xxMontse13xx – I wouldn't be me if I didn't leave it on a cliffhanger
Rio Skyron – I concur which is why I'm drafting the story up now.
Trado – I won't spoil the story because we are only 3 chapters in, but be careful what you wish for.
Keybladelight – we get both answers and more question after this chapter.
Andresskorskiruiz – thanks for the support! I hope you enjoy this chapter.
When Itachi arrived on Rann he had absolutely no intentions of getting into fight or running for his or his teammates lives. And yet, like always, none of his intentions ever go as planned because Itachi was now in a fight with an alien force along with Superboy, Miss Martian, and Beastboy. Itachi just leapt off of a tree branch to create distance when he happened to notice that Conner was shot in the back by the foreign advisory. Not only that, but their companion Alanna was blasted from the sky by it as well. Thankfully, Superboy had recovered in enough time to catch her before she hit the ground hard. It was short lived as they were shot again by the assailant.
As it got ready to hit them with a third blast, Itachi jumped in between them with his Susanoo in its half ribcage state. The result was Itachi's Susanoo being disintegrated and the three of them being pushed back so far that they fell off of a cliff. Conner quickly grabbed a hold of both Alanna's hand and Itachi's foot while Itachi stuck a kunai into the ground to avoid falling. Itachi struggled to pull the three of them up as their enemy began charging at them again. Itachi was very aggravated, 'This was not how the mission was supposed to go.'
(Six Hours Earlier)
Crow and his Zeta Squad zeta-beamed to the planet of Rann. Of course, Beastboy was treating this less like a mission and more like a school fieldtrip, "Woah. I am totally walking on an alien planet! Wow, sis, you must say that every day on Earth."
She rubbed the top his head affectionately, "Actually, I kind of do say that."
"Wait. We can breathe the air here, right?" The young man asked. Crow thought that should've been his first question asked but let it go since he remembered that Beastboy was still just that, a boy. They all turned their heads when they heard a young looking alien girl calling for Adam Strange.
"Adam! Adam!" She then started speaking to him in her native tongue. Adam tried his best, but he still wasn't too well versed in their language. He quickly introduced them, "Uh Zeta Squad, these are my Rannian friends; Sardath and his daughter, Alanna."
They could tell from the way he said her name that Adam Strange was clearly smitten with the alien girl. Adam then introduced Beastboy, Miss Martian, Superboy, and Crow in the Rannian tongue. Of course, introductions were the extent of his knowledge of their language. M'gann had experience with breaking language barriers from all the way back from when she met Itachi's brother. It took but a few seconds for her to mentally link them so that Zeta Squad could fully understand the Rannians.
"I linked us mentally and I'm serving as a psychic translator. They speak Rannian and we speak English, but together each of us will hear the language that we individually understand." Miss Martian explained.
"Amazing." Sardath said.
"It will make communicating so much easier." Alanna said as she got closer to Adam. Sardath looked around suspiciously before suggesting that they go inside. He thought it best that they used caution since they were now harboring Earthlings. They went down to the indoor facility where Beastboy was immediately distracted by the alien animals.
"Sardath, have you learned anymore on why Earthlings are not welcomed on this corner of the galaxy?" Adam asked.
"The Rannian science command is xenophobic in general, which is why my research is into interplanetary zeta-beam travel is being conducted quietly." Sardath answered.
"And you haven't reported the theft of your technology, right?" Adam asked. Sardath confirmed that theory, "Exactly. If science command learned I had made it possible for aliens, and especially you Earthlings, to zeta-beam to Rann, the consequences would be dire for myself and my daughter."
That didn't satisfy Itachi at all, "But why are Earthlings hated so much? How do they know of any Earthlings to hate?"
Alanna showed them the wanted posters of the Justice League members, "I assume Adam showed you this. We are still unclear on the details. Science command is not inclined to share intelligence with its people, but we have learned that there was an incident on the planet Rimbor involving Earthling criminals known as the Justice League."
"I assume you are not associated with these outlaws." Sardath guessed. Crow stepped forward to answer his question while choosing his words carefully, "We are not members of the League."
The screen put the wanted posters of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Hawkwoman. He told them that those were the only members that were seen on Rimbor, but since then, the Kroloteans had posted planetary watch alerts on every criminal in the League.
"But the Kroloteans! They are the ones responsible for stealing your zeta-beam technology. They used it to secretly invade Earth, which is how they found out about the other Leaguers." Adam tried to explain.
"I know. I'm the one who told you that the last time you were here." Sardath said with an attitude.
"Oh, Kroloteans! I misunderstood you back then. I thought that was a Rannian word that meant thief." Adam explained.
Itachi had heard enough of the senseless banter, "Yes, we know that Krolotean culture revolves around stolen technology from other societies. The question is what can be done about it."
Alanna offered up the idea of her father's zeta-shield. Sardath showed a prototype picture of said shield, "If I can perfect the design, your primitive zeta-tubes would still function within the barrier of the Earthling atmosphere, but unauthorized travel to and from other worlds will become impossible. In short, my shield will prevent more Kroloteans from invading your world via zeta-beam and trapping any of them that are still entrenched there."
"And in the meantime, Adam tells us you have a Krolotean zeta-platform here on Rann." Miss Martian stated.
"Indeed, but the jungles of Rann can be dangerous. Your Earthlings will need a guide." Sardath answered. His daughter offered to guide them herself while Sardath completes his work on the zeta-shield, "The transportation out of the city of Rannagar are not without risks, Alanna. We must disguise these Earthlings."
"Look, enough with this 'Earthlings' thing. I am half Kryptonian and Miss Martian is…well a Martian. We are just as alien as you are." Superboy said after having enough of the snide remarks.
"You two came here from Earth, did you not?" Sardath retorted. Superboy saw his point and wanted to argue it, but he knew after that point there was no winning the argument. Crow put a hand on his shoulder to signaled for him to give up, "Alien or not, Earth is our home and the Kroloteans are a threat. That's all that matters. So let's go."
Outside of the city of Rannagar, Zeta Squad along with Alanna and Adam Strange were ready to move forward with their mission. They were all hooded, and Itachi even removed his Crow mask, to avoid being notice and the authorities alerted. They got on a train that was headed even further into the jungle.
"We should be fine now." Alanna signaled to them telepathically. Just as she told them that, some Rannian science patrolmen entered the cart and were already on the alert. Adam was the first to react, "I'll create a diversion to get them off the train."
Alanna was about to stop him but he didn't let her get the chance, "You are the jungle guide. I'll find a way to ditch these guys and circle back to your father's compound and help him finish the zeta-shield."
"Be careful." Alanna responded as she held his hands. Miss Martian, Superboy, and Beastboy felt awkward watching them and looked away, but Itachi didn't let it bother him at all. He only thought about his daughter and whether or not her mission was successful. He knew he had to cast those thoughts aside if he was going to complete his mission here. Adam soon started his diversion by acting like a madman on the train. After Strange left, the two patrolmen chased after him like how they had planned.
Alanna questioned them about Strange's choice of words, but Itachi quickly put them to rest. He instructed them to focus on the mission at hand. Alanna thought the Uchiha was scolding her but the others knew that Itachi was just being his normal self and smiled.
After some time had passed, Alanna informed them that they would arrive at their destination soon. The time in silence weighed on them as Itachi and Beastboy felt the awkwardness that tended to happen whenever Superboy and Miss Martian went on missions together after their breakup. Beastboy wanted to try to lighten the mood.
"Hey sis, remember that time you and Superboy visited me in Qurac? He had picked flowers that turned out to be poisonous." Beastboy started but M'gann wasn't in the mood for it.
"That was a long time ago, Gar." She said politely to try end the conversation. Alanna looked at Itachi with a raised brow as he simply stared ahead. Beastboy wasn't one to give up though, "Noted, but I'm sure you remember Superboy."
Itachi did not like the unnecessary tension this was creating and tried to end it, "If the conversation isn't about anything concerning our mission, shut it down. We need to focus, not reopen old wounds."
"Yeah, says the one who opened them in the first place. I'm only trying to fix what you broke in the first place." Beastboy responded bitterly. M'gann and Conner looked at Garfield in shock from what he said, with M'gann even scolding Garfiled for his inappropriate comment. Itachi merely ignored him for he knew where his content stemmed from. Superboy decided to put the focus back on the mission before this got even more personal, "How much farther are we, Alanna?"
"We're close enough now." She responded. Superboy then kicked the train door open to let her leave first as Zeta Squad followed suit. They all landed in an unoccupied space in the jungle safely. Alanna signaled for them to follow her as she used her tracker to locate the Krolotean base. As they followed the group put their disguises away and went back to their mission gear.
Beastboy caught sight of a strange alien flower and became amazed by it, "Woah, now that is some prime alien souvenir material!"
As the young changeling went to grab it, Alanna called for him to stop, but he was already too far ahead of them for her to reach. Luckily, Itachi used his Universal Pull technique to draw him back before Beastboy could make contact. It was a good thing Itachi did because it wasn't a flower that Beastboy was heading towards.
The Uchiha threw a spare shuriken into at the flower and watched it get sucked into the surrounding sand and be incinerated from fire that shot out of it. His weapons were specially made to take heat which is how he can use his fire jutsu with it so anything hot enough to burn his metal would be fatal to humans.
"That is a Blue Sandbog. It's very dangerous. Basically if it looks pretty, be safe and don't touch it." Alanna warned as Beastboy also felt the piercing stare coming from Itachi. Beastboy nodded nervously as this fun planet didn't seem as fun anymore.
The group arrived outside of the Krolotean base shortly afterwards. Alanna was astounded by how much bigger it was than she had first anticipated. It made Itachi wonder how something this big could be built without this plant's science command knowing about it. He felt it should be investigated further.
"Miss Martian, go in and scout the place out. Contact us when you get a rendezvous location for us." Crow ordered. She nodded before disappearing and flying over to scout the Krolotean base. As she flew inside, she got a good look at the layout and just how many Kroloteans were occupying the base. They all seemed to be hard at work on something so they didn't even think to look for intruders. She found an access point towards the roof of the base and opened it for her squad mates before letting them know, "I found your entrance."
They all either leapt or flew up to the roof and met Miss Martian at the entrance. Once she gave the all-clear for them to enter, they all dropped down and infiltrated the Krolotean base. They hid behind a pillar as Itachi scoped the terrain out with his Sharingan.
"There used to be six zeta-platforms here. Interesting." Crow noted.
"Used to be?" Alanna asked. Superboy agreed with what Crow said as he opened his bag to reveal explosive devices, "Yeah, because we're about to take them all down. These are small charge explosives. We don't want them to know we're the ones that did it so we have to use these. The devices have a three minute timer to allow us to escape. They'd recognized a giant fireball crashing down on them out of nowhere but with these, we'll be able to disable the zeta-platforms without causing a big mishap."
Miss Martian levitated the devices out of the bag and into her and Beastboy's hands, "Beastboy and I will set the charges to each platform. The rest of you just hang back and wait for us to return. Crow, make sure we aren't spotted."
Crow nodded before the green pair left to set each of the charges. The plan went off without a hitch as all of the devices were planted. Beastboy was about to suggest they leave when an alarm could be heard throughout the base. Itachi told them to wait where they were as he checked out what was going on.
An antenna rose from the ground and went straight through the roof access point they entered through. They were now locked inside without any subtle way to exit the base. And to make things worse, even more Kroloteans were zeta-beaming to the base. The new arrivals all looked pretty angry from how they were communicating with the Rann Kroloteans, and that was seen without them even knowing what they were saying to each other.
Itachi knew he had to think fast, "New plan. When the platforms blow, we'll use the chaos to charge towards the front door. I'll cover you all. No point in holding back now."
One of the explosive went off quicker than expected and took out the platform it was attached to. Not only that, but the other platforms went off as part of a chain reaction. Beastboy was still near the platforms and got caught in one of the explosions. Miss Martian checked to see if he was alright.
"Beastboy! Gar, are you alright?" She asked in a panicked state.
"Yeah, yeah I'm good. Let's go." He responded before transforming into an ape to make his way out. The others followed suit as Beastboy cleared the path. Once they made it to the door, Itachi secured their escape by blowing it open with his fireball jutsu. As they escaped, the angry Kroloteans decided to retaliate against them.
"Where did all of those Kroloteans come from?" Alanna asked.
"From Earth, I'd guess. Our teammates went on a mission to raid all of their Earth bases around the same time we left here. Them showing up must mean that the others were successful." Itachi answered.
"Can't you just translate their thoughts just to make sure?" Beastboy asked Miss Martian. She shook her head, "Their minds are too alien. It would take hours, maybe even days, to learn their language psychically. And I definitely couldn't do it without them noticing. It probably would be the same for Crow and his Sharingan. We don't know if they have a means of telepathically communicating too so we can't risk it."
"Noted." Beastboy responded, astounded at how much information his older teammates process in just a short amount of time. He knew that was from years of experience that they had from going on missions together.
Superboy stopped and focused his hearing on large footsteps that were coming from a distance and quickly approaching, "They're following us. Or at least something is. And whatever it is, it's big."
He used his x-ray vision to see a large mechanical spider coming after them that had one of the Kroloteans operating it. Itachi saw it too and ordered everyone to start running. Before he knew what had happened, Itachi was hanging off of a cliff with two people clinging to him. It was both a bad situation to find himself in and one that he figured shouldn't be too much of an issue getting out of.
'I wonder if Orphan had to fight something like this on earth.' He thought.
Itachi gave a nod to Superboy from his hanging spot and signaled for the Kryptonian to drop down below. Crow then placed a paper bomb on the ledge before following suit. The mecha-spider stepped on the paper bomb and was blown off of the cliff. It gave him, Superboy, and Alanna enough time to duck into a nearby cave and hid from the machine.
But as fate would have it, the explosion didn't put a dent into the mecha-spider. It was also even revealed that there was a second mecha-spider in pursuit of them. Alanna wondered why they weren't fighting them.
"Crow, you can easily dispatch of them. Why are we hiding?" she asked.
"The point of this mission was to get answers, not start another international incident. I need to confirm a hunch before I can make a strong move against them. It will help in clearing the name of the Justice League if I am right. Just relax for now. We'll move again when the coast is clear. During all of the action, I summoned a crow of mine to provide cover for us. It'll let me know when we can move again." Itachi answered.
"Superboy, Crow, Alanna, are you-" Miss Martian started.
"We're safe…for now. What of you and Beastboy?" Superboy responded. Miss Martian looked on from her hiding spot as the mecha-spiders went past her and Beastboy, "Yes, we lost them too."
"Now can we blow this popsicle-stand?" The changeling asked. Itachi shot that down quickly as he did with Alanna, "We stay put and wait. Missions aren't always about explosions and action. Sometimes, patience is key. Let the patrols past, then we regroup with Strange and Alanna's father to decide how to best handle this Krolotean base."
Conner had one more thing to add to that, "M'gann, please be careful."
"…you too Conner." She responded. Alanna thought that since they'd be here a while, she could get to the bottom of something that was on her mind since the train ride, "So, how long were you and she together?"
Both Conner and Itachi stiffened at that. It was a very sore point in their past, "All my life…"
"Do you want to talk about it? Both of you. I can tell that you had something to do with it, Itachi. Just watching how you reacted to my question to Conner gave that away." She added.
Itachi took his mask off to show his face as he and Conner gave each other knowing looks. Itachi simply looked down as Conner aggressively responded by saying now. Alanna thought that was because he was scared that M'gann would overhear them but Itachi explained how their link didn't work that way. She could translate with just a whim but she doesn't focus on what they say out loud.
"Well then talk. I live lightyears away so neither of you will ever see me again. It makes me the perfect confidant. Trust me, if I see the tension between you three, others have too." She said as she encouraged the dialogue.
"It's complicated and something I never wanted to do, especially to my friends…my family." Itachi said with shame in his voice.
"It's not your fault man. Stop putting this on your shoulders. It had nothing to do with you, I swear." Conner responded. Alanna thought he had no reason to be ashamed, "I have a crush on someone from an alien planet that I don't even understand. Who am I to judge?"
"I'm the reason Conner and M'gann broke up. Years ago, I went on a mission to find and rescue my daughter from an evil association. I had to leave the Team to avoid dragging them into a war I was going to wage against them. The League of Assassins are killers, and wouldn't hold back against murdering my friends. I told none of them where I was going, except for one person." Itachi started.
"M'gann, right?" Alanna asked. Itachi nodded, "Yes, I needed her to do the favor of a lifetime for me. I needed her to lie to everyone for me so they wouldn't look for me anymore and I needed her to help heal someone close to me who was…broken at the time. I didn't think my mission would take as long as it did. Questions started getting raised from what she told me about six months in and about half the Team started to think she was hiding something."
"I see and were you one of those people, Conner?" Alanna asked.
"No, I never doubted her word that she didn't know what happened to or where Itachi was. I never thought that she was capable of lying to all of our faces like that. I don't know how Itachi did." Conner said with frustration.
"Because she had been doing it even since you've known her when she was hiding her true form due to fear of rejection. I knew she was the only one who could keep up the lie. You all didn't deserve to worry about me or wonder if I was okay." Itachi answered.
"But we did, man, we did! It tore us apart at first! Made us feel like useless friends but then we started to heal. We started to feel like a family again after deciding that you would come back on your own. Then one day you blow two buildings in Gotham to hell and show up in the Cave with a daughter. That's not what hurt the most, what hurt the most was that M'gann knew all along and said nothing to any of us. Not even me. When Artemis accused her of lying, I was the first to defend her. She sat there and let us all worry for nothing because she didn't think we could handle the truth. When I saw the way you and her were looking at each other when you came back, it told me everything I needed to know." Conner revealed to Itachi for the first time.
"But you never told me you had doubts from back then. Why did you never bring it up before?" Itachi asked.
"Because it was your secret to keep and I had no right to it. You're like a brother to me, Itachi. More than Superman ever was. It was you who showed me the way." Conner revealed. Itachi didn't know how to respond. Conner just kept going after the silence, "I kept asking her though. It would be subtle and I'd make sure no one was around, but I would always ask her if she knew what you were doing this whole time. And every time I asked she would lie to my face. One day I just got so angry and outright accused her it was-"
"Right after Jason's funeral. That's why she was so upset. You and M'gann did get into a big argument after that." Itachi remembered.
"It had nothing to do with you leaving. All you did was expose a side of her I did not know was there or was ready to accept. Alanna, I'm a clone. I was grown in the spam of a few months to look like how I am now. Out of everyone, M'gann was the first to see that I could be more than the weapon I was created to be." Conner explained.
"It sounds complicated like how you said, but also sweet. How did this end you and M'gann's relationship?" Alanna asked.
"M'gann is a shape-shifter. To her, looks are nothing but clothing for the mind inside. For her it is easy to change how she looks, but I am the opposite. The processes used to create me had a side-effect; I don't visibly age at all. I'm not immortal…I age internally but I'll always look like this. So after I told her I knew she was lying to me this whole time and when I asked her why, the only answer I got was that she knew I couldn't handle the truth maturely, I knew that we were at an impasse." Conner revealed.
This was the first time Itachi heard any of this. He had no idea that Conner had his own inner battles that caused the rift in his and M'gann's relationship. It didn't help him feel better because Itachi still felt that he had a hand in accelerating this rift. Alanna tried to offer Conner a mulligan.
"A shape-shifter seems like the perfect partner for someone who doesn't age." She offered. Itachi agreed with her statement and so did Conner, but they all knew it went above matches anymore. Alanna told Conner that she was sure M'gann regretted breaking up with him and would reconcile eventually but Conner knew otherwise, "She didn't breakup with me. I broke up with her. She left me no choice. A relationship, especially one like how we had, is built on trust. It became clear that she did not trust me, so I couldn't trust her."
"I'm sorry." Itachi said to his friend. Conner shook his head at him, "Say sorry one more time and I'm going to hit you. This isn't your fault and I don't blame you. I trust you with my life and I know you only asked her to lie because you thought of our safety. She lied because thought I couldn't handle the truth. Anyways, it's too late now. She's with La'gaan and he may be a jerk, but he treats her right. It's all that matters now."
Itachi thought long and hard on his words before he looked at Conner again with a smile. Conner had just told him the truth about his breakup with M'gann so Itachi felt he owed Conner the truth as well, "Carson's pregnant. I found out last night."
Conner was shocked to hear this. Alanna didn't know who this Carson person was but she figured she must have been that broken close person Itachi mentioned earlier. Conner put a hand on Itachi's shoulder, "You're going to be a dad. Does…does M'gann know?"
"No, she doesn't. M'gann will find out when the time is right but I wanted to tell you first. When the baby is born, I want you to be the godfather." Itachi requested.
"W-Why me?" Conner asked. Itachi looked him in the eye before speaking, "Because other than Artemis, you understand me the most, Conner. When Joker took Jason away, and I was buried in pain and anguish, you kept fighting to shine the light back on me. You never gave up on me and always trusted me, so I'm returning the favor. I know that if something were to happen to me that our planet would be in good hands with you as its protector. So what do you say?"
"You can count on me, man." Conner said as they shook hands. Alanna watched the two and smiled to herself as she hoped she'd get a friendship that was close as theirs one day.
More mecha-spiders had been unleashed in searched of the heroes. Which led to them hiding even longer than expected to avoid being spotted. Beastboy was in the shape of an alien creature as he watched a patrol of three of them pass them by, "They're gone! I'd that this mission is accomplished. Up high, sis!"
Miss Martian decided to surprise Beastboy with a strong hug from behind, "Ow! What was that for?"
"Nothing. It's just family purgative." His sister figure happily responded. He shook his head at her, "How come I don't see Itachi do that with Cass then?"
"Because Itachi isn't as fun as I am." M'gann said as Garfield snuggled his way out of her hug. He then started to swing on branches without a care in the world, "Race you to the Mag-Rail!"
"Slow down before some carnivorous tree tries to take a bite out of you!" Miss Martian warned of the young hero.
"Don't worry! You can just give me another blood transfusion. I wonder what power I'd get this time." He wondered aloud.
"The power to listen to your adoptive sister, maybe? That would be really useful." She playfully responded.
Beastboy landed on the ground upon seeing a waterfall and fell into some sort of blank state. He even changed back to his human form and all. Worried, M'gann went into his mind to see what was wrong with him. What she saw turned out to be a painful memory of the murder of his mother by the hands of Queen B.
"Oh Beastboy, I'm so sorry. I should have been there…done something. But it's not your fault. You couldn't have stopped Queen B. I miss your mom, too, but we have to keep moving. It's not safe here. Please." M'gann said softly to him as tears flowed down his face.
Little did they know, they had been spotted by the Kroloteans. Before the pair could react, they were tranquilized by a mecha-spider and captured. Once they were secured inside of the metal contraption, orders were given for the other Kroloteans to prepare the base for launch. The aliens were getting ready to go back to their home world, Krolotea.
Itachi was at the base of the cave entrance looking for a clear path to move forward. His crows up above told him that the coast was clear so he decided now was as good as time as any to regroup with M'gann and head to the Mag-rail.
"I can see the path to the Mag-Rail. We should move now before something else deters us." Itachi ordered.
"Got it. Let's go, Alanna." Connor said. She responded but in her native tongue, not the tele-linked language that they were all sharing. This made Itachi and Connor worry about her since that only could have happened if Miss Martian's mind was either preoccupied or unconscious.
Conner decided to check in with her, "M'gann, can you hear me?"
He looked at Itachi for confirmation but the Uchiha didn't get any response back either. Conner's face hardened with concern, "Itachi, something's wrong."
"Yeah, sounds about right considering how our mission has gone so far that one of us gets captured." Itachi surmised.
The group left quickly after that. Using Itachi's scout crows, they found and tracked down all three of the mecha-spiders. They were heading back to their base and made no attempts of being incognito. Itachi used his Universal Pull to drag one of the mecha-spiders back and alert the others of his arrival.
The other two proceeded to keep moving towards the base. On the way there, Alanna was able to grab the attention of the second mecha-spider. It followed after her against the orders of its chain of command, and wound up falling into the same sand trap that almost killed Garfield earlier. It incinerated the mecha-spider as Alanna swung a vine over to spare the Krolotean's life.
Connor's assault was a lot less elegant than the other two as he simply crashed down from above and ripped the Krolotean from his cockpit before it had a chance to use any defensive maneuvers. He used his enhanced vision to see where M'gann and Garfield were being kept and freed them as he ripped the doors open. He carried M'gann out of the cell first and Itachi could swear that it was like they were still a couple.
Itachi went over to check on Garfield, whom turned out to be fine himself. They all looked up to see the Krolotean base in the air as it began to fire at the group. Connor used one of the mecha-spiders to shield them from the blasts as Itachi searched for a weak spot.
"Are they still trying to capture us or is it just a bitter revenge thing now?" Garfield asked. Itachi finished his search in enough time to respond, "It doesn't matter. Either way, we must disparage them before innocent lives get caught up in this. Alanna, take care of M'gann. Garfield, Connor and I are going to end this."
The guys got ready to go on the offensive. Superboy tossed Beastboy into the air as the young hero turned into a green gorilla and thrashed one of the bases blasters and infiltrated the base. Superboy was next as leapt into the air with reckless abandon to take out the second blaster and enter the ship. Crow was last as he summoned his Perfect Susanoo and flew right towards the ship. It utterly demolished whatever was left of the ships defenses and damaged any chance of the base being able to travel.
It didn't stop there as he dismounted his Susanoo and immediately started setting fire to anything still resisting with his Amaterasu. Beastboy helped as he tore apart any and all of the spare mecha-spiders to lower and chance of retaliation, which garnered high praise from Superboy.
"Kid, you may change my opinions about monkey, yet! Crow, let's tear it apart!" He shouted in approval. Itachi looked over at his Susanoo, who was about chest deep inside of the ship and gave it its next order, "Bring it down, now!"
It roared in activation before burrowing deeper inside the ship and destroying everything in its path with ruthless aggression. The Kroloteans didn't stand a chance.
From below, Alanna could hear the roar of Crow's Susanoo and see the damage it was causing as the base was engulfed in black flames and explosions. She was glad Itachi was on her side rather than be an enemy. She turned her focus towards M'gann and started to start a chant. The chant worked after a few tries as Miss Martian regained consciousness and the language link for Alanna had been restored.
M'gann stood up in confusion as she asked what happened to her. Alanna explained how she and Beastboy got captured by the Kroloteans. Itachi tracked them down and together, they all were able to rescue them. They both then heard screeching and saw that the three Kroloteans that had captured them earlier were trying to flag down their ship. Miss Martian used her powers to bring one of them over and invaded its mind. She left it in a broken state by the time she was done mentally assaulting it and took its satchel before dropping it into the dirt without a care or concern as to the damage she may have done to it. The scene left Alanna frightened.
"What did you just..." Miss Martian ignored her as she walked away.
Back on the base, the carnage was still going on. Superboy used his strength to drag and throw an empty mecha-spider at one of the ships reactor cores as Itachi took it a step farther and used his Almighty Push to force it out of the ship and onto the ground below, creating significant damage. And this was all while his Susanoo was still running amok inside the ship.
'Even after all of this damage, this thing can still fly. At this rate, we'll be stuck on this ship if we stay any longer.' Crow thought as he felt the ship stay on its course. He leapt over to where Superboy and Beastboy were and decided that enough was enough, "We've done all we could. This ship is going to depart soon. It's best that we are not on it when it does. Let's go."
Superboy and Beastboy wasted no time in leaping out of the ship. Crow stayed behind just a few moments as he saw something on one of the walls. It was a symbol, one he recognized and could never forget, "That's the Uchiha crest. How do they know about my clan?"
He heard another rumble as he felt the ship get ready to shift gears and leave the planet. He cursed the timing of it all but swore to himself that this wasn't over as he leapt out of a nearby opening in its hull.
Crow landed safely by his squad just in time to see the ship go into hyperspeed and leave the planet of Rann. Superboy quickly turned to see that Miss Martian was back on her feet, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I even got this souvenir for Beastboy." She responded as she tossed it to Beastboy who relished it with satisfaction. Crow looked over the satchel and was about to ask where it came from when he saw the three Kroloteans from earlier. Well, three was a stretch since one of them seemed to be in a coma as the other two dragged it away out of concern. That did not sit well with Itachi since he figured there was only one way its mind could get like that.
"M'gann, what did you do-" Connor started but she cut him off. That also did not sit well with the squad leader, "Forget about that."
"Itachi, we have to get back to Earth. I know what the Justice League did on Rimbor. I know what happened during their missing sixteen hours and it is not good." M'gann said in a grave tone.
Before Itachi could respond he felt his hand grow hot. He looked down and saw a kanji written in blood form on his palm. It spelled out home. The look on his face immediately turned into one of worry as that could only mean one thing. M'gann felt the distress on Itachi's mind almost instantaneously and asked her dear friend what was wrong. She created a private link so that the others couldn't know what was going on.
"Itachi what's wrong?" M'gann asked.
"They're all in danger. They have to be. It's the only reason my seal would have gone off. I have to go. I have to get back to Gotham before anything bad happens." Itachi responded.
"Who is in danger? Of what? Please Itachi, let me help!" She begged.
"You can't help me. You need to get that information back to the League. That's an order." Itachi commanded.
"But you're my friend." She argued. Itachi shook his head, "That's why I can't let you follow me. I'd never forgive myself if you got hurt because of my failure. What happened to Jason will never happen to anyone I care about again. Goodbye, for now."
She didn't know how to respond when her friend brought up Jason. He rarely ever talks about him, let alone bring him up himself. Itachi disappeared after that, presumably to head back to the zeta-beam. Superboy, Alanna, and Beastboy all had confused looks as to what just happened. Connor quickly picked up based on how sad M'gann just got that something bad just happened, "Will he be alright?"
"No, he won't be. Not while there are still people who could harm those that he cares about." She sadly responded.
"I wish he'd let us help him." Superboy said with his head down. Beastboy had a look of confusion, "Who says we can't?"
Superboy and Miss Martian both look at the boy like he had two head. Alanna added to his confusion, "If your friend is in pain, go to him and help him out. It's what he would do for you, is it not?"
Connor had to chuckle at that, remembering all of the times Itachi sat and talked with him. M'gann also reminisced at just how good of a friend Itachi had been to her over the years, too. They looked at each other and nodded with determination, "You're right. Itachi would help us out. So let's go help him."
"He's not alone. He never will be again. The League can wait. Let's go to Gotham." M'gann declared.
Back in Carson's home, the situation, while not as hostile, was still a dire one. Carson, Cassandra, and Ayumi were all sitting in the living room of the apartment. Carson had the cut on her hand bandaged. It wasn't too deep so it wouldn't require her needing stiches. Ayumi made herself tea as she prepared to explain to her adoptive granddaughter what she was doing here. Cassandra felt confused about all of this but she kept a calm front for she already had set forth one of the contingencies laid by her father.
She didn't crash through that window just because it was the quickest way in. The young vigilante could have easily found a quieter way in to sneak up on them, but that would mean that she would be at their mercy. As great as a warrior that Cassandra was, she knew that such a fight would be foolish. Carson doesn't know this, but that window had a seal transcribed into it. The seal was the kanji that meant home. She was to only activate it if Ayumi were to show up at their home and Itachi wasn't there. The same kanji would show up on his hand and he'd know that Ayumi was in their home. Cassandra just had to keep the villain placated because it was only a matter of time before her father shows up to tear Ayumi apart.
"Well, granddaughter, what do you want to-" Ayumi started but the young girl was already on it with questions.
"Why you here? What you want? You really train Carson? When, where, and how? You here to fight father?" Cassandra demanded.
Ayumi shook her head. Itachi's tact obviously hadn't fallen upon his daughter, "I'm here to check on Carson. It's been a month since we last talked and I got worried about her. Is it wrong for a teacher to worry about her student? I have trained Carson and the results are even better than I could have hoped for. Itachi would be so happy at the progress I've made."
"No! Master, you promised not to tell him! If he found out that I sought you out and that we'd been meeting all this time, he'd…he'd never forgive me. Or worse, he'd try to get me to betray you." Carson said sadly.
'You betray her, not you betray him?' Cassandra internally thought. She did not like where Carson's allegiances seemed to be but for the purposes of stalling, she decided to keep them talking, "How this start?"
"I met Master Ayumi shortly after your father went looking for you. Like a month, maybe even two after he left. Miss Martian's sessions weren't exactly giving me the results I was looking for and I knew that I needed more. Ayumi helped bridge that gap. She worked with me in ways M'gann never could and I got stronger because of it, both in body and mind. I can finally say that I'm not weak and that is because of Master Ayumi." Carson explained.
"Master? You know what she did to father...to your brother. Why loyal to her?" Cassandra asked.
"Itachi dropped a bombshell on me when he told me that I was brainwashed by Master Ayumi. It hurt me, but not as much as when he left me. I was so angry. Angry at Itachi, angry at Ayumi, even angry at you because Itachi chose to leave me to find you. All that anger led me to try to commit suicide. I went to the top of the tallest building I could find and threw myself off of it. I was just convinced that nothing about me was real. But right before I hit the ground, someone saved me. At first I thought it was your father, but instead it turned out to be Ayumi. She had been watching over me…protecting me." Carson explained.
"It is true. I took a keen interest in the girl who had taken my son's heart away from me. Seeing her die wasn't an option for me." Ayumi confirmed.
"Father told me of you. It option back on bridge years ago. That scar on chest you made." Cassandra accused.
Carson was about to speak up again but a hand from Ayumi silenced her, "When I stabbed her all those years ago, it was never to kill her. Carson has a great power hidden inside of her. A power so great that it will change the world. I sealed it away when she was a baby but I knew that there would come a time when the seal had to be undone. Me stabbing her in her chest was doing just that. Her chakra network is now free to flow as it chooses and it is marvelous to behold. Even now it is like an explosion of chakra just beaming that the chance to be used."
"Your plan to use her?" Cassandra inquired. Carson did speak up that time, "She isn't using me. Master is choosing to teach and trust me to control this power...more than your father ever did. She helped me while all he did was abandon me to be someone else's problem. I'll admit it, at first, I held resentment towards her for all of the pain and suffering she had caused not only your father and I, but the entire world. But then I got to know her, why she chose to do what she did. Ayumi truly wants what's best for the world. I understand what your father said when he called her just as much a victim in all of this as we are."
"Why a secret from father? You had chances." Cassandra asked. Carson looked down in shame as she answered, "The same reason your father kept secrets from me. Why he still keeps them from me; because I don't trust him with the truth just as he didn't trust me. I know how he got you here. I know that Itachi murdered hundreds of people to free you from the League of Assassins. Why is it okay for him to lie to me but not me to him?"
"I…I don't know. Carson, father loves you." The child said not knowing how else to respond. Carson knelt to face the girl, "That's not a good enough reason to lie. Ayumi has done horrible things that she should answer for, but she is the reason why my brainwashing was undone. After she saved my life, she offered to do the one thing Itachi never would've; train me. She became a leader, a teacher…even a master to me. When I was alone and had nothing, she was there for me. And above all else, this woman has never lied to me. I know why Itachi is really with me. It's not out of love or loyalty. It's because he thinks I'm evil and feels like he needs to be the one who kills me if I can't be controlled."
That left the young girl speechless. Cassandra could see the white hot tears on Carson and knew that this was a deep feeling that Carson must've been harboring for some time now. But she wondered why Carson didn't feel comfortable talking to Itachi if this was how she really felt.
"Father doesn't-" Before Cassandra could defend her father Ayumi suddenly stood up and got into a fighting stance, "He's here! Carson step back!"
Carson did as was told and got back towards the wall. She watched as her teacher erected a wall made of a flesh like substance similar to what Wrath used to fight with and used it to block three kunai that had been thrown at them. Each had paper kanji on them which set off an explosion upon contact.
Thanks to Ayumi's wall, no one got hurt but once the smoke was cleared, she was faced her true goal for coming here, "There you are, my son. It's been a few years."
"Not long enough. Orphan, is Carson alright?!" He asked. Cassandra checked on Carson and saw that there were no injuries to the woman, "Yes, father!"
"Good, keep her safe. I don't want her or you to get caught up in this fight." Itachi ordered. Cassandra did what was asked but felt compelled to inform her father on everything that had happened, "Father, before fight, you need to-"
"Let's see if you can catch me, son! Tag was always my favorite game to play, even as a little girl!" Ayumi shouted she sped out of the complex.
Itachi cursed his luck as he put his mask on and got ready to pursue Ayumi. He turned towards Cassandra to give her a final order, "Protect her!"
"Itachi wait! Please don't go. We have to talk-" Carson started but Itachi ignored her. He activated his Sharingan as he got ready to for pursuit, "Not now. Just stay here."
Carson had a blank expression to being ignored like that. Cassandra was about to ask if she was alright when she felt the air around her grow cold. It felt like death had entered their presence. Cass turned to check on Carson again when she saw that the blank expression was slowly turning into one of anger. The scariest part was Carson's eyes. Normally their bright and filled with life but for some reason, all she saw when she looked into them was despair. It reminded her of when Carson accused her father of thinking she was evil.
'This is not good.' Cassandra thought as the feeling kept growing.
"Catch me if you can!" Ayumi shouted with laughter in her voice as she leapt off of a rooftop and went into free fall. Itachi immediately went for the kill and used his Universal Pull to drag her back towards him as he got a curved blade of his Skeletal Susanoo ready to impale her. Ayumi was prepared for it and countered by activating her Chakra Mode to break free of it as she flew to a nearby rooftop across from Itachi.
"You're going to have to do better than that, Itachi! My Chakra Mode gives me the ability to manipulate the gravity around me too, so your Almighty Push and Universal Pull attacks are useless against me unless you put more power into them. But the caveat is that if you do that it will put Gotham at risk. So what is your next move?" She taunted.
Itachi kept a calm front on as he responded, "A lot has changed since we last met. I still have some surprises in store for you."
"As I for you. But I'm sure my surprises are bigger than yours." Ayumi teased. Itachi didn't like how she was treating this like some game instead of a fight to the death like how Itachi was treating this. It made him curious, "Why come now? You've been hiding from me all these years, what made you decide to show up in my home of all places?"
"Just because you couldn't find me doesn't mean that I was hiding. I was right under your nose this entire time. And as for why now; I wanted to congratulate Carson on her pregnancy. I know that having a family with you had been a goal of hers for years. Have you thought of names yet?" Ayumi wondered.
"Some answers are worth dying for." Itachi replied as he formed a tiger hand sign. The building Ayumi was standing on blew up soon afterwards. She quickly turned her Chakra Mode back on to escape the blast radius and Itachi was ready for her as a Fireball Jutsu was sent hurtling towards where she was going to land. Ayumi used her Steam Blast Jutsu to shield her as she landed on the street level of the city while Itachi perched himself on top of a streetlight.
"That was most impressive, Itachi. It seems you have set up traps in the surrounding area of your home." Ayumi noted.
"Not just my home. While you were away cowering in fear, I was preparing for our rematch. Thanks to the help of Orphan, this entire city has become a nest for my crows. A nest that is made of traps designed to kill you. Ayumi, you won't escape here with your life." Itachi warned.
"Oh, I'm willing to bet that someone will want to dispute that claim of yours." Ayumi retorted. She then erected a wall of Hedoro to block a volley of shuriken that were launched at her blind spot.
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Now that I know that traps are around, I'll be sure to be extra careful." Ayumi said as she got ready for action. Itachi made chase as Ayumi sprinted towards downtown Gotham. They both were so fast that to civilians, it looked like flickers of shadows were passing them in their cars.
True to his word, Gotham really was laced with booby-traps from head to toe. Itachi had to be careful about which ones he chose to activate since there were people all around, but the ones that he could activate, he did. Ayumi had to use some effort to get out of a few of his traps. Some of which involved silent kunai that were hidden by the shadows, paper bombs that went off upon contact, and crows imbedded with Itachi's genjutsu with the purpose of incapacitating her if she looked them in the eyes. It was very troublesome for her to dodge all of it.
'I see the city is a deathtrap. I wonder what the expressway entails.' Ayumi thought as she made her way over to the traffic filled street. Leapt high into the air and landed on top of a vehicle shipping truck. Itachi met her on the opposite end of the truck as it continued on its path.
"So on top of a truck is where you choose to die?" Itachi inquired as he glared down his enemy for what he hoped was the last time. Ayumi laughed at her son's serious tone, "Why are you so serious? I already told you that this is a game of tag and you're still it. You should change something about that. You might get a reward if you can tag me."
"I'll tag you with my blade when I run it through your heart." Itachi responded as he charged forward. Ayumi met him head on as they both punched each other in the chest as a way to measure the other's strength. Itachi was reminded just how hard she punches as he felt the wind leave his chest. She just brushed his attack off like it was nothing and let Itachi know that this would take some patience.
Itachi brushed off the exchange as he saw how excited Ayumi looked, 'The way she is smiling, you would think we were just sparring instead of me trying to end her life. This really is a game for her.'
Ayumi charged Itachi with volley of punches which Itachi countered by throwing his own punches to block their paths. She would eventually break through Itachi's defenses with a series of head kick that sent him flying off of the truck and onto a nearby rooftop. It didn't stop there because before Itachi could get his bearing back, Ayumi ran along the side of a nearby building and charged right at him to tackle him several feet onto another rooftop.
As they rolled on the new rooftop, Itachi gained positive control and kicked Ayumi off of him to get space. It was his turn to put on the press as he threw a volley of punch and kick combination with the hopes of landing a deciding blow. Ayumi used her superior speed to deliver a two-pronged double corkscrew kick that connected directly with the right side of Itachi's face, even drawing blood. Itachi countered by summoning the skeletal right arm of his Susanoo and punching her out of the air while she was still defenseless. It lead to another stalemate.
"I see. You're aiming to neutralize my right eye using your speed. Do you fear my Rinnegan that much?" Itachi inquired as he wiped the blood from his face.
"While I don't fear it, the eye certainly does worry me. Can you blame me for wanting to take it out of play? Besides, this was only supposed to be a game. But that last attack of yours was meant to cave my chest in. Son, you are as merciless as ever." Ayumi replied with a playful smile.
"I told you that I'd tag you by way of impalement. I'm certain I conveyed that to you clearly. This is no game to me." Itachi replied with a stoic face.
"You're enjoying this just as much as I am, aren't you? I know it to be so because you are my son. I can feel your aura get lighter with each hit you throw!" Ayumi shouted as she sprinted at Itachi.
They exchanged blows again with a flurry of attacks. Itachi gained the advantage first when he caught Ayumi by her arm and used it to slam her down on the ground. He quickly summoned a hooked sword of his Susanoo and tried to impale Ayumi with it, but she moved swiftly to avoid the attack. Itachi charged at her and landed a devastating skeletal punch that sent Ayumi flying from the rooftop and into the side of a nearby building. He didn't spare her even a minute before he continued on with an attack.
He charged at her with a curled fist of his skeletal Susanoo's right hand and showed every intent on pummeling Ayumi with it. She got ready to counter it but without warning, the skeletal fist disappeared. The move left her confused but she quickly caught on that the fist was only meant as a misdirection because now she was wide open to a frontal assault by Itachi as he had a Jutsu ready to attack her with, "Fire Style! Giant Fireball Jutsu!"
Ayumi tried to cover up, but she wound up taking most of the attack. Itachi quickly followed after her but Ayumi was able to use the smoke and her speed to evade Itachi till she was ready to attack, "It's my turn! Fire Style! Giant Fireball Jutsu!"
The fire blast connected with Itachi and sent him flying through two building before he regained his footing and stopped in the middle of the third. Ayumi tried to press him but Itachi used his superior visual prowess to block her kick attempt and land a solid uppercut to her jaw before following that up by throwing her from the building. She wound up landing in the one place none of them expected, the Gotham Botanical Gardens.
Itachi landed a few feet before her as Ayumi got back onto her feet. Both were tired and sporting injuries, but neither showed the intent to back down. Ayumi took a deep breath before she spoke, "This was your favorite place to visit whenever you had things weighing on your mind. It's how you got your truth out. Son, it's no accident we arrived here. You may not realize it, but there is a truth that you have been holding in that you desperately want to let out. Please, tell me your truth."
"I promised an impalement. That is the only truth I care about." Itachi responded as the two sprinted towards a clash. They both knew that they were evenly matched. The person who gets the first strike would win. Ayumi struck first by using her enhanced speed, but Itachi used his eyes to read the attack and slipped under her right cross and unleashed a barrage of strikes upon her. Combination after combination, hit after hit, Itachi had completely taken control of the fight as Ayumi could only block and wait for an opening.
She tried to back up to get some distance, Itachi disrupted that notion as he used his Universal Pull to bring her back to close range to reengage the assault. Itachi had summoned the Curved Blade of his Susanoo to try and end this fight.
'It's over!' Itachi thought as she got closer to the blade. Ayumi thought fast and used her Steam Blast Jutsu to melt the curved blade before it made impact and charged up her Chakra Mode to break free of the Universal Pull. The fight was at another standoff.
"You will have to do better than that if you are going to beat me. I'm too fast to get hit by such a slow target. The only reason you beat me last time was because your brother stuck his nose in business he didn't belong in. It's different now…you're alone just like how you always wanted it. There is no brother here to help bail you out this time." Ayumi said as she got ready to attack.
"Who says he doesn't have a brother!" Ayumi and Itachi turned to see Superboy sneak up from behind and ready to strike her from behind. Ayumi was not impressed, "If my son is slow as a snail compared to me, you might as well be a rock…or even a corpse!"
She got ready to turn around to counter Superboy but was stopped by a frontal attack by Itachi as he took advantage of Superboy's distraction. Itachi was able to impale Ayumi's stomach with his Susanoo's Curved Blade. She started hacking up blood as her situation went from bad to worse when Superboy clobbered her with a two-handed hammerfist to the back of her head.
'He must have remembered that Ayumi can heal. Don't let up!' Itachi thought.
'Let's see if your eyes can keep up with both of us!' Superboy thought.
There was a giant hole in her chest from where the blade made impact and steam was being emitted as she attempted to heal. Too bad for her it was like Superboy read his mind because he started attacking her again. He hit her with a left cross and Itachi followed that up by using a kunai to stab into her left hip to halt her movement. Superboy then landed a powerful backfist with Itachi using that to stab her left eye with his kunai and using his free hand to land a knife-end chop to Ayumi's throat to restrict her breathing. The strategy was obvious; Connor dazes her while Itachi injures her.
It was simple but effective because the attacks were so close together that she wasn't able to predict which one would land first and counter it without being hit by the other. If she went for Itachi with her speed, it would leave her open to an attack by Connor and if she went for Connor, Itachi would go for an open vital spot, followed by Conner attacking her head and slowing her already restricted movements.
She was stuck and she knew it. Ayumi felt something she hadn't felt for a long time. It was a fear of her death that was quickly approaching. She needed to break them up now or else they'd definitely wind up killing her because her charka was starting to get low which meant that her healing would stop. Ayumi used the one technique that she knew would put a stop to this, "Susanoo!"
Just before the pair could strike her again, a barrage of bones started appearing from the ground as Itachi and Conner had to maneuver to avoid being impaled. In the middle of the surprise attack, two golden wings took form and wrapped themselves around Superboy as Itachi was kept out by the bones. When it was over, Ayumi had won. She had Connor in her grasps and Itachi was powerless to help him.
Itachi scanned the golden prison before turning off his Sharingan. He placed a hand on one of the bones and, just as he thought, more pones sprouted up in an attempt to stab and keep him out. He sighed before stepping back, 'The ball is now in your court.'
Inside of the prison that was Ayumi's Susanoo, Superboy stared Ayumi down. She had a smug look on her face as victory was close at hand for her. Her wound had healed and she knew that Connor's time was almost up.
"You're going to die now. You realize that, don't you? You're already in my genjutsu. I will tear your mind apart. I wonder what a broken Kryptonian looks like. Let's find out!" Ayumi yelled.
Ayumi turned up the force of her genjutsu but to her shock, nothing happened to Superboy. Now it was his turn to have a smug look as Ayumi wore the surprise on her face, "B-but how?! I know I put you under my genjutsu!"
"Well for one, I'm not Kryptonian," Ayumi's shock grew as the alien man turned into an alien girl with green skin and red hair. As it turns out, the whole time it was Miss Martian who had been fighting, "I'm Martian so you're going need more than this to affect my mind. You thought this prison would keep Itachi out, but in reality, it will keep you in long enough for me to break you. All I needed was for you to establish our mental connection with your eyes, and you fell for the trap."
"You're right, I will need more than genjutsu to defeat you, but you know the great thing about you being Martian…your physiology makes you weak to fire. I remember maiming your uncle with my flames all those years ago. I'm not trapped here with you, you are trapped in hear with me. You will burn." Ayumi threatened.
"Not if I break you first!" M'gann responded as both got ready to try and finish the other off.
On the outside, the real Connor had revealed himself to Itachi. From the looks of it, Itachi showed no signed or surprised to him being there, "I told you both to stay back, and yet you still chose to pursue this fight."
"Are you really that surprised about it? We'd never let you go at her alone. How'd you know it M'gann that you were fighting with?" Conner asked.
"You are a southpaw fighter…you lead with your left. She overcompensates her lack of power with heavy-handed strikes like that two-handed hammerfist from earlier. It didn't help that I saw her materialize from out of the ground before joining the fight." Itachi answered.
"You don't miss much. It's a good thing you and her made a lot of noise during your fight. It was hard keeping up with you guys." Conner responded.
Itachi would have responded with a snide comment, but he stopped when he felt something forceful coming their way. He quickly turned to Connor, "Does anyone else know that we are here?"
"No, we left Beastboy at the Cave and came straight here. Why, what's up?" Superboy asked.
"Someone's coming, and fast!" And before either of them knew what hit them, Itachi and Conner were blown away by a powerful shockwave of fire. Not only that, but the Susanoo created by Ayumi was shattered as well, leaving both her and M'gann's battle without a clear winner.
They turned to face the cause of the explosion and were shocked to who came out of the smoke. Itachi deactivated his eyes as he stepped forward both in shock and disbelief, "No, it can't be. Tell me this isn't what I'm seeing."
"It is, son. This is who she was always meant to be. She is no longer the delicate flower that you met her as. She's now the raging forest of flames that she was born to be." Ayumi answered as even she didn't expect these result so quickly.
"Carson, is that really you?" Itachi asked as Conner and M'gann got behind him to see for themselves. The woman in question had snow white hair, skin that had gone even paler than usual, and markings across her body that reminded Itachi of a Curse Mark. The most off-putting feature were the crimson eyes she now possessed and the devilish smile she wore on her face.
She turned to the father of her child as she addressed him in a voice that sounded much more seductive than usual, "What's wrong, lover? Don't I look better like this?"
The three heroes all looked with shock on their faces. It was Itachi who recovered first as he spoke the question that all of them must have been thinking, "What is going here?"
"The answer is quite simple," She responded as her eyes started to train themselves on the three heroes and chakra stared to gather around her, "I am going to kill everyone in this world…starting with the three of you."
That's it for this chapter! So sorry it took so long, this chapter has actually been done for 2 months now, I just had so much personal stuff going on that I had to take a break and get my house back in order. And by the looks of it, Itachi is about to have to go through the same thing with this alternate Carson now showing up and bring his worst fears into fruition. Just who is she and how did this version of Carson come into life. Itachi will find out just what he is fighting for next chapter. I hope I was able to incorporate Itachi into the Conner/M'gann love story well. Itachi never wanted to be what broke them up and to get closure on it from Conner was a great moment for their friendship. That, on top of the Krolotean invasion of Earth and the mystery of how they know about the Uchiha Clan, will have Itachi and his friends every busy next chapter. I will try to have it out by the middle of June so that gives me about 2 weeks. Thank you for all of the continued support. It is not lost upon me. Keep hitting the favorite, follow, and review tabs and tell me what you all are thinking. I love hearing your feedback. Again, sorry for the long wait and I hope all is well with you all. Thanks for the support and until next time guys and gals!