"Scion"

Original Air Date on March 4, 2011

Tess.

You didn't have to come all the way out here.

There's caffeine dealers in Metropolis.

I just... I just... I just feel like you and I haven't had a chance to really catch up lately.

Okay.

So, how are you?

Good. Good.

How are you?

I'm fine, thanks.

Right. Okay. Um...

It's... it's just that t-there has been a little incident with our little project.

What happened?

Ever since Alexander's reboot, he has been totally glitch-free a-and ready to enter the real world.

Except he needs... he needs someone to...

Guide him.

S-someone like you.

Me?

He's a genetically engineered version of Lex.

I don't think I'd be the best mentor for him.

About that...

uh, he's soaking up new information like an MIT grad, a-and I think...

I think he just needs someone there for him, like family.

Well, technically, you are his sister.

But I'm no Clark Kent.

I know you are the one that can bring out the best in him.

Which is why he is outside waiting in the car.

Here?!

Tess, you shouldn't...

what if he remembers something about me? He doesn't.

He doesn't remember anything because he's going through this sort of metamorphosis.

A-and ever since he's been changing, we have been learning new things about him, like things about his, um, genetic origin.

Hey, Tess. Check it out.

Um, he doesn't just have Lex's genes.

Half his DNA c-came from you.

So it's not just the Luthor males

who like secrets.

Given the fact that you're here, this place isn't really much of a secret.

Ah, yeah.

But you are forgetting I'm running Luthorcorp now.

One of my, uh, crackerjack accountants informed me that millions of dollars had been funneled into this facility.

But, uh, it looks as if you've closed up shop.

I applaud your efforts...

But you can't hide Alexander from me forever.

I'm saving him from an encore performance of "daddy dearest."

Give me my son.

I'm surprised you are so hell-bent on this family reunion, given the fact that in this world it was Lex that sent Lionel plummeting to his death.

That's proof that the Lex you knew was a true Luthor.

I made a terrible mistake, Tess.

I should never have trusted Clark more than my own flesh and blood.

Considering what happened to me, I'd say that turning your back on your own is the dominant Luthor trait...

Which is why the Luthor legacy ends with you.

Tess.

Yeah.

If I'd been your father when Lionel gave you up for adoption...

I would have done precisely as he did.

Why?

'Cause you can't control me?

No.

Because you are inferior.

Imagine what a boy like Alexander could do if he had the right guidance.

You're right.

You're right.

Come with me.

Your son is in there.

We couldn't find a cure to stop the accelerated mitosis.

You're lying.

I don't believe you.

There are enough bone chips in those ashes for a DNA test.

That will prove that I'm telling the truth.

Your son is dead, Lionel.

You'll never be able to hurt him again.

Thanks for your help.

You're the one hiding a mutant under your roof.

Tess keeps me on the move.

This is 100 times better than playing lab rat for a bunch of doctors.

They think I can't hear what they say about me.

So, your name is Conner?

It's from my medical files.

"Cognitional neuroplastic replicant"...

CNR. "Conner."

Tess thinks she's kept that a big secret from me.

I think she's just embarrassed, you know?

Taking care of a walking freak show.

She doesn't think that way.

I promise, she's trying to protect you.

From how people would react if they found out what I really was?

You'd be surprised how much it doesn't matter when people get to know you.

Well, that's really PC of you, but you don't understand what it feels like every time you meet someone new, some new doctor, if, uh, they're gonna hate you just for who you are or maybe even be jealous that they can't do what you can do.

Is it true you can't remember anything from bore you got your abilities?

Zip. Mutation's a bitch.

Honestly...

I understand Tess is trying to protect me from a whole bunch of stuff, but...

I need to find out where I come from, why I am the way I am.

I'm sure she'll tell you when you're ready.

Well, I'm ready now.

No disrespect, but, uh...

I can't stand around here milking cows when there's so much I need to know.

Appreciate your hospitality, but, uh...

You're not leaving?

That almost sounded like it wasn't a question.

Look, it's important...

To Tess that you stick around here for a while.

And it's important to me

that I find out who and what I really am.

What if someone catches on to the fact that you're different?

I can't let you take that risk. I'm sorry.

Sorry, but it's my risk to take.

Besides, you can't exactly stop me.

Whoa.

You're...

I-I'm like you.

So, does this mean...

oh, my God. Are...

are you, like, my dad?

I prefer "brother."

I thought I was the only one with these powers.

Well, me and the blur.

W-wait.

Are you...

are you him? The blur?

How do you know about the blur?

Are you kidding?

I've read about every save he's made... er, you've made.

Well, come on. Let's go to Metropolis and save somebody together!

Wait, you still have some things you need to learn.

All I've been doing is learning.

I want to do something.

Yeah, it's exciting to have new abilities.

But you need to learn how to control them.

We're gonna stay here on the farm.

We're gonna practice.

Come on. I don't need to practice.

Trust me.

I'm in total control.

Clark!

What the hell? I have been trying to call you.

Uh, Lois...

This is my friend Conner.

Conner, this is my...

Fiancée, Lois Lane.

Hey.

Hi.

I need you to sign off on the byline by noon if we're gonna make the evening edition.

What just happened?

Nothing. Nothing.

Okay, Alexander is now Conner?

Okay, well, I guess, if puff daddy can become diddy and prince can say he's that squiggly thing.

But I'm worried about what's underneath.

Clark, memory wipe or not, this kid tried to kill you.

Look, his name is not the only thing that changed.

Conner has.

He's only half Lex it turns out.

What?

Okay, well, if you say the other half is Tess, I'm gonna officially write that family off for good.

Lois, the other half is me.

Are you trying to tell me...

That Conner is the genetic love child of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor?

You don't have to say it like that.

Does he have your powers?

I can honestly say I have no idea how I'm supposed to be feeling about this.

Lois, all that matters is that we have a kid in the barn, and he's really freaked out.

He doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere.

He needs our help.

Clark, we don't know what he's capable of.

Lois, I understand that I'm asking you to take on a lot.

No, I knew when I signed up for the Clark Kent tour package that it would be full of surprises.

But how is Lex able to shake up a human/krypto cocktail without you realizing it?

He had a vial of my blood stolen from Helen Bryce's office years ago.

We thought we destroyed it, but Lex must have kept a sample.

After he engineered Alexander, he thought that my DNA would stop the accelerated mitosis, and it worked.

Lois, because of me, this kid has no chance of having a normal life.

No, hold on, chicken little.

How do we know what Conner wouldn't love to be the only kid on the block more powerful than a locomotive?

What? It's just...

Sometimes I forget that you never saw what it was like...

Growing up, being different, feeling like an outsider, like a freak...

Like you were all alone.

You turned out pretty normal.

Lois, you don't understand. It never goes away.

It's always in there.

The only thing that's ever made me feel...

Normal is you.

Conner's not alone.

He has us.

Okay, what's with all the cloak-and-dagger?

I feel like I stepped into a tom Clancy novel.

I know you're probably still reeling from the Conner bomb that I dropped on you this morning, but you're the only member of our merry little league that can help me now.

Well, considering I don't have any amazing powers or cool gadgets, I do find that hard to believe.

You can talk Clark into getting rid of Lionel Luthor once and for all.

I know you already went up this hill and got shot down.

Since the Lionel Clark knew came around in the end, Clark is hoping this Luthor will change his spots, too.

Oh, hey.

We need to draw a line in the sand, Lois.

Clark needs to act now.

Lionel knows his secret. He knows what can hurt him.

And if they rumble in the asphalt jungle, Clark could go down for the count.

Yeah, he could.

But we both know how Lionel destroyed his own world when he had a superpowered son, and if he gets ahold of Conner, he will do the same here.

I know how dangerous this is for Clark.

We don't have a choice.

Maybe we do.

Just hear me out.

When Eliot Ness couldn't nab Capone for murder, the government sent him up the river for getting sloppy with his taxes.

Now, you and I both know that Lionel would have spent a pretty penny to hide the fact that he's from another world.

What if he was just as sloppy?

If we can find a detail that he overlooked, we could prove that he's a fake...

And his entire House of cards will come crashing down.

The cremated remains came from one of the other clones.

So my boy is alive.

We've got to find him.

We convinced Dr. Lamell to tell us that Mercer took him to Smallville.

He's with Clark Kent.

Not for long.

It is time for my prodigal son to return.

Yeah.

This is pointless.

Everything that we do with our abilities is our responsibility.

That's why we have to learn how to control them before they control us.

That's why we practice.

I lifted the tractor without any practice.

When you put it down, you broke the beam behind the stall.

Who taught you how to do all this stuff?

My parents were there every step of the way.

My dad...

He believed that all the hard work he had me do would teach me how to control my abilities, teach me character.

Conner, you may not have parents, but you have me.

I'll always be there for you.

What do you say we take another shot at your heat vision?

Just concentrate and light the candle.

You'll get it eventually.

You know, we have a doorbell.

I was just stopping by to see how things were going, but it looks like I should have brought marshmallows.

You know, he's getting things faster than I did.

If I didn't know any better, that might look like a glint of pride in your eyes.

Unfortunately, uh, Clark, I just talked to my inside man, and Lionel knows that Conner's here.

So we need to move him.

I'm gonna call Oliver and Chloe in star city.

We can send him there.

We have kept him in the dark about who he really is.

Don't you think it's time to let Conner know the truth about the other side of the family?

Considering everything that happened, I don't think it's a good idea that he knows half of his DNA came from Lex.

We can never let him know that half of him is Luthor.

What did you find on Lionel?

It seems Lionel 2.0 has dotted every "L"

and crossed every "T."

I mean, his resurrection is so ironclad, he'd give Lazarus a run for his money.

He's even had government lackeys reissue every official document with his autograph.

Now, we know it seems like a dead end, but I'm having some g-men turn over that rock and see what's underneath.

Over and out.

Alexander?

I know you're here.

I've had people tracking you since you left the Kent farm.

Who are you?

I'm your father.

I'm...

I'm sure you have questions.

I'm here to answer them.

Come, son, please.

Let me see you.

Oh, Alexander.

What have they done to you?

It was in your files, what they'd done, but I refused to believe it.

There's a part of you that's Clark Kent.

There's a part of me that's Lex Luthor, too.

I overheard Clark say it.

He lied to me. Yes.

Because he's afraid of you.

He doesn't want you to be with your real family.

You're a threat to him.

Because of my powers.

No.

Because you're a Luthor.

Lex Luthor created an empire.

Clark Kent wants to keep it away from you.

You must embrace your future.

It's time.

Put the ring on.

It's your birthright.

Yes.

Now the journey begins.

Get your hands off me.

Are you sure you got it tight enough?!

Lois. What is she doing here?

You wanted to know what it means to be a Luthor?

Lesson one...

never let anyone stand in your way.

That's fine, thank you!

What's with the slaughterhouse?

Trying to scare me into thinking I'll end up like a piece of meat?

No. You're here because if you scream, no one will hear you.

You see, Clark Kent sends his fiancée to do his dirty work.

No.

Clark doesn't know I broke into your office.

Because you realize if he knew, I'd destroy him.

You risked your life for him.

Very noble.

And very stupid.

I've read a great deal about you.

I expected more.

Well, I was raised to believe that you risk everything to protect those you love.

And, well, that's where we differ.

Oh, I'd risk my own life, but I'd kill to protect my son.

No one will ever take him away from me.

You don't scare me.

The Lionel I knew never got blood on his hands.

I'm not the Lionel you knew.

Thanks, Conner. Hope it wasn't too fast.

Oh, believe me, I'll trade a little motion sickness for a bullet in the bonnet any day.

We need to call Clark and tell him don Luthor is going all godfather on us.

We don't need Clark.

I'll take care of you.

You know what? That's sweet. But I'm freezing out here.

We really need to...

Sound the alarms.

Thanks?

See? I'll get you anything you want.

Okay, I-I get it now.

Your neon is flashing red-hot, and I didn't see the sign.

Hey! You!

Officer, stop her. She's a thief!

Hey! Don't move!

Get in. I'll save you.

Conner, what are you... stop right there!

Sorry!

His first crush.

It's good to know the Luthor libido is still intact.

Great men... great passion.

Let him enjoy himself.

But she must not be allowed to lead him to Clark Kent.

And that ring... he's got to wear that ring.

The tracking device in it will keep him on our radar.

When Conner disappeared, I knew you couldn't be far, so I searched every Luthorcorp facility, and I found this.

Oh. Oh. Doesn't compare to the value of rubies, but, uh, personally, I prefer the red of Kryptonite.

You used it on Conner, didn't you?

You're trying to turn him into something that he's not.

I was trying to unleash his dark side, find out what my son is really made of.

Red Kryptonite, if worn, brings out the primal, uncensored core of self.

You're afraid of it. You won't go near it.

You're scared of what you might find inside you!

I won't let you hurt him like you did Lex.

He was my closest friend, and Lionel Luthor's influence destroyed him.

You destroyed Lex with your secrets and lies.

And those same lies brought Conner to me.

He heard you talking to Tess about hiding the truth from him.

He knows you betrayed him.

That's why he ran to me.

Then you poisoned him with red Kryptonite.

The longer he's exposed to it, the more unstable he becomes.

He's a danger to himself and everyone around him.

No, no.

That's gonna make it easier for him to take everything away from you, including the woman he's with now.

Lois Lane.

No one will find us here.

I'll keep you safe.

And I'll make you happy.

Thanks. But I think you have the wrong idea, Romeo.

This Juliet is already spoken for.

If this isn't romantic enough, I'll speed us away to Paris...

Or somewhere where Clark will never find us.

Okay, let me make this perfectly clear.

You and I... not happening.

I will not let you go back to him.

I'm sorry that...

I lost my temper.

I promise you...

We'll live here happily ever after.

We belong together.

It's our destiny.

You know what we should do?

We should toast our future together.

But I didn't see any champagne, and you should know that it is bad luck to start our lives together without a little bubbly.

Be back in a few.

I'll be waiting. Right here.

There's a reason Lois Lane is known for telling the truth.

Because you're a terrible liar.

Okay, Conner, something strange is happening to you.

You're not yourself! It's the ring! It's the ring.

I've never felt better.

I'm at the top of my game.

And it's all thanks to Clark.

But he has one thing I don't have...

And that's you.

But not anymore.

You are nothing like Clark!

I've seen him on red Kryptonite, and it may bring out his inner angst a little, but it doesn't turn him into this!

This is the other side of you. This is Lex.

We need to make you better.

I don't want to be better.

I want you.

I'll open up a world Clark can't even imagine for you.

Clark is my world!

He's only the person you think he is because he has you.

And if I can't have you, neither will he!

Conner? Lois?

Oh, God! Oh!

Conner!

You're not welcome here.

Where's Lois?

She's not yours anymore.

The only reason that Lionel wants you to wear that ring is so he can corrupt and control you.

I can help.

I don't want your help! Or your lies!

I know you can't understand, but I'm trying to keep you safe.

Safe from myself?

Conner.

This isn't who you really are, Conner.

You're wrong.

I'm nothing like you.

I am a Luthor, and this is where I belong.

No, it's not. And you're coming home with me.

Clark.

What's happening?!

No. You'll never take my son.

No.

What are you doing?!

Eliminating the one person who stands in the way of your destiny.

Let him go!

Let's go, son.

Remember who you are.

You were meant to become a God.

Together, we can make sure you do.

I know who I am.

Lionel. Don't worry about him.

There's no place for him to hide.

Let's go home.

Enjoy the view one last time.

Security's on their way up to escort you out of the building.

Now, if you're threatening me, you need something more powerful than hot air.

All the firepower I need is right here...

copies of all the official documents that bear your signature.

There's no discrepancies. Everything matches perfectly.

My DNA, my handwriting...

identical to the other Lionel.

Then why would you have them all secretly reissued?

Now, you may think you scrubbed all evidence of your true identity from this world, but you missed a spot.

There was one document that you were never aware of.

When Lionel gave you up for adoption.

I wasn't the only thing that he left at the orphanage.

He left his fingerprints on a document when he admitted me.

And as you know, just like our worlds, they're reversed.

His fingerprints and yours are mirror copies of each other.

It proves that you are a fake.

My lawyers are drawing up papers that relinquish your complete control of Luthorcorp to me.

Why would I do that?

Because of that scotch that you're drinking.

What?

It's laced with nano-trackers.

They've burrowed deep into your stomach lining and have entered your blood stream.

From now on, I will know your every move.

And if you try to retaliate against me or my friends...

I will crush you.

Why don't you have me killed?

Because that's not who I am.

You, uh, may want to change yourself to impress Clark Kent, but we both know...

Don't we?

Deep down...

You'll always be a Luthor.

Conner!

The barn never looked better.

Oh. Well, it was the least I could do to make up for all the trouble I caused.

It's not your fault.

If I hadn't lied to you, you wouldn't have run right into Lionel's hands.

I'm sorry.

But I shouldn't have been so quick to trust Lionel.

Conner, you can't beat yourself up.

You had no idea that he would use red Kryptonite on you or how it would affect you.

It's one of the drawbacks of being like us.

I'm not like you, Clark.

I mean, maybe on the outside with what I can do, but what that ring brought out in me...

that was all Lex.

There's a shadow inside of all of us.

But that doesn't mean that you need to embrace it.

You decide who you really are.

And I know you'll make the right choice and become the hero you're destined to be.

That means a lot coming from you.

Well, if you feel that way, maybe, uh, I should start dressing the part.

I know I have a lot to learn.

But when you feel that I'm ready to join the team, I'd like to.

It's nice to hear you're ready to learn.

I picked up an application for you to Smallville high.

Classes start after spring break.

"Conner Kent."

Hope it's not too presumptuous, but I figured you needed a last name.

Welcome home.

Guess I should start with fixing that fence out back.

It seems to me that Clark Kent's nature and nurture won out in the end.

I'm not sure how nurturing it was not telling him the truth.

Well, if you're gonna throw a penance party, I'm gonna have to unwrap my own mea culpa.

I'm sorry that I didn't tell you I was investigating Lionel.

It put us both in danger, even though I was trying to save you.

Sometimes it's hard to know where to draw the line when you're protecting the people you love.

You know, I have a newfound respect for my mom and dad.

I always knew that my powers could cause harm if I misused them.

But I never appreciated the responsibility they must have felt in raising me.

If they hadn't been such amazing parents, this world could've been a much darker place.

Luckily, they brought out the best in you.

I'm sure when we have kids of our own...

You'll be an amazing father.

Am I forgiven?

Together, we could have ruled this world.

I would give anything, my son, just to have you by my side.