THE BARTENDER: Action/Adventure/Suspense Drama - Completed Treatment.
This is a high-tech, non-stop action adventure story concerning the travails of ex-CIA Navy Seal John Gage who, while laying low and working evenings as a bartender in a plush Beverly Hills nightclub, becomes reluctantly embroiled in a nefarious plot engineered by numerous foreign agents to obtain secret plans for a laser particle gun that would render modern weapons obsolete. From the harried streets of L.A. to the arid sands of the Mojave Desert, John Gage pursues and is pursued by enemy agents, a nuclear scientist and a beautiful love interest as he encounters extreme peril from every quarter in non-stop action and mounting suspense!

" T H E B A R T E N D E R "



by

Patrick P. Stafford



SYNOPSIS AND TREATMENT


An Action/Adventure Martial Arts Drama
For a Full-Length Screenplay For Motion Pictures
(Approximately 100-115 minutes in Length)







Final Draft Patrick P. Stafford
1775 Southgate Way
Grants Pass, OR 97527
(541) 479-4602
email: platonow.peoplepc.com


COPYRIGHTED (C) BY PATRICK P. STAFFORD





CAST OF CHARACTERS

John Gage Charlotte
Yang Chu Fu Li
Jake Sharon Bates
Agent Stoll Agent Johnson



SUPPORTING CAST

Professor Viedmier Toto
Bar Employees Beverly Hills Police
Bar Patrons Asian Thugs
Sensei Angi Rhee Dojo Students
East Germans in Motel Two Black Belts
Local C.I.A. Chief Other C.I.A. Agents



SETTING OF STORY

First, Mojave Desert; then all flashbacks in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles.



TIME OF STORY

The present.



LOG LINE FOR SCRIPT


THE BARTENDER: Action/Adventure/Suspense Drama - Completed Treatment.
This is a high-tech, non-stop action adventure story concerning the travails of ex-CIA Navy Seal John Gage who, while laying low and working evenings as a bartender in a plush Beverly Hills nightclub, becomes reluctantly embroiled in a nefarious plot engineered by numerous foreign agents to obtain secret plans for a laser particle gun that would render modern weapons obsolete. From the harried streets of L.A. to the arid sands of the Mojave Desert, John Gage pursues and is pursued by enemy agents, a nuclear scientist and a beautiful love interest as he encounters extreme peril from every quarter in non-stop action and mounting suspense!



SYNOPSIS OF SCREENPLAY

"What I wouldn't do for a nice, cold rum 'n' coke right now!" says forty-year old John Gage, former CIA agent and ex-Navy Seal, muttering to himself as he lies parched and wounded in the arid waste of the Mojave Desert one burning-hot July day, miles from his home and place of employment as a bartender at a swank Irish pub in Beverly Hills, California.

How he has come to be in such a desolate place and desperate state is told via flashbacks, as he struggles deliriously to stay on his feet, survive the scorching desert and escape the gang of international murderers that has pursued him from Los Angeles. Without water, weapons or provisions, he reaches the base of a mountain and struggles slowly up its steep side. In the desert valley below are seen his pursuers: four Asian men riding in a jeep and armed with automatic weapons.

He is able to find temporary refuge inside a mountain cave located ten miles from the nearest interstate highway. While recovering from his wounds and drifting in and out of consciousness, he relives in his mind the events and unfortunate circumstances leading up to his present predicament.

A successful bartender is a composite artisan ascribed with multiple duties, the least of which is dispensing drinks. He must be a philosopher, diplomat and dish washer; a sometimes doorman, a peacemaker, a referee, a bouncer and a skillful salesman. All this was John Gage. His prowess in martial arts was an indispensable attribute in handling vicious fights (at his place of employment) and avoiding the occurrence of many distasteful confrontations due to his feared reputation. It is perhaps this discriminating selection of such a popular, high profile establishment that eventfully led to his present dangerous situation.

Drawn into a flirtatious relationship with a woman who is associated with the two mysterious Asian men, he is compelled to discipline and forcibly eject them from the club, and subsequently again becomes involved in the sort of danger and intrigue that prompted him to abandon his former cloak and dagger profession.

The woman in question, named Charlotte, and her Asian henchmen, are communist Chinese agents on the trail of a Professor Viedmier, scientist extraordinaire, who has invented a method of converting kinetic energy into electrical and mechanical power.

What ensues is a race against time and obstacles, as Gage, aided by two former friends from the "Agency,” employs all his tactical and martial arts skills in locating and securing the scientist's freedom and safety, and preserving the vital kinetic engine formula, until it is finally delivered into the hands of the proper authorities. He also, must utilize his finely trained skills and instincts to secure his own survival.

John Gage, a dark-haired, rugged looking, forty-year old ex-Navy Seal and later C.I.A. agent, with a keen sense of humor, laconic in speech, muscular in build and looking far younger than his age would suggest, becomes involved in the most perilous and difficult mission of his life--one for which he is neither paid nor hired to do, and the outcome of which could have either far-reaching beneficial or destructive results for the entire world.

"The Bartender" is a story about the adventurous exploits and death-defying actions of a "reluctant hero" whose sole desire to serve cocktails to rich businessmen and attractive single women deteriorates into a highly undesired revisit into the dark and clandestine world of spies, espionage, deceit, murder and great personal peril.

"The Bartender" is a man of quiet nature with a fundamentally gentle attitude, destined to relive his past at the price of his present freedom and peace of mind who, battered and embittered from the vicissitudes of his prior profession, is nevertheless relentlessly drawn into, and valiantly desirous of prevailing over the circumstances and dangers into which fate has once more thrust him.

This is an action-adventure story about a man possessed of the superb skills of martial artistry and firearm use, who must employ all these skills from one hair-raising scene to the next from within the urban jungles of the city to the desolate, cactus strewn locale of the Mojave Desert in a crusade to secure his own survival as well as to obtain the triumph of the ultimate good over the escalating forces of evil.



TREATMENT OF SCREENPLAY

Suffering from a gun-shot wound in his arm and a badly bruised leg, John Gage wearily struggles to reach the security of a range of mountains still nearly a half mile distant from his present location at the edge of the Mojave Desert. Two miles behind him he can detect the dust arising from the pursuing jeep headed in his direction. He is bare-chested, wearing only trousers, shoes and the bandanna which he has fastened over his brow as protection from the harsh July rays of the desert sun.

He remarks "What I wouldn't do for a nice, cold rum 'n' coke right now!" as he recalls that only four days earlier he had been serving that very same drink to some beautiful, long-legged female patrons within the cool, comfortable confines of the swank Beverly Hills bar where he has been employed.

He has fallen several times and is seen in a state of near collapse induced by the severity of his wounds, incipient sun stroke and ravaging thirst.

The jeep draws steadily nearer. He looks back at his pursuers and summoning renewed strength he regains his feet and jogs the last two hundred yards to the base of the mountain.

Once there, he immediately begins to climb. Behind him, the jeep is seen coming to a halt. Four men exit the vehicle and immediately unshoulder their automatic rifles and begin firing at him.

John continues his ascent up the side of the mountain and disappears among its sheltering rocks. The bullets of his pursuers fall askew of their intended mark and the men are seen reentering the jeep, which then resumes its approach toward his position.

He is some two hundred feet above the base of the mountain, when he espies an opening through the rocky edifice. He quickly enters through this tiny, natural aperture and, emerging on the other side of the narrow mountain ridge, continues climbing again, seeking a refuge in which to hide.

The four Asian passengers in the jeep arrive at the point where only moments earlier John had begun his climb. They sling their weapons and begin a dedicated search, mounting the mountainside and following the tracks left by their quarry.

Former CIA agent and ex-Navy Seal John Gage discovers the tiny entrance to a cave near the crest of the interior mountain face and quickly falls to his knees and wiggles inside, applauding his good fortune that his keen but temporarily flawed eyesight had not failed him. It is a narrow and well-hidden opening, undetectable from ordinary view. He knows the rocky formation of the terrain will not reveal his tracks. He does not question the seeming fortuitous miracle of the incident, for it has happened before when he needed it in his struggles against evil. He is heard mumbling his thanks to an unseen benefactor as he adjusts himself to his new and strange surroundings. But his travail is
not over.

Once inside, Gage immediately removes a cigarette lighter from his pocket and flicks it on. The dusky interior of a tiny, low-ceiling cave appears in the dim light; the next instant, and just at the moment he sees it, a rattlesnake, alarmed by the sudden intrusion of a stranger, lashes out at him, and its poison-laden fangs sink into his left arm. He stifles a cry of pain and surprise, but like the expertly trained soldier he is, he seizes the snake with blinding speed and wrenches its head off. Knowing the danger he is in, and the best remedy, he quickly takes his pocket knife, and with the aid of illumination from his lighter, cuts a deep slit across the two tiny punctures and sucks out most of the venom. For some two or three minutes he continues at his life-saving task. Then satisfied he has done all he can he lies quietly back and prepares himself for the blackout he knows will follow, and hoping the dead reptile has no companions within the cave to further threaten him.

Now, his four pursuers are seen as they reach the opening through the rocky formation that had afforded Gage access and facilitated his efforts of escape, and they, also, enter and pass through to the other side.

He hears his pursuers outside the cave and, murmuring a soundless prayer, he lapses into unconsciousness, with the cigarette lighter and its golden Navy Seals emblem limned in close-up.

As Gage continues to baffle and elude his pursuers by remaining concealed inside the cave, he is seen drifting in and out of consciousness, his fevered mind wrestling with the series of events and unfortunate circumstances which have thrust him into his present predicament.

FLASHBACK: John Gage is serving behind the bar at his place of employment, a swank bar, O'Shaney's Irish Pub, in Beverly Hills, California. It is a socially elite singles' retreat that caters to lawyers, bankers and white-collar clientele employed in the high-rises that proliferate the city's surrounding business district. He holds an emblem- embossed lighter in his hand and is seen lighting the cigarette of a stylishly attractive blonde patron flirting with him at his station. It is four days prior to his adventure in the desert, and he is bartending the evening shift.

The place is thronging with patrons, among which is a strikingly-beautiful American brunette named Charlotte, a first-time customer, accompanied by three distinctively-dressed oriental male companions situated at Gage's end of the bar.

Suddenly a bitter quarrel develops between two of the woman's companions and immediately erupts into violence. Gage quickly intervenes and, in a swift display of incredible martial arts skill, quickly subdues and ejects both men from the club. The woman, Charlotte, adopts an expression of newly kindled admiration for Gage, and is intensely impressed with his forceful masculinity. The remaining Asian, named Toto, who is a giant of a man and her personal bodyguard, attends a low profile in the background while she lingers at the bar until closing time amusing herself in friendly, piquant conversation with Gage.

John Gage is strongly attracted to the charmingly enticing woman, and after they toast a memorable evening together, with a shot of whiskey, he escorts her to her parked limousine. She promises to visit him soon again at the pub.

Gage is seen the next day attending a martial arts class at a local dojo where he is an assistant karate instructor and part owner. Next, he is shown attending a local pistol range honing his marksmanship. And then later that evening we see him at work behind the bar again, serving drinks, and entertaining his customers with witty humor, skillfully flipping bottles and mixing exotic drinks. While he is working he is approached by two former friends from his "Agency," days, agents Stoll and Johnson, with whom he had worked on several occasions when employed by the C.I.A.

The agents inform him that they have been tracking a young woman who is in the company of several Asians, across three continents, and who is thought to be in possession of critical information leading to the whereabouts of a Professor Viedmier, a former East German scientist who has perfected a means of converting kinetic energy into electrical power.

Unbeknownst to Gage or the two agents, Charlotte and her Chinese communist associates already know that Professor Viedmier is hiding somewhere in Beverly Hills or the Los Angeles areas.

Sharon Bates, who manages the nightclub, and Jake, the other bartender on the shift at Gage's station, have their curiosities aroused by the somewhat surreptitious cloak and dagger style conversation engaged in by John and his two friends behind the bar. Most of John's associates know about his former C.I.A. affiliation.

The three men are interrupted first by Jake and then by Sharon, who separately attempt to join the group. But the two inquisitors learn nothing. Suddenly, a huge, corpulent customer sitting at the end of the bar, who has previously been 86'd, rudely interrupts John's conversation with the two C.I.A. agents, shoving one of them roughly and demanding to be served; ordering the "stupid bartender to get off his fanny and serve me another drink!" John warns the man to be quiet and tells him to leave. The drunk makes an effort to hit John but misses with a wild swing. Instantly John vaults lightly over the bar, and positioning himself behind his six foot-five adversary, he quickly and effectively seizes him by an ear and ushers him out of the cafe and into the parking area, warning him never to come back.

We see John reenter the bar wearing a long-suffering expression on his face. The drunk is seen outside, stumbling about and peering into the bar, and seems about to reenter. But John turns and smiles at him maliciously and the man stumbles quickly backward and turns and walks unsteadily away into the night.

John resumes his position behind the bar and concludes his conversation with Stoll and Johnson. They request his assistance in keeping his eyes open for Charlotte in case she returns to the bar and for him to contact them if she should. Jake is seen off to one side overhearing this portion of the conversation.

Later, after his friends have left and the club has closed, John is seen exiting the pub and escorting Sharon to her car. She is obviously attracted to him, but the affection is not mutual, and she kisses him lightly on the cheek before entering her vehicle. John smiles as he watches her drive off, and then quickly starts walking up the street away from the nightclub. Suddenly, Charlotte's limousine appears alongside him and slides to an abrupt halt. Toto immediately exits the vehicles, closely followed by a tall, emaciated Chinese gentleman, who later proves to be Yang Chu, a communist Chinese secret agent who Charlotte works for.

Yang Chu motions to Toto with his hand, and suddenly the giant Asian leaps at Gage with a flying side kick, which John easily parries. For tense seconds both men are engaged in a fierce exchange of karate kicks, punches and counter-kicks and punches. Neither fighter gains the advantage, and Yang Chu soon calls a halt to the encounter.

Yang Chu expresses his admiration at John's fighting skills, but then quickly tells him that he himself is an emissary engaged in a vital mission for his country (which nationality he does not name) and tells John he must not interfere. He knows of John's meeting with the two C.I.A. agents, although he is unaware of John's prior employment with the Central Intelligence Agency. Both Chinese men reenter the limousine and John stands silent as Yang Chu issues a final warning to him: if John does not remove himself from involvement in the matter at hand, the next time their paths cross, Toto will confront John with more than a mere testing of John's amateurish skills as a martial artist.

The next night as John arrives for work, and just before entering, he notices Charlotte seated at an outdoor cafe directly across from O'Shaney's Pub. They exchange smiles and Gage enters the bar.

Later, during the height of the cocktail hour, Gage is approached by Jake who asks to meet him later that night at a certain motel in downtown Los Angeles. Jake, aware of Gage's extraordinary fighting skills, tells him that he is to meet someone at the motel but that he is apprehensive of doing so without someone to accompany him for added security. John agrees to aid Jake and meet him at the named motel later that evening.

Jake finishes his work shift and is seen leaving the pub. As he drives from the adjacent parking lot and onto the main boulevard, we see Charlotte's limousine and a jeep with four Chinese men aboard set out in surveillance.

Twenty minutes later John is seen driving through the Mid-Wilshire district of Los Angeles and then entering the Downtown area. Arriving at the designated motel and parking on a side street close by, he walks to the front entrance and is about to enter, when he hears Jake's voice calling hoarsely for help. The front door is locked, so John quickly kicks the door off its hinges and rushes inside.

After taking but a few running strides through the foyer, he is confronted by three East German bodyguards near the foot of the staircase leading to the second floor. The three men are dressed in business suits and one is armed with a revolver. John quickly disarms the armed man with a savage karate kick, and then proceeds to quickly render all three unconscious in a flurry of karate kicks and blows.

He rushes up the stairs and at the second floor landing encounters two more German security personnel just as another cry for help is heard from down the hallway ahead. Gage instantly knocks both guards unconscious and streaks along the hallway toward the sound of the last scream. He hears a noise from behind the nearest door and immediately kicks it open and rushes inside. He sees an elderly, frail-looking man at the far end of the room, engaged in a frantic effort to open a window.

Gage, first in English, demands the whereabouts of his friend, Jake. Seeing that Viedmier doesn't seem to understand too well, he quickly repeats the question in German. At that moment, from behind them, Charlotte and five of her Chinese henchmen enter the room.

She explains to Gage that Jake has been working undercover for her at the pub for some time. O'Shaney's Pub is an internationally frequented night spot, and a favorite meeting place for famous people, thus one can expect to eventually find there whoever he is seeking. So Jake had been approached by Charlotte to watch for the Professor. Unfortunately, Jake, who had learned of the importance of Viedmier's invention, had become greedy and decided to go freelance. Charlotte, suspecting this to be the case, began following him. Thus, after weeks of careful surveillance he led her to the motel where Viedmier and his small entourage of former East German agents had been in hiding for over four months.

As they are talking, two of the Chinese thugs toss Jake's lifeless body into the room. An expression of anger appears across John's face, and with the Professor cowering on the floor at one side of the room, he suddenly attacks the two Asians closest to him. Immediately, the other three thugs join in the fight against John and he is surrounded on all sides. At that moment Yang Chu and Toto burst noisily into the room momentarily distracting the combatants and causing a hiatus in the conflict.

Though gaining the advantage over his adversaries at the outset because of the suddenness of his surprise attack, Gage knows he is certain to lose the ultimate battle. He suddenly leaps out a nearby window and lands unharmed on the street two floors below.

Gage subsequently flees on foot and is pursued through the downtown streets for a short distance by three of Charlotte's men, but is then able to locate his car and escape by driving from the scene without pursuit.

He is shown arriving at O'Shaney's Pub. The place is closed, but having a set of keys, he is able to enter. Once inside, he is immediately greeted by Sharon Bates, and Stoll and Johnson, whom Sharon informs him have been waiting half an hour for his arrival, and in the meantime questioning Sharon regarding his whereabouts.

John quickly informs the two agents of the events that have transpired. While Sharon listens, Gage quickly relates his finding Viedmier, his confrontation with the Chinese thugs and of his narrow escape from the motel. He makes no mention of Jake, and while the two agents confer among themselves on a course of action, John informs Sharon of Jake's death, but is certain to tell her that Jake was innocently involved. He then describes his former life wherein he had served in the military as a Navy Seal, had been recruited by the C.I.A. after his military experience and of his having worked five years as a field agent thereafter and of his subsequent resignation from the agency and his efforts to make a go of it in civilian life as a nondescript bartender.

While she is at first surprised and awed by the dangerous nature of John's former profession and his involvement in such violence, she finds she also must admire his strength of character and physique, and his skill in handling any difficult and dangerous situation. Thus she realizes her affection for him has deepened and become more enlightened. Their conversation is interrupted by the two agents who ask that Gage accompany them to where Charlotte and the Chinese agents are headquartered, and assist them in securing the Professor's release.

Agent Stoll telephones the local police while Johnson escorts Sharon outside the club and to her car, at which point he orders her to forget all she has heard and to simply go straight home.

She is seen driving off in her small automobile, but instead of following Agent Johnson's orders she quickly drives her vehicle around the block and parks where she can wait and follow the three men. Gage and the two agents enter another vehicle and drive to where Charlotte and her gang have taken the Professor. En route they are joined by three Beverly Hills Police squad cars. Sharon is shown driving undetected a discreet distance behind the police convoy.

Gage and the police converge upon a family duplex style building where the Professor is being held. Inside he is seen undergoing torture at the hands of Toto, while Charlotte and Yang Chu, along with another of the leaders, Fu Li, stand watching impatiently.

Gage and the police arrive at the duplex. Agent Stoll takes charge and immediately orders those inside to surrender. A grenade is thrown out from one of the duplex windows. It lands amidst the police vehicles and explodes, causing one of the squad cars to immediately blow up and two others to catch fire.

A fierce firefight ensues between those inside the duplex and the authorities surrounding the building outside. Subsequently, three of the six police officers outside are shot and killed. Inside, three of the nine Asians meet a similar fate.

Charlotte, Yang Chu, Toto and the others drag the Professor to his feet and head for the back of the house. At the same moment, the remaining authorities outside make a charge upon the front of the building.

Charlotte and the others are seen escaping out the back door and enter the backyard where the limousine and jeep are parked.

Gage, Stoll and Johnson confront Charlotte and her men in the back yard just before they are able to enter their vehicles. Gage engages three of the Asians in hand-to-hand combat while the two C.I.A. agents engage in a shooting match with the other thugs.

Gage kills two of the Asians and evades a third in an attempt to reach Viedmier before the Professor is forced inside the limo. Toto attempts to reach Gage's position; en route he comes up behind Agent Stoll and grabs him in a choke hold and breaks his neck. Johnson is pinned against a wall and then shot to death by three of the other Chinese agents, but not until he dispatches two of his attackers.

John reaches the Professor and half drags and half carries him from the yard and through nearby shrubbery and bushes to the street in front of the house. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, Sharon's car pulls to a screeching stop beside them. She shouts for them to get in, and John quickly leaps into the back seat of the vehicle, and drags Viedmier after him.

We see Charlotte, Yang Chu and Toto and the limo driver inside the limousine as it drives around the back of the duplex and onto the street in front. The remaining police exit the rear of the building just as the jeep, with its Chinese driver and three passengers, drive off in the same direction as the limousine.

CUT TO: The high-speed chase begins: first through residential streets and then to a freeway, and later to Highway 50 leading out of Los Angeles and to Las Vegas. Dawn looms just below the horizon, and Sharon looks at her fuel gage noticing that her gas tank is registering almost full.

The chase continues. Soon it is daylight. John, seated beside the Professor in the back seat, suddenly notices a red stain appearing on the front of the Professor's shirt from a wound to his chest which he must have received back at the duplex. The old man has been losing blood all this time, and is turning ashen pale.

Finally, just before he dies, the Professor removes a four-inch long cylindrical tube which was strapped to his leg, and quickly informs John that the tube contains the blueprint and formula to his kinetic energy machine. It had been his intention to sell it at a later date to the highest bidder and then be able to retire to live in peace and style somewhere in Canada. But contrite now over his greed and foolishness, he places the tube in John's hands and begs the former C.I.A. agent "to do good with it and somehow forgive the selfish greed of an old, dying man." A moment later, Viedmier dies and John puts the tube carefully in his pocket.

John looks back and notices the limousine and jeep are still in pursuit and appear unshakable. He then gets the idea that if he discards the Professor's body from the car, maybe Charlotte and her henchmen will give up the chase, or be delayed long enough for Sharon and him to escape.

He tells Sharon to stop the car when he tells her, at which time he pushes the Professor's dead body quickly but gently out of the car and on to the side of the highway.

At Gage's signal Sharon stomps hard on the accelerator and the car rockets forward and quickly resumes full speed once more. John watches anxiously out the rear window for the moment the limousine and jeep will reach the location of Viedmier's body on the highway, praying his ruse will be successful.

John suddenly turns from the window and climbs over into the front seat, cursing softly to himself...the limousine did not stop. Charlotte had seen through his scheme, and we see the limousine and jeep continue their pursuit uninterrupted, but much closer to them now.

As Sharon drives, John admonishes her for getting involved and not going straight home as instructed. "Of course, if you hadn't shown up when you did..." he admits, "...my days as a Beverly Hills mixologist might be finished!"

She smiles at this, but with a worried look asks him what his immediate plans are. He tells her, "Just keep driving. I will think of something." He examines their options: They are without weapons or provisions of any kind. They have a gas tank that is half full, and are speeding along an interstate highway at seventy miles an hour closely pursued by a gang of heavily armed international murderers who are gaining on them with every second that passes, with no apparent means of escape and certainly no viable plan, and with no hope. He closes his eyes. "I'll think of something," he repeats.

The limousine and jeep are seen closing the distance between them and their quarry. Up ahead John sees a side road leading off at right angles from the interstate. John quickly directs her to drive onto this side road.

Making a sudden right turn, her car veers into the narrow dirt road, and we then see the two pursuing vehicles follow them and now close the distance to about two hundred yards.

From a later overview shot we see Sharon's automobile and the two pursuit vehicles are now separated by only a hundred and fifty yards, as the three vehicles race along the dirt road amid a great cloud of dust. About half a mile ahead is seen an old, abandoned mining town.

Toto and another Asian thug in the limousine begin shooting out the windows at Sharon and John. Two bullets strike the rear window of her car, shattering the glass and emphasizing the direly critical condition of their predicament.

As their car approaches the edge of town John quickly relates a desperate last chance action scenario to Sharon.

They are into the town and speeding between old abandoned buildings. Sharon whips her vehicle sharply to the left and slides around a building at the end of a street, heading back in the direction they had come...and John leaps out and lands running. "Good luck, my darling!" he shouts as he heads into the rocky wastes of the great Mojave Desert.

Sharon, her face grim and ashen, guns the engine and the car straightens out of its slide and streaks off to the far end of the street, and thence back onto the highway toward Las Vegas. At that same moment Charlotte's limousine with the jeep close behind, enters the town and pulls to a sudden stop about fifty yards from where John is seen running. He turns and holds up the tube for all of them to see, and then quickly resumes his dash for freedom along the rocky desert floor.

Charlotte and her henchmen hastily exit the two vehicles, as she assesses the situation. She orders the occupants from the jeep to pursue John while she and the others follow Sharon, who might possibly be carrying another container holding the formula.

Charlotte, Yang Fu, Toto and the driver reenter the limousine and are seen setting out after Sharon.

The four Asians ordered to apprehend Gage set out after him, three on foot following through the difficult terrain, while one goes back to the Jeep and attempts to follow by picking his way around the rocks, which seems in the beginning to be the slower method.

John's shirt is ripped and in tatters from his earlier martial confrontation. He is seen making his way from the abandoned town, over the rocky five miles of terrain which gradually ascends to the base of the mountain where we found him at the beginning of the story, prior to the flashback. The early day has grown hot and is taking its toll on the weary travelers, both the pursuers and the pursued. The distance between the antagonists is rapidly increasing, so the thugs begin taking random shots at their quarry.

One lucky shot hits Gage in the upper right arm, inflicting a painful but not serious wound. He gives no sign that he has been shot, so his pursuers, becoming discouraged, give up firing and stop to rest and await their compatriot with the jeep, but the pursued must continue on. He removes the remnants of his tattered shirt, pulls some strips from it and bandages his wound to stop the bleeding. With the remainder he improvises a makeshift hood to protect his head from the sun.

Bare-chested, thirsty and bruised, we now see John Gage from the angle of view as the scene first revealed at the beginning of the story. Again, he falls face down and, we DISSOLVE TO:

BACK TO THE PRESENT: John Gage, inside the cave, has awakened from his fevered sleep of nightmares. He hears a growling sound coming from outside and painfully shifts his position to peer out. He is astonished to find that night has fallen. By the light of a full moon he can see the animal that aroused him. It is a coyote or wolf. The animals presence tells him that his pursuers have left the area, and that he is safe for now.

He retrieves his cigarette lighter from the ground beside him and flicks it on to examine the condition of his several wounds. The flesh around the area of the snakebite is sore but seems to be healing nicely, but the wound in his arm is very painful and needs attention. Now his main concern is finding drinking water. If only it would rain.

Gage is shown exiting the cave and slowly and painstakingly making his way down the mountain and back into the old, abandoned town. A hard rain begins to fall during his journey, and he pauses several times to rest and suck rainwater from the rag he had worn around his head, which serves to appease his insatiable thirst.

John, now somewhat restored to normal health, is seen cautiously making his way through the old, abandoned town, pausing for a moment at one point to drink from a clear pool of water that has collected from the heavy downpour of rain, and then continuing on to the edge of the town, where he and Sharon had entered the day before. Before proceeding to the main highway to hitch a ride back to Los Angeles, he makes certain that he is safe from observation.

CUT TO: It is still dark and John is seen standing along the side of the main interstate highway, holding out his hand to thumb a ride as a truck approaches. It is raining hard again and he is drenched to the skin. The truck begins slowing, and stops as it reaches him. He opens the cab door and gets in. He and the driver exchange warm greetings, and the truck continues on to Los Angeles without event.

CUT TO: It is a bright, sunny day that graces the city of Los Angeles later the afternoon of the next day. John is seen entering his martial arts studio through the back entrance. Upon entering the main practice room he is greeted by Sensei Angi Rhee and two black belt members of the school. The Sensei motions for Gage to follow, and leads him to an office, where Sharon Bates is seated looking pert and pretty.

They greet each other warmly, and each is relieved to find the other safe. He gives her a brief account of his adventures after their separation, and asks for hers.

She explains that after leaving him at the abandoned town she managed to elude Charlotte and her limousine of Asian thugs by hiding overnight in a hidden arroyo. Then she drove straight back to L.A., making it on the remaining gas in her tank, and went directly to the pub and phoned the police and local chapter of the C.I.A., relating the whole episode about Charlotte and her communist Chinese companions, the shootout at the duplex and subsequent pursuit out of the city to the old, abandoned town, how Gage was somewhere alone out in the desert and still alive, if he were lucky; and also about the Professor's kinetic energy machine. After listening to her story, two agents from the agency drove her to the Irish Pub and directed her to remain there until the C.I.A. authorities had checked out her story.

After waiting anxiously for over four hours, and not hearing any word from the officials, she drove to the dojo to see if Gage had returned, and while there, explained the whole affair to the Sensei and assembled members of the martial arts studio. She remarks that she is certain that some of the authorities must have followed her to the dojo since they were staking out the pub all afternoon.

John immediately goes to a window and looks out. At the very same moment, Charlotte, Yang Chu, Toto and the other four Chinese from the jeep walk in through the front entrance. John turns from the window and smiles at Charlotte who, holding her hand out, asks him for Viedmier's cylinder.

Stepping back into the main practice room, John is immediately joined on one side by Sensei Rhee and on the other by his two fellow black belts. Charlotte pulls out a revolver, but is waved aside by Toto who, with the other four Asian thugs behind him, steps into the room to confront John and his companions on even terms.

At that moment, a bull horn is heard from the street outside the martial arts studio; a voice declares "This is the C.I.A.! Everyone come out with their hands up!"

Charlotte looks immediately worried and Yang Chu quickly runs around one side of the room in an effort to reach the back exit. The First Black Belt quickly kicks the old man in the chest, knocking him to the floor unconscious.

An instant later, Toto leaps upon the First Black Belt and the other thugs engage John, the Second Black Belt and Sensei Rhee.

Off to one side, Sharon Bates grabs Charlotte and disarms her, as both women fall to the floor struggling.

A long, no holds-barred martial arts battle ensues until which time Sensei Rhee is seen restraining two of the thugs in judo holds near the back of the room and only John and Toto are left standing among all the other combatants who are either lying on the floor dead or unconscious.

The giant Toto and Gage slowly circle about each other and then suddenly clash together in a tremendous, deadly duel of two Titans in hand-to-hand combat. A two-minute hand-to-hand battle follows, wherein attacks and counter-attacks of every form of combat is displayed and with blinding camera speed depicted. The certainty of victory shifts from moment to moment from one to the other expert fighter until finally, John is able to kill Toto with a flying leap side-kick to the throat.

A second later, C.I.A. agents and a swat team of police rush into the studio from outside. Just as Charlotte is about to escape her grasp, Sharon knocks the villainess out with an untrained but equally effective karate chop to the back of the neck. She smiles and then rushes over and into Gage's arms, saying: "Hell, this is sure a lot more fun than bartending!"

While the police are seen busily arresting the offenders, carting off the dead and obtaining statements, John removes Professor Viedmier's cylinder from his pocket and gives it to the local C.I.A. chief who greeted him just moments earlier. The agent quickly examines the contents of the tube and finds that it contains only torn and burnt pieces of paper.

John is heard to remark: "All this...," waving his arms about him and then pointing at the pieces of paper in the agent's hand, "...for this!"

With his arm around Sharon, he turns to exit the scene and laments: "Now I definitely am ready for a nice, cold rum 'n' coke!"

Sensei Rhee waves a quick salute to his exiting protege and we then see John and Sharon leave the dojo and enter the street outside. He is arm-in-arm with a woman and boss whom he hopes can't wait to serve him his first drink after a hard day at the dojo!


T H E E N D