Manga World: Extracting Superman's Power

Inside the Kryptonian ship…

Clark was chatting with Azuma Shoyo about plans for the future.

"I'm thinking of heading into space someday to find other Kryptonians. What about you, Azuma? Wanna come along?" Clark asked, looking at him.

"Nah, I'll pass. The universe is vast—finding a living planet is tough enough, let alone a few people," Azuma replied. "But if you're set on going, you should brace yourself. It could take years—decades, even."

"Decades might be a blip on a cosmic scale, but for human civilization, by the time you get back, everything could've changed beyond recognition."

Clark nodded solemnly at that.

"I know. That's why I plan to wait until after my mom passes. By then, I won't have any ties left here. A few decades won't matter," he said.

"As long as you've thought it through," Azuma said with a nod.

But deep down, he knew Clark wasn't going anywhere.

The big events coming up would all happen on Earth. Even if Clark could leave it all behind, what about the people around him?

Clark said he'd go after his mom was gone.

But he had no idea that soon, another woman—someone incredibly important to him—would enter his life.

As for Clark's taste in women, Azuma wasn't sure what to say.

Lois Lane—pretty?

Eh, she was okay.

But her skin quality? At 30, for a Western woman, it was rough—dark spots, blackheads, and pores you couldn't unsee. Not great.

Normal people might not notice.

Most folks these days had iffy eyesight anyway.

Distance breeds beauty, right? Blurry vision's just another kind of distance.

But for him and Clark, with eyesight sharp enough to see the world in 16K ultra-HD even without microscopic vision, it was a different story.

When Azuma first saw Lois yesterday, he'd clocked the dullness, the blackheads, the giant pores—all of it.

Still…

Clark might not care as much as Azuma did.

Azuma had spent the last decade-plus in an anime multiverse.

Everyone knows those worlds come with a built-in beauty filter.

Everyone around him—including himself—had flawless skin. No dullness, no blackheads.

Get up close, and you'd barely spot a pore.

For someone who'd lived in that kind of world for years, asking Azuma to gush about unfiltered women being drop-dead gorgeous?

He couldn't do it.

No lying here!

Clark, though, probably didn't prioritize looks.

His thing with Lois Lane was more about soul-deep connection.

Otherwise…

Even in this world, there were plenty of women prettier than Lois. Clark would fly around the globe daily later on, yet he never strayed.

They say beauty's in the eye of the beholder.

Turns out, there's science to that.

After chatting about the future, Azuma suggested they step outside for a spar.

Having just gained Superman's powers, he was itching to test them against a worthy opponent—see how it felt.

Sure, Zod would show up on Earth soon enough.

But Azuma didn't want to wait.

He wanted a fight now!

And Clark—his strength nearly identical—was the perfect match.

"A spar?"

Clark mulled it over, a spark of excitement in his eyes.

Azuma had only had these powers for a couple of days.

Clark? He'd had them for decades!

His adoptive dad had drilled into him from childhood to control his strength, to never show off his differences.

So…

Clark had always held back.

It was only recently that he'd learned to fly with his bio-force field.

He'd been so repressed, he'd never even tried before.

Truth was…

He could've flown ages ago—he just didn't know it.

"Sure, now?" Clark asked, clearly pumped—maybe even more than Azuma.

"Yeah, let's do it," Azuma said with a grin.

They left the ship, shot into the sky, and headed off.

…

Western USA…

A sprawling desert stretched endlessly below.

Two figures dropped from the sky almost simultaneously.

"Here's good," Azuma said.

He'd tested his powers in the West yesterday—just not this exact spot.

"Alright, here I come!"

Clark clenched his fists. With a boom, he charged at blinding speed.

The hundred-meter gap between them? For these two, it was less than 0.001 seconds.

Clark's fist swung hard at Azuma.

Knowing their strength and durability were near equal, he didn't hold back.

Boom!

The ground caved in, a shockwave kicking up dust in waves.

Azuma caught Clark's fist with one hand. The terrifying force didn't faze him, but the surrounding earth took a beating—like a meteor had hit.

Bang!

Azuma threw a punch back. Clark blocked it with his hand.

Then they took it to the sky, moving at breakneck speed. To a normal person, they'd be invisible—just streaks of light clashing over and over, each collision roaring like thunder.

Seconds later—

Boom—

A figure shot backward, crashing through a mountain thousands of meters away.

Tons of rock—dozens, hundreds—tumbled down, dust billowing into the sky!

"Pfft!"

Clark burst out of the rubble, spitting out a pebble that'd gotten in his mouth. He scanned around, then spun, grabbing a fist sneaking up from behind.

"Gotcha!" he said with a laugh.

But then two red beams blasted his face, sending him rocketing back over ten kilometers, plowing hundreds of meters into the ground before stopping.

Azuma hovered in the air, the scarlet glow fading from his eyes.

He looked down at the deep crater below.

Suddenly—

Boom—

A towering red beam erupted from the pit.

Azuma dodged in a flash. Clark appeared in front of him a split second later, landing a brutal punch to his left cheek.

Boom!!!

Azuma crashed into the earth, skidding hundreds of meters across the ground before halting.

Kneeling on one knee, he looked up at Clark in the sky, grinned, and vanished with a bang.