DENT
Remember the name you all had for me when I was at Internal Affairs? What was it, Gordon?
GORDON
Harvey, I can’t –
DENT
SAY IT!
Dent’s anger makes Gordon flinch. He looks away. Ashamed.
GORDON
(small)
Two-Face. Harvey Two-Face.
Dent turns to face Gordon. The left side of his face is destroyed – skin blackened and shriveled. Molars visible. The eye a ball and socket. Dent manages a small smile with the good side of his face.
DENT
Why should I hide who I am?
GORDON
I … I know you tried to warn me. I’m sorry. Wuertz picked you up – was he working for them? (Nothing.) Do you know who picked up Rachel? (Nothing.) Harvey, I need to know which of my men I can trust.
Dent looks at Gordon. Cold.
DENT
Why would you listen to me now?
GORDON
I’m sorry, Harvey.
DENT
No. No you’re not. Not yet.
Gordon takes a last look at Dent. Then leaves.
INT. CORRIDOR, HOSPITAL – CONTINUOUS 257
Gordon steps out. Someone is there. Maroni. On crutches.
Gordon stares at him. Cold. Maroni shifts, awkward.
MARONI
This craziness. This is too much.
GORDON
You should have thought of that before you let the clown out of the box.
MARONI
You want him, I can tell you where he’ll be this afternoon.
EXT. ABANDONED DOCKS – DAY 258
The Chechen gets out of his SUV. Looks at a rusted hulk. The Chechen, Bodyguards, and dogs, head up the gangplank.
INT. RUSTED HULK – CONTINUOUS 259
They pass into a huge hold. In the middle: a billion dollars. The pile is thirty feet high. Standing on top – the Joker. At his feet, bound, is Lau. The Chechen laughs.
CHECHEN
Like I say – not so crazy as you look.
The Joker jumps from the top, slides down the pile.
THE JOKER
I told you – I’m a man of my word. (Looks around.) Where’s the Italian?
The Chechen shrugs. Pulls out a cigar. Lights it.
CHECHEN
More for us. What you do with all your money, Mr. Joker?
The Joker grabs a can of gasoline from his Thug.
THE JOKER
I’m a man of simple tastes. I like gunpowder. Dynamite …
He is splashing gasoline onto the money.
Gasoline …
The Chechen, furious, steps forward. The Joker turns. Jabs his gun in the Chechen’s face. The Chechen’s Bodyguards react. The Joker’s men draw on them.
THE JOKER
And you know what they have in common? They’re cheap.
CHECHEN
You said you were a man of your word.
The Joker plucks the cigar from the Chechen’s lips.
I am.
He tosses the cigar at the pile.
I’m only burning my half.
The Chechen watches the money catch fire.
THE JOKER
All you care about is money. This city deserves a better class of criminal, and I’m going to give it to them. This is my town now. Tell your men they work for me.
The Joker crouches down to the Chechen’s dogs. They growl.
CHECHEN
They won’t work for a freak.
The Joker takes out a knife. Tosses it to his man.
THE JOKER
Cut him up and offer him to his little princes. Let’s show him just how loyal a hungry dog is.
The Joker’s men grab the Chechen.
It’s not about money. It’s about sending a message …
The Joker watches the towering flames. Lau screams.
THE JOKER
Everything. Burns.
The Joker pulls out a phone …
INT. TELEVISION STUDIO – DAY 260
Reese has a confident air. Engel is taking calls.
CALLER 1
I wonna how much they’re gonna pay you to say who Batman really is.
REESE
That’s simply not why I’m doing this.
ENGEL
Caller, you’re on the air.
CALLER 2
(o.s.)
Harvey Dent didn’t want us to give in to this maniac – you think you know better than him?
ENGEL
Guy’s got a point. Dent didn’t want Batman to give himself up, is this the right thing to do?
REESE
If we could talk to Dent now he might feel differently –
ENGEL
And we wish him a speedy recovery. God knows we need him, now. Let’s take another call –
OLD LADY
(o.s.)
Mr. Reese, what’s more valuable: one life, or a hundred?
REESE
I guess it would depend on the life.
OLD LADY
(o.s.)
Okay. Let’s say it’s your life. Is it worth more than the lives of several hundred others?
REESE
Of course not.
OLD LADY
(o.s.)
I’m glad you feel that way. Because I’ve put a bomb in one of the city’s hospitals. It’s going off in sixty minutes unless someone kills you.
ENGEL
Who is this?
OLD LADY
(o.s.)
Just a concerned citizen – (Drops pitch to the Joker’s voice.) And regular guy …
INT. MAJOR CRIMES UNIT, GOTHAM CENTRAL – CONTINUOUS 261
Gordon and his men are gearing up to take down the Joker. A Detective turns up the TV in the bullpen.
THE JOKER
(o.s.)
I had a vision. Of a world without Batman. The mob ground out a little profit and the police tried to shut them down, one block at a time … and it was so … boring. I’ve had a change of heart. I don’t want Mr. Reese spoiling everything, but why should I have all the fun? Let’s give someone else a chance …
Reese looks around, twitching. Sweating.
THE JOKER
(o.s.)
If Coleman Reese isn’t dead in sixty minutes, then I blow up a hospital. Of course, you could always kill yourself, Mr. Reese. But that would be the noble thing to do. And you’re a lawyer.
The line rings off. Engel is speechless.
Gordon turns to the uniform Cops.
GORDON
Call in every officer – tell them to head to their nearest hospital and start evac and search. Call the transit authority, school board, prisons – get every available bus down to a hospital. The priority is Gotham General – wheel everybody out of that place right now. My hunch is that’s where the bomb is.
DETECTIVE MURPHY
Why?
GORDON
That’s where Harvey Dent is.
The Uniforms sprint off. Gordon turns to his Detectives.
UNIFORMED COP
Where are we going, sir?
On screen: Reese is a deer in the headlights.
GORDON
To get Reese.
INT. WAYNE PENTHOUSE – DAY 262
Wayne and Alfred move to the elevator.
WAYNE
I need you plugged in, checking Gordon’s men and their families.
ALFRED
Looking for?
WAYNE
Hospital admissions.
ALFRED
Will you be taking the Bat-Pod, sir?
WAYNE
In the middle of the day? Not very subtle, Alfred.
ALFRED
The Lamborghini then. (Watches Wayne go.) Much more subtle.
EXT. GOTHAM STREETS – DAY 262A
Wayne’s Lamborghini tears through downtown.
INT. HOSPITAL – CONTINUOUS 263
Chaos. Patients and staff run
ning around. Cops and Traffic Wardens try to manage the evacuation. The Cops stationed outside Dent’s room look around, unsure.
NURSE
Sir, are you going to help?!
Two Cops move to help wheel gurneys around the corner.
SCENE OMITTED 264
INT. LOBBY, TELEVISION STUDIO – DAY 265
Gordon and his men escort Reese out of the elevator. Engel follows with a camera crew. As they approach the glass doors Gordon looks out at an angry crowd.
ENGEL
Commissioner?! You really think someone would try to –
Gordon spots an Old Man raising a pistol. Gordon throws Reese to the ground as shots shatter the laminated glass of the lobby. The Crowd surges in all directions.
GORDON
Get the cars around back!
Gordon hauls Reese to the stairwell.
INT. LAMBORGHINI – CONTINUOUS 266
Wayne slows past the chaos outside the television station.
WAYNE
I saw O’Brien and Richards …
INT. BAT-BUNKER – CONTINUOUS 267
Alfred types at the computer station.
ALFRED
(o.s.)
Nothing on them. No immediate family members admitted to a Gotham hospital.
INT. STAIRWELL, TELEVISION STUDIO – CONTINUOUS 268
Gordon pulls the shaken Reese down the stairs …
REESE
(shaken)
They’re trying to kill me.
And into a police van …
INT. POLICE VAN – CONTINUOUS 269
Gordon throws Reese in the back. Smiles.
GORDON
Well, maybe Batman will save you.
The van peels out. Heads onto the streets.
EXT. HOSPITAL – CONTINUOUS 270
Cops load patients onto buses. A TV van pulls up, Engel and his Cameraman jump out. One of Dent’s guards, Polk, looks into a school bus. Turns to the Cop loading it.
POLK
Okay, don’t put anyone else on. (Gets on radio.) Davis, I got space, bring him out. (No answer.) Davis?
Polk heads back towards the hospital, against the flow.
INT. LAMBORGHINI – CONTINUOUS 271
Wayne trails the police van from a distance.
WAYNE
I saw Burns and Zachary … and a patrolman I don’t know.
ALFRED
(o.s.)
Burns is clean … Zachary …
WAYNE
There’s at least one I don’t know – send the information to Gordon –
INT. POLICE VAN – CONTINUOUS 272
Gordon’s phone beeps. He looks at a text: WATCH OUT. COPS WITH RELATIVES IN GOTHAM HOSPITALS – BURKE, RAMIREZ, TILL …
INT. DENT’S HOSPITAL ROOM – CONTINUOUS 273
Polk enters the room. No Davis. Just a redheaded Nurse, back towards him, reading Dent’s chart.
POLK
Ma’am, we’re going to have to move him, now. (Nothing.) Ma’am?
The Redhead turns – it is the Joker, silenced pistol in hand. He fires.
EXT. GOTHAM STREETS – CONTINUOUS 274
The Lamborghini zips around a car to get closer to the van.
INT. POLICE VAN – CONTINUOUS 275
Gordon is reading his phone: ERIKSON, BERG. Gordon looks up sharply. Considers the uniformed cop nervously fingering his shotgun.
GORDON
Berg, isn’t it?
The young cop, Berg, looks up. Sweating.
BERG
Commissioner?
GORDON
You okay, son?
Berg nods. Looks at his watch.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM – DAY 276
The Joker draws closer to Dent’s bed. Dent strains at the leather cuffs binding him to the bed.
THE JOKER
I don’t want there to be any hard feelings between us, Harvey.
The Joker loosens Dent’s restraints.
When you and Rachel were being abducted I was sitting in Gordon’s cage. I didn’t rig those charges –
DENT
Your men. Your plan.
THE JOKER
Do I really look like a guy with a plan, Harvey? I don’t have a plan … The mob has plans, the cops have plans. You know what I am, Harvey?
Dent’s hand is trembling.
I’m a dog chasing cars … I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I caught it. I just do things. I’m just the wrench in the gears. I hate plans. Yours, theirs, everyone’s. Maroni has plans. Gordon has plans. Schemers trying to control their worlds. I’m not a schemer, I show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are. So when I say that you and your girlfriend was nothing personal, you know I’m telling the truth …
Hands him the pistol. Dent holds it to the Joker’s head.
EXT. INTERSECTION, GOTHAM STREETS – CONTINUOUS 277
Wayne roars past a line of traffic to settle in a few cars back from the police van, sitting at a red light.
INT. LAMBORGHINI – CONTINUOUS 278
Wayne studies the intersection – spots a pickup jostling for position on the cross street.
INT. POLICE VAN – CONTINUOUS 279
Gordon watches Berg, mentally tracing the trajectory of his shotgun barrel as Berg fiddles with his gun. Gordon starts trying to subtly unholster his own weapon.
GORDON
I’m gonna need your weapon, son.
Berg looks at Gordon.
BERG
What?
INT. LAMBORGHINI – CONTINUOUS 280
Wayne watches the Driver of the pickup staring intently at the police van. Lining it up.
INT. POLICE VAN – CONTINUOUS 281
Reese looks from Berg to Gordon. Berg looks at Gordon, trembling, the barrel of his gun inching lower in the car.
BERG
Why? Because my wife’s in hospital?
GORDON
Yeah. That would be why.
INT. DENT’S HOSPITAL ROOM – CONTINUOUS 282
The Joker leans in, pressing his head to the gun’s barrel.
THE JOKER
It’s the schemers who put you where you are. You were a schemer. You had plans. Look where it got you. I just did what I do best – I took your plan, and I turned it on itself. Look what I’ve done to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. Nobody panics when the expected people get killed. Nobody panics when things go according to plan, even if the plan is horrifying. If I tell the press that tomorrow a gangbanger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics. Because it’s all part of the plan. But when I say that one little old mayor will die, everybody loses their minds! Introduce a little anarchy, you upset the established order and everything becomes chaos. I’m an agent of chaos. And you know the thing about chaos, Harvey?
Dent looks into the Joker’s eyes. Finding meaning.
It’s fair.
Dent looks down at the coin in his hands. Turns it over, feels it’s comforting weight. Shows the Joker the good side.
DENT
You live.
He turns the coin over. The flip side is deeply scarred.
DENT
You die.
The Joker looks at the coin. Looks at Dent, admiringly.
THE JOKER
Now you’re talking.
Dent flicks the coin into the air. Catches it. Looks.
EXT. INTERSECTION, GOTHAM STREETS – CONTINUOUS 283
The light turns green. The police van pulls into the intersection – the pickup guns it, racing at it …
INT. LAMBORGHINI – CONTINUOUS 284
Wayne floors it, yanks the wheel to pull up onto the sidewalk.
INT. POLICE VAN – CONTINUOUS 285
Berg licks his lips, nervous.
Mr. Reese?
EXT. INTERSECTION, GOTHAM STREETS – CONTINUOUS 286
The pickup barrels at the van, full tilt, At the last second Wayne’s Lamborghini slips alongside the van. The pickup smash
es into the Lamborghini.
INT. POLICE VAN – CONTINUOUS 287
As the van jolts with the impact, Gordon leaps forward, pushing up Berg’s shotgun barrel, which fires into the roof.
Gordon smashes Berg on the head with his sidearm.
EXT. INTERSECTION, GOTHAM STREETS – CONTINUOUS 288
Gordon’s men pull the pickup driver from his cab. Gordon crouches down to the Lamborghini wreck to help pull Wayne from the car. Gordon recognizes him as he pulls him free.
GORDON
You okay, Mr. Wayne?
Wayne looks at him, woozy. Sits on the curb.
WAYNE
Call me Bruce. I think so.
GORDON
That was a brave thing, you did.
WAYNE
Trying to catch the light?
GORDON
You weren’t protecting the van?
Wayne turns – sees the police van as if for the first time. Reese steps down, dazed.
WAYNE
Why? Who’s in it?
Reese locks eyes with Wayne. Nods. Gordon sizes up Bruce Wayne and his crushed sports car.
GORDON
You don’t watch a whole lot of news, do you, Mr. Wayne?
WAYNE
(shrugs)
It can get a little intense. Think I should go to hospital?
GORDON
Not today, I wouldn’t.
INT. CORRIDOR, HOSPITAL – CONTINUOUS 289
The Joker walks calmly through the mostly deserted building.
As he walks he pulls a detonator from his pocket. Strolling along, he pushes the button. Staggered explosions burst into the corridor behind him like demolition blasts … The Joker just walks out the door …