With Lex Luthor II's health deteriorating rapidly, he pushes his personal scientist, Sydney Happersen, to find a cure. Experimenting with Superman's DNA, Happersen and Luthor have created another clone of the Man of Steel. The clone quickly turns a pale white and collapses, but then rises again and blasts Happersen's face with heat vision before taking off.
Hearing the commotion outside Lois Lane's apartment, Clark heads out to find the naval base at Hob's Bay devastated. A sailor claims that Superman was the one responsible.
Superman returns to Lois' apartment, only to find the police there. She has been kidnapped by the clone, whom all of Metropolis has mistaken for the real Superman.