sent him to Earth in to investigate the ruins of his homeworld and to see if there is anything left. He finds only gigantic, asteroid-sized chunks of kryptonite, pieces of the planet that were irradiated by the supernova that destroyed the great civilization. Superman turns his ship around and heads back to Earth, but along the way he is intercepted by Mongul and forced to compete in gladiatorial combat in Warworld. Mongul first puts him against an elite team of warriors known as the Plahtune, but the Man of Steel easily beats them. Next, he confronts Overkhast, an alien who can fire energy from his hands and who can also transform into a gigantic energy-based creature that can emit shock waves of power. After Superman overcomes him, Mongul himself steps into the arena to battle Superman. Though he is powerful and possesses great strength, Mongul is still no match for the Last Son of Krypton. At the conclusion of their fight, Superman picks up Mongul and prepares to deliver what would most certainly be a killing strike. Mongul taunts him, "Go on, Superman. You know you want to." Superman then throws Mongul to the floor and states that the fight is over. Superman then finds his ship and sets off for Earth, but Mongul vows that he will find him. Superman's return to Metropolis is greeted with ecstatic applause by most, but Lois Lane seems somewhat hesitant to put her faith in him again. Soon after his return however, Metallo attacks the city with an army of robots when he hears Superman is back. He fights both the supervillain and his minions. While the lesser opponents are of little consequence to the Kryptonian, Metallo is another matter. After many fights, they have their last battle where Metallo transforms into a towering monstrosity that Superman cannot directly touch because of his kryptonite-powered body. He compensates for this by throwing objects at the villain. Realizing that he is about to be defeated, Metallo fires a large missile to destroy Metropolis, but Superman intercepts the projectile and hurls it into the sky. Superman shows Metallo no mercy, gathering all of his strength and charging the villain, tearing through his body and ripping out his power source. Unknown to Superman during his absence, Lex Luthor broke into the Fortress of Solitude and stole his data crystals. Lex Luthor experiments with the crystals by adding