As Superman and Lex Luthor resumed their war with each other, the Daily Planet was already covering it, with one of Lois's pupil reporters covering it.

"This is Janet Jenson reporting live for the Daily Planet, where Superman is currently engaged in a battle with his ultimate archenemy, none other than the infamous Alexander "Lex" Luthor, who we are told escaped from Stryker's Island prison earlier this week. Fortunately, the government is already in the process of evacuating Metropolis as a precaution for this moment and it seems wisely so, since the area they are currently fighting in has been abandoned, so no civilians will risk being hurt. Details are still scarce about how Luthor escaped, but I think I speak for everyone not only here in Metropolis, but the world in general that Superman will once again be able to defeat this monster before he's able to do any real damage. Also, there is speculation about whether or not Supergirl or our city's new resident hero, the Green Lantern, may join to help." Janet said as she gestured to her cameraman to get live footage of Superman and Lex's battle, right as Superman threw Lex into a building.

"I see you haven't lost a step, even after you left Metropolis." Lex said with a grin under his helmet as he fired off a kryptonite blast, which Superman easily dodged.

"And I see you're still relying on the same old tricks." Superman said as he flew straight into Lex and flew him into the air.

"I still wish you hadn't forced me to do this Lex. We were friends once." Superman reminded him.

"That back when I was naive enough to think that any alien could be trusted. But aliens do not belong on this planet. And I will protect humanity from them. Starting by killing you." Lex said as fired off a kryptonite blast at point blank range and the force knocked them both apart and Lex was barely able to activate his suit's thrusters in time to prevent him from taking a very quick drop.

"Did you really think I wouldn't be prepared for this? I've made improvements since the last time we locked horns. Just never got a chance to test them until now." Lex said.

"How? You've been in prison for nearly a decade." Superman asked as Lex slugged him with more force than the Lexosuit usually packed.

"You're not the only one with friends on the outside." Lex said as he sent Superman flying back with another punch as Superman began to feel the effects of the kryptonite, which had clearly been enhanced somehow, since it was affecting him much faster than usual and he could feel himself starting to fall from the sky, though he forced himself to power through, since he could not allow himself to lose this fight.

However, as he tried to stop himself from falling, he noticed something flying towards him and at first he thought it was one of Lex's missiles and prepared to swat it away, but then he heard a familiar, yet robotic voice come from it.

"Kryptonian biosignature confirmed. Initiating anti kryptonite protocols." the robotic voice of Lena Luthor said as the drone flew down to him and attached itself over the S on his chest and began to expand into the same kind of anti kryptonite suit he'd seen Kara wear and he knew that Lena had built it.

"Thank you Lena." Superman said, thinking that Lex's sister had finally truly earned his blessing to date Kara, since before, he'd only agreed not to push it out of fear of what Kara and Lois would do to him if he didn't, but now he knew he could trust her with Kara's heart.

"You're welcome. Kara would be there herself, but Alex is a higher priority, so please hurry up and kick Lex's ass so you can get to National City already." Lena's voice said in the helmet and Superman chuckled.

"Will do. Please tell me this thing is scanning the new features on Lex's suit?" Superman asked.

"Of course it is. That's another reason I sent it to you. I want you to bring it to our new base so Brainy and I can go over the data to find out what he's been up to." Lena said.

"Copy that. Now, time to put Lex back in prison where he belongs." Superman said as he felt the suit filter out the last of the kryptonite in his system before he flew back up into Lex, who was surprised.

"How?" Lex demanded, since there's no way Superman could've recovered this quickly or have had that suit built.

"Thank your sister for this. Now, where were we?" Superman asked as he proceeded to punch Lex full force, but to his shock, while the impact did send Lex flying back, it didn't even dent the suit. Something that shouldn't be possible.

"Nice try. But like I said, I've made improvements." Lex said as he and Superman returned to the ground and he activated one of his gauntlet cannons, though Superman noted that it wasn't a kryptonite cannon and he heard Lena tell him that the visor of his new helmet was designed to let his heat vision pass through as he fired it, right as Lex fired a purple colored beam out of it towards Superman and the two blasts met in the middle, both of them firing intently, but Superman still won, since Lex was still human, plus, unlike Superman, his suit still ran on a limited power source. Of course, it was only a prototype, but it was clear that there was one problem that could never be solved. Power. With all the sophisticated technology and powerful weaponry, there wasn't any power source available on Earth to allow the suit to operate at full capacity for as long as he needed it too. So there was only one thing to do.

"Activate Destruct Protocol." Lex said as he ejected from the suit and transmat portaled away while the suit began to melt down.

"Wow, he really is getting predictable at this point." Superman said, since leaving behind a dangerous explosive to cover his escape was a typical Lex move. Nonetheless, he quickly grabbed the suit and flew it into orbit and chucked it as far away from Earth as possible as it blew up.

"Now to get to National City." Superman said, since talking to Sam about this could wait until he got answers from Lena about that new suit.

"I thought I told you to find something that could power the suit indefinitely." Lex snarled at his subordinates, particularly Mercy Graves.

"We tried sir. That reactor we created was as close as we could get." one scientist said as Mercy shot him without hesitation.

"At least there's someone in this room that I know is competent. Which is why you and your brother are the only people in this room who's spots at my side when I free this planet from the alien plague is secure." Lex said as Mercy smirked at him flirtatiously while her brother Otis just rolled his eyes at her.

"What's the plan boss?" Otis asked.

"Now that Lena is working with Superman, along with Supergirl, it won't take them long to figure out where parts of that new suit came from. Go underground, stay hidden, do not draw attention. Burn all labs like this, though make sure all in it is sent to the usual backup location. That suit was impressive, but too limited. Too human. That's always been my one flaw. I limited myself to only using technology available to humans, aside from kryptonite of course, the only good thing that ever came from the Rao system by the way. But if I'm going to fight an alien, I need to level the playing field. Which means I'll be gone for a while." Lex said.

"You're going to space?" Otis asked and Lex nodded.

"Very perceptive Otis. Yes. Earth has proven to be a disappointment in helping me kill the man of steel, so now I need to look to where he came from. I want you and Mercy to link up with my mother, use her and Cadmus to keep the Supers busy and off my trail, make sure that enough chaos is being created that they can't leave Earth to follow me if they realize I'm offworld." Lex said.

"Why don't I go with you? After all that travel, it'll be lonely." Mercy said and both Lex and Otis rolled their eyes at how pathetic she was.

"I need you here to keep tabs on things, since you've got more of a brain in you than Otis does." Lex said, though he did trust Otis more than her, just because Otis was too stupid to think about betraying him. Plus while Mercy had been fun in the beginning, now she was just a bore.

"Fine." Mercy groaned as she walked away.

"No offense boss, but this is just getting sad watching her throw herself at you. It's almost not funny anymore." Otis said to Lex as he walked up to him.

"Keep an eye on her. See if any kind of opportunity arises to dispose of her. Let my mother know that she's really in charge, but to let Mercy think she's in charge." Lex said.

"Copy that, when are you leaving?" Otis asked.

"As soon as I locate the nearest transmatter portal on another planet to link my watch up to, since any kind of spacecraft will draw attention. Even though Earth has become a haven to aliens lately." Lex said.

"Copy that. I'll let your mother know about what you're up to and make sure she and I are already to clean up whatever mess Mercy makes." Otis said.

"Perfect. Now run along. And clean up this mess." Lex said with a grin as Otis nodded and moved to do that before going after his sister while he continued making his new plans