7.09 Collusion by TW and ED (Part VIII)

as retold by Bill C

ED: The images on the screen finally slow down and a title card pops up showing some crap about it being the security recording from Lex's office on such-and-such date.
AM: "See? Look, there it is."
ED: Lois looks at the screen, then at Chloe. "Okay, cuz'. Let's play this thing." She hits a key, and the screen then jumps to an alternate angle of the scene in Lex's office. There's no sound, though.
AM: Like it needs sound.
MR: Chloe's batshit craziness would be evident after a minute, anyway.
ED: Which it is. Lois and Chloe, now, stare in [looks at script] "abject horror"--thanks a lot, Tom--as Chloe then snaps and starts floating, and then Clark goes flying into the ceiling...
JG: That never really gets old, does it?
TW: Which brings us back to Chloe killing Lana.
AM [scowls]: Oh, joy.
TW: We still don't see it onscreen--we just see the piece of glass sort of rocket across the room from this alternate angle and then Lana's body falls down. We might be able to get away with a splash of blood, though, since the security video is in black and white.
AM: This is where I do the "Oh, shit, what did I do?" face.
ED: We're milking that for all it's worth, too. There's no sound during any of this, from the point where Lois hits that key to the [consults script] fourth shot of Chloe looking stunned or shocked about what she did.
TW: The video ends with Lex going to check Lana's body. More accurately, it just loops and starts over. We then cut to Lois, and hit the overwrought music.
ED: Lois turns and just stares at Chloe. "Oh, my God."
TW: Chloe continues to stare at the screen for a few seconds. And then, finally, she says...
AM: "I...I killed Lana."
TW: Sex walks up behind Chloe and places his hands on her shoulders. "I'm so sorry, Chloe. If I had known even that fragment had survived..."
ED: Lois stands up. "How did you do that? You were floating, and...and--oh, my God, Chloe..."
AM: "I don't know, Lois. I...I just don't know."
TW: "You lost control, Chloe. You lashed out. Thankfully, the only person hurt was Lana."
MR: Damn, I wish Kristen was here to hear that one.
AoT: What? A little black comedy never hurts.
TW: It's not supposed to be comic. It's supposed to be typical Sex.
JG: Right. Sex never got along with Lana.
ED [after a pause]: ...so Lois turns back to the screen for a moment, then back to Chloe. "That couldn't have been you. Obviously you weren't yourself, because there's no way your power could do that."
TW: And now, Chloe lies her ass off.
AM: Unconsciously! "I...I don't remember anything about that. Why can't I remember anything?!?"
TW: "Chloe, it's all right. I took the memories away."
ED: Allison, this is where you'll need to punch the shock up to 11.
AM: Easy. All I need to do is picture the moment I was fired.
ED: I'm serious. You need to look like you just ran Old Yeller through a woodchipper.
AoT: Followed by Dakota Fanning.
JG: Annette, you're scaring me.
TW: Sex does his best to plead his case. "Those memories would only have hurt you...like they're doing now. I tried to shield you from this."
ED: Oblivious to all this, Lois thinks for a minute.
JG: Or ten.
[ED throws a wad of paper at JG]
ED: "Chloe...this is supposedly the only evidence of what really happened, right? We can erase it!"
AM: More shocked Chloe, right? "God, Lois, no..."
TW: "Chloe, it's the best--the only thing to do. Erase the recording...and let me take the memories away again. For you...and for Lois."
ED: Chloe spins around and stares in horror at Sex. Lois: "Come on...let's erase it and get out of here. God only knows how Lex, or anybody, must have been controlling you to make you kill your best friend...but there's no way I'm let--"
AM: "I'm a murderer, Lois! I killed Lana...and I could have killed--dammit, how do I just forget about that and go on with my life, Lois?"
TW: Sex reaches out for Chloe, but she slaps his hands away and walks away from the server. "Let me help you again, Chloe. There's no reason for you to have to deal with this again."
ED: "Chloe, if anybody sees this recording you'll end up in jail in five seconds flat. Or in one of Lex's 33.1 cells. I won't let that happen. We've got to get rid of it."
TW: "She's right. The recording has got to be erased."
ED: Chloe is crying by this point.
AM: Again?
TW: Sex takes Chloe by the shoulders and stares at her. "Chloe...do you really want Lois to be involved in this at all? Or anyone else?"
AM: "No..."
ED: "No? How the hell do you expect to get around this, Chloe? Snap your fingers and make it disappear?"
TW: Sex nods slowly. Approvingly. "You know what you have to do."
ED: Chloe brushes the tears from her face. Her face goes from panicky angst to a sort of cold determination.
AM: "I know what I have to do."
AoT [abruptly starts singing]: I'm gonna harden my heart! I'm gonna swallow my tears!
[Everybody stares at AoT]
AoT: Oh, dammit, come on! I know I wasn't the only one thinking that!
[JG reluctantly raises a hand, then puts it back down]
ED: Hey, wasn't that song on AM radio?
TW: Chloe turns back to Lois, then walks back over to the server rack. She extends a hand towards it, but stops a few inches shy of it. Sex: "Do it, Chloe. You have to in order to save yourself."
AM: "I......" She lowers her hand. "No. There's been too much done already. It ends now. Right now."
ED: Lois looks at Chloe like she's crazy, which she obviously is. "What?"
TW: Sex, for once, looks surprised. "Chloe, what are you doing? Erase it!"
AM: "This began with me, and I'll be damned if it ends any other way. I'm not going to hurt anyone else!"
MR [under his breath]: Megatron must be stopped...no matter the cost.
TW: And this is where Chloe runs out of the room. Lois stares after her, and makes to follow her--but then she stops before she makes it out of the room, runs back to the server rack and quickly types something on the keyboard. On the screen we see in big letters: "ERASING ALL RECORDINGS."
ED: "That's it. Lex, you're not getting away with this." And Lois runs out of the room.
MR: It'd be too much to ask for another security guard to come along, wouldn't it?
TW: We could write in a blind one if you really wanted one, Rosenbaum.
MR: Screw that. They're already blind.
JG: And deaf.
AM: And dumb.
AoT: And impotent.

Continued...