JET SET RADIO "Urban Legend"
(#10)
Final Draft
March 7, 2012
COPYRIGHT 2012 SEGA
FADE IN:
INT. SEWER-UNKNOWN TIME
CORN
Hey, Beat! Are you okay?
BEAT
Yeah, I'm a little bruised, but I'm okay.
RHYTH
It looks at least a few meters deep. How will we get him out?
GARAM
(OFF-SCREEN)
I can help with that-
ENTER GARAM. He is standing on the edge on the other side of the pit.
GARAM
-for a price of 3,000 yen.
CORN
You're not in a position to bargain; we outnumber you nine to one!
GARAM
Yeah, but I'm way over here.
RHYTH
He's got a point. We could return to The Garage and get the money.
CORN
It'll take too long to go back to Shibuya-cho then come here again. Besides, we're completely lost!
GARAM
Shibuya-cho? That's a long way away. Tell you what; I'll let him out if you do me a favor.
CORN
What kind of favor?
MONTAGE: NINE LIVES' DISAPPEARANCE
NINE LIVES, a gang of Rudies dressed in cat-like attire (cat ears and tails, and claws attached to their roller skates and gloves), quickly skate into the sewers.
GARAM (VOICEOVER)
Months ago, I saw a few Nine Lives members-you remember them, right? Those guys who wore the cat outfits?-headin' through here in a hurry towards Kibogaoka Hill. They seemed real panicked, and I wondered what was up, only to learn a few days later they got driven out by the Rokkaku Police.
CUT TO:
EXT. KIBOGAOKA HILL-EVENING
NINE LIVES exit from the sewers and skate through Kibogaoka Hill, keeping up the same pace, though we can see they're definitely running out of energy.
GARAM (VOICEOVER)
A friend of mine was in the gang, so I wonder what's happened to him since.
SODA
Why haven't you looked yourself?
GARAM
I have everything I need in here, and the Rokkaku Police never enter the sewer. Why should I leave?
BEAT
'Cause you're a coward?
GUM
Beat, shut up! We're tryin' to get info from him!
CORN
(to GARAM)
That's a fair deal.
GARAM throws two metal beams into the pit so BEAT can grind up and THE GGS can get across.
JAZZ
I was always curious about what happened to Nine Lives. They were a pretty big gang, and then they just…vanished.
SODA
I guess we get to find out now.
CUT TO:
INT. SEWER-UNKNOWN TIME
THE GGS and GARAM are skating through the SEWER.
CORN
Garam, it's a good thing we have you as a guide. I thought about goin' to look for Nine Lives at one point, but I never had the time to organize a patrol. Besides, it's so easy to get lost in the sewers.
GARAM
You won't like Kibogaoka Hill, then. Seriously, that place is a maze. It makes Rokkaku-dai Heights look like an avenue.
COMBO
Well, anywhere's better than the sewer. It reeks in here! Hold on, what's that noise?
YOYO
I think it's just a rat, yo.
RHYTH
No, I hear it, too. It sounds like roller skates…
GARAM
Poison Jam! Everyone, find a place to hide!
THE GGS-and GARAM- frantically scurry about, searching for hiding spots.
Enter POISON JAM, CUBE included. They don't see THE GGS or GARAM.
CUBE makes a motion to silence the other POISON JAM MEMBERS and approaches the pipe where some of THE GGS are hiding.
CUBE
What are you doing here? Come out, all of you!
THE GGS and GARAM emerge from their various hiding spots.
CUBE
Why are there so many of you here?
POISON JAM 1
It must be an invasion! It looks like the whole gang is here!
POISON JAM 2
Should I go get reinforcements?
CORN
Please hear us out. We've come a long way.
POISON JAM 1
Cube, let's get rid of 'em, now!
CUBE
I don't want a fight…yet. Why are you here?
CORN
We fled from the Rokkaku Police, ended up in the sewer, met Garam-
CORN gestures to GARAM.
CORN (CONT.)
-and we were gonna look for Nine Lives.
CUBE
(thoughtfully)
Hmm…I'm interested in finding them, too.
POISON JAM 3
Don't drag Poison Jam into this!
CUBE
Last time I checked, I led Poison Jam.
(to CORN)
I'll come with you. I'd like to find out what happened.
POISON JAM 2
What?
CUBE
(to the POISON JAM MEMBERS)
Tell the others I'll be back by tomorrow.
CUBE skates OFF-SCREEN with the GGS and GARAM.
The POISON JAM MEMBERS scowl after her.
POISON JAM 1
Good riddance.
CUT TO:
EXT. KIBOGAOKA HILL-EVENING
YOYO
So where is this place, yo?
COMBO
If we knew, we'd already be there.
CORN
Garam, d'you know any more about what happened to Nine Lives?
GARAM
Nope, sorry.
RHYTH
There must be some Rudies around here. I see graffiti!
GUM
You do? Where?
RHYTH
Over there!
RHYTH points to the wall of a building, where we can see faint, but still present, graffiti.
The GGS, GARAM and CUBE skate over to it.
JAZZ
I've never seen graffiti like this before. I wonder if Nine Lives left it?
SODA
It looks like this place wasn't tagged recently.
CUBE
Let me look at it.
CUBE approaches it.
CUBE (CONT.)
Yeah, this is definitely from Nine Lives-whoa!
CUBE falls down a narrow, but deep hole. After a couple seconds, there's an OFF-SCREEN THUD.
CORN
(calling down the hole)
Cube, are you okay?
CUBE
(OFF-SCREEN)
Yeah, I'm fine. A little stunned, but fine.
We hear CUBE try to stand up-and fall down again.
CUBE
Ow!
CORN
What's wrong?
CORN, the OTHER GGS and GARAM grind down on a rail into the hole.
INT. KIBOGAOKA HILL HOLE-EVENING
CUBE
I think I sprained my ankle, that's all.
CORN reaches into his backpack and pulls out a long strip of cloth.
CORN
We can use this as a brace. Hold still.
CORN ties the brace, and helps CUBE up.
CORN
Try not to skate too much on that foot.
CUBE
Well, of course.
CORN
It's easier to forget than you think. It's too bad we don't have any ice around. That would help a lot, too.
CUBE
Thanks. I owe you one.
The OTHER GGS and GARAM look around at their surroundings. There are many other tunnels that branch off from the chamber they're in.
CORN and CUBE exchange glances.
CORN
You already did.
The hole suddenly grows darker, though we can still see the characters somewhat, and there's a CLACK OFF-SCREEN.
RHYTH
What was that?
GUM
It looks like we're trapped down here. Someone covered the hole!
COMBO
I had a feeling this kinda thing would happen!
BEAT uses the light from his radio watch to illuminate the room. It brightens the surroundings a little bit.
BEAT
You guys chill here. I'm checkin' ahead.
Before anyone can say anything, BEAT disappears down a tunnel, heading OFF-SCREEN.
CORN
Beat, wait a minute!
GARAM
I'll go after him.
GARAM skates farther down the tunnel, and stops where it splits into two tunnels. He takes the left tunnel, and nearly falls down another hole that's much wider than the hole earlier.
GARAM
Whoa!
GARAM skates back to where the other GGS are.
GARAM
The tunnel I tried was a dead end. When you reach the split tunnel, go right.
SODA
We'll keep that in mind as we go.
JAZZ
We should all stick together.
OFF-SCREEN, farther down the tunnel, we hear a loud CRASH. THE GGS, GARAM and CUBE hurry down the right tunnel to see what happened.
BEAT
The tunnel's blocked! A huge pile of garbage fell outta nowhere and blocked it!
The tunnel is blocked, so much so that nothing can be seen through or around it. There isn't any clear way to get around it.
SODA
This must be a trap. We should be on guard.
CUBE
Agreed.
GARAM
(in a whisper)
Hold on.
GARAM motions for THE OTHERS to be quiet, and sneaks into the rubbish pile as quietly as he can. Moments later, there's a SQUEAK of surprise, followed by the sounds of a struggle as GARAM comes out with a pink-haired GIRL. She's dressed in a red, white and orange mini-dress with a pink and orange tail attached, with matching ears and claws on the fingertips of her gloves and the toes of her skates.
GARAM
And here's our attacker.
YOYO
Weird outfit, yo.
GIRL
Right back at ya.
CORN
Are you a member of Nine Lives?
GIRL
Yeah. Why do you wanna know?
COMBO
Why'd you trap us in here?
GIRL
Why are you askin' me this? You're the ones who invaded my turf!
BEAT
(incredulously)
Your turf? All of this?
GIRL
Duh! Say, you're cute!
GARAM
Is the rest of your gang here?
GIRL
Yeah, they're a few paths down from here…oops. I shouldn't have said that!
CORN
Can we talk with your leader? This is important.
GIRL
(pauses to think)
You guys seem to be all right. 'Sides, we haven't talked with any Rudies outside of the gang in a looong time! Follow me!
The GIRL clears a path through the garbage, then turns back to look at THE GGS.
GIRL
By the way, you can call me Salsa!
CUT TO:
INT. NINE LIVES BASE-EVENING
The NINE LIVES BASE is a medium-sized room deep in the depths of Kibogaoka Hill that can only be accessed through the tunnels. Other tunnels go out of the room, leading to the gang's living quarters. This part is set up like a meeting room, where the few remaining NINE LIVES MEMBERS are sitting around a platform in the center of the room like a table.
SALSA
(gesturing to the other members)
These guys are the other members of Nine Lives!
One of the other NINE LIVES MEMBERS stands up.
TIGER
(somewhat warily)
I'm Tiger, the leader of Nine Lives. What brings you down here?
CORN
We heard rumors that Nine Lives came here, and we came to see if that was true.
TIGER
So people know we're here? That's not good. Rokkaku's been lookin' for us for a while now.
CORN
I don't know if anyone else knows you're here or not.
GUM
We didn't know what to expect with you.
CORN
We just found this out from Garam.
NINE LIVES MEMBER 1
Garam?
He stands up and sees GARAM is among THE GGS and CUBE.
GARAM
Hey, long time, no see!
BOTH high-five, and begin a conversation in the background.
CORN
We're the GGs, and Cube leads Poison Jam.
GUM
And Corn leads us.
JAZZ
What happened to you guys?
MONTAGE: NINE LIVES' ESCAPE
TIGER (VOICEOVER)
We used to occupy part of Rokkaku-dai Heights until Rokkaku drove us out and destroyed our graffiti. After we were driven from Rokkaku-dai Heights, we fled to here. The Rokkaku Police probably guessed we would head here-as you've seen, it's a great place to hide-and they ambushed us again as soon as we left the sewer. The few of us who were left hid, but the Rokkaku Police have been bringin' in helicopters to look for us.
CUBE (VOICEOVER)
They drove you out already; why are so interested in capturing you?
TIGER (VOICEOVER)
There's a lot more to the story than that. The Rokkaku Police want to capture us for a specific reason besides gettin' rid of our gang. On one of our missions into the Fortified Residential Zone, we managed to steal somethin' important: the Mystery Tapes.
RHYTH (VOICEOVER)
Wow…what do those do?
TIGER (VOICEOVER)
The Mystery Tapes are, well, a mystery. We're not really sure what they do or who made 'em, but they must be important. We found 'em under high-security in the Fortified Residential Zone. We barely got out with our lives!
SALSA (VOICEOVER)
Also, we don't have any way of playing 'em. None of us own a…what d'you play these things in, anyways?
COMBO examines the MYSTERY TAPES.
COMBO
I think these are cassettes. They must be real old, then. My boom box has a slot for them, though.
COMBO sets his boom box down on the table. ZOOM IN on his boom box. We see in detail that it's covered in loads of complicated, intricate-looking buttons.
COMBO (CONT.)
Let's see what they have to say.
COMBO inserts one of the tapes into one of the many slots on his boom box.
MYSTERY TAPES
Watch for dangers from above, allies from below, and defeat from the front.
All will appear when you least expect it.
YOYO
Wha…? These tapes must be broken, yo.
COMBO
Maybe. This is a load of gibberish, but the tapes themselves looked fine to me.
CUBE
(to TIGER)
You should help us fight Rokkaku.
TIGER
Yeah, I'll see what we can do. We're such a small gang now; we're barely hangin' on. I'd love to reclaim Rokkaku-dai Heights, though.
ZOOM IN on TIGER'S face as he pauses to think. Soon after, an excited look flashes across his face; he clearly has an idea.
TIGER (CONT.)
(to CORN)
Why don't you and your gang hold on to the Mystery Tapes? I think they'd be of more use to you guys than us.
CORN
Really?
TIGER hands CORN the Mystery Tapes, and CORN puts them into his backpack.
CORN
Thanks! These should come in handy. Good thing Combo's boom box has a cassette slot...as well as a slot for everything else.
CUBE
Well, now that we know Nine Lives is still around…sort of...I can head back to the sewers. Hopefully nothing bad happened while I was gone.
CORN
That's a good point. It was nice talkin' to you, but we got to head back to Shibuya-cho.
YOYO
(to RHYTH)
I bet Pots is really hungry, yo. We've all been gone from The Garage so long…
RHYTH
It would be nice to go back; there's something I don't like about this place…but I have no clue what.
CORN
Cube, are you feelin' better?
CUBE
Yeah. My ankle feels fine.
CUBE stands up as CORN watches. She skates off after the OTHER GGS and GARAM.
CUBE (OFF-SCREEN)
Ow!
We hear CUBE fall to the ground OFF-SCREEN.
CORN
(to CUBE)
Maybe you should take it easy.
CUT TO:
EXT. KIBOGAOKA HILL-EVENING
JAZZ
(to SALSA)
Good thing we have you as a guide, or we'd be totally lost!
GUM
How do you get around this place? Everything looks the same, and it's so…cluttered.
SALSA
You get used to it. It took us a while to get used to this place. Though, it's not too different from Rokkaku-dai Heights. At least that's what I try to think.
A faint HUMMING can be heard in the background.
SODA
What's that noise?
SALSA
What noise?
COMBO
Look up there!
THE GGS, SALSA and GARAM all look up.
Three Rokkaku HELICOPTERS are flying overheard. The HUMMING becomes louder as they approach.
BEAT
How'd they find us here?
CORN
Nine Lives escaped here a while ago. When our whole gang escaped the Fortified Residential Zone with Yoyo, Rokkaku must've assumed we came here.
GUM
That actually makes a lot of sense. There's loads of places to hide.
The HELICOPTERS start to fire at the GROUP, narrowly missing them.
SALSA
Hurry! This way!
SALSA skates behind a small building as the OTHERS follow her.
SALSA
(to CORN)
This is your fault! If you and your gang hadn't come here, you wouldn't have led the Rokkaku Police to us!
CORN
How this is my fault? I thought we lost them!
Enter TIGER and the other NINE LIVES MEMBERS.
TIGER
Cut it out! This isn't the time to argue!
EVERYONE turns to look at him.
TIGER (CONT.)
We're gonna need to work together to take down those helicopters. That's why we came up to help you.
RHYTH
Do you have any ideas?
TIGER (CONT.)
We set up a few traps a while ago, knowing that this kinda thing would probably happen. One's close by.
GUM
So you have a plan?
TIGER
Kinda. You guys lure the helicopters over there-
TIGER points to a group of dumpsters further up the hill.
TIGER
And we'll take care of the rest. C'mon!
TIGER and the other NINE LIVES MEMBERS skate OFF-SCREEN.
CUBE
Okay then, what do we do?
CORN peeks around the edge of the building, then recoils as bullets hit the side of it.
CORN
Nine Lives made it. Let's lure the helicopters over to them!
CORN and the OTHERS skate out from behind the building and split up.
CUT TO:
EXT. KIBOGAOKA HILL-EVENING
TIGER peers out from behind the dumpsters.
TIGER
Here come the GGs! Ready with your ropes?
The other NINE LIVES MEMBERS each pick up a rope.
TIGER
Good. Now on my signal. One…two…
The HELICOPTERS come into range.
TIGER
Three!
The NINE LIVES MEMBERS pull their ropes. Each dumpster spills, emptying a huge amount of debris and garbage onto the helicopters. This forms a huge cloud of dust that makes it hard to see what's going on.
SALSA
I think we got 'em!
TIGER goes down to examine the effects of his trap.
TIGER
I can see the helicopters under there. They're totaled!
JAZZ
That worked really good!
TIGER
I know, right? I didn't think this trap could take down two helicopters!
BEAT
Two?
TIGER
Yeah, it got both of them. I'm surprised, too.
BEAT
But weren't there three helicopters?
CORN and TIGER exchange a look.
CUT TO:
INT. ROKKAKU HELICOPTER-EVENING
We see a couple PILOTS gathered at the front of the HELICOPTER. We can hear them arguing indistinctly in the background. Further back in the ship, CUBE, SODA, GUM, YOYO and COMBO are each handcuffed to a pipe in the wall of the helicopter.
YOYO
(in a whisper)
Got any ideas, yo?
SODA
(in a whisper)
I can break through these cuffs, but we need a plan for what to do after that.
COMBO
(in a whisper)
Let's listen to the Mystery Tapes. I can see my boom box on that table over there.
SODA quietly breaks COMBO'S handcuffs.
As quickly and quietly as he can, COMBO grabs his boom box.
GUM
(in a whisper)
That's a good idea. If it has info on all things Rokkaku, it should help here.
COMBO turns down the volume on his boom box and plays it.
MYSTERY TAPES
Watch for dangers from above, allies from below, and defeat from the front.
All will appear when you least expect it.
CUBE
(in a whisper)
That's what it said earlier.
COMBO
(in a whisper)
Maybe this is what it's talkin' about.
YOYO
(in a whisper)
The helicopter?
COMBO
(in a whisper)
Yeah.
CUBE
(in a whisper)
And if you can defeat it from the front…
GUM
(in a whisper)
Looks like we just found out how to stop it.
SODA quietly snaps all of the handcuffs.
SODA
Let's go.
SODA and COMBO sneak up behind two of the PILOTS and knock them into the helicopter wall, knocking them out.
The third PILOT turns around, and GUM sprays him in the face with her spray can, stunning him. She then tags the window of the helicopter.
COMBO
So, does anyone here know how to pilot a helicopter?
Silence. Only the WHIRRING of the HELICOPTER'S blades can be heard.
COMBO (CONT.)
I thought so. Let's get outta here!
GUM opens up the door of the helicopter and jumps out onto a power line. COMBO and YOYO follow.
CUBE hesitates, waiting for a closer place to jump.
SODA
Come on!
SODA grabs CUBE'S hand and jumps onto the power line. CUBE winces slightly at the impact, but keeps quiet. BOTH grind along the power lines OFF-SCREEN.
CUT TO:
EXT. SEWER ENTRANCE-EVENING
CORN
Good to see everyone made it out okay. What happened?
GUM
We got cornered by that helicopter, and then we got captured.
BEAT
(OFF-SCREEN)
Hey, what's she doin' here?
GUM
Who?
BEAT comes ON-SCREEN.
BEAT
That Nine Lives girl, what's-her-name-
SALSA (OFF-SCREEN)
Me?
Enter SALSA.
CORN
Salsa? Where's the rest of your gang?
SALSA
I dunno. I was with 'em one moment, and then they disappeared. I saw you guys in the distance, and thought you were them.
CORN
Well, let's see if we can get you back.
GUM
Uh, Corn? That's not gonna happen.
CORN
Huh?
CORN looks up at the sky.
Another group of HELICOPTERS, even bigger than the last group, is arriving.
CORN
Scratch that.
SALSA
Well, what am I gonna do?
CORN
You can come with us for now. It's too dangerous to try and head back.
GARAM
I've decided to join up with you guys, too. This is the most fun I've had a long time!
CORN
Good to hear it. Welcome to the GGs.
CUBE
How long have we been gone? I hope nothing happened with Poison Jam while I was gone.
CORN
I'm sure nothin' bad happened.
CUBE
(uneasily)
Hmm.
THE GGS, SALSA and CUBE go into the sewer.
FADE OUT
THE END
If you want a true "Saturday Morning Cartoon" feel, "watch" the intro before each episode!
I didn't notice until I uploaded this episode here that I spelled "Kibogaoka Hill" wrong throughout the whole fanfic. I always thought it was spelled "Kibogoaka Hill" and pronounced "Kee-bow-go-auk-uh". I went back and fixed the mis-spelling in the DeviantART version, too.
The ending changed quite a bit from what I originally had planned. Though the events are the same, I thought many of the plot points felt forced and kind of cheesy at parts, so I had to do a lot of rewriting and rethinking to make everything work. I think it all works out really well, much better than I anticipated.
There were some other minor things that I changed and removed. For instance, I thought it would be funny if Nine Lives was sort of a Warriors parody/allusion (and they all wear cat outfits too), but I could never work it into the plot. It either came across as really forced, too vague, or felt out of place. Besides, Nine Lives doesn't really have too many major roles outside of this episode. Don't worry if you liked them; that doesn't mean they're gone for good. They WILL appear again.
Also, the Mystery Tapes originally gave rhyming-type riddles, but I changed this because they were so cheesy. Besides, I like the "Book of Elders"-style riddles much better; they fit the tone of this show much better.
Next Saturday Morning:
A mission at the Future Site of the Rokkaku Expo Stadium goes horribly wrong. One GG is lost. Another is found. Another is gone forever. Find out what happens in "Cornered!"