As the sun's rays turned golden in the late afternoon light, two figures rested in each other's company above the bustling city of Metropolis. The bold figure of the Man of Steel stood proudly on the edge of a skyscraper, calm and at ease. Next to him was a scruffier man in an orange gi, sitting in the edge of the building with his legs dangling over the edge; a burger held carelessly in one hand threatened to fall apart in the breeze.
Superman gazed down at Son Goku as he devoured the burger in a single oversized bite. The waste paper quickly joined the rest as Goku crushed them together into a material more dense than the concrete he was sitting on. Superman wore a light frown even as his lips quirked in amusement.
"You were lucky, you know? Bruce was gracious indeed to give you access to his money for your food budget, regardless of how much he liked training and sparring with you." Superman glanced at the waste material with his x-ray vision, the density to volume ratio suggested that Goku had just scarfed down one hundred and twenty of that same kind of burger.
Goku just laughed, "Yeah, who knew I'd end up missing the dinosaurs from home? They've not been able to give me a good fight for a long time, and I guess they were too much for most earthlings to handle, but boy were they good for eating!"
Goku paused for thought, "Well, them and the oversized fish too..." He trailed off, musing.
From one moment to the next, Superman was gone in a blur of colour. In the next instant, he was back where he'd come from without so much as a speck of dust or waft of smoke on his person.
Superman sighed and sat down himself, "To be honest, I wasn't sure how you were going to handle the transition. A lot of the systems you rely on aren't present in this world. You've shown remarkable restraint in adapting. I'm... glad I wasn't forced to stop you from doing something we'd all regret."
Goku just hummed, "But wouldn't that have been interesting?" He sighed wistfully.
He perked up, "But speaking of transitions, that sound barrier must really be a bother to you in these populated areas. Above or below, you can't cross that threshold without a major disturbance going off in your wake, right?"
Superman looked vaguely put out, "The way your ki aura gets around that limitation still goes against all known laws of physics. Still, have you worked out your little space problem yet?"
Goku gave an awkward chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Vegeta was not happy to hear about that one. Almost gave himself an aneurism when he realised I'd forgotten how to do that."
He looked at the slowly darkening sky. "Apparently Saiyans have adapted biology that lets us survive entirely off our own ki. That means if we're strong enough, we don't need to eat or breathe for indefinite amounts of time. Heck, even Raditz could do it! I still haven't tested it though."
Superman nodded his agreement in sympathy, "Too many memories of people saying it's impossible, it can be terrifying to have to break through those preconceptions. Especially when people's lives depend on you disproving them, whether it be your own life or the lives of those you care about" His expression darkened.
The sun inched its way down. Today was a slow day for crime in Metropolis. Superman didn't have to vanish and return all that often. Goku just continued to sit there, he didn't have anything he had to do today. On Superman's latest return, Goku picked up the threads of their conversation from their resting place.
"Oh, speaking of impossible. People still aren't sure of any circumstance where I could beat you in a fight." Goku started upper body stretches where he sat, exciting himself out of his little slump.
Superman snorted. "I have no doubt you'll get there eventually. You blast through strength tiers in orders of magnitude like they were a series of linear obstacles in your way. Speaking of, how close are you to catching Beerus and Whis?"
Goku tapped his chin in thought, "Not too far off now, I'll get there in a couple of years at my current rate. Faster if I discover something new while training. But you always do rise to the occasion, the universe might run out of time before I figure out how to catch up to you."
A steely glint entered Goku's eye. "Don't worry though, I will get there if I can possibly manage it. At least this time the impossibly strong measuring stick isn't looking to destroy Earth or me every other day."
Superman lifted off the building and Goku floated up to join him as a comet streaked across the sky in the likeness of a shooting star. Both of their brows creased at its presence.
Goku spoke first, "There's a single energy presence in there, a lot like yours but with far darker intentions."
Superman growled, his tracking eyes peering inside of the meteorological phenomenon. "Zod."
Goku turned to face Superman, one arm gesturing in the direction of Zod's ship right as it landed. "Superman. May I-?"
Superman waved him off. "Go ahead," He glanced around the city, "Mind the buildings."
Zod's rage tore through the air, announcing him to everyone in the area, and the few more who were monitoring it. Goku started to drift off in Zod's direction.
Superman's memory flashed a reminder, and he grimaced, "Oh, and if you find yourself losing, do not Kamehameha him into the Sun. That Does Not Work."
Goku smiled and gave Superman a farewell salute as he pressed two fingers to his forehead and teleported across the world. Superman rose into the outer atmosphere to keep a proper eye on those two, as Goku once again showed up to face the latest threat to the world.
FIN
A/N: I'm still writing on and off, working on my writing style and how I want to pace out stories. I've also become very exacting in my expectations of personal work quality. I imagine when I get to a place in my writing that I'm happy working from, that I'll upload stories and chapters far more frequently. In the mean time, here's a one-shot. I hope you enjoyed it.
Chewy Nemesis
