At last Clark found what he was looking for and he didn't like it. Peter was lying senselessly in a dark, deserted alley.

He flew down and pulled off the mask. His clothes were shredded and except for the mask, you couldn't tell the clothes had belonged to Spiderman. He lightly tapped on the unbruised part of Peter's cheek. Luckily, Peter's eyes began to flutter. Clark x-rayed his insides and found quite a few broken bones but nothing that a trip to the hospital and a few weeks of recovery wouldn't fix.

Seeing that he was fully conscious, Clark asked, "Who did this to you?"

"Venom."

"Describe him."

"He looks like me only his costume is black and white. He has all of my powers only stronger. When I was in space, I got this alien goo on me that made Venom and when it left me, it got on—" Peter fell back into unconsciousness.

Clark scooped him up and took him to the hospital.

He began another search for Venom. He could be almost anyone. From what he inferred from Peter, it was like possession and he mutated back and forth.

At last after what seemed like forever, he saw him on the rooftop of a bank. He wasn't alone. There was some other criminal dressed like a bird. Whatever happened to the good old days, when all the criminals ever wore was a ski mask or a stocking?

He flew down and pressed himself against the building. He desperately hoped no one saw him. He was riding on the thought that New Yorkers were used so strange things and didn't pay a lot of attention to stuff like this. He listened to the conversation above him.

"Did you get the job done or didn't you?"

"How many times do I have to tell you, Vulture? I sensed someone dangerous coming, so I had to leave. He was beat up pretty good, but I can't guarantee he's dead."

"Then what was the point of all this? I'm through working with you. I can kill him on my own."

Clark watched in disbelief as the man with the wings flew away. If he caught this Vulture, he didn't think it would hold up in court, so he let him fly away.

Clark flew to the rooftop expecting an easy fight. One superhuman punch and he would be out. He was surprised when the two strings of web that Venom shot out at him trapped him to the ground. One was across his hips pinning his arms down and the other was across his mouth. The only thing he could really move was his eyes.

How could this happen? He was the man of steel. That's when he remembered. He had read somewhere that if a spider web could be increased to human size, it would be stronger than steel. He had found a substance of Earth that affected him.

"I don't know who you are or where you came from, but you must be crazy to think you can stop me," Venom said.

He was about to jump to the next rooftop, when Clark shot heat from his eyes. It was the only thing he had left and luckily, extreme heat affected Venom and he fell to the ground. He began to morph back into none other than Eddie Brock.

Clark couldn't believe his coworker was the villain because he was such a nice man and one of the few that believed Spiderman was a good guy.

"Clark? Is that you?" he said, getting up.

Clark grunted. Brock looked around and almost fell back down.

"How could we have got up here and why are you tied up in spider web? I guess I better help you out first, huh?"

He pulled but of course, if a super man couldn't do it then no one short of a giant spider or rather a human spider could do it and Peter was in the hospital.

Wait a minute! He couldn't break upward but he could certainly break down. He pushed his body downward and fell through the roof. A perfect outline of himself was above him. He could always attribute it to a weak spot in the roof.

12:38 p.m. in Peter's hospital room…

"There's nothing we can do, Clark. Eddie can't help it and I'm partly to blame for the incident. Jail or a mental institute won't solve anything and how long would he be in a lab before they figured out how to remove it. It gets triggered by anger, so I've been convincing him to go to things like yoga and anger management. I won't let him beat me up next time."

"I still don't like it, but it's your call."

"So have you thought about it?" Peter asked.

"About what?"

"Becoming a full-time superhero."

"Yes, and after today I know it's my calling and responsibility to use my powers for good. However, I can't just drop everything and run out to stop evil as Clark Kent. Give me time to think about it."

"I know it's not easy, but you won't regret it. With great power comes great responsibility."

"What do you think of the superhero name Kansas Tornado?"

"Kansas Tornado?"

"I never was good at coming up with names. Maybe I should concentrate on a disguise."

"Good idea."

Lois swung the door open and marched in.

"I forgive you for standing me up at lunch," she says looking at Clark.

"Lois, Peter was injured today."

"I know and that's why I forgive you. I've come to get the scoop whether Bridget likes it or not!"

That would explain the notebook and pen in her hand.

They had already come up with the following story:

Peter had been walking to work and he saw Spiderman and Venom in a fight. Venom saw him and attacked him then the two costumed people had swung off. Peter made it to a payphone where he called Clark and Clark came and took him to the hospital. Clark had gone to cash his paycheck while he waited for Peter to get done with the doctor and also because Mary Jane and Aunt May were coming to be with him (the two women were now at lunch). Clark saw Eddie Brock and Venom on the rooftop of the bank and he had gone up to help. When Venom saw him, he dropped Eddie, stuck Clark to the ground with web, and escaped. Clark fell through the roof and he and Brock had got down. That was the whole truth and nothing but the truth as far as the public knew.

Clark leaned back in his chair and watched as Lois sat on the chair on the other side of the bed. Her eyes were completely focused on Peter Parker. Her mouth was pressed into a grim line as she listened and wrote. She was so pretty and confident. He couldn't imagine his life without her. When Peter said his name, Lois looked in his direction briefly and he felt weak and nervous. It dawned on him. He was in love. He didn't know when it had happened. Maybe it happened the first time he saw her or maybe it was a thing that had grown gradually as he saw more and more of the real Lois. She had a heart of gold behind that rough exterior she had built around it.

He was a superhero in love. That was two self discoveries in one day. Even Dr. Phil would be impressed.