7.13 Exit by MR and AoT (Part IV)

As retold by Bill C

AoT: We come back from that commercial break to a quick establishing shot of LuthorCorp--the only building with any lights on in the shot.
MR: And cut from that to Lex's office. A couple of guards are stationed at the door, and as we pan over from them Lex is walking to and bending over his desk with some cuts and bruises on his head. Dammit, Annette, I still--
AoT: What did I say? Deal with it.
MR [scowls]: Lex winces slightly as he hits a button on his phone. "Doctor? Status report?"
AoT: Cut back to the room Richards was last in, as Richards is putting on a headset. We hear the tail end of Lex's dialogue through it.
MR: The headset has the VoiceStar logo on it.
KK: Who?
MR: VoiceStar.
KK [after a few seconds]: Seriously. Who?
AoT: VoiceStar is a brand name exclusive to Radio Shack.
ED: ...Radio Shack?
TW: We're now plugging Radio Shack?
MR: Trying to, anyway.
JG: Uh huh. Did anybody know who the hell VoiceStar is before now?
[Everybody else shakes their head or shrugs]
JG: Exactly.
MR: Anyway, while Richards is getting his headset action on we cut back to the hallway outside the room he's in. The little part of it we can see is completely trashed, the lights are flickering, and we see some out-of-focus forms moving around rapidly while hearing the occasional grunt and impact noise.
KK: Aww...we don't get to see the big dustup?
MR: Nope.
AoT: Richards replies quietly but urgently into his headset microphone. "Richards. Zod is being...kept busy." Cut back to Lex, as we hear Richards' voice from his phone. "We have, however, lost two units."
MR: Lex frowns. "If need be, pull two more from Bay Eight along with some guards in assault--"
AoT: "There's something more important you should know, sir." Cut back to Richards, as he watches some sort of bar chart display on the control console. "There's some sort of power blackout going on across the greater Metropolis area--I noticed it because it's affecting our subgrid as well."
MR: "What? What could be affecting our grid along with the metro power grid?"
AoT: "I have no idea...but it's definitely putting a strain on our systems. Including Vault Black, which suffered a two-second complete loss of power."
ED: Vault Black? Shouldn't that be Black Vault?
MR: No, this sounds cooler. Cut back to Lex, with the camera going tight on him, as he briefly looks up from his desk with a stunned look on his face. He then glares at the phone and goes all urgent and shit. "Is Vault Black stable now?"
AoT: Back to Richards replies, "It appears to be--" And then we hear a loud grunt, and a flying PAS suddenly hits him in the back and knocks him completely out of the shot.
KK: That's three.
MR: Back to Lex. "Doctor Richards? Richards?"
AoT: Quick cut back to the control room. Richards is knocked out on the floor, with a PAS on top of him; the PAS has what appears to be a jagged piece of crystal stuck in the base of its neck.
ED: Damn.
MR: And back to Lex, as he turns and points at one of the guards by the door. "Get additional guards down there!"
AoT: And from that we cut back to the lobby, now mostly populated by LuthorCorp security and a few Metropolis P.D. officers, as Zod's bitch super-speeds on in and stops behind a support column.
TW: Do you have to call Clark Zod's bitch?
AoT: What, and stop now? He stops to take in the devastation left in Zod's wake, including a couple of bodies now covered by plastic sheets, and then super-speeds out of the lobby.
TW: ...well, at least it was brief.
AoT: We cut from this across town, to Lionel's limo pulling up behind another car in front of the now-mostly-darkened Mutant Recruitment Center. Lionel and Otis get out and go inside, past a big gas generator that's running, and into a side office lit by a couple of lamps. Martha is inside the office, along with Lucius Best and a couple of extras.
JG: The supercouple, reunited at last.
[TW grumbles under his breath]
AoT: Lucius is saying something about the outage as Lionel comes in. Martha notices him and does that little tut-tut head thing she does. "Lionel? You shouldn't be out of the hospital..."
JG: "I'm all right, Martha. And besides--I imagine they've got bigger problems by now. Have you heard anything about what caused the power outage?"
AoT: "Nothing. Supposedly some isolated areas still have partial power, though."
JG: Lionel looks at Lucius. "Would you excuse us for a minute, please?"
MR: Lucius shrugs and leads his extras out of the office.
JG: And once they're gone, Lionel walks over to Martha. "Martha...I don't know how it happened, but--Zod is free again."
AoT: "What? How......where is Clark?"
JG: "I don't know. I was wondering if you had heard from him."
AoT: Martha is already pulling out her cellphone and dialing a number. "Nothing since he, J'onn, and Lucius's assistant left the farm...no answer. "
JG: "Zod apparently went straight to LuthorCorp. I think Lex can take care of him, thanks to the PAS...but if he can't--well, that's why I'm here. Otis?"
MR: Otis calls out for Lucius, who comes back into the room. "What is it?"
JG: Lionel simply says, "Mr. Best, I have another proposition..."
MR: Cut back to Lex's office, with Lex still bent over his desk. This time, though, he's looking at the computer monitor on it--which is showing the same bar chart as on the console Richards was looking at. We hear Clark's voice from off-camera, demanding to talk to Lex. Lex calls out over his shoulder, "It's okay," and straightens up and turns as Clark walks in.
TW: "Lex, are you all right?"
MR: Lex shrugs. "You should see the other guy. What is it, Clark?"
TW: Clark folds his arms--
KK: Hypocrisy mode, go!
TW: --and says, "Lex, what happened downstairs? Did your new friend--"
MR: "Hasaad? No, no, that wasn't his handiwork. That was one of Kal-El's friends...a...Zod, I believe his name is."
TW: Clark stiffens. "What happened to Zod?"
MR: "The situation is under control, Clark. I don't need you running around underfoot getting in the way again--just go home and milk some cows, feed your dog or something."
ED [shocked]: You mentioned Shelby?
MR: Someone had to, because it damn sure won't be Clark.
TW: Hey!
MR: Lex is about to twist the knife some more when his computer beeps. He turns around and looks at the monitor again, which now shows an alert message about something in Bay Eight being released. We hear the super-speed sound in the background, as Lex comments about possibly not having to worry about Zod and turns back to where Clark was--and isn't now. Go to commercial right after that.

Continued...