Lois and Clark sit in the presentation hall at LexCorp along with other members of the media. Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin of the Metropolis PD were also in attendance. Today, Lex Luthor was going to present his next innovation in police protection. An invention that he claims will make Superman obsolete.
Lex enters the room and takes the stage.
"Esteemed members of the press I would like to thank you for coming out today. After eight-teen months of planning, we are finally able to show off our newest product. I present to you, the Lexosuit version 1.0.
Just then, a man walks into the room wearing some sort of metallic green robotic suit. Clark had taken note that ever since Lex learned of Kryptonite, the colors of LexCorp began to shift from black and gold to green. The man in the suit gets on stage.
"This is decorated Metropolis police officer Cory Mills. He has earned the privilege of being the first man to test the suit." Lex says.
Cory Mills looked like the perfect solider. Six foot five, two hundred forty pounds of muscle, blond hair and blue eyes. By his side his girlfriend, Trish, puts her hand on his shoulder. A large engadgement ring noticeable on her finger.
"Thank you, Mr. Luthor." Cory says.
A large safe is wheeled on stage.
"This suit can do it all. It enhances the operator's strength tenfold." Lex says.
Cory lifts the safe over his head with ease.
"It's equipped with black light lasers." Lex says.
Cory points his hand at the safe. He shoots a purple laser from it and it cuts through the safe like butter. Clark makes note that the laser looks nearly identical to the one Mannheim had the year prior.
"Mr. Luthor, are you sure adding more fire power to the Metropolis PD is the best way to deescalate police stand offs?" Clark asks.
"That's an interesting question, considering your papers love to plaster a picture of the boy scout every time he knocks down a wall to catch a perp." Lex retort.
"Mr. Luthor, what cost will a suit like this be to tax payers?" Angela Chen asks.
"This is still a highly experimental suit. At this time LexCorp is footing the bill." Lex says.
The audience continue to gush over this impressive feat of engineering. Especially Dan Turpin.
From the shadows, John Henry Irons watches on. John's a LexCorp employee, and one of the top engineers on the suit. He felt it was still too early to reveal the suit to the public. Insisting that it needed a stronger power source.
One night later that week, Lois and Clark are sitting on the couch watching a movie. Suddenly Clark hears sirens outside.
"Go." Lois says.
Clark looks on at Lois. He doesn't want to leave, but knows it's his duty. He then speeds off.
Superman flies high above the city. He sees a car speeding away from a gas station. It is being followed by two cop cars. Superman begins to head down and stop the car before someone gets hurt. Something then zooms right in front of Superman. It's officer Mills in his new Lex Suit. Officer Mills grabs the car by its back bumper, and lifts its back wheels off the ground. He then points his hand at the tire and shoots his laser causing it to burst. The car is stopped and the other two police cars catch up.
Superman lands on the ground. He was able to see the whole thing from above. Out of one of the police cars emerge Dan Turpin and Maggie Sawyer.
"Great work officer Mills." Turpin says.
"Just doing my job sir." Cory says.
Dan turns towards Superman.
"He Supes, you see that?" Turpin yells out, as Superman watches on.
Cory approaches Superman.
"It's an honor to meet you." Cory says as he extends his hand.
"Good work." Superman says.
The two shake hands. Cory tests Superman's grip and he clenches harder. Superman is about to squeeze harder as well when-
"Alright break up this macho contest." Maggie says, as she knew exactly what was going on.
"Officer Mills, come with us as we take this guy down town." She continues.
"Now comes my least favorite part of the job, paperwork." Cory says.
Superman looks on. The day was saved, and he can go home and finish that movie with Lois. So why did he feel uneasy about the whole thing, he began wondering.
Over the next few weeks Cory Mills and his mech suit become the talk of the town. He is endorsed as a hero by G. Gordon Godfrey. He routinely stops robberies, assaults, any situation he can. Superman watches on. He doesn't want to admit it, but he's jealous. This guy is doing everything he can do, and a good job at it as well.
One day, there is a fire in a building downtown Metropolis. Cory goes to the scene. Firefighters are on the call as well, but the building is burning fast. He touches down and speaks with the fire chief.
"Is there anyone still inside?" Cory asks.
"We're not sure." The chief says.
Cory begins to scan the building. His suit is picking up some static interference. Cory then flies in, despite the fire chief warning him not to.
"Anyone here?" Cory yells out.
"HELP! HELP US!" Someone yells, their voice sounding strained.
Cory finds three people trapped with flames all around them. He shoots out a white foam to extinguish the fire around them. It quickly runs out though. A path has been created for them to get out. The three make a run for it. But Cory's suit warns him that the roof is about to collapse. It crashes as the last person is running through. Cory speeds over to hold up what he can. He gets there in time to stop the falling debris.
"GO!" He shouts.
The final person makes it out. But the suit begins sending Cory all sorts of critical failure warnings. He falls to his knees while still holding the debris over his head.
"AHHHHHH!" He yells out, trying to use every ounce of power he has. But his arms buckle, and the debris begins to fall. It stops before it comes crashing down on Cory though. Though the smoke and in a dazed condition, Cory looks up and can just make out a red "S". Superman gets Cory out of the building.
Cory begins wheezing and hacking for air.
"I- I wasn't strong enough." He says between breaths.
"We're are going to need to get you to the hospital." Superman says.
Cory is angry. He doesn't want to go to get checked out. But he also doesn't have the strength to fight it either.
A couple of days later Maggie Sawyer gives a press conference on Cory's condition.
"Sargent Cory Mills will be on leave for the next few weeks after putting his life at risk in the line of duty." Maggie announces.
"NO!" Cory shouts as he watches on from his hospital bed. He throws his jello cup at the television.
"Cory." His finance, Trish, says. Trying to calm him down at his bedside.
"I'm fine, I can handle it." Cory says, as he tries to get up, but struggles.
"Just rest." Trish says.
Over at LexCorp, John Henry Irons is having a word with Lex.
"I told you Lex, I tried to warn you it was too soon." Irons says.
"Mr. Mills is in his current predicament because he showed up at the wrong scene." Lex says.
"What are you saying?" Irons asks.
"The suit is made for combat, which is why it was given to a decorated police officer. It wasn't made to fight fires. That's the fire departments job." Lex says.
"I thought the suit was made to save lives." Irons says.
"It was, of course." Lex says.
"But I kept trying to tell you, it doesn't have a sufficient power source for everything you've envisioned." Irons says.
"And I pay you good money to find that power source, or I did." Lex says.
"What are you saying?" Irons asks.
"Your career at my company was over the second you barged into my office with that tone. Security will see you out." Lex says.
"No need." Irons says as he storms off.
As John Henry is packing up and heading off, he bumps into Clark Kent.
"Mr. Irons, Clark Kent Daily Planet. I was hoping to ask you a few questions about the mech suit you worked on for LexCorp." Clark says.
"Yeah, what you want to know?" Irons asks, willing to unload on his now former employer.
"Essentially what went wrong. I figure who better to ask than one of Mr. Luthor's lead designers." Clark says.
"Former lead designer." Irons says, correcting Clark.
"What happened?" Clark asks.
"Let's just say a professional disagreement." Irons says.
"You want to know what happened with the suit? The truth is Lex Luthor was trying to create his own personal Superman. But the power source just isn't there to allow the suit to do everything the man of steel can do. Look, I've got to go review my resume." He continues.
"Thank you for your time." Clark says.
The next week, Cory rips his sling off.
"How do you feel Mr. Mills?" The doctor asks him.
"I feel fine." Cory says, it's a lie as his arm still feels plenty sore, but he'll never admit it.
"I would still take it easy for a few weeks." The doctor says.
"I know my limitations doc." Cory says curtly.
"Thank you, doctor." Trish says more politely.
Cory hits the ground running with training. He lifts weights, he runs, he swims. Anything and everything he can do, he does. One evening Cory and Trish are at their apartment planning their upcoming wedding.
"Should we get three tears or five tears for the cake?" Trish calls out to Cory who is in the bathroom.
"Three tears, we don't need all that crap." Cory says.
"It's not crap Cor, It's our wedding." Trish says.
"Ah-" She exclaims as she walks around the corner to see Cory with a shaved head.
"What did you do?" She asks.
"It'll help reduce on static cling. The suit will read better." Cory says.
"You could have at least warned me." Trish says, she was worried about how much Cory was beginning to change.
The next day, Cory goes to see Maggie Sawyer about being reinstated.
"I'm happy to see you are doing well." Maggie says.
"Thank you, Captain. When can I return to work?" Cory asks.
"If all your tests come back good, I'd say relatively soon." Maggie says.
"And when can I get the suit back?" Cory asks.
"We can't give you back the suit." Maggie says.
"WHAT?! Why not?" Cory exclaims, angrily.
"It's too experimental. At this time, it's off limits to everyone." Maggie says.
"NO! It belongs to me." Cory says.
He punches the wall and walks out of Maggie's office. Cory heads to his locker. He opens it up and finds an envelope. Inside is a note.
The suit will be on the move in the LexCorp parking lot tonight at 11 PM.
The note reads. Also in the envelope is a LexCorp key card.
That night Clark is at Lois's apartment discussing his concerns about Cory.
"I'm worried Lois, I don't think Lex has any idea what he's unleashed with this suit." Superman says.
"I think Lex knows exactly what he has done." Lois says.
"What do you mean?" Clark asks.
"The envy Lex has for you is obvious. He's spent the last few years and a small fortune trying to be you." Lois says.
"Lex could never handle the responsibilities of being Superman." Clark says.
"No, he couldn't." Lois agrees.
Lois looks past Clark, out the window.
"I think someone is calling you." Lois says.
"Who?" Clark asks.
"You better see for yourself." Lois says.
Clark turns around to see a large flood light in the sky. The light creates the symbol of Superman's shield over the city. It's coming from the roof of LexCorp.
Superman flies to the roof of LexCorp. He sees Lex standing next to the light.
"Cute, don't you think?" Lex asks, cheekily.
"What do you want?" Superman asks, seriously.
"I need your help." Lex says.
"With what?" Superman asks.
"Tonight at mid night my team is moving the suit out of the city for more research. I have a feeling Mr. Mills might try something. I was hoping you could watch over as some extra security. I'd pay you handsomely." Lex says.
"I don't need your money." Superman says.
"Of course not. What would god need with money?" Lex asks.
"I'm not God." Superman responds.
"You really have no idea how the people down there see you, do you?" Lex asks.
"Mid night?" Superman asks back.
"Mid night." Lex confirms.
A little while later the suit is being loaded into a truck. It's almost eleven. Cory was able to make his way onto the premise and hides waiting to strike. He notices that security seems rather lacking. He scouts everyone out as he prepares to make his move.
One of the guards comes around the corner of the crate Cory is hiding behind. Cory slams his head into the create knocking him out. That leaves two guards and the driver.
"What was that?" One of the guards asks.
"Let's go check it out." The other replies.
The two guards run over to the crate. They find their downed comrade.
"Spread out, someone is here." The first guard says.
The two guards spread out. When they are a far distance from each other, Cory grabs one guard and tries to throw him into a wall. The guard is bigger than Cory expected however. He's able to fight back.
"Over here!" The guard calls out.
The other guard rushes over. Cory sees him coming. He pushes the first guard back and snags his gun out of its holster. Cory shoots the second guard in the arm and he falls to his knees. He's able to finish off the first guard by smashing him into the wall. Cory walks over to the downed guard he just shot and kicks him in the face, knocking him out. The driver sees this and runs. Cory makes his way to the truck and puts on the suit.
The shot guard groans. Just then, a red blur speeds through. A moment later, the guard is in the waiting room hospital.
Cory finishes up getting the suit on.
"It seems you're early." A voice says from behind.
Cory turns around to see Superman standing there.
"I don't want to hurt; I want to help. You saved me." Cory says.
"If you want to help, take off the suit. It's dangerous." Superman says.
"No, I need it." Cory says.
"Cory please." Superman pleads.
"NO!" Cory says as he lunges towards Superman.
Cory punches Superman backwards out of the truck. He has Superman down and begins whaling at his face. Superman is able to get his arm up and block Cory's punch. He then throws Cory off of him. Superman gets back to his feet as does Cory.
"Stop please." Superman says.
Cory charges forward and punches at Superman. He tries to block it, but the suit is so powerful, it knocks him back. Cory aims the purple laser at Superman. He shoots it, and Superman screams in pain. Cory makes note that the laser actually harms Superman. He keeps it on as Superman screams in pain. The laser actually sears Superman's skin, causing him to bleeds. A warning comes up in Cory's helmet that the suit is at fifty percent power. He turns the laser off.
Cory sees that Superman is regaining his composure. He aims the laser at Superman again. But before he can shoot it, Superman speeds over and breaks the laser off of the suit. Cory punches Superman back again. He grabs a create and chucks it at Superman. Superman catches the crate, and gently sets it down. Cory charges forward and punches Superman again. The suit warns him that it is rapidly losing power. Cory goes for another punch, but Superman blocks it and grabs his arm. Cory tries to swing with his left hand, but Superman grabs that one as well. Their hands are clasped in an old fashion test of strength. Cory's suit is going critical, but he refuses to give up.
Finally, Cory's suit gives out. Superman can feel Cory's hands crush in his own. He immediately lets up on his grip.
"AHHHHHH!" Cory yells in pain.
"I'm sorry." Superman says, flashback to Whitney Fordman, and John Corban come into his minds.
The next day Superman checks on Cory at the hospital. Cory lays in his bed with two broken hands. His fiancée Trish sits by his side.
"Will he heal?" Superman asks the doctor.
"Physically, he'll be just fine. It's the psychological scars from losing the suit I worry about." The doctor says.
"The suit seemed like such a good idea." A voice says from behind. It's John Henry Irons.
"Mr. Irons." Superman says.
"You know me?" John says in shock.
Superman forgot that he me John Henry as Clark, not Superman.
"I know your work. In fact, I may be able to help you out if you need work." Superman says.
"Any help is appreciated." John says.
Back at LexCorp, Lex reviews the tape from last night.
"I did just as you said Mr. Luthor." Otis, Lex's head of security says. He was also the truck driver last night.
"Thank you Otis." Lex says.
Lex studies the tape. Five minutes and twenty-six seconds. That's how long the suit held up against Superman.
"It appears you were right Mr. Irons. I do need a stronger power source." Lex says.
Lex pulls up a file on kryptonite.
At STAR Labs, Professor Hamilton diligently works away.
"Hello Professor." Superman says.
"Superman? What are you doing here?" Hamilton asks.
"I have someone for you to meet. This is John Henry Irons" Superman says.
"Superman has told me about you. You seem to do good work." Professor Hamilton says.
"I try my best." John says.
"How about trying your best here?" Hamilton says.
"It would be and honor." John says.