Supergirl: Vengeful Minds
FADE IN:
INT. CORRIDOR - DAY
SUPER: Planet Erkine. 419 years ago.
A large, plain, alien corridor. It's hard to tell whether it
belongs on a high-tech lab or a prison, all we know for sure
is that this isn't Earth.
Six aliens walk down the corridor. The three walking on the
left are Karias. The other three are Merkis. The same
species, but two different races. The physical differences
are subtle. The Merkis are much shorter and completely bald.
But the sociocultural differences are staggering. Everything
about the Karias denotes a hierarchy: their exuberant,
military-type clothes; their hairstyles; the fact that the
two subordinates walk exactly three paces behind their
superior, their heads never higher than his. They walk like
in a military procession. Their steps are perfectly
synchronized.
All the Merkis dress alike, with plain white robes. They
walk side by side, like friends taking a stroll down the park.
They reach the end of the corridor, where they find a large,
metallic door that would seem to belong on a bank vault.
Two Karias GUARDS stand by the door.
As the group approaches, one of the Guards turns to the
leader of the Merkis, a female called RIZAD. She looks back
at the Guard and nods to him in salute. For just a instant,
utter contempt flashes in the Guard's eyes.
The leader of the Karias, GENERAL CHIOTE, notices.
CHIOTE
Sergeant.
His voice is stern and commanding.
The Guard instantly bows his head, like a dog who knows it's
about to be punished.
CHIOTE (CONT'D)
Apologize to the Merkis.
The Guard turns to Rizad, but she speaks before he does.
RIZAD
That would be unnecessary,
General Chiote.
2.
CHIOTE
You deal with your people. I'll
deal with mine.
(to the Guard)
Apologize.
The Guard doesn't look at Rizad in the eyes when he speaks.
GUARD
I apologize for my misconduct. It
will not happen again.
RIZAD
Apology accepted, though unnecessary.
CHIOTE
Open the door.
The other Guard punches some numbers in a keypad next to the
door. We hear the sounds of several locking mechanisms
moving and whirling inside the door, then it opens with a hiss.
INT. PRISON CELL
A large cell/laboratory, the size of a basketball court. To
the left we see several computers and scientific equipment.
Seven Merkis stand by. To the right, a dozen Karias guards
stand by, all of them eyeing the prisoner.
In the middle of the room, the cell. A circle a dozen feet
in diameter. The walls are formed by a translucent bluish
force field. Inside the cell, sitting in lotus position, is
EXNAR ZAAMARTIS.
Zaamartis is clearly neither Karias nor Merkis. He's half
the height of the shortest Merkis, as he's covered with a
thick, reddish fur. He has a cat-like face and fox-like eyes.
Just outside the cell, a monitor shows a scene in an
infinite loop. The scene shows the execution of two beings
of Zaamartis' species. Both are female. One looks like a
young child. (Zaamartis' wife and daughter.)
The group we met outside enters the cell. As soon as
Zaamartis sees Chiote, he jumps off the floor with a sly
smile on his face.
The Merkis in the room turn to Rizad in expectation. She
gives them the slightest head gesture. All of them react
with smiles.
Zaamartis eyes their reaction curiously. His smile widens.
Then he turns to Chiote.
3.
ZAAMARTIS
So the little roaches got what
they wanted, eh?
CHIOTE
Silence.
Chiote stands twenty feet away from the cell. He stares at
Zaamartis, trying to look intimidating, but it's he who
looks intimidated by the being a third his size.
ZAAMARTIS
Everything will be different from
now on, won't it? They won't be
your slaves anymore. And it's all
your fault.
CHIOTE
Silence.
Chiote still tries to look confident and in control, but
it's obvious that Zaamartis is making him lose his cool.
ZAAMARTIS
All your fault and no one else's.
What are you going to tell your
grandchildren when they ask you
what happened, eh? Are you going
to tell them the truth?
CHIOTE
Silence!
ZAAMARTIS
Are you going to tell them that
it was your stupidity in picking
a fight with beings a third your
size that led to it? Are you
going to tell them that you had
to get down on your knees and beg
the roaches to help you because --
CHIOTE
(screaming)
Silence!
Chiote draws his gun and fires several times. The laser
bolts hit the force field and bounce every which way.
The Karias Guards look like they don't know what to do.
Moving away from their posts would mean execution, but not
moving might mean getting hit by a stray laser bolt.
Then Chiote turns to one of the Guards.
4.
CHIOTE (CONT'D)
Disengage the force field.
The Guard quickly turns to the control panel in front of him.
RIZAD
I believe we had an agreement,
General Chiote.
Everyone freezes in the room. The two Karias who were
standing behind Rizad (in Chiote's line of fire) instantly
bolt away from their posts, assuming Chiote will shoot her.
Chiote turns to Rizad in a slow, measured gesture. He glares
at her, and points his gun at her head. She stares back at
him with unflinching eyes.
RIZAD (CONT'D)
You are a man of honor, General
Chiote. You would not break your
word.
Chiote glares at her for a long moment. Then slowly lowers
his gun.
CHIOTE
The monster dies in one minute.
Rizad smiles.
RIZAD
That would suffice. Thank you.
Zaamartis begins to chuckle madly.
Rizad quickly moves to the other Merkis, manning the
equipment on the left. All the Merkis come to life and begin
to punch buttons on the various control panels.
MERKIS SCIENTIST
(whispering)
It's not enough time.
RIZAD
It should be enough.
MERKIS SCIENTIST
We need time to calibrate the
beam. What if he moves?
RIZAD
He won't move. He wants this as
much as we do.
The two of them turn to Zaamartis, who eyes them sternly.
He's frozen in place, smiling. He won't move.
5.
A second later, a large cylinder opens, revealing a tubular
beam projector, about four inches in diameter, mounted on
some sort of crane. The crane comes to life and aims the
projector at Zaamartis.
Then a red/green beam shoots from the projector and hits
Zaamartis' head. On a screen left to Rizad, an image begins
to form -- the image of a brain.
KARIAS GUARD
Twenty seconds.
The image on the screen is fuzzy and incomplete at first,
but as the beam scans Zaamartis, the image forms a full brain.
KARIAS GUARD (CONT'D)
Ten seconds.
Then the image is complete. The Merkis punch other buttons
and the beam projector recoils itself back to its case. All
the Merkis let out a sigh of relief.
Rizad takes two steps toward Zaamartis.
RIZAD
Any last words?
ZAAMARTIS
I have nothing to say to you.
A beat. Zaamartis smiles and points at the image of his own
brain, rotating inside the screen.
ZAAMARTIS (CONT'D)
But I'm sure he will.
KARIAS GUARD
Disengaging force field.
Chiote aims his gun at Zaamartis. A moment later the force
field disappears.
Zaamartis charges Chiote with cat-like agility. Chiote fires
twice and misses both shots. But the third one hits
Zaamartis on the leg, dropping him on the floor. The fourth
one hits the other leg. Chiote waits several seconds before
the fifth shot, which hits Zaamartis in the head, killing him.
Chiote stares at Zaamartis' lifeless body for several
seconds. Then he scans the room. He looks at the Merkis at
his left, then at the Karias at his right, then at the image
of Zaamartis' brain rotating slowly on the computer screen.
Then he points the gun at his own head.
FADE TO BLACK right before we hear the SHOT. Followed by a
wet thud.
6.
EXT. CONVENIENCE STORE - DAY
SUPER: Present time. Earth.
Two police cruisers park next to the entrance of the store.
Four uniformed COPS stand next to their patrol cars, aiming
their guns at the store.
COP #1
Drop your weapons and come out!
A moment later the THUG shows his face at the door. He drags
a WOMAN along with him, pointing his gun at her forehead.
THUG
Get the hell outta my face or
she's history!
The Thug comes out of the store, dragging the woman, who
looks scared to death.
COP #1
Let the hostage go. You don't
want to add kidnapping to your
charges, do you?
THUG
I said get the hell outta my face
or the bitch is history!
The Cops lower their guns.
COP #2
Calm down. There's no need to be
hasty. We can resolve this
peacefully. Nobody needs to get shot.
THUG
Are you stupid? Get the hell
outta my face. You think I won't
kill her, eh?! I'll kill her!
The Thug presses his gun against the Woman's face.
THUG (CONT'D)
I'll kill her. You hear! I'll
kill her!
FEMALE VOICE (O.S.)
That makes no sense, you know.
Everyone turns to the source of the voice. Standing a dozen
yards away from the scene is SUPERGIRL. Arms folded, looking
as cool and confident as it gets.
7.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
I mean, you have here four cops,
willing and able to shoot you.
And the only reason they haven't
shot you yet is that they're
afraid of hitting the hostage.
But if you kill the hostage,
you'd not only be adding murder
to your charges, you'd be losing
the one protection you have. See,
it makes no sense to kill her.
The Thug looks nervous for a second. He swallows hard. Then
he presses his gun further into the Woman's face.
THUG
Don't move a muscle or she's dead.
SUPERGIRL
You weren't listening, were you?
(to the Woman)
You might want to close your eyes
right about now.
The Woman closes her eyes.
THUG
Don't move a --
With lightning speed, Supergirl rushes to the Thug. She
frees the Woman and squeezes the Thug's hand that holds the gun.
The Thug falls to his knees, screaming in pain. Supergirl
easily takes the gun away and crushes it.
Everyone is startled by the speed of this. The Woman stands
in the same place she was when the Thug held her, still with
her eyes closed. The Cops stand still, staring at the scene
with dumbfound expressions.
SUPERGIRL
(to the Cops)
I think you guys can take it from
here.
She lifts the Thug back to his feet by his hand and pushes
him toward the Cops. The Thug is screaming all the way.
THUG
AAHH! My hand! She broke my hand!
SUPERGIRL
I didn't break you hand, you wimp.
The Cops cuff the Thug.
8.
THUG
My Hand! My hand! She broke it!
SUPERGIRL
You better shape up, you know.
You won't last ten minutes in
jail with that attitude.
Then the owner of the convenience store, a tall man named
DMITRI, comes running out of it, wielding a baseball bat. He
rushes toward the Thug with a murderous glare on his eyes.
DMITRI
I'll kill you, bastard!
Supergirl intercepts him, and holds him in place.
SUPERGIRL
Woah. Stop right there.
Dmitri tries to push Supergirl away, with eyes only for the
Thug.
DMITRI
I'll kill you! I'll teach you to
hurt my wife!
SUPERGIRL
Calm down. It's over.
Dmitri continues to scream what we can only guess are curse
words in a foreign language. He's literally fuming mad.
Supergirl tightens her grip on his shoulders, trying to snap
him out of it.
Dmitri turns to Supergirl and for an instant, his murderous
glare falls on her. She feels all his rage. He really wants
to tear the Thug to shreds.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
Snap out of it, okay. Your wife
needs you.
Dmitri's glare melts. He turns to the Woman.
WOMAN
Dmitri.
DMITRI
Are you okay?
Supergirl lets him go, but takes the bat away, just in case.
Dmitri rushes to the Woman and they hug. Supergirl stares at
them for a moment.
9.
EXT. PARK - DAY
A political rally goes on in the park. There are several
food stands scattered around. A large podium is the main
feature, where a POLITICIAN addresses the few people more
interested in him than the food.
LINDA DANVERS, A.K.A. Supergirl, stands a dozen yards away
from the podium. Looking intently at the Politician.
POLITICIAN
-- are you going to let those
wimpy liberals turn our jails
into vacation centers? I say no!
A jail should be a place of
punishment. And I mean punishment!
The Politician has the same eyes that Dmitri had. The same
murderous rage.
POLITICIAN (CONT'D)
Those are criminals. They are the
ones who rape your wives. The
ones who sell poison to your
children. The ones who kill your
brothers. I say hell is not
enough for them!
MARK TORRANCE, twenty-one, walks to Linda carrying two
hotdogs. He stands next to her. She seems not to notice him
and continues to stare at the politician.
Mark looks at Linda, then at the Politician, then back at Linda.
MARK
Don't tell me you're actually
listening to that nutcase.
Linda continues to stare at the Politician for a moment.
LINDA
Is revenge the most basic form of
justice? Is justice nothing more
than standardized revenge?
Mark blinks a her several times.
MARK
Where did that come from?
Linda shakes her head. She snaps out of it and turns to Mark.
He gives her one of the hotdogs. She half-smiles.
LINDA
Never mind me. It's that.... Just
forget it.
10.
MARK
Let's go. We gotta get you out of
the sun.
INT. ELECTRONICS STORE - DAY
Linda, Mark and his sister TINA, seventeen, short, walk down
the aisles of an electronics store. A dozen big-screen TVs
line the right wall.
Mark stops to catch the end of a commercial.
Tina pulls Linda several feet away and talks to her in
hushed tones.
TINA
So what did I tell you, eh? Isn't
Mark a great guy?
Linda glances at Mark, who's watching a commercial with lots
of blondes in bikinis.
LINDA
Your brother just deserted us for
the swedish bikini team.
Tina looks at her brother, disappointed, then turns back to
Linda.
TINA
Well, he is a guy, after all. And
it's not like you two are dating
or anything....
(hopeful, smiling)
Are you?
LINDA
Eh, no.
The commercial ends and the local news start.
ANCHORMAN (ON TV)
Tonight we start our news
coverage with yet another
Supergirl sighting in Midvale.
MARK
Tina, Linda, come here.
Supergirl's on the news.
TINA
Really? Great.
Tina rushes to Mark, leaving Linda standing alone. Linda
stares at them for a couple of seconds before heading after
them.
11.
The TV shows a chirpy ANCHORWOMAN with a stock photo of
Supergirl superimposed next to her.
ANCHORWOMAN (ON TV)
Yes, Robert, this is the third
time in the last two weeks that
Supergirl has made an appearance
in the streets of Midvale. This
time the Girl of Steel foiled an
attempted robbery on a convenience
store on Tenth Street and Main
and only Channel 7 News has the
exclusives images. Could this be
a sign that the Maid of Might has
decided to take permanent
residence in Midvale? Bella Diaz
will ask that very question later
on. But first, today's Lotto drawing.
The picture of the Anchorwoman is quickly replaced by a
dumb-looking model next to the Lotto machine. The model
pushes a button and the balls begin to fly inside the machine.
TINA
(to Mark)
Wow, you think Supergirl has
really decided to live here?
MARK
Kind of a small town for her.
LINDA
Maybe she wants something small.
The Lotto drawing ends and a commercial follows. Tina looks
at the TV, disappointed, then pulls Linda away again.
TINA
So, Mark...
LINDA
Did he ask you to ask me what I
think of him?
TINA
Er... no. He's shy. But he told
me that he really likes you.
LINDA
He told you that.
TINA
Not in that many words, but I can
see it in his eyes.
12.
Mark is still staring at the TV when a political ad comes on,
accompanied by a HIGH-PITCH chirping sound. Like a high-
pitch car alarm.
Linda notices the sound and turns around, trying to find the
source of it but can't. The sound seems to be coming from
everywhere.
The ad simply shows the words: "Vote for Bruce Thornton, the
next governor of Illinois."
VOICE (ON TV)
(matter-of-fact)
You will vote for Bruce Thornton.
He will be your next governor.
Linda notices that a third of the people on the store
(including Mark) are literally glued to the TV screens, as
if hypnotized. The rest of the customers act normally,
including Tina.
A moment later the ad is over and everyone returns to normal.
Tina notices Linda's expression.
TINA
Hey, what's wrong?
LINDA
Did you hear that?
TINA
Hear what?
LINDA
Never mind.
Tina glances at Mark for a moment, then pulls Linda out of
the store.
INT. MALL
TINA
So, what do you think of Mark? Be
honest.
LINDA
Would you quit that?
TINA
Come on. He's great, isn't he?
LINDA
Okay. He's funny. Kinda nice too.
13.
TINA
But, you know...
LINDA
So far he's just a friend.
BELLA DIAZ, mid-thirties, former beauty queen and former
weather girl, now a reporter, stands with her Cameraman a
couple of yards away from Linda and Tina. She nods to the
Cameraman and heads for them, microphone in hand.
BELLA
What do you think of Supergirl?
Do you think she's planning to
stay in Midvale?
Linda and Tina are startled by this. They hadn't noticed Bella.
Then Tina smiles at the camera. She looks really excited.
TINA
Oh, I think it's way cool. I
really hope she decides to stay here.
BELLA
So you're a fan of Supergirl?
TINA
A huge one. I just hope I get to
see her fighting some really huge
monsters or something. That'd be
sooo cool.
Linda gives her a look that says: "excuse me?"
Bella turns the microphone to Linda, taking her by surprise.
BELLA
And what do you think about
Supergirl?
LINDA
Eh... I think she's cool.
BELLA
You don't sound very excited
about it.
LINDA
It's just that I lived in
Metropolis for a while. The whole
thing kinda grows old on you.
BELLA
It grows old? What do you mean?
14.
LINDA
You know, the first week you're
there you're like --
She points at something outside of camera, while she looks
like a really excited six-year-old, literally jumping with joy.
LINDA (CONT'D)
(exited)
Look! There's goes Superman! I
love you Superman!
(blows a kiss)
I love you!
(normal)
By the second week you're like --
She looks less excited than a moment ago.
LINDA (CONT'D)
Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird.
No, it's a plane. No, it's....
(disappointed)
Ah, it's just Superman.
(normal)
By the third week, you're like --
She follows with her eyes an imaginary Superman flying over
her head, with a completely expressionless face.
LINDA (CONT'D)
(deadpan)
There he goes again.
(normal)
And after a month you're like --
She looks angrily at the imaginary Superman flying over her
head. She shakes her fist at him.
LINDA (CONT'D)
Why don't you get a job?! Stop
buzzing over our heads like a
freaking giant fly. Some people
are trying to sleep here!
Tina chuckles. Linda looks at Bella with a self-satisfied smirk.
LINDA (CONT'D)
You know. It grows old on you.
Bella stares at her for a long moment, as if saying: "what a
showoff."
BELLA
So you don't want Supergirl
around, is that it?
15.
LINDA
Oh no, I want her to stay. I'm
just tired of the people in the
media trying to make a profit out
of her presence here. I'm sure
she finds it really annoying. And
if she decides to move away from
Midvale, I'm pretty much going to
blame you for it.
Bella scowls at Linda, and looks like she wants to hit her
with the microphone. Then she turns around, motions her
Cameraman to follow her and walks away.
LINDA (CONT'D)
(smirking)
So, when are you going to show
this interview?
Bella glances back without stopping.
BELLA
Right after your acceptance
speech at the Oscars.
INT. HALL - MALL - DAY
Linda, Mark and Tina walk through the large hall in the
middle of the mall.
Tina is telling Mark what Linda said to Bella before. She
shakes her fist at an imaginary Superman flying over her head.
TINA
Why don't you get a job? Stop
buzzing over our heads like a
giant fly!
Mark chuckles, and turns to Linda.
MARK
Did you really say all that?
LINDA
What can I say? I was on a roll.
MARK
I'm impressed.
LINDA
Bah. I knew it wasn't live and
there's no way they'll show that.
TINA
And being two hundred miles away
from Metropolis didn't hurt either.
16.
MARK
Yeah, I can imagine that one.
Linda sees Superman flying and
yells "why don't you get a job?"
Superman hears her and lands next
to her and says --
Mark gets in Linda's face and glares menacingly at her.
MARK (CONT'D)
Got something to say to me,
little girl?
LINDA
No, no, no. Superman doesn't
glare at people. That would be
Batman. Superman just hovers
ominously over people and gives
them the Clint Eastwood squint.
Like this.
Linda folds her arms and stares at Mark with a steely glare.
The change is very subtle, yet she looks imposing and menacing.
LINDA (CONT'D)
(mock macho)
Wanna trade jobs with me for a day?
Mark stares back at her, trying to hold her eyes. A staring
contest. It lasts ten seconds and ends with both of them
chuckling.
MARK
You're good.
LINDA
I practice.
Mark continues to stare at Linda. There's electricity there.
TINA
That'd be so cool. You know, to
be Supergirl for a day.
MARK
You think?
TINA
Of course.
MARK
Really? Imagine that you're
Supergirl for a moment. Imagine
that you have powers beyond your
imagination.
(MORE)
17.
MARK (CONT'D)
Everyone tells you they love you
and that they want to be your
friends. Everyone tells you that
you're doing a great job saving
the world and everything. But how
do you know they really like you?
How do you know if someone is a
real friend or not? How do you
know they're not just sucking up
to you so you'd continue to risk
your life every day to save their
butts? How would you know who
your real friends are?
Tina's smile fades. Linda looks at Mark with a new sense of
respect.
LINDA
That's really deep, you know.
Mark notices Linda's expression. He puts his arm around
Tina's shoulders and talks like a father in a fifties sitcom.
MARK (CONT'D)
You know, I try so hard to turn
this lovely young girl into a
woman all by my lonesome. And
sometimes I must admit it all
seems too hard. Life is just too
overwhelming for such a caring,
loving older brother like myself,
but I made a promise to take good
care of her and I intend --
Tina elbows Mark on the ribs.
TINA
(smiling)
Shut up. You're so full of it.
They chuckle.
INT. MARK'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Linda, Mark and Tina sit on the couch in his apartment as
they watch the end of a movie on TV.
Mark grabs the remote control and turns off the TV.
TINA
Oh, I loved that movie.
LINDA
It was so sweet and touching.
18.
TINA
So romantic.
LINDA
(to Mark)
I'm really impressed that you
managed to stay awake through the
whole thing.
MARK
Hey, I'm a sensitive, romantic guy.
LINDA
Yeah, right. I saw you snoring a
couple of times.
MARK
I'm still human.
Linda stands up.
LINDA
Well, guys, I've had lots of fun
today, but tomorrow I have an
early morning so I'm just going
to split now.
TINA
It's only ten.
Tina and Mark stand up. The three begin to slowly walk to
the door.
LINDA
Yeah, but I seriously need to get
a job tomorrow. Or at least get a
newspaper so I can pretend to
look for a job.
MARK
I'm free tomorrow and I've had
some experience searching for
jobs in Midvale. If you need any
help....
LINDA
Well, actually.... yeah, that'd
be cool. Thanks.
Linda and Mark smile at each other. Tina looks at them and
then smirks to herself.
Mark notices Tina's smirk.
MARK
What?
19.
TINA
Nothing.
Mark rubs Tina's hair like she was a puppy. Linda chuckles.
LINDA
I must admit it -- that whole
caring older brother thing -- it
does wonders for your image.
MARK
Yeah, it's worth the hundred
dollars I'll have to pay this
little rat to pretend she likes me.
TINA
Yeah, he's actually a horrible
person. He kicks puppies and
everything.
LINDA
Well, I really have to leave now.
And thanks. You know, you're my
first friends in Midvale. You
kinda make me think I made the
right choice by moving here.
Tina and Mark stare at Linda with expressionless faces for a
long moment, trying to make her feel uncomfortable. Then
they begin to fake cry.
The fake crying continues for several seconds, quickly
escalating in melodrama. Tina wails inconsolably on Mark's
shoulder, occasionally pounding on his back.
LINDA (CONT'D)
(smiling)
Oh, knock it off. You two should
have your own sitcom.
The fake crying stops instantly. Then they all chuckle.
Mark opens the door.
MARK
See you tomorrow, then.
TINA
Bye, Linda.
LINDA
Bye, guys.
Linda leaves and Mark closes the door.
Tina waits a few seconds before she speaks.
20.
TINA
So, do I know how to pick them or
what?
MARK
Yeah, I really need to thank you
for introducing me to Linda. I
must admit you have a great taste
in women, sis. You're going to
make a fine lesbian some day.
TINA
Jerk.
She chuckles.
MARK
Hey, I meant that as a compliment.
TINA (CONT'D)
But seriously, if you need me to
stay a couple of days with aunt
Jenny...? You know... so you two
guys can... you know...
Mark stares at Tina for a moment.
MARK
You've already named our children,
haven't you?
EXT. MARK'S APARTMENT
Linda stands next to the door to Mark's apartment. She's
listening to the conversation inside and smiling.
TINA (O.S.)
Not so much name your children but...
MARK (O.S.)
That's it, no more soaps for you.
And forget about watching Ghost
again. From now on we'll only
watch Oliver Stone movies.
Tina chuckles OS.
TINA (O.S.)
Come on, tell me the truth. Do
you like Linda? And be honest.
MARK (O.S.)
(beat)
She's cool. Kinda distant, though.
Every time I tried to ask her
about her family she'd change the
subject.
21.
Linda's smile begins to fade.
TINA (O.S.)
She became an orphan less than a
year ago. How long did it take
you to open up after mom and dad
died?
Linda walks away.
INT. LINDA'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
The apartment is dark so we can't see much of it.
A moment later, the door opens and Linda walks in. She turns
on the light.
The apartment is practically empty. Not a single chair or
table. Only a naked light bulb hanging from the ceiling.
Linda looks at the apartment for a moment, then sighs.
LINDA
I'm really gonna have to get
furniture at some point.
INT. MARK'S APARTMENT - MORNING
A knock on the door. Mark opens it to find Linda standing
outside, smiling and holding a newspaper.
Linda shakes the newspaper.
LINDA
Ready to give me a hand?
MARK
Sure. Come in.
Linda enters.
INT. LIVING ROOM - MARK'S APARTMENT - DAY
Linda and Mark sit at the table with the newspaper opened in
the wanted ads section.
MARK
Let me get this straight. You
want a job that doesn't require a
college degree.
LINDA
Uh-huh.
22.
MARK
That gives you lots of free time.
That doesn't tie you to a desk or
counter for eight hours a day.
LINDA
Uh-huh.
MARK
And that pays well.
LINDA
Uh-huh. I'm in the land of make-
believe, right?
MARK
Pretty much. I was going to
suggest that you applied for
Peter Pan's assistant.
Linda hangs her head.
LINDA
I suppose I'll need a degree at
some point. I mean, I know lots
of stuff -- I could easily pass
any chemistry, physics or math
test you put in front of me --
but it's the going-to-class part
that bugs me. It takes too much time.
MARK
How about an online course or
something?
LINDA
Well, I'll think about it.
MARK
And -- you know -- if you need
money... I don't have that much
but --
LINDA
No, I don't need money. I have a
cousin. He's very protective. He
told me I don't have to worry
about money. I just want a job
because -- you know -- I want to
stand on my own two feet. I don't
want to depend on him for the
rest of my life.
23.
MARK
I can understand that. I have an
aunt -- her name is Jenny. She's
the one who took care of Tina and
me when my parents died. Anyway,
she's got this huge house just
outside Midvale. I could stay
there and save me a bundle of
money on rent. But I'd rather
live in my own apartment. So I
understand perfectly how you feel.
LINDA
It feels good not to depend on
anyone else, doesn't it?
MARK
Sure.
They smile at each other. Then Mark turns to the newspaper
lying on the table.
MARK (CONT'D)
Not much need for this one then.
LINDA
No.
MARK
Wanna watch TV for a while.
LINDA
Sure.
They stand up and head for the couch. Mark turns on the TV.
ON THE SCREEN we catch a news report. As the ANCHORMAN
speaks, a sign that reads "vote for Bruce Thornton" is
superimposed next to him.
ANCHORMAN (ON TV)
-- latest polls have Thornton
leading by six points despite
being an unknown with no track
record and only a handful of
public appearances. How can he do
that? Analysts pin his success to
a brilliant ad campaign --
Mark aims the remote at the TV.
LINDA
No, leave it there.
24.
The TV shows Thornton's ad. The same one we saw at the
electronics store. A simple sign that says "Vote for Bruce
Thornton, the next governor of Illinois."
VOICE (ON TV)
(matter-of-fact)
You will vote for Bruce Thornton.
He will be your next governor.
We HEAR the high-pitch chirping sound again during the ad.
Mark looks completely hypnotized by the sound.
Then the Anchorman returns to the screen and Mark snaps out
of it.
Linda looks at Mark, then turns to the TV.
ANCHORMAN (ON TV)
-- and it isn't just Thornton
who's having success with that
kind of simple, to-the-point
campaign. Candidates all over the
country --
Linda grabs the remote from Mark and turns off the TV.
MARK
I thought you wanted --
LINDA
Who're you going to vote for?
MARK
Excuse me?
LINDA
Governor. Who's your favorite?
MARK
Bruce Thornton of course.
LINDA
Why?
MARK
(beat)
What do you mean why?
LINDA
Why are you going to vote for him?
MARK
I don't know. He looks honest.
25.
LINDA
Is he a conservative? A liberal?
Do you know where he stands on
the issues?
MARK
I don't know. What's with all the
questions, anyway?
LINDA
I'm just curious.
Mark frowns at Linda. He doesn't know what's got into her.
MARK
(beat)
So... do you want to grab a bite
or something?
LINDA
Sorry. Can't. I got to do
something first.
EXT. THORNTON HEADQUARTERS - DAY
A small one-story building that looks as if about to fall
apart. A large sign outside reads: "Bruce Thornton for
governor."
Linda eyes the sign for a moment, then enters.
INT. THORNTON HEADQUARTERS
The inside is as empty as Linda's apartment, maybe even more.
No furniture, no people, not even cockroaches.
Linda takes a few tentative steps inside.
LINDA
Hello.
She uses her X-ray vision to see through the walls and into
the various offices. Everything seems empty as well, except
for one office, where a well-dressed man in his forties
stands, as if staring at the wall.
The man is DYLAN. He seems to snap out of it and leaves the
office, walking into the lobby where Linda stands.
He has a friendly smile when he approaches Linda.
DYLAN
Hello, young lady. My name is
Dylan Fairbanks, I'm the press
director for Bruce Thornton.
26.
LINDA
Hi. Linda Danvers. What happened
here? Did you get robbed?
DYLAN
Oh no. It's just that we're not
the kind of party that likes to
throw money around in frivolous
things.
LINDA
Like furniture?
DYLAN
(chuckles)
Exactly. Actually, we have a very
tight budget. So how can I help
you, young lady. And let me first
say that it's refreshing to see
young people interested in
politics. Assuming, of course,
that you came here as a result of
your interest in politics rather
than just searching for a bathroom.
LINDA
It's politics. I just wanted to
tell Mr. Thornton how impressed I
am with him. I really think he
should be our next governor.
There's no one else I'd even
dream of voting for.
DYLAN
Well, I'm sure Bruce will love to
hear that.
LINDA
Where is he, by the way?
DYLAN
In Chicago. A speech, of course.
He's great at them. You should
hear him some time.
LINDA
I'd love to. When is he coming to
Midvale?
DYLAN
Next Friday. He'll give a speech
at the old Hillshire Theater.
Down at Rochester and Fifth.
27.
LINDA
Great, I'll be there. And by the
way, I really want to contribute
to his campaign. I really want to
make sure everyone hears his message.
DYLAN
You're looking for a job, right?
LINDA
Well, as a matter of fact...
DYLAN
Sorry, but as you can see, we
can't even afford furniture, let
alone a staff.
LINDA
Oh, but I want to be a volunteer.
You don't have to pay me. I
really want to work with Mr.
Thornton. Especially on the ad
campaigns. They're so great. I
studied advertisement, you know.
I'm sure I can contribute. Not
that you really need any help.
They're wonderful.
Linda eyes Dylan with scrutinizing eyes. She's looking for
his reaction.
He doesn't miss a step.
DYLAN
They're great ads, aren't they?
Really get the point across.
He looks at his watch.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Well, I'm sorry, but I have an
appointment in two hours, and
it's across town, so if you don't
mind. I really don't want to be
late for it.
He heads for the exit. He speaks as he walks out.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Please, close the door when you
leave. Don't bother locking it
though.
Linda stares after Dylan for a moment, then she turns to the
empty offices. There's nothing there.
28.
INT. LINDA'S APARTMENT - DAY
Linda enters the apartment carrying three boxes. One has a
13-inch TV. The second, a VCR. And the third, a phone.
She places the boxes in the middle of the empty living room.
MONTAGE
1. Linda hooks up the TV, VCR and phone.
2. Linda makes phone calls.
LINDA
(to phone)
Hi, is this KPRY News?
(beat)
I was wondering if there's a way
you could send me a copy of a
certain political ad.
(beat)
Yes, for research I'm doing.
(beat)
Yeah. A college thing.
3. Linda watches a tape on the VCR. It shows Thornton's ad.
We hear the hypnotic sound as it plays. Lying next to the TV
are a dozen more tapes.
4. Linda watches another tape. It's identical to Thornton's
ad, but with a different name and a different state. It's an
ad for another member of Thornton's party. We hear the
hypnotic sound too.
END MONTAGE
Linda stares at the TV, which shows the frozen last frame of
Thornton's ad.
LINDA
Great. Only two weeks in Midvale
and I already have to deal with
evil politicians brainwashing
people into voting for them.
She sighs.
LINDA (CONT'D)
At least it's not alien monsters
trying to take over the world.
INT. POLICE STATION - DAY
A busy police station. Cops drag criminals to and fro.
People complain about crimes committed against them. And all
that.
29.
Dylan sorts his way through the many people moving throughout
the station until he reaches the front desk.
DYLAN
My name is Dylan Fairbanks, I'm
the press director for Bruce
Thornton.
The DESK OFFICER eyes Dylan for a long moment. Dylan smiles
at him.
DESK OFFICER
And I care because...?
DYLAN
I have an appointment with the
chief of police. A gentleman by
the name of Douglas Mcrae, if I'm
not mistaken. I'd like to speak
with him. Right now if possible.
DESK OFFICER
Chief's busy.
DYLAN
I believe I have an appointment.
DESK OFFICER
I don't care about that. Chief
won't care either.
DYLAN
Would you point me to his office?
I think I can make him care.
DESK OFFICER
His office is at the back of that
corridor over there. But he's
just going to kick you out.
DYLAN
He won't. Believe me.
INT. CHIEF'S OFFICE
Chief Mcrae sits behind his desk, doing some paperwork.
Dylan enters the office.
Mcrae raises his eyes and glares at him.
CHIEF MCRAE
Get the hell out of my office.
Dylan closes the door and turns to Mcrae, smiling.
30.
CHIEF MCRAE (CONT'D)
I said, get the hell --
Then we hear the same hypnotic sound we heard on the TV ad.
Mcrae's glare fades away. He looks hypnotized. We don't know
where the noise is coming from and Dylan isn't carrying
anything that looks capable of producing it.
Dylan sits in front of Mcrae.
DYLAN
Chief, I need a favor from you. I
need a list of all the weapons
you have here. And I mean all of
them. The ones you use. The ones
you've confiscated. The ones in
the evidence room. Everything.
You'll help me, won't you?
CHIEF MCRAE
(beat)
Yes. Of course.
INT. WEAPONS LOCKER - POLICE STATION - NIGHT
Dylan and Chief McRae stand next a large armory full of
shotguns. McRae looks hypnotized as he holds a shotgun for
Dylan to check.
We can hear the hypnotic sound here too. A couple of police
officers stand in the distance, apparently hypnotized as well.
CHIEF MCRAE
This is our standard-issue shotgun.
DYLAN
It shoots bullets, doesn't it?
CHIEF MCRAE
Pellets. It shoots pellets.
Lethal at short range. Fairly
accurate at long range.
DYLAN
Pellets are tiny little bullets,
aren't they?
CHIEF MCRAE
Yes.
Dylan takes the shotgun from McRae, and regards it for a
moment, apparently not knowing which end to hold. Then he
gives it back.
DYLAN
Any laser weapons?
31.
CHIEF MCRAE
Laser weapons? No.
DYLAN
Plasma weapons would be out of
the question too, I suppose.
CHIEF MCRAE
Plasma?
DYLAN
Never mind. Do you have anything
other than concussion weapons?
CHIEF MCRAE
We got tear gas.
DYLAN
No, I need something that can
penetrate a D-grade force field.
CHIEF MCRAE
A force field?
DYLAN
Long story.
(beat, thinks)
You guys have at least discovered
nuclear weapons, haven't you?
CHIEF MCRAE
Yes.
DYLAN
Good for you.
EXT. OUTDOORS CAFE - DAY
Mark walks down a busy street and spots Linda sitting down
at a table in an outdoors cafe. Linda is reading a book and
has four others next to her on the table. All the books are
about subliminal control.
Mark walks to Linda's table, approaching it from behind.
Linda doesn't seem to notice.
MARK
Hi, Linda.
Linda is startled. She quickly closes the book and turns to
Mark and smiles.
LINDA
Hi, Mark.
32.
MARK
You know, I've been to your
apartment several times this week.
LINDA
Oh, I've been out a lot lately.
I've been doing some research.
Mark sits down opposite to Linda.
MARK
I see.
He picks up one of Linda's books. Its title is "Introduction
to subliminal mind control."
MARK (CONT'D)
Subliminal mind control? A light
reading, I see.
LINDA
I got a sudden interest in
psychology. No real reason. I was
just bored one day.
MARK
Yeah, that's exactly what I do
when I get bored. I read a
psychology book.
LINDA
Look, I'm sorry I have been
absent lately. It's just that --
I really need to do this research.
I don't want to screw up. I want
to be thorough. I want to...
Don't mind me. It's that when I
focus on something I...
MARK
I'm like that some times. But how
about you take a short break so
we can grab a bite. Maybe watch a
movie tonight.
LINDA
(smiles)
Yeah, a movie will be great. I
need to take my mind off a few
things.
MARK
Great.
33.
EXT. STREET
Dylan walks down the street, a block away from the outdoors
cafe where Linda and Mark talk. He talks on his cell phone
as he walks.
DYLAN
(to phone)
These guys are still in the stone
age. They don't even have plasma
weapons.
VOICE (O.S.)
(on phone)
They have nuclear weapons.
DYLAN
(to phone)
The smallest one will blow up a
whole city. Believe me, they're
no use.
A block away from Dylan, a BMW runs a red light and smashes
into a small foreign car, sending both spinning into the
sidewalk.
The foreign car ends up trapped between the BMW and the wall
of a building. It catches on fire.
Dylan stops walking, eyeing the scene curiously.
Everyone else in the street turns to the crash, including Mark.
VOICE (O.S.)
(on phone)
What about tanks?
The woman inside the foreign car begins to scream. She can't
open the door.
DYLAN
(to hone)
I thought about that. They're
strong enough, but too slow.
Airplanes are no use either.
They'd spot them ten miles away.
Linda takes advantage of the distraction and disappears
inside the cafe, unnoticed by everyone who is too busy
staring at the crash.
A second later Supergirl appears on the scene. She quickly
uses her superbreath to put out the fire, then she lifts the
BMW out of the way, pulls off the foreign car's door and
gently lifts the woman out of the car.
34.
VOICE (O.S.)
(on phone)
Perhaps we should expand our
definition of "weapon."
Dylan eyes Supergirl for a moment before he speaks.
DYLAN
(to phone)
I think I know exactly what you
mean. Do you really think you can
use her?
VOICE (O.S.)
(on phone)
That's not the problem, is it?
The problem is whether or not she
would be useful.
DYLAN
(to phone)
From what I've seen so far, she
might be. Make sure you watch the
news tonight. I have an idea.
Dylan hangs up.
A large bus is coming to a bus stop next to where Dylan
stands. He signals the bus and it stops. Dylan climbs it.
INT. BUS
Dylan is all smiles as he stands next to the driver. We hear
the hypnotic sound.
DYLAN
Would you mind doing me a favor?
BUS DRIVER
Sure.
DYLAN
Do you see that school over there?
Dylan points outside the window.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Would you be so kind as to smash
this bus into it? At full speed,
of course. But make as much noise
as you can. Will you do that?
BUS DRIVER
Sure.
Dylan steps out of the bus.
35.
The Bus Driver steps on it and begins to frantically blow
the bus' horn.
EXT. STREET
Supergirl still stands next to the woman she just rescued.
She hears the hypnotic sound and tries to locate its source,
with no success.
Some people stand around her, congratulating her and asking
her questions and autographs. She's not listening to them.
Then we hear the bus' horn.
Supergirl turns to it and sees the bus going at full speed,
heading for a small school. A dozen children stand in front
of the school, waiting for their parents to come and pick
them up.
Supergirl takes off after the bus.
We see Dylan stare at her, then he crosses the street and
signals another bus, going the other way.
Supergirl catches up to the first bus and sees the Bus
Driver, looking hypnotized and apparently unaware of what
he's doing.
She grabs the bus and tries to stop it. The Bus Driver
continues with his foot on the accelerator.
The bus quickly slows down, its wheels spinning in place.
The metal begins to bend where Supergirl is holding it.
Then she kicks the front of the bus, smashing its motor. The
wheels stop moving, but the Bus Driver doesn't seem to
notice any of this.
Supergirl flies next to his window and knocks on it. No
reaction. Then she claps her hands together, and the Bus
Driver seems to wake up.
Then we hear the hypnotic sound again. Supergirl turns
around, but she can't locate it.
A moment later we hear another bus stepping on the gas. The
bus is headed straight for the outdoors cafe where Mark
still stands, gawking at Supergirl, like everyone around him.
The bus heads straight for Mark at full speed. He sees it
when it's only a dozen yards away and covers his head with
his arms while he screams in terror.
Supergirl comes at the last second and lifts the bus over
her head, saving him.
36.
Mark is still frozen in place, covering his head (he didn't
notice Supergirl). She eyes him curiously for several
seconds, still holding the bus over her head with one hand;
the bus' wheels still spinning at full speed. She smiles.
SUPERGIRL
You can look now. You're safe.
Mark slowly turns around, peeking at the scene with one eye.
He sees Supergirl holding the bus, lets out a sigh of relief
and falls to his hands and knees, panting heavily.
The bus' wheels continue to turn as the driver is still
hypnotized and still stepping on the gas. Supergirl uses her
heat vision to melt the motor, then she puts down the bus
and flies up to the driver's window, claps her hands (waking
up the driver) then lands next to Mark, who's still panting
like an old dog.
She eyes him for a couple of seconds before she speaks.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
Do you want me to take you to a
hospital?
He pants for a few seconds before speaking, not turning to
her yet.
MARK
I'm okay.... it's that... I
actually... saw my life flashing
before my eyes... thank you.
SUPERGIRL
My pleasure. Sure you don't need
a hospital?
MARK
No need.... thanks....
SUPERGIRL
Just take deep breaths. Try to relax.
MARK
Funny thing... I saw my life
flashing and everything.... all I
could think about... was that I'm
out of milk.
Supergirl stares at him for a moment, then chuckles.
Mark stops panting instantly. He recognized her laughter. He
turns to her and eyes her for a long moment.
37.
She looks uncomfortable. Does he know who she is? She folds
her arms across her chest, trying to look tough and defiant
and as unlike Linda as possible. When she speaks, she tries
to disguise her voice a bit.
SUPERGIRL
Well, you're okay. Just stay out
of the bus' way from now on.
She takes off.
He stares at her as she disappears.
INT. MARK'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Linda and Mark sit on his couch, watching TV. He has the
remote and quickly flips through the channels.
He stops the flipping when he finds an action movie.
ON THE TV a large bus comes rushing toward the screen.
Mark covers his head and screams comically. He's not scared,
he's just trying to be funny.
Linda laughs.
MARK
Damn. I'm going to be traumatized
for the rest of my life.
LINDA
Are you going to keep doing that
every time we see a bus?
MARK
So long as it makes you laugh.
She smiles at him.
Then his expression turns serious. He looks at her for a
long moment.
MARK (CONT'D)
Come to think of it. I don't
remember if I said thank you.
LINDA
What do you mean?
MARK
The bus. Well, in case I didn't
before -- thank you.
She frowns.
38.
LINDA
I don't know what you're talking
about.
MARK
Look, Linda, I understand if you
don't want to tell me about it.
But... I recognized your laughter.
She looks at him for a long moment, not really knowing what
to say.
LINDA
Mark, I really don't know what
you're talking about.
MARK
It's okay. Never mind then. Maybe
I'm just being crazy.
LINDA
Well, you are being crazy.
The mood takes a turn for the awkward. They both turn to the
TV, trying very hard not to glance at each other. Linda
looks increasingly troubled by her thoughts.
MARK
Sorry. I... I know you wouldn't
lie to me.
Linda winces and stares at Mark for a long moment. Then she
stands up from the couch.
LINDA
You had to put it that way.
MARK
I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything
wrong... I...
LINDA
I need to think about something,
okay. I'm not mad at you. I just
need...
She turns around and storms out of his apartment.
He stares at the door for a long moment, looking dejected.
Then we hear a KNOCK.
Mark opens the door and finds Linda waiting outside.
MARK
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to --
39.
LINDA
Shut up and listen.
She enters the apartment, herds Mark back to the couch and
motions him to sit down.
LINDA (CONT'D)
Don't speak, just listen.
She paces as she speaks.
LINDA (CONT'D)
I really don't know what to do. I
don't know how I really feel
about you. I like you. You're a
great friend. But I'm not sure
there's anything else. And I
don't know how you feel about me.
I don't want to lie to you, but I
don't know if I can trust you.
And... I don't know.... I don't
know anything. There's only one
thing I know for sure....
She stops pacing and turns to him. Then she changes into
Supergirl.
SUPERGIRL
You recognized my laughter.
Mark gapes.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
Of all the things you could've
noticed. My eyes. My face. My
body. My voice. It was my
laughter that gave it away. I
don't know what that means. Maybe
it means that you love me. Maybe
it means that I can trust you. Or
maybe it just means I have a
really odd laugh. I don't know.
All I know is that I really don't
want to lie to you. I want to
believe that I can really trust
you, because I really need
someone I can trust.
An awkward, long beat.
MARK
I... er... I don't know what to
say. Well, other than you can
trust me.
She sits next to him.
40.
SUPERGIRL
I know, Mark.
MARK
And... thank you.
She smiles.
SUPERGIRL
You did say thank you yesterday.
You were panting like an old dog,
but you still said it.
MARK
Well, thank you. Thank you. Thank
you. Just in case.
She chuckles.
SUPERGIRL
You're going to keep saying that,
aren't you?
MARK
So long as it makes you laugh.
They smile at each other. More relaxed now.
HOURS LATER
Supergirl and Mark sit at the kitchen table.
MARK
I'm almost getting used to seeing
you blond.
SUPERGIRL
If you want me to change to Linda.
MARK
No, it's okay. I mean, this is
the real you, right?
SUPERGIRL
Yes. I'm a natural blonde.
MARK
You look great as a brunette, too.
SUPERGIRL
Thanks.
The eye each other for a long moment. Then they both chuckle.
41.
MARK
I'm sorry I'm being so awkward,
it's just that...
SUPERGIRL
Yeah, I know. It's sort of a shock.
MARK
I thought I knew you. I mean,
Linda. But...
SUPERGIRL
Come on. Go ahead. Ask me
anything you want.
MARK
Really?
SUPERGIRL
Yes.
MARK
I don't want to pry.
SUPERGIRL
It's okay. You already know my
secret ID. I really don't have
many other secrets.
MARK
Well... you're an alien, right?
Like Superman.
SUPERGIRL
Yes. I come from Krypton too. My
name is Kara. And Superman is my
cousin, but I'm not really like
him at all.
MARK
(smiles)
I noticed.
SUPERGIRL
I didn't mean that. It's that...
I'm a Kryptonian. He's a human in
a Kryptonian body.
MARK
What do you mean?
SUPERGIRL
He came here as a baby. He grew
up with friends and a family.
(MORE)
42.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
For him, Krypton is just some
fairy tale he heard about when he
was a teenager. For me, Krypton
was home. I was sixteen when it
exploded. My family, my friends,
everything I knew, everything I
cared about disappeared along
with Krypton.
INT. ARGO SPACE COLONY - FLASHBACK
A large corridor inside the space station. Through one of
the viewing windows we can see a large planet. Krypton is
convulsing and dying. We see gigantic explosions on the
ground. Chunks of the planet get hurled all the way to outer
space. Some chucks hit Argo and rock it violently.
Kara, Alura and Zor-El rush to a large panel in the wall.
Kara looks much younger here. Her hair is shorter.
Zor-El punches a code on the panel and a large escape-pod
unfolds from the wall. The hatch opens. There's enough space
inside for two people.
ZOR-EL
Kara, get in.
Zor-El continues punching buttons on the control panel,
setting the pod's course.
Kara looks inside the pod.
KARA
We can all fit inside.
ALURA
Too small. You go.
KARA
But you'll die here!
ZOR-EL
Go!
KARA
There's enough room!
ALURA
No, Kara. It can only sustain the
life of one person. You go.
KARA
But --
43.
Zor-El pushes Kara into the pod. The hatch closes. Kara
starts to cry but we can't hear anything because the pod is
airtight.
He presses a button on the panel and the pod shoots into space.
EXT. OUTER SPACE
The pod comes flying away from Argo. Through the window, we
see Alura and Zor-El, holding hands and looking at the pod.
Then a large meteorite strikes against the window, causing
an explosion.
INT. MARK'S APARTMENT - RESUMING
Supergirl looks teary-eyed.
SUPERGIRL
There was enough room for two in
the escape-pod. My mother could
have come with me. But... I don't
know. I always thought she didn't
come with me because she didn't
want my father to die alone. They
loved each other, you know. The
last image I have of them is when
a chunk from Krypton hit Argo,
killing them.
She hangs her head.
He reaches for her, about to put his hand on her shoulder.
He hesitates, but decided to do it. He caresses her shoulder
soothingly.
She smiles at him. Then rests her face against his hand for
a moment.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
This is the first time I've told
that story to anyone else.
MARK
Well... I'm honored.
(beat)
Are you okay?
SUPERGIRL
Yes. I'm not... over it. But I'm
sufficiently over it that I can
think about it without bursting
into tears. Thanks for listening.
44.
MARK
My pleasure.
(beat)
You mean you never told this to
Superman?
SUPERGIRL
I can't really talk to him. He
doesn't want me to be Supergirl.
He thinks it's too dangerous. He
says I'm too young and
inexperienced to deal with it.
MARK
For the record. I think he's wrong.
She looks both angry and about to burst into tears.
SUPERGIRL
I hate it, you know. He's so
overprotecting. I can't talk to
him because I don't want to look
weak in front of him because
he'll just say, "see, I told you,
you're too young to deal with it."
And I don't want to give him a
reason to say it.
She stands up. She speaks mostly to herself.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
He says he understands how I feel,
but he doesn't! He has no idea
how I feel. One second, my life
was perfect and my greatest
concern was whether or not my
parents were going to give me
what I wanted for my sixteenth
birthday. And the next second
everything goes crazy. Everyone I
know dies, and I get hurled into
this strange, dangerous planet
that I knew nothing about. Kal-El
doesn't know how that feels. He
never had to watch his parents
die. He never had to feel guilty
for not dying like all his
friends. So don't you tell me you
know how I feel! Don't you tell
me I'm too young to be Supergirl!
Don't you dare expect me to stay
home, baking cookies while the
only person I have left in the
entire universe is out there,
risking his life every day! Don't
you --
45.
She stops in mid-sentence. Angry and almost crying. She
turns to Mark, sighs and tries to smile.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
I should be saying that to him,
right?
MARK
Probably.
She chuckles and sits down.
SUPERGIRL
It felt so good to finally get
that one off my chest.
MARK
I'm glad you trust me enough to
share it with me. And, you know,
whenever you need to talk to
someone. I'm here for you, okay.
She smiles at him. Then she leans closer and kisses him on
the lips. Mark is surprised for a moment, but then kisses
her too.
When they break away, they're both smiling sweetly.
SUPERGIRL
Don't misinterpret that. I just
thought you deserved it.
MARK
Well, thanks.
They eye each other for a long moment. Then Mark begins to
chuckle.
MARK (CONT'D)
Sorry. It just downed on me. I
kissed Supergirl.
SUPERGIRL
The highlight of your week, I hope.
MARK
The highlight of my life, more
like it.
They chuckle.
MARK (CONT'D)
So, if there's anything else you
want to get off your chest...
46.
SUPERGIRL
You're hoping I'll kiss you again,
aren't you?
MARK
The thought crossed my mind.
SUPERGIRL
Actually, I've been worried about
something lately. This Thornton
guy. The one running for governor.
He's using subliminal mind
control in his ads.
MARK
Are you kidding me?
SUPERGIRL
No. And not just him. All the
members of his party are doing
the same. They use some kind of
hypnotic sound in their ads.
MARK
And what are you going to do
about it?
SUPERGIRL
I've been trying to gather
evidence. I got the tapes of
their ads. I'll send them to a
friend who knows about electronics,
so she can get some hard evidence
that the sound is there and what
it does.
MARK
And then you'll kick Thornton's
butt, I hope.
SUPERGIRL
I can't just kick people's butt
without evidence. Or even with
evidence. I'm not a vigilante. I
need to do this by the book.
Tomorrow, Thornton will give a
speech at the Hillshire Theater.
I'll go check it out and see what
I can find out from him.
EXT. THEATER - AFTERNOON
An old theater squatting between to large stores. A large
sign reads: "Meet Bruce Thornton, your next governor."
47.
INT. THEATER
About a thousand people sit in the theater. Most of them
carry some form or another of advertisement for the Thornton
campaign.
Linda sits near the back.
A moment later, Dylan appears at the stage. He carries no
microphone and there doesn't seem to be any speakers around,
but his voice carries like it was coming from a bullhorn.
The hypnotic noise plays again.
DYLAN
Good evening ladies and gentlemen.
Linda notices the noise. It's coming directly from him. She
scans him with her X-ray vision, but Dylan's body appears
perfectly normal.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Under normal circumstances,
there'd be a big band here
playing a really catchy tune, and
there'd be balloons everywhere
and all that stuff, and Bruce
would come out here and give you
a really clever, touching speech
like you haven't heard before.
But these aren't normal
circumstances.
(looking at Linda)
Supergirl is here.
Linda turns around, trying to see if everyone noticed that.
Everyone is staring at Dylan, unblinking and hypnotized.
It wasn't difficult to pick her out in this crowd.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
And I'm sure she came to have a
long chat with out future
governor, so let's make this
short and sweet -- vote for
Thornton. Now go home. Be good
people and all that stuff.
Everyone stands up and heads for the exit. Linda stands up
as well. Dylan is looking right at her. He motions her to
come close.
DYLAN (CONT'D)
Don't worry, they won't remember
any of this. Now please, come. We
need to talk.
48.
Linda looks very angry. She changes into Supergirl and
rushes toward the stage at superspeed. She lifts Dylan up by
his neck.
SUPERGIRL
Who are you and how are you doing
this?
THORNTON (O.S.)
Violence is unnecessary, Supergirl.
Supergirl turns to BRUCE THORNTON, who stands at the edge of
the stage. Mid-forties. Cool. Confident. His eyes denote
intelligence well beyond normal parameters.
She lowers Dylan, and heads for Thornton.
THORNTON (CONT'D)
But where are my manners? Let me
introduce myself. I am Bruce
Thornton, the next governor of
Illinois.
SUPERGIRL
No, you're not. Now tell me: what
do you want?
THORNTON
To be the next governor, of
course. But it isn't so much a
desire as a result of programming.
You see, Dylan and I are robots.
Supergirl scans him with her X-ray vision. He looks as
normal as Dylan.
THORNTON (CONT'D)
Your X-ray vision won't do you
any good. We're designed to mimic
a human body in every possible
way. I could pass a blood test.
Even a DNA test.
SUPERGIRL
How do you do it?
THORNTON
I'm not so much a robot as a
collection of them. Trillions of
them. Nanobots. As small as a
human cell and capable of doing
anything a human cell can do,
including the production of
actual human blood.
49.
DYLAN
We're very advanced.
SUPERGIRL
What do you want?
THORNTON
I believe I already answered that
question.
SUPERGIRL
You haven't.
THORNTON
I see. You mean what do I want to
accomplish by becoming the next
governor of Illinois. The truth
is that I don't know.
SUPERGIRL
How can you not know?
THORNTON
I'm programmed to become the
governor. My programming doesn't
extend further than that. I
presume I will receive further
programming once I become the
governor.
SUPERGIRL
Who created you?
THORNTON
That is a better question. I was
created by a race of scientists
who call themselves Erkines. And
to answer your next question: no,
they have no intentions of
conquering Earth or anything of
the sort. Their intentions are to
help the people on Earth.
SUPERGIRL
By taking over their government?
THORNTON
Not taking over as such. The
sound we use to hypnotize humans
only affects a third of them. We
could never win an election just
by that. If we're easily leading
the polls is because humans find
our message acceptable.
50.
SUPERGIRL
Anyway, I don't care what your
reasons are or what you're trying
to do or how nice and wholesome
you think you are. You're going
to stop doing it right now. And
then I'm going to have a chat
with your creators to make sure
they never do it again.
Thornton smiles. The following line isn't intended as a threat.
THORNTON
I'm afraid that is not possible.
Supergirl glares at him menacingly. She walks to him in a
slow, measured pace. She's as intimidating as can be.
SUPERGIRL
You ARE going to stop it right now.
He looks at her with unflinching eyes. He's not being
defiant, or trying to look unimpressed. He just looks like a
robot that isn't programmed to react to this kind of stimulus.
THORNTON
It is not possible to threaten me,
Supergirl. I am a robot. I feel
no fear. Even the possibility of
being destroyed doesn't affect me.
Please, understand that I wasn't
trying to defy you a moment ago.
I was merely trying to be
informative. I am programmed to
become the next governor, only a
change in programming can alter
my behavior.
Supergirl stops. She folds her arms, still looking
intimidating, but half-convinced that she needs a more
subtle approach to deal with this.
SUPERGIRL
Where are your creators?
THORNTON
I don't know. They move around
the country. I don't know where
they are right now, but I do know
where they will be tomorrow at
eight am: the base of the hill
six miles northeast of Midvale. I
will communicate with them to let
them know you'll be visiting them.
(MORE)
51.
THORNTON (CONT'D)
I'm sure they will be more than
willing to answer all your
questions to your satisfaction.
She thinks about it for a moment.
SUPERGIRL
Tomorrow morning?
THORNTON
Exactly.
She looks doubtful.
THORNTON (CONT'D)
I see. You presume that there
will be some kind of ambush
waiting for you.
SUPERGIRL
The thought crossed my mind.
THORNTON
I assure you our intentions
aren't hostile.
SUPERGIRL
And how am I supposed to know that?
THORNTON
Think about it rationally. My
creators have the capacity to
create robots that can perfectly
mimic a human being to the point
of passing a DNA test. If their
intentions were to take over the
planet, don't you think it
would've been easier to just
replace the current leaders of
the world with robots, rather
than creating candidates and
going through an election process?
You should at least give my
creators the benefit of the doubt.
She still doesn't buy it.
THORNTON (CONT'D)
Let me put it in a different way.
Your desire now is to meet with
my creators.
(MORE)
52.
THORNTON (CONT'D)
And regardless of whether or not
you believe their intentions to
be hostile, the one certainty is
that tomorrow morning at eight am,
you will have a chance to meet
them at the base of the hill six
miles northeast of Midvale. Which
is what you desire.
SUPERGIRL
I'll be there tomorrow. But don't
think I'm going to let you two
just walk away from here.
THORNTON
What do you propose to do? Taking
us to jail would be pointless as
well as destroying us. I urge you
to think about it. We have not
demonstrated hostility toward you
or any humans. Why would you
assume our intentions are to harm
anyone? Do you assume that
because my creators come from a
different planet it means they
are evil?
SUPERGIRL
You know I'm not an Earthling.
You're just trying to play me
with that.
THORNTON
No. I'm merely making a valid
point. There are indeed many
beings in this universe who
desire to conquer other planets
and enslave other beings. But
there are others -- like you --
who desire to help. Why would you
presume that my creators belong
on the first group rather than
the second?
She thinks about it for a moment.
SUPERGIRL
If you only want to help others?
Why didn't you just come and talk
instead of going through all this
trouble?
53.
THORNTON
(smiles)
An excellent question. Make sure
it's the first one you ask my
creators when you meet them
tomorrow morning.
INT. MARK'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Mark stands in front of the open front door. Linda stands
outside. She looks pensive and troubled.
LINDA
Can we talk for a moment?
MARK
(smiles)
Sure. Come in.
Linda walks in. Mark leans to her, as if to kiss her hello,
but she brushes past him. He looks disappointed and hurt.
He closes the door. When he turns around, Supergirl stands
in front of him.
SUPERGIRL
I'm not sure I did the right thing.
MARK
What do you mean?
SUPERGIRL
Thornton. I just... let him go.
MARK
Well, until you have some hard
evidence --
SUPERGIRL
Oh, no. This goes well beyond
politicians using subliminal
control. Thornton is a robot
created by some alien scientists.
He says they're not trying to
take over the world and I
believed him.
Mark motions to the living room table.
MARK
Let's talk. Do you want something
to drink --
Supergirl sits down.
54.
SUPERGIRL
He knows who I am too. He knows
I'm Linda.
(beat)
That was really stupid. I told
him my real name. I should've
made up a name or something.
(beat)
And then I just let him go.
Mark sits down across from her. He has no idea what to say.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
Do you think I did the right thing?
MARK
I have no idea.
SUPERGIRL
He made sense. If they really
wanted to do harm, they could've
done it a million different ways.
Why would they create candidates
for an election? And I'm sure he
knew I was going to the Hillshire
speech. If he was planning to
ambush me, he could've done it
there, where there'd be a lot of
potential hostages. Why wait till
tomorrow? So... I...
Mark just stares at her, trying to look sympathetic.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
He seemed so rational... I hate
second-guessing myself. I hate
not knowing if I did the right
thing. I hate it. But I'm not sure.
MARK
You don't know everything.
SUPERGIRL
I don't. I have no real training
or experience. I'm working on
instincts here. But I'm not sure
I can trust my instincts. What if
I'm wrong?
MARK
Don't do this to yourself. You're
doing great.
55.
SUPERGIRL
But what if I'm wrong? Millions
might die if I make the wrong
choice. I don't think I could
live with that.
MARK
And millions will be saved every
time you make the right choice.
SUPERGIRL
(beat)
It's so much responsibility. I
don't know if I can handle it.
MARK
You can. You're smart. You're
extremely capable. You can deal
with this Thornton guy and a
thousand like him. No problem.
She stares at him for a moment, then smiles. She looks more
self-assured now.
SUPERGIRL
Thanks. I really needed to hear
that.
(beat)
I'm not really this insecure, you
know. It's just that... I'm new
at this. And it's hard to cope
with your own imperfections when
so many lives depend on you never
being wrong.
MARK
It's not like I can say that I
know how that feels, but...
She stands up.
SUPERGIRL
I knew I made the right choice
coming here. It feels so good to
have someone to talk to. Thank you.
MARK
Any time.
She gives him a friendly peck on the cheek and leaves the
apartment flying through the balcony.
Mark stares at the balcony for a long moment, not sure if
that was a let's-just-be-friends speech.
56.
EXT. HILL - DAY
Supergirl lands in the middle of a small valley at the skirt
of the hill. She looks around, trying to find any spacecraft
or anything out of the ordinary, but finds nothing.
INT. CONTROL ROOM - SPACECRAFT
The small, cramped control room of the Erkine spacecraft.
There are six Erkines here. Three Merkis and three Karias.
The three Karias are VERSIM, tall, arrogant, and his two
AIDES. The Aides never speak in the movie. The three wear
rather flashy, military-type clothes.
The three Merkis are SISKAR, clearly the elder of them.
CERELIA, a female, and ERNAL, the youngest male in the group.
The three wear plain white robes.
A bit of background is necessary to understand this scene.
About ten thousand years ago, the Erkines separated into two
cultures -- the Merkis and the Karias. The Merkis were the
"thinkers" (scientists, artists, philosophers, etc.) while
the Karias were the "Doers" (Military men, landowners,
politicians, etc.).
This cultural separation eventually evolved into two
different races with two different sociopolitical structures.
The Karias have a militaristic, hierarchical society divided
into "rungs" where the members of each rung have absolute
power over the members of every inferior rung. Quite
literally, subordinates are slaves to their superiors.
The Merkis have a democratic society where the all members
are considered equal and all decisions are taken by vote.
The Merkis are divided into three sub-cultures (or sub-
races): Philosophers, Artists and Rationalists. Philosophers
(like Siskar) are taller and more talkative and amicable.
Artists (like Ernal) are creative and highly emotional. And
Rationalists (like Cerelia) are essentially Vulcans with a
small difference: they don't repress their emotions; they
rationalize them and treat them like they were a part of the
universe as opposed to a part of their bodies. So if a great
danger appears, a Vulcan would repress his fear while a
Rationalist would say something like: "my body is
experiencing fear. How interesting."
The three Merkis sit at the controls, while Versim stands a
few steps behind them. His Aides stand three steps behind
him. Their heads lowered. They can't speak unless spoken to,
they can't look at Versim in the eyes, they can't sit while
he stands and their heads can't be higher than his (unless
he's sitting).
57.
A monitor shows Supergirl standing on the hill. Another
screen shows a blueprint-like view of the spacecraft, with a
red dot a few inches outside the ship and six green dots at
the head of it.
VERSIM
What does it want?
SISKAR
Difficult to guess without asking.
Supergirl looks around. She's clearly getting impatient.
VERSIM
It seems hostile.
SISKAR
It seems nervous.
VERSIM
Raise the shields.
CERELIA
It is not human. The energy
readings are off the charts.
VERSIM
More reasons to raise the shields.
Cerelia turns to Siskar. He nods, so she pushes a lever in
the panel, moving it to about half power.
EXT. HILL
We hear a BUZZING NOISE increase in pitch and volume.
Supergirl turns around toward the source of the noise. She
sees nothing unusual, only the forest far in the distance.
But then she notices something. One of the threes looks odd.
She takes a step to her right and the three looks normal,
but another three next to it looks odd.
She frowns and walks forward.
A moment later she passes the cloaking field covering the
ship. And the ship becomes visible.
The ship is gigantic. The size of four warehouses placed one
after the other. Its design is relatively simple and seems
to posses no weapons.
Supergirl takes several more steps and then she smashes into
the force field.
58.
INT. CONTROL ROOM
We see Supergirl on the screen, poking at the force field.
She stares at the ship for a moment, as if waiting for
something.
SUPERGIRL (ON SCREEN)
Are you going to let me in or what?
VERSIM
Shields at full power.
SISKAR
It seems that it just wants to
talk. Perhaps we should comply.
It might prove interesting.
VERSIM
Shields at full power.
CERELIA
It is not human. According to my
reading it might be powerful
enough to destroy the shields.
VERSIM
I am the military commander on
this mission and this is a
military situation. You'll do as
I say. Shields at full power.
Cerelia pushes the lever to the maximum.
EXT. HILL
The buzzing sound increases in pitch and volume. The force
field shines a bright blue.
SUPERGIRL
So that's how you want to do this.
She punches the force field.
INT. CONTROL ROOM
We see Supergirl on the screen punching the force field
several times. Each time the ship rocks as during a small
earthquake.
VERSIM
How can it do that?
59.
CERELIA
I believe I mentioned it is not
human.
(beat, another shake)
Shield generator overloading. It
will blow up if we don't
disengage it.
VERSIM
Divert all power to the shield
generator.
Cerelia pushes some buttons. The screen with the blueprint-
like view of the ship shows an increase on the force field's
power.
Supergirl takes a couple of steps back, just for impulse,
then lands a massive punch on the field.
The ship rocks, and the force field shatters. Sparks fly
from some of the panels.
CERELIA
Shields down. Shield generator
damaged. Repair time: six hours,
twenty-two minutes.
On the screen, we see Supergirl heading for the ship's doors.
SISKAR
I believe this might be a good
time to try to communicate with
it.
(to Versim)
Any objections?
VERSIM
We have no weapons.
SISKAR
Exactly.
(to Cerelia)
Open the door. Let's try to look
friendly from now on.
Siskar heads for the door of the control room.
INT. STORAGE 1 - SHIP
This is a cargo ship, and 95% of its space is intended for
storage. The ship has three large storage compartments, each
the size of a warehouse. The control room lies at the front
of the ship and the engines and generators at the back.
60.
Storage 1 is completely empty. There are two large sliding
doors on each side (leading to the outside), a door at the
front (leading to the control room), another one at the back
(leading to the next storage area), and a railing system on
the ceiling (so a tractor beam can move freely).
One of the doors on the left opens and Supergirl walks
tentatively into the ship. Then the door leading to the
control room opens and the six aliens walk out. (The door
remains open.) Siskar walks at the head of them, trying to
look as friendly and non-threatening as possible.
Supergirl turns to them, she folds her arms and glares
defiantly at them.
SUPERGIRL
Why didn't you let me in?
Siskar ignores her comment.
SISKAR
Greetings. I am Siskar of the
planet Erkine. We come in peace.
SUPERGIRL
(sternly)
Why didn't you let me in?
Thornton said you'd be waiting
for me.
SISKAR
We come from a galaxy far away --
SUPERGIRL
Well, so do I. Big deal. Now
start answering my questions. Why
didn't you let me in?
SISKAR
(beat)
We saw no reason to do so.
SUPERGIRL
Thornton said you'd be waiting
for me.
SISKAR
Thornton? What does the word mean?
SUPERGIRL
Thornton is the name of the robot
running for governor of Illinois.
He told me you'd be more than
glad to explain everything to me.
Cerelia takes a step toward Siskar and whispers in his ear.
61.
CERELIA
It refers to one of the Infiltrators.
SUPERGIRL
It?
Cerelia is taken aback. She didn't expect Supergirl to hear her.
SISKAR
We have not received any
communications from the Infiltrators.
SUPERGIRL
Never mind that. You're going to
be explaining everything anyway.
Why are you brainwashing people
into voting for your robots?
SISKAR
We have no intentions of taking
over this planet, if that's what
you are thinking.
SUPERGIRL
So why are you doing it?
SISKAR
Our intention is merely to help
earthlings with their problems.
As I'm sure you have noticed this
planet has great problems. There
are wars, poverty, hunger,
corruption --
SUPERGIRL
Yes. And one of the greatest
problems is that too many people
think that their own personal
view of how things should be done
is so much better than everyone
else's that they have the right
to impose it on them by force.
SISKAR
Exactly.
Supergirl stares at Siskar for a moment. He obviously didn't
get it.
Cerelia looks back at the control room. (The door is sill
open so we can see inside.) Something calls her attention.
There's a light flashing in one of the screens. She walks to
the control room.
62.
SUPERGIRL
Look. I don't care what you think.
I don't care who you are or what
you're trying to do. I don't even
care if you're the Mother Theresa
of Alpha Centauri. You're going
to stop all this nonsense with
your robots right now. So you
have good ideas on how we can
solve all of Earth's problems?
Great. Write a book, make an
infomercial or something. But
don't brainwash people into
electing you their supreme leader,
okay?
SISKAR
You seem unaware of how great
Earth's problems are.
Cerelia comes back.
SUPERGIRL
I AM aware of those problems. I
deal with them every day --
CERELIA
There has been a breach.
VERSIM
Of course. We're talking to it.
CERELIA
Not that one. Another one. A
breach on Storage 3.
The six aliens turn to Cerelia, completely ignoring Supergirl.
SISKAR
Anything missing.
CERELIA
I started an inventory.
The aliens walk back to the control room.
SUPERGIRL
Hey!
Supergirl follows them.
INT. CONTROL ROOM
Ernal and Cerelia sit at their respective positions. The
others stand. Supergirl comes in a moment later.
63.
ERNAL
Inventory complete. We're missing
a tractor beam, a Builder and
twenty tons of alloys.
SISKAR
What happened to them?
CERELIA
There is no trace of the perpetrator.
SUPERGIRL
We're not done talking about the
robots.
Versim turns to Supergirl. He glares at her, trying to look
tough and menacing, and almost makes her chuckle.
VERSIM
Why do you steal from us?
SUPERGIRL
I didn't steal anything from you.
But I'm about to beat you up if
you don't stop ignoring me.
CERELIA
It was an Infiltrator, not a human.
ERNAL
How do you know? There is no trace.
CERELIA
A human would have left a trace.
VERSIM
Why would an Infiltrator steal
from us?
SUPERGIRL
Why would an Infiltrator tell me
that you'd be expecting me?
The Merkis look at each other. A silent conference of sorts.
SISKAR
Communicate with the Infiltrators.
I want a location report.
Ernal and Cerelia get busy at the controls. Some of the
screens change. One shows a map of the US. Little dots begin
to appear on it.
A moment later, the whole map is littered with dots. Two
dots are blinking near the Midvale area.
64.
CERELIA
Two Infiltrators are not
reporting their location.
Nineteen and fifteen.
SISKAR
Last known location?
ERNAL
(beat)
Midvale.
SISKAR
We're obviously dealing with a
malfunction of some sort.
Initiate self-destruction request
on all the Infiltrators.
SUPERGIRL
Excuse me? You're going to blow
up a whole bunch of politicians?
What if there's a human nearby?
SISKAR
It is a request, not a command.
The Infiltrator will gather all
evidence of its existence, find a
secluded place and disintegrate
itself.
SUPERGIRL
So you're going to ask a
malfunctioning robot -- who has
lied and stolen from you -- to be
kind enough to disintegrate
itself? Am I correct?
SISKAR
Indeed.
Cerelia pushes some buttons, and the dots on the US map
begin to disappear. A moment later, all but two are gone.
The two in the Midvale area which were blinking before.
Supergirl stares at the map.
SUPERGIRL
Let me guess. Number nineteen and
fifteen.
SISKAR
(to Cerelia)
Try again.
Cerelia punches more buttons.
65.
CERELIA
They are not responding to the
request.
SUPERGIRL
You got a bug in your program, I see.
ERNAL
It must be a malfunction in the
communicator.
SUPERGIRL
And this malfunction in the
communicator made the robot lie
to me and steal from you?
CERELIA
The behavior of the Infiltrators
is irrational.
SUPERGIRL
No kidding. Now you have two
runaway robots who can brainwash
people. And I'm going to have to
deal with them.
SISKAR
The problem is considerably
greater than that.
Cerelia operates the controls again.
SISKAR (CONT'D)
What controls the Infiltrators is
not a program in the same sense
as on your computers. We do not
create programs -- we digitize
our minds and put them inside the
computers. These two rogue
Infiltrators posses our minds.
They should behave as we would.
SUPERGIRL
Whose mind do they have?
SISKAR
Good question. Cerelia?
CERELIA
The transfer logs show that they
would contain Ernal's mind. But a
backup of the Infiltrator's final
matrix shows a different mind.
SISKAR
Whose mind?
66.
CERELIA
Without a deep analysis I can
only be certain it is not an
Erkine mind.
A screen shows a rotating display of a brain.
CERELIA (CONT'D)
Of course, every Merkis should be
able to recognize this brain even
without analysis. It's Exnar
Zaamartis.
A beat, while all the aliens (except Cerelia) turn white.
VERSIM
How did the monster's mind get
into an Infiltrator?
SISKAR
That is not important. What is
important is that it did.
(to Supergirl)
And we're going to need your help.
SUPERGIRL
Who is that guy? And what does he
want?
VERSIM
He's a monster. He wants to kill
every Erkine and everyone who
stands in his way.
SUPERGIRL
Why?
SISKAR
It's a long story. Let me start
from the beginning. Ten thousand
years ago, our society divided
itself into two distinct groups:
Merkis and Karias. At first, the
distinction was philosophical and
sociocultural. The Merkis were
the thinkers -- scientists,
artists, philosophers. While the
Karias were the doers -- military
men, politicians, landowners.
This distinctions eventually
evolved into different races. The
Merkis were concerned only with
what we considered higher
concepts -- knowledge, philosophy,
arts.
(MORE)
67.
SISKAR (CONT'D)
While the Karias were busy
controlling all forms of
production and owning all the
land and gaining political
control of the planet. Before we
knew it, the Karias had become
the rulers of the planet.
SUPERGIRL
And the Merkis became their slaves.
SISKAR
Almost accurate. The Karias
society is based on a hierarchy
where every member of each rung
is essentially the owner of
everyone below it. The Merkis
became the bottom rung of the
society. We could have no
property. We could not look at
any Karias in the eye or speak
unless spoken to. We could not
sit while they stood. They called
us "roaches." And that was all we
were for them. Four hundred years
ago, we got tired of it.
INT. CHIOTE'S OFFICE - ERKINE - FLASHBACK
General Chiote (whom we met in the opening) sits at the head
of a large ovoid table. Three other Karias sit next to him,
wearing clothes almost identical to Chiote's. They are
Generals as well.
They all seem relaxed at this moment. They chitchat amicably.
A moment later, a light flashes on the table. Chiote touches
it and a screen appears, showing a Karias SOLDIER. The
Soldier doesn't look directly at the screen (he can't look
directly into Chiote's eyes).
CHIOTE
Yes.
SOLDIER
An Information Officer is here,
General Chiote.
CHIOTE
Let him in.
The door opens and an OFFICER walks in. He bows to all the
Generals. He doesn't speak. (He can't speak until spoken to.)
68.
CHIOTE (CONT'D)
Speak.
OFFICER
We have confirmation, General
Chiote. The Roaches are planning
a revolt.
All the Generals chuckle.
GENERAL #1
And what are they going to do?
OFFICER
There is word of a technological
blackout.
GENERAL #2
Well, let's kill a few Elder
Roaches. That should calm them down.
Chiote thinks about it for a second.
CHIOTE
No. Roaches are too emotional.
They'll turn the dead into
martyrs. We need to teach them a
lesson.
GENERAL #1
What do you have in mind?
CHIOTE
A military display.
GENERAL #2
You mean a parade?
CHIOTE
(smiles)
No. Something more impressive.
He pushes some buttons on the table and a hologram of a
planet appears.
CHIOTE (CONT'D)
This planet is called Proden.
It's a couple of light years away
from here. Great weather. I plan
to make myself a summer home
there. It's inhabited by a race
of cat-like creatures. They have
some advanced weapons and a
handful of spacecrafts. I figure
it'll take us a couple of months
to wipe them out.
69.
GENERAL #2
You want to show the Roaches what
we can do to them if they get on
our bad side?
CHIOTE
Exactly.
The Generals chuckle.
GENERAL #1
And you say the weather is great?
CHIOTE
Marvelous. Like Jactre, but all
year round.
INT. CONTROL ROOM - RESUMING
Supergirl stares at Siskar, aghast and angry.
SUPERGIRL
Let me get this straight. You
destroyed an entire
civilization -- killed every
living being on the planet --
just to make a political statement?
CERELIA
We are deeply ashamed of our past.
SISKAR
And let me assure you that
everyone involved in that
decision was severely punished
for his actions.
SUPERGIRL
I'm going to personally make sure
of that. And I'm going to make
sure you never do it again.
SISKAR
Of course. But that was only the
first part of the story. Chiote
had underestimated the Proden
army and specially their leader:
Exnar Zaamartis. Zaamartis was a
tactical genius. His people
called him Akreon, which was the
name of a mythical monster
capable of reading minds. A name
that was well deserved.
(MORE)
70.
SISKAR (CONT'D)
Our army was two hundred years
more advanced than his and six
times larger. After a year of war,
only a tenth of our army was left.
Our destruction was imminent. The
Karias Generals would never
surrender. They'd rather die. So
the Merkis Elders decided it was
the best time to strike a deal.
INT. CHIOTE'S OFFICE - FLASHBACK
Same office as before. Chiote sits alone at his control
table. Several screens are alive with scenes from a large
interstellar war.
OFFICER
I can't get a response from squad
227. Their last report said they
fell into an ambush.
Chiote slams his fist against the desk.
CHIOTE
He must have spies everywhere.
What about 213?
OFFICER
No word either.
A light flashes on the desk. Chiote hits it angrily. The
image of the Soldier appears on a screen.
CHIOTE
What?
SOLDIER
A Roach wants to see you. It says
it's important.
CHIOTE
I have no time for Roaches.
Chiote hits the button again and the image banishes.
A moment later the light flashes again. Chiote growls and
hits it.
The image of Rizad (the Merkis from the opening) appears on
the screen.
RIZAD
I have --
71.
CHIOTE
How dare you speak!
RIZAD
I have an important message for you.
CHIOTE
I don't care about your --
RIZAD
You want to hear this.
CHIOTE
Enter.
Chiote draws his gun and aims it at the door. Rizad enters.
She looks at Chiote with unflinching eyes.
RIZAD
If you kill me, another Merkis
will come.
CHIOTE
And he will die as well.
RIZAD
You want to hear what I have to
say. We have a solution for the war.
Chiote hesitates for a second.
CHIOTE
The war needs no solution.
RIZAD
There is no need for lies,
General Chiote. We build your
weapons, remember. We repair your
ships. We know exactly how the
war is going. We are losing it. A
condition that will become
irreversible in less than a month.
Chiote slowly lowers his gun.
CHIOTE
Speak.
RIZAD
As I said, we have a solution. We
have developed a technology
capable of mimicking a Proden
life form in every way. It could
not be detected by them. It could
infiltrate their planet and
capture Zaamartis.
72.
CHIOTE
Good. Start to build these
Infiltrators immediately.
RIZAD
There are conditions that need to
be agreed upon.
Chiote points his gun at Rizad again.
CHIOTE
What conditions?
RIZAD
We want equality.
CHIOTE
Equality to what?
RIZAD
To all the rungs of our society.
CHIOTE
(scoffs)
You want to become Generals?
RIZAD
No. Equality to all rungs at once.
I assure you we have no desire
for slaves. We have merely grown
tired of having masters.
CHIOTE
No deal. You start the production
of Infiltrators right away.
RIZAD
I'm afraid that would not be
possible.
CHIOTE
I will kill ten Merkis every
second until production starts.
RIZAD
All Merkis are united in this.
Our slavery will end -- one way
or another.
Chiote shoots Rizad in the arm. A flesh wound, but it bleeds
badly. Rizad doesn't react. She keeps her eyes firmly
planted on Chiote's.
CHIOTE
There are worse things than death.
73.
RIZAD
Yes. One of them is living with
the knowledge that a race of
lesser beings has annihilated
your army.
Chiote shoots her again, in the other arm.
RIZAD (CONT'D)
What do you want the most,
General Chiote? The suffering of
the Merkis or the defeat of
Zaamartis?
INT. CONTROL ROOM - RESUMING
SUPERGIRL
Why did you keep Zaamartis' mind?
VERSIM
A bargaining chip. In case we
forgot our deal, they'd release
the monster.
SISKAR
Zaamartis wants to destroy Erkine.
He wants revenge.
SUPERGIRL
It's not like I can blame him.
SISKAR
Do you believe that children
should pay for the crimes of
their parents?
SUPERGIRL
(beat)
No. I'll deal with this guy. But
we're going to have a really long
talk about Proden.
SISKAR
I look forward to it.
SUPERGIRL
Good. Any idea where he might be?
CERELIA
We cannot locate him. But he
stole a Builder and enough alloys
to build a Battlebot.
SUPERGIRL
How long will it take him to
build this Battlebot?
74.
CERELIA
Building it will take seconds.
But he lacks the tools to upload
his mind into it. He would have
to program the Battlebot's
behavior manually. That might
take him hours.
SUPERGIRL
Then I'll better hurry. Don't go
anywhere.
SISKAR
We won't.
Supergirl leaves the control room.
A moment later we see her on one of the screens, flying away
from the ship.
Versim turns to Cerelia.
VERSIM
Start engines.
SISKAR
We can't leave the planet,
Sergeant Versim.
VERSIM
This is not the time for your
stupid ethics. We need to leave now.
SISKAR
It's not ethics that will keep us
here. It's physics. This is a
class-F cargo ship. It has no
internal environmental capacities.
It isn't even airtight. The one
thing that keeps the air inside
is the external shield, which
won't be operational for the next
six hours.
Versim stares at Siskar for a long moment, then slowly
slumps in a chair, looking ill.
VERSIM
He trapped us, didn't he?
SISKAR
Indeed. Zaamartis took advantage
of the Earthling's strength and
your inherent distrust of
strangers to ensure we couldn't
leave the planet.
(MORE)
75.
SISKAR (CONT'D)
(beat)
Perhaps while we wait we might
entertain ourselves by solving
the mystery of how the most
feared mind in all Erkine found
its way to an Infiltrator.
Ernal and Cerelia look at each other.
EXT. SKY ABOVE THE CITY - DAY
Supergirl flies around the city. She has no idea where to
start looking for Zaamartis.
SUPERGIRL
(to herself)
Okay... if I was a four-hundred-
year-old alien mind trying to
destroy an entire civilization,
and I found myself trapped inside
the body of an Illinois politician,
where would I go?
Then she stops in mid-air. She hears something.
She focuses and hears the hypnotic sound.
EXT. SPORTING GOODS STORE
Thornton stands in front of the sporting goods store,
looking in Supergirl's direction, with a smile on his face.
A cab is parked next to him. Thornton says something to the
DRIVER and the cab takes off, driving at full speed on the
wrong side of the street.
Thornton quickly disappears inside the store.
A second later, Supergirl comes flying into shot, going
after the cab.
The cab causes several cars to swerve, trying to avoid it. A
pickup truck is about to crash into a bus when Supergirl
lifts it off the ground and places it on the sidewalk.
She flies at full speed, preventing a couple more car
accidents on her way to the cab. She reaches it and lifts it
off the ground.
The Driver looks hypnotized. His foot is still on the pedal
even though the car is twenty feet off the ground.
SUPERGIRL
Hey, buddy!
76.
The Driver snaps out of it. He realizes he's in his car,
high up the air, being held there by none other than
Supergirl, who's glaring at him.
DRIVER
I... I don't...
SUPERGIRL
Never mind. It wasn't your fault.
She puts the cab back on the asphalt and flies toward the
Sporting Goods Store.
INT. CONTROL ROOM
There's quite a bit of tension in the air. Versim looks at
Ernal and Cerelia with accusatory eyes, as the two of them
operate the controls, trying to find any evidence of how
Zaamartis ended up in an Infiltrator.
Siskar leans nonchalantly against a wall.
VERSIM
Well... who did it? Which one of
you let the monster out?
SISKAR
The process of gathering evidence
is --
VERSIM
Don't give me that! You're not
off the list of suspects as far
as I'm concerned.
SISKAR
I did not participate in the
creation of the Infiltrators, in
case you have forgotten.
A beat.
CERELIA
Siskar, I cannot find any
evidence that proves it, but the
conclusion should be unavoidable.
She eyes Ernal with a blank expression.
CERELIA (CONT'D)
Ernal's mind is the one
controlling this computer. It
would be impossible to erase the
evidence without the mind's
cooperation.
77.
Ernal turns to Cerelia with fire in his eyes.
ERNAL
How do we know you didn't do it?
You could've changed the mind in
the computer. You could've...
Siskar and Versim stare at Ernal. He looks guilty as hell.
SISKAR
Cerelia is a Rationalist. She
would never perform any action
she deems irrational. And if she
performs an action she considers
rational, she would gladly defend it.
Versim rushes to Ernal. He grabs the much smaller Merkis by
the neck, lifts him off the floor and then slams him into a
wall.
VERSIM
What have you done, you stupid
little roach?!
Ernal struggles, trying to break free, but Versim is much
stronger.
SISKAR
Sergeant Versim.
Siskar's voice is calm and measured. Versim turns to him,
still holding onto Ernal's neck.
Siskar begins to walk toward Versim and Ernal.
SISKAR (CONT'D)
Would you be so kind as to
release the Merkis?
Versim glares at Siskar as he approaches. Then releases
Ernal and takes a step back.
VERSIM
Are you going to let him get away
with it?
SISKAR
No.
Siskar grabs Ernal by the neck, in the exact same way Versim
was holding him. But his eyes are calm.
SISKAR (CONT'D)
Are you going to deny your actions?
78.
ERNAL
Why do you accuse me? It was
Cerelia! Why don't you believe me?
SISKAR
You're an Artist, Ernal. Emotive.
Creative. Impulsive. Irrational.
There is no need to deny your
actions. We all know it was you.
And you know we know.
ERNAL
I didn't! I swear!
Siskar smiles. He releases Ernal.
SISKAR
You did it. And you want to admit
it. You think that what you did
was correct. You think it's
justifiable and you want to
justify yourself. Please,
enlighten me. You know how much I
enjoy philosophical debates.
Ernal continues to glare for a moment. He glances at Versim,
then gets closer to Siskar. He speaks in hushed tones.
ERNAL
Didn't you hear? He called me
"roach."
SISKAR
He shall be punished for it.
ERNAL
Don't you get it? They haven't
changed. They still see us as
nothing more than roaches.
Haven't you notice they way they
look at us whenever we sit while
they stand? Or when we speak
first? Or when we look at them in
the eyes or when... They need to
be taught a lesson.
SISKAR
And you presume killing everyone
in Erkine will teach them?
ERNAL
No. Not everyone. Akreon knows it
was the Karias who started the
war. He knows it.
79.
SISKAR
He also knows that without the
help from the Merkis, he would've
won the war without problem. He
blames us for it as much as he
blames the Karias. Unlike you,
he's not a racist. He sees no
difference between Karias and Merkis.
ERNAL
No, you're wrong! He won't harm
us. I'm sure.
Siskar stares at Ernal for a moment, then it downs on him.
He chuckles.
SISKAR
You're sure? He told you that,
didn't he? How long have you been
speaking with Akreon? Months?
Years? Come to think of it, it
was your idea to use this ship.
And to bring the Builder. And to
use the most advanced Infiltrators.
How long has Akreon been planning
all this? How long did it take
him to convince you that the
whole universe is conspiring
against you?
ERNAL
He only told me the truth!
SISKAR
Didn't you learn anything about
Akreon in college? You can never
believe what he says. He mixes
half-truths with --
ERNAL
Half-truths! Did I just imagine
Versim calling me roach?
SISKAR
Tell me one thing -- how do you
see the Karias? Or do you suppose
I have not noticed the many times
when you suddenly decide to
discuss complex mathematical
subjects when they enter a room
just to make them feel
uncomfortable? Or how you look at
them when they fail to operate a
simple measuring instrument?
Don't pretend you're any better.
(MORE)
80.
SISKAR (CONT'D)
Do you know how the separation
between Merkis and Karias started?
It began when a Merkis Elder
forbade his daughter to marry a
Karias because he didn't want his
ignorance to pollute the family
lineage. The Merkis started the
segregation. The Karias just got
better at it. Think about that
while we wait for a young female
human to battle the most fearsome
monster we've ever known, trying
to save our whole world.
INT. SPORTING GOODS STORE
Supergirl stands in the middle of a large aisle surrounded
by shelves full of sporting goods.
We can hear the hypnotic sound in the distance. She tries to
pinpoint where it's coming from, but it's hard. It seems to
be coming from everywhere.
We hear the sound of a shotgun being pumped. A second later
a YOUNG WOMAN crosses the aisle behind Supergirl, shotgun in
hand, aimed at something off screen.
The Young Woman is about to shoot a CLERK when Supergirl
rushes and takes the shotgun away. She snaps her fingers
next to the Young Woman's ears and she wakes up from the trance.
SUPERGIRL
Where were you?
YOUNG WOMAN
Wh -- what?
SUPERGIRL
Where were you? What's the last
thing you remember?
YOUNG WOMAN
I was -- I think -- I was buying
a basketball for my brother.
SUPERGIRL
Where?
The Young Woman turns around, not really sure where she is.
CLERK
(pointing upwards)
Second floor.
81.
Supergirl looks up, trying to find Thornton with her X-ray
vision. Then she takes off, going through the roof.
INT. SECOND FLOOR - SPORTING GOODS STORE
Supergirl comes through the floor and lands on it, looking
around.
We can still hear the hypnotic sound.
An Elderly Man wields a golf club like an axe and is about
to hit an Elderly Woman.
Supergirl looks busy searching for Thornton, apparently not
noticing the Elderly Man. At the last second, she uses her
heat vision to slice the golf club. The Elderly Man swings
and misses the Elderly Woman.
She claps her hands together and the Elderly Man snaps out
of it.
She continues to look around. Then she smiles and takes off.
INT. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES - SPORTING GOODS STORE
Thornton stands next to a couple of suited men.
THORNTON
Go to the bathroom and --
Supergirl crashes through the wall and punches Thornton,
sending him flying through several cubicles on his way to
the wall.
He collapses on the floor, then looks up, apparently unharmed.
THORNTON (CONT'D)
Attack her.
Most of the people around rush toward Supergirl, with
murderous eyes. She uses her superbreath to send them flying
away from her, then she rushes to Thornton and lifts him by
the neck.
As she lifts him, Thornton grabs the power cord from a
cooler on the wall and breaks it off. Electricity shoots
from it and into his body.
Then he shoots a lightning bolt at Supergirl, taking her by
surprise. The bolt causes her enough pain for her to release
him.
He shoots a couple more bolts, sending her staggering back a
few steps. Then he punches her in the face. She barely felt
the punch. His hand ends up twisted and bent.
82.
Supergirl recovers and lands a massive punch on Thornton
that sends him flying through the wall.
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - SPORTING GOODS STORE
Thornton comes flying through the wall, flies over the large
table in the conference room and crashes into the far wall,
crumbling into the ground.
A second later Supergirl comes through the hole he made on
his way in.
Thornton stands up. Electrical bolts cruising through his
body. He sends to bolts toward Supergirl, but she dodges
them easily.
She looks up and shoots her heat vision at the sprinkler
system above.
Water begins to pour down, hitting Thornton. He convulses
like an electrocuted man. Lightning bolts shoot everywhere.
Then he falls to the ground apparently out of it.
Supergirl walks toward him and lifts him off the ground.
Suddenly he comes back to life. He pushes a button on his
belt and smiles at Supergirl.
Her eyes widen. She turns around and sends Thornton flying
into a wall.
Before he hits the wall, he disintegrates, along with most
of the wall, leaving a ten-foot hole behind.
The people on the Administrative offices stare at Supergirl
through the hole in the wall.
WOMAN
Wasn't that candidate Bruce Thornton?
SUPERGIRL
Not really. That one was only a
decoy. I still have to deal with
the real one. But I think I know
where he is.
INT. STORAGE 1 - SHIP - DAY
Supergirl enters the spacecraft. Thornton/Zaamartis stands a
few yards in front of the door to the control room. He looks
calm and amicable. Hanging on his back we see the Tractor
beam, which looks like a slim bazooka.
The Tractor beam has two dials on it. One controls whether
the beam pushes or pulls. The other controls the pressure
applied by the beam.
83.
Supergirl takes a few steps toward Zaamartis. Then stops,
hands on her hips.
ZAAMARTIS
You don't seem surprised to see
me here.
SUPERGIRL
The other one was Dylan.
ZAAMARTIS
Indeed. My trusty aide. Oh, but
where are my manners? Let me re-
introduce myself. My name is
Exnar Zaamartis, but everyone
calls me --
SUPERGIRL
Akreon. I know. I've heard a lot
about you lately.
ZAAMARTIS
And I suppose you believed every
word my enemies said about me.
SUPERGIRL
(beat)
Okay. You got a point there. Tell
me your side of the story.
Zaamartis smiles.
ZAAMARTIS
I'll do better than that. They
told you about me, so let me tell
you about them. I presume they
gave you the standard I-come-in-
peace speech.
(mocking)
We're a stupidly wholesome race
of interstellar do-gooders who
want to atone for the many sins
of our fathers by forcing every
lesser being in the universe into
becoming as stupidly wholesome as
ourselves.
(normal voice)
How am I doing so far?
SUPERGIRL
Keep going.
ZAAMARTIS
Well, they're not do-gooders. And
if you know my name you must also
know the reason why I say that.
84.
SUPERGIRL
That was over four hundred years ago.
ZAAMARTIS
And, of course, all those
involved in the genocide of my
people were punished with a
heartily slap on the wrist and a
stern, "naughty, naughty, shame
on you."
SUPERGIRL
You want to destroy them. ALL of
them. That's not justice. That's
revenge.
ZAAMARTIS
I will destroy them. Have no
doubt about that. But I have
nothing against you or any
Earthling. So if you're so kind
as to stay out of my way, I give
you my word no humans will be harmed.
SUPERGIRL
Can't do that.
She begins to walk toward him. Slowly.
ZAAMARTIS
Put yourself in my place for a
second. I was the ruler of a
peaceful planet and suddenly I
get attacked simply because one
race of egomaniacal slavers
decided to teach a race of
soulless, whimpering servants a
lesson. After the war was over,
after I was captured and my army
defeated, they proceeded to
exterminate every single life
form on Proden.
(beat)
If you were me, what would you do?
SUPERGIRL
I come from Krypton. A planet
that exploded, killing my entire
civilization. If I ever get a
hold of the ones responsible for
it, I'm going to spend a couple
of years teaching them not to do
it again. I understand how you
feel better than you can imagine.
(MORE)
85.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
But that doesn't mean I'm going
to let you exterminate an entire
civilization on account of what
their parents did.
ZAAMARTIS
Do you really believe they're any
better than their parents? Why do
you think they came to Earth?
Twenty minutes ago you were about
to wring their necks. Now you're
risking your life to save them.
It's hard to understand you,
Kryptonian.
SUPERGIRL
Put yourself in my place. You
meet someone who wants to destroy
an entire civilization, which is
kind of a touchy subject for me.
Do you seriously think I can just
step aside and let you do it? I
don't care if the Erkines are
angels or demons, I'm not going
to let you kill them all.
By now Supergirl is ten feet away from Zaamartis.
ZAAMARTIS
That's admirable. I actually
respect you. It's a shame, but
you leave me no choice but to
introduce you to a friend I just
made.
He smiles, then turns to the front-left doors of the spacecraft.
The doors slide open. Supergirl turns to them, expecting her
opponent to walk in through them.
The door was just a distraction. The BATTLEBOT was hanging
from the railing on the ceiling. It drops next to Supergirl.
She reacts too late.
The Battlebot, twenty-ton, eight-foot tall, humanoid shape
formed by a polished gray alloy, lands next to Supergirl.
It's massive arm already cocked. It lands a punch on
Supergirl's face that sends her flying into the left wall.
She makes a huge dent in the wall and drops to the floor,
dazed and in pain.
She tries to stand up, as the Battlebot runs to her. The
giant robot is quicker and lands another massive blow on
Supergirl, sending her flying to the rear wall.
86.
The force of the impact embeds her in the wall, almost
unconscious.
The Battlebot rushes to her, to continue its attack. Its
right hand, twice the size of a 21-inch TV, is badly bent by
the impact with Supergirl's body. As the robot runs, we
barely see something moving very fast around the robot's
right arm. It's the BUILDER. A spider-like droid that
repairs the Battlebot, winding around the robot's arm at
several hundred miles an hour. In half a second, the hand is
back to normal.
The Battlebot lumbers closer. Cocks its arm, ready to smash
Supergirl again.
She reacts at the last second, freeing herself from the wall
just as the Battlebot's arm smashes through it.
She punches the robot, sending it flying back a dozen yards.
She rushes to it and punches it again several times. Each
punch making huge dents on the robot and sending it
staggering back. The last punch almost breaks the robot's
head off, leaving it hanging by a thread. Then she grabs its
leg and spins it around a few times before sending it flying
toward Zaamartis.
Zaamartis uses the Tractor beam to stop the robot in mid-air.
Then he lays the robot back on the floor.
The Battlebot is badly damaged. It lies motionless on the
floor for a moment, then sits up. The Builder appears again.
Spinning around the robot's chest and head at maddening
speed, repairing the Battlebot in just a couple of seconds.
Supergirl uses her heat vision on the robot. But the beam
bounces harmlessly off the robot's perfectly polished surface.
She charges again, punching the robot and sending it flying
to the front wall, next to the door to the control room.
She lands in front of the robot, ready to attack again,
showing her back to Zaamartis. He sets the Tractor beam to
"push" and hits her with the beam, sending her crashing into
the front wall, a few yards away from the robot.
The Battlebot grabs her with both of its massive hands,
pinning her arms to her body, and tries to crush her.
Supergirl screams in pain, then fights back. Slowly, she
begins to push back the metal in the robot's hands.
Zaamartis sets the Tractor beam to neutral (neither push nor
pull) and sets the pressure to maximum. He shoots the beam
at Supergirl.
87.
Between the robot's strength and the Tractor beam, they
begin to overpower her. She uses all the force her muscles
can produce, yet her arms slowly begin to move back. The
robot's hands pressing against her torso, crushing her. She
screams in pain.
She tries to turn her head around, thinking of hitting
Zaamartis with her heat vision, but he's almost exactly
behind her.
She can't breathe anymore.
Then she hits the robot's arm with her heat vision in a
sweeping motion. The beam reflects from the robot's arms,
heading for Zaamartis. The heat beam misses at first, but
the sweeping motion means it's heading for Zaamartis' leg.
Zaamartis sees the heat beam and tries to jump out of its
way, but the beam is faster and severs his leg right below
the knee. He crashes hard onto the floor, losing the Tractor
beam in the process. He quickly grabs his leg and puts it
back in place. The leg repairs itself instantly, just as if
it had never been damaged. Then he spins toward the Tractor
beam.
Meantime, Supergirl uses all her strength against the
Battlebot. She knows she only has a couple of seconds before
Zaamartis recovers.
She breaks free, sending a large chunk of the robot's hand
flying a dozen yards away. Zaamartis grabs the Tractor beam
and aims it at her. Too late, so he spins again, aiming the
Tractor beam at the right wall, and shoots, opening a six-
foot-wide hole on it.
He rushes to the hole and jumps outside, just as the
HOVERBIKE rushes by. He lands on it and disappears.
Supergirl moves to follow him, but the Battlebot catches her
off guard, punching her and sending her crashing into the
left wall.
She's a bit dazed, but recovers in time to see the Builder
fixing the Battlebot. When she escaped from its grasp a
moment ago, a large piece of its massive hand broke off. The
Builder tries to fix the robot, but since a portion of the
robot's original mass is missing, and the Builder cannot
magically replace it, the Builder takes a small piece from
the robot's other arm to fix the damaged one. So now the
robot's arms are half a foot shorter than they were a moment
ago.
Then the robot rushes to where the missing arm piece fell.
It grabs it and the Builder goes into work again, restoring
both arms to their original length.
88.
Supergirl watches all this with great curiosity. It gives
her an idea.
She rushes to the robot, and avoids a massive hand the robot
sent her way. Then she grabs the robot's arm by the shoulder,
puts her leg on its back and yanks the robot's arm loose.
The robot spins and hits her with its remaining arm, but she
blocks the punch so it sends her back a dozen feet, but
without harming her.
Then she stands there, watching as the Builder uses part of
the robot's arm and legs to rebuild the missing arm. Now the
robot's arms and legs are two feet shorter. It looks
comically deformed.
The Battlebot tries to run to her, but its legs are too
short, so he moves much slower now. Supergirl avoids its
attack and pushes it so it falls on its back. Then she pins
the robot to the floor by pressing her foot against its
"groin," while she grabs both legs and yanks them free.
She walks a couple of steps back and watches as the Builder
goes to work again. It uses metal from the arms to build new
legs, but now arms and legs are too short, and the robot
can't stand up. It looks like an upside-down turtle.
Supergirl half-smiles. She drops the legs and turns to the
hole where Zaamartis disappeared a moment ago. He's nowhere
in sight.
She heads for the control room.
INT. CONTROL ROOM
Supergirl enters the control room. No one there.
She uses her X-ray vision and finds the Erkines locked
inside the living quarters (a small room to the left of the
control room).
She breaks the door open. All the Erkines (except Cerelia)
turn to her with an expression of extreme surprise.
VERSIM
You defeated Akreon?
SUPERGIRL
Not quite. I got the robot, but
he got away.
Versim walks to Storage 1, followed by his Aides. Through
the still-open door, we see Versim's expression of utter
disbelief as he turns back and forth between the Battlebot
and Supergirl.
89.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
Any idea where he might be now?
CERELIA
He will return. This ship is his
only way to reach Erkine.
SUPERGIRL
Does he have any more surprises
or was the robot all he had?
SISKAR
As far as we're aware, he only
had the material and tools to
build one robot.
SUPERGIRL
Don't you guys have a radar or
something? At least tell me which
way he went.
CERELIA
He disengaged the radar.
Supergirl sighs.
SUPERGIRL
Look, I'm trying to save your
civilization here. Could you at
least try to be useful?
Versim and his Aides return to the control room. He eyes
Supergirl with a newfound respect.
CERELIA
If we were capable of
understanding Akreon's thought
process, we wouldn't be in this
situation.
SISKAR
Akreon will need a weapon.
VERSIM
He would choose a weapon more
powerful than the one you've
already defeated. I doubt humans
have such weapons.
Supergirl thinks about it.
SUPERGIRL
One thing. When I was fighting
the other Infiltrator, he
absorbed electricity and tried to
use it against me. What else can
he do?
90.
SISKAR
The nanobots that compose the
Infiltrators are capable of using
most forms of energy. However,
their performance is greatly
affected by the type of energy
they use. Sunlight would give the
mind simulator its best
performance. Electricity will
make the mind slow and incoherent.
It's unlikely Akreon will use
this as a weapon since he values
his intelligence too much.
SUPERGIRL
What type of energy will give him
the greatest power without
turning him into an idiot?
CERELIA
I'll need to run some simulations.
Cerelia turns to the console.
A beat while she types.
CERELIA (CONT'D)
Siskar, the log indicates that
this operation has been performed
before.
Versim's stare changes from respect to admiration.
VERSIM
You knew what Akreon was thinking.
SUPERGIRL
Lucky guess.
CERELIA
Most forms of energy available on
Earth will reduce his mind's
performance by 75% relative to
sunlight.
She turns to Supergirl.
CERELIA (CONT'D)
There is one kind of energy that
would reduce it only by 45% while
giving him great strength and power.
91.
EXT. NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
Zaamartis comes flying on his Hoverbike and lands next to
the entrance of the power plant. He's not carrying the
Tractor beam. (We'll see what happened to it later.)
Three GUARDS look startled for a moment, but then rush to him.
Zaamartis uses the hypnotic sound. Two of the guards freeze,
but the third one approaches him.
GUARD
Stop there!
Zaamartis walks to the entrance, unperturbed by the shotgun
pointed at his head.
GUARD (CONT'D)
I said --
Zaamartis quickly reaches out, grabs the shotgun and easily
yanks it out of the Guard's grip. Then hits him with the
back of the shotgun, knocking him out.
INT. CONTROL ROOM
CERELIA
The closest nuclear power plant
is twenty-two miles away. He must
have reached it by now.
SUPERGIRL
Great. Any piece of advice in
dealing with him now? Preferably
something useful.
SISKAR
The Infiltrator's nanobots are
designed to use a single energy
source. If you force Akreon to
expel some of the nuclear energy
and then force a different kind
of energy into his body, it will
trigger an exchange. The body
will automatically dump all the
old energy and absorb the new one.
He will have no control over this
exchange and won't be able to
stop it.
SUPERGIRL
Well, that's almost useful. But
what exactly would I do with the
several hundred megatons worth of
nuclear energy he'd be dumping?
92.
EXT. NUCLEAR POWER PLANT - DAY
Sirens blare all over the plant. People begin to rush out of
it. They think it's about to explode.
Zaamartis comes out of the power plant. His eyes shinning a
bright red. He heads for the Hoverbike.
He's about to reach the Hoverbike when Supergirl lands a
dozen yards away.
She eyes him sternly, arms folded across the chest but
keeping a safe distance. She doesn't know how powerful he is
now and doesn't want to take any chances.
ZAAMARTIS
You're late.
SUPERGIRL
I see.
ZAAMARTIS
I have nothing against you,
Supergirl. I don't want to kill
you, but I will, if you insist on
getting in my way.
SUPERGIRL
I can't just let you go. You know
that.
ZAAMARTIS
As you wish.
He raises his arm and fires a thick red beam at her from his
hand. She dodges in time and the beam misses, going through
several of the cars in the parking lot, instantly melting them.
She gapes at the melted mass that once was the cars. Then
she rushes to him, trying to go around him and attack from
the back.
But he's faster than she expected. He dodges her attack and
lands an uppercut of his own that sends her crashing into
and through a large van in the parking lot.
She quickly stands up, a bit dazed by otherwise okay, and
gets hit by a nuclear beam that sends her through a dozen
cars and a small building.
This time she's hurt. She stands up very slowly, just in
time to see Zaamartis flying away in the Hoverbike.
She takes off after him.
93.
EXT. SKY
Supergirl chases Zaamartis, keeping her distance and trying
to find a safe way to approach him.
He shoots a beam at her. She dodges it and the beam
vaporizes a large portion of a nearby forest.
Zaamartis raises his arm away from her, aiming it at the
nearby city.
Her eyes widen and she flies just in time to intercept the
beam with her bare hands.
She screams in pain, but manages to contain the beam.
She looks at her hands. They show second-degree burns.
Zaamartis speeds away, now only a small dot. In the far
distance, we can see the Erkine spacecraft.
She flies at full speed, passing the Hoverbike and heading
for the spacecraft.
INT. CONTROL ROOM
One of the screens shows a radar image. Two dots moving
toward the center. Another screen shows a camera image from
outside the ship. Supergirl lands next to the spacecraft.
Cerelia opens the doors on Storage 1 and Supergirl enters.
A moment later, she enters the control room. The six Erkines
turn to her.
SUPERGIRL
He got to the power plant before
I could get there and now he's
coming here. You have to leave.
SISKAR
We can't leave the planet. This
spacecraft lacks environmental
support. Only the shield you
destroyed, and it won't be
operable again for five hours.
SUPERGIRL
You don't need to leave the
planet. Just outrun him. This
ship can fly faster than his, right?
The Merkis turn to each other, almost embarrassed.
VERSIM
Start engines.
94.
EXT. HILL
Supergirl flies out of the spacecraft and lands a few dozen
yards away.
A moment later, the ship's engines begin to hum loudly and
it takes off. The cloaking field becomes active and it vanishes.
Zaamartis appears on his Hoverbike, just in time to see the
spacecraft vanish. He stares at it with unbelieving eyes.
ZAAMARTIS
They can't leave Earth.
SUPERGIRL
They don't have to. They just
need to outrun you until the
shield is fixed.
ZAAMARTIS
They'd never have thought of
something as simple and obvious
as that.
SUPERGIRL
Actually, it was my idea.
Zaamartis turns to Supergirl with a murderous glare on his face.
ZAAMARTIS
So it was.
He shoots another nuclear beam that Supergirl barely dodges.
She takes off and he follows her immediately on the Hoverbike.
EXT. SKY
Zaamartis flies after the red/blue streak that is all we see
of Supergirl. She moves too fast for him.
She's heading for a deserted area a couple of miles away,
trying to draw him away from the city.
EXT. DESERTED AREA
Zaamartis lands the Hoverbike and jumps out of it. Supergirl
is waiting for him, showing him her power stance.
He looks angry as hell.
ZAAMARTIS
You shouldn't have done that. You
should've stayed out of this.
This is not your problem!
95.
She stares back at him, without saying a word.
He shoots a beam at her. She dodges and hits him with her
heat vision, triggering the exchange.
His beam melts everything on its way to a mountain behind
her, making a huge hole in the mountain.
He looks frozen in place. His face contorted into a grimace.
He can barely move during the exchange.
She continues to train her heat vision on him, unable to see
what kind of damage he's causing on the land behind her.
He manages to move his hand a bit, enough to change the
trajectory of the nuclear beam, aiming it at Supergirl.
The beam hits her on the shoulder. She dodges out of its way
before the beam does much damage on her skin, but the pain
is still enough to make her stop her heat vision for a
second, enough for Zaamartis to stop his own beam and thus
halt the energy exchange.
He falls to the ground. She hits him again with her heat
vision, but it has no effect this time. Then she rushes to
the Hoverbike and crushes it.
He turns around and hits her with the energy he absorbed
from her heat vision. (He needs to expel that energy before
he can go nuclear again.) She stops the beam with her hands.
It doesn't harm her.
He slowly gets back to his feet. Supergirl jumps into the
air and hovers twenty feet above him.
He turns around, surveying the place. It's deserted. Then he
turns to the Hoverbike, crushed beyond repair. Her plan is
obvious. She wants to keep him where he can't harm anyone
and force him to dump all his energy.
ZAAMARTIS (CONT'D)
Clever.
He raises his arm, away from her, in the direction of
Midvale. There's a small hill blocking him, but she's not
sure the hill can shield the city.
She flies in front of his arm. Still twenty feet up in the
air, keeping her distance, just in case, but ready to block
his beam if he fires at the city.
Then Zaamartis jumps to her. His quickness surprises her. He
smashes against her before she can react and grabs her by
the waist. The force of the impact sends both of them flying
toward the city.
96.
EXT. STREET - MIDVALE
Supergirl and Zaamartis crash into an office building and
through it. They fall on the street. He still has her by her
waist.
He lifts her off the ground and begins to squeeze her. She
screams in pain as she grabs his arms and tries to break
away from his embrace.
She's stronger but not by much. His arms begin to slowly
move away from her body. Then his arms glow red as the
nuclear energy passes trough them. This causes another spasm
of pain on Supergirl.
She punches him on the face and knees him on the chest,
sending him stumbling back a dozen yards. She slumps to the
ground, holding her bruised waist.
It takes her a moment to stand up again.
A dozen bystanders watch the fight from the sidewalk, frozen
in fear. Zaamartis aims his hand at them.
Supergirl looks at the bystanders then at Zaamartis.
SUPERGIRL
Stop this! The ship is gone.
You'll never reach Erkine. What's
the point of killing anyone now?
ZAAMARTIS
In case you haven't noticed, I'm
an extremely vengeful man.
SUPERGIRL
Your problem is with me, not them.
Leave them alone. Do you want to
be a murderer like the Erkines
who destroyed your world?
Zaamartis chuckles for a long moment.
ZAAMARTIS
I plan to destroy an entire
civilization. Do you really
believe I care about the moral
implications of killing a handful
of humans?
SUPERGIRL
You've already lost too much
energy. Do you really want to
waste any more on the humans
before you finish me?
97.
He lowers his arm.
ZAAMARTIS
Now that's a valid argument.
You're smart. I actually like you.
It's a shame that so many things
I like end up dying.
Supergirl charges Zaamartis. He manages to put his hands up
and blocks the massive punch, but the force of it still
sends him back a dozen yards, leaving behind huge tracks on
the pavement and digging him a foot into the asphalt.
She rushes to him and lands an uppercut that sends him
crashing into a building. Then she grabs him by the arm,
spins him around and sends him flying out of sight.
EXT. ANOTHER STREET
Mark and Tina walk down the street. We can hear the noises
of the fight.
TINA
What is that noise?
MARK
I don't --
The wall of a nearby building explodes as Zaamartis comes
flying through it. He lands six yards away from Mark and
Tina, who watch him in disbelief, along with twenty other
bystanders.
A second later Supergirl comes flying through the hole that
Zaamartis made and lands another massive punch on him.
The punch sends him flying across the street, where he hits
the back of a pickup truck, slashing it in half, before
crashing through another building.
In a single motion, Supergirl stops the spinning front of
the pickup truck before it smashes into another car, then
flies after Zaamartis, who barely has time to stand before
Supergirl lands another punch that sends him flying back
across the street, nicking a large piece from a bus' roof.
There are screams everywhere. Some cars crash into each
other. One crashes into the bus.
Supergirl quickly moves to do whatever she can with the
crashing cars, trying to stop as many as she can before
anyone gets hurt.
Zaamartis slowly stands up. His face is completely deformed.
98.
Supergirl stares at him for a moment, giving herself time to
catch her breath.
Then Zaamartis' face fixes itself, leaving no trace of
damage. He's smiling.
ZAAMARTIS
Nice moves. Let me show you mine.
He aims his right hand at a cluster of bystanders to his
right (merely a distraction), but shoots a beam with his
left hand that hits the asphalt under Supergirl.
The distraction works and the asphalt under her melts enough
to make her lose her footing for a moment, long enough for
Zaamartis to rush to her and land a punch in her mid-section,
sending her crashing through a car.
Zaamartis lands several more punches before Supergirl can
react. She dodges a punch and lands one on her own, sending
him flying across the street.
He lands on his feet, apparently unharmed. She looks very
tired and hurt, having trouble remaining on her feet.
He rushes to her and she dodges his punch, then she grabs
him by the wrists and takes off.
EXT. SKY
Supergirl flies upward at full speed, dragging Zaamartis
with her. He tries to break free, but she's stronger. He
tries to kick her but she wraps her legs around his.
They fly up several miles as Zaamartis continues to struggle.
Then he aims a small beam at her hand, causing her enough
pain that he can break free from her grip and punch her in
the face.
Then he grabs her by the neck and begins to pummel her face
as they plummet back down to earth.
EXT. MALL PARKING LOT
Tina, Mark and several dozen people stare aghast at the sky
above them near the parking lot of a mall.
Their gaze is coming down quickly, and a second later
Supergirl and Zaamartis crash into the parking lot,
producing a huge crater and sending cars flying every which way.
Several tense seconds pass. Nobody moves a muscle.
TINA
Is she... is she dead?
99.
A second later something comes through the crater and slams
into the wall of the mall. It's Zaamartis.
Supergirl flies out of the crater and lands next to it. She
looks very hurt, and her legs wobble under her own weight,
but her eyes show only determination.
Zaamartis picks himself off the ground. He looks completely
unharmed and fresh as a lettuce.
Supergirl looks at him, at how fresh he looks. She stands up
straight, and folds her arms across her chest, looking as
tough and defiant as it gets.
SUPERGIRL
What's the point of fighting
anymore? You can't beat me, and
soon you'll run out of energy.
Zaamartis nonchalantly brushes some debris from his clothes.
ZAAMARTIS
I could ask you the same question.
Why do you continue fighting me?
I'll win at the end, you know
that. Even if you stop this body,
I'll get a new one in a couple of
centuries and destroy Erkine. I'm
immortal. And extremely patient.
The standoff continues for a long moment.
ZAAMARTIS (CONT'D)
Did I mention I'm vengeful too?
He charges her. She dodges the attack and grabs him by the
hands. She squeezes his hands and aims them upward. His
beams shoot from the fingers. If he fires now, he'll only
hit the sky.
He struggles to break free, but he's wasted too much energy
and she's much stronger than him now.
He head-butts her. It does no real damage, but distracts her
enough for him to break one hand free. He tries to punch her,
but she easily blocks it and pushes him back several yards.
He stares at her with fire in his eyes. She looks at him
calmly. Clearly, he's no match for her anymore.
Then a weird smile creeps into his face. He activates the
disintegration mechanism on his belt and jumps to her. She
kicks him and sends him flying back. He disintegrates before
he hits the wall.
100.
Supergirl stares at the space he occupied for a moment, then
she collapses down to her knees. Both exhausted and relieved
that it's over.
Mark is the first one to react. He runs to Supergirl.
MARK
You okay?
SUPERGIRL
(gasping)
Just tired.
He offers his hand to help her up. She smiles and takes it.
In the distance, everyone begins to react. Bella Diaz is the
first of a group of reporters to rush toward Supergirl.
BELLA
(to the microphone)
-- And the fight between
Supergirl and candidate Bruce
Thornton seems to be finally over --
Mark stands between Supergirl and the reporters.
MARK
Come on, give her a break. She
just saved our asses. At least
give her a chance to catch her
breath.
Supergirl pats Mark in the shoulder and takes a step toward
the reporters.
SUPERGIRL
Don't worry, Mark, I can handle this.
BELLA
Supergirl, what the hell was that
all about? Why were you fighting
candidate Thornton?
REPORTER #1
Was Thornton some kind of a monster?
REPORTER #2
Why did all the other members of
Thornton's party suddenly disappear?
SUPERGIRL
Oh, that's a very long story. Ask
me again after I've drank a few
gallons of water.
101.
REPORTER #3
Are you okay?
Supergirl smiles at Reporter #3.
SUPERGIRL
Yes, I'm okay. Thank you for
asking. By the way, you're
getting the exclusive on the story.
BELLA
What?!
SUPERGIRL
At least he asked me if I was okay.
BELLA
I meant to ask. Really. It's just
that you're so strong and capable
and -- well, I figured you'd be okay.
REPORTER #3
(hushed)
Suck-up.
BELLA
(to Reporter #3)
Wimp.
Supergirl chuckles.
Another news van arrives, and a camera crew jumps out of it,
followed by the reporter, who trips on a wire and falls flat
on his face.
Supergirl notices the reporter and tries not to chuckle
again. Then the van driver hits a button on his remote and
the van's door closes automatically.
Supergirl's smile melts instantly and is replaced by an
expression of sheer horror.
INSERT SHOT from the first encounter in the spacecraft.
Where Zaamartis said: "you leave me no choice but to
introduce you to a friend I just made." And then the ship's
doors open ON THEIR OWN.
BACK TO SCENE
The horror in Supergirl's face is quickly replaced by anger.
SUPERGIRL
He tricked me!
She lets out a frustrated growl that startles everyone.
102.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
I can't believe I fell for it!
That son of a --
She takes off just in time so we don't hear the last word.
The reporters turn to each other, not knowing what to make
of what just happened.
BELLA
(hushed, to her Cameraman)
Did I hear correctly? Did
Supergirl just call someone a son
of a --
EXT. SKY
Supergirl looks around, frantically searching for the
spacecraft.
SUPERGIRL
Where are you?!
Several hundred yards away, the spacecraft de-cloaks and the
doors open.
INT. STORAGE 1
Supergirl enters Storage 1 and lands next to the doors.
Zaamartis stands on the other side of the room. He's smiling.
ZAAMARTIS
Strangely enough, you still don't
seem surprised to see me here.
You're getting smarter.
Fortunately for me, you're also
getting slower.
The new Battlebot drops from the railing on the ceiling and
slams its fist on Supergirl's head, sending her crashing
into the floor. The robot now weights over eighty tons (the
first version weighed twenty). It looks far more solid and
powerful. (Note: the first version of the Battlebot weighed
20 tons because that is the limit of the Tractor beam that
Zaamartis used to carry the alloys out of the spacecraft.)
She's dazed, almost unconscious. She tries to push herself
back to her feet, but another blow from the Battlebot knocks
her out.
Zaamartis stares at her for a moment. She's out of it, but
alive.
He turns to the Battlebot.
103.
ZAAMARTIS
Put her in the cage.
A part of the Battlebot's arm folds, revealing the Tractor
beam underneath. It aims the beam at Supergirl's unconscious
body and lifts her toward the right end of Storage 1.
On the floor there, lie two small boxes (the CAGES), the
size of a shoebox. The Battlebot gently places Supergirl on
the floor. Then Zaamartis pushes a button on one of the
Cages and a bluish force field forms around Supergirl.
Zaamartis regards her for a long moment, then turns back to
the robot.
ZAAMARTIS (CONT'D)
(to himself)
I'm going to need some hostages too.
EXT. MALL PARKING LOT - DAY
Most of the reporters are gathering their equipment in their
vans and heading after Supergirl.
Mark still stands where we last saw him. Along with Tina,
Bella and her cameraman.
Bella eyes Mark curiously. She thinks there's a story there.
BELLA
(to Mark)
So... you know Supergirl.
Mark tries to play dumb.
MARK
Doesn't everybody?
BELLA
No. I mean you KNOW her, right?
MARK
She saved my life a couple of
days ago. It's so cool that she
remembered my name.
BELLA
And that's all.
(beat)
Come on, we're off the record.
MARK
Well, not all. After she saved me,
she took me to my apartment. So
we started talking and one thing
led to another and, you know --
104.
Bella's curiosity turns into skepticism.
BELLA
And then you woke up.
MARK
Yeah. Pretty much. I can't wait
to go to sleep tonight. It's
going to be so cool.
Bella's expression says: what a dork. She motions her
cameraman and they both head for the news van.
A moment later we hear a RUSH of air. The Erkine spacecraft
de-cloaks and lands in the middle of the parking lot,
squashing a dozen cars in the process.
Zaamartis walks out of the open door. We can see Supergirl
lying unconscious inside the Cage.
Everyone gapes at Zaamartis.
BELLA
Weren't you dead?
ZAAMARTIS
I am dead.
Bella snaps out of it and heads for him, microphone in hand.
Her Cameraman follows her, training the camera on Zaamartis.
BELLA
What happened to you, Mr.
Thornton? What happened to the
members of your party? Why did
they all suddenly vanish?
Mark glances inside the spacecraft and notices Supergirl.
MARK
What did you do to Supergirl?
ZAAMARTIS
No time for questions from the
hostages.
We hear the hypnotic sound again.
ZAAMARTIS (CONT'D)
Come with me.
INT. STORAGE 1 - DAY
Supergirl slowly wakes up inside the Cage.
105.
There's another Cage lying next to Supergirl's. Five humans
are in it, including Mark, Tina and Bella.
Zaamartis stands a dozen yards away, looking as friendly as
he can. He eyes Supergirl with a faint smile.
The Battebot stands next to him. And behind them stands
another Hoverbike.
ZAAMARTIS
Welcome back to the land of the
living.
Supergirl looks up and glares at him.
MARK
Are you okay, Supergirl?
Supergirl turns to the hostages. She hadn't noticed them.
Her glare melts into a worried expression.
SUPERGIRL
Not really. How about you?
BELLA
Taking into account that I'm in
the middle of the greatest story
in my career, you'd think I'd be
happier. But somehow I'm not.
Supergirl sits up. She rubs the back of her head as she
turns to Zaamartis.
SUPERGIRL
Let them go and I promise I won't
try to escape.
ZAAMARTIS
It's isn't so much that I don't
believe you'd keep your promise.
It's that I actually need the
humans. Alive if possible. It's
you who's expendable here.
Supergirl turns back to the hostages as she slowly,
painfully stands up.
SUPERGIRL
Don't worry, I'll get you guys
out of here.
She turns to the Battlebot. It looks considerably stronger
now. She turns to the Cage, seizing it up, trying to find a
quick way out of it.
106.
ZAAMARTIS
I must say I'm impressed. I
seriously believed my little
stunt at the mall was going to
throw you off my scent. What gave
it away? It was the doors of the
spacecraft, wasn't it? There was
no way for me to open them on cue
unless I had taken over the
ship's computer. I know it was a
dumb idea, but I really felt that
the old Battlebot didn't stand a
chance against you in a fair
battle and --
SUPERGIRL
Shut up.
He pauses for a moment.
ZAAMARTIS
Don't get me wrong. I wasn't
mocking you. I do respect you.
And you have to admit I've gone
out of my way not to kill you or
any --
SUPERGIRL
Shut up. Just shut up. Do you
seriously believe there's
anything you can say that'd make
me go: "oh, he's really not such
a bad guy after all." Stop
pretending to be friendly. I'm
not buying it.
ZAAMARTIS
I'm not a monster, you know.
SUPERGIRL
Of course, you're not. You just
want to destroy an entire
civilization. There's nothing
wrong with that. And why? Just to
get revenge on what their parents
did to you. Will that bring your
planet back?
Zaamartis chuckles for a long moment.
ZAAMARTIS
The first thing you learn after
you've been in as many battles as
I have, is that you can never win
a war.
(MORE)
107.
ZAAMARTIS (CONT'D)
The victor is always the one who
loses the least. So before the
Erkines attacked me, I made a
copy of everything on Proden.
Every book ever written. Every
word ever said. Every blueprint
of every building ever made. The
DNA of every person and animal in
the planet. I hid all that
knowledge in one of Proden's
moons. I was hoping that after
the war was over I could use it
to restore whatever was destroyed.
Little did I know I'd need it to
restore the whole planet.
SUPERGIRL
Then why destroy Erkine? Why not
just take that knowledge and
rebuild Proden somewhere else?
ZAAMARTIS
Do you seriously believe they're
going to let me live? The moment
they find out about me, they'll
send their whole army to destroy
me. And why should Proden be
rebuilt anywhere else but on
Proden itself? They were the ones
who committed the genocide, why
should I be the one who runs away
like a criminal?
SUPERGIRL
The Erkines don't know that
Proden can be rebuilt. If you
talk to them they might agree to
restore it.
Zaamartis bursts into laughter.
ZAAMARTIS
Really? Do you believe that? Do
you believe that anyone on Erkine
would listen to the monster?
He laughs again.
ZAAMARTIS (CONT'D)
And I thought you were smart. In
the mean time, I must leave you.
I need to charge this body. Don't
try to break out of the cage
while I'm gone.
(MORE)
108.
ZAAMARTIS (CONT'D)
I rigged it so if yours is
destroyed, the humans will get
crushed by theirs. And even if
you decide to sacrifice your
friends, just take a good look at
the Battlebot. It's not the same
wimp you met before. I added
sixty tons to it. You wouldn't
want to mess with it now.
He jumps onto the Hoverbike and leaves the ship.
Supergirl watches Zaamartis as he leaves. She sends a quick
glance to the robot and then turns to the hostages.
SUPERGIRL
You might want to close your eyes
right about now.
She turns to her Cage. She touches the force field that
forms its walls. It looks like the force field that
protected the ship.
She takes a step back and punches the force field as hard as
she can. The cage shakes, but the force field remains active.
She punches it again.
The hostages look scared to death.
MARK
Supergirl! I don't... I don't
mean to question you but didn't
the guy say that if you destroyed
your cage, we'd get killed?
Supergirl punches the force field again before speaking.
SUPERGIRL
I'm sure he was lying about that.
He lies all the time.
She punches it again. The force field falters for a second,
but then reactivates itself.
MARK
Are you sure?
She turns to Mark and smiles.
SUPERGIRL
Trust me. I'm beginning to
understand that guy.
109.
She punches it again and the force field shatters. The
hostages react as if expecting their cage to crush them. But
nothing happens.
The Battlebot becomes active. It quickly moves toward Supergirl.
She uses her superbreath to freeze the floor under the
Battlebot. The robot slides and falls on its back. It tries
to get up, but the floor is too slippery.
Supergirl turns to the hostages and begins to punch their cage.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
It's nice to see you don't really
trust me.
MARK
Sorry. I... we...
Supergirl chuckles. She punches the cage a couple more times
and the force field shatters.
SUPERGIRL
Follow me.
She heads for Storage 2.
INT. STORAGE 2
Storage 2 is identical in size to Storage 1, and equally
empty except for the six Erkines standing inside another Cage.
The large metal doors that divide Storage 1 from 2 get
kicked in with incredible force, landing twenty yards away.
Supergirl stands behind the hole where the doors stood.
She quickly heads for the Cage, followed by the humans.
Then Supergirl begins to punch the Cage.
CERELIA
No need for violence. You can
simply disengage the force field.
Cerelia motions to the small box on the floor producing the
force field.
Supergirl regards the box for a moment, then continues to
punch the Cage.
SUPERGIRL
This way is more fun.
A couple more punches and the Cage shatters.
110.
Versim takes a couple of steps and peeks into Storage 1,
seeing the Battlebot still lying on the ground, trying to
get up and slipping on the frozen floor.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
Everyone go to the back. I'll
deal with Zaamartis.
The humans and Erkines head for Storage 3.
SISKAR
Where is Akreon?
SUPERGIRL
He's probably charging his body
right now.
SISKAR
He downloaded his brain in the
ship's computer.
SUPERGIRL
I already knew that.
SISKAR
I presume he did it so he's mind
will be at full power even if the
body is charged with nuclear
energy. The Infiltrator's body
probably doesn't have a mind,
only a connection with the ship's
computer. So if you destroy it --
SUPERGIRL
He's dead.
She rushes back to Storage 1.
INT. STORAGE 1
Zaamartis stands next to the fallen Battlebot. He turns to
Supergirl as she rushes into the room.
He points his finger at the floor and melts the ice with a
red beam shooting from the finger.
ZAAMARTIS
I must say I'm disappointed with
that Battlebot. It turned out to
be an idiot.
SUPERGIRL
You must know. You programmed it.
111.
She rushes at full speed, trying to go around him and into
the control room. But he moves as fast as she does, and
stands in front of her.
ZAAMARTIS
You're going to have to go
through me to get to the computer.
SUPERGIRL
I presumed so.
The Battlebot stands up.
Supergirl glances at the Battlebot, then turns to Zaamartis.
She raises her fists, ready for the fight.
INT. STORAGE 3
This one isn't empty like Storage 1 and 2. There's machinery
in the rear end (the engine and power generators). There's
more alien machinery near the right wall (the machine that
builds the Infiltrators). And more miscellaneous equipment
here and there.
The two groups (humans and Erkines) stand ten yards away
from each other. The Merkis seem calm, even Ernal. The
Karias seem a bit nervous. The humans seem on the verge of
screaming and crying.
All the Merkis are eyeing the humans.
Mark approaches the Merkis.
MARK
Are you just going to stand there
and do nothing while Supergirl
fights that guy?
CERELIA
We have no weapons. We came to
Earth in peace.
MARK
No weapons? What about that giant
robot?
SISKAR
It has no weaponry. Only it's
strength.
MARK
Can you build another one?
SISKAR
No. We only brought one Builder.
The one Akreon stole.
112.
MARK
What about those robots, like
that Thornton guy? Can you make more?
SISKAR
No. The machine that builds them
is controlled by the ship's
computer, which is controlled by
Akreon right now.
A beat.
MARK
What about that thing... Thornton
pressed a button on his hip and
he disintegrated. Do you have
more of those?
CERELIA
The disintegrating unit requires
the power from an Infiltrator. It
would not operate without it.
Another beat. Mark tries to come up with something.
MARK
Come on! At least try to think of
something. Supergirl is risking
her life to save your butts and
you're not even moving a finger
to help her.
CERELIA
There is a simple way to disable
Akreon. That lever over there --
(she points to the
back wall)
-- It controls the power
generator. If you disconnect the
power, you'll kill Akreon.
MARK
Then what the hell are you
waiting for?
He quickly moves to the lever.
SISKAR
It would kill us all as well.
Mark stops.
113.
SISKAR (CONT'D)
Disconnecting the power to the
engines would be fatal. The
engines will implode without the
proper shutdown procedures.
Mark deflates. Cerelia eyes him curiously. She walks to him.
CERELIA
This is an interesting dilemma.
Your friend, Supergirl as you
call her, doesn't stand a chance
against Akreon. She will die. And
so will you. By pulling that
lever, you will destroy Akreon
and yourself. But Supergirl will
live. I'm sure she would survive
the implosion. What would you do,
human? Given the fact that your
death is certain, would you
sacrifice yourself to save Supergirl?
Mark looks doubtful for a moment. Then he gathers all his
courage and grabs the lever. He looks as if about to pull it.
TINA
No! Don't!
MARK
I have to. I can't let --
TINA
No! What makes you think she's
going to lose? What if she's winning?
INSERT SHOT of Storage 1. Zaamartis lands a punch on
Supergirl's jaw, sending her staggering into the Battlebot
which lands a massive blow that sends her crashing into a wall.
BACK TO SCENE
Mark hesitates.
CERELIA
Your friend does not stand a
chance against a fully charged
Akreon and a Battlebot. She will
surely die. And so will we.
TINA
How can you say that! You don't
know her.
BELLA
Yeah, come on, she's Supergirl.
She can take care of herself.
114.
INSERT SHOT of Storage 1. Supergirl punches the Battlebot
several times while dodging its punches and a beam from
Zaamartis. She kicks the robot and almost takes its head off.
BACK TO SCENE
MARK
I... I don't know. I don't want
to take a chance. I can't let him
hurt her.
BELLA
Think about it this way: how do
you think she's going to feel
when she defeats that thing and
is about to come here and tell us
everything is okay, and then
suddenly you kill everyone just
because you didn't trust her to
handle the situation?
MARK
(beat)
I can't let him hurt her.
SISKAR
Will you be willing to die?
TINA
Come on, Mark. Give her a chance.
Trust her.
Mark slowly lets go of the lever.
CERELIA
There is no chance for your
friend to survive. She might
already be dead.
INSERT SHOT of Storage 1. Supergirl lands a couple of
punches on Zaamartis, but the Battlebot shoots the Tractor
beam at her, distracting her enough for Zaamartis to land a
couple of punches of his own.
BACK TO SCENE
BELLA
(to Cerelia)
What kind of a monster are you,
anyway? Supergirl is risking her
life to save you and you actually
expect her to lose. Maybe
Thornton is right and you deserve
to be killed.
115.
CERELIA
I am merely making an objective
judgment of the situation. Think
rationally about the events that
have occurred so far. Akreon used
your friend to destroy our shield,
to ensure that we wouldn't leave
the planet. He distracted her
while he took over the ship's
computer and built another
Infiltrator. Then he made her
believe that she had defeated him.
When she discovered his trick, he
was waiting for her. You see,
Akreon's greatest skill is his
ability to think ahead of his
opponents. He has always been two
steps ahead of Supergirl. And he
always has a plan B in case
something goes wrong. It is
impossible to do something Akreon
was not expecting you to do. And
now he has all the power of a
fully charged Infiltrator and an
eighty-ton battlebot at his
disposal. Your friend cannot
outthink him or overpower him.
She will invariably lose. It is
the only rational conclusion.
INSERT SHOT of Storage 1. Supergirl lands a roundhouse kick
on the battlebot's leg, severing half of it clean off.
Zaamartis kicks her. She barely blocks the kick but it still
sends her back into a wall.
The battlebot uses the Tractor beam to recover the piece of
its leg, and the Builder quickly restores it.
BACK TO SCENE
Mark looks lost. He doesn't know what to do. He grabs the
lever again.
TINA
Mark, please, trust her.
MARK
I'll trust her. But if that guy
hurts her, I swear I'll kill him.
Even if I have to kill everyone too.
INT. STORAGE 1
Supergirl lands a double-fisted punch on Zaamartis that
sends him staggering back a couple of yards.
116.
She looks tired and battle worn. He looks fresh as a lettuce.
And the Battlebot looks intact.
He fires a nuclear beam at her. She dodges in the last
second, and then barely dodges a shot from the Tractor beam.
She's out of balance when he lands a punch that sends her
flying to the left wall.
The Battlebot fires the Tractor beam. It hits her and pulls
her toward the robot, which lands another massive punch that
sends her flying to the back wall.
Supergirl crashes into the wall, completely dazed. She
slides down to the floor.
Zaamartis rushes to her, grabs her by the neck, lifts her
and slams her against the wall. He's choking her.
She grabs his arm and tries to push him away. But she's too
tired and he's too strong.
She lifts her legs, plants her boots on his chest, and tries
to push him away.
ZAAMARTIS
(calmly)
All my life, I've always been the
underdog. Always the weaker.
Always the smaller. Always the
slower.
Supergirl gathers all the strength she has left and pushes
with all her might. He slowly begins to move back. She pulls
his hand half an inch away from her neck. She can breathe now.
Zaamartis looks unperturbed.
ZAAMARTIS (CONT'D)
Always having to think my way out
because that was my only chance.
She continues to slowly push him away. Then he lands a punch
on her stomach, knocking the air and most of the fight out
of her. Her legs slump down. His hand returns to her neck,
choking her again.
ZAAMARTIS (CONT'D)
It feels good to finally be able
to just beat the hell out of my
opponent.
She looks out of it, about to pass out.
117.
ZAAMARTIS (CONT'D)
No subterfuges. No clever
deceptions. Just good, old-
fashioned brute force. I love
this feeling.
She lifts her legs again, and tries to push him away. But
she barely has the strength to keep her legs up.
Then her left foot moves to his belt, toward the
disintegrating unit.
He moves out of the way just as she's about to push the
button. Then he spins and sends her flying to the Battlebot.
The robot catches her in the air, wrapping its massive hands
around her torso and pinning her arms to her sides.
Zaamartis looks angry as hell. He screams at her.
ZAAMARTIS (CONT'D)
Do you want to die for them?!
He shoots a thick beam that hits her in the shoulder. She
screams in pain.
ZAAMARTIS (CONT'D)
You want to die for those
worthless Erkines?! Then die for
them!
He shoots another beam at her left shoulder. She's in
incredible pain, but shoots him a heat beam. This triggers
the exchange. He tries to stop it, but his energy continues
to shoot at her shoulder.
Supergirl's costume vaporizes instantly where the beam is
hitting it. Her skin is boiling with the heat produced by
the nuclear energy. She's in incredible pain, but forces
herself to continue shooting at him with her heat beam.
He screams, unable to stop it.
First her shoulder, then her whole body begin to glow red
with the intense heat. The red glow moves down to the
Battlebot's hands and they start to melt.
Supergirl continues to hit Zaamartis with her heat vision
for a second longer, but the pain is too great, and she's
too tired and too weak. She stops and his beam stops too.
Zaamartis falls to the ground.
The Battlebot's hands melt away, and Supergirl slowly drops
to the ground. The robot takes several steps back, as the
red glow moves to its forearms, and they begin to melt.
118.
It begins to wave its arms wildly, trying to cool them off,
but it doesn't work. Now only about a foot of each arm is
left. The rest is nothing more than silver goo on the floor.
Then the Builder comes out and cuts the robot's arms off,
inches ahead of the glow. The piece of the arm falls to the
ground and melts away. Then the Builder reconstructs the
arms using material from torso and legs.
Zaamartis stands up. He looks even angrier now, but his
voice sounds calm.
ZAAMARTIS (CONT'D)
That was stupid. Extremely stupid.
Supergirl remains on the floor, clutching her left shoulder.
We see a growing pool of blood under her. She manages to
push herself up to her knees, but her back is still bent,
and her head rests on the floor. We can't see her face right
now.
ZAAMARTIS (CONT'D)
You are willing to sacrifice
yourself to save a species who
wouldn't move a finger to save
their own mother.
Supergirl begins to chuckle. He frowns at her. Puzzled by
this reaction.
She sits up. Still on her knees. Still clutching her left
shoulder. She's in incredible pain, tired and hurt, but
manages a smile. We can see the wound on her shoulder. A
third-degree burn, half an inch deep. The bleeding has
stopped, though.
She continues to smile and chuckle for a moment.
SUPERGIRL
You are right. You were always
the underdog. At least that's
what I thought.
She takes several deep breaths. She looks pitifully weak and
wasted.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
I thought I could just overpower
you. I never really tried to
outthink you.
He stares at her curiously. He knows it's some kind of
desperate subterfuge, but seems interested on finding out
where she's going with this.
119.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
And now, when I can barely
breathe, it finally occurs to me.
It was so simple. The computer
needs energy. I just needed to
cut the energy supply.
He chuckles.
ZAAMARTIS
Indeed. Should've been obvious.
But there's nothing you can do now.
SUPERGIRL
I can't. But they can.
ZAAMARTIS
The Erkines? No. Shutting down
the power now would cause the
ship's engines to implode,
killing them. Unselfishness is
against their religion.
SUPERGIRL
Not the Erkines -- the humans.
Mark. He'd rather die and take
you with him than let you kill me.
Sweet, isn't he?
ZAAMARTIS
(beat)
You're bluffing.
SUPERGIRL
Am I? Have you just met humans?
They're a pretty vengeful kind.
You'd probably like them.
(beat)
I can see Mark from here. He's
about to shut down the power
generators. I'm actually wishing
he doesn't do it. But there's
nothing I can do now. It's up to him.
Zaamartis turns toward Storage 3. He can't see anything from
here. He turns to the Battlebot.
ZAAMARTIS
Crush her.
He turns around and rushes for the back of the ship.
The Battlebot walks to Supergirl, traps her inside its
massive hands and begins to crush her. She aims her heat
vision at her right hand, heating it up.
120.
Then she thrusts her red-hot hand into the robot's hand and
easily cuts through it, freeing herself from its grasp.
She falls back to the floor, barely able to stand on her own
two feet.
The Battlebot throws a punch that she dodges at the last
second, while she heats up her fist again and lands a punch
that severs the robot's leg clean off.
The Battlebot falls on its back, it tries to get up, but
Supergirl severs its left arm.
She heats up her hand again and thrusts it into the robot's
chest. It cuts like a hot knife through butter. She moves
her hand around, destroying all the robot's mechanisms
inside. The robot's remaining limbs flail about for a second
or two before going limp.
She keeps her hand inside the robot's chest, looking for
something. She finds it and pulls it out. The Builder.
She holds the Builder while she stares at the limp robot.
The thing isn't going to move again. The Builder's legs
flail madly, trying to break away, but it can't. Then she
nonchalantly crushes the Builder and heads for the control room.
INT. STORAGE 3
Mark holds on to the power lever as if his life depended on
it, staring at the door that separates Storage 3 from
Storage 2.
The door opens. Zaamartis stands outside. Mark tightens his
grip on the lever, but can't force himself to pull it.
Something about Zaamartis' eyes stops him.
Zaamartis stares at him with a fatherly expression on his
face. He looks concerned. Not concerned that Mark will kill
him, but concerned that Mark might hurt himself.
He slowly walks to the back where Mark stands. The Erkines
stand still, afraid to move a muscle and so do the humans.
It takes Zaamartis several seconds to walk to Mark (about
the same time it takes Supergirl to get rid of the Battlebot).
He grabs Mark's hand and gently moves it away from the lever.
Mark seems mesmerized by his eyes, though Zaamartis isn't
using the hypnotic sound.
Then Zaamartis welds the lever in place. He smiles and says
something to Mark. Quietly. Only he can hear it.
ZAAMARTIS
It is over. No need for sacrifices.
121.
INT. CONTROL ROOM
Supergirl stands next to the main console. Her hand on it.
All she has to do is push her hand into the console and the
computer is gone, and so is Zaamartis.
Zaamartis enters the control room. He looks back through the
open door, and stares at the destroyed Battlebot for a
second. Then the door closes.
He turns to Supergirl and smiles.
ZAAMARTIS
You know. As I walked back here I
wondered why I was able to walk
all the way here -- why you
didn't simply destroy the
computer while I was away.
He heads toward her. Walking very slowly.
ZAAMARTIS (CONT'D)
I presume you'd like to gloat. Go
ahead. Gloat. You defeated me.
You've earned it.
SUPERGIRL
No. I just wanted to ask you a
question.
ZAAMARTIS
Go ahead.
SUPERGIRL
Where is it? The copy you made of
everything on Proden. Where is it
and how can I use it?
Zaamartis stops. His smile slowly fades. He regards her for
a long moment.
ZAAMARTIS
The second moon. Two miles below
the surface. Any good scanner
should be able to find it. The
password is my daughter's name:
Ilzia.
SUPERGIRL
I'll personally make sure that
Proden lives again and that the
Erkines learn their lesson.
ZAAMARTIS
It's strange that you feel the
need to tell me that.
122.
A beat.
SUPERGIRL
Anything else?
ZAAMARTIS
No. I am ready to leave. Oh, one
thing. The first female to be
born on the new Proden. Call her
Ilzia. Would you do that for me?
SUPERGIRL
I will.
Supergirl thrusts her hand into the console, shattering it.
Zaamartis' eyes become blank, lifeless. And slowly his body
slumps to the floor.
INT. LINDA'S ROOM - NIGHT
Supergirl stands in front of her open closet, staring at all
her clothes hung inside. Mark stands by her side. There's
very little else in the room. Only a small bed.
SUPERGIRL
What should I take for an
interstellar trip?
MARK
A towel. Definitively a towel.
She chuckles. He goes to put his arm around her shoulder
(the left one) but remembers her injury and pulls back.
SUPERGIRL
Don't worry. It already healed.
He wraps his arm around her shoulders, tentatively at first,
not wanting to hurt her. Then she rests her head on his
shoulder.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
This will be my first time
outside Earth since I got here.
MARK
Do you want me to go with you?
SUPERGIRL
(chuckles)
No. I'm not sure it's a good idea
to go myself. Am I doing the
right thing?
123.
MARK
Trying to restore a wrongfully
destroyed planet and make sure it
never happens again? I think so.
But then again, what do I know?
They chuckle.
Then his expression turns serious. He stands facing her.
MARK (CONT'D)
Look, I know this is the worst
moment to ask you this, but I
really need to know -- where do
we stand?
SUPERGIRL
You mean as in what are the
chances of you and me going steady?
MARK
Yes. I mean -- I know you have a
lot in your head as it is and I
don't want to add to that... but
I need to know.
SUPERGIRL
You want to know if you can date
someone else while I'm gone?
MARK
No. It's not that. Look, whatever
you choose -- it's okay with me.
If you just want to be friends,
I'll understand, but if you...
you know...
SUPERGIRL
(smiles)
Are you really this nice, or are
you just afraid I'll beat you up?
Mark chuckles.
MARK
Okay, let's be honest. A week ago,
I was the most carefree, selfish
and self-centered guy on the
planet. Then there you were,
risking your life to save a race
of beings you'd never met before.
I mean, I wouldn't cross the
street for any of them, and you
almost got yourself killed.
That's so freakishly unselfish.
It made me feel like a jackass.
124.
SUPERGIRL
You were about to kill yourself
to save me.
MARK
I didn't.
SUPERGIRL
I'm glad about that.
MARK
Anyway. If I could help you in
any way, even if just as a friend
who listens to you whenever you
need someone to listen to you.
Maybe, you know, I could be a
part of it. Know what I mean?
Supergirl puts her hands on his shoulders and leans closer
seductively. He puts his hands on her hips.
SUPERGIRL
So you want to know where we stand?
They kiss passionately for a long moment.
Then they pull apart and eye each other.
SUPERGIRL (CONT'D)
(beat)
You're going to start giggling
again, aren't you?
He chuckles.
MARK
It's just so cool. I'm dating
Supergirl.
INT. CONTROL ROOM - NIGHT
Through the front window we see only outer space. The small
circle of the moon can be seen to the far left.
Supergirl stands several feet behind the consoles and chairs.
Arms folded and looking longingly at the space outside.
Versim and the Karias stand behind her. None of them will
sit while she stands. Versim is taller than her, but he
hunches his back so his head is never higher than hers.
Ernal sits at the controls, alone.
Cerelia and Siskar stand on the other side of the room. She
approaches Siskar and talks to him in hushed tones.
125.
CERELIA
Look at the Karias. They treat
Supergirl as a superior.
SISKAR
I presumed they would. She
defeated the mythical monster,
even with the odds against her.
The Karias on Erkine will do as well.
CERELIA
I'm sure of it. She will be
treated as a General. Perhaps
even Generals will treat her as a
superior. She will have no
problem convincing them to
restore Proden.
SISKAR
She won't.
CERELIA
(beat)
I was thinking about something:
wasn't this the best outcome for
Akreon? Think about it. Even if
he had defeated Supergirl, he
wouldn't have been able to
destroy Erkine by himself. And
even if he had, he wouldn't have
been able to restore Proden, and
all the neighboring planets would
have regarded him as a monster.
He would never have been able to
live in peace. But this way,
Proden will be restored. Without
wars or deaths.
SISKAR
You presume he lost the battle on
purpose? Clear your head of such
thoughts, Rationalist. Everything
is as it should be. Ernal will be
punished for freeing the monster.
Versim will be punished for
calling him roach. Proden will
live again. And maybe in a few
thousand years, when the legend
of the Supergirl from Krypton
overshadows the fear of the
Akreon, perhaps Zaamartis will be
allowed to see his beloved Proden
once more.
CERELIA
But Siskar --
126.
Siskar gives her a fatherly smile.
SISKAR
Everything is as it should be.
Think only about that, Cerelia.
Only about that.
He pats her on the shoulder and walks toward Supergirl.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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