EXT. LUTHORCORP PRIVATE AIRLINES – DAY
Maggie Sawyer, accompanied by several uniformed officers, pushes her way through a crowd of reporters towards a police barrier that's been setup around the LuthorCorp Private Airlines. Construction crews and emergency vehicles litter the mound of rubble where once stood the airline hangars.
A familiar reporter manages to keep up with her, shoving a tape recorder in her face. His young intern, equally recognizable, follows in his tracks.
PERRY WHITE
Lieutenant Sawyer, Perry White of the Daily Planet, any news yet on the cause of this disaster?
MAGGIE SAWYER
No comment.
PERRY WHITE
What about the rumors circulating that it was a terrorist bombing in response to the recent declassification of the airline as a LuthorCorp sponsored military facility?
MAGGIE SAWYER
We've uncovered no evidence of any terrorist involvement.
PERRY WHITE
Then you deny reports that a rogue terrorist group known as the "Tir' Al Sun" has claimed responsibility for the explosion?
MAGGIE SAWYER
I don't know who your sources are, Mr. White, but if I were you I'd start looking for some new ones before yours head out to Hollywood where they can start making a real living on those absurd fairy-tales they've been selling you.
She pushes her way passed the last line of reporters and crosses the police barricade, leaving Perry and his young intern behind.
PERRY WHITE
That's not a denial!
Maggie sets her sights on a rather aggravated looking detective, weaving around emergency vehicles and clean-up crews on her march.
MAGGIE SAWYER Conway...
One of the escorting officers steps up next to her, matching her strides.
CONWAY
Yes, Lieutenant?
MAGGIE SAWYER
Who the hell are the "Tir' Al Sun"?
CONWAY
I've never heard of them.
MAGGIE SAWYER
You better check into it, just the same.
CONWAY Yes, Lieutenant.
Meanwhile, back behind the police line, Perry White laughs to himself. His intern takes notice.
LOIS Who are the "Tir' Al Sun"?
He looks at her with disdain.
PERRY WHITE
How the hell should I know? I made 'em up.
Lois seems confused. Perry just shakes his head.
PERRY WHITE
You've got a lot to learn, little girl. Just stick to me and I'll teach you the way this business is done.
Maggie Sawyer meets up with the gruff detective supervising the investigation. He's busy yelling at one of the construction workers with a crane.
DAN TURPIN Dammit, you can't just go in and tear things apart like that! That pile of crap is still evidence!
MAGGIE SAWYER
What's the problem, Dan?
DAN TURPIN
Ah, these nincompoops are so busy trying to clear this place out, they're driving their rigs right over the site. They're tearing the place up.
MAGGIE SAWYER
I think the explosion did a fine enough job of that.
DAN TURPIN
I'm losing all my evidence. If these idiots keep tearing everything up, I'm not going to know what was caused by the explosion and what happened after. I've got a big enough mess on my hands here.
MAGGIE SAWYER
This isn't a CSI case, Dan. These guys are a professional clean-up crew. They know what they're doing.
DAN TURPIN Bah!
MAGGIE SAWYER Let them take care of their job, and you take care of yours.
DAN TURPIN
Hey, I am.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Then, what do ya got?
Turpin pulls out a notepad from his trench coat pocket and flips it open.
DAN TURPIN
I got my guys interviewing everybody with a face, that's what I got, but I also got some pretty mixed up stories here, Lieutenant. It's not makin' any sense.
MAGGIE SAWYER
What are you talking about?
DAN TURPIN I talked to a couple of security guards. They were on patrol last night, down below. They had some sort of cargo storage facility down there or somethin'. At least, that's what they tell me. Am I buying that? Well, that's another story.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Why would they lie?
DAN TURPIN Hey, nearest I can tell they had more than eighty people down there, doing whatever the heck it was they were doing. Now, what do they need eighty people for at a freakin' storage facility?
MAGGIE SAWYER Do you have any proof that they're lying?
DAN TURPIN
Sure, I do. It's just under a gillion tons a rock. I'm telling you, though, somethin' ain't right about this place, Lieutenant. Lionel Luthor and the military were doing some kind of freaky-deaky stuff down there, and they don't want us plebes to know about it. You want my opinion, that's what went up. Someone screwed up and the whole place came down around their ears.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Well, what did the security guards say?
DAN TURPIN Eh. you gotta hear this one to believe it. I talked to them both, separately, to make sure I was gettin' a straight story. I didn't want them BS'n me tag team like, cause that's what I figured on them doing. Well, I didn't catch them none, but this is one doozy of a story.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Can the commentary, Turpin, just spill it.
DAN TURPIN
Apparently, some kind of super commando, dressed all up in black and paint and the whole deal, came down from the through the roof and took the place down with his bare hands.
MAGGIE SAWYER
You want to run that one by me again.
DAN TURPIN I ain't crappin' ya, honest. This guy comes in and attacks 'em, right. So, they pull their irons, only he catches the bullets. Then, he just drops 'em in front of them, like it was nothing, and tells 'em to jet.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Right. Did they notice if he was carrying any explosive devices?
DAN TURPIN
According to them, the only thing he was packin' was some steel cojones. This guy went all berserker on the place and starts taking out the support beams with his bare hands.
Sawyer rolls her eyes.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Did you get a tox screen on these two?
DAN TURPIN
Sure did. It came up negative. Although, one of them did check positive for abnormally high doses of Viagra. Apparently, his cojones are more of the cream puff variety.
MAGGIE SAWYER
You're disgusting, Dan.
DAN TURPIN
Hey, I calls them as I sees them. Personally, I'd never take the stuff. I'm too much man for my girl as it is.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Yeah, you're too much, all right.
DAN TURPIN
I got some uniforms taking statements from the rest of the lot. Most of them don't speak any English, though. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find decent interpreters these days? I mean, holy geez. I had to call in the University. They're sending some coeds down here or something.
MAGGIE SAWYER
You're not serious.
DAN TURPIN What? I got one little Asian guy, Hase... Hasematy...
MAGGIE SAWYER
Hasematura?
DAN TURPIN That's him. He's all I got, and I got him chattin' it up with a bunch of longhorn night crawlers. You see my problem?
Something over Dan's shoulder catches Maggie's eye.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Ah, son of a...
Dan turns around to give a look of his own.
DAN TURPIN
... bitch. The Feds.
Three jet black FBI cars skid to a screeching halt not twenty feet from where Sawyer and Turpin are standing. Two federal agents quickly step out of each car, six all together. The lead federal agent, Agent Marrienne, delegates assignments to the other five before approaching Sawyer and Turpin.
MARRIENNE Agent Marrienne, Federal Bureau of Investigations.
Turpin extends his hand to the agent.
DAN TURPIN
Dan Turpin, I was wondering when you a-holes were gonna get here.
Marrienne ignores Turpin all together. She does shake Sawyer's hand, however.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Lieutenant Sawyer, Metropolis Police Department.
MARRIENNE
I know who you are, Lieutenant. Now, here's what I need from you. I want every single LuthorCorp employee detained for questioning. I want this airport shut down. No one leaves the premises without being thoroughly checked out and questioned by me or one of the other agents. I want these clean-up crews...
MAGGIE SAWYER
Agent Marrienne, I don't have the manpower to do that and even if I did, I don't have the authority to quarantine all these people.
MARRIENNE
I just gave you the authority. I'm under orders from the Secretary of Defense himself. Now, I want these clean-up crews out of here. We have our own team coming in. They'll be running the operation from here on out. This investigation is under Federal jurisdiction now.
DAN TURPIN Hey, suits me fine. You just saved me a hell of a lot of paperwork. I'm gonna go get myself a coffee.
MAGGIE SAWYER
You're not going anywhere, Turpin.
DAN TURPIN
What? I was gonna get you one too.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Detective Turpin has been in charge of the investigation up until this point. I assume you'll want to debrief him.
MARRIENNE
You assume correctly. If we're going to clean up this mess, we'll have to start by cleaning up his.
DAN TURPIN Hey!
MAGGIE SAWYER
I'll see about locking down the terminal.
MARRIENNE
You do that.
Sawyer leaves Marrienne with Turpin, much to her own personal relief, and starts walking back toward the police barricade. As she walks around the third FBI car, though, she is surprised to see someone still sitting inside.
LEX
Good afternoon, Lieutenant.
Lex smiles at her from inside the car. Hesitantly, curiously, she tips her hat to him before continuing on her way.
Maggie Sawyer, accompanied by several uniformed officers, pushes her way through a crowd of reporters towards a police barrier that's been setup around the LuthorCorp Private Airlines. Construction crews and emergency vehicles litter the mound of rubble where once stood the airline hangars.
A familiar reporter manages to keep up with her, shoving a tape recorder in her face. His young intern, equally recognizable, follows in his tracks.
PERRY WHITE
Lieutenant Sawyer, Perry White of the Daily Planet, any news yet on the cause of this disaster?
MAGGIE SAWYER
No comment.
PERRY WHITE
What about the rumors circulating that it was a terrorist bombing in response to the recent declassification of the airline as a LuthorCorp sponsored military facility?
MAGGIE SAWYER
We've uncovered no evidence of any terrorist involvement.
PERRY WHITE
Then you deny reports that a rogue terrorist group known as the "Tir' Al Sun" has claimed responsibility for the explosion?
MAGGIE SAWYER
I don't know who your sources are, Mr. White, but if I were you I'd start looking for some new ones before yours head out to Hollywood where they can start making a real living on those absurd fairy-tales they've been selling you.
She pushes her way passed the last line of reporters and crosses the police barricade, leaving Perry and his young intern behind.
PERRY WHITE
That's not a denial!
Maggie sets her sights on a rather aggravated looking detective, weaving around emergency vehicles and clean-up crews on her march.
MAGGIE SAWYER Conway...
One of the escorting officers steps up next to her, matching her strides.
CONWAY
Yes, Lieutenant?
MAGGIE SAWYER
Who the hell are the "Tir' Al Sun"?
CONWAY
I've never heard of them.
MAGGIE SAWYER
You better check into it, just the same.
CONWAY Yes, Lieutenant.
Meanwhile, back behind the police line, Perry White laughs to himself. His intern takes notice.
LOIS Who are the "Tir' Al Sun"?
He looks at her with disdain.
PERRY WHITE
How the hell should I know? I made 'em up.
Lois seems confused. Perry just shakes his head.
PERRY WHITE
You've got a lot to learn, little girl. Just stick to me and I'll teach you the way this business is done.
Maggie Sawyer meets up with the gruff detective supervising the investigation. He's busy yelling at one of the construction workers with a crane.
DAN TURPIN Dammit, you can't just go in and tear things apart like that! That pile of crap is still evidence!
MAGGIE SAWYER
What's the problem, Dan?
DAN TURPIN
Ah, these nincompoops are so busy trying to clear this place out, they're driving their rigs right over the site. They're tearing the place up.
MAGGIE SAWYER
I think the explosion did a fine enough job of that.
DAN TURPIN
I'm losing all my evidence. If these idiots keep tearing everything up, I'm not going to know what was caused by the explosion and what happened after. I've got a big enough mess on my hands here.
MAGGIE SAWYER
This isn't a CSI case, Dan. These guys are a professional clean-up crew. They know what they're doing.
DAN TURPIN Bah!
MAGGIE SAWYER Let them take care of their job, and you take care of yours.
DAN TURPIN
Hey, I am.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Then, what do ya got?
Turpin pulls out a notepad from his trench coat pocket and flips it open.
DAN TURPIN
I got my guys interviewing everybody with a face, that's what I got, but I also got some pretty mixed up stories here, Lieutenant. It's not makin' any sense.
MAGGIE SAWYER
What are you talking about?
DAN TURPIN I talked to a couple of security guards. They were on patrol last night, down below. They had some sort of cargo storage facility down there or somethin'. At least, that's what they tell me. Am I buying that? Well, that's another story.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Why would they lie?
DAN TURPIN Hey, nearest I can tell they had more than eighty people down there, doing whatever the heck it was they were doing. Now, what do they need eighty people for at a freakin' storage facility?
MAGGIE SAWYER Do you have any proof that they're lying?
DAN TURPIN
Sure, I do. It's just under a gillion tons a rock. I'm telling you, though, somethin' ain't right about this place, Lieutenant. Lionel Luthor and the military were doing some kind of freaky-deaky stuff down there, and they don't want us plebes to know about it. You want my opinion, that's what went up. Someone screwed up and the whole place came down around their ears.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Well, what did the security guards say?
DAN TURPIN Eh. you gotta hear this one to believe it. I talked to them both, separately, to make sure I was gettin' a straight story. I didn't want them BS'n me tag team like, cause that's what I figured on them doing. Well, I didn't catch them none, but this is one doozy of a story.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Can the commentary, Turpin, just spill it.
DAN TURPIN
Apparently, some kind of super commando, dressed all up in black and paint and the whole deal, came down from the through the roof and took the place down with his bare hands.
MAGGIE SAWYER
You want to run that one by me again.
DAN TURPIN I ain't crappin' ya, honest. This guy comes in and attacks 'em, right. So, they pull their irons, only he catches the bullets. Then, he just drops 'em in front of them, like it was nothing, and tells 'em to jet.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Right. Did they notice if he was carrying any explosive devices?
DAN TURPIN
According to them, the only thing he was packin' was some steel cojones. This guy went all berserker on the place and starts taking out the support beams with his bare hands.
Sawyer rolls her eyes.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Did you get a tox screen on these two?
DAN TURPIN
Sure did. It came up negative. Although, one of them did check positive for abnormally high doses of Viagra. Apparently, his cojones are more of the cream puff variety.
MAGGIE SAWYER
You're disgusting, Dan.
DAN TURPIN
Hey, I calls them as I sees them. Personally, I'd never take the stuff. I'm too much man for my girl as it is.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Yeah, you're too much, all right.
DAN TURPIN
I got some uniforms taking statements from the rest of the lot. Most of them don't speak any English, though. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find decent interpreters these days? I mean, holy geez. I had to call in the University. They're sending some coeds down here or something.
MAGGIE SAWYER
You're not serious.
DAN TURPIN What? I got one little Asian guy, Hase... Hasematy...
MAGGIE SAWYER
Hasematura?
DAN TURPIN That's him. He's all I got, and I got him chattin' it up with a bunch of longhorn night crawlers. You see my problem?
Something over Dan's shoulder catches Maggie's eye.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Ah, son of a...
Dan turns around to give a look of his own.
DAN TURPIN
... bitch. The Feds.
Three jet black FBI cars skid to a screeching halt not twenty feet from where Sawyer and Turpin are standing. Two federal agents quickly step out of each car, six all together. The lead federal agent, Agent Marrienne, delegates assignments to the other five before approaching Sawyer and Turpin.
MARRIENNE Agent Marrienne, Federal Bureau of Investigations.
Turpin extends his hand to the agent.
DAN TURPIN
Dan Turpin, I was wondering when you a-holes were gonna get here.
Marrienne ignores Turpin all together. She does shake Sawyer's hand, however.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Lieutenant Sawyer, Metropolis Police Department.
MARRIENNE
I know who you are, Lieutenant. Now, here's what I need from you. I want every single LuthorCorp employee detained for questioning. I want this airport shut down. No one leaves the premises without being thoroughly checked out and questioned by me or one of the other agents. I want these clean-up crews...
MAGGIE SAWYER
Agent Marrienne, I don't have the manpower to do that and even if I did, I don't have the authority to quarantine all these people.
MARRIENNE
I just gave you the authority. I'm under orders from the Secretary of Defense himself. Now, I want these clean-up crews out of here. We have our own team coming in. They'll be running the operation from here on out. This investigation is under Federal jurisdiction now.
DAN TURPIN Hey, suits me fine. You just saved me a hell of a lot of paperwork. I'm gonna go get myself a coffee.
MAGGIE SAWYER
You're not going anywhere, Turpin.
DAN TURPIN
What? I was gonna get you one too.
MAGGIE SAWYER
Detective Turpin has been in charge of the investigation up until this point. I assume you'll want to debrief him.
MARRIENNE
You assume correctly. If we're going to clean up this mess, we'll have to start by cleaning up his.
DAN TURPIN Hey!
MAGGIE SAWYER
I'll see about locking down the terminal.
MARRIENNE
You do that.
Sawyer leaves Marrienne with Turpin, much to her own personal relief, and starts walking back toward the police barricade. As she walks around the third FBI car, though, she is surprised to see someone still sitting inside.
LEX
Good afternoon, Lieutenant.
Lex smiles at her from inside the car. Hesitantly, curiously, she tips her hat to him before continuing on her way.