zanders handwithout saying a word.

    INT. RESEARCH FACILITY8

    We see Martin and Sarah walking through the large chambersinside the research facility. Dozens, if not hundreds ofscientists are busily working on their own projects allaround them, like bees in a beehive. Sarah is looking aroundwhile walking by Martins side, obviously impressed by whatshes seeing.

    MARTINUnlimited resources and nopolitical or legal restraints onyour work. Thats what we have tooffer, Dr. Kinney...

    SARAHNo government interference. Remindme to never ask how you managethat.

    MARTIN...However, there are sacrificesinvolved. Weve all made them.

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    Physically, youd be completely cutoff from the outside world.Although you can still receive mailand phone calls through our routingsystem. I also need to know if youcan live with the... moral

    implications of what were doinghere.

    SARAHMoral implications? And here Ithought we were talking aboutscience.

    Martin looks at her, unamused.

    SARAH (CONTD)Dr. Sutter, I appreciate yourconcern, but Id worry more about

    your man Rice, considering his warmreception at the office.

    MARTINSharing control wont be easy forhim. Hell need time to adjust. Youhave to understand... The projectwouldnt exist without Zandersfather. He retrieved the sampleyoull be working with. At the costof his life.

    Martin and Sarah stop for a moment to allow two people in

    yellow Hazmat suits to pass through in front of them. Theyrepulling a stretcher with a sealed bodybag on it.

    SARAHWe all make sacrifices.

    The men in yellow pass, yet Martin and Sarah are not movingfrom their spot.

    MARTINHis father was a dear friend, andIve raised Zander since Dalesdeath--

    SARAHLook, Im not interested in joiningthe cast of a soap opera. Im herefor work. Nothing more.

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    MARTIN (CONT'D)

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    MARTINRight, then. The bottom line is,can you work with him? Because ifyou cant, Im afraid that--

    SARAH

    Oh, I can handle Rice...

    INT. SARAHS HOME9

    We suddenly cut to Sarah, old home, more particularly - herroom. Everythings dark, and theres a gray filter distortingthe image. A little girl dressed in just her underwear -Sarah as a child - is cowering inside the blankets of her ownbed, sobbing quietly.

    SARAH (V.O.)Ive handled much worse.

    The camera shifts to show us a middle-aged man dressed intorn-up jeans and a T-shirt. The man is visibly pulling hispants up, then starts walking out of the room while adjustinghis belt.

    INT. LAB10

    Sarah, now wearing glasses, is standing beside a team ofscientists inside a fancy laboratory as they observe a largehologram of a DNA sequence. The sequence has been almostcompletely ruined, with over 60% of it flickering out, like

    theres a glitch in the screen. The young woman is strokingher chin, deep in thought.

    SCIENTIST 1The non-recombinant section of theY chromosome has suffered totaldecomposition, as well as autosomesequences 13, 14, 15 and 21.

    SCIENTIST 2Is that even possible? Is it partof the mutation?

    SCIENTIST 1The Y chromosome alone is 23million bases long! There are 78genes in the--

    SARAHI know how many genes there are,doctor. No one said this was goingto be easy.

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    In ten years, mainstream science isstill going to be working the kinksout of cloning cats.

    She looks around the room.

    SARAH (CONTD)Gentlemen, welcome to godhood.

    A montage starts showing Sarahs numerous attempts at cloningthe specimen. We see her holding conferences, looking throughmicroscopes, working with lab equipment... But every time itappears that shes getting somewhere, her reactions show usshe has failed. Months pass, indicated by her change ofclothing and hairstyles, yet success still eludes her.

    INT. SARAHS BEDROOM11

    We see Sarah walking inside her room, holding a phone next toher ear.

    SARAHThe proteome is dynamic, are yousure--

    She takes off her labcoat and hangs it up on the hanger, thenkneels down and takes off her heels.

    SARAH (CONTD)No, were not going to re-sequence.Youre talking years. There must be

    another solution... Ill call youback.

    Sarah closes the phone and throws it on the bed, then walksup to her desk and sits down. She opens the lid of her laptopand looks through the DNA sequence on the screen. As theviewer is already aware, the part containing the Y chromosomeis completely destroyed and unusable. Sarah starts typing onthe keyboard, replacing a small part of the code with her ownsequence and pressing Enter. A progress bar appears on thescreen, which loads up to 100% before displaying a SequenceError message. Sarah sighs and begins typing once againbefore pressing Enter, yet the results are the same. Shestares at the code intensely, the screen reflecting on herglasses. Finally, her gaze focuses on the part of the codecontaining the X chromosome, which is completely intact.Sarah strokes her chin as an idea creeps into her mind. Shetakes a hold of her mouse and carefully replaces the Ychromosome sequence with the X one, then presses Enter andleans back. The progress bar shows up once again, but thistime, upon its completion, we see a Sequence Completedmessage on the screen. Sarah smiles to herself in content.

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    SARAH (CONT'D)

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    INT. MARTINS OFFICE12

    Martin is looking straight ahead, not appearing one bitamused by what he was just told.

    MARTIN

    You want to what?

    The camera shifts to reveal Sarah and Zander sitting in frontof him.

    SARAHThe damage is too extensive. Themost effective way to complete thesequence is to lose the damaged Ychromosome and duplicate the intactX.

    MARTIN

    You want to make the specimen... Afemale?

    SARAHThat would be a side effect, yes.While technically it would not be aclone at that point, it would be,for all intents and purposes, agenetic twin. The mutant DNA wouldstill be active, and the abilitiesyoure looking for would stillmanifest, just like in theoriginal.

    ZANDERAre you serious? Youre supposed tobe creating a weapon, not a damnBarbie doll!

    Martin sighs and turns around to face the window behind him,deep in thought. He finds himself forced to make a difficultchoice, and it takes him a few seconds to think it through.

    MARTINDr. Kinney, Im afraid I have toagree with Zander. You knew whatyou had to work with going in.

    Sarah shakes her head, a little insulted.

    SARAHYes, and I came up with a solution!

    ZANDERA deviation!

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    ZANDERBut, Martin--

    MARTINThis is not up for discussion.

    Zander crosses his arms.

    ZANDERAlright. Ill take care of it.

    INT. SARAHS BEDROOM15

    Sarah is sleeping inside her dark room. Suddenly, the dooropens, revealing Zanders shadow. Sarah squints her eyes asshe slowly wakes up.

    SARAH

    Wha... What are you doing here?

    ZANDERYour unsanctioned and unexpectedbreakthrough has put us both in abit of a bind, Sarah.

    She stands up, half-asleep.

    SARAHHm... Both?

    ZANDER

    I mean, where am I supposed to finda female candidate with thenecessary physiology to carry theclone?

    SARAHWhat are you talking about?

    Zander doesnt respond. Instead, he only smirks. Sarahimmediately understands whats going on despite hersleepiness.

    SARAH (CONTD)You cant be serious!

    ZANDERSo, whats it gonna be, Doctor? Youeither play mommy, or your littlepet project doesnt survive thenight.

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    INT. DELIVERY ROOM18

    We next cut to the sound of Sarahs screaming. The youngwoman is strapped onto a delivery bed as a team of doctorsare assisting with the birth. She moves her head from side toside, obviously in pain. We see that Zander is sitting down

    in between her legs. His hands are covered in blood.

    ZANDERForceps.

    Sarah screams once again, squeezing tightly the edge of thesheet covering her. A few seconds later, we hear the cries ofa baby.

    ZANDER (CONTD)Scissors.

    After cutting the umbilical cord, Zander takes the bloodied

    baby in his arms and begins carrying it away. Sarah, catchingher breath, is looking at Zander taking away her child, withsorrow in her eyes. Regardless, she doesnt say anything. Theblond scientist takes the blood-covered baby away to bebathed before suddenly stopping dead in his tracks. Thecamera pans down, giving us a close-up of the babys hand. Weclearly see two tiny claw-like bones poking out of her skin,in between her knuckles. Satisfied, Zander smirks as thescreen cuts to black.

    Title.

    INT. DOJO19

    A subtitle helpfully informs us that seven years have passedsince the birth. We see a little girl who has assumed amartial arts stance. She has the same black hair and greeneyes as Sarah does, and is dressed in a gi. That little girlis X-23. She screams out loud and attacks her sensei TANAKA -an old, bald Japanese man, with a leap kick. Without a lot ofeffort, Tanaka grabs a hold of X-23s leg and throws the girlright at a wall. She hits her back and head and falls down onthe ground. After sitting up, the girl rubs her head asTanaka approaches her.

    TANAKAWatashi wa sensei desu. Anata wagakusei desu. Wakarimasu-ka?

    X-23Hai.

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    TANAKAYoroshii. Saa, mouichido yattegoran.

    X-23 skillfully jumps up on her feet and re-assumes herstance. Tanaka does the same. With a battlecry, the little

    girl leap-kicks her sensei once again, but the result is thesame.

    TANAKA (CONTD)Mata.

    Without waiting for another order, X-23 jumps right back upand repeats the kick, but is once again thrown aside easily.

    TANAKA (CONTD)Mata!

    X-23 is getting angry and impatient. She re-assumes her

    stance, then begins to slowly walk to the side. Tanakafollows, walking in the opposite direction so that he keepsfacing her. Once she has placed her sensei against the wall,X-23 leap-kicks and finally lands a successful strike,sending Tanaka on the floor. The little girl starts breathingheavily, finally getting a chance to catch her breath. Theold man stands up and walks up to her, then smiles proudlyand places his hand on her shoulder.

    TANAKA (CONTD)Anata wa joutatsu ga hayai wa koudesu. Ii desu. Totemo ii desu.

    INT. OBSERVATION ROOM20

    We see Martin, Sarah and Zander observing X-23s trainingthrough a one-way mirror. All of them have visibly maturedand grown older over the last seven years.

    SARAHIntelligence and comprehensiontests show her to be off thecharts.

    MARTINAnd physically?

    SARAHGiven her age, shes testing atpeak human condition.

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    ZANDERBye, now!

    Sarah sighs and walks out, realizing that theres nothingmore she can say to convince Martin.

    MARTINStart laying the groundwork forweapons training. We can afford towait on the bonding process.

    ZANDERWhy do we even keep her involved? X-23 is old enough now, and I dontsee why--

    MARTINControl.

    Zander raises his eyebrows slightly.

    MARTIN (CONTD)Control the mother, control thechild. And if all else fails, Dr.Kinney can be dealt with easilyenough. Speaking of control...Hows the progress coming on thetrigger scent?

    ZANDERBetter than expected.

    INT. CONDITIONING ROOM21

    We quickly cut to the conditioning room - a small, dark andalmost completely bare place with only X-23, now dressed onlyin a white hospital gown, and two scientists in Hazmat suitsinside. One of the scientists pulls the little girls headout of a barrel filled with some kind of foul-looking liquidwhile the other one observes. X-23 chokes and vomits some ofthe liquid she swallowed, her head and shoulders completelydrenched in it. Before shes able to take her breathproperly, the scientists dunks her head down once again andholds it in. A close-up of the second scientists eyes revealthat its Zander.

    ZANDERHold her down for as long aspossible, but be careful not todrown her!

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    SCIENTISTTo be perfectly honest, Dr. Rice...I still dont get why this isnecessary.

    ZANDER

    Well, good. Because thatsclassified information, and if youdid know, it would have been yourhead inside that barrel instead ofhers.

    The scientist pulls X-23s head out again. The child ischoking and sobbing. Her big, green eyes turn towards Zanderfor just a brief moment. Shes hoping that the man would takepity on her, but deep down, she knows thats not going tohappen. Before long, her head is dunked in once again.

    INT. SARAHS BEDROOM22

    Sarah is sitting down on her desk and quickly typingsomething on her laptop without looking away or blinking. Afew loud knocks on the door take her out of her trance-likestate. She pulls her glasses off and places them on the desk,then stands up and walks towards the door. After opening it,we see KEVIN - an African-American man in his 30s, withshort, black hair thats prematurely greying in some places.Hes holding a phone in his hand.

    KEVINIts for you. She claims shes your

    sister.

    Sarah looks down at the phone, kind of confused - she hasntgotten any personal calls for the last seven years. The womantakes it and nods.

    SARAHThank you, Kevin.

    Kevin nods and turns around. Sarah closes the door, thenplaces the phone next to her ear.

    SARAH (CONTD)What do you want, Debbie?

    INT. DEBBIES KITCHEN23

    DEBBIE - a woman thats about Sarahs age, with short, brownhair and the same green eyes as her, is standing above akitchen stove.

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    DEBBIEI... What are you up to, Sarah?

    SARAH (O.S.)Working.

    DEBBIEOn what?

    SARAH (O.S.)Research.

    DEBBIEWhat kind of research?

    SARAH (O.S.)What difference does it make?

    DEBBIE

    Sarah...

    SARAH (O.S.)Look, I--

    DEBBIESarah, please. Stop trying to cutme off. Its not like Im gettingback in touch just for my sake. Imcalling because of your niece.

    The camera pans out to reveal MEGAN, 7, sitting down on thekitchen table and rocking her feet anxiously.

    SARAH (O.S.)I have a niece? When did thathappen?

    DEBBIEIt doesnt matter. Look, she justwants to meet you. Get to know you.Is that--

    SARAH (O.S.)Why would she want to do that?

    DEBBIEBecause I told her about you. Look,I know you dont want anything todo with me, but--

    SARAH (O.S.)Oh, dont you dare put this on me!You didnt believe me!

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    INT. SARAHS BEDROOM24

    The conversation continues from Sarahs point of view.

    DEBBIE (O.S.)Sarah, I was wrong!

    SARAHYou cut me out of your life!

    DEBBIE (O.S.)How many times do I have to say Imsorry?

    Sarah sighs and rubs her forehead.

    DEBBIE (O.S.) (CONTD)Im sorry, Sarah. And... Dadsgone. Cant we just--

    SARAHNo, we cant. The girl can send--

    DEBBIE (O.S.)Megan.

    SARAHFine, Megan can send whatever shewants. But dont you dare call meagain!

    Sarah closes the phone and throws it on the bed, then leans

    forward and covers her face with her palms.

    INT. X-23S CELL25

    X-23 is sitting cross-legged on a small bench inside hercell. Shes dressed in a pink dress that goes a bit past herknees, and her still-wet hair is tied in a bun. The white,illuminated cell is completely bare aside from theaforementioned bench. Sarah is sitting right next to X-23,with a copy of The Art of War in her hands. The little girlis still exhausted from the conditioning she underwentearlier and is only barely able to keep her eyes open.

    SARAHThe expert in battle moves theenemy, and is not moved by him.Such control is evident whendefense itself is always offense.

    X-23 lies down on her side and gently places her head in hermothers lap, then closes her eyes.

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    SARAH (CONTD)Do not defend on the--

    Sarah looks down at the girl, her mouth gaping a little -thats the first time X-23 has shown that kind of affectiontowards her. The woman turns her eyes towards the mirror on

    the other end of the room.

    INT. OBSERVATION ROOM26

    We suddenly cut to Zander in the observation room lookingsternly at Sarah and X-23. Even though she cant see him,Sarahs eyes still meet his.

    INT. X-23S CELL27

    Reluctantly, the black-haired woman pushes her daughter away.

    SARAHCome on, sit up.

    X-23 opens her eyes and slowly sits back up, feelingrejected. The two remain in silence for a few seconds beforeSarah pulls a small note from her pocket and smiles kindly asshe unfolds it.

    SARAH (CONTD)Now, where were we...

    The camera shows clearly that theres a drawing of Pinocchio

    on the sheet of paper. Even though she doesnt really reactin any way, X-23s eyes are almost shining with delight.Sarah turns her head down and begins reading the fairy tale.

    SARAH (CONTD)My dear father, we are saved!cried the marionette. All we haveto do now is get to the shore.Courage, father! In a few moments,we shall be safe.

    INT. DOJO28

    X-23 is training with Tanaka once again, both of them dressedin their gis. The old sensei is holding a katana and hasassumed a high stance, raising the blade up in the air andpreparing to strike from above. The little girls eyes arefocused solely on the sword. With a battlecry, Tanaka swingsdown. Without a moment of hesitation, X-23 catches the bladein between her palms.

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    A few drops of blood roll down from her hands and fall on thewooden floor, but overall, the move was pulled offmagnificently. X-23 lets go of the katana and Tanaka quicklyputs it away in its sheath, then places his hand on hershoulder.

    TANAKAAnata no koto wo totemo hokori niomoimasu wa ko desu.

    The sound of the dojo doors opening catches their attention.Zander, alongside two soldiers, enters and walks up towardsthe two, not bothering to take his shoes off inside. Tanakaspeaks up, demonstrating his thick Japanese accent.

    TANAKA (CONTD)Why do you interrupt us?

    ZANDERX-23, come.

    The little girl obeys. She bows down to her sensei quickly,then runs off. The soldiers take her away, leaving Zander andTanaka behind.

    ZANDER (CONTD)Tanaka, you know the rules, yet youcontinue to disobey my orders. Youwill not treat X-23 as a child!

    Tanaka squints his eyes, but otherwise does or says nothing.

    ZANDER (CONTD)You will not touch X-23 unless itsto strike her down in combat! Andif you think youve gotten awaywith your deceit by whispering toyour little gakusei in Japanese...

    Zander leans forward and whispers in Tanakas ear.

    ZANDER (CONTD)...Anata wa kannzen nimachigatteiru no wo shitteirudesho!

    INT. RADIATION ROOM29

    The room is completely dark, and the only thing illuminatingit is a small, red lamp up on the ceiling.

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    Its full of massive, metal machines, with the biggest onebeing in the center. X-23, dressed in a dark-blue one-piecebathing suit, is being strapped into the machine by twoscientists wearing Hazmat suits.

    SCIENTIST 1

    0.5 Grays should be enough to jump-start her X-gene...

    SCIENTIST 2He ordered two Grays, escalated tofive.

    SCIENTIST 1Well, hes the boss.

    INT. OBSERVATION ROOM30

    Zander is carefully observing the entire procedure frombehind the enforced windows. Suddenly, Sarah comes runningtowards him.

    SARAHRice! What the hell do you thinkyoure doing?!?

    ZANDERWe cant do jack to your pet if itdoesnt heal, Sarah. And Martin istired of waiting.

    SARAHCall this off right now! Youllkill her!

    ZANDERIf she cant survive this, then wedont need her anyway.

    Sarah runs over to the window and taps a few times on theglass. The sound is faint, but is enough to make X-23 turnher head towards her mother. Distress and fear is clearlyvisible inside the little girls eyes. Sarah suddenlyrealizes her daughters about to be tortured, and theresnothing she can do about it.

    SARAHNo...

    ZANDERJust sit back and enjoy the show!

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    INT. RADIATION ROOM31

    The people in Hazmat suits take their place next to themachinery and look at Zander, waiting to be given the go-ahead. He nods his head, and the procedure begins. At first,nothing happens. Just a few seconds later, X-23s body jumps

    up in a convulsion, as if it had been struck by electricity.Her eyes and mouth open wide. The pain is so unbearable thatshes not even able to scream.

    X-23Ah... A... A...

    Her entire body is shaking. The rhythm of the ECG machinestrapped to her chest begins to increase. After anotherconvulsion, the little girls throat finally stops beingparalyzed and she starts screaming from the intense pain.Its the most horrible sound in the world. X-23 is shakingand twisting her head, desperately trying to break free from

    the restraints, all while screaming like shes being skinnedalive.

    INT. OBSERVATION ROOM32

    We notice that Sarah is no longer able to keep her tears inand is barely standing on her legs.

    SARAHDr. Rice, please!

    But Zander isnt planning to stop this. Instead, hes simply

    rubbing the damaged dog-tags hanging around his neck, takinga twisted pleasure in seeing X-23 suffer.

    INT. RADIATION ROOM33

    The little girls body is convulsing violently. Her eyes haverolled back into their sockets, and shes foaming from hermouth. X-23s pulse keeps increasing. Its obvious that,unless her X-gene activates, she wont survive the procedure.Suddenly, she starts screaming once again, this time evenlouder than before. Her hands and feet begin shaking rapidly,as if shes undergoing a seizure. Shes squeezing her fistsso tightly that blood is dripping from her palms and on theexam table. Suddenly, it happens - after yet another violentshriek, two bone claws literally burst out from each of thegirls fists, alongside one more on each of her feet, inbetween her big and first toe.

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    INT. OBSERVATION ROOM34

    Sarahs eyes open wide. She covers her mouth with her handsin disbelief. Zanders procedure has worked. Dr. Rice isquite proud of himself, as he crosses his arms and smiles incontent.

    ZANDERCut the radiation.

    Immediately, the two scientists dressed in Hazmat suits re-enter the radiation room.

    ZANDER (CONTD)Transport her to the operationroom. Well replace her claws rightaway.

    SARAH

    Right away?!? She almost died!!!

    Zander simply turns around and walks past Sarah, having notime for sentimentality.

    SARAH (CONTD)Dr. Rice!!!

    INT. MARTINS OFFICE35

    Suddenly, Sarah bursts through the doors, much to Martinssurprise.

    MARTINDr. Kinney? Whats the meaning ofthis?

    SARAHYou have to take Rice off thesurgery! Right now!

    MARTINExcuse me?

    SARAHThe surgery to replace X-23s clawswith adamantium ones!

    MARTINThats not the part I neededclarification for.

    SARAHHe-- He wants to do it right away.

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    MARTINI see no problem with that. Thesooner, the better.

    Sarah shakes her head.

    SARAHShe wont survive. The radiationtreatment was too much. Her body isweak.

    MARTINYour concerns have been noted, Dr.Kinney. Yet I still dont see whyZander should be taken off thesurgery.

    SARAHMartin, you dont understand! Hes

    become too emotionally motivated!Hes lost it!

    MARTINSarah...

    SARAHPlease, let someone else handle it!Anyone! Rice can oversee it, but--

    MARTINOut of the question. Zander haswaited his whole life for this

    moment. And if someone has becometoo emotionally invested in thisproject... Its you, Sarah.

    Sarahs hands are trembling. She knows that once Martin hasmade up his mind, theres no going back. Barely keeping hertears in, she walks out of the office.

    INT. OPERATION ROOM36

    X-23 is lying on the operation table, surrounded by fourdoctors, one of which is Zander. Shes been strippedcompletely naked, and her body is only covered by a bluesheet below the shoulders and up to her ankles. Her hands andfeet have been strapped in such a position so that shesunable to retract her claws. The little girl is fullyconscious. One of the doctors prepares a mask, but Zanderstops him.

    ZANDERStop. No anesthesia.

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    SURGEONExcuse me?

    ZANDERItd be pointless, anyway. Herhealing factor would make any

    anesthesia useless.

    SURGEONNot if we give her a big enoughdose!

    Zander turns her eyes towards the surgeon.

    SURGEON (CONTD)Dr. Rice, thats inhuman!

    ZANDERIf you have a problem with it, just

    go. All of you.

    The surgeon thinks about it for a moment, then leaves theroom, quickly followed by his two colleagues. Zander and X-23are all alone in the operation room. We see a tray of varioussharp-looking instruments, including six short blades in theshape of X-23s claws. He gently runs his fingers over them,as if hes imagining all the ways in which hell use them.The little girl is staring at him with her big, green eyes,terrified to her core.

    ZANDER (CONTD)Are you afraid? Can you even feel

    anything, Weapon X?

    Finally, Zander selects a large, electric pliers andcarefully secures it around one of X-23s claws, ready topull it out. He leans close to the girls face and whispers.

    ZANDER (CONTD)This is for my father.

    And with that, he pulls the pliers away.

    INT. X-23S CELL37

    We suddenly cut to X-23 sitting on the small bench inside hercell. Shes curiously playing with her new shiny, metal claws- extracting and retracting them over and over again. Thelittle girl just stares at her tiny hands blankly as themetal pierces her flesh and pops out, then disappears rightback in her wrist.

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    INT. OBSERVATION ROOM38

    Sarah and Kevin are observing X-23 through the mirror.

    KEVINShes fully recovered.

    SARAHPhysically.

    KEVINUnbelievable... What she wentthrough would have killed someonemuch older than her, and shesalready recovered after less than aday...

    Kevin hands an envelope over to Sarah, who begins to open itwithout pulling her eyes away from X-23.

    SARAHHer healing factor surpasses thedata we have on the original WeaponX. The adamantium must affect it.Once they lace the rest of herskeleton, hers will follow suit.

    After opening the envelope, Sarah pulls out a small drawingof a little girl and her mother, signed by Megan.

    INT. DOJO39

    Its night, and the dojo is dark and completely empty.Slowly, the door is pulled open, revealing Zander. He slowlywalks up to the two katanas in the back and takes a hold ofthe bigger one. After that, he reaches inside the innerpocket of his white labcoat and pulls out a small viallabeled TRIGGER. Its filled with liquid thats the samecolor as the one they used to dunk X-23s head in. Zandercarefully places just a drop of the liquid on the swordshilt, then puts it back in its place.

    INT. X-23S CELL40

    X-23 is sleeping on the ground, once again dressed in herpink dress. Suddenly, the door opens, revealing two soldiers.The little girl quickly opens her eyes and sits up, then rubsher face with her palms.

    SOLDIERGet up. Time to train.

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    INT. DOJO41

    Once again, X-23 and Tanaka are by themselves in the dojo.Both of them are sitting down, Japanese-style. The littlegirl appears to be quite proud of herself, though she doesntmake any attempt to hide it.

    TANAKASotsugyo, gakusei.

    X-23 smiles faintly. Tanaka smiles back and stands up, thenslowly walks up to the katanas in the back and takes one ofthem in his hands, then slowly unsheathes it to perform thegraduation ritual. We cut to X-23, who sniffs up in the air afew times. Once the scent of the trigger Zander placed on thekatana reaches her nostrils, the young girl stands up andgrowls like a feral animal that was just provoked. Naturally,this confuses Tanaka.

    TANAKA (CONTD)Gakusei... Daijobu?

    With a feral shriek, X-23 extends her claws and lungestowards her sensei. The sheer terror in the old mans eyes isvisible as he quickly pulls his sword up to defend himself,but its useless. The screen cuts to black.

    After it fades back in, we start seeing from X-23sperspective. The little girl looks at her hands, which arecovered in blood. The camera pans out to reveal that the her

    previously white gi is now covered in red blood. She looksdown and gasps as she sees whats left of Tanaka. The oldmans body is horribly mangled, as if it had been rippedapart by a pack of wolves. X-23 falls on her knees and slowlyextends her hand towards him.

    X-23S-Sensei?

    She approaches him and gently takes his head in her hands.Her eyes are filling up with tears. Two soldiers enterthrough the door and grab X-23, then start dragging her awayas she offers little resistance.

    INT. OBSERVATION ROOM42

    We see Martin and Zander overlooking everything from theobservation room. Zander turns towards his stepfather.

    ZANDERWell, what do you call that?

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    Martin smiles widely.

    MARTINId call it a success.

    INT. X-23S CELL43

    X-23 is sitting down in the corner, hugging her knees. Itsbeen no more than a few hours since Tanakas death, and thelittle girl is still quite depressed about what happened.Suddenly, the door opens to reveal Zander, alongside a tall,muscular African-American woman - KIMURA. Thats the firsttime he has entered her cell without armed soldiers by hisside.

    ZANDERYou did a very naughty thing outthere, Weapon X. Very, very

    naughty...

    He approaches her. X-23 refuses to look him in the eyes.

    ZANDER (CONTD)You know what you did? Youdisobeyed orders. Nobody ever toldyou to kill the old fart, did they?

    The little girl looks down again. She knows full well thatshes about to be tortured for her disobedience, butdoesnt particularly mind it at this point. In a way, shewants to be punished.

    ZANDER (CONTD)But Im a nice guy, so Ill let youget away with it just this once...If you can do one, simple task.

    The muscular woman steps forward and turns her eyes towards X-23, looking as if shes desperately trying to contain herlaugh.

    ZANDER (CONTD)This womans name is Kimura. I wantyou to kill her. Thats all.

    Like a robot, X-23 stands up and extends her claws. With abattlecry, the girl lunges right at her. Kimura makesabsolutely no attempt at dodging. Soon, X-23 begins slashingat her with her claws - across her neck, chest, abdomen,arms... Kimuras clothing gets torn up, but there isnt evena single drop of blood. After a few seconds, the woman blocksX-23s claws with her bare palms, then winks at her.

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    But Im sure you already know everydetail about that, so why dont youstop wasting my time and tell meexactly why you called me here?

    Martin nods.

    MARTINIve been thinking of assigning X-23 her first actual fieldassignment.

    Sarah looks away.

    SARAHShes not ready.

    MARTINIsnt she?

    Sarah looks back at him.

    MARTIN (CONTD)As you said, I do, in fact, alreadyknow every detail. Her instructorsbelieve shes just about ready.

    SARAHThen why did you call me here? Toask for my consent?

    MARTIN

    To inform you. Youve been anintegral part of the project up tothis point. I can safely say thatif it wasnt for you, perhaps westill wouldnt have a test subject,let alone one we can send onassignments. So, thank you.

    SARAHWas that a fancy of way of sayingIm fired?

    MARTINIt was a fancy way of expressinggratitude, Dr. Kinney.

    Sarah sighs.

    MARTIN (CONTD)But since X-23s training isfinally complete, you are no longervital to the project in any way.

    33.

    SARAH (CONT'D)

    (MORE)

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    They consist of a picture of Greg Johnson, very detailedfloor plans for some building, as well as a small digitaltimer set to exactly 21 minutes.

    EXT. POLITICAL RALLY46

    We finally meet GREG JOHNSON in person. Hes standing on aplatform in the town square and is addressing the large crowdgathered there. He has already finished his speech by thetime the scene starts, but its obvious the crowd absolutelyloves him. They scream, whistle and hold up posters with hisname as if hes some kind of pop star.

    JOHNSONThank you, thank you! God bless!

    He waves at the crowd with a huge smile on his face. One ofhis bodyguards approaches him and whispers something in his

    ear. Johnson nods and starts following him off-stage and intoa building nearby, guarded by two more men in black. Thecamera pans around the crowd to reveal that somebodysfollowing him - its X-23, dressed as a normal little girl -in a white shirt, with a badge pinned on it that says GregJohnson, and a blue skirt that goes up to her knees. Herhair is tied in two pigtails, and shes wearing dorky, roundglasses. Shes also using two crutches to support herself asshe walks. Her walking pattern mirrors that of a childsuffering from cerebral paralysis. A few people in the crowdturn to look at her and even step back to give her room.Suddenly, her badge falls off her shirt and lands on thefloor with a loud, metallic click. X-23 gasps a little, not

    entirely sure about how to pick it up and pin it back onwithout blowing her cover. Luckily, an old man (played byStan Lee) kneels down and takes it, then gently pins it upback on her shirt.

    OLD MANThere you go, young lady!

    X-23T-Thank you...

    X-23 smiles at him. The old man laughs cheerfully and watchesas she slowly makes her way towards the door before shakinghis head.

    OLD MANPoor kid...

    X-23 is approaching the door that Johnson walked through. Shestops in front of the two bodyguards and looks up at them.

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    KYLAWell, thats unfortunate, buthandicapped or not--

    Suddenly, Johnson turns towards her.

    JOHNSONWhats going on?

    KYLASir...

    She thinks for a moment about whether or not to tell him.

    KYLA (CONTD)Theres a little girl outside.

    Johnson turns towards the journalists and looks straight atthe cameras pointed at him before shifting his eyes back to

    Kyla.

    JOHNSONWell, it would be rude to leave herout, wouldnt it? Please, let herin.

    KYLAI... Yes, sir.

    She places her finger on her earpiece.

    KYLA (CONTD)

    Let her in.

    The camera cuts to the door to reveal X-23 being led inside,with a fake smile on her face. She walks up to Johnson, whokneels down and looks at her.

    JOHNSONHey there, young lady. How can Ihelp you?

    X-23I just... I wanted to meet the nextpresident.

    The room erupts in laughter and cheers. Johnson himselfshares a heartfelt chuckle.

    JOHNSONWell, heres to hoping that wouldactually be me!

    37.

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    You know, Id really love to take apicture with my youngest supporter.What do you say?

    X-23 nods enthusiastically. Johnson turns and places his armacross her shoulders as the journalists prepare their photo

    cameras.

    JOURNALISTAlright, say cheese!

    A bright flash illuminates the room. In exactly that moment,X-23 extends the claws on her hand and shoves them deep intoJohnsons throat. Before anyone even realizes whats goingon, she extends the rest of her claws and lunges at the crowdof journalist. Shes moving around like an animal,slaughtering everyone in her sight quickly and efficiently.Most of the people in the room are already dead before therest can realize that somethings wrong. Kyla is one of the

    first to take action. She reaches inside her coat for hergun, but X-23 is quicker and jumps back, slicing the side ofthe womans neck with the claw on her foot. Blood is flowingeverywhere, covering the little girl from head to toe.Without skipping a beat, she lunges at the survivors.

    EXT. POLITICAL RALLY50

    The sound of death coming from inside the room does not fallon deaf ears. The two bodyguards look at each other, thenquickly pull their guns out and kick through the door.

    INT. RECEPTION HALL51

    What the bodyguards find inside is beyond words. At least 30people are all lying dead inside the reception hall. Theresblood everyhwere - on the floor, on the walls, on theceiling...

    BODYGUARDOh, dear Lord...

    Suddenly, theres some movement amongst the pile of bodies.The bodyguards quickly walk up to it and investigate. Its X-23, lying among the corpses.

    X-23Please... Dont hurt me...

    BODYGUARDIts alright, sweetie. Were thegood guys.

    38.

    JOHNSON (CONT'D)

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    He gently picks her up and carries her outside.

    EXT. POLITICAL RALLY52

    The people gathered outside are looking at the blood-covered

    little girl with horror in their eyes. An ambulance hasalready been called, and two paramedics show up with astretcher. The bodyguard lays X-23 on it.

    PARAMEDICWhat happened?

    BODYGUARDSomeone attacked the reception.

    PARAMEDICHow many injured?

    BODYGUARDJust her. The rest are--

    PARAMEDICUnderstood.

    The paramedic turns towards his partner, then the two startwheeling the stretcher back towards the ambulance. They loadher in and close the door, then quickly take off. Thebodyguard suddenly hears screaming from behind him and turnsaround. To his surprise, he sees Kyla walking out of thereception hall. The young woman is pale as a sheet - thewound on her neck is bleeding all over the ground and her

    black suit. Its obvious shes at the edge of her strength.

    BODYGUARDKyla!

    The bodyguard runs up to her and catches her right as shefalls down on the ground. He places his hand on her neck andapplies pressure over the wound.

    BODYGUARD (CONTD)Someone call another ambulance!Quickly!

    Kyla raises her hand in an attempt to get his attention.Theres a camera in it - the same one the journalist used totake the picture back at the reception hall. The bodyguardquickly understands that shes trying to tell him somethingand takes a look at the screen of the camera. The image isdistorted, but it still shows X-23 with her claws out andpreparing to stab Johnson in the throat. The bodyguardimmediately realizes what has happened.

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    KINGPINYour people did this?

    MARTINNot my people. My weapon.

    SAINTOooh, fancy!

    HOODWhat kind weapon massacres 35people without leaving a trace ofitself?

    MARTINOh, there were traces, I assureyou. No weapon is perfect, but itwas nothing that couldnt becleaned up quite easily. In case

    you are wondering, the clean-up isincluded in the price.

    OSBORNSo youre selling this... weapon?

    MARTINI am renting it. To the highestbidder.

    SAINTNo offense, but I doubt youramazing weapon can do anything my

    men aint capable of.

    MARTINThats where youre wrong. Becausemy weapon can do anything. Anythingat all.

    Martin turns towards the crowd of criminals.

    MARTIN (CONTD)Gentlemen, I know all of you havethis one person whose disappearancewould make your life a lot easier.A business rival. A bitter enemy. Avigilante who has been makingthings very difficult for you.

    Saint squints his eyes, Osborn crosses his arms, and theKingpin leans on his cane. Even though some of the criminalsthere dont show it, Martins words hit home with everyone.

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    MARTIN (CONTD)And for some reason, you have neverbeen able to get rid of thisperson. Well... Im offering to letmy weapon do it for you. No targetis unreachable. Age, gender,

    location, social status oraffiliation are not important.

    HOODOh, yeah? Looks to me like youcant take down a target withoutmaking the hit into a circus.

    MARTINIm afraid the spectacle wasnecessary, given the purpose ofthis assassination. It would be notrouble at all if you want us to be

    a little more... Discreet.

    ARCADEThen again, some of us dont reallymind the spectacle! Isnt thatright?

    Once again, nobody even acknowledges Arcades existence. Hesquints his eyes and crosses his arms.

    MARTINGentlemen, youve seen what myweapon can do. Bidding starts at

    $55 million. A small price,considering the quality of myservices.

    The criminals look among themselves.

    INT. X-23S CELL54

    X-23 is, once again, sitting by herself inside the white,empty cell. The door slides open to reveal Sarah, with a bookin her hand. The little girl raises her head just a littlebit, then quickly turns back down again.

    SARAHHey... I thought I could read toyou for a little while.

    Sarah walks over to X-23 and sits on the ground besides her.

    SARAH (CONTD)Would you like that?

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    The girl doesnt respond. She doesnt even acknowledge thequestion. Their attention is caught to the other side of theroom as a paper envelope slips underneath the door. Withoutsaying a word, X-23 crawls up to it and takes it, then ripsit open and begins viewing its contents. Sarah keeps staringat her daughter, with a concerned and sorrowful look in her

    eyes. The screen cuts to black.

    INT. SARAHS BEDROOM55

    A subtitle informs us that one more year has passed. Sarah issitting behind the desk in her room, reading the news on herlaptop. The headline says PUNISHER DEAD! Sarah scrollsdown, revealing three photos attached to the article - one isa police picture of a black-haired, square-jawed man in his40s, the other is of a building on fire, and the third oneshows the silhouette of a little girl running out of thatsame building. Sarah sighs and closes the lid of her laptop.

    Suddenly, someone bursts through the door - its Kevin.

    KEVINSarah!

    SARAHKevin? Whats wrong?

    KEVINSomethings up... Rice is in theprep room. Hes going with her.

    INT. PREPARATION ROOM56

    We see Zander, now dressed in a black catsuit and coveredfrom head to toe in weaponry, testing the magazine of a gun.Two other soldiers are also preparing their weapons. X-23,already dressed and armed, is waiting in the corner. Sarahcomes in.

    SARAHRice!!!

    ZANDERAre you even allowed in here?

    SARAHWhy are you going on the mission?

    ZANDERIts about time I assess herperformance myself.

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    SARAHYou can do that just fine from thereports!

    ZANDERIf you have a problem, take it up

    with Martin. But for now... Backoff!

    The soldiers start leading X-23 towards the door. The littlegirl glances briefly at her mother before leaving.

    EXT. ROOFTOPS57

    We cut to a shot of a large, round window in an unknownlocation. Suddenly, the window is broken to pieces by X-23,who has jumped out of it from the inside. The girl lands onthe next rooftop covered in cuts, but all of them heal within

    seconds. After that, she starts running across the rooftops.Multiple soldiers dressed in high-tech suits are chasingafter her, occasionally stopping to fire at her. The emblemof Hydra - a skull with eight tentacles - is clearlyvisible on their chests. X-23 doesnt pay a lot of attentionto them. She keeps running towards the landing zone as fastas she can. The little girl looks at the timer attached toher wrist - she only has two more minutes to complete themission.

    EXT. LANDING ZONE58

    The two soldiers, alongside Zander, are standing by thehelicopter. One of the soldiers is looking at X-23 throughhis binoculars.

    SOLDIERWow, look at her move...

    Zander turns his eyes towards the timer on his own wrist,then looks up at the soldier.

    ZANDERWere leaving.

    SOLDIERWhat? But sir, she still has--

    Without a moment of hesitation, Zander pulls his pistol outand shoots the soldier right between the eyes. The other oneshrieks, startled by the gunshot and shocked by what hiscommander just did.

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    ZANDERX-23 never made it to the LZ. Wewere forced to abort the mission.Is that clear?

    The second soldier nods reluctantly, then gets back inside

    the helicopter, promptly followed by Zander. X-23 sees thisand immediately realizes whats going on. She keeps runningacross the rooftops as fast as she can to catch up, but itsno use. The helicopter lifts off. In one last, desperateleap, X-23 jumps up and attempts to grab on to the aircraft.Everything slows down. For a moment, it appears as if thelittle girl will actually be able to grab a hold, but in thelast second, her fingers just barely miss the helicopter. X-23 is sent flying straight down at the concrete below.

    EXT. STREETS59

    A second later, she hits the ground. Both of her legs breakupon impact, and one broken bone pops right through her upperthigh. The little girl looks at it in disbelief. Her little,trembling hands carefully reach towards the bone as herfingertips touch it. A second later, shes gathered enoughcourage to grab a firm hold of it and to push it inside. Theprocess is painful. X-23 closes her eyes tightly and bitesher lip, then finally groans out once the bone is pushed backbeneath her skin.

    EXT. HELICOPTER60

    Zander is peaking out from the door of the helicopter as itshigh up in the air. With a grin on his face, he takes hisfathers old dog-tags off and throws them down at X-23.

    ZANDERSo long, Weapon X!

    EXT. STREETS61

    The dog-tags land right beside the little girl, who picksthem up. Just then, the armored soldiers chasing her show uponce again. They quickly surround her and point their guns ather. The girl stares at them for a little while, then looksback down, knowing full well that she wont survive. Thesoldiers open fire. Cut to black.

    INT. SARAHS BEDROOM62

    A subtitle pops out to show that three days have passed sincethe incident. Sarah is sitting on her desk, sobbing quietly.

    45.

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    Her glasses are off, and her eyes are full of tears. Shepulls a drawer open and takes out a file, then places it onher desk. After opening it, she sees a picture of X-23inside. The woman gently touches the image of her deceaseddaughter as her tears fall down on the picture. Suddenly, thealarm starts going off. The rooms light changes to red,

    indicating that an evacuation is in order. Sarah gasps,startled by the loud noise. She closes the folder and wipesher tears away, then stands up and heads for the door.

    INT. OBSERVATION ROOM63

    Martin, Zander and a few scientists are already in one of themany observation rooms, this one overlooking the main gate.The alarm keeps beeping loudly. Practically every soldier atthe facilitys disposal makes a stand in front of the gateand aims straight at it. Sarah walks into the observationroom and approaches Martin and Zander.

    SARAHMartin! Whats going on?

    MARTINThe facility has been breached.

    SARAHWhat?!? By who?

    MARTINWere about to find out.

    The main gate begins to slowly open. Numerous clicks echothroughout the room as the soldiers all take off theirsafeties. A silhouette appears from the other side and slowlybegins to walk into the facility. As it comes into the redlight, we can see that its none other than X-23. Her outfithas been ripped by bullet holes, her shoulder has beendislocated, and shes barely able to stand on her feet. Butshes alive. Sarah places her hand on the glass and smileswidely.

    SARAHOh my God!

    Martin turns towards Zander.

    MARTINZander, I thought you said Hydrakilled her?

    ZANDERI... I saw her die!

    46.

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    MARTINSarah, I need you to handle thedebriefing. Find out whathappened... And if theres anythingwe need to worry about.

    SARAHRight away.

    All the soldiers stand up and walk away as the gate closesonce again. X-23 is left by herself... Or so it seems. Thecamera reveals a familiar, muscular woman.

    KIMURAHey there, X! I heard that you weredead, but I guess I heard wrong!Too bad!

    She grins maniacally and cracks her knuckles.

    INT. X-23S CELL64

    Sarah and X-23, dressed in her regular clothes again, areboth sitting on the small bench in silence. The little girlis holding her forearm, as if shes hiding something. Sarahturns to her daughter. Her tone is concerned and caring.

    SARAHWhat happened out there?

    X-23 says nothing.

    SARAH (CONTD)Please, talk to me! Please...

    The concern is clearly visible in Sarahs eyes, yet X-23sare as blank as ever. The woman finally notices the weird wayshes holding her arm.

    SARAH (CONTD)Let me see your arm...

    At first, X-23 pulls away, reacting to Sarahs words for thefirst time. But her mother persists. Gently, she takes a holdof her wrists and turns her arm over, revealing large X-shaped cut marks on her forearm. Sarah gasps.

    SARAH (CONTD)Who did this to you?

    X-23 turns her eyes away, once again refusing to answer.Sarah looks down.

    47.

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    INT. SARAHS BEDROOM65

    Sarah is sitting down on her bed, looking depressed. Theevents from the past few days have truly taken their toll onher. Shes rubbing her forehead, deep in thought. The door toher left slowly opens, revealing Kevin.

    KEVINAh... Dr. Kinney...

    She turns towards him.

    SARAHWhat is it?

    Kevin is holding a cell phone in his hand.

    KEVINYouve got a call from your sister.

    SARAHI dont take calls from her.

    KEVINYeah, I know, but... Shes calledeight times in the last hour. Sheseems very upset.

    Sarah sighs and extends her hand. Kevin hands her the phoneover, then promptly leaves the room. The woman places thephone next to her ear.

    SARAHI told you to never--

    Sarahs eyes suddenly open wide.

    SARAH (CONTD)What? Debbie, calm down! Whathappened?

    She glances at a picture pinned on the wall - the same oneMegan sent her years ago.

    SARAH (CONTD)How long has she been gone? Whatare the police doing?

    The young womans eyes start moving as shes trying to decideon what to do.

    SARAH (CONTD)Okay, stay where you are. Ill beright there.

    48.

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    INT. X-23S CELL66

    As always, X-23 is sitting in her cell and staring blanklyinto space. The door opens, revealing Sarah and Kevin. Sarahtakes a few steps forward and looks at her. The mothers eyesmeet her daughters. Even without words, the little girl

    knows something is going on.

    INT. MARTINS OFFICE67

    Martin is sitting behind his desk and reading some documents.Suddenly, Zander bursts through the door.

    ZANDERWe have a situation.

    INT. OBSERVATION ROOM68

    Zander and Martin are looking through the one-way mirror andinto X-23s empty cell. Neither of them seems particularlypleased.

    MARTINHow could this have happened?

    ZANDERI told you to get rid of Kinney along time ago.

    MARTIN

    Find them. Now!

    EXT. DEBBIES HOME69

    A car pulls up right in front of Debbies house. We see thatthe driver is Kevin, and Sarah is sitting in the passengerseat. Once the car stops completely, Sarah goes out and walksup to the door, then knocks a few times on it. A secondlater, Debbie opens, her face wet from crying.

    DEBBIES-Sarah?

    Sarah nods. Without waiting for an invitation, Debbie hugsher sister firmly.

    DEBBIE (CONTD)I cant believe youre really here!Thank God you came!

    49.

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    SARAHI, uh...

    Sarah reluctantly returns the hug.

    SARAH (CONTD)

    Its going to be okay, Deb. Wellfind her.

    The camera pans out to reveal that X-23, dressed in civilianclothing, is scaling the building using her claws. Once sheson the second floor, she goes through the open window andstraight into Megans room.

    INT. MEGANS ROOM70

    The room looks like that of a typical little girl on the edgeof puberty - pink, with posters of boy bands sticking on the

    walls. There are also lots of hand-made drawings, most ofwhich dont look bad at all for being drawn by an 11 yearold. Once X-23 lands inside, she walks up to Megans bed andbegins sniffing around. A few seconds later, she already hasa trail. After looking out to make sure nobodys watching,she swiftly jumps out of the window.

    EXT. NEW YORK STREETS71

    X-23, carrying a backpack on her back, is walking through thecity. The little girl is occasionally sniffing in the air tore-pick the trail, but doesnt decrease her walking speed.

    Meanwhile, Kevin is following her in his car. After a fewseconds, X-23 stops dead in her tracks, then walks inside anapartment building. Kevin takes his phone out of his pocketand quickly dials a number, then places it next to his ear.

    KEVINShes got it. Get over hereimmediately. Im texting you theaddress.

    After closing the phone, Kevin looks back out the window.

    KEVIN (CONTD)Martins gonna kill me for this...

    INT. APARTMENT BUILDING72

    Once shes inside, X-23 continues to sniff in the air inorder to find the right apartment. She keeps going up thestairs, checking floor by floor until shes absolutely sureshes got the right place.

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    Once the girl thinks she has the right door, she approachesit and presses her ear next to it to confirm her suspicion.After that, X-23 kneels down and takes off her backpack.

    INT. KIDNAPPERS HOME73

    The KIDNAPPER - an ugly, bearded man in his 30s, is sittingon his couch eating pizza. Suddenly, he hears the doorbellring. With a groan, the man leaves his slice back in the box,then stands up and walks up to the door. After opening it asmuch as the chain locking it would allow, the kidnapper looksthrough and sees X-23, now dressed as a girl scout.

    X-23Would you like to buy some girlscout cookies? My troop is raisingmoney for a camping trip!

    KIDNAPPERWhere are your parents?

    X-23At home!

    KIDNAPPERUhh...

    The kidnapper looks both ways to make sure no one iswatching.

    KIDNAPPER (CONTD)

    Sure, Ill buy a whole bunch ofthem. Just come in and Ill grab mywallet.

    He closes the door, then removes the chains and re-opens itcompletely. With a wide smile, X-23 steps in. Carefully, thekidnapper closes the door and locks it.

    KIDNAPPER (CONTD)Just gimme a second... I know Ivegot money around here somewhere...

    X-23Kay.

    He starts running through his drawers one by one. Finally, hefinds one full of knives, rope and some duct tape. Thekidnapper smirks to himself.

    51.

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    Without waiting for an invitation, Kevin sneaks up on Meganand gently inserts the needle of a syringe into her neck asSarah is holding her. It all happens so fast that the littlegirl doesnt even understand whats going on. She leans herhead on Sarahs shoulder and closes her eyes.

    SARAH (CONTD)This was all just a bad dream. Andwhen you wake up, you wont evenremember it.

    INT. CAR75

    Kevin, Sarah and X-23 are riding inside the car on their wayback to the facility, with Kevin in the drivers seat, Sarahin the passengers and X-23 in the backseat. Everyonessilent, mostly because nobody knows what to say. After a fewseconds, Sarah turns to her daughter.

    SARAHHey... Im not sure exactly how tosay this, but... This wasnt areal, scheduled mission, like allthe others.

    X-23 says nothing, but her eyes indicate she was alreadyaware of that fact.

    SARAH (CONTD)And since we didnt get permission,you might get in trouble when we

    get back.

    Again - the same reaction.

    SARAH (CONTD)You didnt have to do it, you know.There was nothing in for you, andyet you still did it. You stillhelped someone who really neededit. So, I suppose all Im trying tosay is... Thank you.

    A few seconds of silence.

    X-23Youre welcome.

    Sarah gasps a little. Thats the first time X-23 has everspoken to her. Shes unable to hide her happiness, so all shedoes is nod to her a little before facing forward once again.The woman turns towards Kevin and smiles widely. Fullyunderstanding what has happened, he smiles back.

    53.

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    INT. MARTINS OFFICE76

    Zander and Sarah are standing in the middle of Martinsoffice. Martin himself is sitting behind his desk, while X-23is standing by the door. The blond scientist is absolutelyfurious.

    ZANDERThis is a multi-billion dollarbusiness, not a summer camp! Wedont do field trips!!!

    SARAHWhat do you care? You left her todie, remember?

    MARTINEnough! Both of you!

    ZANDERMartin, I--

    MARTINI said enough!

    Zander prepares to object once again, but doesnt. Instead,he simply exhales, then walks up to X-23 and squeezes herwrist tightly.

    ZANDERFine. Ill just take Sarahs littlepet back to its cage.

    MARTINThank you, Zander. Ill join youshortly.

    Zander and X-23 leave. Martin stands up and walks up toSarah.

    MARTIN (CONTD)Dr. Kinney... I havent seen mywife and my son for two days thanksto your little escapade. But moreimportantly, youve jeopardizedeverything weve worked decadesbuilding on some sort of personalcrusade. Do you have anything tosay for yourself... Sarah?

    SARAHWould it matter?

    54.

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    MARTINProbably not. We will discuss yourfuture here in the morning, but Imust tell you things do not lookgood.

    Martin leaves.

    INT. ZANDERS CAR77

    Zander is giving Martin a ride home in his car. The bald manis rubbing his forehead, with his eyes closed. Zander turnsto him.

    ZANDERAre you okay?

    MARTIN

    I will be once I see my family...And sleep for a few hours.

    The two keep quiet for a short while.

    ZANDERMartin, Im worried about you.Youre overworked and overburdened.

    MARTINI appreciate that, but--

    ZANDER

    I drew this up for you.

    Zander reaches inside his coat pocket and hands Martin over apen and a folded document.

    MARTINWhat is it?

    ZANDERA document assigning yourresponsibilities to me.

    Martin is a little surprised by this. He takes the documentfrom Dr. Rices hands and starts reading through it.

    MARTINZander, I...

    ZANDERPlease, Martin, let me take it therest of the way.

    55.

    (MORE)

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    I already lost one father to theprogram. I dont want to loseanother.

    Martin smiles kindly. He takes the pen and quickly signs thedocument.

    MARTINYou know... I used to wonder if Idid the wrong thing by involvingyou in all this. But I cantimagine getting through it withoutyou.

    The car pulls over, and the two men exit. Martin folds thedocument and hands it back to Zander.

    MARTIN (CONTD)The project is yours.

    Zander takes the piece of paper with a confident smile, thengives Martin a hug.

    ZANDERThank you, Martin.

    After a second, Zander lets go, then starts walking towardshis car.

    ZANDER (CONTD)You wont regret this.

    MARTINGood night, son.

    Zander goes inside his car and drives off as Martin iswatching him.

    INT. X-23S CELL78

    X-23 is sitting on the floor of her cell. The door opens,revealing Zander. He throws an envelope on the floor in frontof her - the same kind used for missions. The girl quicklyrips it open and takes out some blueprints, as well as aphoto. X-23 lifts it up and examines it carefully. It showsMartin and his family.

    ZANDERMake it look like an accident. Afire. You have 22 minutes.

    56.

    ZANDER (CONT'D)

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    INT. MARTINS HOME (FIRST FLOOR)79

    Martin, dressed in casual clothes, is sitting on a couch andreading a book. His wife is sitting right next to him,watching TV. Their home is quite luxurious, and its obviousthat a good chunk of the money X-23 earned through her

    assassinations went directly into the directors pocket. Theonly audible noise is coming from the television set.Suddenly, a loud shattering sound echoes throughout the room.The camera shows us that X-23 has jumped through a window.Without skipping a beat, she lunges at Martin and sinks herclaws into his chest before he even has time to react. Hiswife shrieks in terror and stands up. X-23 looks at her.After making sure Martin is dead, she pulls her claws out andwalks towards her. The woman stumbles back and falls on thefloor.

    WIFEPlease, dont... I have a son!

    Without hesitation, X-23 uses the claw on her foot to slashher throat from side to side. She crouches down to confirmthe death, then stands up and heads towards the stairs.

    INT. MARTINS HOME (SECOND FLOOR)80

    The camera shoots from the perspective of someone hidinginside the closet and looking through the tiny holes in itsdoor. We see X-23 slowly climbing up the stairs whilescanning her surroundings, with blood dripping from herclaws. The girl heads towards the closet and opens its door,

    revealing a little boy, no more than 4-5 years old, dressedin his pajamas and squeezing a Spider-Man doll tightly. Theboy is trembling from fear, with tears rolling down his eyes.X-23 places her claws right next to his throat, wonderingwhat to do. The little boy cries out from fear. X-23 keepsstaring at him. She doesnt really want to kill him, but atthe same time, she knows she cant stray from her mission. Orcan she? Slowly, the girl removes her claws from his throat.The little boy stops sobbing for a bit, hopeful that he mightbe allowed to live. But this hope is quickly extinguished asX-23 brings her claws up and strikes down. We see the head ofthe Spider-Man doll roll out and fall down on the floor.

    INT. MARTINS HOME (FIRST FLOOR)81

    We cut to a shot of X-23 pouring gasoline all over the firstfloor of Martins home, especially concentrating on thebodies of Martin and his wife. After she empties thecanister, she throws it away and picks up a box of matcheslying nearby.

    57.

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    The girl takes them and lights a match, then uses it to setfire to the entire box before throwing it on the floor. Theflame quickly follows the gasoline trail and, before long,the entire house is in flames. X-23 heads for the door as sheprepares to leave. On her way out, her gaze is caught by aframed photograph of Martin and his family - the same one

    that Zander has shown her. She keeps staring at it as theflames grow hotter and hotter.

    INT. X-23S CELL82

    X-23 is back in her regular clothes as Zander is dragging herback into her cell.

    ZANDERLook at me, you little beast!

    She turns her eyes towards him.

    ZANDER (CONTD)You will say nothing to anyoneabout tonights mission! Nothing!Do you understand me?

    X-23 says nothing. Instead, she merely sits down on the smallbench.

    ZANDER (CONTD)Good.

    Without saying another word, Zander leaves the room and

    closes the door behind him. X-23 keeps still for a fewseconds, then extends one claw on her right hand.

    INT. SARAHS BEDROOM83

    Sarah is lying in her bed, dressed only in her underwear.Shes rolling around, unable to sleep. Finally, she decidesto stop trying. The woman stands up and takes the blue gownhanging on the hanger, then quickly puts it on.

    INT. OBSERVATION ROOM84

    Sarah steps into the observation room and approaches thewindow overlooking X-23s cell. She sees her daughter sittingon the bench, with one of her claws out. Slowly, she bringsthe claw to her left forearm and begins cutting herself.Sarah gasps.

    SARAHNo...

    58.

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    She turns around and heads outside.

    INT. X-23S CELL85

    Sarah enters the cell and walks towards X-23. The little girl

    turns her eyes towards her mother, but shows no sign thatshes startled by being caught in the act. The woman sitsbesides her on the bench.

    SARAHWhy are you doing this?!?

    She takes X-23s hand and looks at her forearm, where four X-shaped cuts have already been made. They appear to be prettydeep, as they still havent healed.

    SARAH (CONTD)Please... Just tell me why...

    Sarah is holding the little girls hand gently.

    SARAH (CONTD)I cant help you if you dont talkto me.

    The door opens again.

    KEVINSarah!!!

    Sarah turns her head - Kevin has entered the room, out of

    breath.

    SARAHKevin? Whats wrong?

    KEVINIts Martin. Hes dead.

    SARAHWhat?!? How?

    KEVINA fire. Burned his house to theground. His wife didnt make it.

    SARAHWhat about his son?

    KEVINThey found him in the woods behindtheir house. Hes in shock, buthes okay.

    59.

    (MORE)

  • 8/13/2019 X-Men Origins X-23

    61/75

    Theyre sending a team to clean upthe site. Im going to see what Ican find out.

    Sarah stands up.

    SARAHOkay, Ill be right there...

    Suddenly, X-23 takes a hold of her hand and pulls gently.

    SARAH (CONTD)Eh? What is it?

    The little girl opens her mouth. Inside is a crumpled pieceof paper. Filled with curiosity, Sarah reaches in and pullsit out, then unfolds it. Her eyes open wide from shock onceshe sees what it is - the picture of Martin and his family.It doesnt take long for Sarah to realize exactly what has

    happened.

    SARAH (CONTD)That fucking monster...

    She turns to X-23.

    SARAH (CONTD)Rice used you, didnt he? We... Weboth used you. Were bothmonsters...

    Sarah closes her eyes and sighs, then turns towards X-23,

    looking more determined than ever.

    SARAH (CONTD)Im getting you out of here.

    X-23A mission?

    Sarah is barely keeping her tears in.

    SARAHThats right. A mission.

    INT. MARTINS OFFICE86

    The door to Martins office slowly opens, revealing Sarah.Shes dressed in casual clothes.

    SARAHIm sorry for your loss, Zander. Iknow how close you and Martin were.

    60.

    KEVIN (CONT'D)

  • 8/13/2019 X-Men Origins X-23

    62/75

    The look in her eyes indicates that she doesnt really meanwhat shes saying. The camera turns around to reveal Zandersitting on Martins chair. Hes leaning back, with his feetup on the desk and a badly concealed grin of satisfaction onhis face.

    ZANDERAh, yes. What a terrible tragedy.But life goes on.

    Zander places his feet down on the floor and stands up.

    ZANDER (CONTD)Walk with me, Sarah.

    INT. FACILITY HALLWAY87

    Zander and Sarah are walking side by side through one of the

    many hallways inside the facility.

    ZANDERIts no secret that I didnt wantyou involved in the project. Youand I have never seen things thesame way...

    SARAHRice...

    ZANDERIve never agreed with Martins

    decision to let the specimen bondwith a mother figure. But thatwasnt my call to make. Not then.

    SARAHWhat are you saying?

    The two reach a pair of sealed, metal doors. Zander inputs acombination into the keypad to the right, which causes themto slowly open. Sarah gasps once she sees whats inside.

    ZANDERI wont be repeating Martinsmistakes with Phase Two.

    INT. EMBRYO ROOM88

    Inside the dark, circular room, dozens of small pods areattached on the walls, each one containing an embryo thatsno more than a few months old.

    61.

  • 8/13/2019 X-Men Origins X-23

    63/75

    The room has a very scientific feel to it, and yet is stillterrifying, almost like the lab of a mad scientist from ahorror movie.

    SARAHNo...

    ZANDERYou didnt really think wed stopat one, did you?

    SARAHYou cant do this!

    ZANDERThis is business, Sarah. Notscience. You never understood that.

    Sarah is just sitting there, dumbstruck. Zander turns towards

    her.

    ZANDER (CONTD)You know... There were times when Ithought I could just kill you. Butcontrary to what you may think...

    He gently touches her hair.

    ZANDER (CONTD)Im not a bad guy. In fact, I thinkwere a lot alike.

    Sarah slaps his hand away.

    SARAHScrew you!

    Dr. Rice laughs out loud.

    ZANDERYou see? Thats what Im talkingabout! But its too late for that.Pack your bags, Kinney. Youre out.Tonight. Go see your pet one lasttime. X-24 through 50 wont beneeding you.

    Sarah squints her eyes, then turns around and starts walkingtowards the exit.

    ZANDER (CONTD)Oh, and Sarah...

    She glances back at him.

    62.

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  • 8/13/2019 X-Men Origins X-23

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    INT. ZANDERS OFFICE95

    Zander walks into his office, which has become quite a lotfancier since we last saw it 12 years ago.

    ZANDER

    Yes! Thats why theyre numbered!You can have as many as you want!Strike that, as many as you canafford.

    Suddenly, a soldier bursts through the door.

    SOLDIERSir!

    ZANDERWhat?

    SOLDIERIts X-23. Shes escaped.

    Zanders eyes open wide.

    ZANDERIll call you back.

    INT. EMBRYO ROOM96

    We see a SCIENTIST overlooking the embryos and taking notesabout their development.

    SCIENTISTSpecimen X-47, generational weeksixteen... 203 grams.

    He moves closer to one of the embryo tanks.

    SCIENTIST (CONTD)13 centimeters... Aww, it mov--

    Suddenly, the edges of two claws show up sticking out fromhis forehead, indicating that X-23 has impaled him frombehind. The camera pans out to reveal the girl, who quicklyretracts her claws, letting the scientist fall down. Sheplaces the backpack on the floor and quickly starts takingsomething out of it - plastic explosive. Carefully, she putssome on each and every single embryo tank, then connects themall with wires. Finally, she sets up her digital timer toserve as a detonator. Its screen shows that there are 15minutes remaining. Thats when the door is breached, and atleast seven soldiers walk in, all aiming their guns at her.

    66.

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    SOLDIERDont move, X-23! Dont evenbreathe, or I swear--

    Without saying a word, X-23 extends her claws and lunges atthe soldiers. Some of them open fire, but the bullets dont

    even touch her. The little girl starts killing them all, oneby one, using every claw she has. The soldiers are panicking,some of them try to flee, but its useless. In just a fewshort seconds, the room becomes a bloody mess.

    INT. MORRIS BEDROOM97

    Zander and one of his soldiers quickly open the door to abedroom.

    ZANDERMorris! Have you seen X-23?!?

    The next shot reveals an old man lying on his back in thebed, with a bloody wound in his chest, right where his heartis.

    ZANDER (CONTD)Guess thats a yes...

    SOLDIERW-why would she do this?!?

    ZANDERGet to the embryo chamber! Quickly!

    Zander turns around and walks out, followed by the soldier.

    INT. EMBRYO ROOM98

    The soldier enters the embryo room by himself. There is nosign of Zander anywhere. As soon as he sees the massacre,with X-23 standing right in the middle of the pile of bodies,he gasps and his eyes widen.

    SOLDIEROh, my God!

    X-23 looks up at him and squints her eyes.

    EXT. BORDER99

    We cut to a snowy field, with a forest in the back. Theres asmall security booth which acts as the border between thefacility and the outside world.

    67.

  • 8/13/2019 X-Men Origins X-23

    69/75

    The security guard there is dead, lying on the ground justoutside the booth, with the snow around him turned red. Wesee that Sarah is standing right next to him, with a smokinggun in her hands. She puts the gun down, then looks at thetimer mounted on her own wrist, which shows that only sevenmore minutes remain until the rendezvous.

    SARAHCome on... Come on...

    INT. ZANDERS OFFICE100

    X-23 kicks the door open and enters Zanders office for afinal confrontation. The room is empty and completely dark,indicating that theres nobody there. The girl slowly stepsforward while looking all over. She has prepared her claws,ready to strike the moment she sees him. X-23 sniffs up inthe air a few times to catch his scent. Her eyes open wide.

    She turns back, but its too late. Zander, who has beenhiding behind the door the entire time, shoots her down. X-23falls on the floor as blood starts pooling around her.

    ZANDERYou stupid animal!

    He walks forward, with a confident smirk on his face, andplaces the gun straight at her forehead.

    ZANDER (CONTD)Didnt we teach you better thanthat?

    X-23Yes.

    Without skipping a beat, X-23 brings her leg up and extendsher foot claw, then swings her foot at the gun, cutting it inhalf alongside Zanders trigger finger. The man howls out inpain and drops the remains of his pistol, then grabs a holdof his bleeding hand.

    ZANDERAhh... Ill kill you... Ill killyou...

    X-23 approaches him, with her claws prepared to strike. Herhands are trembling slightly from the anticipation. Shesbeen looking forward to this for a long, long time. Suddenly,the girl retracts her claws.

    ZANDER (CONTD)Ill kill--

    68.

  • 8/13/2019 X-Men Origins X-23

    70/75

    Without a warning, X-23 punches Zander straight in the face,breaking his nose and sending him back. Then, she swings andhits him again, this time in the stomach. And then she doesit again. And again. The little girl vents out all her built-up rage on him, hitting him over and over. His face and bodystart bleeding, but she doesnt stop. X-23 has gritted her

    teeth, and her face is only comparable to the one she makeswhile being affected by the trigger scent. Finally, Zanderfalls down on the floor, his once handsome face now a broken,swollen mess. The girl places her foot on his throat,preparing to finish him off. He chokes up, but is too weak todo anything about it.

    EXT. BORDER101

    Sarah looks at her digital timer - only three minutes remainuntil the deadline.

    SARAHCome on... Come on... Where areyou?

    INT. ZANDERS OFFICE102

    We cut to X-23, who has started kicking Zander in the stomachand chest violently. A few loud cracks indicate that she hasbroken his ribs. The little girls clothes are stained byZanders blood, as is the floor around them. She continueskicking him for a few seconds, then pushes him with her footso that he turns around and lays on his back. The faint

    noises hes making indicate that hes still alive. X-23reaches underneath her shirt and pulls something out - DaleRices old dog-tags. She takes them off her neck and throwsthem at Zander, then turns around and leaves the room.

    INT. EMBRYO ROOM103

    We get a close-up of the digital timer inside the embryoroom, which shows that there are only 30 seconds left untildetonation.

    INT. MAIN GATE104

    The facility is now completely empty, as everyone in it safefor Zander and X-23 is either evacuated or dead. The littlegirl is walking calmly towards the main gate, which has beenleft wide open by the escaping soldiers.

    69.

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    71/75

    EXT. MAIN GATE105

    X-23 makes her way out just in time. The entire facilityblows up behind her, as a result of a chain reactiontriggered by the plastic explosive placed in the embryo room.The little girl takes one last look at the place that

    destroyed her life, then starts running forward towards theforest in front of her.

    EXT. BORDER106

    Sarah looks at the smoke coming out from the woods, withconcern in her eyes. She glances at the digital watch, wherethe time has already elapsed.

    SARAHNo...

    She looks back up towards the forest, not sure about whetherher daughter is alive or dead.

    EXT. FOREST107

    X-23 is running through the dense forest. The thick snow onthe ground is making it difficult to move, but regardless,her pace is good. There is no sign of Sarah or the border atall - the only thing X-23 sees in the vicinity are trees.Suddenly, a large arrow comes out of nowhere and pins thegirl to a tree through the stomach. She gasps from surpriseand pain, then looks towards the direction it came from.

    Kimura shows up from behind a tree, with a crossbow in herhands.

    KIMURAAww, were you seriously going toleave without saying goodbye? Howrude of you!

    X-23 is shocked. The worst possible scenario has just cometrue. She knows theres no way to harm Kimura, but unless shedoes something, shes going to kill Sarah. With despair inher eyes, X-23 begins trying to pull the arrow away, butanother one lands in her right shoulder, making her armuseless. The girl bites her tongue to stop herself fromscreaming.

    KIMURA (CONTD)Chatty as ever, I see. Well, it wasa nice try, X, but Im taking youback in. Who knows, they might evenbuild you a fancier cell in the newplace!

    70.

  • 8/13/2019 X-Men Origins X-23

    72/75

    X-23 looks Kimura over. Her eyes focus on the gun holsteredon the womans hip. The little girl looks at the arrowssticking out of her while Kimura loads another one into thecrossbow. X-23 comes up with a plan, then closes her eyes,knowing full well that its going to hurt a lot. Scr