The lightning strikes around the plane in the sky. The thunder booms, and the rain pours down.
"This storm came out of nowhere." The pilot says, as he tries to steady the plane.
He gets on the radio.
"Attention passengers, please stay in your seats with your seatbelts fastened, we are experiencing some heavy turbulence." The pilot says.
The pilot tries to lift the plane up higher above the clouds. As he does, lightning strikes and hits the right engine.
Alarms begin to go off in the cockpit.
"No, no, no!" The pilot says.
He tries to steady the plane, but he's struggling. The plane begins wobbling to the right side. The passengers begin to panic, their oxygen masks release.
"Someone, HELP US!" A woman yells out.
Superman flies next to the plane. He gets under the right wing and pushes up on it. The plane begins to even out. As Superman pushes up, the metal on the wing begins to bend. The wing snaps off from the rest of the ship. The plane begins to spiral downwards again.
Superman flies down as the rain continues to pour. It makes the plane slippery, hard for Superman to get a grip. Superman flies under the nose of the plane. He tries to push it upwards once again. The metal at the nose begins to press inward. Superman uses all of his might to begin to steady the plane.
"GRRRRRRR!" Superman growls as he tries to land the plane.
He spots an open field past a forest where he was trying to steer the plane. As the plane comes down, it hits the top of a few trees. Superman keeps it steady though and guides it into the field. Superman safely brings the plane to the ground, bringing great relief to the pilot and passengers inside.
Superman sticks around to make sure everyone is okay. The passengers thank him for saving their lives. He reciprocates their thanks before he heads off. As he begins to leave, he grabs his shoulder. It was soar, a sensation he wasn't used to feeling. The rain begins to lighten up. The clouds disperse and the sun begins to shine through. There was only one problem, the sun, it was red.
Eddie Lytener sits in his cell at Striker's Island. Eddie was Lex's running mate during last years election. He was arrested along with Luthor's but has always maintained his innocence in Lex's scheme. Before Eddie's political career, he was an engineer for LexCorp. He specialized in light-based technology. A guard comes to Eddie's cell.
"Come on Lytener, let's go." The guard says.
Eddie doesn't move. He just sits there, looking down.
"Lytener, I said move it!" The guard demands.
Eddie continues to sit still.
"That's it, I'm coming in." The guard says as he grabs his baton.
He unlocks the door and heads inside.
"When I tell you to do something, you do it!" The guard says.
He grabs at Eddie, but his hand goes right through him.
"What the?!" The guard says.
He reaches forward at Eddie again. But his arm goes right through the body. It turns out that Eddie wasn't there at all. There was just a hologram projector in his cell. The alarm sounds as the prison goes into lockdown.
Superman makes his way to John Henry Irons place. John was going to try and help him make sense of what was happening.
"It looks like the sun is still naturally yellow, but a series of satellites are blocking the rays from coming through, except for the red solar rays." John says.
"Which in turn is draining my powers." Superman says.
Lois arrives at John's place.
"I just got off the phone with Mercy Graves and Amanda Waller. Mercy did confirm that a series of L-Corp satellites have been highjacked and are causing this anomaly. Meanwhile, Waller has a close eye on Lex and does not suspect he is involved." Lois says.
"Then who?" Superman asks.
Just then, John's computer screen gets fuzzy, it goes black and then boots back up with an image of Lytener.
"Hello Superman, there's got to be a piece of Lex tech out there somewhere you're seeing this on. How are you feeling? A little weak. Probaby still better than I've felt these past ten months locked up. But if you want to find me, let's put your powers to the test. I released a set of light rays invisible to the human eye. Let's see if your powers are up to it. Find me if you can." Eddie says.
Superman walks out into John's driveway. He looks up in the sky, squints, and focuses in.
"There it is." Superman says.
"I don't see anything." Lois says.
Superman begins to fly off.
"Wait, it's probably a trap." Lois says.
"What choice do I have?" Superman asks.
Superman flies off and follows the trail. It takes him to a building in the middle of downtown Metropolis. He looks around. He finds the device projecting the light, but there's no sign of Eddie. Superman crushes the device.
"Come now Superman, that wasn't easy to make." Eddie says.
Superman looks around. A beam of light begins to project and then Eddie appears, wearing a gray and orange suit, it kind of looked like a motion capture suit.
"Lytener." Superman snarls.
"You can call me Luminous now." Luminous says.
Superman charges forward. Luminous hits a button on his belt and vanishes. Superman stops in his tracks and looks around. Luminous reappears behind Superman and clubs him in the back of the head. Superman stumbles forward. He turns around and sees Luminous standing there. Luminous taunts him to charge forward. Superman does so. But this time, he runs right through Luminous.
"A hologram." Superman says.
"I'm over here." Luminous says, as he appears to Superman's left.
"Or maybe I'm over here." Another projection of Luminous says to Superman's right.'
Three more projections of Luminous pop up, all surrounding Superman. Superman charges forward at one. He slips right through the hologram. He reaches to the right and grabs Luminous's wrist.
"Got ya." Superman says.
Luminous holds up his free hand and flashes a bright light at Superman's face.
"Ah." Superman says as he stumbles backwards.
Luminous aims a laser from his wrist at Superman. He shoots it and hits Superman in the cheek, cutting him open. Superman grabs at his face.
Luminous hits a button on his belt, but nothing happens.
"Come on, come on." Luminous says.
Superman charges forward, but Luminous disappears.
"We'll meet again, when I'm ready." Luminous says.
Superman looks around, but he can't track Luminous. He looks up, as the red sun beams down.
The next day, Clark walks into work. He was feeling weak today. He still had a little bit of power, but could feel it draining. He sees Jimmy working on his computer.
"Hey Jimmy, what are you doing?" Clark asks.
"I'm trying to research this solar stuff; I wish I could help Superman." Jimmy says.
"You seem really dedicated to this." Clark says.
"I just feel bad. Superman does nothing but try to help. And now some lunatic tries to jeopardize the whole Earth, just to zap his powers. It's not fair. Superman is more than his powers. He's a symbol of hope for the world. With or without powers, I believe in Superman." Jimmy says.
Clark looks down at Jimmy. Jimmy then turns and looks up at Clark. He sees the cut on Clark's face.
"What happened to you?" Jimmy asks.
"Oh, I uh, cut myself shaving." Clark says as he rubs his face.
"What were you shaving with, a butter knife?" Jimmy asks.
Clark covers his face with his hand. Just then, Jimmy's computer screen begins to skip out. Along with every other computer screen in the office. Luminous appears on the screen.
"Superman, I know you're out there somewhere. I'm ready for you. If you have any power left, find the color spectrum and follow it to me." Luminous says.
The screen goes black and then returns to Jimmy's previous screen.
"What should we do Mr. Kent?" Jimmy asks as he looks over. But Clark is gone.
"M- Mr. Kent, Clark?" Jimmy says, looking around.
Superman makes his way to the roof of the Daily Planet. He looks out. His powers are so weak now. But he can faintly see a beam of light in the distance. He flies to it.
When Superman reaches the light, he hits the ground with a thud. His powers are drained now. Clark looks up at the building. It was an old LexCorp research center, closed down after Wayne Tech purchased the applied science division of the company. Superman enters.
There are arrows on the wall pointing Superman in the direction he is supposed to go. They lead Superman to a room labeled holoroom. The doors slide open. The room is massive, but there's nothing in it. Superman tries to look around. It's dark. He can't use his x-ray vision to scan the area. Then, a beam of light flashes, as a projection appears. The room turns into a replica of downtown Metropolis.
"Impressive, isn't it? You know focused just right; light can actually appear quite solid." Luminous says.
Superman walks up to one of the buildings he puts his hand on it. Luminous was right, it was just a holographic projection, but is did feel solid.
"Where are you?" Superman asks.
"I'm right here." Luminous says.
A beam of light appears in front of Superman, then Luminous appears standing right there. Superman charges forward, but he runs right through the projection of Luminous.
"Feel for it again." Luminous says.
Luminous appears behind Superman, and punches him in the back. Superman stumbles forward. He turns around and sees Luminous standing there in a fighting pose. Luminous swings forward with a punch, but Superman swings his head out of the way. Luminous growls as he punches forward again, but Superman is able to dodge again. Luminous punches a third time. This time Superman blocks it and swings at Luminous, hitting him in the jaw. Luminous staggers back. He rubs his chin. Superman's powers may be drained, but he still has his karate training. Superman charges forward. Luminous hits a button on his belt and disappears.
"You're good Superman, better than I thought, but play time is over." Luminous says.
The projection of the city begins to change. The buildings all become engulfed in flames. Superman looks out at the burning city. He can actually feel the heat from the projection. Luminous appears behind Superman. He aims his wrist laser and fires, hitting Superman in the left shoulder.
"Ah!" Superman yells as he clutches his shoulder and drops to his knees.
Luminous charges forward and kicks Superman in the back. Superman turns around and swings at Luminous. But his swing goes through him, this Luminous is just a projection.
"Where are you?" Superman yells.
"Here." Luminous says, appearing in front of him.
"Or here." Another projection says appearing to Superman's right.
"Or maybe I'm over here." A third projection says on the left, it was the same game Luminous played in their last encounter.
Superman charges to the right, but the projection disappears. Luminous appears behind him and strikes again. Superman grabs his wrist, and rips the laser off of Luminous's suit.
"Hey!" Luminous.
Superman swings, but Luminous dodges his shot. Luminous holds up his hand and flashes a bright light in Superman's face. It blinds Superman. Luminous punches Superman to the ground. He begins to kick at him.
"I would have had everything, working with Luthor. But you had to ruin it all." Luminous says.
Just then, the room begins to shake. Luminous looks around. A wall burst down as a figure stands there.
"Who?" Luminous asks.
Standing there was a being in a steel suit. It was Steel, not John Henry Irons, but his niece, Natasha Irons.
"Thanks for leaving the light on, my suit was able to track your invisible spectrum." Natasha says.
Luminous growls as Natasha flies forward. Natasha flies right through a projection of Luminous. She stops to look around. The real Luminous appears behind her. But Superman knew that trick. He leaps up and grabs the real Luminous. He wrestles him to the ground.
"We have to shut this place down." Superman says."
Natasha uses her suit to scan the facility. She finds the control room. She lifts her hammer and begins to swing at the controls.
"NO!" Luminous yells out.
The projections disappear. Natasha also destroys the dishes Luminous used to hack the satellites. The red sun shining in through the hole Natasha put in the wall gradually turns yellow.
"You ruined it. You ruined everything." Luminous says.
A short while later, Dan Turpin and Maggie Sawyer show up to take Luminous away.
"I was so close, I was framed. I don't deserve prison!" Luminous says.
"Yeah, yeah, you have the right to remain silent you know." Dan says.
Superman goes over to Natasha.
"So, are you the new Steel now?" Superman asks.
"I- I want to be, but I don't know how to tell my uncle." Natasha says.
"You should be honest with him. The truth always comes out eventually. But right now I just want to say thank you." Superman says.
Natasha nods as she then flies off.
Maggie approaches Superman.
"You need a ride?" She asks.
"Thanks, but I think I'll fly." Superman says, as he takes off.
Superman basks in the sun. It restores his strength and heals the cut on his face and back from Eddie's laser. Then Superman flies back to the city.
Jimmy sits on the roof of the Daily Planet.
"Jimmy." Superman says as he flies down next to him.
"Woah, Superman." Jimmy says.
"I heard what you said about me, how you still have faith in me without my powers." Superman says.
"How'd you hear that? Oh duh, super hearing." Jimmy says
"Thank you, Jimmy. Your words gave me the strength I needed to take down Luminous." Superman says.
"They did?" Jimmy asks, in shock.
"Yes." Superman says.
"I didn't think anything I said or did ever had an impact on anyone." Jimmy says.
"Don't sell yourself short. Everyone has something to offer." Superman says, he then flies off.
"Thanks Superman!" Jimmy yells out.
Jimmy then thinks to himself.
"Hey wait a second, how did Superman hear me if his powers were drained from the red sun?" Jimmy asks himself. He wonders.
Superman flies off and recharges his powers in the warm glow of the yellow sun.
Natasha returns home as well. She sees her uncle John in the kitchen making dinner.
"Hey honey, where have you been?" John asks.
Natasha puts her helmet on the kitchen table.
"We need to talk." Natasha says.
John looks at the helmet, then at Natasha, then back at the helmet. He walks forward and gives her a hug.