The battle against the Parasites in Metropolis has proven to be quite a challenge for Kal-El. The Secret Order of Mad Scientists, responsible for Parasite's changes, has also been running other experiments on Superman's villains, including chopping up Bizarro and messing around with Kryptonite. Led by Graft and the evil scientist Dr. Pharm, the group is making it their mission to evolve the Man of Steel's rogues. However, after having his powers drained, Superman met the new hero Marilyn Moonlight and got a much-needed energy power-up from her, as it allowed him to continue his fight as Parasites multiplied throughout the city.
In "Superman" #3 by DC Comics, Superman continues his search for Parasite-Zero, the main villain who has spawned all the duplicates ravishing Metropolis. Unfortunately, however, the Man of Tomorrow has been infected by Parasite himself, as he has purple skin, yellow eyes, and sharp teeth. Thankfully, despite his new monstrous appearance and voice, Superman is able to keep himself together and not be entirely overcome by the transformation — leading him to Lex Luthor. Together, the Parasite Superman and Luthor use the electric villain Livewire to unleash a powerful energy blast to draw the Parasites directly to them. The subsequent electrical explosion detaches the Parasites off of Superman, allowing him to split into a containment suit and return to his usual form.
After drawing the Parasites to SuperCorp, all of the Parasites combine into a grotesque, giant-sized version of the villain. But Luthor ends up activating a neutralizer removing the radiation poisoning that caused Parasite's powers to change, knocking him out and freeing Metropolis from the invasion.
