Act III, Scene XI
Metropolis airport. The plane has landed on one of the runways. Onboard, Jason White's eyes open. Lois and Richard are above him, smiling down. Lois has tears in her eyes. She hugs her son tightly.
JASON: Hey…
He sits up as Lois releases him, if a little woozily, and takes in where he is.
JASON: Um.
RICHARD: We redecorated while you were sleeping.
JASON: Where's Clark…?
PERRY: Yeah, where is Kent?
Jason notices Perry also aboard the plane for the first time. Richard and Lois send him a knowing look.
JASON: Uncle Perry!
PERRY: Hey, kid.
RICHARD: C'mon, Jason. Time to go.
He reaches down and lifts the boy gently. We cut to Richard carrying Jason down the steps of the plane as Lois and Perry also emerge.
RICHARD: How do you feel?
JASON: I don't know. It's…it's quiet. I think I can stand, Dad. I'm okay.
PERRY: Hey! Hey, over here!
He signals to some emergency vehicles that are driving toward them, jogging toward them.
Richard sets Jason down on the tarmac and the boy does indeed seem fit enough to stand up. Jason looks back at the Kryptonian aircraft they just emerged from with some element of recognition on his face.
JASON: It's from Krypton.
RICHARD: (surprised)Yeah. How did you know-
JASON: Because I am too.
Lois and Richard look at each other, and then down at Jason. He simply looks back at them.
LOIS: Who-
JASON: No one. I had it figured out, Mom. It's okay. I talked to Clark about it. (to Richard) You're still my Dad too. And you always can be. If you want. I was afraid if I told you I knew, you wouldn't be. (he shrugs sheepishly)But I guess that was-
RICHARD: Oh, Jason…
He hugs the boy. Jason hugs him back. Lois watches with her hand across her mouth. When Richard has finished the hug, he looks at Jason, amazed, and ruffles his hair.
RICHARD: No dizziness? You feel okay?
JASON: I'm fine, Dad. Why wouldn't I be?
RICHARD: (wonderingly) He did it. My God, he did it.
Perry runs back with the first of the emergency crew. He is pale and very visibly upset. A few of the paramedics run to Lois, Richard and Jason and begin checking them over as Perry speaks.
PERRY: The Planet…the entire building…it's gone.
LOIS: Cl…Superman?
PERRY: Survived. Took the gang out too by the sounds of it. Reports say he's going for Gotham.
LOIS: Batman…
PARAMEDIC: (to Richard) Sir, you and your wife and son had better come with us. It might not be safe here.
LOIS: He's not my…
RICHARD: Safe?
The word seems to pull him from his stupor, and make him come to a realisation. He kisses Lois on the lips suddenly, before she can react. He pulls away and she simply stares at him, lost for words.
RICHARD: I'm sorry. Just, I...I had to do that. One more time. Don't tell Clark.
LOIS: Richard, I…
RICHARD: I know you don't. I have to go. I have to help him. I owe him. I owe him too much. We all do. (to Jason) I love you.
He turns and jogs over to the Kryptonian craft. Jason watches him go, confused.
JASON: Daddy!
He tries to break free of Lois, but for the first time in a long time, his mother is able to overpower him and stop him from wriggling free. We see the surprise in Jason's face, the frustration.
The craft powers up, the side door sealing, leaving Jason, Lois and Perry behind. Richard sits at the controls in the cockpit and takes a deep breath.
RICHARD: Alright, Krypton. Let's see what you got for me...
Act III, Scene XII
Wayne Manor. The sunlight is beginning to wane over Gotham Bay in the distance. Alfred Pennyworth and Lucius Fox stand in the grounds, looking up into the sky.
ALFRED: Here he comes.
LUCIUS: We sure about this?
ALFRED: Why? Got a better idea?
LUCIUS: (accepting the truth of this)Okay.
The lead Batman AVATAR gently lands in front of the two men, bringing Superman with it. He dismounts as gracefully as possible and immediately recognises one of the two men there to greet him.
SUPERMAN: Lucius Fox.
LUCIUS: It's an honour.
ALFRED: Alfred Pennyworth, at your service.
SUPERMAN: (nodding to the AVATAR)I recognise the voice. So. Bruce Wayne's most trusted business associate and the man who darns his socks, both offering to help me take him down. Is there something about his hiring practices I should know?
ALFRED: (gesturing to Wayne Manor) We don't have much time. Please. And, uh, I do a little more than darn his socks…
We cut to Superman, Alfred and Lucius emerging from the hidden elevator. Alfred reaches over and pulls a lever on the wall, setting off a series of huge halogen lights springing into life.
Superman walks into the Batcave in all its glory. Rebuilt and extended when Wayne Manor itself was rebuilt, the once-claustrophobic cavern has been hollowed out and made into what looks like the mirror opposite of the Fortress of Solitude; all blacks and greys as opposed to crystalline whites, but apart from the colour palette the theme is similar - technology abounds; there are several huge computer monitors, and to one side, poised like a tiger mid-spring, is a spare version of the Tumbler. Superman allows his eyes to settle on it.
SUPERMAN: Didn't I destroy that?
LUCIUS: One of them.
ALFRED: Tsk. Bloody billionaires, eh?
SUPERMAN: He built all of this?
ALFRED: We helped a bit. But yes, he did. Didn't trust any contractors to do it for obvious reasons so he spent nine months here, the first nine months of his exile after Mr. Dent died, down here, drilling, excavating. He slept down here almost every night. I brought him Thanksgiving turkey down here.
SUPERMAN: Why show me this? Why betray him?
LUCIUS: Because it's not him anymore. And I think you know it too, Mr. Kent.
SUPERMAN: (conversationally) Right. Figures. Is there anyone left who doesn't know who I am?
ALFRED: We kept one identity secret. We'll do the same for yours.
LUCIUS: He has your powers. Correct?
SUPERMAN: Yes.
LUCIUS: You seem to have regained some of your strength.
SUPERMAN: Not enough.
LUCIUS: Well.
We cut to the three men walking to a specific part of the cave, containing many different varieties of Batsuit all fitted on life-size mannequins. Superman runs a hand over them.
LUCIUS: Let's see what we can do to even the odds a little more…
A montage begins of Superman being kitted out. As he's being suited up, we cut to other scenes across the city, including:
Garcia backstage at City Hall, checking his watch. It's 7:50pm. He looks sick with nerves, glancing out at the empty podium soon to be occupied.
Commissioner Gordon and his men, arranged in a loose perimeter around Arkham Asylum in the Narrows. Gordon checks his watch and looks up into the skies.
Superman tests out various devices integrated into his new suit, including the same jet-boots fitted to the AVATARs, projectile-firing wrist-mounted launchers etc.
Batman, hovering above the Narrows, the full Moon behind him, his cape billowing. The classic image of the Dark Knight.
Dr. Quinzel, carrying a bundle of something, rushes into the same cell in Arkham we saw her enter earlier. She beams manically and drops the bundle on the bench inside the cell, as its sole occupant stands with his back to her, looking out the window, up at the full Moon in the skies above with the Bat silhouette perfectly framed against it.
DR. QUINZEL: I gotcha what you wanted. All of it.
We see that the bundle she dropped on the bench is, amongst other things, a battered purple suit and a pair of white gloves.
DR. QUINZEL: Y'know I been thinking…maybe I could get a costume too?
JOKER: (without turning) Knock yourself out. Please.
She squeals in excitement and runs out of the cell, leaving him alone once more. He continues to stare out of the window.
JOKER: Full Moon always brings out the crazies…
He begins to laugh.
We go back to Wayne Manor, to Alfred and Lucius. They're looking at something off-camera.
ALFRED: Ready?
And we see Superman for the first time. He's wearing a remarkably Batman-esque outfit, covered almost head to toe in heavy shielded armour that looks as if it will stand up to all but the most fearsome blows. A hasty re-spraying job has been done on the colour scheme so that the bulk of the suit is very dark blue, with the exception of the boots and cape, both red. His head is uncovered but he's wearing a sort of visor across his eyes.
Two control sticks extend from the wrists of his suit, nestling in the palms of each of his hands.
SUPERMAN: Ready.
LUCIUS: (checking watch)8 o'clock.
ALFRED: Godspeed, Mr. Kent.
SUPERMAN: Thank you. Both of you.
Both men nod, then retreat twenty or thirty feet. Superman looks straight up. We see through the visor he's looking through - it shows a tactical readout of everything he's seeing - threat assessment, distance to target, as well as displaying weaponry options. We see his thumbs working on the control sticks in his hands. A targeting receptacle appears and bursts into red life on the ceiling above his head.
He leaps into the air, a good forty or so feet up. His jet-boots ignite on the way up, maintaining his height, and with a flick of one of the switches on the control stick, hidden launchers built into his armoured shoulders release two mini-missiles into the cave ceiling above. Debris spews forth and a hole appears, and gunning the throttle on his boots, Superman is through the gap and out into the open air.
Ready for the final battle.