Drop the knife.
THE JOKER
Sure. Just take off your mask and show us all who you are …
Rachel shakes her head at Batman. The Joker raises his shotgun to the side and blows out the pane of glass next to him. The Joker dangles Rachel out the window.
BATMAN
Let her go.
THE JOKER
(laughs)
Very poor choice of words …
He lets her drop. Rachel falls onto a sloping glass roof, sliding towards the edge. Batman dives after her –
SCENE OMITTED 113
EXT. BUILDING – NIGHT 114
They drop. Batman fires his grapple, snagging Rachel’s ankle – activates one wing of his cape. They spin and slow. Batman envelops Rachel – they slam into the hood of a passing taxi.
INT. TAXI – CONTINUOUS 115
The driver screams as Batman and Rachel hit the roof and roll down the windshield onto the pavement. Alive.
INT. CAR – CONTINUOUS 116
The Joker looks back as his car speeds away. He’s breathing hard, exhilarated. He touches the blood running down his sweaty white make-up. Smacks the back of the driver’s seat.
DRIVER
What do we do about Dent?
THE JOKER
I’m a man of my word.
EXT. TAXI – CONTINUOUS 117
Rachel opens her eyes.
BATMAN
Are you alright?
RACHEL
Let’s not do that again, okay? (Looks around.) Is Harvey –?
BATMAN
He’s safe.
Rachel lies back, breathing. Looks up at Batman.
RACHEL
Thank you.
INT. MAJOR CRIMES UNIT, GOTHAM CENTRAL – DAY 118
Stephens is talking to Gordon, subdued.
STEPHENS
Jim, it’s over.
GORDON
As long as they don’t get to Lau, we’ve cut off their funds.
STEPHENS
But the prosecution’s over. No one’s standing up in front of a judge while judges and police commissioners are getting blown away.
GORDON
What about Dent?
STEPHENS
If he’s got any sense, Dent’s halfway to Mexico by now.
The door bursts open. Dent. Fire in his eyes.
DENT
So where do you keep your trash?
Gordon looks at Dent. Impressed.
INT. SPECIAL HOLDING AREA, MCU, GOTHAM CENTRAL – DAY 119
Lau looks up as Dent walks in, holding a bullet-proof vest.
DENT
You’re due in court – I need you alive long enough to get you on the record.
LAU
No way. You can’t protect me – you can’t even protect yourselves.
Dent throws the heavy vest at Lau.
DENT
Refuse to cooperate on the stand – you won’t be coming back here, you’ll go to County. How long do you calculate you’ll last in there?
INT. BAT-BUNKER – DAY 120
Wayne sits at his video screens – they all play the Joker’s video with different image treatments and sound tunings. Wayne turns to Alfred. Indicates the screens.
WAYNE
Targeting me won’t get their money back. I knew the mob wouldn’t go down without a fight, but this is different. They’ve crossed a line.
ALFRED
You crossed it first, sir. You’ve hammered them, squeezed them to the point of desperation. And now, in their desperation, they’ve turned to a man they don’t fully understand.
Wayne gets up from his monitors, raises the Bat-cabinet.
WAYNE
Criminals aren’t complicated, Alfred. We just have to figure out what he’s after.
ALFRED
Respectfully, Master Wayne, perhaps this is a man you don’t fully understand, either.
ALFRED
(looks at Wayne)
WAYNE
What were you missing?
ALFRED
One day I found a child playing with a ruby as big as a tangerine. (Shrugs.) The bandit had been throwing the stones away.
WAYNE
So why was he stealing them?
ALFRED
Because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money … They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. (Grave.) Some men just want to watch the world burn.
Wayne stares at Alfred. Reaches for the Batsuit.
EXT. SKYLINE OF GOTHAM – DAWN 121
Moving over the city we hear myriad radio calls going out over the ether. Close in on a lonely figure on top of a skyscraper. The Batman. Listening with his million-dollar earpieces. From the babble.
DISPATCH
(o.s.)
Your name, sir. Please state –
VOICE
(o.s.)
Eighth at Orchard. You’ll find Harvey Dent there.
EXT. EIGHTH STREET AT ORCHARD – DAWN 122
An unmarked and a squad car screech to a halt. Gordon and Ramirez get out, lead two uniforms into the building.
INT. APARTMENT, EIGHTH STREET – CONTINUOUS 123
The door smashes open, Gordon – gun drawn – takes in the scene. Two dead men sitting at the kitchen table. They each have a hand of cards, as if in the middle of a game. All Jokers.
Gordon and Ramirez stare at the crude leers carved into their faces. Their drivers’ licenses are pinned to their chests.
VOICE
(o.s.)
Check the names.
GORDON
(o.s., checks licenses)
Patrick Harvey. Richard Dent …
RAMIREZ
Harvey Dent.
BATMAN
I need ten minutes with the scene before your men contaminate it.
RAMIREZ
Us contaminate it? It’s because of you that these guys are dead in the first place –
GORDON
Ramirez.
She stands down. Batman moves past the bodies to the wall.
Finds an embedded stray bullet. He pulls a sawing device from his belt, thrusts it into the wall and starts cutting around the bullet.
GORDON
That’s brick – you’re gonna try and take ballistics off a shattered bullet?
BATMAN
No. Fingerprints.
Ramirez looks at Gordon. Is he serious? Gordon points.
GORDON
Whatever you’re gonna do, do it fast, cos we know his next target …
Batman looks – a campaign poster: RE-ELECT MAYOR GARCIA. The Mayor’s image has a manic clown’s grin and ‘Ha, Ha, Ha’.
INT. FOX’S OFFICE, WAYNE ENTERPRISES – DAY 124
Fox is at his desk. Reese enters.
FOX
What can I do for you, Mr. Reese?
REESE
You asked me to do the diligence on the LSI Holdings deal again. I found irregularities.
FOX
Their CEO is in police custody.
REESE
Not with their numbers. With yours. A whole division of Wayne Enterprises disappeared, overnight. So I went down to the archives and started pulling old files.
He pulls out a folded blueprint. Slides it across the desk.
My kids love the Batman. I thought he was pretty cool, too. Out there, kicking some ass.
Fox picks up the piece of paper. Unfolds it. It’s an old blueprint. The image is unmistakable: the Tumbler.
Changes things when you know it’s just a rich kid playing dress up.
Ree
se points to the approval box in the corner of the page.
Your project. Don’t tell me you didn’t recognize your baby pancaking cop cars on the evening news. Now you’re getting sloppy. Applied Sciences was a small, dead department – who’d notice? But now you’ve got the entire R and D department burning cash, claiming it’s related to cell phones for the army. What are you building him now? A rocket ship? I want ten million a year. For the rest of my life.
Fox looks at him. Even. Folds up the blueprint.
FOX
Let me get this straight. You think that your client, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world, is secretly a vigilante who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands … (Deadpan.) And now your plan is to blackmail this person?
Reese stares at Fox. Who smiles. And slides the blueprint across the desk.
Good luck.
Reese looks at it. Then at Fox. Swallows. Slides it back.
INT. BAT-BUNKER – DAY 125
Wayne hands Alfred a rifle bullet scribed with a grid. He slots it into a clip, then loads it into a computer-controlled Gatling gun. He puts on ear protectors. Hits a button.
The rifle whirs to life – dollying sideways, blasting bullets into a series of identical brick-wall samples.
ALFRED
I’m not sure you made it loud enough, sir.
As the wall samples still smoke, Wayne steps up, carrying the sample from the crime scene. Comparing its spread to the new samples, he selects two and carries them to an X-ray scanner.
The machine gives the samples a triple-axis scan – hi-res 3D images of the bullet fragment arrays come up on the screen …
INT. APPLIED SCIENCES DIVISION – DAY 126
The same image of the bullet fragment on a screen. Fox hits a key and the computer ‘reassembles’ the bullets according to the identifying grid on each fragment.
FOX
Here’s your original scan …
A bullet fragment array pops on screen.
Here’s it reverse-engineered …
Fox hits a button and the unmarked bullet fragments are reassembled. Wayne spins the roughly shaped bullet puzzle.
WAYNE
And here’s a thumb print.
Fox looks at the screen, impressed. Thinks.
FOX
I’ll make you a copy. (Troubled.) Mr. Wayne, did you reassign R and D?
WAYNE
Yes. Government telecommunications project.
FOX
I wasn’t aware we had any new government contracts. Can you –
WAYNE
Lucius. I’m playing this one pretty close to the chest.
FOX
Fair enough.
Fox looks at Wayne as he leaves. Uneasy.
INT. BAT-BUNKER – CONTINUOUS – INTERCUT 127
Wayne examines the fingerprint.
WAYNE
I’ve run it through all the databases and came up with four possibles.
Wayne gets up to let Alfred sit.
WAYNE
Cross-reference the addresses. Look for Parkside and around.
Wayne opens a hydraulic door, revealing a gleaming MV Agusta Brutale. As he moves the bike onto the lift …
ALFRED
Got one. Melvin White, aggravated assault, moved to Arkham twice – 1502 Randolph Apartments, just off State –
WAYNE
Overlooking the parade.
Wayne and the bike rise on the lift.
EXT. PARKSIDE AVENUE – DAY 128
The avenue has been blocked off. Onlookers line the sidewalks. Police march past in dress uniform. Engel does a stand-up on the sidewalk.
ENGEL
With no word from the Batman – even as they mourn Commissioner Loeb, these cops have to be wondering if the Joker is going to make good on his threat to kill the Mayor today …
On the buildings above, Police Snipers scan the crowd.
Gordon keys his radio.
GORDON
How’s it looking up top?
POLICE SNIPER
We’re tight. But frankly … there’s a lot of windows up here.
Gordon looks up at the myriad buildings overlooking the podium.
EXT. GOTHAM STREETS – CONTINUOUS 129
Wayne maneuvers the Agusta through the traffic. He pulls up near a parade barricade – dismounts and slips into an alley.
INT. TENEMENT – CONTINUOUS 130
Some of the building’s hard-luck tenants eye Wayne as he counts doors down the hallway. He finds 1502 …
EXT. PARKSIDE AVENUE – LATER 131
A sea of Police fills the Avenue. In the center, three grieving families and an Honor Guard. The Mayor at the podium. Gordon behind. Dent is seated with Rachel.
THE MAYOR
… and as we recognize the sacrifice of these officers, we must remember that vigilance is the price of safety.
INT. TENEMENT – CONTINUOUS 132
Wayne enters: eight men in undershirts, bound, gagged, blindfolded. A sniper scope on a tripod at the window. Wayne moves to the first man, rips the tape from his mouth.
MAN
(breathing hard)
Took … they took our guns, our uniforms …
EXT. PARKSIDE AVENUE – CONTINUOUS 133
Gordon scans the crowd. The Mayor wraps up – the Honor Guard steps forward, raises weapons …
EXT. ROOFTOP OVERLOOKING PARKSIDE – CONTINUOUS 134
A Police Sniper scans the windows of the tenement …
INT. TENEMENT – CONTINUOUS135
Wayne races to the window, looks through the scope to see:
EXT. STATE STREET – CONTINUOUS 136
The Honor Guard turn their weapons on the Mayor. One smiles, flesh-colored make-up over his scars. The Joker.
Gordon leaps forward. They fire. Gordon takes shots to the back as he slams the Mayor to the ground.
EXT. ROOFTOP OVERLOOKING PARKSIDE – CONTINUOUS 137
The Police Sniper spots Wayne at the window. Shoots –
INT. TENEMENT – CONTINUOUS 138
Wayne ducks as shots erupt around the window –
EXT. PARKSIDE – CONTINUOUS 139
Pandemonium erupts. One of the Honor Guard is tagged in the leg – goes down. The others melt into the chaos.
On the podium, Stephens rolls Gordon over … he is not moving.
EXT. SIDE STREET OFF PARKSIDE – MOMENTS LATER 140
Chaos. Dent approaches an ambulance sitting in the alley.
Two Cops jump out and run over to their commander. Dent steps up into the back.
INT. AMBULANCE – CONTINUOUS 141
The Joker’s Thug sits there. Handcuffed. A Paramedic bandages his leg. Cops run past, barking orders.
DENT
Tell me what you know about the Joker.
The Joker’s Thug looks at Dent. Smirks. Dent looks down. Exasperated. Looks back up at the Joker’s Thug. Spots something – moves closer. The man’s uniform … his name tag … OFFICER RACHEL DAWES.
Dent, breathing hard, looks around: the Paramedic jumps out, rushing to help a fallen Officer. Dent spies the keys in the ignition. Jumps into the driver’s seat …
EXT. GORDON’S HOUSE – DUSK 142
Barbara Gordon stands in the doorway, scared. Stephens and a uniformed Officer stand in front of her.
STEPHENS
I’m sorry, Barbara.
James Gordon pushes past his mother to look at Stephens.
Barbara tries to push him back inside.
BARBARA
Jimmy, go play with your sister …
James stays just inside the door.
STEPHENS
I’m sorry.
Barbara stares at Stephens. Then looks past him.
BARBARA
Are you out there?! Are you?!
James spots something – Batman, perched in the shadows.
BARBARA
You brought this on us! This craziness! You did! You brought this …!
&
nbsp; She collapses into Stephens’s arms. Batman hangs his head.
EXT. ROOF, MCU – NIGHT 143
Detectives from MCU stand round the lit Bat-signal.
STEPHENS
Switch it off – he ain’t coming. He doesn’t want to talk to us. God help whoever he does want to talk to.
INT. NIGHTCLUB – NIGHT 144
Strobe lights. Pounding music. Maroni is in a booth at the side with his
Mistress. His bodyguards are around the table.
MISTRESS
(shouting over music)
Can’t we go someplace quieter! We can’t hear each other talk!
MARONI
I don’t wanna hear you talk.
MISTRESS
(can’t hear)
What?!
One of Maroni’s Bodyguards drops. Maroni looks over – in the strobe lights, Batman savages his Bodyguards. People run, terrified. Maroni starts to get out of his seat. Batman lands like a panther on the table in front of him.
INT. MCU – NIGHT 145
Rachel moves through the chaotic bullpen at MCU – eyewitnesses, civilian and cop, are being questioned.
Rachel’s phone rings.
RACHEL
Harvey, where are you?!
Intercut with Dent in an indistinct interior setting.
DENT
Where are you?
RACHEL
Where you should be – at Major Crimes trying to sort through all the –
DENT
Rachel, listen to me. You’re not safe there.
RACHEL
This is Gordon’s unit, Harvey –