"I am Death, Denny Colt." "You are the only man who has ever escaped my cold embrace." "But I am never far away." "Yes." "I'm always with you." "Yeah." "Something big is breaking down by the mudflats, Spirit." "Out by the wreck of an old cargo ship." "Word on the street is The Octopus might be in on it." "I'd call it in, but..." "Who knows how far his tentacles spread?" "Who we can trust?" "I'm on my way." "My city." "She's always there for me." "Every lonely night, she's there for me." "She's not some tarted-up fraud all dressed up like a piece of jallbait." "No." "She's an old city, old and proud of her every pock and crack and wrinkle." "She's my sweetheart, my plaything." "She doesn't hide what she is, what she's made of, sweat, muscle, blood of generations." "She sleeps." "After midnight and until dawn, only shadows move in the silence." "There she is!" "Get her." "Damn, I've got no time for this." "My city screams." "She needs me." "She is my love." "She is my life." "And I am her Spirit." "Don't worry, you're safe now." "Try to catch your breath." "Here, let's get you to your feet." " Police!" " Over here, MacReady." "This is a good man, you can trust him." "Tell him everything that happened." "Call your shrink if you got one." "What are you?" " That's The Spirit." " God bless him." "She provides for me, my city does." "She gives me everything I need." "Move it over, Liebowitz." "I'm driving." "Sussman called." "Something's going down here." "Could be big." " How big?" " Octopus big." "Jesus!" "We gotta call for backup." "Not just yet." "Sussman wants this one kept under the radar for now." "Yes." "Come closer." "Come home to me." "You hear that, boss?" "Every goddamn night." "Lorelei." "The Angel of Death." "She's never far away." "Not from me." "They say only sailors and cops can hear her." "Well, I'm not a sailor." "And I'm not a cop." " Officer down." " Roger that, I copy." " Get an ambulance." "Call Dolan." " Commissioner Dolan..." "No, not Commissioner Dolan!" "Dr Dolan up at St Alice's." " He's still breathing." " Still breathing." " Spirit says he's still breathing." " Keep me advised." "Stand by." " Hurts like a son of a bitch." " Take it easy." "We'll get you home." "That broad." "You should have seen her." " Broad?" " A beautiful broad." "She was beautiful." " Keep him talking." "Keep him awake." " You look for more footprints, Liebowitz." "Yeah." "She was beautiful." " If this is the wrong box, I'll kill you myself." " Just get us out of here." "It's The Octopus." "You know what he can do." "Shut up and bleed." "You look for more footprints, Liebowitz." "She was beautiful." "And she wasn't looking for a fight, either." "Easy now." "Just breathe through your nose if you can." " Getting dizzy." " Steady." "Steady." "Heads up!" "Take it home, boys." "When me and The Spirit get together, we like to party all night." "There is nothing I like better than kicking your ass all night long." "Except maybe eggs." "Where's the truck?" "Silken Floss is the most beautiful woman ever." "How we supposed to find our way home without Silken Floss?" "Silken Floss is the most beautiful woman ever." "She was supposed to be here." "How we supposed to find our way home without Silken Floss?" "Where's the truck?" "I found the truck!" "Silken Floss is the most beautiful woman ever." "Load up the box and pile in, specimens." "You've done your petri dishes proud." "No need to wait for the boss if that's The Spirit back there." "The Octopus always finds his nemesis so distracting." "It is The Spirit." "He had his hat on." "We was watching." " Well, then, they'll be at it all night." " Yeah, boss said so." " Boss said so." "We was watching." " Oh, God." "Yeah." "I heard." "Silken Floss is the most beautiful..." "You're giving me a headache, Octopus." "It's gonna get worse before it gets better, pretty boy." "You're right about that." "Come on!" "Toilets are always funny." "I was watching." "That's enough." "Let's get out of here." "Pretty boy." "Tough boy." "I'll be seeing you again real soon." "I'm gonna be the death of you, Octopus." "Death?" "Not for me, brother." " Death, he says." " I'm gonna kill you all kinds of dead." " I had you beat like eggs." " Heck you did." "Anybody watching could have seen I had you right where I wanted you." "In your dreams." "You're an accident." "You never should have happened." "Your mind ain't right, Octopus." "You're talking crazy." "You're talking crazy talk!" "We're the only two like us, pretty boy." " I'm nothing like you." " Nothing like me?" "Well, you sure can take a lot of punishment, sweetheart." "Just like me." "You ever wonder why?" "Never even crossed my mind." "Well, I'll be learning ya!" "I'll be learning ya real soon." "I'll be learning you." " Well, look who's here." " Boss, we better get out of here." "Such pain." "Such suffering." "Sleep." "Come on, come on, come on." "Wake up." "Wake up." "Wake up." "Hey, baby." " Ellen." " You're a mess." "Three bullets across the deltoid and chest." "They went straight through me." "Hardly took any meat." " Major contusions on any visible skin." " Come on, Ellen." "They never last long." "Evidence of a profusely bleeding cranial wound." "No, that's nothing." "That's just a bump." " Yeah, you're a mess, all right." " Really, I'm okay." "No, this is serious." "For God's sake, you can't keep taking these chances." " I'll be fine." " You're bleeding out of your head." "No, it's gone all sticky." "It'll stop any minute." " You need to be admitted." " No." "You know how much I hate that." "It takes forever." "Don't fight me this time." "I'll be all right." "It's just..." "I'm missing something." "It's really important." " Do you know where you are?" " Sure." " What city?" " Central City, USA." " What year is it?" " This year." " Do you know who you are?" " The Spirit." "I beat up bad guys." "And sometimes they beat you up." "And it really hurts when that happens, but I always get better." "And I don't know why, and you don't know why." " But The Octopus knows something." " Why do you say that?" "'Cause he just told me he knows something." " You're delirious." "Come on." " No." "Golly, will you look at that." "That was close, buddy." "I was looking all over for you." "There." "That's better." "Yep." "That's better." "That tears it." "You're delusional." " Tuska, over here!" " Ellen!" "Dr Ellen Dolan!" "Over here, right now!" "I can hear fluid in his chest." "It's faint, but I swear it's there." "Yeah, I got it." "He's got blood in both his lungs." "We need to stabilise him and get him onto Pegasus, stat!" "Go back to the helicopter and get me another board." " I'll flip him over." " No, leave him flat." " Let's go." " Get me new gloves." "Gauze." "Hurry it up." "If you can't move any faster, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave." "You find anything?" "No, sir." "I'm just feeling dizzy from all the action, I guess." " Yeah, we're all damn impressed." " Thanks." "Yeah, you're doing this town no end of good with all your hot-dogging." " I don't follow you." " Yeah, we're just flat on our asses, happy to clean up after your goddamn dog-and-pony show." " Not this again." "You know the score." " I thought I did." "Why don't you go ahead and enlighten me a little bit?" "Bring me up to speed." "Let's just say that Sussman wanted things kept quiet and leave it at that, all right?" "What, he thinks I don't run a tight enough ship?" "He was worried." "He suspected a leak in your department." "He didn't want The Octopus getting away." "So you're Internal Affairs now, huh?" "I must've missed that memo." "Come on, it was a judgement call." " I gave it my best shot." " Yeah, you blew it." "Now I got one officer about an inch from dying, another with his head yanked off, all because you went off half-cocked after The Octopus." "You're damn right I'm going after The Octopus!" "Every chance I get!" "Yeah, and you're going through my men like toilet paper." "It's an obsession." "Have you been to Dropsie Avenue and C lately?" " Have you seen those little girls?" " Yeah." "Yeah." "Some of them just learning how to ride a bike, and there they are, selling their souls day and night, slaves to The Octopus and his poison." "Maybe you and your force could use a little obsession, Dolan." "Maybe you and your force could work a little harder." "Ellen's right." "You're off your rocker, talking about cops like that." "Maybe if you and your force could find The Octopus, I wouldn't have to play it solo." "Solo, huh?" "Solo?" "That wasn't our deal, hotshot." "Well, then, maybe we don't have a deal any more, Commissioner." "Why, you..." "You're living at the edge of a cliff, son." "And all you got is a tired old man trying to hold you back." "Look, we're both tired." "Yeah." " Yeah." " Just give me 10 minutes." "Hell, I don't know why I even bother to try and talk to you any more." "Just give me 10 minutes." " Just to clear my head." " Right." "Sure." "What's 10 minutes in a man's life, anyway?" " Spirit?" " Sir." "That cliff I was talking about?" "There's no bottom." "Don't jump." ""What are you?" That's what the woman asked me." "It's a good question." "I wish I had an answer for her." "Am I a crazy man?" "Or am I a man at all?" "Some nights, like this one, when the wind bites deep, bone deep and even my city seems to leave me behind, I wonder." "Am I some sort of ghost?" "Some sort of Flying Dutchman?" "If the wind picked up hard enough, would I just blow away?" "I'm not a cop." "Not any more." "Not even a dead man." "Not even a spirit." "We made it, boss." "Just like you said we would." " You still here?" " Of course, I'm still here." "I'm your trigger." "I blowed holes right through The Spirit." "You're a trigger, Pathos." "Just look at you." "Quick Draw McGraw himself." "I'll be great." "I don't even have any bones sticking out." "A couple of splints, I'll be good to go." "Yeah, just hop right over to St Alice's, get fixed up all nice and new." "Then I'll have to explain why a criminal mastermind like myself doesn't provide his employees with medical insurance." "That'd be egg on my face, Pathos." "You know I don't like egg on my face." " Hadn't thought of that." " No." "Using your brain?" "That, you weren't built for." "Suppose you just tell me where the emergency room is." "I'll tell them I'm one of the homelesses." "They don't make them pay for anything." "That's why the homelesses are always getting hurt. 'Cause it's free." "That'll work!" "So will this." "No egg on my face!" "Not a glob!" "Not a glob." "Any other case, little buddy." "Any other job." "If it were anyone but her." "Sand." "Sand Saref." "Where's your bike?" "Did you scrape your knee, or are you just too scared for a race?" "No, I got sick of that stupid bike." "You got sick of losing races to me, is more like it." "Where'd you put it?" "I pawned it over at Fellman's." "I got a few bucks for it." "Pawned it?" "Look there." "I bet those are real diamonds." "You see how they catch the light, Denny?" "Only real ones do that." " What's with you?" " Nothing much." " He's not drinking again, is he?" " No, no, he's not drinking." "What's got you needing money, then?" "Just something that I saw over at the window at Kurtzman's." " Is it a badge, like my dad's?" " No, no." "It wasn't a badge." "Good, 'cause you ain't hardly earned yourself a badge yet." "Well, it was something that I thought that, you know, you might like, seeing as how you like shiny things and all." "It opens up, too." "You can take it and look at the picture." "If you don't like it, old man Kurtzman said he'd take it back." "Do you like it?" "So you want me to be your girl?" "Yeah, sure." "I mean, if..." "You know, if it's all the same to you." "Well, I suppose I can wear it now and then." " But that doesn't make me your girl." " Yeah." "Doesn't make..." "Yeah, we had us a time, all right." "The way only city kids could." "I love it!" "It says here Heracles himself fought with the Argonauts." "Imagine Jason and Heracles back-to-back." " Jason gleaming in his Golden Fleece." " Yeah." "Yeah." "Then everything went right straight to hell." "My Uncle Pete was a has-been fighter." "Sand's dad, a beat cop who was always looking out for dumb old Pete." "Hey, Pete!" "What's all this?" "What's all..." "My Uncle Pete did the only thing his punch-battered brain could tell him to do." "Sand got there a few minutes before me." "Come on." "I tried to be strong for both of us." "Come on." "I said some stuff." "I can't remember what." "And then that jerk reporter latched onto us." "Sol, I can't miss this." "So, kids, just how does this make you feel?" "Are you scared?" "We ain't talking, so just leave us alone." "Come on, kid." "You gotta give me something." "I'll give you something." "I'll give you three words." "I hate cops." "Just leave us alone, will you?" "I know you're heartbroke, Sand, and so am I, but you didn't mean what you said back there." "Just leave me alone and just stay away from me." " Just give it awhile." " Give it a while?" "What?" "What, us?" "Well, yeah, that's what I mean." "So, sure, we grow up and we have kids in this sinkhole?" "You're just not talking straight, Sand." "And you become a cop just like you always wanted to." "Yeah." "Yeah, maybe I do." "Yeah, and then some punched-out drunk of an old boxer shoots you dead?" " Do you think I want that?" " It wasn't Pete!" " It was that guido, and you know that." " Who cares?" "You know what?" "I don't want your world." "I want diamonds, and I want sports cars, and I want long dresses, and I want money, and I want lots of it." "And where are you going to find all that, Sand?" "I'm not gonna find it here." "Not in this toilet of a town, that's for sure." "So you're too good for me?" "You're too good for all of us?" "Is that it?" "I am too good for you, and I am too good this dump." " I'm going away, I'm going far away." " All right." "I'm gonna go all over the world, and I'm gonna become rich, and no one is ever gonna know that I came from this hole!" "No one." " And I am never coming back." " Well, then do whatever you want, Sand!" "I don't care about you, neither." "I never even want to see you again!" "I hate you, Sand." "I never saw her again." "Word is she took off for Europe." "I never knew if she was alive or dead." "Until now." "There's only one way this locket ended up in poor Sussman's hand." "She was there." "She was wearing it." "She is implicated." "And if she's doing business with The Octopus, then my feelings don't mean a damn." "I must find Sand Saref and bring her in." "My beautiful Sand Saref." "Are you missing something, my love?" "Nothing important." "Just something I lost a long time ago." "Mark this moment, all of you." "A new age begins." "An age of great deeds." "An age of great power." "Yes." "All mine." "The blood of Heracles is mine." "I am sorely disappointed." " Which one of you brought me this?" " I guess that'd be me." " On your knees, then." " Sure thing." " What happened?" "What went wrong?" " Nothing went wrong, but thanks for asking." "Where's my vase?" "I'm supposed to have a vase full of blood and it's supposed to be in that box." " Must've been in the other box." " What other box?" " Must've been in the other box." " What other box, you fart?" "The one the pretty lady run off with." "We was watching." "Sand Saref." "I thought I scared her off with time to spare." "What's she doing in Central City, anyway?" "It didn't occur to you doorstops to mention that there was a second box?" "Nope, but it looked just like this one." "We was watching." "Seppuku across the stomach, left to right." "That tickles." "With the sword, toe cheese." "So Sand Saref has the blood." "You know, you could've offed her and brought back both boxes." "That would've simplified things considerably." "I'm supposed to do everything around here?" "Now, that'll wake you up." "You have to do something about Sand Saref." "Don't worry about Sand Saref." "That lady's got a thing for the bling." "She was after that other box and whatever it is that's inside of it." "It's kind of creepy the way it glows like that." "So the situation's hardly a debacle." "Sand Saref has the blood of Heracles, yes." "But we have what she wants." " All right, you fatheads listening to me?" " We sure are, boss." "Find Sand Saref, find her now." "Tell her I have no problem with her." "She can have her creepy, blingy-thingy." "Get me that blood." "And keep it safe!" "Spill one drop and I'll turn you all into hamburger." "Don't forget about The Spirit." "He's someone to contend with." "He's like a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe that just won't let go." "You know what I mean?" "The kind you step on in the summer that just won't let go." " Am I doing this right?" " Yeah, looks good." "I was just wondering, 'cause it really smarts." "I hate stepping on gum, even in winter." "Makes you step funny." "We're gonna kill The Spirit, and we're gonna kill him now." " Or sometime soon." " He doesn't publish his address." "We're not going to look for him." "He's gonna come to us." "Real soon." "You have a plan." "I left the man a clue that will lead him right to us." "Right soon, I promise." "What's the hurries, anyway?" "If The Spirit drinks the blood, if he so much as realises what it could do to him, what it could turn him into, then we're finished." "And because I said so." "I am a man of my word, Ms Saref." "Are you?" "Take the promises you made to your lovely new wife." ""Forsaking all others," and all that." " Let's not get personal, shall we?" " We shall." "I commissioned you to find a certain treasure for me, Mr Donenfeld." "It was to mark the climax of my career." "Its crown jewel." "The lost treasure of the Argonauts." "And it was even worth me coming back to this horrid city just to touch it, to hold it, to have it be mine." "The shiny thing to end all shiny things." "And I paid you a fortune for it." "And it would've been worth every nickel, but you screwed me." "So now, we're gonna take every last one of those nickels and transfer them into another bunch of accounts." " What on earth are you talking about?" " You're gonna be quite the philanthropist." "Type the numbers in for him, darling." "He seems a tad dyspeptic." "I'm going to need your password, sweetheart." "All right." "All right." "It's "robin." R-O-B-l-N." "Like the bird." "Or like the kid sidekick." "You know, the one with the cute little tights and the tight little derriere." "It's going through." "Transfer complete." "Why the devil are you doing this to me?" " You sold me out." " I didn't have any choice." "Imagine my surprise when I show up at the drop point and ran smack into The Octopus." "I mean, what are the odds of that?" "Unless you sold the Argo's treasure twice, making a perfect ass of yourself." "A perfect ass." "Well, he didn't give me any choice." " He's The Octopus, he threatened my family." " Your family." "Take a good look at those pictures." "They'll reach your family and every news service on the planet unless you render them irrelevant." "At least die bravely, rodent." "Hold all calls." "What can I say?" "Last night you were 20 minutes from the morgue and now look at you." "Just look at you." "I'd recommend three days' bed rest, but why waste my breath?" "Look who's talking." "You should take the night off." "Yeah, I'm sure Mrs Mahoney's heart transplant can wait." "And we might as well just hold off and see if old Spankowitz's liver explodes." "You need to have some fun." "Put your feet up, relax." "Maybe go see a show." "What about you, big man?" " What's on your agenda tonight?" " I don't know." " Things stay quiet, I'd be up for anything." " Anything?" "Sure, anything." "Dinner, movie." "Anything." " So long as things stay quiet?" " So long as things stay quiet." "Sure." "Like every crook in Central City goes on sabbatical?" "Or maybe if I break the rules." "I feel like breaking all kinds of rules." " Lower the blinds." " They're all the way down." " Fast hands." " And quiet." "And sneaky." "We'll keep things quiet all right." "Very, very quiet." "Keep the mask on." "Something tells me it might be better that way." "Ellen, I..." "You're in love with every woman you meet, Mr Spirit." "You say lovely things to all of us and you mean every word you say." "Every time." "Ellen, it's only you." "But we don't even know your real name." "I'll tell you my name." "Someday I'd love to do your autopsy." " Thanks for the thought." " I'd make a fortune." "Spirit!" "Front and centre!" "He's all yours." "Fresh as a daisy." "You should get some sleep." "You look like hell." "Love you, too, Daddy." "It's an honour to meet you, Mr Spirit." "I'm Morgenstern." "Rookie, fresh from Baltimore." "Good to have you aboard, Morgenstern." "Come on, we haven't got the whole day." " Dr Dolan, I can't thank you enough." " Just doing my job, sir." "Bastard." " Marry me." " Just doing my job, sir." "And what a job it is." "Central City's own masked manhunter." "You know, you're worshipped by the kids." "Anything you'd care to share with them?" "Play it straight, youngsters." "Don't be too tough on your parents." "They work hard." "And remember, brush your teeth." "Every word a pearl of wisdom." "Don't forget to remind them to take their goddamn vitamins." "And for the ladies?" "You know, we hang on your every word." "Well, I don't think I could say anything other than," ""Thanks for being such amazing, lovely creatures."" "No two alike." " Jesus!" " Wow." " You ever meet a skirt you didn't chase?" " Just trying to be nice." "Yeah, I see how nice you've been to my daughter." "When are you planning on breaking her heart, you lounge lizard?" "Lounge lizard?" "Where do you get off on calling me that?" "I'll call you anything I want to." "Hell, I don't even know why I bother talking with you any more." "Because we fight crime, Commissioner, and right now we got our hands full." "You noticed that, have you?" "I thought with all the tail you been chasing, you might've forgotten." "It's The Octopus." "Again with The Octopus." "He's up to something big and it's got something to do with me." "He said some pretty weird stuff about him and me." "I gotta find out what he's talking about." "I know it's important." "Hold it." "Can we forget about The Octopus for one minute?" "Just one minute?" "Now, we got us a hot case and a murder suspect who's probably hauling her butt to the airport as we speak." " "Her"?" " Name is Sand Saref." "Sand Saref?" " Sand Saref." " Local girl." "Only known picture of her." "It's over 15 years old." "Father was a cop." "Took one in the face." "She disappeared following her father's murder..." "And she told some snoop reporter that she hated cops, right?" "Right on TV, she said she hated cops." " She hated cops." " That's what I said, damn it." " She moved to Europe." " Seven or eight marriages later she's running every jewellery heist this side of Bulgari." " Except for in Central City." " She never came back." "Yeah, that's why you never heard of her." "You never heard of her, right?" "She never came home." "You on drugs or something?" "Come on." "Behind the lines, folks." "Behind the lines." "Sand Saref." "She's overseen hundreds of jewellery robberies and in not one case was a police officer so much as wounded." "Now what are the odds of that, huh?" "Sounds like an Electra complex." " What's that?" " Electra complex." "Plain as your face." "Honey, I'm just an alter kocker." "You gotta give me something to work with here." " Alter kocker?" " Old fart." "Jews these days." "Can't even take time to learn their own language." "Electra complex." "It's like an Oedipal complex except it's for girls." "She doesn't hate cops." "She's just angry she lost her daddy." "Electra complex, plain and simple." "Damn." "This girl's gonna make detective in no time." "Thank you, sir." " You like her new jacket?" " Excuse me?" "Come on, son." "You can't take your eyes off the ladies." "There's no chance in hell you haven't noticed Morgenstern's new flak jacket." " Even if you are on drugs." " I'm not on drugs." "State-of-the-art, these jackets." "We had us a whole shipment of these babies but we couldn't pay for them till today, when we got a very generous private donation to the force." " $100 million generous." " A lot of money." "You're damn straight it is, and I'm telling you it was like a bolt out of the blue." " An online donation." "Anonymous." " Yeah, sure, anonymous." "Took our brain boys all of an hour to track it right back here." "To the offices of an expert in ancient artefacts." "Yeah, who turned said artefacts into a fortune." "You might say he was a purveyor of stolen property or, as we put it in the vernacular, a fence." "A world-class fence by the name of Donenfeld." "Yeah." "But quelle surprise, old Donenfeld, he ain't looking so good." "And my good buddy Seth here, he says the old man had a visitor just about the same time he got the hard goodbye." "What did you say her name was again there, old buddy?" "Sand." "Sand Saref." " She didn't have an appointment." " Sand Saref." " Some moniker, huh?" " Yeah, it's a strange name." "It's one of a kind." "Yeah." "And my good buddy Seth here, he couldn't be bothered to even call it in." "My hands were tied, officer." "Mr Donenfeld had a standing order." "I was never to come into his office unless he called me in." "Never." "Never, ever, ever." "Yeah." "Sure, kid." "Morgenstern, get his number." "Naw." "Not murder, not her." "It's not possible." " So you do know her." " No." " If you're holding back on me..." " I'm not." "It's just, your whole theory, it doesn't make any sense." "Hey, it fits together like goddamn macramé once you factor in her..." "What'd you call it again there, Morgenstern?" " Electra complex." " Yeah, that." "It's psychobabble." "Trying to hang a murder rap on that woman over some piece of psychobabble?" "Her name is Sand Saref, and you know her, and you're covering for her!" " I never heard of any Sand Saref." " You're lying!" " Get your hand off my arm, Dolan." " You're lying to me!" "Let go of my arm before I break yours!" "Orders, sir?" "Tail him." "He's lying." "You did a neat little job up there, Sand." "You shouldn't have signed it." "Officer Morgenstern, you wanna help, find me a lead to The Octopus." "I will see it." " There." " I'm in." "And the aces have it." "This I keep as a souvenir." "The rest goes to the man who can get a message to The Octopus." "I thought I was closing in, putting it all together." "That three years on, here in my second life, I had a pretty good idea of what I had to do." "It all got down to me and The Octopus." "We were headed for a showdown." "I was finally gonna scrub the city clean of him, once and for all." "It wasn't pretty, but it was simple enough." "Then you come along like a sack of rocks to my face." "What's the story, Sand?" "What the heck is going on?" "All night I've been rolling it around in my skull." "You and The Octopus?" "You and murder?" "Dolan's gotta be wrong." "There's gotta be more to this, some explanation." "Not murder, not you." "Can't believe that about you." "You were tough, Sand, on the outside, but inside you were warm." "And soft." "All woman." "One thing I'd bet my bottom dollar on." "You wouldn't be caught dead hiding out in some fleabag like any ordinary criminal would." "No." "No, your taste was always first-class." "All the way." "Weird." "That's just plain damn weird." "Sir, you promised the new hyper-addictive synapse accelerant would be ready by last week." "Don't you think that's plain damn weird?" "Yes, sir." "Just plain damn weird." "Also, our profits are down 20%." "Good." "I was beginning to think it was just me." " That's plain damn weird." " Yes, sir." "I was trying to make us a smart one, and this thing just sort of popped out." "20% across the board." "Reduce the price on the old stuff, we'll make it up in units." "Word has hit the streets about the side effects." "No one likes having their teeth turned into graham crackers." "How can I get anything done with all this time on my hands?" "Besides, when my buddies here find Sand Saref," "I won't need profits, I'll have the blood." "Then if I want something, I'll just take it!" "That's what gods do!" "He is really damn little." "I mean, it's really little." " They can't find her." " Yeah, we can't find her." " We looked everywhere." " Except where she was." "We should have looked there." " We did look there." " Where's that?" "Kill them all, Floss, please." "Just kill them all." "We can't spare them." "We're running low." " Yeah, you're running low on us." " Floss said so." "We was listening." "I'm depressed." "I wish The Spirit would come, so I could get me some real killing done." "I told you already, that's going to be complex." "Spirit thinks he can't stay hurt." "That stuff I put in him and me is unstable." "Might not last." "The blood will take care of that." "Meanwhile, I'm getting El Spirito dead while I still can." "To that end, I got us another opinion." "Brought in a specialist." "Someone to seal the deal." "You speak to my soul, monsieur." "The black-eyed Venus is in suite 1510." "Long time no see, Sand." "You gonna arrest me?" "Or do you have something else in mind?" "I'm bringing you in." "Hands behind your head." "You sure about that?" "Don't make me repeat myself." "Hands behind your head." "Your wish is my command." "Okay." "Put a robe on or something, but no tricks." "Yes, sir, Mr Spirit, sir." "Watch out for my husband, you'll trip." "Why this?" "It's not like I killed him." "He did it to himself about an hour ago." "It's all the fault of this goddamned vase." "He tasted the stuff, and, well, see for yourself." " It's stolen." " Yeah." "You are a common criminal." "There's nothing common about me." "You're a criminal, and I'm bringing you in for the murder of a fence, name of Donenfeld." "If you're gonna lock me up, do it over something that I'm actually guilty of, stupid." "You're guilty of a lot." "I could burn a priest's ears confessing the half of it." "But this time my hands are clean, crime fighter." "So run on home, wait for the forensics report." "I haven't shot anybody in days." "There probably isn't a law on the books that you wouldn't break." "Do I look like a good girl?" "You don't care who you've hurt?" "What's that got to do with anything?" "Sand, The Octopus?" "That fence?" "And you?" "Now, after all of these..." "Nothing fits together." "Then there's that crazy talk from The Octopus about him and..." "Listen, mister, I don't care." "I don't even care about people that I like, and I don't even know you." "No, of course you don't." "But things, now those you care about." "I don't see what use I could possibly be to you, detective." "I have nothing to offer this rotten little town of yours." "As a matter of fact, I despise it." "There's only one thing between that river and that ocean that I came here for." " What?" "That stupid vase?" " It wasn't supposed to be a vase." "It was supposed to be worth something more than jewels." "Something a little girl's dreams are made of." "I knew a little girl like that once." "You don't know anything." "Get out." "She was a very sweet girl, but the world broke her heart." "She wasn't after any vase." "She was looking for a hero." "Weren't you, little girl?" "You were looking for a hero and his mythical armour." "The only man who would know that is dead." "The Fleece." "The Golden Fleece." "Jason's Golden Fleece." "He's dead!" "You're dead!" "You're dead!" " Will you look at that." " Don't that beat all." " Hey, it's The Spirit!" " He's street pizza!" " He looks stupid." " Wanker." " You'll believe a man can't fly." " Jump already!" " Jump!" "Jump!" "Jump!" "Jump!" " Jump!" "Jump!" "Jump!" "Jump!" "Get me the hell out of here." "Not right now." "I'm kind of busy." "It's Morgenstern, sir." "I might have a lead for you." "Nobody noticed all of that salt." " It was right under our noses." " Could you pick up the pace?" "Salt." "Industrial salt." "One of The Octopus' henchmen, we found him dead near the flats." "'Member where Sussman got shot?" "Industrial salt, it was caked all over his shoes." "Dolan was right, you'll make detective in no time." "Thank you, sir." "I gotta go." "What?" "Come on, I'll buy you a drink." "All right, folks, show's over." "Time to move on." "Yeah, well, Sand, that went great, didn't it?" "Reunions between old sweethearts will have to wait." "I got bigger fish to fry." "I'm coming after you, Octopus, but before I kill you, you're gonna answer me some questions." "Morgenstern said there was salt on his shoes." "There's plenty of it here." "Plenty of bad guys, too." "All the enemy has is guns and knives." "I have an entire city as my weapon." "My arsenal, iron-jawed fire escapes, man-made lightning," "unforgiving pavement." "She provides for me." "She protects me." "She is my mother, my city is." "She's a good mother." "She always shows me the way." "What a fine detective." "You followed the bread crumbs right to us." "You're not doing anybody any good by falling asleep on the job." "So why don't you go home, get yourself some proper rest." "You wouldn't look like something that the cat dragged in." "So sweet of you to come by, Daddy." "I was just checking in on Sussman." "They wouldn't let me see him." "Twits." "Sussman's still in critical, they're trying to save his spine." "Yeah?" "What's the odds of him walking again?" "Hard to tell." "Miracles do happen." "Damn Spirit." "He's over the edge." " Don't go there, Daddy." " He's a goddamn menace." "He's something the world needs." "He's a hero." "He's a goddamn menace, and my own daughter's in love with him." "He's why you're killing yourself, waiting up all hours." "Yes." "He's why I'm still here tonight." "Yeah." "Just in case they wheel him in here one more goddamn time." "Just in case." "So you can lose another piece of your youth stapling his parts back together?" "I'm not a child." "And I rarely use staples on anybody." "Can't you see what you're doing?" "I know exactly what I'm doing." "I'm giving him exactly what he needs." " He's using you!" " He needs me!" "I'm the only one who knows his body, how to treat him." "Plenty of dames who know all about his body, from what I hear." " That's not what I meant." " Plenty of broads he's stretched across a gurney or what have you, knowing just what to say." "So this is why you came here tonight." "Melting them like butter with his fickle little fingers..." "That's enough." "Don't make me ask you to leave." "Honey, I don't know how to talk about this stuff." "You surely don't." "Why do you think I spend my nights knocking around that big old house all alone?" "Guess she had her reasons." "You're married to your job." "So am I. So is he." "You were so much happier in the old days with Denny." "Denny's dead." "Yeah." " Yeah, Denny Colt is dead." "Sweet kid." " Yes, he was." "And I'll never forget him, but we keep going." "I lost my Boy Scout." "Yeah." "Yeah." "And I lost my little prom queen, huh?" " Good night, sweetheart." " Good night, Daddy." "I just hope that son of a bitch knows how lucky he is." "He doesn't." "I can feel you." "You're so weary." "Let me hold you." "What smells dental?" "Dental and Nazi." "Great." "Oh, no." "Oh, brother." "I've known some pretty strange women in my time, some darn strange women." "But this one..." "If she is who I think she is, she's got the final word on "strange."" "I am Plaster, Plaster of Paris." "I will stick to my man." "Till death do us part." "Death!" "Death." "Death, death." "It's just about all we think about, isn't it?" "We eat, so we won't die." "We mate so that our seed will live on." "Create art and build skyscrapers, so that our names will be remembered for centuries." "Mr Long, my good friend, how are you?" "What can I do for you?" "A message?" "And from whom would that be?" "Sand Saref, yes, I know her." "Well, you should've known better than to play cards with her." " And what would her message be?" " The projects?" "Out off that old main drag." "Hell, yeah, I know it." "Tomorrow night, then." "Let's say after dinner." "Zai jian, my honoured friend." "Where was I?" " Death." " Death, yes." "We live our short, frantic, fearful lives twisting this way and that." "Music and ambition." "Making up gods and afterlives, all to keep our eyes off that immovable, impassable diamond-hard retaining wall that is death, realising it will splatter our brains" "like eggs." "Pardon me, but is there a point to all this?" "'Cause I'm getting old just listening to you." "Man, you are really thick." "You just don't get it." "We're two of a kind, you and me!" "Ain't neither one of us getting old." "Well, I sure as heck can get bored." "You keep teasing about how we're two of a kind." "So how's that?" " What are we, Octopus?" " I'm getting to that." "Well, move it along." "Do you remember your death, pretty boy?" "Not the sort of thing a guy forgets." "Yeah, I remember." "When they wheeled you in, you were stone cold dead." "Not a breath of life in you." "You were perfect." "Dead as Star Trek." "And I was your coroner." "But I was so much, much more than that." "I'd already built up a righteous drug trade." "It's amazing how much a hospital doesn't miss." "All you have to do is water it down, spruce it up and Achtung!" "Hello, Swiss bank accounts." "But mere money was never what The Octopus was after." "All right, so I give up." "What were you after?" "Lmmortality." "All five sweet syllables of it." "We knew there had to be a better way to keep someone alive other than cutting them open like some free-range chicken." "Free-range chickens with their big, brown, ugly-ass eggs." "They piss me off." "Every time I think about those big, brown eggs, they piss me off." "Or pills." "They're just another way to stall death." "Cling on for one more heartbeat." "Hardly the answer." " I got down to basics, man." " The essence of life." " I cracked the code." " Genetics." " That's how smart I am." " Yeah, you're a real smart fella." "Thank you." "But it wasn't that easy." "And I've got a freezer full of stray beagles to prove it." "What that serum did to those poor dogs was just plain wrong." "But when I got it right, well, I had to try it out." "And I wasn't about to try it on myself." "I might've come out looking funny." "I needed a human." " And there I was." " And there you was." "I gave you a modest injection, and I waited." "Your second life began that very night." "Do you remember?" "Yeah, I remember." "Somewhere in the midst of all that praying and whimpering and snivelling, you must've found something sharp." "You know, I always wanted to ask, where'd you go when you got out?" "I took a walk." "I had myself a think." "I visited an old friend." "I don't know what happened, but I still move, I still breathe." "It's impossible, but I'm still alive." "All my life, all I wanted to be was a good cop." "But that's all changed." "Everything's changed." "They're winning, sir." "The bad guys are winning." "I think I've got something more to fight back with now." "I'm something else now." "I can go places, I can do things they won't let cops do." "But I can't have any weaknesses." "No name." "No friends." "I have to stay dead in everybody's eyes." "Even Ellen's." "But I could be your spy." "I could work with your men." "Behind them, in the shadows." "I could be the city's protector, its..." "Its Spirit." "Exit hero cop, enter The Spirit." "Pain in the ass." "Tough as nails." "Eureka!" "So I shot myself up, and we became brothers under the skin." "So, what the hell are we, Octopus?" "You're works in progress." "And once he has the vase and its contents, its mystic contents, lost over millennia," " he'll drink of it and he'll become immortal." " Don't tease." "Seeing as how I'm gonna die anyway, clue me in." " What's in the vase?" "Thor's hammer?" " No." " Better." "The DNA of a god." " Not a god." "Not exactly." "Well, yeah, because, you know, humans and gods, well, they don't mix very well." "The only route to take, it turns out, is to find the connection between man and god, the child of an immortal and a human." "See, Zeus couldn't keep it in his pants, so he made bags and bags of heroes." " Now, the greatest of them all was Heracles." " And we found his ass!" "Well, his blood, anyway." "He left some blood around." "And we know where it is." "So that's the missing link between science and magic." "Now, once Heracles' blood mixes with Octopus' formula..." " I become a god!" " Or the next best thing." "I become a god." "And you'll be just one more sad little by-product." "One of his many, many, many failures." "Come on, now." "Rome wasn't built in a day." "Besides, look at all the lovely buddies I've made along the way." " We was easy to make." " Yeah, the boss says we was easy to make." "But your failures were several." "And unpleasant." "Yeah, you know, you get so much as one little drop the wrong temperature and everything just..." "Let me show you." "It's kind of sad, but it's really kind of cool, too." "This is Muffin." "She's my favourite." "We have to have people over more often." "I like this." "The cat." "She is all the reason I need." "I will kill you." "Oh, no." "You have to die, Spirit." "Yeah, 'cause you got the juice, man." "Yeah, your system's already been prepared." "You're the only one the blood won't kill." "One little sip and you could be rendered as immortal as he." "And The Octopus can be the only one." "There can be no competition once he's ruler of the world." "Yes." "Then everyone will have to do what I say." "They will all have to do what I say, because I will be the ruler of the world." "Then everything will start to make sense." "Yes." "Everything will make sense." "Everything will start to make sense." " Let's get back to business?" " Yes, back to business." "Back to killing your ass." "Now, here's where things become a little tricky." "It's all about integration." "Now, in your current state, you heal very quickly." "Your wounds mend in moments." "The only solution, it turns out, is to effect your systemic disintegration." "In short, to render you into so many different parts spread so far that reintegration would be impossible." "And being the man that I am," "I like to start from the bottom and work my way up." "Floss, bring me those bags." "I'm going to mail your ass all over the country." "Plaster, bring me his toes." "Plaster." "Enough of this frog talk!" "I don't understand it." "Paris, give me his toes." "That's an order!" "I hate you." "This is for Sand." "This is for me." "And this one's for Muffin!" "That all you got?" " Who is this Sand?" " Not now." "Let's go." "Aye, Spirit." "Plaster." "And this is for Sand." "I am Plaster of Paris." "The toast of Montmartre." "I will stick to my man." "Till death do us part." "You're close now." "Very, very close." "You can't fight me." "You!" "You are mine." "Mine!" "Hey, man." "I know the feeling." "You should meet my wife." "Just put one foot in front of the other." "Here we go again." "I'm dead again." "The fight's gone out of me." "I'm ready for you, Lorelei." "Come." "Come." "Come." "Come." "It is time." "Come." "Come." "Come." "No more pain." "No more suffering." "Give up the last of it, Denny." "Give up the ghost." "Give up the spirit." "Yes, my darling." "Yes." "No!" "It is done!" "It is done!" "It is done!" "What's it they say about when you die, about your whole life flashing before your eyes?" "Forget all that." "All I see are women." "My sweet Ellen, always there to put my ragged pieces back together." "And Sand." "That poor lost soul." "Beautiful, beautiful Sand." "It's so funny my last thought would be of Sand." "Nah." " Lorelei, you're not for me just yet." " No, not again." "They need me." "I gotta go back." "I will always be with you, Denny Colt." "You won't escape me forever." "They need me." "Sand, at the projects." "Octopus." "Pieces." "Pieces of Sand." "Pieces." "Pieces of Octopus!" " You son of a bitch, Octopus." "You're mine." " Always with The Octopus!" " Excuse me, but wasn't he like..." " Not right now." "But three hours with no vitals." "Shouldn't he ought to be dead?" "It's a long story." "Somebody get me a tie." "And it sure as hell better be red." "Okay, boy." "But this time, you better know your place." " Hold on." " You're supposed to be my spy, not some goddamn vigilante." "And if you go all cowboy on me again," "I am gonna blast you in half myself." "You got that?" " I got an idea." " I'm a-twitter." "No, it's good." "I promise." "Hey, you keep that thing pointed at The Octopus." "When I give you the word, you blow his head off." "Then it's on with our wedding night, huh, baby?" "Yeah, baby." "Our wedding night." "Who the hell are you?" "You The Octopus' girlfriend?" "No." "It's not like that." " I mean, this is fun for me." " Fun?" "We show up here, we look fabulous doing it, we swap things and then we leave." "Or maybe you're just looking to get yourself killed." "God, lady, would you lighten up?" " Should we start shooting now?" " I don't know." " No shooting." " No shooting, you polyp." "No sign of The Octopus." "Hell of a waste of time if he didn't show up." "Whenever he does, sir, we are locked and loaded." "That cannon could take out the moon, rookie." "Sir, I'm an excellent shot." "Is every goddamn woman in this goddamn hellhole out of her goddamn mind?" "No, sir." "We're just equipped." "Sweetie, he's just using you." "Sure he is." "I run a very lucrative operation, and I'm great eye candy." "I walk away, I have my PhD all paid for." "Fine." "Just tell lug nuts over there to give me the box." "And you, you start that walking." "As far away from that animal as you possibly can." "He will kill you." "He kills everything." "All right, fine." "I just think you're taking this way too seriously, that's all." "Give them the vase." "Boss said I start shooting now." "Get in the truck." "Nobody goes anywhere." "Floss, fetch me that vase, please." " Get in the truck." " Give me the blood of Heracles, now!" " Walk." " Heracles?" "I always thought it was "Hercules."" "You." "Sand, you found your armour." "Use it." "What is it with you and women?" "Octopus, you were right." "We're mistakes." "We never should've happened." "Sir, this is crazy." "Hold your horses, all of you." "He doesn't want any cops getting killed." "You're not making this easy." "Come on, kid." "It ends tonight." "You got that right." "I'm The Octopus." "I got eight of everything." "There's shot to hell, there's shot to hell," " and there's just plain ridiculous." " Now!" "You idiot, Octopus!" "All we needed was to flush you and your gunsels out!" "Come on, move!" "Move, move!" "Give it to him, boys!" "Commissioner Dolan!" "Your daughter's here." "Come on, move your men out of here." "We need more men over there!" " Baby, you don't want to be here." " You're joking, right, Daddy?" "Or have you forgotten what I do for a living?" "He might need me." "You'll just be in his way, he doesn't want you here." "You don't know that!" "You don't know him." "You don't know a damn thing." " Stop her!" "Pull her back!" " Yes, sir!" "Runny eggs." "Finally." "Yes." "Yes." "Yes!" "What?" "Nice investment, Sand." "Passed its first field test." "Let's die!" "Oh, God!" "Oh, my God!" "Mother..." "I guess it's time to finally drop your armour, Sand." "You lost something." "Old man Kurtzman said he'd take it back." "Well, maybe I'll wear it now and then." "But it doesn't mean I'm your girl." "Ellen." "Ellen, are you all right?" " Goodbye, Sand." " Goodbye, Denny." "Goodbye, Spirit." " Is that Saref?" " Give me this one, Dolan." "Just let her go." "She saved me." "She saved the world." "Yeah, well, you had something to do with it." "All right." "All right." "Just stay out of my face." "So who the hell was that back there?" "Who is she?" " Just an old flame." " Yeah." "She looks old." " It's you I love, baby." "With all my heart." " Yeah." "Me and every other woman you meet." "You are amazing." "Neat work yourself, rookie." "Bastard." "We start from scratch." "Who knows what I'll do?" "She wakes." "Grouchy as always." "Endlessly noisy." "Endlessly alive." "She's all I really have." "My only hope." "My only constant." "The secrets of The Octopus died with him." "I don't know what I am or how long I got." "Heck, maybe I'll live forever." "I hope not." "That's nothing any man ought to have." "That's nothing any man ought to want." "Denny Colt is dead." "I'm something else now, and I can never give my heart to anyone but her." "She will always be mine, and I will always be hers." "She owns me, body and soul." "She is the love of my life." "She is my city." "And I am her Spirit."