Alexander Joseph Luthor was tired.
This was not an uncommon occurrence since he was the head of a multi-national corporation bigger than some countries and all.
But this was a special brand of tried, one born of outrage and worry.
Outrage at the injustice he has witnessed and worry for his fellow citizens that now plagued his every waking moment.
He worried for their safety that as could be killed at any moment, he worried for their rights, which could be jeopardized, and he worried for their prosperity, which at any moment could be taken away.
Hate is a strong word, and there were very few times Luthor used it. But considering the circumstances it seemed to suit the situation he now found himself in.
Here he was, one of the richest men on the planet, head of one of the most prosperous corporations in the world.
His company, LuthorCorp, employed almost a third of the people in his home city of Metropolis.
For years he had crusaded against all manners of social injustice.
He had supplied food to those suffering from famine, he had given housing to the homeless, and he had combated crime by donating generously to the police.
He had gone from poor orphaned boy growing up in "Suicide Slum" (as the neighborhood was nicknamed) with no future, to scholarship college student, to brilliant scientist and businessman.
Yet, he had never felt as helpless as he did right now.
Most of the people he knew would have normally laughed at this.
"You're Alexander Luthor" they would have said "We have yet to see a challenge you cannot overcome"!
But they probably would not say that if they knew precisely what challenge was on his mind.
This was no mere housing dilemma or business venture, this was a crime problem.
And not just any crime problem; this crime problem had a name…
Ultraman
The being that called himself Ultraman had appeared about a month ago.
He was monstrous, vicious, cruel, and many other things, but above all else he was powerful.
The police had tried to stop him, but he just laughed off their bullets. The National Guard had tried to stop him, but he ripped their tanks in half.
Ultraman seemed to come to believe that after all these failed attempts to stop him that he was invincible, that he could do whatever he desired.
So he did.
He robbed banks, he intimidated the locals, and he killed anyone that spoke out against him.
All these things and more are what put Alexander Luthor in the state he was in now.
So Luthor did what he did best: he thought, he thought, and he thought. Until he finally came to only solution he could think of.
"I have to do something" he said out loud to no one in particular.
How could he not, he was one of the richest men in the world, he who had been named man of the year by several magazines, a man called a genius, Metropolis's favorite son, and the greatest good Samaritan of his generation.
How could he just sit back and do nothing while this super-powered sociopath used the city that Luthor loved as his own personal playground.
He had to do something, but what?
A week had passed since Alexander Luthor had decided to do something about what the Daily Planet had called "The Ultraman Problem" and he was growing weary.
He had sent out about two dozen spy-surveillance probes(his own invention that he had worried could be used negatively if he made them available to the public sector) to study Ultraman and the results from 23 of them had come back with important data, but not exactly what he needed.
Luthor had learned several things from the probes, like how Ultraman could see through anything but lead and the upper limits of his heat-vision and freeze-breath.
All helpful, but these were merely the limits of Ultaman's powers, not something that he could use to weaken him.
"Maybe he has no weaknesses" Luthor thought "Maybe he is as invincible as he claimed he was."
"No that cannot be the case, everything has a weakness, and it is just a matter of finding… his?" the last probe had just returned.
So Luthor began to read over the data it had gathered, the probe had somehow managed to take a detailed body scan of Ultraman!
As Luthor read it over a grin had begun to creep over his face, and it kept creeping, until it was a full-blown jubilant smile.
"I know how to beat him" Luthor said softly "I know how to beat him" he said again but a great deal more loudly this time.
Yes Alexander Joseph Luthor (Alex to his friends) had cracked it.
He knew how to defeat Ultraman, with some work of course.
It took days of work (Luthor had told his staff he was going on a vacation), with Luthor only stopping to eat and drink, but it was finally complete, the solution to "The Ultraman Problem".
He was impressed just looking at it, an orange suit of armor, made from an alloy stronger than steel, (his own creation of course) equipped with lasers, miniaturized missiles, electro-blasters, and other weapons of Luthor's design and build.
But most impressive was the power source.
Luthor has always believed in going green and this was the ultimate example of it.
The suit was powered by a miniaturized sun.
The sheer genius of it made Luthor stroke his goatee in amazement that he could even create such a marvel of science.
After some testing and practice he would be ready to face Ultraman with it.
"I will need a name for myself when I am using this suit" he thought "if Ultraman learns who I am I would lose an advantage" and Alex Luthor was loathe to lose an advantage in anything.
After about a week of nearly nonstop practice with the suit, Luthor knew he was ready.
So he suited up and took to the skies using his rocket-boosters that allowed him to fly and went in search of Ultraman.
He did not have to look long.
He spotted Ultraman heading for City Hall.
"Great Scott, he is going after the mayor!" Alex thought as he put his thrusters into maximum burn.
Ultraman meanwhile had just burst into city hall and was proceeding to threaten the mayor.
"Look Mister Mayor it is very simple really, just hand over the key to the city and you will only get off with minor injuries, otherwise…" Ultraman then proceed to crush a figurine of the statue of liberty "We both know what will happen to you" Ultraman smugly proclaimed.
"B-B-But why, what do you want with the key?' the mayor managed to stammer out.
"Nothing much just to send a message" Ultraman said.
"What sort of message?" the mayor responded.
"That I own this city, it's mine. I am reasonably confident that my time terrorizing and robbing Joe average has made that point clear already, but this is just to seal the deal, so hand the key over, NOW!" Ultraman yelled.
"I think you better stop harassing Mayor Schott before you make me angry" said a voice behind Ultraman.
Ultraman turned seemingly suspired that anyone would have the gall or courage to address him in such a manner.
What he saw looked like something out of the comics Ultraman had read as a kid.
"And who are you supposed to be tough guy, the knight in shining armor coming to rescue your mayor?" Ultraman mockingly replied.
"While the armor may seem fitting for a knight, I do not think it quite fits this dramatis persona, and to answer the rest of your questions I am here to rescue the mayor from you and your cliché threats and you may call me… I think Solar will do." Luthor now calling himself Solar replied.
"And what do you think will stop me from killing you and moving on with my life?" Ultraman, cocky as ever, replied.
"First of all this" Solar said then proceeded to open his hand and blast Ultraman straight in the chest with some kind of yellow ray.
The shocking thing is this actually causes Ultraman to feel a nearly alien sensation.
Pain
He stood there in the City Hall building looking at his chest in astonishment, the feeling quickly turned to rage.
"You are so going to regret that" Ultraman snarled keeping up a brave front.
"Whenever you are ready big man" Solar replied getting ready to fight.
Then the battle began
Citizens gawked at the battle that raged above their heads, they could scarcely believe what was happening, it was like something out of the movies.
Someone in orangey-red armor was battling against Ultraman, the most powerful and vicious criminal Metropolis had ever seen.
And doing pretty good by the looks of things!
Solar's rocket boosters allowed him to keep up with Ultraman, his suit enhanced his strength to Ultraman's level, and his laser blasts seemed to actually be hurting Ultraman.
The battle waged on for over an hour, fists flying, legs kicking, and lasers against heat vision.
It all seemed to come to a head when the two locked hands and began to grapple.
Solar was begging to weaken and Ultraman could feel it, he smiled with the smile of someone who felt victory was in his grasp.
"You're starting to tire, why should I be surprised, underneath that suit you are after all, only a man, while I am an Ultraman" he taunted.
"Maybe I am just a man, and maybe I am weakening, or maybe I am just getting you into the right position to do this! Solar yelled.
At that moment something opened up in the chest of Solar's suit and it blasted Ultraman in the chest with the same yellow ray as before, only cranked-up to eleven!
The beam knocked Ultraman out of the air, through a building, until he came to a sudden stop by slamming into the street.
Ultraman even more enraged than ever tried to get up to continue the fight but found that he could not move a muscle! It was like his entire body was numb!
Solar landed right next to Ultraman, looked down at him and said this: "You know us normal humans you like to step on, well even a wasp can fell an elephant" Solar said to the still downed Ultrman. "Oh and one more thing" Solar then proceed to punch Ultraman square in the jaw, sending him crashing into a building, unconscious.
Solar took a deep breath, trying not to show any weakness.
He had just triumphed after all. He should be jumping for joy, but no jubilant excitement at a victory is not how Solar or Alexander Luthor rolled.
Then Solar heard it, the sound no one in Metropolis had expected to hear, except perhaps Luthor himself.
That sound was the people cheering over Ultraman's defeat.
The crowed was in a frenzy of joy, some of the more emotional goers where crying.
And all over something some stranger in a technologically-advanced suit of armor had done.
Solar then noticed some police officers were coming nearer.
The police stopped, looked at Ultraman, then at Solar, then back at Ultraman.
"Um, excuse me sir" said one of the officers (presumably the one in command) "How are we supposed to keep him from killing us when he wakes up after we've arrested him?" The officer asked.
"Here" Solar said as he handed the police officer a strange-looking triangular device "it will project a wide beam of unfiltered sunlight, blast him with it if he wakes up and hang it in his cell. It will keep him weak enough that steel bars will hold him." Solar replied.
Not wanting to ask more questions of the strange orange-metal man the officer nodded and the police quickly loaded Ultraman into a police-wagon and drove him away.
Solar, satisfied that his work had been done, was preparing to take off, when something stopped him.
He noticed one of the figures coming out of the crowd, and it was one he recognized!
It was Lois Lane, a reporter from the Daily Planet, and probably the most high-profile journalist in Metropolis.
As Lois got to his side she started to speak.
"Lois Lane, Daily Planet, would you mind if I asked you a few questions mister?"
"Solar, Miss Lane, I am called Solar" Luthor replied.
Well Mister Solar, I think the question on everyone's mind is, why did you take on Ultraman?" Lois asked with curiosity in her voice.
"Why?" Solar replied, "Because I had the means and the will to do so, it is my responsibility."
"But you could have been killed" Lois said.
"That is a risk one must take when combating evil" Solar politely responded.
Then suddenly the police band that Solar had equipped his suit with started to go off, there was robbery at the First National Bank of Metropolis!
"I am sorry Miss Lane but I am afraid I must cut are interview short, there is a break-in at the First National Bank of Metropolis, perhaps another time" and without another word Solar rocked-off into the sky.
Lois, momentarily stunned, regained her composer quickly and said simply this to no one in particular.
"Well it looks like we got a real-live superhero in our midst"
In his cell, Ultraman quietly swore vengeance on the man who had bested him.
In the Daily Planet building, Lois wrote up her story.
And Solar flew faster than a speeding bullet through the air, unaware of what he had started.
The End… Of This Particular Story