So: Clark is doubtful of the plan, which he damn well should be, because he's the one who thought of it. Lois molds his shoulders into a slumping posture and tells him not to be so great. "Honey, you need to be invisible and forgettable," she tells him. She looks across the street to where a teen-aged boy is fumbling with a map at the newsstand. Lois points to the kid as a role model for Clark. As they watch, the kid drops his backpack, spilling all his books onto the sidewalk. Lois laughs a little. "Lois, I was like that," Clark says. Only around Lana and only when she had her necklace, you doofus. Clark shudders at the thought of being like that again. Lois tells him to get over it, but she does it much more nicely than I would have. I would have slapped him, Moonstruck-style. Clark changes the subject by telling her to focus on that promotion she wants, but she's not easily distracted. "These need to stay on," she whispers, putting the glasses back on him. He makes a face like an eight-year-old whose mother has just insisted he wear a tie to church.

Meanwhile, that fumbly teen is jogging to catch up to a group of other teens. He trips over the curb and lands headlong in the street. An SUV has just turned the corner and is suddenly bearing down on him. The driver slams on the brake. Clark, now in the Planet basement, hears the squeal of rubber on concrete and zips into action. Everything slows to a crawl. The teen looks up, sees the SUV coming straight at him. Before the kid's cranium is turned into so much hamburger, a wave of golden light washes over him. A man in a blue and gold leather outfit has whooshed into the scene. He's shielding the kid and blasting the SUV with light from a device embedded in the back of his glove. The kid looks up, trembling, and sees car's smashed grill, stopped just inches from his face. Various oohs and ahhs go up from the gathering crowd. The newcomer hero stands to his full height, his costume emblazoned with quilted abs and sponsorship patches. His sunglasses are gold-rimmed. He takes a moment to pose with his hands on his hips as cheerfully heroic music plays, then helps the hapless teen to his feet. Clark watches from the middle of the street, looking a bit put out. "Brilliant save, sir," a man's prim voice says over the mysterious hero's earpiece. "Course it was, Skeets," the hero replies. Then to the teen he says, "Say cheese, junior." The hero turns a blindingly white grin to his adoring public as cameras flash. With a seasoned pitchman's skill, he introduces himself as "Booster Gold: the greatest hero you've never heard of... till now!" He announces he'll be signing autographs later at the Ace of Clubs [Hey, they have a set for that! - Zach], and the teen takes the opportunity to slip away. As he's making his escape, he gets a look inside the thwarted SUV. The driver appears unconscious. A man in the back seat also seems out of commission. His wrist is handcuffed to an open metal case containing a metallic mesh cannister that has been partially peeled open from the inside out. While the kid peers some more, a big blue scarab beetle is crawling into his backpack. Well, let that be a lesson to you: Don't keep your giant glowing bugs in a flimsy container.