7.21 Apocalypse by TW and AM (Part VII)

as retold by Bill C

TW: And back to Martha's office. Clark is gone, and Martha's sitting at her desk and on her phone.
AoT: Let's see... "Senator, it's vital that you do not leave Washington yet. It's a matter of--yes, I know Fairbanks was almost completely destroyed this afternoon. But I have to assemble an emergency quorum in order to--Senator, I--" She pulls the phone from her ear and frowns at it. "Damn it!"
TW: And then we hear Lionel's voice from offscreen.
JG: Don't you dare, Welling. "Martha? Why are you still here?"
AoT: Martha looks up and off-camera-left. "Lionel? Why are you here at all?"
JG: Cut to Lionel, standing in her office doorway, as he walks into the room. Some thoughtful music starts up. "I had heard you left NORAD...I wanted to make sure you were all right."
MR: Okay, how the hell would he hear that?
JG: How does Lionel find out everything else that he's ever found out?
MR [bitter]: Fucking Offscreenville.
ED: Never mind that! Lionel just flew across a country under the threat of alien attack for a woman!
JG: Well, it is Martha.
AoT: Martha stands up. Her voice is tight. "I had to come back. I found out that...Lionel, it's Michael Chandra. He's...you won't believe what he's done."
JG: Lionel considers his next words carefully. And finally says, in an even voice, "I assume you mean how he has enlisted the aid of the meteor-infected, whether they want to or not."
AoT: Martha looks shocked at that bit of news. "Lionel...you...you knew about this? About the conscriptions?"
KK: Looks like Lois and Ted's relationship isn't the only one on the skids in this episode.
MR: Love stinks.
KK: Unless it's the one true, perfect, everlasting love...of Clark and Lex.
ED: Even more than Clark and Lana?
KK: Hey, even the pretty pretty princess couldn't compete with the power of HoYay.
MR: There's a confession I never expected to hear in my lifetime.
JG: But music videos have been made on far weaker concepts.
ED [absently]: I wonder if I could get the video guys to make a montage set to Trapped in the Closet...
MR [to ED]: You know there's only a little homosexuality in there, right?
ED: Yeah, but the title.
MR: Fair enough.
JG: Quiet, kids. You're ruining our acting buzz.
MR: Fine, fine.
JG: Tracking reverse shot of Martha as Lionel walks around the desk and takes her by the shoulders. "I knew you wouldn't, you couldn't, approve of something like this. But trust me, Martha--"
AoT: Closeup on Martha. She looks hurt, and just a bit angry. "You were in on this...Lionel, please don't tell me you were in on this..."
JG: "Martha. We are now faced with the task of destroying this powerful new enemy--before we destroyed ourselves. I know you don't--"
AoT: "Stop it, Lionel. Just...stop." A flash of deep sadness on Martha's face. "You knew this was important...important to me. How could you?"
JG: Quick closeup on Lionel as he turns away from Martha and walks a step or two, then cut to a frontal shot of him with Martha in the background. "I did it for the sake of our world, Martha. Our world. Now's not the time for sticking up for some useless feel-good ideology. Now...we have to start thinking about our survival." Lionel half-turns back to Martha. "Mankind's survival."
MR: Okay. Damn. Lionel is throwing his relationship with Martha--
TW: They don't have a relationship!
AM: Or they didn't until you wrote that scene with Martha and Lionel flirting by telephone in Confession, Tom. Remember that?
KK: Oh, damn. Tom wrote himself into a corner?
TW [thinks]: It...okay, so it kind of went by the wayside while I was focusing on blowing Smallville up, all right? They weren't supposed to be a--
KK: Yeah, keep telling yourself that.
MR: So Lionel's throwing [chuckles] whatever the hell he and Martha have under the bus in the name of mankind? That's fucked up.
JG: But it's fairly bastardly. I approve.
AoT: Meanwhile, Martha folds her arms. "Survival...but at what cost, Lionel? At what cost?"
JG: Music swells as Lionel turns fully back towards Martha. And he says, as honestly as he can, "Whatever cost it takes, Martha."
ED: Oh, shit.
AoT: Back to Martha, looking deeply hurt...maybe even heartbroken. [pauses] "Heartbroken"? [to TW] What are you up to?
TW: Just...keeping a promise I made a while back.
MR: To do what, make Lionel the ultimate bastard?
TW: Moving on. We cut from Martha's office back to the Chloe-cave. The big wall display is now displaying "SIMULATION ENDED" in huge letters, and the world map is covered in red brackets. Cut from that to Chloe, who is leaning over her desk with her hands spread out flat on its surface and her head down in defeat.
MR: CPU wins! Insert coin to continue!
TW: A pair of Chlones walk up to her on either side and place a hand on either shoulder. "The simulations have run to completion. There is only one solution."
MR: Reprogram the simulation so you can win!
AM [after a few seconds]: Tom, there's no way we can do that, is there?
TW: Only if you can reschedule your Caprica shoot.
AM: God damn it. [sighs] Chloe says, in a tiny voice, "No."
TW: More Chlones walk up, forming a rough circle around the desk. They all speak at once. "To save the world...Kal-El must be sacrificed."
AM: Chloe's voice gains a bit of a rough edge. "No."
KK: Yes!
TW: "It is the only way to save the Earth."
AM: Chloe raises her head. She looks crazed and pissed at the same time. "No!"
KK [shouts]: Yes!
TW: "It is the only--"
AM: Closeup on Chloe as she straightens to her full height and screams, "NOOO!" At the same time she stretches her arms out to either side and yellowish lightning flows from them; the camera pulls back rapidly as everything shifts into slo-mo; all the Chlones are sent flying in various directions around the room, her desk cracks in multiple places and then shatters, the yellow lightning arcs all over the place, and every piece of electrical equipment in the room emits massive amounts of sparks and/or shorts out.
KK: Cool. Chloe smash!
ED: Now, see, this would have never happened if she was still dating Jimmy!
KK: In retrospect, she could have flipped out and chopped his head off. I wouldn't have minded that.
AM: Oh, screw that.
TW: Cut to a close shot of Chloe in realtime as she sinks heavily to her knees. The Chlones are all apparently unconscious, some equipment is literally dangling off the walls or burning, and Chloe herself--
JG: Has completely embraced the crazy.
AM: More or less. She's whispering. "No...I'll die before I let this monster win...no, no...I'll die first..."
ED: Chloe's cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs?
TW: With any luck the commercial break that comes after this will feature an ad for it.

Continued...