he forces himself to endure it. JACK (V.O.) Tyler's kiss was a bonfire or a branding iron on my hand at the end of a long, long road I pictured miles away from me. PG 70 Jack takes his gaze off his hand and his eyes become glazed and detached. TYLER Come back to the pain. JACK (V.O.) Guided meditation worked for cancer it could work for this. TYLER Don't shut this out. JACK (V.O.) I didn't think of the words "pain" or "searing flesh". I was going to my cave to find my power animal. Quick CUT TO: INT. CAVE Marla, looking beautiful in a stunning black dress. As soon as Tyler speaks, we CUT BACK TO: INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Tyler squeezing Jack's hand. Jack's eyes re-focus on Tyler. TYLER This is the greatest moment of your life and you're off somewhere, missing it. Listen. Your father was your model for God. And if your father bails out, what does that tell you about God? Jack's face spasms in pain. He keeps his attention on Tyler. TYLER You have to consider the possibility that God doesn't like you. He hates you. This is not the worst thing that can happen. His hate is better that His indifference. Jack becomes dazed again. CUT TO: INT. CAVE Marla drops to the ground and pulls Jack on top of her. Jack moves to kiss her. CUT TO: PG 71 INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Tyler tugs at Jack's arm. TYLER We are God's middle children, with no special place in history and no special attention. Unless we get God's attention, we have no hope of damnation or redemption. Jack looks at Tyler and they lock eyes in a stare. TYLER The lower you fall, the higher you fly. The farther you run, the more God wants you back. Jack does his best to stifle his spasms and quivers of pain. Tears drip from his eyes. TYLER Someday, you will die. And until you know that, you're useless to me. Tyler's eyes fill with tears and he smiles. Suddenly, Jack starts breathing heavily and he shakes his hand. JACK Fuck, man. This HURTS. Tyler laughs; Jack, bearing the pain, cracks a weird little crooked smiles, his eyes wide. INT. KITCHEN - SUNRISE Tyler watches as Jack cuts several perfectly shaped bars of soap. Tyler finishes wrapping one. The wrapper says: "The Paper Street Soap Company" in quaint writing. INT. BARNEY'S - DAY Jack and Tyler, wearing trenchcoats and looking like death-warmed-over, wait by a counter and trendily-dressed and finely-coiffed SALESPEOPLE zip around. Tyler is the picture of cool. Jack looks around as if expecting to get arrested. He looks at his BANDAGED HAND, shakes it. A BUYER, a woman, comes to the counter, smiles at Tyler; he smiles back. MOS while Jack's VOICE is OVER the following: the Buyer looks over a sample bar of soap. She nods, smiles and begins to fill out forms. PG 72 JACK (V.O.) Tyler sold it to the stores at twenty bucks a bar. God knows what they charged. We were selling rich women their own fat back to them. EXT. STREET - NIGHT Jack and Tyler march down the sidewalk, full of purpose, like gunfighters heading for a show-down. TYLER Look at the guys in fight club. The strongest and smartest men who have ever lived -- and they're pumping gas and waiting tables; or they're slaves with white collars. Advertising has them chasing cars and clothes. A whole generation working in jobs they hate, just so they can buy shit they don't really need. INT. HIGH SCHOOL HALLWAY - NIGHT MEN are entering the gymnasium for the testicular cancer support group "Remaining Men Together". Bob starts to file in with the rest, and suddenly, Jack darts forth from the shadows and blocks his way. BOB Hi. JACK Hi, Bob. Bob tries to go through the door, but Jack blocks him. JACK Are you really a man? BOB Yes ... we all are. JACK I'm not so sure. Jack forcefully pushes Bob. Caught off-guard, he backs into a locker with a bang. Jack slaps Bob's face. JACK Come on, you big moose. Let's see if you are. PG 73 Jack punches Bob in the stomach. Bob puts up his hands to block. Jack throws more punches. Finally, Bob punches Jack in the face, knocking him staggering. Jack comes back and they pummel each other. Bob's face gets redder with anger. Then, Jack steps back, holding out his hands to signal "stop". JACK Let's take this somewhere else. INT. BASEMENT - ELECTRONICS WAREHOUSE - NIGHT The crowd screams insanely as Bob and Jack go at it in the circle of light. Bob's eyes are wild with glee. EXT. BASEMENT DOOR - ELECTRONICS WAREHOUSE - LATER Everyone quietly sneaks out of the new location -- we've seen none of these guys before -- this is a new chapter. Jack and Bob stagger out last. They are both dripping blood and covered with bruises -- Jack being in worse shape -- and they both grin with religious serenity. Bob hugs Jack. BOB Thank you. Thank you. Bob relaxes the hug and Jack drops to the ground like a sack, enervated from the beating he took. JACK You're welcome. JACK (V.O.) Fight club -- this was mine and Tyler's gift -- our gift to the world. EXT. STREET - DAY Ricky grapples with a YUPPIE. They fall to the sidewalk, pounding each other. YUPPIE WHO ARE YOU?! WHY DID YOU ATTACK ME?! The Yuppie maneuvers Ricky toward a metal fence and insanely tries to impale him on a spike. Tyler and Jack shoot INTO VIEW and grab the YUPPIE, laughing. YUPPIE WHO ARE *YOU*!! PG 74 INT. TRUCK GARAGE - NIGHT Ricky and the Yuppie fight each other while the crowd -- still even more new guys -- cheers. JACK (V.O.) We started a fight club for every night of the week. CLOSE UP - BUMPERSTICKER Which reads: "DRUNK DRIVERS AGAINST MOTHERS". A HAND presses it down in all corners. PULL BACK TO REVEAL - the bumper, THEN the whole car -- a luxury sedan. THEN - the entire PARKING STRUCTURE wherein ALL the bumpers have the sticker. JACK (V.O.) We started pulling pranks. EXT. STREET - LATE NIGHT Jack, Tyler and Ricky quickly paste up a basic, black-on-white-lettering BILLBOARD. It says: "DID YOU KNOW ... ? YOU CAN USE YOUR OLD MOTOR OIL TO FERTILIZE YOUR LAWN! -- ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY". TYLER We're the middle children of history, with no special purpose or place. We don't have a great war in our generation, or a great depression. The great depression is our lives. The great war is a spiritual war. EXT. LARGE PARKING LOT - DAY Jack and Bob, armed with a toolbox, change the "Enter" and "Exit" signs around. They walk away. In the background, a car drives into the "entrance" and the front tires EXPLODE from the BLADES in the ground. PG 75 EXT. SIDEWALK - NIGHT Jack walks toward an intersection, beyond which is a large CITY PARK. A group of people are LEAVING A PUBLIC BUILDING in front of him. Marla is among them -- it's a support group adjourning for the night. Jack catches Marla's eye. He simply smiles and waves. Marla stares at him, deadpan. She turns and walks away, JUST AS ... Tyler STEPS INTO FRAME, looking straight ahead at the park. He signals Jack and they move forward. From out of nowhere, Bob joins them. EXT. PARK - OUTDOOR BEER FESTIVAL - NIGHT A bad BAND plays German music. BANNERS advertising American beer are everywhere. People wear shirts and hats with beer ads. Jack, Bob and Tyler sneak up to the side of a portable TOILET. They shove it until it falls against the next toilet. An ENTIRE ROW of portable toilets falls like dominoes. They dart behind a row of trees, then casually walk away. JACK (V.O.) We were raised by television to believe that someday we'll all be millionaires and movie stars and rock stars -- but we won't. And we're learning that fact. TYLER And we're very, *very* pissed-off. INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - ON GROUND - DAY Two AIRPLANE MAINTENANCE MEN -- with bruised faces -- rip open a box from a PRINT SHOP. They dig up handfuls of AIRLINE SAFETY INSTRUCTION CARDS and begin to inset them into each seat back pouch. We MOVE IN and SEE a card -- it shows passengers SCREAMING and FLAILING ABOUT IN TERROR. INT. PAPER ST. HOUSE - KITCHEN - MORNING Jack, dressed for work, receives a sheet of paper from Tyler. TYLER Make two dozen copies. We're going to have -- PG 76 INT. PHOTOCOPY ROOM - DAY Jack stands over a copy machine, getting hit by the flashes of light. JACK (V.O.) -- more than one fight club on every night of the week. Jack looks around. Other faces illuminated in FLASHES. HALF of them are bruised. He smiles, his eyelids getting heavy and his head nodding. INT. JACK'S OFFICE - LATER Jack sits in his cubicle, playing a game on his computer. Boss enters. JACK (V.O.) He was wearing a yellow tie. It must be Thursday. I didn't even wear a tie to work anymore. Boss slaps a piece of paper down on Jack's desk. BOSS "The first rule of fight club is you don't talk about fight club". Jack stares at him stoically. JACK (V.O.) I was still half-asleep all the time. I left the original in the copy machine. BOSS Is this yours? "The second rule of fight club is you don't talk about fight club". Is it yours or not? You don't get paid to abuse the copy machine. JACK "Abuse" the copy machine. What an image. BOSS Let's play pretend. You're me. You find *this*. What would you do? Hmm? Make a managerial decision. What would you do? PG 77 Jack slowly rises, walks softly to his office door, shuts it and faces the boss. JACK I'd be very careful who I talked to about this. It sounds like someone dangerous wrote this, and this buttoned-down psychotic could probably snap at any moment and stalk from office to office with an Armalite AR-180 Carbine gas-operated semiautomatic. He's probably at home every night with a little rattail file, filing a cross into the tip of every one of his bullets. This way, when he pumps a round into ... *someone* ... it will split along the filed grooves and spread open the way a dum dum flowers inside you to blow a load of guts out through *someone's* spine. This is probably somebody you've know for years. Boss stares at him with a tinge of outrage, a tinge of fear. JACK (V.O.) Tyler's words. Me clowning around. And I used to be such a nice person. Jack's phone RINGS. Jack answers. JACK Compliance and Liability. MARLA'S VOICE My tit's going to rot off. JACK (to Boss; big smile) Could you excuse me? I need to take this call. Boss goes to the office door opens it, stares at Jack a beat, then leaves. JACK (into phone) What are you talking about? PG 78 INTERCUT WITH CLOSE-UP OF MARLA In dim light, her face very pretty with make-up. MARLA I need you to check and see if there's a lump on my breast. I can't afford to blow the cash on a doctor just to find out. JACK I don't know ... MARLA You're the only one I can turn to. JACK (V.O.) She didn't call Tyler. I'm neutral in her book. MARLA Meet me at work. EXT. MORTUARY - LATE AFTERNOON Jack goes through the front door. INT. MORTUARY - SAME Jack walks into the dim, dramatically-lit foyer. He sees Marla at a desk. She does not see him. She's wearing a black formal dress -- like a gorgeous angel of death. A VERY FAT MALE CUSTOMER holds an URN the size of an egg cup. Marla studies the urn and the Customer's body with a dreary expression. MARLA Sir, you couldn't get the ashes of your *neck* in here. The Customer turns and stomps out the door. Jack steps forward to the desk. JACK Employee of the month? Marla looks up at him and smiles. PG 79 EXT. MARLA'S HOTEL - SUNSET Jack watches as Marla takes two boxes from a van with sign "MEALS ON WHEELS". INT. MARLA'S ROOM - MOMENTS LATER Marla leads Jack inside. JACK You know, this is a sweet side of you. MARLA Think so? JACK Picking these up for ... (reads off boxes:) "Mrs. Haniver" and ... "Mrs. Raines". Where are they? Top floor? MARLA They're dead. I'm alive and I'm in poverty. You want any of this? JACK No, thanks. MARLA Good. He stares at her while she wolfs down food. Marla takes a napkin and wipes her mouth. MARLA This napkin is "one-hundred percent recycled". So is my toilet paper. Can you imagine. The worst job in the world -- recycling toilet paper. INT. MARLA'S ROOM - NIGHT Marla stands in front of a mirror with her shirt open. Jack stands behind her with his hand on the bottom side of her breast. Her hand guides his. JACK Where? Here? MARLA Here. PG 80 JACK There? MARLA Here. JACK Here. MARLA Feel anything? JACK No. Jack's head is behind Marla's. His eyes close. Both of them speak more slowly, softer. MARLA Make sure. JACK Okay. Okay, I'm sure. MARLA You feel nothing? JACK Nothing. He almost kisses her neck. Marla turns around, faces him and begins to slowly button up her shirt. MARLA Whew. That's a relief. Thanks. JACK No problem. MARLA I wish I could return the favor. Jack touches his breasts, shakes his head. JACK I think everything's okay here. MARLA I could check your prostate. JACK Uh ... nah. MARLA Well, thanks. PG 81 Marla kisses him -- and lingers for a bit longer than just friendly. Jack pulls away. JACK Are we done? JACK I gotta go. Marla's voice turns acid: MARLA Yeah, we're done. Get the fuck outta here. Jack goes to her door, opens it, looks back at her. JACK I'm sorry. MARLA GO, ASSHOLE! EXT. STREET - MOMENTS LATER Jack walks down the sidewalk. He glances back up at Marla's window as he crosses the street. He sees her. She moves away from the window and -- Jack's BUMPED -- very lightly -- by a PASSERBY -- it's *Tyler*. TYLER What are you doing? JACK Uh ... I ... was ... coming back from ... a ... thing ... Tyler throws an arm around Jack and leads him down the sidewalk. TYLER We need to talk. INT. BOSS'S OFFICE - DAY Jack steps into the open doorway and lightly knocks against the frame. Boss looks up from his large, expensive desk. JACK We need to talk. PG 82 BOSS Okay. Where to begin? With your constant absenteeism? With your unpresentable appearance? I might as well tell you now -- you're going to be put up for review. This next line *NOT* in V.O.: JACK I Am Joe's Complete Lack Of Surprise. Boss sits up in his seat, becoming enraged. JACK Let's pretend. You're the Department of Transportation. And you knew that our company intentionally left a front seat mounting bracket that never passed collision tests? Did nothing about leather seats -- that were cured in third world countries with a chemical we know causes birth defects? Brake linings that fail after a thousand miles. Turbochargers that blow up and cut off legs at the knees. Fuel injectors that burn people alive. All of these accidents where "cause of failure" is stamped "unknown". I know where the bodies are buried. Call it job security. BOSS Just who the fuck do you think you are?! Get out of here! You're fired! JACK I've got a better idea. You're going to keep me on payroll as an outside consultant. In exchange for my salary, I'll perform the task of not telling anyone what I know. I won't need to come into the office. I can do this job from home. Call it early retirement, with pension. Boss stands, moves around his desk, glaring with rage. PG 83 JACK Yes, I am shit and crazy, to you and this whole fucking world, but I'm your responsibility. Jack PUNCHES HIMSELF in the nose. Blood starts to trickle down. He punches himself in the jaw, harder. He throws himself back, acting as if the force of the punch knocked him. His back SLAMS against a framed painting and SHATTERS the glass. He and the frame and the glass and the painting fall to the floor. JACK (V.O.) I Am Joe's Smirking Revenge. JACK Please don't hit me again. Please. Jack gets back to his feet and punches himself in the stomach, then punches himself in the jaw again. He reels backwards and falls into a hanging shelf, ripping it off the wall, sending it's contents flying. He falls to the floor again. JACK (V.O.) For some reason, I thought of my first fight -- with Tyler. Jack crawls along the carpet toward Boss, dripping blood. He tries to keep up the act, but he sporadically GIGGLES. He grabs Boss's leg. JACK Please ... give me the paychecks like I asked for. You won't see me again. You won't have any trouble. Jack climbs up Boss's leg. Boss, aghast, tries to shake him off, and, in doing so, stumbles back in to his desk, knocking off photos, stacks of paper, paperweights. JACK (V.O.) Under and behind and inside everything this man took for granted, something horrible had been growing. Jack crawls up high enough to grab Boss's belt and hoist himself up further. He's getting blood all over the Boss's clothes. Jack SMUDGES blood from his face onto the knuckles of both Boss's hands. The horrified man SCREAMS. PG 84 JACK (V.O.) And right then, at our most excellent moment, security guards decided to walk in. Two SECURITY GUARDS come inside and gape at the sight. Behind them stands a crowd of curious workers, also taking in the sight. JACK (gurgling blood) Please don't hit me again. INT. PAPER ST. HOUSE - JACK'S ROOM - DUSK Jack, all bloody, lies in his bed, asleep. He awakens, hearing the BACK DOOR SLAM. He painfully hauls himself out of bed. INT. KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER Jack enters to see Tyler taking beers out of the fridge. Jack waves a PAYCHECK. JACK I did it. TYLER That's fucking great! Jack sees that Tyler is dressed in combat fatigues. He's splattered with various colors of PAINT. There's a rope and rappelling mechanisms lying on the table. Tyler nods toward the living room and hands Jack all the beers. TYLER Go on in. We're celebrating. INT. LIVING ROOM Jack, a little bewildered, saunters in, carrying the beers. Tyler does NOT follow him. Bob, Ricky and several fight club guys are in front of the TV. They are all dressed like Tyler, all splattered with paint. Jack hands them their beer. One of the guys is sixteen year old with an angelic face. He notices the TV. ANGEL FACE SHHH! They're back to it! PG 85 Jack looks at the TV as it shows a LIVE shot of a BUILDING, which is identified at the bottom of the screen as the TRW building. It has a GIANT GRINNING FACE PAINTED on it. The two EYES are broken, charred windows with SMOKE pouring out. Firetrucks spray water into the windows. REPORTER Police Commissioner Jacobs has come down ... just a second ... excuse me, could you tell us what you think this is? The COMMISSIONER JACOBS, a wrinkled man with baleful eyes, turns to camera. COMMISSIONER JACOBS We believe this is related to the other recent acts of vandalism around the city. It's some kind of organized group. And we're investigating thoroughly. Jack turns back and sees Tyler in the archway, watching the TV. Tyler pulls back, out of sight. Jack turns to the others. JACK What did you guys do? They all BURST INTO LAUGHTER, look at Jack and shake their heads. Jack just stares at them. Suddenly, the guys' faces turn to stone. BOB The first rule of Project Mayhem is -- you don't ask questions. Jack stares at them. CUT TO: INT. HOTEL BALLROOM - NIGHT A loud, luxurious banquet ensues. Commissioner Jacobs guzzles champagne and puffs on a cigar. Jack, in a waiter's uniform, serving another table, stares at Jacobs. Then, Jack looks apprehensively toward certain other waiters: Tyler, Bob, Ricky and Angel Face -- mixed in with the mass of waiters. INT. BATHROOM - SAME Commissioner Jacobs enters, puffing the cigar, and walks toward a urinal. Jack, Tyler, Bob and Ricky leap out of the corner and attack him. Jack's heart isn't in it -- he barely helps the others. Tyler knocks the cigar out of Jacob's mouth and slaps a piece of tape over it. PG 86 INT. SERVICE ELEVATOR - SAME Jack holds the door while the others drag the struggling Commissioner inside. They hold him down and pull down his pants. Bob snaps a rubber band, then reaches down to Commissioner Jacob's crotch. TYLER Wrap it around the top of his ball sac. Ricky holds a knife to Commissioner Jacob's testicles. Jack, red-faced, keeps his distance. Tyler leans in and whispers in the frightened man's ear. TYLER You're not going to continue your "rigorous investigation". You're going to publicly state that there is no underground group. Or -- imagine, the rest of your life with your ball sac flapping empty. COMMISSIONER JACOBS No. Please. Stop. Please. TYLER One to the *New York Times* and one to the *Los Angeles Times*. Press release style. Remember this. The people you're after are everyone you depend on. We're the people who do your laundry and cook your food and serve your dinner. We guard you while you sleep. We drive the ambulances. We process your insurance claims. We control every part of your life. So don't fuck with us. Ricky makes a dramatic cut with the knife -- he holds up the severed RUBBER BAND. EXT. HOTEL - LATER Jack, Tyler and the others file quickly out the back service entrance. Tyler slaps Angel Face's back. Angel Face smiles at him. Everyone splits up in different directions. PG 87 INT. BASEMENT - NIGHT Fight club in full swing. Jack squares off with Angel Face. He BEATS the SHIT out of Angel Face with a viciousness heretofore unseen. The crowd shouts maniacally, save for Tyler, who watches with an inscrutable stone face. Angel Face tries to speak, but Jack pounds him too hard. Blood flies everywhere. The crowd becomes QUIETER. Finally, Angel Face, on the floor, is clearly unconscious. Jack stops, stares at him, numb. The crowd seems a little spooked. Tyler scans the faces, looks at Jack. EXT. STREET - LATER Tyler and Jack walk through pools of streetlight. JACK I felt like destroying something beautiful. TYLER Excellent. An idling car HONKS. Tyler leads Jack toward it. A bruise-faced VALET PARKER throws keys to Tyler. VALET There you go, Mr. Durden. JACK After you, *Mr. Durden*. INT. STOLEN CAR - MOVING - LATER RAIN GUSHES down. Tyler drives. Jack sits slumped in the passenger seat. They are BARRELING down a two-lane HIGHWAY, intermittently illuminated by oncoming headlights. Jack stews in silence. Tyler glances at him. TYLER What's the problem? JACK Nothing. Why wasn't I told about "Project Mayhem"? TYLER You *were* told about it. PG 88 JACK Uh-huh. Yeah. Fine. If you can't talk to me about it ... TYLER That's the whole point -- you *don't* talk about it. JACK So, I can't even ask? TYLER What do you want me to say? That Project Mayhem will knock over the pillars of civilization like dominoes? That it's going to bring about a prematurely-induced dark age? Should I E-mail you? Should I put this on your "action item list"? JACK Fine. TYLER Recognize the make and model of this car? JACK Yeah -- so what? TYLER The front seat mounting bracket never passed collision tests. Tyler pulls the car into the opposite lane. HEADLIGHTS in the distance get closer very, very quickly. JACK What are you doing?! The oncoming car gets closer and closer, honking and flashing it's lights. Jack tries to grab the wheel. Tyler uses one arm to pin down Jack's arms. He uses one hand to steer. JACK TYLER! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!! TYLER If you died right now, how would you feel about your life? JACK I WOULD FEEL NOTHING ABOUT MY LIFE! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR?! PG 89 TYLER I want to hear the truth. The car swerves at the last second. JACK Fuck my life. Fuck fight club! Fuck you and fuck Marla. I'm sick of this shit! How's that? Huh? TYLER You don't have any concept of what it is to hit bottom. An oncoming TRUCK honks and flashes it's lights. It moves to the other side of the road. Tyler steers there, too. The truck moves back; Tyler moves back. More honking and flashing. The truck moves; Tyler moves. TYLER HITTING BOTTOM ISN'T A WEEKEND RETREAT! IT'S NOT A SEMINAR! ONLY AFTER YOU'VE LOST EVERYTHING ARE YOU FREE TO DO ANYTHING! YOU SEE, YOU LISTEN, BUT YOU DON'T GET IT! YOU HAVE TO FORGET EVERYTHING YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING YOU THINK YOU KNOW! Just seconds to impact with the oncoming truck and -- Tyler swerves. Now the car heads straight for a STALLED CAR on the side of the road, surrounded by flares. Jack stops struggling to get his arms free. JACK I am nothing in the world compared to you. I am helpless. I am stupid and weak and all I do is want and need things. I *am* my little shit job. I *am* my condo and my Swedish furniture. I am SHIT! Tyler lets go of Jack's arms and lets go of the steering wheel. He and Jack look at each other as their car barrels toward the stalled car. Their faces are illuminated by the light of the flares. They SMASH into the stalled car. Both airbags inflate, but the front seat LURCHES forward, loose, causing the men's legs to bang against the dash. Tremendous momentum makes the back of the car whip around and carry it into a ass-over-teakettle ROLL down the hill. PG 90 JACK (V.O.) I'd never been in a car accident. This was what all those statistics felt like before I wrote them into my reports. INT. FAMILY CAR (JACK'S IMAGINATION) The car that Jack saw, post-wreck, in the warehouse, FLAMING, tumbling END over END; the FATHER, MOTHER TEENAGE GIRL and BABY all SCREAMING. INT. TYLER'S STOLEN CAR - RESUMING The hill goes on further and further -- it's a deep RAVINE. The car finally hits the bottom, lying on its roof. EXT. OVERTURNED CAR Tyler crawls out and goes around, opening Jack's door. He drags Jack out into the mud. He grabs Jack's face and squeezes it, shaking it. TYLER You just had a near-life experience. INT. JACK'S BEDROOM - LATE NIGHT Jack lies in bed, staring at the ceiling. Tyler sits in a chair, next to the bed, speaking softly. TYLER The world I see -- you're stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You wear leather clothes that will last you the rest of your life. You climb the wrist-thick vines that wrap the Sears Tower. You see tiny figures pounding corn and laying strips of venison on the empty car pool lane of the ruins of a superhighway. INT. JACK'S BEDROOM - DAWN Jack lies in bed, staring at the ceiling. Tyler is gone. Faint sounds of SAWING and HAMMERING. PG 91 INT. KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER Jack sits at the table, sipping coffee. He's pale, dazed. He seems broken. He hears the faint sounds of sawing and hammering again; he's unsure of where they're coming from. He glances out the window, sees nothing. Marla walks into the kitchen. Jack looks up at her. She looks at him, unsmiling. There's a bruise on her face and arm. She pours herself a coffee and lights a cigarette. A beat of silence, then: MARLA I'll be out of your way in a sec. She seems to be as weak as Jack. JACK You ... don't have to ... rush off. MARLA Sarcastic prick. JACK No, really ... Marla's eyes drift away from his. Jack gets up, tries to move closer to her. She pulls away. He retreats and they wind up on opposite sides of the room. Jack leans against the wall near the BASEMENT DOOR, which is AJAR. JACK Why are we both ... caught up like this ... with ...? JACK (V.O.) I came so close to saying Tyler's name, I could feel it vibrate inside my mouth. Marla looks at him curiously, waiting. JACK Why does a weak person go out and find a strong person to ... hang onto? MARLA It's a real sick relationship. You don't think I know it? JACK Does it *have* to be? PG 92 MARLA Does it? Faint sound of sawing and hammering. Jack can't quite figure where it's coming from. JACK You hear that? MARLA Hear what? JACK That ... sawing and hammering. MARLA We have to change the subject? Have we been talking too long? JACK I just don't understand what you get out of such a sick relationship. MARLA What the hell do *you* get out of it? Jack turns and sees, through the slim space of the open door, Tyler, at the bottom of the basement stairs, staring a silent warning. Jack turns back to Marla. JACK Nevermind. MARLA No. That day you came over to check my breast ... JACK Let's just stop right here. MARLA Come on! You *want* to pull yourself out of whatever you're stuck in. Marla moves slowly toward Jack. JACK Conversation over. Marla strokes Jack's hair. She sees the kiss-scar on his hand. She grabs his hand and studies it. Jack tries to pull it back, but Marla keeps a tight grip. PG 93 MARLA What is that?! Who did that?! JACK ... A person. MARLA Guy or girl? JACK Why would you ask if it's a guy or a girl?! MARLA Why would you get bent if I asked?! JACK Go. MARLA What does it mean? You're afraid to say? JACK Go! Go! Marla kisses Jack's hand, putting her lips right onto the scar, leaving an imprint of lipstick. Jack jerks his hand away from her. He tries to wipe off the lipstick and it smears. He unconsciously licks it off. MARLA MMMMMMMMMM ... Swallow it. JACK Get the hell out of here! Stung, Marla stomps toward the back door. MARLA Go fuck yourself -- that's probably how you like it best. And out she goes. Jack watches her stomp through the backyard and out to the sidewalk. Tyler comes up from the basement, passes Jack and goes through the archway. Sound of his footsteps going up to the second floor. Jack goes down the basement steps. PG 94 INT. BASEMENT - CONTINUOUS TRIPLE-DECKER BUNKS clutter the basement, as many as can fit into the space. JACK What's this for? >From upstairs, the sound of the DOORBELL. INT. LIVING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER Jack opens the door. Ricky stands on the porch, staring blankly ahead in subordinate military style. He's dressed in black pants, black shirt, black shoes. He holds a brown paper bag. An army surplus mattress sits in a tied-up roll at his feet. Jack is about to say something, when Tyler steps past Jack and speaks very softly to Ricky: TYLER I'm sorry. You're too young to train here. Tyler steps back inside and shuts the door. JACK "Train" here? TYLER He's not. If the applicant is young, we tell him he's too young. Old, too old. Fat, too fat. JACK Why? TYLER This is how Buddhist temples tested applicants going back for bah-zillion years. If the applicant waits at the door for three days without food, shelter or encouragement, then he can enter and begin training. JACK Begin training? Tyler grins at him. PG 95 EXT. PORCH - MOMENTS LATER Jack bursts out the door, faces Ricky. JACK GET OUT OF HERE! GO! HE TOLD YOU YOU'RE TOO YOUNG! GET OUT! It's clear there will be no response from Ricky, who's like a statue. Jack goes back inside, closes the door. EXT. PORCH - NIGHT Ricky stands in the same spot. Jack bursts out with a broom, knocks the brown paper bag out of Ricky's hand, kicks it off the porch. Ricky remains in place, motionless. JACK ARE YOU STUPID?! I TOLD YOU TO GET OUT OF HERE! YOU'RE NEVER GETTING INSIDE THIS HOUSE! EXT. PORCH - MORNING Ricky in the same spot. Tyler slinks out the front door, smiling. TYLER I'm sorry about the misunderstanding. Look, friend, it's not the end of the world. Just go away. Nothing personal, but I'm going to have to call the police. You're trespassing. EXT. PORCH - NIGHT Ricky, same spot. Jack bursts outside with the broom again. He WHACKS Ricky in the shoulder. JACK YOU'RE NEVER GETTING THROUGH THIS FUCKING DOOR, YOU STUPID LITTLE WEASEL!! INT. JACK'S ROOM - LATER Jack drinks a beer, smokes a cigarette and stares down at the PORCH, which he can see from a sideward//downward angle. Ricky stands in the same spot. JACK (V.O.) Sooner or later, we all just became what Tyler wanted us to be. PG 96 EXT. PORCH - MORNING Ricky's in the same spot. Next to him now is Bob, dressed in black with brown paper bag and Army surplus mattress. Tyler steps out the front door. Jack lights in the doorway, locking eyes on Bob. TYLER (to Ricky) Get your stuff. (to Bob) You're too old to train here. Sorry. Tyler and Ricky go inside and Tyler slams the door. INT. 2ND FLOOR LANDING - LATER Jack stands in the open bathroom doorway, watching Tyler SHAVE off all of Ricky's HAIR. When he's done, Tyler gives the top of Ricky's head a sharp slap. TYLER A monkey, ready to be shot up into space, ready to sacrifice himself for Project Mayhem. And, so, all those with shaved heads will henceforth be termed "SPACE MONKEYS". EXT. PORCH - LATER Jack looks out the window. Bob continues to stand, motionless. Ricky comes out the front door with the broom. RICKY YOU'RE TOO FUCKING OLD! GET OUT OF HERE! Ricky WHACKS Bob with the broom several times, then goes back inside, SLAMMING THE DOOR. CUT TO: EXT. PORCH - NIGHT CLOSE ON JACK'S FACE, staring out the window. VOICE YOU'RE TOO SKINNY! GET OUT OF HERE! FULL BACK TO REVEAL a SPACE MONKEY we've never seen before, with the shaved head, whacking a SKINNY APPLICANT with the broom. PG 97 INT. LIVING ROOM - SAME Jack pulls back from the window. SPACE MONKEYS, all dressed in black, all with shaved heads, are ALL OVER THE PLACE. There are tables set up for them to wrap bars of soap. Jack lopes into the INT. KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS Where Space Monkeys render fat and make soap. Several, off to the side, stir a large vat of RICE. One of them recites a memorized statement: FRECKLED SPACE MONKEY "You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else. We are all part of the same compost pile." JACK (V.O.) Planet Tyler Jack dips a spoon into the rice vat and chomps on some rice in an irritable way. JACK (V.O.) It could be worse. I could get hit by lightning and my head could burn down to a smoldering baseball and my zipper could weld shut. He moves back out to the INT. LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS And tromps up the steps to the 2nd floor landing. INT. TYLER'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS Jack enters. Bob reads a book and makes marks on a chart. All along the floor are baskets; each one is labeled with a number in sequence: "1, 2," etc. The first ten are under a sign that says "WILMINGTON". Then, there's a sign over some that says "NEW YORK", then "CHICAGO", and other cities. There are dozens of BOOKS on FINANCE. Jack looks in basket number "1" and sees the word "CITIBANK" at the top of a page. He starts flipping through it; then the next basket. Bob grabs Jack's hand and leads him away from the baskets. BOB The first rule of Project Mayhem is you don't ask questions. PG 98 JACK This is me, Bob. Tyler's been gone for over a week. What the hell is going on? BOB The first rule of Project Mayhem is you -- JACK Right. Jack leaves the room. INT. KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER Jack barges in among the laboring Space Monkeys. They pinch herbs into the soap mix. They also use vodka. Jack grabs a bottle of vodka and takes a long pull off it. JACK (V.O.) I had to hug the walls, being a mouse trapped inside this clockwork of space monkeys, cooking and working and sleeping in teams. The house became a living thing, wet on the inside from so many people sweating and breathing. So many people moving, the house moved. The PHONE RINGS. Jack snatches it. All the Monkeys stare at him. JACK Project Mayhem. TYLER'S VOICE Don't answer the phone like that. Jack turns away from the others, moves to a corner, talks sotto voce. JACK Tyler! Where have you been? TYLER'S VOICE Don't ask questions. There's a tense pause. JACK (V.O.) I Am Joe's Broken Heart because Tyler dumped me. Because I'm just another cog ... PG 99 TYLER'S VOICE Be quiet and listen. Jack reacts with surprise -- did Tyler hear his thoughts? TYLER'S VOICE I'll tell you everything when I get back. Right now, you gotta do something for me. JACK Me? When? TYLER'S VOICE Tonight. EXT. FRONT PORCH - LATER Jack, Bob, and two other Space Monkeys step out the front door, laden with boxes and equipment. SKINNY SPACE MONKEY "We are the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world". The group of four steps off the porch and heads for a VAN. EXT. PARK - NIGHT A piece of ART adorns the top of a hill: a metal TOWER, wide at the base and a hundred feet high, in design somewhat similar to the Eifel Tower. At the top is a giant GLOBE made of circular poles and wires. Jack, Bob and the other two monkeys attach the explosive packets to the globe; wire the packets together; use sandbags to cover the packets. EXT. PARK - LATER The group of four huddle behind some bushes, staring at the globe. Bob holds a small metal electronic box with a button -- a detonator. He presses the button. A RAPID SERIES of EXPLOSIONS runs from the base of the tower to the top, along the four main structural supports. They are contained, shaped blasts. The tower crumbles straight down. Bob turns to smile at Jack. BOB Exactly the way it was supposed to work. PG 100 The globe falls free, bangs into the top of the hill and begins to roll. When it gets to the street, it bounces onto the top of a parked LIMO -- and becomes a FLAMING, raised "GUTTERBALL" -- it never hits the street -- it rolls over one parked limo or expensive luxury car after another, crunching the roofs, causing the windows to explode outward. Fifty cars get this treatment. Then, it arrives at the lobby of a HOTEL, BROADSIDES a couple of limos, CAROMS off them, TURNS and rolls directly into the front of a large (closed) STARBUCKS, SMASHING DOWN the windows and the front door and setting the place ON FIRE. EXT. PARK - AERIAL VIEW As Jack, Bob and the two other Monkeys FLEE, LAUGHING hysterically at their handiwork. They split up and move in different directions. MOVE IN ON JACK, sprinting, keeping hidden by bushes. SIRENS can be heard. He's stripping off his ski mask, his gloves, his combat gear -- as he runs. Underneath are street clothes. JACK (V.O.) In that moment I "clicked". I became what Tyler wanted. I was his limb, his appendage -- an extension of his will, nothing more. And he knew it. I could feel him knowing it. Jack dumps the wad of clothes into a trashcan and pulls up the surrounding trash to cover them. He breaks into a sprint again, heading for the edge of the park. GUNSHOT. Jack's smile fades. He stops, looks toward the direction from which the sound came. He turns, heads down along a row of hedges. He comes to a INT. CONCRETE STAIRCASE - CONTINUOUS And moves to the top step, looking down. A COP is near the bottom, running down to the sidewalk. Next to a STREETLAMP LIES a ONE of the MONKEYS in full combat attire and ski mask. The body is MOTIONLESS, SPRAWLED. In the hand is the DETONATOR -- looking somewhat like a gun. The Cop pulls off the ski mask, revealing the DEAD FACE of Bob, a BULLETHOLE through the head. Jack flinches backwards as if punched in the stomach. He gasps for breath. The Cop looks up and catches sight of Jack. He lifts his gun and his PB radio. Jack jerks back out of sight. PG 101 EXT. PARK - CONTINUOUS Jack hobbles along. Nearby, from beyond a hedge, he hears the crackling of a PB with a VOICE coming from it. Then: COP'S VOICE (into PB) Yeah. We found some clothes. Jack, sweating like a pig, picks up his pace and heads for the edge of the park. EXT. PAPER ST. HOUSE - NIGHT Jack, panting, white as a ghost, trembling, approaches from the sidewalk. He sees the front door open and four Space Monkeys come out, carrying LUGGAGE. BIG-EARED MONKEY (a solemn chant) We are now the ... OTHER MONKEYS & BIG-EARED (unison) ... right hands of Tyler Durden. Jack steps up onto the porch and sees that they are all holding FLIGHT COUPONS. Jack notices that all of them have the KISS-SCAR on their left hands. They ignore him with military demeanor and walk down to the sidewalk and head for the bus stop. JACK (V.O.) Under and behind and inside everything I took for granted, something horrible had been growing. INT. LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS Jack walks inside to see a Space Monkey, BEET-RED but silent, holding out his hands while LYE BURNS the inside of the TOPS of his FINGERS. Other Monkeys sit and await the process. JACK (V.O.) They were using lye to burn off their fingerprints. INT. TYLER'S ROOM Jack barges into the room, goes to the desk and rifles through drawers. His elbow bangs against the top of an ANSWERING MACHINE. It plays MESSAGES. PG 102 MARLA'S VOICE Look, don't get bent, okay? But ... there's a therapist that I think could really help you. Give me a call. Okay? Click. Next message: DETECTIVE STERN'S VOICE This is Detective Stern with the arson unit. I've called four times in the last two days. I need you to come in for some further questioning. Jack shivers, snaps OFF the machine, then more furiously continues his search. He finally finds flight coupons -- both used and unused. The used ones have the flight information, including the destination cities. He stuffs all of them into his pocket. CLOSE SHOT: SIGN: "LAGUARDIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT". INT. BAR - NIGHT Jack walks in and sees several MALE PATRONS with FIGHT BRUISES. Jack goes to the bar, sidles next to the bruised men and