- Lex Luthor: Your form's good but his gait's off. You might want to check your shoes. Lex Luthor. I'm a friend of your aunt's.
- Lana Lang: Sneaking up like that. You're lucky you didn't get kicked.
- Lex Luthor: You must be Lana. It's a pleasure to finally meet you.
- Lana Lang: We've already met.
- Lex Luthor: I seriously doubt I'd forget meeting you.
- Lana Lang: You were a little preoccupied at the time.
- Lex Luthor: I get the feeling I didn't make a great first impression.
- Lana Lang: When I was ten, I went to Metropolis for a riding competition. Your father invited us to stay over. My aunt said you had an indoor pool. When I went to check it out, I found you and a girl skinny dipping. I think you were teaching her the breast stroke.
- Lex Luthor: That was you? Wow. You're all grown up now.
- [sees a case of ribbons, trophies, and plaques]
- Lex Luthor: Very impressive.
- Chloe Sullivan: What's the sudden interest in Greg? You coming out of the entomology closet?
- Clark Kent: It's nothing. I'll catch up with you later.
- Chloe Sullivan: I hate it when you do that.
- Clark Kent: Do what?
- Chloe Sullivan: Just shut me out. It's like one minute you're here, and the next you're gone. Clark, you're not outgrowing me as a friend, are you?
- Clark Kent: Chloe, I could never outgrow you. Other than vertically.
- Chloe Sullivan: [blushing] It's amazing how far that Kent charm with get you.
- Lex Luthor: Can't knock your taste in women. You want to tell me what happened last night?
- Clark Kent: It was just a stupid prank.
- Lex Luthor: You were tied to a stake in the middle of a field. Even the Romans saved that for special occasions. You could have died out there.
- Clark Kent: I appreciate your help. I just want to forget it ever happened.
- Lex Luthor: If you hadn't pulled him out of that truck, your problems would be solved.
- [Clark looks at him]
- Lex Luthor: I'm kidding of course. Don't worry, Clark. I've got your Trojan horse.
- [he takes the box with Lana's necklace in it off the fireplace; he opens it and Clark backs away]
- Lex Luthor: Clark, you okay?
- Clark Kent: Yeah, I'm fine.
- [Lex closes the box and Clark's pain stops]
- Clark Kent: That's a cool box. What's it made of?
- Lex Luthor: Lead. My mother bought it in a casbah in Morocco. A little guy told her it was made from the armor of St. George, the patron saint of boy scouts. She gave it to me before she died. I think she was trying to send me a message.
- [offers it to Clark]
- Lana Lang: Did you know you can see my house from here?
- Clark Kent: [innocently] No. Really?
- [he moves the telescope, to take the focus off her house]
- Clark Kent: You know, we've lived a mile apart our whole lives and you've never come over.
- Lana Lang: And you're wondering what I'm doing here now.
- Clark Kent: Not that I don't enjoy the company, but yes, I was.
- [after saving a boy from an explosion]
- Clark Kent: You need to talk to Mom. I think I really freaked her out this time.
- Jonathan Kent: You also made her really proud, Clark.
- Clark Kent: Dad, something else happened to me this morning. When I woke up, I was... kind of floating.
- Jonathan Kent: Floating?
- Clark Kent: As soon as I woke up, I crashed. I mean, Dad, what's happening to me?
- Jonathan Kent: I honestly don't know. As soon as you start breaking the law of gravity, we're definitely in uncharted territory.
- Lana Lang: Your mom said I could wait up here. I hope you don't mind. This is an amazing place.
- Clark Kent: My dad built it. Calls it my "Fortress of Solitude."
- Lex Luthor: I know the feeling. Kind of makes you wonder if you're with the right guy. One chucks footballs, the other helps save lives.
- Jonathan Kent: I don't know. Seems kind of out there.
- Martha Kent: This coming from the man who's been hiding a spaceship in his storm cellar for the last 12 years.
- [she leaves]
- Lana Lang: Life is about change, sometimes it's painful, sometimes it's beautiful, but most of the time it's both.
- Lex Luthor: [to Clark] Save any lives on your way over? You keep it up and you could make a career out of it.
- Clark Kent: Just dropping off your produce. Sorry my parents gave you a hard time.
- Lex Luthor: Oh, if push came to shove, I would have arm-wrestled them for it.
- Pete Ross: He had a killer tree fort his dad built in the woods.
- Clark Kent: It was okay.
- Pete Ross: Clark never liked it. He used to get sick just walking over there.
- Chloe Sullivan: How come?
- Pete Ross: He was afraid of heights.
- Clark Kent: I didn't believe it was structurally sound.
- Lana Lang: I didn't see you at the dance last night.
- Clark Kent: Oh, I was...
- [glancing at Whitney]
- Clark Kent: I was a little tied up.
- Jonathan Kent: Hey, Clark, what is the holdup, son?
- Lex Luthor: Mr. Kent, it's good to see you.
- Jonathan Kent: [shaking hands as a courtesy] Lex. Come on, we've gotta finish up.
- Clark Kent: Okay, dad.
- Lex Luthor: At least I got a handshake this time.
- Chloe Sullivan: I found an article about Amazonian tribesmen who took on traits of the insects they've been bitten by, but nothing as extreme as what you're talking about. Did you have any luck?
- Clark Kent: Only that Greg didn't move to Smallville until after the meteor shower. So he couldn't have been exposed to the blast.
- Chloe Sullivan: Yeah, but his bugs could have been. Think about it, Clark; pieces of that meteor are still buried all over Smallville. The whole habitat's infected. So when boy catches bugs and bugs bite boy, you end up with Bug Boy.
- Clark Kent: Chloe, you can't even walk out your door in the summertime without being bitten by a mosquito. Why don't we have a whole town of bug people?
- Chloe Sullivan: Uh, because you need a certain level of toxins to cause a mutation. Those Amazonian tribesmen were all attacked by swarms.
- Clark Kent: Greg did keep tanks of bugs in his room. Maybe they got sick of the view and staged a revolt.
- Chloe Sullivan: [glancing at the magazine in hand] Well, according to this, bugs have a very short life cycle. So if he really has gone Kafka, let's hope he isn't in the mating phase.
- Greg Arkin: I have no rules, Clark. I eat what I want, I go where I want, and I take what I want.
- Clark Kent: [points to Lana] You're not taking her.
- Greg Arkin: Well then try and stop me.
- Clark Kent: You're not the only one who's changed.
- Clark Kent: [describing having been floating when he woke up] I just wish it would stop.
- Jonathan Kent: Look, Clark, I'm your father. I'm supposed to have all the answers. And it kills me that I don't, but... you've gotta have faith. We'll figure this thing out together.
- Clark Kent: I do. But this is happening to me, and I'm scared.
- Jonathan Kent: Whitney's gonna be all right. He's got a couple of cuts and bruises, but nothing serious.
- Clark Kent: Does he remember anything?
- Jonathan Kent: No. Just that something smashed his truck and he woke up in the ambulance.
- Mrs. Arkin: Is this what you do with your time now, Greg?
- Greg Arkin: Where did you get those?
- Mrs. Arkin: Where do you think? In that hole you call a room.
- Greg Arkin: You had no right to go in there.
- Mrs. Arkin: You've got a lot of nerve talking to me about privacy. I am in the garden club with Lana's aunt. How am I gonna face Nell, knowing that my own son is creeping around videotaping her niece?
- Mrs. Arkin: What the hell has gotten into you?
- Greg Arkin: About two million years of intelligence and instinct.
- Mrs. Arkin: You stop this. Stop this right now.
- Greg Arkin: I can't. See, it's too late. Nature's already taken its course. First I'll eat... then I'll molt. Then I'll mate.
- Mrs. Arkin: You need help.
- Greg Arkin: [she whimpers as she blocks her effort to leave] Hey, mom... did I ever tell you about the Farrow spider? It's a fascinating creature. You see, after it hatches, it kills its mother.
- Whitney Fordman: You realize last night was just a joke, right?
- [putting his hand on Clark's shoulder to get his attention]
- Whitney Fordman: Hey. I need that necklace back.
- Clark Kent: I don't have it.
- Whitney Fordman: Look, it's Lana's favorite, so...
- Clark Kent: So, then you'd better go out to that cornfield and find it.
- Greg Arkin: Hey, Lana, I was wondering if you could help me with my Lit paper?
- Lana Lang: Nathanael West assignment giving you brain freeze?
- Greg Arkin: Yeah, it's kicking my ass.
- Lana Lang: Sure, okay.
- Greg Arkin: Great. How about my house, after school?
- Lana Lang: Library might be easier.
- Greg Arkin: Do you know the average butterfly only lives for eight hours?
- Lana Lang: Live fast, die young. They're the rock stars of the insect world.
- Clark Kent: Planning an invasion?
- Lex Luthor: My father gave this to me when I was nine.
- Clark Kent: Cool gift.
- Lex Luthor: It wasn't a gift. It was a strategy tool. My father equates business with war. Take the battle of Troy. It started because two men were in love with the same woman. Kinda like you and the quarterback. That's why he strung you up in that field, isn't it?
- Clark Kent: If we're at war, Whitney's pretty much won.
- Lex Luthor: You lost one battle, Clark, that's all. Besides, I don't believe Lana is as infatuated as you think.
- Clark Kent: The guy's captain of the football team. Whole town treats him like a god. Game over.
- Whitney Fordman: Hey, bug boy, do me a favor and quit tailing my girlfriend.
- Greg Arkin: You afraid of a little competition, Whitney?
- Whitney Fordman: We're not in competition, Greg. But if I find out you've been leaving butterflies in my girlfriend's bedroom... you'll know about it.
- Greg Arkin: [to himself, as Whitney leaves] Yeah, well, just remember... sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug.
- Lex Luthor: That's an unusual necklace.
- Lana Lang: Thanks. It's very special to me.
- Lex Luthor: How come you're not wearing it?
- Lana Lang: I lent it to my boyfriend.
- Lex Luthor: Lucky guy. What's his name?
- Lana Lang: Whitney Fordman.
- Lex Luthor: The kid that Kent saved today?
- Lana Lang: Just came back from seeing him. He's lucky Clark was there.
- Clark Kent: What are you gonna do?
- Lana Lang: I'm not sure. I thought I knew Whitney. Now I wonder what else I've been blind to in my life. He even lost my favorite necklace.
- Clark Kent: [glancing at the lead box Lex gave him] Can't you get it replaced?
- Lana Lang: Sounds kind of weird, but it's made from a fragment of the meteor that killed my parents. Nell had it made. Gave it to me on the day she officially adopted me.
- Lana Lang: Where were you before the game on Saturday?
- Whitney Fordman: Can we talk about this later?
- Lana Lang: It's a simple question, Whitney.
- Whitney Fordman: I was warming up.
- Lana Lang: So you didn't grab Clark and hang him up in a field?
- Whitney Fordman: Lana, it was just a prank.
- Lana Lang: Can I please have my necklace back?
- Whitney Fordman: I lost it.
- Lana Lang: Were you planning on telling me? Or was that a prank, too?
- Greg Arkin: I thought you'd forgotten. I've been waiting for, like, an hour.
- [she looks at him in confusion]
- Greg Arkin: You remember, the English paper?
- Lana Lang: Sorry, Greg, something really important came up. Can we do it some other time?
- Greg Arkin: [stopping her as she turns to leave] Hey! Are you blowing me off for your boyfriend?
- Lana Lang: I'm not blowing you off. I need to see Clark.
- Greg Arkin: Kent? So you'd rather spend time with him? Is he more important than me?
- Lana Lang: Greg, I can't talk about this right now. I have to go.
- Clark Kent: I can't take that.
- Lex Luthor: What is it about Kents and gifts? It's yours. Hand it to Lana and tell her what happened. Trust me. Once she opens it, you'll win her heart. That necklace gives you the power, Clark. All you've gotta do is use it.
- Lana Lang: I found about what Whitney did to you, the... whole scarecrow thing. And... I came to apologize.
- Clark Kent: It's not your fault. So, forget about it.
- Lana Lang: I can't. He had no right to do that to you, and... and you turn around and save his life.
- Clark Kent: I appreciate you coming over here. But you're not the one who should be apologizing.
- Lana Lang: I didn't come here to defend him. I came here to see you.
- Clark Kent: Who told you?
- Lana Lang: Lex Luthor. Dropped some breadcrumbs, and I followed the trail. I'm glad he did, Clark. He was just being a good friend. You're lucky; it's rare.
- Clark Kent: Lana!
- Whitney Fordman: Greg's got her.
- Clark Kent: What happened?
- Whitney Fordman: I'm not sure. Greg threw me against the wall like it was nothing and grabbed Lana. I've never seen somebody that strong.
- Clark Kent: Which way did he go?
- Whitney Fordman: He headed off into the woods.
- Clark Kent: I think I know where he's going.
- Whitney Fordman: Great, I'll drive.
- Clark Kent: Dad, you ever wonder why all these weird things happen in Smallville?
- Jonathan Kent: Every town has its share of tall tales.
- Clark Kent: Except here, they're all true. Chloe showed me this wall. It was covered with all these articles she collected about all the weird stuff that's happened in Smallville since the meteor shower. It's all my fault.
- Jonathan Kent: Look, Clark, if you're talking about 50-pound tomatoes and... two-headed calves, then I... I got a better explanation for you: LuthorCorp. I mean, God only knows what that fertilizer plant's been pumping out over the last twelve years.
- Clark Kent: LuthorCorp didn't kill Lana's parents.
- Jonathan Kent: Neither did you, son. You can't blame yourself for something you had no control over.
- Clark Kent: Dad, I know. I still feel responsible.
- Jonathan Kent: What happened to Lana's parents was a terrible tragedy. But no matter how many extraordinary gifts you have... you will never be able to change that.
- Clark Kent: Then how do I make this feeling go away?
- Jonathan Kent: You can't. But that's what makes you human.
- Clark Kent: Greg, I know what's happened to you.
- Greg Arkin: Well, then you know that I've been freed.
- Clark Kent: No, you haven't. You're a slave to your instincts.
- Clark Kent: You know the old Creekside Foundry?
- Whitney Fordman: The one that got hit with the meteor shower?
- Clark Kent: Follow the dirt track, about a hundred yards back, there's a tree fort in the woods.
- Whitney Fordman: How do you know he's there?
- Clark Kent: Greg used to collect bugs there when we were kids.
- Whitney Fordman: Look, Kent, I want to apologize...
- [while he's not looking, Clark whooshes away]
- Jonathan Kent: I never saw anybody move like that.
- Martha Kent: Did you get a look at his face?
- Jonathan Kent: No, he came right off the ceiling at me. I mean, it was almost as if he...
- Clark Kent: Wasn't entirely human? I saw his face; I think it was Greg Arkin.
- Martha Kent: That's a name I haven't heard in a long time. You and Pete used to hang out with him in grade school.
- Jonathan Kent: Why would he wanna hurt you?
- Clark Kent: I don't know.
- Martha Kent: Are you still friends?
- Clark Kent: I pass him in the halls, but people change.
- Martha Kent: I remember his mother used to keep him on a short leash, but I can't believe he'd hurt a fly.
- Clark Kent: Maybe that's because he was too busy collecting them and every other bug he could get his hands on.
- Jonathan Kent: Uh, Clark, kids don't just leap off the ceiling and attack people.
- Clark Kent: [seeing gooey footprints on the ceiling] How do you explain that?
- Clark Kent: Is Greg Arkin still a science reporter for the Torch?
- Chloe Sullivan: Well, if your definition of a reporter is someone who actually turns in articles, then no. Greg hasn't shown his face in the office for, like, a week.
- Chloe Sullivan: [at Greg's house] Doesn't look like anyone's home.
- Pete Ross: The place is a mess. Remember what a neat freak Greg's mom was?
- Clark Kent: Yeah, she used to make us take off our shoes. One time I forgot, and she yelled at me.
- Chloe Sullivan: Is that what broke up the friendship?
- Clark Kent: After seventh grade, Greg's parents got divorced, and he just stopped calling after that.