Watchmen

INT. EDWARD BLAKE'S APARTMENT - KITCHEN - EVENING

CLOSE ON:
A "Have A Nice Day" HAPPY FACE PIN. STEAM rises

past the pin. We hear a KETTLE BOILING.

We PULL BACK and find that the pin adorns the lapel of a ROBE

worn by EDWARD BLAKE, 63, but amazingly not far from his

physical prime--body chiseled, built like a truck. Handsome

too, save the LONG SCAR running down the side of his face.

Blake removes the kettle from the stove. He scoops some Asian

tea leaves from a can, dumps them in a cup .

INT. EDWARD BLAKE'S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - EVENING

The apartment is expensive but not quite luxurious. Terrific

New York view from the window. Blake lives well, if alone. He

sits on the couch with his cup of, tea, puts his feet up. Hits

the remote, turns the big screen TV on. The news:

ANCHORWOMAN:

--addressing the United Nations today,

the President expressed his concern over

the increasingly intense territorial

disputes in both Asia and the Middle

East.

CUT TO:
The PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES--

PRESIDENT:

The sound of a bullet at one end of the

world echoes across the ocean to the

other end. Armed conflict is not self

contained in its respective region--the

consequences reverberate through every

nation across the world and therefore

must be avoided at all costs.

CUT BACK TO:
The Anchorwoman--

ANCHORWOMAN:

While the President's position was clear,

he did not comment on whether or not he

would order Dr. Manhattan into action

should the situation continue to

escalate.

CUT TO:
Stock footage of DR. MANHATTAN--a man, at least he

appears to be, who has glowing blue skin. The stock footage

shows Dr. Manhattan flying through the air as a MISSILE heads

straight for him.

(CONTINUED)

2.

CONTINUED:

With a wave of his hand, Dr. Manhattan stops the missile in

its flight--frozen in mid-air--inches from his face.

With another wave, Dr. Manhattan DETONATES the missile. Dr.

Manhattan disappears in the EXPLOSION . but once the

smoke clears, we see he's still there. Unscathed--

--Blake snorts at the stock footage, changes the channel--

CRASH!--The FRONT DOOR EXPLODES, splintered by a KICK; Blake

jumps up, immediately at the ready--

--when we see the INTRUDER'S FEET entering. Slowly. Blake

sees the Intruder's face, though we never do--we only see

that he's dressed in ALL BLACK, including GLOVES and a KNIT

HAT. A look of recognition comes over Blake.

BLAKE:

Just a matter of time, I suppose.

With sudden, blinding speed, Blake WHIPS the SAUCER from

under his cup, sending it FLYING like a saw-blade. The

Intruder BATS IT out of the air with even quicker reflexes,

but the act buys Blake time to pull a PISTOL with a SILENCER

from a hollowed out STEREO SPEAKER. He's a pro

. but so is our Intruder. Before Blake can get a shot

off, the Intruder is already upon him, SNATCHING the gun out

of Blake's hand--

--Blake PUNCHES the Intruder in the chest plate--the Intruder

drops the gun. Blake fights. Not like an old man, but like

the trained killer he is. But the Intruder is much, much

faster. Younger. Deadlier. He SMASHES Blake with an elbow to

the head.

Blake falls. BLOOD blurs his vision. The Intruder picks Blake

up off the ground. Brings him to the window with the great

New York view. Thirty stories up. Blake looks the Intruder in

the eye

. and starts laughing. Hysterical.

BLAKE (CONT'D)

I always thought I knew the punchline.

But I guess the joke's on me now.

He laughs. The INTRUDER seems to regard Blake a moment--

--then, with incredible strength, he LIFTS BLAKE OVER HIS

HEAD AND THROWS BLAKE THROUGH THE WINDOW. Blake never makes a

sound as he plummets to the sidewalk.

3.

EXT. STREET - EVENING

CLOSE ON:
Blake's dead body. His eyes are wide open, not in

fear, but in resignation. As BLOOD starts to POOL behind his

head, we move to the happy face pin Blake wore, now on the

sidewalk by his neck. We slowly ZOOM IN on the pin as blood

DRIPS on it

. when the pin is WASHED AWAY.

EXT. STREET - LATER (TIME CUT)

A SHOPKEEPER has his HOSE out, spraying off the blood from

the sidewalk. Blake's body is gone, a CHALK OUTLINE in its

place. A COP comes running up to the Shopkeeper.

COP 1

Hey! This is still a goddamn crime scene!

SHOPKEEPER:

It's been over four hours, I got a

business to run--

As they argue, we're back following the happy face pin, as

the water carries it to a DRAIN--

--when someone picks the pin up. We're in this person's POV

as he studies the pin for a moment before pocketing it.

We never see his face. We move from his POV--

--to across the street, arriving at a NEWS STAND. People at

the news stand stare at. the crime scene. At the cop still

arguing with the shopkeeper, the patrol cars, the yellow

tape. At the MEDICAL EXAMINER zipping up Blake's BODY BAG.

Other people at the news stand ignore the scene and peruse

the magazines and periodicals, most of which have

inflammatory headlines regarding the tense atmosphere

currently in the world--a Newsweek headline reads "War?", The

New York Times:
"China Moves Battleships near Taiwanese

Waters," The New York Post, over a PHOTO of the President

with Dr. Manhattan: "What Me Worry?"

The NEWS VENDOR notices a MAN frowning at the papers.

NEWS VENDOR:

(re:
headlines)

Depressing ain't it?

MAN:

But good for business, right?

(CONTINUED)

4.

CONTINUED:

NEWS VENDOR:

Yeah. Irony's a b*tch.

The man pays for a newspaper when A HOMELESS MAN taps the

News Vendor on the shoulder.

HOMELESS MAN:

The current issue of The New

Frontiersman, where is it?

NEWS VENDOR:

It's late this month.

HOMELESS MAN:

When will it be here?

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