INT. KENT FARM – CLARK'S LOFT
Clark sits at an old table in the loft, a pad and pencil in front of him and a bunch of crumpled up pages scattered on the ground about his chair. There's something written on the top of the pad, but it's crossed out. Still legible is the line, "I am not your enemy". Further down, the last three words can also be read, "truth, justice, and"...
Clark leans back in the chair, his eyes wandering to several pictures along the back of the table. There's one of a young Clark and Pete covered in mud being sprayed by Jonathan Kent with a hose. Next to it is a Kent family picture of Clark and his parents, probably taken for a Christmas card judging by their matching red and green sweaters. A third photo shows Clark, Chloe, Pete and Lana in the Torch office sporting various contorted faces, their tongues sticking out and eyes crossed.
Clark's attention, though, is drawn to one picture specifically, a framed photo of he and Chloe taken at the Spring Formal a couple of years prior. He takes the picture in his hand and admires it briefly. Opening the back plastic a bit, he pulls a second photo from behind it. It's a picture of Lana, a yearbook photo taken for school.
PETE
Yo, Clark...
Pete thunders up the steps of the barn two at a time.
PETE
Your mom finally got that sewing machine runnin'. Man, that thing is ancient! Eve probably used that thing to sew her fig leaves together.
Clark looks up, barely smiling at Pete's joke. Pete notices the picture in his hand and walks over.
PETE
Oh...
Pete leans up against the table and takes the picture to look at it.
PETE
Worried about her, huh? Me too...
CLARK
I should have seen it coming, Pete. I saw what the Scream did to Chloe. I should have known.
PETE
What were you gonna do? What could you do?
CLARK
I could have done something. I shouldn't have let her out of my sight. I just wish I knew where she was.
PETE
We've looked everywhere. At some point, a person's gotta want to be helped.
CLARK
Darkseid sent the Scream after me. She doesn't deserve this.
PETE
No, she doesn't.
Pete nods and hands the picture back to Clark.
PETE
We'll find her, Clark. We'll get her help.
CLARK
Yeah...
He doesn't seem so sure.
Pete looks at the pad of paper and turns it to try and read some of it.
PETE
What's this?
CLARK Nah, it's nothing. It's trash is what it is. Chloe would be ashamed. Some reporter I turned out to be, I can't even write a simple speech.
He laughs at himself.
CLARK Heh, simple, yeah right. This is going to be the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life.
PETE
How to tell the world...
CLARK
All my life, I've had to keep it a secret. I've had to keep it to myself. Now, all of a sudden the entire world's going to know. How are they going to react? You're my best friend and you flipped out on me when you found out. And then, even if they do accept me, what then? I'm not going to be able to lead a normal life, that's for sure.
PETE
Not necessarily. It doesn't have to be that way.
Clark shakes his head.
CLARK Pete, we've already been over this. I'm not wearing a mask. Bad guys wear masks.
PETE
Well, no, listen to me. I've been thinking about this.
Pete walks across the room and sits down on a chair opposite Clark. Clark pivots in the chair to listen.
PETE
My aunt once told me a story about how my uncle once went on a business trip for an entire week. Now, the day he was supposed to get back just happened to be the day of their tenth wedding anniversary.
CLARK Which aunt is this again?
PETE
I'm talking about Aunt Roberta.
CLARK Oh...
Clark crumples up his nose.
CLARK
Is she the one who uses that hairspray that smells like as...
PETE
No, that's Aunt Shayla. Aunt Roberta is the one who sweats a lot.
CLARK
That's right. Wait, then which one is the one with the mole?
PETE
That's my Aunt Sadie, but she's not really my aunt. She's just a good friend of my mother's from high school.
CLARK
Gotcha.
PETE
Can I continue with the story now, please?
CLARK
Go ahead.
PETE
Okay, so the day he was supposed to get back was the day of their tenth wedding anniversary. I mean, they had been married for ten years and had two kids. Now, for their anniversary, my aunt wanted to surprise my uncle so she got a total makeover. She went to the salon and had her hair done, she got her nails done, got a facial, new makeup, even new glasses. She used to have these one's that would take up like her whole head.
CLARK
Oh, I remember those. When she used to come over and sleep at your house, we used to steal them in the morning and burn ants with them.
PETE
Right!
CLARK
Yeah, those things were huge.
PETE
Yeah, well, anyway she was like a totally new person. She even bought a new dress and everything. Well, when my uncle came home, he almost attacked her, and I don't mean in the "chicka chicka boom boom chicka chicka boom boom" kind of way. No, like the "get out of my house, you stranger, before I call the cops on you" kind of way. He didn't recognize her. They had been married for ten years and he almost belted the poor old girl because he thought she was someone else.
CLARK
Wow.
PETE
Yeah, give you any ideas?
Clark thinks for a second, then, shakes his head.
CLARK
Pete, I don't think a pair of glasses is really gonna cut it.
PETE
I'm not talking about a pair of glasses, I'm talking about the whole ensemble; the glasses, maybe you wear your hair differently, get some new digs.
CLARK
I don't want to hide who I am, Pete. It's just like the mask.
PETE
You wouldn't be hiding. All you have to do is make the difference so incredible that no one would even think to look.
CLARK I don't know...
PETE
What's the worst that could happen? Somebody figures it out and you end up right back here where you started.
CLARK
It would give me the chance to live a normal life, or at least as close to normal as I'm going to get... but won't people still be able to recognize my voice?
PETE
You'll just have to come up with a new voice.
Pete contorts his face oddly as he mimics a classic mobster voice.
PETE
Somethin' like this, see. You dirty rat...
Pete stands up from the chair and starts pacing. He contorts his face again, turning his eyes to slits, talking in a loud, scratchy, whisper.
PETE Or like this, that way you're not even really using your voice at all.
Mid-step, Pete turns and uses his fingers like a gun, doing his best impression of a rather well known British secret agent.
PETE
Or if you're going for something super cool, you could try something like this. Kent... Clark Kent.
Pete laughs and slips into Austin Powers.
PETE
Yeah baby, yeah!
CLARK What about something like this?
Pete freezes, hearing his own voice come out of Clark's mouth.
PETE
Say that again...
Clark plays stupid.
CLARK Say what?
Clark mimics Pete's voice perfectly, smiling mischievously.
PETE
::shakes head:: Oh... Oh, hell no. Hell no.
CLARK What? I kind of like this one. No one would ever suspect a thing... my man.
PETE
Clark, I ain't playin' wit' you. What did I say about you not telling me about powers?
Clark laughs, going back to his own voice.
CLARK I told you I have a good ear.
PETE
Yeah, and if you ever do that again I'm gonna smack both your ears right off your head.
CLARK
I'll work on the voice.
PETE
Yeah, you do that.
Clark and Pete turn their attention to the window and the sound of a car coming down the driveway. Pete walks over to the window to look out.
PETE
Chloe...
CLARK
Yeah, I know.
Using his super hearing, Clark can hear her crying from the driver's seat.
CLARK She's crying.
Clark stands and he and Pete head for the stairs.
EXT. KENT FARM – DAY
Chloe gets out of her car and heads for the house, but stops when she sees Clark and Pete coming out of the barn.
CLARK
Chloe... What's wrong?
She's not sobbing, but she does wipe some tears from her eyes.
CHLOE
What? You mean you don't know?
PETE ::shakes head:: No.
CLARK
Know what?
CHLOE
Honestly, don't you two ever watch the news? Lex Luthor sold the plant to Wayne Enterprises.
CLARK
He did what?
Chloe nods.
CHLOE
And Bruce is shutting it down. He's offered all the plant workers jobs and temporary housing in Gotham City, and my Dad took it. We're moving. We're leaving Smallville.
Clark sits at an old table in the loft, a pad and pencil in front of him and a bunch of crumpled up pages scattered on the ground about his chair. There's something written on the top of the pad, but it's crossed out. Still legible is the line, "I am not your enemy". Further down, the last three words can also be read, "truth, justice, and"...
Clark leans back in the chair, his eyes wandering to several pictures along the back of the table. There's one of a young Clark and Pete covered in mud being sprayed by Jonathan Kent with a hose. Next to it is a Kent family picture of Clark and his parents, probably taken for a Christmas card judging by their matching red and green sweaters. A third photo shows Clark, Chloe, Pete and Lana in the Torch office sporting various contorted faces, their tongues sticking out and eyes crossed.
Clark's attention, though, is drawn to one picture specifically, a framed photo of he and Chloe taken at the Spring Formal a couple of years prior. He takes the picture in his hand and admires it briefly. Opening the back plastic a bit, he pulls a second photo from behind it. It's a picture of Lana, a yearbook photo taken for school.
PETE
Yo, Clark...
Pete thunders up the steps of the barn two at a time.
PETE
Your mom finally got that sewing machine runnin'. Man, that thing is ancient! Eve probably used that thing to sew her fig leaves together.
Clark looks up, barely smiling at Pete's joke. Pete notices the picture in his hand and walks over.
PETE
Oh...
Pete leans up against the table and takes the picture to look at it.
PETE
Worried about her, huh? Me too...
CLARK
I should have seen it coming, Pete. I saw what the Scream did to Chloe. I should have known.
PETE
What were you gonna do? What could you do?
CLARK
I could have done something. I shouldn't have let her out of my sight. I just wish I knew where she was.
PETE
We've looked everywhere. At some point, a person's gotta want to be helped.
CLARK
Darkseid sent the Scream after me. She doesn't deserve this.
PETE
No, she doesn't.
Pete nods and hands the picture back to Clark.
PETE
We'll find her, Clark. We'll get her help.
CLARK
Yeah...
He doesn't seem so sure.
Pete looks at the pad of paper and turns it to try and read some of it.
PETE
What's this?
CLARK Nah, it's nothing. It's trash is what it is. Chloe would be ashamed. Some reporter I turned out to be, I can't even write a simple speech.
He laughs at himself.
CLARK Heh, simple, yeah right. This is going to be the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life.
PETE
How to tell the world...
CLARK
All my life, I've had to keep it a secret. I've had to keep it to myself. Now, all of a sudden the entire world's going to know. How are they going to react? You're my best friend and you flipped out on me when you found out. And then, even if they do accept me, what then? I'm not going to be able to lead a normal life, that's for sure.
PETE
Not necessarily. It doesn't have to be that way.
Clark shakes his head.
CLARK Pete, we've already been over this. I'm not wearing a mask. Bad guys wear masks.
PETE
Well, no, listen to me. I've been thinking about this.
Pete walks across the room and sits down on a chair opposite Clark. Clark pivots in the chair to listen.
PETE
My aunt once told me a story about how my uncle once went on a business trip for an entire week. Now, the day he was supposed to get back just happened to be the day of their tenth wedding anniversary.
CLARK Which aunt is this again?
PETE
I'm talking about Aunt Roberta.
CLARK Oh...
Clark crumples up his nose.
CLARK
Is she the one who uses that hairspray that smells like as...
PETE
No, that's Aunt Shayla. Aunt Roberta is the one who sweats a lot.
CLARK
That's right. Wait, then which one is the one with the mole?
PETE
That's my Aunt Sadie, but she's not really my aunt. She's just a good friend of my mother's from high school.
CLARK
Gotcha.
PETE
Can I continue with the story now, please?
CLARK
Go ahead.
PETE
Okay, so the day he was supposed to get back was the day of their tenth wedding anniversary. I mean, they had been married for ten years and had two kids. Now, for their anniversary, my aunt wanted to surprise my uncle so she got a total makeover. She went to the salon and had her hair done, she got her nails done, got a facial, new makeup, even new glasses. She used to have these one's that would take up like her whole head.
CLARK
Oh, I remember those. When she used to come over and sleep at your house, we used to steal them in the morning and burn ants with them.
PETE
Right!
CLARK
Yeah, those things were huge.
PETE
Yeah, well, anyway she was like a totally new person. She even bought a new dress and everything. Well, when my uncle came home, he almost attacked her, and I don't mean in the "chicka chicka boom boom chicka chicka boom boom" kind of way. No, like the "get out of my house, you stranger, before I call the cops on you" kind of way. He didn't recognize her. They had been married for ten years and he almost belted the poor old girl because he thought she was someone else.
CLARK
Wow.
PETE
Yeah, give you any ideas?
Clark thinks for a second, then, shakes his head.
CLARK
Pete, I don't think a pair of glasses is really gonna cut it.
PETE
I'm not talking about a pair of glasses, I'm talking about the whole ensemble; the glasses, maybe you wear your hair differently, get some new digs.
CLARK
I don't want to hide who I am, Pete. It's just like the mask.
PETE
You wouldn't be hiding. All you have to do is make the difference so incredible that no one would even think to look.
CLARK I don't know...
PETE
What's the worst that could happen? Somebody figures it out and you end up right back here where you started.
CLARK
It would give me the chance to live a normal life, or at least as close to normal as I'm going to get... but won't people still be able to recognize my voice?
PETE
You'll just have to come up with a new voice.
Pete contorts his face oddly as he mimics a classic mobster voice.
PETE
Somethin' like this, see. You dirty rat...
Pete stands up from the chair and starts pacing. He contorts his face again, turning his eyes to slits, talking in a loud, scratchy, whisper.
PETE Or like this, that way you're not even really using your voice at all.
Mid-step, Pete turns and uses his fingers like a gun, doing his best impression of a rather well known British secret agent.
PETE
Or if you're going for something super cool, you could try something like this. Kent... Clark Kent.
Pete laughs and slips into Austin Powers.
PETE
Yeah baby, yeah!
CLARK What about something like this?
Pete freezes, hearing his own voice come out of Clark's mouth.
PETE
Say that again...
Clark plays stupid.
CLARK Say what?
Clark mimics Pete's voice perfectly, smiling mischievously.
PETE
::shakes head:: Oh... Oh, hell no. Hell no.
CLARK What? I kind of like this one. No one would ever suspect a thing... my man.
PETE
Clark, I ain't playin' wit' you. What did I say about you not telling me about powers?
Clark laughs, going back to his own voice.
CLARK I told you I have a good ear.
PETE
Yeah, and if you ever do that again I'm gonna smack both your ears right off your head.
CLARK
I'll work on the voice.
PETE
Yeah, you do that.
Clark and Pete turn their attention to the window and the sound of a car coming down the driveway. Pete walks over to the window to look out.
PETE
Chloe...
CLARK
Yeah, I know.
Using his super hearing, Clark can hear her crying from the driver's seat.
CLARK She's crying.
Clark stands and he and Pete head for the stairs.
EXT. KENT FARM – DAY
Chloe gets out of her car and heads for the house, but stops when she sees Clark and Pete coming out of the barn.
CLARK
Chloe... What's wrong?
She's not sobbing, but she does wipe some tears from her eyes.
CHLOE
What? You mean you don't know?
PETE ::shakes head:: No.
CLARK
Know what?
CHLOE
Honestly, don't you two ever watch the news? Lex Luthor sold the plant to Wayne Enterprises.
CLARK
He did what?
Chloe nods.
CHLOE
And Bruce is shutting it down. He's offered all the plant workers jobs and temporary housing in Gotham City, and my Dad took it. We're moving. We're leaving Smallville.