The walls of the reactor chamber cracked and split. The floor shook like an earthquake epicenter. The sound of pounding thunder filled the air.
And it had nothing to do with the reactor core, but the two titans battling over it.
Superman and Metallo traded blows like two heavyweight boxers standing toe to toe! Superman landed a right that spun Metallo's head around. Metallo landed an over hand left that bent the reinforced steel beneath Superman's feet. Superman landed a left hook that rocked the metal exoskeleton. Metallo backhanded him and cracked the visor on Superman's protective helmet.
Superman countered with an uppercut that lifted Metallo into the air, arching his back, and immediately followed with a left hand that sent the metal behemoth into the far wall. The superheated steel seemed to envelop him like a blanket.
And before he could pry himself free, Superman was on him, raining thunderous blows down on his skull and metal face; each blow shaking the chamber violently.
After a moment, Metallo caught one of Superman's fist as it closed in, and as the Man of Steel tried to pull free, Metallo raised both legs and mule kicked him in the chest, sending him sailing into the opposite wall; Superman covering the space in a blink of an eye.
The metal wall cracked with the impact. Superman pushed away just as Metallo rushed him again, his hands out before him, the tips of his fingers barbed claws.
Superman took to the air just as Metallo swiped the wall where he was just standing, his claws tearing sparks from the wall.
"Running away won't save you today, blue boy!" Metallo hissed. With a quick squat and a powerful thrust of his legs, Metallo shot up after him. Superman dodged easily, but Metallo's barbed fingers latched onto the curved ceiling and he chased after Superman, his legs propelling him after his flying foe, his hands clawing at the air every time Superman ducked, dodged, or zipped to the other side of the other side of the chamber.
"Stop running so I can kill you!" Metallo shouted; his voice much louder than humanly possible.
"Whatever you say?" Superman replied, his feet firmly on the floor.
Metallo shot towards him, and as he sailed through the air, he saw Superman bend down quickly and grab a control rod, and take a stance like a major league batter.
He swung and connected with a sound like a sledgehammer hitting a large gong.
The rod snapped with the impact and Metallo was suddenly shooting in the other direction. He hit the ceiling and slammed into the collection of pipes there, cracking and bending them severely; steam spraying from one of them.
Something dripped down and hit the floor.
Superman expected the liquid to evaporate on contact, but instead, the liquid hit and splattered, and seemed to simply sit there. A few more drops joined it.
Superman smiled.
Metallo tore his head free of the collection of pipes and, clinging to the ceiling, searched the chamber for his opponent.
Superman was now on the far side, resting casually against the wall, with his hands behind his back nonchalantly. He smiled up at him.
"You ready to surrender?" He asked.
"Absolutely." Metallo answered. "Right after I break every bone in your pathetic body!" He kicked away from the ceiling and rocketed down at amazing speed, his clawed hands ready to rip and tear.
And Superman was ready.
With a blur of motion, Superman pulled his hands out, the reinforced, lead-line reactor chamber door firmly in his grasp and held out before him.
Metallo slammed into him like a freight train, the impact sending both into the wall. Metallo pulled back slightly and looked down.
Superman's strength, and the force of his impact, had wrapped the door around his torso like a towel.
Metallo's emerald eyes looked at Superman, his hands snaking over his helmet. "You tried this already, remember?"
And he tore the helmet free with a hiss of escaping oxygen and a spray of coolant.
Superman looked at him, his eyes red with fire, flames seeping out around the edges.
"No… I didn't" Superman answered. The fire erupted from his eyes like a volcano. The sheer force and magnitude slammed into Metallo like a physical blow. He was lifted from the floor and propelled back a few yards. He managed to regain his footing a moment later and brace himself against the onslaught, raising his arms and lowering his head to protect his optics.
Superman stepped forward and poured on the heat, the flames turning into a wide focused laser the seemed to completely envelop Metallo in a crimson stream of pure heat and raw power.
The blast lasted for a few moments longer, ending abruptly as Superman blinked the beam out of existence.
Metallo uncrossed his arms and rose to his full height. His entire exoskeleton was bright red and waves of extreme heat radiated off every inch of him. He looked down at his metallic body. The door had been reduced to molten metal, and dripped away from him like sludge, the bulk of it already falling to the floor.
"Impressive display, Superman." He offered. "But my body is composed of a metal ten times more durable than the strongest steel. It won't melt so easy."
Superman regarded him carefully, eyeing every piece of bright red metallic alloy. And he smiled.
Metallo readied himself to attack, but before he could, Superman turned his gaze towards the ceiling, unleashing a pencil thin beam of focused heat that cut across the line of pipes with surgical precision.
The coolant erupted from the pipe like a water fall.
Metallo leapt forward just as the liquid rained down around him. The reaction was almost instantaneous. His superheated metal met the super-cooled fluid in an eruption steam and pressure that filled the chamber. The temperature drop was dramatic; falling drastically as the coolant hit the core. It continued to poor from the ceiling, filling the recessed floor, and even overflowing onto the walkway slightly to the raised walkway.
Superman floated up to the ceiling and using his strength, pinched the pipe closed, the steady stream of liquid slowing to a trickle.
The steam rose to meet him there on the ceiling, and he waited patiently for it to dissipate.
There was an ear splitting roar and Metallo erupted from the steam and wrapped his legs around Superman's waist and his hands around his throat!
"I'll kill you!" he screamed, his hands squeezing tightly. Superman struggled to get free, trying to pry himself from Metallo's grip.
And then he realized that Metallo's exoskeleton was… changing.
The typically polished metal began to darken to a dull grey color. The smooth surface turned coarse. Servos grinded to a halt. Pistons locked in place. Gears stopped turning.
Metallo couldn't move.
His eyes locked on Superman's. "What… what's happening? What the hell did you do to me? I-I can't move!"
"Good." Superman replied. "Then you'll have no problem holding on."
And Superman zipped out of the chamber.
He zigzagged through the plant and found the first door leading outside, and once free of the confines of the reinforced, lead lined walls, he shot in to the air at an astonishing speed.
He glanced down, and looked at the city, his city, Metropolis, solid and whole, as it shrank away from him; the city becoming the state, becoming the country, becoming the continent, becoming the western hemisphere of his adoptive planet.
"What are you doing?" Metallo asked, his voice near frantic. "Where are you taking me?"
"Someplace you won't be able to cause any trouble." Superman answered. A few moments later, he was hovering over the surface of the moon.
He pried the robot away from his body, and dropped him in the grey dust of earth's satellite.
"I'm sure you'll regain control of your body sooner or later," Superman offered. "If you ever make it back to earth, I'll be ready."
Without another word, Superman streaked back towards earth in a blur.
Metallo's eyes, the only part of his system that still seemed to be functioning properly, watched him go silently, his telescopic eyes tracking him.
He laid there silently, his exoskeleton contorted in an awkward position, his eyes looking out at the millions and million of stars.
And in the cold, darkness, silence, and beauty of space, Metallo began to plot, and scheme, and plan his vengeance.
While some would look at the dark vale of stars and wonder about the secrets of the universe; some would look a the vast emptiness surrounding them and contemplate the meaning of life; and some still would look at the bright blue orb glowing before them, the billions of lives scurrying about, completely oblivious to his watching eyes and consider their own insignificance; there was only one question burning through Metallo's cerebral cortex…
"Is that a tractor?"