Slave Tensions Transcript

(Opening shot: the city skyline in the afternoon.)

Narrator: The city of Townsville…

(Pull back to show the shot as a billboard on top of a building; it is actually evening. The board bears the words “THE CITY OF TOWNSVILLE,” along with a piece of graffiti: “SMELLS.”)

Narrator: …smells?! Say, what’s going on here?

(As he continues, turn down to the street. Various derogatory messages have been painted on the buildings, and also on a picture of the Mayor.)

Narrator: The Mayor’s dumb?…Say, that’s just rude! Who’s responsible for this?

[Goof: The billboard reads "The mayor stinks", not "The mayor's dumb".]

(Stop at the entrance to a subway station and dissolve to a slow pan along the tracks; we hear a can of spray paint being shaken and used. Stop on a graffiti message: “POWERPUFF GIRLS ARE STUPID!” A hand reaches into view and makes an addition; pull back to show it as Little Arturo’s. Ace stands next to him, looking on. The added word is “YEAH.”)

Narrator: The Gangrene Gang! I should’ve known.

Arturo: (laughing) Nice job, Ace!

Ace: Yeah.

(Pan further along the track to the sound of more spray-painting. Stop briefly on Grubber, putting up the visual equivalent of his raspberries, then continue on to Snake. Instead of tagging the tunnel, he merely stands there hissing. Cut to a bend in the tunnel up ahead of the station; a train rolls into view, headlights blazing. Back to Ace, Snake, Grubber, and Arturo.)

Ace: Hey, you guys, am-scray! The train’s comin’!

(Up to the platform. He climbs onto it, followed by Grubber. Snake slithers up after them as the roar of the train grows louder.)

Arturo: (from o.c.) Hey, what about me? (Ace reaches down and lifts him into view.) Thanks, Ace. (Ace drops him to the platform.)

Ace: Man, that was close! Everyone here?

Snake: Yes-s-s.

Arturo: Sí.

Grubber: Pbbbppt!

(Pan quickly to the far wall of the tunnel. Big Billy is on the tracks, his back to the camera.)

Ace: (from o.c.) Billy? Billy? (Back to him and the other three.) Billy?

Arturo: (pointing) There he is!

(On the tracks, Billy is looking at his work—a sloppy message: “GRAFFITI by Big Billy.” He begins to laugh at this and continues even as the train’s headlights illuminate him. The laughter grows until he doubles over; back to the rest of the Gang, frantically yelling for him to get off the tracks, then to the street entrance to the station. A few scraps of a paper rustle in a sudden strong gust of wind here, then along the tunnel as well. Billy continues to laugh, and the papers rustle down the tunnel. Now he laughs so hard he has to sit down; the papers rustle once again. We see him lying on the tracks and laughing as the train roars into view; the papers go flying a fourth time. Each blowing is accompanied by the sound of the girls charging in. Close-up of his paint can. As the wheels grind over it, the contents splatter on the far wall and leak out onto the tracks.)

(Back to the platform. They set Billy down safely; cut to the rest of the Gang.)

Ace: The Powerpuff Girls! Let’s get outta here!

(All but Billy make a break for it, but find the girls blocking their path.)

Girls: Not so fast, Gangrene Gang!

(Back to Billy, sitting at the edge of the platform. As the others scatter behind him, he looks in wonderment at the track; camera turns down to show the smashed can in front of him.)

Billy: Billy’s can crush.

(On the platform, Billy stands up, rising into view to a close-up. Behind him, Blossom is using Ace for a punching bag while Bubbles is hitting Arturo on the head.)

Billy: Duh—Billy would have been crushed like can. (Close-up of him, zooming in on his hair.) Powerpuff Girls save Billy life. Powerpuffs save Billy life. (echoing) Powerpuffs save Billy life.

(The screen, now completely red, resolves into the front door of the girls’ house. Pull back quickly to show the exterior at night. Inside, the girls float into the front hall; camera follows them to the kitchen. The Professor is in there, wearing rubber gloves and an apron.)

Professor: Oh, girls! (turning around) You have a visitor waiting for you upstairs.

(Cut to behind him; he is at a sink full of dishwater. Now the camera points out into the hall. He goes back to work on the dishes.)

Girls: (bewildered) A visitor? (They fly out of sight.)

(Cut to inside the darkened bedroom. The door opens slowly, revealing the girls in the hall. Close-up of them, gasping sharply in surprise; cut to their perspective of Billy, sitting on the bed—the mattress of which is bowed considerably under his weight.)

Girls: Big Billy!

Billy: Duh—hello! (Cut to behind him.)

Blossom: What are you doing here?

(Back to Billy. He wipes his nose on the back of his hand and leans down to them; they recoil as if expecting to be hit.)

Billy: Duh—Billy come to thank girls. (Blossom opens her eyes in surprise.) Billy saved from choo-choo by Powerpuff Girls. Billy love Powerpuff Girls! Billy grateful. Billy do everything for Powerpuff Girls!

Blossom: What?

Buttercup: Cool! A butler!

Bubbles: Aww, he’s so cute.

Blossom: But—what about the Gangrene Gang?

(Cut to the other members in their hideout.)

Ace: Hey, where’s Billy?

Arturo: Didn’t he get run over by the train?

Ace: Oh, yeah, I forgot.

(Back to the bedroom.)

Billy: (sadly) Duh—Gang don’t care about Billy. (Pause.)

Blossom: HUDDLE!

(The girls gather for a quick talk. Camera shifts to point straight up at them from the floor.)

Blossom: Girls! He’s one of the Gangrene Gang!

Bubbles: Aww, but he wants to thank us for saving his life.

Buttercup: And Batman has a butler.

(The girls and the camera pull out of the huddle to find Billy playing with a squeaky rabbit toy.)

Billy: Duh—bunny, bunny, bunny!

Blossom: (uneasily) Well—I guess he couldn’t do much harm.

Professor: (from downstairs) Girls! Dinner’s ready!

Billy: Duh—Billy help!

(He runs across the room, sweeping them up in his arms as he goes, and crashes through the wall next to the open door. Cut to the dinner table, where he slaps them down into their seats as he passes—first Buttercup, then Bubbles, and finally Blossom, landing on her head, much to her dismay. He pops up behind the Professor, whose arms are loaded with full plates.)

Billy: Billy help!

(The Professor is lifted into the air, yelling in surprise, and held at table level to deposit a plate in front of each girl. Blossom is the last to receive her meal; she smiles nervously up at him. Pull back to behind his chair as he is lowered into it. Now Blossom looks quite uneasy.)

(Dissolve to her and Billy; she looks up at him with worry and some disgust'. He chomps noisily with his mouth open, bits of food falling down his chin. Pan slowly across to his other side, where Bubbles is sitting. She looks up at him, licking her chops, and begins to imitate his manner of chewing. Pan from her across the Professor, to Buttercup at the other side of the table. She regards her food with contempt and makes a sound of disgust.)

Buttercup: I hate broccoli!

Professor: Now, Buttercup, you must eat your vegetables. (Billy leans into view; he cowers in his chair.)

Billy: If Buttercup doesn’t wanna eat vegetables, then she doesn’t eat vegetables! (The Professor begins to sweat profusely.)

Professor: (laughing nervously) Okay...

(Back to Blossom, now looking very worried. Buttercup leans into view on her left.)

Buttercup: See? I told you he would work out. (She leans o.c.)

(Blossom looks off to her right; cut to Bubbles, still chewing with her mouth open. Her face is now covered with food; pull back to show Billy seated next to her. He reaches across to wipe her mouth from time to time. Back to Blossom, who shrugs resignedly.)

(Wipe to the entire group watching TV on the couch. Billy takes up most of the space, with Bubbles and Buttercup sitting in his huge hands. Blossom and the Professor are perched on the arms of the couch; the latter looks very ill at ease.)

Professor: (tapping his watch) Uh, girls, it’s bedtime.

Billy: Billy help ready Powerpuff Girls for bed!

(Cut to the bathroom. Billy reaches into view, holding a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste. He squeezes the tube hard enough to pop the cap off, dumping a huge glob of paste onto the brush. Reaching o.c. with the tube, he pulls Blossom into view. He brushes her teeth, then picks up a glass of water and dumps it into her mouth. Pull back to bring him into view as well. He lifts her up by the head and shakes her back and forth; close-up of her being held next to the sink so she can spit her mouthful into it.)

(Cut to the bedroom. Billy now has Bubbles by the feet and is swinging her back and forth so that her hair rubs across the hairbrush he is holding, bristles up. She giggles throughout. Cut to a side view of him, laughing, and turn slowly down to his feet. Buttercup is working out and using his gut for a heavy bag.)

(Dissolve to Bubbles asleep in bed and pan across her to Buttercup and Blossom as Billy speaks. Buttercup is also asleep, but Blossom eyes him warily; he is reading from a book of fairy tales, which he is holding upside down.)

Billy: (from o.c.) And so the three little wolves went to the pig’s house— (now in view) —and he said, “Fe fi fo fum!” (Stop on him.) “You sure have big teeth, Grandma!” (Pull back; he begins to yawn.) And the Hansel and the three blind mice climbed up the beanstalk to sell Mother Goose an old shoe!

(A quick dissolve, and Billy has fallen asleep in his chair. 'Blossom continues to watch him out of one eye as he snores loudly. After several seconds, pull back across the room to show the hotline. It begins to buzz, waking everybody. Blossom tries to answer it, but Billy is the first to reach it, and he picks it up as the girls watch in surprise. Split-screen view, with the Mayor on the other side. Long pause.)

Mayor: (impatiently) Hello?

Billy: Hello.

Mayor: Blossom?

Billy: No.

Mayor: Buttercup?

Billy: No.

Mayor: Bubbles?

Billy: (laughing) No.

Mayor: Well, I don’t care who this is, but the girls better get down here immediately! The bank is being robbed again! Goodbye! (Billy’s side expands to full screen.)

Billy: (hanging up) Goodbye!

(Pull back to bring the girls into view next to him. He begins to hop from one foot to the other like an excited little kid, clapping his hands as well.)

Billy: Oh, boy! Oh, boy! Oh, boy!

Blossom: What is it, Billy? What is it?

Billy: Oh boy, oh boy!

Blossom: Who was on the phone, Billy?

Billy: (hunching over, hands to head) The Mayor!

Blossom: The Mayor called?

Billy: Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah!

Blossom: What did he say, Billy?

Billy: (standing up, jumping) Emergency! Emergency!

Blossom: What emergency? Where?

(Billy stops fidgeting and jumping. Now the excitement is gone from his voice.)

Billy: Duh…

Blossom: Where, Billy? Where is the emergency?

Billy: Duh…

Buttercup: Come on, Billy!

Bubbles: Think, Billy, think!

Billy: Uh…uh…oh, yeah! The bank!

Blossom: An emergency at the bank. Let’s go, girls! (They take off through the ceiling.)

Billy: (running across room) Wait for me! (He crashes through the door.)

(Cut to the exterior of the Townsville Bank. Three horses stand at the curb. An alarm sounds.)

Narrator: Townsville Bank!

(Inside, three desperadoes—two tall, one short, with bandanas over their faces—have their six-shooters in hand.)

Short robber: (Texas drawl) All right, hands up! This is a robbery!

(Camera shifts to across the room in front of them; two guards have their hands up.)

Narrator: The Bank-Robbing Gang! Oh, how horrible! (Back to them; there is a crash o.c.)

Girls: (from o.c.) Not so fast, Bank-Robbing Gang!

(Cut to the girls, standing at the front entrance.)

Short robber: (from o.c.) The Powerpuff Girls! (Billy falls into view and lands on them.)

Billy: Duh—Billy help! (They poke their heads out from underneath.)

Blossom: Billy, what are you doing?!

Billy: Helping!

(Pull back quickly across the lobby; the Bank-Robbing Gang members run across the screen, carrying sacks of money.)

Blossom: They’re getting away!

Billy: Uh?

(The robbers are at the door, mounted on their horses.)

Short robber: Bye, Powerpuff Girls! (He laughs, and they ride out of view.)

Blossom: (sarcastically) Thanks, Billy. You let them get away.

Billy: You’re welcome. (A guard leans into view.)

Guard: (Irish brogue) Powerpuff Girls! The Mayor just called! He said you better be gettin’ down to Townsville Museum immediately. Somebody’s stealin’ all the art!

Billy: Duh—Billy help! (Cut to the exterior or the bank; he runs out and o.c.)

Blossom: No, Billy! Wait! (The girls take off after him.)

(Cut to the exterior of the museum.)

Narrator: Somebody’s stealing art from Townsville Museum! Who could it be?

(Inside, turn up from a clay pot on the floor. A string of sausages rises into the air as an Indian flute is heard. Stop on the Salami Swami, the turban-clad fellow seen briefly during “Meat Fuzzy Lumkins.” He is playing the flute and sitting on a magic carpet. The sausages respond like a charmed snake.)

Narrator: Oh, no! It’s the Salami Swami!

(Pull back; the sausages have hold of paintings and other items.)

Narrator: I never would have linked him to this crime!

(The Swami is interrupted by a crash o.c.; cut to the main entrance, where Billy has burst in.)

Billy: Duh—Billy help! (The girls pop up behind him, looking worried.)

(The Swami plays a few notes, and the sausages close in on Billy.)

Blossom: Billy, look out!

(He stands his ground, and as the links move on him, he neatly chews them up. The final chomp is shown in slow motion.)

Buttercup: All right, Billy!

Billy: (pointing o.c.) Now it’s your turn!

(Pan quickly to the Swami, who plays a few scared notes. Billy grabs a painting from the floor and raises it over his head.)

Blossom: No, Billy, no!

(The painting is slammed over the Swami’s head. Billy hits him with two more, followed by a statue; the Swami ends up with his head poking from the sculpture’s neck, his broken flute hanging from his mouth. The girls regard this development with great trepidation.)

Blossom: (weakly, hand to face) Oh…this isn’t happening. (The guard leans into view.)

Guard: Powerpuff Girls! The Mayor just called! There’s a giant monster c—

Billy: (running across screen) Billy help!

(Cut to the exterior of the museum. Billy charges off, the girls following.)

Girls: No, Billy! Come back!

(Cut to him running down the street. 'He stops short, looking up and making a sound of awe as 'a roar is heard from o.c. Cut to behind him from one side; a huge red beast with one eye and one horn towers over the buildings. It jumps up and lands on a few of them, reducing them to dust. Back to Billy; the girls fly across behind him and engage the monster. It knocks them away easily, and they slam into a wall next to him. Now he is fighting mad.)

Billy: Big monster try to hurt Powerpuff Girls. Billy hurt monster bad! (He charges off down the street and launches himself.)

Girls: No, Billy, don’t!

(Billy hits the monster with a flying shoulder charge; it slams flat into a building, knocking it over and into the one behind it. This one goes down as well, and so on. An entire row of buildings falls like dominoes. When the dust clears, Billy is seen from overhead, standing on top of the defeated creature with his arms raised in triumph. Pull back slowly; around him are several wrecked buildings.)

Billy: BIG BILLY SAVE THE DAY! (He laughs.)

(Back to the girls, still stuck to the wall. Zoom in slowly on Blossom, who looks ready to blow her stack.)

Buttercup: Uh…Blossom, are you okay?

Bubbles: (now o.c.) Blossom?

Blossom: (pulling free) THAT’S IT! (flying to Billy, furious) First you let the bank robbers get away! Then you destroy irreplaceable art! And now you’ve destroyed all of Townsville!

(Overhead view of the wrecked area on this last word, then back to them.)

Blossom: You do less damage as a member of the Gangrene Gang! Now go!

(Billy’s mouth begins to wobble, and after a moment, he bursts into tears.)

Billy: Billy no like you anymore! Billy go back to Gang! (He runs o.c., crying and wailing.)

(Cut to the exterior of the Gang’s hideout in the evening.)

Narrator: Back at the Gangrene Gang’s hideout…

(Inside, pan slowly across the table. The other four are playing poker. We can see Grubber’s cards—four aces. Snake lays down his cards; he has a full house—fives over twos. Ace shows his hand, also a full house—kings over sevens. Arturo reveals his cards, which make a full house of fours over sixes. Grubber shows his four-of-a-kind, which beats the others.)

Grubber: Pbbbbppbbbbt! (Close-up of his cards.)

Arturo: (from o.c., frustrated) Aw, man, Grubber always wins!

(Pull back. Grubber sticks his tongue out far enough to encircle the pile of poker chips in front of him, then pulls them into his mouth and swallows them in one huge gulp. Billy bursts in, lightning cracking behind him. Cut to Ace, who looks quite nonchalant.)

Ace: Oh, hey, Billy, we thought you were dead. Deal ’em again, Snake. (Billy steps into view behind him.)

Billy: (sobbing) Ace, it was terrible! First the Powerpuff Girls save Billy from choo-choo, then Billy try to help Powerpuffs, then Powerpuff Girls be mean—

Ace: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second. Billy, start over.

(Billy turns around and walks back to the front door; camera follows him there. He leaves. Pan back to Ace. Long silence.)

Ace: Um…after you came in, Billy? (Back to the front door; he pokes his head in.)

Billy: Oh. Sorry.

(Wipe to Billy on the couch. Arturo sits on one arm, Grubber on the other, patting him on the back. Snake and Ace look on.)

Billy: (sobbing) And so after the Powerpuff Girls were mean to Billy, I came back here!

Ace: I can’t believe the Powerpuff Girls saved you! A member of the Gangrene Gang!

(Grubber launches into an extended soliloquy which, naturally, is totally unintelligible to us. It makes perfect sense to Ace, however.)

Ace: Grubber, that is an excellent idea!

(Cut to outside the shack, pulling back slowly. Ace and Billy are visible in silhouette through the lighted window.)

Ace: Billy, my boy, after tomorrow, you won’t have to worry about those mean Powerpuff Girls again!

Narrator: (uneasily) Oh, boy. I sure don’t like the sound of that. (The moon sets and the sun rises.) And look! It’s already tomorrow!

(Cut to the girls in flight.)

Billy: (from o.c.) Help! Help! (The girls stop; he keeps calling as Blossom speaks.)

Blossom: Hey! Do you guys hear that? (Cut to above them.)

Buttercup: Yeah. It’s coming from the subway.

(Zoom in slightly on the street; a patch of it fades away, showing the subway tracks underneath—and Billy sitting on them, tied up. Close-up of Bubbles, her eyes glowing—she is using her X-ray vision to assess the situation.)

Bubbles: It’s Big Billy! (Pull back to show her sisters as well.)

Blossom: (disgustedly) Oh, no. Not again!

Buttercup: Wait. We’re not gonna save him again?

Blossom: (resignedly) We have to.

Bubbles: (happily) We’re superheroes! (She and Blossom zip down; Buttercup groans and follows them in.)

(Cut to Billy on the tracks. He does not seem particularly distressed about his circumstances.)

Billy: Help. Help, somebody. (There is a crash o.c.) Help. (The girls land next to him.)

Blossom: Billy, what are you doing?

Billy: Duh—gotcha!

(Close-up of the girls; Snake’s pointed nose and Grubber’s bug eyes are visible at left.)

Blossom: What? (Pull back; Ace is on their right. He and Snake grab them.)

Ace, Snake: Gotcha!

(Billy snaps the ropes holding him, picks up a steel girder, and leans down with it. He bends it to and fro and then stands up; the girls are dropped onto the tracks, the girder wrapped around them. Cut briefly to an approaching train, then back to the girls, with the Gang around them.)

Ace: (laughing) The train’s comin’, girls, and you are—

Grubber: Pbbpt!

Ace: Well put, Grubber. (The Gang runs o.c.)

(The girls begin to struggle and scream. However, we do not hear them, only the background music—think of this as a sort of silent movie. The train bears down on them; they struggle some more, and the Gang watches excitedly from the platform. Close-up of the train wheels, then of the girls still trying to break free. Back to the platform.)

Ace: Man, that train’s comin’ fast!

Arturo: Yeah! That choo-choo is chuggin’!

Billy: Choo-choo…?

(Quick sepia-toned flashback, in slow motion, of the girls pulling him out of the path of the train and setting him down on the platform. Back to the present moment.)

Billy: Girls save Billy from choo-choo. BILLY SAVE GIRLS FROM CHOO-CHOO! (He runs o.c. past the others.)

Ace: (calling after him, panicky) BILLY! DON’T BE A HERO!

(A long, drawn-out crash shakes the camera; Ace turns his head and covers his eyes. As the noise continues, cut to the tracks, at the rear of the train. It has been compacted like an accordion. Pan to the lead car, where we see Billy on the tracks—he has literally stopped the train singlehandedly, just before it could hit the girls. They have their eyes squeezed tightly shut and are waiting for annihilation. After a moment, realizing that they are still alive, they open their eyes and look back at Billy.)

(Extreme close-up of the twisted girders. Billy’s hands pull them aside, leaving the girls standing on the tracks and facing the camera.)

Blossom: Thanks, Billy. (Side view of them and him.) But you know what you did was wrong. (He nods.) Good.

(The girls start dishing out a beatdown, punching, kicking, and throwing Billy around the tunnel.)

Narrator: Billy, Billy, Billy. You saved the girls from danger. You done good! But you put ’em there in the first place, so you done bad.

(Billy crashes to the ground, and the girls go to work on the rest of the Gang.)

Narrator: When will they ever learn that crime doesn’t pay? It hurts! Yowch!

(The girls throw a trio of punches toward the camera, and the screen explodes from stars into the standard end shot.)