7.09 Collusion by TW and ED (Part III)

as retold by Bill C

TW: We come back to the scene just as we left it: Lex and Hope across the office from Hasaad. This is where a couple of Luthorcorp security guards show up with guns out, late as always. John, would you--
[JG glares at TW]
TW: Riiiight. Michael, would you mind reading Lex's dialogue?
MR: I got it, Tom.
TW: Thanks. Hasaad doesn't turn around, but we see his eyes flicker to one side to show he knows someone's behind him. "I assure you, Mr. Luthor, this is a most pressing matter."
MR: "Of course it is." Lex waves down the rent-a-cops. "Hope, please give me a few minutes with Mr. Hasaad. But only a few minutes."
ED: Kahloe still looks really confused. "Who is this man?"
TW: Hope nods and slowly walks out, giving Hasaad the usual "Mess with my man and die" look, and closes the office doors behind her. Hasaad then sits down in the chair in front of Lex's desk. "Thank you, Mr. Luthor. Now we--"
MR: Lex goes and cuts him off. "How do you know who I am?"
TW: "You run one of the largest industrial concerns in this geographic region. You are, how would you say, a public figure."
MR: "And what do you know about this...Kal-El, you said?"
TW: "Well...I suppose you could say that I know what you know. That Kal-El, and those of his ilk, are a threat of no small consequence to the safety and stability of your world."
MR: Lex sits down behind his desk. "You mentioned 'our' worlds a minute ago."
TW: "That's correct. I am, in your terms, an alien."
AoT [singing quietly]: Whoa-oh, I'm an alien...I'm a legal alien...
JG [bitterly]: Someone had to go there.
AoT: I'm sorry. I'm feeling especially punny today.
AM: As opposed to when?
ED: Kahloe doesn't look happy. "If he's an alien, how do we know he's not allied with Kal-El? Be careful, Lex."
MR: Conveniently, Lex says: "There are a lot of threats in this world, Mr. Hasaad. This world. And most of them are...let's say domestic in nature. Which makes your presence here interesting, since the word on the street is that some shadowy new figure that nobody has seen before is making waves there."
TW: Hasaad is cool as a cucumber. "And you're suggesting that has something to do with me?"
MR: "I'm suggesting that someone doesn't just walk into someone else's office and drop the name of something that could easily have been misheard while under the influence of God knows what unless they're trying to pull the wool over someone's eyes."
TW: "I understand. In your place, I would certainly be just as distrustful."
MR: "So, Mr. Hasaad, I think you should take whatever you think you've heard about this Kal--"
TW: Hasaad takes something out of his pocket and places it on Lex's desk. "That should help state my case."
MR: Lex leans forward and picks it up. It's burnt and beat-up, but we can see that it's the symbol of the House of El.
TW: And this is where the first few notes of the main Superman theme play in a minor key...
MR: Seriously? Cool!
ED: Part two in our plan to shut Bryan up.
JG: I don't know...
AM: I think he'd be able to sense that sort of thing like some sort of psychic.
TW: Maybe. Then again, he might be too distracted to care.
AM: Distracted by what?
ED: Another replica Superman costume he got off eBay arrived this morning.
AoT [sarcastically]: Okay, didn't see that coming.
ED: Anyway, Kahloe looks shocked when she sees the symbol.
AM: Easy enough to do. I can sleepwalk through shocked at this point.
TW: And at that exact moment we get a very brief flashback to Zod. Specifically, the "kneel before Zod" scene...only most of the scene is blurred out and there's wind going like crazy, so we can see Lex's face and barely hear "Kneel before Zod." But Clark is just this muffled blur. And then this hand shoots out of the blur, and it's holding the symbol, and then there's this light and what sounds like a garbled scream...
ED: And back to the office, where Lex is intently studying the symbol. Kahloe is staring at Lex, and she looks genuinely worried.
MR: Lex. "Where did you find this?"
TW: Hasaad's face hardens for this next part. "Kal-El's ilk...those Kryptonians. Those grand and powerful Kryptonians! For a time, you could go anywhere where I come from and find these reminders of their delusions of totalitarian authority. They stretched out their hands and pulled the strings and tried to control us for years." Hasaad starts to sound bitter. "Years! All in the name of their crusade for harmony, for peace on an interstellar scale. On their terms. How blind they were--blinded by distance, blinded by power..."
ED: Kahloe snorts. "Blinded by the light from Lana's--"
[MR bursts out laughing]
AM [chuckles]: It's the little things...
JG: If that line actually makes it to film, I'm buying everybody dinner.
MR: Lex leans back in his chair, narrowing his eyes at Hasaad. "So you're saying you're from..."
TW: "A faraway world, much like yours. That was and still is at risk like yours."
MR: "I see. And you're here because...?"
TW: "Krypton's shadow looms long and black over the cosmos. Our world was weakened by its presence in that shadow, by its Crusade...to the point where it may never recover...but yours, your Earth, is not yet beyond help. Even though it has been touched by that shadow as well."
ED: Kahloe by now has gone from looking shocked to looking nervous. She whispers in Lex's ear. "I'm still not sure he can be trusted. He could be playing you."
JG: Of course he is. That's the whole point, right?
MR: Lex looks cool as a cucumber. He holds up the symbol. "I have seen this before, actually. We have had...prior dealings...with Kal-El, and his kind."
TW: Hasaad half-smiles. "I imagine those dealings went...badly."
MR: "You could say that."
TW: "Such has been the pattern of the Kryptonian Crusade, Mr. Luthor. Peace on their terms. Their way...or no way at all."
MR: "And just what is your way, Mr. Hasaad?"
TW: "My way is cooperation, Mr. Luthor. Our world is still healing, still tending the wounds from the Crusade. And that is why I sought you out: to ask for your help, yours and your concern's."
[JG starts making snoring noises]
ED: Uh huh...
MR: Lex looks pretty skeptical, but he still can't quite take his eyes off the symbol. "You want my help. Or, rather, LutherCorp's help."
TW: "Exactly. We simply need certain raw materials that our planet no longer possesses. In return, we can provide compensation for your assistance."

MR: "A trade agreement? Raw materials for what?"
AM: Didn't V start out like this?
JG: Callis would eat a mouse or a damned hamster.  I'm sure of it. Write that shit in, Tom. Make him eat a hamster!
AoT: How long are you going to hold that grudge against everybody connected to that show, John?
JG: Until my great-grandchildren have completely misinterpreted the story as told through the generations and think that "Father Knows Best" was some kind of bad incestuous joke.
MR: That's wrong, John.
TW: "Technology to help your world in many ways. Including helping it prepare for the Crusade, should it turn its full attention here." Hasaad pulls out a small vial of a faintly glowing green liquid and puts it on the desk. "That can be considered a statement of intent."
MR: Why is every damn thing green? Why not blue or orange or something?
TW: Okay, how about...harlequin? We can make it harlequin.
MR: That's a color? Sweet, let's make this stuff harlequin. "And that is...?"
TW: "A tonic of sorts from our world. It has unique properties, and has often been used as the basis for various healing elements. Please, feel free to examine it as thoroughly as you like--it's harmless as is, but you might be able to use it to create something useful for your world."
MR: Lex stands up and pushes a button on the surface of his desk. "Thank you, Mr. Hasaad. I will certainly consider your...statement of intent. But I am a busy man, and I do have other affairs to attend to."
TW: Hasaad rises as well. "Of course, Mr. Luthor. I will leave you to them." And then he turns to leave, as the door opens and Hope walks in.
MR: "Wait. How can I reach you?"
TW: Hasaad turns around again, pulls out a business card from his pocket, and places it on the desk next to the vial. "Something mundane called a...'cell phone.'" And then he leaves, and Hope closes the doors behind him.
MR: Okay, and Lex orders Hope to take the vial immediately to a lab to have it checked out before she can get a word in edgewise.
TW: Somebody wake up John. This is his scene.
JG: I'm awake. I'm resting my eyes.
TW: Okay. We cut from Lex and Hope to Lionel walking through a hallway leading to Lex's office, and as he gets closer he sees Hasaad walking out of the office and away from him. Hasaad walks around a corner and disappears.
JG: Okay, dull enough...
TW: Lionel keeps walking, stops at the door to Lex's office and is about to open it. And then we hear the...what was the noise again?
ED: "Shoomp."
TW: We hear the "shoomp" noise and another gust of wind ruffles Lionel's hair and suit, but this time it's accompanied by a flash of light from around the corner Hasaad went past.
JG: I can get behind this.
TW: Lionel looks around in surprise, then hurries around the corner--and ends up in a cul-de-sac. The cul-de-sac doesn't have any sort of exit.
JG: Can I throw in a "Where the hell did he go?" here?
TW [makes another notation on his script]: Yeah, sure. Then Lionel goes back to Lex's office, seeing Hope leaving this time, and like everybody else just goes in without knocking.
ED: Lex looks up from his desk, and says...Michael, would you?
MR: Sure. "Dad, didn't I just see you at breakfast yesterday? Twice in as many days is just overkill."
JG [opens his eyes and skims his copy of the script]: Okay, okay... "Lex, who was that that just left here a moment ago?"
MR: Lex does his usual "dealing with Dad" face. "That was Hope, Dad."
JG: "Not her. The man who left right before she did."
MR: "Oh, just someone from Accounting. He was bringing some contractual issues to my attention."
JG: "That's funny...I hadn't heard about any contractual accounting issues."
MR: "They just came up, apparently. I'm on top of it."
JG: Oooh, I get to do Lionel's usual "unbelievable bullshit" face. "I see. Well, if you fall off the top of whatever it is, let me know." And he walks out.
TW: Lex watches him go, then turns to his main window and stares out over Metropolis. And he holds up the symbol Hasaad left him, looking at it with interest.
AoT: Where's Martha in this?
ED: We're getting there. Trust me.
AoT: That scares me.

to be continued...