SUPERMAN belts METALLO in the face and he drops LOIS to the street. METALLO is first shocked and then angry.
SUPERMAN.
(Very serious) You need to get to safety, Miss Lane. This looks like a job for Superman.
LOIS runs to the TROOPERS who are standing by.
METALLO.
So... you finally decided to come out and play.
METALLO charges and grabs SUPERMAN. SUPERMAN spins and using his own momentum tosses METALLO across the street into a wall. METALLO pushes himself out leaving an indentation.
SUPERMAN.
Do I look like I"m playing?
METALLO.
Fine. It"s about time this got interesting.
METALLO rips a lightpole from the pavement and swings at SUPERMAN"s whose irises turn from blue to red and a thin beam of light sears the end of the pole off. It falls to the ground with a thud.
METALLO jabs the shortened pole at SUPERMAN and hits him in the stomach doubling him over. SUPERMAN, angry, straightens and grabs METALLO and begins punching him about the face. He lifts him over his head and throws him through a building leaving a gaping hole.
In the background, the SCU UNIT cheers. Only SUPERMAN hears the punch through brick in the distance.
He turns and with his telescopic vision he zooms in on the building corner and again until he sees where an arm is extended through the brick wall. The fist starts to move horizontally very quickly tearing brick from the building. The building begins to creak as the front, without lower support, starts to shift.
THE BUILDING SIDE collapses on superman exposing the interior of the tenement.
Clouds of dust are thrown into the air. The SCU UNIT takes cover coughing.
SUPERMAN is buried beneath the rubble.
The dust clears and METALLO steps from inside over the rubble. He leers at the SCU UNIT.
METALLO.
Who"s next?
A HUM THAT SOUNDS LIKE Ma.s.sIVE DRILLING NOISE ERUPTS FROM BENEATH THE PAVEMENT.
SUPERMAN bursts UPWARD IN A WHIRLWIND OF MOTION sending bricks and rubble airborne. He picks METALLO up with one hand on his shoulder, the other on his leg and lifts him over his head and slams him to the ground.
METALLO gets up and charges SUPERMAN tackling him to the ground, through the pavement and into the sewer.
INT. SEWER.
Waist high in water, METALLO stands. SUPERMAN, hovering above the water, blows with his freezing breath turning the sewer water to ice with the moisture on the walls.
SUPERMAN begins to look visibly weak. METALLO laughs. METALLO Is that the best you got? It"s starting to get to you. You can"t beat me.
You"re a dead man and you don"t even know it.
METALLO punches and shatters the ice freeing himself. SUPERMAN flies upward out of the sewer. METALLO climbs out after him.
CUT TO:.
INT. STAR LABS.
PROFESSOR EMIL HAMILTON is processing data of a computer. In the background are several monitors tuned to broadcasts of the battle.
The computer stops and HAMILTON has his answer. He prints the results, grabs his coat and cell phone and rushes out the door.
CUT TO:.
EXT. SUICIDE SLUM.
MAGGIE SAWYER is on her radio. SAWYER (On radio) Are you sure? Yes, sir.
(To TURPIN) Dan, Federal Emergency Management wants us to get Superman out of there and evacuate the area.
TURPIN.
What?!
SAWYER.
You heard me. HAMILTON at STAR says if we don"t get him out of there in the next five minutes he"ll be dead.
TURPIN.
But why are we leaving?
SAWYER.
We have orders to get him and rendezvous with HAMILTON at Swan and 143rd.
TURPIN.
Dandy. So who"s going to go in there and get him?
In the background, SUPERMAN is getting the h.e.l.l beat out of him.
SUPERMAN moves from METALLO"s path and fires his HEAT VISION at him. METALLO blocks the beam with his hand causing it to burn bright red.
His hand starts to smoke and his "skin" burns off.
The flames die exposing METALLO"s forearm and hand As a highly advanced metal skeleton hand with gears and joints. VARIOUS PARTS OF HIM HAVE BEEN EXPOSED REVEALING A MECHANICAL ROBOT INTERIOR.
METALLO.
Let"s get this over with and call it a day.
METALLO opens his tattered shirt exposing his metallic chest. A series of layers opens and SUPERMAN is basked in a bright green light. Inside METALLO"s chest cavity is a jagged softball-sized chunk of KRYPTONITE, SUPERMAN"s only weakness.
The KRYPTONITE is surrounded by small solar cells absorbing it"s energy and powering METALLO.
METALLO.
A lot of losers have tried to kill you but in the end I"m the only guy with the stones to do it.
(Beat) How does it feel to be The Man Of Yesterday?
A HORN BLARES.
METALLO turns to get hit by an SCU RIOT VEHICLE and pushed into building pinning him. A SECOND RIOT VEHICLE drives over SUPERMAN.
INT. RIOT VEHICLE.
Inside, SAWYER and TURPIN open a hatch in the floor while TROOPERS stand by with pointed rifles. They pull SUPERMAN up through the hatch and TURPIN slams it shut. SAWYER Let"s move.
The VEHICLE speeds off. In the background, METALLO can be seen pushing the other RIOT VEHICLE on its side.
CUT TO:.
INT. MAYOR"S OFFICE.
MAYOR BERKOWITZ is with his EMERGENCY COUNCIL when the telephone rings. DEPUTY MAYOR WALKER answers it. WALKER Sir.
BERKOWITZ.
I"m busy.
WALKER.
It"s the President, sir.
BERKOWITZ has brief, unintelligible conversation.
BERKOWITZ.
(Grief-stricken) The President has declared Metropolis a disaster area. We"ve been denied National Guard a.s.sistance.
WALKER.
What are we going to do?
BERKOWITZ.
He"s sending someone else.
NEWSCAST.
An ANCHOR is reporting from a circling NEWS COPTER. ANCHOR It seems in a diversionary tactic, the SCU has distracted Metallo and rescued Superman who was not faring well in the battle after a Metallo emitted a beam from- (Listing to a radio headset) --We have instructions we must evacuate the area. We will have reports for you as soon as information is available.
CUT TO:.
EXT. SIDEWALK.
Dozens of people are standing in the streets watching the newscast from a ma.s.sive TIME SQUARE-LIKE JUMBOVISION. PERSON #1 The big one is just as strong as Superman.
PERSON #2.
Man, I wonder what they"re gonna do next?
It starts like a distant hum and quickly grows into a patterned thumping.
Three APACHE HELICOPTERS thunder overhead speeding to the battle. PEOPLE in the street point overhead as the copters fly past.
CUT TO:.
INT. HELICOPTER c.o.c.kPIT.
HELICOPTERS maneuver between buildings. APACHE PILOT #1 (Screaming) I been wantin" to do this since I was ten!
APACHE PILOT #2.
Five by five, we are in the pipe.
APACHE PILOT #3.
This is Romeo Sierra Foxtrot. We have a targeted course of three seven nine one mark eleven twelve. Target is live. Exercise is hostile. ETA six minutes.
We have been authorized to use unnecessary physical force.
CUT TO:.
INT. LEXCORP COMMUNICATIONS CENTER.
LUTHOR is observing the TECHS scrambling to get the system online. LUTHOR I don"t see anything.
A series of monitors comes online.
TECH.
LexSats fifty-one, forty-seven, five and ninety-one are online including the Metropolis unit.