firestorm tells everyone that superman is emitting kryptonite. element woman goes inside superman's blood stream and finds a small sliver in his brain. atom then tells everyone that she put it there in kahndaq, and that it was this that has been causing superman's illness and loss of control of his powers. the outsider comes out of the shadows to pick up the box. he tells the heroes that the box is not magic, but science, that was created on his world and can only be opened by someone from his world. he explains that the box opens a gateway to his homeworld, and that he and atom arrived following the weakening of the barriers between the universes resulting from the justice league's battle with darkseid.