Superman's and Paragon's battle is interrupted by the Priest-Elders of the Protonic Flame, from Daxam. They want Lar Gand (Mon-El). Superman tells them that Lar Gand can't be returned as he is very ill, and warns them they might suffer from the same problem, lead poisoning. They consider that a threat, and attack. Paragon starts to support them, but they want nothing to do with him, insulting him. So he switches to Superman's side and attacks, taking the battle back to over Metropolis. Paragon gets a gun with lead bullets, and shoots one round at them. But Superman stops him from killing the Daxamites. They flee, but Paragon agrees to keep an eye on them, while Superman works on a cure for their lead poisoning (which is less advanced than Mon-El's). They unleash their ultimate weapon, the Galactic Golem, to destroy Earth. Superman offers to cure the poisoning, but they don't believe him. Paragon and Superman end up fighting the Golem, with no effect. Paragon wants to give up, but Superman goads him into helping for one last time, allowing Superman to penetrate the Golem's shell, and destroy it. Weakened, Superman could be killed by Paragon, but he decides not to and escapes. Superman confronts the Daxamites and again offers the cure, but they want nothing of it, and engage the self-destruct on their ship.

Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).