The Past Is Prologue On the planet Kletus-4, a being who appears to be Superman walks into a drinking establishment and gets into a scuffle with some of the patrons. News of the man's exploits reaches the ears of the warrior known as Draaga. Draaga has fought Superman in the past and wants a rematch in order to regain his lost honor.
Back on Earth, the real Superman busts up a group of fringe Intergang agents and hands them over to the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit. From nearby, the Hellgrammite watches the scene with great interest.
Superman then visits Bibbo Bibbowski and Jimmy Olsen over in Suicide Slum. Jimmy has just gotten his photographs back of a recent battle and believes that these pics may put him back on top of the journalism game.
On Kletus-4, the faux Superman meets with the Cellkeeper, the being he once encountered when last he was trapped on Warworld. The cellkeeper brings him to the monument of the late Cleric, the man responsible for giving Superman the Kryptonian Eradicator. Draaga finds the two and begins fighting with Superman. Superman does not appear to have all of his memories and does not understand why Draaga insists on fighting him.
Suddenly, Warworld appears in the sky above the planetoid. The new leader of Warworld sits in a throne next to Maxima of Almerac. The leader deduces that the being that Draaga fights is not actually Superman, but the shape-shifter known as Supergirl. Supergirl shifts into her common form and defeats Draaga. The leader of Warworld reveals himself to be Brainiac. Supergirl and Maxima both pledge their allegiance to Brainiac.