"I know." " That was..." " I mean..." "Exactly." "The only thing I'd like more would be..." " More?" " Yes." "You know, we could still make those reservations in Hawaii." "We are not leaving this room." "How are we gonna make it through the day?" " I don't know." " You'd think after two weeks..." "But we waited so much longer than two weeks." "So it was worth it then?" "The wait, I mean." "Lois, it was perfect." "It was better than perfect." "At least it was for me." "Clark, it was super." "Okay." "Thanks." "Hey, hey, look who's back." "The happy couple." " Lois, Clark." "How was Hawaii?" " Are you kidding?" "These two have got the very same look on their faces that Alice and I had when we got back from our honeymoon at Graceland." "Well, we all know how that turned out." "So, Jimmy, how was your date with that redhead?" "It was good." "I don't think we're soul mates, but..." "Well, give it some time." "You never know." "You think there might be a future there?" " Trust me." " Cool." "Hey, check this out." "Thirty-six B, last page, under the retractions." ""Metropolis Public Library to Extend Summer Hours by James Olsen."" "Congratulations, Jimmy." "Yeah, way to go, Jimmy." "I mean, James." "It's still Jimmy." "I wanted something more professional sounding for my first byline." "Jimmy Olsen." "Jimmy Olsen." "Jimmy Olsen." "I need to speak with Jimmy Olsen." " Take it easy, sir." " There you are." "I almost didn't make it here." "The police wouldn't listen." "Someone's got to tell the story." "You'll do that for me, won't you, Jimmy?" "Yeah, I will, sure." "Why don't you come here and sit down." "Relax." "I'll go and get you something to drink, all right?" "Do you know who that is?" "I don't know." "I've never seen him before." "Maybe he saw my article." "He's dead." ""Benjamin Rockland."" " This can't be the same guy." " Benny Rockland?" "You know him?" "Since the sixth grade." "I gave him this scar." "Benny?" " So that old man...?" " Was really a 22-year-old kid." "Some weird disease that looks like aging?" "The coroner said no, although something turned him into a 90-year-old man." "I was checking on Jimmy's friend while you were at the medical examiner." "Benny Rockland, grad student at Metropolis U, lived in the dorms." "According to his roommate Benny started a job last Thursday and hasn't been back." " New job?" " Yeah." "That's all he could tell me." " Who are you calling?" " Dr. Klein." "Maybe he can find something the coroner didn't." " Yeah, okay." "Yeah, thanks." " Chief, I want this story." " Now, son..." " Benny was my friend." " This is personal." " Personal!" "Which is exactly why I put Lois and Clark on it." "Jimmy, a good reporter has gotta have a steady, methodical, objective eye." "It's tough enough for seasoned veterans." "For you, in this instance, it'd be near impossible." " Chief, I know I'm ready." " I have every confidence in your abilities." "You're a whip-smart kid but you're still a kid." "Don't be in such a rush." "You'll have your day." "All right, great." "Thank you, Dr. Klein." "He's agreed to look at a tissue sample." " What is it?" " Alarm." "Metropolis Prison." "I'll meet you at STAR Labs." "What?" "I just realized this is the first time that you-know-who has separated us since we've been married." "Well, when you see you-know-who you tell him that I expect my husband back in one piece." "Yeah, hi." "I was wondering if you could tell me about one of your delivery boys." "Benny Rockland." " Thanks, Superman." " What happened?" "The wall blew out and D Block was pumped full of gas." "We didn't see who broke him out." " Broke who out?" " Conner Schenk." " Never heard of him." " I'm not surprised." "He's been on the inside for 50 years." "I think they built this prison around him." "Somebody sure went to a lot of trouble to break a senior citizen out of prison." "Weird, isn't it?" "Free." "After all these years." "Free." "Have you any idea how this feels, doc?" "I have a pretty good idea how it feels." "Remove your hand." "It has been 50 years." "Look, this is strictly a business arrangement." "You promised to lead me to your legendary stash if I broke you out." "I've done my part." " Now, where is it?" " The stash?" "Yes, the stash." "You mean the millions I squirreled away in my impenetrable hiding place right before my fiery and dramatic capture and subsequent imprisonment." " That stash?" " That would be the one, yes." "I don't remember." "Listen, old man, you better start remembering and fast." "If the police figure out it was me visiting you in prison and not your nonexistent niece, this whole thing could end before it starts." "Just stick me in that doohickey of yours, and I'm sure it'll all come back to me." "That wasn't the deal." "You're supposed to get me the money first." "No memory, no money." "Very well." "We'll need a donor." "This is incredible." "This tissue sample..." "It's aging." " It's what?" " It's breaking down." "Whatever it was sped up this boy's aging process it's still working." "Do you have any idea what that could be?" "This is what is strange." "There doesn't seem to have been any foreign agent introduced." "It's almost as if his youth was sucked out..." " ...by some powerful force." " What could do that?" "Something noxious maybe." "Intense radiation." "A cell disrupter." "Whatever it was caused a chain reaction at the molecular level which brought about accelerated decrepitude." "Think of your victim's aging process as the opposite of Superman's, for instance." " What?" " Well, you know how Superman's molecular structure is such that his aging process actually stabilizes and slows?" "In the case..." "No, no, no." "Hold on, hold on." "What do you mean "stabilizes and slows"?" "What I mean is it stabilizes and slows." "So are you saying Superman won't age?" "No." "No, no, of course he will." "He's not immortal." "Well, so he will age but just not like you and me?" "Well, it's all speculation, you understand?" "But I think it's safe to say that long after you and I are dead and gone Superman will still be in his prime, fighting for truth, justice..." "The American way." "I think that I will put this sample on ice, see if I can salvage any of it." "No, but..." "Sorry that took so long." "It was the weirdest prison break." "You okay?" "Lois, did you talk to Dr. Klein?" "Well, what'd he say?" "Old age." "He said it was old age." "I have to get some air." "Did someone here order a pizza?" "Yes." "Come in." "You order in a lot?" "Beg your pardon?" "I noticed on our computers that we delivered a pizza here last Thursday." "You know, I seem to have left my wallet in the next room." " Would you mind waiting?" " No, no." "Go ahead." "Thank you." "Steady, methodical, objective." "So you enjoy your work?" "Yeah, it's... it's great." "I meet a lot of interesting people." "I imagine the hours can be a strain." " Must make your wife lonely." " I'm not married." "Really?" "Live alone?" "Childhood diseases?" "Sorry?" "Childhood diseases." "I assume you've had them all." "This can't be good." "Gorgeous." "This is incredible." "I look 25 again." "More like 30." "It really works." "You realize what that means?" "Immortality, riches beyond imagination, no more dateless Saturday nights." "I could use some help over here, you know." "Right." " Is he dead?" " Unconscious." " How come he doesn't look any older?" " His system's still processing the event." "It'll take hours before he realigns to his new matrix." "Right." "So how come he doesn't look any older?" "He will." "Trust me." "What?" "Oh, no." "James Olsen, Daily Planet." "He's not a pizza delivery boy." "So?" "So I target certain demographics for these experiments." "Runaways, homeless people, an occasional delivery boy." "Not employees of major metropolitan newspapers." "I can't take him to the drop spot." "That could endanger everything." "So I'll get rid of him." "Get rid of him?" "Don't look so skittish." "There's a reason I was serving two consecutive life sentences." "I'm not nice." "There's gotta be a way to figure out where Benny Rockland was during the time he was missing." "Listen to this." "His stomach contents." "The last meal was Salisbury steak, strained carrots and tapioca pudding." " What does that sound like to you?" " Like he didn't know it was his last meal." "Hospital food." "Plus they found traces of sedatives in his system." "Reeks of hospital to me." "If we could just find the one that served that exact meal the night before he died then..." "What?" "It's not that far-fetched." "No, it's not." "Actually, it's..." "it's very smart." " So, what are you grinning at?" " You." "You are brilliant and you're talented." "You are gorgeous and you are my wife." "So I grin." "Well, you're not so bad yourself." "You know I have been thinking that we should talk about where we're gonna live." " What do you mean?" " I mean, look at this place." "It is pretty cluttered, isn't it?" "Looks like we're fencing stolen merchandise." "Plus, wouldn't it be nice to have a place that wasn't my place or your place but our place?" "Our place." "I like the sound of that." "Look at us." "We are starting a whole new wonderful, long life together." "So, what do you think?" "A house?" "A duplex?" "Is there any particular style that you've always liked?" "Do we have to decide this right now?" "I have hospitals to call." "That kid." "We gotta ice him before he goes to the cops." "Relax." "He's not gonna go to the police." "He wouldn't know what to tell them." "The Youth Wave affects a donor's short-term memory." "Chances are he'll just wander home and wonder how he got there." ""Chances are"?" "You don't sound like you really know what this thing will do." "The important thing now is to get your stash and get out of Metropolis before he starts to show signs of aging." "I'm not leaving a witness." "It ain't professional." "Besides, he hit me." "You don't have a choice." "We're up against the clock." "I'm getting old again." "The device isn't perfected yet." "That's why you haven't zapped yourself with it." "You're waiting until you get it right, aren't you?" "In order to achieve total regeneration I must have plutonium to augment the human life force." "And that takes money." "Lots of it." "Get it for me, and I'll make sure that next time you stay young." "All right, thanks." " No luck?" " Seems like every hospital in Metropolis served steak and strained carrots the night before Benny Rockland died." "No tapioca pudding though." " What are those?" " Old copies of "House Resplendent."" "We could flip through and see if anything strikes our fancy." "I marked a couple." ""The Matsons enjoy their retirement in their Cape Cod dream home."" "Kind of reminds me of my folks." "That could be us someday." "Lois, Clark, either one of you seen Olsen?" "No, Chief." "Well, he just hasn't been around all morning." "It's not like him just not to show up." "He was pretty upset about his friend yesterday." "Probably drowned one too many sorrows last night?" "Jimmy!" "Where in the sam hill have you been, son?" "I'm not sure." "Jimmy, you all right?" "Yeah, I'm..." "I'm fine, CK." "I seem to recall a woman tall and rubber gloves." "That's probably more information than we need to know, son." "Everybody deals with grief in their own way." "She made me see lights." "I'm sure she did, son." "You don't need to tell me, you know." "I was young once." "In fact, I'm not anywhere near ready for the old folks' home." "Hey, what do you think of this one?" " That's it." " Really?" " Old folks' homes." " What?" "They serve the same kind of food as hospitals, don't they?" "I suppose they would." "Of course they would." "We've been looking in the wrong place." "All right, where's the money?" "Right over there." "A bank?" "That's your impenetrable hiding place?" "Whoever heard of a bank robber hiding his stash in a bank?" "Look, there ain't no stash, okay?" "There never was." "What about all those banks you robbed?" "It was the '30s." "Does the phrase Great Depression mean anything to you?" "Back then we'd get out with a couple of thousand." "Sometimes a calendar." "You lied to me!" "I never actually said I had the money." "I said I knew where to get it." "And I will." "You can't rob a bank." "What do you mean I can't rob a bank?" "Of course I can rob a bank." "I'm a bank robber." "It's what I do." "You just keep the motor running." "I'm sorry you made the trip out here, but as I told you, Mrs. Kent this is a private institution." "We're not in the habit of taking in members of the public." " My father is fully insured." " It's not a matter of insurance." "The fact is, our residents are sponsored through a private foundation." "What's the name of the foundation?" "Maybe we'll try them." "I'm not at liberty to give out that information." " Why does everyone seem so placid?" " A necessity, I'm afraid." "Without the proper medication, the elderly can become somewhat unmanageable." " You mean, like, try to escape?" " This isn't a prison, Mrs. Kent." "Frankly, were you in their position you'd be most grateful for this quality of care." "Good day." "Happy birthday, darling." "Lois?" "Hey." "Let's get out of here." "All right, all right, let's have it." " What's bugging you?" " What are you talking about?" "Come on, one second you're focused." "The next second, you're someplace else." " What's wrong?" " Nothing." "Really." "Hey, I can tell when something's bothering you." " You get these tiny little wrinkles." " Wrinkles?" "Wrinkles?" " Where?" " No, honey, that's not what I meant." "Lois, look..." "Honey, is this about us looking for a new place?" " Two-eleven in progress." "Metropolis..." " What?" " ..." "Mercantile Bank." " Bank alarm." "Possible hostages." "He took hostages into the vault." "He threatened us not to sound the alarm but there's only a limited amount of air." "Okay, okay." "Stand back." "Okay, which one is he?" " Superman." " Superman." "I don't see him." "Okay, I want everyone to stand up and walk out of the vault single file, please." " Just tell me when you see him." " Okay." "No." "I don't understand it." "We all saw him go in." " You're obsessing." " Well, it bothers me." "I mean, a bank robber, Lois?" "Clark, nobody's perfect." "Okay, scratch that." "You're perfect." "So there's gotta be some other explanation." "Anyway, there's nothing you can do about it." "That's life." "Sometimes life ain't fair." "Okay." "A private foundation that runs Leisure Park is owned by Veda Doodsen." " Dr. Veda Doodsen." " Who is...?" "One of Metropolis University's top medical researchers." "Until February, that is, when she was drummed out of academia." " For what?" " I don't know." "My contact on the university board is looking into it for me." "But I was able to find out that her area of expertise was gerontology." " Gerontology." "The study of aging?" " Yeah." "She became obsessed with it after her husband of 23 years left her for a younger woman." "Now, that has to hurt." "Yeah." "Imagine it would." "All right." "So, what do we have so far?" "We got a 22-year-old kid who dies of old age." "We trace him to an old folks' home which is subsidized by a renowned medical researcher." "A researcher who has recently lost all legitimate sources." "Which could mean she's now conducting illegitimate research using the old folks' home as a dumping ground?" " I say we pay Dr. Doodsen a house call." " Let's go." "Clark, here's that tape you wanted." "Lois, one second." "Jimmy." "Jimmy." " Jimmy!" " What?" "This is the surveillance tape from that bank robbery." "The police so far have zilch." "And the gun that the robber left was clean." "And they have no idea how he disappeared." "Take a look at this tape and figure out how anyone could get past Superman, okay?" " Sure." " Thanks." "Feels like rain." "Nice digs." "Why do bad guys always have such great places?" "Maybe they have the same real-estate agent." "You really like this place?" "It has a lot of character." "I like the ironwork on the door." "That is exactly why we need to sit down and take a look at those magazines." "I never thought you'd go for a place this old." "There's nothing wrong with old, Clark." "This really is a nice place you have here, Dr. Doodsen." "Yes, it is beautiful." "Turn of the century?" "As a matter of fact, yes." "It's actually got quite a storied history to it." "Speaking of stories..." "Yes." "We're researching a story on Metropolis' unsung heroes, and your name came up." "My name?" "Why, I'm just a simple, albeit uncommonly brilliant medical researcher." "Hardly a hero." "It's not your medical research we're interested in." "No?" "It's all the altruistic work that you've done for Metropolis' elderly." " I'm afraid I still don't..." " You do personally subsidize Leisure Park." "How did you find out about that?" "We're reporters, Dr. Doodsen." "We don't like to just report bad news." "We think that the good things people do are equally as important." "Well, as flattering as all that is I'm afraid I don't do these good works for the acclaim." "Thanks for stopping by." "Maybe you can help me with another story I'm working on." "And what might that be?" "Well, I heard that you had some trouble at Metropolis State and I just wondered if you felt that had anything to do with your being a woman?" "I'm bound by law not to discuss that incident." "Terms of the settlement." "Well, maybe you could answer this then." "Why is so much of your work focused on youth?" "You're a woman." "You should know." "But then you're still young and vivacious." "Probably never occurs to you that one day all those pimply faced box boys at the market won't be in such a hurry to carry your bags for you." "Well, I carry my own bags." " And I'm married." " Well, let me tell you about married." "Don't think a husband's eye won't wander once the bloom has gone off the rose." "You'll get old." "He'll get distinguished." "Success makes a man attractive." "Youth makes women desirable." "Success is attained." "Youth is lost." "And those are the facts of life." "There's some secret chamber behind the wet bar and what looks like serious machinery." " We should come back tonight." " Yeah, that's a good idea." "Lois?" "Honey?" "She... she didn't upset you with her spew, did she?" "You heard all that?" "What am I saying?" "Of course you heard all that." "You hear everything." "You see everything." "It's like being married to Saint Nick." "She's a bitter woman." "She doesn't know us." "I love you, and we are gonna grow old together." "No." "No, we are not going to grow old together." "I am going to grow old." "Alone." "Honey." "Hon... honey, what is this all about?" "Come on." "We're supposed to be able to tell each other everything." "Yeah." "So why didn't you tell me about your molecular structure?" " My what?" " It probably doesn't mean much to you because you, you know, fly and everything." "But I get very emotional about my mortality." "And I know how that sounds, and it's not vanity." "I don't mind growing old." "Honestly." "I just don't wanna wake up one morning and find out that you and I have been separated by time." "Lois, I have no idea what you're talking about." "You don't, do you?" "Dr. Klein told me that your molecular structure slows the aging process." "So someday I'll be an old crone and you'll still be Superman." "Well..." "Hon... honey, even if it is true it... it won't change how I feel about you." " Nothing could ever change that." " I know that." "We'll have a wonderful life together." "But then after we have our wonderful life together you'll just have another one." "Where have you been?" "Buy yourself something nice, honey." "What do you think you're doing?" "Not much if you know what I mean." "Did you get the plutonium?" " I'm not getting any younger." " And you won't." "It's over." "Come again?" "There won't be any plutonium now." "It's gotten too risky." "There have been reporters snooping around here." "Reporters from the "Daily Planet" who happen to be celebrated friends of Superman's." " You think they're onto you?" " They've been to Leisure Park." "That place is stuffed with donors from my earlier experiments." " We've gotta leave Metropolis now." " No." "No!" "No." " I'm still old." " Sorry." "No." "You're not going anywhere." "Not until you make me young again." "Permanently." "Haven't you been listening?" "Without plutonium, no normal human being can produce enough life force to make total regeneration complete." "No normal human being?" "Kind of makes you wonder, don't it?" "Wonder what?" "Just how much life force Superman has in those tights of his." "Jimmy." "Hey." "Jimmy's really onto something." "Yeah, but where is he?" "Jimmy?" "Jimmy." "Dr. Klein's here." "He's gonna take a look at you, okay?" "Sure, CK." "CK?" "I think I figured out that robbery." "Yeah, you did." "You did great, Jimmy." "You nailed it." "Not such a kid anymore, Chief?" "You just rest easy, son." "Dr. Klein's here to take care of you." "I don't understand any of this." "What in the name of all that is Memphis is going on?" " It's the fountain of youth, Chief." " And Jimmy figured it out." "Here." "These stills that Jimmy made from the bank-security tape prove it." "Here at 4:" "O2, the gunman takes six hostages and puts them in the vault." "Then he enters himself." "At 4:04, when Superman arrives, seven people exit the vault." "But no gunman." "However, there is a new face." "This old man here." " He wasn't in the bank before." " Wait a minute..." "Judas Priest." "Are you telling me that this old guy here and this young guy here...?" "They're the same person?" "Conner Schenk, the guy who busted out of prison." " And Olsen figured this out?" " Yes, sir." "Well, that seals it." "That was my contact on the university board." "Veda Doodsen wanted to conduct youth experiments on human subjects." "When the university forbade her, she defied them and did it anyway." "Guess who she used as guinea pigs?" " Prisoners." " Yep." "She lied her way in." "Told the warden that she had the full backing of the university." "Dr. Klein, how's Jimmy?" "He's aging." "Rapidly." "And there's no sign it's leveling out." "Unless we can somehow reverse this process or at least stabilize it he'll be dead in a matter of hours." "Excuse me." " Clark Kent." " Mr. Kent, Dr. Doodsen." "Yeah, hi, doctor." "I'll get straight to the point." "Tell Superman, with his help, I can restore James Olsen." "Tell him to bring the boy to me but to hurry." "Even I can't raise the dead." " Jimmy?" " Lois." "I guess I screwed up pretty royal?" "No, you didn't screw up." "All I remember is I wanted the story." "Guess now I am the story." "I'm not me anymore." "Jimmy, you're still you." "The outside's not important." "That's not why people love you." "Welcome, Superman." "I'm Dr. Doodsen." "You told Clark Kent you'd restore him." " Now do it." " Me first." "What is this?" " What's he talking about?" " The conditions." "You give up some of your super life force to him." "He allows me to regenerate your friend, and he won't kill me." "Now, it doesn't get any fairer than that." "I can get to him before he pulls the trigger." "It won't matter." "I'll help him anyway." "And you'll allow me to because you need me to save your friend." "But he... he's got a gun on you." "Yes." "And as much as he can't be trusted, I'm afraid you can be trusted to take me straight to prison for my crimes." "And I can't have that." "So that's why I'm going to do as he says and then I'm going to escape with him." "Smart girl." "Well, Mr. Blue Pants, time's running out for all of us." "What's it going to be?" "It's too much power." "The machine can't take it." "No." "No." "Shut it down." "Now." "He won't be pulling guns on anyone for a while." "Let's go." "If anything happens to either of them you don't have to worry about getting any older." "What a rush." "I feel okay." "Is he okay?" "It's too soon to tell." "Hey, Jimmy!" " What did Dr. Klein have to say?" " He gave me a clean bill of health." "That's good news." "Great to hear that, son." "Jimmy." "Did Dr. Klein say anything about Superman?" "He was still examining him when I left." "Lois, there's a message on your desk." "Clark?" " Lois." " What's going on?" "Nothing." "Come here." "Stand right there." " I was right." " Clark, what are we doing here?" "I just had this vision of how you would look standing in the light from this window." "I had to see." "Are you okay?" "What did Dr. Klein say?" "Jimmy is gonna be fine." "I know that." "What else did he tell you?" "Conner Schenk, he's already going through the terrible 2s." "Dr. Klein thinks he'll be back to his own old self by next week." "What did Dr. Klein say about you?" "Apparently, my body has already compensated for whatever age drain there was." "Compensated?" "Then you have lost something." "Well, my friend is healthy." "I'm sitting here with my wife." "I haven't lost anything." "You gave up years." "I gave them up for a friend." "How many?" "I don't know." "The truth is, no one knows how long they've got." "Anyway, it's not the years that count." "It's the moments." "Right now." "As they happen." "So how do you suggest we make the most out of this moment?" "Maybe we could look at wallpaper samples." "Wallpaper samples?" "Well, what do you think for this room?" "Wood paneling?" "Age-downed walls?" "You didn't." "Well, you seemed to really like the place." "I mean, it's in the city." "It's got a lot of character." "Plus, it has a secret compartment which..." "Well, I have to tell you, it's very, very difficult to find in a building of this style." "All you have to do is say the word." "It's ours if we want it." "Well, you know I love it." " But is it you?" " No, no." "It's us."