on the dotted line. fish hands over the key. then, pulls it back from hancock's grab.
i need quiet. is it quiet?
it's about responsibility.  with what is empowered in you.  to correct the ills of man. no foam. no gel. just skin and the razor edge of his belt buckle - it slices through stubble, clearing up a face that has yet to sleep.
why'd you go and do that for? tom retrieves his ear from the ground. tries to put it back, clutching his head. he bleeds.
why don't we call it the day.
i'm all out. let's go.  and as he utters this, he approaches tom.
no!
what are you thinking?! hancock wrests the gun from his hand. places it into his own mouth. fires two slugs inside. the hoodlum freaks.
huh?! takes the smoking gun out of his mouth. shoves it up the- hoodlum's nose.
want to see brain? huh?! sticks the gun back into his mouth. fires another shot inside. takes it out and this time - jams it into the hoodlums mouth. the hoodlum proceeds to urinate in his pants.
you smoke?
of course you don't. nothing but a kid. smoke no evil. hancock moves over to aaron, now backed in a corner.
ever curious.  .what it's like? aaron shakes his head.
go on.  give it a try. one time. won't kill you. once. aaron under pressure, acquiesces. he takes the stick. sucks on it. doubles over, coughing.
good, huh? tastes like compost.  your first stick. then, after a few more.  it starts getting this. flavor. a little nicotine buzz. a while passes and all of a sudden, it's as sweet as candy. only now, it takes a whole pack to get there, and you won't settle till your, mouth's as sweet. hancock takes another cool drag - mr. wisdom waxing philosophical.
principles. here's one; very simple. just about all you need to know: a man's got to do what a man's got to do. i look at your face, the shiners. you took a shove and you let it go clean. not good. that's a formula for future abuse.  an invitation to the loser's dance. letting it go. walking away. , bad policy. won't be long 'fore you're running, looking for a place to hide.
you do what is necessary.
what is necessary.
to slip away, maybe." the fox decides to go down fighting, make a stand. right?
no. the fox gets his ass kicked and some.  i mean ripped apart by the dogs, like cheap fabric.
but you know, when the last hound was through with him,-and he's walking away, he hears this noise. it's the fox and he's muttering something under his breath.  words. the dog goes over. gets up close. to hear what he's saying. you know what the fox's saying.  just before he keels off? aaron - negative.
no regrets. you make a decision and you stick to it. like a man's got to do. and "no regrets." aaron - submitting it to memory.
look at it this way.  i got to do what i got to do.
i'm sorry.
man of the house?
breasts, please. horus, watching everything - mary and her every blush.
no. it gives me gas. thank you. a beat - as everyone visualizes a superfart.
not about the labor.  or the love of it. .it's about responsibility.  with what is empowered in you. the gift of might. might to.do what? exploitation, because you can? or a different path. to purvey justice. to correct the ills of man.  because i can. faces of profound confusion - mary and aaron. but they are charmed, his words secondary to his charisma. horus, the quiet observer, observes.
what line of work are you in, mr. longfellow?
you're a security guard. you keep the state of things. it's a job. you do it.
aaron, could you show me the restroom? aaron points first door in the hall.
and you could see the flames, through the storm.  i get there, the vessel's all over, spread across three miles of south pacific. bodies floating in the water, shoes, kids who'd thought it some routine reconnaissance joyride. turns out, the only one alive was the captain, up against a buoy.  crying 'cause he didn't go down with his men.  and he's got to live with it.
no, i need to go. the last time i had a meal.  an evening like this, i was.  it was too long ago. i appreciate your kindness.
aaron. tomorrow. after the bell. i'll drop by after school. see how you're doing.
need a lift?
how are you? in unison, they turn to the ups vehicle - a .mangled heap of steel, steam billowing from its ruptured radiator. hancock shrugs a smiles.
didn't see it coming.  left myself open.
all right?
what?
you'll sew -it?
you have to be quick.
if you blink, you'll miss it. hancock uncups his hands, releasing a billowy mass of white something - it hangs in the air, and then dissipates into moisture. it showers into his open hands. mary reaches for it. too late.
i'm sorry.
i've been tired, lately.
-so people tell me.
hard?
it's harder to not do anything. what am i? it's not for me. it's for.  it is about people. rest? when there is despair? i cannot. i bring relief. i am relief. you know that instant, that split instant of time when you realize that the nightmare.  the totality of fear itself.  that it's all been a bad dream? that it's safe? that is relief. the infant in my arms.  to the hysterical mother. when you can see her face, what's rest? it is self-indulgence. mary - in some advance stage of "wow."
it's not important who i am, mary. or what.  where i'm from. it doesn't matter. i'm a man. i am every man.
why.  do you say that?
yes.  sometimes. mary allows the moment to sink in.
what?
nice. thank you. mary - peripatetic, putting away things.
he was in the-police academy? a pause.
is that what you want?
what you need?
mary?
it's getting late.
i'm going to take a walk.
maybe. pause.
get lost. the warning comes across quite well - the man exits. gina saunters over - takes the vacancy. at the other end, the bar fly rises. pays. heads pass them, for the door.
what?
got to do what you got to do. he paces with nervous energy, pounding his fist into the other hand. we sense a decision brewing.
i know you're up, mary. i know you can hear me. please meet me on the boardwalk tomorrow morning. nine o'clock. it's important that i talk to y ou, then.
hi.
(constipated; following some
they're moving. the turbulence has started.
look out there and what do you see, mary?
see it,can it's out there. but you can't y nu? and that's good, not seeing. but for me, i've seen it. it's where i'm from.  out there.
duty. you ask a man, mary, and he'll tell you. he'll say: "you do what you have to do." or what? you let the next guy do it for you, if you don't.  if you can't. and.  but. if i can't, then who?
the next guy? no. there is no "i can't." just "i must." mary - watching a grown superman unravel.
i just want to let go, mary. or i'll break. i need to get away. get away to where? i don't know. i need your help.
i want you to save me.
you can.
to whom?
no. unacceptable.
i'm cold. mary hands him the contents of the bag - the trenchcoat.
what're you doing here?
i don't know what you're talking about.
you don't want to go where i'm going.
listen. aaron recoils.
no, not my job. don't put that on me. not my problem. not on my shoulders. deal with it, kid. you are what you are and.  what i say, it won't do you any change. you'll grow up to be just like-your old man. a coward. not a damn thing you can do about it.  'cept grab both ankles, hope by the grace of god the reaming's gentle. aaron backs away from his angry wrath.
i can't.
i can't.
i can't. his arm rips through the glass.
i can't!
i need a cigarette, goddamn it! he storms from the bed. heads for the bathroom.
no.  don't. no.
mary. mary launches back, cold. outside the window and in frontrof her - hancock, suspended in air. the blood-red of his eyes p nothing but bad news. and being so, he explodes through the glass. glass rains through trance. n the kitchen, amplifying his e
amway, anyone? the pursuit commences - hancock steadies after mary, in retreat around the living room.
it's the haircut, mary. i'm pissed! out of nowhere - aaron charges the caped psychotic. he trampolines on hancock's back, trying to saddle him.
shut your mouth. he swats the kid off his back.
you're getting on my nerves.
what i got to do.
please.  a sudden burst of anger seizes mary. she screams.  strikes hancock across the face.
help me.
make it go away, mary. mary huddles against the wall. she watches on, watching him struggle.
no.  do what i got to do. he unloads a punch. punctures brick. clear through.
go away! go. away. the authorities - they pause, startled. they open fire. cops. s.w.a.t. teams. their cousins. bullets zip through the air and with dead accuracy. hundreds of shells strike hancock - the target. they ping off his armor of superflesh. he stares at them all, invincible.
go away!
i made them go away.
the noise.
why?!
you ready to rock it up? horus runs - he runs for an overturned s.w.a.t. van. hancock follows, toying with the man. horus disappears inside.
come out, you little shit. a pause in action - no reply from horus.
are you a man?! horus answers.  he storms out with a rocket launcher. he fires it at the unsuspecting hancock. it's a hit and it blows hancock against killybegs textile. it lodges him inside the brick structure.