Diaspared: I understand your concern about Clark being too powerful, but in most scenarios he's overpowered even in the DC Universe. It's kind of the fun of his character in that with writing, a lot of the conflict is not as straightforward as "good guy fights bad guy."

Shadow Joestar: Batman and Clark do have an interesting friendship to say the least. As for Diana and Izuku shipping, I can kind of see it but my focus is on the story first and foremost. If shipping happens I want it to feel natural and like it has its place within the story rather than just personal fantasy within headcanon or whatever else.

With reviews out of the way, let's get right into the investigation!

Batman

It didn't take long for Tsuragamae, Eraserhead, Clark Kent and Batman to arrive and climb the four flights of stairs towards the apartment. The yellow tape started at the door frame and the mailbox which was full compared to the rest of the apartments, not uncommon when no one is alive to pick it up. As the four of them reached the door, the smell of rotting flesh filled the air. To his right, Clark visibly covered his mouth and nose in a vain attempt to mask the stench. The teacher and the chief stepped aside and let Batman enter first.

"The reason why I asked you to come in is because the package on the table has your name on it." He turned to the chief, who simply waved to the crime scene, "Besides, I heard you did some detective work in Gotham, so I want you to go through the crime scene out loud. We can see where our stories line up and find the best conclusion."

Batman turned back to the scene, taking in everything. The first thing he noticed in the room was the box in the center which sat on a coffee table. It was simply cardboard with a piece of paper taped to the top with English characters that read:

To: Batman

From: _

Then, he noticed the body of Snipes which laid just past the table on his stomach. The rest of the room was a mess in general with objects which were shattered or in general just scattered around. The walls were also spray painted in red and green with smiley faces and 'HA' written in various, seemingly random locations.

Batman marched past the box to the body, which only had a few ligaments raised slightly from the ground. His right hand was reaching for the back door to the porch which was slightly open. Most disturbingly, however, was that his face was nearly unrecognizable as his face was distorted into a forced smile and his skin was almost white. "Snipe's body is experiencing rigor mortis, the first state of decomposition. This means that the time of death could be around one to three days ago. However, he was present at U.A. two days ago." Bruce brought up his gauntlet, which Alfred was currently sending any news surrounding hero work Snipe was involved in to the display. "With the addition of his hero outfit and without any hero work to speak of after that workday, it's safe to say Snipe died when he came home immediately after his shift at the Academy."

Batman examined the items that were scavenged from Snipe's person before turning to the chief, "Did anyone complain about noise?"

The chief shook his head. "No, nothing was reported until he was found."

"Who found the body?"

"One of the neighbors, but they didn't see anything apart from what we're seeing here."

"It's safe to assume there was no struggle then."

The chief crossed his arms, beckoning towards the room, "How do you figure that with the mess?"

Batman pointed to the door of the apartment to a door knob and frame which was intact, "There are no signs of a break in, there were no reports of even a noise complaint, and I don't see any bullet holes in the walls or furniture. Nor are there any casings or potential weapons around Snipe."

"Do you think whatever killed him was a poison? It would explain the facial disfigurement and skin pigment."

Batman turned back to the body, "I can't determine that without a full-on autopsy. But it's most likely related."

"It was a gas." Clark added, causing Bruce and the others to turn to him, "I can still see remnants of the chemical in the air, though it's not concentrated enough to really do anything anymore."

"Your quirk is?"

Clark turned to him, "The best way to describe it is that my body is enhanced to an extreme. That extends to my senses."

Tsuragamae shook his head, "I'd need to run a few tests before I can believe that you can see singular particles in the air."

"Regardless of if you believe him based off that, everything else points to that deduction." Batman responded, directing everyone to the Snipe's right hand, "He was reaching for the back door, the closest access to clean air." He then directed to the vents around the apartment which were covered by plastic lids, "The ventilation connecting the apartments were also covered, which would explain why no one else was affected by any gas. The door was also slightly ajar, allowing the gas to escape before anyone found the body and died from it themselves."

Tsuragamae scratched the top of his head, looking down towards Snipe's mask, "Snipe's mask has a filter on it. Shouldn't that mean he would have been able to survive a gas hitting him?"

Bruce picked up the mask, taking apart the mouthpiece and finding an almost fresh filter in it. "Maybe if it were one of the newer prototypes being tested by the military. His gas mask is closer to conventional mediums; the filters most masks use only protect against some chemicals, his was designed to filter out his own grenades. If he didn't expect to come into contact with this gas, or if it's something we've never seen before, he couldn't have been completely protected against it."

The teacher perked his head up, "You think it might be Scarecrow's fear toxin? Here in Japan, it's completely unheard of."

Batman shook his head, "Dr. Crane's toxin was purely neurological. It can be lethal, but it wouldn't cause these kinds of contortions."

Eraserhead crossed his arms and closed his eyes, "Regardless of how he died, it's clear from the package that Snipe's death was merely a beacon to get your attention. How likely is it that is still is an old rival from Gotham?"

"I don't want to jump to any conclusions, Eraserhead." He turned back to the teacher, "It isn't as if I'm an unknown in Japan. It's possible that it's just a criminal trying to make a name for themselves."

The dog man groaned with a few taps to his own shoulder, "What are you two talking about?"

Bruce stood from the body, marching towards the box, "I made plenty of enemies back home and there are still two crime bosses running rampant in Gotham taking control of the lost Falcone territory. Falcone being the original crime lord of Gotham, if you recall." Batman ducked down closer to the box, "The only person I can think of who is sadistic enough to do something like this is Oswald Cobblepot, but this doesn't fit his M.O. He's a businessman first and foremost. Drawing my attention like this isn't good for his business, especially with his newly built Iceberg Lounge. As for Scarecrow, his name is Jonathan Crane who was a doctor that worked at an old insane asylum called Arkham. He produced a neurological weapon which when ingested causes the victim to perceive everything through a lens of fear; he even used it on me, though it was a small dose so I was able overcome it when I impacted a car."

"You were hit by a car!?" Clark audibly recoiled.

The detective turned to him, "It was parked." He turned back to the package, "Though, I did fall from the eighth story." Bruce proceeded to open the box, finding the lid on the side facing the couch and examining it for any triggers, "Either Cobblepot or Roman Sionis, the second crime boss, could have hired a hitman. But any hitman would come after me directly to claim their reward as soon as possible. As for Scarecrow, he seemed to fall of the face of the Earth since Carmine Falcone died. It could be his way of trying to ward me from getting involved." Finding no trigger to speak of, the detective used the blades on his gauntlet to carefully release the lid before sliding it open.

By now, the police chief, the teacher and the other student were on either side of him, peering into the box with the ex-vigilante. Along with the flies that were released, a stench swarmed the room. Inside the box was a sleeved arm laying dormant on a stand. Even with large sections of the skin having been consumed by the bugs, Batman recognized the arm immediately.

"This was where it went."

Clark, who was now looking a few shades paler, frowned towards Bruce, "You were looking for a severed arm."

"GCPD was. This is the missing arm of Salvatore Maroni, a third crime boss that was found tortured and dead on the doorsteps of the police department a little more than a week ago." Batman turned to Eraserhead, "Looks like your suspicion was right after all."

"Too bad they didn't leave a return address." Clark remarked, "That would have made it really easy to see who sent this mail."

Mail? Bruce marched towards the door, grabbing the mail and setting it beside the box and sifting through the seven envelopes. There were only two envelopes with a sender to them, the other five were entirely blank! Bruce tore open each of the five envelopes, which were all numbered one through five. Once they were all in order, they read in large letters written with red wax: HAAAH AHHAA HAAAA HAHHA AHAHA.

The Kansas boy crossed his arms, "They're laughing at us."

Eraserhead crossed his own arms, "Looks more like a code to me."

"A Bacon's cipher to be exact." Bruce placed his hand on his chin, "The letters of paper are representative of letters of a word. The 'H's' and the 'A's' are usually represented by 'A's' and 'B's.'"

The police chief pressed his fingers against his temples before turning to Aizawa, "Any idea what word that makes, Eraserhead?"

The hero shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not too familiar with Bacon's cipher. There are only a few letters I can make remember with the different combinations the codes can substitute. Even then, it doesn't seem to be any more than gibberish."

"That's because it's been compounded with a Caesar cipher as well, which is commonplace with most encryptions like this." Batman replied, pulling out a pen from a pouch and writing down letters as he talked, "It's more likely the 'A's' within the second encryption are a substitute for the 'B's.' With that knowledge, we have the Caesar cipher's encryption: o-t-p-j-w." As he finished the explanation, the letters were written down below the initial code. "If we were to decrypt this message with brute force, we only have one possible answer, and the key is an alphabetical shift of minus five."

Eraserhead frowned, "Joker?"

Clark placed his hands in his pockets before cocking his head to the side, "Is that someone you recognize from Gotham?"

Bruce shook his head, bringing his gauntlet back up and tapping the holographic display. He searched the menus and searched for anything regarding the surname. He got his answer.

"There isn't anything about a 'Joker' villain in the national criminal database nor anything in GCPD's personal database." He tapped through a few more menus before continuing, "The few Japan databases I have access to have nothing on this either."

"Hold on a minute!" Tsuragamae stepped forward, an eyebrow raised towards the Gothamite, "You can view our servers? Since when?"

"I infiltrated it when I was finished with the Recommendations Evaluations, though I was under the impression I wouldn't need to use them." Bruce smirked at the officer, "Looks like I was wrong."

Bruce turned to the body on the floor, pulling his injector out of his pocket, "I'll need to have a sample of Snipe's blood in order to-."

He was stopped by a cloth tendril wrapping around his bicep. The student turned to the teacher who shook his head, "That's where you stop, Batman. We'll take it from here."

Bruce pulled away from the teacher with a frown, "I'm already involved, Eraserhead! We don't have time to talk about this. We need to figure out what was used on him and find the source."

"You did a good job thus far, but you were only called in because the package pertained to you. The rest will be handled by the police and an investigative hero agency." He glanced at Clark before continuing, "You and Kent are dismissed, Lane. End of discussion!"

Clark Kent

Lane clicked the roof of his mouth with his tongue before reluctantly storming towards the entrance of the apartment. The Kryptonian smiled towards the teacher and laughed nervously. "I'll, uh, make sure he takes off his hero clothes and doesn't try anything stupid."

The teacher looked back at the scene and nodded, "Please."

The American took off towards the door, meeting back up with Batman, who was currently walking up the stairs presumably toward the roof. Out of everything, Clark was just glad to be out of the room. In combination with his sight and hearing being bombarded, as well as generally being stung by the classmate's tasers, the smell of the apartment made him think the universe was out to get his five senses today. He made a vow then and there that his taste buds were not going to be tested today! Even still, he hadn't seen a crime scene like that before other than on TV. He didn't realize just how ominous it truly was to be standing in the same room as a dead body.

He looked to Lane, who looked less angry now at least. Which isn't to say he didn't look angry, but it wasn't anything more than how he usually carried himself. Clark was sure that he was going to put up more of a fight in the apartment like he did in the classroom with his hero outfit.

As they reached the door of the apartment roof, Lane pulled out a tool from his belt and slid it through the lock of it.

"You know, I could have picked you up and flown us both back to the school from the fourth floor. We don't have to go to the roof." Clark reminded.

Michael unlocked the door before swinging it open and moving through, "I'm not going back to the school yet."

Clark flew in front of the Gothamite, gesturing his arms in an 'X.' "Stop right there! I get that you feel responsible for this, but Aizawa told us not to involve ourselves." Clark placed his hands on his hips, "Do you even know what you're looking for?"

"There are only so many toxins that can leave the victim with risus sardonicus."

The Kansas boy couldn't help but give him a deadpan expression, "What is that in English?"

"His facial muscles were contorted into an uncontrollable smile, like a muscle spasm. This means there is potential to be a form of a tetanus toxin." The boy answered as he brought his gauntlet up to his chest and began tapping on the hologram projected from it.

"That was only part of the symptoms, though. You said it yourself, there is a chance it's a compound we've never seen before. We don't know what it's capable of if it is new, it might just look similar." Clark shook his head, "It doesn't matter what it was, you still aren't going to investigate anything! Or are you going to be a liar, too?"

"A liar?"

"You and I still need to talk."

"I never said I would talk with you after." He finally looked up at Clark, "You just assumed that if you came with me we would."

After thinking back on it, Clark had to admit defeat. He did assume.

"Still, I promised Aizawa I would stop you from going further." Clark moved forward, reaching to grab Batman around the upper abdomen, "So you and I are going to-."

"AGH!" Michael let out a yell through gritted teeth before Clark let him go.

The caped teenager fell to the ground, holding his side. The same side the Kryptonian struck him on when he punched him through the wall in combat training. Clark peered through his skin and muscle layers, looking through until he caught sight of a rib on his right side. It was bent inwards, poking at Lane's lung just far enough for it to be painful if pressure was applied. Clark searched the rest of his body for any other sign of injury. There was no other injury.

Clark bent down, frowning at the Gothamite. "Your rib is broken. Why didn't you go see Recovery Girl after our fight?"

"Who said you could use your x-ray vision on me?" Batman responded, landing both feet on the ground and pushing himself on his feet, "I'm fine. It's not the first time I've broken a rib."

"We're going back to the academy to see Recovery Girl."

"You don't get to make that decision for me."

"I'm trying to look out for you!"

"I never asked you to look out for me!"

"I know you never asked me to!"

"Then why the hell are you trying?"

"BECAUSE," Clark grabbed Michael by the shoulders, looking at him in the eyes, "Every time I look in your eyes, I can see how much pain you've been through."

There was a pause before Michael looked away. "You don't know anything about me."

"Because you won't let me know. I don't know what kind of life you've had before U.A., and I won't pry into more than what you want me to know. But at the very least, I want to be able to be your friend." Clark grabbed Batman's left arm, pulling him over his back. "So, I'm going to look out for you, even if you don't want me to. That starts with getting you to the school and hoping Recovery Girl hasn't left yet."

With that, Clark lifted himself into the air and headed swiftly towards the school. A bat on his back and the setting Sun behind them.

Luckily, Recovery Girl was just finishing packing up her things at the nurse's office when they arrived. After removing Lane's armor and undersuit top and Clark helping push the rib into position with his x-ray vision, the older woman gave him a kiss on the side and his wound was healed. She scolded Lane first, warning him that the next time he waited too long to be healed from an injury like that he might suffer more damage from internal bleeding. Then she scolded Kent for being too rough with his punches and for not checking on Lane right after the fight for injuries. Once she was done scolding them, she announced she was done for the day and ordered Michael to change out of costume once he felt he had enough energy to as she handed him some medicine in the form of gummies.

"You're lucky I had these out already, sonny. Your classmate, Midoriya, was just in here so I could make sure he was healed entirely." She shook her head as she placed the bottle of gummies in the cabinet. She closed the door to the cabinet, "Luckily, your injury wasn't too bad in of itself. You won't need another visit."

She marched out of the room promptly after, leaving the boys in the room. After a few seconds of listening to her footsteps, Clark could hear she had started descending the stairs from the floor they were on. Clark turned to Michael, who placed the gummies on the bed and stood up, marching towards the door to the hall.

"Hey, should you really be standing so quick after she healed you?" The Kansas boy pointed to the candy-like medicine. He knew from Midoriya's account they helped whoever ate them regain their energy at a faster rate. Since Recovery Girl's quirk only made the body repair itself faster, the downside being they expelled the same amount of energy to heal it, "Especially without eating those, I can't imagine you have enough energy to move around like that."

"I'm fine, Clark." He stopped as the door was opened all the way, turning towards him, "For real this time. Wait here, we can talk on our way out."

Clark smiled with a nod, "I'll be here, Bats."

There was a small groan from the Gothamite before he left. With Clark in the room by himself, he took a deep breath and stood from the chair he was sitting in beside the bed Michael just marched away from. He waltzed towards the window, which oversaw the front entrance of the school.

The setting sun colored the world around him orange and cast shadows in the direction he faced. He opened the window, leaning inside the frame and setting his head just outside. He took a deep breath of the air so he could let his smile fade. Down below, he could see All Might, Midoriya and Bakugo just at the gate with the Symbol of Peace behind Bakugo with his hand on his shoulder. Clark didn't even catch the back end of their conversation, but he wasn't interested in listening in anyways.

His mind was on other things. I wasn't aware of just how many enemies Batman made in the short amount of time he was in Gotham. To anger multiple crime bosses at the same time and have someone like Scarecrow and 'Joker' target you at the same time as registering for a school might just be the dumbest thing you can do! Clark sighed before shaking his head, No, that's not it, is it? That is the reality of being a hero, always being a target of those who want to hurt others for their own goals.

The Kryptonian looked down at All Might, who was talking with Midoriya in his yellow suit with a smile on his face. "'The Symbol of Peace,' that's the biggest target around. How do you do it, All Might? How do you face the world with a smile without a care in the world? You're not indestructible like me, you're just human."

Clark turned away to the hallway where Michael was standing in his school uniform again. He cocked his head to the side, beckoning Clark to follow him. The Kansas boy held up his index finger towards the blonde before turning to Midoriya from the window and cupping his hands around his mouth.

"MIDORIYA!" The Japanese boy jumped, turning around and scanning the building before landing his eyes on Clark. They both waved to each other, "WAIT AT THE GATE, LANE AND I ARE COMING DOWN!"

Clark shut the window, turning and jogging to Lane before walking out and towards the stairs. At first it was somewhat awkward for Clark. He wondered if the blonde detective could tell if he was nervous.

"You were the one that wanted to talk."

He can tell. Clark laughed a little, scratching the back of his head, "This is the first time I've talked about this with someone else. I honestly never thought about what I would say if anyone found out about it."

"I haven't found out anything, yet." He replied as they reached the stairs, beginning their way down, "All I know is that you aren't like any of us. I don't know if that means gene splicing, magic or something else."

Clark stopped, turning to Lane with a chuckle. The blonde turned back just as he met the first landing. The alien waved his hands, "Magic? You really think magic exists?"

"It wouldn't be crazy to consider." The Gothamite answered before Clark continued walking, "You know a magic user already."

"You mean Diana." The taller American acknowledged, "She does like to say she knows magic. There's actually a phrase for people like that here."

"I didn't expect you to say something like that about your friend."

Clark slowed down a little bit and raised his hands in defense, "I didn't mean it like that, but when I was flying to the arena earlier I overheard her saying her bracelets are unbreakable. That isn't healthy in general, but for a hero-."

"I would agree with that if it wasn't for the fact she's telling the truth."

"I assume you have some undeniable evidence why that's true or something for it, right?"

"You know Diana well enough to know she isn't the kind of person to do that." He turned back a second time as they reached the ground floor, "Besides, her story has been straight the entire time with none of the telltale signs of a lie when she says it, not even subtly. It's solid conviction."

"It's hard to believe that enough for you of all people."

"It's hard to believe you find that ridiculous considering what you are."

Clark laughed, shaking his head as he took the lead, "I'm not falling for that again."

"Had to try." They were walking side-by-side now towards the lockers to switch out their shoes, "Still, are you in any position to deny her claims on the basis that they seem ridiculous?"

The Kansas native shook his head as he turned to his locker, Michael doing the same. "No, I guess that would be hypocritical of me."

"I'll keep this between us, since you want to keep it hidden." Clark heard the locker behind him close, which cause him to jump and look back. The detective was just inches away from his face, "I return, do the same for my secrets."

"What are you-?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Smallville. I was watching your eyes before, you used your x-ray vision from head to toe."

Clark paused to take a deep breath. He nodded, "I'll keep them a secret."

"Say it all. I don't want anydiscrepancies between what you're promising and what I think you're promising!" The boy glared at Clark in a way that was almost scarier than when he had the cowl.

Clark stood tall, matching Michael's level of ground he stood, "I promise to never tell anyone you're quirkless."

"And."

"I won't tell anyone you're Bruce Wayne."

There was another pause without anything being said. Only the Gothamite glaring at the Kryptonian. But, he did slowly back away. He turned towards the entrance of the school, throwing his bag over his shoulder and closing his eyes with a nod. Clark finished with his shoes and the two began walking towards the gate again.

Izuku waved to Clark and Bruce, jogging forward with a smile. "Kent! Lane!"

"Hey, Midoriya. I hope we didn't take too long getting down for you." The alien scratched the back of his head.

The native stopped in front of them before he shook his head, "N-no, you're both fine." He turned to the billionaire, his smile becoming timid. "D-does this mean t-that you're going t-to be joining us at the l-lunch table from now on?" He raised his hands and shook them in defense, "W-wait, maybe that was p-presumptuous of me! I'm sorry, t-that was kind of rude of me t-to-."

Bruce smiled and nodded to the shortest boy of the three, "Sure, Midoriya." Clark and Midoriya recoiled. Wayne turned to Kent, "If that's okay with you, Smallville."

Clark hesitated, but smiled back with a small laugh, "Now, why would I have a problem eating with a friend?"

"If all three of us are friends," Bruce began, turning to Midoriya again, "Let's find a good place to celebrate. My treat."

Midoriya stammered back, "Y-you want me t-to take the lead?"

Clark grinned, "Hey, you gotta show him that ice cream place you know, Midoriya! It's amazing!"

The shortest boy perked up, scratching the back of his head, "U-um, yeah, s-sure!" He slowly turned to the sidewalk outside the perimeter of the school, taking the nervous lead, "It's just a few b-blocks from here!"

Clark strolled beside his fellow American. With a smirk, he glanced back at him as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

Lex Luthor

Dressed in a suit and tie with his hands in his pockets, he watched as the pale and wrinkled boy who was only a year older than he was growled at the other man who managed to be an even lighter shade than him. Lex cursed himself for trusting that weasel, Cobblepot! Just two days in and the person the bird bastard recommended was already causing problems for his client. If it weren't for the fact the hero he killed had a troublesome quirk and was fairly high ranked for it, he would be advocating to have the clown killed himself. However, the wrinkled boy, Tomura Shigaraki brought this on himself.

"I don't see the problem here, leather-face!" Joker grinned wickedly, hopping on top of one of the tables and stealing the drink of one of the less remarkable crooks under Shigaraki's command. "You wanted me to prove myself as the right person to help lead your people to killing that square, All Night-,"

"All Might." The boy corrected with a growl.

"And I wanted to get my sweet fated one's attention! Heha!" He turned the glass bottom-side up, letting the alcohol fall through the air and land messily in his mouth. He quickly smashed the glass against the table, leaving a makeshift blade out of the shot glass in his black-gloved hand and rushed towards the boy. With the blade a mere inch from his throat, the alabaster man glared at him with his smile still present, "I'd say I killed two birds with one stone, but there's still time to make that three."

Lex clapped his hands together, getting the attention of both men, "I understand your frustration, Tomura. His killing of that pro hero brought a lot of heat."

"Which is why we should have killed him when he said he was quirkless like I said to! We don't need a fucking glass cannon class like him."

Luthor sighed in contempt, Why does he have to talk like this is some video game?

Deciphering the lingo, the bald man placed a hand on the bar counter, "Perhaps that's a strategy you may want to reconsider. Think about it a bit more carefully." He beckoned towards the Joker, who had an eyebrow raised towards Lex, "The clown is an absolute nobody, trust me. Since you had me go with him, I had the opportunity to see his handiwork and I can promise you there was no remote mention of the League of Villains at all. Just him."

"Get to the fucking point!"

"The heat is all on the unknown assailant they've reported naming themselves 'Joker.' This means they're focused on finding this single killer, not an organization." Lex checked his watch, thankfully he wasn't late to his meeting yet. One of the biggest bores of being the CEO of his own company was needing to attend marketing strategy meetings to ensure its effectiveness. "That means that if you do make a strike at the school again, like the original plan was, they'll assume it was the clown."

Tomura slowly turned back to Joker with a groan. The clown grinned back down at him and slamming the rest of the glass on the ground, "Heh! See, I did it all out of love! You would need it, too, considering who one of their students are."

"You're talking about the fucking Batman again?" Tomura stepped back, sliding onto a stool with disinterest, "He's nothing, a nobody. I'm not concerned with a cowardly player like him."

Luthor sighed, rubbing the top of his head, "You might actually want to heed that warning. Penguin told me a few stories about him. You remember Falcone, right?"

"Him and our organization's leader talked a little before we reached out to you." The gaseous bartender, Kurogiri, responded as he brought a broom and dustpan out from behind the bar. He began sweeping up the shattered glass. "He was killed shortly after incarceration."

"Before the Batman showed up, however, he had an iron grip over that city. He almost had majority control over Gotham's government." Lex turned to the flatscreen TV mounted to the wall which was set to the news and the end of the segment commemorating Snipe's life as a hero and a teacher. "One month was all it took to tear that down."

"That's why I have a proposition to make for you, see." Joker took over, wrapping one arm around the boy's neck. He outstretched his hand towards one of the spinning ceiling fans, staring at the light as he pointed, "Think about it, Tomura, buddy! All I want is to go face-to-face with Batsy. You want him out of your way so you can kill the walking muscle." He turned back to the Japanese man, pressing one finger on his chest and getting way beyond what Lex considered personal space. "Why, I'd say it's a match made in heaven."

"You don't have a quirk. What the fuck could you do against someone like that?"

Joker pulled out a large revolver which had a bullet chamber larger than the handle of the gun itself and oddly geometrically designed. He pointed to the TV where the segment for Cowboy Hero: Snipe, in which the same gun was visible in his hand as it was Joker's.

"I didn't need a quirk to kill him." He pulled the gun back, pointing it right at Tomura's heart with a grin that was widening to the point the scars on his cheeks began to spread apart, widening the smile further, "Want to see if I need one to kill you?"

There was electricity in the air as the silence filled the room. No one so much as swallowed their saliva. So, when he pulled the trigger and the hammer his the base of the gun, it was akin to a sudden alarm.

"Bang!" The clown rushed to his feet, laughing uncontrollably and swinging the gun around.

Shigaraki growled, placing his hand on a glass and activating his quirk, forcing the glass to decay into ash. All while glaring at Joker in contempt. He never said a word. The Gothamite jumped on top of a booth table and grabbing hold of the light over it to use to lean towards the League of Villains commander.

"Tomura, you really need to lighten up! Oh, I know," He tossed the pistol over to the counter. Upon crashing against the wood. A live round burst through the chamber, causing everyone in the bar to duck with the exception of the clown. Thankful to Lex and the rest of the patrons of the bar, the bullet stopped after it went through the TV on the wall. Everyone in the bar was alive. The clown pulled something small out of his back pocket and tossed it at Tomura, who caught it in one hand. "Maybe if you had some of that you would want to smile more!"

It was chapstick.

The villainous recruiter threw the medicine to the side and rushed towards the clown, reaching out with one hand! Joker jumped down from the table, pulling another revolver from the back of his pants and pointing it directly at Shigaraki's forehead. Lex Luthor placed his head in one of his hands, mentally preparing to make another trip to America.

Behind him, however, someone cleared their throat. When Lex looked up, both men were just three feet from each other, but Joker had turned his gun over to the entrance of the bar.

Upon inspection, Lex was surprised to see what looked like a teenage girl with a quirk that seemed to give her the resemblance of a Cheetah. She had a dark purple leotard on under a skirt which seemed to be made of leaves tied around a makeshift rope drawstring which laid on her hips.

"Who the fuck are you supposed to be?" The Japanese man snarled.

The girl smirked, tilting her head slightly upwards. "My name is Barbara Ann Minerva. I have been in search for a League of Villains when I heard the gun shot. Might you be able to direct me to the organization?"

Lex waved his hand with a bored expression, "You're looking at it."

She turned back to the two pale men. Joker spoke up, skipping towards the girl and putting his gun back in his pants, "Lexy, is that any way to talk to a lady?" When he was close, he bowed with his right hand on his heart and the other hand stretched behind him. "Hello, Miss Minerva, was it? It seems you are fortunate to have stumbled upon this humble organization."

Her smile faded, looking back at Tomura, then Kurogiri, then Lex, then back to Joker. "This was not the grand alliance I was brought to believe."

Shigaraki sat back down at his barstool, sneering at Minerva, "Then fucking leave. I don't have time to convince a fucking nobody to join my cause."

Lex sighed, turning back to her, "Excuse my business partner, Minerva. He's been a bit agitated after someone kept pushing his buttons." He jabbed towards Joker, who gestured by covering his mouth, 'speak no evil.' "This group is a lot more than meets the eye. I assume that because you've been searching for this group so haphazardly that you wish to join it."

She nodded, "You would be correct, Mr…"

"Call me Luthor." He replied, finally turning all the way towards her. He was eager to finally have a civilized conversation after not having one for the rest of this meeting with the League, so he wanted to enjoy it as much as possible. "If you don't mind me asking, why is it you're looking to join? Call it a gut feeling if you want, but I feel like there's something more to you than meets the eye."

She nodded, "There is a student at U.A. who has earned a title I believe is unbefitting of her, I wish to challenge her for the title and the reward that comes with it."

"Oh, you and I are a lot alike in that regard!" Joker jumped in, placing an elbow on the bar counter and resting his chin on his hand. "Pray tell, what's she like to attract the attention of someone like you."

"Diana of Themyscira, an Amazonian princess who earned Hestia's Lasso of Truth and shortly left to man's world. She sullies the name of an Amazonian and-."

Joker leaned towards Lex, who was thinking the same thing he said, "You guys think I'm crazy? She's nuts!"

An orange hand came down between them, claws pushing themselves into the wood of the bar. The two turned to her, catching her growling and barring her sharp rows of teeth. She pulled the wood apart, throwing the chunk at Joker with enough force to send him flying back towards Tomura. He eventually stopped at the feet of the other.

The commander laughed dryly as the clown stared up at him. Then Joker started laughing, too. Shigaraki stopped laughing.

"That was a wallop!" He proclaimed before returning to his cackling.

Lex ignored him, turning to Tomura, "She seems more reasonable than him at least. I don't see much of a reason to turn her down, especially if this Diana girl has potential to be an issue."

Shigaraki scowled towards Lex, "This Diana slut isn't an issue either, All Might is the only concern."

"In that case, we have some extra muscle. No harm, no foul."

There were a few seconds of hesitation. It was just enough time for Joker to start regaining his breath with the few sparse remaining chuckles. He looked up to Kurogiri, who nodded towards him. He turned back to her, standing proudly with her hands on her hips. He clicked the roof of his mouth with his tongue, turning away from her as she looked on at his with pride.

"Fine but stay away from All Might!" He reached for his own neck, scratching it profusely until it turned red. "My master and I will be the one to kill that fucker! No one else will be allowed to do it."

With a sigh of relief, Lex looked back at his watch and stood from the stool. He patted Minerva's head with a nod, "Good luck with your magic lasso, kid." He turned back to Joker and Tomura, the former of which was looking to wind up chattering teeth beneath the latter's stool. "Joker!" The clown jumped back, a grin crawling on his face as he stuffed the toy back in his jacket. "Play nice and do as you're told from now on, understood?"

"Aye, aye, Captain Luthor!"

With a migraine and the desire to further himself from the ticking time bombs, Lex marched up the stairs and towards his car so he could maintain his public figure.

This chapter was more in line with the length of how most chapters should usually be. I am really glad I decided to make this a separate chapter, however, rather than tacking it on top of the previous chapter as there was a lot of things I wanted to be sure was right. Mainly the investigation and the codes within that. Please let me know what you thought about the investigation as a whole, I really wanted to make it interesting and seem like it unfolded in a way that was understandable for those who didn't know what a Bacon's Cipher or Caesar Cipher really was. That being said, I also made sure the encryptions themselves were still correct just because it was kind of fun learning about them and making them lol.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and feel free to tell me what you all thought of the chapter! Hopefully I can try to keep the next chapters coming more consistently, too.