♪
[SEAGULLS CAWING]
[CROWD CHATTERING]
MAN: My name's on the list. MAN 2: Let us in.
MAN 3: I'll pay you double. WOMAN: Triple!
Behind the ropes, people.
We have special tickets.
Hey! But I just gave you $100.
Thank you. Now get behind the rope.
MAN 4: Serves him right.
WOMAN: Some people think
they can buy anyone.
What do you think?
Uh, well, I, uh... Oh, my.
I don't have a ticket.
Always room for one more.
Thanks, skipper.
Mwah.
Hey, what's she got that I haven't got?
Everything.
[PIANO PLAYING PLEASANT MUSIC]
So, what do you think this stuff's worth, Clark?
To the right collector? Millions.
And my mom made me throw out all my models.
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
Now, there's a camera-friendly face.
Not exactly newsworthy, Jim.
This is for my private collection.
I hope you got my good side.
Uh... [CHUCKLES]
Ladies and gentlemen, the regatta is about to begin.
[SQUEALS]
Out already?
Jeez.
♪
Fire! Hey!
Somebody get some help!
[CROWD SCREAMING]
Come on, Jimmy. Time to go.
[COUGHING]
Clark! Clark!
Where are you?
♪
[GASPING]
Let's go.
Don't move. I'll get you.
[CINDERS CRACKLING]
Gone.
Like a puff of smoke.
MAN: Move away from the building, sir.
I'm a reporter. I was just...
Sorry. My crew's cleaning hazardous chemicals
from the interior.
You'll have to move back.
Hazardous chemicals?
At a yacht club?
Fuel storage. Petroleum, you know.
The Metropolis Yacht Club is sail-power only.
There's no fuel being stored there.
I wanna see what's going on.
For your own safety...
I suggest you back off.
♪
Keisha, get me Kurt.
My tax dollars at work.
You're going to love the merchandise, Donny.
And I'm offering it to you first
'cause you're my absolute favorite fence.
DONNY: Newspaper said a bunch of boat stuff was missing.
Please. Nautical memorabilia.
Whatever it is, I'm gonna have to pass.
Really?
[BLOWS WHISTLE]
The whistle was touched by the president's lips.
What wasn't?
Uh... Donny, I can give you a really good price.
I have to get out of town.
Look, Volcana, honey, I'd love to help you,
but I can't move that kind of stuff.
Don't you have anything else?
I might.
Yeah? When?
Tuesday. Meet me at the usual place.
You won't be sorry.
[GASPS]
♪
Where exactly is "the usual place"?
♪
[WOMAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY OVER P.A.]
We opened the institute about 20 years ago.
It was the first school to offer paranormal children
a place where they could fit in.
And you also help them develop their abilities?
Let me show you.
Like most things,
telekinesis takes practice.
This little girl had a 40-percent accuracy rating
when she got here.
Now it's up to 92.
Impressive.
But tell me something.
Who pays for all this?
I... I thought you were doing a story
about paranormals.
Just trying to be thorough.
Where does your funding come from?
Why, we have donors and... The government?
[SIGHS]
Mr. Kent, we do some very worthwhile work here,
and the government gives us considerable... encouragement.
But if the public at large knew
that this was how some of their taxes were being spent...
They wouldn't understand.
Exactly.
Keep working, Billy. It'll come.
Ever have anyone who exhibited pyrokinetic abilities?
Py... Pyrokinesis?
You know, the ability to start and control fires.
Oh, dear. Look at the time.
You haven't answered my question.
I have another appointment. Billy will show you out.
I knew he was gonna do that.
MAN: Now, that went well.
I'm doing the best I can.
That's what we're afraid of.
Wh...? Where are you taking me?
A safe house. For your own protection.
Protection? Protection from whom?
Just get in the car.
♪
[GUNSHOT]
Hey!
[GUNSHOT]
Get down!
You see anyone?
[GRUNTS]
Please, don't turn me in.
You gonna tell me what's going on?
You take me some place safe, and I'll tell you everything.
Deal.
By the way, that was a nice diversion tactic.
How'd you do it?
Uh, the tires?
A form of kinetic manipulation.
As they say, "I'm also a client."
[SLURPING]
It was about 10 years ago.
A teenaged girl named Claire Selton came to us
with enormous pyrokinetic potential.
But I never got to see her fulfill it.
Why not?
The government men. They took her.
Took her?
As in, kidnapped?
Mm-hm. Can I have another?
What did they do with her?
Stripped away her past, code-named her "Volcana,"
and tried their hardest
to turn her into a living weapon.
Poor kid.
Ah, don't feel too sorry for her.
If this is the same person we're talking about,
she could give as good as she got.
[SLURPING]
Ahhh.
This is almost paranormally good.
[LAUGHS]
I... Paranormal. That's... That's really good.
♪
Uh, I have an errand I need to run.
Oh, don't worry about me.
[SLURPING]
I'll be fine.
[BURPS]
Life, liberty and the pursuit of my happiness.
You're gonna make me earn this, aren't you?
Don't do it, Volcana.
I can help you.
No, thanks.
These days, I help myself.
Listen, nobody will blame you for what you've done.
But the stealing has to stop. Now.
Stop? I'm just getting warmed up.
Aah!
♪
[GASPS]
You have to trust me, Volcana.
Do you know how many times I've heard that?
From my parents
before they shuffled me off to the institute?
From the institute just before they turned me over to the feds.
And from the government
just before they took away my life!
And that was with my left hand.
[PEOPLE SCREAMING]
♪
Look. Amazing.
WOMAN: What was that?
Donny, I've got something for you.
It wasn't what I originally hoped for but...
I guess I always knew you'd catch up to me, Kurt.
Now leave, before I make it even hotter for you.
You've been bad, Volcana.
You've been worse.
And now that we've recapped the past two years...
You shouldn't have left us.
I don't like being used.
All for a good cause.
I'll be the judge of that.
And if you're thinking you can make me go back, forget it.
Now, that's where you're wrong.
♪
Aah!
You see, we've had two years to think about... how to do it.
♪
[HORNS HONKING IN DISTANCE]
So I see cop cars outside this hotel.
Desk clerk tells me she heard some kind of struggle
in a room she rented to a redhead.
You call that a story?
Here's the weird part:
The room was covered in foam.
The police say it's a powerful fire retardant,
but get this: There was no fire.
Oh, now, that's a headline.
LOIS: "No Fire in Hotel Room."
♪
Shred 'em. And then we're outta here.
Hey! Hey!
Where did they take her?
[ENERGY SURGING]
It's a G-40 blue laser, alien.
One shot can penetrate
five feet of tempered steel in 0.3 seconds.
I don't think even... Argh!
I repeat:
Where did they take her?
[WHIMPERING]
♪
KURT: No escape, Volcana.
The tank is filled with an inert gas.
The breathing mask is your only source of oxygen.
Not enough for you to start a fire.
And should you try...
[COUGHING]
I wouldn't give us any trouble. Understood?
[PANTING OVER SPEAKER]
Okay, you win.
Who do you want me to kill?
My dear, you can't believe
we'd trust you with another assignment.
However, it did cost us a lot of money
to develop your talents,
and we'd like to get some of it back.
How?
A foreign government
doing metagenetic experiments wants to study you.
You mean dissect me.
Probably. When they're done playing.
[WHIRRING]
Superman.
Just in time.
[GUNS COCKING]
Really?
You can see we've shut down Volcana.
As you know, she's a real loose cannon.
You're the loose cannon.
You and your entire operation.
Your friends told me Project Firestorm's funding
was cut off years ago.
This isn't the government. It's just you.
♪
Yes.
MAN: Move it! Move it!
[ALL YELLING]
Thanks.
Don't get sentimental. It's a one-time thing.
♪
[GASPS]
Shoe's on the other foot, eh, lover?
Volcana, please.
SUPERMAN: Volcana, no.
Let the courts deal with him.
You'll understand if I'm a little skeptical
about the justice system.
[GASPS]
I prefer my own justice.
And if you're not part of my solution...
you're part of my problem.
No!
Hey, I told you last time. I like chunky.
Adapt.
Food, shelter, sunshine... Could be worse.
Could be Metropolis Women's Prison
if you weren't so volatile.
Polite to the end. Your mother raised you well.
I was lucky.
Yes, you were.
I hope you'll think of me.
Especially on those cold Metropolis nights.
Don't you ever cool down?
No.
♪