"[PANTING]" "Where are you?" "[SHOUTING]" "I will protect you." "[GASPS]" "[GRUNTS]" "Now you die, Kwai Chang Caine." "Remember the mark of the cobra." "[PANTING]" "I must be ready for you." "NARRATOR:" "The grandson of Kwai Chang Caine  walks out of the past." "But I want to fight." "Yes." "So did your great-grandfather when he was your age." "NARRATOR:" "He teaches his son wisdom at a Shaolin temple." "An evil force destroyed that temple." "Father and son each believed the other had perished." "Fifteen years later, they were reunited." "Now Caine faced new challenges and his son grew up." "Look, I'm not my father." "I don't do kung fu." "I'm a cop." "That's who I am, that's what I do." "I am Caine." "I will help you." "ANCIENT:" "You are troubled, Kwai Chang Caine." "CAINE:" "Yes." "The, um, repairs on the quarters above the Kung Fu Academy are finished now." "You can return any time you wish." "Do you really wish to share your space with an old man?" "I am quiet but quite slovenly." "I will not be there unless you can help me." "You are Shaolin." "There is no task you can undertake for which you need my counsel." "I am to fight a Chi'Ru master." "[SPEAKING IN CHINESE]" "They are fear." "Phantoms of the mind." "Demons of the soul." "Yes." "But this one is real." "I have seen him." " In a dream?" " In a revelation, a warning." "Why must you fight this devil?" "There is a man." "I do not know him." "But I have been summoned to be his protector." "If you cannot help me, then I am alone." "REPORTER 1 [ON TV]:" "How many threats have you received, Everett?" "How many before I get protection?" "I'm papering the bathroom now." "REPORTER 2:" "Have you received death threats before?" "Only from the New York Times' book critic." "MAN:" "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Cooper has no comment" "No, no." "Yes, I do." "Yes, I do." "I'm being stalked." "I'm a target." "Here." "Look at the cover of the book." "Shadow Assassin." "It ain't about enchilada recipes." "It's about death." "Now, listen, wait a minute, everybody." "I'm sorry." "It's not you that I'm mad at." " It's-- REPORTER 3:" "Did you use a ghostwriter?" "What are you doing today after reporting?" " Just trying to beg for a date." "REPORTER 4:" "Excuse me, Mr. Cooper." " What do you make of this?" " Publicity stunt." "Yeah, but what if it isn't?" "He winds up facedown in an alley we're gonna look bad on the front page." "I think this is coming around the corner at me." "There's a book signing at Fairmont Street this afternoon." " You're gonna check it out." " For what?" "Ninjas behind shelves?" "Phantoms creeping out of shadows?" "One never knows, hmm?" "Now, look, you'll just make an appearance and reassure our illustrious author that you represent the city's fin" "Uh, I'm giving you a new partner, by the way." "Just transferred over from the 66th." "Tough, sassy, mercurial." "I think you'll find a way to handle it." "Detective Blakemore, we would all like to welcome you to the 101." "Well, all together, or can I thank you one by one?" "[LAUGHING]" "Be careful." "Don't let the smart mouth and the curves fool you." "Inside, she's straight as an arrow." "Damn it, Caine, you get better looking every time I see you." "Ain't it the truth?" "Oh, and that ingenuous modesty can melt a girl's heart every time." "Well it never worked for yours." "Well, that's because mine's made of tempered steel." "Uh, I've decided I'm gonna donate mine to Gillette when I die." "[LAUGHING]" "Well, obviously you two don't need any introductions." "I'll just go and fight some crime." " Catch you later." " Yeah." "So, what happened to the 66th?" "Basically, I got tired of hauling in drug scum that are out on the streets again in five minutes." "Yeah, I know how you feel." "[PETER CHUCKLES]" " It's good to see you again." " Yeah, you too." "Oh, Kira, do I detect a crack in the facade?" "Don't tell anyone, but I'm still working on the:" ""I may be a woman, but I'm one hell of a tough cop" routine." "Ha, ha." "So, what makes you think it's gonna be any better here at the 101?" "I don't know." "You got Chinatown, you got parks, all-beef hot dogs and you got haute couture shopping." "I'm glad you're looking for culture because we've got one chic assignment." " Book signing." " Oh?" "Make sure your gun's loaded." "This could be very, very dangerous." "[CROWD CHATTERING]" "I so enjoyed your book." "It was stimulating and informative and provocative." "And that was just the dust jacket." "[CHUCKLING]" "It kept me awake all night." "Heartburn and Everett Cooper novels will do it every time." " It was a pleasure, thank you." " Thank you very much." "Attaboy, Everett." " Keep it charming." " I'm doing my best." "You look good." "Divorce must agree with you." "It relieves you of all the material trappings." "The Mercedes, the house, the lawn mower, the children." "Get me a good advance on the Shadow Assassin sequel, will you?" "I'll do what I can." "Now, are you okay?" "I just wanna get out of here when I can." "I gotta" " I'm Truly." "EVERETT:" "Ahem." " Truly what?" " Divine." "Yes, you certainly are." "Uh, have you, um, read my book?" "Uh, how do you sleep at night?" "Naked, with the window open." "One sheet." "That's not exactly what I meant." "Heh, uh...." "You see, the book is provocative and, um, no one wants to believe that shadows have form and that phantoms kill and" "Perhaps I shouldn't sleep alone?" "Well, uh, can I get back to you on the sleeping alone thing?" "Mr. Cooper." "I'm Detective Caine." "This is Detective Blakemore." "Great, great, great." "Finally, someone's listening." "Uh, I wanna get you my schedule for the rest of the week." "Um, uh...." "Do you trade off?" "Who gets nights?" "We draw straws and loser takes nights." "PETER:" "We're just here to check out the party for you." "If you have one of these threatening letters you've received..." " ..." "I'd like to run it through forensic." " Tore them up." "What?" "What, I might get a slow moment, read them again?" " Brighten my day?" " Everett." "Excuse me." "Let me introduce you to Carrie Butler with our New York publishing house." "How would you like a book launching on Fifth Avenue?" " Are you kidding?" "I'm a New York boy." " Come here." "Hey, don't go too far." "We're like glue, right?" "Right?" " Am I right?" " Glue." "Yeah." "Oh, yeah, yeah." "Mm-hm." " Everett, Carrie Butler." " Brooklyn." "The next death threat is gonna come from me." " Champagne?" " Champagne?" " Come on, we're on duty." " We're undercover." "Loosen up." "Take it, please." "One time this Puerto Rican kid was running down the street and he went, "Mira, don't touch my ball," and eight car alarms went off." "[LAUGHING]" "Well, you had to be there." "Yeah." "You know why they never could bomb New York?" "Because anything shiny before it hit the ground, it would be stripped." "This is something I've been told." "I'm not sure, but, you know...." "[EVERETT CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY]" "MAN:" "The idea of a Shadow Assassin sounds exciting, but honestly" "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." "Exotic." "Where do you think I found him, huh?" "The China Boat restaurant serving dim sum?" "This is the world's leading authority on Shaolin teachings." "Over 6000 hours of intensive training." "A man who could kill you with his thoughts?" "My father would believe in that kind of legend." " When did you get a father?" " Long story." "Excuse me." "Lei Hei, what's the matter?" "You look like you've seen a ghost." "No, not a ghost." "Air, I gotta get some air." "[WOMAN SINGING]" "[SIGHS]" " Oh, I'm sorry." "Are you all right?" " Yeah, I'm okay." "Don't worry." " Are you sure?" " Yeah." "[GRUNTS]" "Hey, come here." "Give me back my wallet." "Hey." "Ah, go on." "[GRUNTING AND SHOUTING]" "That's good." "Yes, but not good enough." "I have no wallet." "Please." "I wish you no malice." "You have no place to go?" "Sure, I got my pick of any street I want." "Oh, yes." "That is where I've seen you." "On the street in Chinatown." "Not just there." "I live in very good neighborhoods." "Just give me a cardboard box and a candle and I'll be happy." "I have a studio." "I could offer you shelter." "I know the name of that tune." "Rent's real cheap, but it comes out of my body." "No, heh." "No rent." "Merely shelter." "I am Caine." "I am Ariel." "Heh, heh." "It's a nickname, like the character in The Tempest." "You know?" "Good old Will Shakespeare." "I'm a spirit." "I move in and out of shadows." "I'm magic." "As we all are." "For the moment, I'm gonna call it a homicide." "No visible cause of death." "Peter, come here." "Take a look at this thing on his forehead." "Tell me what you make of that." "Some kind of religious code?" "Daughters of Satan or the Followers of Rameses or something." "Yeah, could be." "I don't know, whoever did this uh, wanted us to know who it was, or at least what he represents." " I've seen this before." " Where?" "When?" "I don't know." "When I was a kid or something." " Give me that." " Sure." "Well, what does this stand for?" "PETER:" "Pestilence, plague." "Something like that." "KIRA:" "Harrison." "What's going on?" "What are you, selling tickets?" "Everybody's coming down here to view the body one by one?" "Get them out of here." "[POLICE SIREN WAILS]" "Lei Hei." "Oh, my God." "He's the gentlest person I've ever known." " What--?" "What happened to him?" " Uh, it's just a mugging." "EVERETT:" "What's that on his forehead?" "That, right there, what's that?" "OFFICER:" "We've sealed the block." "That's the mark of a Shadow Assassin." "Right?" "Am I right?" " Everett, come on." " See, it's the book." "Anybody connected with the book is gonna die." "So maybe now you'll believe me." "You have a new friend?" "Yes." "You have checked for your wallet?" "Ha, ha." "Hey." "I must be better known than I thought." "I know you too." "You're the Ancient." "Your building was torched." "Anyway, uh, I don't steal no more." "Yes, you do." "You steal for the others the homeless." "You bring them the food, you give them clothes." "Now you must do something for yourself." "So must you, Kwai Chang Caine." "I will teach you all that I know all that I can to prepare you for this fight." " Yes." "ANCIENT:" "But, uh it may not be enough." "It is enough that you offer, my friend." "Hey, what are you doing here?" "Glue." "I'm sticking to you like glue." "I'm in your hip pocket." "I'm being stalked, you're being stalked." "It's a buddy thing." "You're gonna have to make a statement at the precinct." "I've made hundreds of statements." "No one's listening." "I'll talk while you drive." "You're in charge of the case, right?" "Right?" "Am I right?" "Right." "All your senses, all your instincts forget them." "You must learn them as new." "I am behind you, Kwai Chang Caine." "Now I'm here." "This side." "No, this side." "Now I'm here." "[GRUNTS]" "You must know what is shadow and what is substance." "All things seem to be shadow." "Yes." "You must sense the shape behind it." "The Chi'Ru master is never where you expect him." "He is smoke." "He is illusion." "Listen, I think it's great you come and visit your father but aren't we talking about life and death here?" "My life, my death?" "He may be able to help us." "He?" "Who?" "Gandhi?" "It's the only person I can imagine that could live here." "Candles." "Five hundred candles." "This is weird." "It's just what I need, a cop with a weird father." "[GASPS]" "You have had a bad dream." "No, something was here." "In the room with me." " A shadow moved." " In your imagination." "No, no." "I saw it." "It was a dragon's head." "Teeth bared." "Hey, listen, you're the cop." "You're investigating a murder." "How you do it is your business." "I'm just tagging along because I'm scared." "If talking to your father is gonna help, I'm with you." "Where do we look?" "We start at one end of Chinatown and keep asking till we find him." "EVERETT:" "Describe your father." "PETER:" "He looks a little Oriental." "EVERETT:" "Oh, very helpful." "PETER:" "Oh, my God." "Do you see him?" " Police." " Don't shoot." "Where'd you get this coat?" "I didn't steal it." "He gave it to me." "The priest." "Because I ain't got no coat." "Not one without holes that a rat can climb in." "Put the gun away." "It frightens me." "How do you know him?" " I live with him." " Oh, run that by me again." "I have no place to go." "He took me in." " So where is he now?" " He took off with some old guy." "Really old, like he came out of some tomb." "He was teaching him how to fight." "Heh, heh." "The Ancient was gonna teach my father to fight?" "He's your father?" " Wow, that's cool." " Where is he?" "He said I could meet him at a café, the Golden Dragon." "I was on my way there when you grabbed me." "[PLAYING SIMPLE MELODY]" " When did you start picking up waifs?" " Oh." " She had nowhere to go." " Ha, I know." "I know." ""I am Caine." "Come to Chinatown." "I will help you."" "Listen, this is Everett Cooper, the author." "Hey, how you doing?" "As best I can for both of us." "I'm investigating a homicide, Mr. Cooper's researcher." "He worked on this book." "It's supposed to reveal secrets about Shadow Assassins and forbidden cults." "But like Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses I think he may have offended the wrong people." "CAINE:" "Yes." "He has." "Legends, you know." "Throw in a few facts, thread in some romance a little gratuitous sex and violence, and, boom you're on the New York Times bestseller list." "Who knows where myth ends and reality begins, right?" "I think the killer is a little more than myth." "This mark was found on the victim's forehead." "Your murderer is Chi'Ru just as it says in this book." "The Shadow Assassin." "What, someone who can kill somebody with their thoughts?" "Nobody can do that." "Not even a Shaolin priest." "Chi'Ru is not Shaolin." "It is a separate sect a renegade order which we speak of only in whispers." "So there's no defense against the assassin?" " No." " If you fight him, you die?" "So I am in danger, right?" "Anyone who has any contact whatsoever with this book is in danger." "Okay, so this is some wacko posing as Everett's Shadow Assassin." "Well, it gives me something to work with." "I'm taking you home, Everett." "Don't worry." "There'll be another police officer there to take my place when I leave." "Uh, can I stay with you?" "I would just feel safer with you." "You must go with my son for now." "But I will be close to you from this moment on." "Come on, Everett." "Everett, let's get this show on the road." "Hey." "Hey, are you okay?" "The waif, uh she said the Ancient was teaching you how to fight." "What's that about?" "Survival." "I don't understand you." "I'm working on it, but I guess I got a lot to learn, huh?" "Thanks." "KIRA:" "I don't remember what real beauty looks like anymore." " It's certainly not out on the streets." " Sure it is." "Sure it is." "That's what my father would say." "[AS CAINE] "It is there to be discovered." "One must simply look."" "Um, how is the reunion going?" "[IN NORMAL VOICE] It's hard to say." "He lives in another world." "A world that I was a part of at one time, but I've become a stranger to." "I thought I had my foot in the door again, but...." "But you were wrong?" "I just can't find...." "I can't find the right words to say to him." "Like this afternoon, he was aloof, distant, like there was something" "Something on his mind that he just couldn't talk about." "Peter, I mean, we all go through that." "You know that." "Yeah, but this was important." "I could feel that this was important." "But he just won't" "Won't give me anything." "He won't reach out." "Well then maybe you'll have to do the reaching out." "You know something?" "Ahem." "You having a father again has made quite a change in you." "Hmm?" "EVERETT:" "Hey." "How you doing?" "Hope I'm not disturbing dinner." "No, you're finished." "I'm supposed to get round-the-clock protection." "Guy leaves at 6, they send Doogie Howser to relieve him." "This kid isn't even shaving yet." "Anyway, I overheard you guys making a date in the alleyway." "Nice place." "[SIGHS]" "It's good." "So any real leads on the killer yet?" "[KIRA LAUGHING]" "Dinner was great, and the company was even better." "Thanks." "I gotta feel like a creep sending you home." "Ha, ha." "Not if you send me to your home." " Hey, I'll stay in the kitchen, no problem." "MAN:" "Give us your money." "[GRUNTING]" "EVERETT:" "I don't have to worry about a Shadow Assassin." "I'll die in an alley." "Come on." "KIRA:" "Nice fighting." "EVERETT:" "Brooklyn, babe." "[PETER CHEERS]" "PETER:" "Teamwork." "KIRA:" "Yeah." " Yeah, even Mr. Brooklyn-Baby here." "EVERETT:" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, right." " Hey, we're not partners." " Right, right, right." "Now if we can just move that energy into a new direction." "Call it in." "Please." "Can I have your handcuffs, please?" "Yes, master." "[PETER CHUCKLES]" " I'm gonna go get Peter, all right?" "KIRA:" "Yeah." "[KIRA GRUNTING]" "Yeah, 33." "Officer needs assistance in the alleyway, south end of Magnolia." " Peter." " Just a minute." "Yeah, Caine." "[KIRA GAGGING]" "KIRA:" "Peter." "Oh, no." "No." "[SOBBING]" "Your enemy will be all around you." "But there's only one is real." "Know him, feel him and find him." "Better." "If that had been Chi'Ru I would be dead." "MAN:" "I'll see you later." "STRENLICH:" "How was it?" " It was a cop's funeral, all right?" "It's no more poignant because it's a woman who died in the line of duty." "Every cop there stands and looks down on the grave and sees himself being lowered in that coffin." "STRENLICH:" "That's why I didn't go." "I buried my father like that." "How's Peter taking it?" "About as badly as I've ever seen him take anything." "Nickie." "Hey, what do you got on the autopsy?" "NICKIE [OVER PHONE]:" "Poison." " Poison?" "NICKIE:" "That's right." "In both bodies?" " What kind of poison?" "NICKIE:" "Very exotic, untraceable." "Well, never mind how exotic and virtually untraceable it is." "NICKIE:" "It's from a root herb." " Derived from a root herb?" "Okay, Nickie, Nickie, thank you." "You're the greatest." "I was waiting for you." "I know, but I have not come for you." "It is the author, Everett Cooper." "He is the one I seek." "He meant you no harm." "He betrayed the secrets." "The secrets he learned." "He did not believe in them." "He will now." "Do not interfere." "There is no reason for you to die." "There is always a reason to die." "Your grandfather wore his bleeding heart on his shirtsleeve." "This is another era." "How many more must die?" "It will end with the author." "Bring him to me." "There's an abandoned steel mill on the lake." "I will have it prepared." "Midnight tonight." "Then leave." "I cannot do that." "Even though you are a holy man, I bear you no malice." "But if you stand in my way I will kill you." "[SIGHS]" "Hi." "Cops, can't trust them." "Took away my protection this morning." "So I came here." "I didn't know what else to do." "If you had not found me, I would have found you." "We must face our destinies together." " Tonight." " Couldn't I just go to Pittsburgh?" "They would...." "He would find you." "We must be together." "You have come to talk to me of poison." "Yes." "How'd you know that?" "You must warn your father." "I swore to him I would not reveal his secret but I cannot let him die." "What are you talking about?" "The Chi'Ru master." "Your father engages with him in mortal combat tonight." " Where's Everett?" " Waiting for me." "No." "He's waiting for us." "The Ancient told me what's going on." "You're not going after a serial killer by yourself." "He is Chi'Ru." "He uses poison." "That's how he killed his victims." "Or is that how all Chi'Rus kill their victims?" "Method of death is not important." "Chi'Ru uses deception to confuse and disorient." "Well, maybe a bullet will stop him." "No, I must go alone." "[GUN COCKS]" "Can't let that happen." "You tell me where and when." "You have to take the safety off for it to be effective." "No matter what happens, you're the hero of my next book." "I am honored." "Wait here for me." "You tell me where my father's gone." "There is nothing that you can do, nothing more I can do." "He must face his destiny." "I haven't waited 15 years to find my father and lose him again." "If he's gonna die, then I'm gonna go too and the Shadow Assassin can kill me." "Now, you tell me where he is." " You have brought the author?" " Yes, but you may not have him." "Are you his champion?" " I am." " Then you must die also." "[ECHOING] I'm right here in front of you." "Over here." "Try again, Caine." "Here's my shadow." "But where am I?" "You shouldn't trip." "I am here." "Behind you." "[GRUNTING]" "Pop?" "You okay?" "Where is he?" "He's gone." "EVERETT [ON TV]:" "The man who saved me is a very special human being." "Uh, Kwai Chang Caine, if you're watching the Shadow Assassin sequel is about you." "You're probably not watching." "You don't watch this stuff." "You're probably home making a flute." "[PETER AND ARIEL CHUCKLE]" "Anyway, that's it." "You're gonna be the subject of his next book." "Perhaps." "You know, you, uh, defeated a man last night, not a phantom." "He was a killer." "Died by his own hand." "He just crawled off to die, but we'll find him." "You must remember that legends begin with truth." "Well, the Ancient said that if you defeated Chi'Ru you become a master." "Is that true?" "Well, he is very old and sometimes wise." "I'm ready for my lesson." " He's going to teach me kung fu." " Hey." "Heh, heh." "You know, Pop, maybe" "Dad." "Heh, heh." "Maybe I'm ready for some lessons." "When you are ready." "ASSASSIN:" "I will return..." "[TILES CLATTERING]" "...Kwai Chang Caine." "[ENGLISH SDH]"