INT. DOCTOR FATE'S LABYRINTH
Clark turns a corner in the labyrinth and finds himself looking out on a long, straight, corridor that seemingly spans infinitely out in front of him. Frustrated, he looks back the way he came, silently wondering to himself whether or not to commit himself to such an awesome track. Taking a deep breath, he shakes his head, bits the inner part of his lip, and darts down the Infinite Corridor at super speed.
After several long seconds of blazing down the corridor, appearing no closer to any sort of end than when he first started running.
JAY GARRICK You're going the wrong way.
CLARK
What?
Clark screeches to a halt almost instantly, but still a good twenty yards passed the source of the quotation; a middle-aged man wearing blue jeans and a red long-sleeve shirt with a yellow lightning bolt down the center. The man leans with his back up against the left wall as he reads the "Midwestern Gazette" newspaper, the banner headline at the top of the front page reading "Student Rushed to Hospital After Freak Lab Accident".
He looks up from his paper and rather nonchalantly calls out to Clark.
JAY GARRICK ::loud:: I said, you're going the wrong.
Clark utilizes his speed once more and almost instantaneously appears a few feet away from Garrick, who shrugs, lowering his voice to a slightly more conversational level.
JAY GARRICK . way.
CLARK
Who are you?
Jay smiles, more out of obligation than anything else, and folds the newspaper up, slipping it under his arm. He shakes Clark's hand.
JAY GARRICK Jay Garrick, fastest man alive. Pleased to meet you.
CLARK Clark Kent.
JAY GARRICK ::unimpressed:: Yeah, I know. Listen, kid, I hate to break it to ya, but you're going the wrong way. You're not going to find what you're looking for down that way.
CLARK
How do you know what I'm looking for?
JAY GARRICK
I don't, but whatever it is you're not going to find it down that corridor.
CLARK
Why not?
JAY GARRICK
Because there's nothing down that corridor.
Clark takes a brief look.
CLARK
Dead end?
JAY GARRICK ::shakes head:: No end, at all.
CLARK
It goes on forever?
JAY GARRICK
'Fraid so.
Jay motions off to the side where only a few feet away, despite the fact that Clark ran for several seconds at lightning fast speeds in the opposite direction, sits the same corner he turned to enter into the corridor. He does a double take.
CLARK
But I. I was. How is that possible?
JAY GARRICK Because, it doesn't matter how far you go or how fast, kid. If you're going the wrong way, you're going nowhere fast, especially in here. Take it from me.
Frustrated, Clark throws his arms up in the air.
CLARK This is unbelievable! I'm never gonna get out of this place!
JAY GARRICK ::nods:: Probably not.
CLARK
Doctor Fate trap you in here too?
JAY GARRICK In a manner of speaking. We had a little falling out, he and I.
CLARK
A falling out? You two were friends?
JAY GARRICK I don't really like to talk about it.
CLARK
Oh.
An uneasy pause in the conversation.
JAY GARRICK
Let's just say this is Fate's little morbid way of teaching me a lesson and leave it at that.
CLARK Okay.
Another pause.
JAY GARRICK
Yeah. anyway, if you're looking for the portal exit, you have to go back the way you came, only this time make a left at the end of the curved corridor. That'll get you back on track.
Jay takes the newspaper out again, unfolds it, and sits down against the wall. He starts reading.
CLARK
Wait, you know the way out?
Jay shrugs his confirmation.
CLARK If you know the way out, why don't you get yourself out of here?
JAY GARRICK ::laughs:: Who do you think 's waiting for me at the exit?
Clark takes only a second to answer.
CLARK
Fate.
JAY GARRICK Right, and every time I get anywhere close he just does that crazy voodoo thing he does and sends me right back here. So, I figure what the hell, I might as well get comfortable.
Clark thinks quickly on what to say.
CLARK
What if I come with you this time?
JAY GARRICK And how exactly is that going to make any difference? You're just a kid.
CLARK You'd be surprised what I can do.
JAY GARRICK Not likely.
Clark smiles devilishly, but Jay doesn't impress easily.
JAY GARRICK
I know all about your powers, kid. They won't make a damn bit of difference against Fate, not in his Labyrinth. He'll zap us both right back here just like he's done a hundred times to me before.
CLARK
So, you're not even going to try?
JAY GARRICK Nope.
Clark's jaw clenches as he starts to get impatient, and a little angry.
CLARK
Just a second ago you were willing to let me go and face Fate alone!
JAY GARRICK
If you want to continue your exercise in futility, why should I get in your way? Besides, you'll learn just like I did, no matter what you do, no matter how far you get, he's still gonna be there at the end. He's not gonna go away and there's nothing you can do about it.
CLARK
Oh, so I might as well just give up, is that it?
JAY GARRICK I never gave up. I just accepted my.
Garrick laughs at his own choice of words.
JAY GARRICK
I accepted my fate.
CLARK
Well, I'm sorry, but I don't have that luxury. Doctor Fate kidnapped my father.
JAY GARRICK
I'm sure, if that's the case, that your father is perfectly fine.
CLARK
That's not the point!
Clark goes to say something but bites his tongue.
CLARK
Can you at least tell me how to get there?
JAY GARRICK ::shakes head:: It's much too far to just tell you. I'd have to show you.
CLARK
Then show me. You don't have to come with me at the end, to face him, but will you at least help me get there?
HENRY RUNNER
No, he won't.
Clark and Jay both look up to see Henry, in running shorts, shirt and shoes, running up to them from down the corridor. He gets to them and put his hands on his knees, desperately gasping for air.
HENRY RUNNER
::out of breath:: Because he promised he'd take me.
JAY GARRICK
I never promised you that.
HENRY RUNNER
::out of breath:: Yes, you did. You promised. if I beat you in a race. you would take me to Fate.
JAY GARRICK
::sarcastic:: Yeah, 'cause you came so close that last time.
HENRY RUNNER
::out of breath:: On your feet, Garrick. We're goin' again.
Garrick hangs his head and shakes it, begrudgingly getting to his feet. He leaves the newspaper on the ground.
JAY GARRICK
This is pointless. You haven't even come close to beating me, and you're never going too. If you spent half as much energy trying to find your way out of here that you've spent trying to beat me, you'd probably have found your way to Fate on your own by now.
Henry stands up next to Garrick, taking up a footrace starting position.
HENRY RUNNER
I don't even care anymore. I just wanna beat you, now.
JAY GARRICK
::sighs:: Not gonna happen.
HENRY RUNNER
And "when" I beat you, you're gonna take me to Fate just like you promised.
JAY GARRICK Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's just get this over with.
CLARK
Wait a minute.
Garrick and Henry both look back at Clark.
HENRY
What?
CLARK
Can I get in on this?
JAY GARRICK
You want to race?
CLARK
Yeah. But if "I" win, you take "me" to Fate.
Garrick seems intrigued by the offer. Henry just laughs.
HENRY RUNNER
You're kidding, right? You can't beat him. This guy's like a speeding a bullet. No one can catch him.
Clark smiles and stretches out his legs a bit.
CLARK
Well, then I guess I'll just have to be faster than a speeding bullet.
Clark finishes stretching and steps up on Henry's opposite side, readying himself to race.
CLARK
That is, of course, unless you don't think you can beat me.
Jay smiles wryly and nods, readying himself.
JAY GARRICK
All right, kid, you got yourself a race. Let's see what you got.
All three prepare three prepare to race.
JAY GARRICK
I'm gonna enjoy this.
CLARK
I don't think so. I'm afraid you don't know what you've gotten yourself into, old man.
JAY GARRICK Neither do you, kid.
HENRY RUNNER Go!
The newspaper lifts wildly in the updraft as both Jay and Clark tear away from the starting line at blazing speeds, leaving poor Henry lagging far behind at lamely human speeds.
Clark first appears surprised to see Jay toe to toe with him in a straightaway leg race. The two exchange polite smiles as Clark pulls slightly ahead.
Continuing down the infinite corridor, the walls on either side of Clark begin to change shape, periodically jutting inward on either side. Both Clark and Jay dodge the obstacles expertly, zig-zagging their way passed them, with Clark maintaining a slim lead.
Before long the floor adds a second element change to the course ahead, solid hurtles periodically jumping up in front of the two speed demons. Clark hits one with the toe of his left foot, stumbling only slightly but enough for Jay to gain ground and catch up. Neck and neck, they shoot each other another quick smile as the hurtles and wall obstacles grow even denser in front of them.
THUD!
Clark spins almost completely around, somehow managing to maintain stride, after colliding with yet a third obstruction in the course, a large plain white spheroid hovering in mid-air at several varying levels. Between the changing wall contours, the hurtles, and spheroids the Infinite Corridor has turned into a virtual obstacle course in which Jay Garrick takes a commanding lead.
Coming along the last stretch of course, Clark kicks in the last gear, gradually gaining speed and pulling up alongside Jay. Slowly, with the two of them neck and neck, the obstacles begin to disappear and the corridor returns to being a long straightaway as they speedily approach the finish line.
Clark looks over at Jay with a determined look on his face. Jay looks back at him, equally determined but, oddly, a big grin etched across his face. Raising his hand, Garrick shakes his index finger back and forth over at Clark before kicking it up a notch and darting forward, easily pulling ahead of Clark as they come to the finish line.
Jay Garrick easily defeats a young Clark Kent.
Clark, actually out of breath, looks up at Jay who's barely even broken a sweat. Jay smiles at him and shrugs, like a father who just showed his young son he'd been letting him win at their games out in the backyard. Clark is utterly shocked.
CLARK
::out of breath:: You beat me. I can't believe you beat me.
JAY GARRICK
You're fast, kid, but you're not that fast.
CLARK
::out of breath:: So. I guess this means. I'm on my own, then.
JAY GARRICK Hey, a deal's a deal. Whadaya want me to tell ya?
CLARK
::angry:: Right. Fine. Then, let's go again, right now.
Clark takes up position to start a second race.
JAY GARRICK Again?
CLARK
I want a rematch.
JAY GARRICK ::shakes head:: No. No rematches, kid.
CLARK
You gave Henry a rematch.
JAY GARRICK
Yeah, and look at where it's gotten him. You want to end up like him? That poor kid doesn't even want to leave anymore.
CLARK
Again you're telling me to give up. Well, I'm not going to do that.
Clark gets angry and steps right up into Garrick's face.
CLARK I'm going to find my way out of this place, whether you help me or not!
JAY GARRICK
And then what? You're outmatched, kid, you're out of your league. You're just going to have to face the facts, you're never going to find your way out of here and you're never going to see your father again!
CLARK
I will!
JAY GARRICK Fate will be there waiting for you and he's just going to send you right back here!
CLARK
I don't care.
JAY GARRICK There's nothing you can do about it, every time, he never stops! You just don't get it! It doesn't matter what you do, or how much of yourself you give to the cause, how determined you are, or how good you are. It never goes away. It never stops! You'll just have to deal with it!
Garrick's rant is passionate but it's almost like he's not even talking about Fate anymore. Clark, infuriated, doesn't catch it.
CLARK
Neither will I.
All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a calm rushes over Clark and his shoulders ease. Still very much defiant and strong in will, his anger has all but completely subsided.
CLARK . and Fate will just have to deal with that.
Clark turns from Garrick, boldly, and starts walking away from him. Oddly, though not surprisingly, the corner back into the labyrinth is only a few feet away. Clark turns the corner and disappears back inside Fate's maze.
Garrick considers Clark's words for a moment, before hanging his head.
JAY GARRICK
Yes. They will, won't they?
Jay closes his eyes and smiles, as if Clark somehow left his sense of calm back for Jay to grasp onto. Opening his eyes, he laughs a bit to himself and nods to no one in particular.
JAY GARRICK I understand. I'm ready to go back now.
A bright white light in the shape of an ankh opens up on one wall of the corridor in front of Garrick. Standing tall, puffing out his chest, he walks toward the light.
JAY GARRICK And they'll just have to deal with it.
The light swallows Garrick up and disappears, leaving an empty corridor behind.
Clark turns a corner in the labyrinth and finds himself looking out on a long, straight, corridor that seemingly spans infinitely out in front of him. Frustrated, he looks back the way he came, silently wondering to himself whether or not to commit himself to such an awesome track. Taking a deep breath, he shakes his head, bits the inner part of his lip, and darts down the Infinite Corridor at super speed.
After several long seconds of blazing down the corridor, appearing no closer to any sort of end than when he first started running.
JAY GARRICK You're going the wrong way.
CLARK
What?
Clark screeches to a halt almost instantly, but still a good twenty yards passed the source of the quotation; a middle-aged man wearing blue jeans and a red long-sleeve shirt with a yellow lightning bolt down the center. The man leans with his back up against the left wall as he reads the "Midwestern Gazette" newspaper, the banner headline at the top of the front page reading "Student Rushed to Hospital After Freak Lab Accident".
He looks up from his paper and rather nonchalantly calls out to Clark.
JAY GARRICK ::loud:: I said, you're going the wrong.
Clark utilizes his speed once more and almost instantaneously appears a few feet away from Garrick, who shrugs, lowering his voice to a slightly more conversational level.
JAY GARRICK . way.
CLARK
Who are you?
Jay smiles, more out of obligation than anything else, and folds the newspaper up, slipping it under his arm. He shakes Clark's hand.
JAY GARRICK Jay Garrick, fastest man alive. Pleased to meet you.
CLARK Clark Kent.
JAY GARRICK ::unimpressed:: Yeah, I know. Listen, kid, I hate to break it to ya, but you're going the wrong way. You're not going to find what you're looking for down that way.
CLARK
How do you know what I'm looking for?
JAY GARRICK
I don't, but whatever it is you're not going to find it down that corridor.
CLARK
Why not?
JAY GARRICK
Because there's nothing down that corridor.
Clark takes a brief look.
CLARK
Dead end?
JAY GARRICK ::shakes head:: No end, at all.
CLARK
It goes on forever?
JAY GARRICK
'Fraid so.
Jay motions off to the side where only a few feet away, despite the fact that Clark ran for several seconds at lightning fast speeds in the opposite direction, sits the same corner he turned to enter into the corridor. He does a double take.
CLARK
But I. I was. How is that possible?
JAY GARRICK Because, it doesn't matter how far you go or how fast, kid. If you're going the wrong way, you're going nowhere fast, especially in here. Take it from me.
Frustrated, Clark throws his arms up in the air.
CLARK This is unbelievable! I'm never gonna get out of this place!
JAY GARRICK ::nods:: Probably not.
CLARK
Doctor Fate trap you in here too?
JAY GARRICK In a manner of speaking. We had a little falling out, he and I.
CLARK
A falling out? You two were friends?
JAY GARRICK I don't really like to talk about it.
CLARK
Oh.
An uneasy pause in the conversation.
JAY GARRICK
Let's just say this is Fate's little morbid way of teaching me a lesson and leave it at that.
CLARK Okay.
Another pause.
JAY GARRICK
Yeah. anyway, if you're looking for the portal exit, you have to go back the way you came, only this time make a left at the end of the curved corridor. That'll get you back on track.
Jay takes the newspaper out again, unfolds it, and sits down against the wall. He starts reading.
CLARK
Wait, you know the way out?
Jay shrugs his confirmation.
CLARK If you know the way out, why don't you get yourself out of here?
JAY GARRICK ::laughs:: Who do you think 's waiting for me at the exit?
Clark takes only a second to answer.
CLARK
Fate.
JAY GARRICK Right, and every time I get anywhere close he just does that crazy voodoo thing he does and sends me right back here. So, I figure what the hell, I might as well get comfortable.
Clark thinks quickly on what to say.
CLARK
What if I come with you this time?
JAY GARRICK And how exactly is that going to make any difference? You're just a kid.
CLARK You'd be surprised what I can do.
JAY GARRICK Not likely.
Clark smiles devilishly, but Jay doesn't impress easily.
JAY GARRICK
I know all about your powers, kid. They won't make a damn bit of difference against Fate, not in his Labyrinth. He'll zap us both right back here just like he's done a hundred times to me before.
CLARK
So, you're not even going to try?
JAY GARRICK Nope.
Clark's jaw clenches as he starts to get impatient, and a little angry.
CLARK
Just a second ago you were willing to let me go and face Fate alone!
JAY GARRICK
If you want to continue your exercise in futility, why should I get in your way? Besides, you'll learn just like I did, no matter what you do, no matter how far you get, he's still gonna be there at the end. He's not gonna go away and there's nothing you can do about it.
CLARK
Oh, so I might as well just give up, is that it?
JAY GARRICK I never gave up. I just accepted my.
Garrick laughs at his own choice of words.
JAY GARRICK
I accepted my fate.
CLARK
Well, I'm sorry, but I don't have that luxury. Doctor Fate kidnapped my father.
JAY GARRICK
I'm sure, if that's the case, that your father is perfectly fine.
CLARK
That's not the point!
Clark goes to say something but bites his tongue.
CLARK
Can you at least tell me how to get there?
JAY GARRICK ::shakes head:: It's much too far to just tell you. I'd have to show you.
CLARK
Then show me. You don't have to come with me at the end, to face him, but will you at least help me get there?
HENRY RUNNER
No, he won't.
Clark and Jay both look up to see Henry, in running shorts, shirt and shoes, running up to them from down the corridor. He gets to them and put his hands on his knees, desperately gasping for air.
HENRY RUNNER
::out of breath:: Because he promised he'd take me.
JAY GARRICK
I never promised you that.
HENRY RUNNER
::out of breath:: Yes, you did. You promised. if I beat you in a race. you would take me to Fate.
JAY GARRICK
::sarcastic:: Yeah, 'cause you came so close that last time.
HENRY RUNNER
::out of breath:: On your feet, Garrick. We're goin' again.
Garrick hangs his head and shakes it, begrudgingly getting to his feet. He leaves the newspaper on the ground.
JAY GARRICK
This is pointless. You haven't even come close to beating me, and you're never going too. If you spent half as much energy trying to find your way out of here that you've spent trying to beat me, you'd probably have found your way to Fate on your own by now.
Henry stands up next to Garrick, taking up a footrace starting position.
HENRY RUNNER
I don't even care anymore. I just wanna beat you, now.
JAY GARRICK
::sighs:: Not gonna happen.
HENRY RUNNER
And "when" I beat you, you're gonna take me to Fate just like you promised.
JAY GARRICK Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's just get this over with.
CLARK
Wait a minute.
Garrick and Henry both look back at Clark.
HENRY
What?
CLARK
Can I get in on this?
JAY GARRICK
You want to race?
CLARK
Yeah. But if "I" win, you take "me" to Fate.
Garrick seems intrigued by the offer. Henry just laughs.
HENRY RUNNER
You're kidding, right? You can't beat him. This guy's like a speeding a bullet. No one can catch him.
Clark smiles and stretches out his legs a bit.
CLARK
Well, then I guess I'll just have to be faster than a speeding bullet.
Clark finishes stretching and steps up on Henry's opposite side, readying himself to race.
CLARK
That is, of course, unless you don't think you can beat me.
Jay smiles wryly and nods, readying himself.
JAY GARRICK
All right, kid, you got yourself a race. Let's see what you got.
All three prepare three prepare to race.
JAY GARRICK
I'm gonna enjoy this.
CLARK
I don't think so. I'm afraid you don't know what you've gotten yourself into, old man.
JAY GARRICK Neither do you, kid.
HENRY RUNNER Go!
The newspaper lifts wildly in the updraft as both Jay and Clark tear away from the starting line at blazing speeds, leaving poor Henry lagging far behind at lamely human speeds.
Clark first appears surprised to see Jay toe to toe with him in a straightaway leg race. The two exchange polite smiles as Clark pulls slightly ahead.
Continuing down the infinite corridor, the walls on either side of Clark begin to change shape, periodically jutting inward on either side. Both Clark and Jay dodge the obstacles expertly, zig-zagging their way passed them, with Clark maintaining a slim lead.
Before long the floor adds a second element change to the course ahead, solid hurtles periodically jumping up in front of the two speed demons. Clark hits one with the toe of his left foot, stumbling only slightly but enough for Jay to gain ground and catch up. Neck and neck, they shoot each other another quick smile as the hurtles and wall obstacles grow even denser in front of them.
THUD!
Clark spins almost completely around, somehow managing to maintain stride, after colliding with yet a third obstruction in the course, a large plain white spheroid hovering in mid-air at several varying levels. Between the changing wall contours, the hurtles, and spheroids the Infinite Corridor has turned into a virtual obstacle course in which Jay Garrick takes a commanding lead.
Coming along the last stretch of course, Clark kicks in the last gear, gradually gaining speed and pulling up alongside Jay. Slowly, with the two of them neck and neck, the obstacles begin to disappear and the corridor returns to being a long straightaway as they speedily approach the finish line.
Clark looks over at Jay with a determined look on his face. Jay looks back at him, equally determined but, oddly, a big grin etched across his face. Raising his hand, Garrick shakes his index finger back and forth over at Clark before kicking it up a notch and darting forward, easily pulling ahead of Clark as they come to the finish line.
Jay Garrick easily defeats a young Clark Kent.
Clark, actually out of breath, looks up at Jay who's barely even broken a sweat. Jay smiles at him and shrugs, like a father who just showed his young son he'd been letting him win at their games out in the backyard. Clark is utterly shocked.
CLARK
::out of breath:: You beat me. I can't believe you beat me.
JAY GARRICK
You're fast, kid, but you're not that fast.
CLARK
::out of breath:: So. I guess this means. I'm on my own, then.
JAY GARRICK Hey, a deal's a deal. Whadaya want me to tell ya?
CLARK
::angry:: Right. Fine. Then, let's go again, right now.
Clark takes up position to start a second race.
JAY GARRICK Again?
CLARK
I want a rematch.
JAY GARRICK ::shakes head:: No. No rematches, kid.
CLARK
You gave Henry a rematch.
JAY GARRICK
Yeah, and look at where it's gotten him. You want to end up like him? That poor kid doesn't even want to leave anymore.
CLARK
Again you're telling me to give up. Well, I'm not going to do that.
Clark gets angry and steps right up into Garrick's face.
CLARK I'm going to find my way out of this place, whether you help me or not!
JAY GARRICK
And then what? You're outmatched, kid, you're out of your league. You're just going to have to face the facts, you're never going to find your way out of here and you're never going to see your father again!
CLARK
I will!
JAY GARRICK Fate will be there waiting for you and he's just going to send you right back here!
CLARK
I don't care.
JAY GARRICK There's nothing you can do about it, every time, he never stops! You just don't get it! It doesn't matter what you do, or how much of yourself you give to the cause, how determined you are, or how good you are. It never goes away. It never stops! You'll just have to deal with it!
Garrick's rant is passionate but it's almost like he's not even talking about Fate anymore. Clark, infuriated, doesn't catch it.
CLARK
Neither will I.
All of a sudden, out of nowhere, a calm rushes over Clark and his shoulders ease. Still very much defiant and strong in will, his anger has all but completely subsided.
CLARK . and Fate will just have to deal with that.
Clark turns from Garrick, boldly, and starts walking away from him. Oddly, though not surprisingly, the corner back into the labyrinth is only a few feet away. Clark turns the corner and disappears back inside Fate's maze.
Garrick considers Clark's words for a moment, before hanging his head.
JAY GARRICK
Yes. They will, won't they?
Jay closes his eyes and smiles, as if Clark somehow left his sense of calm back for Jay to grasp onto. Opening his eyes, he laughs a bit to himself and nods to no one in particular.
JAY GARRICK I understand. I'm ready to go back now.
A bright white light in the shape of an ankh opens up on one wall of the corridor in front of Garrick. Standing tall, puffing out his chest, he walks toward the light.
JAY GARRICK And they'll just have to deal with it.
The light swallows Garrick up and disappears, leaving an empty corridor behind.