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BLACK MIST
 Inside
the gym there’s a group of about 15 women varying in age and general condition. The
teacher’s name is Bruce, an occidental teacher who previously served in the military
where he received his training. He’s known for his stern discipline and does not like
to be crossed, almost like a drill sergeant some would say. As the class continues, the
teacher walks around and gives instruction or encouragement to several of the women until
he returns to the front of the class and asks them to circle around the padded mat to the
right.
The teacher takes his place in the middle of the mat and once everyone circles around he asks for volunteers to demonstrate proper techniques. One girl, Sue, volunteers eagerly and approaches Bruce. After the proper pleasantries, Bruce renders her harmless with his first move. Next, Amanda volunteers, as she wants to show-off in front of Lonnie with her skill. Amanda obviously is more skilled than the previous volunteer as she lands a couple of hard hits to Bruce’s side, but Bruce still manages with relative ease to block Amanda’s best efforts and eventually subdues her as well without breaking a sweat. Amanda returns to stand by Lonnie who congratulates her on doing a fine job. Lonnie tells her that with the proper teacher she could very well become very skilled. The teacher overhears Lonnie’s comments about "proper teacher" and finds this amusing. He asks her if she would be willing to participate in the demonstration. Amanda tells the teacher that it’s only her first time, she’s not ready yet. The teacher states that there’s never as good a time as the present to learn. Lonnie looks at Amanda who is waving her head not to accept his challenge thinking that he is too good for her. Lonnie turns and smiles politely at Bruce and accepts his challenge. Lonnie and Bruce begin. Bruce is the aggressor as he commences his attack on Lonnie who is standing nearly completely stationary as she wards off Bruce’s blows effortlessly. Bruce is slightly taken aback by Lonnie’s surprising skill. He asks her where she studied and she replies that she was home-schooled. Bruce attacks more aggressively and is once again warded off by Lonnie who has yet to move from her spot. The third charge is Bruce’s last as he completely loses his cool and attempts to physically harm Lonnie. Lonnie blocks all of Bruce’s attempts and spins high into the air and kicks Bruce once across the face. Bruce falls headfirst onto the mat-- unconscious. Everyone, especially Amanda, is amazed and bewildered. Lonnie bends over to check Bruce and tells everyone that he’s okay and that she guesses class is over for the day. Back on the campus of the University of San Francisco. The skies are becoming darker as a storm appears to be rolling in. Bolts of lightning flash across the blackened sky and the sound of the howling wind cautions students to retreat indoors. A group of young Chinese men gather about the entrance to the St. Ignatius Church on campus. These men are members of a death cult who worship the ancient dark entity of the Mist and its embassies. Their base is located in San Francisco’s Chinatown, but most of the men are actually from mainland China who have only recently made the trip to San Francisco to carry out their task. Once inside the church the cult goes about "securing" the sanctuary making sure that no one is inside and by leaving two members to guard the front entrance to "discourage" potential trespassers. Once this has been accomplished one of the members pulls out a red ceremonial cloth and places it on top of the (communion/dedication) table in front of the pulpit which bears the inscription "This Do In Remembrance of Me". Meanwhile, Lonnie and Amanda have just finished dinner and are leaving the restaurant. Amanda is still trying to pry information out of Lonnie concerning her martial arts ability until Lonnie finally confesses that she has been training practically all her life since she was sent to San Francisco when she was very young. Her relatives, who raised her here in Chinatown, had always been a little mysterious about why they pushed her so hard and were vague when questioned, merely telling her that when the time came she would realize the reasons behind it. Lonnie looks up and notices how bad the weather is becoming as a chill shoots through her body. Lonnie feels that this must be a bad omen as the moon slowly turns the color of blood before their eyes. As they pass the St. Ignatius Church on the way back to Lonnie’s office on campus, Lonnie can’t keep her eyes off of the blood red moon; its beauty and mystery capturing her attention. Lightning continues to flash across the sky as the pending storm intensifies. The combination of the blood red moon and the lightning give off an eerie glow to the night, highlighting the two cult members guarding the church’s entrance. Lonnie notices them, but continues to walk on by. Inside the church, the cult members stand around what has now become their ceremonial altar. They are holding hands and chanting, as the storm outside grows stronger and stronger. Trees start to bend as the winds blow at a ferocious velocity. Tree limbs shatter and fly through the air as a bolt of lightning pierces the roof of the church and strikes the table inside. Smoke fills the room as the cult members seem unfazed by this violent act of nature and continue with their chant until the smoke finally clears and all is silent. Suddenly a baby’s cry echoes through the church’s sanctuary. Lying there on top of the red ceremonial cloth is a newborn baby smoldering as a faint black mist circulates around the infant’s body. One of the cult members reaches and picks up the baby and holds him high above his head in celebration. And as the child is raised in tribute to the dark god, the black emblem seen on Lonnie’s left arm previously is noticed on the child’s right. While outside the storm has nearly reached the velocity of a monsoon and the lightning continues to dance across the skies. A few months later. Lonnie is now teaching Amanda the martial arts. Amanda has noticeably improved since the last time we saw her, but Lonnie is still obviously superior. Lonnie is a little frustrated and amused as Amanda is talking to her about her new boyfriend problems while in training. Lonnie is trying to tell Amanda that she needs to concentrate on the task at hand, but it falls on deaf ears. After Lonnie subdues Amanda, she helps her up and lectures her about her lack of concentration and how she’ll never achieve the next step in ability until she is able to better focus. As they towel off, Lonnie invites Amanda to join her and her relatives for dinner suggesting that maybe Amanda could learn to eat a little healthier too. Amanda agrees and they go to Lonnie’s house where she lives with her aunt and uncle. Lonnie’s boyfriend, Johnny Low, a local policeman, is also there. They’ve been dating for a couple of years and Johnny is obviously ready for the relationship to reach the next level, but Lonnie has been putting marriage off until she feels it is right. Joining Lonnie, Amanda, and Johnny are her aunt Maggie and her uncle Henry. At the dinner table, Maggie puts Lonnie on the spot by asking Johnny when is he finally going to be able to talk some sense into Lonnie and get married. Amanda is amused by this situation, as it is usually her love life that is discussed and enjoys this rare moment to turn the tables on Lonnie. Henry comes to Lonnie’s defense and tells everyone that perhaps she isn’t ready to be married and that it’s her choice and not everyone else’s. After dinner Amanda approaches Henry and tells him how impressed she is by Lonnie’s martial arts training and feels that he must be very proud of her. Henry smiles and suggests to Amanda that she should be complimenting Maggie as she is the one who trained her in the physical arts, it was his duty to train her academically. Amanda is amazed as she looks at the gentle, elderly Maggie. She would have never thought that Maggie was capable of such ability by looking at her. Amanda’s inquisitive about why they felt it necessary to train Lonnie with such vigor if she wasn’t going to use it in competition. Lonnie sees this and attempts to rescue Maggie from Amanda’s questions by suggesting that it was time for everyone to leave as she has a lot of schoolwork to go through tonight. She leads Amanda and Johnny out the door and then goes to help Maggie clean up from the dinner. That night, Lonnie has a nightmare. In it she is an infant being carried by her mother. Her father is there also and they are on their way to see Lonnie’s grandparents in a rural area of China. The mother is doting over the newborn and the father is worried. The mother doesn’t understand his concerns and the father then grabs the infant’s left arm to reveal a black emblem/symbol (the same one that graced the other child at the St. Ignatius church earlier). He says that the child is cursed and that her destiny has already been foretold, and that they must hide the child to protect her from being killed by those who follow the dark cult. The mother is near hysterics, after all, this is her first born and she doesn’t understand what the father is talking about. Suddenly, the sky grows dark and it begins to rain. From the distance the father sees a group of black clad men on horseback. He realizes that they are here to get his daughter. No sooner does he turn back to see the road then they are attacked by a host of other cult members. There is a brief struggle, but the father and mother are rendered unconscious and taken away. The crying baby is picked up by one of the cult members who pushes up the baby’s sleeve and confirms the black symbol is present. While the other cult members are concerning themselves with the parents, this lone figure rides off with the baby. The parents are taken to the cult’s camp and are sacrificed to the father of the darkness, the mist. Beyond the sacrificial altar is a statue of the demon, Meghamalin, who is worshipped as a personification of this dark, evil mist. Meanwhile, the baby is taken to a shipping dock where she is given to an elderly woman to take with her on her journey to America. Lonnie wakes up screaming and sweating as this vision has long haunted her nights. She looks down at her black emblem on her left forearm and realizes that it is smoking slightly. The next day. In Chinatown, the death cult members are kneeling in respect to their new leader who is sitting in a throne-like chair in the shadows. He is addressing the cult and telling them of his mission to recreate the earth in the image of darkness. A new world of darkness is coming and it is he who will lead this onslaught against the nature of light. He tells his followers that there is another like him, the good nature of the mist has been created to counterbalance the dark nature. Ancients have foretold that there must always be a balance between good and evil. There is a woman who was created decades ago in order to prepare for his arrival…to combat him in hopes of retaining this balance. He wants her stopped so she won’t interfere with his goals before his power has reached its full maturity. He points to a picture that has been left on top of a table to the side. This is a picture of Lonnie. The cult members bow before their new lord and leave to seek out Lonnie and to kill her. After they leave, the leader steps out of the shadows and we see that it is a young boy about eight years old, he grabs the picture and holds it up and his black emblem is noticeable on his arm. The infant has aged about eight years in just a few months.
Lonnie’s funeral. Amanda, Johnny, Maggie, and Henry are among the many gathered to pay their last respects to Lonnie. Amanda is in tears and Johnny is comforting her. As she leans on Johnny’s shoulder she notices how odd Lonnie’s aunt and uncle are behaving. They aren’t crying or showing any outward emotion. She mentions this to Johnny, who himself is obviously distraught by this ordeal. He comes to the conclusion that they must still be in shock from Lonnie’s sudden death. Off to the side of the mourning crowd, Johnny notices a group of young Chinese men (the members of the cult) who are paying particular attention to the funeral proceedings. Johnny stares at them suspiciously (his cop instincts have kicked in) as he escorts Amanda to her car. Later that evening after everyone has left and the cemetery is deserted, several shadows cross Lonnie’s gravesite. (They’ve come to dig up her body). Flashback images of Lonnie’s past (of her parents being killed and her being kidnapped and sent to America) appear in a dream-like distorted state. The images aren’t quite clear and it’s an almost out-of-body consciousness effect. Then it is complete darkness. The sounds of heavy, labored breathing are heard. The sound of dirt crumbling like someone digging through a mound of dirt with their fingernails. It is complete blackness, until a small light is visible as the surface is breached. The light is revealed to be that of a bright full moon overheard. The image of the moon then is transposed to that of a burning candle. Lonnie wakes up staring into a burning candlestick in a large room. She’s distorted and confused, after all, her last memory is being shot. Lonnie has been resurrected. A deep, hideous voice calls out to her from the shadows of the room. It is the new leader, the boy, who as he steps out of the shadows now has the appearance of a 16 year old. His eyes are black with a foreboding glare of evil to them. As he moves about, a black mist emits from his body. It’s slight at first, but as he grows angrier at Lonnie, the mist intensifies in visibility. The boy tells Lonnie that his name is Meghamalin and that it is desire to destroy the balance between light and darkness. He tells her that she is a part of the mist as well. They are like brother and sister, two different sides of the same being, her Yin to his Yang. If she looked deep inside herself she would discover that it was true. Don’t fight it the darkness within her, accept it, because it is much more rewarding than the good/light nature that she has embraced. He requests for her to join him. She remains defiant, not really understanding all that is going on. Meghamalin is discouraged, but not surprised. He then orders the cult members to kill her—again knowing full well that they won’t be able to do this. The only way to kill either her or himself is with a mystical dagger which his men have been searching for months. They just recently found it in a monastery in Tibet and it is being shipped to him by boat from mainland China, due to arrive in the next few days. This is merely a test for him to see for himself how powerful his nemesis is presently while he quickly matures and grows stronger. He isn’t prepared to face her himself until his aging process is completed. After a long battle with the cult members, Lonnie manages to escape by crashing through a large window and after landing in the alleyway a dense black mist surrounds her, a mist which cannot be penetrated through normal light such as a flashlight or street lamps, and covers her escape. Meghamalin is left watching from the broken window Lonnie flees now realizing that it is their destiny to either destroy the other or be destroyed. Back at the gravesite, Johnny and Amanda are returning to place some flowers on Lonnie’s grave. Amanda screams when she notices that Lonnie’s grave has been dug up. Johnny’s cop instincts take over as he notices footprints all around the gravesite, cautioning Amanda not to walk over them until pictures can be taken. He takes Amanda back to his car and calls this in to the police station. Leaving Amanda in the back seat of his car, he returns to the gravesite and notices that the ground that has recently been shoveled is smoking slightly. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handkerchief and places a small amount of the soil in it and returns it to his pocket to be analyzed later. He returns to the car and waits with Amanda until the police arrive on the scene. Meanwhile, a confused Lonnie walks through the alleyways until she reaches her home. There is a light on, which perplexes Lonnie since it’s about 3 in the morning now. Why would Maggie and Henry still be up? Not completely realizing that she’s dead yet, but knowing something is out of the ordinary, she enters the house through the back door. She makes her way to the room where she saw the light on and is surprised that Maggie and Henry are sitting there waiting for her. She asks them what’s happening to her and after having kept quiet for so many years, they know that now is the time to finally explain to her what she is—the good nature of an ancient evil presence…the mist. They explain that during creation, for order to be maintained and the scales to be balanced, an evil was required to complete the act of creation. It covered the earth and became one with the land, became a part of everything, even the human soul. As man was made from the dust of the earth, the mist is also part of every human being—the mythological dark side of the soul. But it’s not a myth, it’s reality. For every hundred years, there is a conflict between good and evil for control. The dark side is always trying to supersede the good side, to throw order and balance out of control so that it can take over and recreate the earth with only the dark, evil nature. To create a world where there is no hope or love, only evil and despair. Lonnie’s birth was foretold by their seers (come up with name), a hidden sect that has existed since man first walked this earth, who have dedicated their lives to ensuring that the balance is always maintained. It was confirmed at her birth by her birth mark, the black symbol that she was lead to believe was the mark of her ancestors given to every child as an infant. That is why her parents were killed, why she was sent here to be raised by them, why she has had the reoccurring nightmares, why they have driven her to be the best both physically and mentally. To prepare her for this moment. Lonnie is obviously taken aback by all of this information. It does explain all of the missing pieces in her life and the feelings that she has always had about her life containing a sense of destiny unfulfilled about it. Maybe this is why she could never marry and settle down because her life was not yet defined. Being the strong person that she is, Lonnie stands up and accepts this, asking her aunt and uncle what she is to do. They open a cabinet that is full of weapons and in the middle is an outfit that they’ve prepared for her for this occasion. (Outfit to be determined). She turns to face them and as she does, the same black mist that was evident on Meghamalin earlier emits from her eyes and hands. This is symbolic of her acceptance of the mist as her power. She stands before them bathed in the power of the mist—reborn.  Suddenly, there is a knock at the door. It is Johnny and Amanda who have come
to tell Maggie and Henry about Lonnie’s missing body. Her aunt and uncle have Lonnie
stay in the room hidden while they go to talk to Johnny and Amanda. Johnny apologizes for
interrupting them so late in the evening, but felt that they would have wanted to know
what was happening concerning Lonnie’s body. Maggie helps to calm down Amanda as
Henry and Johnny discuss what happened. Johnny notes quietly to Amanda while Maggie and
Henry go to the kitchen to make tea that he was surprised to find the two of them still
awake at this hour and how strange it is that they’re taking this news so well.
Back in the other room, Lonnie is looking out the window and notices a familiar van parked on the street. She can’t quite place where she has seen this van before, and then the memories of her being shot flash across her mind. And before she can react, the door of the van slides open and out step 4-5 of the cult members, one carrying a bazooka. They obviously knew where Lonnie would run to first. Cursing herself for being so stupid by leading them here, Lonnie burst into the family room where everyone else has gathered. Amanda and Johnny are dumb-founded at seeing Lonnie standing there before them. It was less than a day since they both had attended her funeral and had seen her body buried beneath six feet of earth. Lonnie doesn’t take the time to explain things as she rushes to the front door to see the cult member with the bazooka preparing to fire upon the house. She turns, burns the side wall with her hands, then kicks through it to provide an escape route just as the bazooka demolishes the house. There is a large explosion, followed by the roof collapsing. After the smoke has cleared, Lonnie and the others are seen watching the cult members returning to their van and driving away and where once stood her house, is nothing more than rubble and burning timber. Johnny grabs Lonnie by the arm and turns her to face him. He at once looks angry and perplexed by what has just happened and what he has just seen. Amanda runs to hug Lonnie and backs away slightly as Lonnie seems distant and non-responsive towards her. She looks at them as smoke is released through her eyes and informs them that it’s best if they forget what they’ve seen tonight, the woman they knew no longer exists. After telling them this, Lonnie turns and disappears into the night leaving them with more questions than answers as Maggie and Henry have disappeared as well. A few days later. Johnny is walking down a street in Chinatown trying to dig up information on the cult/gang that destroyed Lonnie’s house. He got a quick look at them getting into the van before they drove away. He saw that each had a particular marking on their clothing which would signify who they were. It was a marking that he hadn’t seen before (seeing as how the cult members in question had arrived in America only a few months earlier). Johnny goes to his usual stooges for information, but once they see the crudely drawn marking, a grip of terror overcomes them and they reveal no significant information. Obviously they are afraid of what may happen to them if they speak. Johnny realizes that this is getting him no where when he notices a local newspaper headline and the photograph accompanying it. The headline tells of yet another death in Chinatown of an illegally immigrated Chinese man. But the picture is what captures his eye. It is an image of the Chinese man with what appears to be a pair of hands burned on his head. Remembering the way that Lonnie’s hands burned into the wall at her house, Johnny automatically connects this to Lonnie. At the shipping yard. A boat from mainland China has arrived at the dock. Several of the cult members are standing waiting for the boat to unload a specific crate, the one that contains the magic dagger that they have been waiting for, the only thing that can truly kill Lonnie. The cult’s leader is waiting in a luxury car with darkened windows as the men pick up the crate and bring it back to him. Once the crate is opened and the packing removed, a small box is taken from it and handed to the leader in the car. As he takes the box, his hands have noticeably aged to that of a young man, and his fingernails have turned black and are uncomfortably long. He opens the box to reveal the magical dagger and as it glistens from the sunlight entering from the opened window, the leader is revealed to be around thirty years in age. That night. Johnny goes to the forensics lab at the police station. He has a friend, Joe Gwaltney, going over the soil sample that he collected at Lonnie’s grave, the one with the smoking/misting property. As Johnny enters Joe’s office he’s surprised to find the lights turned off. His friend greets Johnny as he enters and tells him that he’ll be right with him as he returns to looking at a sample in a microscope. He calls Johnny over to look at what he has found. It is the soil sample that Johnny brought in. Johnny asks him why he’s working in the dark. Joe smiles and laughs slightly as he walks over to the light switch. He turns on the light and directs Johnny to look through the microscope. He looks at it for a moment and suddenly the sample begins to simmer and then it burns a hole through the platform and table below it. Joe turns back off the light. Joe is ecstatic as he tries to explain the best he can to Johnny what he has discovered—soil that exhibits the property of sulfuric acid, but only when exposed to the light. Johnny thanks Joe for the information and leaves as Joe returns to his work talking out loud to himself about needing to get another microscope and table so he can continue his research. Meanwhile across town, the cult is preparing itself for a ceremony to activate the power behind the dagger. As they gather around the altar chanting the leader speaks to them about the coming war of destruction, how they will be masters of men for they are the followers of the mist—the true power behind creation. Once the ceremony reaches its conclusion, the dagger glows with an immense radiance before it returns to its normal appearance. The ceremony was a success, all they need now is to draw Lonnie to them in order to kill her and remove their only obstacle. The leader sends several of the cult members to kidnap Lonnie’s friend, Amanda, knowing that this will bring Lonnie to them. In a local gym, Amanda practices her kicks against a pad. She’s working out the frustration she feels about Lonnie’s death, seeing her alive again, and her just leaving her with so many questions. Johnny comes in to check up on her. There’s an obvious chemistry between these two, one they won’t admit to because of the recent circumstances, but, nonetheless, if situations were different it’d be one they both would act on. Amanda thanks Johnny for being so kind and considerate towards her, but what she wants is answers, not sympathy. Johnny, against his better judgment, tells her a little of what he has learned. Amanda wants to help find Lonnie, but Johnny is adamantly against it. He doesn’t want to endanger her any more. Amanda feels that she’s already endangered and he’s crazy if he doesn’t think the people who tried to kill them earlier won’t try again. Johnny reluctantly agrees with Amanda about that, but he doesn’t quite let on how worried he is about another attempt on her life. He wants to put her in a safe house where she can have police protection. Amanda wants nothing of the sort. Amanda goes to the locker room to change and shower, Johnny insists on waiting for her outside. As Johnny waits by the front door, several other women pass him by and smile, even flirt with him slightly. While in the locker room, Amanda appears to be the last woman left. As she gets dressed after she’s showered, she notices several shadows against the far wall. She cries out to them, but there is no answer. Amanda shrugs it off and as soon as she has relaxed, from out of the roof tiles above her locker, several cult members drop down. There is a brief struggle, but there are too many, and they render her unconscious. Johnny has grown impatient waiting and goes to the door of the locker room and calls out her name. When no answer is given, Johnny, making sure no one else is around, enters the locker room and is immediately confronted with two cult members. He draws out his gun, but a knife is thrown and pierces his hand and he drops the gun. Two other cult members attack him from behind, but are in for a surprise when they find out that Johnny is well-trained in the martial arts as well. As he fights with the cult members, several others attempt to take Amanda out. But as they reach the exit, they turn the corner to find Lonnie standing there before them, and she isn’t happy. One of the cult members charge her and she grabs him by the wrists. The cult member screams in pain as the mist is released through Lonnie’s hands onto his wrists with the sickening smell of burning flesh assaulting the nostrils. Lonnie releases the cult member who falls backward looking horrified at what remains of his wrist which is burnt straight through the flesh revealing nothing but bone. Seeing this, two other members attack her with knives, while the one holding Amanda tries to find another way out. There is a big struggle in the locker room between the cult members and Lonnie and Johnny at both ends. Eventually, the two different fights join in the center with Lonnie and Johnny back-to-back protecting each other. Lonnie sees the cult member holding Amanda leave and after subduing the remaining cult members, she and Johnny run outside just in time to see a helicopter taking off with Amanda inside of it. Johnny tells Lonnie that he has a car so they can follow it. Lonnie looks at him and tells him that she doesn’t need it, and as she does this a black cloud emerges from behind her and it envelopes her, and the black cloud rises rapidly and almost immediately catches up to the helicopter. Lonnie then reappears inside the helicopter next to the cult member and Amanda. Johnny sees the black cloud surrounding the helicopter and runs to his car to follow them. The helicopter goes out over the bay while Johnny races through town to trying desperately to keep up with them. Johnny calls in to police headquarters to try to get some help with the helicopters whereabouts. The pilot takes the helicopter over the bay area so he can set it on auto-pilot to assist the other cult member. Lonnie and the cult member, while struggling in the cramped quarters of the helicopter fall out, but luckily they are hovering over the top of the Golden Gate bridge and fall onto it. Lonnie is close to the edge and the cult member kicks her over. She uses her fingers to "burn" grips into the side of the concrete and is hanging on with her hand as traffic passes below her on the bridge. The helicopter then shines a bright light on Lonnie, momentarily blinding her and, for the first time since her resurrection, she feels slightly weakened. Johnny pulls up just in time to see the cult member step on Lonnie’s hand causing her to begin to fall. Johnny is screaming as he can’t believe what he’s seeing while the cult member is reentering the helicopter. Lonnie is about to crash into the pavement when the mist reemerges and collects in a swirling circle and Lonnie falls into it. The mist then fades and Lonnie has disappeared with no trace, right in front of Johnny who is mesmerized by what he has just seen. And after what he has seen, all Johnny can do stand helplessly and watch the helicopter fly off in the distance. Lonnie is falling through darkness with no end in sight. There is nothing visible around her, only dense blackness. If not for her thoughts, she would think that she was dead—again. Finally after what seems an eternity she falls onto solid ground. Besides the obvious bumps and bruises she feels fine, no broken bones or anything. Regaining her senses she rises to survey her surroundings. There is only black as far as the eye can see with bursts of steam escaping from the ground, like hot pockets, clouding her vision. As the smoke clears slightly as she walks, Lonnie notices that surrounding the entire land are enormous cliffs with no end in sight to their height. As she continues to walk she comes upon a group of members gathered around an altar in what appears to be a sacrificial ceremony. As she gets closer she recognizes the two people who are being sacrificed—it’s the people from her reoccurring nightmares—her parents! She’s reliving her parents being murdered before her eyes. Lonnie rushes to help them, but as she attempts to stop the man from sacrificing her parents, she passes right through them as if they are but wisps of smoke. As she turns to look at her parents, they too disappear as if they were ghosts. A voice calls to her from within the mist that is surrounding the landscape. The voice seems to resonate from all around her, not coming from any particular direction or person. The voice questions why she has come here to this land. Lonnie answers that it wasn’t her choice. The voice explains that she must return to earth to maintain balance. At that moment, Meghamalin, as we last saw him, appears before Lonnie. He argues that maintaining balance is a falsehood that order uses to keep the world in a stalemate. One side must eventually win and it should be his side. The temptation to completely submit the more she uses the power of the mist becomes more and more tempting to her. This bothers Lonnie as she realizes that there is some truth in what Meghamalin is saying. It is well known that absolute power corrupts and she begins to question whether or not she is strong enough to resist its calling for an extended amount of time. Lonnie realizes that the "dark" part of her soul is attempting to take control. The Yang is attempting to control the Yin. At that moment, Maggie and Henry appear to calm Lonnie down and help her regain focus. They caution her about listening to Meghamalin and to truly listen to what she feels inside. This interruption helps Lonnie to fight off Meghamalin’s twisted logic. He laughs at her as he walks over to Maggie and Henry. He shows Lonnie that they aren’t real as he sticks his hand straight through them. He thinks it’s laughable that Lonnie cares so deeply for these two as he tells her that they’ve never really existed; they are images that she created as a child through the power of the mist that was inherent in her. They are merely figments of her mind that she used to create an illusion of normalcy for her to be raised until her body was properly prepared for this inevitable conflict. Lonnie answers that they had to be real, they trained and prepared her all her life, they were like parents to her. Meghamalin shows her an image of Maggie training her earlier in her life. First the image shows Maggie is seen standing by Lonnie, then she is no longer there as Lonnie continues to train. Megahamalin shows her that this is how it really was. It was all an illusion that she created. Lonnie is in denial, but knows this to be true. Meghamalin never really expected Lonnie to succumb and conjures an image of Amanda bound by chains in what appears to be a prison cell (It’s a solitary confinement cell at Alcatraz which has been closed due to weather conditions or remodeling). He taunts Lonnie into coming after her and even lets her know where she is located. Lonnie turns to Maggie and Henry and they disappear before her eyes as Lonnie realizes that Meghamalin spoke the truth and the illusion is no longer necessary. Lonnie turns back to Meghamalin who has also disappeared and a determined Lonnie walks into a swirling wall of mist and disappears only to reappear in Golden Gate Park next to the Japanese Tea Garden. This is a time of reflection for her as all of this seems to be too much for her to handle. In the space of a little time, she’s been killed, resurrected, discovered she’s a part of an ancient evil entity that has existed since creation, that her relatives who raised her are merely figments of her imagination, and her best friend, Amanda, has been kidnapped and is being used to lure her into what is obviously a trap. It’s taken its toll on her mentally. Walking among the beauty of the Japanese Tea Garden is a time of gathering her thoughts and preparing herself for what lies ahead. As she walks over the Moon Bridge (a bridge that forms the reflection of a perfect circle), the reflection appears to take on the symbol of Yin/Yang. The moon forms the light in the dark side and Lonnie herself forms the darkness on the white side (if this is possible to do it would make for a nice symbolic gesture). Gathering her thoughts, Lonnie is surprised to hear the voice of Johnny who has walked up behind her. She is taken off guard at first, but then Johnny relates that he came here to reflect as well. He reminds her that this used to be their favorite get-away spot and that it always seemed to have a calming effect on both of them, so he wasn’t surprised to find her here. He tells her how confused he is about everything that has happened and that he doesn’t expect to fully understand the significance of everything going on, but he does realize that there is a missing girl involved now and he has no clue where to find her. The only thing he knows to do now is to accept Lonnie for what she is and to offer his services to her. Lonnie decides that Johnny might be able to help, even though she is reluctant to place him in danger. Johnny tells her that it’s his job and there’s no way he’s going to let Lonnie leave him out of this. Johnny tells Lonnie that he’s discovered that the cult is into heavy drug trafficking as well. It’s how they support their hidden organization. Lonnie lets Johnny know that this is just another way the cult is attempting to weaken civilization, preparing it for destruction. Lonnie tells Johnny that she saw an image of Amanda still alive, but didn’t know exactly where they were keeping her. Johnny then tells Lonnie that he knows how they might be able to find out. Chinatown. Johnny knocks down a back alley door. The small group of gang members are startled and attempt to put away their drugs fearing that this is a raid. Johnny grabs one of the men as he attempts to flee and holds a gun to his head asking him for information as to where to find this death cult. The thug claims that Johnny hasn’t got a warrant, that all of this is illegal, and that he wasn’t getting any information out of him. Lonnie then appears, with her hands and eyes misting. She picks up the thug’s gun which is on the floor, holds it in her hands, and melts it. The thug suddenly becomes quite talkative and tells them that they’re on Alcatraz. He first gives them the Chinese name for Alcatraz which Johnny doesn’t catch on to right away. He threatens the guy further until Lonnie stops him and tells him that that means Alcatraz. Johnny and Lonnie step outside into the alleyway as they prepare to go to Alcatraz to rescue Amanda. Johnny thinks everything was too easy, that this had the making of a trap. Lonnie tells him that she doesn’t have a choice and must go, it’s her fault that Amanda is involved in this. Suddenly, a dozen cult members surround them, some coming from the rooftops, some from the dark corners of the alleyway. There is a huge battle with swords and other traditional martial arts weapons involved. Most of the cult members are defeated in the alley, but several manage to escape. Lonnie pursues them. Ultimately, the fight extends to the roof of Cable Cars that run through Chinatown. As the Cable Cars move down the street, Lonnie and the cult members (two or three of them), fight on the roof of the cars. The movement of the cars and the small space make it difficult for Lonnie to get her hands on them. The fight rages from within the cable cars, to the top, to barely hanging on for dear life on the sides, to the cables themselves. As the car reaches Nob Hill where all the Cable Cars intersect, they jump from one car to the next to continue the fight through the city of San Francisco. Johnny is driving alongside and fighting as well as one of the cult members jumps into his car. They reach Fisherman’s Wharf where one of the cult members boards a boat to take him out to Alcatraz. After defeating the remaining cult members, Johnny begs Lonnie to let him call for back-up first, Lonnie refuses. A storm is brewing and the waves of the bay make traveling by boat dangerous. Johnny decides to wait for back-up while Lonnie begins to walk towards the water and disappears into the mist that has formed in front of her. Lonnie reemerges on the shoreline of Alcatraz. She walks into the prison gingerly expecting someone to jump out at her from the shadows. She hears a noise and follows it toward D block (this is the solitary confinement area) where they are obviously attempting to lead her. She fights off several cult members who attack her on the way. (They are trying to weaken her before she reaches Meghamalin). Finally, she reaches the solitary confinement area. She hears Amanda scream as they are torturing her slightly to attract Lonnie to her. She enters the cell and the door slams behind her. It is pitch black. A candle is lit which highlights Amanda chained against the wall. Meghamalin is holding the candle in one hand and the magic dagger in the other. It’s just these two, a battle until one of them dies. Meghamalin transforms before their eyes into a demon. His face turns black with his mouth spitting fire. He has reached full strength and is confident that he will kill Lonnie and charge the balance forever. They struggle with each one gaining the upper hand at one time or another. Lonnie goes over to where Amanda is and grasps the chain between her hands and burns them until she has a link of chain to fight with. She eventually uses this chain to knock the dagger out of Meghamalin’s hand. After they struggle some more, Amanda ends up with the dagger and tries to stab Meghamalin. He throws Amanda against the wall and she loses the dagger and closes in to kill her. Lonnie picks up the dagger and kills Meghamalin who screams and dissolves into a mist and disappears leaving Amanda and Lonnie, alone in the cell. The cell door is opened. Lonnie and Amanda prepare to fight, but Johnny’s friendly face walks in, to their relief. Johnny rushes to Amanda to make sure she is okay. It’s obvious that they’ve grown attached to each other. Lonnie notices this and tells Johnny that maybe he’d finally found someone who can return his affection. She also tells Amanda that if she gave Johnny a chance, she wouldn’t have to complain about her boyfriends all the time. They look at one another and smile. Amanda looks up at Lonnie and asks her what about her. Lonnie replies that the scales of balance have been preserved and that if she stayed behind she might upset that balance. It’s time for her to return to where she came from. Johnny asks her where that is as they walk outside, with Johnny helping Amanda who is weakened, Amanda comments on how nice it is to watch the sunrise, how it’d almost romantic in different circumstances. Johnny turns to looks at Lonnie sadly when he hears this and Lonnie smiles at him and tells him that she’ll never forget him and wishes him much happiness, then slowly fades. Johnny at first thinks that it’s a trick of the sun’s rays, but it’s not. Lonnie’s returned to the mist as now that the darkness has been vanquished, in order to retain the balance, she must leave as well. Johnny then turns to Amanda and the both look at over the bay and notice that the clouds are fading and the police boat Johnny came over no is waiting to take them back to the city. A few months later. Johnny and Amanda are having a picnic on the campus of the University of San Francisco. They are throwing a frisbee and Johnny throws it over the head of Amanda. It lands next to the flower shown in the beginning and at Lonnie’s death. As she reaches to pick it up, she notices how pretty the flower is at its full bloom. Amanda picks it and takes it back with her as she returns to Johnny. A new day is beginning and it looks to be bright.
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SAN
FRANCISCO-MODERN DAY. Feet rapidly walk past the same flower which is surrounded by other
flowers and trees in a scenic setting on the campus of the University of San Francisco.
Lonnie Lee, a professor of Eastern Religions at the university, walks hurriedly with
Amanda Wood, her teacher’s assistant, as they are on their way to Lonnie’s next
class across campus. Amanda is telling Lonnie about her latest boyfriend and complaining
how he has no money and is always expecting her to pick up the tab whenever they go out.
Lonnie laughs at Amanda’s lack of resolve in the manner and informs her that maybe it
was time to find a new boyfriend, and also that maybe she should start looking beyond
appearances and concentrate a little more on what’s inside of a person, things like
his soul. Of course, Amanda is too busy talking about herself to truly take in what Lonnie
is saying and continues with her complaining. Lonnie merely laughs it off and shrugs.
Back on the campus of the University of San Francisco, Lonnie and Amanda have
just left their classroom. They are walking across campus until they reach the area where
the flowers were earlier (See opening sequence). They are smiling and having small talk
when a van full of cult members suddenly stop to the side of them. Three to four men get
out with automatic rifles/machine guns and open fire on the two women. Lonnie pushes
Amanda away, but not before Amanda gets shot in the arm and when she falls, she hits her
head on a rock. Lonnie manages to disarm one of the men, and then a shot goes off. The
cult members quickly reenter the van and leave. Amanda wakes up groggy and rubbing her
head. She then notices Lonnie’s body lying on the ground not too far away from her.
She slowly makes her way over to her, talking to her, asking her what happened. Upon
touching Lonnie’s shoulder, she realizes that the body isn’t responding. She
checks her closer and realizes that she isn’t breathing and as she turns the body
over, she notices the gun shot wounds. She screams out her name and holds her lifeless
body in her arms as other people start to gather around to see what happened. Sirens are
blaring in the background. Focusing on the flower that was shown in the sequence of
creation, we notice that it has bloodstains on it now as people clamor to Lonnie and
Amanda.