|
|
||
transcribed by Alan Back (ajback@yahoo.com) Note: This episode is set entirely to music; cues as to style and tempo are in bold. I have dispensed with my usual notation of characters being on or off camera. Act One (As the opening credits are displayed, a low synthesizer chord makes itself heard. It gradually ramps up in both pitch and volume, then cuts off abruptly when the opening shot comes up—the city skyline during the day. All is peaceful until Mojo Jojo floats into view away from the camera, hovering with the help of his jet pack and toting his favorite oversized blaster.) Straight-ahead guitar rock (fast 4) Mojo: The city of Townsville’s going down! (He fires and swoops down.) Tonight on my head will be a brand-new crown! (He passes Fuzzy Lumkins, in the street with his old shotgun, which he fires overhead.) Fuzzy: Townsville’s goin’ down! (He points it at a scared crowd.) I’m gonna turn your smiles right-side down! (“Him” materializes near a couple and their baby as the sky clouds up and goes red.) “Him”: (effeminate voice) And all the little babies (evil voice) Are going to cry! (It does so; normal light resumes as they push its stroller at full speed.) Baby: Mom and Dad, take me to a place where I can hide! Mom and Dad, take me to a place where I can hide! (Mojo drops into view to stop their escape and sings over two more repetitions, firing all the while. Buildings behind him are in flames.) Mojo: No way! No how! (They go back the way they came.) You can run, you can hide, but I will find you! (Now “Him” cuts off this retreat and sings over the baby’s next two repetitions.) “Him”: No way! (effeminate voice) No how! (As he continues, he raises one claw and lightning from high storm clouds strikes it; a glowing pink sphere of energy forms between the opening pincers.) I will take control and I will plow (raising ball) Down your city tonight… (He fires bursts from both claws and promptly blows away two cars parked on opposite sides of the street. They land as upside-down, smoking down wrecks near Princess Morebucks, who has landed a distance down the block; she is in her full faux-Powerpuff getup and is holding a stack of burning cash in each hand.) Princess: Townsville’s going down! (throwing it) The Powerpuff Girls are nowhere to be found! (Close-up of Bossman.) Bossman: Townsville’s goin’ down! (Pull back; the other Amoeba Boys are with him, and he throws down a sheet of paper.) Bossman: I’m gonna throw this paper on the ground! (Cut to Ace, who has seized the rear handles of a scared old fellow’s wheelchair, and pull back slowly.) Ace: And all of the little old people (shoving him downhill) Are gonna cry! Old man: Doctors, nurse, take me to a place where I can hide! Doctors, nurse, take me to a place where I can hide! (Princess pulls up in front of him, holding more flaming currency and backing up to keep pace, and sings over two more repetitions.) Princess: No way! No how! (She throws it in his face; it explodes.) You can run, you can hide, but I will find you! (Cut to Ace, now leaning against a lamppost.) Ace: No way! (The man hits the post hard.) No how! (stealing/throwing shoes) I will take your soles and I will plow (They soar over the fire.) Down your city tonight… (The brown leather footwear drops smoldering onto the centerline. Pull back to frame Mojo, Fuzzy, and “Him” standing over it.) Mojo, Fuzzy, “Him”: Townsville’s going downsvilles tonight, Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa! Ace, Bossman, Princess: Townsville’s going downsvilles tonight, Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa! All: Townsville’s going downsvilles tonight… Fuzzy: Oh, yeah! All villains: Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa! Tonight! (In this last shot, we see that the rest of the Amoeba Boys, the entire Gangrene Gang, and Sedusa have arrived on the scene—as has the terrified Talking Dog, who is balanced atop a wrecked car. The villains carry on like a group of heavy-metal fans at a concert as the camera tilts up to the sky, now bathed a lurid yellow in the glare of flames and fireworks from their spree of unchecked mayhem.) Minor piano chord, accompanied by the girls’ three-part harmony, then funky jam-rock (moderate 4) (Three tiny specks fade into view within the inferno and resolve into the girls, flying toward the camera. An instant later they have landed within the knot of evildoers and are trading hostile glares; the camera moves in a slow circle around them.) Blossom: Wanna get some? Buttercup: Wanna get some? Bubbles: Wanna get some? (The three-part harmony again; then they take off straight up.) Girls: Wanna get some? (They rise into the air and get down to it in a series of shots without any audio save the background music. Buttercup seizes Slim and uses him as a club against Bossman, Blossom deals a split kick to Snake and Grubber, and Buttercup nails Fuzzy with a flying uppercut. As he sails upward, she doubles back and plants one foot in his ample rear to send him even higher. Now Blossom kicks Little Arturo into Big Billy’s gut, driving both back, and Bubbles yanks on “Him”’s beard hard enough to tear it out by the roots. Sedusa get her chin caved in thanks to Buttercup’s kick; Ace finds himself on the receiving end of Blossom’s left hook; Bubbles lays a crushing headbutt on Princess’s cranium.) (Here comes the ponytailed leader, zeroing in on the one villain who has survived unscathed to this point—Mojo—and her right fist finds his jaw with pinpoint accuracy. Meanwhile, Bubbles lets her knee say hello to “Him”’s chin, and Buttercup’s karate chop slashes Junior in two. In a flash, though, Ace turns the tables on her with a jab that sends her flying, and Princess grabs Bubbles’ pigtails and pulls with all her strength. Close-up of Grubber, his tongue flapping in a silent, spit-soaked raspberry; pan to show a very disgusted Blossom taking the full brunt of it.) (Arturo uses Buttercup as a punching bag while Billy holds her immobile, Snake stretches out his arms to tangle up Bubbles, and Bossman bounces off Blossom, leaving her drenched in cytoplasm. Fuzzy’s contribution is to get Buttercup in a headlock and try to twist her head off her neck; now “Him” locks one claw onto the flying Blossom and yanks her out of the air for a hard throw across the street. Never one to miss out on a chance to torment her nemeses, Sedusa gets the blonde and brunette wrapped up in her own wildly overgrown hair and cracks them together after eyeing them for a moment. All three girls’ faces go slack as a huge shadow falls over them; an instant later, Billy drops into view and slams his massive rear end down on them.) (Cut to a close-up of Mojo, firing his blaster with malicious glee, and pull back to show Blossom taking it in the shorts. Princess gets her own beam trained on Buttercup, “Him” lets Bubbles have it with eye beams, and one by one the girls crash unconscious to the street. Dissolve to a long overhead shot of them and pull back into the sky. Needless to say, the block has seen far better days. Silence for a moment.) Melancholy piano/keyboard melody, minor key (slow 4) (The clouds open up, putting out the building fires with a driving rain, and the view dissolves to a close-up of the girls. They have come to, but are still flat on their backs.) Blossom: There’s just too many of them for me to fight. Buttercup: I don’t even think that I’ll be all right. Bubbles: Has this world learned nothing except for pain? Blossom: Will we always live in a storm of rain? Flute line, major key (They put their heads up, one by one, on the next line.) Girls: Rain, rain, Go away… (Close-up, panning slowly across; all six eyes are filling with tears.) Girls: Pain, pain, Go away… Light ballad (slow 4) (Cut to another slow pan, this time at the girls’ chest level as they join hands to form a circle.) Blossom: I wish of a day where there is peace on Earth. Buttercup: I wish of a day where there is love on Earth. Bubbles: I wish of a day where there is understanding. (Overhead view of the trio.) Oh… (All look up; pull back.) Girls: I wish. Melancholy flute/piano melody, gradually modulating to a happier tone (slow 4) (High above Townsville, flashes of lightning crackle here and there among the clouds, and one raindrop grows to unusually large size before breaking loose. Tilt down quickly to follow its descent, glimmering slightly along the way. It strikes the pavement at the center of the girls’ circle; cut to a close-up of the spot and zoom in. The crack in which it has landed remains quite unremarkable for some seconds, but this changes in a hurry when a shimmering rose begins to emerge from the asphalt. As the girls stare openmouthed, the flower reaches its maximum height—roughly their eye level. The storm has stopped by now.) (Cut to a close-up of the tight bundle of red, dew-flecked petals. They slowly unfurl into bloom, and a tiny figure straightens up from within them as he sings. Glittering red robe and pointed cap, cheerful fat face, brown hair and beard—he looks just like your basic lawn gnome, except for his pinpoint red eyes in their yellow-tinted whites. We shall call him Gnomey.) Bass/cymbal/guitar in; double-time Gnomey: I heard your wishes, little girls, So here I am. (Pan across the three stunned faces, stopping on him again.) Ooh, I’ll solve your problems, little girls, With a wave of my hand. (He lifts a hand, scattering sparkles over them and the street.) The mystic elders gave me permission To conjure up a sacred light. (He produces a sphere in one hand, depicting Townsville within. In close-up, it shows the city in flames.) And with my magic mystic tricks, (The buildings repair themselves.) I’ll turn Townsville into right. Drums/organ in Gnomey: But don’t ever think that this (lowering hand; sphere disappears) Could be for free. You’ve gotta give me something, girls. You’ve gotta give something to me. Hey! How about your life, girls? You gotta give me your life! (They recoil at the thought. Slow pan behind him; he slowly turns to face each.) Everything you stand for, everything that makes you who you are. Your life, girls, you gotta give me your life! All your superpowers, this is your final hour! Drums/bass/guitar out; tempo slows greatly Gnomey: So if you want peace, give me your answer now. Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooh… If you want peace, give up your powers now. (full voice) Give me your powers! (normal tone; a shadow falls over him as he continues and bows) So if you want peace, give me your answer now. Bass/organ drive, up-tempo 4 (The girls can think of no immediate response to the little fellow’s proposal. Close-up of Bubbles, panning quickly to Blossom and then Buttercup.) Buttercup: (to Blossom) I’m not giving up, you’re not giving up All your powers, you hear me? Blossom: But I think we should, ’cause it is for good. I’m the leader, you hear me? (Bubbles pops up.) Bubbles: Look around you, girls. (Dissolve to a slow track around her, framing the burning city.) We’re losing in every way. And when we get down to the point, (Zoom in by steps.) We’ve got to save the day. (Her sisters are far from convinced, but start to come around as she continues.) Let’s look on the bright side. We can finally be normal little girls. No more pressure from this town, No more need for the Powerpuff Girls. We can finally be Normal little girls, yeah, yeah, yeah. Blossom, Bubbles: We can finally be Normal little girls, (Cut to Buttercup, who jumps in.) Girls: Yeah, yeah ,yeah. (Pull back; the others join her.) We can finally be Normal little girls, (to Gnomey) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Driving acoustic guitar line; organ and drums sneak in gradually (fast 4) (Taking this last as an affirmative, the diminutive magician raises his head with a wicked, bucktoothed smile as the light shines on him again. At the raising of both arms, the bloom comes loose from his rose and is carried toward the rooftops as the girls stare incredulously. The view shifts to a wide, bare plain, the clouds and sky flying past overhead, and he rises against it to sing the following four lines in a half-time feel.) Gnomey: Hear me, elders from the earth! Hear me, elders from the sea! Help me rid this city Of its villainous treachery! (He holds the last note for several beats, then pulls back and rises against a stormy red sky.) Half-time Gnomey: Reunite above me! Reunite above me, fathers! (The clouds swirl.) Reunite above and send to me A chant to set them free! Bass/drums out (except cymbals) (Four faces—the elders he has called on— emerge from the roiling tumult.) Gnomey, Elders: Sai-lai lufti de santra mekidu. Sai-lai lufti de santra mekidu. Drums in; build intensity steadily (Gnomey throws his robe open, exposing a muscular little chest, and sings a faster version over the elders. His additional vocalizations are in brackets.)
Gnomey: Hear me, fathers, now! (Extreme close-up of his chest; slow pan.) Gnomey, Elders: Sai-lai lufti de santra mekidu! [Oh-oh-oh-oh!] Sai-lai lufti de santra mekidu! [Yeah!] (Pull back. Red lights begin to flash behind him.) Sai-lai lufti de santra mekidu! [Hear me, evil spirits, now!] (Slow pan: extreme close-up of his face with its narrowed red eyes.) [Sai-lai,] Sai-lai lufti de santra mekidu! Electric guitar in (He soars over the smoking wreck that is the Townsville skyline, stops at a suitable altitude, and begins to rub his palms vigorously. Sparks fly, thickening every second until they form a series of waves that radiate outward over the smashed rooftops. Pull back quickly to a long overhead shot of the city; the magic washes over every visible piece of architecture, and at ground level, one villain after another is caught in the wash. Mojo Jojo, Arturo beating a man held by Billy, Fuzzy…then Buttercup watching in total bewilderment…Princess, Snake…Blossom and Bubbles look around in confusion…Grubber, “Him”…slow pan across all three confounded five-year-old faces…Ace runs for his life, trying to stay ahead, but gets a blast of Gnomey’s spell regardless…then cut to a long shot of the little wizard aloft in the flashing sky.) (In close-up, he finally winds down and bows deeply; a moment later, he has floated down to street level behind the girls and given them a mischievous grin when they turn toward him. Next he backs up swiftly into the air, throwing beams from his outstretched hands and scoring a triple bullseye. The girls’ screams are drowned out by the guitar solo—and when Gnomey lets up, retracting his beams, the entire scene takes on a washed-out tone, including three girls who have been left thoroughly exhausted by the ordeal. They look up weakly just in time to see the last of his energy and their powers gather in his palms as a small bright sphere; extreme close-up of this as it gleams blindingly, then pull back to frame all of Gnomey. Light rays in the girls’ colors pour through his fingers, fully illuminating every square inch of his broadly grinning face, then fades out along with his body and the rest of the scenery. All that is left against the black screen is that pair of red irises and yellow whites, which fade away a moment later.) Act Two Sad, soulful acoustic/electric guitar line, slowly brightening (slow 4) (Opening shot: a slow pan through the hills outside Townsville. The camera passes a wrecked car, then the city skyline in the distance under the foreboding storm clouds, then an owl perched in a tree. Shafts of sunlight begin to pierce the thick gray veil; in the city, pan down a trashed street as the rays beam down and people peer out from all manner of hiding places—trash can, behind lamp post, manhole. Stop on a bearded, hippie-looking fellow, who lets the light play over his face as he smiles serenely.) Male hippie: When I feel the sun, my eyes open wide. (Pull back; sky is cloudless.) My troubles are gone. Drums in (Pan down the block as doves flutter past, then stop on his female counterpart.) Female hippie: When the birds start to sing, I know the children can play And laugh all day. (As she sings, kids run happily past and she pinches the cheeks of one of them.) Both: Sun shine, sun shine down on me. (Overhead view of them in a small crowd; pull back.) Sun shine, sun shine down on me. (Close-up of a smiling baby in a pothole; the Mayor sands nearby and picks it up.) Mayor: The babies can grow, and all the little old folks Can walk real slow. (Several seniors hobble by with canes and walkers.) Who is to thank? Without your help We would’ve sank. (Gnomey rides his rose blossom down from the sun.) Gnomey: Sun shine, sun shine down on you. (He is met with smiles.) Sun shine, sun shine down on you. Light guitar line with mandolin (up-tempo 4) (He brings himself in for a landing on a stretch of parched earth; a thick stem rises from the cracks, connects itself to the flower’s underside, and carries him up. By the time it stops growing, it has become a vine tall enough to reach up several feet, and ecstatic onlookers quickly rush up on one side.) Light percussion in Crowd: This is the best day of my life today. (Pan to the other side; more come up.) This is the best day of my life. (Pull back/tilt up slowly to the sun.) Thank you for the things you’ve done today. Thank you for the things you’ve done! (Cut to the Mayor on a grassy, flower-covered hill. His next line sounds as if it is coming through a bullhorn and is sung out of time, without drums.) Mayor: Thank you for the whole sky, thank you for the puffy clouds. (Butterflies flit up; behind them, the view shifts back to the crowd.) Jaunty march time (moderate 4) Crowd: Thank you for the butterflies. Happiness has come back to our lives. (A breeze blows; slow pan.) Thank you for the summer breeze. From this day forth, we’ll do our best to please. (They bow to Gnomey on the end of this.) Guitar/mandolin line resumes Gnomey: This is the best day of my life today. Ooh, this is the best day of my life. Thank you for the praise you give today. Thank you for the praise you give! (out of time) Thank you, all my children, thank you, all my followers. March resumes Gnomey: (pulling out a rose) Take this flower, live in peace. Remember who changed your lives, it was not police! (We see a few dejected cops standing around in the street.) Take this flower, live for me! Live for me in pursuit of your harmony. (He tosses it high overhead, the camera following its trajectory until it passes out of frame. What comes down is a shower of rose petals. Tilt down as they flutter over the spectators’ heads, then cut to a pan across the multitude, all smiles among the scarlet deluge.) Heavy, ominous fanfare (slow 4) (When the screen clears, all have changed into red robes and caps like Gnomey’s and stand with bowed heads and folded hands. A long, sustained chord is sung over the melody, rising slowly up the minor scale in four steps as Gnomey’s vine, topped with an enormous bloom, climbs toward rooftop level. The progression repeats itself; now thorns sprout from the leafy stalk and its long shadow throws itself over the hordes of robed converts.) (A modulation to a major key, and in no time flat the entire block has been repaired. More blooms spring from side branches of the main vine, and a long shot of Townsville reveals those super-jumbo roses flowering in every possible bit of open space among the glittering buildings. Fade to white.) Guitar/mandolin line, but with heavier bass (slower tempo) (Fade in to a close-up of Buttercup against a black screen. Next to her head is a white circle in which a small image of her is playing jacks—her idea of how post-Powerpuff life will be.) Girls: This is the best day of my life today. (Dissolve to Blossom; her mental image twirls happily.) This is the best day of my life. (Dissolve to Bubbles; hers plays with Octi.) All we have to do is play all day. (mental image disappears; pan across girls) All we have to do is play. (Dissolve to a longer shot of the trio, together in a large white sector near the bottom of the screen. Jacks are scattered about—a game in progress—and they vocalize a three-part harmony as the background dissolves to put them on the grassy hill outside the rejuvenated Townsville. Behind them, a line of Gnomey’s faithful files past, each carrying a flower; a dissolve/tilt up shows many more advancing up a staircase that winds around and around his broad vine. The singing continues during this shot.) (Dissolve to a large chamber within the huge topmost rose. They have lined up here, and a slow pan shows their formation curving around a small pond set into the floor to stop in front of Gnomey. Now the girls’ part is heard less distinctly.) Disciples: Live my life for the rose. Live my life for the rose. (The one at the head of the line kneels and holds up his flower; close-up of the new savior, pulling back to show row on row bowing around him. He sings over the disciples and the girls.) Gnomey: This is the best day of my life today. This is the best day of my life. This is the best day of my life today. This is the best day of my life! (Fade to black.) Descending organ line, then a Jimi Hendrix-style melody with guitar (moderate 4) (The girls tumble down the height of the screen, those blissful smiles still fixed on their faces; after they have dropped o.c.; snap to a suddenly unnerved Blossom. Her sisters peek out to either side, and the camera zooms in on her eyes in two steps, revealing a reflection of the Professor in her pupils on the last shot. He has traded his lab coat for a white apron and cloth cap, bow tie, and striped shirt; cut to him, hands behind back and standing before a wall of flames. As soon as he opens his mouth, he brings out a pair of meat cleavers—the man of science has turned butcher.) Professor: (spoken) Can’t you see the people in the streets? (Pull back; small, red-robed bulls march past, each carrying a flower.) (transition to singing) Lined like cattle, waiting for the butcher of freedom! (He rushes as the bovine disciples, sparking a stampede. Close-up of one shaking group; his cleaver slams down in front of them, and the camera pulls back to show that he is now chopping slices from a large ham. Different patterns appear in the fat streaks of each piece--a dollar sign, a house, a pair of robed people—and the camera tilts down to follow the last one as it falls onto a charcoal grill.) Professor: (spoken) Sacrificing their hopes and their dreams, (transition to singing) All their individuality for freedom! (Flames blaze up briefly, then subside to show him walking gingerly on the iron bars with two ham slices.) Professor: Do the people have to be Freedom beef? Do the people have to be Freedom beef? Do the people have to be Freedom beef? (Extreme close-up of his eyes; one brow cocks.) For safety on the streets! (Flames roar up; now he is seen throwing punches at a side of beef, which slides off to one side. Dissolve to a longer shot that reveals it to be one of many hanging from hooks and moving back and forth on overhead tracks in the inferno. In a second dissolve, he attacks the camera as the meat slabs travel here and there. Another transition puts him even closer to the lens, and one more shows an extreme close-up of his savagely determined face, tongue clamped between teeth.) (Pull back to show a psychedelic flower background behind him now; Townsville stands in the distance, and Gnomey’s faithful continue their processional behind him.) Professor: (spoken) Can’t you see they’re blinded by the light? (He leans to the girls, now on a hill outside the city.) (transition to singing) Don’t you think that it’s time that you fought for freedom? (On the end of this, a large American flag appears behind him and he salutes.) Girls: But we don’t have our powers! Professor: (spoken) Can’t you see there’s evil in the world? (transition to singing) Don’t you know you’re the Powerpuff Girls for freedom? (On the end of this he looks toward Townsville Hall.) Girls: So we still must have our powers. (The family marches over the hill, the Professor carrying the Stars and Stripes, and sing the following together.) Professor: Do the people have to be Freedom beef? Do the people have to be Freedom beef? Do the people have to be Freedom beef? For safety on the streets! Girls: We made a deal, did our part, And it was for peace. He broke the deal, failed his part, Now we’ll fight for peace. If there is bad, there’ll be good, And it has to be… (They take off, one by one, in time with the next lines.) Blossom: The Power… Buttercup: Power… Bubbles: Power… (They stop in front of the sun.) Girls: Powerpuff Girls! (The aerial display clinches it, then—they never lost their powers when Gnomey cast his spell. Fade to white, then in just behind the Professor, watching proudly as the girls make tracks for the gargantuan bloom that stands high above the city proper. Zoom in slightly and dissolve to within it, the camera positioned near an opening in the petals.) Syncopated guitar line, leading into jazz rock (fast 4) (Tilt down to follow a scatter of leaves to a bathtub in which Gnomey is relaxing, with a few candles burning at its foot end. Through the large leaves that shield this area from the rest of the bloom’s interior, the girls’ shadows approach from the other side and are cast very large; it takes him a moment or two to forget his bath and notice their impending intrusion. Down comes one of the huge green growths to reveal three very angry former superheroes on its other side. A trick of the light has caused their shadows to appear much larger. They move in, having regained every bit of their old confidence; Bubbles and Buttercup vocalize the harmony as Blossom sings.) Blossom: You want to say your words? You want to make a deal? You want to change the world? You want to make us feel (One by one, they lean over the tub.) Real good? Buttercup: Real good? Bubbles: Real good? (Clad in only his cap and pants, he makes a break for it but finds the girls squarely in his path. Now Buttercup sings while Blossom and Bubbles cover the harmony on the next four lines.) Buttercup: Since the dawn of time, (He flees again, riding down on a petal.) There never can be A place for you (He touches down by her foot.) And not us three. You can’t have bad… (Dissolve to Blossom.) Blossom: You can’t have… (To Bubbles.) Bubbles: Without the good. (Now Gnomey starts running up a spiraling length of stalk.) Girls: Ooh-oh, don’t you know (Overhead view.) That everybody knows (Under his feet, the view changes to a rotating yin/yang symbol on a black background.) The yin and yang’s the master plan? Ooh-oh, don’t you know (He drops through the black spot on the white half and starts falling against a two-tone flashing background of polka dots.) That everybody knows The yin and yang’s the master plan? (Overhead view of the girls’ heads against a black field; zoom in slowly as Bubbles sings lead and her sisters do the harmony.) Bubbles: We sold our lives For you to save, But it was all lies. (Side view; he drops between them and into a freshly dug grave. A bottle sits on the tombstone.) Say hello to your grave! (Cut to below ground level, pointing up at them; he tumbles farther into the depths.) You’re going down! Blossom: Going down! Buttercup: Going down! (Ground level. A rose instantly springs from the excavation, bearing the re-robed Gnomey up to glower at them. Close-up.) Gnomey: Now let me tell you, You don’t scare me! I ain’t no fool! Look what’s up my sleeve! (He holds this last note for a few seconds while making as if to reach into one of his sleeves.) Dirge (slow 4) (Pull back as a flare of violet light erupts behind him and he nails the girls with beams from both hands, sending them into a paroxysm of agony.) Gnomey: Sai-lai lufti de santra mekidu! (Close-up, then a slow pan across the contorted faces.) Sai-lai lufti de santra mekidu! (He holds the last note, raising it several steps, and lets up to leave the girls collapsing to the leafy carpet. Overhead view, pulling back slowly to frame him as the note dies away in the expanse; Blossom is the only one still conscious and looking up at him. In close-up, with the music totally silenced, Bubbles slowly levers her eyelids up, lowers her brows over those enormous baby blues, and lets her mouth twist down into a grimace of undiluted fury.) Music resumes (In an instant, she is on her feet and punching at Gnomey, forcing him to back up.) Bubbles: There’s no dark without the light. There’s no dim without the bright. (Blossom does likewise.) Blossom: There’s no warm without the cold. There’s no weak without the bold. (Buttercup’s turn.) Buttercup: There’s no sun without the moon. There’s no fork without the spoon. (He tries to conjure, but cannot.) Bubbles: There’s no silence without noise. There’s no girls without the boys. (Now truly scared, he retreats before the looming triple shadow and continues his previous chant as they sing.) Blossom: There’s no dark without the light. There’s no dim without the bright. Buttercup: There’s no warm without the cold. There’s no weak without the bold. [Animation goof: Bubbles’ mouth moves as well.] Bubbles: There’s no sun without the moon. There’s no fork without the spoon. Blossom: There’s no joy without the sad. There’s no good without the bad. Buttercup: There’s no dark without the light. There’s no dim without the bright. There’s no warm without the cold. There’s no weak without the bold. Girls: There’s no sun without the moon. There’s no fork without the spoon. (They back him out a side door; cut to outside and pan as he edges along a narrowing tendril.) There’s no joy without the sad. There’s no good without the bad. (Having reached the end of the line, he has nowhere to go but down as they lean over him, holding out the last note. Close-up of him, falling against a black field with stars shooting out behind him; these brighten into a supernova and his coloration cycles during the following.) Music dies away Gnomey: (spoken, with increasing effort) As I descend to the earth And I view the universe above me, I realize that life evolves, revolves, and dissolves Completely around the opposites. Therefore, I conclude that I cannot exist In my utopian mind. (Street level. The miniature magician drops into view; the instant he hits the pavement, though, the camera cuts to a silent long shot of the city proper, which goes black as a hemispherical wave of energy radiates from the point of impact. Behind the skyline, the sun fades from view, and throughout the city his followers shield their eyes from the blast and accompanying shock wave. One man’s cap is blown off, his robe starts to tear from the incredible wind shear, and another fellow loses his headwear as well. Long shot of the massive central flower standing amid the buildings, its furled petals holding tight against the gale, then cut to the stalk—now blackened and crumbling into dust. Within seconds, nothing is left but a shriveled, dead stem, bent almost double under the weight of the withered bloom that had stood so proud. A final flash of white washes out the screen.) (Fade in to the sound of birdsong and the sun shining in a properly colored sky, and pull back to ground level on a street in Townsville. Several people rise into view, having traded their robes for civvies, and a camera shift shows the girls hemmed in by a ring of smiling spectators. The uneasy face-off continues for a second or two, punctuated only by the birds, and is suddenly broken when the crowd bursts into song.) Jaunty march time (moderate 4) Crowd: Thank you for the butterflies. Happiness has come back to our lives. (Slow pan; people bow as low as they can.) Thank you for the summer breeze. From this day forth, we’ll do our best to please. One-finger keyboard line (fast 4) (Close-up of the girls, tracking around them in a circle. The display of adulation has left them even more ill at ease.) Blossom: Can’t you hear yourselves, dear town, dear town? Buttercup: Can’t you be yourselves, dear town? Bubbles: We’re not your guiding light, dear town, dear town. (Slow pan across the now-bewildered townspeople.) You all have equal rights, dear town. Drums/guitar in; half-time (Cut to a black screen, with “Him” glowering in a square at top left. As the girls sing on, more images appear to tile the rest of the space clockwise: Fuzzy, the Amoeba Boys, Sedusa, Ace, Snake and Arturo, Billy and Grubber, Princess, and Mojo appearing last in the center.) Girls: We know it’s tough guys That make it rough, guys. (Zoom in slowly on Mojo.) It takes all kinds, guys, (The screen spins.) To make the world go round. (The tempo speeds up in time with the rotation, and the nine-villain collage shrinks out of sight to put the girls back in view.) Bright rock (fast 4) Girls: Ooo-eee-ooo, why can’t we all get along? (The crowd starts to groove.) Ooo-eee-ooo, why can’t we all get along? Girls, Mojo, Princess, “Him,” Billy, crowd:Ooo-eee-ooo, why can’t we all get along? Horn section in (Pull back. Now the previous group, without Princess but with the Mayor, Fuzzy, and a large lavender monster, sings the line again. Another shift, and even more people have shown up to join in for one last repetition.) (The background for the end shot comes up.) Narrator: (slightly out of tune) So once again the day is saved— (The girls appear: Blossom at bottom C, Bubbles and Buttercup at top L and top R, respectively.) Thanks to the Powerpuff Girls! T H E E N D |