Smallville2001

Clark Kent:
We all know what the government was up to. But those prisons were part of much bigger threat. Hate crimes are up. People like Slade, they're getting more control. And Godfrey's anti-vigilante message - it's reaching more ears than ever before, and I don't think it's a coincidence.

Tess Mercer:
Sadly, Clark, there's no mystery to human fear and hatred.

Clark Kent:
This time, there might be. I think there's something more behind the darkness, something that hero haters like Slade don't even know is affecting them. When I sent the Kandorians away through the portal in space, I opened a door to something else to come to Earth.

Oliver Queen:
Are you serious trying to tell me that, out of all the intergalactic bad boys we've ever faced, this one's actually worse?

Clark Kent:
This is *much* worse. We can't even see it to fight it. This thing is like an evil that's spreading over the Earth. It preys upon the dark side that we already have. It feeds on our doubts, our fears, and our distrust.

Oliver Queen:
Well, I'd say, from where I'm standing, and it's already on the winning side.

Clark Kent:
I think it even affected Slade. Just before the facility exploded, I saw something on Slade's skull - the Omega symbol. It was like it was branded there. Almost like the mark...

Tess Mercer:
...of The Beast in Revelations.

Lois Lane:
Which would explain why he veered so far off his marching orders.

Oliver Queen:
I'm guessing you don' t think that Slade's the only pledge to the Alpha-Omega-Die fraternity, right?

Clark Kent:
I think the Omega is the sign of corruption. A mark of the darkness has fully taken over someone.

Lois Lane:
Didn't Kara say that a person had to be open to the darkness? That it can't infect anyone of pure heart?

Clark Kent:
And which one of us doesn't have that weakness? A hidden hatred or fear that this thing couldn't prey upon?

Oliver Queen:
So, basically this thing doesn't have to do anything.

Lois Lane:
It just waits for everybody's weaknesses, and then we destroy ourselves.

Clark Kent:
If we can't stop it, the darkness will infect every person on this planet.