Policemen in heavy, dripping-wet rain ponchos chase a bunch of black-clad hoodlums up an overcrowded tenement building. The gang leader grabs a terrified pajama-clad teenage girl on his way up while his goons draw pistols and open fire on the police. Several officers and a few bystanders fall, dead or wounded, but the law manages to take down the criminals and resume the pursuit.
Cut to the rooftop. The place used to be a public men's restroom, but that was long ago, before a fire decapitated the building. There is little left of the "room", only a blackened wall lined with urinals exposed to the raging winds. The gang leader runs in, holding a revolver in one hand and the girl in the other. It's raining, hard. Four police officers rush in.
"Where are the bombs?", one of them shouts. "Where's the goddamn bombs?" The criminal holds the girl close to him, his gun to her head. He smiles. The officers train their weapons on him. For a moment, nothing is heard but the rain on the slick tile floor, the water rushing down the stairs, and the hostage's muffled screams.
The bandit drops his weapon.
PAF!
PAFPAFPAF! PAF!
One by one, the urinals detonate weakly in short-lived bursts of dust and clattering porcelain. The last one barely cracks.
"Hahaha... Hahahaha!"
The bandit laughs. He puts his hands behind his head and drops to his knees, in throes of hilarity. The girl runs behind the policemen.
The camera pulls back and up, looking down at the scene, slowly zooming out and rising as the officers tackle the criminal and cuff him. The camera keeps gaining altitude, framing the building, the block, and gradually the dark, wet city. The sound of the rain is replaced by muffled 911 dispatches, dozens of them. Police sirens, left, right, above, below, all around. Running, shooting. Tired, overworked men breathing heavily. Explosions. Laughter, a growing cacophony of laughter, all kinds, manic giggling, or deep, greasy rumbles. Everywhere, all at once.
Title card, green on purple.
[spoiler]THE JOKER RETURNS[/spoiler]
Damn I wish I had slept for two more hours.
