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DD II Shrine

The Sight of Freedom
Episode written by Phil Harnage

     The scene opens in Undertown.  Daj's father is giving a presentation to the Undertown citizens from a type of auditorium/amphitheatre.  He is saying that today, the citizens of Metro City are accepting the mutants of Undertown as equal citizens.
     Ice Pick and Jawbreaker are seen watching the presentation from a set of pipes high above.  Ice Pick radios the Shadow Master to tell him that the mutants are working themselves into a frenzy.  The Shadow Master is quite pleased and tells Ice Pick this is perfect.
     From an auditorium above ground, some Metro City citizens are watching Daj's father's speech via two large TV screens.  Billy and Jimmy are present as well, and are noting how some of the Metro City citizens aren't too happy about this claimed equality.  In fact, several citizens are holding anti-mutant signs and protesting.  Even the police commissioner appears unhappy about this.
     Daj's father then cuts a ribbon to symbolize breaking down the barrier between Metro City and Undertown, and several mutants head upward toward Metro City via an elevator lift.
     In the background, a group of Shadow Warriors are seen hiding under tattered clothes.  Trigger Happy then tells the group they've got a party to start.  The mayor tells the commissioner that he hopes his men are prepared.  This could get out of hand real fast. 
     As the elevator lift appears, a group of protesters begin running toward the mutants.  However, Billy notices they aren't protesters - they're Shadow Warriors.  Billy and Jimmy fight off a couple of nameless Shadow Warriors, and the commissioner tells them to get the mayor to safety while he takes care of this.  The brothers seem overjoyed to comply with this request.
     As the commissioner radios his officers, Trigger Happy ambushes them and blasts their knight clubs out of their hands, chasing them off.  As the other officers attempt to move in, Sickle appears and cuts down some pillars, preventing the officers from approaching.
     Jimmy notes that things are heating up, and the brothers run off into a building and transform into the Double Dragons.  The brothers then begin dispatching Shadow Warriors, and Daj's father tells the mutants not to get involved or they'll harm their own goals.  Billy and Jimmy grab some citizens who are trying to attack the mutants, and they tell them to take their hate somewhere else.  The brothers then help the police stop the riot.
     Back at the Shadow Dojo, the Shadow Master is congratulating his warriors for causing the Metro City citizens and the Undertown mutants to distrust and hate each other.  Shadow Master then asks Ice Pick how his weapons factory is progressing, and a TV screen appears showing Ice Pick overlooking an underground facility.  Ice Pick says it's progressing, but he's having trouble getting enough mutant workers.  Shadow Master says it's because the mutants are too busy dreaming about a normal life.  They need to have their dreams crushed, and that's where Jawbreaker comes in.
     The scene cuts to a house above ground at night.  Inside the house, the commissioner is talking to his 11-year-old blind daughter, Sammy (Samantha).  Unfortunately, he seems to be treating his daughter like a baby, apparently because of her blindness.  He tells Sammy to lock the door as he's leaving, but she doesn't.  Instead, she turns on the TV and listens to a report about a riot that was stopped by the Double Dragons.  Sammy then hears the doorbell ring and assumes it's her father.  However, it turns out to be Jawbreaker, and he kicks open the door and kidnaps Sammy.  As Sammy is being kidnapped, we hear the news reporter talking about an upcoming interview with the commissioner.
     At the TV station, the commissioner is being prepped for an interview when he receives a note informing him Sammy has been kidnapped.  As the scene cuts to the Dragon Dojo, we continue to hear the news report as Billy and Jimmy watch their TV screen.  The news reporter announces that the interview with Commissioner Bricks has been cancelled because his blind daughter was kidnapped by mutants.  However, Billy is quite aware that this timing is perfect for someone like the Shadow Master.  Billy then takes goes to head off Bricks while Jimmy goes to find Daj's father, who has been blamed for the ransom note. 
     We then see Jawbreaker keeping Sammy in a dimly lit cave.  She's not tied up, but is instead sitting on a wooden box and trying to talk to Jawbreaker.  She asks to touch his face, but Jawbreaker says he's ugly and she should stay away.  Sammy says that her mother told her ugliness is something you find inside a person, not outside.  She then touches Jawbreaker's face and realizes where he gets his name.  However, Sammy isn't the least bit afraid and asks if he's a mutant.  Jawbreaker doesn't respond, and Sammy says it's nothing to be ashamed of.  Jawbreaker tells Sammy that everyone says mutants are bad.  However, Sammy says Jawbreaker sounds like her father, who's more blind than she is because he can't see that mutants are people too.
     Commissioner Bricks is seen telling his officers that he wants the freaks who kidnapped his daughter.  Billy appears and tells Bricks he doesn't think any mutants did this.  The Shadow Warriors are the real culprits.  However, Bricks won't listen to reason and tells Billy he's out of his jurisdiction.  Billy then says he's still going with Bricks - mayor's orders.
     Jimmy is seen talking to Daj's father at the elevator lift about the kidnapping.  Jimmy reads a separate note given to Daj's father by the Shadow Warriors.  It says the mutants will be blamed for the girl's kidnapping if he doesn't show up at Undertown square at 8 o'clock tonight.  Just then, Bricks arrives on the elevator lift and announces that Daj's father is under arrest.  Billy tells Bricks to try talking to him first.  Daj's father then offers to help.
     In the background, we see Ice Pick and Trigger Happy getting ready for an ambush.  Trigger Happy asks if they should blast them now, but Ice Pick says no.  Trigger Happy says the heck with that and opens fire anyway.  The resulting attack causes Bricks to believe that he's been set up by Daj's father, and he orders his officers to open fire, which they do (on Trigger Happy).  A group of mutants then begins rushing toward the lift, but Daj's father tries to tell them this isn't his doing.  Billy tells Jimmy they need to stop this. 
     The brothers transform and stand in the way of the mutants.  The mutants then spot the Double Dragons and turn around, running away in fear.  Ice Pick and Trigger Happy get ready to retreat, but the Double Dragons intervene and tell the Shadows to take them to the commissioner's daughter.  However, Trigger Happy blasts the roof of the cabin they're hiding in, and he and Ice Pick run away as the roof collapses in front of the Dragons.  While Ice Pick is running away, he communicates with the Shadow Master by way of video phone/radio and tells him everything is going according to plan.  He then asks about the girl, and the Shadow Master says to eliminate her.
     Ice Pick tells Trigger Happy to keep the SWAT team busy while he takes off.  Billy and Jimmy say that it's time to end this, and they run toward Trigger Happy while deflecting his blasts with their swords.  Just as the brothers are taking care of Trigger Happy and some Shadow Warriors, Sickle jumps into the fight.  However, he's quickly dispatched, and Billy says Trigger Happy is coming with him.  Billy and Jimmy then take Trigger Happy over to Bricks, but Trigger Happy calls for help, and a bunch of nameless Shadow Warriors start opening fire on the officers.  As Bricks returns fire, he knocks a pipe down in front of the Dragons, allowing the Shadows to escape.
     Back in the cave, Sammy is showing Jawbreaker how to make funny shapes with rubber bands.  Jawbreaker seems to be enjoying himself, but just then, Ice Pick appears and says "How touching."  Ice Pick says it's time to get rid of her, but Jawbreaker won't allow it.  As Ice Pick starts moving toward Sammy, Jawbreaker goes ballistic and tosses Ice Pick into a wall.  Jawbreaker then picks Sammy up on his shoulder and carries her out of the cave, saying he won't let anyone hurt her.  Ice Pick then yells that the Shadow Master won't be happy about this, and we see Daj's father in the background, hiding behind a rock.
     Back at the elevator lift area, Billy (in his costume) is trying to tell Bricks that the Shadow Warriors were responsible.  At the same time, Daj's father appears and says he knows where Bricks' daughter is.  Bricks attempts to handcuff Daj's father, but Billy, Jimmy and Daj's father manage to convince Bricks to at least check it out.  The four then take off to find Sammy.
     Ice Pick is seen standing outside the Shadow Master's factory when he hears the Dragons and their friends approaching.  Ice Pick then runs behind a rock and Jimmy spots the Shadow Master's illegal weapons factory.  Sammy is then seen hiding behind a nearby rock as well with Jawbreaker.  She hears her father calling for her, and she signals him to come over.  Bricks hugs Sammy and asks if the mutants hurt her.  Sammy then says that Jawbreaker saved her, and she tells him to come out.  Jawbreaker then steps out of the shadows as Billy and Jimmy look at each other in disbelief. 
     Daj's father approaches Jawbreaker and shakes hands with him.  Jawbreaker says he's a mutant, just like Daj's father.  Jawbreaker then says he will join the other mutants.  However, Trigger Happy and Ice Pick appear from behind everyone and attempt to ambush them.  As Trigger Happy begins opening fire, Ice Pick tells him to be careful not to blow up the weapons factory with all the explosives laying around.  However, Trigger Happy does just that, and during the commotion, a barrel of waste falls onto Bricks, pinning him.  Daj's father then pulls the barrel off Bricks, and Bricks asks why he saved him.  Daj's father says humans help humans.
     The weapons factory continues exploding, and Bricks says they're trapped; it's too dark for them to find their way out.  However, Sammy doesn't need to see, and she leads them out of the collapsing cave by heading toward a gust of fresh air.  In a more lighted area, she points toward an air vent, but Bricks says it's too small to get through.  Billy and Jimmy then transform into their more powerful "ultimate" armor, and Billy uses his twirling propeller blades to burrow a man-sized tunnel out of the cave.  Everyone escapes as the tunnel collapses behind them.
     Back at the elevator lift, Trigger Happy has the officers trapped and is toying with them by shooting at their feet.  Billy and Jimmy step in and send Trigger Happy and a group of Shadow Warriors packing.  As another group of Shadow Warriors rushes toward Daj's father and Bricks, Daj's father takes them out using some surprising martial arts skills.  When Sickle then attempts to step in, Bricks blasts him with his shoulder-mounted plasma canon.  Jawbreaker also aids the good guys by taking out Shadow Warriors.
     Ice Pick then says that they can't stop the bomb he's planted in the elevator lift.  However, Jimmy takes care of Ice Pick and some Shadow Warriors while Billy goes for the bomb.  Billy then grabs the bomb and then flies it above ground where it detonates safely over a large body of water. 
     Back at the elevator lift, a bunch of fireworks are going off while Bricks says he will protect the mutants' rights and Daj's father says they will be good citizens.  Billy then tells Jawbreaker "Welcome to the good guys, JB."  
     Epilogue Message: We see Billy, Jimmy, Jawbreaker, Sammy and Daj's father standing inside the Dragon Dojo.  Billy says it's only human to make judgments about people based on what they look like.  Sammy notes that her father never thought she could get them out of that cave because she was blind.  Billy says to give people a chance because there's always more there than meets the eye.

     Dojo Master's review: This is a bland episode.  The whole mutant theme (hello X-men ripoff) is boring and totally uninteresting.  Also, Jawbreaker's change of heart isn't very believable considering his past transgressions against kids like Michael.  The Shadow Master is only present in a few small scenes when he is congratulating his lackeys or giving orders, and the Shadow Khan isn't even mentioned.  Where is bad guy in this episode?  Oh yeah, I forgot.  This is a cheesy inspirational episode.  So the bad guy is prejudice.  God, I can't believe I just wrote that.  But it's true.  Other supporting characters are also missing.  No Dragon Warriors.  No Junior Dragons.  No Marian (seriously.  Where the hell has she gone for most of season two?).
     In the first season, mutants were shown to live in Metro City (not underground) and to be mindless criminals.  There was no further explanation, but they were shown to be bad.  So this change of tone in season two is just weird.  I also found it odd that the brothers used their old, standard-level armor for most of the episode just to utilize their stronger, "ultimate" armor at the end.  Why not use the stronger armor the entire time?
     In all, I don't really care for the mutant theme.  I didn't like it in season two of Dark Angel, and I don't like it here.

Rating: D