Perry White
Kent, I need a story to run with the page three sidebar. Get me everything you can on this terrorist group.
Clark Kent
Right! [stops] Uh, sorry. T... terrorists?
Perry White
Get your head out of the closet, Kent! Where've you been for the past twelve hours?
Clark Kent
Home.
Perry White
Well, don't you watch television?
Clark Kent
Well actually I don't enjoy television, Mister White, there's too much violence. I was just reading Dickens.
Jimmy Olsen
(races in)
Mr. Kent! A gang of terrorists seized the Eiffel Tower! In Paris!
Perry White
He knows where the Eiffel Tower is, Olsen! You do, don't you Kent?
Clark Kent
Yes, sir. Has anybody been hurt?
Jimmy Olsen
Well, so far the hostages are unharmed.
Clark Kent
The hostages?
Jimmy Olsen
Yeah! Tourists! About twenty of them!
Perry White
Yeah, but that's just petty-ante stuff. These guys claim that if the French government doesn't meet their demands, they've got a hydrogen bomb ready to level Paris.
Clark Kent
(genuinely surprised)
Well, geez Mr. White. That's t... terrible!
Perry White
That's why they call them "terrorists", Kent.
General Zod
[Superman flies off, abandoning Metropolis to Zod]
Our victory is complete. The Son of Jor-El has fled.
JO Jimmy Olson
Superman fled?
Perry White
I don't believe you!
Lex Luthor
You heard him. Three against one.
General Zod
He fled in fear of us!
Lois Lane
(shakily)
He'll be back! As long as he's alive, he's going to try again.
General Zod
The next time we will kill him.
Lex Luthor
The next time? The next time? What am I gonna do with you people, huh? I held up my end. I delivered the Blue Boy. What do I get for my triple threat? "Bow! Yield! Kneel!" That kind of stuff closes out of town.
General Zod
Why do you say this to me… when you know I will kill you for it?
Lex Luthor
Kill me? Lex Luthor? Extinguish the greatest criminal flame of our age? Eradicate the only man on Earth with—
Ursa
Kill him!
Lex Luthor
Superman's address?
Clark Kent
[Clark and Lois enter Mr. White's office]
Good Morning, Lois. How are you today?
Lois Lane
Oh, I'm just super. Thanks.
Clark Kent
Good morning, Mr. White.
Lois Lane
[elbows Clark]
I'm super.
Perry White
Yeah, morning. You're late, Kent.
Clark Kent
Yeah, uh, sorry, Mr. White. I got stuck in traffic.
Lois Lane
Oh, that's a new one.
Clark Kent
Excuse me?
Lois Lane
I mean, as opposed to: "I got stuck in a phone booth" or "I got locked in the men's bathroom".
Clark Kent
Lois, what are you talking about? I'm sorry I was late-
Perry White
If you two wanna bicker, that's great! I have just the assignment for you. You're gonna pose as a honeymoon couple in Niagara Falls to get an expose on the newlywed racket. Some of the hotels up there are just bilking those poor kids for every cent they can get. Real human-interest stuff, though. Make your Aunt Hattie cry her eyes out.
Clark Kent
Um, newlyweds?
Lois Lane
That is a great idea, Mr. White!
Clark Kent
Excuse me, Mr. White, I'm sorry, but I'm right in the middle of a series on the city council and I-
Lois Lane
I mean, it wouldn't take long! We could just fly right up there and zoom back down again. No, Superman?
Perry White
Ha! Yeah. If he'd give you two a ride, maybe we could save a couple bucks.
General Zod
(Superman flees Metropolis; the villains return to the Daily Planet)
Our victory is complete. The Son of Jor-El has fled.
JO Jimmy Olson
Superman fled?
Perry White
I don't believe it.
Lex Luthor
You heard him. Three against one.
General Zod
He fled in fear of us!
Lois Lane
(shakily)
He'll be back! Believe me, he'll be back.
General Zod
Then next time we will kill him.
Lex Luthor
The next time? The next time? What am I gonna do with you people, huh? I held up my end; I delivered the Blue Boy. What do I get for my triple threat? "Bow! Yield! Kneel!" That kind of stuff closes out of town.
General Zod
Why do you say this to me when you know I will kill you for it?
Lex Luthor
Kill me? Lex Luthor? Extinguish the greatest criminal flame of our age? Eradicate the only man on Earth with...
Ursa
(impatiently)
Let me kill him!
Lex Luthor
Superman's address?
General Zod
(Lois and Perry stare at Luthor in shock) (suspiciously)
What more do you want? I can see the greed written on your face.
Lex Luthor
A small incentive, oh Fullest One. A mere bauble to jog the memory.
General Zod
What more?
Lex Luthor
Cuba.
