The group found an upscale restaurant and chatted while eating.
"You saved Jimmy? You're both superheroes? You knew Clark before?" Lois's "Clark" naturally referred to the man beside her. Her intelligence was sharp, and investigative journalism demanded strong analytical skills. Superman specifically mentioning Jimmy, combined with various clues, made the truth clear.
Lois knew Superman's real identity but hadn't realized her social circle included other superheroes—and a billionaire, no less. Her only remaining question was whether both women were heroes or just one.
Thea and Diana exchanged glances and both nodded. Lois was arguably the ordinary person closest to superheroes. Her father and boyfriend both knew Thea's true abilities. Telling her wouldn't be unacceptable.
"Oh..." Lois's eyes widened in realization. "So you really did save Jimmy?"
"Who's Jimmy?" Diana had no idea who they were talking about.
Seeing the restaurant was quiet with no one paying attention, Thea lightly tapped the table. A water-mirror projection formed, displaying Jimmy Olsen's image from that day.
Diana studied it and recognized him vaguely. "Oh, him. He's quite brave."
Thea silently rolled her eyes. More like reckless.
Seeing this demonstration, Lois became completely convinced. Curious, she poked her finger at the water image. Her fingertip came away clean—nothing there at all.
With everything out in the open, Superman breathed a quiet sigh of relief. "What exactly was the enemy you encountered on that island? Jimmy got quite a few photos. Was it aliens?"
Thea had explained this several times already and went through it again with practiced ease. Superman's expression shifted—sometimes frowning, sometimes pursing his lips. When he heard all enemies had been eliminated and the justice side had gained an ally in Heracles, he visibly relaxed.
The information didn't affect Superman much. Whether gods or evil beings, they were all roughly the same to him.
But for Lois, these revelations were worldview-shattering. Greek gods, world consciousness, Atlanteans—all of it contradicted her existing understanding. Learning that Diana was the daughter of Zeus, and that a famous mythological deity was currently recovering in Metropolis, left her speechless.
"Aquaman... Heracles..." Superman grew excited at these names. Unlike the Martian Manhunter who'd lived for centuries, by Kryptonian age standards, Superman was still young. His competitive nature was inevitable, though he knew suggesting a fight right now would be inappropriate. He forcibly restrained himself.
With initial introductions made, conversation flowed more easily. Thea primarily inquired about Superman's recent experiences.
Superman mentioned with some confusion that he'd recently been attacked by missiles from unknown forces. Thea feigned ignorance, though she knew the truth—Luthor was collecting Superman's genetic material to create clones.
Cloning someone like Superman, whose genes had reached perfect optimization, required astronomical amounts of prep work. Even with help from surrendered Kryptonians, Luthor's workload was massive and complex, costing him another handful of hair.
Current Earth technology could barely clone animals. Someone like Thea, who scoured space for scientific knowledge and literally hacked the universe, could only manage cloning ordinary humans. Luthor had set himself a hell-difficulty opening challenge. Thea didn't know what to say—except that he'd somehow actually succeeded, which was jaw-dropping.
As for the missiles attacking Superman, Poison Ivy had used plants to stealthily collect samples. After just a glance, Thea had identified Luthor as the culprit. He'd installed numerous nanobots on the warheads, combined with microscopically small kryptonite needles, using them to quietly collect Superman's cells.
Anyone capable of using miniaturized equipment and understanding kryptonite application had to be either Thea or Luthor. Since it wasn't her, the mastermind was obvious.
When Thea had seen the nanobots Ivy retrieved, she'd realized Luthor had mastered the atomic-level knowledge she'd revealed on the Kryptonian ship.
This man was truly remarkable. Though he hadn't understood much at the time, he'd memorized everything Thea said on that ship and figured it out himself back home. The nanobots he'd created proved his dedication.
The only good news was Luthor's personality—arrogant, proud, desperate for everyone's attention. This character trait meant he'd never research something like an Atom suit. He'd rather build a towering robot to pound Superman into the ground than become microscopic and invisible.
The Atom's philosophy and personality were too different from his. If there ever came a day when Luthor became invisible and unknown, he'd rather die.
The four chatted about everything. Time flew by. When they said their goodbyes, Diana hesitated briefly before speaking: "I want to spar with you!"
Diana's expression was unusually serious. Thea immediately realized this request had been bottled up inside her for a long time—she just hadn't found the right opportunity. Thea believed in Diana's abilities and didn't object, quietly waiting for Superman's response.
Lois also sensed the gravity of the moment. In her mind, Superman was synonymous with invincibility. Someone actually challenging him today left her excited.
The choice fell to Superman. Deep down, he wanted a proper fight. But Earth had too few opponents worthy of his full power. This comfortable environment had dulled the Kryptonian warrior instinct in his blood.
Tonight, first hearing about their battle with Heracles, then Diana's direct challenge, finally stirred the heat in his veins, overcoming all his reservations.
"Alright, I accept. But the battlefield..."
"Thea will figure something out," Diana said confidently.
Thea's mind raced through options. Space combat was most environmentally friendly. Both could survive in space, but Diana clearly wasn't suited for space battles. That option was eliminated.
Earth combat would let Superman continuously absorb yellow sun energy, equally unfair to Diana. Plus, satellite surveillance was annoying, and their destructive power was enormous. Thea suspected the two could knock the planet off its axis. For the sake of billions of people, Earth was ruled out.
That left alien worlds. But where? Ideally somewhere with neither yellow nor red suns.
"Um, can I watch? I've never seen him fight at full strength," Lois added another complication.
Superman's intense gaze turned to Thea, the meaning unmistakable.
Great. Now she had to find a planet where an ordinary human like Lois could survive too.