"Clark?" "Anyone home, sweet home?" "Guess not." "Mrs. K wouldn't approve." "Shelby!" "Hey." "Don't tell me Clark's ditched you, too, hmm?" "I know." "Smallville isn't the same without Smallville, is it?" "So, if he's still on his whirlwind walkabout, who's been feeding you, huh?" "Hey, beautiful." "Are you still at the office?" "No, no." "Sitting behind a desk just isn't the same without those pretty brown eyes of yours..." "I don't know... glaring at me." "Since you didn't want to grab dinner tonight," "I spent the time... searching out news." "And you'll never guess what I found." "If I do, will you take me off your speed dial?" "Very funny." "Your favorite freak's been at it again, and this time, the story's mine." "Take it, sticky fingers." "There are plenty of headlines to go around." "Oh, my goodness." "Never thought you'd be willing to share the Blur, Lois." "We should celebrate... over coffee." "Your place or mine?" "Or neither." "Besides, I'm not exactly being generous." "You know, the Blur catches more bad guys before breakfast than most cops do in a day." "Hell, that's the problem." "He's not a cop." "He's a vigilante... with superpowers and a thing for the letter "S."" "Well, then, he's done a super job cleaning up Metropolis." "Thanks to him, the city can sleep at night." "What if he screws up?" "How do you hold him accountable?" "No one's even seen his face." "John, after everything the Blur's done for the world, how can you be such a cynic?" "Well, apparently," "I don't suffer from the same softhearted..." "Hero worship you do." "At least I have a heart." "You got to lighten up, John." "Spend a little less time on the dark side of the street." "There's another side to the Blur, and I'm gonna expose it." "Okay." "Hello?" "Aah!" "Aaah!" "Aah!" "No!" "Hey, shel." "Thanks for the wake-up call." "These dreams are like midnight movie madness in my head." "Okay." "At least I can rise and shine to a better world, courtesy of the Blur." "Okay, Lois." "Whew." "Uh, Lois..." "Why is Clark's dog welcoming me home?" "Oh, I dropped by the farm yesterday, and I found Shelby all alone with her wheaties." "I thought Clark secretly came back and didn't tell us." "So you decided to call him out by dognapping his furry friend?" "Lois, I'm sorry." "I'm the one that was on pooch patrol." "Clark still isn't back yet." "I know..." "I called Mrs. K, and she said he's visiting cousins in Poughkeepsie." "I mean, how long can you stay in Poughkeepsie?" "Sounds like someone misses him." "Please." "I don't miss Clark." "I just can't stand the new guy that's at his desk." "He is a textbook hero-hater." "Oh, come on." "Who hates the Blur?" "Anyone who reads can see how great he is." "It looks like he really is spreading his wings, doesn't it?" "Yeah, I just hope he's not... spreading himself too thin." "I mean, he sounds a little lonely." "I can hear it in his voice." "His voice?" "Did he call you again?" "Well, I am his one and only contact at the paper." "So it was work-related, then." "Not really." "I mean, he calls when I'm at work, and... he relates things to me." "But I think sometimes he just calls to chat." "I think maybe I'm the only person in his life that he can really turn to." "Wow." "That's incredible." "I know, right?" "Anyway, can we table this tell-all till later?" "I have to get ready." "It's time to step back into the ring with a certain C.E.O." "Bye." "Bye." "Shelby?" "Shelby?" "Hey." "How you doing?" "Lois stopped by and found Shelby here alone with a dish full of food." "Now, don't worry..." "I covered for you." "But you should know that you're now on her radar." "Thanks." "I'll be more careful next time." "Dressed like that?" "Clark, what if I was Lois?" "She would take one look at you and realize that Clark Kent is the Blur." "I told you... there is no Clark Kent." "No disrespect to your Kryptonian calling, but... coming back to feed the dog is about as human as it gets." "Are you still reaching out to Lois as the Blur?" "She told you?" "You're supposed to be training with Jor-El." "Does he know you're still talking to her?" "Jor-El doesn't need to know." "So you're lying to him." "You said you're turning your back on all your human attachments, Clark, but apparently, only when it suits you." "You're talking this all too personally, Chloe." "And I understand you're still angry about Jimmy." "We both sacrificed a lot so that you could become the hero you're meant to be." "Now quit backpedaling, Clark." "Commit to what you started before more people get hurt." "Oh, God, it hurts." "Oh, get it out of me, please." "Okay." "Cooler heads, people." "Let's get a trauma panel, U.A., type and cross for four." "I want more film on his chest and arms." "I'm Dr. Hamilton." "You are?" "I'm in a nightmare." "Look at me." "All right." "Who did this to you?" "I don't know." "I, uh..." "I got hit... by a truck... and when I woke up, this... this was in me." "What is it?" "What is all this?" "My initial assessment... someone has surgically implanted a bionic matrix in you." "Oh, geez." "It appears to be powered by... a fragment of... of meteor rock." "So, you can... you can take it out of me, right?" "I'm afraid not." "They removed your heart." "No." "No." "This apparatus is the only thing keeping you alive." "I got..." "I got to go." "His epi levels are spiking." "I need a sedative now!" "No!" "No sedatives!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "Get off me!" "Seriously... what is it with you and physical violence?" "The last time you and I saw each other, things did get a little... physical, didn't they?" "And then what happened, Tess?" "Inquiring minds want to know." "You don't remember?" "Well, a three-week concussion can do that to you." "But I think that you bonked me on the head and then held me somewhere." "Held you?" "That's wishful thinking, Lane." "When I came to, you were already gone." "We never did get to finish what we started, though." "Little rematch?" "I won't fight you, Tess." "I just came to tell you that I'm not leaving the Daily Planet." "You were never leaving, Lois." "I fired you." "Well, I'm not gonna get into the whole" ""she said, she said" thing with you." "But I do have friends at the inquisitor, and they would just love to run a story about Luthorcorp's C.E.O. and her plans to launch a hostile alien takeover of the world." "Except no one would ever believe you." "Maybe." "Maybe not." "But do you really want the attention?" "I'll see you at the office." "Shouldn't you be in school?" "She's got a little fire in her." "Stuart." "What is it?" "Um, it's about your missing Kryptonians here." "I extrapolated a dozen potential destinations, and I think I know where they're pit-stopped in Metropolis." "I understand it took Chloe... years to get used to your entrances." "I heard what happened on the police scanner." "Is it a meteor freak?" "No." "The man that did this is something far more disturbing." "I'd loosely classify him as a cyborg... part man, part machine." "Someone built him." "Against his will." "I've seen this before." "Lex had similar projects." "Not like this." "Clark, they took his heart..." "evidently to make room for his bionic body's new energy source, a meteorite fragment." "And the synthesis between meteor and machine clearly increased his strength, but it also boosted his adrenaline, intensifying his emotions." "I fear the longer that rock powers his body, the more it'll poison his mind." "We have to do something to help him soon, or he could turn homicidal." "He already put one of my orderlies in a coma." "I need to find him before he hurts anyone else." "He didn't give me his name, but he did... leave this behind." "It must have dropped out of his pocket." "These are given to every new employee at the Daily Planet." "He must work at the paper." "Well, then, he won't be hard to find." "The green glow's hard to miss." "Emil, I need a favor." "Hello?" "Your favorite freak's been at it again, and this time, the story's mine." "Well, then, he's done a super job cleaning up Metropolis." "What if he screws up?" "Thanks to him, the city can sleep at night." "This apparatus is the only thing keeping you alive." "No, no." "There's another side to the Blur, and I'm gonna expose it." "Becca." "I don't know." "I don't know how this happened..." "Becca... and I don't know who did it, but..." "I know... why." "It's a gift." "It's a gift." "I thought I just wanted to unmask..." "The Blur, but now I know what I've wanted to do all along is... is kill him." "And now I can do it with my own two hands." "I don't know how you did it, Lane, but H.R. just made it official." "Welcome back." "Where's Corben?" "I got an assignment for him." "You mean God's gift to journalism?" "5 bucks says he's out stalking the Blur." "Keep it for cab fare." "I need you to head down to the hospital." "Cover his story." "Patient went on a rampage... destroyed the E.R." "You're giving me Corben's leftovers?" "Make a meal of it, Lane!" "Daily Planet." "Lois Lane, your first choice in reporting." "Lois..." "I need some information." "It's you." "Something just happened at Metropolis General in the E.R." "Oh, yeah." "I know all about it." "I'm covering the story." "Got any leads?" "Not yet." "I don't know the man's identity, but I do have his keys." "I think he works at the Daily Planet." "He works here?" "Hey, do you want me to find out who's missing their keys?" "No." "I..." "Just wondering if you may have noticed anyone who's..." "I am so on it." "No, Lois." "Listen to me." "This man is dangerous." "He's some sort of superhuman cyborg, and I don't want you to get hurt." "You really do care about me, don't you?" "Lois..." "Okay, okay." "I'll just keep my eyes open." "I swear." "But if I do see anything, it's not like I can call you from the bullpen." "Then I'll call you at our phone booth." "You think of it as "our phone booth," too?" "Just be there at 7:00." "Hey." "I need to get into the archive room, but forgetful Lois forgot her keys." "Can I borrow yours?" "Make sure you return them, Lane." "I just remembered where I stashed mine." "Hi." "I'm doing a special-interest piece." "They say you can tell a lot about a person from their keys." "May I?" "Is that a foot?" "For luck." "Superstitious and disgusting." "Chloe?" "Lo!" "I was just checking my e-mail." "You know, when I asked if we could table our talk about you-know-who, I meant until I got home." "Actually, the only table I'm here about is the kind they serve lunch on." "I was thinking maybe we could celebrate you getting your job back." "I would love to, but I'm kind of already on a job." "I'm working for you-know-who." "The Blur?" "Mm-hmm." "Doing what, exactly?" "Hunting down a real-life terminator." "Lois, that sounds dangerous." "Why is he not doing that himself?" "Oh..." "Sometimes, heroes can't do it all on their own, Chloe." "That's why they need sidekicks." "Rain check on lunch." "These were all stolen from different Luthorcorp facilities over the last week." "Your "visitors" managed to hack into the low-rent alarm system." "Shocker." "Security didn't notice anything was gone until this morning, but I tracked the container's gps." "This technology was meant for several unrelated projects." "What were they building?" "Maybe Frankenstein's monster." "I scaled a few of the firewalls over at Met Gen, and I found some pretty sick X-rays." "Not exactly your basic bypass surgery." "Luthorcorp has the best scientists on Earth, and none ever thought to put these pieces together." "It's impossible to put this much turbocharged hardware into one person." "The equipment alone requires a massive power source." "Why did he give someone such a major power-up and then just let him go?" "Maybe it was a test... to see if it would work." "They could still be monitoring him." "Zod and his people are one step closer to getting their powers." "Well, it looks like the night shift finally clocked in." "What happened... try to shave in your sleep?" "Why do the electronic records in this place only go back a year?" "Hello." "Lois." "Banter, banter, banter." "What happened?" "Did your snappy patter set with the sun?" "Where are the records?" "!" "Little less snap and a little more patter, please." "Okay." "It's a new system." "They haven't transferred it all over yet." "There's a hard copy of everything in the archive room." "What are you looking for?" "The Blur." "He didn't come out of nowhere, Lois." "There must be some kind of origin story." "Maintenance crew's already been through there." "Don't forget your keys." "I need to borrow yours." "You don't have your keys?" "I must have lost mine." "Keep them." "I'll get them in the morning." "It's late." "I should go." "Please call." "Please call." "Please call." "Hello?" "It's me." "Look, I know who he is." "The man from the hospital... his name is John Corben." "Lois, I asked you not to." "Please be careful." "Corben has a supersized grudge against you, and if he's as powerful as you say he is..." "I'll be fine." "Just promise me that you're headed home and not back to the office." "Lois?" "Lois?" "Corben." "Chloe, Lois has been kidnapped." "I need your help." "Tell me this isn't because you let her chase down" "That sinister cyborg all by herself." "I told her not to get involved." "Clark, what did you think she was gonna do?" "This is Lois." "You know, she was just referring to herself as the Blur's sidekick." "I should have never called her in the first place, but I can't let anything happen to her now." "Well, Dr. Emil told me about this guy, and he said he has a kryptonite heart, okay?" "You're not gonna be able to get close enough to him to do anything about it." "He gave me this." "This is an E.M.P. grenade." "It'll blast an electromagnetic pulse and stop any electronic device within 50 yards." "I'm hoping it'll stop him long enough for me to get Lois to safety." "Yeah, well, will it work against meteor rock?" "It's a chance I'm willing to take." "The guy's name is John Corben, and he works at the Daily Planet." "I haven't been able to find him anywhere." "Clark, I wish you had come to me with this." "Lois doesn't have any experience dealing with these things." "Things have been easy with Lois lately." "Talking to her just felt right." "Hey, sis, I got your care package." "It's, uh, it's funny, you know." "I always thought it sounded ridiculous when people said it, but i... it's kind of like having a piece of home." "Saw the dvds and the notes that you sent me." "Awesome." "Um..." "I miss you." "Oh, and you better be practicing foosball also, because I'm taking my title as soon as I get back there, all right?" "Listen, do me a favor, okay?" "Just be safe." "And be careful in the city, all right?" "I... it's not like home." "All right?" "Love you." "I love you." "Bye." "That's his sister..." "Rebecca Corben." "She was murdered in her apartment in Metropolis three months ago while he was overseas." "Wait a minute." "He... bought the building just a few weeks ago." "Maybe that's where he took Lois." "Thanks, Chloe." "Wait..." "Clark... be careful." "Look, I know you're new at the Planet, John, but I'm pretty sure H.R. frowns on this kind of thing." "I heard you..." "Lois." "I heard you talking to him." "So, just tell me who the Blur is... and I'll let you go." "I promise..." "I'll let you go." "I already told you..." "I don't know." "Since when did you become a living lite-brite?" "What happened to you, John?" "Huh?" "I'll show you." "Okay, take it easy there, chippendale." "I..." "I think I want the shirt back on." "Who is he?" "Lois... who is he?" "I don't know." "Who is he?" "!" "Get away from her!" "It's you." "The Blur." "I don't want to hurt you, John." "You already have." "My sister's dead because of you." "A prison bus... crashed." "All the men inside would have died, but you saved them all." "And in the confusion, a cold-blooded killer escaped." "And he murdered your sister?" "What... gives you the right... to interfere with our lives and to change our fates?" "!" "I'm sorry about your loss, John." "What happened to your sister was tragic." "But you need to control yourself." "The meteor rock is causing an... an adrenaline rush." "You're not thinking straight." "Control myself?" "That's easy for you to say." "It doesn't take... much to stay in control when you watch from the shadows." "You stand apart from the world... while the rest of us live in it." "Even when it breaks your heart." "[ beeping ]" "[ powering down ]" "Lois." "[ pulsating ] [ grunting ]" "Now I'm gonna show you what it feels like to lose somebody you love." "Lead." "What's the matter..." "Blur?" "A little meteor rock got you down?" "Who knew the mighty..." "Goliath could be taken down... with a simple stone?" "John... no!" "You're safe now, Lois." "I'm here." "It's you." "You saved me." "After all our phone calls," "I finally have you standing right in front of me, and I don't know what to say to you." "Please let me see your face." "Lois, I'm just glad you're okay." "I'm coming home right now." "Okay." "I'll see you soon." "Clark." "This view really puts things in perspective." "Jimmy knew exactly what he was doing when he bought this place." "I really miss him." "I took the easy way out, Chloe." "I should have been there when you needed me." "I'm sorry." "Clark, there's nothing easy about burying everyone you love in your past." "I'm afraid I haven't even done a very good job of that." "I'm trying to fill the void by hanging out on rooftops, eavesdropping on people... people who are connecting... and living." "Thinking, what's the point of protecting life..." "If you've lost your sense on how to live it?" "Maybe I can't do this, Chloe." "Maybe I can't completely stay away." "Stay away from her, you mean." "Lois means something to you... something more." "So, does this mean that Clark Kent is coming back for an encore?" "I don't know." "But I can't let that life interfere with my training again." "Clark, lurking around building edges at midnight, pining after the life you gave up isn't exactly amping your hero performance, either." "You know... maybe I was naive to think that you just turn a corner and never look back." "But either way," "Kal-El needs his human disguise now more than ever." "Why do you say that?" "Went to the Daily Planet to look at Lois' computer and found that Tess had loaded it up with serious spyware." "You mean, she didn't rehire Lois out of the goodness of her heart?" "She wanted to find out where Lois has been the last three weeks." "Now, if she figures out..." "She was in the future and brought back a Kryptonian who says I'll end the world..." "Tess already knows way too much about you." "We can't let her get to Lois' memories before you do." "Heartless bastard." "I'm gonna be needing that." "Clark Kent." "You're back." "I was beginning to think your family lived on some distant planet." "Must have really missed me." "Uh... only because the guy who sat in your desk was a certifiable psychopath." "Otherwise, I've been so busy," "I didn't even notice you were gone." "Missed you, too, Lois." "Anything exciting happen while I was gone?" "Well, you'll never believe it, but I helped the Blur stop a homicidal maniac." "Really?" "You know, I would love to hear about it." "Okay." "Well..." "It all started when this guy showed up with this major grudge against the Blur." "He also happens to have these bionic arms and a big, glowing rock for a heart." "But that's way later on in the story." "to think such a small rock could give someone so much power." "Can he be revived?" "The subject's operation has left him more machine than man." "His vital signs have simply gone offline." "You have the coolest stuff." "Wha... wh..." "Hey." "What?" "You work for me now, which means you knock before you enter." "Did you find the Kandorians?" "Check it." "Look." "These symbols appeared all over the world the same night that Zod arrived." "Now, I don't have a definitive translation for them yet, but... the design shares similarities to Kryptonian words for "blood," "nobility," and "family."" "Like a family crest." "So there are more of his people out there." "How many of these did you find?" "Hundreds, okay?" "And I think you might recognize this one." "There's more." "Look."