(The valley ships are still circling, high above.)

Goll

We're coming on two hours now!

Gikkuri

And there's more insects than ever.

Goll

Princess! Princess!!

* * *

(Nausicaä is having a flashback dream.)

Yuri

Nausicaä. Nausicaä! Come here. Come here!

Nausicaä

Father… And mother, too.

No… I don't want to go that way.

Go away! There's nothing here. Really, there's nothing here! No, hide!

Man

It's an ohmu larva.

Yuri

So she was protecting it after all.
Give it here, Nausicaä.

Nausicaä

No! She hasn't done anything!

Yuri

People and insects cannot live in the same world, my child.

Nausicaä

Please, don't kill her! Please…

* * *

(Nausicaä awakens.)

Nausicaä

Teto.

(She gets up and looks around.)

What a strange place.

(Asbel runs up, carrying Minerva over his head.)

Asbel

Hey! I finally found it. How do you feel?

Nausicaä

Where are we?

Asbel

First, let me thank you. I'm Asbel of Pejité. Thank you for saving my life.

Nausicaä

I'm Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds. Where are we?

Asbel

(Laughs) You'll never guess. We're underneath the Blight.

Nausicaä

Under the Jungle??

Asbel

Look. We fell down from up there, with the sand.

(Nausicaä's hand flies to her mouth.)

Nausicaä

We don't have our masks on!

Asbel

Yeah, amazing, isn't it? The air here is clean. Hard to believe… that there could be a place like this, under the Blight.

What is it?

(Nausicaä walks away, wordlessly.)

Nausicaä, don't go too far!

Nausicaä

What a magnificent tree.
It's dead but still passing water.

(She sees a sandfall from the ceiling. She examines the sand.)

Just like the sand from the well…

The dead trees are turning to sand, and accumulating underground…

(Asbel finds Nausicaä lying on the ground. He runs to her.)

Asbel

Nausicaä… Are you crying?

Nausicaä

Mm hmm. From happiness.

(Asbel and Nausicaä are sitting and talking.)

Asbel

Lastelle's my twin sister. I wanted to be there for her.

Nausicaä

I'm sorry. I meant to contact her family sooner…

Asbel

No. I'm sorry. I almost killed the one who saw her into the next world.

Nausicaä

No, no…

Asbel

So, that thing is in the Valley of the Winds?

(Asbel flinches.)

What the heck are these nuts?

Nausicaä

They're called chico nuts. They're very nutritious.

Asbel

They taste bizarre, but I could eat a whole boot-full!

Nausicaä

(Laughs)

(Asbel and Nausicaä work together to fix Minerva. Later that night, she shares her thoughts on the Jungle.)

Asbel

How the Blight was created? You sure think about the strangest things.

Nausicaä

The trees of the Jungle were born to clean this world that humans have polluted. They take in the earth's poison and turn it into clean crystals. Then they die and turn to sand. That's how this underground cavern was created. The insects are protecting the jungle.

Asbel

If that's true, then the human race is doomed. It may take thousands of years, but we can't go on living in fear of the insects and the vapours. I guess all we can hope for is to find a way to stop the Blight from growing any further.

Nausicaä

You sound just like K'Shana.

Asbel

No, we're different. We aren't planning to use the Titan for warfare. Tomorrow, when you meet the others, you'll see.

Nausicaä

Let's just go to sleep. We have a lot of flying to do tomorrow.

* * *

(Kurotowa enters the room housing the Titan chrysalis. Yupa spies from an opening in the wall.)

Guard1

Nothing to report.

Kurotowa

All going smoothly?

Guard2

Yes, sir. The upper torso is almost stable.

Kurotowa

The more I look at you, the prettier you look, you ugly beast. With each pulse in your veins, you stir up old, forgotten ambitions in this penniless soldier.

(The Titan opens its eyes.)

I swear, it's laughing at me. You should never have been dragged out of your tomb, you monstrous son of a bitch.

Soldier

Chief! Her Highness' convoy has been attacked by a Pejité rebel! All ships were destroyed except one corvette!

Kurotowa

Her Highness?

Soldier

I'm told her ship exploded mid-air.

Guard2

Chief!?

Kurotowa

The villagers are still in the dark about this?

Soldier

Yes, sir.

Kurotowa

Good. I'll go at once. All regiments, continue the operation.

Guards

Yes, sir!

Kurotowa

Well, well. Is this a stroke of luck for a simple commoner, or a deadly trap for her Highness' second-in-command?

(Yupa retreats to find a couple of boys waiting with a message.)

Boy1

Uncle Mito and the others have returned.

Boy2

They're waiting for you at the Acid Sea, Master Yupa.

* * *

(Yupa greets Mito and the uncles.)

Mito

We were forced to leave the princess behind.

Yupa

No… I'm grateful you're not hurt.

(Yupa is negotiating with K'Shana.)

K'Shana

A conditional release?

Yupa

We entreat you, drown the Titan Warrior in the Acid Sea and go back to Tolmechia. The soldiers who remain in the Valley are few. We could easily retake power by force, but I see no sense in welcoming more casualties.

K'Shana

Fire and water are useless against that thing. Nor can you move it until it decides to walk on its own. Don't you see? It's too late. I was ordered to conquer Pejité for fear that the Titan's power would fall into foreign hands. Once word gets out that it's here, every kingdom in the area will try and invade. You have only one choice left: revive the Titan, use it, and learn to live with it, for the protection your sovereignty! Look.

(K'Shana removes one of her mechanical hands.)

Yupa

An insect…?

K'Shana

If I ever take a husband, he'll see even more dreadful injuries. Destroy the Wastelands! Destroy the insects! What's so wrong about taking back our domain? Now's your chance to steal the Titan from us, just as we stole it from Pejité.

Yupa

We will not revive the Demon Giant!

(A boy rushes up the stairs. The boy on guard blocks him from entering the room.)

Boy1

It's an emergency!

Boy2

Hey, what's the password?

Boy1

I said it's an emergency!!

Boy2

Wind?

Boy1

Valley!!!

Boy2

Okay.

Boy1

We missed some spores!

Mito

What!?

Boy1

They're making lots of vapours and the whole valley's in a panic!

* * *

(A mob of villagers are yelling at the gates of the castle.)

People

Give them back!
We need them right now!
If we don't hurry, the whole valley is done for!
That's right!
We need our hand-hooks and flamethrowers!
It's growing as we speak!

(Kurotowa watches from above.)

Guard

Those tools could be used as weapons. I wouldn't advise it…

Kurotowa

It can't be helped. Return everything except the firearms.

Guard

Yes, sir.

Guard

The corvette is departing.

Kurotowa

No screw-ups this time. Gather all the remaining troops in Pejité and bring them to the valley.

Guard

Yes, sir.

Kurotowa

Man, these villagers are a pain in the ass.

(Armed with their flamethrowers, the villagers are rushing to the infected forest.)

Man

Hurry. Hurry up!

(Mito and Yupa are leaving in the gunship.)

Goll

Please find the princess.

Yupa

Take care of the valley. Take no drastic action until I return.

Goll

Yes, sir.
Let's go back to the valley.

(The villagers are realizing the full extent of the damage.)

Man

Oh God! It's spread this far.

Man

It's reached here, too.

Woman

Out of the way!

Guard

What are you doing??

Woman

Even here!

Man

Baba…

Baba

We have no choice. We have to burn the forest. If we delay, the whole valley could get swallowed by the Jungle.

Man

Isn't there anything we can do? This is the forest that's protected our water for 300 years.

Man

Shit. If only they'd left us alone…

(Goll and the other uncles, on their way back, see thick black smoke rising from the valley.)

Goll

Looks like this whole thing is far from over.
Let's go!

(K'Shana, in her cell, shifts, and a blade extends from the heel of her boot.)

* * *

(Nausicaä and Asbel are flying towards Pejité.)

Asbel

I don't know, it all looks the same to me.

Nausicaä

There are no insects… What's going on? My heart is pounding.

Asbel

It's just a little further. Just past those mountains.

Something doesn't look right with Pejité. What's that haze?

Nausicaä

Asbel, put on your mask!

Asbel

Insects! All dead…

Nausicaä

Let's go on to Pejité!

Asbel

Be careful. We'll be running into Tolmechian troops.

(Nausicaä and Asbel make their way through the ruins of Pejité. Asbel breaks away and Nausicaä follows. They stop dead in their tracks.)

Asbel

(Gasp)

Nausicaä

An ohmu…!

Asbel

Even the Centre Dome was destroyed!

(Asbel is sitting with his head in his hands, despairing for his country.)

This is the end of Pejité. What's the point in destroying the Tolmechians now?

Nausicaä

Destroying…!? Asbel, what are you talking about?

(A ship makes its way across the sky.)

That's a brig.

Asbel

Those are my friends. Let's go!

(The Pejité leader is exiting the ship.)

Leader

Asbel! You're alive!

Asbel

What have you done? There's no hope of recovery!

Leader

You've seen the city. Don't worry. Even if it's swallowed up by the Blight, we can burn it right away.

Asbel

But the Titan isn't here any more.

Leader

I know. It's in the Valley of the Winds.

Asbel

How did you…?

Leader

(Laughs) We haven't been twiddling our thumbs. Stage two is already in progress. By tonight, the Tolmechian army in the Valley of the Winds will be annihilated.

Asbel

What??

(Nausicaä rushes up, coming to the attention of the leader for the first time.)

Nausicaä

Annihilated? How? What are you going to do?

Leader

Asbel, who is this?

Asbel

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds. I owe her my life.

Leader

The Valley…?

Nausicaä

Tell me! What's going on? Asbel! You know, don't you? Tell me!

Asbel

We're going to… make the insects attack.

Nausicaä

(Gasps) So you were the ones who made them attack Pejité?

How could you?

Leader

We must take back the Titan in its chrysalis stage at all costs.

Man1

It's for everyone's protection… Try and understand.

Nausicaä

Everyone except the people in the Valley! Stop them! Stop them now! Please!

Man2

It's too late!

Leader

Once they've started swarming, there's no stopping them. We have been all but destroyed at the hands of the Tolmechians. We have no other means left to us!

(Nausicaä makes a break for it.)

Stop her!

Nausicaä

Let me go! Let me go!

Leader

By making sacrifices now, we can reclaim the Titan, and burn away the Wastelands to take back the human world.

Nausicaä

That's a lie! You're just the same as the Tolmechians!

Leader

No, we're not! They'd use it for wanton destruction!

Nausicaä

You drink the well-water just like everyone else. Who do you think is purifying the water? It's the trees of the Jungle that are turning the poisoned lakes and rivers into clean ground water. And you're going to burn down that jungle! Why did you ever dig up your precious Titan in the first place?!

Leader

Then what are you suggesting we do?! Bow to the Tolmechian Empire?

Nausicaä

No, no! Asbel, tell them. Why the Jungle was born! That the insects are the ones protecting the world! Asbel, please!

(Asbel suddenly grabs the leader's weapon.)

Leader

What the--

Asbel

Don't move! Let her go.

Leader

Asbel, you don't know what you're--

(Asbel fires a shot at their feet.)

Asbel

I'm serious. Release her! Nausicaä, warn your people.

(Asbel is struck unconscious from behind.)

Nausicaä

(Gasp) Asbel!! Release me!

* * *

(K'Shana, having escaped, makes her way back to the valley. She sees a battle in progress.)

K'Shana

Idiots…!

(Goll and the uncles are running. Goll is clutching a grenade.)

Goll

We have to finish what's been started now.

Gikkuri

But he said no drastic action…

(Kurotowa is doing his best to contain the situation.)

Kurotowa

Stop shaking like a leaf. Just move in with the tanks!

Guard

Chief! The last man went down.

Kurotowa

Are they coming this way?

Guard

I don't know. The villagers are gathering.

Kurotowa

Man… A forest or two, and they all go ballistic. It's Pejité all over again-- Huh?

(He sees the uncles attack the tank.)

What…?!

(Against all odds, they take over the tank.)

They've taken the tank!

(The uncles pile into their prize.)

Goll

Go, quickly!

Niga

Don't rush me.

Gikkuri

Oh, here they come!

Guard

Forward!

Goll

Hurry, hurry!

Niga

Maybe this one. Argh… Aha!

(The tank lurches backward.)

Gikkuri

What are you doing??

Goll

Forward, you senile idiot, forward!

Niga

I know, goddammit.

(They drive off, narrowly escaping a most embarrassing death as the bridge crumbles behind them.)

Kurotowa

Dammit! Send out all the tanks! Uh--

(K'Shana is striding in.)

She was alive after all… Oh well, the dream is over.

Your Highness!

(The uncles are protecting the villagers with their newly acquired tank.)

Gikkuri

We'll hold them back! Lead everyone and take refuge by the Acid Sea!

People

Understood.
Take cover until the Princess returns with the gunship!
Everybody, hurry!
Hurry!

(Goll loads another shell into the cannon.)

Goll

Can't you quit dawdling and help out just a little?

Gikkuri

I have a bad back, okay?
Here they come! The other tanks are coming!

Gikkuri

Quickly!

Niga

I know, goddammit.

* * *

(A lieutenant on a Tolmechian Corvette confirms a lookout's report.)

Lieutenant

Are you absolutely sure?

Guard

It's the Pejité brig. I caught a glimpse of it just behind those clouds.

Lieut.

Good!

(On the Pejité brig, a woman and a girl approach a holding cell and the guard.)

Guard

Be careful. She was still violent a few minutes ago.

(They are admitted into the cell.)

Woman

(To the girl) Hurry.

(The girl begins to undress.)

(To Nausicaä) Miss Nausicaä, let's get you out of here. Go and warn your people in the Valley. There may be time if you use your wings. It's ready to take off.

Asbel has told us everything.

Girl

I'll take your place. Hurry and take this…

Nausicaä

Who are you?

Woman

I'm Lastelle's mother.

Nausicaä

Mother!

(They embrace.)

Woman

I'm so sorry. What we've done is all wrong.

Girl

Hurry!

(Nausicaä, now in the girl's clothes, escapes with the woman.)

Nausicaä

What about her?

Woman

She'll be okay. Don't worry.

(They enter a room full of sympathizers, all women and children.)

Woman2

Take care.

Old Woman

Please forgive us our crimes.

(Asbel pokes his head up from below the floor.)

Asbel

Nausicaä, over here! Hurry.

Woman

Godspeed.

Nausicaä

Everybody, thank you!

Asbel

Sorry it took so long.

(He leads her to an outer door, and Minerva, waiting to fly.)

Asbel

Can you take off from here?

Nausicaä

I'll try.

(As Nausicaä looks outside, the Corvette appears from behind the clouds. It opens fire.)

Corvette--!!

Leader

Retreat! Into the clouds, now!

Lieut.

Cease fire!
Fools! Clouds are a hellstorm of turbulence and lightning!

Guard

It's no use! We can't steer!

Asbel

The ship is breaking up!

Leader

This is no good. We have to leave the cloud and fight!

(The Corvette materializes right in front of them.)

Sly devils!

Asbel

Dammit. What are they trying to do?

Nausicaä

The clouds! They're going to force us onto the clouds and board!

Asbel

They're coming! You have to leave now!

Nausicaä

I can't! I can't leave you all like this! That girl who took my place, your mother…

Asbel

Only you can save the people of the Valley! Go now, for me! For all of us!

Lieut.

Take over the ship. Take no prisoners. Go!

(A Tolmechian soldier finds Asbel and Nausicaä.)

Asbel

Go, Nausicaä! Go!!

(Asbel pushes Nausicaä and Minerva out the door with his foot.)

Nausicaä

Asbel!

* * *

(Nausicaä finds her resolve, then flies off. The Tolmechian Corvette gives chase and attacks. A zillion bullets miss her.)