X-Men

                           FRECKLED KID

                 Man, what's the matter with you?

       His friend is on the toilet with his head in his hands.

       He seems to be in some pain.  He is SCOTT SUMMERS - AGE

       17.

                           FRECKLED KID (contíd)

                 Dude.  Lighten up.  She's just a girl.

                 You just gotta-

                           SCOTT

                 No, my eyes... my eyes are killing me.

       The Freckled kid offers a small plastic bottle.

                           FRECKLED KID

                 You want some Visine, man?

                           SCOTT

                 My... eyes...

       The freckled kid looks and sees that Scott's eyes are

       watering so badly that tears are literally streaming

       through his fingers.

       He goes back to the mirror to look at his own.

                           SCOTT

                 ... they're burning...

       The freckled kid turns back to him.

                           FRECKLED KID

                 Dude, how much did you smoke?

                           SCOTT

                 I didn't smoke anything.

       Scott looks up, taking his hands away, revealing for an

       instant that his eyes are merely bright red embers in his

       head.  Featureless but for the color.

       Freckles takes a step back.

       INT. GYM - OUTSIDE BOYS ROOM - NIGHT

       A blinding flash of light shows through the frosted glass

       in the double door and cuts through the crack into the

       dark of the gym.

       All who see it are stunned. Frozen.  A lingering moment

       of confusion, then:

       BOOM, the doors to the Boys Room burst open and the

       occupants scatter into the gym.

       INT. GYM - STALL - NIGHT

       Freckles is still there, legs locked.

       FRECKLES' P.O.V.

       He looks at Scott who is now crying meekly in the stall,

       covering his eyes again -- afraid to open them.

       The door of the stall across from him swings closed TO

       REVEAL:

       A HOLE, PUNCHED THROUGH THE STALL DOOR framing Scott's

       face perfectly.  Pull back to reveal that the hole

       continues through the wall, into the girl's bathroom next

       door.

       In the corner several girls huddle together, they are

       afraid.

       INT. SENATE HEARING ROOM - DAY

       Packed with reporters and photographers.  There's a dais -

       a raised panel of senators - and a second, lower panel.

       This is where the "experts" are testifying.

       Panning across the faces of several G.O.P. creeps as they

       watch something with varying degrees of interest.

       TITLES:

       WASHINGTON D.C. - THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE

       A woman's voice holds over the proceedings.  It is the

       voice of JEAN GREY - whom we will soon meet.

       As she is speaking, we come to a large screen television

       at one end of the room.

                           JEAN (O.S.)

                 In every organism on Earth there

                 exists a mutator gene - the X-factor,

                 as it has come to be known.  It is the

                 basic building block of evolution -

                 the reason we have evolved from homo

                 habilus...

       FOOTAGE REFLECTS THE VARIOUS STAGES OF HUMAN EVOLUTION.

       Accompanying it is a GRAPH with a DIAGONAL LINE

       indicating the ascent of the "human being" as we know it.

       Accompanying the graph are evolving images of the

       "evolution of man."

                           JEAN (O.S.) (contíd)

                 ... to homo erectus, to homo sapiens

                 Neanderthals, and, finally, to homo

                 sapiens.

       The animated demo on the screen zooms in on the lowest

       order of human depicted - homo habilus - a primitive, ape-

       like humanoid covered in hair.  As he is singled out, the

       terrain of his time appears, along with the harsh signs

       of his winter.

                           JEAN (O.S.) (contíd)

                 Taking it's cues from the climate,

                 terrain, various sources of

                 nourishment, the mutator gene tells

                 the body when it needs to change to

                 adapt to a new environment.  The

                 process is subtle, normally taking

                 thousands of years.

       As the graphic changes and depicts WARMER CLIMATE, the

       HAIR STARTS TO DISAPPEAR ON THE MAN'S BODY - gradually

       evolving into the human we now know as ourselves.

       Now the terrain is modern, the weather pleasant.  The

       image pulls back and places this man back in line at the

       front of evolution.

                           JEAN (O.S.) (contíd)

                 Only in the last few thousand years

                 did mankind begin to make clothes for

                 himself, build shelters, use heat and

                 grow food in large quantities.  With

                 this man-made environment remaining

                 relatively stable, the X-factor became

                 dormant.

       QUICK SHOTS: early huts, early clothing; then early

       homes, later homes, air conditioning, cars, modern high-

       rises, etc.

       PULL BACK WIDER

                           JEAN (O.S.) (contíd)

                 Until now.

       On the room, the reactions, and on JEAN herself.

       A strong, attractive woman in her early 30's.  A simple

       placard before her:

       JEAN GREY.  GENETICALLY ENHANCED RIGHTS ASSOCIATION.

       The screen shows the words "PRESENT DAY," where the

       "evolution line" has resumed its rise.

                           JEAN (contíd)

                 For reasons still not known to us, we

                 are seeing what some are calling the

                 beginnings of another stage of

                 evolution -

       A MICROPHONED VOICE interrupts.  Bearing down is the

       flamboyant SENATOR SCOTT "FRANK" KELLY, a conservative

       from Florida, and the hearing's Chairman.

       Just behind him sits his aide HENRY GUYRICH - mid 30's,

       typical government cog.

                           KELLY

                 You're avoiding the question I posed

                 to you at the beginning of the

                 hearing, Ms. Grey.  Three words: Are

                 mutants dangerous?

                           JEAN

                 I am avoiding a question that is

                 decidedly loaded, Senator.  The wrong

                 person behind the wheel of a car can

                 be dangerous.

       Another SENATOR (LUCINDA ROWEE) speaks into her

       microphone:

                           SENATOR ROWEE

                 Well, we do license people to drive.

                           JEAN

                 But not to live.

       Kelly raises a hand, continuing his tirade.

                           KELLY

                 Ms. Grey -- you work at a school for

                 mutants in Westchester, New York.  Can

                 you tell the members of this committee

                 what exactly you are teaching these

                 mutants?

                           JEAN

                 Math.  History.  Science.  English.

                 Athletics --

                           KELLY

                 You wouldn't happen to be teaching

                 them how to use their powers to --

                           JEAN

                 Control, Senator...  we teach them

                 control.

       Kelly raises a blown-up photograph: a grainy, super-

       zoomed, somewhat obscured image of a CAR ON A FREEWAY

       which appears to have "melted."  Now he's really playing

       to the crowd.

                           KELLY

                 This was taken by a state police

                 officer in Secaucus, New Jersey.  A

                 man in a minor altercation literally

                 melted the car in front of him.  I

                 don't know where you come from, Ms.

                 Grey, but where I come from, you don't

                 go melting people's cars when they cut

                 you off.  You do it the old fashioned

                 way -- you give 'em the finger.

                     (laughs from the crowd)

                 But what you presume to tell this

                 committee -

                           JEAN

                 I presume nothing, I am here to tell

                 you that in time, the mutator gene

                 will activate in every living human

                 being on this planet.  Perhaps even

                 your children, Senator.

                           KELLY

                 I can assure you, there is no such

                 creature in my genes.

       The room LAUGHS.  Kelly mistaken thinks it is for him,

       until the double meaning occurs to him.  He is

       momentarily embarrassed, but he quickly recovers.

                           KELLY (contíd)

                 Ms. Grey, we are not here to weed out

                 mutants.  The Registration Act is

                 designed merely to assess their

                 potential threat - if any - to

                 national security.

       The crowd reacts loudly in support of the Senator.  Some

       cheer, some roar, some yell obscenities at Jean.

       Jean stands and walks out, pushing her way through

       reporters now moving in for her response. All the while,

       Kelly is delivering his last words.

                           KELLY (contíd)

                 Mutants are very real.  They are among

                 us.  We must know who they are.  And

                 above all, we must know what they can

                 do.

       AS THE SHOUTS OF THE MOB RISE AND GIVE WAY TO:

       EXT.  CAPITOL BUILDING - WASHINGTON D.C. - DAY

       An angry mob outside the Senate hearing.  Voices roar in

       dissent when Jean emerges, coming down the steps without

       hesitation.

       She sees signs condemning mutants, a scarce few

       supporting them.

       A group of reporters are behind her and more meet her in

       front, closing her in.  Microphones are shove in her

       face.

                           REPORTERS/VARIOUS

                 Dr. Grey, how do you feel about the

                 Senator's Statement / How is the

                 mutant community reacting?  Is it true

                 that mutants are dangerous? / Is there

                 a mutant plot to overthrow the

                 government?

       She ignores them all, trying to push through.

       ANGLE ON:

       A KID IN THE CROWD holding a full can of Coke.  Smiling

       to his friend beside him.  He fires it over the heads of

       everyone toward Jean.  Perfect trajectory.  Closing fast.

       Suddenly:

       Silence falls over the crowd.  A total silence.  An

       absolute silence.

       All eyes watch in awe at the can and its liquid trail,

       frozen in mid-air a few inches from Jean's face.  It

       simply hovers there.

                           JEAN

                 Weíre not the ones to be afraid of.

       Using telekinesis she slowly lowers the can to the

       ground.  She shakes her head, almost ashamed of the

       display.  Almost as if to say ìI didnít want to do that.î

       The can rolls down the steps.  People move away from it

       as though the can itself were dangerous.

       The crowd steps back in genuine fear.  Jean simply moves

       ahead now, unimpeded, still shaking her head.

       EXT. CABIN IN THE SNOW COVERED WILDERNESS - DAY

       Smoke curling from the chimney, warm light emanating from

       the window.

       A well-worn pick-up truck parked axles deep in the snow,

       the back filled with a cord of cut wood.  A hand painted

       scrawl on the door reads:

       Firewood for Sales

       A slope, just behind the cabin leading to a frozen lake.

       PUSH IN SLOWLY TOWARDS THE CABIN.  Ten beers sit cooling

       in the snow outside the door.  We hear LED ZEPPELINíS

       ìBLACK DOG.î

       INT. CABIN - DAY

       Music thunders, quite a contrast to the surroundings.  A

       cosy little abode, showing signs of neglect, as though

       decorated with a gentler touch that passed not too long

       ago.

       A large shelf replete with books.  An electric mix from

       Sun Tsuís The Art of War to Mark Twainís The Adventures

       of Huckleberry Finn.

       A fire burns in the fireplace.  On the mantle sit a few

       old black and white photos of a slightly younger Logan

       posing with a group of HARD-CASE MILITARY TYPES in a

       heavily wooded area.  We can not tell if they are true

       Military or simply mercenaries.

       In the wall above the mantle, a sketch of a beautiful

       woman.

       And finally we come to the occupant of the house, sitting

       at the only table in the center of the room.  His back is

       to us.  His hair is coarse and black, sprouting wildly

       from his head.  He is LOGAN.  We will come to know him

       well.  As well as we can.