Copycat Page #24

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HELEN:

Do it. If that's what all this

carnage is about, then do it. Have

enough guts to do it.

PETER:

Don't talk to me about courage. I

know death, what it's like to kill.

You're not a killer -- you watched

Daryll Lee kill that cop and you

didn't make a peep, because you

were paralyzed with fear. You

chocked. I know something else about

you.

Peter is jerking about with amphetamine energy; he pops a

pill into his mouth and swallows...

PETER:

You want one? No? There was

something in you that was

fascinated, that wanted to see what

it was like for a man to die.

Everybody feels it. Like every

person who slows to see a bad

accident, or runs to see a fire.

That's true. I see it in you...

you're the same as me.

THERE IS NOISE OUTSIDE... LIKE SOMEONE BREAKING IN.

PETER:

Oh, no.

HE GRABS HER, AND SHE MOVES WITH HIM, WITHOUT RESISTANCE, AS

HE TURNS OUT THE LIGHTS INSIDE.

FLOODLIGHTS SUDDENLY ILLUMINATE THE FACADE OUTSIDE,

INCREASING THE BRILLIANCE OF THE LIGHT STREAMING IN AND

DARKENING THE SHADOWS FURTHER. GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM.

He leads her back to the stage... he pushes her into a chair

facing him... He looks into her face and smiles...

PETER:

We'll keep talking. Until they get

here. Then...

(smiles)

HELEN:

I have no life anymore. I ruined

your life, make me pay for it.

PETER:

Why did you do that? Didn't you

have any idea how hard it was for

me, to get that far? I worshipped

you. You inspired me. I thought

you could understand me the way you

understood the others. I knew that

about you -- the ones you admired

were the great murderers; they

fascinated you.

HELEN:

That's not who I admire -- I admire

people who are good at what they

do, great artists, writers,

thinkers...

PETER:

I don't have the talent for any of

those things. All I have a talent

for is death. And I am one of a

kind. What do you think of your

student now? I have made you

famous, I am your creation and your

monument.

BEHIND HIM A SHADOWY FIGURE DARTS FROM HIDING SPOT TO A

VANTAGE POINT:
WE CAN'T MAKE OUT THE FIGURE... HELEN SEES

BUT PETER DOES NOT.

HELEN:

If you let me, I can make you more

famous than any of them.

PETER:

Oh, please. I know what's coming,

now. "Let me help you..."

HELEN:

Do anything you want to me. I give

myself to you. Only put the knife

down. Isn't this what you always

wanted? I know it's what we all

want, to love and to loved. I

could love you. You could work

together in some safe place, learn

to really understand you, help you,

give you some peace of mind, some

happiness...

PETER:

Back in the driver's seat again,

Doctor? That old dream -- study us

to see what makes us sick. So you

can find a cure -- they'd name it

after you? Death is the only cure

for people like me.

He leans toward her with the knife. This might be the

moment. His gun lies on the floor beside him.

HER EYES HAVE FLICKED TO THE SHADOW BEHIND HIM; HE SEES IT

AND STOOPS TO PICK UP THE GUN AND FIRES INTO THE SHADOWS,

TWO OR THREE QUICK ROUNDS. HE TURNS BACK TO HELEN, DROPPING

THE GUN TO REACH FOR THE KNIFE.

HELEN HEAD BUTTS HIM WITH ASTONISHING STRENGTH, KNOCKING HIM

BACKWARD. SHE STANDS... HE COMES UP WITH GUN... AND AIMS AT

HER...

BEHIND HIM M.J. STEPS OUT OF THE SHADOWS HAVING NOW A CLEAN

SHOT.

HELEN DOESN'T GIVE A CLUE, JUST LOOKS INTO PETER'S EYES AS

M.J. AND PETER IN SLOW MOTION DETAILS AS SHE LINES UP HER

SHOT:
SHE COULD KILL HIM OR GO FOR THE EXPOSED SHOULDER.

HELEN:

Do it. For God's sake, now...

M.J. FIRES.

PETER IS SPUN AWAY FROM HELEN BY THE IMPACT, STANDS THERE,

SHAKING WITH THE SHOCK OF THE HIT... HE STARES AT HER.

PETER:

(surprised, like a

child)

You hurt me!

M.J. HOLDS HER GUN ON HIM, READY TO SHOOT AGAIN, BUT HE JUST

GOES DOWN ON ONE KNEE, HIS BODY VIOLENTLY SHUDDERING... AS:

THERE IS A HUGE SOUND OF BREAKING GLASS AND THEN AN ENORMOUS

EXPLOSION THAT THROWS THEM TO THE GROUND.

THE BIG FRONT DOORS ARE BLASTED OPEN, AND THE FLAK VESTED

SWAT TEAM SWARMS THROUGH... SMOKE FROM THE CONCUSSION

GRENADE SWIRLS IN THE CHIAROSCURO OF FLOODLIGHTS AND

SHADOWS.

OUT OF THE SMOKE COME SKI-MASKED SWAT MEN...

M.J. & HELEN

No!!

PETER TURNS TO THE SWAT TEAM, OFFERING HIMSELF, AS THE WOMEN

SCREAM TO THE SWAT MEN'S WOUNDED AND HARMLESS...

A PATTERN OF RED DOTS FROM LASER BEAM SIGHTS ON THE SWAT

TEAM RIFLES DAPPLE PETER'S HEAD AND TORSO.

SWAT TEAM:

LIKE A FIRING SQUAD THE TEAM FIRES.

PETER'S BODY FLIES THROUGH THE AIR FROM THE IMPACT AND

SLIDES SPRAWLING ACROSS THE STAGE TO A STOP.

CUT TO:

INT. AUDITORIUM - LATER

M.J. SITS AS PARAMEDIC GENTLY PULL OFF HER SHIRT AND THE

BULLET PROOF VEST THAT SAVED HER LIFE.

M.J.

Jesus that hurts. You think the

rib is busted?

PARAMEDIC:

That looks like just a bad bruise.

I'll tape it up if you want to...

M.J.

I'll take some Tylenol and codeine,

instead, how about a lot of number

six?

The medic turns to his medicine bag. Cops swarm around

them. Helen sits down next to M.J. M.J. begins to put on

her shirt, wincing at the movement. Helen helps her.

M.J.

(it hurts)

Oh, God.

SAKS AND QUINN EMERGE THROUGH THE CHIAROSCURO OF SMOKE AND

LIGHT AND SHADOW. When M.J. sees him she takes out her gun

and hands it to him. It is what he expects, but she

misunderstands -- she is offering it to him as her

resignation from the cops. He takes it only as a part of

officer related shooting routine. SHE LOOKS INTO HIS FACE

AS HE SMELLS THE MUZZLE, KNOWS SHE FIRES IT, APPROVED.

QUINN:

I'll take it, kid. You take two

weeks paid leave. Don't waste a

second thinking about that shitbag.

Then come back. You're a cop, M.J.

He nods to Helen...

QUINN (cont'd)

Get the civilians outta here.

M.J.

She's in no shape to give her

statement tonight...

QUINN:

No, she can come in tomorrow...

gonna want to know a lot of

things...

B.G. the cops have pulled PETER'S BODY BY THE FEET, LETTING

HIM BUMPITY BUMPITY BUMPITY DOWN THE STEPS from the stage

and lifted him onto a gurney. The body is wheeled past

them, as...

HELEN:

The only one who could tell you

what you really need to know is

dead.

QUINN:

Yeah, it's a thought...

Of no importance to him, he turns away...

INT. AUDITORIUM - NIGHT

In the LOBBY area between the auditorium proper and the big

exterior doors (now the worse for wear from the concussion

grenades). Outside, through the glass we SEE a media circus

under the BRIGHT LIGHTS put up for the assault. M.J. and

HELEN SQUINT AGAINST THE LIGHT, AND TURN...

THE AUDITORIUM (POV).

The cops and technicians are working away; at one side is a

small door -- easy escape. They run toward it...

EXT. MCCLUSKEY AUDITORIUM - NIGHT

It is dark where they step out into the night. Around the

corner of the building we see the light from the MEDIA

CIRCUS. THEN HELEN STEPS OFF DOWN INTO THE DARK CAMPUS.

M.J. LOOKS AT HER: REALIZING: HELEN IS NO LONGER AFRAID.

SHE CATCHES UP TO HER. HOLD ON THEIR BACKS AS THEY WALK

AWAY...

M.J.

You could use a long hot bath, you

know that? You better get somebody

to drive you home.

HELEN:

Why can't I drive home? I will.

You. Look at you. You need a ride

home. And you don't even know it.

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