Batman: Masked Souls
From Jalassociatecomics
Welcome! Here we have J's epic fan-fiction screenplay written in the style of most actual movie scripts! Disclaimer: in much the same way as our work with Star Wars, Batman and all related characters and elements are the property of DC Comics. The Warner Brothers logo is the property of Warner Brothers Studios.
To help you read it easier, the script has been broken into parts. Part one is, well, a scroll or two away. Links to the rest are here.
Batman: Masked Souls Part 2
Batman: Masked Souls Part 3
Batman: Masked Souls Part 4
Batman: Masked Souls Part 5
Batman: Masked Souls Part 6
Batman: Masked Souls Part 7
We know it's terribly long, so to convince you to read on further here's a synopsis.
Synopsis
Batman: Masked Souls chronicles how young circus aerialist Dick Grayson came into the care of foster father Bruce Wayne (who secretly is Batman) as well as his first adventures as the Boy Wonder. The personal struggle of Dick Grayson's, as well as the tragic loss of his parents, is one that Batman understands well.
The story's main supervillain is Bane, a highly intelligent convict who posseses the powers of super-strength. He escapes from a high-security prison, destroying the prison and a luxury cruise liner on the way, in order to venture to Gotham to confront the Batman for himself. A mysterious connection between Bane and a twisted biochemist is revealed. Bane is also assisted by the alluring Maria, with whom he became romantically involved while they were in prison together.
Together, they stymie the Gotham Police Department. After a break-in into Wanye Industries Headquarters, during which Robin was nearly killed, everyone knows they have more on their hands than they bargained for. The story's climatic finale, in which Bane ventures to break the Bat in his own headquarters, proves the ultimate test if The Dark Knight and his apprentice will choose to show mercy under the intense circumstances.
They story draws its influences heavily from the comcis and, though not intended, can take place during the continuity of the Batman Begins storyline. Many elements have also been altered, and a new character in the form of Maria is introduced. Expeect plenty of action and what I hope is a sufficeintly gripping storyline. Eschewing the camp and homo-erotic undertones of Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, the relationship between Bruce and Dick is seen as purely foster father-son. Also, Bane finally gets to talk! He is portrayed as more intelligent than the ghastly Batman and Robin incarnation.
Enjoy!
Part 1
Batman: Masked Souls
Screenplay by Jedd Jong Yue
Started: 26/5/07
The Warner Brothers Logo. Atmosphere fades and the surroundings darken to evening.
The camera zooms suddenly into the top right-hand corner of sky surrounding the logo, and moves through the clouds.
Opening Credits fly past.
The camera slows, and we are-
'
EXT. OVER RESEARCH FACILITY
The camera catches up with an aircraft-the Batwing. The plane’s cloaking device activates, and it gradually fades from view. The camera zooms into the invisible plane. INT. BATWING COCKPIT
ALFRED :( over Batwing video feed): All set, Master Bruce?
BATMAN: (nodding slowly) I’ve been wanting to find out what’s going on down there for a very long time.
Cockpit hisses open slowly, and Batman steps out.
ALFRED (over Batman’s cowl radio): The photo-electric detection beams should be easy enough to clear.
Batman’s POV: The heads-up-display change colour to reveal a thick lattice of slowly-moving lasers.
BATMAN: As you might say, “Indeed”
The cockpit closes behind him, and Batman is seemingly standing on nothing. He leaps off the plane’s surface. The camera follows Batman as he falls in a seemingly carefree manner with flames faintly trailing from his jetpack, and then cuts to his POV, showing how he winds through the lasers. We see a sharp flash, and suddenly we are-
EXT. HALEY’S CIRCUS-DURING PERFORMANCE
ANNOUNCER: Please welcome our most prized act, residents of the Haley’s circus for five years now…The Flying Graysons! Be prepared for they’re stunning aerobatics – without the safety of a net!
Insert cut – three aerialists are perched on a trapeze post high above the ground
DICK GRAYSON: (laughs) here we go again, Dad and Mom!
JOHN GRAYSON: All right, Robin!
MARY GRAYSON: Remember to smile!
They leap off the trapeze one after the other, perform several somersaults and catch the trapeze at the other end at different times. Applause is audible in the background. The Grayson’s then perform another trick.
INT. SPECTATOR’S STANDS
The silhouette of an audience member is visible. He is holding what seems to be a cigarette lighter. He flips open the cap and pushes down.
Insert cut - a close-up of the wires which hold the aerialists up. A small explosion goes off, severing the wires. John and Mary Grayson suddenly fall, with Dick left standing prepared to do another jump.
DICK GRAYSON: NO! Dad… Mum…
MARY GRAYSON: Robin…
The camera cuts away before Dick Grayson’s parents hit the ground. Dick quickly descends from his position, while the frightened audience hurriedly evacuates the tent. The managers go onto frenzy onstage and Dick is left standing distraught over the bodies of his parents.
INT. OVER RESEARCH FACILITY
Batman checks his altitude display as he falls.
The camera follows Batman down, through the last of the lasers. He nearly sets of one alarm. Batman then deploys a stronger blast from his jetpack, slowing him down. He tumbles and lands on the ceiling of one of the buildings. Suddenly, a searchlight beam washes over the roof.
BATMAN: (softly) Damn! (Rolls under nearby water tank)
Batman takes the moment to tune into the radio frequency of the security in the facility.
SECURITY OFFICER (over Batman’s cowl radio): “We have reports from sentry guards of an unidentified object making entry into the compound via airdrop. We advise that you…”
Batman switches off the radio and moves quickly and quietly to the roof access. He notices a security camera, glancing up. Batman then approaches the stairs and makes it seem like he will descend them.
He fishes a marble out from his utility belt and drops it down the stairs, making it sound as if he has gone down them. Batman then hides, standing flush to the wall.
INT. STAIRWELL BASE
A few guards enter the stairwell.
GUARD 1: You hear that? Come on.
GUARD 2: Sounds like the guy they were talking about on the radio.
GUARD 3: (laughs) the intruder is some shock jock?
The security men make their way up quickly up the stairs.
GUARD 2: Shut up and move.
The three reach the top of the stairs.
GUARD 2: Nobody?
GUARD 3: Maybe it’s a ghost. Maybe the same one that possessed boss to buy over this dump.
GUARD 1: Man, so long as I have a job I’m fine.
GUARD 3: Whatever. I’ll go have a look.
Guard 3 emerges out of the stairwell with his gun at the ready and is greeted by the frightening image of the Batman.
GUARD 3: What the…
Batman slices Guard 3’s gun clean in half with the sharp edge of a large Batarang, then knocks him out with the blunt side, all in the same move, as the other two begin to panic. Batman then puts his batarangs away, instead producing smaller ones.
GUARD 1: (into radio) Backup! Backup!
Throwing them, he knocks out both escaping personnel.
BATMAN: (to self) The first fight is always the least spectacular.
ALFRED: (over cowl radio) I must say sir that your entrance did make up for it.
Batman proceeds down the stairs and scans Guard 2 for any documents, performing a quick search of his uniform. He pulls out a PDA, examining it carefully. He then switches it on. The screen is blank.
BATMAN: Biometrics.
Batman takes the finger of Guard 2, pressing it to the sensor. The screen then activates.
ALFRED: (Over cowl radio) So your personal code is not the only reason you keep them alive.
BATMAN: It’s still what I stick by.
Batman’s POV: He opens file marked “site map”. We see a map of the facility on the screen. Something catches Batman’s attention.
BATRMAN: (reading off map) “Holding Area”? What if all this fuss has to do with this “Holding area”?
Batman races to the “holding area” specified in the map. GPS built into the PDA’s map marks his location in the vicinity.
INT. RESEARCH FACILITY WALKWAY
Batman stops flush to the wall of a walkway. Guards run past. Batman then continues on his way.
EXT. HOLDING AREA
The camera pans a bleak, mechanical space, which has the appearance of an abandoned biomedical research facility. Rows of large, metallic cabinets line the sides of the room. Faint blinking lights are the only sign that the area is somehow still in use. The camera follows Batman as he enters the room, still running. Batman slows down, now that he is alone, and breathes. Silence. However, this silence is broken by a faint whimpering, which seems to be coming from behind the stark cabinets.
Batman takes snapshots of the area with a miniature digital camera from his utility belt. He then quickly performs a thermal signature scan with another device.
Batman’s POV through thermal scanner: we see a strong heat signature coming from behind the cabinets.
BATMAN: I’m in over my head Alfred. This is something serious. Whatever’s behind that is…organic.
ALFRED: I suggest sir, you open it up and see what’s behind.
Batman hears something and spins round with a Batarang at the ready. He sees a man in a lab coat enters the holding area, with a small army of guards behind him. His nametag notes him as a certain “Dr. Woodrue”.
DR. WOODRUE: Demon Bat. It is no surprise. I know you want to find out what’s in there, what has been keeping money coming in.
Dr. Woodrue produces an odd looking weapon
BATMAN: That’s a DNA Neucleotide mutagen…The kind STAR labs tried to manufacture...
DR. WOODRUE: …So you are smarter than you seem…
Batman ducks, activates the controls for the cabinet and flings the Batarang at the weapon as fast as he can. The cabinet doors open, and at the same time the fluorescent green substance within the weapon’s cartridges leaps up at Dr. Woodrue. Meanwhile, the guards raise their weapons, aiming them at Batman yet unsure whether or not to fire.
DR. WOODRUE: Ahhh!
The substance fuses into Dr. Woodrue’s body, leaves begin sprouting and his skin turns to hard wood, in a slow, excruciating process. The camera quickly cuts away to where Batman’s attention now lies.
BATMAN: (slowly) Alfred…
The metallic cabinet opens to reveal children packed tightly into the cramped space of the metallic cabinets. Some are sleeping, while most look on in frightened silence. Batman reacts, shocked.
The guards open fire viciously, interrupting Batman’s realisation. Fueled by anger at the situation, Batman charges in, taking them out with whatever skill he can muster. He scatters multiple flashbang and smoke grenades on the floor, casting all the guards into confusion as he continues his rampage. Some of them pull masks to their faces in time, and continue firing. By now, most of the children are deeply frightened and confused by the smoke and the gunfire. The camera moves around Batman as he continues to take out the guards, ripping off their masks. The last of the smoke dies down, and the camera reveals an army of unconscious guards, a writhing Dr. Woodrue and Batman standing in the middle of it all. Batman walks to the children in the cabinet, by the wall.
BATMAN: (Touches one child’s hand) it’s going to be okay.
Batman keys in a number into his right wrist pad, making a phone call.
INT. GORDON’S OFFICE
The telephone rings in Gordon’s office. The camera zooms in to reveal this is not Gordon’s personal telephone, evident from the stark Bat-symbol, sleek, futuristic design and lack of interface. The phone continues beeping.
GORDON: (to himself) He doesn’t use that often…
GORDON: (picks up phone) Hello?
BATMAN: (over phone) (in a slightly shaky voice) This is important.
GORDON: It always is with you, anyway. So why didn’t you just drop by like you always…
BATMAN: GORDON!
GORDON: (sits up) What?
INT. HOLDING AREA
BATMAN: Whatever Dr. Woodrue’s being hiding…you told me to look into it. Now I know what’s going on, and it’s not pretty…
The camera turns to Dr. Woodrue, his transformation now complete.
…then again neither is he.
GORDON: (over cowl phone) What do you want the PD to do?
BATMAN: Storm the compound, and get the children out of there. (Turns to anguished face of child) Immediately. I’ve already disabled most of the security features.
GORDON: (over cowl phone) Storm the facility? We need a warrant for that!
INT. GORDON’S OFFICE
The screen on the telephone suddenly flickers to life with a video image. The children appear onscreen.
BATMAN: (voice in background of video) This is your bloody warrant. I’ll meet you at the entrance.
The screen zaps off and Batman’s voice is cut.
EXT. ENTRANCE OF RESEARCH FACILITY
Armoured vehicles crash through the electronic fence, now deactivated. They are followed by a group of squad cars, and a few large police busses. Gordon steps out of an armoured vehicle and walks over to Batman.
BATMAN: Thank you for coming.
GORDON: That should be my line.
Policemen rush into the facility in the background.
GORDON: We’ll clear the area, arrest anybody else and take away key personnel for interrogation.
BATMAN: I doubt Dr. Woodrue’s in the mood.
GORDON: I figured. He’s going straight to Arkham.
BATMAN: It’s not just his mood…I won’t spoil the surprise for your officers.
GORDON: I’m no stranger to the bizarre, since you came on the scene. Anyway, we’ll get the kids into the busses, and settle their situation soon enough.
BATMAN: These kids were most likely snatched from unsuspecting parents, or poached from other adoption agencies. Maybe it’s child trafficking. Or even worse, child experimentation for his projects.
GORDON: (shudders) Don’t want to consider that!
BATMAN: (reaches into utility belt) Here’s something I…retrieved from one of the guards. The map will tell you where the children are. It’s marked “holding area”.
Batman passes Gordon the PDA.
GORDON: It’s been abrupt, as always but…
A loud whoosh is audible, and the Batwing, hovering above the facility all the while, gently descends into view, now hovering just above the ground
GORDON: (taken aback) You jumped in from that?
BATMAN: The photo-electric detection beams prevented me from getting closer and I hoped I would achieve the element of surprise.
GORDON: Oh.
BATMAN: I’m on my way.
Batman climbs into the vehicle, which slowly disappears into the night.
GORDON: I gotta get me one of those.
