Instinct tells Lex to drop the mask, but instead his grip grows more secure. This is not something to discard carelessly, whatever the intent. Instead he sets down the mask gently as if putting it on display and lifts his chin, standing straight and placing himself on the same internal platform as the declared hero.

"It seems as if your origins are my constant present. Everything that's mine, everything I've had to maintain I've had to fight for. While I'm the heir to my father's empire, I'm also a threat. He's only one obstacle, but definitely the largest, and no corporate titan takes kindly to a newcomer. My life is a constant game of staking my claim in the larger world or breaking under its weight along with the rest of the rubble. I'm going to change the world, Adrian, either here or back home because I'm certainly not ever going to break."

He breaks eye contact long enough to look down and pick up the circlet, once again finding Adrian's face under a determined gaze. "'There is nothing impossible to him who will try.'"