Truth, Justice, and a Relaxing Diner

Note: If you're interesting in seeing a sequel, check the updated author's notes at the very bottom.

"What can I get for the two of you today?" The waitress asked friendlily as she took her notepad out from her apron.

The darker haired of the two loosened his tie, coming to his final decision. "Apple pie à la mode." He ordered, his Japanese nearly perfect but with the slight hint of midwestern in his accent betraying the fact that he was indeed as American as he looked.

His friend on the other side of the booth gave a small snort of a laugh. "Really? You come all the way to the Kantō region and you order something you could get at home?" The blond man asked, still with a healthy chuckle, which helped to ease the waitress somewhat as his very thin appearance made him look quite sickly. Perhaps he just had some odd body-fluctuation quirk like Fatgum's and that's why his clothes were so loose on him.

"It's actually a fun little hobby I've developed over the years." The more formally dressed man smiled, speaking in English this time. "I've been tossed into so many different alternate worlds that, when I'm able, I like to sample their versions of apple pie and see if I can taste any difference. I once had a slice in one world that tasted almost exactly like Root Beer, if you'd believe."

The thinner man, being the only one in the diner to actually know English and understand his friend, was quiet for a moment, seriously thinking through the very idea of such an interesting concept, his hand slightly stroking his pointy chin.

"I'll have your apple pie milkshake, please." He finally made his own order to the waitress. "As blended as you can make it, if you'd be so kind."

The waitress finished writing and gave a smile with a short head-bow. "We'll have them out to you as soon as we can."

Both men gave her their thanks as she made her way back to the kitchen. Though the milkshake order had made the American feel slightly overcome by a sense of awkward guilt.

"I'm sorry, Toshinori. When I recommended we go out for a bite, I wasn't thinking."

"It's fine, Clark. Trust me." Toshinori waved the unneeded apology away. "Honestly, I glad you asked. Most people who know about my double life are usually too mindful of my injury to invite me to tag along anywhere with food." He said, lightly patting the spot on his left side. "The substance itself can't stay with me for long without a stomach, but flavor is certainly something I haven't lost my fondness for."

"Well…that's good to hear, at least." Clark said, rubbing the back of his neck as he still felt a little bad about not being more considerate. The battle must have really worn him out. "I actually did have a small experience losing my sense of taste."

"Oh?"

"Oh, no, nothing bad like you're thinking." Clark quickly cut in, actually having to hold some of his laughter in check as he remembered the incident. "Green Arrow had made a batch of his famous chili for the JL potluck. Both Canary and Hal warned me I wouldn't be able to handle it and that I didn't know what I was getting myself into when he challenged me to have some. I didn't listen and ate a full spoonful." Clark almost felt his tongue still burning as he jovially retold the story. "All the spices Arrow put in overwhelmed my super-senses so bad that I could not taste a thing for a week! Even to this day Ollie loves telling people how he managed to burn Superman's tongue without the use of Kryptonite or red sun rays."

"Ha!" That got a nice solid laugh from Toshinori, Clark's own chuckles proving to be infectious. "Alright, that's not a bad one. But let me ask you: would you rather be able to taste nothing or just one thing continuously?" He asked with a smirk, getting Clark's attention. "I didn't even realize anyone still remembered this event until I overheard some people in a crowd talking about the Vinegar Suicide Incident, as apparently the internet has taken to calling it. A couple of years back there was a middle schooler who fell into a river and was in danger of drowning. In his panic, his quirk started turning the water around him into vinegar, which only made it harder for him to swim. I was able to jump in and save him, of course, but by the time we got back to shore, I was completely soaked in vinegar. My eyes were burning and I can only imagine the face I was making as I was smiling and squinting at the cameras. I couldn't even see them! After my patrol I spent the entire night and the next with a full bottle of mouthwash, brushing my teeth and just trying to rub the taste of pure vinegar out of my mouth!"

Both he and Clark cracked up over that, Toshinori having to really control himself from accidentally bulking up in his habit of laughing this much.

"I take it the child was okay." Clark asked, drinking some water to help his laughter simmer down a bit.

"Oh, yeah, he was fine. Poor kid felt really bad about my eyes, but I think I was able to cheer him up. After all, thanks to him, my skin looked ten years younger!" Toshinori quoted himself as best as he could remember.

His last bit of chuckles finally dying down enough for him to talk, Clark commented "Well, thankfully my experiences with vinegar haven't been that bad. One of the first times I visited Gotham on a story I was following, I had a run-in with a villain who called himself the Condiment King. Literally, a self-declared supervillain who tried to use ketchup, mustard, pickle relish, and yes, even vinaigrette as weapons. I didn't have to hurt him at all to get him to stop harassing people, but I still felt like I was picking on the guy when I brought him to the police."

"I think I once encountered a minor menace with a similar gimmick, though his quirk just let him shoot some kind of tomato by-product from his fingertips." Toshinori remarked. "Not complaining, I suppose. It's generally a good thing that all villains are not like this Brainiac I helped you defeat."

Clark's face grew a touch less jovial at the mention of his one of his oldest of enemies. "Well…I'm just glad that we stopped him when we did. Brainiac caused enough damage and death during his convergence of the universes within our bubble of the multiverse. I don't want to see what would happen to someone else's universe getting dragged into his madness."

It was now Toshinori's turn to awkwardly rub his hand through his much more unkempt mess of hair. "Jeez. Aliens and alternate universes. The world is still trying to fully understand quirks. Throwing those things into the mix…" He shook his head as he just imagined all the panic and chaos such a revelation would bring. "…Never thought I'd be glad that the media thinks the truth was just some elaborate hoax. It actually wouldn't have been the first time someone used their powers to play the alien prank. I know it's not my call to make, but the world is just…not ready for such a thing."

"My world barely was, and that includes myself." Clark commented sympathetically. "When ma and pa first told me the truth about who I was and where I came from, I subconsciously rejected the very idea. It took me years to come to fully come to terms with the fact that I was from another planet."

"That being said, that knowledge would really ramp up all the conspiracy theories there are about where quirks come from." Toshinori noted, smiling and shaking his head in slight disbelief. "I've heard everything from a government's super-soldier experiment gone awry to a contagious virus spread by mice. Last I checked, aliens were number seven on the top ten list of theories."

"You should see the History Channel back on my Earth. Ever since J'onn and I made our first public appearance, Ancient Aliens spawned all kinds of constantly running spin-offs. The worst part is some of the more crackpot sounding theories ended up being true." Clark chuckled as he took off his glasses to gently wipe some dust off the lenses. Toshinori was somewhat impressed that he could hold something so frail that he didn't even really need so gently. "Is quirks being the next step in human evolution one of the theories?" Clark asked as he slid the glasses back on.

"That's number three, if I'm remembering right. The mice thing is the top theory right now."

"Probably take my bias with a grain of salt, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was the reason. Not only do we have the Metagene back home, but I've been to another reality where many people were just simply born with mutant powers, very similar to your quirks, and it was that very explanation, as far as I could tell from my short time there. Thankfully you all seem to be handling the existence of quirk users a lot better." Clark remarked sincerely as he looked out the window, spying a man with snakes for fingers just casually talking with his friend who had a cactus for a head, not even a moment's glace as a family of three flew by on leather wings. "It's probably just because superpowers and mutations are the norm here. Even if aliens aren't something they'd be able to handle yet, everyone is so different that differences are given more of a chance, whereas in the mutants' universe, and sadly even in my own universe, people keep lashing out in fear and keep the numbers in the next stage small."

"It wasn't always like this." Toshinori said with a heavy sigh, his world's past clearly weighing on him somewhat. "For a couple generations after quirks and superpowers became a thing, societal progress basically stagnated. Normal humans were just as afraid of quirk users as they were your mutants and metahumans, whether it was fear of the unknown, fear of being replaced, or the deliberate fear instilled in them by those who profited off the chaos such lawlessness created. Before superheroes came the supervillains, and people like All For One."

Clark recognized the look of deep contempt behind Toshinori's eyes as he spoke. It was the same look Lois would point out that he had whenever he talked about Luthor.

"I…have to admit… When I saw that he was trying to track down All For One, the one person whose quirk would let him collect and study other quirks, I was tempted to just let Brainiac go." Toshinori confessed hesitantly, his fingers thrumming slightly against the tabletop in his shame. "We've just had so little success finding him ourselves, and with everything I know he's capable of doing… I was about willing to risk everything just for the chance to catch him…" He trailed off slightly.

"But you didn't." Clark pointed out, knowing full well what it felt like to beat yourself up over things you've only thought about doing. "I couldn't have brought down Brainiac without your help. When we were rescuing the hostages, whatever you might have been tempted to do, you still didn't hold back and did everything you could to save them."

In truth, Toshinori was grateful for the other hero's words, though the small pangs of guilt still remained. "One of the main things that snapped me back to my senses was seeing that Brainiac had learned about All For One through young Midoriya. Seeing him kidnapped with all those others he wanted to absorb the knowledge of, it quickly just sent me into a rage."

"I can certainly understand that feeling. I am a father myself, after all." Clark remarked, giving a small jump in his seat when Toshinori's back suddenly sharply stiffened and some startled blood came spraying out from between his teeth.

"W-wait…! You think that I'm…?! No, no, I'm young Midoriya's teacher! He already has a father…though he never talks about him, only his mother…" Toshinori rambled on red-faced, his stuttering and more spastic flustered movements actually bridging more gaps for Clark between the symbol of peace and the green-haired boy who'd excitedly been asking him about all his powers earlier that day. "Hold on…is that how we come across to others?" Toshinori asked himself with some embarrassed whispers and nervous sweat, thinking back on every interaction he'd had with his successor in public and certainly now seeing what it must have looked like.

"Uhh…sorry. I didn't mean to…" Clark trailed awkwardly, not really sure how to proceed, trying to slide Toshinori some of the booth's napkins as he didn't seem to realize how much blood was dripping down his mouth. "Sorry, it's just the two of you seemed to have a lot of similarities. Not really in appearance but how you both acted while in the fray and the similarities in your powers. When Brainiac was talking about how One For All was a power transferred by genetics, I had just assumed that Izuku had the same powers because he was your…" Clark stopped a little short again, seeing as he was only making the man's thin face even more flushed with pink. "But you being his teacher makes as such sense!" He quickly added on to try and defuse the uncomfortable situation he'd unintentionally put them in. "Certainly explains the battle cries. The way you both yelled out "Detroit Smash!" as you attacked." He said with a light laugh.

"…Hey, you alright?" Toshinori asked, coming at least somewhat out of his embarrassment, noticing now how Clark was rubbing his cheek at the memory.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. My jaw is still just a little sore from where you socked me before." Clark explained, trying to show that it wasn't that bad. "You pack a mean right hook."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to apologize for that. Usually I'm a lot better at not just jumping the gun and mistaking another hero for a villain. Even in such an unusual place as an alien spaceship, that's no excuse."

"Well, sadly, that probably happened because of what there was of my universe leaking through into yours. Anytime any of us meet someone new it almost always breaks out in a fistfight."

"Still, it's not like you didn't get a little bit of payback on me." Toshinori chuckled. "You scared the crap out of me with that freeze breath of yours."

"Heat vision seemed like it'd be a little overkill." Clark shrugged.

"Probably literally." Toshinori joked. "But you seem to have a pretty good handle on all those powers of yours. Gives me some hope that the Quirk Singularity is still quite a ways off."

"The Quirk Singularity?" Clark naturally asked, the name sparking his curiosity.

"It's just something Nezu and some of the other faculty at U.A talk about sometimes. Since quirks tend to mix together and get stronger and more complex with each generation, there's this idea that someday we'll get to the point that no one will be able to control their powers anymore. To be honest, it's not a theory I ever paid much mind to until Midoriya came along."

"Because of One For All." Clark accurately guessed, Toshinori getting reminded of some comments Tsukauchi made to him about how surprisingly perceptive reporters can be, be it a good or bad thing.

"Yeah." He nodded his head. "I had no trouble using One For All almost right from the get-go, and as far as I know my predecessor didn't have much problem with it either. Before he developed his Full Cowling technique, I was worried that I'd given him way more power than he could ever handle. With its stockpiling aspect, young Midoriya theoretically is even more powerful than I was back in the day, but it's a moot point if he can't use the power without hurting himself."

Clark rubbed his chin with his palm, thinking over his own history with out-of-control powers. "I was once exposed to a special type of Kryptonite that temporarily turned my skin translucent. The amount of solar energy my body absorbed increased at least ten-fold and thus so did my powers. I could hardly move without creating a windstorm and I couldn't turn my heat vision off."

"How did you manage to deal with it?" Toshinori asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately, not in any way that'll probably help Izuku with One For All." Clark said apologetically. "Far as I can tell, the fundamental difference between our stockpiling abilities is that I'm constantly absorbing solar energy and giving it back off in various forms. Once I was a safe enough distance away from anyone I could hurt, I just let my heat vision fully unleash, trying to use up all that built-up power faster than I could take it in until the Kryptonite's effect wore off. But from how you've described One For All, it sounds like it's just one continuous power level that's been built up by all who've held it before. It's all the same energy that replenishes naturally on its own within your body. It's basically the difference between a hose and a lightbulb."

"And even if it wasn't, with Recovery Girl really putting her foot down about how she won't heal his self-inflicted injuries anymore, I can't exactly have Midoriya keep firing off 100% power punches until his body gets used to it. Not that I ever would ask him to do something like that." Toshinori quickly waved off the idea, still feeling somewhat ashamed of the state his student had ended up in during the sports festival. "Just as well…" He continued with a heavy-hearted sigh. "Even if he powers didn't hurt him, I didn't want him anywhere near all this until at least his three years at U.A were up."

"This All For One is really that powerful?"

"Even more. Probably much more, given who knows how many more quirks he's been stockpiling since we last met. And beyond that, he…" Toshinori's words stopped for a moment, it never having gotten easier to talk about what happened. "He…killed my master. The one who held One For All before me. Nana Shimura."

Clark could see the visible heartbreak all across Toshinori's face. "I'm…I'm so sorry."

Toshinori sat in the sudden silence for a long moment. "…When I finally confronted All For One, I was at the prime of my abilities. The strongest I've ever been. Even then, it took everything I had to knock the sucker down and I still just barely managed to survive the surprise attack that allowed him to escape. Ever since that injury he gave me, I've gotten so much weaker." He said, still feeling that crippling spike in his side. "I was barely able to defeat that Nomu he created specifically for his lackey to use to kill me. If I were to face him again now, I don't know if I could beat him. I'd certainly try, but if I were to die…"

"Then the burden of taking your place might fall on Izuku." Clark said for him, to Toshinori's slight surprise. That hadn't been what he was about to say, but now that he thought about it, the man's perceptive guess probably summed up his fears a lot better.

"Yeah…" The thin man said with a sad sigh, his tired, sunken-in eyes looking to the world outside the window. "I've always been worried that I'm pushing young Midoriya too hard, or unintentionally making him push himself too hard. He genuinely wants to be a great hero, but even after all this time, he still sees me the same way everyone else does. The invincible symbol of peace. The shadow I cast…I feel like he can't see his own greatness because my own presence is blocking his way. When young Midoriya finally did make incredible progress with One For All, it was because Gran Torino, the man who trained me, finally got through to him, showing him that he was trying too hard to emulate me instead of doing things his own way. He just can't…see himself past my ideal. I haven't been able to help him enough yet like my master did for me, and if I were to fall now and leave young Midoriya alone…. After everything I know he's capable of, I don't want young Midoriya to face an evil like All For One yet, if ever."

Toshinori went quiet again, the clear weight of not only the world on his shoulders but HIS world as well. Clark had seen the same feeling of almost helplessness in too many other heroes he'd fought besides over the years. Though he'd never want to admit it, probably for the same reason the man across the table from him never would, he'd personally known the feeling all too well too.

"…It's not quite the same thing, but I have had a battle I thought I'd never come back from." Clark said with quiet sincerity, regaining Toshinori's attention back from the outside street. "It wasn't a man. It was a monster from space. Nothing short of a mindless killing machine, named Doomsday. At the time, it was the most powerful being I'd ever fought. It tore through Metropolis and all the other members of the League who went up against him like they were nothing. The slightest graze of the bones on his knuckles cut deeply into my body while my strongest blows barely slowed him down." Toshinori noticed that Clark's eyes were avoiding to look directly at him, or anything other than the booth's table, as he recounted the event, probably much more troubling images replaying in his head than he could bring himself to say out loud. "Eventually I managed to stop him but I was beaten so badly that the world thought I was dead. I thought I was dead, even. My body had slipped into a coma to try and protect what was left of me, but if it hadn't been for the technology that was left from Krypton, I would have never recovered.

"And when I eventually came back, I discovered that there had been some people who'd risen up after I fell to take my place. The world had mourned me, but it was starting to move on. For a while, that brought me some comfort, that the world won't just stop if something happened to me. …But then…"

"But then you had a son." Toshinori said, it being his turn to see the unease in the other man's face.

Clark gave only a single nod. "…I was as flattered and proud as any father could be when Jonathan threw his own S-shield across his chest and declared himself Superboy, but even then…I was worried. More than anyone I know how much Superman can overshadow a lot of things in the lives of people close to me. The Eradicator. Mr. Mxyzptlk. Manchester Black. Our entire life in Hamilton County got turned upside-down simply because of the life I've lead since first donning the cape. Even Jon's best friend is the son of mine, another man in a dangerous life. He's never complained yet but…I want him to be able to have a life outside of my own and if something were to happen to me, another Doomsday… I afraid Jon would push himself into being Superman just to carry on for me where I left off; a thought that's scared me since he was first born."

The space between the two became noticeably quiet and the silence thick. That battle aboard the ship must have really worn them out, if they were confessing such fears to another they met just that day.

"Jeez…" Toshinori said with a long sigh as he leaned back against his seat. "I thought us old geezers were supposed to spend our days complaining about kids these days, not being worried that we're passing the burden onto them too soon."

"We're not that old, Toshinori."

"Speak for yourself. I accidentally called Gran Torino an old man when my master introduced him to me and he never let me live it down."

The bit of levity was much appreciated, but still neither men found it in them to talk for the moment. The energy for words having left them for a few minutes, some life did return when they noticed the waitress finally returning.

"I'm so sorry about the wait, fellas. The ice cream machine has been acting up all week." She apologized sincerely as she set Toshinori's milkshake before him, both a straw and spoon sticking out of its top in case it still proved to be too thick for him.

"I'm sure it'll be well worth the wait." Clark said, smiling at the very crisp and golden pie on his plate, the ice cream just barely having started to melt from its heat.

"Will there be anything else today?"

"No, we're fine. But thank you." Toshinori said as his palms enjoyed the coldness of the glass.

With a nod and smile, the waitress went on her way to attend to the other tables. As she did, Toshinori noticed Clark slightly lower his glasses and stare the wall on the other side of where the kitchen was.

"So, what's the problem?"

"Ah, their cooling unit is giving out." Clark said as his eyes ceased their very faint glow and he slid his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "Thankfully nothing they'll need to replace the entire machine for. I'll try and make a note of it for them when we leave."

Toshinori gave a small chuckle. "X-ray vision was about the third or fourth power I saw you pull out against Brainiac. I'm actually a little jealous, especially of the flying. I'm always worried about accidently breaking apart the roads or rooftops when I'm jumping around."

"Funny enough, a lot of my more extreme powers didn't develop until later in my life." Clark expressed as his fork broke off a nice cinnamon-coated chunk of apple. "For the longest time it was just invulnerability and super strength, and this isn't me being humble but it was definitely not at the same level as yours is."

"Again, you should have seen me back in my heyday." Toshinori smirked, jokingly making a fist. "Two or three hits and I would have been able to bring that ship down all by myself. Still, wasn't all bad. Got to see Midoriya nearly faint when you and I threw the final punch together. You might have noticed that the kid's got a bit of hero worship going on. I'm still trying to convince him to get rid of the hood on his costume that looks like my hair." Toshinori laughed at the memory, but Clark could tell by the color in his sunken cheeks that he was flattered to the point of embarrassment at how much the kid clearly admired him.

"Toshinori…that thing you said when we arrived to save the hostages," Clark spoke, getting the other man's attention again. "I am here. Almost like a practiced statement. Was that something you also got from Nana Shimura?"

"Not the phrase itself. I came up with that. But my master was definitely the reason for it." Toshinori explained, sipping the shake through the straw with a little bit of effort. "The greatest lesson she imparted on me was that heroes don't just save people's lives, they save people's hearts. The smiling, the phrase, even the name, All Might…it's all to help people feel reassured, that now that I've arrived everything's going to be okay."

"I had a feeling it was something like that. It just…reminded me of something my parents would say to me." Clark explained, a bit of a sad smile as he remembered them. "They were farmers, so they knew the importance of planning ahead and being prepared for the future, but they always told me never to let that keep me from being in the present. Some people are at their best planning ten moves ahead…"

"…And some make the biggest difference just by being there." Toshinori finished for him, finding a soft smile coming across his face as he remembered where those words came from. "I get the feeling my master would have liked your parents."

"I can hardly think of anyone who didn't." Clark said, knowing he was probably biased, but he didn't care. "My biggest regret in life is that they passed away before they could see their grandchild. Now more than ever with Jon, I realize how much it couldn't have been easy to raise me. Ma and pa didn't have any powers. They couldn't truly understand what I was going through, and yet, every time I'm at a loss for what to do next or how to help Jon with his problems, I just think back to the long talks pa and I would have out in the fields and I'm just amazed at how much easier everything became to bear thanks to him." He looked up at Toshinori. "You know, as much as you're worried you're getting in Izuku's way, he's probably still just incredibly grateful to have you there for him, even beyond the hero worship. Whatever pressure he might be feeling, from what I saw, he's able to deal with it well enough because he's not alone."

After a moment of pause, Clark's words did give Toshinori something to think about, which he did, taking the moment to take a long drink of his shake. "Out of curiosity, since we're talking about mine, did you ever have a catchphrase of your own?"

"Hmm…one, I suppose, but it was a looong time ago. Around when I was first starting to fly." Clark admitted, now his face's turn to turn slightly red from embarrassment, which only peaked Toshinori's interest more. "It was mostly something I said to myself to help get prepared for the initial leap into flight. Though as time went on, I became a little too self-conscious to say it in front of other heroes and I just stopped using it."

"The various Smashes I yell out were actually something similar in my training days to help me focus my power, though the habit stuck around." Toshinori noted the interesting comparison. "Well, don't leave me waiting. What did you say?"

"Um…well…ahhh…ahem….." Clark gave an awkward cough into his closed fist. "….Up, up, and away." He said quickly.

Toshinori burst out laughing, thankfully not transforming in view of all the other restaurant patrons, but spraying enough blood to make them think he'd been drinking a strawberry shake instead of apple and make Clark very worried for the other man's health again, though the unsettling amount didn't seem to faze Toshinori much. "Welp, I don't think it's much debate that mine is better." He remarked jovially to show he was just poking fun at him, finally taking the hint and wiping up some of the blood from his mouth with a napkin. "Still, it's got a nice ring to it. I might be tempted to borrow that one sometime."

"You have my full permission." Clark said, finding himself chuckling. "I did used to say it with a lot more bravado and confidence, but if you ever heard the Green Lantern's oath or Captain Marvel's SHAZAM yell, you'd understand why I feel the bar's been raised. If it wasn't for them, I would be tempted to bring it back."

"Well now I'm kind of envious our little crisis of convergence didn't take me to your Earth. That sounds like a fun time." Toshinori quipped back, taking a small sip of his shake to help him hydrate again. "You know…if we're taking this moment to exchange some advice," He said, getting Clark to raise a curious eyebrow. "It's the thing about this world, where everyone has powers but not everyone becomes a pro hero, be it by circumstance or by choice. Young Midoriya I feel emulates me too much for his own good sometimes, but his reasons for wanting to be a hero are his own. When he's faced off against the likes of young Bakugo or young Todoroki, I like to think that he wasn't even thinking about me at all. That it was his own drive to help others and be the best that was pushing him forward. Likewise with your son, as worried as you are about being consumed by the life you live, he wouldn't stay on as Superboy for so long if he didn't have his own goals tied to it. Maybe just like how Midoriya is slowly realizing Deku isn't just All Might Jr, young Kent already sees Superboy as something other than the son of Superman."

Clark was…stunned, for lack of a better word. It was a mindset he'd never even considered before, perhaps because he was afraid things wouldn't be that simple.

"…That friend of mine I mentioned before…I actually have been tempted to talk to him about some of this stuff since he also knows how it feels. Thinking about it, I can see him saying something similar, though probably a lot more blunt and abrasive, despite still meaning well."

"How so?"

Clark gave a small pause, but to Toshinori's interest, it was because he was trying to hold back another small laugh.

"Well…Batman would probably start off the conversation by telling me to get over myself." Clark said with a grin as he ate another piece of pie.

It took a moment, but when the words finally registered Toshinori nearly snorted into his milkshake. "Sorry, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be laughing." He apologized, fighting through his small fits of giggles from the unexpected response. "It's just…your friend reminds me of another very "rationally" blunt nocturnal hero I know."

"Maybe each universe has a quota to fill." Clark jokingly shrugged, both men happy for the talk to have taken a lighter tone.

"How's the pie, by the way?" Toshinori asked as his glass was nearly drained to the bottom.

Clark looked at the half-eaten pie, taking a moment to consider his answer before he smiled. "Tastes about the same as back home."

Toshinori chuckled. "Yeah, well…familiar is not always a bad thing."

Clark nodded, couldn't agree more. But then his hearing picked something up that caught his attention. A strange engine rumbling that was rapidly getting closer.

A second later and a man suddenly came crashing through the window of the both next to them, four small spinning wheels occupying where his feet would normally be.

Even to the two surprised heroes, the man moved quite fast and wasted no time, speeding his way on his wheels past the many scared customer to the main counter, laughing greedily as he ripped the cash register up from where it sat and rode back out through the diner's twin doors. Outside, he joined the small mob of other excitedly wooing men and women, all with similar wheels somewhere on their bodies, be it their legs, forearms, or even back in one's such case.

"Damnit. Road Rippers." Toshinori swore as he quickly slapped down a small amount of yen on the booth table as he instinctually stood up, enough to cover the check.

"Road Rippers?" Clark naturally asked, his friend apparently having the same idea as him as he followed Toshinori outside into the diner's side alleyway as everyone else was distracted.

"They're a family of delinquents, all with similar quirks." He explained, checking that the door had closed properly behind them. To his relief, the alley was dark and out of the way enough that no one on the nearby street would be able to see them. "They tend to specialize in quick smash-and-grabs and petty vandalization. They're an impatient lot, but they're not completely stupid. If they're acting up so much here, it's probably because there's no pro hero in the immediate area."

As easily as puffing out his chest, the muscle all across Toshinori's body quickly expanded, filling out his loose-fitting clothing to their limit.

"Quite the unlucky day for them then, wouldn't you agree?" All Might remarked, his voice more bombastic and his wide smile easily the brightest thing in the dim alleyway.

Carefully, Clark took off his glasses and slid them into his pocket. "My vibrational frequency is still stabilizing to normal. I've got about ten, maybe fifteen minutes before I'm sent by to my universe." He pointed out, actually finding it a little humorous that he off all people was needing to look up to see the face of the giant of a man his friend had become. "Helping you out wouldn't be the worst way to kill time."

"Hmm… Perhaps a tad unneeded, but it never hurts to have backup." All Might said with a nod in agreement, though soon putting his hand to his now firm, square jaw in a small bit of pondering. "Though that being said…ever since our daring escape from the exploding ship, I have been admittedly curious which of us is faster." He commented pointedly. "Care for a little friendly competition, Man of Steel?"

Seeing what he was getting at, Clark flashed his own playful smirk as he opened up his shirt, revealing the bright red and yellow S-shield underneath. "You sure you know what you're asking for, Symbol of Peace?" Superman asked confidently as his cape folded out from under the removed clothing. "I've held my own pretty well against the fastest in my world. I could give you a handicap and not even fly, if you'd like."

"An opponent who's certain of their victory is bound to make a mistake." All Might said as he properly stretched his arms and legs. "I believe I said something along those lines in a TV interview once. Needless to say, if I don't hold back, are you certain that I won't leave you behind in my dust?" He challenged, letting his friend see the determination in his blue eyes even through the shadows of his brow.

"One way to find out." Superman grinned back, not backing down in the slightest. Reaching into the pocket of his discarded reporter suit, he pulled out a single American penny. "When the coin hits the ground." He set the terms. "And if I win, I get to say your catchphrase."

"Agreed." All Might said, moving to stand beside him, both men facing the alley's opening. "And if I win, you have to go back to saying yours."

With a grin and a nod, the visitor to this world flipped the coin high up into the air.

"Ready…" Superman said, crouching into a better starting position as the coin's travel reached its max height.

"Set…" All Might continued, doing the same, the soles of his boots digging into the dirt as the coin came falling back down.

With a metallic clack, the penny hit the pavement.

The united cries of "GO!" were lost on the winds. Twin sonic booms echoed throughout the alley as the two wide-smiling heroes burst through from it, the villains soon to be quite horrified as to what was about to hit them.

Author's notes: For the record, I totally believe All Might could yell "Up, up, and away!" and make it sound amazing.

It's kind of interesting how I found myself into My Hero Academia (or Boku no Hero Academia, if you prefer). It'd taken me a while before I finally talked myself into watching One Punch Man and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it, taking a premise I thought would be just a one-note joke and really making it work. But after I finished watching the series, I kept hearing that if I liked OPM, I should check out My Hero Academia. Again, it was a while before I gave the series a chance, ironically because I thought the idea of teaching people how to be superheroes through a school cheapened what it meant for someone to be a superhero (the X-Men's school teaches how to control your powers and peacefully co-exist with humans, so there is a difference).

But one day I just happened upon a Youtube video of All Might fighting Nomu. I thought it was awesome and decided to finally watch the anime.

I fell in LOVE with the series and have been reading the latest manga chapter every week up to where it is currently. It may not be the greatest manga I've ever read, but it didn't need to be to become one of my favorites. I'm a massive superhero fanboy (the kind who loves to gush excitedly about superheroes, not the kind who will harass you online for three hours for having a different opinion) and the world of MHA has so much thought put into its hero society, how it works, and all the slowly revealing aspects to it and its heroes, with Midoriya being such a likable and excitedly infectious protagonist whenever he starts geeking out over quirk and pro heroes. And All Might himself just representing everything I love about incredibly powerful yet still so kind and hopeful superheroes like him and Superman, while still getting to have his own unique personality and charisma.

To put it in kind of a weird way, Spider-Man and Batman will always be some of my favorite superheroes to read and watch, but Superman and All Might are the superheroes I have the most respect and admiration for. Two guys with all the power in the world but who only want to help others and inspire them to be better. And naturally I've thought a little bit as to how the two would interact and get along, and thus this story. But since I figured others would do action better than me, I decided to have it be more about the two's characters and similarities in a more relaxed setting.

Clark Kent is a farm boy who became a reporter to help expose injustice and corruption. He's a happily married man to a wife that challenges and flirts with him while they're both trying to see who can get the better scoop on the story. He has a son who he loves but is worried about how well he's raising him, like any parent would. He has friends! His and Batman's friendship where half the time they're both too stubborn to admit they are best friends is one of my favorite things in the comics.

My favorite thing in MHA is the student/teacher and almost father/son relationship between Midoriya and All Might. They are the glue that holds the whole story together. I love almost every character introduced in the story because we usually come to learn and understand them through either Midoriya or All Might. Heck, the only characters I can think of that I have any dislike for are Mineta, who honestly isn't even that and is more just fun to hate, and class 1-B's Monoma, because he reminds me of an internet troll I see all the time on Comic Vine. You know it's a good series when even characters as seemingly irredeemable as Endeavor and Bakugo get good solid character development and growth.

Oh, and in case anyone asks, I ship Midoriya and Uraraka together. If you ship them with other characters like Tsuyu, Bakugo, or Todoroki, I respect your right to support that ship. I just think Midoriya and Uraraka have a lot more chemistry, seem the most openly have feelings for each other, and seem the most likely to end up together.

Author's notes (updated): Someone recently brought it to my attention that my story Truth, Justice, and a Relaxing Diner was copied and put on Archiveofourown by someone named DaBossMan, though he did still give me credit for writing it.

One thing I'd like to make clear is that I'm not angry that my story was copied and put somewhere else, especially since I was still noted as the author. I mean, it's not like I own any actual rights relating to anything DC Comics or My Hero Academia related, so I don't have that much infringement to complain about in general.

I'm more just upset that DaBossMan did not ask or even tell me about putting a copy of my story up on another website. I found out about it from someone else and from the date on Archiveofourown, the copy was put up on December 2nd, so it's been over a month since it was put up and I had no idea. The only request I remember getting was someone asking if I was okay with them translating the story into Spanish and since it was a guest reviewer I had no way of responding, so I do apologize if that was DaBossMan trying to ask for my permission.

Again, I'm not angry that it happened, more just upset that I was never asked. So, to anyone who ever does want to post copies of my stories on another website, please 1.) Make sure to give me credit as the author and list where you got the original from (which DaBossMan did, which I'm thankful for), and 2.) Just ask me first and let me know that you're doing it. That's all. I'm more than likely to be fine with it. I like having more people to read my stories and honestly it's really kind of flattering that someone liked something I wrote enough to want to share it with others.

Anyway, with all that out of the way, DaBossMan actually wrote a DC/MHA crossover of his own that takes some inspiration it seems from my story, even showing a fight against Brainiac where Superman and All Might had to team up that matches very closely the fight described in their conversation at the diner.

It's called Class 1-A meets the Justice League and it's actually quite a fun read. I recommend checking it out. It can kind of be seen as a sequel of sorts to my story, where 1-A goes to the DC universe after the Brainiac attack, the reverse of Superman ending up in the MHA universe. DaBossMan seems like a pretty good author and I'm all for supporting that