Destro's escape craft hurtles toward the treetops.
DESTRO (O.C.)
You fool! You've cost us both our lives!
INT. ESCAPE CRAFT
Scarlett and Destro are against the walls as the ship continues to spin out of control.
SCARLETT
The stabilizer controls still work!
DESTRO
Impossible! Centrifugal force has me pinned!
SCARLETT
My bow! Third arrow! It's a tractor rig! Hurry!
Scarlett kicks her bow and quiver over to Destro. He fumbles for the right arrow.
SCARLETT
Not that one, you jerk! The third one! That's it. Now, set it on short range, or you'll blow it through the instrument panel! Gently, hammer hands! Steady.
Destro fires the arrow, and it hits the surface of the control panel.
DESTRO
Nothing's happening!
SCARLETT
It will!
The string connecting the arrow to the bow suddenly retracts, pulling Destro hard against the panel. The ground looms large in the canopy.
SCARLETT
Do something fast!
DESTRO
It's frozen! It's no...
At the last second, the craft pulls up and returns to the sky.
SCARLETT
Congratulations.
EXT. COBRA TEMPLE - NIGHT
Destro's jet craft flies over the mountains and heads for one of the temple's pillars, where an iris opens.
DESTRO
Home port. I never believed this grotesque hideaway would look so welcome.
INT. COBRA TEMPLE - HANGAR
As Destro exits his craft with Scarlett as his prisoner,the Baroness and several Cobra Officers are ready to meet him.
DESTRO
Take her away!
Scarlett immediately breaks free and begins punching out Cobras. But they have her in seconds.
SCARLETT
Don't open any champaign yet, scrap-iron breath! You took a round, not the fight.
Scarlett is led away as Cobras unload Destro's escape craft.
DESTRO
What a tiresome tigress. She was my ticket out with the third element.
BARONESS
I knew you would not fail. However, all has not been going well since your departure. There was the ill-advised attempt to destroy New York City.
DESTRO
What?!
The Baroness whispers the news to Destro as Cobra Commander enters, wearing an extravagant cape and carrying a snake-headed scepter.
COBRA COMMANDER
Ah, Destro. Noble Destro, my old friend, we congratulate you on the success of your mission.
DESTRO
Success? You dare speak to me of success? You psychotic, sibilant serpent of a dolt!
COBRA COMMANDER
Really, Destro, is that any way to talk to your leader?
Destro lifts the Commander off the ground with one hand.
DESTRO
Your stupid, bungled attempt to disintegrate New York has given our enemies the two commodities they must not be allowed: time and hope!
Destro tosses the Commander away and steps toward him threateningly.
DESTRO
Nothing undermines our cause more greatly than failure to execute our threats!
COBRA COMMANDER
Destro, even you must see that with the meteorite particles in our possession, we are invincible!
As Destro walks away, the Commander throws his scepter at him, knocking him down. Destro gets up, takes the scepter, and returns to the Commander.
COBRA COMMANDER
Even you must see that!
DESTRO
Yes, Commander, yes. And I shall assure us our victory by taking full authority over all operations myself.
Destro crushes the scepter's snake head, hands it back to the Commander, and walks off with the Baroness, leaving the deposed leader hissing by himself.
COBRA COMMANDER
You can't do this to me, Destro! Stop! I'm speaking to you! Destro!
INT. COBRA TEMPLE - DUNGEON
Two Cobra Officers open a barred metal door and throw the struggling Scarlett down a steep flight of steps.
COBRA OFFICER
This'll take the fight out of you! G. I. Joe witch!
They close the door and leave. Scarlett hears movement in the shadows and stands in preparation. She goes into a fighting stance just as another feminine shadow leaps at her. The two wrestle for a bit.
SELENA
You haven't deceived me! You're a Cobra spy! Tell your masters that I'll tell them nothing, and I will tell you even less!
As Selena prepares for another run at Scarlett, the Joe notices the ring on the slave girl's finger.
SCARLETT
Relax, sister, we have the same friend.
SELENA
I do not understand.
SCARLETT
The ring. Duke's ring.
SELENA
Duke?
SCARLETT
Six-foot-two, eyes of blue? Look, I'll tell you straight off, Duke wouldn't want us to sit this one out. Understand?
SELENA
Yes, now I understand perfectly.
The women exchange violent gestures of defiance against the dungeon furniture.
EXT. JOE HEADQUARTERS - AIRFIELD
A crane lowers the meteorite into place, with soldiers standing guard or extracting the mineral. Dr. Vandermeer is nearby with Stalker, Tripwire, Rock 'n Roll, Wild Bill, Snake Eyes, Duke, Cover Girl, and Timber. Gung-Ho directs a line of captured Cobras to their destination.
GUNG-HO
All right, you creeps! Keep movin'!
DR. VANDERMEER
Now gentlemen, G. I. Joe has its own MASS Device, and it is ready for action.
JOES
Yo Joe!
COBRA TEMPLE - SMALL ARENA
General Flagg, his headband glowing, is marching in circles, holding an empty rifle. Two Cobras enter the room.
COBRA
Halt, slave! We have special greetings for you from Destro!
COBRA TEMPLE - CONFERENCE ROOM
The Cobras seat Flagg in a chair and remove his headband. He looks around to see Balankov and four other world leaders around the table. The men are given microphones and viewscreens tuned into their capital cities.
GEN. FLAGG [John Stephenson]
Balankov, where have we been? It's all hazy.
BALANKOV
I do not know, Flagg. But that one, he makes me afraid.
The Soviet Premier points to Destro, who rises from a Cobra throne. Cobra Commander stands off to the side, watching skeptically.
DESTRO
Silence! I Destro order you now to speak to the people of your nations! The time has come to surrender at once or perish!
The leaders begin speaking into their microphones.
GEN. FLAGG
I can't be sure where I've been or what has been happening to me, but Destro is the new Cobra leader!
BALANKOV
Our severest test is yet to come. The monstrous imperialist Destro is the...
DESTRO
It is simple to command respect when one has the power to back up one's speechmaking.
COBRA COMMANDER
That is true, Destro.
INT. COBRA TEMPLE - SLAVE LEVEL
A Cobra Officer and a hooded, shirtless slavemaster lead Scarlett and Selena down the hallway. The prisoners wear headbands but are in full control of their movements.
SCARLETT
That strip of metal you gave me worked, Selena. If I concentrate, I can override the control of the Cobra soldiers.
SELENA
It works best when the level of energy supplied to the headband is low.
COBRA OFFICER
Stop, slaves!
As they approach the slave pens, a Cobra guard opens the doors.
SELENA
The cages of the male slaves. We are expected to serve them food.
SCARLETT
Can we count on them?
COBRA OFFICER
Get to work!
Scarlett and Selena gather food and drink, and approach the male slaves. The giant looks up at his meal.
SELENA
They await only the proper moment. This is Ramar. When the time comes, he will lead the male slaves into battle against our hated Cobra masters.
RAMAR [Arthur Burghardt]
The time must come soon. Our patience is wearing thin.
SCARLETT
Oh, soon, I promise you. Very soon. Pass it on.
Ramar looks at a guard whose back is turned, and crushes his cup demonstratively.
RAMAR
We will be ready!
COBRA TEMPLE - CONFERENCE ROOM
As the world leaders sit at the table, Destro pounds his fists in frustration and paces around the room.
DESTRO
Such bottomless stupidity! The fools!
COBRA COMMANDER
Something troubles you, Destro? The world is not yet at your feet?
DESTRO
Not one nation has surrendered! This one must take a vote! That one wants to take it under consideration! Don't they realize they're dealing with Destro?
COBRA COMMANDER
Oh, I'd say they all know that, and it doesn't frighten them in the least!
COBRA TEMPLE - MASS DEVICE
Destro runs over to the machine and prepares to activate it.
DESTRO
They shall learn the price of their arrogance! Baroness, is the device at operating temperature?
BARONESS
Yes, Destro.
DESTRO
Then lock on homing devices and eradicate New York! Now! At once, do you hear? The world has denied my commands! Let them learn the consequence of insolence!
The MASS Device glows and shoots a blue beam into the sky.
INT. JOE HEADQUARTERS - COMMAND CENTER
Duke and Dr. Vandermeer watch on the viewcreen as the beam approaches the Relay Star satellite. Behind Duke are Snake Eyes, Steeler, Breaker, Rock 'n Roll, and Gung-Ho.
DUKE
Cobra's fired off another mass destruction ray! We've got to do something.
GUNG-HO
Maybe we can knock Destro's beam off course with a zap from our baby!
DR. VANDERMEER
It's worth a try.
EXT. SPACE - EARTH ORBIT
The scientist fires the Joes' red beam and it makes its way into the sky. Cobra's beam bounces off the satellite and begins descending toward New York.
GUNG-HO (V.O.)
Come on, beam baby!
EXT. NEW YORK CITY - EMPIRE STATE BUILDING
The beams meet at the top of the Empire State Building simultaneously, creating a blue-red ripple effect across the sky. The beams cancel each other out.
INT. COBRA TEMPLE - MASS DEVICE
COBRA COMMANDER
They stopped us! They must have a MASS Device!
DESTRO
Brilliant deduction!
INT. JOE HEADQUARTERS - MASS DEVICE
The Joes gathered around the machine celebrate their victory. [Note: Scarlett is erroneously pictured in the establishing shot. In the next shot, she is appropriately redrawn as Cover Girl.]
DUKE
Hold the festivities. Scarlett is still a prisoner, and we can't do anything about it...until I remember where Cobra headquarters is.
INT. COBRA TEMPLE - THRONE ROOM
Destro is making a global broadcast. the viewscreen behind him shows five of the world leaders under guard and in chains.
DESTRO
You, the people of the world, mistake my determination to conquer! I am not soft and merciful. Until your nations surrender to me, I shall execute your leaders one at a time, every half hour, on the hour...starting with General Flagg. Bring him to me, and I shall personally carry out his sentence!
INT. COBRA TEMPLE - HALLWAY
Two Cobra guards doze within sight of the MASS Device. Scarlett and Selena approach stealthily from a side hallway.
SELENA
Is now not a suitable time?
SCARLETT
I don't see why not.
The women knock out the guards. Selena grabs weapons and keys.
SELENA
Duke would be proud of me for this, Scarlett!
INT. COBRA TEMPLE - SLAVE PENS
The guards are no match for Scarlett and Selena. Within moments, the gates are open, and the slaves are free.
INT. COBRA TEMPLE - THRONE ROOM
Dozens of slaves burst into the room, taking Cobra Commander and Destro off guard.
DESTRO
Take them away!
COBRA COMMANDER
You are a fool, Destro!
As Cobra troops try to corral the slaves, Scarlett commandeers a bazooka and aims it at the MASS Device. Destro stops her just in time.
DESTRO
That's all, ladies. Be glad you survived with your beautiful skins intact. Remove them from my sight!
The slaves are now at gunpoint, and are led back to their pens.
INT. COBRA TEMPLE - HALLWAY
SCARLETT
Well, it was fun while it lasted.
INT. COBRA TEMPLE - DUNGEON
This time, the women are chained to the wall.
SELENA
Yes, you are very brave.
SCARLETT
But Duke's our only hope now.
INT. JOE HEADQUARTERS - MEDICAL LAB
Stalker, Wild Bill, Breaker, Flash, Tripwire, Cover Girl, Clutch, Snake Eyes, and Gung-Ho watch as Doc operates a computer panel. Clutch is chomping on an apple.
DOC
Relax. Breathe deeply. Let your thoughts flow freely.
BREAKER
It looks so weird.
We see that Duke is floating upright in a transparent cylinder. Green liquid bubbles around him.
DOC
He's in no danger, Breaker. In this special sensory deprivation tank, he may be able to get at the memory of his Cobra captivity, which has somehow been erased. Let's start at the beginning, Duke, with your childhood in Iowa.
On the screen above Duke, memories of his childhood play out: he rescues a kid by fighting off a group of bullies.
DOC (mostly O.C.)
Early on, your sense of honor and justice was tested, and you responded. It has never deserted you. It is at the heart of your idea of America, an idea despised by Cobra.
Duke walks onto a college campus and is shown playing football and studying.
DOC (CONT.)
That's it Duke.
On the screen, Duke is doing gymnastics and walking at night with a blond girlfriend.
DOC (CONT.)
It's coming into focus! Now concentrate on a Cobra-headed fortress on top of a bleak mountain.
The Cobra temple appears on the screen.
CLUTCH
It looks like the Hotel Dracula.
We see Duke fighting Ramar in the Arena of Sport, and preparing his Viper Glider for escape with Selena nearby.
DOC
Play it back slowly. You can do it. There. Start there, and move forward about half speed.
We see a close-up of Selena, and the men of the Joe team react. Duke places his ring on Selena's finger.
JOES (O.C.)
Hey, look at her! Wow! Geez!, etc.
ZAP (O.C.)
Hey man, how could you forget a face like that?
DOC
We've got it! The slave girl has Duke's ring! It's got special electronic characteristics!
BREAKER
Which can serve as our homing device right into the heart of Cobra's hideout!
INT. JOE HEADQUARTERS - MASS DEVICE
Some time later, an image of Duke's ring is enlarged on a nearby viewscreen.
DR. VANDERMEER
Perfect, Duke. The microchip components on your ring give us an excellent fix on the Cobra hideout.
As they speak, Steeler, Flash, and other Joes race onto the energy grid.
DUKE
Then start MASSing us out, Doctor Vandermeer. Cobra's had things their way long enough. Yo Joe!
Duke joins the Joes on the pad as they are beamed across the globe.
EXT. COBRA TEMPLE
The Joes materialize with JUMPs and vehicles equipped with mountain-climbing platforms. With Stalker and Steeler in the lead, they begin making their way up the mountain as Cobras fire from the temple. Zap and Gung-Ho barely dodge boiling oil that is poured down the side of the cliff. More Cobras arrive in a hovering weapons platform, but Duke knocks out one of its engines with his rifle. Stalker likewise drops a flight of Viper Gliders out of the sky, to land in the trees below. Finally, the Joes reach the base of the temple
DUKE
Ground units forming up. Bring on the air cover!
Three SkyStrikers arrive to bomb the remaining defense forces. Wild Bill pilots one of the jets.
WILD BILL
Yeehaw! Your turn, Snake Eyes!
Snake Eyes leads the Falcon Gliders on their assault as the SkyStrikers blast away a bridge, cutting off HISS tanks from the temple. The Joes cheer. Cobra Commander and the Baroness watch from a high balcony.
COBRA COMMANDER
This is all Destro's fault! His madness has brought this upon us, but my genius shall save us.
Cobra Commander operates a joystick to send four white snake robots into battle.
COBRA COMMANDER
My robot Cobras will annihilate the G. I. Joe forces!
The robots quickly dispose of a VAMP and a FLAK with little difficulty. Lasers have no effect. Duke and Snake Eyes take cover behind a mound of rock.
DUKE
We're in a pinch, Snake! What do you have?
Snake Eyes opens a satchel and pulls out a rocket-shaped explosive.
DUKE
Magnet grenades, huh? Good thinking.
Duke places the object at the end of his rifle and fires it into the air. It explodes, showering the robots with magnetic grenades. They explode on contact with the metal.
COBRA COMMANDER
We must flee, Baroness! Me first!
INT. COBRA TEMPLE - SLAVE LEVEL
Destro leads Gen. Flagg by a chain.
DESTRO
You shall be executed, General, whether or not the battle goes against me!
Just then, the wall gives way and Gung-Ho, Snow Job, and Torpedo (in jeans and t-shirt) begin shooting up the place. Destro runs off as Flash and Airborne join the battle.
GUNG-HO
Yo Joe! After him!
INT. COBRA TEMPLE - DUNGEON
Scarlett and Selena are still chained to the wall as Duke blasts his way in.
DUKE
Scarlett! Are you all right?
SCARLETT
Duke, it's about time you guys showed up. A girl gets tired hanging around the house.
Stalker frees the ladies, and Selena immediately plants a kiss on Duke.
SCARLETT
Later, sister. We've got a war to win.
DUKE
I was gonna bring flowers, but I thought you'd like these better.
Duke hands Scarlett her crossbow. She uses it to destroy a nearby HISS tank.
INT. COBRA TEMPLE
Elsewhere, Ramar tosses a Cobra three-wheeler out a window and into the moat. Scarlett distracts another Cobra just for fun.
SCARLETT
Look, it's Destro!
The guard stupidly looks upward, and Scarlett plants a fist in his stomach. Duke, Wild Bill, Stalker, and Snake Eyes find the closed blast doors leading to the throne room and the MASS Device. They combine their lasers to melt the doors.
INT. COBRA TEMPLE - THRONE ROOM
Cobra Commander and Destro flee as Joes race in: Duke, Wild Bill, Snake Eyes, Scarlett, Breaker, Steeler, Flash, Rock 'n Roll, and Zap.
JOES
Yo Joe! Yo Joe!
The Cobra leaders slam down another blast door just behind them as Stalker and the others begin to catch up.
COBRA COMMANDER
The barricade won't hold them long! We've lost, Destro! Lost! And it's all your doing!
Destro aims the MASS Device at the floor and begins to activate it.
DESTRO
There will be time for recriminations later! For now, MASS will take my revenge.
COBRA COMMANDER
You've aimed at the Earth's core! If that disintegrates, the planet will explode!
DESTRO
That's the general idea! Good-bye, Commander, or as you might say, Sssssso long!
COBRA COMMANDER
No!
Destro boards an elevator and the Commander hides behind the MASS Device, just as the doors melt and the Joes step inside.
SCARLETT
That's the MASS Device
BREAKER
It's pointed at the center of the Earth!
Gung-Ho blasts the machine to pieces, stopping the beam.
EXT. COBRA TEMPLE - DAY
Duke oversees the cleanup operation, flanked by Scarlett and Selena. Clutch and Breaker lead the Baroness and Major Bludd in chains.
DUKE
Where's Cobra Commander? He's got to be here somewhere!
Cobra Commander tries using a sheet and lampshade to slip past Snake Eyes, but Timber pulls off the disguise. Gung-Ho is ready to take him away.
COBRA COMMANDER
You have won this time, but Cobra will survive to defeat you! Remember my words!
DUKE
Well, so much for the Cobra Commander and his cronies. But it looks like Destro slipped away.
A FANG flies off unnoticed from the roof of the temple. It is Destro.
DESTRO
I shall be back for vengeance, I swear it. I shall be back!
INT. JOE HEADQUARTERS - MASS DEVICE
The Joes and Selena are gathered around Breaker.
BREAKER
Using part of our MASS machine with what's left of theirs, and the little bit of elements remaining, I think there's just enough juice to send the Eiffel Tower back where it belongs. Here it goes.
EXT. LONDON, ENGLAND
The Eiffel Tower materializes in the center of town.
INT. JOE HEADQUARTERS - MASS DEVICE
DUKE
London? You put the Eiffel Tower back in London?
BREAKER
I guess I goofed. But there's nothin' I can do. All the elements are used up.
SCARLETT
Well, we can't leave things like this.
DUKE
There may be a way.
INT. JOE HEADQUARTERS - COMMAND CENTER
On the viewscreen, Dragonflies fly escort as the Eiffel Tower sits on a giant barge being towed down the Thames River toward the English Channel.
DUKE
It should reach Paris in a few days.
BREAKER
Well, nobody's perfect.
DUKE
No, but we do okay.
Pan right to Gung-Ho, Breaker, Rock 'n Roll, Cover Girl, Wild Bill, Stalker, Scarlett, Timber, and Snake Eyes.
