SOFIA Late November 1999. Sofia: Age 15 then to 18

Sofia’s mother is a member of the Yukaza Mob. Sofia’s mother is having an affair with a man (Which turns out to be the last living assassin of the Yukaza Massacre.) He has a pet name for her (and Sofia, “princess”) that he uses all the time. The man had been using Sofia’s mom just to get information.

Sofia sees the murder of her mother but doesn't know who did it. Sofia is part of the fight, is almost killed. She thinks she’s the one who killed her mother and lives with the guilt and depression (that makes her a colder, mentally stronger person)

Scene ends with Sofia standing in front of her mothers grave. Flashback to someone saying “It was you, You killed her.”

Time Passes (Three years. November 2002) Sofia has turned into a much colder, mentally stronger person because of all the abuse people have been giving her about the death of her mother.

Open scene with Sofia standing in front of her mothers grave. Flashback of someone saying, “It was you, You killed her.”

She has a vivid flashback. She sees everything perfectly. It wasn’t her that killed her mother. It was someone else.

Sofia on her search for revenge, finds out information about Kritiker from an online stranger named “Ealain” (French). Sofia accidentally stumbles upon the person as Ealain is hacking into something. (Sofia has minimal hacking skills) The hacker was extremely powerful and reliable; shocks Sofia with the amount of stuff she can do.

Information found: Find articles on the recent Yukaza Massacre. Information was kept largely from the people.

An underground government named “Kritiker” sent out secret agents to take down key members of the Japanese Mob “Yukaza”. The government knew of shady business transactions happening between Yukaza and a powerful enemy from Communist Russia (Which is living in Japan at the time). Unable to have 100% solid proof about these transactions, the Japanese government sent in Kritiker to do away with the dirty work; make it all look like a mistake. Truthfully, the transactions were “innocent”. The Yukaza were trying to form their own individual government and the Russian mob under boss was there to help them out financially. Unfortunately, after the Massacre, the bodies of the Russian mob boss and his wife were found murdered.

The two learn that, during the Massacre (Which was a Kritiker raid on Yukaza) , Kritiker lost four of their most prized assassins. One survived though, the “Leader”. Yakuza was weakened but not completely ruined.

That night, Sofia has a nightmare and her mind sees the person. She revisits the moment when her mother was killed in the dream. The man that was the assassin is shown to her in her dream.

Scene opens with Sofia standing outside his home at dust. The wind blowing through her hair as she stands across the street, gun in hand. She has flashbacks of her mother as she walks into the house. Flashbacks get more dramatic as she gets closer to the house, more overwhelming. Finally, as she enters the house she’s in a huge rage, her gun loaded and ready.

She’s met with silence. She sees in the next room that the TV is on mute, an eerie blue glow is over two sleeping figures. It’s her mother’s murder and his daughter, laying across his lap asleep. Suddenly, Sofia is hit with immense sadness. How could she even consider doing something like this? How could she kill someone-- Just then the mother comes down the stairs, sleepy, and smiling. Sofia hides. The mother sees her husband and child sleeping and goes over to wake them up. The man uses Sofia’s mother’s pet name when she comes in, and the one for his daughter that he had used with Sofia. All Sofia’s guilt and sadness violently vanishes. Every bit of hate and pain that had happened the last three years floods back to her. “It was you that killed her, You killed her…You killed her.”

At the last moment, when all her emotions are high, Sofia melts into view, gun raised. The mom and daughter scream as she walks closer. The first shot doesn’t hit him, the second doesn’t either. He pushes his family out of the way and fights back. A fight starts. Sofia gets shot in the leg.

At this point the man gets on the phone and calls Estelle for help. He’s interrupted by Sofia shooting at him. Bleeding, scared, and wounded, Sofia finally makes her kill before she blacks out.

Last scene ends with Estelle walking into the man’s house, sees all the blood. She turns to her bodyguards and tells them not to let any of this to get out to the press. A few men come back to Estelle and tell her that four bodies were found.

Estelle: Four?

Man: Yes, four. -Man’s Name-, his wife, child, and….(trails off)

Estelle: I see (Realizes it the murder still in the house) “Man’s name” put up a fight. (Massages eyes) So, how old is this murder? Assassin, probably? Figured out what group he’s from yet? Esset, perhaps--

Man:…Um, its not a he?

Estelle: (Turns around from walking to the body) What? Not a he?

Man: (As they walk towards body) No, on the contrary, young girl, 17 or 18--

Second man: She’s alive!! Ambulance! Get an ambulance!

Estelle: (very surprised as she sees the little girl who had killed three people in cold blood) You don’t say….

Man: Well have to call the cops for this. We can’t deal with this sort of thing…a juvenile murder--

Estelle: (Three people in cold blood. Such emotion) (Takes out her phone as they wheel Sofia out of the house) Hello, Persia? (watches her get onto the stretcher and into the ambulance) We lost “man’s name” (Paramedics get into ambulance) I know, calm down. (Door closes) I have a proposition to make you, though. (Ambulance drives off. She gets into her car) No, you’ll like it, babe. I swear. (Ambulance Disappears) I just saw the future of Kritiker drive off in an ambulance.

RHIA January 2000 Rhia: Age 14 then to 17

Scene starts with Rhia staring at her computer screen in a dark room; bored. She had been on the hunt for Kritiker the entire night and morning before. (Kind of like Neo and the Matrix) (Make an allusion to that; Neo = Ealain) She knows a fair amount of information but not enough to keep her satisfied. She’s the type of person who need to constantly be learning.

As she continues hacking into secret government, she heard her father come home (It has been his second day home from overseas where he currently works. Neither Rhia nor her mother know what he does. Rhia knows where he works though, the location only). He’s cursing and depressed. Rhia walks out to see what all the noise is. She sees her mother and father get into a fight. Her father eventually leaves the house in a hurry still cursing as her mother cries.

Rhia, wanting to get rid of the fear and loneliness of living in such a horrible family, retreats back to her room and curls up on her bed. She switches the TV on to the news and silently cries into her pillow.

On the news, “Two days ago, an anonymous man has tipped off the universal world to the new game shop “Battle Royale” where an entire class of students are pitted against each other in a game of betrayal and death. Yada yada yada.”

Rhia gets interested and, because she hadn’t been making any headway with her Kritiker search, decides to search for “Battle Royale” She gets a page that reads ’Restricted’. A small smile creeps up on her face, her fingers flex over the keyboard. “Those two simple words started the beginning of the rest of her life.”

Time Passes (Three months, January 2000) Scene opens with her in front of her computer in a dark room, typing away furiously. The TV is on behind her. Once again, the screen blinks “Restricted.” She hisses at herself “Ealain, stop doing that. You’re going to get caught.” She’s lost all interest in finding out information about Kritiker. Although, Rhia did find out some information about BR, like where it was (“Oh, my papa works there…”) and the complete list of rules and contestants for the new season. She hacks into a secure line and downloads every one of the episodes, just to watch.

Once again, on the TV, the announcer says something about a anonymous tipper who has given information out about Battle Royale. She hears her parents fighting in the other room again. This time she just shrugs and picks up a small bottle of snobs that she had stolen from her fathers liquor cabinet. She smiles and continues her hacking. Once again the web page says “Restricted.” She tries one more thing (a long shot) and, just as she finally gets onto the restricted website, just as she cheers, her dad walks in.

Time freezes. Rhia, with bottle up to mouth, sees her dad look at her, he sees the alcohol, the screen. All he can see if the screen. He looks at her with the biggest display of shock on his face. “I….I can’t believe this”)

Time Passes (Two years) (November 2002) Her dad and her are working together as a team now (explain how much better their relationship was, mom stayed in France) and had brought her to Japan on his oversea “work“. Rhia had found out that he was the anonymous person tipping the government off to the workings of BR, that he was the one who pretended to be a guard for the game and overthrow the system. But, lastly, Rhia found out that he was a member of Kritiker, that he was something she’d been searching for for years (analogy of Neo and the Matrix again) Of course, she had never been allowed to be part of Kritiker, that was her secret with her father, that she knew.

Their progress: They had foiled the BR system enough that the game was put off hold for two years. Since Rhia had been on her Dad’s “team”, BR had been unable to function because of her superior skills. Unfortunately, they were up and working again, preparing for Battle Royale 2003.

Rhia is sitting in an office, bent over the computer, the TV on behind her (as she always has it) She’s half listening to what the pirate news is saying “Something about the ex-Communist Russian mob leader’s (who had been killed in the infamous Yukaza Massacre) daughter was seen in Japan and had actually SIGNED up to be in Battle Royale 2003. Rhia grumbles, (Isn’t really paying attention so doesn’t catch any names) She’s busy joking around on the internet doing her old pastime of trying to figure out who’s in Kritiker when suddenly she’s hit with another computer.

At first, Rhia is scared that its one of Kritikers bots trying to trace her. So she disgusted herself and hacks into the persons computer, looking at her files to make sure. Rhia figures the person has at least a little bit of hacking skills. She decides to play a joke on them to pass the time. She makes a direct connection and starts talking to them. To her surprise, she realizes it someone else in dire need of information about Kritiker. They introduce themselves. Rhia as Ealain and Sofia doesn’t even give a name (safety reasons). They exchange information. Rhia happy she can help, but the person leaves so suddenly. Rhia shrugs and smiles gently. “Too bad, you seemed interested. You and I could have worked together one day.”

Time passes ( Jan 2003) Suddenly her father bursts into the room, sweating and terrified. He shouts at Rhia to get her stuff, that they have to get out of here because some very dangerous people from Battle Royale were on their way to get them. Somehow, her father was clumsy and led them to where Kritiker was. He has a gun, which he loads as he’s shouting at her. He says that they’ll be here any second-- As he says that (He’s standing next to the window) A bullet slices clean through his stomach and implants into the floor by Rhia’s feet. Time seems to freeze as she watches her father fall to the ground, wounded. She screams and runs to him, trying to prop him up. She tries to get him out the door but the entire place is surrounded. Hey share a cute father daughter moment before he passes away. Rhia, left hiding as guards stream into the building, is suddenly overcome by fear, sadness, and revenge all at the same time. Flashbacks of how happy she has been since she’s gotten the love of her father. Flashbacks of how horrible her life had been before that. She snatches his gun and, using some kind of inner stealth and hate, she sneaks up behind a guard. Inside she’s screaming at herself “What are you doing!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STOP IT!! STOP!” She pulls the trigger.

Last scene opens with Estelle walking in. She’s shocked at the brutality of the crime.

Estelle: (To accomplice) They found out who did this.

Accomplice: How many were involved?

Estelle: One. (Walks away from Accomplice and through the hallway of dead guards and blood. She crouches down by Rhia’s fathers dead body) Sniper tried to take him out.

Accomplice: Chasse got himself into more than he could handle. Poor thing…

Estelle: Shame really. He was a good man. (Looks at Accomplice; blunt) A 17 year old girl did this.

Accomplice: (Shocked) Around my age.

Estelle: Yes, it was his daughter.

Accomplice: (Seems bored) Revenge, eh?

Estelle: Seems like it. (Stands up and starts to walk out of the apartment building)

Accomplice: (Still in awe at the multitude of killing) Are you sure it was only one person? (They walk outside. Police cars are stations all over the place)

Estelle: Positive. (Walks to an unmarked car) You don’t believe me?

Accomplice: (Small smile) I don’t.

Estelle: (Stops by a car) Look for yourself.

Accomplice: (Looks into car, sees a small, scared girl with blood all over her) Why isn’t she in a cop car.

Estelle: Because I think we can use her. (Walks to own car) Can’t have the pigs taking something I can use.

Accomplice: (Follows) Use her? (Starts to rain)

Estelle: (Gets into the car) You heard me.

Accomplice: (Looks at the girl in the unmarked car. Rhia looks back out at her, they make eye contact for the first time)

Estelle: Sofia, get in the car.

Sofia: (Doesn’t hear Estelle. Is having an odd, surreal moment as she looks at Rhia, as though she knows that this day starts the rest of her life) Then…(she watches Rhia’s car pull away, they still make eye contact. She smiles gently as she starts to get into the car) There were two.

AUTUMN January 2003 Autumn: Age 19

(Flashback to November 1999) Back to the Yukaza Massacre. Autumn relives the murder of her mother and father over and over in her mind. (She had never really seen them be murdered, but her mind has conjured up horrible images that she can’t flush from memory) She wakes up screaming…but she isn’t in bed.

Second Day:

(January 2003) She’s outside in the woods, sleeping under a tree with multiple trip wires around her and a shirt stained with blood. She has signed up for BR 2003 and is playing it at the moment. For a second, as she lays out there in the cold, starving and thirsty, she wonders why the hell she ever signed up for this in the first place.

Suddenly, as she’s laying there, one of her trip wires snaps. Then two, then more. Autumn springs to her feet and hides, waiting for whoever it is to come. She’s surprised to see that it’s a girl and a boy, both running for their lives, apparently in love by the way he’s urging the girl on. More trip wires go off. Autumn backs up a few feet, hiding deeper in the forest. In her hand is the 9mm that she had picked up from a classmate she had killed. (her real weapon was a GPS navigation system) “Of course she HAD to kill. Survival of the fittest. Survival of the fittest. Survival of the--”

Autumn watches as the girl collapses to the ground, out of breath, breathing heavily, bleeding from the nose. The guy stops and tries to pull her with him. He doesn’t succeed. Behind them more tripwires are being pulled. To them, it just sounds like noise but Autumn is able to pick out who are coming and where they’re coming from.

Suddenly, three boys rush into the clearing, all three with guns. They aim at the boy and shot him immediately. He calls to the ground dead, his blood splashing up onto the fainted girl. Autumn clicks back the safety of her gun, just in case they get any ideas to go searching for her.

She watches as the three boys look down at the girl and smile pervertedly. She’s crying hysterically at her fallen boyfriend. They bend over and rip the front of the shirt, exposing her bra. The girl tries to scream but a guy covers her mouth. Autumn, not able to bear the abuse of a female, takes aim and shoots one down immediately. Unfortunately, that was her only shot in that magazine. As she hides behind the tree trying to reload, the leftover two boys throw down the girl and start after Autumn. Autumn watches the girl kiss the forehead of her dead lover, snatch the gun from the dead boy, stagger to her feet, and take off into the woods; not even looking back to see who had saved her.

Autumn is left to fend herself. Fight results. She’s wounded but she eventually kills the other two boys. Seeing that her clearing is covered with bodies and useless, Autumn limps away into the bush, searching for a better hiding spot. She soon finds an old medic building and carefully approaches it. Going inside she realizes that it’s safe and makes camp.

The rest of the night she’s forced to stay alert. At 6am she hears the names of kids that she doesn’t know that have died. She shrugs and takes out another cigarette to smoke. She then hears the name of the boy that was killed in her clearing and kind of pauses for a moment. “If it’s your time to die, it’s fucking your time to die.” Unfortunately, she learns that her area is a danger zone, so she’s forced to move out. She stands at the exit to the door and is suddenly hears what sounds like a mass multitude of helicopters. She looks up momentarily, staring at them as four or five fly over her head. Bad idea. Just as she levels eyes with the ground, she’s staring down the end of a gun. She learns from the boy that they are the only two left living, the only two alive…and that he isn’t going to lose. Autumn asks him if that’s true (to try to distract him so she can get away or kill him first. Its obvious that he had gone mad) He says he’s not 100% sure but they’re the only two that he knows of.

They have a struggle, fight a little. Autumn is too weak to fight to the best of her ability. In the distance, as they fight, Autumn can hear the sound of huge trucks combing the landscape. She tries to tell the boy but he won’t listen. She’s beat though and he corners her against the side of the medic office. The sound of trucks gets dangerously close, but the boy is too far gone to notice them. The gun is pointed to her head; the safety clicked off. From the corner of her eye she can see the trucks coming towards them, the military. Suddenly, as the boys about to pull the trigger, a gun goes off.

Autumn thinks its her that was dead. She has the same feelings as though she is. She believes that she’s falling, that she’s drifting closer and closer to death. Suddenly, her eyes open, she’s staring into the multicolored eyes of a beautiful blond woman.

Estelle: Thought we lost you for a moment. (Autumn sees two girls behind her but doesn’t fully comprehend them)

Autumn: (Dangerously faint) Who…who are you?

Estelle: For all you know, I could be God. (Estelle starts calling medics as she tries to whip the blood from the girls face)

Autumn: What happened?

Estelle: We saved you. (Estelle smiles down sweetly as she orders the paramedics around)

Autumn: You…saved me? That bullet…that bullet was you?

Estelle: (Her voice starts getting faint as Autumn loses consciousness) Bullet? (Looks confused) Get her an IV. Hurry.

Autumn: (Before she falls she looks over at the two woman standing next to Estelle. Her brain starts to go nutty. She pictures Estelle as God and Sofia and Rhia as angels) Angels? (She blacks out to the picture of Estelle smiling)

Estelle: Just rest, baby, it’ll be ok.

Estelle stands up as they cart the unconscious girl into the trucks.

Estelle: I give her less then a week before she’s on her feet again…

Sofia: (Walks up to her side) I can read that face of yours.

Estelle: (Smiling that special smile that means she’s found what she’s come for) Oh, can you?

Sofia: Tell me now, what’s so special about her?

Estelle: (Turns and smiles at Sofia) Out of 43 students, she’s the last one alive. That, to me, is special.

Rhia: (Walks up behind them with something blood covered and tattered in her hands) Special, yes. But, according to this (Shows them the GPS) there’s still one out there….

MARIE November 2002 Marie: Age 19

Scene opens with Marie curled up in a small ball underneath a bush, her eyes puffy and red. Flashback of how it all started up to where she is now.

Marie is another student in the class (a foreign exchange student from the United States). Her parents who didn’t really care for her as much as a normal mother and father should have, were unhappy with the schooling systems in the United States and sent their only child over to Japan. (They came with her. A second reason for bringing her there is because her father, who was a scientist, had “business“ to take care of) Marie got along well with the students here, even learned a good bit of Japanese so that she could communicate more with those around her.

Time passes: (Start of the new school year) Even though her parents aren’t getting along as well as they should be (Her father is distant and her mother is having an affair some strange millionaire, Masafumi) Marie, too caught up in her academic doesn’t really take notice of them or what they do.

One night, as Marie is getting ready for bed, she hears a man call her from her open door. She turns around, shocked, to see her mother’s “boyfriend” standing at the door. (Masafumi) For the next few days they see more and more of each other, they get to know one another a bit more. Finally, one night, as Marie is worried about not having enough money to pay for a school trip coming up in a month (Which is VERY important to her), he comes over and comes on to her. She refuses blatantly and is scared for her safety as he comes onto her even more. Then, he offers her money, enough money to pay for the trip. Shakily, she agrees.

The month elongates, she has sex with him only when she needs the money, only when she wants to buy something nice. She’s already able to pay for the trip. Then, one day, she meets this boy. She falls madly in love with him, he with her. Marie makes a decision to talk to Masafumi and cut things off with him. She has the idea to get him drunk, because he’s easier to talk to when he’s drunk. Although, that night, he gets off topic and starts muttering about something about evil secret plans of world domination. Marie thinks it’s a joke, a story, and listens to it to pass the time. As she starts getting tired of it all, Masafumi suddenly says the name Kritiker. Marie had always known about Kritiker, most people have, it was a fairy tale almost, a bedtime story about the secret defenders of good. She’s gets interested and eggs more information out of him. He starts to wise up after a while and shuts his mouth but, as Marie comes on to him, he starts giving her all the information she wants. He tells her of a beautiful blond woman with one blue eye and one blue and one green who runs everything. He also tells her of a cell phone number that’s secret and only Persia knows it.

Time passes, Marie is sitting in her first period class, at the computer, waiting for the time when the buses arrive to go on the class trip. She’s looking up names and things that Masafumi had told her. She knows that she probably won’t get any good information out of it, but she’s one of those people that need to continue learning and, in the end, it could be considered practice for learning how to read Japanese better. Masafumi had told her where some of the really good disks are that held the good information so, in the middle of class, she reads top secret information about biochemical weapon plans and blueprints to selling them worldwide to the highest bidder.

She’s shocked to read this sort of stuff, appalled. She knows she has to tell someone, but who. Just as she’s starting to think of who, her boyfriend comes up to her and kisses her gently on the cheek, telling her that the buses were here to pick them up. Marie, uncomfortable, logs off the computer, puts the disks in her bag, and follows him.

Present time: Marie wakes up from under the bush. She feels the disk in her pocket and scowls. She has a flashback to Masafumi and curses the fact that he gave her enough money to pay for the trip. Suddenly she hears someone coming, she holds her hand over her mouth and gets closer to the ground. She’s relieved to find out that its her boyfriend. So happy in fact, that she jumps out at him calling his name, she’s so relieved. Unfortunately, as they embrace, they don’t know that three other boys have heard her voice. As she’s hugging him, so glad that he had found her, she sees past his shoulder that there are people coming. She recognizes them from her class. For a second she’s happy that there are more recognizable people around her then, suddenly, the cold, dead truth kicks her in the head. She screams at him to run as the boys hold up guns. The two take off into the woods, running this way and that, not really paying attention. All they want to do is get away from the guys who have the guns.

She keeps tripping over wire as she homes in on a clearing. She finally falls, exhausted and bleeding badly. He stands over her as the guys approach, protecting her with all he has. She watches from the ground as he’s shot and killed. He hit’s the ground next to her, his eyes looking at her, and dies. The murder was so violent that his blood had splashed onto her hair, creating red tips.

Marie is so caught up in the fact that her boyfriend was killed that she doesn’t remember the guys circling around her. She’s suddenly pushed to the ground and grabbed at. Just as she tries to get away, she watches in horror as one of the boys is shot right over her head. He falls onto her. She rolls away, snatches a gun, kisses her boyfriend on the forehead one last time, and runs into the woods, leaving the girl who had saved her alone. She runs until she collapses and blacks out.

Day three: Marie wakes up, tired, hungry, and hurting. It’s a miracle she isn’t dead. Its because she’s so stealthy. She wobbles to her feet, so far into depression that she can barely see straight. She suddenly hears the sound of helicopters. She runs towards them, out of her mind and only wanting to get off the island. She stops short when she sees the girl who helped her being held at gun point. As the trucks come to a stop by the girl, Marie aims and shoots the boy that’s trying to kill her in the head. Marie, suddenly filled with the power of just killing someone, stands in the shadows as Estelle crouches over. Marie remembers what Masafumi had said about the blond woman with one blue eye and one green eye. She touches the disk in her pocket.

Time Passes: (A few days later) Estelle is standing behind Rhia, a little annoyed that they can’t find out any information on Masafumi. As Rhia and Estelle argue, Estelle’s phone suddenly rings.

Estelle: (Picks it up) Listen, Persia, I can’t talk right now but-- (She freezes. Sofia notices and cocks her head to listen to what’s happening) Who is this?

Autumn: (Who is still very new looks on wearily)

Estelle: How did you get this number, honey?

Marie: (Interrupts) You have a problem…

Estelle: Oh, no, baby doll, it’s not me that has a problem…

Marie: (annoyed that she isn’t being taken seriously. Takes out a piece of paper she printed off from the disk. She reading off some of the most secretive members of Kritiker, their names/ages/what they look like)

Estelle: (Freezes) How the hell do you know this? (Calm)

Marie: I want in…

Estelle: (Laughs gently. It starts to rain outside. She goes to the window and peers out at the sky) Is this a joke…This is a private line. It’s impressive that you’ve figured out the number. Well done. But, my time is of the essence and sadly, I must hang u--

Marie: (Reads off Estelle’s license plate)

Estelle: (Amused, getting more interested. Looks back at Sofia, Rhia, and Sofia) Ill be right back…(Leaves the room)

Marie: Do I have your attention now?

Estelle: You did from the beginning. (Walks down to the bottom floor)

Marie: I doubt that.

Estelle: So, love, tell me who you are. Tell me how you got this number. (Opens the door out into the rain. She hears Sofia, Autumn, and Rhia behind her and smiles)

Marie: I want in first.

Estelle: I don’t know what you’re talking about, dear. (Walks outside into the rain, walks around building to where her car is parked)

Marie: (Static, nothing on the other line)

Estelle: I just want to know what you want. (Looks around vacant parking lot, three girls behind her)

Marie: I said I wanted in. (Voice not from the phone) (Estelle is caught off guard and turns around. She sees a girl standing against the side of the building, cell phone in hand, disk in the other. Estelle looks at her, a moment passes, she looks at S, A, R and the infamous smile comes to her lips.)

“And, as she stood there dripping wet, as her three angels stood behind her, her lips curled up into a recognizable grin, one the three had seen before, one they knew all too well.”

“And then it happened, Tödliche Künste was complete.”