[304x130]
Commissioner Jacobs checks his tie in a mirror, goes to open the door of the MEN'S BATHROOM -- face to face with JACK.
FLASHBACK - LOU'S BAR BASEMENT - NIGHT
JACK stands surrounded by eager fight club MEMBERS, under the bare bulb, talking and behaving like Tyler...
J: The first rule of fight club is -- you don't talk about fight club.
INT. HOTEL ROOM - RESUMING
T: And, sometimes you control it...
FLASHBACK - EXT. PAPER STREET HOUSE - DAY
Jack stands in the yard, VODKA in hand, yells at Marla.
J: He's not here! Tyler's not here anymore! He's gone away!
INT. HOTEL ROOM - RESUMING
T: You can see me and hear me, but no one else can...
FLASHBACK - CURBSIDE - NIGHT
JACK sits alone on the curb, watching the nearby freeway. He talks to someone beside him, but nobody's there.
J: Anyone? (thinks) My boss, probably. (pause) Who would you fight?
Jack listens, looks at the empty space beside him.
J: Oh, yeah. (nodding) I didn't really know my Dad...
INT. HOTEL ROOM - RESUMING
T: But, when you fall asleep, I do things without you...
FLASHBACK - TYLER'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
JACK is on top of Marla, sweating, making violent love...
INT. HOTEL ROOM - RESUMING
T: I go places without you. Get things done...
FLASHBACK - BUILDING - NIGHT
The Parker Morris Building.
JACK, Bob, Ricky, Angel Face and another GUY rappel down the side, SPRAYING PAINT. JACK is "TYLER" in demeanor, mannerisms, speech...
J: (shouting) You are not your job. You are not how much money you have in the bank.
TWO WINDOWS SHATTER OUTWARD -- TWO MEN look out and yell:
BRUISED MAN #1: I am not my job!
BRUISED MAN #2: I am not how much money I have in the bank!
INT. HOTEL ROOM - RESUMING
Jack's having trouble catching his breath. Tyler stands.
T: There! Happy? I asked for one thing from you... one simple promise. Now look what you've done!
J: This isn't possible...
T: We're going to have to do something about Marla...
J: What... what are you saying?
T: It's okay. We okay... a little codependent, sure, but...
Jack shakes his head in disbelief, in denial...
J: No! This isn't true. We... we were around other people, together, both of us...
T: You never talked to me in front of anyone else.
J: Wrong, wrong -- what about the car crash... the two guys in the backseat?
T: What about them? They're lunatics.
J: You took me to the house.
T: The house is rented in your name.
J: You have jobs.
T: Night jobs -- while you were sleeping.
J: What about Marla?
T: What about Marla?
J: She's... you... you're fucking her.
T: Um, well... technically, no.
Jack stands, trying to absorb, feeling ill, trying to find words, then -- he suddenly FAINTS to the floor, OUT COLD.
J(v): It's called a "changeover." The movie goes on, and nobody in the audience has any idea.
INT. HOTEL ROOM - PRE-DAWN
Jack's eyes snap open. He sits up, alone. He remembers the previous night... looks at himself in the mirror... looks at the clock -- 4:35am.
INT. HALLWAY
The room door SLAMS OPEN as Jack bursts out of the room, carrying his suitcase, SPRINTING for the STAIRWELL...
INT. STAIRWELL
Jack races down, three steps at a time, dragging his suitcase - BOOM, BOOM, BOOM - behind him...
INT. LOBBY
Jack hurries to the front door, his suitcase half-broken open, passing the front desk. A DESK CLERK calls after him.
DESK CLERK: Sir... sir? Are you checking out?
J: Yes.
The clerk follows the length of the counter, waves a PAPER.
DESK CLERK: Please initial this list of phone calls.
J: Bill me!
Jack goes out the door, freezes. He rushes back in, going to the desk -- snatches the bill, studies it: many NUMBERS.
J: Wait...when were these made?
DESK CLERK: It says right there, sir... between two and three-thirty this morning.
Jack looks at the clerk, at the bill, at the clerk.
J: I need a copy of this.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - IN FLIGHT - DAY
Jack stares out the window, his face set hard.
J(v): Had I been going to bed earlier every night? Have I been sleeping later? Has Tyler been in charge longer and longer?
EXT. PAPER STREET - DAY
A TAXI halts. Jack leaps out, points to the GRUNGY CABBIE.
J: Wait here.
INT. PAPER ST. HOUSE, LIVING ROOM/KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER
Jack walks in to find the place EMPTY and DESERTED. He continues on into the KITCHEN, gawks at BATHTUBS and CANISTERS holding vast amounts of liquid. There are HOSES, GAS MASKS, BEAKERS, TEST TUBES and PUMPS.
He picks up a BOTTLE labeled "NITRIC ACID."
INT. TYLER'S ROOM
Jack sits by the PHONE, pulls out the HOTEL BILL, runs his finger up
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