Script: Gatchaman II #52
The Destruction of Overlord X
translated by Osamu Ishihara and Alara Rogers
NARRATOR: Overlord X's evil Solar Shift Plan will destroy a large area of the Solar System, encompassing not only Earth, but Mars and Venus as well. Disasters are occurring all over the Earth, despite the Science Ninja Team's best efforts. The Earth is approaching catastrophe.
Now, Gel Sadra, whose mother was killed by Overlord X, has turned against Galactor, and is fleeing toward a nameless island. Meanwhile, Condor Joe is in critical condition for lack of energy, since he lost Dr. Rafael.
Footsteps lead away from a crashed ship. As an electrical storm rages, the shadow of a bird-figure passes through a power station.
JOE (weakly, to himself): I can't collapse until I've destroyed Galactor.* I'll bring down X. No one can destroy X but me. If I can only get to Overlord X... it will all be over. But if I don't get energy now...
He breaks a power cable in half and places the sparkling ends against himself.
NARRATOR: At the same time, Gel Sadra, who has crashlanded following her flight from Galactor....
GEL SADRA: (crawling out of her craft, with difficulty) Eeeii, damn piece of junk! (looks down at her arm-- it's bleeding) Shit. (A bird-shadow falls against a nearby cliff, as a man's voice laughs.) Wha--
KEN: Gel Sadra. I've found you at last!
GS (fearfully): Gatchaman!
KEN (fiercely): Gel Sadra!
GS: (holding up her hand and bleeding arm): Gatchaman, wait, please! Listen to me. Pandora was my mother. It was my stupidity that caused my mother to be killed. I want to make up for her death.
KEN: If that's true... then tell me where Overlord X's headquarters is!
GS: Overlord X's headquarters?
KEN: Yes.
GS: I know Overlord X's weak points better than anyone else. Gatchaman, take me with you!
KEN (softly): Gel Sadra...
A Galactor behind them steps out of the rocks, machine-gun in hand. Feathers fly, and he drops.
JOE's VOICE: Gel Sadra, I'll take you!
Up on the cliff above them, lit by the lightning storm, stands the Condor.
KEN (gladly): Joe!
JOE: I followed the Galactor here. (leaps down) But I don't need him anyone. It looks like I've found an excellent guide.
KEN: Joe, are you all right now?
JOE: Ken... (turns away) I...
KEN: Joe...
JOE: I came back from hell to destroy Overlord X. (He bends, clutching his head in sudden apparent agony)
KEN: Joe! (Ken goes to help him, and meets Joe's fist in his stomach. He slumps to the ground under Gel Sadra's shocked eyes.)
JOE: Forgive me, Ken. You're not expendable-- you're the leader of the Science Ninja Team. I'm sorry... (turns to Gel Sadra) Gel Sadra. Show me the way to the Meteor Mountain. (1)
NARRATOR: The Meteor Mountain is 3,000 meters above sea level. It is like a glacier, covered with snow and ice.
Gel Sadra and Joe have been making their way through the mountains. Through the fog appears a vast, bulbous mecha, connected to the ground by some sort of force field. Joe gasps.
JOE: Is this...
GS: That's right. This is Overlord X's headquarters.
JOE: Let's go, Gel Sadra.
They disappear through the force field. In the Galactor base, an announcer speaks.
ANNOUNCER: The Solar Shift Plan is on standby. Everyone take your usual positions! Take positions!
Some Galactors change shift outside a room.
GALACTOR 1: Situation normal.
GALACTOR 2: All right.
Joe and Gel Sadra watch from the shadows.
GS: Leave this to me. (she steps out chuckling, to the surprise of the Galactors) Thank you for working so hard at your posts.
GALACTOR 2: Gel Sadra-sama-- we thought-- you were--
Joe leaps into action. The first man falls immediately. The other leaps. Joe pins him to the wall with a feather shuriken. He takes a knife and flings it at Joe, who leaps, dodging, and kicks the man in the head, killing him. Then Joe hears a strangled noise from behind. He turns. Gel Sadra is holding her hand to the knife, which is buried under her solar plexus.
GS: He got me...
JOE: Gel Sadra!
She falls. Meanwhile, Ken wakes up. He looks about himself.
KEN: Joe! Joe! JOE! (he notices a trail of blood) That's blood! (to his communicator) Jun, come here! Bring the New God Phoenix!
Back in the Galactor base.
JOE: Gel Sadra! Gel Sadra, hang on!
GS: (weakly) Joe, destroy X. Overlord X is behind that door there...
JOE: Gel Sadra, I...
GS: I know, Joe. Go ahead. Don't worry about me.
JOE: All right. (heads into the room)
The room is dark, and filled with weird globular shapes.
JOE: Overlord X, where are you? Come on out!
A hologram of X appears.
X: Condor Joe, you do not disappoint my expectations from a member of the Science Ninja Team. You've done well to come here.
JOE: It's been a long time, Overlord X. The day of your destruction has finally arrived!
X (laughs): You're going to destroy me?
JOE: That's right. No matter what you really are, I'll destroy you!
X laughs. Gel Sadra crawls into the room, agonized. Then the floor warps and buckles under Joe's feet. The dim light vanishes utterly. In front of Joe, something splits in half, emitting a blinding light, and Joe screams. Aboard the New God Phoenix, they arrive at the mecha.
KEN: Over there!
They leap down into the mecha. Things blow up, killing Galactors.
ANNOUNCER: Emergency! Emergency!
Some fleeing Galactors are brought up short by a shadow.
KEN: Sometimes five, sometimes one, we are the white shadows that slip in unseen-- Science Ninja Team Gatchaman!
The others' shadows appear, and the four of them go into action.
JUN: Ken! We'll take care of this. You go after Joe!
KEN: All right! (he runs and reaches X's chamber, seeing Gel Sadra's crumpled form) Gel Sadra!
GS: Gatchaman... this is it. This is... Overlord X's chamber...
Lights flash, and swirling colors appear, as X laughs.
X: So, Gatchaman, you've come at last!
KEN: Overlord X. Today we'll learn what you really are!
X: Look at your poor pitiful friend.
A beam of light from an eye-shaped mecha reveals Joe, sprawled on the floor.
KEN: Joe!
JOE: Ken, don't come near me. Without me, you can't...
X: Listen to me, Gatchaman. I, the conqueror from space Overlord X, am immortal!
There is a brilliant light, and Ken cannot see. A dim shape forms in the light.
GS: Overlord...
The shape resolves itself into a transparent spherical capsule on a pillar. Through the capsule, machinery operates like living systems, and colored lights play across the interior surface of the capsule.
KEN: Are you Overlord X?
X: Yes. I am Overlord X, a conqueror from space! You human beings cannot hope to kill me.
KEN: Overlord X. You're underestimating humanity. Humans have love, and intelligence and courage. Nothing can defeat us!
X: You don't realize what you're up against in me yet. Through my Solar Shift Plan, the Sun is inexorably beginning to move. Soon the Earth will be destroyed! (laughs) I am a conqueror from space!
GS: Overlord...
She gets to her feet unsteadily, and reaches a console, where she presses a button. Suddenly, the floor parts in half and rolls back, revealing a pillar.
X: What are you doing, Gel Sadra?! I cannot permit this!
Gel Sadra points to a glowing square on the pillar.
GS: Gatchaman, that's it! That's his weak point-- his heart, the device that controls everything he is!*
X: Don't tell him that, Gel Sadra.
GS: Gatchaman, to destroy Overlord X all you have to do is destroy that!
X: What??
A ray of light shoots out, as Ken shouts, "Watch out!", and strikes Gel Sadra in the chest. She screams and staggers. Ken leaps to the ceiling.
KEN: Gel Sadra!
Gel Sadra screams and falls into the pit, bouncing on the hard surface below. She reaches her hand out, but cannot get up.
X: Dammed fool.
KEN (whispers): Gel Sadra...
X: Gatchaman, don't fight me. It will only result in your death.
By this time the rest of the Ninja Team has arrived.
JUN: Ken!
JINPEI: Ani-ki!
JOE (stirring from where he had fallen) Ken...
X: Don't, Gatchaman. You'll only hasten your death.
JOE (strangled): Don't, Ken!
Ken leaps down into the pit, aiming for the weak point.
JUN: Ken!
A ray from X slices Ken's wing. He screams and falls off course, hard to the floor.
JUN (almost crying) Ken!!
Ken gets to his feet and pulls his gun. It goes flying from his hands to one of X's laser turrets.
KEN: Shit!
X: That's enough, Gatchaman! I thought I might let you live, for your bravery, but I've changed my mind. Since you obviously want to die, I'll oblige you.
X commences firing at Ken, who barely dodges.
KEN: Dammit! I've got to take out that part there!
He takes out one of his bombs. It flies to one of the turrets, and explodes, destroying that set of lasers.
KEN: Now!
He begins climbing up the pillar, dodging laser fire. He takes out his saucer, and a whole new set of lasers pull out of the wall.
JUN (shrieks) Ken, watch out!
X (laughs) Die, Gatchaman!
Ken leaps anyway, saucer in hand. The lasers bracket him. He screams, and the saucer flies wildly. As Ken falls, Joe gets up.
JOE: Overlord X. Die!!!
He runs at X, his body glowing. Joe leaps, and comes down in the weak spot.
JUN: JOE!!!
X screams, and lights flare. Joe gasps in agony, and as X's scream grows deeper, lower, the lights flash more intensely, buffeting the rest of the Ninja Team with energy. Then confused holographic images appear, as X's voice, damaged and very slow, speaks.
X: I am Overlord X, the great conqueror from space. Move the sun, the Proxima system, the greatest enemy, 013001. To use the star-killer bomb, colder, colder, below 0... Move.. the sun... Proxima... 013001...the sun... (2)
There is a thin whine, and the voice cuts off. The crystal around the capsule turns brittle, and crumbles. Then everything starts to explode.
JUN: JOE!!!
Joe is flung out in the explosion, which completely demolishes the base. The snow melts off the mountains. Jun's face appears.
JUN: Ken, Ken!
JINPEI: Ani-ki!
RYU: Hang on!
KEN (regaining consciousness): Jun. Ryu. Jinpei!
JINPEI: He did it! He woke up! That's my big brother for you-- he's too tough to kill!
RYU: We nearly lost you there, Ken.
JUN: We really did it. Ken, look!
Ken looks. Buried in one of the core pieces of Overlord X's remains is his bird saucer.
KEN (realizes) Joe... (he turns. A very battered Joe is sitting there, quite alive.)
JOE: My bomb didn't go off. You'd already killed X, so when I jumped the battle was already over.
KEN: Joe...
JOE (almost joking) So I lost my chance to get myself killed.
RYU (leans forward): Hey, what about Gel Sadra?
The remnants of a costume and a Galactor leader's mask in the snow are seen before we actually see Gel Sadra, unmasked as a beautiful woman, staggering up a snowy mountainside. She gasps, "Mama...mama..." as she climbs, with great difficulty, toward the top, where she is overlooking a green valley, with trees and a lake, a field of flowers where the butterflies play.
GEL SADRA: Ohhh... I never knew the Earth... was so beautiful... I'm so ashamed... for I would have taken away the beauty of this Earth, and let only ugliness remain... I can never make up for my crimes. (tears form in her eyes) If it could be permitted... when next I am reborn I want to make up for what I did... I want to work for the sake of this beautiful Earth!... But how can I be sure the Earth will stay the same until then...
A sunbeam shines down from the sky, and Pandora's voice speaks.
PANDORA: Don't worry, my Sammie. As long as Gatchaman remains on Earth, the Earth will never change...
GEL SADRA: Mama...
PANDORA: Yes... Come to mother's side! You need never suffer again...
GEL SADRA: Mama!
She steps forward, smiling, and falls on her back in the flowerbed. The sunbeam shines directly on her, and her body glows, each part of it shrinking until she is a small child with a peaceful expression. Then the spirit of Sammie, dressed as she was the last day of her childhood life, gets up from the body with a radiant expression. She and Pandora, smiling at each other, walk hand in hand along the sunbeam, into the sky, and Gel Sadra's costume blows away in the wind.
KEN (thinking) We could save the Earth... but we couldn't save Gel Sadra. Forgive us, Gel Sadra.
Aboard the New God Phoenix, Nambu speaks to them.
NAMBU: It was by a hairsbreadth, team, but you saved the Earth from disaster. Thank you.
JINPEI: But if the Main Beam Cannon were to be launched again, I don't know what we'd do.
RYU: I agree with him completely.
NAMBU: We've never faced such an enemy before. It seems Overlord X was planning on crashing the sun into a world in the Proxima system. (3)
KEN: Doctor, I leave Joe in your hands.
NAMBU: Trust in ISO's ability.
KEN (looks at Joe, gives him a thumbs-up) Joe!
JOE: Ken!
NAMBU: I'm waiting for you at G-Town!
The New God Phoenix flies away... but in the wreckage of Overlord X, one small piece starts to glow...
1. One of the last things Dr. Rafael managed to say before he died was that X's headquarters were in the Inseki Yama-- either Meteor Mountains, or Meteor Mt. It's hard to tell how many mountains were involved, and why they're called Meteor. I've guessed that it's one mountain in particular.
2. It was almost impossible to decipher this part, either with Osamu or by myself. I have not attempted to render this into grammatical English, to try to convey the disjointed sense of X's actual speech. It wasn't in grammatical Japanese, either.
3. According to at least one source in the magazines, the name of the planet was Fuyuress. As far as I can tell, this is never stated in the episode.