Fight Club Page #13

INT. BUS - DUSK

The bus is crowded. As Tyler and Jack walk toward the back,

Jack studies the faces of OTHER PASSENGERS...

JACK (V.O.)

We all started seeing things

differently. Wherever we went.

They hold hand grips. Jack looks up at an ADVERTISEMENT; a

CALVIN KLEIN ad featuring a tan, bare-chested MUSCLE STUD.

JACK (V.O.)

I felt sorry for all the guys packing

into gyms, trying to look like what

Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger said

they should.

Tyler looks at Jack, looks at the C.K. advertisement.

TYLER:

Self-improvement is masturbation.

Self-destruction is the answer.

A MAN in a suit KNOCKS Tyler's shoulder as he passes. The

Man takes a handle, close by. Jack's pissed, staring at the

man, who stares back.

JACK:

(to Tyler, so the

Man can hear)

You could take him.

Tyler looks to Jack, glances over his shoulder at the Man.

Tyler casually picks a small scab off Jack's nostril.

TYLER:

The trick is not to care.

Tyler stares forward.

INT. TAVERN BASEMENT - NIGHT

Tyler HITS the floor, stomach first. HIS OPPONENT lands on

top of him, grappling, trying for a CHOKE HOLD. The

surrounding CROWD, Jack included, SCREAMS at them...

Tyler and the Opponent wrestle desperately, and Tyler flips

his attacker, gets on top, sprawling to pin him. Tyler

turns -- starts reining PUNCHES into the Opponent's GROIN...

CUT TO:

Jack lands a couple of BLOWS to HIS OPPONENT'S stomach --

brings up a left uppercut that smashes the Opponent's jaw.

Tiny spatters of BLOOD adorn the walls, along with sweat.

Jack catches sight of a swollen-faced Tyler, watching

appreciatively, a smile growing slowly on his face.

JACK (V.O.)

Fight club wasn't about winning or

losing. It wasn't about words.

The Opponent recovers, throws a headlock on Jack. Jack

snakes his arm into a counter headlock. They wrestle like

wild animals. The crowd CHEERS maniacally.

JACK (V.O.)

They hysterical shouting was in

tongues, like at a Pentecostal church.

Onlookers kneel to stay with the fight, cheering LOUDER.

The Opponent SMASHES Jack's head to the floor, over and over.

JACK:

... stop...

JACK (V.O.)

When the fight was over, nothing was

solved, but nothing mattered.

Everyone moves in as the Opponent steps away. Tyler pushes

through the crowd. Others lift Jack up. They turn their

attention to the floor, to a BLOOD MASK of Jack's face --

similar to the TEAR MASK on BOB'S SHIRT.

TYLER:

Cool.

Jack limply shakes his Opponent's hand.

OPPONENT:

How about next week?

JACK:

Look at me. How about next month?

Everyone helps Jack walk. He's sweating, bleeding, smiling.

JACK (V.O.)

Afterwards, we all felt saved.

INT. HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM - NIGHT

A NURSE tends to Jack while Tyler watches.

TYLER:

He fell down some stairs.

The Nurse doesn't look at Tyler, just keeps tending to Jack.

JACK:

I fell down some stairs.

JACK (V.O.)

Sometimes Tyler spoke for me.

INT. PAPER ST. HOUSE - BATHROOM - MORNING

Tyler and Jack share the cracked MIRROR. Tyler's clipping

at his hair with blunt, ill-suited SCISSORS. Jack's

brushing his teeth, spitting out pink foam.

JACK (V.O.)

Fight club became the reason to cut

your hair short and trim your

fingernails.

TYLER:

Any historical figure.

JACK:

Okay... Ghandi.

TYLER:

Good answer.

JACK:

You?

TYLER:

Abe Lincoln. Big reach. Skinny guys

fight till they're burger.

Jack reaches in his mouth, exploring, pulls -- yanks a

TOOTH. Jack looks at it. Tyler puts scissors down, done.

TYLER:

Remember, even the Mona Lisa's

falling apart.

Jack drops the tooth in the sink with Tyler's hair.

INT. PAPER ST. HOUSE - KITCHEN - LATE AFTERNOON

Jack enters, buttoning his shirt. The PHONE RINGS.

JACK:

Hello?

INTERCUT WITH...

INT. MARLA'S BUILDING, HALLWAY - SAME

Marla's in the HALL, on the PAYPHONE, twisting the phone

cord around her neck.

MARLA:

Where have you been the last few

weeks?

JACK:

Marla?

Jack looks through the archway and sees Tyler, in his gummy

flannel bathrobe, doing sit-ups. Jack leans, cups the phone.

JACK:

(quietly)

How did you find me?

MARLA:

The forwarding number. I haven't

seen you at any support groups.

JACK:

That's the idea -- we split them.

MARLA:

You haven't been going to yours.

JACK:

I found a new one.

MARLA:

Really?

JACK:

It's for men.

MARLA:

Like testicular cancer?

JACK:

Look, this is a bad time...

MARLA:

I've been going to debtor's

anonymous. You want to see some

truly f***ed up people?

JACK:

I'm just on my way out...

MARLA:

Me too. I got a stomach full of

Xanax. I took what was left of a

bottle. Might've been too much.

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