the big figure.
wow, it's really late. dan stands, finishes his beer. hollis sees him to the door.
that's bullshit, hollis, and you know it. they hug.
what?
rorschach. rorschach sits at the table, mask half up, eating a cold can
no, of course not. you uh, want me to heat some up for you?
you were on the news. they say you attacked a cop.
other than that . how have you been keeping?
this little stain, is that bean juice or--
the comedian? nervous now, dan glances out the window. dan let's talk downstairs.
how did it happen?
maybe it was a burglary. the killer might not have known who blake was.
you're right. i heard he was working for the government. maybe it was a political killing.
you don't think that's . a little paranoid?
i-'m just saying the comedian made a lot of enemies over the years, even amongst his friends, if he had any. the man wasn't exactly endearing. just because something happened to him doesn't mean it involves us.
i'm out, rorschach. i've been out, we've all been out. except you. you know that.
yeah, thanks. you can take the tunnel out to the warehouse on fleet street-- rorschach turns to walk off down a long, dark tunnel.
yeah. those were good times, rorschach. great times. what ever happened to them?
i'm here to see adrian veidt.
no, uh, just tell him dan dreiberg is here to see him.
i understand, but if you would just tell adrian that dan dreiberg is here, i'm an old friend.
just tell him i'm here. i assure you he'll see me. dan glares at her. she glares right back. a game of chicken. she reluctantly gets up, goes inside the office. once she's gone, dan's glare disappears, replaced by nervousness. because he's not sure if adrian will see him-- it's been a long time. he glances at the security guards eyeing him. finally, the assistant returns.
you look good, adrian.
he did? must've been tough to get past your security, even for him. i thought your assistant was going to take me out.
you're the world's smartest man, adrian. you tell me.
yeah, he tried that with me once. i just walked away but he starts following me down the street in broad daylight yelling, "punish me! punish me!"
uh, well, he pulled that on rorschach and rorschach dropped him down an elevator shaft. they look at each other, serious, then explode in laughter.
it's great seeing you again, laurie.
you sure i can't get that?
they've been watching the whole time?
how is jon, by the way?
you're probably right.
uh, yeah. awful.
yeah. i'd really like that. laurie crosses the street and gets into the sedan. as dan watches the car drive off, two kids nearly bump into him, running around playing. the kids make flying noises.
maybe we should agree on no drinking at meetings. look, rorschach and i have made real headway on the gang problem by pooling our efforts. rorschach's voice is quiet, not yet its tortured rasp.
oh god.
comedian, this is a nightmare! the whole city is erupting!
how long can we keep this up?
protection from what? blake laughs, exultant in the blowing smoke, the chaos.
who is it?
laurie? it takes a few moments for him to open the door.
sorry, i had a new lock installed, it's a little sticky--
did, uh, the secret service follow you here?
i'm really sorry, laurie.
not at all. i was just going to see hollis for our weekly beer session. you're more than welcome to join. in fact, i insist they pass the news stand from the opening scene. the homeless man is arguing with the news vendor:
laurie, will you please stop apologizing? i'm here for you anytime. shadows trail behind them, ominous. someone's following.
why don't you come by hollis' with me? shake off the adrenaline.
i know, you won't believe it--
wait, what? dan turns to the tv, which replays the clip of dr. manhattan being accosted and then teleporting everyone to the roof.
i was just with laurie. she doesn't know.
jesus! rorschach
my new lock?
adrian, i need to talk to you. adrian looks put off.
but what about what happened with ion? adrian excuses himself from his assistant.
rorschach came to see me again. maybe there's something to this mask killer thing.
adrian! bang! the man shoots the assistant in the gut; adrian immediately springs into action--he moves with unbelievable speed and quickness, grabbing a velvet rope-stanchion-- --deflecting a second bullet with it-- --and smashing it into the face of the assassin, knocking him into a fountain. security guards run, guns drawn, toward the fountain where adrian grapples with the dazed man.
talking to the cops. thank god he's still in great shape. you get so caught up with the whole smartest man in the world thing you forget what a physical specimen he is- -he's as fast as i've ever seen him
listen, why don't you . how about you stay at my place?
it wouldn't be an imposition, i have an extra room. we're friends. and with everything that's been happening
i don't know. but it can't hurt to be safe. besides, i've already had one wanted person visit me, another one won't make a difference. they look at each other. laurie smiles.
noon. thought i'd let you sleep in. laurie smiles at him. is dan crazy or does he sense a spark? she touches his shoulder as she turns into the living room, then turns on the tv:
he wasn't always like that. we were a great team--tactically, he was brilliant. but i don't know, something about this murder charge i just can't see rorschach shooting moloch.
don't remind me, i made that thing for him. but a regular gun just seems too . ordinary
oh sure. the old manhattan transfer.
well, not to his face. laurie laughs.
laurie?! dan bolts for the basement door, thoughts of the mask-killer on his mind.
laurie! dan grabs a fire extinguisher.
where are you?! dan sprays the fire. laurie stumbles from the smoke, out of the owl-ship. dan's got the fire under control now.
i don't smoke. are you hurt?
ah, that's mostly just soot. archie's pretty resilient.
maybe, but the comedian murdered; jon exiled; someone tries to shoot adrian; rorschach gets arrested. it makes me uneasy.
my dad was in corporate banking. he left me quite a bit. which always surprised me.
mugging. he was shot. as dan cleans up, laurie watches him, like she's seeing him for the first time.
huh? well, yeah, of course i worry about you, i mean, we're, y'know, friends-- laurie takes off his glasses . and kisses him. it's what dan's been wanting all this time . but he pulls away.
sorry, i
mask killers. war. nuclear annihilation. i feel so powerless, so i've been afraid of this damn costume. afraid of how much i need it. he flings the owl wing crescent, whizzing into the dark.
what?
i can't believe it still fits. luckily i constructed it with material that was elastic and-- dan turns as laurie appears at the door, decked in her black spandex. silk spectre, looking every bit as good as seventeen-
--form fitting
me too.
let's have some cloud cover.
hang on. dan banks, wheeling the ship toward the veldt building.
got to clean her up a bit. i'm sure adrian wouldn't want to impede the course of justice. heading straight for the building, dan jigs at the last moment, flying the ship through the v-shaped waterfall in the skyscraper's center. the water washes clean the years of dust. the owl-ship emerges, sparkling like new.
i'm putting the water cannons on the lower stories.
yeah. he puts a hand on her shoulder. his eyes locked onto hers. he knows what he wants and this time he's not afraid of it he kisses her. hard. running her hands up his cheeks, they slide each other's masks off. their mouths melt together.
yeah, saving those people from the fire. taking archie out laurie swats him on the chest--that's not what she meant. dan grins, having fun with her.
it--you were unbelievable. they kiss.
i've been thinking about that. and i believe we have certain obligations to our fraternity.
rorschach may be sick, but i think he's on to something--four heroes attacked in a week is not a coincidence. i mean, that whole cancer thing with ion, does that make sense to you? you didn't contract cancer from him. he says as laurie's about to light a cigarette. she changes her mind.
i don't know. but i know someone who might be able to help. dan lands the owl-ship on the roof.
you're leaving town? so you do believe rorschach's theory.
all the more reason we need to get to the bottom of this. maybe we can get jon to come back in the process and stop all this madness.
rorschach's been the only one investigating this from the start. without him, we're starting at the beginning and we don't have that kind of time. we need your help, adrian.
where are you going to go?
you don't have to do this. i know the whole crimefighting thing wasn't necessarily your choice in life.
hmm, rorschach gets locked up in here and suddenly there's a riot. i wonder if that's a coincidence. they descend toward the hell of tear-gas, fire and violence. the tower guards, stunned at the sight of the owl-ship, begin shooting at it. the bullets bounce right off.
put your ear-plugs in.
when he and i were partners, we each had tracking implants put under our skin so old archie here could find us if either one of us were ever in trouble. let's see if rorschach kept his in. dan turns on the gps monitor. there's a blip on the screen.
he's in that wing. dan steers the ship toward the maximum security wing. 9
he's alive.
rorschach? rorschach!
hey, it happens. i remember i lost a big arrest like that once. had to redesign the costume after that-- rorschach exits the bathroom, wiping his hands.
hey! survive now! argue later! i had to turn the screechers off, so we'll be drawing fire. the owl-ship rises to the roof. they all jump in.
rorschach, you remember how to handle archie?
give us a second--
what? what is it dan looks up, through the windshield, and sees-- --dr. manhattan walking across the clouds--straight for the
wait, what? you're taking her to mars? no, she can't--laurie, i don't know about
let's try and lose them in the city. he hits the jets, heading for the new york skyline.
oh no.
i know-- they head straight for the subway-- --when the tunnel opens up-- --dan swerves to the adjacent track just in time.
shit. dan accelerates, weaving archie around the skyscrapers, the empire state building . but the copter's still there. dan cuts around the united nations building. the copter follows the owl-ship around to the east river . but the owl-ship is nowhere to be found the copter hovers there. baffled.
hey! we took enough unnecessary risks bringing archie up so you could get your spare costume. we stay put until it cools down out there--they're looking for us.
i know, you told me already. i'm tapping into all the databases, finding out about the company--
listen, i have had it! who the hell do you think you are? you live off people while insulting them, and no one complains because they think you're a goddamn lunatic! dan turns away, shaking. he leans against the console.
i'm sorry. i shouldn't have said that. maybe you're right, maybe--
hey forget it it's okay, man. releasing his hand with some effort, dan sits, invigorated.
you're right. it's time to head up.
positive. pyramid industries. specializes in industrial plastics. at least they did.
i tapped into all the databases--tax records, business registries, real estate records--trying to get a bead on who's behind pyramid but it's a never ending paper trail. rorschach investigates ahead when dan catches some movement-- --he turns his flashlight to find a few homeless people squatting in the warehouse. upon seeing dan in.costume, the homeless people run away.
they're harmless, rorschach.
hey, i know this man.
no i didn't watch that interview. this was the guy who was doing a story on adrian when i went to see him.
rorschach. what, what if it's adrian?
on the surface it doesn't, but hear me out--adrian's the only one who could've taken on the comedian in hand to hand combat. he's the only one with the finances to create an entire company for the sole purpose of setting up dr. manhattan. and adrian was directly involved in arranging that broadcast. he probably supplied this journalist with the whole cancer list.
if we say that adrian set that up himself, he could've had the hitman shoot his assistant first. it was a risk, but--
i don't know. let's go ask him.
something i can help you with, boys? they all spin around, frightened at the costume.
what old guy?
you're dead! you and the rest of your gang, you're all dead! you know how much fire-power i've got floating out there!? oh god damn. hollis. god damn god damn god damn dan begins to break up. rorschach quietly pulls him away.
i've got a large reading ahead. anything that's emitting that much heat out here, must be a pretty big facility. adrian.
they're icing up, hold on! dan pulls the stick back. the ship shudders upward.
we just lost the engines--find something to grab on to! the ship barely clears the cliff. bouncing hard, it skips across the snow like a stone, finally crashing into a drift.
the engines are de-icing. you sure i can't fit you with something warmer?
adrian, don't make me-- adrian picks up a golden serving tray off the table as dan fires. adrian deflects the laser with the tray-- --then discus-slings the tray into dan's nose. blood sprays, dan drops to his knees. adrian turns his back on them, calm.
you know! you killed the comedian! you set up rorschach! you created pyramid industries, hired all those people, gave them cancer and blamed it on jon!
dammit adrian, what are you trying to do?
why take that risk? what if the hitman shot you first instead of your assistant?
triumph? adrian, what are you going to do?
three million people? you're joking.
rorschach, he's making it up!
by killing millions of people? and when were you planning on doing this?
god. god, he
by committing the biggest mass murder in history. you have no right to play god!
jon, stop him, he killed millions of people, who knows what else he'll do. jon walks calmly after adrian.
jon, are you okay? you seem drugged.
what? where's laurie?
laurie, shoot him again! adrian's hand falls from his chest to the floor, blood trickling, as his palm opens-- --holding a bullet inside.
laurie! if you've hurt her, i'll--
he's right. all we did was fail to stop him from saving earth.
rorschach, wait a second! let's talk this out!
rorschach! across the hall, ion materializes between rorschach and the exit.
no wait!
your death.
yeah. you might have created peace, but not at the expense of justice. you need to pay for what you've done.
exactly. adrian readies himself. laurie breaks away from the tv screens.
tell you the truth, adrian. i don't. dan flies at adrian, fighting like a madman for his life. his fighting style has changed. dan's newfound brutality is informed by everything he's learned from rorschach. about justice. about life. but adrian is the best. he takes dan's attacks apart with ease, delivering blows which would kill a man not quite so focused on his goal. in the end, he catches dan's final strike and twists. dan's arm snaps easily.
really? i've always liked owls adrian sees that dan has pulled one last item from his belt. adrian steps on dan's wrist, bones crunching. dan's hand falls open, revealing the owl-ship remote.
because you can never hear them coming. behind adrian: floodlights blaze, targeting adrian as the owl- ship crashes through the window and into adrian and dan. silence, but for the tinkling of glass falling to the floor. dan tries to stand, but he falls, his left leg shattered. most of adrian has been crushed under the ship. he coughs a fine blood spray. adrian looks over to dan, dying.
so do i. adrian lays back, calm, accepting and dies.
that's it. careful. now, pull the stick to the left the ship rises and turns awkwardly in the hall, smashing out more glass.
now, the thrusters . there. she hits the thrusters. the ship flies from the control room. it's afterburners igniting the room, and adrian's body.
oh hi.
there are always bad guys. even in today's world. slow, laurie turns to the window. looks out at the new york skyline being rebuilt.
hmm?
as long as no-one ever finds out that adrian was behind it all, the public will think ion is still up there, watching.
the threat remains, and everything should be fine.