RONIN

     THE LONG SHADOWS of Sam and Vincent come out of the woods and
     into the brilliant light of the back lawn.  For one minute
     they stand still, and among the many weapons that Sam carries
     is a long automatic rifle, strung over his back, and in the
     SILHOUETTE for one minute it looks like a Samurai sword.  Now
     the two men start to move across the lawn, hugging the
     shadows of the various statues and hedges, trying to keep
     from being discovered for as long as possible.

     BACK IN THE DINING ROOM -

                          GREGOR
                   (to Seamus)
               So, you've got it all figured, do you?

                          SEAMUS
               Figured enough to know there's an odd man
               out and I'm looking at him.

                          GREGOR
               I think not.
                   (holds up the Briefcase)
               I have, of course, taken the precaution
               of wiring the briefcase to explode five
               seconds after it opens.  Unless, of
               course, I deactivate it before it goes
               off.

                          DEIRDRE
                   (under her breath)
               That fucking figures...

                          GREGOR
               Should any of you decide to rush me, I'll
               kill myself and whoever happens to be
               near me at the time.

                          MIKHI
               And more importantly --

                          GREGOR
               I'll destroy whatever's in the case.

     BEAT.  Nobody moves.  Nobody speaks.  Until finally -

                          SEAMUS
               It looks, Gentlemen, as if we're gonna
               have to sit down to table and work out an
               agreement.

     Before this entirely too-weird scenario can play itself we go
     back to -

     THE BACK LAWN OF THE CHATEAU -

     Sam and Vincent are closer to the Chateau, moving in stealth,
     avoiding any entanglements and then Sam turns a corner and
     comes face to face with - A GUARD, and his gun is aimed at
     Sam's head: Sam's a dead man as we go -

     BACK TO THE DINING ROOM

     AUTOMATIC WEAPONS FIRE splits the night, and everyone in the
     room looks at one another, before Mikhi speaks.

                          MIKHI
               What was that?

     BACK OUTSIDE THE CHATEAU -

     The Guard who had Sam in his sights falls down, dead, shot by
     - Vincent, whose smoking weapon is cradled in his arms.
     Vincent smiles at Sam.

                          VINCENT
               That's one less I owe you...

     Sam smiles, but it's no time to get satisfied.  their
     presence revealed, there's no point in moving quietly.  Sam
     draws his weapons and as he and Vincent charge across the
     lawn towards the Chateau while -

     BACK IN THE DINING ROOM -

     MORE GUNSHOTS from outside -- not a war, but enough to cause
     serious alarm.  Deirdre, ever the soldier, draws her two
     automatic pistols.

                          DEIRDRE
                   (to Seamus and Mikhi)
               You two stay here and watch our mutual
               interest.

     She nods at Gregor and his Briefcase, indicating what this
     mutual interest is.  Then she turns and bolts the room, and
     as she does we're -

     BACK OUTSIDE THE CHATEAU -

     Sam and Vincent are running along, hugging the ground and
     whatever darkness they can find, while blind weapons fire
     rips into the ground around them, Russian thugs not even sure
     what they're shooting at, but shooting all the same as Sam
     and Vincent hurtle towards -

     A BACK ENTRANCE TO THE CHATEAU -

     Some kind of kitchen storage area, and as Sam and Vincent
     burst in from outside - FIVE RUSSIAN HOODS come flying in
     from an interior entrance, and this is it, Sam and Vincent
     are outnumbered, outgunned, they're going to die and then -
     They take out the entire room - Sam holds an automatic pistol
     in his left hand, and a submachine gun in his right, and when
     he fires, he does so in short controlled bursts, firing only
     when he has the target in his sights, while - Vincent fights
     with a kind of sheer force, a shotgun in one hand, an Uzi in
     the other, he fires at anything and everything that moves,
     and he hits almost all of it - And suddenly the room is
     quiet.  Everybody's dead except for Sam and Vincent.  They
     drop their spent weapons and take out fresh ones even as they
     move towards - THE DOOR - It leads to two passages, each one
     leading to a separate wing of the chateau.

                          SAM
               Let's work our way through the building.
               I'll take one wing, you take the other.

     Vincent and Sam split up, moving into separate WINGS of the
     Chateau, and as they move off Sam speaks a word of warning.

                          SAM
               Watch your back, Vincent.

     And then they're gone, and we're with -

     Deirdre, who's running through the house, going from room to
     room, and we're with her for a minute, the JAPANESE DRUM
     starts to play again, and now it's joined by more and more
     drums, and they continue for the test of this sequence and
     suddenly - A HUGE BURST OF GUNFIRE is heard, dragging
     Deirdre's attention towards -

     THE BALLROOM -

     And Sam's in the middle of a pitched battle with three
     Gunmen.  He kills the first, and then the second, and then -
     No third.  The Third Gunman rolls out of the way as Sam
     fires, the Third Gunman fires back and - Their shots go wide,
     ripping into mirrors and chandeliers, littering the floor
     with glass.  And now we're -

     ON DEIRDRE -

     Running through the halls as we hear one last burst of
     gunfire: somebody in the ballroom is dead.  Deirdre has
     almost reached the ballroom when - Sam comes flying out, and
     the two of them CRASH TOGETHER, sending the two of them
     sprawling into - The shot-up mess that used to be the
     Ballroom - And as they crash to the ground, Sam loses his
     weapon in the fall, but Deirdre manages to hold onto one of
     her two guns.  Now the two of them roll to their feet, and as
     they do we're back in -

     THE DINING ROOM -

     Seamus the Madman is pacing the floor, his face even worse
     than before: with each minute the mask of flesh that is now
     his face is becoming more grotesque.  Little pustules have
     started to form all over its surface, oozing a whitish
     viscous liquid.  A NEW BURST OF FIGHTING SOUNDS can be heard,
     and Seamus, who is no longer capable of thinking straight,
     loses it.

                          SEAMUS
               I can't take it anymore.
                   (to Mikhi)
               Watch him, man, I'm going out and finish
               what needs finishing!

     And Seamus is gone, and so are we -- back to -

     THE BALLROOM -

     Where Deirdre has her two guns pointed at Sam and - Does nothing.
     BEAT.

                          SAM
               Go on, them...

     But Deirdre can't do it.  There's something between these
     two, and now - Sam looks around and sees Deirdre's other
     pistol lying on a broken chair, and now he -

     Kicks out with his foot and hits the chair leg, causing it to
     function as a lever, sending the gun - THROUGH THE AIR in a
     graceful SLOW-MO arc until it - THWACKS into Sam's Hand.  Now
     he's armed and he looks back at - Deirdre.  Her FINGER
     tightens on the trigger, she's almost ready to shoot -- if
     Sam raises his piece, he's a dead man.

                          DEIRDRE
               Let it go, Sam, walk away.

     In response Sam stares at Deirdre for a BEAT and then he
     smiles an enigmatic smile and - He steps sideways, into a
     nearby corridor, vanishing.

                          DEIRDRE
               God damn it!

     She runs after him but she's too late -- The corridor outside
     is empty.  Now we're back in -

     THE DINING ROOM -

     With Gregor and Mikhi, and the tension is unbearable, because
     they can hear the sounds of the fighting as it starts and
     then stops, but they don't have the least idea of what's
     going on.  Still, Mikhi won't let Gregor leave without giving
     up the Briefcase.  Mikhi has a gun on Gregor, who in turn
     holds the Briefcase close, ready to open it and set off the 5
     Second Timer that will blow it up.

                          GREGOR
                   (a feral hiss)
               We'll die if we stay here!

                          MIKHI
                   (threatening with the gun)
               You'll die if you leave here.

     Gregor sits back down, fairly close to Mikhi.  Then, in a
     manner so deft that Mikhi never even notices, Gregor extracts
     a wickedly thin stiletto blade from the leather lining of the
     Briefcase.  Before Mikhi can even react, Gregor stabs his arm
     forward in a savage arc - JAMMING THE BLADE into Mikhi's
     throat.  Mikhi drops his gun and reaches for the blade,
     already gagging on the blood spray which shoots from the
     slashed artery.  Within seconds - Mikhi falls to the ground,
     jerking viciously in his death throes as - Gregor picks up
     the pistol and runs to leave the room, and as he does we move
     to -

     THE GALLERY -

     Filled with Paintings and Sculptures, nothing less than 200
     years old.  This place is a maze, what with it's walls of
     paintings that jut out here and there, the various corridors
     which lead from room to room, and the sculptures which block
     sight lines.  Now we find - Vincent, pressed against a wall, a
     gun in each hand, while - FIVE RUSSIAN MAFIA GUYS are hunting
     him down.  We do a SERIES OF QUICK CUTS as the Five Guys split
     up and look for Vincent, all the while speaking in low Russian
     voices.  Suddenly one of the Guys turns a corner and sees -
     Nothing.  No Vincent.  Now he turns back and - A FIST CRASHES
     through a painting which hangs on a makeshift wall.  It's
     Vincent.  His hand wraps around Mafia Guy's neck, pinning him
     in place.  Seconds later - Two quick shots rip through the
     painting, hitting Mafia Guy in the head.  Now - The other men
     are alerted by the shots, they come running and - Vincent steps
     out firing -