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MOON KNIGHT
ISSUE TWO: MIDNIGHT SPECIAL PART 2
EXT. NEW YORK CITY SKYLINE – NIGHT.
A bright full moon overlooks the city. The buildings themselves are silhouetted against, almost like tombstones if not for the thousand tiny lights burning inside of them.
BARKS (VO)
We’ve got a serial killer in
New York.
EXT. ALLEY – NIGHT.
The police surround a crime scene. It’s pretty evidently a murder. There’s a body but we don’t see too much of it. It’s in shadow.
An older (but not too old) and grizzled man, CAPTAIN GEORGE STACY, sighs to himself and sips his coffee.
STACY
Don’t say that, Barks. You know
What it does? The kind of panic
That’s created as soon as somebody
Throws out the words “serial
Killer?”
BARKS
Sorry, Captain.
He looks back down at the body, a bloodstained hand illuminated in the moonlight.
BARKS
We’ve got a persistent murderer
In New York.
STACY
That’s much better, thank you.
Stacy steps out of the alley and onto the street. There’s a crowd forming on the other side of the street, trying to see what they can see, but they’re not interfering at all with the investigation.
BARKS
This is the third in three nights.
Each killed exactly like this. Two
Bullets in the back of the head.
Eyes shot out.
STACY
I’m aware of the details, Barks. But
It’s nice to see you’re doing your
Job.
BARKS
Time of death on each one of them
Was midnight. Stroke of midnight
Exactly. When we run the tests on
This one, you know what I’m betting
The time of death is gonna be?
STACY
We won’t know that till we know
That.
BARKS
I’m betting it will be midnight.
STACY
We don’t know that.
BARKS
We sure do.
STACY
Good, fine. We can’t get around this
And we can’t hide it. In fact, the
Last thing we should do is try to
Hide it. Only creates twice as much
Panic when the truth comes out.
BARKS
So what do we say?
Stacy runs a hand through his hair, visibly beaten-down and frustrated.
STACY
I don’t know. God, I don’t know.
We’ve got three girls. None of them
Knew each other. Hell, as far as we can
Track it, none of them had ever even
Met one another. And here they are,
Killed in exactly the same way at
Exactly the same time three nights
Apart.
BARKS
I got that much, Captain.
STACY
Shut up, Barks.
BARKS
Yes sir.
STACY
Coroner got any new details on the
Last two that could help us out?
BARKS
Nothing that’s been brought to
My attention.
STACY
As soon as it is—
BARKS
I’ll let you know.
Stacy looks down at the ground, still clearly unsettled. Barks notices.
BARKS
Something else on your mind, Captain?
STACY
You know my daughter goes to school
Three blocks away?
BARKS
Sir?
STACY
Midtown High. Her mother wanted to
Send her to a private high school, but…
I don’t know. I thought it would do her
Good, give her a level playing field.
I went to public high school, I turned
Out fine. But I’m a goddamn idiot
And her mother was right.
BARKS
I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear
That, sir.
STACY
Teenage girls. Three of them killed
Just like that. All of them chosen
At random and do you see how that might
Bother me, Barks? Any one of them
Could have been my daughter.
BARKS
Do you want us to set her up with
Police protection?
STACY
Are you kidding? She’d kill me. I’m
Being paranoid, I’m well aware of that.
Gwen’s rebellious enough as it is.
Already dating kids I can’t stand.
BARKS
I like Peter.
STACY
If she had to show up to school
In a cop car, she’d never talk to
Me again. No, I just…
Above them, MOON KNIGHT sits perched on the rooftop, watching the policemen talk. Surveying the whole scene.
STACY (VO)
I just want to catch this guy.
INT. PENTHOUSE – NIGHT.
Marc Spector is sitting against the window, still looking out at the city below him. His “sister,” Lisa, stands a few feet away.
LISA
A serial killer. That’s a new one.
MARC
He’s killing girls. Teenage girls
With their whole lives ahead of them.
I’ve kind of got a problem with that.
LISA
No argument here. But how do you
Plan to find this guy? You’ve been
On this job like two weeks. You’ve
Beaten up a couple of thugs. You’re
Not Sherlock Holmes.
MARC
Thanks for the vote of confidence.
LISA
That’s not what I mean. Come on.
A serial killer… it’s terrible. But
This is the sort of thing that the
Police normally deal with. It’s
Not some costumed super-criminal
Or some mutant extremist. It’s
Just some sick guy. Or girl.
MARC
So?
LISA
So is it really the kind of thing
That requires a costumed crimefighter
To take it down? Why not let the
Police handle this one. Why get
Involved?
MARC
Because… I don’t know. There’s
Something familiar about it.
LISA
Familiar?
MARC
The way they were killed… I don’t
Know. Head’s getting foggy. I came
Back here to escape the memories.
But I know that whatever this is,
It’s important. The police are baffled.
LISA
Give them time.
MARC
Giving them time means giving the killer
Time as well. These murders are completely
Unconnected. The victims were all chosen
At random.
LISA
I’ve read the papers. All girls, nothing
Else connecting them. There’s no pattern
And no way to crack it. It’s crazy.
Marc looks at her, as if realizing something.
LISA
What?
MARC
Maybe it takes crazy to crack it.
LISA
Well that’s a little self-aware.
MARC
This is what he’s for. The detective
Work. He’s capable at this sort of
Thing. He’s good at all the things
Marc Spector isn’t. He’s all the
Things I could never be. Powerful.
Heroic. That’s why he exists.
LISA
You know, this is all fun, jumping
Around rooftops. But you’re going
To have to talk to the board at some
Point. You know that, right? Set up
Meetings. Let them know you’re back.
MARC
Yeah, I know.
He looks down at the mask, lying beside him on the windowsill.
Marc picks it up.
MARC
But for right now… I have to go to
Work.
INT. BAR – NIGHT.
This is clearly a mob bar. Not great, but enough money put into it to keep it running and keep the customers coming back.
One drunken snitch is leering over two scantily clad women who might be drunk, but are still pretty creeped out. The snitch’s name is PAVIL.
PAVIL
You want to come home with me?
I have many surprises for you.
GIRL
You smell like Swedish fish.
PAVIL
I’m very successful man. Friends
With the Shocker, you know.
GIRL
Who?
PAVIL
He work with the Beetle.
GIRL
WHO?
Pavil opens his mouth to speak, but notices something else has caught the girl’s eye.
PAVIL
What everyone looking at?
He turns to follow the gaze of everyone in the bar.
They’re all looking at MOON KNIGHT, who now stands in the doorway.
MOON KNIGHT
I’d like to open a tab.
Two enforcers stand up, not impressed, not even remotely threatened.
ENFORCER
You got a lot of nerve walking into
A place like this. You crazy, bro?
Moon Knight throws a star. It hits the enforcer in the shoulder and he falls back.
MOON KNIGHT
Jury’s out.
The people in the bar get ready for a fight, but Moon Knight points at Pavil.
MOON KNIGHT
I just want him.
Pavil looks back at the back door and thinks about running. He’s too scared to make a move.
MOON KNIGHT
Girl murdered last night. She came
In here. She talked to you. I need
To know who she left with.
PAVIL
I don’t know what you’re talking
About! I know nothing! These men
Here they love me they protect me.
They don’t give a shit about you.
Moon Knight remains less than intimidated.
But another larger thug stands up and a group rallies behind him.
BIG THUG
Well, he’s right about the second
Part, anyway.
He punches Moon Knight in the face. It’s a hard punch. Disorients the hero for a second.
A second too long. The other people in the bar use it to gang up on him.
Moon Knight thrashes back wildly, knocking a few of them off.
He turns his sights on the big thug, barreling into him.
But there’s still too many guys here. They knock Moon Knight down.
And once he’s down, they start beating on him. Beating the living hell out of him, not even letting him get up.
They all crowd around him, tackling him.
BIG THUG
Stop.
At his word, they do.
Moon Knight is lying at their feet, broken and bleeding. Almost looks dead.
PAVIL
Is he…
BIG THUG
Not yet.
He looks around at virtually everyone in the bar. They all look equally hungry for blood.
BIG THUG
Who wants to do the honors?
Everyone just stares.
BIG THUG
All right. More for me.
He draws a gun from his pocket.
Moon Knight looks up at the gun being pointed down into his face. Everything blurs around him.
Everything goes dark.
INT. TEMPLE – DAY.
It’s dark in here. It doesn’t look like anyone has touched this place in centuries.
TEXT
Egypt. Five Years Ago.
A woman dressed in robes from head to toe, NADIRA, brings a man into the temple, dragging him by his shoulders. He leaves a trail of blood. He’s been shot.
She sets him down, gently, on the floor. The man is Marc Spector.
NADIRA
Rest here. I will get you
Water.
MARC
Agh!
NADIRA
Don’t strain yourself.
MARC
Please…
NADIRA
Stay here. I will get you water.
It will… it will make it easier.
Some of the life drains out of Marc’s eyes when she says that. He looks back up at her.
MARC
That… bad… huh?
NADIRA
Stay.
She leaves him. The room around him is dark and stone. It’s not a comfortable place to die. Other than the low light leaking in from outside, there’s nothing but darkness around him.
Marc tilts his head back and prepares to die.
VOICE
MARC SPECTOR.
Marc looks up now. Terror creeps into his face.
MARC
Oh… oh boy… that can’t be good.
VOICE
YOU HAVE FOUND US.
MARC
I didn’t know… I was looking…
VOICE
ENOUGH. THERE IS NOT MUCH TIME.
MARC
I figured. I’m dying, aren’t I?
VOICE
THAT IS UP TO YOU.
Marc tries to sit up but the strain is too great, he supports himself with one arm.
MARC
I got three bullets in my abdomen…
That sound like they have a say.
He looks around the darkness.
MARC
Are you real?
VOICE
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
MARC
Yes.
VOICE
ISN’T THAT ENOUGH?
MARC
No offense… but I don’t want to
Do this… I don’t want to die talking
To a disembodied voice.
Something begins to appear in the dark. A hint of light.
VOICE
THEN DON’T.
Marc suddenly has the strength to sit up now. He’s interested.
MARC
What do I have to do?
A white figure appears in the darkness, like a half-formed ghost.
VOICE
YOU ARE WEAK, MARC SPECTOR. BUT
I CAN MAKE YOU STRONG AGAIN.
I CAN SAVE YOU.
MARC
What are you?
VOICE
I AM THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS. THE BLACK
VELVET BETWEEN THE STARS. I AM THE
MOON. I AM KHONSHU. WHEN NO OTHER LIGHT
SHINES, I AM GOD.
MARC
I think… God help me… I think I believe
You. But I’ve also lost a lot… of blood.
KHONSHU
I CAN HEAL YOU, MARC SPECTOR. I CAN
SAVE YOU. I CAN GIVE YOU STRENGTH.
I CAN TAKE AWAY YOUR DOUBTS, YOUR
PAIN. MAKE YOU SOMETHING GREATER.
SOMETHING SO MUCH MORE THAN WHAT
YOU WERE.
The creature appears before him. Bone-white, like a skeletal bird in the shape of a man.
KHONSHU
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS LET ME IN.
It reaches out a hand.
Marc takes it.
Nadira returns with water and a rag. She sees Marc sitting alone with his hand held upward.
NADIRA
Who were you talking to?
INT. BAR – NIGHT.
Big Thug prepares to pull the trigger.
Moon Knight grabs a Moon-Blade and drives it into the thug’s Achilles tendon.
The gun fires into the ceiling.
SOUNDFX
BLAM!
Moon Knight grabs Big Thug’s wrist and SNAPS IT backward. The gun drops to the floor.
BIG THUG
#$*& ME! OH JESUS!
Moon Knight kicks him across the face and he drops. Other guys are scrambling to pick the gun up.
Moon Knight grabs them both by the back of the head and slams them into the floor.
He looks back up.
EVERYONE in the bar is now pointing a gun at him. Anxious to pull the trigger.
Pavil, the man he came looking for, is GONE.
MOON KNIGHT
S#$%.
EXT. BAR – NIGHT.
We now see that the bar sits on the sixth floor of a run-down building, pretty crappy and terribly maintained. It’s above a Laundromat.
Moon Knight SMASHES through the window. Glass showers the air around him, raining down.
The men in the bar are all firing out after him.
One bullet grazes his shoulder.
It doesn’t do much damage, could be a lot worse, but it throws off his balance.
He lands flat on his back on the street below.
GUYS IN BAR
Get out there!
Get him!
Kick his ass!
Honestly, who wears white to
Something like this?
Moon Knight scrambles to his feet and tries to run.
By the time the men emerge onto the street, Moon Knight is gone without a trace.
INT. PENTHOUSE – NIGHT.
Marc is sitting at his desk, nursing his wounds, which are plentiful. He’s already starting to look like a patchwork of scars.
He finishes his drink. He looks down at it like he’s going to throw it against the wall.
Then he grabs his desk and OVERTURNS it instead.
MARC
RHARGH!
Which just tears open the bullet wound in his shoulder again.
MARC
Damn it!
LISA
Jesus Christ, what happened to
You?
Marc glances over, sees Lisa standing a few feet behind him.
MARC
I didn’t hear you come in.
LISA
That’s not funny.
MARC
I just… don’t worry. I’ll clean
All this up.
LISA
Maybe I’m a little more concerned
Because you got shot. Again!
MARC
Lisa…
LISA
No, Marc! What did you think was
Going to happen? You’d just go in
There and interrogate? They’d
Cooperate? Tell you everything
You need to know? You’re not a
Superhero!
MARC
I’m not trying to be a…
LISA
Oh, you sure are. It’s a mob bar,
Marc. You know who populates a
Mob bar? The mob. They outnumber
You, they clearly overpower you.
You weren’t even thinking.
Marc starts reapplying a bandage.
MARC
I gathered that much, thank you.
LISA
You know what you’ve done now?
MARC
Pissed you off?
LISA
Shut! Up!
Marc finishes the bandage and stares at her, shocked and wide-eyed.
LISA
You have painted an enormous target
Right on your forehead. You have
Announced yourself and you have
Painted yourself as a target and
You are begging, Marc, you are BEGGING
Them to pull the trigger!
He sighs and looks back out at the window. It’s cloudy. There’s no moon.
LISA
Look at me.
He does.
LISA
You can’t do this. You’re not
Somebody that nobody will miss and
You’re not some nut with nothing to
Lose. This Daredevil person? I can’t
Imagine he’s got much or he wouldn’t
Be running around rooftops in bright
Red tights. You’re Marc Spector.
You are heir to a massive, multi-million
Dollar corporation. You are a public
Figure. You’re more famous than this
Whatever you have here—
MARC
Moon Knight.
LISA
--than this Moon Knight is ever going
to be. You have a public face. What
do you think is going to happen to
that face and the company and the
people in your life that you love
when—not if—these crazies you beat
up pull off your mask and find out
who you really are. What happens
then?
Marc looks away from the window. He looks back at her, legitimately looking like he’s after guidance.
MARC
What do you want me to do?
LISA
Talk to the board, Marc. Get your
Life in order. Be Marc Spector.
MARC
Okay.
LISA
Okay?
MARC
Okay.
LISA
I’m going to leave now. I trust
You to be able to handle things
On your own. Just do me one more
Favor.
MARC
What?
LISA
Don’t go out again.
EXT. ROOFTOP – NIGHT.
Moon Knight dangles Pavil over the edge of a building by his ankle.
PAVIL
Please! Please! Okay! I talk,
I talk!
MOON KNIGHT
I listen.
PAVIL
Girl came into bar with man nobody
Seen before. He dressed nifty, like
You. Nobody see his face.
MOON KNIGHT
He was in costume and nobody
Questioned it?
PAVIL
The Beetle was in bar too. He looked
Pretty regular in comparison. But
It wasn’t costume. Just couldn’t see
Face too well.
MOON KNIGHT
Who would know who this man was?
Enforcers? Mob boss? Who does he
Work for?
PAVIL
Benny, he ask this man if he work
For Kingpin and he get offended
Say “I would never do that” you
Know, so that means the other player.
MOON KNIGHT
Another player than the Kingpin?
Who?
PAVIL
Well, I don’t know too many details
I really couldn’t say…
Moon Knight lets his grip slip a little.
PAVIL
The Owl! The Owl! Leland Owlsley!
MOON KNIGHT
Thank you.
PAVIL
You let me go now, yes?
Moon Knight drops him.
MOON KNIGHT
Yes.
SOUNDFX
WHAM!
PAVIL
AUUGH! OH GOD! MY LEG!
INT. BOARDROOM – DAY.
The board members all stare forward, stunned. It feels drawn-out and silent.
Marc Spector sits across from them, dressed in a very nice and expensive suit. All looks extremely professional, except his black eye, the gash on his cheek and the fact that his arm is in a cast.
MARC
Can I help you gentlemen?
The board members remain silent.
MARC
Mr. Bradford. Maybe you can help
Me out here.
BRADFORD
Right… well, it’s a shock, Marc.
Seeing you after so long and seeing
You… like this.
MARC
Oh, don’t worry about this. I had
A skiing accident.
BRADFORD
It’s July, Marc.
MARC
In Switzerland.
BRADFORD
Whatever the case may be…
MARC
Sorry. I know this is alarming.
I just thought I should drop by.
See how the company’s doing, figure
Out what I need to get started
And work my way back in.
BRADFORD
Well, that’s very good of you, Marc.
There’s a lot we probably need to
Talk about.
MARC
What do you mean?
BRADFORD
The company is falling apart. We’re
In over our heads. Thought it was
Just the economy but… this hasn’t
Proved easy to recover from.
MARC
So? This is exactly what we need
To boost interest. Long-lost heir
Returns to take over company!
BRADFORD
Yes, well… that’s the other thing.
MARC
What?
BRADFORD
There’s no need to skirt around
The issue. We know where you’ve been,
Marc. We know you’ve been institutionalized
And that you left without checking
Yourself out. At this time, we don’t
Think it’s in the company’s best interest
For you to just take over. At least
Not yet. You have a list of diagnoses…
MARC
I’m aware of them.
BRADFORD
…that are not remotely good for
business. And there’s something else.
MARC
Perfect.
Bradford hands him a folder.
Marc opens it. Inside is some information and a picture of a snively older man with wild red hair.
BRADFORD
That man is interested in buying the
Company, and frankly, I don’t know if
We can afford not to take the offer.
Obviously, this is still your decision
To make, but I think we should take
The offer.
MARC
This man… wants to buy us out?
BRADFORD
Yes.
Marc looks back down at the picture.
BRADFORD
His name is Leland Owlsley.
---END---