Act II, Scene V
We cut to above the clouds. Superman is barrelling through the atmosphere, the landscape below him blurring as his speed increases. He looks as if he means business.
Ahead of him, a dot resolves itself into a speck, which grows into a blob. Superman's eyes focus and the blob leaps forward in our vision thanks to Superman's telescopic vision to become the figures of the impostor Superman and his care package, Bruce Wayne.
Superman seems to take a breath and step on the gas even more. We cut for a second to a ground-level view somewhere over South America as high above, one streak bullets across our field of vision from one horizon to another, followed instants later by a second. We stay at ground level and it's only a few moments later that the incredible noise created by their passing reaches the surface.
South America gives way to ocean which gives way to ice and tundra, and just as Superman is within a few hundred metres of his quarry, the impostor veers off-course and down to what seems at first to be merely another outcropping of ice and snow and rock, but as we get closer to the ground, quickly resolves itself into a crystalline structure, symmetrical, otherworldly, beautiful. The new Fortress.
Superman touches down softly on the tundra, in front of the entrance to the Fortress. Ahead of him, Bruce and the false Superman are just entering the interior.
SUPERMAN: Bruce…
He zips across the ground, stopping only as he reaches the entrance, employing a note of caution as he steps inside.
The interior of the fortress is vast, dome-like, with three winding crystalline staircases spaced at regular intervals around the circumference leading up to a second floor. From the opposite end of the second floor to the entrance, a platform extends to the middle of the dome, terminating in a huge and very futuristic computer bank made from Kryptonian materials. A huge holographic screen, cylindrical in shape, is being projected from the centre of the dome and goes up to the ceiling. It displays news feeds. Hundreds of voices speak at once from the holograms.
At the far end of the Fortress, on the ground level, past the hologram, sits the twin chamber. It pulses slowly with red light.
Bruce is nowhere to be seen. Nor is the Eradicator. Superman hovers about ten feet from the ground, drifting further and further into the Fortress.
SUPERMAN: Let him go. Whatever you want from him, it won't-
The holograms change, from thousands of separate feeds to one face. It's a woman, around forty, pretty. Superman recognises her instantly.
SUPERMAN: Mother…
LARA: My son.
Superman's face hardens. He shakes his head.
SUPERMAN: No. I've seen what you can do, especially within this place. I've been through your manipulations before, remember? You made me believe what you wanted me to believe. That you were here to protect me.
The hologram simply switches itself off. And when it does, the Eradicator shimmers into being, fifteen feet or so in front of Superman, hovering at a similar height. He's in his default form now, no longer morphed into a Superman replica.
ERADICATOR: I performed that function. I saved you from the crude cyborg construct, the 'Metallo'. Repaired the damage he had done to you.
SUPERMAN: Where is Bruce? What have you done with him?
The Eradicator points downward. A concealed floor panel slides back and a platform beneath it rises upward, to reveal the unconscious form of Bruce Wayne.
ERADICATOR: It was necessary to bring you here.
SUPERMAN: You could have just asked me to come.
ERADICATOR: You do not trust me.
SUPERMAN: Of course I don't! You lied to me about your own history. You weren't sent by my father to protect me. You stowed away on the rocket that brought me here. You told me you were created to judge Zod for his crimes, but you tried to have him installed as ruler of Krypton!
ERADICATOR: Necessary for the planet's survival. The impending cataclysm of Rao's supernova required a strong leader to-
SUPERMAN: And what caused it? What caused Rao to go supernova? Or who?
ERADICATOR: (visibly confused) No-one caused the supernova.
And that's when the laugh is heard. We go close on Superman's face as he hears it, and we see that behind him, the hologram has flickered to life again. When he turns to look at it, it's no longer his mother's face displayed there.
ZOD: The son of Jor-El. Here, at last. Welcome.
We cut away for a second to where Bruce lies, apparently unconscious. His eyes open.
SUPERMAN: Zod…
Furious beyond measure, he turns and flies straight into the Eradicator, pushing the computer program back until they slam against the nearest part of the Fortress' circular outside wall, sending shards of crystal flying. One of Superman's hands is on the Eradicator's chest, the other poised around his throat. We have rarely seen Superman so incandescent with rage as he is right now. He looks as if he is genuinely contemplating ripping the Eradicator's head from his shoulders.
SUPERMAN: You brought him here?! To this world?!
ERADICATOR: You are…unfit…weak…unworthy to rule…
SUPERMAN: I don't want to rule!
Frustrated, angry, he grabs the Eradicator by the shoulders and hurls him downward, creating a large impact crater in the floor of the Fortress. Superman doesn't press the attack, however. Instead, he flies closer to the hologram, his eyes searching his surroundings.
SUPERMAN: Show yourself, General. Or are you afraid the family of El will beat you, again?
ZOD: You will kneel before me.
SUPERMAN: You failed to conquer Krypton. And you'll fail here too. I'll see to it, Zod. This is my home now. You won't destroy it.
ZOD: Do I detect an accusation?
SUPERMAN: I know it was you. I can feel it.
We see the Eradicator climbing woozily from the impact crater created by Superman's slum-dunk. He looks up at the hologram of Zod, his eyes wide.
ZOD: Watch and learn, Kal-El.
The hologram expands outwards until it seems to touch every aspect of the Fortress, and suddenly the interior of the structure seems to shimmer and vanish, until Superman, The Eradicator, even Bruce are standing on the surface of an alien world, all crystals and huge valleys and cities hewn from the crystals themselves, a massive red star burning brightly overhead. Krypton itself. The Zod hologram has gone, but his voice remains.
ZOD: (V/O)My troops swept across our world. What resistance we met was pitiful at first. Our people had too long been lulled into a pacifistic slumber. But eventually, a resistance formed….
The scene changes to that of a fierce battle, fought with extremely advanced weaponry. Bruce stands and flinches as what looks like the distant descendant of a Challenger Tank passes straight through him, firing fizzing orbs of plasma towards its counterparts on the other side of the battlefield. Explosions and death fill the air. And our point of view shifts, so we can see one of the vehicles, and the man commanding it - approaching middle-age, broad shouldered and white haired.
SUPERMAN: Father.
The scene dissolves, to a courtroom setting. Zod stands in the docks, penned there by a force field, with a small female and a huge male to either side of him. Jor-El stalks in front of him, speaking passionately and forcefully (though we don't hear his words), glancing up at the row of holographic faces of the Council Elders above.
ZOD: (V/O) Banishment to the Phantom Zone! For the crime of being a visionary!
As the dimensional portal arrives to carry the three prisoners, screaming, through the rip in reality, the courtroom setting dissolves and the vista of Krypton spins crazily, until we seem to have travelled halfway around the planet. We see the endless crystalline tundra, and a hitherto unseen doorway sliding back to reveal a rocket launching device, which raises to point straight at Rao burning above.
ZOD: (V/O) My insurance policy against defeat. If I was never to step foot on my beloved homeworld again…I would take it from them. Remove it from the galaxy forever.
The rocket launches, and as it goes, the Eradicator takes off from the surface to intercept it.
ERADICATOR: No!!!!
It's a futile gesture, of course; it's only a hologram after all, and it passes straight through him, up into the atmosphere and away from the planet, straight toward the star. The Eradicator watches it go, helpless, bereft.
ERADICATOR: How? No missiles were ever detected…
ZOD: (V/O) Advanced cloaking technology.
The scene changes again. Rao goes from being red and healthy to being visibly bigger, brighter, and covered in sunspots, giving it a sickly pallor. Rumbles and quakes shake the holographic terrain. Huge splits scythe through the crystalline tundra. Krypton is falling apart under the strain of its star's death throes.
Bruce is watching all of this unfold with interest.
Rao seems to implode in on itself. It's a horrifyingly spectacular sight, drawing all of their attention. The star consumes its own borders, shrinking at a spectacular rate, its mass destabilising catastrophically until it has collapsed to a ball of light no bigger than Krypton itself. And for the briefest of moments, that ball of light seems almost stable.
Almost.
It explodes, a shockwave of incalculable size screaming across space toward them. We see Superman throw his hand up, as if to ward off this unstoppable wave of annihilation. As it impacts, Krypton simply falls apart around them, shredded to pieces in a single heartbeat.
The hologram ends, and the Fortress reappears. Superman slowly takes his hands from his face, breathing heavily, the trauma of witnessing his homeworld's moment of fiery destruction - and with it, somewhere across the planet, the deaths of his parents - written on his face.
The Eradicator is on his knees, hunched over, his palms flat on the floor. He makes no sound at all.
Zod's face reappears.
ZOD: But enough of the past. Today is about the future.
SUPERMAN: You don't have a future, Zod. Not on my world.
ZOD: Ah, yes. Your beloved Earth. And all your beloved humans. Some more beloved than others…
The hologram changes, still showing Zod's face, but also now showing Lex Luthor and Lois Lane, travelling through Gotham City in the back of the car we saw Lex beckon Lois into. Lex has a gun aimed at Lois's midriff. He smiles.
LUTHOR: Superman! You didn't tell me your home planet produced anyone fun! Shame on you!
SUPERMAN: Lois…
ZOD: How fast do you think you can go, son of Jor-El? Fast enough to get to your woman before she dies?
LUTHOR: Oh, and I see Bruce is there too! (tips his gun in a mock salute) Thanks for your help, Bruce. Couldn't have done it without you.
Superman looks down at Bruce, betrayal all over his face, seeking Bruce to deny or rebut Luthor's claim. Bruce returns his gaze.
BRUCE: Utilise every advantage. I did try to warn you.
ZOD: I fail to see that the human has been of any assistance.
LUTHOR: He's full of surprises.
Superman swoops down to ground level and in one smooth motion has lifted Bruce up with one hand until his feet dangle off the ground. If we thought he'd reached the pinnacle of what he was capable of anger-wise before when throttling the Eradicator, it's nothing compared to this.
SUPERMAN: Why?
BRUCE: (speaking through the hand around his throat, his voice sounds exactly like his Batman persona) To…make…a…difference.
Superman's eyes widen as it all falls into place. He lets Wayne go. Bruce crashes to the deck. Superman takes a step backward, stunned at the levels of betrayal all around him.
SUPERMAN: You….you're him?
LUTHOR: This is so much fun. Is there a TiVo running on this hologram? It's a keeper.
Superman advances on Bruce. Bruce stares up at him, no fear in his eyes, all traces of the Bruce Wayne billionaire playboy persona gone now.
BRUCE: Like he said. Full of surprises.
SUPERMAN: (still advancing on Bruce, spitting the words)I thought you had honour, Bruce. I thought you stood for something. You didn't stand for those things in the same way I do, but I thought we shared the same ideas about justice.
BRUCE: It's time for you to have your cosy perceptions of how the world works shaken up, Clark.
ZOD: Enough!
This causes both men to look away, because the voice doesn't come from a hologram anymore. Another hidden underground elevator is raising the man himself to the surface. Superman turns to face him and Zod raises an admonishing finger, pointing up to Lex and Lois on the hologram above, now taking up the entire viewing area.
ZOD: Unless you wish to prove to me that you're not the weakling I take you to be, any moves towards me would be…unwise.
Superman restrains himself, only just. He glances up at Lois. There is apology in her eyes. He looks back with love, before all traces of it vanish as he returns his attention to Zod. The General smiles, and steps to the side, indicating the Red Sun chamber behind him, still pulsing with a crimson heartbeat. He points to the left chamber.
ZOD: Inside. Now.
LOIS: Clark, no!
Superman glances at Bruce, one final look of hurt, of betrayal. Bruce returns the gaze, untroubled by it. Superman walks to the chamber door. It opens automatically. With a final look at Lois, still with a gun jammed into her stomach-
SUPERMAN: I love you.
LUTHOR: (rolls his eyes) Maybe this isn't such a keeper after all.
Superman steps inside the chamber. The door slams shut. The chamber pulses with energy faster now, and Superman seems to begin to feel the negative effects. His eyes close. He staggers.
Finally he loses his balance and slumps to his knees inside, weak, dizzy. The rays are draining his solar energy. We see it, a massive energy ball, begin to form in the interlinking pipe linking the two chambers.
Superman is on the floor, breathing, but not moving.
Zod inhales. This is his moment. He walks to the chamber on the right. Stands there.
Waits.
Turns.
ZOD: What are you waiting for, you imbecile? Open this door!
And that's when the Eradicator finally stops leaning forward, placing his hands on the floor. We see now what he was doing; what he was hinting at earlier - drawing energy directly from geothermal power, absorbing it from deep within the bowels of the planet. As he stands, his arms and legs crackle with power. His eyes glow with it. And he's looking directly at Zod with hatred in every fibre of his being.
ERADICATOR: I was created to serve Krypton. To preserve it. Every single aspect of its culture, of its people.
He raises an arm to point at Zod. Zod backs away from the chamber, fear written all over his face.
ZOD: (desperately)I am your Master! You chose me to be the spearhead of a new Kryptonian Empire! Together we can rebuild this planet! Reshape it into a new Krypton!
ERADICATOR: I-
He blasts energy from his fingertip. It impacts the General square in the chest, knocking him backwards a few paces; spreading through every inch of his body.
ERADICATOR: -liked-
Another blast. Again Zod is knocked backwards.
ERADICATOR: -the-
And another. Zod's body impacts the rightmost chamber, the destination chamber. Smoke has begun to curl from his skin as the energy coursing through him fries him where he stands.
ERADICATOR: -OLD-
And another. Zod is flattened against the chamber now. Flames are spreading out over his entire frame now, consuming him.
ERADICATOR: -KRYPTON!!!!
A final blast arcs out between the two men. This one doesn't earth itself through Zod's body. Instead, it simply blows Zod apart; destroying him utterly, leaving nothing behind, not even a trace or a scorch upon the Fortress' surface.
The Eradicator collapses, fading in and out of existence. Lights across the Fortress dim. The hologram above of Lex and Lois flickers crazily. Lex leans forward, Lois seemingly forgotten.
LUTHOR: Do it, Bruce. Do it now.
The hologram dies. Lights across the Fortress go out, until the only illumination in the structure comes from the Red Sun chamber. Superman still lies crumpled in the left chamber, and the ball of pulsing stored solar energy still sits glowing in the interlocking pipe.
And Bruce Wayne walks to the rightmost chamber. He heaves at it until the door swings open. For a moment, a long moment, he hesitates.
And then he gets inside.
When the door closes behind him the ball of solar energy moves, and bathes him from head to toe. Superman's body shivers and Superman lets loose a mournful cry, as if having something ripped from him. Bruce lets loose a cry of a different sort, of exultation, of elation, as the golden energies travel through into the chamber in which he stands…
…and then the lights go out altogether.