Lex Luthor:
[sees Superman rising above the tower] Boy, do we have problems up here! [Twists his timer] The problem of … of evil in the world. The problem of absolute virtue.
Superman:
I'll take you in without breaking you. Which is more than you deserve.
Lex Luthor:
The problem of you on top of everything else. You above all. Ah – 'cause that's what God is. Horus. Apollo. Jehovah. Kal-El –Clark … Joseph … Kent. See, what we call God depends upon our tribe, Clark Joe. Because God is tribal. God takes sides. No man in the sky intervened when I was a boy to deliver me from Daddy's fists and abominations. Mmnnn. I've figured it out way back: if God is all powerful, he cannot be all good. And if he's all good, then he cannot be all powerful. And neither can you be. They need to see the fraud you are. With their eyes. The blood on your hands.
Superman:
What have you done?
Lex Luthor:
And tonight, they will. Yes. Because you, my friend, have a date! Across the bay. Ripe fruit, his hate; two years growing, but it did not take much to push him over, actually. Little red notes, big bang – "you let your family die!" And now, you will fly to him, and you will battle him...to the death. Black and Blue. Fight Night. The greatest gladiator match in the history of the world. God versus Man; Day versus Night; Son of Krypton versus Bat of Gotham!
Superman:
You think I'll fight him for you?
Lex Luthor:
Mmm, yes, I do. I think you will fight, fight, fight for that special lady in your life.
Superman:
She's safe on the ground. How about you?
Lex Luthor:
[smugly] Close, but I am not talking about Lois. No. Every boy's special lady...is his mother. [Superman becomes stunned, as Luthor shows him pictures of Martha Kent tied up and beaten] Martha, Martha, Martha. But the mother of a flying demon must be a witch. The punishment for witches, what is that? That's right. Death by fire. [a stunned Superman drops to his knees as Luthor throws the pictures at him. Superman's eyes soon turn fiery red]
Superman:
WHERE IS SHE?!
Lex Luthor:
I DON'T KNOW! I would not let them tell me! Now, ah, if you kill me, Martha dies. And if you fly away, mmm, Martha also dies. But if you kill the Bat... Martha lives. [Superman's eyes fade to normal as he bows his head down] There we go. There we go. And now God bends to my will. Now, the cameras are waiting at your ship for the world to see the holes in the holy! Yes, the almighty comes clean about how dirty he is when it counts! To save Martha, bring me the head of the Bat! [Luthor's helicopter comes to pick him up] Ah, mother of God, would you look at the time? When you came here, you had an hour. Now it's less.
