Endeavor was a really stubborn man, that he would admit. Perhaps that was a byproduct of having a fire quirk, but he would admit that he had a hard time letting things go. Like many people before him, he sought to be a hero from a very young age. His Hellflame quirk was not only very powerful, but versatile as well. It would be a waste of a quirk for someone like himself to NOT become a hero.
So he went to work. He trained hard, studied hard, worked hard, and rose in rankings. He became more notable, more driven, he had to be the best there was. The best of the best, that was what propelled him forward, his life's goal.
He knew he was better than most of the league, most of whom required the use of gear to greatly enhance whatever little power they had. How else would someone as, supposedly, strong as Green Lantern focus all that power into a measly ring?
He has overcome the likes of the original seven … barring Superman himself, but that was simply the goal after his current hurdle … All Might. The lucky bastard, born with tremendous strength and a perfect smile.
For as much as Endeavor loathed the man, he had to admit, there was a reason why he was number one. Enji had the highest capture rate, he stopped more villains… but All Might… just his mere presence alone was enough to dissuade crime in of itself, almost similar to how the bat was rumored to keep criminals at bay in his own desolate city, except instead of fear, he used peace.
All with nothing but pure brute force, capable of defeating any foe in a simple punch. You'd think touch based enemies like Killer Frost would dissuade him, but no! He just hit harder! The man was a moron, a buffoon, yet, with 'plus ultra', a ridiculous phrase that should've STAYED a ridiculous phrase people chanted at school, the man was capable of enduring until the end.
Even with his uncanny habit of disappearing from public view quickly as of the last few years, everyone still loved him. All Might… All Might had simply become… too big. Endeavor thought long and hard about how to surpass him … and came up dead. He couldn't out power him, out skill him, he couldn't even just do more work. And 'smile more' as his PR team suggested …
… Let's just say… nightmares were had. And one rumor thread about 'Batman smile vs Endeavor smile' became very popular on the Internet. Sometimes Enji hated technology….
The only thing he could possibly think of to be better than All Might… was to have a stronger quirk. A quirk that would make up for any weakness that Endeavor had. Allow him to endure the strain of overheating, allow him to accomplish tasks in ways that fire alone couldn't…. But, without highly experimental, not to mention illegal, experiments… Endeavor couldn't do anything.
So Enji had to accept that, directly, he would never surpass All Might … but a child … a legacy … that held merit. If he couldn't beat him, Endeavor would do what he did best… Endure, and outlast the competition.
First, he did calculations on what he needed in a partner. What quirk would meld best with Hellflame to become even stronger and less restricted? Strength boost? Lightning? More flames? Tapping into other forces of the universe like speedsters did? Or should he look into cybernetics….
Ultimately, the best solution was the most obvious one. Fix the flaws in his quirk so it could function indefinitely and without limit. His flaw was overheating. He needed a cold quirk to even it out, ice preferably.
He needed a woman with that quirk … a woman who would breed a perfect son … or daughter. If they could kick All Might's ass he could care less. And it was easy to acquire as well. Though the days of arranged marriages, now Quick Marriages, were long gone and considered illegal…. Japan often stuck to tradition, even in the most distasteful of practices. A family was willing to pay him off for their daughter … Rei was a lovely woman … and she would be a perfect mother to the perfect child.
Toya was first. His quirk was beyond expectation, fire even hotter than his own! A strange combination sure to surpass Enji one day … until a problem arose. The genes didn't match up like he hoped. He inherited Rei's ice resistance instead of his own fire resistance. The quirk hurt him upon every use, damaging the child. Enji stopped their training immediately for Toya's own safety and moved on.
Fuyumi was next. She was a sweet girl, picking up much of her mother's personality … and unfortunately, her mother's quirk as well, a rather weak version of it. He found it fortunate then that she didn't have the desire to be a hero, the last thing he wanted was to disappoint two of his children.
Natsuo's was … strange. He had an ice quirk that was superior in output … but it worked by heating up his own body to do so … he was somehow overheating like Enji was, the whole thing was weird. While the potential to be a hero was there…. The boy's attitude…. His eyes, they were spiteful… they made it clear they had no love for him… which was fine. It was better for Toya to have company… and maybe this was where his dream to outlast All Might would've died….if not...
If not for Shoto, his perfect creation. Even from a young age, it was obvious the boy was exactly what he was looking for in a child. A quirk of both fire AND ice, perfectly compensating for the other. His magnum opus, one he would spend every day and every moment focusing on improving and maximizing. Skills, talent, all would be passed on …
… After today … not today, he mused, staring at the photograph of Toya. Not today … today was for mourning.
Diana Prince stared blankly as Star and Stripe, Toshinori's replacement as per his request, laughed as they sat in the chair waiting for the latest meeting to start. "It's not that funny."
"Come on, it's a little funny." Cathleen grinned. "You got turned into a pig, and you kept using your bracelets like you still had two feet … that image ALONE is a riot."
She heard chuckling, as she turned her glare to Aquaman. "Oh come on, it was a little funny."
"Do I need to bring up when you made an undercover identity as a teacher, 'Waterman'?" She asked Arthur, sparking more laughs.
"Oh, sorry, not all of us can be as original as Diana Prince." The king of the seas rolled his eyes.
"It actually sounds like a real identity, not something a ten year old came up with." Barry pointed out.
"Oh shut up Barry, or do we need to remind you of how many times we needed to stop you from going back in time and changing history?" Aquaman countered.
"To my credit, it would at least cause Hawkman and Hawkwoman's histories to make sense." The speedster smiled nervously.
"Don't make us go down that rabbit hole again." Kendra glared. "We finally realized it was reincarnation, and we're going to stick by it."
"But aren't you guys also alie-?" Hal asked.
"Reincarnation." Carter glared.
"… So, what's on the table today?" Hal changed the subject. "Gods, robot apocalypse, killer clown poker night?" It was sad to Diana how all three have become so common in her life that they all seemed equally possible.
"Politics." Bruce spoke up, speaking with his normal voice and not his Batman voice. It took A LOT of prodding and patience for them to get this far.
"... Well, I think I left the oven on-" Barry tried to run, only for Clark to hold him by the shoulder.
"One suffers, we all suffer." He said firmly. "Is it a Luthor play or something new?"
"Waller play, but for once she's the one making the closest thing to common sense in the government."
"...Really?" Diana blinked. "The woman who created the Suicide Squad and once almost helped Luthor become president is making sense?"
"With quirks on the rise, power dynamics are fluctuating." Bruce went on. "People like Killer Frost and Clayface could be on any street on any day. Someone could be born with a quirk AND a meta ability. Magic could become one with science. The world is a chaotic mess because of it, and the government wants order by any means necessary."
"Any means?" J'onn asked with a raised eyebrow.
"From genetic manipulation on a world wide scale, to letting Doctor Fate have free jurisdiction over the planet." Bruce continued.
"The man that's only better morally than the Spectre by a hair?" Kendra asked, frowning.
"Precisely. Most of the world doesn't know the best route possible, so they're throwing every idea on the wall possible to achieve the best possible outcome. Japan already has had a plan in motion in the past twenty five years." Bruce spoke up, pressing a display. "Regulation of powers as a police force."
"Legalizing heroes as a military force." Clark spoke out with a small trace of disdain. "You're either trained or prevented from acting."
"Exactly. They plan on using All Might's image as a marketing campaign. Ranking heroes, merchandising …" He frowned. "Making a high school for children to learn to be heroes."
"Don't you have two Robins now?" Barry asked rhetorically. "I mean Supes I would get having a problem with this, but the whole child soldier thing feels hypocritical coming out of your mouth." Bruce responded with a death glare. "...Shutting up now."
"If they're training them in schools, then they're not recklessly endangering themselves or the populace." Cathleen spoke out, looking slightly puzzled. "It's honestly a lot better managed over there than it is in the states."
"I've been in space for a hot minute." Hal spoke. "What's it look down on Earth?"
"One kid turned his eyeballs into machine guns when a mom accidently flashed a camera in his face … in the middle of a school play." Cathleen answered awkwardly.
"… Okay, maybe the government isn't entirely wrong to scramble for a system." J'onn nodded.
"The issue about it, like many, is that the longer it goes on, the more agendas are made, the more bias grows, and thus, the more mistakes are made." Bruce continued on. "Japan already has a zero tolerance policy on failure. Add super powers into the mix, and you have several walking emotional nukes ready to get set off, and those are just for the ordinary people. For those not so ordinary… they make SURE they fall into the mold." Bruce changed the image. "They've already begun targeting one student in particular, molding her into a weapon they can use." Bruce showed off clips of what looked like a little girl with curly green hair lifting up an entire building. "Tatsumaki, or as the media has begun calling her, the Tornado of Terror."
"This toddler's a hero?" Carter asked in surprise.
"She's currently twenty three."
"I told you… NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY!" And the girl on the screen smashed the building down on the man holding a camera.
"...Was that man a villain-?" Barry quickly asked.
"She has a worse temper than Guy's, do the math." Bruce stated bluntly. "But, because of her mass potential, the government's willing to sidestep incidents such as this if it gets them closer to creating another All Might."
Diana glared. "They're letting emotional warpaths run rampant to get results." Letting the powerful do as they please, as if they were gods.
Bruce nodded. "They're already anticipating and expecting her younger sister to follow the same route just because her powers are similar. We're talking about a whole generation of kids who will be brainwashed into accepting a lifestyle they can never truly be ready for."
"How can Sensei let this happen?" Cathleen blinked in shock and horror. "It… It doesn't fit him at all."
"All Might's likely the only reason it hasn't all crumbled into oblivion." Clark stated.
"Yes. This state, unfortunately, is Luthor's assumption of Superman gone true, except with All Might." Bruce continued. "The entire society relies on him like a lynchpin. If he falls, it crumbles, because no one else can keep crime down like he can."
"...So… what can we do about it?" Hal asked lowly.
"You mentioned Waller was the only one talking sense?" Diana asked, her eyes narrowed slightly. "What's her say on this?"
"A regulated system. Every masked identity on note, every quirk on a file, everyone given chances if mistakes are made, yet held accounted for if they go too far." Bruce stated.
"Super human registration." Clark noted. "...That doesn't sound like the best plan in the long run."
"It's not, but it's the only one that can account for the inevitable mistakes that will be made in the coming years." Bruce nodded. "I'm anticipating a no man's land level event to happen within a decade or so … or worse." He glared down. "A second All For One."
"Who?" Cathleen asked, clueless.
"Someone you'll hopefully never have to learn about." Diana reassured.
"With that, we shall move on to secondary business." Batman carried on. "The annual Superman and Flash Charity race is coming up."
"Oooh, can we-!" Barry raised his hand.
"We're not adding Santa to the race." Bruce shut him down.
"Spoilsport." Clark snickered. "We probably could add Cathleen though."
"If you did, I'd just tell myself to be faster than you both." Star and Stripe smirked.
"And then I'd just run faster than myself." Barry chuckled.
"And I… would get a cup of coffee." …Everyone turned to Clark. He blinked. "What, caffeine boost, don't knock it till you try it." The kryptonian shrugged.
"… Not that." Arthur stated nervously. "Are you telling us you've never had coffee before?"
"Only once, when I was pulling a Batman all week."
"I resent my name being an adverb."
"You know we love you." Clark laughed.
"I despise you all."
"No you don't." Diana snickered.
This is what Fubuki became a hero for. To make sure no one else had to deal with strain and strife in life like she had. To be a hero so no one else had to be … so that they could be as adorable as this little scamp! "I see it! I see the appeal in cheek pinching!" She grinned as she pulled on the cheek of her precious nephew.
"Auntie Fubuki-san…." Izuku whined as he tried to pry away from her grasp.
"Oh no, your mama did this to me for ages, and for once I finally have someone small enough to do this to." She smirked. "Now drown in my love!"
"Love hurts, love hurts!" Fubuki's life wasn't exactly an easy one. Sure, from the ripe age of four, she had powers beyond what most people would dream. A quirk that allowed her to move the world around her as she pleased. A mutation of their family's quirk, which was mostly pulling small objects closer to them, like Inko-chan had.
This led to people … offering her a better scholarship. Her family was poor, so mom and dad accepted without a second thought. They drove Fubuki far far away … so she could be better. Stronger, faster, smarter … no matter how much it hurt, or how lonely it got, they pushed and pushed …
Unfortunately though….. There was someone in her way… someone who was always trying to push her back…. And that someone…. "Where's Auntie Tatsu?" Her precious nephew asked in the middle of her love pinches.
"...She's... Around…" Away from her, hopefully for the next year or so. While Fubuki wanted to help people, Tatsu … was more … extreme about it. She constantly told new heroes to retire, caused property damage, and belittled any team Fubuki was on.
Because … Tatsu always had it worse. Their experiments … their tests … they drew out so much potential only Inko and All Might could contest.
… Also weirdly Hawks. Fubuki had no idea why, but Tatsu just seemed to listen to that guy … crush?
But, it didn't make Fubuki's life any easier in any case. At every time possible, Tatsumaki would do everything in her power to stop her from actually making something out of her life. She got far too overprotective, and far too possessive… which was saying a lot, as everyone in their family had some form of emotional clinginess, Inko and Izuku's happening to take the shape of overly large tears.
"Ooooh, can we watch the video again!?" Izuku asked, his eyes cutely sparkled. "Pretty please!?"
"Didn't you do a report on that video yesterday … by memorizing the entire thing in verbal speech?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, smirking.
"Speaking it and seeing it are too different things!" Her precious nephew gave her those big beady eyes that no one sane would be able to resist. "Please, please, please, please…" The boy shook her arm repeatedly. "We can even fly over to the chair!"
"Alright, alright, you've worn me down." She relented with a smile as she lifted him up in the air with her quirk.
"Weeeeeeee! I'm flying! I'm flying like Superman! Which is almost as cool as flying like All Might!" He cheered in the air.
"You know All Might doesn't actually fly, right?" She asked. "I would know, I've met him."
"... You have?!" Her nephew's enthusiasm was so precious.
"Yeah, there was an ice villain, he shows up, says Detroit Smash, he beat them in a punch, and flashed a smile before leaping into the air." For a number one hero, the guy sucked at time management. "He knows that Detroit isn't a state right?"
"It isn't?" Izuku asked, his head tilted.
"See, you can get away with saying that because you're a kid who's never been to America. He's lived there, like, ten years, he should know better." She shook her head as she sat him down on the chair in front of the laptop. "I still say you watch this video way too much. You alone probably gave it ten thousand views."
"Really?" He asked, he hummed. "I thought I was in the billions…I must be slipping."
"You're just fine…" Fubuki pinched his cheek again. "But you could view videos of me more, Izuku-kun~."
"Fubuki-san-!" Izuku whined.
"Why don't you view them more, don't you love your precious Auntie?" She teased as she pinched so more.
"I see you every week, you tell me about the fights better than any video!" He exclaimed.
"But you don't like and subscribe?" She cooed.
"I will, I will, just let me go, the video is about to start!"
"I have to hit play, the power is MINE!" Fubuki cackled evilly.
The boy blinked. "...You have an evil laugh?"
"Izuku-kun, EVERYONE has an evil laugh, it doesn't make them evil though." She shrugged.
"Oh… so when Kacchan laughs when he pushes someone down the stairs and calls them a loser, he's not evil, right?"
She resisted the urge of an eye twitch. "... No … that means he clearly needs therapy so he doesn't become a super villain." After Fubuki moved the brat out of the state. Seriously, why was such a nice kid friends with that little monster?
"Ssssh! It's starting, it's starting!" He shushed her excitedly as the video started.
It began like it always did, with the sight of a train crash and a burning city behind it, people screaming, and running, and not knowing what to do. Most casualties, as Fubuki found out over the years, were mostly the result of confused and scared civilians. "Hahahahahahaa!" The mighty voice of that muscle bound hero announced.
"He's saved twenty people and he's still going back in!" The civilian filming shouted. What's with this guy!?"
"Fear not citizens, hope has arrived, because I AM HERE!" The iconic smile that inspired countless people appeared.
"I AM HERE!" Izuku screamed with joy. "He saves so many people with a smile! I wanna do that! I wanna be an awesome hero!"
"You do, do you?" Fubuki asked with a smile, but a concerned one. "It's a dangerous job."
"As long as I get my quirk, I'll be able to save everyone!" Eh, fair enough. Maybe his psychic powers would be like hers … or maybe like Tatsumaki's without being a hero.
Kyudai Garaki looked over his results, then up at the three women and excited boy. "Hmm … can I ask where the father is?"
"He ran out on Inko-chan the second he cou-OW!" Tatsumaki, the number fifteen hero, the third most deadly hero, probably a quirk user, in Japan, flinched in pain as one Inko Midoriya slapped her in the back of the head. "Inko-chan…."
"My husband works overseas. He's unavailable to be here." Inko Midoriya answered with a polite smile, a minor telekinetic quirk user that was attuned as such a unique frequency it managed to bypass the psychic guards of Tatsumaki, possibly anyone. How such a strong quirk user was unknown was left to the imagination.
"Then I suppose everyone is in here …" He double checked his notes with a sigh. "Madam, can I be blunt?"
"Do you want to die-Ow!" Fubuki, number fifty on the charts, but with much more impressive control over her powers than Tatsumaki's, winced as Inko slapped her in the face. "Inko-chan.."
"Go ahead Doctor."
He took a deep breath, before turning to the smiling, excited boy. "Your dream is pointless kiddo, give it up." And a small, perverse part of the old man's brain watched with glee as the boy was frozen in confusion and hints of despair were etched into that face.
"...Say goodbye to the hospital!" Tatsumaki roared in anger as she immediately began crumbling the entire room into pieces. "OW!" Before her ear was grabbed.
Inko was frowning sternly. "One more, and I bring out the paddle, are we clear missy?"
"But-"
"Are we clear!?"
"… Yes, Inko-chan." They pouted, before glaring at him.
"I went through every DNA test, every x-ray and blood sample … your child is quirkless. And no meta potential either." A strange line of processing in Garaki's work personally. Meta abilities and Quirks ran on separate genetic spectrums. It was possible to acquire both. Of course, this wasn't without side effects, like the Nomu, the brain has trouble handling such a strong load of information and capability. It made the users … loopy, for lack of better words.
"But…" Fubuki spoke up carefully. "Both families have quirks, Hisashi, his dad, can breathe fire at least ONE is bound to show up.
"That's why I was asking about the father." He explained. "Sometimes it skips, but this problem is less prevalent as the generations go on. For a fourth generation …" Surprising a boy like him could exist in this day and age. "It's a once in a lifetime occurrence. There's a one in ten million chance of achieving the exact same result with the exact same circumstances. But the fact remains that Izuku will never develop any powers at all."
"I… I…" The kid began crying tears, tears almost similar in pain to Young Tenko's when he killed his family. "I… I can't be a hero?"
"Nope. Might want to focus on something else." Bit of a shame though. The Tatsumaki line had such powerful quirks. To the point Master was always late on the draw when it came to the HPSC. "Door to door salesmen are a decent line of work. So are nurses if you want a job here." Where his body might be good for storing some quirks he'd want to keep on standby.
"...One day soon… you're going to fall asleep… and you're going to wake up in the sun." Tatsumaki threatened, even as Inko pulled on her ear. "Ow! It's just a joke! A joke!"
"We thank you for your time." The older woman sighed as she pulled the tiny psychic out. "Fubuki, carry Izuku out if you please."
"Right … come on Izuku." She picked the boy up delicately. "How about we watch some … of your favorite shows tonight?"
"… Can we watch hero stuff on the news?" He asked numbly.
"Of course." Fubuki smiled, flipping over his television. "Just some normal, everyday-"
"The Justice League has lost! I repeat, the Justice League has lost!"
"...WAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Oh great, now he had to mop the floors. And on a day he could bring out the good wine too.
Star and Stripe could only try moving forward as the shockwaves emanating from the city blew her back … along with cars, street lamps, trucks, all that stuff.
A monster crashed into Earth. Something with enough power to ragdoll anyone around them. Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, everyone that fought this thing was obliterated with a smack … and that was ONE HIT.
The creature, whatever it was, LITERALLY could fight them all with one arm behind their back. Cathleen was forced to use all of her commands to focus on healing herself and healing her comrades.
It would not stop, it would not end, it would not rest ... this… Doomsday monster... would not stop fighting until it killed everything in sight.
Then Superman went in and said he wasn't holding back … that had been ten minutes ago, and the shockwaves almost seemed to be increasing if the buildings slowly being ripped from the ground up were any indication. "Can... can we even hope to stop this…?" She gasped out as she picked up Batman from the rubble.
"Our… our job… is to back Clark up ..." Batman, whose arms were bent the wrong way and was bleeding heavily from the head, gritted in pain.
"How?" She asked incredulously. "We can't even get near there. Martian Manhunter's the strongest physical we have on hand and even he's struggling to move through the air."
SMAAAAACK
There was a long, gong-like punch … followed by silence and stillness … "It stopped … the fighting stopped." She uttered, feeling unnerved.
"Get ... get me to him ..." Batman coughed blood. "Get me… to Superman…"
"If I move you, you'll bleed-"
"Get me… " The man took off his cowl. "I need... to know my friends okay…"
"…" She grabbed his hand. "Batman has a healing factor." She picked him up as his body began to fix itself.
"You didn't …"
"I spent a year with you guys. I know a mask when I see one." Some people had the duty, and some people were the duty. And when it came to the trinity… they were the beacons to strive for.
They ran over to the Carter where the monster was… right in front of the hall of Justice. A cruel… cruel ironic joke no doubt by the universe. "Superman… Superman!" Batman called out.
"Where the fuck … you'd think he'd show up by-" Cathleen froze. Every atom of her body refuses to move. "… No …" She whispered in an unimaginable amount of shocked horror.
Doomsday … it had its head spun at a one eighty angle, the only indication of what happened being Superman's still fist upon the creature's cheek.
And his fist was there … because Doomsday's boney, shrapnel covered hand … was in his chest. "No, no, no, no!" Cathleen shouted repeatedly, anxiety overtaking. This can't be real, this can't be real THIS CAN'T BE REAL!
"CLARK!" The anguish voice of a woman shouted, black hair, looked like a reporter. "Clark, Smallville... get up, get up please!"
Cathleen pulled him off, grabbing his body. "Superman will heal from this injury!" There was nothing. Her eyes widened. "Clark Kent will heal from this injury!" There was nothing. The agonizing pit of her stomach was getting wider and deeper rapidly. "Kal-El will heal from this injury!"
"Why isn't it working…?" The woman, who Cathleen recognized as Lois Lane, was crying heavily, her eyes red. "Why isn't he getting better?!" She yelled.
"I don't know! Smallville will heal from this injury! Superman will-!"
"Cathleen …" Batman placed a hand on her shoulder. She froze. Not only was he calling her real name in front of a civilian…His voice was soft…and sorrowful. "It's too late."
This is real.
"No …" Lois fell to the ground. "No … Not him … anyone but him …" she hugged the unconscious… the dead body. Her lips quivered as she held his head very delicately. "You promised to always come back to me…. You promised… you promised you jerk, you promised!" Superman, Clark Kent, Kal-El, didn't answer, and never will as he was unresponsive to the tears splashing on his face.
"He's gone …" Cathleen cried. "Superman … Clark …" Why … why … "WHY!?" With her teeth gnashing in grief fueled by fury, she hit the corpse of the monster. "What was the point of you!? You don't have a name! You don't have a motive! You don't have ANYTHING but screaming rage! Why you!? Why did you take him from us!? WHY DID YOU TAKE HIM FROM EVERYONE!?"
It didn't make sense... why would something exist… just to destroy aimlessly... to take away the world's brightest light .. why… why… why?!
Toshi sat in silence with great mourning, heroes in entirely black clothing walking one by one as they gave their respects to the fallen hero … to the best of them.
He never understood his title. 'Symbol of Peace'? That fit Clark. That fit Superman more than anyone else. The strength, the wisdom, the heart. He would call his actions nothing more than simple community service …
Why did the world call All Might a symbol when he could never achieve even a tenth of what Clark was able to achieve? Clark was never corrupted by the darkness … Toshi was ... for so long, revenge drove him, motivated him … but Clark never used tragedy as a source. He helped… simply because he wanted to help.
"He's… he's really gone…" Diana spoke quietly, her tears continuing to fall on her lap as the two of them sat in their seats, waiting for the ceremony to start.
"… He is …" Passed from this world … "I always thought that if radiation wasn't involved, he wouldn't lose. He was just … strength incarnate …" He even stood up to the might of All For One … "I suppose that was naivety on my part."
"When I first came into man's world, I saw him as a champion sent from the gods." Diana chuckled weakly. "In my naivety, I strove to be his equal just to get his attention…"
"You definitely made the internet happy for five or so years." Toshi couldn't help but snorted.
"Yes… he never reciprocated… but he came to be a bond of friendship that could never be broken." She wiped her eyes.
"… A strong friendship indeed …" He made a shaky sigh. "… I was so blissfully ignorant … I forgot that people could be lost on the job …" Like his master … "What will happen to the league?"
She exhaled. "Superman has… had the idea for a while to expand our ranks to cover more ground internationally… Batman has elected himself to oversee the development of a second Watchtower."
"... I'd vote for it …" It would be nice to have others that could cover his workload … his body's been slowing down ever since the fight …
"You know … it would be nice to have you around the tower again." She looked at him softly. "Clark did miss your sense of humor the most."
"Come on now, Batman has more than enough to cover for me." They let that sit in for a minute, before they broke out into chuckles.
"Ah, I needed that …" She sighed. "… It's time. You wanna give out some words?"
"... What would I even say?" He sighed.
"...Just how you feel." Diana patted him on the shoulder.
Personally he felt like a failure, but he stood up and walked forward anyway. All the way to the stand. He stood before the crowd … the crowd of allies and companions … "A man." He started. "That's what he was." The best way to honor his friend ... just speaking the truth.
"Not an alien, not a champion … a man … the good in all of us … he saw the potential and everyone always strove to bring it out …" He chuckled. "Unlike many heroes who've made a big splash on their debut, Superman didn't. Call it cliche all you want... but the first act of heroism he performed was saving a cat from a tree." He smiled.
"He believed that just one simple act of goodwill could make a difference, that all it took for the world to be a better place was to lend a hand." Just one … "So I'm going to keep lending it, and hoping that everyone else can do the same." No more vengeance, All For One was gone … now was the time for peace. "We're going to make a world where anyone can get the help they need."
He took a deep breath. "For those that aspire to be heroes… I have just this to say to you. Chase it, go beyond your limits, and seize the future you want to make." The future that would shine bright … even if its greatest light was gone.