- Lois Lane: Our "Twilight Zone" acid trip to the, uh, Phantom prison - that place was...
- Clark Kent: Kryptonian.
- Lois Lane: Mm. And that horny-toad-looking thing that crashed Chloe and Jimmy's wedding?
- Clark Kent: Kryptonian.
- Lois Lane: Mm. And the spaceship that I found in the woods near the dam?
- Clark Kent: Also Kryptonian, but it wasn't mine - it was my cousin's.
- Lois Lane: Sorry about the third degree, Clark. It's just not every week a girl learns her boyfriend's an...
- Clark Kent: Alien? And you're still okay with that?
- Lois Lane: Are you kidding me? It's like dating a god or Bono.
- Clark Kent: I just don't understand how the believers would allow themselves to be led down such a dark path.
- Lois Lane: I guess there's so much chaos out there, people are just desperate for something to give them hope. Now more than ever, the world needs someone to believe in.
- Clark Kent: I think I know where this is going.
- Lois Lane: Hear me out, Clark. Okay, I wasn't a big fan of Ollie's coming-out party, and I used to think that it was best for you to stay in the shadows, too, but maybe someday soon, you'll have to step into the light. You can be a symbol to inspire everyone that this planet could be a better place.
- Clark Kent: I'm not sure anyone's ready to believe a stranger from a strange land.
- Lois Lane: If they knew the real Clark Kent, then I am sure the rest of the world will believe in you as much as I do.
- Lois Lane: Meteor rock. Maybe that's why when I pulled out that blue dagger out of your chest, you - you healed.
- Clark Kent: *You* did that?
- Lois Lane: Yeah.
- Clark Kent: Lois, you didn't just heal me, you brought me back. You saved me.
- Lois Lane: Well sometimes even the hero needs a guardian angel, Clark.
- Alexander: This barn is like I just remember.
- Tess Mercer: But you've never been here before.
- Alexander: Yes, I have.
- Alexander: [opens Clark's photo album] Do you see his bow tie? It was the first one he ever wore, I tied it for him... here.
- Tess Mercer: That was probably just a dream.
- Alexander: No. It was real. Right here, he told me we'd be friends, that he wanted to be my brother. And... at the window... I told him that our friendship would be the thing of legend.
- Clark Kent: I'm sorry I was so overprotective. I was trying to keep you safe.
- Lois Lane: If it wasn't for you... I would be a crispy critter in Hellsville.
- Clark Kent: No. You held your own, even when I didn't have my powers. Lois, you saved my life.
- Lois Lane: Guess there's enough danger out there for everyone. We just have to trust that we'll always be there for each other when times get tough.
- Clark Kent: [giving her Dr. Swann's journal] Which is why I want you to have this.
- Lois Lane: Uh... the unabridged user's guide to all things Kryptonian?
- Clark Kent: It may fill in a few blanks.
- [cupping her face]
- Clark Kent: I want you to know me completely with no secrets. 'Cause you're the one. You always will be.
- Joseph Cavanaugh: [seeing Clark survive getting burned by blue kryptonite] This is a trick!
- Lois Lane: Clark. Clark!
- Ellis: Look at what he's been through, Joshua. And he's still alive. It's a sign!
- Lois Lane: [seeing the burns on Clark start to heal] Yes, it's a sign. Move back. Way back! Far away from him. You are not worthy to be in his presence.
- [Joseph picks up the rifle Clark dropped]
- Lois Lane: Drop your weapon and beg for forgiveness. No, I don't think you get it. He is a-a messenger sent from the heavens!
- Joseph Cavanaugh: I don't believe you.
- Clark Kent: Lois.
- Lois Lane: Oh, you better believe it. Because if you don't listen, he will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger! And he will use his... his heat vision to raze your village and his super breath to smite your crops!
- Clark Kent: Amen.
- Clark Kent: The house seems to be surrounded. Our best chance is for me to get past the guards before they fire a shot.
- Lois Lane: Okay, I hate to burst your bubble, Smallville, but without your powers, you won't be able to outrun their speeding bullets.
- [feeling the floor depress under her foot]
- Lois Lane: But maybe there's another way out of Dodge.
- [finding a secret hatch beneath the carpet]
- Lois Lane: Clark! If this leads to a cellar, there might be a way out of here.
- [they move the table and chairs out of the way]
- Lois Lane: [finding a padlock on the latch] Clark.
- Clark Kent: [trying to break it] I can't.
- Lois Lane: [taking a hairpin out of her hair] Whenever the General grounded me, I always found a way to escape. This army brat has picked more locks than Harry Houdini. In the meantime, you should change your clothes, or you're gonna stick out like a stripper in a seminary.
- [taking him in as he changes]
- Lois Lane: Why are we never someplace romantic when he takes off his shirt?
- Lois Lane: At least we're on a story in the boonies and I get to play twenty questions without our nosy little kitty Cat sniffing around.
- Clark Kent: It's lucky that Tess sent us out here to cover the Cherry Festival.
- Lois Lane: [suddenly suspicious] Clark Kent doesn't believe in luck. What'd you do, Clark?
- Clark Kent: I didn't want you in the middle of tonight's anti-hero protest.
- Lois Lane: Clark, that should have been my story. Why did you chop-block me?
- Clark Kent: Lois, we both know that your articles in support of the Blur puts you in the eye of the anti-hero storm.
- Lois Lane: So, what, you're gonnna lock me in a castle tower like I'm some damsel in distress?
- Clark Kent: Lois, I just want to make sure that you're safe.
- Lois Lane: Clark, I love... that an intergalactic powerhouse wants to protect me. But this Earth girl can take care of herself.
- Tess Mercer: Alexander, it that's what you want... you have a chance to make that happen.
- Alexander: How can I ever trust Clark again? He made my father hate me. He took away everything I ever cared about. And the last time I was up here, I begged him to tell me the truth about himself. But as always, he denied who he really was.
- Tess Mercer: Clark is not the bad man, Alexander. Lex is. He used you just like he used me. And you don't deserve what's happened. You don't have to buy into his memories. I will help you.
- Alexander: Why? So you can feel good about yourself? So you can exorcise those demons deep within your soul? Isn't that what you've always wanted? To save the world so you can redeem the evil inside you?
- Tess Mercer: Stop it.
- Alexander: But you couldn't do it alone, so you clung to powerful men.
- Tess Mercer: Enough!
- Alexander: First Oliver Queen, then me, then Zod, and now, Clark Kent.
- Tess Mercer: [smacks him] I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I just want to help you. I know I can do this. I know I can save you.
- Alexander: How can you save me when there's so much you don't even know about yourself?
- Tess Mercer: Please. Please. Alexander...
- Alexander: Don't call me that. My name is Lex.
- Tess Mercer: Destroy all of your research. And in the morning, he will be locked up again for everyone's safety.
- Dr. Christina Lamell: If we don't begin his therapy immediately, he'll be dead within six weeks.
- Tess Mercer: That's the point. Because he's not just a clone... he *is* Lex Luthor.
- Lois Lane: It seems our Stephen King's romp in the backwoods bumped Cat Grant's antihero crusade from column one.
- Clark Kent: Leave it to Lois and Clark to turn a quiet day in the country into a major scoop.
- Lois Lane: My friends at the Bureau said our Koresh wannabes were so low-profile, they weren't on anybody's radar.
- Clark Kent: Just wish we would've found them sooner. We could have saved so many lives.
- Lois Lane: [after Clark is wounded] You didn't have to kill him.
- Joseph Cavanaugh: He would have told others about us. No one can keep us from our holy task. Our Lord has shown us the light.
- Lois Lane: Light? You justify this by calling it a sacrifice, but you know it's murder. Whatever happened to "thou shalt not kill"?
- Joseph Cavanaugh: We follow His example. Every year for twenty years, a young woman has been sacrificed with fire from above, just like Esther. And for that... our Lord has rewarded his devoted flock. My daughter was the first to give her life. You won't be the last.
- Lois Lane: I can't imagine the pain you must have suffered when you lost Esther. But killing all of those women in her name was wrong. She would ashamed of how you've led your people astray.
- Joseph Cavanaugh: Silence! You do not understand. Because... you do not have faith.
- Lois Lane: I have faith. I have faith! Faith has nothing to do with blindly following this misguided messiah. I believe in knowing right from wrong, just like you all do. Deep down, you know this isn't right.
- Joseph Cavanaugh: She does not know what we suffered before his fiery wrath rained down from the heavens! But you remember those dark days. If we let her live... a vengeful God will smite us yet again. And mark my words! This time, He will take one of your daughters. Ben, would you give up your daughter, Sarah?
- [Ben shakes his head]
- Joseph Cavanaugh: Any of you? I say better to sacrifice a non-Believer than to lose another one of our own.
- Lois Lane: You don't have to do this. This won't bring her back.
- Joseph Cavanaugh: Shh.
- Lois Lane: It won't.
- Joseph Cavanaugh: Shh. God forgives you.
- Joseph Cavanaugh: You *will* be offered up tonight.
- Clark Kent: I won't let you hurt her.
- Joseph Cavanaugh: You're a mere mortal. And you will not defy the will of our Lord!
- Sandra: Sister! You don't have flowers for the celebration.
- Lois Lane: Thank you... sister.
- Sandra: [seeing her painted nails, Sandra removes her hood] It's you!
- Lois Lane: Well, I guess you can't get the city out of this country girl, huh?
- Clark Kent: [she slugs Sandra] Come on, let's go.
- Clark Kent: What happened to you?
- Lois Lane: I really stepped in it. I was steamed you kept me from that rally scoop, and I ended up trapping us in the Village of the Damned.
- Clark Kent: [hugging] I've been looking for you for hours. I'm just glad you're okay.
- Lois Lane: You won't be for long. These Holy Rollers from hell want to make me a human sacrifice so they can grow bigger tomoatoes. I promise to eat a heaping helping of crow when we get back home, but right now, do your super speedy thing because... this fair lady needs some rescuing, big time!
- Clark Kent: I can't.
- Lois Lane: Clark, now is not the time for jokes!
- Clark Kent: Lois, the water is contaminated with the blue meteor rock. They've been drinking it for years.
- Lois Lane: Maybe that's what makes them so healthy. Not to mention a little whack-a-doodle.
- Clark Kent: No, that's not all, Lois. It's infected their bodies. When I'm around them, I don't have my abilities. I've got to get far enough away from them so my powers can come back.
- Lois Lane: I'm a little squeamish when it comes to the slaughtering of the fatted calf. So just tell your parents "thank you", okay? I-I'm gonna go.
- Charlotte Cavanaugh: We'll never let you leave.
- Lois Lane: What?
- Charlotte Cavanaugh: You've been chosen. Just like my sister. This was your last supper.
- Lois Lane: Yummy. And to think you fixed this all without a kitchen aid or... Costco.
- Joseph Cavanaugh: We believe in livin' the simple life. No modern technology and no worldly temptation. We keep to ourselves. Helps us stay on the righteous path.
- Lois Lane: Uh, speaking of paths, isn't it time we... hit the road?
- Joseph Cavanaugh: Our teachings say when people come together to eat, you make time for your fellow man.
- Lois Lane: Oh, trust me. You don't forget Sunday school on the military base.
- Ruth Cavanaugh: It would be bad luck for a guest to leave our table early on the night of the harvest celebration.
- Lois Lane: Oh. As long as we hit the road as soon as we're finished. I would love to stay and see the festivities one day. I bet that's a lot of fun.
- Joseph Cavanaugh: Fun has nothing to do with it. We glorify the day we were shown the Lord's sign.
- Lois Lane: What exactly... was the sign?
- Joseph Cavanaugh: A fire came from the heavens to tear down our village.
- Ruth Cavanaugh: And our daughter, Esther, was taken from us. She was... ringin' the town bell to warn everyone of the danger. She was struck down where she stood.
- Lois Lane: Oh, I am so sorry. That's awful.
- Joseph Cavanaugh: Before that, we suffered a terrible drought and years of bad crops. People were hungry and sick. But our daughter gave her life so that we could all prosper.
- Charlotte Cavanaugh: Ever since, our crops have been bountiful, and our people never get sick.
- Joseph Cavanaugh: Amen.
- Lois Lane: And you think this happened because your daughter died. I'm pretty sure that didn't make it into the... Good Book I read.
- Joseph Cavanaugh: I don't expect you to understand. You're not a Believer. But every year since her death, we have offered our Lord a sacrifice. And he has rewarded us.
- Ellis: It's only natural for you to be worried about your girlfriend.
- Clark Kent: She's the most important thing in my life.
- Ellis: Well, you said she was upset with you. I bet she hitched a ride. You go back to Metropolis, and I guarantee she'll be waiting.
- Clark Kent: There are crystals in this water?
- Ellis: Ah. Meteor shower, '89. Couple of meteors hit the spring.
- Clark Kent: Blue meteor rock?
- Ellis: Yeah. Killed one local and destroyed acres of crops. But it did give us a gift.
- [pumping a well and drinking a handful of water]
- Ellis: Ah! Best drinking water in the county. Meteor seems to purify it.
- Clark Kent: And everyone here is okay?
- [Ellis nods]
- Clark Kent: 'Cause I grew up in Smallville. The green meteor rock has been harming people for the last twenty years.
- Ellis: Not here. Been drinking this water my whole life. I haven't had so much as a common cold. Yep, we're all just fine.
- Clark Kent: [hearing a bell toll] If there's nothing out here, then what was that?
- Ellis: [knocking him out with the butt of his rifle] Something I wish you hadn't heard.
- Alexander: I'm sorry I ruined the party.
- Tess Mercer: It's not your fault.
- Alexander: I know that something's wrong with me. I'm a freak.
- Tess Mercer: [hugging him] No. No, you're not. You're a beautiful little boy, and I promise you that I am going to make everything okay.
- Tess Mercer: Right before you blacked out, you were drawing this.
- [showing him Clark's "S" sigil]
- Tess Mercer: How do you know this symbol?
- Alexander: I-It's just a drawing.
- Tess Mercer: Alexander... I found these... hidden in your closet.
- [showing him more drawings]
- Tess Mercer: Please tell me what they mean to you.
- Alexander: It's the symbol of the bad man. He comes into my dreams, to hurt me.
- Tess Mercer: I'd never let anyone hurt you.
- Alexander: You can't stop him.
- Tess Mercer: You're safe here.
- Alexander: No! He's the strongest man in the whole world! You can't protect me!
- Tess Mercer: I'd never let anything happen to you.
- Alexander: [throwing something in anger] He wants to kill me!
- Tess Mercer: I know this is hard for you to believe when you're so frightened, but... Alexander, I'm here for you.
- [behind her back, he leaves and locks the door]
- Tess Mercer: [trying to open the door] Alexander? Alexander? Alexander!
- Dr. Christina Lamell: My team is still searching for a remedy. But I don't want to make any false promises. All our tests indicate that his condition is irreversible. If the accelerated mitosis persists, his body will eventually give out. I'm very sorry.
- Tess Mercer: He's aged four years in two weeks. So "sorry" isn't good enough!
- Dr. Christina Lamell: He needs to be at the facility, where we can study him around the clock.
- Tess Mercer: Alexander stays here. With me. I want him to believe that he is like any other normal child.
- Dr. Christina Lamell: But we both know he's not normal. And no matter how many parties you throw him, he never will be.
- Tess Mercer: I just want to protect him. I want to give him a second chance. Dr. Lamell, I know that you had a hand in the horrors that Lex Luthor committed in his labs over the years. And I chose you to run this team because I know, deep down in your heart, you wanna make things right.
- Dr. Christina Lamell: More than anything.
- Tess Mercer: Okay. You find me a cure to save Alexander, and I promise you, I will not let him become that monster.
- Lois Lane: Look at you drive that horse. At your age, the best I could do was drive my dad crazy. Lucky for me, you were around. So, how much longer before our carbon-free hayride gets us to the train station?
- Charlotte Cavanaugh: Oh... not much. But I'm not allowed to go into town. My father will give you the ride from here.
- Lois Lane: As long as I can make the express back to cover the rally, I'm happy. I am not gonna miss out on a front page story just because he thinks I can't take care of myself.
- Lois Lane: So, your town is... quaint. How many people live out here?
- Charlotte Cavanaugh: Our whole congregation. We're Believers. Father bought this land long before I was born and moved his flock here from Idaho so we could all live together.
- Lois Lane: Two flats and only one spare. Looks like a job for... Triple A.
- [checking her phone]
- Lois Lane: And there's no reception. Want me to change that tire for you?
- Clark Kent: I think I can handle it.
- Lois Lane: [he takes the spare out of the trunk] Wow.
- [she laughs to herself as he lifts the car up and changes the tire]
- Lois Lane: Thank you.
- Charlotte Cavanaugh: Oh, praise the Lord! You're okay!
- Clark Kent: It's okay. There's nothing a mechanic can't fix. Do you know where there's one nearby?
- Charlotte Cavanaugh: Um... up the road a bit, in Meeker Springs.
- Clark Kent: Thanks. All right, Lois, well, if we leave now, we'll be back in a flash.
- Lois Lane: [teasing him] Oh, but, Clark, I'm such a delicate flower. I will... I will wilt in that heat. I think I'll just stay with, um...
- Charlotte Cavanaugh: Charlotte, ma'am. I got some fresh, squeezed lemonade, if you like.
- Lois Lane: Ah! Lovely. So we will have a big glass as we damsels in distress wait for Clark to... come rescue us.
- Clark Kent: Lois, is there a problem?
- Lois Lane: Okay. First it's not safe in the Asphalt jungle and now I'm at risk in Green Acres?
- Clark Kent: Look, we're in the middle of nowhere.
- Lois Lane: You think horse-and-buggy girl is gonna hurt me? What is she gonna do, dimple me to death?