EXT. LABYRINTH CANYON
Clark stands in a cave opening in the side of a pure white mountain. A rickety old rope and board bridge extends outward in front of him over an immense chasm. To one side, a liquid lead waterfall spills down from a height raised infinitely above Clark's head, forming a rapid ridden river hundreds of feet under the bridge. The river then, mocking the laws of physics, turns up a second water-"fall" on the other side.
Clark strains his eyes to try and see through the mist that guards the other side of the bridge. Henry Goth stands behind Clark, waiting for him to do something.
CLARK I can't see the other side.
HENRY GOTH Fate's magic is strongest here. We are close.
Clark steps out onto the bridge and starts making his way across. After a few steps, Clark turns around and notices that Henry isn't following him.
CLARK
You're not coming?
HENRY GOTH Despite an inherently vested interest, I am unable to cross. Where you are going, I cannot follow. You are flesh, where I am merely... a shadow with a face.
Clark pities Henry silently.
HENRY GOTH But I will be watching. Just follow the bridge, through the mist, all the way to the end. There, you will your way out of this maze. There... you will find Fate.
Clark nods and turns back to the bridge.
The bridge becomes shakier the further along he goes. It also becomes harder and harder to see in front of him, the mist becoming more of a thick fog. Turning around, Clark can no longer see Henry on the other side.
He swallows. Taking a few more steps, Clark notices the distance between each board is getting a little longer. With each step, they grow farther and farther apart until he gets to a point where he can't even see the next board through the mist.
CLARK
Swell...
Clark considers jumping, but thinks better of it. He opts, instead, to try and use the ropes. He puts his arms over each rope and drops his feet over the last board. He waits for the ropes to stop swaying and starts shimmying his way across.
SNAP! SNAP!
Clark's supersensitive hearing can hear the ropes snap from somewhere behind him. His eyes widen, and he tenses his grip on the ropes as all at once he drops, swinging down and through the mist. A split second before the ropes go completely vertical, a gray stoned cylindrical tower appears through the fog.
CLARK Uh oh.
Clark braces for impact as the ropes swing him towards a large, blue and gold, stain glass window of an ankh over an ocean and sky.
INT. FATE'S ARENA
Clark explodes through the stain glass window and slams hard to the ground, a marble shiny marble surface reflecting a cosmic galaxy of rotating stars. Clark picks himself up off the ground and surveys his surroundings.
The arena is circular, about one hundred feet around, gray stone walls extending from the floor infinitely upward. Five foot tall black steel torch stands are arranged, about ten circumferential feet apart, in a wide circle around the arena, carrying wooden torches that burn with a blue flame. They give off very little light, just enough to illuminate the entire floor.
DOCTOR FATE (voice)
To everything there is a beginning, an end, and a path that bridges the gap between the two.
Clark's attention turns upward where a billowing of gray smoke snakes its way into existence from out of nothing. A loud chime resounds through the arena and a burst of golden light in the shape of an ankh pierces through the smoke. Doctor Fate, hovering in mid-air, his arm's outstretched, glides through the light, his yellow cape flowing fantastically behind him.
DOCTOR FATE
Clark Kent, are you ready to face Fate?
Clark's jaw clenches.
CLARK
The question is, are you ready for me?!
DOCTOR FATE
We shall see... Taris D'una Coplatu!
Fate claps his hands together, still hovering in mid-air, then throws them down to his side. Instantaneously, he replicates himself, forming a circle of Doctor Fates, all hovering, around Clark.
DOCTOR FATE
Let it begin!
One after another, the Fate's fly down to attack Clark. The first one flies in from behind, lands a quick punch to the back of Clark's head and flies off. Then, another...
Clark flails awkwardly, knocked off balance as the deluge of punches comes in from all sides. Finally, Clark grits his teeth and turns, hurling a punch that lands square against one of his adversary's chest. The Fate he hits simply puffs out of existence like a wisp of smoke.
Moving faster than the Fates gives Clark the advantage. Still getting tagged from all sides, he manages enough offense to target and punch his way through another five replicas. Not after too long, there are only three remaining. One of them backs away as Clark grabs the other two, each by their golden helms, and slams them together in front of him. They instantly turn to smoke.
Clark barely has enough time to stare down the real Doctor Fate when...
DOCTOR FATE
Karem Tenus!
Fate throws his hands out at Clark and tiny balls of golden energy shoot out from each of his ten fingers, pummeling Clark like ten high powered machine guns. Clark is immediately knocked backwards, sliding across the ground and into one of the torch stands. The torch falls over and the blue fire ignites on the ground. The marble floor literally erupts into one intense blue flame.
Clark tries to get to his feet as Doctor Fate hovers above the blue flame and prepares another spell.
DOCTOR FATE
Karem Tenus Unam!
Fate clenches his fists together and, this time, releases one giant golden energy ball at Clark. The future Man of Steel has little other choice but to roll out of the way, back towards the center of the arena and into the heart of the flaming floor. The golden energy ball touches down on the ground and ignites a fiery gold flame of its own to counteract the blue flame from the fallen torch.
Clark stands up out of the blue flame, shielding his face from the beating fire. Yet, as he looks down, much to his amazement, he notices that the flames do not burn him or his clothes.
Clark stands on one side of the arena, surrounded by the blue flame. Doctor Fate hovers above the other side, where the golden flame burns menacingly. Just as Clark and Fate are engaged in battle, so the fires wage war with each other in the great arena.
CLARK
Where's my father, Fate?!
Doctor Fate ignores him and lifts his hands in the air. All the torch stands from Fate's half of the arena rise up out of the golden flame, glowing orange hot, and hover around Fate, but pointed at Clark.
DOCTOR FATE
Archer Rowa!
Clark again uses his super speed to avoid being struck by the torch posts as they all simultaneously shoot towards him like a storm of arrows. He manages to avoid most of them, but even he isn't quick enough to dodge the last one, and it grazes across his chest, burning a hole in his shirt, and leaving a burnt gash across his chest. He cries out in pain and falls to one knee.
INT. SALEM TOWER
Lana watches the image of the confrontation between Fate and Clark against the smoke. She cringes at the sight of Clark's wound.
INT. FATE'S ARENA
Clark grabs one of the torch posts from his side of the arena and hurls it up at Fate, who rather effortlessly flies out of the way. Clark uses this to try and leap through the air and grab Fate.
CLARK Fate!
Fate claps his arms out in front of him.
DOCTOR FATE
Brevi Tronto!
All at once, two stone blocks from opposite sides of the arena tear out of the wall and slam together in front of Clark. Clark slams into them at his chest and stomach, but manages to pull himself up onto the stones which remain together and hovering in mid-air. Fate continues flying higher to avoid his pursuer, clapping his hands together to bring more and more stones into Clark's path, but Clark manages to use them instead, leaping off of them, climbing them like steps, chasing Fate higher and higher up the tower.
DOCTOR FATE
Collabro!
More and more stones begin yanking out of all sides of the walls. Clark uses some of them to keep climbing up towards Fate, blasting others apart with his heat vision and his powerful fists.
Finally, Clark grabs one of the stones in mid-air, spins 180 degrees and hurls it at Fate.
DOCTOR FATE
Destructor!
Fate barely manages to get off the spell, destroying the stone in the nick of time. The smoke and explosion phase Fate just long enough, however, for Clark to leap high into the air, higher than Fate, his fist raised and aimed for Fate's golden helm.
DOCTOR FATE
Gemini Protector!
Fate looks up at Clark and throws his hands into the air, releasing a powerful energy beam that strikes Clark in the chest. Clark is instantly hurled backwards, slamming against the far wall. Remarkably, he slides down only a few feet before coming back down to the marble arena floor, which is no longer on fire.
Fate, for his part, looks to actually be tiring. He hovers only a few inches off the ground and appears to be breathing heavily from behind his helm.
Clark, not to be deterred, picks himself up off the ground and charges Fate, who again throws his hands up.
DOCTOR FATE
Protector!
Again, the energy beam slams into Clark's chest, stopping him in his tracks. But Clark grits his teeth and holds his ground, pushing against it like a linebacker against an offensive lineman. Clark hurls his fist back and punches at the energy beam once, twice, and a third time... forcing his way forward.
DOCTOR FATE
::loud:: Protector! Protector!
The energy beam gets stronger, but so does Clark's determination. A step away from Fate, he throws a single punch, landing square against Fate's helm. Fate lets out a yelp and is thrown backwards, slamming violently against the far wall.
INT. SALEM TOWER
Lana's eyes grow wide with concern.
LANA
No!
INT. FATE'S ARENA
Fate barely has time to groan by the time Clark is on top of him. Clark, furious, grabs Fate by the chest and lifts him up against the wall.
CLARK Now, where's my father, Fate?!
Fate doesn't answer, breathing heavily.
CLARK I said...
Clark, in anger, tears Fate's helm off.
CLARK Where's my...
Clark cuts himself short, utterly shocked by what he finds behind the golden helm of Fate.
CLARK ... father?
Exhausted and out of breath, Doctor Fate, an old man of at least eighty years old, smiles back at Clark.
DOCTOR FATE
What's the matter, young Clark? I thought that I fared pretty well for an old man.
Clark mercifully lets him down, sitting Fate on the ground.
DOCTOR FATE Please... my helm.
Fate motions toward the helm Clark recently tore from the old man's head. Clark grabs it from the ground and holds it, at first offering it to Fate, but then pulling it back.
CLARK My father...
DOCTOR FATE
Your father is unharmed. I regret having to take him from you, but it was imperative for me to be sure that you were ready.
CLARK
Ready? Ready for what?
DOCTOR FATE Your time of ascension. The timing must be just right. The prophecies must be fulfilled or all will be lost.
CLARK I don't know what you're talking about.
DOCTOR FATE
Yes, you do. Of course you do.
Clark thinks for a moment.
CLARK
Henry... The book...
DOCTOR FATE
It is the Book of The New Gods which you speak of. It tells of the many prophecies surrounding the rise of the Evil One and his subsequent downfall at the hands of the divine savior of men.
CLARK
El.
Doctor Fate nods.
CLARK
You think it's me.
DOCTOR FATE
Don't you?
CLARK I'm not a God.
DOCTOR FATE What is "God" if not a title given to a great being in which men bestow their faith?
CLARK Even if I believed in any of that, what does this have to do with my father? Why did you kidnap him?
DOCTOR FATE I cannot tell you that... any more than I can change the words on the page.
CLARK That's not an answer!
DOCTOR FATE
The prophecies foretold in the Book of the New Gods must be fulfilled if you are to complete your destiny. Things were happening too quickly. I had to be sure you were ready.
CLARK ::angry:: If I was ready? That's why you threw me in that labyrinth of yours? You were testing me?!
Doctor Fate shakes his head and smiles.
DOCTOR FATE You presume to know a great deal more than you do, young Clark. You were not there, in the labyrinth, for your sake, but for theirs.
Fate raises his arm and some smoke billows up in the air next to them. In the smoke can be seen the images of Jay Garrick, Karen Starr, and Billy Batson/Captain Marvel, the heroes Clark met with while in the labyrinth.
DOCTOR FATE
It was never a test for you, but for them, fallen heroes of a different age. It was you, Clark, who had the greater affect on them. They are each members of a great team of heroes, devoted to upholding truth and justice across the globe.
The smoke focuses in on Jay Garrick...
DOCTOR FATE Jay Garrick, the fastest man alive, a man who'd grown tired of running the endless race between good and evil. What is the point, he would ask himself? No matter how hard we try, we can never extinguish the evil in our universe completely. It will always be there. Through your determination to get to your father, you reminded him that despite the infinite nature of the struggle, no matter how relentless evil might be, good will always be there to run one step ahead in the race. True, darkness never gives up, but neither will the light. Sometimes winning isn't about finishing first, just about staying one step ahead and never stopping.
The smoke focuses on Karen Starr...
DOCTOR FATE Then, there is Karen Starr, a woman whose powers once even rivaled even your own, until a great tragedy left her severely weakened. She took it upon herself to fill the void left open by the loss of... a great hero. The task was simply more than she could handle, but when you reached out to her, looked passed her failings, you showed her that, while the world may need superheroes, we are all heroes each and every time we help any person in need.
The smoke focuses on Billy Batson and Captain Marvel...
DOCTOR FATE
Billy Batson, the alter ego of one of the greatest heroes to ever live, Captain Marvel. Billy, a child rocked by the tragic loss of his friend and his inability to stop it, was so struck by his own guilt and pain that he tried to kill himself, believing the world better off with the hero. The grief blinded him from being able to see the truth behind what all heroes fight for... the simple fact that all life is precious and special. You helped him see that again.
Clark considers what Fate is telling him.
CLARK
They all seemed to know who I was. They all knew me by name.
DOCTOR FATE In time, all the world will know your name, young Clark. Where you are at the beginning, they are at the end.
Clark struggles with the thought and stands up and paces.
CLARK
You're telling me I'm supposed to be some sort of savior of the world, some sort of superhero. I haven't even graduated high school yet, how am I supposed to save the world?
Fate manages to get himself to his feet.
DOCTOR FATE
You have already committed great acts of heroism, even in your early years. The prophecies have already begun coming true, surely you can see that. You were sent here to live among slaves...
CLARK
My parents are not slaves.
DOCTOR FATE
You grew up on a farm. Farmers are slaves to the land. You are protected by godly powers; your strength, your sight, your hearing...
CLARK
I wasn't sent to Earth by a God. I was sent to Earth by a scientist who created a doomsday weapon that destroyed an entire planet.
DOCTOR FATE
You were sent by the greatest Kryptonian scientist who ever lived, a God among men, who created life in you and death in his weapon. Don't you see, Clark, you are the El. You are the one the book prophesizes about. But you are right, you are still young, and it was all happening so quickly. That is why I kidnapped your father because, as long as you are on the path, you are not at the beginning and you are not at the end. I had to keep you here, to at least try...
CLARK
Why?
DOCTOR FATE
Because the Evil One has come.
Clark looks at Fate... He doesn't seem surprised by the knowledge at all.
DOCTOR FATE
Good... I see understanding in your eyes.
Clark turns around.
CLARK I've met him.
Referring to Kalib.
DOCTOR FATE
No, you have not...
Clark, now confused, turns back around to face Fate.
DOCTOR FATE ... but, you will. The time of your ascension was coming too quickly. The prophecies had not yet been fulfilled and the Evil One was preparing to strike. I had to prevent that.
CLARK
What prophecy?
DOCTOR FATE
"Blackening the heavens, blinding the Gods' sight, the Evil One would wait for the hero El to save the one who fell from the sky..."
CLARK Blackening the heavens... The night of the blackout?
DOCTOR FATE
::nods:: You failed to save your friend.
CLARK But I did save her.
DOCTOR FATE
Not her... him.
Clark looks up.
CLARK Pete?
Doctor Fate nods.
CLARK ::under breath:: That's why she did it.
DOCTOR FATE
You are not ready. The prophecy remains unfulfilled.
Clark takes a breath. He seems defeated. He doesn't want to give in. He doesn't want to believe in the prophecy.
CLARK On the night of the blackout, I was with another friend. I was on a date. We flew in a helicopter to Metropolis. On our way back, the pilot put us on a collision course for an airline hangar... and jumped out. I didn't know what else to do. I don't know how to fly a helicopter. I grabbed Chloe... and I jumped out with her in my arms. I saved her.
Fate looks at him, astonished.
INT. SALEM TOWER
Lana gazes at the image of Clark in the smoke, mesmerized.
LANA
It was Chloe...
She hangs her head and leaves.
INT. FATE'S ARENA
Clark looks up at Doctor Fate.
CLARK I suppose you could say, she fell from the sky... and I saved her.
DOCTOR FATE
Well, then... a great deal has changed.
CLARK No... nothing has changed because I don't believe in these prophecies of yours. What I believe is that you still have my father and I am through playing games with you. I want him, and I want him now.
Doctor Fate stares at Clark coolly, thinking to himself silently. He nods.
DOCTOR FATE
I suppose that is only fair... but I have given my word to another that I would do everything in my power to keep you from doing just that, and I would never dishonor myself by going back on my word. And so, to honor you both, I give you the choice.
Fate raises his hands to the side and two separate golden ankhs explode out of the darkness. They are two portal exits.
DOCTOR FATE
You do not have to believe in prophecy to understand the concept of destiny. But I also believe that we must be willing to accept our destiny, and so I give you the choice to choose your path. These portal exits each lead back to the real world, but where one leads to your father, the other leads to a man who is in much greater need of your help... a man by the name of Lex Luthor.
CLARK Lex?
DOCTOR FATE
I tell you now, on my word and the word of the great mystical power of Nabu the Wise, that your father is safe and shall remain under my shield. No harm shall come of him. I will serve as his protector... but your friend does not have that same luxury. At this moment, his very life is in mortal danger. You can choose the path to your father, to free him from his captivity...
Fate motions with his left hand, indicating the left portal will lead Clark to Jonathan.
DOCTOR FATE ...but if you do, your friend will surely die.
Fate motions with his right hand, indicating the right portal will lead to Lex.
CLARK Fate, you lunatic, if you hurt Lex...
DOCTOR FATE
I am not the cause of your friend's peril. I am afraid that in my older years, my power in the outside world has become more than depressed. In here is the only place I have any real power.
CLARK Why are you doing this to me?
DOCTOR FATE Because it is what Fate demands. Now, you must choose... free your father or save your friend's life. The choice... the path is yours.
CLARK
Henry was right about you. You are a madman.
Clark deliberates and makes his decision. He approaches the portal to the right. Before stepping through, he takes a look back at Doctor Fate.
CLARK We'll meet again.
DOCTOR FATE
Of that, young Clark, I have little doubt.
Clark steps through the portal on the right, and the golden ankh swallows him and disappears.
Clark stands in a cave opening in the side of a pure white mountain. A rickety old rope and board bridge extends outward in front of him over an immense chasm. To one side, a liquid lead waterfall spills down from a height raised infinitely above Clark's head, forming a rapid ridden river hundreds of feet under the bridge. The river then, mocking the laws of physics, turns up a second water-"fall" on the other side.
Clark strains his eyes to try and see through the mist that guards the other side of the bridge. Henry Goth stands behind Clark, waiting for him to do something.
CLARK I can't see the other side.
HENRY GOTH Fate's magic is strongest here. We are close.
Clark steps out onto the bridge and starts making his way across. After a few steps, Clark turns around and notices that Henry isn't following him.
CLARK
You're not coming?
HENRY GOTH Despite an inherently vested interest, I am unable to cross. Where you are going, I cannot follow. You are flesh, where I am merely... a shadow with a face.
Clark pities Henry silently.
HENRY GOTH But I will be watching. Just follow the bridge, through the mist, all the way to the end. There, you will your way out of this maze. There... you will find Fate.
Clark nods and turns back to the bridge.
The bridge becomes shakier the further along he goes. It also becomes harder and harder to see in front of him, the mist becoming more of a thick fog. Turning around, Clark can no longer see Henry on the other side.
He swallows. Taking a few more steps, Clark notices the distance between each board is getting a little longer. With each step, they grow farther and farther apart until he gets to a point where he can't even see the next board through the mist.
CLARK
Swell...
Clark considers jumping, but thinks better of it. He opts, instead, to try and use the ropes. He puts his arms over each rope and drops his feet over the last board. He waits for the ropes to stop swaying and starts shimmying his way across.
SNAP! SNAP!
Clark's supersensitive hearing can hear the ropes snap from somewhere behind him. His eyes widen, and he tenses his grip on the ropes as all at once he drops, swinging down and through the mist. A split second before the ropes go completely vertical, a gray stoned cylindrical tower appears through the fog.
CLARK Uh oh.
Clark braces for impact as the ropes swing him towards a large, blue and gold, stain glass window of an ankh over an ocean and sky.
INT. FATE'S ARENA
Clark explodes through the stain glass window and slams hard to the ground, a marble shiny marble surface reflecting a cosmic galaxy of rotating stars. Clark picks himself up off the ground and surveys his surroundings.
The arena is circular, about one hundred feet around, gray stone walls extending from the floor infinitely upward. Five foot tall black steel torch stands are arranged, about ten circumferential feet apart, in a wide circle around the arena, carrying wooden torches that burn with a blue flame. They give off very little light, just enough to illuminate the entire floor.
DOCTOR FATE (voice)
To everything there is a beginning, an end, and a path that bridges the gap between the two.
Clark's attention turns upward where a billowing of gray smoke snakes its way into existence from out of nothing. A loud chime resounds through the arena and a burst of golden light in the shape of an ankh pierces through the smoke. Doctor Fate, hovering in mid-air, his arm's outstretched, glides through the light, his yellow cape flowing fantastically behind him.
DOCTOR FATE
Clark Kent, are you ready to face Fate?
Clark's jaw clenches.
CLARK
The question is, are you ready for me?!
DOCTOR FATE
We shall see... Taris D'una Coplatu!
Fate claps his hands together, still hovering in mid-air, then throws them down to his side. Instantaneously, he replicates himself, forming a circle of Doctor Fates, all hovering, around Clark.
DOCTOR FATE
Let it begin!
One after another, the Fate's fly down to attack Clark. The first one flies in from behind, lands a quick punch to the back of Clark's head and flies off. Then, another...
Clark flails awkwardly, knocked off balance as the deluge of punches comes in from all sides. Finally, Clark grits his teeth and turns, hurling a punch that lands square against one of his adversary's chest. The Fate he hits simply puffs out of existence like a wisp of smoke.
Moving faster than the Fates gives Clark the advantage. Still getting tagged from all sides, he manages enough offense to target and punch his way through another five replicas. Not after too long, there are only three remaining. One of them backs away as Clark grabs the other two, each by their golden helms, and slams them together in front of him. They instantly turn to smoke.
Clark barely has enough time to stare down the real Doctor Fate when...
DOCTOR FATE
Karem Tenus!
Fate throws his hands out at Clark and tiny balls of golden energy shoot out from each of his ten fingers, pummeling Clark like ten high powered machine guns. Clark is immediately knocked backwards, sliding across the ground and into one of the torch stands. The torch falls over and the blue fire ignites on the ground. The marble floor literally erupts into one intense blue flame.
Clark tries to get to his feet as Doctor Fate hovers above the blue flame and prepares another spell.
DOCTOR FATE
Karem Tenus Unam!
Fate clenches his fists together and, this time, releases one giant golden energy ball at Clark. The future Man of Steel has little other choice but to roll out of the way, back towards the center of the arena and into the heart of the flaming floor. The golden energy ball touches down on the ground and ignites a fiery gold flame of its own to counteract the blue flame from the fallen torch.
Clark stands up out of the blue flame, shielding his face from the beating fire. Yet, as he looks down, much to his amazement, he notices that the flames do not burn him or his clothes.
Clark stands on one side of the arena, surrounded by the blue flame. Doctor Fate hovers above the other side, where the golden flame burns menacingly. Just as Clark and Fate are engaged in battle, so the fires wage war with each other in the great arena.
CLARK
Where's my father, Fate?!
Doctor Fate ignores him and lifts his hands in the air. All the torch stands from Fate's half of the arena rise up out of the golden flame, glowing orange hot, and hover around Fate, but pointed at Clark.
DOCTOR FATE
Archer Rowa!
Clark again uses his super speed to avoid being struck by the torch posts as they all simultaneously shoot towards him like a storm of arrows. He manages to avoid most of them, but even he isn't quick enough to dodge the last one, and it grazes across his chest, burning a hole in his shirt, and leaving a burnt gash across his chest. He cries out in pain and falls to one knee.
INT. SALEM TOWER
Lana watches the image of the confrontation between Fate and Clark against the smoke. She cringes at the sight of Clark's wound.
INT. FATE'S ARENA
Clark grabs one of the torch posts from his side of the arena and hurls it up at Fate, who rather effortlessly flies out of the way. Clark uses this to try and leap through the air and grab Fate.
CLARK Fate!
Fate claps his arms out in front of him.
DOCTOR FATE
Brevi Tronto!
All at once, two stone blocks from opposite sides of the arena tear out of the wall and slam together in front of Clark. Clark slams into them at his chest and stomach, but manages to pull himself up onto the stones which remain together and hovering in mid-air. Fate continues flying higher to avoid his pursuer, clapping his hands together to bring more and more stones into Clark's path, but Clark manages to use them instead, leaping off of them, climbing them like steps, chasing Fate higher and higher up the tower.
DOCTOR FATE
Collabro!
More and more stones begin yanking out of all sides of the walls. Clark uses some of them to keep climbing up towards Fate, blasting others apart with his heat vision and his powerful fists.
Finally, Clark grabs one of the stones in mid-air, spins 180 degrees and hurls it at Fate.
DOCTOR FATE
Destructor!
Fate barely manages to get off the spell, destroying the stone in the nick of time. The smoke and explosion phase Fate just long enough, however, for Clark to leap high into the air, higher than Fate, his fist raised and aimed for Fate's golden helm.
DOCTOR FATE
Gemini Protector!
Fate looks up at Clark and throws his hands into the air, releasing a powerful energy beam that strikes Clark in the chest. Clark is instantly hurled backwards, slamming against the far wall. Remarkably, he slides down only a few feet before coming back down to the marble arena floor, which is no longer on fire.
Fate, for his part, looks to actually be tiring. He hovers only a few inches off the ground and appears to be breathing heavily from behind his helm.
Clark, not to be deterred, picks himself up off the ground and charges Fate, who again throws his hands up.
DOCTOR FATE
Protector!
Again, the energy beam slams into Clark's chest, stopping him in his tracks. But Clark grits his teeth and holds his ground, pushing against it like a linebacker against an offensive lineman. Clark hurls his fist back and punches at the energy beam once, twice, and a third time... forcing his way forward.
DOCTOR FATE
::loud:: Protector! Protector!
The energy beam gets stronger, but so does Clark's determination. A step away from Fate, he throws a single punch, landing square against Fate's helm. Fate lets out a yelp and is thrown backwards, slamming violently against the far wall.
INT. SALEM TOWER
Lana's eyes grow wide with concern.
LANA
No!
INT. FATE'S ARENA
Fate barely has time to groan by the time Clark is on top of him. Clark, furious, grabs Fate by the chest and lifts him up against the wall.
CLARK Now, where's my father, Fate?!
Fate doesn't answer, breathing heavily.
CLARK I said...
Clark, in anger, tears Fate's helm off.
CLARK Where's my...
Clark cuts himself short, utterly shocked by what he finds behind the golden helm of Fate.
CLARK ... father?
Exhausted and out of breath, Doctor Fate, an old man of at least eighty years old, smiles back at Clark.
DOCTOR FATE
What's the matter, young Clark? I thought that I fared pretty well for an old man.
Clark mercifully lets him down, sitting Fate on the ground.
DOCTOR FATE Please... my helm.
Fate motions toward the helm Clark recently tore from the old man's head. Clark grabs it from the ground and holds it, at first offering it to Fate, but then pulling it back.
CLARK My father...
DOCTOR FATE
Your father is unharmed. I regret having to take him from you, but it was imperative for me to be sure that you were ready.
CLARK
Ready? Ready for what?
DOCTOR FATE Your time of ascension. The timing must be just right. The prophecies must be fulfilled or all will be lost.
CLARK I don't know what you're talking about.
DOCTOR FATE
Yes, you do. Of course you do.
Clark thinks for a moment.
CLARK
Henry... The book...
DOCTOR FATE
It is the Book of The New Gods which you speak of. It tells of the many prophecies surrounding the rise of the Evil One and his subsequent downfall at the hands of the divine savior of men.
CLARK
El.
Doctor Fate nods.
CLARK
You think it's me.
DOCTOR FATE
Don't you?
CLARK I'm not a God.
DOCTOR FATE What is "God" if not a title given to a great being in which men bestow their faith?
CLARK Even if I believed in any of that, what does this have to do with my father? Why did you kidnap him?
DOCTOR FATE I cannot tell you that... any more than I can change the words on the page.
CLARK That's not an answer!
DOCTOR FATE
The prophecies foretold in the Book of the New Gods must be fulfilled if you are to complete your destiny. Things were happening too quickly. I had to be sure you were ready.
CLARK ::angry:: If I was ready? That's why you threw me in that labyrinth of yours? You were testing me?!
Doctor Fate shakes his head and smiles.
DOCTOR FATE You presume to know a great deal more than you do, young Clark. You were not there, in the labyrinth, for your sake, but for theirs.
Fate raises his arm and some smoke billows up in the air next to them. In the smoke can be seen the images of Jay Garrick, Karen Starr, and Billy Batson/Captain Marvel, the heroes Clark met with while in the labyrinth.
DOCTOR FATE
It was never a test for you, but for them, fallen heroes of a different age. It was you, Clark, who had the greater affect on them. They are each members of a great team of heroes, devoted to upholding truth and justice across the globe.
The smoke focuses in on Jay Garrick...
DOCTOR FATE Jay Garrick, the fastest man alive, a man who'd grown tired of running the endless race between good and evil. What is the point, he would ask himself? No matter how hard we try, we can never extinguish the evil in our universe completely. It will always be there. Through your determination to get to your father, you reminded him that despite the infinite nature of the struggle, no matter how relentless evil might be, good will always be there to run one step ahead in the race. True, darkness never gives up, but neither will the light. Sometimes winning isn't about finishing first, just about staying one step ahead and never stopping.
The smoke focuses on Karen Starr...
DOCTOR FATE Then, there is Karen Starr, a woman whose powers once even rivaled even your own, until a great tragedy left her severely weakened. She took it upon herself to fill the void left open by the loss of... a great hero. The task was simply more than she could handle, but when you reached out to her, looked passed her failings, you showed her that, while the world may need superheroes, we are all heroes each and every time we help any person in need.
The smoke focuses on Billy Batson and Captain Marvel...
DOCTOR FATE
Billy Batson, the alter ego of one of the greatest heroes to ever live, Captain Marvel. Billy, a child rocked by the tragic loss of his friend and his inability to stop it, was so struck by his own guilt and pain that he tried to kill himself, believing the world better off with the hero. The grief blinded him from being able to see the truth behind what all heroes fight for... the simple fact that all life is precious and special. You helped him see that again.
Clark considers what Fate is telling him.
CLARK
They all seemed to know who I was. They all knew me by name.
DOCTOR FATE In time, all the world will know your name, young Clark. Where you are at the beginning, they are at the end.
Clark struggles with the thought and stands up and paces.
CLARK
You're telling me I'm supposed to be some sort of savior of the world, some sort of superhero. I haven't even graduated high school yet, how am I supposed to save the world?
Fate manages to get himself to his feet.
DOCTOR FATE
You have already committed great acts of heroism, even in your early years. The prophecies have already begun coming true, surely you can see that. You were sent here to live among slaves...
CLARK
My parents are not slaves.
DOCTOR FATE
You grew up on a farm. Farmers are slaves to the land. You are protected by godly powers; your strength, your sight, your hearing...
CLARK
I wasn't sent to Earth by a God. I was sent to Earth by a scientist who created a doomsday weapon that destroyed an entire planet.
DOCTOR FATE
You were sent by the greatest Kryptonian scientist who ever lived, a God among men, who created life in you and death in his weapon. Don't you see, Clark, you are the El. You are the one the book prophesizes about. But you are right, you are still young, and it was all happening so quickly. That is why I kidnapped your father because, as long as you are on the path, you are not at the beginning and you are not at the end. I had to keep you here, to at least try...
CLARK
Why?
DOCTOR FATE
Because the Evil One has come.
Clark looks at Fate... He doesn't seem surprised by the knowledge at all.
DOCTOR FATE
Good... I see understanding in your eyes.
Clark turns around.
CLARK I've met him.
Referring to Kalib.
DOCTOR FATE
No, you have not...
Clark, now confused, turns back around to face Fate.
DOCTOR FATE ... but, you will. The time of your ascension was coming too quickly. The prophecies had not yet been fulfilled and the Evil One was preparing to strike. I had to prevent that.
CLARK
What prophecy?
DOCTOR FATE
"Blackening the heavens, blinding the Gods' sight, the Evil One would wait for the hero El to save the one who fell from the sky..."
CLARK Blackening the heavens... The night of the blackout?
DOCTOR FATE
::nods:: You failed to save your friend.
CLARK But I did save her.
DOCTOR FATE
Not her... him.
Clark looks up.
CLARK Pete?
Doctor Fate nods.
CLARK ::under breath:: That's why she did it.
DOCTOR FATE
You are not ready. The prophecy remains unfulfilled.
Clark takes a breath. He seems defeated. He doesn't want to give in. He doesn't want to believe in the prophecy.
CLARK On the night of the blackout, I was with another friend. I was on a date. We flew in a helicopter to Metropolis. On our way back, the pilot put us on a collision course for an airline hangar... and jumped out. I didn't know what else to do. I don't know how to fly a helicopter. I grabbed Chloe... and I jumped out with her in my arms. I saved her.
Fate looks at him, astonished.
INT. SALEM TOWER
Lana gazes at the image of Clark in the smoke, mesmerized.
LANA
It was Chloe...
She hangs her head and leaves.
INT. FATE'S ARENA
Clark looks up at Doctor Fate.
CLARK I suppose you could say, she fell from the sky... and I saved her.
DOCTOR FATE
Well, then... a great deal has changed.
CLARK No... nothing has changed because I don't believe in these prophecies of yours. What I believe is that you still have my father and I am through playing games with you. I want him, and I want him now.
Doctor Fate stares at Clark coolly, thinking to himself silently. He nods.
DOCTOR FATE
I suppose that is only fair... but I have given my word to another that I would do everything in my power to keep you from doing just that, and I would never dishonor myself by going back on my word. And so, to honor you both, I give you the choice.
Fate raises his hands to the side and two separate golden ankhs explode out of the darkness. They are two portal exits.
DOCTOR FATE
You do not have to believe in prophecy to understand the concept of destiny. But I also believe that we must be willing to accept our destiny, and so I give you the choice to choose your path. These portal exits each lead back to the real world, but where one leads to your father, the other leads to a man who is in much greater need of your help... a man by the name of Lex Luthor.
CLARK Lex?
DOCTOR FATE
I tell you now, on my word and the word of the great mystical power of Nabu the Wise, that your father is safe and shall remain under my shield. No harm shall come of him. I will serve as his protector... but your friend does not have that same luxury. At this moment, his very life is in mortal danger. You can choose the path to your father, to free him from his captivity...
Fate motions with his left hand, indicating the left portal will lead Clark to Jonathan.
DOCTOR FATE ...but if you do, your friend will surely die.
Fate motions with his right hand, indicating the right portal will lead to Lex.
CLARK Fate, you lunatic, if you hurt Lex...
DOCTOR FATE
I am not the cause of your friend's peril. I am afraid that in my older years, my power in the outside world has become more than depressed. In here is the only place I have any real power.
CLARK Why are you doing this to me?
DOCTOR FATE Because it is what Fate demands. Now, you must choose... free your father or save your friend's life. The choice... the path is yours.
CLARK
Henry was right about you. You are a madman.
Clark deliberates and makes his decision. He approaches the portal to the right. Before stepping through, he takes a look back at Doctor Fate.
CLARK We'll meet again.
DOCTOR FATE
Of that, young Clark, I have little doubt.
Clark steps through the portal on the right, and the golden ankh swallows him and disappears.