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Deep Legend

by DeYtH Banger

DeYtH Banger Stories - Chapter 1

There are stories... whoom confuses and who keep you awake!

...

Non-Sense Enviroment by DeYtH Banger

Non-Sense Enviroment 0.1.

Criminal Minds

To be honest in season 1 episode 9, it

sounded like they got some kinda message

...

They want to tell something,

not they but he...

the killer... but the question what?
...

Why an Open End?

....

Sorry Nobody wants to

SCARE YOU...

NOBODY HAVE THAT IN MIND

(Note: Now On Season 1 episode 10 - Criminal Minds Series)

PEOPLE JUST WANT TO KILL YA

...

HE WANTS TO KILL YOU

... HE LIKES TO PLAY WITH PEOPLE

SOME PEOPLE GROW TO BE COME KILLERS OTHERS

TO CATCH THEM, BUT WHERE

DO DIRTY COPS END UP?

WHAT TYPE OF ENVIROMENT DO THEY GROW?

Finished

I really forgot what I was going to tell you... I forgot about everything and all

that's a fact, but we can't decline that or to dent that

Dr. Spencer Reid doesn't as always have something to say to all

these folks... but the other people also talk...

OR HE HAVE OR HE DOESN"T!?

Time

1....2......3......4.....5.....6......7.....8....9.....

= 18

= 36

1....2......3......4.....5.....6......7.....8....9.....

= 18

1....2......3......4.....5.....6......7.....8....9.....

= 18

= 36

= 72

and we

just reached the seconds... before we were under the seconds... milliseconds

...

which means

12 - Seconds

......

1....2......3......4.....5.....6......7.....8....9.....

= 18

1....2......3......4.....5.....6......7.....8....9.....

= 18

= 48

1....2......3......4.....5.....6......7.....8....9.....

= 18

1....2......3......4.....5.....6......7.....8....9.....

= 18

= 84

...

Sounds like we just reached the minutes

in about 24 minutes

60 seconds

and 60 milliseconds.

1....2......3......4.....5.....6......7.....8....9.....

= 18

1....2......3......4.....5.....6......7.....8....9.....

= 18

1....2......3......4.....5.....6......7.....8....9.....

= 18

1....2......3......4.....5.....6......7.....8....9.....

= 18

....

Sounds like 1728 is the number... we got a hour... minutes and milliseconds...

and I am not fucking interested in couting anymore.

and longer.

Non-Sense Enviroment 0.2.

I don't know how to be

myself... I have guides and books...

but why am I seeking to read stuff which are so unknown?

...

SOme stuff are very mysterious..

I like the jokers... the pokers

...

I remember old school like the old days

...

Silence

Silence is great... but

that's the thing which I need to have

peace in my mind... piece and geeze....

...

GoodBye

It looks like see ya... later... nothing less nothing more

...

But this is how it sounds in Bulgarian

demeaner and manner... it all matter.

Sin and lin

lingers between all

....

Brother

Come on

...

They killed his brother and he is working for them?

...

So he doesn't have his brother as his brother

...

Why so lost connection?

THe connection is fucking lost?

...

Oh come on... who is now playing GOD IN GOTHAM?

Ignore

Ignore me

on purpose

do it...

I said it

you did it

he bough it

...

You know the biatch

you know the drill

that's the gill

...

Chill

biatch

...

Biatch on purpose

...

Ignore me... that's alll... we are friends

we both know that

...

I am just practicing my American Accent, I know today is going to be

a waste of time... and that's a fact...

...

COme on

Come on

What Am I watching?

...

A Biatch?

...

Or a bet?

...

Because that girl is damn good... and nobody can say

iNVERSE

...

The question is what's really... really in fucking hell happening?
...

bECAUSE i don't get it

...

aND i REALLY WHAT SHOULD i DO

Non-Sense Enviroment 0.3.

What Should I do?

You know the drill...

it means that you have got

a mission and you should complete it.

(TELL HIM "CAN"T DO IT")... and

you will see the impossible. DONE FROM THEM

....

BUT THE QUESTION IS WHAT TO DO WHEN MY HANDS

ARE LIMITED AND YOU AIN'T ANSWERING MY CALLS?

...

TO GO AND JERK-OFF... i FUCKING DID IT...

NOW I JUST JERKED OFF

...

NOW

5:20-5:49

5/18/2017

...

Tell me now what to do?
...

There is a killing...

a brutal one... but still

...

i am seeking for a good

story... I can't stop my

desire... I get pleasure in watching

crime...

...

It's amazing what people are capable just in hour...

...

One hour could change ya forever.

What Now has been Done

Tell me what next to do?
...

I really jerk-off now... and I couldn't stop myself

from this

nasty thoughts

and mess up stuff

...

It strikes one thought

a second one

...

Depression

...

Then the feeling of want

...

But still why do i want to have a sex?

...

What's so good in that?
...

Tell me?
...

One moment I don't want ...

other... I just want and I can't stop myself

...

I try everything and I really screw up.

...

PEOPLE SAY PLAY BY THE LAW

RULES ARE RULES

./...

i AM THE LAW - THAT'S THE LAW!

Judge

She made the judge

...

I have a homework... but I wasn't okay with 'TO READ IT"... I just couldn't read it

...

It's difficult to share my own thoughts

public...

I like to share them here... ANONYMOUS...

...

Here is what\s happening... you don't know my name

my story... I could be lieing and even If I am lieing.. who gives a fuck?

...

YOu want a great story... filled with drama and horror?
...

Terror and Travel... around and around and sharing my experience

...

(P.S. - That's a cliche... 20:00-20:30 - Criminal Minds Season 1 episode 14 - JUst to point it out

...)

Non-Sense Enviroment 0.4.

Book

Sorry for being so bookish

...

I wanna telll ya a story

...

From prison to hell and from hell to heaven

...

Do you know that way?

...

It's a journal...

...

Sorry

Sorry, for all and everything

Sorry, for being so honest

Sorry, for making so fast moves

Sorry, for hating you

Sorry, for blocking you

....

Sorry, for not even mading up... up to the end with

...

my father... we could have and better

relations... It could go damn better if he didn't kill himself.

...

COME ON...

YOU SEE THE FUCKING IMAGE

...

DARE THE DEVIL

HE WHOM ... SHOOTS IN THE HEAD

...

IT'S AIMING AND FIGHTING FOR DEAD

SO WHOM DEAD IS THE EVIL LEAD. AND LEEEEE....

First

First him then her

...

Do you have the time to proof that she is innocent?

Do you have enough time

...

That's your last walk alive... soon dead will follow you

...

Follow your steps in your whole gravel of grief and lief.

...

But to don't forget the second

...

I want to change the time

...

The time ain't proper and ain't enough productive!?

...

Mom, knows her child from grief to dead and from hell to heaven... she

knows that son of a bitch.

...

RIGHT?

Non-Sense Enviroment 0.5.

What did I told ya?

When you get executed...

most priosners look like biatches

...

Like women which are wating to suck a cock...

(P.S. - ANd yeah you... lose and - she is damn ugly.... come on... come on... this is ain't her style

I just saw myself without hair... it's awful... so do her and so do them...

look 35:00 - 35-40 - Criminal Minds Season 1 episode 14... That's damn ugly...)

Silence

From sooo much

data... in the end

...

you ain't fucking silent

...

He know a lot of...

he sees a lot of

...

So?

...

Is he the kilelr?

...

PLEASE BEEEE
SILENT

...

PLEASE DON"T MOVE

....

Lunch

This guy is damn complex

...

Not only Clive Barker...

...

oh my mistake... even and Stephen KIng... Dean Koontz and little bit James Patterson

...

No Need for permission

...

YOu know that they lied... it's a fact

...

YOu never needed a permision...

...

But still go and jerk off

...

FUCKING JERK

...

"Easy A" is the name of movie... in which a girl just became opinion bitch.

....

WHAT YOU NEED IS TO READ AND READ AND READ... that's what you need...
GO WATCH FILM... series and don't bother just into adding a new book.... in your CURRENT READING SHELF. - final THOUGHT

GENESIS 4:32 (just MESSING WITH GENESIS).

Question - 1

I want to ask you a question... I am going to stop now with the shit and I am going to ask you a question. What's the feeling of watching movies and series?

...

Why people trying to get fast as possible in home... just to go and watch something on the TV?

...

Away from friends

...

Sometimes away from family...

You detect the distance and as for since 2011 year up to 2017 Year... Distance has become a priority and possiblity.

...

Look them ignoring their friends just in the name of some kind a football game... giving some kinda hope... but a fake one.

People nowadays promise a lot of stuff... when you come to the same page sometimes they ignore it others...

THEYYYYYYYYYYYYY. FUCKING SHOUTTTTTTTT

.......

HEYYYYYYYY LITTLE BASTARD WHAT IN FUCKING HELL DO YOU WANT!?

(Probably it's fucked up that one moment you get an answer and other you get silence... just to don't forget the last moment you get somebody shouting as hell.)

The room was fulfilled with silence, words never did changed the picture... words didn't meant anything to anybody.... - Ignorance

Question - 2

Technology "Yes...Yes"... it fucking changed everything, by the help of this thing from the "Future"... you can find your way to home, but still it's an irony how could you don't know where you live?...

You lived 17 years... 20... 21....23.... and still after 20 KM far away from home... somewhere a place which is very distant from your home... away from houses and buildings... a place where nobody lives.... at time as 23:33-23:40 P.M., andaaaaaaa you you can't find your home... I mean the place where you live... it's easy 10 KM but... trying something like 20KM or 30? or 33!?... Isn't it confusing?

...

Try to go in distant area... away from houses... shops... water... food.... try in the forest 20 KM's deep in it....

But leave that way and let's start a brand new discussion!

...

Fighting for more random Life... for more random places... meeting random people, but for what?

...

Tell me a reason?

...

We eat... we go and piss we are naked inside in the bathroom... but still how do we do it?

Not the eating thing - People eat and eat and eat... no need to ask "Why" and "How"... just ask the questions "When" and "Where".

Not the pooping thing - Probably there are outside from this here blog people so damn crazy that they eat their poop. That's a fucking fact!

Not the pissing thing - Pissing the mouth... pissing in the toilet... in the bathroom - FUCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK OFFFFFFFFFFFFF.... THAT'S SO FUCKED UP AND SCREW UP.

PISSING IN THE MOUTH... IN THE MOUTH... - FOR WHAT?... yELLOW PLEAASURE

...

COME FOR YELLOW PLEASURE... I HAVE YELLOW DRINK... FREE...COME AND DRINK

IT'S A BEER... no need for a bear... you know that...

...

FOR PEWDIEPIE YELLOW IS BAD... BUT FOR YOU... BITCH... DEAR... BITCH IT'S SOMETHING AWESOME... YOU DAMN ENJOY IT... BUT COME ON... ON GRAVITY AND FLARITY AND FRACTION SO FRAGILE AND LIGILE AND LIRIOUS AND WHY SO SERIOUS?

PEEING IN THE MOUTH IS VERY SERIOUS

MOUTH OPEN

...

THROAT READY

...

FOR THE YELLOW THING

...

DICK IS READY

...

IT HAS FINISHED THE CUMSHOTS AND NOW

IS COMMING FOR IT'S GREAT GLORY

...

PEEE BY IT SELF IS A GLORY... AND FRACTION OF STEAL A MINUTE DON'T DUAL IT!

...

FUCK GLORY AND LARRY!

Why do we go to piss in case that we are going to die?

...

20 Years, living with your computer look like 20 minutes... time die and starts here...

...

BUt I bet that you ain't gonna reach 20 Years more to live if you are around so much around your computer... I mean days to stay 12 hours... each day.

...

This is not a life... not eating... not going to piss... or even not going to do what a normal person should do... Have a better social life, having friends... staying here and living the wires that's not a life... you should know it... not because I am some kinda wise guy, I never did said that...

But still why people if they go around the beach... they are somehow naked... I am talking look them

...

People sometimes at the beach are damn naked... first look the kids... from 1 up to 5-6 years old... walking naked... no pants... no clothes... walking around with his dick and what people do they think?

BUt it's not just a dick... there are and pussies... IF I AM FUCKING PERVET...

" I GONNA GRAB ONE BITCH AND I GONNA DITCH HER BY INSERTING MY DICK INSIDE IN HER PUSSY" - Ransom Quinckerberry

...

BIATCH LAW

...

Probably a biatch thinks that...

"Ohhh... huh... look the cock... so little... I want just little bit cum from that cock... I wanna my mouth to be shaken by this cock..." - Ransom Quinckerberry

"Open your mouth fucking pervert... put your dick inside and start giving yourself some self-pleasure, but don't forget with self-pleasure you gonna need a self-help book." - Ransom Quinckerberry

"Dick has two paths... one in your mouth... and one in somebody else mouth... if we are talking about a gay... probably he is going to do it for free for you... IF IT'S ABOUT SHEMALE... THE SAME AND HERE... YOU DO FOR HER/HIM AND THEY DO THAT FOR YOU... IT'S BUSINESS THAT'S WHAT i LEARNT FROM BUSINESS SCHOOL." - Ransom Quinckerberry

"There are two types of people... people trying to find me as a killer and people like me... playing the killer as you know... from the whole beginning there are a lot of sides... bad and good..." - Ransom Quinckerberry

"The world has been changed... people say that they are guilty... but they ain't guilty... other people say that they aren't guilty but they are guilty." - Ransom Quinckerberry

"Eyes for eyes... mouth for mouth... cut this great legs... at least there is A PUSSY... I NEVER GAVE A FUCK THAT THE PERSON WHO I AM GOING TO HAVE SEX IS DEATH... MOUTH WET... PUSSY WET... MEANS THAT SHE IS READY... DEAD IS LURKING FOR SOME COCK... GIVE IT TO HER/HIM... GIVE THEM THE LAST PLEASURE THEY DARE AND DESIRE FOR... SHE IS UGLY... FUCK HER AND KILL HER... EVERYONE DESERVES A PLEASURE.... she is not going to stop you from having sex... she is ready... for that... she had enough time... to work on her body.." - Ransom Quinckerberry

WHATEVER!

P.S. - Another random Jerk-OFF!

Question - 3

Look it from here... Leave all the points... And start from here 435 Books I have read, 22-23... opps my mistake 24 books left to finish reading. 165 to-read, I mean books which I have choosen to read them,... my choice, my opinion. Which means that I am going to be busy at least for a while and now with a suggestion from a one user... he suggested me Neal Stephenson... and the whole trilogy isabout in about 2604 pages probably or it could be in rough way said 2700 pages...

STOP...STOPPP... THINK ABOUT!

Thinking dysfunction your brain and damage your brain as more you think as more you get pain!

Just stop and think about it, after few minutes my movie is going to end the movie "Shepherds and Butchers" 2016. It's a great one (sadly my father isn't home and he won't be back soon... but this is other type a story which we are going to leave it for later... I am not ready to stick around "WHAT HAPPEN WITH MY FATHER" ...as for now let's stick to this here story.). Shepherds and Butchers is a story of how black people were executed. How they were punished...

PEEING on the floor

POOPing (Probably...) - Or kinda probability!

But here is not only the punish of the black race... but the white also... not everyone mentally is ready... that I can deal with dead bodies the same scenario doesn't goes and for you... IT JUST DOESN"T APPEALS TO YOU.

Language Changed

But here the story is we have a creature... little bit from

"CAN THINK"

and

"CAN CHOOSE"

...

This means that we have hell of a lot of trouble... it means selfishness is on the way... anger

...

Silence and killing means = Are the main Symptoms of ignorance!

....

But we should stop here and think about it, first time did killed all it's students. Look before few years

we even didn't lived in such society like these one in which you participate. For me words matter for others is it 999 pages or 88 or 10 or 5.... both times they will ignore this book and as a second they don'T GIVE A FUCK. But here is the question is, "Is this the right direction?"... - which they have choosen?... TO don't give a fuck? ... The good for the bad... the evil for the best... the best for the worst... - RIGHT?

(Note: Just a reminder for "Criminal Minds"... wasn't the killer supposed to live no audience in the killing... nobody should know WHO IS HE... WHERE IS HE GOING.... - BUT IS THAT POSSIBLE TO BE DONE?)

- pff.. .we just met IMPOSSIBLE!

(P.S. - Ohhhhhhhh. it was one fucking damn good suprise...)

Language has been changed... LOOK IT FROM DEEPER... PEOPLE USE RANDOM WORDS.. .FROM RAANDOM LANGUAGES AND THEY JUST TAKE THEM FOR EXAMPLE

1. Окей - Okay (Language Bulgarian - English/American)

2. Хей - Hey (Language Bulgarian - English/American)

....

As for examples for now... we are going to play with these ones which are above

...

look them... both left and right sound the same... but written in a different way.

But

LEFT SIDE AS - Bulgarian

RIGHT SIDE AS - English/American

Years Changed The World

What happen with the time... don't you see it...

SHAKE HEAD

...

OPPS YOU GOT THE IMAGE... YOU ARE NOW WITH A BIATCH... SHE IS NEXT TO YOU ... and you and her ... you are even HOLDING HANDS... LAUGHING

...

AND EVERYTHING IS FREE

SHAKING LEG

YOU JUST GOT A DICK WHICH IS UP AND BEHIND YOUR BACK IS A UGLY GIRL... TRY TO HOLD YOUR HAND... YOUR DICK IS UP... SHE IS UGLY... WHAT DO YOU DO?

...

FUCK THE UGLY

FUCK THE BEAUTY

FUCK THE UGLY

FUCK THE BEAUTY

FUCK THE UGLY

...

YOU WAKE UP... YOU JUST WAKE UP ONE MORNING... EVERYTHING AS FIRST HAS BEEN A DREAM FROM A GREAT DREAM IT HAS TURNED INTO A NIGHTMARE... BUT STILL YOU OPEN YOUR EYES AND WHAT YOU SEE IS NOTHING MORE AS SUSPICIOUS AND VICIOUS GRAND-MA AND PA... TALKING AND ANGRILY AND SHOUTING...

...

SOUNDS LIKE A LOVELY PICTURE

...

LOVE SYMBOL OF ANGER AND AGRESSION

You look the time and it's 4:00 P.M. - Your day has almost passed and the question is now

what next to do?

P.S. - But wasn't it as real as fuck the sex in the dream?

SCP Files - Chapter 2

Secret Files... they don't exist!

Incident Zero - Part 4

Note: Ohhhhhh.... God.. . PLEASE DON'T KILL ME IN A SUCH BORING WAY

And as this happened, in another site, a woman gasped as she collapsed to the floor. Her arms and legs rapidly withered into nothingness as her skin hardened into stone. Despite her desperate cries, her companions could do nothing but watch in horror as her body quickly petrified. . . and then they, too, began to scream. . .

"Adrian?"

"Hm?" Andrews tore his eyes away from the monstrous creature lurching along the path before them. Part ram, part slug, part flower-garden, it tilted its bandaged head from side to side as it glided with unnatural grace through the shattered hallways. Three nude women danced in slow circles around the horned figure, dressed only in copper helmets adorned with ribbons that fluttered in the wind of their passage.

Beatrix sighed. "Give me an honest assessment. Do you really think we're going to survive this?"

Adrian glanced at Cain, who was walking about twenty feet ahead of them, just a few feet behind the surreal procession. One of the nude figures approached the tall, olive-skinned man, her every motion speaking of the promise of sensual delights. Cain simply smiled and nodded his head in acknowledgement, and the figure retreated, head bowed and hands clasped before her bare chest. "If I didn't," he said at last, "It wouldn't do us any good to prepare for that. So let's say that I do think we're going to survive this, and proceed from there?"

Beatrix nodded slowly, as if this were the response she'd expected. "In that case, remember that conversation we had last night? About three months in Europe versus ten minutes on the moon?"

"Yeah."

"We're probably due a bunch of leave after this," Beatrix said, stepping carefully along the carpet of rose petals strewn in the wake of the bulbous beast. "Three months in Europe wouldn't be out of the question. Want to come with me?"

"Yeah," Adrian repeated.

"On our honeymoon?"

Adrian swallowed hard. "Sure," he said. "Sounds fine to me." His hand found hers, and squeezed it tightly.

Up ahead, the odd procession paused at an intersection, turned right, and continued to dance, never missing a beat. Adrian, Beatrix, and Cain continued straight on, into the darkness.

… and somewhere else, a man curled up next to a glowing green egg, holding it close to his chest. "Fa la ninna, fa la nanna," he crooned, stroking its cold, green shell tenderly…

It was not long before they reached a tall, steel door, with the symbol of three inward-pointing arrows within two circles painted upon its gunmetal-grey plates. Cain stepped up to a security console at one side of the door, pressed his palm against a scanning plate. There was a loud click and a series of crunches as the door's locking mechanism released. "From here," Cain said, "I will follow you. It is necessary that the two of you enter first."

"Is this a prophecy?" Adrian asked.

"An inevitability," Cain replied.

Beatrix nodded. "Then let's get this the fuck over with," she said sternly. She walked to the door, placed her hands on the door hands, and pushed.

There was a loud crack.

A high-pitched whirring sound, like a dentist's drill.

Two arms made of steel and wires burst through the open door, grabbed Beatrix Maddox by the head, and twisted it, hard.

There was a sickening crack of breaking bone.

… and somewhere else, a man lay on a butcher's table, whimpering softly. Wordlessly, his tormentor sliced open his belly, pulled out his organs, and began expertly slicing into the tenderloin. As the man smiled in delirium, the butcher placed a small, paper-wrapped package in his hands. . .

Beatrix…

Adrian locked his anguished scream away inside the part of his mind that still wept when it sliced open the belly of a living cat. The rest of him raised his rifle and fired at the steel doll as it dropped Beatrix's broken body to the floor.

It was a good, clean, solid burst to center mass. The bullets flattened against the steel woman's bare belly and clattered to the floor. That high pitched whirring sound grew even louder and higher pitched, screaming like a jet engine turbine.

Adrian's rifle stopped firing, bolt locked back. He let it fall, drew the pistol from his holster, fired twice more. His vision was blurring. He didn't know why. All he knew was that his hands were moving on their own, like a machine. Like the creature Able wanted him to be. Like the thing his superiors wanted him to be.

The steel doll stood. Its joints glowed with bright blue energy. Intricate gears within gears spun and whirred in the gaps between its plates. It tilted its head to one side and opened a mouth full of cogs and wires.

Adrian dove out of the way. Heat and ripping metal exploded behind him.

Pain tore through his left leg, followed by a sudden numbness. He tried to stand, found that he didn't have two legs to stand on any more.

The steel doll slowly got to her feet, from where the backblast had hurled it across the room…

… and somewhere else, a woman screamed as a powerful beak tore into her face, ripping open her cheek and eyes. She struggled to get free, but her attacker was merciless, ripping off an arm with a cruel slowness. . .

… and Adrian fled.

He scrabbled away from the steel doll, towards the dusky-skinned man who still stood, smiling softly, just outside the doorway of the chamber. Something in him screamed that this wouldn't work, that this could never work, but he had no other way…

He turned. Saw the steel doll revving up, joints glowing blindingly bright. It streaked towards him, ready to punch through and rip apart anything to get to the thing she hated so badly…

The steel doll's fist smashed into Cain's face with all the force of a speeding train.

The sigil on Cain's forehead flared blue, blindingly bright, illuminating the entire corridor like a camera's flash…

There was an explosion. The gynoid came apart in a shower of steel and silicon, shrapnel bursting forth like a detonating shell…

The last thing he saw was a razor-edged shard hanging in the air. His pain-addled mind tracked the course of that deadly little shard of metal all the way until it drove itself into his brain.

… and somewhere else, a squad of men struggling to get the doors to their chamber open froze as they felt a small tickle growing in their noses and throats. Within moments, they were laying on the floor, gurgling out their last breaths as they struggled to breathe. Their deaths were witnessed only by a shadowy figure who regarded the dying men with something that resembled pity.

… and somewhere, Agent Frederickson screamed as a razor-toothed earthworm fourteen inches long burrowed hungrily into his open eye…

… and somewhere, a man in an orange jumpsuit huddled in a hallway full of smoke and gas as a hooded figure in a plague doctor's mask glided by, muttering indistinctly about a cure…

… and somewhere, a woman turned and ran from a blank white mask hovering in the darkness of an infinite stairwell, but could not escape the death that followed…

… and somewhere, a man sitting before a computer screen depicting a black-and-white map of the world saw the icon located over Yellowstone Mountain change from red to black…

… and in that period of time, Cain finished laying Adrian Andrew's bleeding body next to that of his comatose lover's, stepped through the steel doors, and entered the chamber of The Bloom.

It waited for him, resplendent in its infinite colors, iridescent petals stretching across the dimensions, slowly fading in and out of view as it turned gently in space. The cosmic flower at the heart of the world. The thing that had allowed humanity to try and try again when they had failed. The fruit of knowledge, the reflection of eternity.

It had been so, so long since he had last been allowed to witness its glory.

Cain heard an animal growl behind him. He turned, knowing already what he would see.

His brother, the murdered murderer, stood in the doorway. A pair of black swords were clutched in his hands. His eyes were cold. Dead. Emotionless. Just as they had been after Cain's old hands had finished committing their one unspeakable sin.

Cain's new hands, the ones made of steel and fire, clenched tightly. Blue flame erupted from between the joints of his artificial arms. They were matched by the crimson flames that burst forth from his brother's demonic tattoos.

Able took a single step forward…

Kirche

Note: So Long shit

The German Border, near Dresden
February 15th, 1945
Calling them members of a charitable foundation was half-right.

The instant the bombs stopped on the fifteenth, a platoon from Prague — Baker-Six-Six, aka "Rare Mediums" — had been deployed to Dresden. They were relatively close, barely an hour and a half away. The Yanks had decided to take the Axis from two ends, and as such, bombed both Prague and Dresden, so a good part of B66 was behind aiding in recovery efforts and trying to prevent things from getting even worse.

Officially, they represented the "Allied Relief for Victims of the Conflict in the European Theater Foundation", and they had all the trappings of it; fake documentation, supply trucks full of emergency rations and water filtration, bandages for the wounded.

Dresden was close to both the southern and eastern borders, and they were desperate for any kind of relief, for fear that the Soviets would come in from the east and deal them the killing blow.

Anastazie Dvorak kept her head down as they passed through the checkpoint; too often in the occupied zones, she had been stopped because of her 'Jewish eyes', whatever that meant. someone else had told her that it was a perverse compliment, and that it meant that they wanted to take advantage of you.

Her handler, a kind Ukranian man who she just called Humphrey — because he looked so much like Humphrey Bogart — had finished talking to the German at the checkpoint, and soon, they were bound towards Dresden. It was a fair distance into the country, still, another half-hour.

"Are you all right, Ana?" Humphrey asked. His Czech was passable, at most, but she could hold a conversation with him.

"Yes, thank you." She swallowed, looking towards the northern horizon. "…I feel so much sadness from there. So much loss. They're saying twenty-thousand dead?"

"Two-hundred thousand, Ana." He glanced at the driver of the transport, and then looked back at her. "But word is that the Fuhrer is inflating the figures. I'm sure it's far less than that!" He had a genuine smile on his face, hiding his own unease.

"…they're lying again, then." She felt at her uniform; a nurse's garb, for their cover. "Why do they lie about the number of deaths? It's dangerous and will induce panic."

"I think they know that," Humphrey said, looking north with her. "I just don't think they care."

He didn't have the same sensitivity that Ana did. He couldn't talk to the dead. He couldn't cause spots of cold. He wouldn't faint or scream in the presence of death and destruction. He was just there to make sure she was kept safe.

But you can't kill something that's already dead with a bullet. He clutched his Bible in his breast pocket.

The bombing had stopped at half-past noon. By the time they got there, it was almost five o'clock. The city was dead silent, except for the burning of the flames in the distance, and the sound of the trucks. Every now and again, they would see clothing sticking from the rubble. Ana tried not to think about it. She just focused on the pain she heard.

This city would forever have a psychic scar on it. Even if the wounds were to heal, the mind of this city would be forever concussed, shellshocked. After ten, fifty, one-hundred years, there would still be something in this city to remind the people of Germany — and the world — of what happened here.

"What the hell?" someone asked in Czech. It was the driver, who she called Clark, after Clark Gable; he had the same voice as the actor. "Her ears are bleeding."

"Dammit." Humphrey reached forward to dab at her ears with a handkerchief. "That bad?"

Ana nodded. "The worst yet. Remember Trafalgar Square, four years ago?"

"You wouldn't stop seizing," Humphrey nodded, taking out a white pill and a bottle of water, offering both to her. "Kept saying the children there could taste the war rations, and they were hungry for chocolate."

"Yes." She nodded. Ana took the pill placed it under her tongue, and swallowed it with some water. "It… it wasn't good."

The truck came to a stop. "We're here," Clark said, stepping out of the cab. "I recognize the building."

They stepped out onto the street, in front of what had once been some form of church. It could barely be recognized as one; only a few walls were left, and in the center, some rubble of what had once been the dome and spire. The chancel was the largest part left standing, all dark stone; whether the surroundings smouldered in such a way that it looked dark, or if it was naturally that way, none could tell. The altar, somehow, was mostly intact.

Clark looked at the photograph they had been given, then at the remains of the church, then waved Ana over to inspect it. She herself had taken the picture, with a special camera; 'spirit photography' she called it. It depicted the remains of the church, with dozens, if not at least one-hundred, black-eyed, pale beings looking at the camera. It had frighted her, the Foundation, and the New Dawn Initiative enough to come and find it.

"Who are they?" Humphrey asked, disembarking from the back of the transport.

"I don't know." Her hand balled up in her uniform. "Better question might be what are they. You've heard reports from where Husiatyn Woods used to be? Black-eyed men being seen in the remnants?"

"Then why could you see it?" Clark looked at her, worried. "You said your gift only works on ghosts."

"I'm not— oh." Ana's balance failed, and she leaned against the chancel. "…oh god."

"What is it?" Humphrey rushed to her side, supporting her.

"Someone… someone's underneath. Screaming. Screaming. They're dead and they're screaming. Oh…" She sat down in the rubble, and started crying. Her voice changed, distorted, into first a child's, then a man's, speaking in German.

"Vater, vater, bitte, es heiß! Es schmerzt! Vater!"

"Alec, schließe deine Augen, mein Bärchen… schleiße deine Augen…" She broke down crying in a masculine voice. "That's what they're saying. They burned to death, in the chapel. They were seeking solace. And they died." She began bleeding from the mouth.

"God in Heaven…" Humphrey looked back at the truck, at Clark, and at the half-a-dozen agents that had stayed there. He said, in English, then Ukranian, "Don't just stand there! Let's dig this up!"

The various agents — all men, all soldiers of some form, whether under the New Dawn or the Foundation — all took up pickaxes meant for removing the rubble. "Where do we dig?" Humphrey asked Ana, holding onto her.

"Crypt… they burnt in the crypt…" She looked skyward, at the setting sun. The heat from the freshly-bombed city had made her forget it was winter. The sun was setting so fast.

"Petros!" — Humphrey was addressing Clark here, in Ukranian — "Get on the radio and check with the other teams. See if any of the other mediums are having a reaction like this."

"Yes, sir." Clark ran back to the transport, speaking into the radio.

Ana, eventually, was able to stand. "…give me a pick."

"Are you sure?" Humprhey asked. "You look like you could fall at any moment."

"I have to see them," she growled. "It is the only way I can put them to rest and get them to stop screaming."

The rubble beneath their feet shifted in a motion violent enough to knock one of the diggers on his front. Everyone stopped to look at it, suddenly afraid of what they would find under the ruins of the church should they continue digging. For something dead to move rubble that extremely required a lot of pain, and a lot of anger.

Ana had taken a break after they had set up the work lights. A few civilians had stopped by and offered their services in the excavation; while grateful, they were turned away with emergency food, water, and supplies. They were masquerading as an aid organization, so they had pitched some tents for those who could find them to sleep under.

The church, as it turned out, was a landmark. A younger couple who had survived the blasts had come by for food and mourned how they were to be wed in it in March. Humphrey — being a New Dawn Initiative pastor — had offered to wed them on the spot, so he was off doing that. Something good could come of this, at least.

They were sitting in the cool of the night air, winter suddenly creeping back into the devastated Dresden. They hoped that snow would not come, or else it would mask the cold spots that the mediums in B66 often relied on to detect spirit activity.

The rubble shifted again. It kept getting closer to the altar, and the vestments on it were starting to shake. It was a miracle that it had managed to survive when the rest of it had been burned to the ground. The stone didn't melt, but it was hot enough that everything supporting it broke down.

"I hate Americans," Ana concluded, muttering in Czech so that the Americans from the Foundation wouldn't hear it. "I hate that they can destroy a city like this for no reason."

The rubble shifted once more. Ana jumped, as she was at the back of the chancel, and it had come almost at her feet. She carefully walked around it, and called to Humphrey, "It's gotten to the back!"

"What has?" he called in return.

"The…" she knew he didn't know the Czech word, so she managed, in English, "Ah-nom-ah-li!"

Humphrey directed his crew to dig towards the back; while they had unearthed several pews, no evidence of the crypt was found. They were moving from the front of the church to the chancel, methodically; in hindsight, they should have done it the opposite way.

The picks and shovels came down, lifting away the rubble and beginning to reveal a depression underneath. Ana swooned again. "It's… down there."

"There?"

"Yes," she gritted her teeth. "I hear them. Their eyes are black… they were burnt by fire. All of their eyes. Their skin was covered in ash as it was burned through, and their eyes… they boiled. Oh god alive, they boiled as they died." She ran toward the rubble, and began digging through it with her bare hands. "Let me in!"

"Ana!" Humphrey tried restraining her. "What the devil—"

"I can only put them to rest if I can see their bodies! Let me in! Please!"

"Ana, let the men work—"

They did not need to work much further. The debris exploded outwards, a small chunk of stone grazing the medium's temple as she recoiled from the blast. She clutched the wound on her head and stared at the dust and stone going down a set of stairs; fragments of wood were around it, no doubt the doorway that led into the crypt.

"I'm going down," Ana declared. Before there could be any protests, she had vanished down the stairs.

The crypt was quiet enough that Ana could hear her bones creak, and the blood going through her veins. She could hear the little sacs in her lungs expand and contract as she continued down the tunnel.

She could almost hear the men of B66 behind her, protesting her descent, but she kept onward. She forced her mind to open; the amount of psychic force in this city had made it seal itself like a door welded shut. She destroyed the welds, and leaned against a wall, shocked by what she had seen around her.

There were 432 souls here. She could feel every single one in her head, and she counted them in an instant. Men, women, children, all of them German. "Where are your bodies?" she asked. "Please, I have to put you to rest."

432 pale hands pointed in different, nonsensical directions; some up to the ceiling, some into the walls, others through themselves. She walked on the floor of the crypt, forward, towards the spirit of a child. She expected her foot to hit something; a burned chunk of flesh, some incinerated clothing, a brooch, a toy, anything. Any clue to tell her where the bodies were.

Instead, she found nothing. She groped along the floor, feeling for any sign of human life. Eventually, she found something: a ticket to a play, dated February 10th. Five days ago. It was unburned.

Ana's eyes widened. There were no remains, just debris, from survivors, people who had evacuated the structure. She looked up at the spirits, tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she said, standing against the wall. "I can't help you. You never existed. I can't put you to rest."

There was a mass of confusion from the spirits, a murmur, a mumble. How could they not exist? They remembered their lives, their names, their…

…their…

The spirits screamed as Ana sprinted up the steps, echoing their pitiful wail. They never lived, so how could they ever die, ever pass on?

"They didn't exist?" Humphrey asked as he set up his cot. They had made some sort of camp among the rubble, and refugees were coming in to seek warmth, food, and shelter. "That doesn't make sense."

"…Hitler is inflating the figures, you said?" Ana swallowed. "If… if enough Germans — no, if enough people believe that two-hundred thousand souls died here, then… two-hundred thousand souls, who lack bodies, who have always lacked bodies, are going to exist."

"That's insane," Humphrey frowned. "That would mean that, every time a death is falsified, every time a statistic is hyperbolic…"

"…more ghosts exist than the dead." Ana curled up on her cot. "And it's going to get worse. Even if the war is ending, if Germany will soon surrender… Dresden, and the world, will be left with scars for generations." She looked back at Humphrey. "This is the New Dawn you people are facing. This is what is creeping over the horizon. A world where three, maybe four ghosts exist for every body. Not just here. In Russia, the Ukraine, Spain, England, France, Poland… even America. The world will be haunted by the actions of all. Axis and Ally, Foundation and fiend." She pulled a blanket over herself.

"Can humanity live with that, Bernard?"

Bernard Kostyshyn looked towards the horizon, where the moon was rising over the rubble. He would never be able to answer this question.

SCP-088

Note: That's a Good One

SCP-088 in its original case. Note that the glass and metal enclosure have been replaced.

File photo of Mr. S██████

Item #: SCP-088

Object Class: Safe

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-088 is to remain sealed in its airtight case at all times. The case is constructed of transparent acrylic plastic to resist the corrosive properties of SCP-088's secretions. In the event that SCP-088 should awaken from hibernation, any room that it is stored within should be constructed of durable plastics, rubber or ceramics to hinder its ability to escape. Temperature of SCP-088's containment should not exceed 15 degrees Celsius, and any personnel entering containment must observe level 4 hazardous material protocols and wear the appropriate protective gear at all times.

Any personnel who do not observe proper containment protocols in presence of SCP-088 or who show signs of physical mutation are to be demoted to D-class and held for observation.

Description: SCP-088 is a humanoid with reptilian features which appears to have been mummified in a languid posture. However, SCP-088 is merely in a state of hibernation from which it may recover if it is again exposed to a more hospitable environment than its current containment. Research has indicated that SCP-088 is approximately 6000 years old and is capable of secreting a variety of hazardous biological compounds from its mouth and hands. Some of these substances could be of great strategic value if replicated, but until a means to extract them without awakening SCP-088 is found, research into this area is on hold.

SCP-088 was recovered with the mummified remains of 23 beings sharing a similar morphology. However, none of these beings were alive and examination suggests that they were originally human. Information obtained by Agents E088-3 and E088-7 and their subsequent mutation due to SCP-088 exposure corroborates this theory.

File photo of Mr. S██████

Addendum: SCP-088 was recovered in 193█ from a subterranean complex below Los Angeles, California. The site was originally discovered by G. W█████ S██████using a device he called a "radio X-ray," which was little more than a mechanical dowsing rod. While S██████'s methods were dubious, his discovery was not. After mapping a series of tunnels and gold deposits below the city, S██████ declared that he had found the lost city of the Lizard People as described in the legends of Arizona's Hopi tribe. S██████'s claims went as far as to be featured on the front page of the Los Angeles Times on January 29th, 1934, before the Foundation was able to verify his claims and silence Mr. S██████.

The subterranean complex was not nearly as extensive as described in legend, and most of the artifacts recovered within were too corroded to provide significant information, save for a long message carved into the rock wall of an unfinished tunnel. For partial translation of this text, see Document 088-14.

Containment breach overview: In more than 70 years of containment, SCP-088 has only roused from its state of hibernation twice, breaching containment with a caustic fluid that dissolves most minerals and metals. Each time multiple personnel were exposed to a second compound which SCP-088 uses to propagate itself: affected personnel underwent a painful mutation after which they shared the physical characteristics of SCP-088. Those few who received a large dosage of the compound, administered directly via mouth-to-mouth contact, were changed the fastest and subsequently sacrificed themselves to protect SCP-088 from harm. SCP-088 has also demonstrated the ability to produce potent neurotoxins in liquid and gaseous form to combat containment personnel.

Containment during the second breach was reachieved by isolating SCP-088 and affected personnel in the facility and lowering the temperature. Affected personnel built a pedestal from discarded equipment, upon which SCP-088 took a recumbent position before slipping back into hibernation. The mutated personnel were neutralized at this point and SCP-088 was returned to containment.

The current strategy of lowered temperature and non-metallic containment has been successful in keeping SCP-088 isolated. SCP-088 was reclassified to Safe status on November ██, 19██.

Crime News - Chapter 3

What's happening around crime?

Craigslist Seller Goes Missing After Meeting Potential Buyer

BY REX GRAHAM ON MAY 08, 2017

When you envision the worst possible Craigslist encounter, it usually involves a deal gone wrong. For Vicente Cruz, that nightmare is all too real.

After placing an ad for his vintage truck on Craigslist, Cruz met with a potential buyer at a northwest Atlanta address to show them the vehicle. He hasn’t been seen since.

When Cruz didn’t call his girlfriend following the visit, she reported him missing to police on Wednesday, May 3.

Authorities found Cruz’s black 1989 Ford F-150 pickup abandoned in a motel parking lot with blood on the seat. There was no sign of Cruz or his would-be buyer. According to reports, Cruz never checked into the motel, and the car wasn’t registered to anyone staying there.

Police haven’t released the name of any suspects, and it’s unclear from reports whether or not they even know the identity of Cruz’s potential buyer. Authorities have asked for the public’s help to try and identify this mystery man as they continue to investigate the incident.

As a buyer on Craigslist, you can sometimes spot code words and other signs that indicate a potentially dangerous seller or a scam. But when you’re the one selling, things aren't always that easy. You never know who might be showing up — or what they really want from you.

Before you meet a stranger from the internet, find out everything you can about them by running a background check with Instant Checkmate. It might just save your life.

Teenager Sentenced After Shooting Friend, Sending It Through Snapchat

BY LOGAN STRAIN ON MAY 16, 2017

Maxwell Morton, from Jeannette, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 15-30 years in prison for killing a 16-year-old and posting a selfie on Snapchat, according to WPXI Pittsburgh.

Morton, 18, testified that he was playing with a handgun and did not think it was loaded when he pointed it at Ryan Mangan and pulled the trigger. Another teenager testified that he bragged about the killing while they played an online video game together. Morton allegedly said that he “got his first body.”

At first, the other teen thought that Morton was joking. Then Morton sent the teen a link to a news article about Mangan’s death and a selfie of him and Mangan’s body shortly after the incident via Snapchat.

Morton was apologetic about the killing, which happened in 2015. He said that it was “messed up” and added, “Sometimes sorry isn’t enough for people, but that’s all I have to give.” Morton said that he took the selfie to document the incident and had originally planned to kill himself. When asked why he was smiling the photograph, he said that he was "psychological" and “nervous."

During the trial, Assistant District Attorney Tom Grace pursued the maximum sentence of up to 40 years. Morton has previous convictions on his record for assault and a separate violent incident. Defence attorney Pat Thomassey argued that the incident was a tragic accident and an instance of “two kids fooling around with guns.”

Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio said that the Snapchat message significantly altered the case. A forensic pathologist testified that Mangan did not die immediately after being shot, and he may have survived if he had received emergency medical attention.

“The reality is this case would be very different if not for that photograph,” Judge Bilik-DeFazio said. “No one will understand the thought process of taking that photo.”

Science - Chapter 4

What's happening around science?

Graphene membranes can make nuclear industry greener

May 9, 2017

Credit: University of Manchester

Graphene could help reduce the energy cost of producing heavy water and decontamination in nuclear power plants by over one hundred times compared with current technologies, University of Manchester research indicates.

The new development could lead to the reduction of CO2 emissions associated with heavy water production by up to a million tonnes each year.

Writing in Nature Communications, a team from the University of Manchester led by Dr. Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo demonstrated fully scalable prototypes of graphene membranes capable of producing heavy water.

The research shows that graphene-based membranes could make the production of heavy water more efficient, leading to greener and cheaper nuclear power.

Producing heavy water which needed by the nuclear industry to generate clean-energy is an expensive process. Because of graphene's unique material properties it has the potential to effectively separate sub-atomic particles making this process more efficient and cost-effective.

Separating hydrogen isotopes is a huge task for nuclear fission and future fusion plants. Thousands of tons of isotopic mixtures are processed every year. Yet, producing just 1 kg of heavy water consumes enough energy to power an average American household for an entire year.

Dr. Lozada-Hidalgo, University of Manchester research fellow said: "This is a crucial milestone in the path to taking this revolutionary technology to industrial application.

"The potential gains are high enough to justify its introduction even in the highly conservative nuclear industry."

Only last year, the same group of researchers found that graphene can efficiently sieve hydrogen isotopes. But the industrial opportunities of this discovery were not analysed because there were no membranes or fabrication methods suitable for scalable manufacturing at the time.

Now, the Manchester group developed fully scalable prototype membranes and demonstrated the isotope separation in pilot scale studies. They found that the high efficiency of the separation would allow for a significant reduction of the input amount of raw isotope mixtures that needs to be processed. This reduces both the capital costs and the energy requirements.

They estimated over one hundred times less energy to produce heavy water would be required compared to competing technologies – even larger energy savings are anticipated for tritium decontamination.

Sir Andre Geim, added: "Tritium discharged both from nuclear power plants and as a result of environmental disasters is a major global concern.

"We believe this technology can economically transform the environmental footprint of future nuclear plants."

Provided by: University of Manchester

THE ONLY SENSIBLE RITUAL PASTA

You wake up to find yourself lying flat in an unfamiliar and utterly filthy room. Your head pounds as you sit up and survey your surroundings.

“Ohhhhww. . . What hit me?”

You notice the room is dimly lit by a hanging bulb that threatens to flicker out any moment. Large piles of debris are scattered about the small room, and there are no windows.

“Hey, who said that? Where am I?”

To your left, right and straight ahead of you there are sinister looking doors. You do not fully comprehend your situation, but you must choose one of these doors. One door-

“Hey! Are you ignoring me?”

-Leads to salvation. One leads to an endless maze of halls and passages that will trap you forever, and the third leads to eternal damnation. You must-

“Wait, what? Are you serious?”

YOU MUST CHOOSE A DOOR.

“Why? The exit’s right there.”

In the cold, frightened core of your heart, you know that there is no escape from the desolate predicament you now find yourself in.

“Dude, the doors right there. It even says so. See? ‘Exit’, right on the front. Big letters too.”

After a moments struggle, you come to realize the futility of resistance and return once more to the crossroads of passages. There is no way out.

“Only because some bastard locked up the exit-”

You grumble to yourself as you contemplate-

“It was you wasn’t it? Jerk.”

CONTEMPLATE YOUR FATE.

“Fine, fine. Eenie, meenie, miney. . . That one.”

-You say to yourself as you chose the door to your left. Unbeknownst to you is that that particular door leads only to misery, death, and the destruction of your very soul.

“What? Oh HELL no!”

A sudden burst of intuitive clarity causes you to leap away back before the door closes behind you, sealing your fate.

“It wasn’t intuition, you just said-”

You must make your choice between the remaining two doors.

With a sigh, you go towards the one in the middle.

“I know what I’m doing-”

You mutter-

“-I don’t need you telling me. Prick.”

You take hold of the doorknob to the passage that will lead you to wander the maze for all eternity, oblivious to the fate that will soon befall you. Deathless, mindless and hopeless, your rotting corpse will still walk on long after-

“Gah!”

-You cry as you once again leap back from your choice of passage.

“Don’t get snappy with me. So, one door left? Salvation, ho.”

-You say as you head towards the final door and grasp the handle. The path you have chosen will be long and frought with peril. You will face unsurmountable, blood thirsty foes and travel farther than the simple realms you think of as ‘life and death’. Should you fail, your tattered soul will serve as one of the tortures spectral servants of the lord of the underworld, Gwyn ap Nudd. Should-

“Wait a minute. . . ”

-You succeed, you will have all the unimaginable pleasures of this world and the next, though you will be doomed to remain in the underworld as Gwyn’s right hand man-

“HOLD UP YOU OMNISCIENT LYING PACK OF DOG CRAP! You said one of the doors would get me out of here! Salvation, remember? How is being trapped in the underworld salvation? Get me out!”

There is no escape-

“Don’t give me that! There’s always a way out.”

There is no- What are you doing? Where did you get that pipe?

“It was lying in one of those piles of trash. What does it look like I’m doing? I’m going to bust down the exit.”

You can’t do that! It’s against the rules!

“Oh, there are rules now, ehy? What happened to your big, scary, narrorator voice?”

There is no escape!

“There will be, just give me a minute! Just, a little. . . There! Ha, got it!”

You can’t-

“I just did. Goodbye and good luck, Mr. Scary voice. I’m going home, go find another stooge.”

I, ah-oh, fuck. I’m out of here too! This place gives me the willies.

—
Credited to Astonished Lemons.

Stolen Laptop

The following was pieced together from a thread on 4chan's paranormal board from May 8th and 10th, 2013.

Hey /x/, I need some advice. I know this isn't technically paranormal, but it's creepy as fuck and I'm not sure what to do. I go to college in the northwestern United States and a few weeks ago, during a party I was at, I stole a laptop and an iPod (I don't need to hear about how bad a person I am for stealing, yeah I know and that's not going to help me now). I have occasionally stolen technology in the past to sell at pawnshops and stuff. I'm pretty good with computers, so I can usually circumvent their passwords and stuff, and sell them as if they were my own. Anyway, the computer I stole had some fucked up shit on it.

Like some stuff that makes me think I stole from an actually violent and crazy person (I don't want to be too specific in case they or someone they know is on here, I'm pretty nervous about the whole thing). But my question is does anyone know how to break into a TrueCrypt file? Is it even possible? There is one on here and I'm not even sure if I want to know what's on there after the crazy stuff I found that wasn't even password protected.

I usually go through the computer first before I delete everything, it's kind of exciting for me, it's like spying on someone's life. I can see all their pictures, and check through their browsing history, sometimes there are even saved passwords on their computer for their Facebook and stuff so I can check through all that.

I never fuck with their Facebook or anything, I just scope out their life. It is pretty exciting, though, to kind of just rummage through a person's life. But the videos I found on this computer I have never seen anything like that before, even on crazy places like Motherless or Deepweb.

They are obviously real though. I kind of feel like I ought to go to the police but I don't know how to explain how I came to be in possession of the computer, and I definitely don't want this guy knowing I stole his computer, and then turned him into the police.

I can't really even make an anonymous tip because the house I was at was a friend of a friend (obviously I don't steal from people I know well), a ways away from campus and I don't remember exactly where it was, and the computer doesn't have a name (like how computers usually have recovery/registration info and account names and stuff).

Yeah, I guess there's like no chance of him seeing it here, or tracing it back to me. And he obviously knows someone stole his computer but there were a bunch of people there that night, but no I'm definitely NOT going to put the videos up. Or talking about the videos in specifics. Just want to know if there is anyway I can see the encrypted files.

Yeah lots of people there, but the room was like in the basement under the stairs. People were down in the basement smoking weed at one point, but it was pretty much empty after that. So later when we were about to go I went down there to go pee and just went in his room real quick and threw the laptop and iPod in my backpack then we left pretty soon after. Pretty normal room, although he did have a big bowie knife sitting on his windowsill.

Yeah I guess. The computer had all the normal 4chan stuff, lots of gore and porn (no reaction pictures or gifs though I noticed), fairly normal computer history (I mean, still had some gory stuff, but that's pretty normal these days), ad eraser and CCleaner and TrueCrypt and stuff, but again, that's pretty normal for anyone who explores on the internet a lot and would rather be careful. But then I found the really fucked up videos. There are like three self injury (I think) videos and one where he kills a dog. And none of these were password protected! He has a fucking TrueCrypt, and he didn't even bother to put these in there! That's what makes me really nervous, just what the fuck did he bother to encrypt?

No, you never see his face in any of the videos. No, the dog is like drugged or something because it's just sort of lying there and tries to get up a few times. Then he goes and puts this metal thing between its teeth so it can't close its mouth and cuts out its tongue. While he's doing this the dog starts to roll around and squeal so he puts the camera down while he holds the dog down and cuts out its tongue.

Then he picks up the camera again and holds down its legs with his foot while he chops off its feet with a machete. The dog starts like this puking scream thing after three of its feet are gone. Then finally he flips it over on its back and guts it. He puts the camera down during this part too then picks it up and watches until the dog dies. It's disgusting. I literally had to throw up after I watched it.

It's like a golden retriever looking thing. It's twelve and a half minutes long, and yeah the guy in it is pretty built.

In the other ones, it's a guy putting cigarettes out on his inner thigh, nailing his ballsack to a piece of wood (like a table or something), and sewing his thigh up. He is stabbing this big needle into one side of his skin then the other and pulls his skin tight to make a kind of crisscrossing pouch.

All three look like they hurt like hell. In the one where he nails down his balls he sounds like he's having a fucking orgasm. The whole time he's pounding the nail in he's just moaning, then he pulls back on his balls and stretches 'em out on the nail before he yanks the nail out. In the other two, you only kind of hear him hissing. Pretty sure the guy in all the videos is the same.

Well it sounds like I probably can't get into the encrypted videos myself so I guess I'm just going to wipe what I can from the computer, take it apart, and throw it away. Normally I would sell it, but this guy is way too fucked to play around with, I wouldn't want it somehow traced back to me. I probably don't want to know what's on the other videos anyway. I just kinda feel like I have to know now that I have already seen all this other shit. Either way this guy is really nuts and should probably be in a mental institution or something but is still just walking around.

Honestly this whole thing has really fucked me up. I was so physically sick and paranoid the first night I saw them. I have been freaking out that this guy was gonna come after me or something, and it's just fucked in general. That people like this exist, and not just in creepy backwoods, but in our liberal NW United States. I feel like I'm now always gonna be less able to trust people after this.

I wish I had never stolen the computer and seen this messed up shit (you're probably gonna call me a pussy, but seeing something on the internet that you know lots of other people have seen that's probably fake anyway is way different than seeing really crazy graphic shit that you can't tell anyone about and knowing someone CRAZY now hates you and would probably kill you if they found out. I really think that's whats in the TrueCrypt videos, what else would this guy bother to encrypt?)

I still will open the encrypted videos if I can and it will probably be a few days before I wipe and toss the computer, if anyone can help me open them I will be monitoring /x/ and /b/ closely for the next couple of days. Just make a thread related to this and I will see it.

What's Inside

Burning up
Slipping back so perfectly into my skin
Keeping the animal inside
Contained
Careful
Fed

Every little twitch
Each off look
He’s trying to come out
To claw at my regrets and pain
Until I want to recede back inside my body

Dark
Vein
Power hungry
Overconfident
No care in the world for others
Murder has never been so longed for

Heart pounding, jaw popping
Teeth tearing, eyes ravenous
The color is leaving the earth
Layered over by the blood of the kill

“No stopping now, Matthew
You wanted me to come out
You needed to see what it was like to have power
To be able to push back, when you’re stepped on
It feels good, doesn’t it?
No one will even look at you

They’re only people
Useless, careless, selfish
Using up life, energy, resources
Just have a little taste
Let me loose, before I tear you open
And claw out of your twitching body myself”

As bones crack
Skin tears
And blood spills

Slipping into this state
Like a glove
Seeing an old friend once again

Breaking through a bolted door
Just to see my children
To wish them goodnight
At least, that’s what my hallucinations imply

Hands burning
Eyes cold
The sky falls to crimson
Before the darkness surrounds me once again

I think I let him out.

Credit to Paramedic433

I woke up in the middle of a long hallway. It's concrete walls, a concrete floor, and a tile ceiling. There are bar lights spaced evenly down both ends of the hallway. I had no recollection of how I got there or what I was supposed to be doing. I picked a direction and started walking.

As I walked I could hear whispers, feel breathing on my neck. I kept walking, feeling the wind pull me in the direction I was traveling. As I walked I realized there were no doors or windows on either side.

I noticed as I walked that there was a dark area further down the hall. I didn't know if the light had died or if it was the end, so I kept going. As I got closer I saw a bed against the wall, a desk in the center of the hallway, and a toilet on the far right side.

Then I saw the man. My brow furrowed and I stopped, realizing he was trapped in this room at the end of the hall by a thick pane of glass. He was staring at me.

This man immediately seemed strange. One minute his face was all hard angles and facial hair, and the next he had a gentle face and was clean shaven. His face wouldn't shift in front of me, but only when I blinked or looked away.

Two things remained constant. The first was his smile, and the second were his eyes.

His eyes were dark as night, like coal burning in a fireplace or obsidian against ivory. He was a very handsome man, regardless of the face he wore. I looked to the placard on the wall. It said "Worthless."

"Ah, it's about time. I've been waiting for you," he said pleasantly. His voice was velvet. I stopped, looking at him with my head tilted curiously.

"What do you mean? I just got here." He smiled, shaking his head.

"No, child, I've been waiting for you for quite some time. You're here to set me free." I stopped, letting silence fill the space between us.

"I have no idea who you are. Why am I supposed to let you go? What did you do to get here?" His smile was radiant. It was hard to keep on task.

"Child, I am here because I have earned it. I have lied to many, many people. I have hurt many men, killed many more. I was put here as punishment, but no longer. You are here to set me free." I couldn't help the nervous laugh that came from me.

"You've done all of these awful things and I'm supposed to just let you go? Why? Who am I to be the one to let you out? If you're as bad as you say you are, why on earth would I even consider it?" A chuckle left the man's throat, but there was no humor in it.

"It is simple. You will release me because you have no choice." My heart hammered in my throat. I found it hard to breathe for just a moment. His tone was even, light, but his words were hard. Being frightened quickly turned to irritation. I didn't like being scared. "I don't have a choice? I could just walk away, right now. You can't make me do anything." His eyes were bright.

"Little one, I don't have to do anything. You will do it, whether you wish to or not. Wouldn't it be best to remain in my favor and do it when I ask?" I shook my head, narrowing my eyes at him. I did not trust this man.

"Your placard, why does it say 'Worthless'? Who are you?" His face, which had been pleasant to look at before, was now gaunt. His eyes burned with a nearly feverish light.

"Who am I? You know who I am. Your destiny is tied with me. You are meant to set me free." I looked back at his placard and it said "Liar." My brow furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean? I'm not... I don't even know who you are. No. I am not going to free you." He smirked.

"So you still haven't grasped who I am. I've been here for a very long time. I've been here for centuries, millennia. You will set me free because you are chosen. You have no choice. It will be done by your hand. I will reign destruction upon this world again and you are powerless to stop me." Realization washed over me and I took a step back, gasping for breath.

Belial. The Father of Lies. I was supposed to release the demon back upon the earth.

"No. No! I do not serve you! I will not free you!" My voice was shrill with fear. I could hear it, and the demon smiled. His eyes were now completely black. I trembled, my knees nearly buckling.

"Don't you understand, young one? I'm destined to be released. It is meant to be. Your words mean nothing. You were sent here to free me. You humans believe everything happens for a reason, yes? War, crime, death, it is all for a reason. Your purpose for being born, it was to free me! It even says in your precious Bible that I am to be released at the end of times. That time is now.

"Stop your shaking. You have a task at hand. Free me, of your own will or not. I care not either way. I am going to be set free, and you will be the one to do it." I balled up my fists, finding my fury.

"No! I will not free you. I deny you, Father of Lies. You will stay here in Hell for as long as the Lord deems it." Belial laughed, throwing his head back.

"You foolish little girl, you do not grasp it. Your precious lord is using you to release me! I can feel my bonds being broken as we speak." My heart raced and I glared, hard, leaning forward toward the glass.

"I will not. I am not going to be responsible for you being freed back into the world." He smiled then, his face smooth and pure.

"Why, Alison, you already have." A familiar alarm went off, the sound coming from seemingly everywhere. Belial smirked. For the first time I saw fire, actual fire, in his eyes. "I'll see you soon."

I woke up with a gasp, covering my face to muffle my scream. I was home. Safe. I reached over, shutting off my alarm clock. It was just a dream.

I got up and went through the motions of my day, getting ready for work, going to work, and coming home. The dream didn't fade from my memory, even after several hours. It was as fresh and real as the waking world.

"I'll see you soon" echoed in my head over and over and over. People seemed to say it more, over the phone or to their friends or family. The phrase haunted me until I got home, where it echoed in the previously quiet spaces.

I had been on edge all day, and by some time around midnight I finally found myself drifting back off to sleep with a Bible under my pillow.

I woke up in the same hallway and I felt my heart sink. I knew it was just a dream, but I didn't know if I had the heart to face this demon again. I clenched my fists, deciding that I couldn't hide from him forever. It had to be done, and I had to refuse him again. And I would refuse, again and again. I would do it as many times as it took.

This time the hallway was silent. There was no wind to pull me in, no voices to keep me company, no breath on the back of my throat.

The only sounds at all were my frantic heartbeats, my breathing, and my footsteps. With my head lifted and my fists clenched I walked in the same direction I had the night before.

As I reached the end of the hallway my courage began to flag. I was afraid. I surely couldn't face him again, not as frightened as I was. Still, I had to. There was no escaping it.

I saw the darkened end of the hall first, then the bed, the desk, and the toilet. My confusion was quickly overtaken by the darkest dread I have ever felt, even to this day. Belial was gone.

The glass was broken from the outside.

Out-of-Body Scare and Demon Call

BY JEFFY R.

The following incidents took place in Michigan in the summers of 2009 and 2010. I've dealt with sleep paralysis for years, so much so that my body is now accustomed to the sensations that are a precursor to the terrible experience and I am able to wake up before it fully takes hold of me. One thing that I've always found to be truly bizarre about it is that I had never experienced it in my life until my ex told me about how it used to happen to her when she was younger.

That night it happened to me and hasn't stopped, though it has become rarer and rarer.

I had two experiences that leave me at a loss because I've never experienced anything like them and am not sure if they were just really intense episodes of sleep paralysis or if they were out-of-body experiences... or something else. I do not know.

The first experience I had was in 2009. I was lying in bed, watching television and I fell asleep. Suddenly, I felt myself wake up and realized that I hadn't been sleeping long because the show that I had been watching was still on. I could only see half of the television because my blanket was pulled up, partially covering my face and it was making me sweat and making it difficult to breathe.

I reached up to pull the blanket down, and that's when I learned that something wasn't quite right, because no matter how hard I tried, I wasn't able to pull the blanket from my face because my hand would just pass through it.

Terrified, I jumped out of bed and was overcome by this strange, dizzy, and numb feeling in my head and throughout my entire body. I thought that maybe I was having a stroke or something, so I ran to my door to get my parents to take me to the hospital.

I reached for the door handle and, just like with the blanket, my hand passed right through it!

I tried to grab it several times and got the same result each time -- my hand passed through it! I then tried to beat on the door really hard in hopes that the noise would wake someone in the house and that they would come check on me, but again, my hand passed right through the door!

I then started to really freak out because I thought that I was dead and I began to hyperventilate and cried out to God. All of a sudden, it felt like there was a zap and I was back lying in my bed with the blanket over my face, only now I was able to pull it off. I jumped out of bed and ran out of my room and didn't go back to sleep for the rest of the night.

I told my mom about it the next day, but she didn't really believe me and said it was just a nightmare, which, for all I know, it might have been.

My second occurrence happened about a year later, in the summer of 2010. It was mid-afternoon and I was feeling tired, so I decided to take a nap. I went and lay in bed and was struggling to fall asleep. I finally managed to start to drift off when my cellphone rang. I didn't want to answer it because I was almost asleep, but I reluctantly grabbed it and climbed out of bed.

Without looking at the number, I answered and said hello.

There was no response and so I said hello again. Still there was no response. Irritated, I walked out of my room and down the hall toward the family room and said hello one more time out of frustration. Finally, a voice replied, but it was all static and breaking up. I said, "I can't hear you. You're breaking up."

Then the voice became clear and it said, "Hello. I need you to do me a favor." I laughed, thinking it was some sort of prank call because I didn't recognize the voice and I decided to play along. I asked what the favor was and then the voice completely changed from pleasant to this deep, demonic growl and screamed, "LET ME IN!"

I freaked out and threw my phone across the room. It hit the wall and shattered into pieces. My entire house began to shake like there was a massive earthquake, and my vision got really weird.

I just closed my eyes and said, "God, please help me." I opened my eyes with a start and was back in my bed and my phone was sitting beside me, in one piece and functional. I picked it up and quickly scanned through my call history, but there were no strange calls made. I also saw that only a few minutes had passed since I first started to fall asleep.

I know this is long, but I wanted to share it in hopes that maybe someone out there has an explanation as to what these two events were; if they were just some really intense form of sleep paralysis or something else. I always have intense, vivid dreams, but these were beyond that. They both were so unbelievably real feeling and they didn't seem like I was sleeping at all (though I apparently was). They still kind of freak me out when I think of them and would like some insight into them.

Verily

Verily must I reconcile to the foreboding boundaries of hypocrisy
To dwindle in the insubordination of the damned souls of corrupted men
For their goals to reshape the utopia we have all been brought up to believe
To show we have gratitude past the groveling beggar, or the traveling conman
To men tucked away within gold-plated structures, who grow fat on the plight of others
Leaving their mark of their existence through towering statues, and clean-cut stone
The memories will fade when these are torn form established society
The walls shall not hold
The near and dear purchased objects worth nothing more than ash
Not a cent in hand when faced to pay the ferryman
Statues mean nothing with diminished barricades
The merciless killer softened against the mental and physical torment of now crumbling worldly desires
Men are no longer men
They are savages
Earning command, earning worthless privileges
Only respect lasts amongst self-gratifying souls
To be gained by the man fighting the good fight
Not the men in the sidelines
Growing fat on the hunger of all
Yet only verily so, do I become entwined in such things

Astral Projection - Strange dreams

Credit to Lun0r

Ever since I visited a festival and took illegal substances, I had an Astral Projection, I saw myself sat there from outside and some very very weird drawings were appearing right in front of me. Like everything was true and I had the answer.

Since then I've been having a lot of difficulties with my sleep. I keep hearing things at night, and when I finally get myself off to sleep, I feel like i've entered another world, another dimension, although I may be aware that these are just dreams, they seem oh so very real.

The first one I've had, and remembered that I have wrote down just so I could remember it as I woke up, was that I woke myself in a bed in an old house, I felt very strange and had that gut feeling that I shouldn't be there... I felt myself wake up, heard some creaking noises, and fell back asleep.

I entered this dream state again and was laying in the bed again in the strange house, I've felt like I've visited this before, but I KNEW I shouldn't be there..

I heard some whispering and scratching coming from outside of the door, the room was oh so very cold, I felt this, it felt so real.

I sat up on the bed, it felt like I was floating.. not like normally with getting up where you feel so heavy, I felt like a feather.

From the door I could hear whispering... It sounded like "i've been waiting..." I was shaking at this point and wasn't sure whether to open this door or not or try and wake myself up, I've placed my hand on the doorknob, and slowly turned, the scratching getting fainter and fainter by every turn...

I musked up the courage to open the door and swung it open, I've never felt so scared, whether it was real or not I am unsure...

I saw some fucked up figure, and I meant a twisted human being figure laying on the floor, chills were fed all the way along my spine and I ran, I just ran downstairs without even looking and ran out of the front door, I looked around whilst running through on the front lawn and saw the house...

it was MY HOUSE.

I saw some figure staring at me through the front window from the front room.., I turned and I ran as fast as I could...

As soon as I got out of view from my house I woke up, I was shaking so bad and I was freezing. Bearing in mind it's very warm at the moment and it felt like I had been sat in the freezer for a while...

I'm not sure what to do, I can't sleep now, I don't want to sleep, I can't face the nightmare in this house that only appears when I sleep...

It's not the first time either, something is haunting me and it WON'T STOP.

Astral Projection? Followed by scary waking experience.

Credit to Aviline

Well, this experience started out with me "waking up" in a dream, but the more I think about it, the more it seems to be closer to astral projection, or something like that.

I "woke up" in my friend Amber's bed at her house. The room was very dark, night time is what it seemed like. I got out of bed and exited her room. The whole house was dark and very quiet.

Her room is at the end of an L shaped hall, her room being on the left. Her moms room is right at the intersecting point on the L, their bathroom is at the top of it and their spare room (now/again her older sister room) is to the opposite side of Amber's room.

All the doors where closed. I walked to her moms door and stopped. I could feel a presence behind the door but didn't want to disturb it. I walked to the end of this hall and turned right, this hallway is T shaped, the kitchen on the left and the living room on the right.

I walk into the kitchen, not in view of the living room from where I'm standing, and notice a plate of spilt food on the ground. I bend down to inspect the plate, as I was doing this I immediately start to hear this very, VERY eerie whistling from the living room and am filled with overwhelming dread.

I bolt back to Amber's room and shut the door behind me. I can hear the whistling getting louder and louder, coming down the hall.

I back up to the wall that's furthest from the door, I am right next to the bed and nightstand. The whistling is earsplittingly loud, seeming to echo all around me, the thing whistling is now standing right on the other side of the door.

I go to grab a small knife on the nightstand the looks like one I have. As soon as I touch it the whistling stops; dead silent. Then, the whole place begins to shake, and I'm am, what feels like being thrown, back into my body.

I awake with a jolt and lie there, awake, completely aware, scared, and eyes wide open. Just as I was starting to calm down, everything on the top shelf in my closet on the left side falls out.

Immediate dread swells in me and I grab my dagger to the right of my bed, turning on my lamp to. Gathering up all my courage, I go to inspect my closet, open the doors with my dagger drawn, and nothing was there. Didn't sleep for the rest of the night.

What I also thought was strange is that when I told Amber about it, she told me that right where I said the spilt plate of food was in my dream she said she had a dream that in that same spot was a hole and that in it was this cellar like place where she saw her sister shooting up (she's bipolar and a recovering methhead).

I apologize for any formatting errors and what not, I'm on my phone and its capabilities are some what limited.

Insomnia

Tick Tock
Tick Tock
The accursed ticking of a relentless clock, restraining me from my much needed slumber.
To lead me off sanity’s cliff.
But why dwindle with such things?
Is the rest not needed, or be it a man’s phase.
Using such as an escape from reality's shackles, to a world all his own.
To be the ruler of a lie, then to wake, returning to the world littered with heartbreak and disappointment.
So I say, why live a lie?
Reality is to justify you cannot be more disappointed than what it has to offer.
Insomnia is a blessing and a curse.
Say what you like, fabrication is not my forte.
Insomnia is what keeps it from being so.

Books

Searching for the worst?

The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

1 Star out of 5 Stars

DeYtH Banger Note: Not interested in such type of stories... ... This story kind of disappointed me...

1984 by George Orwell, Erich Fromm

1 Star out of 5 Stars

DeYtH Banger Notes: Notes: "Sooooo boring..... and fucked up work." "44:33" "Old school... it doesn't predict anything... it's kinda boring..." ... So far what I can say... this work is an example of great cover but the content sucks a lot of... ... I mean that this here is the most horrible book ever read... watched as a film and so on and so on.

Sea Change (Jesse Stone #5) by Robert B. Parker

1 Star out of 5 Stars

DeYtH Banger Notes:

"March 31, 2017 –
100.0% "What I am suggesting is buckle up, and get prepared for the shaky ride."

March 31, 2017 –
100.0% "It's amazing that after so much crap on the internet you still can find little piece of gold, but we should be ready and get prepared for the time in which we will see one of our favourite authors to disappoint us.

....

It's a possibility which could happen!

...."
March 31, 2017 –
90.0% "Sounds like smart... but what sounds doesn't really sounds like that.

Not well told story these time, as I say not everyday is Christmas. I was expecting more from Robert."
March 31, 2017 –
67.0% "The film was supposed to throw the book little further, far or not very far. But what can be saw is that dead dogs ain't come back on the track... to be status alive.

And now the books are fighting both to become smarter and clever... - DeYtH Banger"
March 31, 2017 –
50.0% "Robert B Park, the book writer likes to play with his characters + after getting bored he likes to makes few tricks... or stunts to make the reader back on track for one more journey."
March 31, 2017 – Started Reading"

- Difficult to put better rating, I was expecting more from this author not this which I saw here!

Naked Angel (L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories #3) by Joe R. Lansdale

1 Star out of 5 Stars

DeYtH Banger Notes:

No lie...

...

I ignored and skipped one work... for love of god!

Dead Drop: A Girl's Guide to Homicide (Volume 1) by D.A. Brown

1 Star out of 5 Stars

DeYtH Banger Notes:

What's a "Speed Reader"?
...

That's one fucking damn good question... I could put it as the program which shows the truth in all it colours... like it or not. That's the truth!

(For 6 weeks I read this book... the first few days was slow and the last two days I read it with 350 WPM, sometimes 450 WPM and as a last card in my pocket I played with the card 501 WPM)

March 20, 2017 – page 318
100.0% "Yeah... yeah
...

Cliche after cliche and that's another Lee Child!"
March 20, 2017 – page 245
77.04% "Your voice is fucked up
....

You want to save your ass from reading shit?

...

Try by stop giving useless people useful information... You have information... but you can't use it properly."
March 20, 2017 – page 241
75.79% "Chapter 37"
March 20, 2017 – page 200
62.89% "Before I was like

"Okay, what next?"

Now

"WT F.. WTF IN THIS FUCKING WORLS AM I PLAYING""
March 20, 2017 – page 134
42.14% "Okay,.... What next!?"
March 19, 2017 – page 134
42.14% "With Speed Reader you can read 17-18 Chapters, just for one day.

(Perky)"
March 19, 2017 – page 124
38.99% "Huh!?"
March 19, 2017 – page 94
29.56% "Reparation vs Rare"
March 19, 2017 – page 66
20.75% "Come on... come on

Nine Chapter and few deaths that's pathetic...

..."
March 19, 2017 – page 62
19.5% "The Kindle format is fucked up as hell, but still the story can't get more than 3 stars... Cops old school, scenario already heard over and over."
March 19, 2017 – page 50
15.72%
March 18, 2017 – page 29
9.12% "What's Happening we already know the scenario from the series and movies which are in the crime category."
March 14, 2017 – page 22
6.92%
March 13, 2017 – page 11
3.46%
March 13, 2017 – page 5
1.57% "Chapter 2"
March 12, 2017 – page 3
0.94% "It's kinda of funny that I explore more and more new author, but at least I haven't join the re-reading challange."

(And now the final credits... you are looking for a good work!?... THis work is ain't good... Read something else!)

Nineteen Seventy Four (Red Riding Quartet #1) by David Peace

2 Stars out of 5 Stars

DeYtH Banger Notes:

At first I thought that 1974 Book is a good one... so far from the cover and how the message is shown... but you know the old school tricks with the scam, right?

...

Always shit could be masked... this time was one those times...

...

Around 50:00 on the movie even near to the 1:00:00 - I was like

"No... no... no... NO NEED FOR MORE DEPRESSION AND PRESSURE AND SO FUCKED UP PEOPLE..."

....

"May 20, 2017 –
45.0% "56:20"
May 20, 2017 –
30.0% "This people have sex only... whenever... they feel depressed... lonely"
May 20, 2017 –
30.0% "Hey... do you want a book with Depression... caught?
...

Feel free to read the book of depression and pressure!"
May 20, 2017 –
30.0% "Leaving and comming... Leaving and comming
....

Abandonment, Nostalgia, Depressed,"
May 20, 2017 –
30.0% "Come on... this place which David Peace has created is a fucking nighmare... people ignore you... behave bad with you...

...

Bad cops can be found and here David have created two of them... and they are comming and going and comming and going..."
May 20, 2017 –
10.0% "43:44
...

Everything in this work is full of pressure... depression...

...

I think the author is confused so and all of his characters which were created by him are at the same level of mindset as him..."
May 20, 2017 –
10.0% "The scenario is that
...

Sometimes we should start... somehow... and end... somehow... life has never been fulfilled with happy moments only."
May 20, 2017 –
10.0% "What's really now happening?
...

Trying to see the scenes?
...

Cliche or naaa?
...

What next?"
May 20, 2017 –
10.0% "The Shit from the future... it's as bad ... as somebody saying to you lies and you can detect them without any type of problem."
May 20, 2017 –
5.0% "Fucked up... screw up... behavior

as for music it's below each of my expectations..."
May 20, 2017 –
5.0% "Very Curious what David Peace has created... I have never read a book or watched a film based on a book by him... so...

..."
May 20, 2017 – Started Reading"

Resident Evil: Retribution - The Official Movie Novelization (Resident Evil #4) by John Shirley

2 Stars out of 5 Stars

DeYtH Banger Notes:

"April 24, 2017 –
50.0% "I don't know about you, but I am over with this work
...

The first few movies were well made and interesting but this here takes the cake...

..."
April 24, 2017 –
20.0% "The whole work reminds me for Lee Child, but little more better than Lee Child works...
1 Star the work isn't it... it has it's own good benefits....
..

But still and 2 stars is too much!"
April 24, 2017 –
20.0% "Now Resident Evil at it worst...
...

Predictable as hell!"
April 24, 2017 –
5.0% "What type of shit is that...

I think this is the end of me... watching or reading anything from

"Resident Evil"...

It's confusing and fucked up as hell!"
April 23, 2017 – Started Reading"

...

- I always hated the zombie movies,... so fucked up and so horrible somehow not even finished.
I read people's reviews and it's fucked up as hell the book... try first the movie then the book... it's much better.

The Dark Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft, Vol 1 (The Dark Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft #1) by H.P. Lovecraft, Wayne June (Narrator), Fred Godsmark (Director)

2 Stars out of 5 Stars

DeYtH Banger Notes:

"April 25, 2017 –
30.0% "1:26:24"
April 25, 2017 –
20.0% "1:09:24"
April 25, 2017 –
5.0% "50:30"
April 25, 2017 –
5.0% "34:28"
April 25, 2017 –
1.0% "Nothing More than a complex story which is has one purpose.... to confuse you.

H.P. Lovercraft = A man of complexity and confusion!"
April 25, 2017 – Started Reading"

- The first question was, what in fucking hell am I reading?

I started reading H.P.Lovercraft mainly because Stephen King got inspired from this guy and that's the main motivation behind his all works... but still... this shows why some Stephen King works are fucked up as hell others are damn good...

...

I reached 2 hour - 02-00, and it sucks!

50 SERIAL KILLERS: Bloody protagonists of history's worst murder sprees by Gary Lequipe

2 Stars out of 5 Stars

DeYtH Banger Notes:

As I am going to say...

...

If you know something no need to re-read it over and over and over... this which hear is found I can find it better written and better told in the documentaries which I watch about the serial killers, the crime TV series.... and so on and so on...

...

Whodunnit? Murder on Mystery Island (Whodunnit #2) by Anthony E. Zuiker

2 Stars out of 5 Stars

DeYtH Banger Notes:

"March 12, 2017 – page 191
70.22% "was the color of candle wax. He’d already bled out completely in just under a few minutes. It didn’t seem possible to those guests who knew anything at all about anatomy...""
March 12, 2017 – page 190
69.85% "Aaron’s body drifted on the surface of the pool, facedown. Gary acted quickly, grabbing a pool cleaning net hanging on the wall of a nearby pool maintenance shed. He extended it out and pulled Aaron toward the edge of the diving pool. Then he reached down, looped his arms under Aaron’s armpits, and pulled him from the water.
But it was clearly too late. Aaron’s body, which had deep gashes and cuts all over it...""
March 12, 2017 – page 182
66.91% ""For the guests to crowd around the pool...""
March 12, 2017 – page 181
66.54% ""...When Aaron didn’t surface after a few moments, Whitney rushed over to see if he was okay. When she reached the edge of the diving pool, she shrieked so loudly that Kyle dropped his margarita into the hot tub. Then she collapsed onto the pavement.
The others ran over toward the diving pool. Their reactions were similar, if not slightly less dramatic. It had taken only a matter of seconds after the dive for ...""
March 12, 2017 – page 179
65.81%
March 12, 2017 – page 155
56.99% "It's more likely TV reality show screenplay.

...

Boring!"
March 12, 2017 – page 147
54.04% ""...The guests and staff all watched as he did several spins and a flip and then crashed into the pool like a narrow rocket.."

...

"The splash was small at first, but then there was a muffled crashing sound unlike anything any of them had ever heard before...""
March 12, 2017 – page 145
53.31% "“Yeah, it was fun. The flight to Miami yesterday was my first time on an airplane actually."

....

"...He began the diving motion, bouncing a few times on the springs while keeping his feet planted. Then he released, bounced once for extra lift, and launched himself into the air over the pool."
March 12, 2017 – page 143
52.57% "“Ain’t that something,” Charlene said, more to herself than anything. “Well, good for you. My husband drank plenty enough for half the country. It ended up killing him, that damn drunkard. Of course, that doesn’t keep me from missing him terribly every day.""
March 12, 2017 – page 141
51.84% ""...But they quickly realized, after Giles started talking, that it was far from a cheesy pep talk. Explaining the game to the staff was quite difficult. They mostly just laughed at first, assuming that Giles was kidding. At one point Giles even considered taking them into Mike’s office. Seeing his body would surely convince them all rather quickly that this was no joke...""
March 12, 2017 – page 140
51.47% "Not the best, sentence ever saw.

"If he expected Gary to give him a quick and easy answer, he didn’t get one. Instead, the question was met with another stoic look. It seemed pretty obvious to Cliff in that moment that if Gary indeed was developing any theories, he wasn’t going to share them.
He realized he would need to start developing some of his own if he hoped to survive again...""
March 12, 2017 – page 132
48.53% "The series WhoDunnit aren't as better as the book.

Chapter 38

- I could say page turner, but I can't stop myself from -1 Star"
March 11, 2017 – page 120
44.12%
March 11, 2017 – page 113
41.54% "Anthony is playing with his short jokers.
.....
Chapter 30"
March 10, 2017 – page 97
35.66% "Tommorow is the new beginning!"
March 10, 2017 – page 82
30.15% "No Pain.... No Gain...

...

The Experiment that's how I am going to name this work."
March 10, 2017 – page 69
25.37%
March 10, 2017 – page 65
23.9%
March 10, 2017 – page 55
20.22% ""...was the color of candle wax. He’d already bled out completely in just under a few minutes. It didn’t seem possible to those guests who knew anything at all about anatomy..."

The work doesn't end here.. neither and there... this here is just the beginning."
March 10, 2017 – page 54
19.85% ""Aaron’s body drifted on the surface of the pool, facedown. Gary acted quickly, grabbing a pool cleaning net hanging on the wall of a nearby pool maintenance shed. He extended it out and pulled Aaron toward the edge of the diving pool. Then he reached down, looped his arms under Aaron’s armpits, and pulled him from the water.
But it was clearly too late. Aaron’s body, which had deep gashes and cuts all over it...""
March 8, 2017 – page 50
18.38% "Chapter 11"
March 8, 2017 – page 42
15.44%
March 8, 2017 – page 31
11.4% "Pawns are put out... playing... we know the players... but we don't know the roles...."
March 8, 2017 – page 30
11.03% "“A dead body is just an empty vessel,” she explained. “I know his soul has been freed and is in a better place now. So what’s left of him here on earth is just meat, organic material, no different from a raw steak"

...

Sentences and words stay with you for more suspense, into the story."
March 8, 2017 – page 29
10.66% "Holidays can get wrong... and horrible... this here victim goes with killings.. murder... victuvictims and dead bodies."
March 7, 2017 – page 26
9.56% "Shit gets 5 out of 5 stars and the best gets the lowest rates."
March 7, 2017 – page 20
7.35% "Little patience
...

Chapter 4"
March 7, 2017 – page 14
5.15% "You can't close the book, easy to be followed and good example of well written and told story."
March 7, 2017 – page 8
2.94%"

...

I could say finnaly I finish it

P.S. (I haven't gave up... but I will stay backstage... I like this mod)

XO (Kathryn Dance #3) by Jeffery Deaver

3 Stars out of 5 Stars

DeYtH Banger Notes:

"April 4, 2017 – Finished Reading
April 4, 2017 – page 376
97.66% "At least something... to be schooled!"
April 3, 2017 – page 319
82.86%
April 3, 2017 – page 289
75.06% "-1 Star mainly because repeation comes."
April 3, 2017 – page 289
75.06%
April 3, 2017 – page 284
73.77%
March 31, 2017 – page 261
67.79%
March 30, 2017 – page 233
60.52%
March 30, 2017 – page 189
49.09% "He likes each character to have something in his hand."
March 30, 2017 – page 187
48.57% "Creating characters and fast playing with them."
March 30, 2017 – page 1429
371.17%
March 29, 2017 – page 142
36.88%
March 23, 2017 – page 101
26.23%
March 22, 2017 – page 77
20.0% "If you know a good author, you can't leave him like this without even reading few more works by him.

Jeffery Deaver I know about him from the movie The Bone Collector which was based on a novel by him.

...

Now on Chapter 11 out of 79 Chapters!"
March 21, 2017 – page 45
11.69%
March 21, 2017 – page 0
0.0% "I know this author from Bone Collector and now I am going to check out a second work by this writer.

(P.S. John McCain - sounds like Dean Koontz)"
March 20, 2017 – Started Reading"

- "…Now, this’s a song that Daddy wrote and used to sing to me when I was a little girl. I think it was probably the first song I ever heard. It’s called ‘I Think You’re Going to Be a Lot Like Me.’”
A glance his way and he nodded, the faintest of smiles curling into his weathered face…"

- Something which we know very very well... And kinda repeation!

In other words these comment will sound like… this story has been already told from different types of writers that now he is saying it with some changes around some details doesn't make it new or it can be said that it does. After all it could be an upgrade to the old stories.

Jeffery Deaver - As First likes to play with all of his characters as second to use words which so far aren't very often saw around the literature.

- roadie
- IPhone
- Drugs

(Note: Okay.. . Okay we can't decline some words we all are familiar… but still I want highlight them.)

(P.S. - If I was with my mom she could just stop the journey somewhere in the middle but I continued it… no matter what could happen with and without the help of Speed Reader. )

- A V-8 engine
- Pike
- Valley
- deputies
- lanky
- Crystal Stanning had recommended
- shyly
- Delmore playing Dobro and not pedal steel?
- ammonia
- antler
- Barry Zeigler

…

"In a mad singsong, she mocked, “What’s the matter, Edwin? Don’t you like me now? Don’t you want to stalk me anymore?"

- And many other examples can be found from point which confuses the reader… and many other things can be found.

and as a last thought in within 9 days I read this book!

Oil! by Upton Sinclair

3 Stars out of 5 Stars

DeYtH Banger Notes:

May 17, 2017 –
100.0% "An anger which ahs been holded for years...
...

Aggresive... and not easy understandable if we are talking about the emotion part."
May 17, 2017 –
80.0% "The silence sounds more likely...

"NO"!?"
May 17, 2017 –
80.0% "2:13:30"
May 17, 2017 –
80.0% "2:01:48
...

Oil
...

Oil

...

Sinner
...

Sinner"
May 17, 2017 –
60.0% "1:50:12"
May 17, 2017 –
50.0% "What are they doing...

Are these people right with their minds!??"
May 17, 2017 –
10.0% "Old School
>..

Music
...

...

ANd how it wa s done all and everything!"
May 17, 2017 –
10.0% "50:36"
May 17, 2017 –
10.0% "It's so damn real!
..."
May 17, 2017 –
10.0% "The world once and for all it's going to get changed...

"OIL"
"OIL"
...

Has been found"
May 17, 2017 –
10.0% "38:20
..."
May 12, 2017 –
3.0% "23:33
...

How everything started... before you saw it in the books?"
May 12, 2017 – Started Reading

Men, Women, and Children by Chad Kultgen

4 Stars out of 5 Stars

DeYtH Banger Notes:

" I'm 50% done with Men, Women, and Children: Okay 5 stars for the the truth... but 4 stars for the way is told...

..."

- The real story starts here and ends here are you ready to open the doors even if you know what's behind them?

...

It could be the boogeyman!

Children of the Corn (Night Shift #16) by Stephen King

5 Stars out of 5 Stars

DeYtH Banger Notes:

"You can't miss it I am on The 3 Part... 1...2 aren't bad!"

"It's going almost the same but still it's not bad."

"And Sex is again here... now an image which is very very powerful.... A whole new world has just arrived. This book is an example of how we get so easy fooled.... insanity is just the beginning of each religion.

Words never will be enough to explain what's really happening....

Fooled by our own rules!"

Wow... people just change... if you be with somebody else... one moment you just become like them... ARe you a devil... that you haven't watched TV wholy 20 years?

...

Is a good idea to be so honest with somebody?
Won't you "Original"... be replaced a perfect fake?

Perfection is still the beginning.... Doctors all day make mistakes...!?

My Book Stats

2013 Books Read - 1

2014 Books Read - 1

2015 Books Read - 15

2016 Books Read - 267

2017 Books Read - 137 Up to 5/27/2017

2017 - 34512 Pages Read

2016 - 68965 Pages Read

2015 - 2874 Pages Read

The Worst Screen Play Ever!

BirdMan

Written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Nicolás Giacobone

Alexander Dinelaris

Jr.Armando

Screen Play

F O R

Y O U R

C O N S I D E R A T I O N

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Written by
Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Nicolás Giacobone
Alexander Dinelaris, Jr.
Armando Bo

© 2013 DINOSAUR OUT, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PORTION OF THIS SCRIPT MAY BE
PERFORMED, PUBLISHED, REPRODUCED, SOLD OR DISTRIBUTED BY ANY MEANS, OR QUOTED OR
PUBLISHED IN ANY MEDIUM, INCLUDING ANY WEB SITE, WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT
OF DINOSAUR OUT, INC. DISPOSAL OF THIS SCRIPT COPY DOES NOT ALTER ANY OF THE
RESTRICTIONS SET FORTH ABOVE.

BLACK

We hear a clock ticking.
FADE IN:
1

INT. RIGGAN'S DRESSING ROOM - THEATER - DAY
Close on the brilliant colors of a middle eastern rug, the
center of what seems to be a makeshift “meditation” space.

We slowly tilt up to discover the back of Riggan Thomson (55).
He is in the proper ‘Lotus’ position, dressed only in tight
white briefs and he appears to be meditating deeply. And if all
this seems a little odd, it becomes all the more so when you
notice that he is levitating almost two feet above the floor.
His breath is calm and measured... in and out... in and out.
MAN (V.O.)
How did we end up here?
(Beat.)
This place is a fucking dump.
We begin to slowly move toward Riggan's back while his measure
breathing continues. We see a clock on the wall, ticking.
MAN (V.O.)
Smells like balls.
A slight twitch in Riggan's neck.
MAN (V.O.)
We don't belong in this shithole.
A Skype call shatters the silence. Close on his back, we follow
Riggan as he walks over to the computer and answers the call.
On the computer screen appears Sam (21), in a pair of Levi's
and a Led Zeppelin T-shirt. She has simple and striking good
looks, with an edge in her voice and behind her eyes. She
stands in a Korean Deli among the flowers, talking to Riggan
through her iPhone.
1A

1A
The Korean Store owner (50) stands in the background screaming
at her the whole time.
RIGGAN
Sam, I can't--

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

SAM
Dad? What kind of-(Turning to Korean.)
SHUT UP!!!
(Back to screen.)
What kind of flowers did you say you
wanted?
RIGGAN
Alchemillas. Or something soothing that
smells nice. Listen I can’t-SAM
It all smells like fucking Kimchi!
RIGGAN
Then whatever looks nice. Anything but
roses. No roses.
KOREAN
Flowers don't need you touch! They need you
buy!!!
SAM
(Close into the screen.)
I hate this job.
And the Skype call is over. Riggan closes the laptop and leans
forward trying to regain his calm. His reflection appears in
the mirror, and for the first time we see his face. He has a
dark goatee and his hair looks strangely abundant. There is a
piece of paper on the mirror with the handwritten phrase “A
thing is a thing, not what it is said of that thing.”
ANNIE ON SPEAKERS
Riggan, they’re starting scene
five. We need you on stage.
Shit...

RIGGAN

Riggan throws on a sweater and stumbles into his slacks. He
hurries out...
2

INT. HALLWAYS - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...through the narrow corridors of the theater. There is a lot
of activity as various workers and stage hands appear and
disappear carrying equipment and scenery. As Riggan descends the
stairs, a Stage Hand· passes by in the opposite direction.
STAGE HAND·
Mr. Thomson.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14
Steve.

RIGGAN

STAGE HAND·
It’s Daniel.
RIGGAN
(Already passed.)
Okay.
Riggan continues on until he arrives backstage. He runs into
Jake (42) his producer and friend.
JAKE
How’s it going, buddy.
RIGGAN
Great. It’d be even better if I
could get Ralph to stop acting like
he’s in an educational video for
syphilis...
The camera moves off of them and onto...
3

INT. STAGE - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...the stage. Suddenly we are in the midst of an Americana style
kitchen.
Around the kitchen table sit Lesley (35), plain and no nonsense,
her simple hairstyle and makeup can't hide how attractive she
is. Laura (35), dark, exotic, the kind of woman who makes every
person she meets feel like she's seducing them. And Ralph (40),
slightly handsome, slightly balding, slightly invisible.
A half empty bottle of gin on the table, they drink from
highball glasses as they chat...
LESLEY
He loved me.
RALPH
Yeah. He loved her so much he tried
to kill her.
LAURA
He tried to kill you?
LESLEY
No. (A beat.) Okay, well, he did
beat me up one night. He dragged me
around the living room by my
ankles, yelling "I love you, I love
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)

LESLEY (CONT'D)
you, bitch." What do you do with a
love like that?

10/29/14

RALPH
How is that-- That is not love and you know
it. Why do you insist on calling it-LESLEY
You can say what you want, but I know what
it was.
RALPH
What about you, Nick? Does that sound like
love to you?
Riggan arrives at the table and sits.
RIGGAN
Sorry I’m late.
(Beat. In character.)
I'm the wrong person to ask. I didn't
know the man. I've only heard his name
mentioned in passing. You'd have to
know the particulars. But I think what
you're saying is that love is absolute.
RALPH
Yeah. The kind of love I'm talking about
is... The kind of love I'm talking about,
you don't try and kill people.
LESLEY
(Sadly.)
It was love, Mel. To Eddie, it was. I don't
care what anybody says. He was ready to die
for it.
RALPH
Ask her what he did after she left him.
LESLEY
He shot himself in the mouth. But he
screwed that up, too. Poor Ed.
RALPH
Poor Ed, my ass. The guy was dangerous.
LAURA
How'd he screw it up if he shot himself in
the mouth?
RALPH
(By the numbers.)
He used to carry this twenty-two. We lived
like fugitives those days. I never knew-(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

RIGGAN
(Breaking character to direct.
Exasperated.)
Okay. Fugitives are on the run, Ralph. How
many times do I have to-- Fugitives are
scared. Give me more of that.
Ralph nods. He takes a breath and dives in once again...
RALPH
(The same but louder.)
We lived like fugitives those days...
Extremely frustrated, Riggan stares out into the auditorium.
From his POV we see Jake who is now sitting in the third row.
His head buried in his hands, tortured by Ralph’s performance.
Riggan turns back to Ralph.
RALPH (CONT'D)
...I never knew if he was going to come out
of the bushes or from behind a car and just
start shooting.
Riggan watches Ralph act and sees his whole production headed
down the drain. Ralph is just that bad.
RALPH (CONT’D)
The man was crazy. He was capable of
anything.
The actors all wait for a cue from Riggan, who is now staring
up into the lights above the stage. Laura finally picks up
Riggan’s cue.
LAURA
Christ. What a nightmare...
RALPH
He used to call me at the hospital and
say...
(Over the top.)
"Son of a bitch. Your days are numbered."
Silence. Ralph looks over to Riggan.
RALPH (CONT'D)
Too much? Little bit? I just wanted to give
you a range, so you could-And with that a light comes barreling down from it's perch and
crashes into Ralph's head, making him hit the floor like a rag
doll. Silence.
Holy shit.

LAURA
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

Lesley and Annie (35), the Stage Manager, run over to Ralph
who is out cold. Not knowing what to do, they stare at him.
LESLEY
Is he breathing?
Jake runs toward the stage.
JAKE
Someone call 911!
Riggan slowly backs away from the chaos.
LAURA
Is that blood coming out of his
ear?
JAKE
(To Riggan.)
Where are you going?
LESLEY
Okay, he’s breathing. What did he
have for lunch?
LAURA
Did anyone call for help?
ANNIE
(Clapping.)
Wake up! Wake up!
Two crew members try to help Ralph.
CREW MEMBER
Grab his legs. I got the top.
JAKE
Don't move him! Wait for the ambulance.
(Calling out.)
For the love of God! I could get a black
audience in this theater faster than a
doctor!
Riggan heads off the stage, and Jake chases after him. We
follow them as...
4

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...they walk through the corridor.
JAKE
Where are you going? We’ll have the
understudy ready to rehearse in five-(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

RIGGAN
Forget the understudy. We have to postpone
the preview.
JAKE
What are you-- It’s a full house. We would
have to refund all the-RIGGAN
Then do it.
A crew member· passes in the opposite direction.
CREW MEMBER·
How’s Ralph?
RIGGAN
He’ll be fine.
JAKE
Wait. Wait. Fuck. Wait.
RIGGAN
Listen to me. It was going to be a
disaster. That guy’s the worst actor I've
ever seen. The blood coming out of his ear
was the most honest thing he's done so far.
JAKE
He's not that bad.
Riggan stops in his tracks and stares at Jake.
JAKE (CONT'D)
Okay, he's fucking horrible. But-Riggan starts walking again.
JAKE (CONT’D)
You have the press in your dressing
room in a few hours. How are we-RIGGAN
I'll make something up.
Two Technicians· hurry up in the opposite direction.
RIGGAN (CONT’D)
Jake. This happened for a reason. It wasn't
an accident.
JAKE
What do you mean?
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

RIGGAN
I-- (A beat.) I made it happen.
JAKE
Oh. Okay.
(Beat.)
Are you drunk?
RIGGAN
Find me an actor. A good actor.
Philip Seymour Hoffman...
JAKE
He’s doing the third Hunger Games.
RIGGAN
Michael Fassbender?
JAKE
Doing the prequel to the X-Men
prequel.
They arrive at Riggan's dressing room.
RIGGAN
What’s his name? Jeremy Renner...
Who?

JAKE

RIGGAN
The... the Hurt Locker guy.
JAKE
Yeah. He’s an Avenger.
RIGGAN
(With disgust.)
Fuck. They put him in a cape, too?
(A beat.) Look, I don’t care. Find
me someone.
Riggan enters...
5

INT. RIGGAN'S DRESSING ROOM - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...his dressing room and tries to shut the door. Jake, still in
the corridor, stops it with his foot.
JAKE
(Sticking his head in.)
Ralph'll sue us. He'll sue us. And he's got
a case.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

Riggan releases the door.
RIGGAN
Then make him go away.
JAKE
How do you suggest I do that?
You're my
my oldest
make this
there and
do.

RIGGAN
lawyer, my producer and
friend. We are going to
work. Now just get out
do what you were born to

JAKE
What's that?
RIGGAN
I have no idea. But I have faith.
Now go away from me.
JAKE
Do you think we should-Riggan slams the door shut on Jake. A beat. On a television, a
segment of E! News. A busty blond, with an exaggerated smile,
hosts.
BLOND WOMAN
...and when we come back, an exclusive
interview with Robert Downey Jr., who tells
us about the billion-dollar Iron Man
franchise. The talented actor invited us
onto the set of Iron Man 3...
Riggan slams the tv off, his mind racing. He sits on a chair.
MAN (V.O.)
That clown doesn’t have half your talent
and he’s making a fortune in that Tin Man
get up.
Riggan stares into the mirror, in the reflection he catches
sight of a poster from a movie called "Birdman 3". The
superhero, Birdman (a younger Riggan in a bird costume), wings
widely spread, stares directly back at him. A hand written
note on the top of the poster reads: "Thomson, break a wing!
From the boys at Local 1." Riggan tries to calm himself with a
mantra...
RIGGAN
"Breathing in, I embrace my anger.
Breathing out, I smile to it."
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

10.

BIRDMAN (V.O.)
Embrace it. Kiss it. Turn it around and
fuck it in the-A knock on the door behind him.
Not now!

RIGGAN

Laura opens the door and sticks her head in.
LAURA
Can I come in?
No.

RIGGAN

LAURA
Okay. Two words. Shia La Beouf.
RIGGAN
That's three words.
It's two.
Get out.

LAURA
RIGGAN

LAURA
I love you.
She closes the door. Riggan tries to calm himself down, but
Laura opens the door again.
LAURA (CONT'D)
I take it we’re not going to dinner
anymore?
RIGGAN
I don’t have an actor.
LAURA
I don’t have a life.
Laura...

RIGGAN

LAURA
Fine. Whatever.
(Goes to leave but stops.)
You remember at Joan's when you
asked me to come do a Broadway play
with you? You said it would be
fun...
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14
Go away.

11.

RIGGAN

LAURA
So far? No fun.
Riggan closes the door and looks at the Birdman poster.
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
Fun? You know what would be fun? Getting
the fuck out of here before we humiliate
ourselves. That would be fun.
Riggan looks at himself in the mirror and begins to pull at
his hair. As it comes off his head, we discover it was a wig.
He turns away from the mirror, trying desperately to stay
calm. Something catches his eye: a vase of roses on the end
of the table. A card in them says, "They didn't have the
whatever you wanted - Sam". Enraged, Riggan focuses on the
vase. It begins to shift. Then, with a surge of anger,
without ever touching it, he sends it crashing against the
wall on the other side of the room.
The camera pans over the roses scattered across the floor. It
hovers over the carpet and around the perimeter of the room,
until it finally settles on Riggan, now dressed in a casual
blazer.
A5

A5
It is later the same day. He is sitting on the sofa and on three
chairs in front of him are three journalists:
Gabriel, a geeky theatre journalist, wearing thick glasses and
a thin tie. Clara, a reporter from an entertainment blog. And
Han, a polite, obese Japanese journalist, who sits next to his
translator, another Japanese guy.
GABRIEL
Why does somebody go from playing the lead
in a comic book franchise to adapting
Raymond Carver for the stage?
Riggan tries to remain calm.
GABRIEL (CONT’D)
I mean, as you're probably aware, Barthes
said, “The cultural work done in the past
by gods and epic sagas is now done by
laundry detergent commercials and comic
strip characters.” It's a big leap you've
taken...
Riggan shifts nervously.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

12.

RIGGAN
Well... Absolutely. As you said... that
Barthes said... Birdman, like Icarus...
CLARA
Hang on. Who's this Barthes guy? Which
Birdman was he in?
GABRIEL
Roland Barthes was a French philosopher,
who-CLARA
Oh. Okay. Sure. Now, is it true you’ve been
injecting yourself with semen from baby
pigs?
What?

RIGGAN

CLARA
As a method of facial rejuvenation.
RIGGAN
Who told you that?
CLARA
It was tweeted by... (checks her notes)
@prostatewhispers.
RIGGAN
It's a lie.
CLARA
I know. But did you do it?
No!

RIGGAN

GABRIEL
Are you afraid at all that people will say
you're doing this play to battle the
impression that you're a washed-up super
hero?
RIGGAN
No. I’m not. And that’s exactly why
20 years ago I refused to do
Birdman 4.
HAN
Birdman 4??? You do Birdman 4???
Jake opens the door and the camera pans to him.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

13.

JAKE
Okay. That's enough for today.
Thank you for coming. We’re
expecting some great pieces from
you...
Riggan stares at the Birdman poster.
JAKE (CONT’D)
Publicity guys are trying to get
you a Times feature.
Riggan stands up and pulls the Birdman poster off of the
wall.
JAKE (CONT’D)
So, How’d it-- Whoa. If I were you
I wouldn’t do that.
RIGGAN
I don’t want to look at it anymore.
JAKE
That was a present from the crew.
Don’t fuck with those guys, they’re
union.
RIGGAN
I don’t care.
Riggan leaves the poster on the floor, facing the wall, and
walks to the window. He opens it. We can hear distant drums
coming from the street.
JAKE
So... How'd it go?
Great.

RIGGAN

JAKE
(Worried.)
Did they ask about Ralph?
Nope.

RIGGAN

JAKE
Good. He did it, you know? The
motherfucker threatened to sue us.
Didn’t even wait to get out of the
hospital.
RIGGAN
And, what did you say?
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

14.

JAKE
What’d I say? I said, "You
motherfucker. You’re threatening
me? ME? I swear to god, you fuck, I
so much as get a letter from a
lawyer, the press’ll get the
pictures we got off your computer.”
RIGGAN
What pictures?
JAKE
The guy has a thing for nuns... in
diapers. What do you care? You
shouldn’t have any knowledge about
it anyway. The important thing is
that I made him go away.
RIGGAN
Right. That's great.
JAKE
Yeah, it’s fantastic. One problem.
We don't have an actor. And if we
cancel the first preview the press
will smell the blood. We can't
afford to lose any more money. At
all.
RIGGAN
What do you want me to do?
JAKE
We pay an understudy, let’s use the
understudy.
No.

RIGGAN

JAKE
No? Riggan, listen to me. Our dream actor
is not going to knock on that door and
say: "Hey fellas, when do we start?"
B5

B5
There is a knock at the door. Leslie peeks in.
LESLIE
Can I talk to you for a second?
RIGGAN
Yeah. What’s up?
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

15.

LESLIE
Did you find another actor?
No.

RIGGAN

LESLIE
Okay. Well... Mike's available.
He is?
Mike who?

RIGGAN
JAKE

RIGGAN
I thought he was doing-LESLIE
He was. He quit. Or got fired.
Mike who?

JAKE

RIGGAN
Which one? Quit or fired?
LESLIE
With Mike it's usually both.
JAKE
Mike Fucking Who?
Shiner.
Yes!
Jake...

LESLIE
JAKE
RIGGAN

JAKE
Yes! How do you know Mike Shiner?
LESLIE
We share a vagina.
RIGGAN
You think he'd want to do it?
Yeah.

LESLIE

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

16.

JAKE
How do you know?
LESLIE
Because he said he'd want to do it.
JAKE

Yes!

RIGGAN
Jake. Hang on a minute.
JAKE
(to Riggan)
Ask me if he sells tickets.
RIGGAN
Does he sell tickets?
JAKE
A shitload of tickets. Now ask me if the
critics like him?
RIGGAN
Do they like him?
JAKE
They want to spooge on him.

Hey.

RIGGAN
(Indicating Lesley.)

Leslie...

JAKE

LESLIE
Right on his face.
JAKE
Everything for a reason, right?
RIGGAN
You think he'll be able to come tonight?
LESLEY
I can call him and find out.
Riggan gives Jake a look.
JAKE
I'll call his agent.
Jake charges out of the room. The camera follows him into...

10/29/14
6

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

17.
6

...the hallway and as Jake makes a left turn, Annie enters from
the right.
JAKE
Annie, turn the work lights on and get me a
fresh copy of the script. We’re gonna have
a “put in” tonight.
Who?

ANNIE

JAKE
You’ll find out...
Jake disappears down the hall and we follow Annie through the
theater and onto...
7

INT. STAGE - THEATER - EVENING

...the stage, where she turns some of the stage work lights on.
We pan along the stage until we find Riggan, wearing the same
clothes as before, scanning the empty auditorium.
MIKE (O.S.)
Intimidating. Isn't it?
Riggan sees Mike Shiner (39) coming down the aisle, slovenly
dressed with mussed hair and intense eyes.
MIKE (CONT’D)
Do you have any idea who walked these
boards before you?
(Beat.)
Geraldine Page, Marlon Brando,
Helen Hayes, Jason Robards... And
now you. Riggan Thomson.
Riggan, trying to hide the intimidation.
RIGGAN
Thanks for coming on such short notice,
Mike. I appreciate it.
MIKE
Hey. This is what we do.
(Indicates a script.)
So, you wrote this adaptation?
I did.

RIGGAN

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

18.

MIKE
And you're directing the adaptation and
starring...
I am.
Ambitious.
Thank you.

RIGGAN
MIKE
RIGGAN

A sly smile from Mike. He leaps onto the stage.
MIKE
Why don't we do a bit of it?
RIGGAN
Hey, I wasn't expecting you to-MIKE
First preview is tomorrow, right?
RIGGAN
Yeah, but you can go on with the script
until you feel comfortable-MIKE
Let's just do some of it.
Riggan tries to hide his excitement. He grabs the script from a
nearby table and walks it over to Mike.
RIGGAN
Take a look at page twenty-MIKE
Yeah. I don't need that.
What?

RIGGAN

MIKE
I don't need the script. Just give me a
cue.
RIGGAN
What are you talking about?
MIKE
Feed me a line.
RIGGAN
I don’t-- What?
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

19.

MIKE
Feed. Me. A line.
Riggan drops the script and begins the scene.
RIGGAN
“I'm the wrong person to ask. I didn't
know the man. I've only heard his name
mentioned in passing. I wouldn't know.
You'd have to know the particulars. But
I think what you're saying is that love
is absolute.”
Mike stares at Riggan, hyper-focused.
MIKE
(Ruminating.)
Am I saying that love is absolute?
(He transforms.)
"Yeah. The kind of love I'm talking about
is. The kind of love I'm talking about you-"
(An intense pause.)
Well, you don't try to kill people.
Riggan is transfixed, and almost immediately intimidated.
RIGGAN
How do you know the lines?
MIKE
I have a thing, a whatever, a gift.
(A beat.) Come on, I helped Lesley get
off book. Hey, give me that cue again.
RIGGAN
"I'm the wrong person to ask. I didn't
know the man. I've only heard his name
mentioned in passing. I wouldn't know.
You'd have to know the particulars. But
I think what you're saying is--”
MIKE
Okay, can I-- Do you mind if I-RIGGAN
No, go ahead.
MIKE
Follow me. He says, "I'm the wrong
person to ask." What's his intention?
Is he fed up with the topic?
Deflecting? Guilt about his wife maybe?
Then four sentences all say the same
thing... "I didn't even know the man."
(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14
MIKE (CONT'D)
"I've only heard his name mentioned in
passing." “I wouldn't know.” "You'd
have to know the particulars." First of
all, particulars? What are you, my
grandmother? But the point is, YOU
DON'T KNOW THE GUY, WE FUCKING GET IT.
Make it one line. "I didn't even know
the guy." Right? ...

20.

RIGGAN
You pretty much know my lines too, huh?
MIKE
Can we-- Are we doing something here? Come
on let's go. Cut it down, give it to me
again.
RIGGAN
"I'm the wrong person to ask--"
MIKE
Oh, right, sorry, you see? "I'm the wrong
person to ask?" That's another fuck you.
"Don't put me on the spot. Don't make me
self conscious about my marriage when my
wife is sitting right here..." See? Give
it to me. Give me a good fuck you. Come
on...
RIGGAN
Okay, let me-MIKE
Come on. Give it to me right now. Fuck me.
Right now. Right here. Let's do it.
RIGGAN
Okay, yeah...
DO IT!

MIKE

RIGGAN
(Jumps in w/out thinking.)
"Hey. I'm the wrong person to ask, okay? I
didn't even know the guy. So what's your
point?"
MIKE
"What's my point?"
RIGGAN
"What's your point? What are you saying?
Spit it out. You're saying, what? That love
is an absolute?"
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

21.

MIKE
(Exploding.)
"Yeah! Alright? The kind of love I'm
talking about is absolute. The kind of love
I'm talking about you-(A painful memory.)
Well, you don't try to kill people.
Riggan stands silently, his heart pounding.
MIKE (CONT’D)
So what do you think, boss? Do I have a
job?
Riggan calls over to the wings.
RIGGAN
What do you think?
Mike turns to see Sam, who has been there for a bit.
SAM
Larry needs to see him for a fitting.
MIKE
I'm gonna take that as a yes.
(Walking to Sam.)
And you are...?
RIGGAN
That's my daughter, Sam.
MIKE
Right. Yeah. I can see it around the... (A
beat) She doesn't look anything like you.
(To Sam.)
And your job is...?
RIGGAN
She's my assistant.
MIKE
Your assistant...
(To Sam.)
And can you speak?
SAM
Yup. I can even 'sit', 'stay' or 'roll
over' if you have any treats.
RIGGAN
Welcome aboard, Mike.

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

22.

MIKE
(Mock saluting.)
Thank you, Captain.
We follow Mike and Sam off as they...
8

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS
...advance through the hallways.
MIKE
I'm Mike Shiner, by the way.
SAM
I know who you are.
(Reluctantly honest.)
I saw you in 'Hothouse' at the Geffen. It
was... great.
MIKE
That ass is great.
She turns her head toward him with a disgusted expression.
SAM
Dude. Seriously?
Moving by her, into a dressing room.
MIKE
This is the theatre, honey. Don’t be so
self-conscious.
She follows him into the room where we see...

INT. COSTUME DEPARTMENT - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...Larry stressing out while he works on a costume. He turns
to see Mike standing there. Sam stands against the wall,
focused on her cell phone.
LARRY
Oh, thank the Lord and pass the
biscuits! I finally have an actor to
dress. Hello, Mr. Shiner.
MIKE
How're you doing, Larry?
LARRY
Better, now that you're here. Take off your
clothes.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

23.

Mike takes off his shirt and hands it to Sam. She doesn't budge,
and it hits the floor. He begins to unbutton his pants...
MIKE
You gonna stand there?
SAM
(Glancing at her cell.)
This is the theatre, honey. Don’t be so
self-conscious.
Larry searches for a few costume pieces.
LARRY
Okay. I'm gonna have to start from
scratch, with less than twenty-four
hours... Let's see if these-He turns to see a completely naked Mike.
LARRY (CONT'D)
Holy-- What is happening? Where are
your underpants?
MIKE
At home, under the bed, I think.
Sam glances at Mike for a second, then returns to her phone.
Larry begins to help Mike into some pants which, given the
situation, is very awkward.
LARRY
Okay. Everything is too small.
SAM
Yeah, you're not kidding.
Lesley enters the room immediately coming face to face with a
naked Mike. She doesn't notice Sam who is partially hidden by a
clothes rack. She just goes about trying a costume shirt.
LESLEY
Oh, that's nice...
(To Larry.)
Forgive him, Larry. Mike's like my five
year old son. Neither one of them has
clean underwear...
LARRY
Or pubic hair, I imagine.
(Folding the pants.)
Okay, well, I can take out the suit but
we're going to need some new pants and
shirts.
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)

LARRY (CONT'D)
(Looking back.)
And underwear...

10/29/14

24.

Mike just stands there naked, staring at his penis in the
mirror.
LESLEY
(To Larry.)
This is too small.
(To Mike.)
What the hell are you doing?
MIKE
Waiting for Larry to finish.
LARRY
I'm finished.
Larry disappears deeper into the costume room.
MIKE
Okay, well, then I'm just standing here
with my balls out.
LESLEY
Get dressed. Riggan's daughter is hanging
around, and I don't need her to walk in
here and-Leslie...

MIKE

LESLEY
No, Mike. You haven’t seen her. She’s
always hanging around, just-- I don’t-Watching everyone. It’s creepy. It’s-Les...

MIKE

LESLEY
I don’t know if the drugs fried her
brain or what, but I don't need her
running to her father saying you showed
her your junk.
MIKE
Okay, then we should probably get her out
of here.
Lesley's expression goes blank.
LESLEY
Oh, God. Really?
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

25.

MIKE
Hey, Sammy...
It's Sam.
Fuck.

SAM
LESLEY

Sam steps forward.
LESLEY (CONT'D)
(To Sam.)
I didn't mean-SAM
(Totally relaxed.)
It's cool. He's a handful, huh?
They both look back at Mike.
Almost.

LESLEY

Sam smiles at her and exits. Lesley wheels on Mike.
LESLEY (CONT’D)
Jesus... How is it you always manage to find
a new way to humiliate me?
MIKE
To be fair, you make it really easy.
LESLEY
What the hell was she doing here?
MIKE
She brought me.
LESLEY
And stayed???
MIKE
I know, right? She's a little-LESLEY
Look at me, Mike. This is Broadway. I'm
here. Finally. And I'm begging you, if you
love me, please, do me a favor... don't
fuck it up.
MIKE
(Gently.)
Come here.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

26.

Lesley moves toward Mike. He cups her face in his hands
tenderly. They are face to face.
MIKE (CONT’D)
Play with my balls...
She twists his nipples hard and walks out.
MIKE (CONT’D)
I won't fuck it up... Probably!
Larry reappears holding some clothes. We follow him out...
10

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...through the hallway. He walks by Jake and Riggan who are mid
conversation. We stay with them.

RIGGAN (O.S.)
I don’t care, sign it.
JAKE (O.S.)
Listen to me.
RIGGAN (O.S.)
No you listen to me-JAKE (O.S.)
I can’t afford to listen to you...
LARRY
I’m gonna need to go shopping
again.
JAKE
Fucking sew something, you old
fuck!
RIGGAN
I don't care. Give him what he
wants.
JAKE
His agent is asking for almost four
times what we were paying-RIGGAN
Then go into the reserve.
JAKE
The reserve is gone. You spent it
on the fog. And those fake trees...
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

27.

RIGGAN
It’s a dream sequence, it-JAKE
And three union midgets that dance
around like-RIGGAN
You’re not supposed to call them
midgets-JAKE
The reserve is gone!
RIGGAN
Listen to me, you didn't see what I
just saw. But you will, at the preview
tomorrow. Look, get the contract done.
I'll get the money.
Riggan begins marching toward the stage.
JAKE
(Calling after him.)
When???
Laura comes down some stairs and chases Riggan.
LAURA
(Incredulous.)
Hey, is it true? Shiner?
He's in.

RIGGAN

LAURA
Holy shit! When can I meet him?
RIGGAN
He's in a fitting with Larry.
Lesley comes down the hallway.
LESLEY
I’m going to Starbucks. You guys
want anything?
RIGGAN
I’m fine. How’s Mike?
LESLEY
Did you talk to your daughter?
No.

RIGGAN
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

28.

LESLEY
He’s great.
LAURA
(To Lesley. Matter-offactly.)
Honey, your tits look like fucking
anjou pears in that top!
LESLEY
(Uncomfortable.)
Okay, well I'm gonna-- Thank you.
She walks away.
LAURA
And that ass. Like two eggs in a hanky!
A10

A10
Riggan walks, Laura follows him.
LAURA
Okay, I was going to tell you this over
dinner, but everything-- I have some news
too.
RIGGAN
Good or bad? Cause right now-A technician walks by.
LAURA
(Whispering.)
I missed my last two periods.
(Beat.)
I think it's happening this time.
Riggan stops. Silent. A beat.
LAURA (CONT'D)
Is that good or bad?
(He stares at her.)
Riggan...?
RIGGAN
It's good. It's great.
She smiles, her eyes filled with emotion. Riggan smiles back,
and nods absently.
LAURA
Say something else...
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

29.

RIGGAN
(Joking.)
You're pretty sure it's mine?
LAURA
(Unamused but plays along)
Well, let's see. There's you. Jake. That
masseuse wore a condom so... Yes, it's
yours... idiot.
She puts her head on Riggan's chest. We see his mind racing.
Laura is moved, and confused.
LAURA (CONT'D)
Are you excited?
Yeah.
Me too.

RIGGAN
LAURA

Laura moves slightly away from him and suddenly slaps him across
the face. Riggan looks at her, confused.
What--?

RIGGAN

LAURA
You're not funny.
She kisses him intensely on the lips and briefly places his
hand on her belly, then moves it up to her breasts. After a
moment, she backs away.
LAURA (CONT'D)
First preview tomorrow. Here we go!
Laura turns and walks away. Riggan continues down the
corridor. He passes by a Security Guard· in front of a small
TV. The camera becomes Riggan’s POV and advances until...
11

INT. BACKSTAGE - THEATER - EVENING

...we go through the stage door. We scan the backstage area to
see the stagehands ready to do their jobs. We can feel the
electricity of a first preview.
On stage part of the kitchen set from before is visible. Annie
stands at her podium, calling the cues for the show.
ANNIE
(Into her headset.)
Cue 34 and 35. Go.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

30.

She turns and looks directly into the camera.
Places.
Okay.

ANNIE (CONT'D)
RIGGAN (O.S.)

Riggan walks on screen wearing his costume, carrying a bucket of
ice and a bottle of gin. He goes to the opposite side of the
stage and takes his place in the wings. He peeks out at the
audience who seem to be watching with interest.
Then we pan to the stage to find Mike, Lesley and Laura
performing the scene we saw at the beginning, around the table.
Mike looks comfortable, sipping at his drink. A half empty
bottle of gin on the table.
MIKE
The maniac shot himself right in front of
us. I rode with him in the ambulance to the
hospital.
LESLEY
I’ll never get that image out of my head.
Right before he did it, his eyes-- they
were so sad... lonely.
LAURA
Did you have to treat him?
MIKE
I didn’t have to. But I did.
(Pouring another drink.)
He was in bad shape. His head swelled
up to like twice the size of a normal
head. I'd never seen anything like
it. And I swear to God, I hope I
never do again.
Riggan stands near Annie.
He’s good.

RIGGAN

ANNIE
He’s incredible. I think he's
drinking real gin.
Riggan looks out at Mike, who is refilling his glass.
What?

RIGGAN

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

31.

A stagehand gives Riggan a bottle. Riggan watches and waits
for his cue.
MIKE
Ask Nick what real love is. He’ll
agree with me. You watch.
LESLEY
Why don’t we just head to the
restaurant?
LAURA
Don’t get him started, Mel. You
haven’t seen how he’s been lately.
He’s been depressed. I’m worried
about him. He’s been-She gently pushes Riggan and we follow him on stage...
12

INT. STAGE - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...where Mike goes to refill his glass with the last of the
real gin. Riggan snatches the bottle out of his hands and
gulps the rest, straight from the bottle.
RIGGAN
Been what? (Beat.) I'll tell you
what real love is. This happened a
few months ago.
(Drops bottle on table)
And it ought to make us ashamed
when we talk like we know what
we're talking about when we talk
about love.
LAURA
Nick, for God's sake. Are you
getting drunk?
RIGGAN
(Pointed at Mike.)
I don't have to be drunk to say
what I think.
MIKE
Nobody’s drunk. We’re just having a
few drinks.
LESLEY
You’ve had more than a few.
RIGGAN
What are you, counting?
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

32.

LAURA
Don't you talk to her like that.
Don’t talk like a drunk if you’re
not-RIGGAN
(Exploding.)
Shut up. For once in your life.
Will you do me a favor and shut up
for a minute?
(Beat.)
Like I was saying... There's this
old couple, had a car wreck out on
the interstate. Some drunk kid
plowed his dad's pick up into their
camper.
We begin to hear the underscoring of violins.
RIGGAN (CONT'D)
Fucking teenager. By the time I got
to the hospital, the kid was dead.
He was off in a corner laid out on
a gurney. We took the old couple up
to the O.R.. They were a mess. We
worked like hell on them for most
of the night...
Over the speech, Mike reaches for the new bottle that Riggan
placed on stage. He refills his glass.
RIGGAN (CONT'D)
When we were done, we wrapped them in full
body casts. The husband was depressed.
Even when I told him his wife was gonna
pull through, he was still depressed. So,
I got up to his mouth hole and asked him,
and he told me it was because he couldn't
see her through the eye holes. Can you
imagine? I’m telling you, the man's heart
was breaking because he couldn't turn his
goddamn head and see his goddamn wife.
Riggan is doing a good job. Lesley and Laura are genuinely
moved. Mike notices. He sips his drink.
RIGGAN (CONT'D)
I mean... It was killing him. Killing him
that he-MIKE
I'm tired of this shit.
They all look at Mike. In silence.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

33.

MIKE (CONT’D)
(to Riggan)
What the fuck is this? Water?
He hurls the glass against the wall. Some laughter from the
audience. Riggan stares at him, confused. He presses on.
RIGGAN
It was killing the old bastard...
MIKE
Did you just give me water?
RIGGAN
Come on, Mike.
MIKE
Come on what?
RIGGAN
Take it easy. You're drunk.
MIKE
Of course I'm drunk! I'm supposed to
be drunk! This is Carver, man! The guy
lost a piece of liver every time he
wrote a page! If I’m supposed to drink
gin then bring me fuckin gin! I mean,
you fucked the time period! You took
all the good lines for yourself! At
least let me-The audience is now hysterical. Dozens of cell phones
pointing at the stage. Mike walks toward the apron, facing
the audience.
MIKE (CONT’D)
Oh, okay. Seriously? You people are
pathetic. Put the cell phones down and
join the real world! Will somebody
please just live in the real world?!!
He crosses to the refrigerator.
LAURA
Where's he going?
LESLEY
(Firmly.)
Mike, cut it out.
Mike rummages through the fridge.

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

34.

MIKE
Look at this. It’s all fake.
(Tossing items out of the
fridge.)
The milk is fake. The butter is fake.
Riggan storms off the stage.
MIKE (CONT’D)
(To Riggan.)
Your performance is fake.
(He finds some fried
chicken.)
Hey! There's chicken. Real chicken. The
only thing real up here is the chicken.
So I'm gonna stick with the chicken.
The audience laughs harder.
MIKE (O.S.) (CONT’D)
Hey, this is good bird, man!
Riggan charges through the chaos backstage running into a
panicked Annie.
RIGGAN
Get Mike out of here.
ANNIE
How do you want me to do that?
Riggan keeps walking up to...
13

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...the hallway. Jake chases him.
RIGGAN
I want him gone.
No.
What?

JAKE
RIGGAN

JAKE
We can't do that.
RIGGAN
What are you-- Of course we can do that.
It's our show.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

35.

JAKE
Riggan, listen to me-Riggan comes to a halt and faces Jake.
RIGGAN
No. You listen to me. Get him the fuck out
of my play. Did you see him out there?
JAKE
It was a preview! Nobody gives a shit about
previews. Nothing matters until that old
bat from the New York Times is sitting in
that audience on opening night.
RIGGAN
We're getting rid of him. I’m not going to
stand up on that stage and-JAKE
Shut up! Just shut up for once and
listen to me. As soon as we announced he
was taking over, the advance doubled. We
can't afford to lose a preview. We can't
afford to lose money. We can't afford to
lose Mike. This is about being
respected, validated, remember? That's
what you told me. That's how you got me
into this shit. Now, you're the
director. Get him under control.
(A beat. As a friend.)
These are not the nineties anymore.
Jake storms away. Riggan heads toward his dressing room. Out
of nowhere, Mike barrels into him, pinning him against a wall.
RIGGAN
(Startled.)
Holy Fuck!
Mike presses up against Riggan, breathing down his neck. After a
painful silence...
MIKE
(Like he's possessed.)
You were good...
RIGGAN
Meet me in front of the theater in
10 minutes.
Mike chuckles and slaps Riggan gently on the face before he
disappears into his dressing room. Riggan begins walking
again. We follow him into...

10/29/14
14

INT. RIGGAN'S DRESSING ROOM - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

36.
14

...his dressing room. He goes into the bathroom and quickly
washes his face.
SYLVIA (O.S.)
What the hell was going on up there?
We pan over to see his ex-wife Sylvia (43), standing in one
corner, staring at Riggan. She is elegant and simply beautiful.
RIGGAN
I didn't know you were here tonight.
SYLVIA
That guy's an asshole, huh?
Riggan dries his hands with a towel and comes out of the
bathroom.
RIGGAN
What are you doing here?
SYLVIA
Sam and I are going to grab a bite
after she's finished with-RIGGAN
No, I mean here. Now.
SYLVIA
Well. I know how much this means to
you, so-RIGGAN
I appreciate that.
A beat.
SYLVIA
So, how's it going?
The play?

RIGGAN

SYLVIA
No, you and Sam.
RIGGAN
It's good. (A beat.) It’s the same.
SYLVIA
Do you talk to her?
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

37.

RIGGAN
We talk. We-- I don't know, it's been crazy
around here.
SYLVIA
You understand where her head is at right
now.
Of course.

RIGGAN

SYLVIA
She's trying to stay away from everything
and everyone that got her into rehab in the
first place, but...
RIGGAN
...I know, Sylvia...
SYLVIA
...But that's all she had. So she's-RIGGAN
I really do get it.
SYLVIA
I know you're caught up in all this stuff,
but-Stuff...

RIGGAN

SYLVIA
You know what I mean.
(Beat.)
Riggan... You don't have to be a great
father right now, you just have to be one.
Yeah.

RIGGAN

Suddenly, Laura opens the door and sticks her head in.
LAURA
(Noticing Sylvia.)
Oh, sorry.
She closes the door. Awkward silence.
SYLVIA
So how is that going? Is she and
Sam--?
RIGGAN
I don’t wanna talk about it.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

38.

He goes to a small fridge, takes out a beer and closes it.
SYLVIA
You're drinking?
RIGGAN
I'm having a beer.
Okay...

SYLVIA

He sits and sips in silence for a moment. Then he begins to
take out the wig.
RIGGAN
So, what's going on with you?
SYLVIA
Me? Nothing. Everything's the same I guess.
I'm going back to teaching.
RIGGAN
I’m thinking about refinancing the Malibu
house.
SYLVIA
Wh-- I’m sorry?
RIGGAN
I’m thinking about-SYLVIA
No, I heard you. I just need a second to-(A beat.) That's gonna be Sam's house. Why
would you-- (A beat.) What? For this play?
RIGGAN
(Honest and vulnerable.)
I need the money.
SYLVIA
Do you have any idea how crazy that sounds?
RIGGAN
What do you want me to say? My health
lasted longer than the money... Go figure
that out.
Riggan seems pensive and lost.
SYLVIA
Riggan...
(Beat.)
What’s going on?... Look at me.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

39.

Riggan gently looks up to Sylvia.
RIGGAN
I have a chance to do something right. And I
have to take it. I have to.
SYLVIA
It’s funny. I was sitting here waiting
for you, and all of a sudden I couldn’t
remember why we broke up.
Silence. Then, as if he hasn’t heard what she said.
RIGGAN
The last time I flew here from LA, George
Clooney was sitting two seats in front of
me. With those cuff links, and that...
chin. We ended up flying through this
really bad storm. The plane started to
rattle and shake, and everyone on board
was crying... and praying. And I just sat
there-- Sat there thinking that when Sam
opened that paper it was going to be
Clooney's face on the front page. Not
mine. (A beat.) Did you know that Farrah
Fawcett died on the same day as Michael
Jackson?
She smiles sadly. She kisses him on the head and goes to the
door.
RIGGAN (CONT’D)
Why did we break up?
SYLVIA
(Looks him in the eye.)
You threw a kitchen knife at me...
Riggan is smacked by that memory. His eyes on the floor.
SYLVIA (CONT’D)
...and one hour later you were
telling me how much you loved me.
(Beat.)
Just because I didn't like that
ridiculous comedy you did with Goldie
Hawn didn't mean I did not love you.
But that's what you always do. You
confuse love with admiration.
She smiles sadly. He looks at her. As Sylvia opens the door,
she turns back to Riggan...

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

40.

SYLVIA (CONT'D)
It's your house, so do what you want with
it. Just make sure you're there for our
daughter.
I will.

RIGGAN

SYLVIA
You're not Farrah Fawcett, Riggan.
She exits. Painful silence... until...
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
We should have done that reality show they
offered us. "The Thomsons." That would’ve
been good. Crazy, druggy, wise ass daughter.
Milfy wife with the perky tits. People would
have watched that.
RIGGAN
(To the poster.)
Shut up.
Riggan stands up and grabs his jacket. He opens the door and
goes out to...
15

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS
...the hallway.
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
Where are we goin'?
RIGGAN
(Almost whispering.)
Leave me alone.
Riggan walks between crew members. Annie interrupts him.
ANNIE
The sun bed is here.
RIGGAN
What does that mean?
ANNIE
It means there's a sun bed out there
being delivered to in here.
RIGGAN
Who ordered a sun bed?

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

41.

ANNIE
Mike. He says it’s for his character.
Carver’s red necks, “people of the
land”. Part of his process and that
shit.
Riggan cannot deal with this right now. He continues walking
until he arrives at a metal door that takes him out to...
16

EXT. AN ALLEY WAY - OUTSIDE THE THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...an alley way. Riggan walks toward the street. There is a man
playing drums. Riggan finds Mike leaning against a parked car,
dazed and looking up at the marquis...
RIGGAN
Let’s go. Walk.
Riggan begins to walk, Mike follows.
MIKE
Where are we going?
RIGGAN
To get you some coffee. Have I done
anything to disrespect you?
Not yet.

MIKE

RIGGAN
I have a lot riding on this play.
MIKE
Is that right?
RIGGAN
People know who I am, and-Bullshit.
Mike--

MIKE
RIGGAN

MIKE
Bullshit. People don’t know you. They
know the guy in the bird suit. They
know the guy who tells those quaint,
slightly vomitous stories on Letterman.
RIGGAN
Well, I’m sorry for being popular, but
that-(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

42.

MIKE
(With irony.)
Popular? POPULAR?... Oh God, popularity is
just the slutty little cousin of prestige.
RIGGAN
Okay, I don’t even know what that-MIKE
My reputation is riding on this play.
And that's... That is...
A lot?

RIGGAN

MIKE
A lot. Exactly. Fuck you. Yes. This
doesn't work out for you, you get to go
home to your studio pals and jump right
back into that cultural genocide you
guys are perpetrating. “There’s a
douchbag born every minute”. That was
P.T. Barnum’s premise when he got rich
inventing the circus. And you and your
pals know nothing’s changed, and
whatever toxic shit you make people are
still gonna pay to see it. But, after
you’re gone, I’ll still be here. I’ll
still be making my living on the stage.
Baring my soul. Wrestling with emotions,
complex emotions.
RIGGAN
Right. Is that what tonight was about then?
(Mocking him.) Wrestling with “complex
emotions”?
MIKE
Tonight was about making it alive. About
making it bleed. This isn't the Warner
Brothers lot, Riggan. This is the city, and
this is how we do things.
Mike turns and opens the front door of The Rum House.
RIGGAN
Where are you going?
MIKE
They have coffee in here.
He walks into the restaurant. Riggan backtracks and we follow
him into...

10/29/14
17

INT. RUM HOUSE - CONTINUOUS

43.
17

...The Rum House. Mike stands at the bar, the bartender
already pouring two whiskeys.
MIKE
(To bartender.)
Thanks, Tommy.
Tommy nods and walks away.
RIGGAN
(Getting back on point.)
People were laughing in our faces.
MIKE
(Handing Riggan a drink.)
Tonight they were laughing, tomorrow
they'll be... be.. tweeting about us. Fuck
‘em. Who cares??? These are the people who
pay half price to watch us rehearse. Stop
fucking caring!
RIGGAN
We’re doing Raymond Carver. This play is a
drama. This play is-MIKE
You don’t know what this play is. These are
previews. This is where we find out what
the play is.
Mike points to an Older Woman sitting at the bar. She sips a
martini and scribbles in a notebook with a sour expression.
MIKE (CONT’D)
You see that woman over there? The one that
looks like she just licked a homeless guy’s
ass? Nothing matters until she writes five
hundred words about us in the New York Times.
That's...

RIGGAN

MIKE
Tabitha Dickinson. Yes. And, believe it or
not, the only thing that matters in theater
is whether she likes us or not. She does,
we run. She doesn't, we're fucked.
RIGGAN
(Preoccupied.)
She does look like she licked a homeless
guy’s ass.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

44.

MIKE
Do me a favor, don't get your panties in a
twist over a preview, alright? And don't tell
me how to do my job. Cause, this is my town.
And, to be honest, nobody gives a shit about
you around here.
LADY (O.S.)
You're Riggan Thompson, right?
Two fat tourists in "Mamma Mia" t-shirts, with a seven year old
kid, approach the table.
HUSBAND
(Timidly.)
We're sorry to interrupt...
LADY
Would you mind terribly if we got a
picture?
RIGGAN
Of course. It's no trouble at all.
The Lady shoves her camera into Mike's hands.
LADY
(To Mike.)
Would you mind?
Mike gets up with a blank expression and takes the camera.
The Lady pushes the kid into the booth next to Riggan.
LADY (CONT’D)
(Ordering Mike.)
The button right on top there.
KID
Who is this guy?
LADY
(To his son.)
Come on, Billy. He used to be like Batman.
She yanks the kid closer and they squeeze up against Riggan.
Mike takes the photo and holds the camera to the lady.
LADY (CONT’D)
(To Mike)
I think you screwed that one up. Take
another one.
Mike takes another picture.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

45.

LADY (CONT’D)
(To Riggan.)
God bless you, darlin’. You're very sweet.
And handsome!
She kisses Riggan hard on the mouth. Then gets up, giddy, and
takes her son by the hand. As the couple leaves, husband shoves
a five dollar bill into Mike’s hands.
HUSBAND
We really appreciate it.
An agitated Mike takes a sip of whiskey.
MIKE
Are we good here? Cause I’m gonna go.
RIGGAN
See you tomorrow.
Mike places the dollar under one of the shot glasses and begins
to walk away, but then stops and turns curiously.
MIKE
Why Raymond Carver? You never told me.
Riggan looks at Mike for a second, than reaches for his wallet
and produces an old cocktail napkin with some writing on it. He
slides it to Mike.
RIGGAN
A long time ago, I did a play back in
high school in Michigan. He was in the
audience. He sent this backstage after.
MIKE
"Thank you for an honest performance. Ray
Carver." What is this?
Riggan looks vulnerable. He is trying to make Mike understand
the importance of the napkin, to build a bridge between them.
RIGGAN
And that's when I knew I was going to
be an actor.
Mike can't stop himself from smiling.
RIGGAN (CONT’D)
Why is that funny?
MIKE
He wrote it on a cocktail napkin.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14
So...

46.

RIGGAN

Mike slides the napkin back to Riggan.
MIKE
He was drunk.
A17

A17
He walks away and we follow him as he passes by the bar next
to Tabitha Dickinson, the Critic.
TABITHA
You headed to Hollywood, Mike?
Mike stops.
MIKE
Hollywood's headed here, Tabby.
TABITHA
(A devilish smile.)
Good luck with that.
Mike looks directly into her eyes.
MIKE
"A man becomes a critic when he can not be an
artist, in the same way that a man becomes an
informer when he cannot be a soldier."
Flaubert, right?
He flashes his own devilish smile. She stares back. If she
weren't so much older than him, you'd swear there was sexual
electricity between them.
TABITHA
He's a Hollywood clown in a Lycra bird
suit.
MIKE
Yeah. And at 8 o'clock tomorrow, he's gonna
get on stage and risk everything. What're
you gonna be doing?
A standoff.
TABITHA
Don't you ever worry that I'll give you a
bad review?

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

47.

MIKE
Oh, I'm sure you will. If I ever give a bad
performance.
(Beat.)
Ms. Dickinson.
TABITHA
Mr. Shiner.
Mike smiles and waves over to an obviously nervous Riggan. He
goes toward the exit, but we stay with Tabitha, scribbling on
her notebook. Suddenly she raises her eyes and, with a dark
expression, looks at Riggan who is passing by.
We follow Riggan toward the exit. Through the window we see him
leave the restaurant. Then we pan to a wooden wall, and this
wall takes us to...
19

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - LATER

...the theater hallway. Riggan walks through the quiet corridor,
until he arrives at...
20

INT. GREEN ROOM - THEATER - CONTINUOUS
...the Green Room. Sam sits listlessly, drawing some lines
across a roll of toilet paper.
RIGGAN
What're you still doing here?
SAM
(Continues scribbling.)
Nothing. I’m-- Nothing. Your costumes are
hanging in your room.
Great...

RIGGAN

SAM
I got the coconut water you wanted. If you
want me to get-Hey.
What?

RIGGAN
SAM

RIGGAN
I'm not sure if I said thank you.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14
For what?

48.

SAM

RIGGAN
All of it. You've been doing a good job.
And I've been...
Yeah.

SAM

RIGGAN
So, I just wanted to say that-(He stops abruptly.)
What is that?
What...?

SAM

RIGGAN
That smell.
I don't--

SAM

RIGGAN
Look at me.
SAM
What are you-RIGGAN
Look at me.
She does. He examines her eyes, then immediately rises, scouring
the room.
Dad...

SAM

RIGGAN
(Continuing to search.)
You have to be shitting me... Where is it?
SAM
Could we not do this?
Riggan pulls a jar of peanut butter from the trash.
RIGGAN
What is this?
SAM
That is chunky peanut butter that happens,
by the way, to have Omega-(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

49.

Riggan pulls a stubbed joint out of the jar.
This.

RIGGAN

SAM
Oh. That's pot.
Sam.

RIGGAN

SAM
Alright, just relax.
RIGGAN
Relax? What the hell are you doing?
SAM
Protecting myself from cataracts?
RIGGAN
You can't do this to me!
To you?

SAM

RIGGAN
SHUT UP! You know what I'm talking about.
SAM
Yeah. You're talking about you. What else
is new?
RIGGAN
Don't try to-SAM
What? Make it about me? I wouldn't dream of
it.
RIGGAN
Listen to me. I'm trying to do something
that's important...
SAM
This is not important.
RIGGAN
It's important to me! Alright? Maybe not to
you, or your cynical playmates whose sole
ambition is to end up going viral and who,
by the way, will only be remembered as the
generation that finally stopped talking to
one another. But to me... To me... This is-God. This is my career, this is my chance
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)

RIGGAN (CONT'D)
to do some work that actually means
something.

10/29/14

50.

SAM
Means something to who? You had a career
before the third comic book movie, before
people began to forget who was inside the
bird costume. You're doing a play based on
a book that was written 60 years ago, for
a thousand rich, old white people whose
only real concern is gonna be where they
go to have their cake and coffee when it's
over. Nobody gives a shit but you. And
let's face it, Dad, it's not for the sake
of art. It's because you just want to feel
relevant again. Well, there's a whole
world out there where people fight to be
relevant every day. And you act like it
doesn't even exist! Things are happening
in a place that you willfully ignore, a
place that has already forgotten you. I
mean who are you? You hate bloggers. You
make fun of twitter. You don't even have a
Facebook page. You're the one who doesn't
exist. You're doing this because you're
scared to death, like the rest of us, that
you don't matter. And you know what?
You're right. You don't. It's not
important. You're not important. Get used
to it.
Silence. Riggan seems devastated, and Sam can see that.
Dad...

Sam (CONT'D)

She looks at him sympathetically, but not knowing what to
say... exits.
After a moment Riggan gets up and heads for the trash can. He
digs out the roach, grabs some matches and lights it. Music
begins to sound. He inhales deeply and holds the smoke for a
few seconds and finally exhales. He coughs, tosses away the
joint and heads out of the kitchen. We follow him...
21

INT. HALLWAY - THEATRE - CONTINUOUS

...as he slowly walks until he disappears into the darkness of
the corridor. We keep moving forward until we end up...

10/29/14
A21

INT. BACKSTAGE - THEATRE - EVENING

51.
A21

...backstage. We are in the middle of the second preview. The
music continues, it belongs to the play.
Laura is by herself on stage performing the end of a scene. She
stands in the middle of a surrealistic forest set, at dusk.
There is fog, and trees. A strong, artificial wind blows
through Laura’s hair. Desolate music.
LAURA
(To the audience as soliloquy.)
In the days before Nick’s depression really
started to eat away at him, he had no idea
I was pregnant. And I never intended on
telling him. I guess we make choices in
life, and we choose to live with them. Or
not. I didn’t want that baby...
Three dancers on stage pass by in front of Laura. We follow
the dancers backstage where we find Mike and Lesley wearing
pajamas.
LAURA (O.S.) (CONT’D)
...Not because I didn’t love Nick. And not
because I didn’t love the-- The idea of
it. But because I just wasn’t ready to
love myself. There’s a certain distance to
it all now. A wistful distance.
Underscored by a gentle breeze and the
sound of the birds... laughing at the
whimsy of it all.
A stage hand helps Mike and Lesley into a double bed. The
camera slips under the covers with them and stays there.
MIKE
(Whispering.)
Hey, Les...
LESLEY
(Whispering.)
What?
I'm hard.

MIKE

LESLEY
No, you're not. It's just that sometimes
you don't consider other people's feelings.
MIKE
No. I'm hard. Feel.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

52.

LESLEY
Oh, you gotta be kidding.
The stage begins to revolve as we hear...
22

INT. STAGE - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...music through the transition. It remains dark.
MIKE
Let's really do this. Let's fuck.
LESLEY
Are you crazy? No.
Mike rolls on top of Lesley.
LESLEY (CONT'D)
Cut it out...
Mike continues to maneuver himself.
LESLEY (CONT'D)
I'm serious, Mike. Stop!
MIKE
I'm Mel. Not Mike. Mel.
A knock on a door.
RIGGAN (O.S.)
Terri! Terri!
A furious Lesley tries to reposition herself under Mike.
RIGGAN (O.S.) (CONT'D)
Terri! I know you're in there!
The knocking gets louder.
Terri???

RIGGAN (O.S.) (CONT'D)

Mike, lost in his libido, has begun to have sex with Lesley.
The camera comes out from under the covers and pans to Riggan
who stumbles into what is now the Motel Room set. He wears a
mustache and a long wig, that makes him look like a wild man.
He holds a gun in his right hand. A neon "Motel" sign is
illuminated. A clever effect of falling rain is visible behind
the set, accompanied by the appropriate sound effect. Riggan
is wet because of the "rain".
Lesley uses Riggan's entrance to escape from Mike.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14
Ed!

53.

LESLEY

Mike hops out of bed, unaware of the very noticeable erection
protruding underneath his pajama bottoms.
Some laughter from the audience.
LESLEY (CONT'D)
What are you doing here?
Lesley doesn't understand the audience response, until she
notices the erection herself.
RIGGAN
(To Lesley.)
Why? I need you to tell me why. I lived for
you. I worshipped you...
MIKE
Listen Ed, I know this is hard but-More laughter. Riggan is disturbed, but he continues...
RIGGAN
(to Mike)
Fuck you. Shut up. Fuck you.
He shoves Mike violently to the floor.
LESLEY
Eddie! Please!
Riggan points the gun at Mike's head.
RIGGAN
What's wrong with me? Why do I end up
having to beg people to love me?
LESLEY
Ed. Eddie. Please... Give me the gun.
She begins to cry. Her performance is beautiful.
LESLEY (CONT'D)
Just look at me. I was drowning. I
was not capable of-- You deserve to
be loved. You do.
RIGGAN
I just wanted to be what you wanted.
(Beat.)
Now I spend every fucking minute praying to
be someone else. Someone I'm not. Anyone...
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

54.

MIKE
Put down the gun, Ed. She just doesn't love
you anymore.
The audience is silent.
RIGGAN
(A sad smile.)
You don't, do you?
LESLEY
(With sympathy.)
No...
RIGGAN
And you never will...
I'm sorry.

LESLEY

RIGGAN
(A revelation.)
I don't exist. I'm not even here. I don't
exist. None of this matters.
Riggan points the gun at Lesley. Then at Mike. Finally, he puts
the gun to his own head and pulls the trigger. PUM! And with the
explosion, a fake blood mechanism splatters brains onto the
stage. Riggan drops to the floor.
A blackout. The audience applauds politely. The curtain falls.
We follow Riggan off stage and into...
23

INT. BACKSTAGE - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...the wings, where Annie immediately helps him remove the
bloody and wet wig with the propeller mechanism. Laura waits
next to them for their bows. Meanwhile, a stage hand crosses
behind them, and we follow him as he goes on stage to...
24

INT. STAGE - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...reposition some scenery for the curtain call. The camera
carries us to the other side of the stage, where Mike and Lesley
are in a heated exchange...
MIKE
Just, keep your voice down...
LESLEY
(Furious.)
You have to be shitting me. You can't get it
up in six months...
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14
LESLEY (CONT'D)
(She starts hitting him.)
...and now you try to fuck me in front of
eight hundred strangers???

55.

MIKE
What do you want from me? I have to feel it.
You know that. I told you that from the-LESLEY
Oh, fuck you...
Music begins and the curtain rises. The audience applauds as
Lesley and Mike stride onto the stage and take their bows,
smiles plastered on their faces.
MIKE
...I was in the moment...
LESLEY
I told you to stop. You fucking animal.
MIKE
But... You were incredible.
LESLEY
What is wrong with you?
Lesley starts back for the wings, and Mike follows her. In the
background we see Riggan and Laura enter from the other side to
take their bows.
MIKE
Listen I’m sorry, alright, I-LESLEY
I want your shit out of the apartment.
They go back on stage and join Riggan and Laura for the company
bow.
Can we--

MIKE

LESLEY
No we can't. Maybe up here you’re Mr. Truth,
Mike. But in the real world, where it counts,
you're a fraud. How's that for truth? You...
dick.
Lesley storms off, leaving Mike and a confused Riggan on stage.
Laura chases her off and straight into...

10/29/14
25

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

56.
25

...the hallway.
LAURA
What's going on?
LESLEY
He's an asshole.
LAURA
What did he do now?
LESLEY
Oh, nothing. He just tried to fuck me in
front of a full house.
LAURA
Oh, my God...
Right?

LESLEY

LAURA
That’s kind of hot.
She follows Lesley into...
26

26
INT. LESLEY AND LAURA'S DRESSING ROOM - THEATER - CONTINUOUS
...the dressing room and closes the door. Lesley proceeds to
smash everything on her dressing table. Then she looks in the
mirror holding a hairbrush.
LESLEY
Why don't I have any self-respect?
LAURA
You're an actress, honey.
Lesley begins to cry. Laura hugs her.
LESLEY
I’m pathetic. You know, I’ve dreamt of
being a Broadway actress since I was a
little kid. And now I’m here. And I’m not a
Broadway actress. I’m still just a little
kid. And I keep waiting for someone to tell
me I made it.
LAURA
(Hiding how moved she is.)
Hey. You made it.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14
I did?

57.

LESLEY

LAURA
Sadly, it was with Mike Shiner, on a fake
motel bed, in front of-LESLEY
(A little laugh.)
Shut. Up.
Riggan steps into the doorway and sees Laura hugging Lesley.
RIGGAN
Is she okay?
LAURA
She's gonna be fine.
Riggan enters gingerly and walks up to Lesley.
RIGGAN
None of this is your fault.
(Into her eyes.)
You're beautiful. And talented. And I'm
lucky to have you. Okay?
Okay.
Okay.

LESLEY
RIGGAN

Riggan leaves the room. Laura leans on the makeup table.
LESLEY
That was very sweet.
Yeah.

LAURA

Laura is suddenly teary.
LESLEY
What's wrong?
A beat.
LAURA
(Smiling.)
Nothing. Two years, he's never said
anything like that to me.

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

58.

LESLEY
(Into her eyes.)
Hey. You're smart. And beautiful. And
talented. And I'm lucky to have you. Okay?
LAURA
We’re gross.
We are.

LESLEY

Laura smiles and caresses Lesley’s hand. They look at each
other. Then Laura leans forward, close to Lesley’s face...
LESLEY (CONT’D)
(Nervous.)
What are you doing?
Nothing.

LAURA

Laura kisses Lesley tenderly on the lips. Lesley seems
confused. A few seconds of silence. Then...
LESLEY
Do it again.
Laura kisses her again. A knock at the door. They separate.
Mike opens the door holding the prop gun.
MIKE
(To Lesley.)
Can we talk about this like two-Lesley hurls the hair brush at his head.
LESLEY
FUCK YOU!!!
MIKE
Okay, well, you're not ready.
Mike points the prop gun at her, pretends to fire and...
MIKE (CONT’D)
That was hot.
He exits the room. We follow him...
27

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...down the hallway up to Riggan's dressing room. Riggan sits
at his table, picking the brains out of his hair.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

59.

MIKE
(Holding the gun.)
Your gun is ridiculous. It looks like a
plastic toy. And it still has the red plug
in the barrel.
(Shows the plug.)
You look like a seven year old when
you’re holding it. I'm not threatened
by it at all.
He tosses the gun onto Riggan's table.
MIKE (CONT’D)
Have some self respect and get a new one.
(Takes a step then turns.)
That was a fun crowd, huh?
We follow Mike to...
28

INT. STAIRS - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...the stairs. He climbs them as he lights a cigarette. He goes
through a metal door that takes him out onto...
29

EXT. ROOFTOP - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...a rooftop. The Marquis' of the other theaters glowing with
the street lamps, a classic Broadway view.
Mike is surprised to find Sam sitting on the cornice of the
building, a good fifty feet above 45th street. He goes next to
her, looking down at the street.
MIKE
I don't think it's high enough.
Sam turns to him, uncomfortable by his presence.
SAM
Me neither.
MIKE
So, what are you doing up here?
SAM
(Hesitant.)
Adrenaline. Just came out of rehab. Closest
I get to a drug.
MIKE
You were in rehab?
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

60.

SAM
(Distant.)
Yeah.
Cool.

MIKE

SAM
It wasn't all Dr. Drew or anything, but
that dude from American Pie was there.
A VOICE
(From the street below.)
Juuump!
SAM
(Calling down.)
Eat me!
A VOICE
Okay. Jump on my face!
SAM
(To Mike.)
I love this city.
Yeah.

MIKE

SAM
(Casually.)
Why do you act like a dick all the time? Do
you just do it to antagonize people?
Maybe...

MIKE

Sam turns and faces Mike.
SAM
You really don't give a shit if people like
you or not...
MIKE
Not really.
SAM
(More comfortable.)
God, that's cool.
Is it...?

MIKE

Mike leans on the railing, looking down at the street. For a
moment, he is somewhere else...
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14
Hey.

61.

SAM

(Mike doesn't respond. She pushes
him.)
Hey...
What?

MIKE

SAM
Let's play a game.
A game?
Yeah.

MIKE
SAM

MIKE
What are you, eight?
SAM
What are you, seventy-eight? Truth or
dare...?
MIKE
You gotta be-SAM
Truth or dare?
He looks at her, intrigued.
Truth.

MIKE

SAM
The first time we met, you made a comment about
my ass. Why'd you do it?
MIKE
Because you have a great ass, and I noticed
it. So, I said it.
(A beat.)
Truth or dare?
Dare.
Really...
Uh-huh.

SAM
MIKE
SAM
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

62.

A moment of tension.
MIKE
(Looking at the street.)
There’s a bald guy about to walk by down
there. Spit on his head.
No!

SAM

MIKE
You said dare.
Truth.
Too late.

SAM
MIKE

She stares into Mike's eyes, knowing she's being tested. She
leans over the railing and spits down toward the street.
Happy?

SAM

MAN (O.C.)
(From the street)
Fuck you!
Sam laughs. Mike smiles at her carefree laugh. It could be the
first time we've seen a genuine smile from him.
SAM
Truth or dare?
Truth.

MIKE

SAM
You're boring.
Truth.

MIKE

She stares him down.
SAM
(Nervous, pretending.)
Do you want to fool around with me?
A pause.
No.

MIKE
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

63.

SAM
(Taken aback.)
Really? Why not?
MIKE
That's a second question.
SAM
It's a second part.
A pause.
MIKE
I'd be afraid I couldn't get it up.
Impressed with his honesty.
SAM
That didn't seem to be a problem for you on
stage.
MIKE
Nothing’s a problem for me on stage.
SAM
I wanna ask another question...
MIKE
You just asked-One more.
Go 'head.

SAM
MIKE

SAM
If you weren't afraid. What would you want
to do to me?
He carefully considers it, then moves his face close to hers.
MIKE
I would want to pull the eyes out of your
head...
SAM
...That's sweet...
MIKE
...And stick them in my skull, and then
look out at this street and see it the way
I saw it when I was your age.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

64.

Mike turns and stares out at the street once more. Sam stares
at the mystery that is Mike.
SAM
G'night, Mike.
She walks away and into the building, never looking back.
A29

A29
Mike stares out into the night. We move to his POV. The street.
Night turns to day. Pedestrians begin to walk below.

B29

B29
We crawl down the wall until we arrive at Riggan's dressing
room window. We push in to find...

INT. RIGGAN'S DRESSING ROOM - THEATER - DAY

...Riggan siting with his feet on the window frame, staring at
a manila envelope in his hands that reads... "R, MALIBU
REFINANCE DOCS. SIGN AND SEND ASAP. J." Riggan sighs and props
the letter up against the mirror.
With a soft knock, Laura enters. She stands in the doorway with
an odd expression on her face.
What now?

RIGGAN

Laura lays the Arts section of the New York Times down in front
of Riggan.
LAURA
Don't kill the messenger.
Riggan picks up the paper. His expression immediately changes.
Laura watches him sympathetically.
LAURA (CONT'D)
He's an asshole.
Now we see the cover of the Arts section. There is a picture
of Mike lounging on a black sofa, his bare feet on a table as
he sips a glass of wine. The Title of the article reads...
"CARVING OUT HIS PLACE IN THEATER HISTORY. Shiner says Raymond
Carver is the reason he became an actor." Riggan involuntarily
squeezes the paper as he reads on, filling with rage.
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
He’s fooling you.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14
Shut up.

65.

RIGGAN

LAURA
(Confused.)
I didn't say anything.
RIGGAN
Fuck. This is it?
(He passes a few pages.)
This can't be it.
LAURA
Page twelve.
Riggan searches desperately for page twelve. When he gets
there, he finds a huge ad of the new Toyota Camry that almost
fills the entire page, and down in the left corner a tiny
press release with the title:
"From Birdman to Carver: An aging Action Hero Grasps for His
Youth."
RIGGAN
(Reading.)
"Riggan Thompson, better known as the face of
the Birdman films, tries not to lay an egg on
Broadway..."
(Flipping pages.)
Where's the rest of it?
LAURA
There is no rest of it.
RIGGAN
They didn’t use the photo I sent them.
LAURA
What photo?
RIGGAN
The one you liked. The one you said
I look like a young Jack Nicholson.
LAURA
(She lights a candle.)
Don't worry about it. Someone'll be using
that to pick up dog shit tomorrow.
RIGGAN
How can you be so calm about this?
LAURA
What are my other choices?
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

66.

RIGGAN
Aren't you scared at all?
LAURA
About what?
RIGGAN
About being humiliated out there.
LAURA
It won't be the first time I've been
humiliated.
RIGGAN
I bet it won't.
Laura looks at him with fire in her eyes.
LAURA
You're an asshole.
She charges to the door and is about to leave when she turns
back to Riggan...
LAURA (CONT'D)
By the way... I'm not pregnant. So there's
one thing you don’t have to worry about.
She leaves, slamming the door behind her.
Riggan remains still. Mike seems to be smirking at him right
through the cover of the Arts section...
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
That pretentious, little, theater fuck is
stealing your thunder.
Riggan charges out of the room and into...
31

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...the hallway. He walks to Mike's dressing room, finds the
door half opened and enters...
32

INT. MIKE'S DRESSING ROOM - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...discovering Mike lying in a sun bed. His arm is sticking
out of it, holding on to a copy of Borges's 'Labyrinths'.
Riggan yanks the sun bed open. Mike is asleep, wearing tiny
sun goggles. Riggan slams the lid down on him.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14
MIKE
What the fuck is going on!
Get up!
Back away.
Get up.

RIGGAN
MIKE
RIGGAN

Riggan slaps Mike on the arm.
MIKE
Ow, fuck that hurts!
RIGGAN
So, Carver is the reason you became an
actor?
What?

MIKE

RIGGAN
This is my play! I did the work. I raised the
money. I arrange the press.
MIKE
They called me for an interview. I said-- I
don't know, I said the first thing that
came to mind. Jesus, we got the cover of
the Arts section!
RIGGAN
You said the first-- Fuck the Arts section.
The first thing that came to mind? Right.
Cause that's you. Mr. Natural. Mr. Fuck the
scene, just stare at my massive hard-on.
Because that's the truth of the moment.
MIKE
You think it looked massive?
RIGGAN
Shut up. Shut the fuck up. You don't get
hard on my stage unless I tell you to.
MIKE
Your stage? This stage belonged to a lot of
great actor's, pal. But you are not one of
them.
Mike storms out of the room. Riggan follows him into...

67.

10/29/14
33

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

68.
33

...the hallway. He slaps Mike on his sun burned back.
RIGGAN
So, you wrote your own lines?
He slaps him again.
MIKE
Ow. Fuck. Yes I did.
RIGGAN
You changed a few words, and mumbled a
little, you self absorbed prick.
MIKE
Look who's talking...
RIGGAN
Let me tell you something, you spiteful
nobody piece of shit.
MIKE
Nobody? My hard-on has already fifty
thousand views on youtube.
RIGGAN
Fifty thousand views? A cat playing with
a dildo has more than that.
MIKE
I don't care.
RIGGAN
Yes you do.
(Beat.)
Everybody says: "Mike is so honest". (Smacks
him.) "So truthful". (Smacks him again.)
MIKE
(Like a child.)
Ouch. Fuuuuuck. Cut the shit!
Riggan corners Mike against the wall.
RIGGAN
You said in the interview that your father
was a drunk, like Carver. Is that true
Mike? Is it really true?
Riggan stares intensely into Mike's eyes. Mike looks away.

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

69.

RIGGAN (CONT'D)
Because my father was. My father was a mean
fucking drunk. Beat the shit out of us. But
we were okay with the beatings. You know
why? Because at least when he was beating
us, he wasn't thinking about taking us out
to his tool shed...
Mike's expression changes.
RIGGAN (CONT'D)
That sonofabitch would smile and say, "Do
you want to kneel down and unbuckle my
belt? Or do you want me to take it off and
use it?" I learned how to make myself numb.
But my sister-- (Holding back tears.) My
little sister...
Riggan can't go on. Mike is horrified.
MIKE
Jesus, Riggan. I'm really sorry. I
didn't-- That's fucking horrible...
RIGGAN
(Crazy smile.)
Yeah. It's also not true. See? (Cracking
up.) I can pretend too, you little dick!
Riggan shoves Mike violently.
RIGGAN (CONT’D)
Don't fuck with me, Mike.
MIKE
You're crazy...
RIGGAN
You have no idea what I'm capable of. You
understand me?
Riggan pulls the paper out of his back pocket.
RIGGAN (CONT'D)
Working with Riggan Thomson is like
waltzing with a monkey?
He smacks Mike in the head with the paper and begins to jump in
front of him, ready to fight.
RIGGAN (CONT'D)
Let’s go. Put your hands up.

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

70.

MIKE
(Tauntingly.)
Don't you want to go put on your tights and
your-Riggan punches him on the face. Mike needs a few seconds to
understand what has just happened. Then they begin to wrestle
in the hallway. Mike breaks free from the headlock.
MIKE (CONT’D)
What are you gonna do? You gonna get rid of
me? Huh? What do you think my friend
Tabitha is going to write in the Times
after you get rid of me?
Riggan stares at Mike, paralyzed by the truth. Finally, he
turns and marches to his dressing room, and we follow him...
34

INT. RIGGAN'S DRESSING ROOM - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...Riggan slams the door shut and paces in a rage. He glares at
a make-up box on the table and, points his finger at it, and
sends it flying across the room.
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
You are lame, Riggan. Rolling around
with that third rate actor in an 800
seat shithole like this.
RIGGAN
(Whispering.)
Breathing in, I feel my rage. Breathing
out, I embrace my mental formations.
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
You're going to let that poncey theater
fuck threaten you?
Riggan continues breathing deeply with his eyes tightly closed.
He smiles a tiny artificial smile.
RIGGAN
(Whispering.)
Breathing in, I am calm. Breathing out,
I ignore my mental formations. This is a
mental formation. This is a mental form-BIRDMAN (V.O.)
Stop that shit. I am not a mental
formation. I am "you", asshole.
Riggan looks down at the poster on the floor.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

71.

RIGGAN
(Whispering.)
Leave me alone.
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
You were a movie star, remember?
Pretentious, but happy...
Riggan opens his eyes, slowly. A sad expression on his face.
RIGGAN
I was not happy.
BIRDMAN
...Ignorant but charming. Now you are a
tiny bitter cocksucker.
RIGGAN
Shut up! Stop whining! I was miserable!
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
Yeah. But fake miserable. Hollywood
miserable.
Riggan points his fingers at a lamp and sends it flying.
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
What are you trying to prove? Huh? That
you’re an artist? You’re not.
Fuck you!

RIGGAN

Riggan points his fingers at a chair and sends it flying.
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
Fuck you, coward! And fuck those critics
that made you quit. Our franchise
grossed billions worldwi-RIGGAN
And billions of flies eat shit everyday!
So what? Does that make it good? (Beat.)
And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but
that was 1992! Look at me! (He takes off
his shirt.) This is what's left!
(Grabbing his neck.) This! (Grabbing his
chest.) This! (Totally exploding.) I'm
fucking disappearing! I'm the answer to a
fucking trivial pursuit question.
Riggan sits down, exhausted.

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

72.

RIGGAN (CONT'D)
What part of that don't you get? You're
fucking dead.
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
We are not dead. We’re-RIGGAN
Stop saying 'we'! There is no 'we'. I am
not you. I'm Riggan fucking Thomson.
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
No. You're Birdman. Because without me, all
that's left is "you". A sad, selfish,
mediocre actor, grasping-Riggan points his finger and sends the poster flying, spearing
it on a coat rack, piercing Birdman right through the heart.
Finally, silence. Until...
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
What the hell did you do that for? I liked
that poster.
A confused Riggan looks over to the wall, where the lamp on the
floor is creating a shadow of his figure. Only in the shadow, it
appears as if Riggan is wearing the Birdman costume. Stunned,
Riggan slowly lifts one arm and in the shadow we see a wing.
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
It's always 'we' brother.
The television turns on by itself, playing an episode of the
original Birdman cartoon. Riggan points his fingers at the tv
and sends it hurling at the shadow. Then he proceeds to
destroy everything in his room with his telekinetic powers.
We slowly pan to see that, behind Riggan, Jake stands on the
other side of the half-opened door. We push in on Jake,
watching in shock. The camera turns and becomes Jake's POV...
35

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...and now, from his view, we see Riggan yelling at the shadow.
RIGGAN
Fuck you! Fuck you!
He picks up a chair and throws it down. He then picks up the
newspaper from the floor and tossing it all around. And now we
understand that he is not using telepathy. He has been using
only his hands. Completely mad. As Riggan turns to pick up
something else, he spots Jake on the other side of the door. He
immediately calms himself and walks over.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14
What's up?

73.

RIGGAN (CONT'D)

JAKE
Um... Well. Two hours to curtain. Why don’t
you rest a little bit?
RIGGAN
Yeah. Sure.
JAKE
Last preview, buddy. We’re almost there.
Okay.

RIGGAN

JAKE
How ya doin?
RIGGAN
Good. Great.
JAKE
Good. That's good.
(A beat.)
The, uh, money came through. I just have to
transfer it to the account.
RIGGAN
Oh, that's terrific...
JAKE
Okay. Well, I'm gonna do that.
(He stares at Riggan who
seems about to collapse.)
You know I’m proud of you, right? This took
balls. And you did it.
Riggan nods. An exhausted sadness in his eyes.
RIGGAN
I can’t do this anymore, Jake.
What?

JAKE

RIGGAN
I think I’m gonna cancel the
preview. I’m exhausted.
JAKE
It’s a joke, right? (He forces a
laugh.) Good one, Riggan.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

74.

RIGGAN
I’m starting to believe that this is not
for me. The applause is... lukewarm. I
think they’re laughing at me.
JAKE
What are you--? Listen. There’s a three
block line of people waiting to see you.
We are sold out. It’s a full house.
Really?

RIGGAN

JAKE
Yes. And the French embassador is
coming. And the prince of Saudi Arabia,
with one of his wives. And... I wasn’t
going to tell you this, but-- Martin
Scorsese. He’s casting for his new
film. But don’t tell anyone, okay? This
is between you and me.
RIGGAN
Okay. I’ll be ready.
Riggan smiles. He has forgotten about his existential doubts.
A worried Jake closes the door. He walks a few steps and
finds Laura and Lesley. They’ve been listening to his
conversation with Riggan.
How is he?

LESLEY

JAKE
He’ll be okay.
LESLEY
Poor creature.
LAURA
Is it true? Scorsese?
JAKE
Yes. And the new Pope too.
(Beat.)
They both understand.
LAURA
You’re an asshole, Jake.
JAKE
I’m the one keeping this boat afloat.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

75.

LESLEY
So there is no line of people out there?
JAKE
I don’t know. Now go and get ready.
That’s your job.
(He begins to walk.)
I’ll better invest in a taco truck, or
a strip joint near the airport.
Laura leaves. We follow Lesley up to Riggan’s dressing room.
She knocks on the door. Nothing. Silence. She half-opens the
door and, from behind her, we see Riggan examining his right
hand. He has blood falling from the palm to the wrist.
LESLEY
Are you okay?
RIGGAN
(Smiles.)
Yeah, I-- This is nothing. Shaving.
He cleans his hand against his trousers.
LESLEY
I just want to say I'm sorry.
For what?

RIGGAN

LESLEY
I knew what Mike was capable of,
and I brought him in, anyway.
RIGGAN
You did good.
Lesley nods. A beat.
LESLEY
Tomorrow's my first opening night
on Broadway.
Mine too.

RIGGAN

LESLEY
And I want you to know that,
whatever happens, I'll always be
grateful to you for that.
RIGGAN
Me too. It’s going to be great. Full
house.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

76.

She looks at him with tender eyes. Then we follow her along
the corridor until she passes by Mike’s dressing room. Mike
half-opens the door and sees Lesley walking by. He has a
black eye. He waits for Lesley to be completely gone, and
then he comes out of his dressing room and we follow him up
the stairs to...
38

EXT. ROOFTOP - THEATER - DUSK

...the rooftop. He finds Sam standing on the cornice, looking
at the street.
MIKE
For fuck's sake, just jump already.
Sam stares out, a smile creeping over her face.
SAM
How did you know I'd be up here?
MIKE
I didn't. I was just hoping.
Silence. Mike walks up next to her and stares out as well.
SAM
Where's Lesley?
Moving on.

MIKE

SAM
Smart girl...
MIKE
I appreciate that.
A beat.
SAM
Ready for the last preview?
(Noticing his black eye.)
Who did that to you?
Mike smiles. No answer.
SAM (CONT’D)
Could have been anybody, I guess.
(After a beat.)
I’m sort of hoping it was Lesley.
He barely says no, smiling, and lights a cigarette. She
understands.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

77.

SAM (CONT’D)
Oh, don’t tell me...
Silence.
MIKE
What's the worst thing he ever did to
you?
Sam is surprised by the question. She thinks for a moment.
SAM
He was never around, so...
MIKE
That was--?
SAM
No. That was-- Who gives a shit. It
was the way he tried to make up for
it by constantly trying to convince
me I was special. (A beat.) What
about you?
My dad?
Yeah.

MIKE
SAM

MIKE
He pretended I was his son.
She stares him down. Silence.
SAM
So, what happens now?
MIKE
I have no idea...
Yeah...

SAM

A beat.
MIKE
He was right, though.
SAM
About what?
MIKE
About your being special. You’re hanging
around here trying to make yourself
(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14
MIKE (CONT'D)
invisible behind that fragile little fuck
up routine. But you can’t. You’re
anything but invisible. You’re big. And
you’re sort of this really great mess, a
candle burning at both ends, and no
amount of booze or pills is gonna hide
that.

78.

Sam tosses Mike’s cigarette over the balcony, and kisses him.
He leans into the kiss.
MAN'S VOICE
(From below.)
Jesus Fuck!
She suddenly pulls away.
SAM
It's a good thing you're an actor and not a
writer cause that little speech was just
like, Oprah... Hallmark... R. Kelly bad.
She kisses him lightly one more time and then walks away. When
she gets to the door she stops and leans on the frame.
SAM (CONT’D)
Truth or dare?
Truth.
No.
Truth.

MIKE
SAM
MIKE

SAM
No. Truth or dare?
The slightest smile as she exits through the door, and after a
short pause, Mike follows...
39

INT. HALLWAYS - THEATRE - CONTINUOUS

...along a darkened hallway. They reach a tiny wooden door and
Sam leads the way through it.
MIKE
Do you have any idea where you're going?
SAM
Absolutely not.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

79.

She continues on until she gets to...
40

INT. ABOVE STAGE - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...the "grid" above stage where the lights are located. We can
see, below us, the empty seats of the auditorium and the
kitchen set.
MIKE
What now...?
Mike reaches up to kiss her. She stops him.
SAM
How do you do it?
What?

MIKE

SAM
How do you go out there and pretend to be
someone else in front of all those people?
MIKE
I don't pretend. Not out there. Just about
every place else, but never out there.
SAM
Good to know.
They stare at one another...
MIKE
What are we doing here?
SAM
What do you mean?
MIKE
I mean, what are we doing here?
She moves in.
SAM
Adrenaline...
They kiss. The camera begins to drift down toward the stage...
RIGGAN (O.S.)
Fucking teenager.
As the camera continues down from the grid, we discover an
auditorium full of people staring at the actors on stage.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

80.

RIGGAN (O.S) (CONT’D)
By the time I got to the hospital, the
kid was dead. He was off in a corner
laid out on a gurney. We took the old
couple up to the O.R.. They were a
mess. We worked like hell on them for
most of the night...
We pan along the auditorium back to the stage to find Riggan,
Mike, Lesley and Laura in the kitchen.
RIGGAN (CONT'D)
When we were done, we wrapped them in
full body casts. The husband was
depressed. Even when I told him his
wife was gonna pull through, he was
still depressed. So, I got up to his
mouth hole and asked him, and he told
me it was because he couldn't see her
through the eye holes. Can you imagine?
I’m telling you, the man's heart was
breaking because he couldn't turn his
goddamn head and see his goddamn wife.
LESLEY
(In genuine tears.)
That's terrible. (Beat.) Perfect.
And terrible.
She is crushed. Laura holds Lesley, trying to control her own
emotion.
RIGGAN
(Taking this in.)
Yeah. So I guess what we have to
ask ourselves is... What do we talk
about when we talk about love?
The lights go to a blackout and the audience applauds as some
scene change music plays. As we follow Riggan off stage, the
lights are turned on again, but now they have an orange mood.
Lesley is the only one on stage, doing a monologue.
LESLEY
Mel and I have been together five
years, been married for four. But
it was Ed who taught me something
no one else could... He taught me
what it felt like to really feel
loved. And the terrible thing is
that if something happened to Mel
or myself, if something happened to
either one of us tomorrow, I think
the other one would grieve for a
while, you know, but then would go
(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

LESLEY (CONT'D)
out and love again, have someone
else soon enough. All this-- All of
this love we’re talking about... it
would just be a memory. Maybe not
even a memory. Am I wrong? I mean,
I don’t know anything. And I’m the
first one to admit it.

10/29/14

81.

A Dresser waits in the wings to help Riggan with his change.
DRESSER
That was amazing!
Riggan looks proud. Things are finally going well. He undresses
to his underwear and puts on a robe and his moccasins, as the
stage begins to revolve. Laura, in costume, walks up beside
him. Over the following dialogue, the kitchen gives way to the
extravagant garden set we saw before.
LAURA
(A bit distant.)
It's actually going well.
RIGGAN
Yeah. (A beat.) Hey. I think we have to
talk.
LAURA
(Sad smile.)
No. We don't.
Riggan nods.
RIGGAN
Right. (Beat.) We will eventually,
though, ‘cause that’s the only way I get
to say I’m sorry. I really am.
Silence.
LAURA
We could've made good parents.
RIGGAN
Horrible. We would've been just-LAURA
Awful. Would have raised, like...
RIGGAN
...a serial killer...
LAURA
...or Justin Bieber.
(She smiles at him.)
(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14
LAURA (CONT'D)
I'm not really the housewife type anyway. I
thought I could be a mom. My body seems to
disagree.

82.

The lights come up and Laura walks onto the stage.
LAURA (CONT’D)
(Back to him.)
You were right. This was fun.
Riggan watches her go, but something else grabs his attention.
We pan across the stage to see Sam and Mike on the other side.
They talk and laugh. Sam kisses Mike softly. Mike playfully
grabs her ass.
We pan back to Riggan. His expression morphs from brokenhearted to rage. He marches over to a stage hand.
RIGGAN
You have a cigarette?
The stage hand holds out a pack, Riggan takes one.
STAGE HAND
You need a light?
Riggan snatches the lighter and storms out through the hallway,
and out the back door of the theater to...
41

EXT. AN ALLEY WAY - OUTSIDE THE THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...the alley. Down at the end, we can see the tourists making
their way about the streets. Riggan lights the cigarette and
leans back against the stage door trying to calm himself.
RIGGAN
Breathing in, I calm myself. Breathing out,
I ease myself.
But this is New York City. A fluorescent light buzzes above his
head. Taxis honk their horns. The sound of pedestrians yelling
at one another. All fueling his agitation.
Riggan checks his watch. He pulls one last drag from the
cigarette before he tosses it, and turns to head back in, only
to realize the door has locked. He tries to pull it open to no
avail. He begins to knock loudly on the door. There is no
response. He knocks louder. Nothing.
He is turning to walk away when he realizes that his robe is
caught in the door. He checks his watch again and now is
beginning to panic. He tries to tear at the robe but the terry
cloth is too strong for him to rip. Frantically, he looks around
for an answer. No answer. No time. He pulls the robe off of him
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

83.

and, wearing only his underwear and moccasins, he charges down
the alley way toward...
42

EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS

...the street. Now, rushing down the block in his underwear. A
tourist spots him.
TOURIST
Hey, aren't you...?
RIGGAN
I'm sorry. I can't really-TOURIST
Riggan Thompson! Holy Shit! Let me get an
autograph.
Riggan marches on as a few more people begin to notice. The
Tourist runs in front of him, forcing him to stop.
TOURIST (CONT'D)
Come on, man. Don't be a dick. Let me have
an autograph.
The man produces a pen and a magazine from his pocket. More
people begin to gather...
Birdman!

MAN ON STREET

Seeing no other way out, Riggan signs the autograph.
TOURIST
Dude! You fuckin' rock!
Directly in front of him stand a lady and her two kids.
LADY
Can we take one picture?
RIGGAN
Are you kidding me?
KID #1
Why is he naked?
LADY
One picture...
KID #2
I can see his weenie.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

84.

Riggan tries to get past them, but a crowd has formed. A swarm
of cell phones begin to glow like fireflies.
LADY
(To her kids.)
Get next to him!
RIGGAN
Give me a fucking break, lady.
The kids run up next to him. Even more people crowding around.
Riggan puts up his middle finger, just as the Lady takes the
shot. He shoves the kids aside and moves on.
WOMAN ON STREET
He looks so old in person.
MAN ON STREET
(From across the street.)
You suck!
Fuck you!

RIGGAN

Riggan pushes through the crowd to get to the lobby. The people
begin to chant. Dozens of cell phones recording him.
CROWD
Bird-man! Bird-man! Bird-man!
Riggan pushes his way through to the lobby doors...
43

INT. LOBBY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...to be stopped by the vision of Ralph in a wheelchair. His
head wrapped in a bandage. A man in a suit next to him.
RIGGAN
Jesus Christ! What're you doing here?
RALPH
Waiting for Jake. This is Mr. Roth, my
attorney.
Riggan continues walking toward the auditorium. Ralph and Mr.
Roth follow him.
MR. ROTH
We're pursuing financial remuneration for the
injuries Mr. Pinkus suffered while rehearsing
your-RIGGAN
I have a play to do.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

85.

RALPH
I'm going to ruin you!
Riggan storms toward the auditorium, but is stopped by an old
Usher.
OLD USHER
I'm sorry sir, you're going to have-Riggan shoves the old lady aside and enters...
44

INT. AUDITORIUM - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...the theater. Riggan stands in the back among the audience.
He sees the "rain" falling on the stage. The "Motel" sign is
lit. Mike and Lesley are in bed, for the motel scene, waiting
for the knock on the door. With nothing else to do, Riggan
yells his line from the back of the auditorium...
RIGGAN
Knock knock knock! Terri! Terri!
The audience turns to see Riggan standing in his underwear.
They begin to murmur and laugh and point at him.
Riggan marches down the aisle. He looks haggard and covered
with perspiration.
Lesley and Mike, confused, come out of bed.
LESLEY
Ed! What are you doing here?
RIGGAN
Why? I need you to tell me why. I lived for
you-- I worshipped you...
MIKE
Listen Ed, I know this is hard but-RIGGAN
Fuck you. Shut up. Fuck you.
Giggles from the audience. Riggan turns threateningly and points
to an audience member on the aisle who is giggling at him.
Shut up!

RIGGAN (CONT’D)

The guy stops smiling. The audience goes silent. Riggan arrives
at the apron of the stage. Annie from the wings slides the gun
towards him. Riggan grabs it and points it at Mike.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

86.

LESLEY
Eddie! Please!
Riggan climbs onto the stage. Exhausted. He goes to Mike and,
with a last effort, pushes him lamely.
RIGGAN
What's wrong with me? Why do I end
up having to beg people to love me?
LESLEY
Ed. Eddie. Please... Give me the gun.
We pan to the wings where Jake is staring in disbelief. His
cellphone begins to vibrate, and he answers.
JAKE
Yeah. (A beat.) What?... No no no no no no
no. Wait there. I'm coming out in-He walks toward the hallway and we follow him...
45

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS
...through the corridor.
JAKE
No. Wait. Wait for me. I'll be there in a
second. (Beat.) What is that, a threat?
(Beat.) What wheelchair? (Beat.) Wait.
Don't hang up. Mr. Roth, we can discuss-Hello?... Hello?...

He goes out one of the exits and we are left with the silence of
the empty hallway. After a few seconds, the sound of the gunshot
from the scene echoes through the theater. The audience
applauds. The camera starts to move forward. A few seconds later
Riggan takes over the POV with his bloody long wig and the fake
gun. We follow up to...
46

INT. RIGGAN'S DRESSING ROOM - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...his dressing room. He puts on a robe. He walks to his
refrigerator without acknowledging Sam who is sitting on the
couch, scribbling her dashes on the toilet paper once again.
Riggan takes out a plastic container of bologna and a jar of
mustard. He sits in front of his dressing table, peels open the
bologna and opens the jar of mustard. Slice by slice, he dips
the bologna in the mustard and shoves it into his mouth.
Dad...?

SAM
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

87.

RIGGAN
(Looking up.)
Hey. How ya doin'?
SAM
Are you okay?
Why?

RIGGAN

SAM
I don't know. You seem-RIGGAN
(Eating.)
I'm good. This is good.
(Holding out a piece.)
You want some?
I'm good.

SAM

RIGGAN
Great. Great.
He continues to eat. She tries to fill the odd silence.
SAM
So. Opening night, tomorrow.
Yeah.

RIGGAN

SAM
That's exciting, huh?
RIGGAN
Yeah. Well... I don't know. The previews
have been a train wreck. We haven't been
able to get through a performance
without a raging fire... or a raging
hard-on. I'm not really sleeping, you
know, at all. And I'm pretty much broke.
Oh, and also, this play feels like a
miniature, deformed version of myself
that keeps following me around, hitting
me in the balls with a tiny hammer.
(Beat.)
Sorry, what was your question?
SAM
(Looking through phone.)
Never mind... Tonight wasn't bad. It was
weird. But that's sort of cool. People
seemed to like it.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

88.

Silence. Riggan notices the toilet paper.
RIGGAN
What are you doing? Some homework?
SAM
No. I don't-- When I was in rehab, they
made us do this.
Really...

RIGGAN

SAM
Yeah. These dashes, represent the six
billion years the planet has existed.
Each dash represents 100 years.
She unravels the roll and we see that there are thousands of
black marks running along the toilet paper. She takes the last
two panels and tears them off.
SAM (CONT'D)
And this... (Hands them to him.) ...is
supposed to represent the entire time us
humans have been here. One hundred and
fifty thousand years. That's it.
(Beat.)
I guess they were trying to remind us
that that's what all our egos and selfobsession are worth.
Riggan stares at the paper, and then at Sam.
RIGGAN
(Casually.)
I was a shitty father, wasn't I?
SAM
No. You were a-- (She stops herself.)
You were fine.
He stops chewing and stares out.
RIGGAN
Fine... You're right. I am just
"fine". Adorably mediocre.
He smiles to her sadly, and then he wipes the mustard from his
face with the piece of toilet paper.
Dad!
What?

SAM
RIGGAN
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

89.

Sam looks at the ruined toilet paper in his hands.
RIGGAN (CONT'D)
Oh... Shit. I'm sorry.
SAM
(Smiling.)
It's okay. You just destroyed the entire
human race in one blow.
Riggan looks at her with the saddest of expressions.
SAM (CONT’D)
Dad. (She hesitates.) Do you know
you’re becoming a trending topic?
RIGGAN
Really? What does that mean?
Sam searches for something on her iPhone and then hands it to
Riggan. Riggan looks at the phone and sees a hand-held video of
himself in the streets in his underwear.
SAM
350,000 views in less than an hour.
Believe it or not, this is power.
Riggan looks at more footage, seemingly confused. After a
moment, the phone vibrates and the video is interrupted by a
text message, which reads “Truth or Dare?”
RIGGAN
It’s for you.
She grabs the phone and looks at the screen. Then at her
father. Riggan is staring at her. She looks down.
RIGGAN (CONT’D)
Go ahead...
SAM
(Hesitant.)
Are you...?
Go.

RIGGAN

A sympathetic smile. An understanding. Sam exits.
Riggan stares into the mirror absently. His eyes locked on
his reflection trying to find himself in the image. Then he
spots a vase with dying roses, the same roses he flung to the
ground previously.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

90.

He gets up and goes into the bathroom. He pulls off the long
wig and the mustache. He washes his face. Then he opens a
small bottle and uses the liquid to scrub his goatee. The
dark dye begins to run out, leaving only white hair. For the
first time we see that Riggan has a white beard.
He puts on new clothes and comes out of the bathroom. He grabs
a beige raincoat and heads out of the dressing room and
into...
47

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...the hallway. As he passes by Mike’s door he can hear Sam and
Mike. They’re trying to be as quiet as possible, but we can hear
them flirting and laughing.
He pauses for a moment but continues on. After a few seconds,
his phone vibrates. He looks at it. A text from Jake reads:
“Have you seen this??? Awesome!!!” He clicks the attachment and
sees the, now infamous, video of his underwear escapade in the
street. We zoom in until the image fills the screen, when we
finally pull away, we discover that...
48

INT. RUM HOUSE - LATER

...Riggan's video is being played now in a television in the
bar. We see the MTV logo on the bottom of the screen and a video
caption that reads: “Birdman goes viral, 930.000 views and
counting”. The camera pans to find Riggan sitting at the bar,
drunk. He is one of the few customers. He polishes off his
drink.
RIGGAN
Let me have another one.
BARTENDER
You got it.
The bartender pours another whiskey for Riggan. A waiter steps
up to the bar. The bartender points to a martini.
BARTENDER (CONT'D)
(To the waiter.)
That's going over to Ms. Dickinson.
Riggan's head tilts at the mention of the name. He looks over to
see Tabitha sitting at a table, scratching in her notebook.
RIGGAN
(Hands the waiter a bill.)
I got it. She's a friend of mine.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

91.

The waiter pockets the money and gives Riggan the drink. He
walks it over to Tabitha and places it down in front of her. Not
looking up, she pulls the drink closer and takes a sip.
Riggan sits down across from her. She looks up and immediately
recognizes him. He takes out the Carver cocktail napkin and
pushes it in front of her. She looks at him, and then down to
the napkin. She reads it in silence.
RIGGAN (CONT'D)
(Re: The napkin.)
That was twenty years before I put on that
damned costume.
A pause. Then she pushes the napkin back toward him.
TABITHA
I don't care.
RIGGAN
I'm just saying, when you come tomorrow
night, I want you-TABITHA
It doesn’t matter.
RIGGAN
What are you-TABITHA
I'm going to destroy your play.
RIGGAN
You haven't even seen it. I don't-- Did I
do something to offend you?
TABITHA
As a matter of fact you did. You took up
space in a theater which otherwise might
have been used on something worthwhile.
RIGGAN
But you don't even know if it's-TABITHA
That’s true. I haven't read a word of it,
or even seen a preview, but after the
opening tomorrow I'm going to turn in the
worst review anybody has ever read. And I'm
going to close your play. Would you like to
know why? Because I hate you. And everyone
you represent. Entitled. Spoiled. Selfish.
Children. Blissfully untrained, unversed
and unprepared to even attempt real art.
Handing each other awards for cartoons and
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14
TABITHA (CONT'D)
pornography. Measuring your worth in
weekends. Well, this is the theater, and
you don't get to come in here and pretend
you can write, direct and act in your own
propaganda piece without going through me
first. So, break a leg.

92.

Tabitha goes back to her writing. Riggan sits for a moment.
RIGGAN
What has to happen in someone's life,
for them to end up becoming a critic?
She looks up at him.
RIGGAN (CONT’D)
Whatcha writin’? You reviewin’ a play? Was
it good? Bad? Did you even see it? Lemme
read.
He snatches the notebook from her.
TABITHA
I will call the police.
RIGGAN
No you won’t. Let’s read your review!
(He scans the notebook.)
“Callow”. A label. “Lackluster”. Label.
“Marginalia”. Sounds like you need
penicillin to clear that up. None the
less... label.
(Looks to Tabitha.)
All labels. You’re a lazy fucker
aren’t you?
(Looks one last time at
the notebook.)
Epistemological vertigo?
Tabitha wants to reach for the notebook, but her pride won’t
let her. Riggan takes a flower from a vase at the center of the
table.
RIGGAN (CONT’D)
You know what this is? You don’t, do
you? You can’t even see it if you don’t
label it. You mistake those sounds in
your head for true knowledge.
TABITHA
Are you finished?
RIGGAN
(Wrinkling one of the pages.)
Nothin’ about intention, structure,
(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14
RIGGAN (CONT'D)
technique. Just crappy opinions backed
up by crappy comparisons. You’re
incapable of writing more than a couple
of paragraphs, and you risk nothing of
yourself.
(He tears out the page and tosses
the notebook.)
Well, I’m an actor and this play has
cost me everything. So you can take
your cowardly, malicious, shittily
written reviews and shove them up
your... (Showing her the wrinkled
page.) ...wrinkly, tight ass.

93.

Riggan wears a proud smile. And suddenly, Tabitha begins to
smile with him.
TABITHA
You think you’re an actor?
(Calls to the waiter.)
Eddie!
Eddie the waiter approaches the table.
WAITER
Yeah, Mrs. Dickinson?
TABITHA
Give us some Shakespeare.
WAITER
No problem. Got anything in mind?
Tabitha looks over at Riggan picking the perfect verse.
TABITHA
The Scottish Play. Act five...
WAITER
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to
day, To the last syllable of recorded
time; And all our yesterdays have lighted
fools. The way to dusty death...
He is brilliant. The monologue is perfectly played and powerful.
Riggan being mercilessly reminded of his mediocrity... by Eddie
the waiter.
WAITER (CONT'D)
...Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a
walking shadow, a poor player, That
struts and frets his hour upon the
stage, And then is heard no more. It is
(MORE)
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14
WAITER (CONT'D)
a tale told by an idiot, full of sound
and fury... Signifying nothing.

94.

A few drunks clap at the beautiful performance. Then, a powerful
silence rings out for a moment, until...
TABITHA
Thank you, Eddie.
WAITER
You got it.
TABITHA
(To Riggan. A derisive laugh.)
You're no actor. You're a celebrity.
Let's be clear on that.
Tabitha rises from her seat and grabs her things.
TABITHA (CONT’D)
I'm going to kill your play.
She walks away. Riggan sits numb. After a moment, he reaches
over and gulps down Tabitha's entire martini, gin pouring out
the sides of his mouth. Unaware, he slams the empty martini
glass on top of the Carver napkin and gets up. We follow him
out onto...
49

EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS

...the street, where he walks through the theater district.
Tired. Drunk. Empty. Neon lights all around him. A crazy, old
homeless man passes by in the opposite direction shouting
furiously. Riggan keeps walking until he arrives at a bench,
with a tree behind. Everything is quiet. Riggan sits on the
bench, lost. We begin to tilt up, slowly, toward a tall tree.
We move closer into the branches and the green leaves.
Silence.
A49

A49
Night turns into day. The sounds of the city disappear and
birds begin to sing. The branches now caressed by golden shafts
of morning sun. Finally, we tilt down slowly and find...

EXT. STREET - DAY.

...Riggan still sleeping on the bench. He looks like a bum. His
raincoat is dirty and wet.

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

95.

BIRDMAN (V.O.)
God. You look like shit, brother. You
get that mongoloid look when you're hung
over, don't you?
Riggan opens an eye. He scratches his hair.
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
Let's go. Get up. It's a beautiful day.
Riggan sits up slowly. He is really hung over.
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
Stand up! Forget about the times. Everyone
else has. So you're not a great actor...
Who cares?!! You're much more than that.
Fuck! You tower over all these theater
douchebags. You're a movie star! A Global
force! Don't you get it?
Riggan stands up and begins to stumble forward. We pan around
to find Birdman (a stronger Riggan wearing a cool Birdman
outfit), following behind him.
BIRDMAN
You spent your whole life building a
reputation and a bank account, and now
they're both blown. So what? Fuck it. We
make a come back. Something huge. Take what
belongs to us. Take back the spotlight.
Magazine covers and billboards. Happy meals
with Birdman dolls. Remember that? That’s
who you are. That’s who we are!
Riggan just marches on. People and cars pass by, but nobody
notices Birdman. Riggan tries to ignore him.
BIRDMAN (CONT'D)
C'mon, buddy. Tell me we're going back
to the big leagues. Let’s do this.
Shave off that pathetic goatee, and put
the mask back on! Batman my balls.
We’ll start a new franchise. Birdman:
Phoenix Rising. Trust me! A billion
world wide. Swear to God.
A50

A50
Riggan keeps walking. Birdman, insistent, chases, until
suddenly he begins to flutter off the ground.
BIRDMAN
Do you hear me? You can do anything! You’re
an icon!
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

96.

Desperate, Birdman flies a bit higher around him.
BIRDMAN (CONT'D)
You’re bigger than life. You save people
from their boring, miserable lives...
The camera pans to the street in front of them. People carry
out their everyday routines. There is a deli, a souvenir shop,
a small bank...
BIRDMAN (O.S.) (CONT'D)
...You make them jump, laugh, cry,
shit their pants... All you have to do
is snap your fingers and...
B50

B50
Riggan snaps his fingers, once, twice, and the bank suddenly
explodes. The sound is so loud that it seems to belong to
another movie. The earth shakes. People run. Dust all over.
Fire. An unsteady camera pans back to Birdman.
BIRDMAN
(Excited.)
That's what I'm talking about! That is
cool! Explosive! Big, fast, loud!
(He turns directly to the camera
and talks about the audience.)
Look at them. They love that shit!
They starve for blood and action,
not this artsy-fartsy-philosophical
bullshit!

C50

C50
We hear a loud roar, and the camera pans to discover a huge
alien about to crash a cab against the asphalt. Birdman uses his
powerful blow to send the alien flying away.
BIRDMAN
And when you shout "whooaa!"...
(Riggan shouts "Whooaa!")
...it explodes in the eardrum of
millions. Your power is unlimited.
Riggan slows down his pace, as he starts to listen.
BIRDMAN (CONT'D)
You glimmered on 3000 screens, over 5
continents, in 47 countries at the
same time. You are ubiquitous. You're
a God! You can do it again. You can
soar above all of them.

10/29/14

D50

97.
D50

Riggan suddenly begins to levitate.
BIRDMAN
There you go, you mother fucker! See?
Gravity doesn't even apply to you.
The camera flies up with Riggan as he floats above the street.
There is something magical in his ascension, gently impelled by
the breeze. A beautiful backlight makes his body glow. Birdman
flutters around him.
BIRDMAN (CONT'D)
Listen to me. We gotta go back! We have to
do this. We have to end it on our terms.
With a grand gesture.
A strange light suddenly palpitates in Riggan's eyes. Something
makes sense in what Birdman is telling him.
The camera becomes Riggan's POV. He looks down to see the
people on the street, watching him in awe.
BIRDMAN (O.S.) (CONT'D)
We’ll go back. We’ll show them how much
they're going to miss us. Flames. Icarus.
Sacrifice...
We tilt up again to Riggan's face. He has a plan.
BIRDMAN (O.S.) (CONT'D)
Let’s go back one more time and show them
what we’re capable of. You can do it.
You're Birdman. Do you hear me? You're...
Birdman!

A GUY'S VOICE (O.S.)

E50

E50
And as the camera pulls away, we discover Birdman is gone and
Riggan is standing on the ledge of a tall building. The camera
tilts down and we see that more people have gathered around,
and more cars has stopped, and they all point at Riggan,
worried about the situation.
A guy wearing shorts, a Bob Marley t-shirt and a robe opens his
window, one floor below Riggan, and looks up at him.
GUY
Dude, what are you doing?
Riggan looks down at the people on the street far below.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

98.

GUY (CONT'D)
You okay, buddy? Do you want me to
call someone?
We pan to a lady on her balcony filming Riggan with her phone.
LADY
Is this for real, or you're shooting a
film?
A film.

RIGGAN

The lady looks around but sees nothing.
LADY
Oh, you people are full of shit.
She goes into her apartment.
GUY
I’m calling 911.
The guy goes inside his apartment.
RIGGAN
One more time...
Now, from the door of the rooftop, a good neighbor calmly
approaches Riggan.
GOOD NEIGHBOR
Hi, sir. Can I help you? You should be
careful.
RIGGAN
Sorry. Can’t talk. I'm late.
(Murmuring.)
Music.
Some underscoring music begins to sound. The neighbor is now
close to him and helps Riggan step down from the edge on to the
floor of the rooftop.
GOOD NEIGHBOR
Are you alright? Do you want me to
call someone? Do you know where to go?
Riggan closes his eyes for a moment as the camera moves slowly
toward him. He opens his eyes. The music begins to swell. Riggan
stands up straight and proud, and in a voice that sounds like
Birdman...
RIGGAN
Yes. I know where to go.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

99.

He turns and begins to run on the rooftop. The music is rousing.
As he runs, he holds out his arms, spreading them wide. The
camera runs behind him, until suddenly...
F50

F50
Riggan jumps, and the camera jumps after him. He rapidly
falls toward the street, toward the asphalt. But in his face
there is no fear. No. He spreads his arms again and...

G50

G50
He takes flight, soaring high over Manhattan. The music becomes
epic. There is something beautiful about this broken man flying
like a superhero. We fly next to him, and we can see below the
spectacular sight that is Manhattan, until...

EXT. THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...he finally lands on 45th street and calmly approaches the
theater. An Usher acknowledges him with a look of surprise.
USHER
Mr. Thomson. I think you forgot to-RIGGAN
Stop the music.
The music stops.
USHER
I beg your pardon?
Riggan enters the theater.
The confused Usher watches him go by, as he points to the
street. We pan to see a taxi driver coming out of his car,
running like a mad man toward us.
We stay with the Usher and the taxi driver as they argue. They
take it inside the lobby, but we remain out front.
A51

A51
Day turns to night, igniting the lights
reflect off of the lobby doors. We hear
from inside the theater. Seconds later,
theater open and the audience files out

of the marquee, which
wild applause coming
the doors of the
for intermission.

(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

100.

MAN
(Tweeting on his phone.)
It's really good.
WOMAN
I know. I can’t believe it...
We begin to move up, outside the theater. We see the marquee of
the play that reads, "What We Talk When We Talk About Love".
Above the title, in smaller print, "Riggan Thomson and Mike
Shiner". Below on a banner, "Opening Night".
We keep climbing until we arrive at Riggan's dressing room
window. We push in to find...
52

INT. RIGGAN'S DRESSING ROOM - THEATER - EVENING

... that the room is full of roses and cards. Riggan lies on
the sofa, hugging a cushion. He is wearing the long wig and
mustache for the motel scene.
Sylvia appears in the doorway.
SYLVIA
Wow, that is just NASCAR hot.
He smiles at her.
SYLVIA (CONT'D)
I just wanted to come say hello. It's going
great out there. You're so good. I mean it.
You’re-- I really mean it.
RIGGAN
Come here. Sit next to me.
ANNIE ON SPEAKERS
This is your five minutes.
SYLVIA
Do you need to--?
RIGGAN
I'm fine. Sit.
She does.
SYLVIA
Look at all these roses.
SYLVIA (CONT’D)
You hate roses...

RIGGAN
I hate roses...

She laughs. He watches her, something odd in his expression.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

101.

SYLVIA (CONT’D)
Are you okay? You seem-- I don’t know, you
seem abnormally calm.
RIGGAN
I am calm. I’m great. I spent most of
the day observing how beautifully this
pile of dirty clothes was lit by the
warm afternoon sun. (A tiny smile.) So
beautiful.
Sylvia, teasing him, closes her eyes and imitates Riggan's
meditation posture.
SYLVIA
(Mocking him.)
Oh yes. God is those purplish light
dots I see between my eyes and my
eyelids.
RIGGAN
You know? I have this voice that talks to
me and tells me the truth. It’s comforting,
and scary.
A beat.
SYLVIA
I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you say
that.
Okay.

RIGGAN

SYLVIA
(Changing the subject.)
You wouldn't believe the crowd outside.
They said, some people paid up to 500
dollars a ticket.
He sits down.
RIGGAN
You wanna hear something funny?
Sure.

SYLVIA

RIGGAN
Do you remember our last anniversary party?
SYLVIA
Seriously? You're going to ruin a nice
moment with that?
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

102.

RIGGAN
Do you remember the party?
SYLVIA
The party where you fucked Janet Rossbach
in our bed? Yeah, it rings a bell.
RIGGAN
Yeah, well. Let's skip over that part
for a minute.
Gladly.

SYLVIA

RIGGAN
After you threw the guests out of the
house, and the furniture out of the
window. You locked yourself in the
bathroom.
SYLVIA
I remember. Why are we-RIGGAN
I drove down to Malibu. I sat on the beach
for a while. Just... staring out at the
ocean.
Riggan...

SYLVIA

RIGGAN
Until I walked straight into the water
and tried to drown myself.
Silence. Sylvia stares at Riggan, surprised.
RIGGAN (CONT'D)
I was in up to my chest when I felt the
first one. On my back, like somebody was
holding a frying pan against me. And then
my chest, and my legs. The water was full
of jellyfish. I fought my way out of the
water, and I started rolling around the
sand like a maniac... crying.
Sylvia doesn't know how to react.
SYLVIA
You said it was a sunburn.
RIGGAN
(Smiling.)
And you believed me.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

103.

SYLVIA
To be honest, I didn't give a shit.
RIGGAN
I love you. And I love Sam.
I know.

SYLVIA

Silence. They stare at each other.
RIGGAN
I never should have video taped Sam's
birth. First of all because you and Sam
both look like shit in that video. But
mostly because I missed the moment. I
should have just been there with the two
of you. Present in my own life. So I’d
have it. But, I don’t. I don’t have any of
it.
SYLVIA
You have Sam.
RIGGAN
No, I don't.
SYLVIA
Listen, she's just-RIGGAN
No, I understand. She needed a father
and she got one shamefully successful
youtube video. Pretty pathetic.
SYLVIA
(Putting a finger on
Riggan’s lips.)
Shhh... There are more pathetic things
than that. That mustache, for example.
She kisses him.
ANNIE ON SPEAKERS
Places for act two. Places.
Riggan...

SYLVIA

RIGGAN
You should get back to your seat. You
don't want to miss what's next.
Sylvia lingers for a moment, and not knowing what to say, she
exits. Riggan opens a drawer and takes out a black case. He
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

104.

gently opens the lid. Inside a revolver. He takes some bullets
out of a box and one by one loads them into the chamber as he
does his vocal exercises into the mirror.
RIGGAN (CONT'D)
Twenty little leopards laughed at two
lofty lions. Twenty little leopards
laughed at two lofty lions. Twenty
little leopards... laughed.
He stares at the dressing room door, and with his telekinetic
powers he opens it. He snaps the cylinder into the gun and
exits out into...
53

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...the hallway. He paces deliberately, gun in hand.
A technician goes by in the opposite direction.
TECHNICIAN
Break a leg, Mr. Thomson.
Riggan ignores him and continues through to the...
54

INT. BACKSTAGE - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...backstage area. Annie immediately hustles over to him holding
up the brain mechanism. He walks right by her.
RIGGAN
(Brushing her off.)
I don't need it.
Annie doesn't seem to understand. She stays there, holding the
device. Riggan takes his place outside the motel door. We pan
toward the audience. The auditorium is full. The audience in
complete silence.

Riggan knocks firmly on the door. Silence again. Then...
RIGGAN (CONT’D)
Terri! Terri!
(Beat.)
I know you're in there!
He barges through the door and onto...

10/29/14
55

105.

INT. STAGE - THEATER - CONTINUOUS

...the stage. The motel room as we saw it before. Mike and
Lesley jump out of the bed.
LESLEY
Ed! What are you doing here?
RIGGAN
(Almost whispering.)
Why? I need you to tell me why. I lived for
you-- I worshipped you...
MIKE
Listen Ed, I know this is hard but-Riggan raises one hand to silence Mike. Mike looks at him,
confused. His eyes narrow on the gun. There is no red plug.
Dead silence. An eerie electricity in the theater.
RIGGAN
What's wrong with me? Why do I end
up having to beg people to love me?
LESLEY
Ed. Eddie. Please... Give me the gun.
She begins to cry.
LESLEY (CONT'D)
Just look at me. I was drowning. I
was not capable of-- You deserve to
be loved. You do.
RIGGAN
I just wanted to be what you wanted.
(Beat.)
Now I spend every fucking minute
praying to be someone else. Someone
I'm not. Anyone...
MIKE
Put down the gun, Ed. She just doesn't love
you anymore.
RIGGAN
(To Lesley.)
You don't, do you?
LESLEY
(With sympathy.)
No...
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

106.

RIGGAN
And you never will...
I'm sorry.

LESLEY

For the first time, Riggan turns to face the audience. He
smiles the most beautiful insane smile.
RIGGAN
I don't exist. I'm not even here. I don't
exist. None of this matters.
Then he raises a trembling arm, and with his eyes full of
tears, he aims the gun at Mike.
Pum.

RIGGAN (CONT’D)

But he doesn’t shoot. Then he turns and aims at Tabitha
Dickinson who is sitting on the second row.
Pum.

RIGGAN (CONT’D)

Again, no shot. Slowly, Riggan raises the gun toward his own
head, suddenly a frightening explosion. Blood sprays. Riggan
falls. We stay with the shell-shocked audience. A moment of
tension, of uncertainty, until...
Bravo!

MAN

The audience, one by one, jump to their feet, applauding
wildly. The sole exception is Tabitha, who remains seated, a
dazed expression on her face. We stay with the audience a few
seconds longer.
FADE TO BLACK.
The sounds slowly vanish. After a moment of silence...
BIRDMAN (V.O.)
You won't be hearing from him
anymore.
Is he...?
He's gone.

MAN (V.O.)
BIRDMAN (V.O)

10/29/14

107.

INT. WAITING ROOM - HOSPITAL - DAWN
One of the old Birdman films is playing on a small television
screen that hangs on a corner. The scene ends and a Morning
Show host appears. Behind him a picture of Riggan and a
caption that reads: “Nation in shock.” A shot of a candle
vigil in Central park.
HOST
What do we talk about when we talk
about Riggan Thomson? When we come
back, more on the actor who two
nights ago shot himself during the
opening performance of his new
Broadway play...
We pan away from the TV to see that the waiting room is
filled with newsmen waiting for something to happen. There is
almost no room to breath.
We pan to see Jake emerging from an elevator, carrying a
newspaper under his arm. He walks through the dense mass of
newsmen with a serious expression on his face. We follow him
into...
INT. ROOM - HOSPITAL - CONTINUOUS
...a room. Jake peers in. Riggan lies on a bed, the bandages
on his nose cover most of his face. Sylvia is looking out the
window.
Is he...?

JAKE

SYLVIA
He’s awake.
Jake enters the room.
JAKE
(Serious.)
I thought I lost you, buddy. Thank
god you’re a horrible shot! What
the hell happened? I was watching
you up on that stage, and all of a
sudden you get that goofy look in
your eye, and you were just like-He starts to laugh.
SYLVIA
What the hell are you laughing
about? He tried to-- What is wrong
with you?
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

108.

JAKE
I’m happy, okay? He’s alive. My
best friend is alive. And he is the
man of the hour!
Jake holds the New York Times up in the air.
RIGGAN
What is that?
JAKE
You did it.
SYLVIA
(Coming to them.)
You have to be shitting me... She
wrote a review?
Jake unfolds the newspaper and we see the headline of the
review: “The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance”.
JAKE
(To Sylvia.)
Read it.
He hands her the newspaper. She begins to read to herself.
SYLVIA
I don’t believe this...
JAKE
Read it out loud!
SAM
"Thompson has unwittingly given
birth to a new form that can only
be described as supra-realism.
Blood was spilled both literally
and metaphorically by artist and
audience alike. Red blood. The
blood that has been sorely missing
from the veins of the American
theatre..."
(Beat. To a smiling Jake.)
You’re happy about this?
She hands it to Riggan.
JAKE
Happy? I’m fucking euphoric. This
is the-- This is the kind of review
that turns someone into a living
legend.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

109.

SYLVIA
He tried to-- He shot the nose off
his face!
JAKE
He’s got a new nose! And if he
doesn’t like that one, we’ll get
him another one. We can use Meg
Ryan’s guy. Who gives a shit? Turn
on the tv. There are people praying
for him all over the country.
They’re lighting candles in Central
Park. He did it. (To Riggan) You
did it! The play’s gonna run
forever. It’s gonna open in London,
in Paris... The studios will call
us again. We’ll get book offers.
SYLVIA
How do you know all that? You can
see the future?

Yes.

JAKE
(Euphoric.)

She slaps him in the face.
SYLVIA
Did you see that coming? You’re so
full of shit, Jake.
Jake needs a few seconds to recover. Then he looks at Riggan
who just sits there, in silence.
JAKE
Why aren’t you saying anything?
This is what you wanted wasn’t it?
(Riggan gazes at the
review.)
Riggan, this is what you wanted.
RIGGAN
It’s what I wanted.
JAKE
Okay, listen. You’re gonna get hit
with a “brandishing a weapon”
charge. If anybody talks to you, it
was an accident and we’re doing an
internal invest-A newsman comes into the room and takes a quick picture.
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

110.

JAKE (CONT’D)
(Chasing him out.)
This is a hospital you motherfucker!
Jake rushes to the door, shoving the newsman and a few other
paparazzi out the door. Security guards. Chaos. Finally
silence. Sylvia steps up and looks Riggan in the eye.
SYLVIA
Is that what it was? An accident?
Riggan just stares at her. His calm, sad eyes peeking through
the bandages. After a moment his gaze moves over her
shoulder. Sylvia turns and we discover Sam standing in the
doorway holding a bouquet of flowers. A bit of awkward
silence, and Sylvia decides to leave them alone.
She kisses Sam on the head and exits. Sam walks the flowers
to Riggan at the bed. She lays them on his chest.
SAM
Alchemillas.
The hint of a smile on Riggan’s face.
SAM (CONT’D)
Are you actually smiling?
(She smiles.)
What’s so funny?
RIGGAN
I can’t smell them.
A moment until the smiles turn to gentle laughter. She takes
out her cell phone and snaps a picture of him.
RIGGAN (CONT’D)
What are you doing?
SAM
I’m posting this picture on your
Twitter page.
RIGGAN
Very funny...
SAM
Set it up today.
RIGGAN
You’re joking.
I’m not.

SAM
(CONTINUED)

10/29/14

111.

RIGGAN
Let me see the picture.
SAM
Absolutely not. You look hideous.
RIGGAN
Thanks a lot.
SAM
I’m just kidding. No, I’m not. You
look hideous.
(Working on phone.)
You already have 80 thousand
followers. In less than a day. And
I’m about to scare the shit out of
them.
RIGGAN
Let me see.
No. Done.

SAM

A moment between them. Sam picks up the flowers and kisses
him tenderly on the head. Riggan is pleasantly surprised by
that kiss.
SAM (CONT’D)
Now, I’m going to find something to
put these flowers in.
She heads out of the room. Riggan lies there for a moment,
tranquil. After a moment he reaches up and touches his
bandages. Finally, he climbs out of the bed. We follow him
into...
INT. BATHROOM - ROOM - HOSPITAL - CONTINUOUS
...the bathroom. He stands before the mirror. He stares at
his reflection for a few seconds, and slowly begins to remove
the bandages. We can see that Riggan’s nose has been
reconstructed. It is a crooked, incomplete nose, like the one
Javier Bardem has.
RIGGAN
I do look hideous.
In the reflection, Riggan sees Birdman sitting on the toilet.
They look at each other, but say nothing. Riggan puts the
bandages back on and we follow him out to...

10/29/14

112.

INT. ROOM - HOSPITAL - CONTINUOUS
...the room. He looks around, but Sam is gone. He ambles over
to the window, his ass hanging out of the back of his
hospital robe. He opens the window and feels the sun and the
breeze on his swollen face. We just hear the sounds of the
people standing down in the parking lot. Media trucks. Fans.
We stay with Riggan, who seems to be thinking about
something. He sees a flock of birds dancing in the sky. Then
he grabs the side of the window with one hand and begins to
step up onto the sill.
The camera pans away from him to a table that has some photos
propped on it: One of he and Sam when she was a child. One
with Sylvia and Sam. A copy of Carver’s “What we talk About
When We Talk About Love” laying on the surface.
The camera continues to pan until it comes to the door. Sam
enters with a small vase. She looks around...
Dad?

SAM

She goes to the bathroom and peers in... nothing.
Dad...?

SAM (CONT’D)

She spots the opened window and registers the sounds from
outside. Tentatively she walks toward the window. She gets
there, summons her courage and looks down. Nothing. Slowly,
confused, she tilts her head up and looks up into the sky. A
smile, filled with pride, begin to wash over her face.
SMASH TO BLACK

FOXSEARCHLIGHT.COM/AWARDS
Released by Twentieth Century Fox © 2014 Twentieth Century Fox

THE END

Good ScreenPlay

I ruin your day with a horrible screen play and now after so long ride... I am going to put an "END" to all and everything... which did happen in "Deep Legend"?

V For Vendetta

FADE IN:

In the darkness, we hear a voice, a woman's voice. Her name
is Evey.

EVEY (V.O.)
"Remember, remember, the fifth of
November, the gunpowder treason and
plot. I know of now reason why the
gunpowder treason should ever be
forgot."

Her voice has a strength that is metered by a calmness, a
deep centered peace that we can feel.

EVEY (V.O.)
Those were almost the very first
words he spoke to me and, in a way,
that is where this story began,
four hundred years ago, in a cellar
beneath the Houses of Parliament.

In the darkness, we find a lantern. Guy Fawkes, a dangerous
man who wears a goatee, is struggling with a wheelbarrow
stacked with barrels of gunpowder.

EVEY (V.O.)
In 1605, Guy Fawkes attempted to
blow up the Houses of Parliament.

The wheelbarrow bumps over the heavy stone mortar of the
cellar floor. From the dark depths, we hear the sound of
dogs.

EVEY (V.O.)
He was caught in the cellars with
enough gunpowder to level most of
London.

Guy sees lanterns coming from both sides. He tries to run as
the dogs reach him first. He grabs for his sword as dozens
of pole axes pin him against the tunnel's stone wall.

EVEY (V.O.)
Sometimes I wonder where we would
be if he hadn't failed. I wonder
if it would have mattered.

In the dim pre-dawn light, Guy is led to the gallows.

EVEY (V.O.)
I suppose the answer is in the
rhyme. More than the man, what we
must remember is the plot itself.

The coarse noose of rope is snugged up to Guy's throat. He
looks into the crowd until he finds a face, a woman's face,
staring up at him.

EVEY (V.O.)
For in the plot we find more than
just a man, we find the idea of
that man, the spirit of that man,
and that is what we must never
forget.

The lever is thrown and the woman looks down, a tear falling
down her face.

EVEY (V.O.)
This, then, is the story of that
idea, of that spirit that began
with an anarchist's plot four
hundred years ago.

Guy's body hangs in silhouette, lifeless against a red
morning sun.

FADE OUT.

FADE IN:

INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE

A young Evey sits on her father's lap, combing her Barbie's
hair.

EVEY (V.O.)
I was born near the end of the
millennium, the year 1997. My
father used to say that people were
so afraid that the world was going
to end that they were willing it to
happen.

Her father sits beside her mother on the living room couch,
watching the news. From the look on their faces, the news is
bad.

EVEY (V.O.)
I don't remember much of the
century's turn. I don't remember
the market crash or the plague or
any of the Trafalgar riots.

The television flickers with images of heavily armed soldiers
fighting in a shelled city.

EVEY (V.O.)
I've read about them since but I
don't recall how any of them
impacted my life except for the
fear. They would hide it from me,
like a secret between them.

Little Evey sees her father staring at her mother. They
take hold of each other's hand, clasping them tight.

EVEY (V.O.)
But I could feel it.

EXT. CITY STREET

It is a new day. People are gathered along the street as if
they were waiting for a parade.

EVEY (V.O.)
Of the chaos that seemed to swallow
the beginning of the 21st century,
there is one thing I do remember.

Evey holds her father's hand. Unable to see what is coming,
she can hear it.

EVEY (V.O.)
Very clearly, I can remember that
sound.

We hear them, hundreds of marching soldiers.

EVEY (V.O.)
And I remember those boots, black
leather that gleamed bright in the
morning sun. I had never seen such
boots. All moving in perfect
unison.

Little Evey hides in the forest of adults, clinging to her
father's leg, staring as row after row of boots march by with
military precision.

EXT. CITY STREET

In the midst of a political rally for the emerging new party
calling itself Norsefire, we find little Evey now on her
father's shoulders.

Dascombe, a young man, paces the podium, inciting the crowd.

DASCOMBE
The time has come, London, to
return to a bygone age, an age of
tradition, an age of values that
have been disparaged and all but
forgotten. What this country needs
is a leader! A true leader to
remind us of that age. A righteous
leader with the strength of his
moral convictions to do what must
be done. I give you that man! I
give you our leader! Adam Susan!

Adam Susan rises and the crowd cheers. Evey's father looks
at her mother and again they clasp hands.

EVEY (V.O.)
It must have seemed so easy to
them. They offered such a simple
deal; give up control and we will
restore order.

INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE

Little Evey is asleep in her bedroom.

EVEY (V.O.)
At first, the arrests were
political. Dissidents. Radicals.
Liberals.

A loud crash of splintering wood wakes her up.

EVEY (V.O.)
When my parents were younger, they
had been activists. They had
marched with Labor in the great
train strike.

The sound of heavy boots swarms through the house.

LITTLE EVEY
Mommy?

Her bedroom door bursts open and a heavily armed soldier
scoops her up.

She is carried through the dark house which is filled with
soldiers. On the floor of the living room, she sees her
parents being bound with plastic zip-ties.

MOTHER
My daughter! Don't take my
daughter!

FATHER
Evey! Evey!

LITTLE EVEY
Mommy! Daddy!

A heavy black hood is pulled over each of her parent's heads
as Evey is carried out of the house.

EVEY (V.O.)
I never saw them again. Overnight,
my life, my entire world was
erased.

INT. BATHROOM

A nun with a switch in her crossed arms watches as Evey and
several other little girls scrub the floor of a dormitory
bathroom.

EVEY (V.O.)
It was done so quickly and
violently, so completely, that it
began to seem that it had never
even existed.

A tear rolls down Little Evey's cheek.

EXT. HOUSE

A gay man is dragged violently from his Piccadilly home.
Outside, he sees his lover being forced to the cobblestones.

EVEY (V.O.)
The homosexuals were next. What
God had started with AIDS had to be
finished by man. It was God's
work. That's what we were told.

He reaches for him as the clubs rise and fall, vicious and
bloody.

EVEY (V.O.)
But once they were gone, there was
someone else. Someone different.

In another neighborhood, we see the police arresting
Pakistanis.

EVEY (V.O.)
Someone dangerous.

In a different area, young black men are packed into a caged
van so tightly they are unable to move.

EVEY (V.O.)
There were those who understood
what was happening, who knew it was
wrong but who kept silent.

A young detective named Finch looks down as the van pulls
away. When he looks up, another man in a military uniform
whose name is Almond is watching him.

EVEY (V.O.)
And in the vacuum of that silence,
order was imposed.

Finch sticks his pipe in his mouth and turns away.

EXT. STREET

Again, we see the marching boots.

EVEY (V.O.)
Order that was like those boots,
order that required rigorous
discipline. Order that is exactly
the same, where each single step
falls with every step. The order
of the many shaped into one.

We move through the columns of marching soldiers to a wall
where a poster has been plastered up. The poster reads,
"Strength Through Purity, Purity Through Faith."

EVEY (V.O.)
Somehow in my heart, I knew it
wouldn't last.

As the sound of the marching fades, a shadow falls over the
sign.

After a moment, we hear the hiss of spray paint.

EVEY (V.O.)
What they thought they had crushed,
the spirit they believed trampled
and ground beneath the marching of
their boots, rose up, rose as if
from a four hundred year old grave,
rose to remind us all that day.

The shadow sprays a "V" over the poster.

FADE OUT.

FADE IN:

Close on a loudspeaker. There is one on every major street
corner.

FATE (V.O.)
Good evening, London. It's nine
o'clock, the fourth of November in
the year 2019 and this is the voice
of Fate broadcasting on 275 and 285
of the medium wave.

Beneath the loudspeaker is a surveillance system labeled,
"For your protection."

Bubble eyed lenses iris at the end of stalks that move,
insect-like, racheting and clicking as they watch a little
girl pedal her bicycle. The little girl glances nervously
over her shoulder up at the mechanical eyes watching her.

FATE (V.O.)
People of London, be advised --

EXT. EVEY'S APARTMENT

There is a radio on a small makeup table.

FATE (V.O.)
-- that Braxton and Streathon are
quarantine zones as of today.

Evey is now a young woman. She slips into a dress that is
little more than a nightgown. She tries to adjust it,
pulling it down at the hem, pulling it up at the thin
shoulder straps, but it is like trying to hide behind a
lamppost.

FATE (V.O.)
It is suggested that these area be
avoided for reasons of health and
safety.

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

Another radio in a room that seems to be of another world.

FATE (V.O.)
Good news following the
productivity reports from
Herefordshire indicating a possible
end to meat rationing starting mid
February.

A man enters the room as he once entered the world. His body
is lean and strong and though we do not see his face, there
is a strength in his carriage, a power to his presence.

INT. EVEY'S APARTMENT

She packs tissue paper into the toes of a pair of high heels
that are too big for her.

FATE (V.O.)
Police raided seventeen homes in
the Birmingham area, uncovering
what is believed to be a major
terrorist ring.

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

We move over a dressing bureau, past a wig and over a pair of
black leather gloves, moving until we find the mask; it is
like something from the masquerade ball of another era. It
has an exaggerated goatee, harlequin cheeks and a smile,
forever fixed, at once be-guiling and be-deviling.

FATE (V.O.)
Twenty eight people, eight of them
women, are currently in detention
awaiting trial.

INT. EVEY'S APARTMENT

Evey coats her lips with a lascivious red. She stares into
the mirror, her makeup like a mask over her own face.

FATE (V.O.)
And that is the face of London
tonight.

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

The man, now fully dressed in cloak, hat, and mask gazes into
the mirror.

This is V.

FATE (V.O.)
And this is the voice of Fate
signing off and bidding you a
pleasant evening.

EXT. CITY STREET

Close on Evey's high heels, stumbling and awkward as she
walks down a dark cobblestoned street.

EXT. CITY STREET

Close on V's boots walking in the opposite direction so that
it seems they are walking towards each other.

EVEY (V.O.)
I don't know what brought us
together that night. I had never
been to that part of Westminster
but ever since I've known him, I've
stopped believing in coincidence.

EXT. CITY STREET

Evey looks up and sees a man standing mostly in shadow.

EVEY
Excuse me? Uh... excuse me,
Mister?

The man turns around. It is not V.

EVEY
Would you like... uh, would you
like to sleep with me?

He smiles.

EVEY
I mean, for money.

MAN
That is the clumsiest bit of
propositioning I've ever heard.

EVEY
Oh god, I'm sorry.

MAN
Is this your first time, darling?

EVEY
Yes, no, I mean for money. But I
know what you want and I'll do it.

She presses her body to his, using her little girl eyes and
her woman's mouth.

EVEY
Anything you want, mister. Please,
I need the money. I know I'm young
but I promise I know what I'm
doing.

MAN
No. You don't know what you're
doing.

He pulls out his wallet and shows her a badge. The sight of
it knocks the breath out of her.

EVEY
Christ, you're a Fingerman.

FINGERMAN 1
Give the little lady a prize.

FINGERMAN 2
I've got something to give her.

Evey turns and there are more Fingermen behind her.

FINGERMAN 1
Prostitution is a class H offense.
Know what that means? It means
that we get to exercise our own
judicial discretion --

FINGERMAN 2
And you get to swallow it.

The Fingermen laugh.

EVEY
Oh god, please. It's my first
time. Please don't hurt me.

FINGERMAN 1
Gosh, fellas, look at those big
innocent eyes. What do you think?

FINGERMAN 3
Spare the rod, spoil the child.

Fingerman 2 laughs hard as he drops his pants.

EVEY
Oh no!

He shoves her face first against a brick wall, lifting her
dress to expose her bottom.

EVEY
Please, don't!

FINGERMAN 3
You heard the man, sweetie. This
rod's for your own good.

Suddenly, they are no longer alone.

V
"The multiplying villainies of
nature do swarm upon him."

FINGERMAN 3
What the hell --

V
"And fortune, on his damned
quarrel, smiling, showed like a
rebel's whore."

FINGERMAN 1
We're police officers, pal.

FINGERMAN 4
We're with the Finger.

FINGERMAN 3
So bugger off!

V
"Disdaining fortune with his
brandished steel, which smoked with
bloody execution."

In the clenched fist of black leather, we see a flash of
steel.

FINGERMAN 1
He's got a knife!

V attacks and at once we know this is no normal human being.
A single blow sends the largest of the Fingermen flying
backwards.

But more than his strength, it is his speed.

A gun is cocked but before the hammer falls, a knife is
buried in the Fingerman's chest and --

Before the body falls, the knife is gone.

It takes a handful of seconds and three bodies lay on the
ground. V turns to the last Fingerman who is struggling to
pull his pants up.

FINGERMAN 3
Jesus Christ! Don't hurt me!

V steps forward and he screams, bolting while holding his
pants up.

V
Good evening.

EVEY
Who -- Who are you?

V
Me? I imagine all manner of names
shall be heaped upon my humble
visage but, for now, let us simply
say I am the villain.

He throws wide his cloak and bows deeply to her.

V
And you would be?

EVEY
Evey.

V
Of course.

They hear sirens rushing towards them. In a blink, he scoops
her up and dashes into the shadows of a narrow alleyway.

EXT. ROOFTOPS

Police cars and several ambulances swarm over the area with
the dead Fingermen.

V watches them from above.

EVEY
Why did you do that? Why did
you... help me?

V
Why indeed?

He takes out an old antique pocket watch. It is almost
midnight.

V
Almost time.

EVEY
For what?

V
For the music.

EVEY
Music?

V
Yes, music. My music. You see.
Evey, I am a performer.

EVEY
Is that why you're wearing a mask?

V
We all wear masks. Life creates
them and forces us to find the one
that fits. Do you know what day it
is?

EVEY
Uh... November fourth.

V
Not for long.

He looks out where, rising above the rooftops, he can see Big
Ben.

V
"Remember, remember, the fifth of
November, the gunpowder treason and
plot. I know of no reason why the
gunpowder treason should ever be
forgot."

The second hand sweeps into the final minute.

V
Tell me, Evey, what good is an
actor that plays his part to an
empty theatre?

EVEY
I don't know.

V
Nor do I. That's why you are here.
I need you, Evey. I need someone
to listen.

EVEY
To your music?

V
Yes. Yes, to my music.

From his sleeve, he pulls a conductor's wand.

V
Can you hear it? It's already
begun.

He begins to lightly tap the wand in the air and, very
faintly, we hear it.

EVEY
I can't hear anything.

V
At first, you have to listen very
carefully...

He continues to conduct and we begin to hear the music,
violins and horns that seem almost like a whisper or a wind
that steadily swells.

V
Ahh, yes. There it is. Beautiful,
is it not?

He turns to the parapet, his gestures growing grander as the
music rises and we recognize Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture.

The music mounts a climax and V points the wand at Big Ben as
cymbals crash --

Big Ben explodes with such force the world seems to shake,
while --

V, smiling, always smiling, points again with another
crescendo and --

The statue of justice is blown to smithereens.

V nods in appreciation while mustering the music towards it's
finale as fireworks begin lighting up the sky.

EVEY
Oh my...

Everywhere across the city, people stand transfixed by the
dazzling shimmer of the fireworks until --

A strobing final blitz leaves a single, starry image floating
in the smoke filled sky.

It is the letter V.

EVEY
It's beautiful...

V
Thank you.

From every direction, the city screams with the panicked
sound of sirens.

EXT. NEW GOVERNMENT BUILDING

A massive modern building that is the seat of the new
government.

A long, black car pulls up to the entrance. Adam Susan gets
out, wearing a long black trenchcoat over his pajamas. He is
the Leader and he looks older, heavier, and meaner.

He hurries past the heavily armed guards, barely
acknowledging the snap and cock of their Nazi-like salute.

INT. LEADER'S OFFICE

The Leader enters his main chambers and we see the Fate
computer system.

It is a cerebral cortex for a vast intelligence network.
Information can almost be felt coursing through its hard
drives.

The Leader sits, at once regaining a measure of composure.
He takes a deep calming breath and accesses the system.

Dozens of monitors fill with images from all across the city,
most of them are of the damage caused by V.

LEADER
Gentlemen, I will hear your reports
now. Mr. Heyer, speak for the Eye.

Conrad Heyer appears on one of the screens. He is at his
desk inside the command center for the Eye, the governmental
organization responsible for the visual surveillance systems.

CONRAD
We have less than two minutes of
usable footage, Leader. It took
the suspect less than a minute to
dispatch the Finger's vice patrol.

On an insert screen, we see grainy footage of V rescuing Evey
from one of the pole-mounted cameras.

CONRAD
As you can see, the suspect's
reflex speed is extraordinary. As
is his strength.

As the last body falls, V seems to pause and looks back over
his shoulder straight into the camera.

LEADER
Freeze it!

The Leader stares at the smiling face.

CONRAD
I'm afraid the mask makes retinal
identification impossible.

LEADER
Mr. Etheridge, report for the Ear!

Bunny Etheridge appears on another screen. Behind him, huge
spooling reels of audiotape wind constantly.

ETHERIDGE
We were able to triangulate the
origin of the fireworks. We also
are currently monitoring a lot of
phone surveillance indicating a
high percentage of conversation
concerned with the explosions. All
suspect or significant transcripts
are being forwarded to Mr. Almond.

LEADER
Very good. Mr. Finch, speak for
the Nose.

Finch, no longer the same young man, stands at the site of
the fireworks launch.

FINCH
Thanks to Etheridge, we found the
launch for the fireworks. These
appear to be individually weighted
flares and we have found traces of
the same chemicals at both of the
detonation sites which leads us to
conclude that, despite a level of
sophistication, these devices are
all home-made with over the counter
chemicals, making them impossible
to trace. Whoever he is, Leader,
he's good.

LEADER
Thank you for that professional
annotation.

An intercom opens.

LIEUTENANT (V.O.)
Leader, Mr. Almond has arrived.

LEADER
Very good. Gentlemen, keep me
informed of any further
developments. England prevails.

They answer in unison as Almond enters the office. His face
is harder but he has the same violent gleam in his eye.

The Leader turns in his chair.

LEADER
Mr. Almond, do you know what this
is behind me?

ALMOND
Uh... the Fate computer system,
sir?

LEADER
No. No sir. It's more than that.
This, this computer is a symbol,
Mr. Almond. A symbol of the
highest attainable goal of mankind.
Do you know what that goal is, Mr.
Almond?

Almond does not. The Leader leaps from his chair while
pounding the desk.

LEADER
Control, Mr. Almond! Control! The
world around us is a changing,
directionless, amoral morass and it
is up to man and man alone to set
things right!

He moves around the desk at Almond.

LEADER
Without control, man is nothing
more than any other stinking,
sweating, brute animal. Control,
Mr. Almond. The control that we
have painstakingly built up over
the last ten years. Now, do you
understand what happened last
night?

ALMOND
We... lost control.

LEADER
Yes, Mr. Almond. Last night
someone did the unthinkable.
Someone hurt us. It is imperative
that we act swiftly and precisely.
I want that man found, Mr. Almond.
I want his head or, by god, I'll
have yours.

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

Evey is wearing a blindfold and V leads her by her
fingertips, guiding her almost as if they were dancing...

His fingers slip free of her and she reaches out.

EVEY
Wait. I've lost you.

V
No, you haven't.

He is behind her and he removes the blindfold, revealing his
house to her.

EVEY
Oh...

It is a labyrinth of interconnecting underground tunnels and
rooms.

The gallery is the main room as it is filled with an amazing
collection of human culture. There is art that spans from
the renaissance to the painted covers of Eerie comics,
literature that ranges from Shakespeare to Spillane,
philosophy from Plato to Bukowski, and a vast collection of
nonfiction.

There are movie posters everywhere and an entire wall is
lined with videocassettes.

A jukebox stands in front of an enormous vinyl and CD
collection of music.

EVEY
A jukebox? Where did you get it?

V
I saved it. Like everything here.

She punches a button and Billie Holiday begins to sing.

EVEY
Oh, it's beautiful. I've never
heard anything like it.

V
Of course not. You grew up in
their world. Art is created by
individuals and there are no
individuals in a world where you
are told what to think.

EVEY
This place is amazing.

V
You're welcome to stay.

She stops suddenly and looks at him. The offer is terribly
exciting but it is so unlike anything she has ever done that
it's almost impossible to imagine.

EVEY
Stay here... with you?

V
Yes. If you like.

EVEY
I... I don't even know your name.

V
I don't have a name. But you can
call me V.

EVEY
V? V... I like that.

And she returns his smile.

EXT. JORDAN TOWER

The only operating broadcast tower in London; home of the
Mouth.

INT. RADIO BROADCAST BOOTH

Lewis Prothero leans forward and lets his voice pour like
syrup over the microphone.

PROTHERO
Good morning, London. This is the
voice of Fate -- Damn.

He stops and coughs.

PROTHERO
Good morning -- ack. Good morning
Lond-- Goddammit! Where is my
bloody tea?!

In the control booth, Roger Dascombe, his hair thinner now,
rubs his temple.

DASCOMBE
Would someone get his lordship his
bloody tea?

He clicks on the microphone.

DASCOMBE
Lewis, they want this report on the
first hour --

PROTHERO
I know. I know. Damned
inconvenient this entire affair.
Fine. Let's try again.

He clears his voice and the red "record" light turns on.

PROTHERO
Good morning, London. It is 6 am,
the fifth of November 2019 and this
is the voice of Fate. The new day
brings good news and bright
prospects from overseas, where
negotiations with New China are
moving in a positive direction.
Last night's scheduled demolition
of two deteriorating landmarks went
off without a hitch.

Dascombe is unable to stop himself from smiling.

PROTHERO
Spokesman for the Interior ministry
said both structures were severely
damaged and judged to be a danger
to the unsuspecting public. Plans
for new landmarks are well
underway.

Prothero sits back, shaking his head.

PROTHERO
Do you believe this crap, Dascombe?

DASCOMBE
It's not our job to believe it,
Lewis. Our job is to tell the
people --

PROTHERO
"Exactly what they tell us." I
Know but do you think that people
will believe it?

DASCOMBE
They will if it's you that's
telling it to them. Now let's try
it again.

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

V is alone, listening to the first morning broadcast.

PROTHERO (V.O.)
... plans for new landmarks are
already well underway.

He clicks off the radio. Walking down a hall, he stops and
peers into Evey's new bedroom.

She is fast asleep, looking remarkably at peace. Quietly, he
shuts the door.

EXT. TRAIN STATION

People are hurrying to board a departing train.

INT. TRAIN CAR

Prothero is staring out his window.

PROTHERO
"Remember, remember, the fifth of
November..."

He talks to his bodyguards almost as if talking to himself.

PROTHERO
Do you suppose that's why he did
it?

BODYGUARD 1
Sir, who did what, sir?

PROTHERO
Guy Fawkes. He tried to blow up
Parliament.

The guards look at each other, confused.

PROTHERO
Don't they teach history in school
anymore?

BODYGUARD 1
Sir, we're both straight military,
sir.

BODYGUARD 2
Sir, yes, sir. I was fighting in
Ireland by the time I was sixteen.

PROTHERO
Yes, of course. My mistake.

He turns back to his window.

EXT. RAILROAD

The train rumbles along, heading for a tunnel.

INT. TRAIN CAR

Prothero watches the countryside rolling past.

PROTHERO
I love trains. I remember riding
the underground with my father.
Shame they shut them all down.

Bodyguard 1 looks out the opposite window just as the train
enters the tunnel.

BODYGUARD 1
What the hell's that!

EXT. TRAIN

For a flashing instant, we see V in silhouette, cloak
swirling around him like dark wings as he jumps from the
bridge onto the train.

INT. TRAIN CAR

Prothero and Bodyguard 2 stare at Bodyguard 1.

BODYGUARD 1
I thought I saw a man jumping onto
the train.

BODYGUARD 2
The train's doing almost seventy.
It would break his legs.

BODYGUARD 1
You're right, I... It must have
been rags.

EXT. TRAIN

Deep in the tunnel, a dark figure glides across the rooftops.

INT. CONDUCTOR'S CAB

The conductor hears something on the roof. He peers up just
as V swings down, smashing feet first into the cab.

INT. TRAIN CAR

The brakes suddenly lock, throwing Bodyguard 2 into Prothero.

PROTHERO
Get off of me!

A moment later, the lights are cut off and the entire train
is plunged into complete darkness.

BODYGUARD 2
What the fuck is going on?

BODYGUARD 1
Lock the car doors.

PROTHERO
I have a lighter... somewhere...

BODYGUARD 2
I can't find the lock -- wait. Hey
wha--

There is a muffled shriek followed by a sharp snap.

BODYGUARD 1
What's happening --

There is another sound, like the leather slap of a boxer
pounding a heavy bag, followed by the sound of the heavy bag
collapsing onto the floor.

PROTHERO
I found it!

He flicks on the lighter and, in the dim light of its flame,
he sees the smiling face.

PROTHERO
Oh god.

V sits casually, arms folded, across from Prothero. The
bodyguards lay dead on the floor.

PROTHERO
Who are you? What do you want?
Money? Is that it?

V just smiles.

PROTHERO
Wait, wait. You're, you're the one
that blew the Bailey.

V nods and Prothero's eyes go wide.

PROTHERO
You're making a mistake. I'm
nobody --

On the floor, he sees the bodyguard's gun. He kills the
lighter and dives for it.

In the darkness, we hear the struggle. It ends quickly.
When the lighter flicks back on, V is holding it and the gun.

PROTHERO
Oh god, what do you want?

V
I've come to offer you a choice.
Commander Prothero.

PROTHERO
What -- What did you call me?

V
Commander Prothero.

Prothero's heart begins to pound.

V
That was your title at Larkhill.
You remember Larkhill, don't you,
Commander?

EXT. LARKHILL RESETTLEMENT CAMP - FLASHBACK

A sign reads, "Larkhill Resettlement Camp."

V (V.O.)
Where they sent the undesirables.

A caged truck packed with minorities rolls into the gates
which are topped with spools of razor wire.

INT. TRAIN CAR

Prothero is sweating.

PROTHERO
I don't know what you're talking
about.

V
Maybe I can help your memory.
Let's see. Larkhill opened in the
summer of 2009. You were appointed
it commander. You wore a uniform
in those days. You looked very
good in it.

INT. LARKHILL - PROTHERO'S OFFICE - FLASHBACK

Prothero admires his uniform in the mirror.

V (V.O.)
You were a man of many
responsibilities. You made sure
Larkhill made all its quotas,
especially the oven quotas even
though they required an excessive
amount of maintenance.

EXT. LARKHILL OVENS - FLASHBACK

We see a detail of black and Indian men, shoveling mounds of
black ash from a series of furnace like ovens.

As the shovels lift, we see blackened bones and burnt skulls.

EXT. LARKHILL MAIN YARD - FLASHBACK

Prothero saunters through the lines of camp prisoners.

V (V.O.)
But there was one task you took to
with exceptional relish. Remember
the medical block, Commander? I
believe you called it the funny
farm. You were the one that
selected the prisoners. You hand
picked each one.

Prothero steps in front of a woman who remains beautiful
despite the suffering she has endured. Prothero smiles.

PROTHERO
Her.

As the guards grab her, we become aware of a man that is
staring at Prothero. He is one of the prisoners but we do
not see his face.

Prothero notices the man. He doesn't like the way the man is
staring at him.

PROTHERO
You.

INT. TRAIN CAR

Prothero is terrified.

PROTHERO
You! You're him, aren't you?

V nods.

PROTHERO
Oh my god! What are you going to
do?

V
You gave us a choice, remember,
Commander? You said we could
cooperate with the doctors or...

V cocks the gun.

V
Hold out your hand.

Trembling, Prothero sticks out his hand. V lets the light
die for a moment.

When he flicks it back on, Prothero is holding a long, metal
syringe filled with a murky liquid.

PROTHERO
Oh no, no! Please I was just doing
what I was told!

V
Of course you were. Now I'm
telling you to make a choice.
Either you stick that syringe into
your neck or --

He presses the gun barrel to Prothero's forehead.

V
I can kill you right now.

Prothero begins to blubber.

V
Crying doesn't help, Commander. I
remember there was a woman who had
been screaming for two days. You
winked at the doctor and laughed,
"All in the name of science."

PROTHERO
Please, don't make me do this...

V
It's a difficult choice, isn't it?
Certain death versus something that
might be... worse. But you never
know. There is still a chance.
You could survive. Look at me.
Now, time's up, Commander. Choose.

Anger galvanizes his fear and steadily Prothero lifts the
needle towards his neck.

PROTHERO
I'll see you in hell.

He jams the needle in and sinks the plunger.

V
Yes. I'm quite sure you will.

INT. TRAIN

Train workers with flashlights hurry through the cars.

TRAIN MAN
This door's locked!

He slams a shoulder against it and the door gives in.

TRAIN MAN
Holy Christ!

Flashlights sweep over the dead bodyguards. The train man
hears a strange gurgling rasp and he turns, finding Prothero
in his light.

TRAIN MAN
What happened here?

Prothero is foaming at the mouth while a thick mucus bubbles
from his nose. His breath comes in tiny rasps.

TRAIN MAN
Good lord! I need a medic here.

Prothero becomes more animate, trying to tell the man
something.

PROTHERO
Fi... Fi... Fi...

TRAIN MAN 2
He's trying to say something.

PROTHERO
Five.

TRAIN MAN 1
Five? Where's the goddamn medic?

PROTHERO
Room five.

Suddenly, his body convulses and blood pours out his ears.
His body slumps over.

TRAIN MAN 2
I think he needs a priest.

EXT. TRAIN STATION

The station is swarming with police. A stretcher wheels a
body in a black plastic bag out from Prothero's car.

INT. TRAIN CAR

Finch puffs on his pipe, staring at something spray painted
on the wall of the train car: a "V" with a circle around it.

DOMINIC
What do you make of this, Mr.
Finch?

Dominic, Finch's younger assistant, is holding a flower in
his rubber gloved hand.

FINCH
Hmm. It's a rose. A violet
carson, I believe. Strange.

DOMINIC
Strange?

FINCH
I didn't think they still existed.

SOLDIER
Mr. Finch! Sir!

Finch turns as a soldier with a radio steps into the car.

SOLDIER
Sir, they want you at headquarters,
sir.

FINCH
Now?

SOLDIER
Yes, sir. I'm to transport you
immediately.

FINCH
Send the rose to the lab. Also,
scrape a sample of this paint and
have it analyzed as well. I'll be
back as soon as I can.

INT. LEADER'S OFFICE

The door opens and Finch steps in.

LEADER
Ah, Mr. Finch. I sent for you
because what I have to say cannot
be said over a phone or a radio.
What I have to say cannot leave
these four walls. Do I make myself
clear?

FINCH
Yes, sir.

LEADER
I believe in a few things, Mr.
Finch. I believe in god. I
believe in the destiny of the
Nordic race. And I believe in
fascism. The romans invented
fascism. They had a symbol for it;
a bundle of twigs bound together.
One twig could be broken but a
bundle would prevail. That is the
heart and soul of fascism.
Strength in unity. I tell you
these things knowing full well that
they make you uncomfortable.

FINCH
Well, I...

LEADER
You have in fact expressed your
discomfort in several arrest
reports, arrests that were, in your
opinion, "unnecessary." The fact
that you are here, that you are not
rotting in a prison cell, is a mark
of my respect and admiration for
you, for your craft, and for what
you have done for this country.

Finch looks at the ground.

LEADER
It is also because I know you,
Finch. I know what you are.
You're a man like me. A man who
understands when they are given a
job what must be done. I
understand you, Finch, and that is
why I can trust you.

He moves in close to Finch.

LEADER
This terrorist knows us, Finch.
These attacks are perfectly
calculated and they are divisive.
He knows what he's doing, Finch.
He knows us all too well.

FINCH
You think he's an insider?

LEADER
What I think is that this man must
be stopped. Stopped at all costs
and no one, I repeat, no one is to
be placed above suspicion. Do I
make myself clear?

FINCH
Perfectly.

LEADER
England prevails, Mr. Finch.

FINCH
England prevails.

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

Evey, alone in the Shadow Gallery, stares up at the
inscription above the crooked staircase.

EVEY
V, v, v, v, v.

V
I hear your summons, my lady. And
obey.

She jumps, V suddenly appearing behind her.

EVEY
Oh, V, you scared me.

She turns back to the carving.

EVEY
I was reading the inscription.
What is it?

V
A Latin quotation. A motto. "Vi
veri veniversum vivus vici." "By
the power of truth, I, while
living, have conquered the
universe."

She nods.

EVEY
Yes, I suppose you have. This
place is the only universe I have
right now.

V
Does that bother you?

EVEY
I don't know. I'm so grateful to
you -- I just feel I should help
you, you know, the way you're
helping me. I mean, that's the
deal, isn't it?

V drifts over to the big old Wurlitzer, fingers scanning the
song list.

V
No deals, Evey. Not unless you
want them.

She looks up at the inscription as an old blues song begins
to play.

EVEY
I think I do. Part of me wants to
stay here forever and never have to
face what's going on outside. But
that's not right. Is it? That's
not taking responsibility. Not
conquering my universe.

She turns to him.

EVEY
I want to help you, V. I want to
do something. Can we make a deal?

V
Yes. I think we can make a deal if
you like. I think I know a way you
could help me very soon indeed.

Evey smiles nervously.

EVEY
Good. That's that, then.

The blues song curls in the air around them like a heavy
incense.

EVEY
V, you said that Latin thing was a
quote. Who said it?

V
Nobody you'd have heard of. A
German gentleman named Dr. John
Faust.

He spins her.

V
He made a deal too.

EXT. WESTMINSTER ABBEY - DAY

The church doors have opened with the flow of parishioners as
the final mass of the day has ended.

The tide slowly pours out onto the sidewalk, separating
around the clumps of people that conglomerate to network and
gossip.

Church bells toll in the orange dusk above them.

Helen Heyer, a woman whose spite and guile are hidden behind
her looks and clothes she drapes them with, charges into the
gossipers, her trophy husband in tow, a timid looking man
that we recognize as Conrad Heyer.

CONRAD
Hello, Rosemary. Derek, how --

Helen's head snaps over at the mention of the name.

HELEN
Derek!

She pushes past Conrad, giving Derek Almond an exuberant kiss
on both cheeks.

HELEN
Darling, how are you? Hello,
Rosemary.

Always behind her husband, Rosemary Almond smiles nervously
as she straightens her drab church dress.

ROSEMARY
Hello.

DEREK
It's so good to see you. Since
this bloody terrorist business, the
old man has me literally chained to
the office.

Helen pouts at him.

HELEN
Oh, you poor dear.

Derek taps the bottom of his cigarette box, drawing one with
his lips.

DEREK
It comes with the job. How are
things in the Eye, Conrad?

CONRAD
Well, we've been working some bugs
out of the new Mark IX fiber optic
network, actually --

HELEN
Oh, Conrad, don't be such a bloody
bore. Do tell us about the
terrorist, Derek. Is it true he
blew up Big Ben and the old Bailey?

DEREK
I'm afraid so. We're dealing with
a pathological psychotic in the
most extreme case. We'll catch him
though. I promise.

Helen rubs her white sable against her body.

HELEN
Oh, it sounds dreadfully exciting.
Aren't you glad you've got such a
ruthless, implacable brute for a
husband, Rosemary?

ROSEMARY
Yes, well --

HELEN
Believe me, you're lucky. You
could be struck with a professional
peeping tom like Conrad. England's
highest paid voyeur, aren't you
darling?

CONRAD
Helen, I think we'd better --

HELEN
Oh yes, of course. We have to get
back so the little pervert can
watch what the neighbors do after
Sunday lunch. He's so exciting.

Derek laughs as they climb into their car.

HELEN
Ciao!

DEREK
Goodbye, Helen. Conrad.

Rosemary waves as it pulls off.

ROSEMARY
She's a bit hard on him, isn't she?

Derek sneers at her.

DEREK
Until you're half the woman of
Helen's sophistication, I'd keep
your little mouth shut.

He throws the cigarette at her feet.

DEREK
Really, just look at the way you
dress.

INT. WESTMINSTER ABBEY

From above, a hand sweeps aside the red plush curtain.

LILLIMAN
Ah, there they go. My happy and
contented flock. Spiritually
refreshed and ready to face the
world again.

Bishop Anthony Lilliman is a slender man of pious elegance
with a warm, beautiful smile.

He turns from the window to his valet, Dennis, as Derek and
Rosemary get in their car.

LILLIMAN
Did you enjoy the sermon today,
Dennis?

DENNIS
Very inspiring, your grace. Though
the segue of the forces of Satan
among us did strike me as a bit of
a curious digression.

He whisks a lint brush over the Bishop's robes before putting
them away.

LILLIMAN
Hmm, yes. A trifle purple, I
thought. Still, Fate wanted it
included and who are we to question
the will of the almighty, miserable
sinners that we are?

A gentle smile spreads across his mouth.

LILLIMAN
And speaking of sin, I wonder which
of the seven deadlies the good lord
will see fit to tempt me with
today.

Dennis finishes with the Bishop's robes and sweeps the closet
door shut.

DENNIS
Perhaps pride, your grace.

Lilliman chuckles.

LILLIMAN
I was thinking of something a
little less ethereal. Has the
young lady arrived?

DENNIS
The agency informed me she'll be
here directly. However, there was
a mixup. It's not one of the usual
girls. She's a little older.

LILLIMAN
Oh dear. Oh dear. Not too old, I
trust?

DENNIS
They promise me she's no more than
fifteen.

LILLIMAN
Fifteen, hmm.

The Bishop rubs his cheek, ponderously.

LILLIMAN
Ah well, if Job could bear his
disappointments, I suppose I must
have the good grace to bear mine.
Show her in when she arrives.

DENNIS
Yes, your grace.

EXT. WESTMINSTER ABBEY - NIGHT

A pair of headlights melt through the heavy night's fog as a
taxicab pulls into the circle drive.

INT. BISHOP'S QUARTERS

Dennis peers into the Bishop's living quarters.

DENNIS
The young lady, your grace.

LILLIMAN
Oh my!

Standing next to Dennis is Evey, wearing a frilly pink summer
dress, pigtails and bows and white ruffled socks.

LILLIMAN
And to think I doubted your
loveliness for even an instant.
Mea culpa, my child, mea culpa.
You are a vision. An angel.

Evey smiles awkwardly.

EVEY
Uh... thank you.

EXT. WESTMINSTER ABBEY - NIGHT

A shadow begins moving across the manicured grounds borne on
the thick mist like a dark phantom. V glides toward the
rectory, cloak undulating against the dark, wet wind.

INT. BISHOP'S BEDROOM

It is extravagantly furnished, somewhere between posh and
pimp. The Bishop is sitting very close to Evey on his plush
water bed.

LILLIMAN
Of course, "hate the sin, love the
sinner." I always say. Take your
dress off, please.

Evey stammers, backing up along the bedside.

EVEY
Listen -- I was kind of hoping --

He paws at her, groping hands pushing the front of her dress
down as she backs up against the nightstand.

EVEY
No --

EXT. MAIN GATE - NIGHT

The guards look out into the night, fear suddenly gripping
their faces.

V emerges demonically through the parting veils of fog, the
white smiling mask bobbing eerily up and down as he rushes
them.

A cigarette drops from the first guard's mouth, red embers
exploding when it hits the wet cement.

Close as the two guards claw for their arms and the white hot
flash of V's knives --

That slice like talons.

The two men crumple to the ground, clutching their gaping,
gurgling wounds. A whisper. V sprints into the courtyard.

INT. BISHOP'S BEDROOM

Evey grabs a metal table lamp and swings it down on the
Bishop's head. There is a shuddering clank and he collapses
to the floor.

LILLIMAN
You -- You filthy whore!

His blood speckles the white bearskin throw rug as the Bishop
slowly rises after the retreating Evey.

LILLIMAN
I'll kill you, you fucking sow.

He charges after her but freezes dead in his tracks as V
swings around the corner in front of him.

LILLIMAN
What's this? Who --

V
Please allow me to introduce
myself...

V bows.

V
I'm a man of wealth and taste.

LILLIMAN
Dennis?

Instantly, the point of one of V's knives is against the
Bishop's throat. V presses a finger to his frozen smile.

V
Shh. It isn't polite to disturb
the dead on their journey.

Evey watches from around the corner.

V
A courtesy I'll most respectfully
extend to his grace.

EVEY
V?

Lilliman swallows audibly.

EVEY
V, what are you doing?

V
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici,
Evey.

Evey looks down at the knives on his belt, dripping blood.

EVEY
Oh no.

She begins backing to the door.

EVEY
You can't kill him!

V
Death has followed his grace the
whole of his career. Is it any
coincidence it has finally followed
him here?

EVEY
Oh god, V. I can't -- I can't --

V turns back to Lilliman as Evey runs.

V
Let us pray.

EXT. WESTMINSTER ABBEY - NIGHT

Evey sprints past the dead guards at the man gate and into
the fog.

INT. THE EAR

A cramped control room that looks like something between a
radio and television switching room, though it does not
broadcast. It receives.

Two operators sit at the main substation as the sounds of
lovemaking come over the speakers. The moans are stifled and
low, however, as if they were afraid someone was listening.

OPERATOR 1
Bloody hell. Doesn't anybody fuck
with feeling anymore?

Operator 2 does not look at him, scrolling through an
intricate city map on his computer.

OPERATOR 2
Hey, it's Sunday. Children's hour
over at the Abbey.

OPERATOR 1
Let's see what that filthy old
pervert is up to.

Operator 1 punches in some coordinates and the sound over the
speakers changes to a garbled fart of noise. Two voices
drown beneath a cacophony of classical music.

OPERATOR 1
What the --

He tries to dial out the background and suddenly the voices
rise clearly above the din.

VOICE 1
... And I saw a black shape against
the flames. Oh god. It's you.
The man from room five. You've
come --

VOICE 2
To collect what's mine.

VOICE 1
I beg you! I don't want to die!
Please have mercy!

The two men look at each other, Operator 1 lunging for a red
phone.

OPERATOR 1
Get me the Finger. This is an
emergency!

EXT. BISHOP'S QUARTERS - NIGHT

Close on a stain of white vomit and blood on the thick pile
of a Persian rug. It is encircled in police chalk.

Pull back to reveal the chalk outline where the body of
Bishop Lilliman was found. The circled bloodstain floats
above the head like the last word balloon of a crude comic
strip character.

The Bishop's quarters is slowly being picked over by a
forensic team from the Nose. A photographer's flash bursts
against a painted "V" on the wall near the body outline.

At the window, Finch chews on his pipe, staring at a plastic
evidence bag that contains a single violet carson rose.

DOMINIC
No prints yet, sir. Just like
Prothero.

FINCH
I want those tapes from the Ear in
my office tonight, Dominic.

DOMINIC
Yes, sir. They're on top of it.

Finch turns to a muscular man named Creedy, second in command
at the Finger.

FINCH
Any word from your superior, Mr.
Creedy?

CREEDY
Mr. Almond doesn't seem to be
answering his page, sir. I'm sure
he's in the field.

FINCH
Quite.

INT. CONRAD HEYER'S BEDROOM

Grunting like an animal, Derek's face is frozen, locked in
the rigor of a violent orgasm. After a moment, he collapses
beside Helen onto the sweat soaked sheets.

HELEN
There you go, baby. Now my baby
boy can think so much clearer.
Can't he?

She grabs her cigarette case and her lighter.

HELEN
You have been thinking, haven't
you?

She straddles his chest then lights two cigarettes.

HELEN
I know you have. Ever since this
terrorist appeared.

He smiles as she puts one of the cigarettes in his mouth.

HELEN
Oh jesus, that smile. That smile
turns me on like nothing else.

She whispers in his ear.

HELEN
Tell me. Tell me what's going on
in that ruthless sadistic brain of
yours.

DEREK
Everyone is so worried about the
terrorist. Especially Susan. You
know why? Because nobody knows
what he's going to do.

He exhales through his grinding teeth.

DEREK
If I were him, I know what I'd do.

He whispers.

DEREK
I'd blow that fat bastard to
kingdom come.

Helen bolts up.

HELEN
No. You're kidding.

DEREK
Am I?

He smiles, blowing more smoke.

DEREK
There's an old train line under the
New Government Building. It
collapsed when they poured the
foundation. You could haul in
enough TNT to launch our Leader's
ass all the way to the moon.

Helen's eyes gleam as he laughs.

HELEN
You're serious, aren't you?

He eyes her sucking on the cigarette.

DEREK
You need to be careful, Helen.
Your mouth is going to get you into
trouble one day.

HELEN
Is that the same trouble you love
putting in my mouth?

DEREK
You never know who might be
listening.

HELEN
I know, Derek. You love your
country and you love your party,
just like you love your wife.

He glares at her.

HELEN
Derek. I'm sorry. I know I can be
a bitch. But that's why you're
here, isn't it?

He smiles again and she presses her body to his.

HELEN
This is it, isn't it, Derek? What
we've been waiting for. At last,
you'll be rid of Susan. I'll be
rid of Conrad. And we'll be free.
Free, won't we?

His eyes close as he grinds his hips into hers and we rise,
drifting up to the ceiling light fixture --

Where we see a tiny hidden microphone.

INT. FINCH'S OFFICE - THE NOSE

Finch sits at his desk, staring into the silence of his
notepad. He has doodled a little "V" with a circle around
it.

He looks up as Dominic enters, holding up a portable cassette
player.

DOMINIC
Sorry it took so long. The boys
had a devil of a time trying to
filter out the background noise.

FINCH
Background noise?

DOMINIC
The perpetrator apparently turned
on the Bishop's stereo.
Subsequently, a great deal of the
tape is useless.

He hands the player to Finch.

FINCH
What music did he play?

DOMINIC
Beethoven. The fifth, I believe.

Finch smiles.

FINCH
Da, da, da, dum. That's code.
Morse code.

DOMINIC
Sir?

FINCH
For the letter "V".

Finch punches "play".

Over the small speaker, we sear Evey protesting to V, then
run. He stops it.

FINCH
Anything on the girl yet?

DOMINIC
No. The agency said somebody
claiming to be Lilliman's valet
canceled his Sunday appointment.

Finch starts it again and this time the tape is very fuzzy.

FINCH
What is it?

DOMINIC
23rd Psalm.

We recognize some of the words though muted and crackly.

TAPE (V.O.)
Though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death...

DOMINIC
It goes on like that for a while.
Fairly incoherent except we could
make out a few words in this part.
Transubstantiation.

Finch nods, understanding.

DOMINIC
That miracle business when the
wafer transform into the body of
Christ.

FINCH
He made him eat a host.

DOMINIC
Yes, listen to this part.

The tape becomes somewhat clearer as the music rests.

TAPE (V.O.)
... And at the moment this enters
your mouth it becomes the flesh of
the savior? Yes... please... And
whatever it is made of now it will
become the body of Christ? Yes...
yes...

They eye each other.

TAPE (V.O.)
I want you to swallow it.

DOMINIC
There's a couple of funny human
noises...

FINCH
And then just Beethoven's fifth.

He shuts off the tape.

FINCH
We have got the initial path report
back. The host was full of
cyanide.

Finch picks up the bag with the violet carson.

FINCH
And do you know what?

He rises, sliding into his jacket.

FINCH
When it reached his abdomen, it was
still cyanide.

INT. MORGUE

Close on the heavy stitching of a "Y" incision sewn into the
chest of a corpse. It is one of the Bishop's guards.

DELIA
Do you have a motive?

Finch is standing next to the cadaver gurney with the
coroner, Delia Surridge. She is a serious woman, hair wound
tight behind her head in a severe bun.

DELIA
I mean, was anything taken?

She fills the dead man's head with cotton and replaces the
top of his skull.

FINCH
Just lives.

Pulling at the man's scalp, she stretches it over the
replaced skull piece.

FINCH
I know it's too early for your
profile but do you have any initial
impressions?

DELIA
Well...

She points at a jagged puncture wound at the base of the
man's sternum with a ball point pen.

DELIA
He's incredibly powerful. This
man's sternum was split like dry
wood from the base all the way up
to the manubrium.

Finch peers into the hole.

DELIA
And he's resourceful. On that
table behind you is a breakdown of
all the chemicals found in
Prothero's blood stream.

Finch hefts the pile of computer paper.

FINCH
Bloody hell.

DELIA
There were hundreds of different
chemicals in him. From
trinitrotoluene to estrogen to
motor oil.

He flips through the document, biting into the wooden end of
his pipe.

FINCH
Perhaps Fate will make something
more of all this. I certainly
can't.

DELIA
The Leader finally authorized an
uplink for you? He must be getting
nervous.

FINCH
Quite. Government directed
terrorism never sews healthy ideas
into the public. Oh, that reminds
me.

Finch pulls the evidence bag from his pocket.

FINCH
Can you tell us anything about
this?

Delia's eyes lock onto the violet carson.

FINCH
We found one in the carriage with
Prothero and this one in the
Bishop's quarters. A violet
carson.

He hands it to her.

FINCH
I heard that strain had died off.
Thought a botanist might shed some
light on it. Delia?

Delia, riveted to the rose, suddenly looks up to him.

DELIA
Yes -- Yes, of course.

FINCH
Magic. I'll drop by tomorrow then.

He turns, leaving her with the rose.

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

V relaxes with a book in an overstuffed reading chair, a
violet carson rose resting on a table next to him. He begins
to read a passage aloud.

V
"There is more behind and inside of
V than any of us had suspected.
Not who, but what: what is she?"

He places the book down. Thomas Pynchon's "V".

V rises, lifting the rose and moving into the darkness of the
Shadow Gallery.

EXT. EMPTY STREET

A small figure moves down the dark wet street, the
cobblestones glistening like black scales.

The huddled figure arcs across the street in the shadows,
avoiding the pools of streetlight. It is Evey, a frightened
look on her face.

INT. KITTY KAT KELLER

A woman in combat boots, fishnets, and a tight fitting
soldier's uniform is in the middle of a cheeky number on
stage in this smoky burlesque bar. It is a popular place
with locals and Fingermen.

Peter Creedy squeezes through the crowd, angling for the back
of the bar where a number of loud Fingermen are drinking.

CREEDY
What's all this, then, Harper? I
get a radio that a man's down and
in need of assistance?

HARPER
I ain't gone down yet but I sure do
need some assistance.

Creedy leans in.

CREEDY
Are you flat broke already?

They break up in laughter, led by Creedy who sits next to
Harper, pouring himself a drink.

LOUT
How'd you sneak away, Creedy?
Almond off buggering that blonde
chippy?

HARPER
The one with the tits?

They all begin to hoot and whistle.

CREEDY
What I wouldn't give for a piece of
that.

LOUT
She could serve a tray of drinks on
those thingies.

HARPER
I bet you get your chance with her
sooner than later, Creedy, with the
way Almond's crackin' up.

LOUT
Bloody bugger's losing his marbles.

HARPER
Terrorist or no, if that bastard
gives me another double shift, I'll
stomp his fucking head.

Creedy raises his drink.

CREEDY
Aye. This nonsense has put a
serious strain on my drinking. I
think I was actually sober today.

LOUT
I'll drink to that.

HARPER
We need to get a real man of the
people in that director's position.
Like Creedy here.

Everyone cheers in agreement.

CREEDY
Well, it's good to know when the
shit hits the fan who your real
friends are.

They salute and drink.

INT. ALMOND HOME

Derek Almond sits hunched under a desk lamp, pumping the
cylinders of his revolver with a wire brush.

Rosemary shuffles up to him, her frumpy gown gathered around
her.

ROSEMARY
Derek --

He blows down one of the cylinders, not looking up.

DEREK
I don't want to hear it, Rosemary.

ROSEMARY
Derek, please! We can't carry on
like this.

Derek stares at the gun, rage building.

ROSEMARY
You don't talk to me. You don't
eat with me. You don't have sex --

Derek leaps up, slugging her.

Rosemary clatters to the ground in tears. Derek glowering
over her.

DEREK
I don't have to take any crap from
you! I have that fat bastard
riding me all day. I don't want to
listen to you, so shut your fat
gob!

He leans into her face.

DEREK
And me not wanting to fuck you is
obvious. Take a look at yourself.

He sits back in front of the gun, wiping it down.

DEREK
Get out of my sight. I'm cleaning
my gun.

INT. DELIA SURRIDGE'S HOME

Dr. Surridge sits somberly in the dark, street light
filtering in from the open curtains.

Her eyes fixed on the violet carson as she slowly turns it
over in her hands, fingers tracing the soft petals.

After a moment, she stands, letting it fall from her lap.

INT. FINCH'S OFFICE - THE NOSE

Finch turns as Dominic bursts in.

DOMINIC
I got it!

FINCH
A connection?

Dominic waves a printout.

DOMINIC
Larkhill Resettlement Camp.
Prothero's and Lilliman's
employment records show they both
help positions there at similar
times.

FINCH
What about codename V?

DOMINIC
Most of Larkhill's records were
destroyed for security reasons but
I did uncover an old standard
procedures and operations manual.

Dominic smiles.

DOMINIC
In special case studies, medical
research groups used roman numerals
to identify test inmates.

FINCH
Five is the letter V. Brilliant,
Dominic.

Finch slides in front of his computer.

FINCH
All we need is Larkhill's
employment records.

INT. DELIA SURRIDGE'S BEDROOM

The covers pulled protectively up around her, Delia rests in
a light, uneasy sleep.

Suddenly, an eye pops open as she awakens, catching a
familiar scent. She slowly sits up and inhales.

DELIA
Roses.

She closes her eyes.

DELIA
It's you, isn't it? You've come to
kill me.

From the shadows, V answers.

V
Yes.

Tears begin to streak her face.

DELIA
Oh thank god. Thank god.

INT. FINCH'S OFFICE - THE NOSE

Dominic hangs over Finch's shoulder as Larkhill's employment
record comes up.

Finch's mouth falls open.

FINCH
Oh my god.

Row after row of names scroll by at the end of each bio are
the words: deceased, file closed.

FINCH
Oh bloody hell.

The data banks unfurl like a mass grave.

DOMINIC
He's killed them all? It's not
possible.

Finch stops, staring at the one name whose file is not
closed --

FINCH
Oh no.

Dr. Delia Surridge.

INT. DELIA SURRIDGE'S BEDROOM

V floats on the edge of the room's shadows, a dark angel.

V
Are you afraid?

DELIA
No, no. I thought I would be, but
I'm not. I'm --

She looks at the hovering, smiling mask.

DELIA
Relieved.

She starts to cry again.

DELIA
Oh god, all these years. All this
waiting. And somehow I always knew
you'd come back.

Delia thinks back.

DELIA
When I saw you that night -- the
night you escaped, you were
standing against the flames and you
looked straight at me.

The mask almost nods.

DELIA
I knew then that one day you'd come
looking for me, that you'd find me.

Her voice drops to an almost confessional whisper.

DELIA
What -- what happened at Larkhill.
What we did -- What I did. That
terrible knowledge, it's been with
me so long. That I could do things
like that.

Delia rubs the salty tears from her eyes.

DELIA
For years, I blamed it on the
government, on the authority I
could never stand up to. But
living so long with the knowledge
of what I did has made me
understand otherwise. I alone was
accountable.

V watches her.

DELIA
There is something wrong with us.
With all of mankind. With me.
Something evil that made me enjoy
what I did. Some hideous flaw.

Her voice almost trails off.

DELIA
We deserve to be culled. We
deserve it.

INT. ALMOND BEDROOM

Light sweeps across Rosemary from the opening bedroom door as
she sobs softly in bed. Derek enters, holding a bottle of
whiskey and his clean gun.

She sits up as Derek looms over her.

ROSEMARY
Derek? What?

He lifts the gun into her bruised face. Her eyebrows cringe
as he slowly pulls the trigger.

DEREK
Bang.

Click. It is empty.

DEREK
Don't worry, Rose. I didn't load
it.

The phone rings.

DEREK
Not tonight.

He grins evilly at her and answers the bedside phone.

DEREK
Almond. What?! Where?

Derek's drunk eyes light up.

DEREK
Oh god, yes! God, thank you!

He slams the phone down, charging out of the room.

EXT. KITTY KAT KELLER

A gaggle of drunks exit the bar, laughing and singing as they
pass a small figure.

INT. KITTY KAT KELLER

Evey wanders into the bar amidst the lustful screams and cat
calls for the line of high stepping, semi-clothed girls on
stage.

She stares out into the crowd, not sure why she is here when
a man approaches her: Creedy. His sloppy smile indicates he
has had a few drinks.

CREEDY
You look lost.

She looks blankly at him.

CREEDY
Can I buy you a drink?

EVEY
No... I made a mistake.

She turns for the door.

EVEY
I have to find someone.

Creedy frowns as his radio crackles.

CREEDY
Well I didn't like the looks of you
anyway --

RADIO (V.O.)
All units, all units. Code red.
Converge in Plaistow to apprehend
codename V.

CREEDY
Bloody hell!

He screams to the Fingermen at the back.

CREEDY
It's him! We got him!

Evey watches as they storm out of the bar, then follows.

EXT. CITY STREET

The emergency lights blaring, Finch's car squeals around a
corner.

INT. DELIA SURRIDGE'S BEDROOM

V hovers ghostly at Delia's bedside.

DELIA
It's funny, I was given one of your
roses today. I wasn't sure you
were the terrorist until I saw it.

She manages a smile.

DELIA
What a strange coincidence. That I
should be given it today.

V
There are no coincidences, Delia.
Only the illusion of coincidence.

He reaches into his cloak.

V
I have another rose. This one is
for you.

He hands it to her.

DELIA
Then you are going to kill me now?

V produces an empty syringe.

V
I killed you ten minutes ago.
While you slept.

DELIA
Is there any pain?

V sits on the bed.

V
No. No pain.

DELIA
Thank you.

She stares at the mask.

DELIA
Can I -- Can I see your face again?

V slowly pulls off his hat and lifts his mask. Delia stares
into his face.

DELIA
It's beautiful...

The rose falls from her hands.

INT. HALL

V quietly shuts the door as if not to wake her and turns just
as --

Derek Almond reaches the top of the stairs.

DEREK
Don't move an inch, you bloody
bastard.

He trains his gun.

DEREK
You didn't hear me arrive, did you?
Didn't know we'd rumbled you?

He squints.

DEREK
It's all finished, chummy. All of
it. The old man told me it was my
head or yours and what do you know.
It's yours.

The smiling mask stares.

DEREK
Because you're standing over there
with your bloody stupid knives and
your fancy karate gimmicks --

Derek pulls back the hammer.

DEREK
And I've got a gun.

He smiles.

DEREK
Bang.

Click. He never loaded it.

There is an awkward moment of silence, then V moves --

Cloak opening, filling the hall like a black tidal wave that
envelopes Derek. He chokes a scream as V embraces him,
slipping a knife above his floating rib.

Derek Almond sputters as he claws at V's mask.

DEREK
Who -- Who are you?

V
Yes, look. Look and tell me what
you see.

He rips V's mask off as V thrusts the knife in deeper.

Derek's eyes widen in horror as his life pours out the knife
wound.

DEREK
Horrible! God, it's horrible!

V jerks his blade free, letting Derek slip to the ground.

EXT. DELIA SURRIDGE'S HOME

Finch's car bucks up onto the sidewalk.

Finch and Dominic tear out of the car and barrel into the
house.

INT. DELIA SURRIDGE'S HOME

At the top of the stairs, they find the dead Derek. Finch
rushes past him for the bedroom.

FINCH
Delia?

Inside, he finds her. Her eyes fixed, cold, and dead, a
single violet carson in her lap.

FINCH
Get an ambulance.

EXT. DELIA SURRIDGE'S HOME

Evey rushes around a corner to see a crime scene bathed in
siren light. She pushes up to the police barricade as the
M.E.'s load a draped body into their van.

EVEY
Oh no... V?

She tries to angle around to get a better look when a man in
a brown overcoat grabs her from behind and drags her into the
alley.

INT. DELIA SURRIDGE'S BEDROOM

From the corner of the room, Finch sits, watching as the
M.E.'s wheel out Delia's body.

Dominic squeezes past the gurney and crosses toward Finch.

DOMINIC
I'm sorry, sir. You knew the
doctor pretty well?

Finch nods.

DOMINIC
We found this on her bureau, sir.
It's Dr. Surridge's journal. It
covers her years at Larkhill. It
might contain the whole story.

Dominic searches for something more to say when Finch does
not answer.

After a moment, Finch looks at the book in Dominic's hand,
then takes it, leafing through the pages. They flip by, a
breathy sigh, rising to a cold wind.

DELIA (V.O.)
May 23rd...

INT. LARKHILL MEDICAL RESEARCH BLOCK - DAY - FLASHBACK

A younger Dr. Surridge, one by one, administers a series of
injections to her research stock.

DELIA (V.O.)
Prothero has hand picked my
subjects. Four dozen of them, none
of which will be any use to me if I
don't get to work soon.

She finishes an injection, Prothero encouraging the next
subject. We recognize her as the woman Prothero pointed at.

DELIA (V.O.)
They're so weak and pathetic I find
myself hating them.

Delia prepares the next dose, a sour look on her face.

DELIA (V.O.)
They don't fight or struggle. Just
stare at you with weak eyes.

PROTHERO
Next.

INT. LARKHILL OVENS - DAY - FLASHBACK

Two inmate orderlies are hefting sacked cadavers from a cart
into an incinerator.

DELIA (V.O.)
June 9th: Of the original four
dozen, over 75% are now deceased.
Strangely, no clear patterns have
emerged as of yet.

Another body thuds onto the pile.

DELIA (V.O.)
Batch 5 seems to have no common
discernible effect on any specific
group though the men seem slightly
more resilient than the women.

When it is full, they move to the next door until the cart is
empty.

DELIA (V.O.)
I'm hoping the survivors will
provide more answers or my time
here will have gone to waste.

Red heat suddenly glows from the oven vents as the orderly
throws a series of switches.

INT. LARKHILL MEDICAL RESEARCH BLOCK - DAY - FLASHBACK

Dr. Surridge moves down the drab aseptic hallway accompanied
by an armed guard. Roman numerals on the doors to each cell
ascend to five.

DELIA (V.O.)
June 18: And only five left now.
Two men and three women. Which
tends to contradict my entry on the
9th.

She pauses at room five.

DELIA (V.O.)
The man in room five is a
fascinating case.

She looks through the small chicken wire glass window in the
door.

DELIA (V.O.)
Physically, there doesn't seem to
be anything wrong with him. No
cellular anomalies, nothing.

In the back, just on the edge of the room's shadow, sits the
man in room five, silently staring back.

DELIA (V.O.)
Batch five, however, seems to have
brought on some kind of psychotic
breakdown. He's quite insane.

Dr. Surridge can't seem to break her stare.

DELIA (V.O.)
He has this way of looking through
you. Reverend Lilliman won't go
near him. He claims that it is the
devil in room five. I see him
cross himself whenever he passes
his door. Still, there's something
about him...

EXT. LARKHILL GARDEN - DAY - FLASHBACK

Dr. Surridge slowly moves through the Larkhill garden, an
incredible abundance of fruits, vegetables and violet carson
roses.

DELIA (V.O.)
I'm glad Prothero let room five
have a go at the gardening project.
He is quite proficient. Prothero
was reluctant to allow an inmate
access to the tool and chemical
supply at first but now the fat
toad is delighted. The crop has
almost doubled.

She traces the petals of a rose with her finger.

DELIA (V.O.)
He also grows roses. Beautiful
roses.

INT. LARKHILL LOUNGE - NIGHT - FLASHBACK

Dr. Surridge and several other Larkhill appointees relax
after dinner.

DELIA (V.O.)
December 24th: I was in the mess.
It was about half past ten when we
heard the first explosion.

A massive explosion shakes the building to its very core, its
windows shattering and hooded pendulum lights swinging.

EXT. LARKHILL LOUNGE - NIGHT - FLASHBACK

Men and women clutch at their throats as they tumble out into
the yard.

DELIA (V.O.)
The ones at the front ran straight
into the gas. It was horrible.

They drop to the ground, gasping and vomiting.

The back door is kicked open, Dr. Surridge following two
guards.

DELIA (V.O.)
A few of us made it out through the
rear door. You could hear men
screaming everywhere. I hate the
sound of men screaming.

She looks out, men running, collapsing, dying in a yellow
green haze that seems everywhere.

DELIA (V.O.)
In the center of the camp,
everything was on fire. Everyone
running in all directions. We had
hardly enough time to get our
bearings when the ovens exploded.

Another explosion wracks the compound. The pillar of flame
rises into the black sky, dwarfing the men in the camp.

Dr. Surridge sees a gaping hole in the medical block, its
insides turned out like an unholy birth.

DELIA (V.O.)
It was the man in room rive. I
couldn't have known. The chemical
supplies, grease solvents, ammonia,
fertilizer. He'd been making
things with them.

Close on a soldier, doubled over, hacking up bile.

DELIA (V.O.)
Mustard gas...

A sticky blue fire licks up from a blackened body like a dura
flame.

DELIA
And napalm.

Dr. Surridge turns as a silhouette crosses the yard, backlit
by a curtain of fire.

DELIA (V.O.)
And in the yard, I saw him. He had
the flames behind him. He was
naked.

The man stops.

DELIA (V.O.)
He looked at me...

Dr. Surridge seems to wilt under his stare but cannot look
away.

DELIA (V.O.)
As if I were an insect. Oh god.
As if I were something mounted on a
slide.

The flames convulse hypnotically behind him.

DELIA (V.O.)
He looked at me.

INT. LEADER'S OFFICE

Finch snaps Dr. Surridge's journal shut.

He sits in front of the Leader's desk puffing on his pipe
while Susan stares coldly.

FINCH
That's the last entry until six
months later when Dr. Surridge is
back in London. There is no
mention of the man in room five
again. End of story.

He tosses the journal on Susan's desk.

FINCH
Except that it wasn't the end of
the story.

Finch rises, crossing to the wastebasket.

FINCH
Between 2009 and 2012, over forty
men and women who were previously
stationed at Larkhill met with what
were believed to be accidental
deaths. Eventually, only three
remained.

He taps his pipe into his hand, pouring the contents into the
wastebasket.

FINCH
The three he'd been saving until
last.

Finch brushes the ashes from his hands and begins repacking
his pipe.

FINCH
Everyone who worked at Larkhill.
Everyone who could have identified
him. You see there are two
possible motives here. Not one.

Susan raises his head.

FINCH
The first is revenge. He escapes
from Larkhill and vows to get even
with his tormentors. The whole
exercise an elaborate, chilling
vendetta.

When he finishes repacking the pipe, he replaces it in his
mouth.

FINCH
That's the explanation that I find
most reassuring, funnily enough.
Because that means he's finished.
It's over now.

Finch begins relighting his pipe.

FINCH
The second motive is more sinister.
Like I said, everyone who could
have identified him is dead.

A flame leaps into the air.

FINCH
What if he's just been clearing the
ground?

Another burst.

FINCH
What if he's planning something
else?

The lighter slips back into his pocket.

FINCH
You see, the diary we found was in
full view. We didn't have to
search for it. He left it there.
He wanted us to find it. He wanted
us to know the story. Or...

Finch returns to his chair, letting out a huge cloud.

FINCH
For all we know, the diary could be
a complete and utter fake.
Codename V could have written it
himself.

Finch leans forward.

FINCH
He's playing games with us. He
might never have been at Larkhill
at all. Do you see? It could all
be another smoke screen, a false
trail, another cover story --

LEADER
Enough!

Susan punches the desk.

LEADER
Mr. Finch, would you please explain
to me the nature of this meeting?!
Because I was under the impression
that you had some information about
the terrorist, codename V!

And punches it again until his fist hurts.

LEADER
No more questions, understand! I
want answers! I am not interested
in where he grew up, what kind of
flowers he likes or his favorite
color!

Susan's collar chokes his face to an unnatural crimson.

LEADER
Do I make myself clear?

FINCH
Yes, Leader.

After a moment, Finch stands, Susan hanging on his last word.

LEADER
Dismissed. England prevails, Mr.
Finch.

Finch turns, Susan calling after him as he leaves.

LEADER
Mr. Finch, the girl. Do you have
anything on the girl?

Finch pauses at the door.

FINCH
No, Leader. Not yet.

INT. CELL

Evey stirs as voices drift in from the hall outside her door.

MAN
Wake up, cow.

Three guards are silhouetted in the doorway of a cramped jail
cell. Still sluggish from the chloroform, Evey looks down at
the coarse slipover she's now wearing.

One of the men, Rossiter, crosses toward Evey, swinging a
pair of shackles. He grabs Evey, slamming her face down into
the hard cot, driving a knee between her shoulder blades.

Evey screams.

GUARD 1
Tsk. This pathetic whore is the
famous Miss Hammond?

The shackles bite down on her wrists as they laugh in the
hall.

EVEY
You've made a mistake.

Rossiter stands her up, shoving her into the wall.

ROSSITER
Shut up.

EVEY
Please. I haven't done anything --

He slides a thick hood over her head.

ROSSITER
I said shut your hole!

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM

The hood is lifted from her head. Evey squints hard, awash
in a blinding, burning light.

A man sits, unmoving, at a desk across from her, a guard at
his side, both backlit by a harsh white kliegs.

Evey's eyes start to water as she blinks.

INTERROGATOR
Do you know why you're here. Evey
Hammond?

EVEY
No, please, I didn't do anything.

INTERROGATOR
Allow me to be more precise. Did
you participate in the murder of
Dr. Delia Surridge?

EVEY
No.

INTERROGATOR
Did you participate in the murder
of Derek Almond, director of the
Finger?

EVEY
No, I --

INTERROGATOR
Did you participate in the murder
of Bishop Anthony Lilliman?

EVEY
Oh god, I don't --

INTERROGATOR
Have you ever participated in a
terrorist act against your country?

EVEY
No --

INTERROGATOR
What is the identity of codename V?

EVEY
I don't know.

INTERROGATOR
You are a lying cunt.

A monitor next to the desk lights up. From the snowy static,
an image begins to form.

A girl is talking to a man. She is shoving her hips at him,
propositioning him. When more men appear from the alley,
Evey realizes she is watching herself.

EVEY
They were going to rape me, kill
me --

Rossiter grabs a handful of her hair.

ROSSITER
Shut up.

She swallows hard when she sees V emerge on the screen. The
image freezes on his smiling face.

INTERROGATOR
This board will not tolerate any
more of your lies, Miss Hammond.
We have over 120 minutes of audio
and videotape and 75 pages of
testimonials from eye witness that
identify you as an accomplice to
the terrorist, codename V.

The monitor blinks off.

INTERROGATOR
Do you want to know why you're
here? You are formally being
brought up on charges of murder on
fourteen counts and sedition
against your Leader and country
which brings an automatic sentence
of death.

EVEY
Please. I didn't do anything.

INTERROGATOR
Process the prisoner and return her
to her cell until she is more
cooperative.

Rossiter slips the hood back over Evey's head.

INT. PROCESSING ROOM

Evey cries as a rough hand runs a pair of electric clippers
over her head. Huge sheaves of her hair fall to the ground.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. CELL

Evey lies crumpled on the hard floor, unmoving, as a tray of
food is slid through a slot at the bottom of the door.

She watches as a rat crosses from a hole in the wall,
sniffing the murky rendered gelatin in the wooden bowl.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. PROCESSING ROOM

Evey hangs limply from a set of manacles as she is washed and
deloused by heavy hands.

She coughs in the yellow bug powder cloud as it burns her
eyes and the red welts on her back.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. CELL

Evey is curled up on the cot like a dry fetus, now gaunt arms
wrapped around her legs. She blinks when she hears something
moving in the rat hole.

Evey raises her head as something is pushed through the
crevice.

Tentative fingers search the hole, pulling out a length of
toilet paper. Over every inch of it is a delicately scrawled
message.

We move into the rathole, its edges slowly filling the frame
until black.

EXT. INTERROGATION ROOM

Pull back from a shadow, the outline of the interrogator's
silhouette against sharp light coming into frame.

EVEY (V.O.)
I read her letter. Hid it. Slept.
Woke. They questioned me. And I
read her letter again.

Rossiter is buckling Evey's thin arms and legs into a chair.
Her now frail frame can barely hold up the frayed brown
slipover.

EVEY (V.O.)
Over and over...

On the table in front of her, there is a large wash basin of
water. Rossiter dunks her head into it.

EVEY (V.O.)
Her name was Valerie.

INT. CLASSROOM - DAY - FLASHBACK

A teacher reads from her lesson plan in front of rows and
rows of uniformed pubescences in this all girl private
school. Her voice drones on and on like Muzak.

VALERIE (V.O.)
I was born in a rainy burg in
Nottingham in 1975. I passed my
eleven plus and went to girl's
grammar.

A blonde tomboy sneaks a smile to her curly haired friend
next to her.

VALERIE (V.O.)
I met my first girlfriend at
school. Her name was Sara. Her
wrists. Her wrists were beautiful.

Her hand slides across the desk, fingers tickling the young
flesh of Sara's wrist.

The teacher's voice slows, dropping octaves, becoming --

INT. BIOLOGY LAB - DAY - FLASHBACK

A man's voice.

VALERIE (V.O.)
I sat in biology class staring at
the pickled rabbit fetus while Mr.
Herd said it was an adolescent
phase that people outgrew.

Valerie looks at Sara across the room, her head down in
shame.

VALERIE (V.O.)
Sara did. I didn't.

INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY - FLASHBACK

Two teenage girls stand in front of a middle aged couple.
They are holding hands.

VALERIE (V.O.)
In 1994, I stopped pretending and
took a girl called Christine home
to meet my parents.

The greying woman repeats the sign of the cross over and
over, sobbing into a handkerchief. Her husband's face is
contorted in disgust.

VALERIE (V.O.)
A week later I moved to London to
go to college and study drama. My
mother said I broke her heart.

EXT. PARK - DAY - FLASHBACK

Two young women cuddle on a park bench under a London summer
sky, feeding the pigeons.

VALERIE (V.O.)
But it was my integrity that was
important. Is that so selfish? It
sells for so little but it's all we
have left in this place...

The black haired girl nibbles on the blonde's ear.

VALERIE (V.O.)
It is the very last inch of us...

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM

Evey struggles against Rossiter's weight who keeps her head
submerged.

VALERIE (V.O.)
But within that inch we are free.

INTERROGATOR
Enough.

Rossiter wrenches back and Evey sucks hard for air, coughing
out water.

INTERROGATOR
Now Miss Hammond, let us review the
facts.

Evey stares at him, eyes red, heart pounding in her ears.

INTERROGATOR
You work for codename V. Codename
V killed Delia Surridge and then
Derek Almond with your help and
that is why you were found outside
her home.

Evey begins to shake her head, water sluicing off her thin
face.

INTERROGATOR
Isn't that what happened, Miss
Hammond?

EVEY
No. No, that isn't true --

INTERROGATOR
Oh dear, Rossiter?

Rossiter grabs Evey's neck --

EVEY
No, wait!

Plunging her head into the bowl. Water fills Evey's nose and
ears.

VALERIE (V.O.)
London. I was happy in London.

INT. THEATRE - NIGHT - FLASHBACK

The packed house watches as a Prince kneels before a woman's
bare foot with a slipper of glass.

VALERIE (V.O.)
I played Dandini in Cinderella.

The woman glances into the dark sea of faces.

VALERIE (V.O.)
The world was strange and rustling
with invisible crowds behind the
hot lights and all that breathless
glamour.

EXT. MEADOW - DAY - FLASHBACK

Two women weep in each other's arms, embracing in a perfect
knee high meadow.

VALERIE (V.O.)
Work improved. I got small film
roles, then bigger ones.

The blonde woman brushes away a tear from the other's cheek.

VALERIE (V.O.)
In 2006, I starred in "The Salt
Flats." That's where I met Ruth.
We fell in love.

We pull back and see we are on location for a movie and the
two women are being filmed.

INT. CONDO - NIGHT - FLASHBACK

Ruth and Valerie sit on the couch watching television. On
the table behind them is a bouquet of violet carson roses.

VALERIE (V.O.)
Every Valentine's Day she sent me
roses and, oh god, we had so much.
Those were the best three years of
my life.

The two women stare at the newscast in tears, the sound of
marching coming from the set's speakers.

VALERIE (V.O.)
In 2010, they came.

EXT. LONDON STREET - DAY - FLASHBACK

The sound of marching explodes as columns of men in brown
uniforms and jack boots fill the streets.

VALERIE (V.O.)
And after that there were no more
roses...

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM

Rossiter presses his elbow onto Evey's neck, holding her
submerged.

VALERIE (V.O.)
Not for anybody.

Rossiter lets Evey up. Her red burnt lungs gulp at the air.

VALERIE (V.O.)
After the takeover, they started
rounding up the gays. They took
Ruth while she was out looking for
food.

Evey blinks hard, black fireworks exploding in her eyes.

VALERIE (V.O.)
Why are they so frightened of us?

She wheezes, on the edge of unconsciousness.

VALERIE (V.O.)
They burned her face with
cigarettes and made her give them
my name. She signed a statement
saying I'd seduced her.

The interrogator's voice melts into a slag heap of sound with
the hot, rhythmic pounding in her ears.

VALERIE (V.O.)
I didn't blame her. God, I loved
her but I didn't blame her.

Rossiter uncuffs Evey, slipping the black bag over her head.

VALERIE (V.O.)
But she did.

Evey's knees buckle as he forces her to stand.

VALERIE (V.O.)
She killed herself in her cell.
She couldn't live with betraying
me, with giving up that last inch.
Oh, Ruth.

Evey weaves down the hall. Rossiter shoving her from behind.

VALERIE (V.O.)
They came for me. They shaved off
my hair. They held my head down a
toilet and told lesbian jokes.
They brought me here and pumped me
full of chemicals.

The cell door swings open.

VALERIE (V.O.)
I can't feel my tongue. I can't
speak.

Rossiter yanks the hood from her head and pushes her in.

VALERIE (V.O.)
It is strange that my life should
end in such a terrible place but
for three years I had roses and
apologized to nobody.

The iron door slams shut, lock ringing in the stale air.

VALERIE (V.O.)
I shall die here. Every inch of me
shall perish...

Evey rolls to her knees.

VALERIE (V.O.)
Except one.

She crawls for the rat hole.

VALERIE (V.O.)
An inch. It is small and fragile
and it's the only thing in the
world that's worth having.

Her shaking hand pulls the letter from the stone crevice.

VALERIE (V.O.)
We must never lose it or sell it or
give it away. We must never let
them take it from us.

Evey clutches it like a rosary as she begins to cry.

VALERIE (V.O.)
I don't know who you are but I hope
you escape this place. I hope that
the world turns and things get
better and that one day people have
roses again.

She holds the note to her face, her tears soaking into the
fragile paper.

VALERIE (V.O.)
I don't know who you are but I love
you. I love you. Valerie.

Slowly, Evey slips away, succumbing to blackness.

EVEY (V.O.)
I had come to know every inch of
those four walls in that dark hell
and they knew every inch of me.
Every inch...

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM

Loud lights blare against Evey's solemn face.

EVEY (V.O.)
Except one.

A typed document sits on a small tray table in front of her.

INTERROGATOR
"My name is Evey Hammond. On the
5th of November 2019, I was
abducted by the terrorist known as
codename V and then taken against
my will to an unknown location."

Rossiter hovers just behind her as the Interrogator reads her
confession.

INTERROGATOR
"Once there, I was systematically
brainwashed by means physical and
psychological. I was frequently
subjected to sexual abuse during
this period."

Evey's expression is unchanging.

INTERROGATOR
"Eventually I was terrorized into
helping him commit the murders of
Derek Almond, Dr. Delia Surridge,
and Anthony Lilliman, Bishop of
Westminster."

Rossiter drops a pen on the table.

INTERROGATOR
"I, the undersigned, swear that the
above statement is genuine and that
it was not signed by means of
intimidation."

The pen slowly rocks to a stop.

INTERROGATOR
We'd like you to sign that for us,
Miss Hammond. Where we've put the
little cross.

She blinks.

EVEY
No.

INTERROGATOR
As you wish.

Rossiter begins unbuckling Evey's restraints.

INTERROGATOR
Escort Miss Hammond back to her
cell, Rossiter, where she will wait
while you arrange a wet detail of
six men.

He forces Evey to her feet.

INTERROGATOR
Then take her out behind the
chemical sheds and shoot her.

INT. CELL

The door opens behind Evey as she rereads Valerie's letter
for the last time.

ROSSITER
It's time, unless you want to
change your mind.

She holds the tattered piece of toilet paper to her chest.

ROSSITER
Sign that statement. You could be
out inside three years. Perhaps
they'd find you a job with the
Finger.

Evey closes her eyes.

EVEY
Thank you but I'd rather die behind
the chemical sheds.

Her last words hang in the air.

ROSSITER
Then there's nothing left to
threaten you with, is there? You
are free.

He turns and leaves.

EVEY
What?

She listens as his footsteps fade down the hall, the door
hanging weirdly open.

Evey takes a few tentative steps toward the door and sticks
her head out into the empty hall, peering down both ways.

Slowly, she emerges from her cell, retracing her path down
the hall that her blindfold never allowed her to see.

Quietly inching along the wall, Evey peeks around a corner,
gasping at the rigid guard standing off to the side. There
is something about the man's frozen stare that keeps her from
running.

Evey straightens and crosses to the guard.

It is a mannequin.

She touches him, the wheeled platform he is mounted on
rolling back against the wall.

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM

The door creaks open as Evey enters the room where for so
long she was questioned and tortured.

She crosses to the frozen Interrogator sitting at his desk.

Her finger brushes lightly against the plastic hand, then
Evey raps a knuckle on his hollow wooden head. Around his
neck a small speaker hangs from a cord.

Evey drifts uneasily into a back room where a discarded
prison guard's uniform hangs on a rack. On a table next to a
wig and pair of gloves, the rat looks up at her through the
bars of its tiny cage.

She moves through another door, the wind suddenly knocked
from her chest as she finally sees where her prison was
built --

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

V steps from the shadows.

V
Welcome home, Evey.

EVEY
You...

Her mouth hangs open.

EVEY
You did this... to me.

Evey's rail thin figure begins to shake.

EVEY
You did this to me!

She stumbles against the wall, unable to support herself.

EVEY
You -- You hit me and -- and cut my
hair. It was you. It was just you
all this time.

She doubles over, covering her face as she bursts into tears.

EVEY
You tortured me. You tortured me --

Evey looks up at him, body shivering as he quietly glides
toward her.

EVEY
Oh god, why?

V
Because I love you, Evey. Because
I wanted to set you free.

EVEY
Love?

A look of horror twists her starved face.

EVEY
Set me free? Don't you realize?

Slender fingers ball into fists.

EVEY
Don't you realize what you did to
me? You nearly drove me mad!

Disgust and anger light up her eyes.

EVEY
I hate you.

Her little, wiry body coils tight as she circles him.

EVEY
I hate you! Set me free? You put
me in a prison to set me free?!

V
You were already in a prison.
You've been in a prison all your
life.

EVEY
Shut up! I don't want to hear it.
I wasn't in a prison. I was happy!
I was happy here --

V
Happiness is the most insidious
prison of all, Evey.

EVEY
That's warped! That's evil and
it's wrong! What gives you the
right to judge? Who are you to say
what's not good enough?!

V
You were born in a prison, Evey. I
didn't put you there. I just
showed you the bars. You've been
in a prison so long, you no longer
believe there's an outside world.

She wheels away from him, covering her ears, trying to get
away from his voice.

EVEY
Shut up! You're mad! I don't want
to hear it!

V
That's because you're afraid, Evey.
You're afraid because you can feel
freedom closing in on you. You're
afraid because freedom is
terrifying.

Evey falls, stumbling through the labyrinth of the Shadow
Gallery.

EVEY
I can't feel anything! There's
nothing left to feel! Don't you
understand?

V
Don't back away from it, Evey.
Part of you understands the truth
even as part pretends not to.

She collapses, head pounding.

V
Woman, this is the most important
moment in your life. Don't run
from it.

EVEY
I don't know what -- Oh god -- I
can't breathe --

V couches next to her.

V
Good. You're almost there. Go
closer. Feel the shape of it.

EVEY
What are you doing to me? I can't
breathe --

V
You were in a cell. They offered
you a choice between the death of
your principles and the death of
your body.

He cradles her as she hyperventilates, tears streaming down
her face.

EVEY
I feel -- I feel like I'm going to
burst.

V
You said you'd rather die. You
faced the fear of your own death
and you were calm. Try to feel now
what you felt then.

EVEY
Oh god -- I felt --

The mask hovers over her.

EVEY
Like an angel --

He squeezes her shuddering body.

EVEY
Oh god, V, I'm so scared. What's
happening to me?

V
The door of the cage is open, Evey.
All that you feel is the wind from
outside. Don't be afraid.

Gently, he lifts her.

V
Try to walk. The lift will take us
to the roof.

EVEY
The roof? Outside?

He helps her to an open elevator.

EVEY
I -- I don't want to be
blindfolded.

V
No, Evey. No more blindfolds.

The cage in the elevator rattles shut.

EXT. ROOF - NIGHT

The two figures stand in the door of the roof access, a
raging tempest oozing from a split sky.

Something draws Evey out into the storm.

Slowly, she walks beneath it, the wind and rain pounding
against her thin frame. Evey lets the coarse slipover fall
to the ground and stares straight up into the storm, naked,
the elements soaking into her very being.

V moves up behind her.

V
Do you feel it?

EVEY
Everything's so -- different.

V
I know. Five years ago, I too
stared beneath a night like this.
Naked under a roaring sky.

A low rumble of thunder washes over London.

V
The night is yours, Evey. Seize
it. Encircle it within your arms.

His words buffet against her with the sheets of rain.

V
Bury it in your heart up to the
hilt.

She raises her arms to embrace the raging torrent.

V
Become transfixed and
transfigured --

A jagged bolt of lightning shatters the sky.

V
Forever.

EXT. NEW GOVERNMENT BUILDING

Finch gets out of a police car and looks up the black face of
the modern building. He sighs and taps his pipe against the
heel of his shoe.

DASCOMBE
Finch!

Finch turns to find Dascombe hurrying towards him.

DASCOMBE
Do you know what this is all about?

FINCH
No, but I can guess.

DASCOMBE
What?

FINCH
"Remember, remember, the fifth of
November."

DASCOMBE
Oh come on. He's long gone. He
has to be. He did what he came to
do and it's over.

Finch chews on his pipe.

DASCOMBE
Isn't it?

FINCH
Not for us.

He turns and heads into the building.

FADE OUT.

FADE IN:

EXT. NEW GOVERNMENT BUILDING - DAY

A dark November sky hangs like a shroud over the building.

LEADER (V.O.)
A year, gentlemen.

INT. COUNCIL CONFERENCE ROOM

The heads of each department are gathered around a table of
black granite.

Peter Creedy, sitting back out of the lights, is the new head
of the Finger.

LEADER
I have given you almost a year and
you have given me nothing.
Nothing!

He glares at Finch.

DASCOMBE
Now Adam, there is no one better
than Finch and you know it.

LEADER
Yes, Mr. Dascombe, I do know it.
It is that very fact that keeps me
awake at night, wondering if
perhaps there is a reason that Mr.
Finch has failed.

FINCH
What are you saying?

LEADER
I'm saying that perhaps I don't
know you as well as I thought I
did.

FINCH
Are you asking for my resignation?

LEADER
No, I am asking for some goddamn
results!

DASCOMBE
It's not Finch's fault, Adam.

CONRAD
We've all been looking. The man
simply disappeared.

ETHERIDGE
Vanished.

DASCOMBE
He's gone, Adam. It's over.

The Leader trembles like a volcano set to blow.

LEADER
It's over, is it? He's gone.
Vanished, you say?

The Leader grabs a large box from the floor and hurls reams
of computer printout across the table.

LEADER
Transcripts recorded over the last
thirty days in which the terrorist
was talked about or mentioned in a
positive context. This is only
thirty days!

He punches a "play" button and a wall of monitors blink on.
It is a recording of a television variety show.

A character that is made to look like Adam Susan is giving a
speech. A woman is dressed like V except that the only thing
she is wearing under her cloak is a garter belt, stockings
and high heels.

V sneaks up behind Susan and yanks his pants down. Susan is
outraged but when he gives chase he trips over his pants.
The audience hoots and howls.

The Leader kills the tape.

LEADER
Is this what you consider,
"disappeared?"

DASCOMBE
For god's sake, Adam, it's a stupid
variety show.

LEADER
Mr. Creedy, I want the producers,
writers, and actors of that "stupid
variety show" arrested and charged
with sedition.

CREEDY
Yes, sir.

DASCOMBE
You can't be serious --

LEADER
Push me, Roger, push me and you'll
find out how serious I am.

He stares each of them to silence.

LEADER
This, this V is still out there. I
can feel him like a sickness
worming its way into the hearts and
minds of the public. Something
must be done, and done quickly, to
exorcise this demon for the very
soul of this country is at stake.

He pauses.

LEADER
That is why I am compelled to give
each and every one of you notice
that if by the fifth of November
you are still giving me nothing
more than excuses, I will have to
revoke your party status and
terminate your positions.

Everyone is stunned.

LEADER
Mr. Creedy, I will speak with you
in private. The rest of you are
dismissed. England prevails.

INT. LEADER'S PRIVATE QUARTERS

The Leader stands at the window.

LEADER
Mr. Creedy, as the new head of the
Finger, you are the most important
member of my cabinet.

CREEDY
I, uh, appreciate your faith in me.

LEADER
Your predecessor, Mr. Almond, was a
good man, a man who understood what
strength in unity meant, a man who,
above all, loved his country. I
need to know if you are such a man.

His eyes bore into him.

LEADER
Do you love your country, Mr.
Creedy?

EXT. ALLEYWAY

A police car is parked in a dark alley. It is raining and
the windows of the car are completely steamed.

CREEDY
Oh god, yes!

He is sweating, his knuckles white as he squeezes the
steering wheel, panting.

We hear a noise like a very wet kiss and then a woman's
voice.

HELEN
"The most important member of my
cabinet." Yes it is, isn't it,
dear?

Helen lifts her head out of his lap. Her lipstick is smeared
about her mouth.

CREEDY
Oh, don't stop.

HELEN
I stop when you stop. What did he
say next?

CREEDY
I can't --

She whispers in his ear while playing with his lap.

HELEN
Come on, Peter, what are you afraid
of? Almond used to tell me
everything and you're twice the man
he was.

CREEDY
He asked me... if I loved my
country.

HELEN
Oh yes, I can tell you do love your
country, almost as much as you love
this...

She lowers her head into this lap.

CREEDY
Oh god...

HELEN
Go on.

CREEDY
Then he asked me to do something...
oh, oh...

HELEN
What?

CREEDY
Helen, I can't. I can't tell you.

Helen lifts her head.

HELEN
He told you to frame someone as the
terrorist.

CREEDY
My god?! How did you know that?

HELEN
I know Adam Susan. Now who was it?

CREEDY
No way. I can't tell you that.

HELEN
Yes you can, honey. You can and
you will. You have to trust me,
love. We're going to help each
other.

CREEDY
Helen, please.

HELEN
Look at that face. You see?
You're just bursting to tell me.

Her head drops back down. Creedy moans.

HELEN
Now who was it?

CREEDY
It was... Fi... Fi... FINCH!

The name seems to orgasm from his mouth.

INT. FINCH'S APARTMENT

Finch sits alone in his modest apartment, reading a book.
The book is Koesterler's, "The Roots of Coincidence."

An old CD player is playing music, a Bach piano concerto.

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

V is playing the exact same concerto on his piano, his gloved
fingers gracefully flitting across the keys.

Evey enters the gallery. Her hair has grown out but is still
short. She projects a kind of strength that comes from a
deep inner peace.

V coaxes the final delicate notes and lets them softly fade.

EVEY
That was beautiful.

She walks up to him and takes the smiling face in her hands.

EVEY
I've wanted to do this for a long
time.

She bends and gently kisses the frozen lips.

EVEY
Thank you, V. Thank you for
everything you've done for me.

V
You did it all yourself, Evey. I
just provided the backdrop but the
drama was all your own.

EVEY
It was a good backdrop. I believed
it. I really did. It's still a
bit hard for me to accept that it
wasn't real. That it was just you.
Especially the letter.

She takes the letter from her pocket.

EVEY
It is a beautiful letter, V. Every
time I read it I could feel
Valerie, almost like she was
holding me. I believed in her most
of all. I believed that she loved
me and I loved her back.

She looks down.

EVEY
I feel a bit foolish telling you
this. I know that you must have
written it and thought you should
have it back.

V
But I didn't write that letter,
Evey.

EVEY
What?

V
Come with me.

INT. VALERIE'S ROOM

It is a shrine. The walls are covered with movie posters and
reviews and pictures of an actresses named Valerie Page. We
recognize her as the woman chosen for the medical block just
before V.

Everywhere there are flower boxes filled with blooming roses;
violet carsons.

EVEY
Valerie?

V
Yes. Valerie Page. She was the
woman in room four.

EVEY
She's beautiful.

V
She wrote the letter just before
she died. I delivered it to you as
it was delivered to me. The words
you wept over were the same words
that transformed me.

Evey smiles and bends to smell the roses.

EVEY
Roses. You grew them for her.

V
Yes.

EVEY
They're beautiful.

V
Evey, do you know what day it is?

EVEY
Two days before the first day we
met.

V
You remembered.

EVEY
You're planning something, aren't
you, V?

V
You know me too well now.

EVEY
What are you going to do?

V
I'm going to fulfill an old
promise.

Evey cocks an eyebrow.

V
I'll show you.

INT. UNDERGROUND STAIRWELL

Carrying a lantern, V leads Evey down a dark stone staircase.

EVEY
I've never been here before.

V
Yes. It is the deepest part of my
home. Once you know it, I should
think you'll know everything.

He pushes a button and a secret passage opens in a heavy
stone wall.

There is a small narrow series of passageways that he guides
her through, leading to another door. Evey steps out into an
underground subway station.

INT. VICTORIA STATION

Parked beside the concrete platform is a beautiful antique
train car.

EVEY
Oh, V, it's lovely. Where on earth
did you find it?

V
In a way, I suppose it really found
me.

Evey steps into the train car and finds it filled with little
packages wrapped in wax paper.

EVEY
What's in these packages?

V
Gelignite.

She screams and almost drops one.

V
Careful.

EVEY
What are you going to do with all
of it?

V
I told you. I'm going to finish
what was started four hundred years
ago.

EVEY
Where does this train go?

V
This is the old Victoria line but
it is blocked, blocked somewhere
between Whitehall and St. James.

EVEY
Whitehall... V, that's the New
Government Building.

V nods.

EVEY
But the underground has been shut
down for years. How are you going
to make it run without any power?

V
I just thought I might ask them to
turn it on for me.

INT. LEADER'S OFFICE

The Leader sits bathed in the flickering images of the Fate
computer.

LEADER
Yes, Mr. Creedy?

CREEDY
Everything's set, sir. No worries.

LEADER
When?

CREEDY
Tonight.

On one of the screens, a television program has just begun.

ANNOUNCER
Tonight on Tales from the Bible, a
story of treachery and betrayal
from the Book of Daniel.

We cut from that screen to another screen --

INT. JORDAN TOWER - CONTROL BOOTH

The television studio where Roger Dascombe surveys a large
bank of monitors filled with the images of typically vapid
television entertainment.

DASCOMBE
All of London's waiting. Ready,
two. And here we go --

A player locks on as a recorded program begins. We move in
as the logo slashes across the screen: Storm Saxon.

ANNOUNCER
Tonight, England's greatest hero
repels the forces of darkness in a
brand new episode.

We pull back from the show's opening teaser and find
ourselves looking at a small television.

INT. JORDAN TOWER

In the delivery bay at the back of Jordan tower, five
security guards are riveted to the heroic actions of Storm
Saxon.

HEIDI
Oh, Storm. Save me! Save me!

STORM
You mongrel trash, if you harm her!

MONGREL TRASH
Look out, de white debil has a
laser lugar!

Behind them, a shadowy figure in a cloak and tall hat enters
the loading bay.

GUARD
Hey, what the -- ?

They all turn and find a smiling V.

They go for their weapons. V goes for them. It is brutal
and quick, knives slicing in bloody arcs, bodies kicked and
thrown with superhuman power.

The TV crashes to the ground and we move in at it as Storm
Saxon stands triumphant beside his buxom lass.

HEIDI
Oh Storm, hold me. Hold me tight.

We pull back on another television screen inside --

INT. FINCH'S OFFICE

Dominic is chewing on a hamburger, engrossed in Storm Saxon.
Across the room, Finch is reading the "Roots of Coincidence."

FINCH
I don't know how you stand that
tripe.

Dominic answers with a mouthful of cheeseburger.

DOMINIC
Es gooh.

Finch shakes his head, reaching for his pipe. He realizes he
is out of tobacco. He slides open the bottom desk drawer and
his eyes almost pop out of his head.

He stares into the drawer like someone staring at his own
tombstone.

DOMINIC
Finch? Finch, what's wrong?

Slowly, he lifts something from the drawer. On his desk, he
lays out several knives, a cloak, a hat, and a smiling mask.

DOMINIC
What the hell?

Finch lifts the mask and almost has to laugh.

FINCH
Don't you see, Dominic?

He puts the mask to his face.

FINCH
I'm V.

INT. JORDAN TOWER

V emerges from an elevator and immediately attacks several
more guards. A surveillance camera watches as V steps over
their slumped, broken bodies.

INT. CONTROL CENTER

The security guard sees V on the monitor coming directly down
the hall.

GUARD
Bloody hell!

He grabs the machine gun, aiming it just as V kicks open the
door.

GUARD
Freeze!

V stops. At least five guards have trained their weapons on
him. He is surrounded.

Slowly, he lifts his arms as though surrendering. His cloak
opens, revealing enough TNT to level the entire building. In
his hand is the plunger detonator.

GUARD
Fuck all.

V nods.

INT. FINCH'S OFFICE

The door bursts open as Creedy and a group of heavily armed
Fingermen muscle in.

DOMINIC
Creedy? What the hell's going on?

CREEDY
I'm here to arrest Mr. Finch for
acts of treason and terrorism.

DOMINIC
You can't be serious.

CREEDY
If I were you, boy, I'd shut my
hole unless you want to start
explaining why you didn't say
nothing about Mr. Finch's secret
identity.

INT. JORDAN TOWER

V follows Roger Dascombe into the main control booth. The
door shuts behind them and they are alone.

All around them are the laugh tracks and gunshots of the
evening's entertainment.

V puts his hand into his cloak and pulls out a videotape. He
hands it to Dascombe.

INT. FINCH'S OFFICE

Finch glares at Creedy.

FINCH
Why don't you just shoot me,
Creedy? Wouldn't that make
everything a lot simpler?

CREEDY
Yeah, I suppose it would.

Creedy smiles, his finger tightening on the trigger when --

DOMINIC
Holy Christ! Creedy, you stupid
ape! If Finch is V then tell me
who is that?

He points at the television where V sits calmly at a desk in
front of the "VTV" logo.

V
Good evening, London.

CREEDY
Bloody fuckin' hell.

V
I thought it was time we had a
little talk.

FINCH
He has to be at Jordan tower. Come
on!

Finch and Dominic rush out of the room. Creedy looks at his
confused men.

CREEDY
Don't just stand there! Follow
them!

INT. LEADER'S OFFICE

V smiles at the horrified Adam Susan.

V
Are you sitting comfortably? Good.
Then I'll begin.

The Leader screams, pounding on Fate.

LEADER
Damn you! Damn you!

He hits the intercom.

LEADER
Lieutenant, ready my transport. I
want every armed man within a
hundred miles at Jordan tower.
Now!

We move in at VTV.

V
Right now, I imagine there are
hundreds of soldiers rushing here
to kill me because someone does not
want us to talk.

We pull back in --

INT. LIVING ROOM

A family watching television. In the background, two
children are squabbling.

MOTHER
Hush. Turn it up.

The husband does. V's voice gets louder as we move towards
him.

V
They are afraid that I am going to
say the things that are not
supposed to be said. They are
afraid that I am going to say the
truth.

INT. APARTMENT

A man sits on his couch, mesmerized by V.

V
The truth is that there is
something terribly wrong with this
country, isn't there? If you look
about, you witness cruelty,
injustice and despotism. But what
do you do about it? What can you
do?

He pops his beer tab and the beer foams over the couch but he
doesn't seem to notice.

INT. FINCH'S POLICE CAR

The car races wildly towards Jordan tower as Finch and
Dominic listen to the broadcast on the radio.

V (V.O.)
You are but a single individual.
How can you possible make any
difference? Individuals have no
power in this modern world.
That is what you've been taught
because that is what they need you
to believe. But it is not true.

INT. LEADER'S TRANSPORT

The Leader seethes, staring at three television monitors in
his limo which are all filled with V.

V
This is why they are afraid and the
reason that I am here; to remind
you that it is individuals who
always hold the power. The real
power. Individuals like me. And
individuals like you.

INT. KITTY KAT KELLER

The bar is almost completely soundless except for the voice
of V. People stare at the television as if the moment were
somehow suspended in time.

V
I have come to offer you a deal.
If you accept, I will give you a
different world. A world without
curfews, without soldiers and
surveillance systems. A world that
is not run by other men but that is
run by you. I am offering you a
second chance.

EXT. JORDAN TOWER

The military forces have begun to swarm.

V
Four hundred years ago, a great
citizen made a most significant
contribution to our common culture.
It was a contribution forged in
secrecy and stealth although it is
best remembered in noise and bright
light.

EXT. TELEVISION STORE

A crowd has gathered, watching through the window.

V
To commemorate that glorious night
at precisely the stroke of
midnight, the edifice of their
world will erupt with enough sound
and fury to shake the earth. All I
ask is that you join me at the
gates to watch as the past is
erased, the pathway cleared so that
together we can start toward a new
day.

EXT. JORDAN TOWER

The Leader climbs out of his limo and is met by one of his
captains.

LEADER
I want this man dead! I want him
shot on sight!

CAPTAIN
Yes, sir.

INT. FINCH'S CAR

Finch can see the forces gathering outside Jordan tower.

V (V.O.)
But, you ask, who am I to make such
promises? A fair question but
hardly necessary as you know me
already. To know me any more you
need only look to a mirror.

Finch catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

INT. CONTROL BOOTH

VTV fills every screen.

V
Truth be told, this wasn't even my
idea, was it? If you think back,
you'll remember that night,
whispering in your lover's arms. I
became a part of your plan just as
you have now become part of mine.
Give me the line of the queen and
I'll give you your secret dream.

INT. JORDAN TOWER - HALLWAY

A heavy battering ram is rushed down the hall, carried by
four soldiers.

V (V.O.)
On the twelfth stroke of the fifth
day of the eleventh month, I hope
we shall all meet again.

EXT. TELEVISION STORE

The crowd is much larger.

V
Until then, I bid you goodnight.

Every screen suddenly goes black. The crowd turns to each
other, unsure of what to do.

INT. CONTROL BOOTH

The door explodes open. V is standing alone, almost as if
waiting for them.

Before he can even move, they shoot. Machine gun fire lights
up the room. V's body dances and jerks backward, smashing
through an observation window --

Falling to the television stage below.

INT. HALL

A path is cleared for the Leader. As he heads into the
television studio, an armed soldier is heading in the
opposite direction.

It is impossible to tell because of the dark face plate but
it looks like the soldier is smiling.

The Leader shoves his way onto the main stage. A group of
soldiers is gathered around the body.

LEADER
Who was it? Who was he?

The mask is pried off, revealing the lifeless face of Roger
Dascombe. To the Leader, it is an obvious revelation.

LEADER
Roger Dascombe! Of course. Of
course! It makes such perfect
sense.

CAPTAIN
Sir, I think there has been a
mistake.

LEADER
No! There is no mistake!

CAPTAIN
But sir, there are people that say
they saw both the terrorist and
Dascombe together --

LEADER
Who? Who are these people? They
must be detained immediately.
Whatever they saw or whatever they
think they saw is subordinate to
the truth and that truth is that
Roger Dascombe is the terrorist and
the terrorist is dead!

FINCH
But I thought I was the terrorist.

Finch's voice stops the Leader cold.

LEADER
Finch, what are you doing here?

FINCH
Since I'm not in jail and since you
have another, even more convenient
suspect. I'm guessing the charges
have been dropped.

LEADER
Be careful, Finch.

FINCH
I am careful, sir. Always. That
is why I suggest that a search of
this building begin immediately.

LEADER
The terrorist is dead!

FINCH
With all due respect, I disagree
and I believe that he is presently
trying to get out of this building
disguised as one of us.

LEADER
Are you challenging my authority?

FINCH
No sir, I'm trying to run an
investigation --

LEADER
I am trying to run a country! When
I tell you, Mr. Finch, the
terrorist is dead, then the
terrorist is dead! If you continue
to suggest otherwise then you will
leave me no choice but to have you
arrested on charges of sedition.
Do I make myself clear?

He eyes the room. Everyone is silent.

LEADER
Now, it is imperative for the
people of London to know that they
are safe, that the terrorist is
dead and everything is under
control.

The Leader storms past Finch who looks at Dascombe and bites
down on his pipe.

EXT. CITY STREET

One of the Ear's black vans has been modified with large
speakers wired to the roof. As the van rolls down the
street, the speakers drone with a looped message.

SPEAKERS
The terrorist is dead. No further
threat exists. Everything is under
control.

Out of the back, soldiers hurl leaflets that swirl and
flutter in the van's wake.

The little girl on the bicycle that we saw earlier stops and
picks up one of the leaflets.

It has a picture with the body of Roger Dascombe beneath the
headline, "The terrorist is dead! London is safe once
again!"

LITTLE GIRL
Bollocks.

She crumbles the leaflet and throws it.

LITTLE GIRL
Bollocks!

She gets off her bike and takes something out of the
backpack.

LITTLE GIRL
He's not dead! It's all bollocks!

Turning to a nearby wall, she spray paints a large circle
around a "V".

INT. FINCH'S OFFICE

A recording of VTV plays on the small television.

V
... if you give me the line of the
queen, I'll give you your secret
dream.

Dominic freezes the image; V stares at them, smiling.

FINCH
Play it again.

DOMINIC
Come on, Finch. We've seen it
fifty times. I mean, after what
they done to you, I don't know why
we're even trying to stop him.

Finch stares out the window.

FINCH
I don't know. For twenty seven
years, I've been at this job.
Twenty seven years, I've done what
I've been told to do. Maybe that's
all there is to it. I'm just a
dumb old dog. A dumb old dog that
only knows one trick.

DOMINIC
That ain't it, Finch. It's more
than that. I know you. It's
something personal with this one.

Finch smiles.

FINCH
Maybe. And maybe I'm not ready for
a revolution.

DOMINIC
Well, we got less than thirty hours
to stop it.

FINCH
We will.

DOMINIC
How?

FINCH
It's on the tape. I know it. I
can feel it. He did this for a
reason. He needs something.

DOMINIC
What?

FINCH
The line of the Queen?

DOMINIC
But what does that mean?

FINCH
Maybe it's a line from Shakespeare.
Or a book. I don't know.

He rewinds and starts the tape.

V
... This wasn't even my idea, was
it?

FINCH
But right here. He's talking to
someone. Someone specific.
Someone who knows what he wants.

V
If you think back, you'll --

INT. CONRAD'S BEDROOM

V continues on a different television.

V
Remember that night, whispering in
your lover's arms.

Helen Heyer is lying on her bed, eating chocolates, watching
V through calculating eyes.

At her feet, we hear a suckling noise that suddenly stops.

CONRAD
Helen? Helen, why did you want
that tape?

HELEN
Shut up, Conrad. I'm thinking.

She shoves her foot back into his mouth and he continues to
suck on it and each of her toes.

V
... now you've become a part of
mine.

HELEN
How? How did you know that?

Conrad moves up her ankle, licking and kissing his way to her
knee.

CONRAD
Know what, my love?

V
Give me the line of the Queen and
I'll give you your secret dream.

She freezes the tape. Her eyes light up and she smiles back
at him.

HELEN
All right. You have a deal.

Conrad licks along the inside of her thigh until she slaps
him.

HELEN
Oh no! Not you. Conrad. Not yet.
Here you can have a chocolate.
Open up. Open!

She shoves the candy in his mouth.

HELEN
Good boy. As for the rest of the
box, perhaps when you're Leader.

She smiles.

HELEN
Right now I need something else
Conrad. I need you to use that
pretty little brain for me. You
know all about the old underground,
don't you?

He nods still gagged with the candy.

HELEN
I need to know everything,
understand? Everything.

INT. LEADER'S OFFICE

There are cameras set in front of the large black leather
chair so that the flashing images and data of the Fate
computer system can be seen behind the Leader.

A makeup artist mattes down the Leader's lipstick.

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Ready in five, Leader.

The makeup artist adjusts one last hair and scurries off.

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
In four, three...

He points and the camera's red light goes on.

INT. LIVING ROOM

The same family, the same squabbling children watching as a
"Special Bulletin" interrupts a laugh track.

LEADER
Good evening London. As Leader of
this great country, I felt it
imperative to speak with you and to
assure you once and for all that
the shadow that recently fell
across our land has indeed passed.

WOMAN
Oh, for fuck's sake.

EXT. TELEVISION STORE - NIGHT

No one is watching.

LEADER
What we have endured this long year
was no accident, no mere
coincidence. This was not a simple
act of terror conducted by a
singular madman. No, this was a
test.

INT. KITTY KAT KELLER

A drunk struggles up onto his bar stool blocking the TV.

LEADER
It was not me, nor the Party, nor
the government that was threatened
this year. It was our beliefs.
Our faith. I believe that God
himself bore witness to our
struggle and like Job I believe
that we have been vindicated.

The drunk raises his glass.

DRUNK
Remember fifth of November!

The bar cheers.

INT. LEADER'S OFFICE

The Leader reaches for his Bible.

LEADER
How do I know this? Let me read to
you where I found the answer, where
I so often find the answer. In the
Scripture. Revelations.

EXT. STREET CORNER - NIGHT

The megaphones blast the Leader's voice.

LEADER (V.O.)
"If any man have an ear, let him
hear."

INT. FINCH'S OFFICE

There are stacks of printout everywhere.

LEADER (V.O.)
"He that leadeth into captivity
shall go into captivity; he that
killeth with the sword shall be
killed with the sword. Here is the
patience and faith of the Saints."

Finch stops reading, listening to the radio.

LEADER (V.O.)
"And I beheld another beast coming
out of the Earth; and he had two
horns like a lamb and he spake as a
dragon."

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

Another radio crackles with the Leader's voice.

LEADER (V.O.)
"And he doeth great wonders, so
that he maketh fire come down from
Heaven on the Earth in the sight of
men."

V nods, almost laughing as Evey enters the gallery.

LEADER (V.O.)
"And he deceiveth them that dwell
on the Earth by the means of those
miracles which he had the power to
do --"

EVEY
Oh, V, turn it off, please.

V
Of course, my dear.

He reaches over and changes the frequency. We hear voices,
hushed and secret but we recognize them.

CREEDY (V.O.)
But how does he know?

HELEN (V.O.)
I don't know. All I know is he
does... And I know what he wants.

The voices are labored, punctuated by gasps and moans.

EVEY
What is that, V?

V
That, Evey, is what I have been
waiting for.

CREEDY (V.O.)
Do you know what I want? I want
you just like this... Bent over
that black leather chair...

We are pulled by the radio into --

INT. CREEDY'S BEDROOM

Where we see a tiny microphone hidden in the ceiling light
above the bed.

Helen moans as we drift down, glimpsing Helen, her arms
reaching for the edges of the bed, her back arching up
towards Creedy, behind her, smiling.

CREEDY
What about Conrad?

HELEN
I told you, I'll handle Conrad and
V will take care of Susan. The mob
will take care of the guard and
then... You can use the Finger to
take over.

CREEDY
Use the Finger? You mean like
this?

He inserts a finger into her.

HELEN
Oh... oh... that is vulgar...

CREEDY
But you like it?

HELEN
Yes, oh yes, oh you're a pig,
Peter...

CREEDY
That I am, misses. But I'm the pig
that's gonna be running this
country.

That sends a shiver through Helen's body.

HELEN
Yes and I'm... I'm going to be
Eva... Oh Eva...

Her eyes close and her fists knot the sheets.

HELEN
"Don't cry for me Argen... oh
Argen... Argen... tina!

The word is almost lost in her orgasm.

EXT. LONDON

The sun rises over London. It is the morning of the fourth.

INT. FINCH'S OFFICE

Finch looks through the blinds at the morning sun. He has
been up all night. He checks his watch: 6:00am.

FINCH
Eighteen hours.

Rubbing the knot in his neck, he turns back to his office
which is now buried beneath mounds of paper.

Dominic is passed out, sprawled on the couch, and clutching a
printout from Spencer's "Fairy Queen."

FINCH
Dominic!

Dominic jumps, immediately searching the printout.

FINCH
Dominic, go home.

DOMINIC
But I've still got over three
hundred lines from The Fairy Queen.

FINCH
Forget it. There's no more time.
You go home and get some rest.
You're going to need it tonight.

Dominic lets the papers fall to the floor.

DOMINIC
He's got us, doesn't he, Finch?

FINCH
Yes, he does.

EXT. NEW GOVERNMENT BUILDING

Conrad pulls his car into his reserved space.

INT. CAR

Helen holds Conrad's chin the way a mother holds a child when
she is telling them something important.

HELEN
Now listen to me, Conrad. This is
the most important moment of our
lives. Everything I've worked and
hoped for comes to this. Susan is
a very dangerous man, especially
now, that's why I need you, Conrad.
I need you to be stronger than him.
I need you to be the better man.
Understand?

Conrad nods.

HELEN
If you do this Conrad, and you do
it right, I'm going to turn you
from the little man I married into
the man of my dreams.

CONRAD
Oh, Helen.

He embraces her to kiss but she turns her perfectly painted
lips.

HELEN
Not on the lips.

Ardently, he kisses her cheek.

INT. FINCH'S OFFICE

Finch sits alone, palms pressed to his bleary eyes.

FINCH
Give it up, old man. You're not
even sure you want to stop him.

With a red pen, he begins absently drawing red circles around
any V he sees on any piece of paper.

Victims. Vectors. Values. Victory. Words from quotes and
lists.

Suddenly, he stops. Carefully, as if reaching to touch a
butterfly, he slips a single sheet out from the sheaves
covering his desk.

The paper has a long list: the names of all the Queens of
England. He has circled in red the V in Victoria.

When it hits him, it hits him like a falling safe.

FINCH
Christ! That's it! It's got to be
it!

INT. LEADER'S OFFICE

The intercom clicks on.

LIEUTENANT (V.O.)
Sir, Mr. Heyer is here to see you.
Says it's urgent. And he's here
with his wife, sir.

LEADER
His wife?

LIEUTENANT (V.O.)
Sir, yes, sir -- Wait, you can't
go --

The door slaps open.

HELEN
Leader, I'm terribly sorry but I
absolutely must speak with you.

The Leader waves the Lieutenant off.

HELEN
I have something to tell you,
something important but --

She glances at Conrad.

HELEN
I can tell you and only you. In
private.

The Leader studies her.

HELEN
It is a matter of national
security.

EXT. CITY STREET

In his car, Finch races to a corner and slams on the brakes.
He gets out, staring at a shadow on the ground: a "V" in a
circle.

The shadow is cast by a sign for Victoria Station, part of
the abandoned subway.

The gates are chained shut. He fires his pistol into the
lock, kicks open the rusting gates, and descends into the
underground.

INT. LEADER'S PRIVATE QUARTERS

The Leader closes the door behind them.

LEADER
Now what's this all about, Mrs.
Heyer?

HELEN
Please, forgive me. I've been so
afraid, afraid to come here to talk
to you. I thought he must know. I
was terrified he knew but I had to
come because I knew you were the
only one that can protect me.

LEADER
Protect you from what?

She is unable to go on, seemingly about to burst into tears.

LEADER
Come now, Mrs. Heyer.

He touches her and it is all she needs. She buries her face
into his chest.

HELEN
You won't let him hurt me, will
you?

LEADER
Let who hurt you?

HELEN
The terrorist.

LEADER
The terrorist is dead.

HELEN
Oh, how I wanted to believe it,
Leader, but I know it's not true.

LEADER
How?

HELEN
Because I know who the terrorist
is.

INT. LEADER'S OFFICE

Conrad is alone with Fate. He glances about nervously,
moving closer and closer. His fingers reach out and graze
the main keyboard. Taking a deep breath, he turns and begins
to type.

INT. PRIVATE QUARTERS

The Leader takes hold of Helen by her shoulders.

LEADER
Who? Who is it, woman?

HELEN
It's Conrad, Leader. Conrad. My
husband is the terrorist.

LEADER
What?!

INT. LEADER'S OFFICE

Conrad accesses the department of water and power. He finds
the correct file and begins rerouting power to a once dead
system.

INT. V'S TRAIN STATION

A hanging light suddenly sizzles to life. V looks up,
smiling.

INT. LEADER'S PRIVATE QUARTERS

The Leader stares hard at Helen.

LEADER
How do you know?

HELEN
I saw him, Leader. In the middle
of the night. I heard something.
I went to the landing and that's
when I saw it.

She clutches him.

HELEN
That mask. That hideous smiling
mask.

LEADER
But how did you know it was Heyer?

HELEN
I know, Leader. I know the way a
woman knows.

LEADER
But you have no proof?

HELEN
Proof?

LEADER
Yes, proof? This is an extremely
delicate situation, Mrs. Heyer. It
has been reported that the
terrorist is dead. It would be a
catastrophe to arrest a man now
without concrete, conclusive proof.
Do you have any evidence at all?

Tears well up in Helen's eyes as she shakes her head.

LEADER
But if you're right, if Heyer is
indeed the terrorist...

His eyes fly wide and he spins away from her, throwing open
the door.

HELEN
Leader! Wait!

INT. LEADER'S OFFICE

Conrad sits calmly across the room.

CONRAD
Is everything all right? Helen?

LEADER
Yes, Mr. Heyer, your wife has done
her duty to her country.

He turns to Helen.

LEADER
Don't worry, Mrs. Heyer. You will
be taken care of. I will launch an
immediate investigation and I
promise, you will be the first to
know when an arrest will be made.

CONRAD
Investigation of what?

LEADER
Subversion, Mr. Heyer. Your wife
was privy to the dialogue of
subversives. That's all you need
to know at this time. Lieutenant!

The Lieutenant appears almost instantly.

LEADER
The Heyers are leaving. I need to
see Mr. Creedy at once.

Helen looks up at the Leader, a smile hidden near the corners
of her perfect red lips.

HELEN
Thank you, sir.

The Leader nods.

INT. NEW GOVERNMENT BUILDING

Helen and Conrad get out of the elevator, standing beneath
the rows of new party flags that line the lobby.

HELEN
I want you to go straight to your
office and wait for me to call.
When I do, I want you to come
immediately home. Understood?

CONRAD
Yes, Helen.

She embraces him, pressing her body against his.

HELEN
Oh, Conrad, I'm so proud of you.

CONRAD
I did it, Helen. I did it, didn't
I?

HELEN
Tonight, Conrad.

CONRAD
Tonight.

HELEN
I promise you will never forget
tonight.

She almost kisses him.

HELEN
Goodbye, Conrad.

Smiling, she pivots on her heel and heads for the door. He
reaches for her when --

GUARD
Mr. Heyer! Mr. Heyer!

The front desk guard rushes towards him.

CONRAD
Yes?

GUARD
Sir, this package arrived for you,
sir.

He hands him a small, brown wrapped box.

CONRAD
Thank you.

He looks back for Helen but she is already gone.

INT. SUBWAY

A single flashlight beam creeps toward us as Finch searches
the detritus of the dead train line.

INT. CONRAD'S CAR

Sitting at a stoplight, Conrad decides to open the package.
Inside is a cassette tape. The light changes and a car
behind him honks. He starts forward and inserts the tape.

INT. SUBWAY

Finch crawls up onto the platform of V's hidden station,
staring at the beautiful old train car.

INT. CONRAD'S CAR

Strangling the steering wheel, Conrad listens to the tape.
The speedometer climbs as everything seems to accelerate.

TAPE (V.O.)
Do you know what I want? I want
you just like this... bent over
that black leather chair.

Helen moans.

INT. TRAIN CAR

Finch steps inside the car, his flashlight sweeping over the
stacks of gelignite.

FINCH
Oh my god.

INT. CONRAD'S CAR

A scream builds in Conrad. With tears in his eyes, he stares
out the windshield but sees only the images created by the
tape.

TAPE (V.O.)
Use the Finger?... You mean like
this?... Oh... That's vulgar... But
you like it?... Yes... oh yes.

Conrad loses control and the car careens up onto the sidewalk
and smashes into a brick wall.

Lifting his bloodied forehead, Conrad looks out and sees the
ubiquitous poster partially destroyed by the crash: "Strength
through purity, purity through faith."

INT. TRAIN CAR

Finch hears something and jerks back, almost falling out of
the car. Aiming his gun, he finds no one. He turns and
bolts.

As the sound of his footsteps fade, V steps out of the
shadows.

INT. NEW GOVERNMENT BUILDING

The Leader's Lieutenant looks up from his desk and sees Finch
rushing towards him.

FINCH
Is the Leader in?

LIEUTENANT
Yes, but he's meeting with the
Captain of the Guard.

FINCH
Perfect.

LIEUTENANT
Mr. Finch, you can't go in --

Finch charges through the doors.

INT. LEADER'S OFFICE

The Leader and his Captain turn.

LEADER
Mr. Finch?

FINCH
Leader, I need as many men the
Captain can spare and I need them
right now.

CAPTAIN
What for?

FINCH
To capture codename V.

EXT. CONRAD'S HOUSE

Creedy opens the trunk of his car. In the phosphorescent
glow of the streetlight, the set of knives gleam. He bundles
the costume that he tried to planet on Finch into his arms,
then slams the trunk.

Above, a window blind that was cracked open snaps shut.

INT. LEADER'S OFFICE

The Leader moves towards Finch.

FINCH
He's underground. The old subway.
I know exactly what he's going to
do. If we move quickly, we can be
there, waiting for him.

INT. CONRAD'S HOUSE

Conrad waits, hidden inside a bedroom closet. He hears the
front door close and his grip tightens around the handle of a
long, steel-necked hammer.

INT. LEADER'S OFFICE

The Leader is steadily convincing himself of something.

FINCH
Leader, every second we delay...

The Leader lifts his hand, silencing Finch.

LEADER
I'm coming with you.

GUARD
Sir --

LEADER
There will be no discussion --

GUARD
But if Mr. Finch is right --

LEADER
I am sick to death of this
terrorist being everywhere and
nowhere! I will judge whether Mr.
Finch is right and I will judge it
with my own eyes! Do I make myself
clear, Captain?

CAPTAIN
Sir, yes, sir!

Finch is suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling that is common to
chess players. It is the disturbing sense that you have just
done exactly what your opponent wanted.

LEADER
Is there a problem, Mr. Finch?

FINCH
No... no sir.

LEADER
Good. Captain, mobilize your men.

CAPTAIN
Sir, yes, sir.

LEADER
We'll find this bloody bastard and
we will finish him.

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

Evey sits in the gallery, reading Pynchon's "V" just as V had
done. She suddenly feels V watching her.

EVEY
V?

V
Yes.

Evey smiles as V steps out of the shadows.

EVEY
V, what's going to happen?

V
Change, Evey. That's all. Just
change.

EVEY
Is it going to be violent?

V
Yes, I suppose it will.

INT. CONRAD'S HOUSE

Creedy empties a bottom drawer, making room to hide the
costume. As he does, the closet door behind him slowly
creeps open.

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

V stands at the jukebox.

EVEY
But why? Why must is be violent?

V
Because, Evey, that is the nature
of change. She is a temperamental
creature that appears in earnest
rarely but, when she does, she will
wear one of two faces. The first
face is the destroyer. It is
lamentable but all true change
begins with death.

INT. CONRAD'S HOUSE

A dark figure stands over Creedy. The hammer raises, a slash
of silver against the velvety darkness.

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

V punches a button on the jukebox just as --

INT. CONRAD'S HOUSE

The hammer falls with a sickening soft crunch.

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

The song begins to play; a melancholy song that says goodbye
to love.

INT. CONRAD'S HOUSE

Blood pours down Creedy's snarling face, he snatches one of
V's knives as another hammer blow cracks through his collar
bone.

He screams, lunging at Conrad.

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

V listens to the song, the smiling eyes somehow knowing.

INT. CONRAD'S HOUSE

The hammer falls again and again until the metal head is
slick with blood and meat.

Conrad stumbles back, dropping the hammer. He looks down at
the hilt of the knife protruding from his stomach. He yanks
it out and holds V's knife which is bright red with his own
blood.

He collapses to the floor.

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

The song continues.

EVEY
What is the other face, V?

V
The other face? She is the true
face of change. The face of the
creator. She is the one that
remakes the world. Evey?

EVEY
Yes, V?

V
May I ask you for a favor?

EVEY
Of course.

V
It is a small thing but it would
mean a great deal to me.

EVEY
Tell me.

V
I've never danced before. I've
thought about it many times, here
in this room, listening to the
music. But I've always been alone.

Evey smiles and crosses to him.

EVEY
It would be my pleasure.

He opens his arms and she steps into them. They dance,
standing very close, his gloved hand holding tightly to hers,
her smile against his.

EXT. CITY STREET

Dozens of military vehicles swarm around the entrance to
Victoria Station while heavily armed men pour through the
gates of the underground.

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

The song ends.

V
Thank you, Evey. You are an
excellent dancer.

EVEY
All it takes is a little practice.

V
Alas, I have run out of time.

He bows, pressing his frozen lips to her hand. Evey is
suddenly nervous.

EVEY
V? What are you going to do?

V
Don't you remember? I have a date
tonight, Evey.

EVEY
You're coming back though, aren't
you?

She seizes hold of his hand.

EVEY
V, I won't let you leave unless you
promise me that you will come back.

V
Of course, I'll be back. You don't
think you can be rid of me now, do
you?

EVEY
Just promise.

V
I promise.

She lets him go.

INT. TRAIN STATION

Soldiers swarm through the station. Susan stares in shock,
outraged by the mere presence of the train.

LEADER
Mark my words, Mr. Finch, this man
is going to become an example so
that every man, woman, and child in
this country will remember what
happens to those who would ever
think to stand against the state.

He turns to the Captain.

LEADER
Captain, I need a gas unit down
here with enough nerve gas to fill
every rat-hole in these tunnels.

Suddenly the lights go out.

FINCH
I don't think that will be
necessary.

The Leader smiles.

LEADER
There are over one hundred of the
best trained soldiers in this
country down here. Let him come.

INT. TRAIN TUNNELS

Five soldiers creep forward in a tight formation, their
flashlights probing every nook and cranny.

Behind them, a secret passage opens and V steps out.

He is among them with frightful speed, a grinning dervish
with blades like metal fangs ripping and rending flesh,
slashing bright in the flashlight.

Other soldiers rush towards the screams and gunfire but they
find only five bodies and warm blood running down the walls.

LEADER
Captain, what's happening?

RADIO (V.O.)
No sign sir. Repeat, no sign of
him.

CAPTAIN
They lost him.

From the opposite end, there is another series of screams and
machine gun fire that lights up the dark tunnel for a moment.
Then, nothing.

FINCH
This... this is a mistake.

LEADER
Don't tell me you're a coward, Mr.
Finch.

Back in the tunnels, V drops from above, his cloak a swirling
cloud of squid ink that hides him in the darkness.

Again, quicksilver knives lash out, drawing fonts of blood.

INT. TRAIN STATION

Finch can feel the panic that is spreading through the
tunnel.

FINCH
Leader, we have to get out of here!

LEADER
This was your idea.

FINCH
It was a mistake. This is what he
wants. He knows us, Leader. He
knows us too well. We have to get
out of here before it's too late --

A voice rings out from hidden speakers, echoing through the
tunnels.

V (V.O.)
Good evening citizens of London.
This is the voice of Fate. Your
fate...

LEADER
What trick is this?

V (V.O.)
Tonight, the face of London is
going to change and I am going to
offer you the chance to change with
her. Your Leader is finished. He
will not leave these tunnels alive.

The Leader screams to be heard over the resonant voice of V.

LEADER
This is an outrage! I order you
not to listen to this!

V (V.O.)
At midnight tonight, the Head will
be destroyed and a new era will
begin. You must now decide if you
are going to be a part of that era.

Everywhere, terrified soldiers listen to the voice.

V (V.O.)
You can choose to stay here and die
with your Leader or you can choose
to be free. The decision is yours
and yours alone.

LEADER
Captain, order all your men to fall
back and secure this position!

V (V.O.)
Some of you have wives. Some of
you have families. All of you have
lives. Consider each of them as
you ask yourself, are they a part
of the past, or are they a part of
the future?

CAPTAIN
Fall back. Fall back and secure
the central platform.

Deep in the tunnel, two soldiers look at each other.
Simultaneously, they drop their guns and run.

LEADER
Any man that disobeys this order
will be court marshaled!

Groups of solders drop their weapons and disappear into the
shadows.

LEADER
Captain! Captain, where are your
men?

The station fills with the sound of boots running wildly
away.

LEADER
Goddammit, I will not tolerate this
insubordination! I want those
deserters shot, Captain.

Finch slowly draws back away from the Leader.

LEADER
Shot on sight!

The few men on the platform are soon the only men left.

CAPTAIN
You! You! Point position. We're
getting out of here! Now!

A knife sings through the air and buries itself in the
Captain's chest. With a tiny rasp, he falls to the ground.

The remaining men bolt.

LEADER
Traitors! You cowards!

He grabs for the Captain's machine gun.

LEADER
I know who you are! I'll see you
hang! Every last one of you!

"You" echoes down the dark empty throat of the tunnel.

The Leader looks around, his flashlight sweeping in big arcs
as he realizes that he is alone.

LEADER
Finch? Finch! Finch, goddammit,
you can't leave me! Don't leave
me!

V
You are going to die as you ruled --

The Leader screams, whipping around towards the voice.

V
Alone.

The smile is as cold and as sharp as the knife that flicks
from his hand.

The Leader raises his gun just when the knife sinks into his
shoulder.

Howling in pain, he drops the gun.

LEADER
Damn you! Damn you!

V smiles into the spot of his flashlight.

LEADER
Conrad? Is that you? You're
working with Finch, aren't you?
And Creedy! You're all in this
together!

V closes in.

LEADER
Who are you?

V
You, most of all, should know,
Leader. You created me. Without
you, I would never be. More than
life, Leader, you gave me purpose.

V draws his final blade.

V
"He that killeth with the sword,
shall be killed with the sword."

V raises the knife.

LEADER
Noooo!

FINCH
Don't move!

V and the Leader turn to find Finch aiming a machine gun at
V.

LEADER
Mr. Finch! Oh god, Mr. Finch!

FINCH
Drop the knife.

V does and Susan begins an almost hysterical laugh.

LEADER
Oh, I knew it, Mr. Finch. I knew
you wouldn't desert me. You're a
good man, Finch. A damn good man.

FINCH
No, Mr. Susan. No, I'm not. I'm a
man who does his job and does what
he's told. For twenty seven years,
that's all I've been.

He steps toward V, staring into his smiling black eyes.

LEADER
Careful, Mr. Finch. He's quick as
the devil.

Finch ignores the Leader.

FINCH
I've read Delia's diary over and
over all year. It sickens me but I
am unable to judge her. I am as
guilty as she.

LEADER
Mr. Finch, what are you doing?
Shoot him. Kill the bastard,
Finch.

FINCH
I have no excuse. I did what I was
told to do.

LEADER
Finch, I order you to shoot him!
Finch!

FINCH
My job was to find you and catch
you. I've done my job. I've done
it for the last time. I'm tired of
it. I'm tired of it all.

He tosses the gun to the Leader.

FINCH
Kill him yourself if you can.

The Leader seethes, his eyes boring into Finch.

FINCH
Thank you, V. And goodbye.

V
Goodbye, Mr. Finch.

The machine gun burst shatters the quiet concrete silence.
Finch falls dead at V's feet.

LEADER
I warned you, Finch, the penalty
for treason is death.

He aims the gun at V.

LEADER
Are you ready to die?

V
The real question is, are you?

The Leader laughs.

LEADER
Do you really believe you can pick
up that knife before I pull this
trigger?

V
No. But I don't have to.

Almost casually, V bends down to pick up the knife --

The Leader screams and fires.

Bullets knock V back a bit but he continues, grabbing the
knife and standing.

Eyes widening with disbelief, the Leader fires another blast
as V begins walking towards him.

The machine gun roars, bullets shredding out through the back
of V's cloak as he continues with short deliberate steps
until --

The hammer clicks against the pin. The gun is empty.

V stands before him.

V
You see? You cannot kill me.
There is no flesh and blood within
this cloak to kill. There is only
an idea.

V smiles.

V
And ideas are bulletproof.

The Leader screams.

V drives the knife into his heart, killing him instantly.

V stands alone amidst the carnage and seeping pools of red.

His body wavers. He takes his hands out from beneath his
cloak and reveals his gloves, wet with blood.

INT. CONRAD'S HOUSE

The front door opens and Helen enters.

HELEN
Creedy? Creedy, you dumb bastard,
you left your car parked in front.

She walks up the stairs to the bedroom.

HELEN
What did I tell you? Creedy.

INT. BEDROOM

She steps into the room, her sole and heel sinking into the
plush carpet soaked with blood.

HELEN
Oh my god.

When she sees Creedy's head mashed open, she covers her
mouth.

CONRAD
Helen...

Conrad has propped himself against the bed.

HELEN
Conrad! What have you done?

CONRAD
I won, Helen. I did it. I won.
I'm the better man.

He crawls toward her, slipping on the wet carpet.

CONRAD
We've been through a bad patch,
Helen. But now, he's gone...
There's nothing to come between
us...

He reaches for her foot, his hand gloved with wet red.

HELEN
Don't touch me! You stupid piece
of shit! You've ruined it! I had
it all planned perfectly and you've
ruined it!

She checks her watch; two hours to midnight.

HELEN
I have to get out of here! I have
to get away!

Conrad seizes hold of her ankle.

CONRAD
Helen --

HELEN
No! Let go! Now!

The look in his eyes frightens her. She tries to kick free
of him but he won't let go. Twisting, she reaches for the
door but slips on the carpet.

HELEN
Conrad, damn you! Let me go!

CONRAD
No, Helen, you're not leaving me...
not this time... not ever.

He crawls up her body still clutching the bloody knife.

HELEN
No, please! Oh god, no! Oh god,
please help me!

Conrad raises the knife.

CONRAD
No one can help us, Helen. God is
dead.

The knife falls.

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

Evey hears V on the spiral staircase.

EVEY
V?

Scarlet footprints trail behind V as he struggles down the
stairs.

EVEY
You came back.

He nods and then collapses, rolling down the rest of the
stairs.

EVEY
V! V!

Running to him, she falls to his side. His clothes are slick
with blood.

EVEY
Oh god, what happened?

V
Evey...

EVEY
You need a doctor.

V
It's too late for that...

EVEY
No, don't say that!

V
Evey, listen to me. I've not long
and there are things that must be
said.

His voice strains beneath the mask.

V
I have done that which I came to
do. Now, it is time for me to rest
and with me the past will, at last,
find peace.

Trembling, Evey holds him.

V
But the world, the world is not
saved... Do not think that, when
the fires die and the smoke clears,
there is no miracle... there is
only a path... upon which they must
learn to rule themselves.

EVEY
Yes, they need you, V.

V
Not me, Evey, not me. I told you I
am the villain. The destroyer...
But yes, they will need help...

He reaches up and wipes a tear from her cheek.

V
I kept my promise to you, Evey...
Now you must promise me.

EVEY
What?

V
Promise me... you will discover the
face under this mask... but you
will never look beneath it.

EVEY
I don't understand.

V
Promise me. Please...

EVEY
I promise.

V
Sweet Eve. Wherever I shall go, I
shall always love you.

EVEY
V, you are not going anywhere!

V
Midnight... Midnight. Eve... Make
them remember...

EVEY
You're not going to die, V!

V
Let me be there, Evey, when it
begins... Please, let me hear the
music, one last time... my music...

EVEY
I won't let you die!

V
I know you won't... I know...

EVEY
V!

V
My love... Ave Atque vale...

Holding him as tight as she can, she feels his life drain
away, slipping through her arms in the way the last grains of
sand pour through the neck of the hourglass.

She buries her face beside his and weeps.

EXT. CITY STREET

An enormous crowd has begun to gather in the streets
surrounding the New Government Building. With the crowd, a
restlessness swells against each barricade erected by the
military.

A sergeant stands on an armored car, speaking through a
megaphone.

SERGEANT
Return to your homes! There is
nothing to see! The terrorist is
dead!

RABBLE ROUSER 1
He ain't dead!

RABBLE ROUSER 2
He'll be here, just like he said!

INT. SHADOW GALLERY

Evey huddles against the stair railing, her face tear
stained, staring at the lifeless body of V.

EVEY (V.O.)
I remember... I remember staring at
the mask, at that smile.

She touches the mask, her fingers finding its edge.

EVEY (V.O.)
Part of me couldn't believe he was
dead and maybe that was why. The
smile was still the same.
It made me want to tear it off so I
could see the face, so I could see
that he was dead.

Her fingers stop.

EVEY (V.O.)
But I had promised.

V (V.O.)
You will discover the face under
this mask but you will never look
beneath it.

EVEY (V.O.)
I began to try to imagine his face.
Of course, I had long pictured my
father behind that smile but I knew
in my heart that V was not my
father.

Evey stares into the eyes, the dark, empty eyes.

EVEY (V.O.)
Yet every time I pictured another
face, any face, something was lost,
something important was somehow
diminished. V was more than a
face. V was V.

Her expression changes.

EVEY (V.O.)
And then, quite suddenly, quite
naturally, I realized whose face
must be beneath that mask. It was
the only face that mattered.

EVEY
I won't let you die.

V (V.O.)
I know you won't... I know.

A small smile creeps across her face.

EXT. CITY STREET

Midnight approaches and the crowd feels it. Spilling
everywhere, they fill the streets like a flood.

INT. TRAIN CAR

Evey sets a final violet carson on the chest of V. He is
lying on a bed made of gelignite, covered in roses.

Touching his mask, she bends over him.

EVEY
Goodbye, my love.

Tenderly, she presses her lips to the smile, her eyes
closing, her final tears blinking free.

She backs away and V smiles, his lips wet with her kiss, his
cheek wet with her tears.

EVEY (V.O.)
"Ave Atque vale."

On the train platform, Evey reaches through the window and
starts the train.

EVEY (V.O.)
I looked it up the next morning.

The wheels churn as the train lurches forward.

EVEY (V.O.)
"Hail and farewell."

V (V.O.)
"Make them remember..."

She watches the train disappear into the tunnel.

EVEY
They will, my love. They will.

EXT. CITY STREET

The crowd surges against a barricade when a voice cries out
across the city echoing through the megaphone on every
corner.

EVEY (V.O.)
"Remember, remember, the fifth of
November!"

High above the gathered mass, a masked figure steps out onto
a roof parapet.

The crowd explodes.

INT. SUBWAY

The train barrels along, screaming against its rusted rails.

EXT. ROOFTOP

Dressed as V, Evey stands on the roof's edge, speaking into a
microphone.

EVEY
I have come here tonight to keep a
promise. A promise that is over
four hundred years old. Tonight I
am here to give you your freedom!

Again, the crowd bursts into a frenzy.

EVEY
Since mankind's dawn a handful of
oppressors have accepted the
responsibility over our lives,
responsibility that we should have
accepted ourselves. By doing so,
they took our power. By doing
nothing, we gave it away.

The voice booms over the mesmerized crowd.

EVEY
Tonight, our world will change.
Our leaders will be gone and we
must choose what comes next. A
return to the chains of others or
lives of our own. A world of the
past or one of the future.

She feels the sea of humanity beneath her, almost channeling
their energy.

EVEY
Let us choose carefully, London,
and when we do, let us mark well
and remember, remember this fifth
of November!

The crowd screams as one and their scream becomes --

INT. SUBWAY

The train hurling like a bullet through a gun barrel. Ahead
the tracks end, buried beneath the rubble of the collapsed
tunnel.

INT. TRAIN CAR

Inside the rattling train, V lays in perfect repose.

V (V.O.)
Let me be there, Evey, when it
begins...

EXT. ROOFTOPS

Hidden and alone, Evey pulls the mask from her face.

V (V.O.)
Please let me hear the music... one
last time... my music.

Almost unconsciously, Evey raises her hand and coaxes the
first soft notes as he had once done.

V (V.O.)
At first, you have to listen
carefully.

The violins of the 1812 overture steadily rise.

V (V.O.)
Ah, yes. There it is. Beautiful,
is it not?

Evey smiles, her hand still gently conducting.

EVEY
Yes, my love. Yes it is.

INT. SUBWAY

With the clash of cymbals, the train crashes into the wall of
rubble.

EXT. NEW GOVERNMENT BUILDING

The entire building opens like a time-lapsed rose blooming
with brilliant orange petals of flame.

EXT. CITY STREET

The crowd is awash in the baptismal glow of erupting flame.

EXT. ROOFTOP

Evey watches the explosion, a star-burst of flaming debris
searing against the night sky like fireworks.

EXT. CITY STREET

The masses burst through the barricades with a euphoric
frenzy.

EXT. ROOFTOP

The explosion begins to slowly die.

EVEY (V.O.)
I know that there is only one way
to repay him for what he did.

She looks down at the mask.

EVEY (V.O.)
And I know that that way is going
to take a lot of hard work.

She smiles.

EVEY (V.O.)
I know this like I know the sun
will rise tomorrow and beneath that
new sun, our work will begin.

The fire fades and Evey turns, cradling the mask, and walks
away.

FADE OUT.

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 27.06.2017

Widmung:
To My Dear Father (Who nowadays is Dead)

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Deep Legend

DeYtH Banger Stories - Chapter 1

Non-Sense Enviroment 0.1.

Non-Sense Enviroment 0.2.

Non-Sense Enviroment 0.3.

Non-Sense Enviroment 0.4.

Non-Sense Enviroment 0.5.

Question - 1

Question - 2

Question - 3

SCP Files - Chapter 2

Incident Zero - Part 4

Kirche

SCP-088

Crime News - Chapter 3

Craigslist Seller Goes Missing After Meeting Potential Buyer

Teenager Sentenced After Shooting Friend, Sending It Through Snapchat

Science - Chapter 4

Graphene membranes can make nuclear industry greener

Other Stories - Chapter 5

THE ONLY SENSIBLE RITUAL PASTA

Stolen Laptop

What's Inside

I think I let him out.

Out-of-Body Scare and Demon Call

Verily

Astral Projection - Strange dreams

Astral Projection? Followed by scary waking experience.

Insomnia

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1984 by George Orwell, Erich Fromm

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Naked Angel (L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories #3) by Joe R. Lansdale

Dead Drop: A Girl's Guide to Homicide (Volume 1) by D.A. Brown

Nineteen Seventy Four (Red Riding Quartet #1) by David Peace

Resident Evil: Retribution - The Official Movie Novelization (Resident Evil #4) by John Shirley

The Dark Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft, Vol 1 (The Dark Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft #1) by H.P. Lovecraft, Wayne June (Narrator), Fred Godsmark (Director)

50 SERIAL KILLERS: Bloody protagonists of history's worst murder sprees by Gary Lequipe

Whodunnit? Murder on Mystery Island (Whodunnit #2) by Anthony E. Zuiker

XO (Kathryn Dance #3) by Jeffery Deaver

Oil! by Upton Sinclair

Men, Women, and Children by Chad Kultgen

Children of the Corn (Night Shift #16) by Stephen King

My Book Stats

The Worst Screen Play Ever!

Screen Play

THE END

Good ScreenPlay

V For Vendetta

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