Itachi and Clark were both sitting in a diner called Mo's Café. Clark had just finished ordering himself a pecan pie while Itachi settled for a glass of water. Itachi was on guard about this conversation they were having since he was talking to possibly the most powerful being on Earth. Clark could feel the tension and decided to lighten things up.
"Beautiful weather isn't it? It's nothing like how it is over in Gotham?" Clark commented.
Itachi stayed silent. He sure didn't sound like the most powerful being on Earth. Itachi honestly thought the man was kind of corny and vain. Clark raised an eyebrow at the vigilante in confusion, "You don't like it here?"
Itachi surveyed his surroundings and took everything in. The café was small, yet lively and everyone inside seemed to be enjoying themselves. It is the perfect place for privacy. From the looks of things Itachi could tell the store was family owned based on all of the personal pictures hung up on the wall. It was another example of just how different the two sibling cities of Gotham and Metropolis were.
One was dark, gritty, and filled with fear while the other was bright, vibrant, and brimming with hope. They both perfectly embodied their protectors. Itachi didn't know what to make of Superman, but if this new team approach was going to work, he'd have to at least try to make an effort.
"It's nice. Both the café and the city." Itachi answered.
"You've never been in Metropolis before?" Clark asked.
"No, I haven't needed a reason to leave Gotham until recently." He answered.
"How's everything going with the Team? A little birdy told me that you are a fighting genius." Clark was curious about the boy sitting in front of him. Dinah and Bruce both praised Itachi glowingly on his fighting abilities, but he was more interested in Itachi the person though. He wanted to know what type of person Itachi was.
"The Team still needs work. They are all undisciplined with the exception of Robin and Kaldur. We all need to go on more missions to gain more group experience and cohesion." Itachi assessed.
Clark laughed at Itachi's answer. It was like he was talking to Batman's clone. The waitress returned with Clark's pecan pie and Itachi's water. Itachi's face stayed stoic and unreadable the entire time. Clark decided to try this again, except this time he'd be more specific.
"I meant interpersonal wise how are they doing? It doesn't take a genius to tell that you all need to go on more missions." He clarified.
"I don't think I've been there long enough to get a good read on everyone. I don't want to mischaracterize anyone." Itachi replied.
"You must have a decent idea though. Just ballpark it for me."
"Robin and Kaldur seem to be the most experienced of the group. Robin is the more laid back of the two, but he's dead serious when it comes to finishing the mission and protecting his friends. Kaldur is a good leader who has the respect of the Team. He takes charge and responsibility of the Team on missions. M'gann is the next mature, though I do sense underlying fears and insecurities within her that spam from her inexperience. She is skilled and smart enough to overcome it though. Artemis and Wally is an issue. They are both immature and undisciplined when paired together which I normally wouldn't care about, except it got Wally injured during the last mission. That is an issue that needs correcting. Conner, he is quite the talent. He has some skill, but still is mostly raw power. With training and proper guidance he can become a great hero if he chooses to be." Itachi said honestly.
Itachi noticed the mood shift of Superman once he mentioned Conner and took stock of it. The pecan pie suddenly became Clark's favorite thing to look at and at that moment Itachi understood where a lot of Conner's strife comes from.
Itachi decided to press into this more, "You and Conner aren't on the best of terms." The way said it made it seem more like a statement than a question. Clark huffed out a breath of frustration as confirmation.
"I-I just don't know what to do. To find out that I've been cloned and…he looks and sounds just like me, but he doesn't act like me. It's jarring. I don't know what to make of him when I see him. Is he just my clone, or is he my son like how Bruce says," Clark vented
"He's neither…he's Conner. He's someone who needs guiding and from what I hear you seem to be a beacon for this world. Conner is still a blank canvas; it won't take much effort to sway him in any which way." Itachi responded.
"I just don't know how to interact with him. He once came to me seeking help and I brushed him off. Doesn't that make me a horrible mentor…father." Clark pondered deeply.
"No, it makes you human," Itachi answered. Clark looked up at the young man sitting before him as he continued on, "You don't have to be perfect, you just have to be there for him. All he wants is to feel like something other than your shadow. He'll never admit it, but he admires you above all else. Not because he was made of you, but because he sees the hero you are and wants to follow that path with you. In order to achieve that, he will need you to be a big brother to him." Itachi finished.
Clark felt inspired by Itachi's words. He didn't know how, but Clark would try to make more of an effort to be there for Conner. He found it ironic, here he was trying to get a read on Itachi, but he wound up getting advice from the young man instead. Bruce was right when he told him that Itachi had experience doing this.
"Do you have a younger brother?" Clark asked.
Itachi looked down at his water as he answered, "Yes, I have a younger brother. He's a lot like Conner now that I think about it. It's why I want you to be there for Conner because I've seen what happens when you choose not to." Itachi answered somberly.
"What happens?" Clark asked curiously.
"He'll find someone that will and they may not be as morally good as you. Just because he is your clone doesn't mean that Conner will grow to be just like you. My brother…his name is Sasuke. I made so many mistakes with him…I was a horrible older brother and I'll live with that for the rest of my life." Itachi answered.
"I'm sure that if Sasuke had you for a big brother it couldn't have been that bad." Clark said in defense of Itachi.
"You have no idea how wrong you are about that statement." Clark was about to ask Itachi to elaborate why when he was interrupted by a surprise visitor.
"What's up Smallville?" Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane asked as she walked up to the pair of heroes.
"Lois, what are you doing here? I thought that you were chasing that story about the Crow over in Gotham." Clark replied while being pleasantly surprised about her visit. Itachi looked up to see the woman take a seat next to Clark at their booth.
"That city is nothing but dead ends. Everyone is so tightlipped about it. Oh and don't get me started on that sham Vicki Vale claiming that I was stepping on her 'turf'. Oh I wanna- hey who's the handsome stud you have with you?" She asked.
"My name is Itachi, but I was just leaving. It's about time for me to go back to work." Clark knew that the work Itachi was speaking of was more practice with the Team. They had talked enough and Clark figured that Itachi seemed to be a nice guy and good addition to the Team.
"Do you need a ride? I don't mind." Clark offered. Itachi immediately rejected.
"No. I can just walk there." Itachi answered. Clark chuckled to himself. When they landed, Itachi wanted to burn him alive and warned him never to do that again. He could see in that moment how someone would think he is as scary as Batman.
"You sure? I don't mind." Clark assured.
"Well I do mind. Thanks for the water." Itachi then got up and headed for the door.
"Thanks for the advice. You'd make a good apprentice." Clark called out as Itachi left.
"Oh so you're considering him for Perry's mandatory apprenticeship rule. I got to admit, he was kind of rude. He could have at least had a smile as he turned you down. But now that I think about it, you really do suck at driving."
"No, he was just here to give a recommendation, and I just might go with his idea. And I do not suck at driving." Clark responded.
"Whatever. So you gonna order me a pecan pie too or do I have to do everything around here?" Lois asked.
Clark smiled at her as her called the waitress over. Clark hoped Itachi was right about Conner. He also hoped that he wasn't too late to make that first step for his clone, or as Itachi suggests; his younger brother.
A week has gone by since Itachi talked with Superman. He's become quite acclimated with the rest of the Team since joining mostly because of all of the intensive training they've been doing. Itachi worked well with most of them, the lone exception was Wally since his arm was still hurt. At this moment the speedster is currently laying in a lounge chair while Captain Marvel catered to him. Itachi just chose to ignore them and focus on important matters. Not surprisingly, Itachi and Robin worked best together given all of the experience they have with real combat already.
The others were all currently all sparring with each other. They stopped when Black Canary came to address them, "Good work, everyone. In fact, it's been a very productive week."
"Yeah, for everyone except kid malingerer." Artemis joked.
"Hey! My arm was broken in combat against the Injustice League." Wally said defending himself.
"Which wouldn't have happened if you were more disciplined. You have super-speed. There is no reason why anyone should be getting the jump on you. Stop using your powers as a crutch because eventually the enemy will adjust and catch up to you." Itachi reminded.
"He's right you know," Black Canary said validating Itachi's claim. She chuckled and looked at her Team, "I've really enjoyed being your, uh, den mother this week."
They all turned when the sorcerer Zatara zeta-beamed into the Cave. He wasted no time in bringing his daughter Zatanna with him. He introduced her to the Team and most of them were eager to get to know her, especially Robin. Itachi was the only one who kept to himself and watched from a distance.
"I'm Robin, ahem. She's M'gann, and that's Wally, Artemis, Kaldur, and Conner." He informed.
"What about the brooder that's all by himself," She noted. They all turned to see Itachi off by himself away from everyone, "He's Itachi. Don't mind him, he's shy. He's new to the Team."
"Welcome to the Cave." Aqualad said politely.
"Thanks." Zatanna responded.
Robin asked her if she was joining the Team. Before she could answer her father made sure to temper expectations by saying that this was strictly a visit. He apologized for missing the training because he felt Zatanna would have benefitted from it.
"Do the rest of you get the impression that we're on probation with Zatara?" M'gann asked telepathically.
"Not just Zatara. I mean, why is Marvel still hanging around?" Conner asked.
"Because we like having him around." Wally answered like it was so obvious.
"You like having him around because he caters to you hand and foot." Artemis retorted.
"And your point is?" Wally asked.
"It almost makes one nostalgic for Red Tornado's tenure as our supervisor." Aqualad added.
"Yeah, at least he trusted us." Robin agreed.
"If you ignore the fact that we shouldn't have trusted him! He was a traitor. That machine nearly got us all killed." Conner argued.
"No, your lack of experience nearly got you all killed. You're starting to sound like little children." Itachi said condescendingly which got him a glare from Conner.
Zatanna caught on to what was taking place and decided to call them on it, "Are you guys having a psychic conversation? Because I can't tell if that's cool or really rude."
Conner came clean and admitted that their conversation was about Red Tornado. He was frustrated that the League hadn't told them anything about the android despite it being weeks since his attack.
"The League is searching for Tornado, as well as the other androids that invaded the Cave and their creator, T.O. Morrow. Batman's made tracking them down our highest priority." Canary said trying to placate them.
"But you've found none of the above." Robin argued.
"Not yet, but Tornado is Justice League. The Team is not to pursue this." She strictly ordered.
"Why don't you all take Zatanna on a, uh, tour of the Cave." Zatara offered. None of them were trying to be redirected so blatantly.
Marvel wanted to go on a tour with them, but Conner convinced the demi-god to take Wolf outside for a bit. The others all went ahead with the 'tour'.
"We're not really taking a tour, are we?" Zatanna asked while she flabbergasted Robin because of her mystical change of clothes.
"No, we're hunting down that robot." Conner answered with Aqualad's approval. The leader then turned to face Itachi, "We would understand if you wish to sit this one out. Red Tornado was our supervisor long before you joined our team. Therefore the burden to bring him to justice should be on us. You have no personal stakes in this matter."
Everyone looked at Itachi for his response, "I have two responses to that. The first is that I don't think that Red Tornado willingly betrayed you. I think you all are letting your hurt feelings clouds your judgements thus blinding you to all possible options."
"You were there! You saw him join up with the other androids and attack us. There could be no other option other than betrayal." Conner argued.
"I've been doing this for a long time. There is always more than one option." Itachi refuted.
"What is your second response?" M'gann asked.
"It may not be of personal consequence to me, but it is for the rest of you. We're teammates and that means that if it's personal to you, it's also personal to me too. We're all in this together for better or worse." He answered.
The others were grateful for his help. Conner expressed his gratitude with a smile, but Itachi still reiterated a point he made earlier, "But I still think that you all are acting like children about this. I guess we'll just have to see who's right by the end of this."
Everyone groaned at his last jab and Conner's thankful expression turned into glare which wound up making Zatanna chuckle. The laugh reminded them of a minor problem they might have.
"What about new girl?" Artemis asked.
"I'm sure she won't tell." Robin answered.
"I can't tell. Not if you kidnap me." She replied slyly. Artemis knew that she'd fit in just great.
The Team all left in M'gann's bioship to go find Red Tornado. Itachi was about to go over the plan again when Black Canary's voice came through the intercom's system. She inquired why the ship was deployed without authorization. M'gann came up with a quick white lie about taking Zatanna to Happy Harbor. Itachi mentally sighed when she used the actual word kidnap in her lie.
"Where are we going? Batman is the world's greatest detective and he searched for Tornado and Morrow in every logical location. If we're going to do better, we need an illogical solution. A truly dumb idea." Both Robin and Itachi then turned towards Wally for an answer. Pretty soon everyone else followed suit as Wally tried his hardest not to be offended.
Wally decided that the best place to look would be Ivo in Belle Reeve Prison. His reasoning was that the best way to find a mad genius is by using another mad genius. The others agreed on the plan and headed towards the prison soon afterwards.
When they arrived, they immediately went into an interrogation room with Ivo after calling in a favor with the warden.
"Spill, Ivo. How do we find T.O. Morrow and his Reds?" Conner demanded.
"Now, why in the world would I know how to find Morrow?" Ivo questioned.
"Because…and here's a truly dumb idea…you're Morrow's biggest competitor in the evil android game. Who better to keep track of what he's up to, and where?" Wally reasoned.
"Ah. I see your point. So let me rephrase…why in the world would I tell you how to find Morrow?" Ivo asked.
"He knows. Do what you must." Aqualad told to Miss Martian. She tried to read his mind, but Ivo was more than prepared to face a telepath. Itachi, on the other hand, was no telepath.
He lifted the scientist by his lapels and activated his sharingan to cast a genjutsu on him. "How long this genjutsu last depends on you Ivo. It can be over in five seconds or in five years. Where do we find Morrow?"
Ivo's face went from smug to fearful to downright terrified. The others looked in awe as the saw a man being mentally broken before their very eyes. He began crying and begging for mercy. Itachi kicked up the intensity of the genjutsu which caused the man to break. Only six seconds had passed.
"Morrow's in a secret underground base beneath Y-Yellowstone National Park! O-One hundred meters south of Old Faithful! Please, stop this madness!" He begged.
Itachi ended the genjutsu and returned the man to his seat. He then curtly left out of the room to head for the bioship as everyone looked on nervously. Once Ivo was free from the genjutsu, he saw that the room was no longer being filled with blood and that the terrifying demon that was in the room had disappeared. He struggled to catch his breath as he wondered what had just happened to him.
The others decided to leave since they got the information they sought. Once everyone was gone a figure came in through a hidden door. That figure was Amanda Waller.
"So professor, did you see what you needed to see?" She asked.
"I saw…his eyes change. I saw too much…" Ivo finished as he kept trying to keep his grip on reality.
"Do you think you can incorporate it into the clone?" She asked.
"Not by experience alone, but thanks to the thermal, retinal, and CAT scans that you have in this room, plus the aid of you-know-who, I should be able to. The deal is still on the table, right?" He inquired.
"You help with the clone for a full pardon, yeah that's still on the table. Thanks to all of the scans here you will have a complete blueprint of how the Crow's eyes work and how to replicate its full potential." She answered.
"How did you know to have this room built? Or that they'd put me in it?" Ivo asked.
"The warden owes me a favor too. And this room was built to neutralize and contain either the Kryptonian or the Martian. Hence why the Martian's telepathy didn't work and why the Superman clone couldn't see me behind the door since this room is layered with lead. It's always good to be a forward thinker." She replied.
"I can see why you're so interested in him. He is exceptional." Ivo surmised.
"Yeah, well our clone will be better. And when he brings the Crow in, we just might let you perform a live dissection of him. There may be more secrets to unlock in his body." Waller informed. Ivo smiled evilly at the prospect of cutting The Crow up and seeing just what's on the inside.
"So what was that earlier?" Zatanna asked referring to what Itachi used to get Ivo to talk.
"It's called genjutsu. It's one of Itachi's abilities. He can use it to pretty much make people see or do what he wants. It's pretty effective." Robin answered.
"More like pretty scary. If you'd just waited I would have use my magic to force him to talk." She argued.
"It does not matter. We have the information we needed. Now, it's time we find the Reds. Black out all external communication. Soon, Canary and Zatara…Batman, too, I imagine will know of our visit with Professor Ivo. We haven't much time." Aqualad stated.
Robin and Artemis wanted to get a rundown on Zatanna's powers since they were still flying. Zatanna was a sorcerer like her father, but she was nowhere near his level of skill. She explained that she needed to know a spell perfectly or at least have time to properly prep in order to execute one. She couldn't do unlimited magic since it requires energy that comes from within so she only had a set number of spells in her. Itachi was quite curious about it since it's the closest thing he's heard to someone performing jutsu or using some form of chakra.
"What's our ETA to Yellowstone? I'm way past ready to stuff Tornado into a trash compactor." Conner vented.
"Are you so certain he betrayed us?" Aqualad countered which got some eye rolls from some of the Team.
"Are you for real!? You're starting to sound like Itachi." Conner said angrily.
"Itachi is wiser than any of us. If he has doubt as to whether or not Tornado really betrayed us, I won't just brush it aside." Aqualad retorted while siding with Itachi. Itachi gave him a nod in gratitude.
"Even if he betrayed you, it would only make him a victim of his creators programming. I know firsthand about doing something horrible to someone I care about because I was forced to. I think you all should give him a chance to prove that he's not the dangerous weapon he was made to be. He was your supervisor, you own him that much. Besides, you of all people should know that we can be more than what we are created for." Itachi reasoned to Conner.
Everyone watched the scene nervously. They all saw Conner look down in shame and really begin to reconsider his position on this.
They all finally reached Yellowstone Park. As they landed Aqualad instructed them to go into stealth mode. They all got ready to go forth with their mission. Aqualad suggested to Zatanna that she might want to stay behind, but she made it clear that she was fully capable of handling herself. Aqualad allowed it and she used magic to get into her mission clothes.
They left the ship and started heading towards the Red's base. They were close to the destination when a gust of wind started blowing against them. They all looked up to see their former mentor Red Tornado getting ready to unleash another attack. The android summoned multiple tornadoes that surround the Team. M'gann tried to talk and reason with him, but the android gave no response except for more tornadoes. Conner stopped caring and decided to take some initiative. Itachi had a crow in the air as a scout just in case anything out of the ordinary happened.
He and Aqualad decided to use a combo attack to get to Tornado, but the android blew the pair away with his gusts of wind. Artemis shot some explosive arrows at him, but that too didn't get past his defense and was redirected towards her and Robin. Kid Flash tried to use his speed to create a tornado of his own and was soundly defeated. Before they knew it, only Itachi and Zatanna were left standing.
The sorcerer tried a spell, but started stammering due to lack of experience and found herself in the androids grasp. She quickly passed out due to lack of oxygen. Itachi thought fast and weaved hand signs for a fire technique, "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"
He shot a fireball towards the android to force it to release Zatanna. Red Tornado shot out gusts of wind to block the attack, but only wound up making it bigger and fiercer. It collided cleanly and knocked the android out of the sky. Back in his world, wind attribute jutsu only make fire attribute jutsu stronger, so Itachi is the worst type of opponent for Tornado. Plus, since he's fairly new the androids won't have any type of scouting report on his fighting style. While the android was down he went over to check on Zatanna who was still unconscious.
With all of his teammates down for the count, Itachi could only depend on himself against this opponent. After eyeing the android coldly, Itachi activated his mangekyo sharingan and was preparing to activate his Susanoo like the first time they met when he saw another android appear.
It stood on a platform of earth and made its demands known, "That was quite a performance, brother. But we both know that's all that this has been. You can stop acting like you're really fighting Crow. Did you forget that I have all of your memories, Tornado? I even have a next-gen processor. I know your next move before you do."
Itachi dissolved his Susanoo and watched as the android used his geokinesis to raise a part of the ground up to expose the hidden message Tornado had written for them with using his powers and it read, "Play Dead."
The others got up from their ruse once the android read the message, "You thought blowing a message into the sand would save them? How human of you..." Red Volcano then broke the message into pieces and the Team leapt up to attack.
Crow, Superboy, and Aqualad all leapt into the air as the rest of the Team reacted quickly to avoid the falling debris. The members on the ground saw Red Tornado flying away as the battle ensued and made an attempt after him. Aqualad was knocked out of the sky by Volcano quickly. Wally decided to join the fight and sprint towards the android, but he too was neutralized.
"You stand no chance against me, filthy humans." Volcano scoffed.
"We're not human!" Superboy and Miss Martian yelled in a unison attack. Volcano made quick work out of them too when he used two gigantic rock hands to sandwich the two together. Volcano then made a correction, "Apologies. I suppose the properly inclusive term is meatbags."
"Try doing that to me." Volcano turned to see Itachi using his skeletal Susanoo to throw a gigantic punch at him. The android thought quickly and used the two rock hands to block the punch. It got smug with Itachi too, "A meatbag in a mask is still just a meatbag."
Itachi took that as permission to take this up a notch and decided to add some muscle onto his Susanoo. With the boost, Itachi's attack crushed through Red Volcano's defenses and sent him to the ground hard. The android stood up slowly just to be pummeled again except this time by a two-handed Susanoo hammer punch. The resounding force of the blow made a crater in the ground.
"Enough!" Volcano used his powers to create a chasm in the earth that Artemis and Aqualad fell into. Artemis was able to think fast and shoot an arrow up to propel her and Aqualad to safety before the fissure closed. Robin threw an explosive batarang at Volcano, who stood there and took it like it was nothing.
"Tornado's memory files and my superior processing speed allow me to anticipate your every move." The android gloated.
"Emoks emoceb a dlofdnilb!" Zatanna casted as smoke wrapped around Volcano's eyes and blinded him. Itachi leapt from his Susanoo and added to the attack to make it a combination, "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"
The fireball engulfed the android in searing hot flames. Zatanna looked at Itachi and smiled at their handiwork. The rest of the Team was also impressed.
"Take that for processing!" Robin yelled.
"Seriously, we've been training all week. They just met and already have crisper combinations than we do." Artemis complained.
"How did they get that off when we've been getting our butts kicked?" Conner asked with frustration.
"It's because they weren't here when Tornado was our supervisor. They wouldn't be in his memory which means Volcano has no countermeasure for either of them. They are our best shot." Aqualad answered.
"He's right. Tornado never knew my moves." Zatanna commented.
"And I bet you've got some good ones," Robin said. Both Zatanna and Itachi looked back at the boy wonder after his weird comment, "Whoa, sorry. That may have come off a little too Wally."
"I don't mind." Zatanna answered with a chuckle.
"Well I do. Focus on the mission. This is no time for flirting." Itachi scolded.
Volcano had had enough and decided to use his powers to activate an actual volcano that was dormant behind them. The Team all knew that this just went from bad to worse.
Red Tornado was inside his base with Red Torpedo and Red inferno trying to convince them to help his former students.
"We must stop him." Tornado pleads.
"Why? We once believed that we were alive, but now there is only Red Inferno and Red Torpedo. Why should we help save humanity when we are no longer human?" Inferno questioned.
"The premise of your question is flawed. You were never human, but you were heroes." Torpedo countered. His siblings looked at each other and made their decision.
Outside, the Team was busy facing a newly active volcano. The android was using the molten rocks from said volcano to unleash enhanced attacks at the Team. As bad as the android was, the volcano problem was infinitely worse.
"He's activating a stage two eruption. If it gets to stage three, we can kiss the hemisphere good-bye." Wally revealed.
"Everyone hit him from all sides." Aqualad ordered.
"That's not wise to-" Itachi was cut off as most of the Team leapt forward to attack. Volcano knocked Aqualad out of the sky and caught Superboy's punch with ease. He tossed Conner aside soon afterwards. Miss Martian used her invisibility to launch a sneak attack, but she was countered when Volcano caused a geyser of lava to erupt in front of her which wounded her. Conner tried to get to her, but was knocked away from Volcano. He could only watch as the android had his girlfriend hostage.
"Can you cast a spell to get everyone close to me?" Itachi asked. Zatanna nodded in confirmation, "Do it now!"
"Ward enoyreve raen ot eht Worc!" Zatanna commanded. Instantly everyone was pulled close to Itachi, including M'gann.
"What are you doing?" Robin asked.
"I'm ending this. Stay close M'gann, I'll shield you from the heat." Itachi promised. He then activated his Susanoo once more, only this time he went straight into its half-bodied humanoid form.
Everyone looked in awe as they found themselves surrounded by chakra. Zatanna was astonished, "I don't understand. Mystical energy isn't supposed to be able to be seen."
"This is no mystical energy. This is the Susanoo." Itachi stated. He summoned the curved sword of his Susanoo and got ready for the final attack, "This ends now."
"Giants. This dude can summon a giant. Why am I not surprised?" Wally complained from inside the Susanoo.
He launched the attack as Volcano shot molten rocks at his Susanoo in a race to see who lands first. Itachi was a few moments away when all of a sudden he heard something familiar. He deactivated his sword and just curled up for extra defense of his teammates. The sudden turn surprised them.
"Why did you stop your attack?" Conner demanded.
"This is no longer my fight." Itachi replied.
"What are you talking about?" Wally asked.
"Just look over there." Itachi answered as he pointed towards what he heard. A stream of water came out of the ground and smack Volcano into some lava. Robin turned to Aqualad with the assumption that the hit came from him, but he was just as surprised as everyone else.
As it turns out, the attack came from none other than Red Torpedo. Soon Tornado and Inferno joined the battle and started to attack Volcano. The three androids overwhelmed their brother with their combined might and forced him into a deep pool of lava. Torpedo and Inferno jumped in the lava to help submerge Volcano in order to destroy him once and for all. Tornado made the last push and joined them, fully prepared to sacrifice himself for his students. Volcano begged and pleaded, but the androids were ready to die there.
As Torpedo and Inferno started to meld into Volcano, Tornado was about to join them. Just as he was about to die, Itachi used his Susanoo to grab and pull him out of the lava, thus saving him. The volcano was on the verge of reaching level three and the Team was running out of options.
"Tornado, listen! We're on the verge of a stage three super volcano eruption. There's no turning back from that. We need to vent pressure, fast. But the ash cloud will bring on worldwide nuclear winter unless you divert it. Robin, triangulate around the pressure focus." Wally requested.
Robin did as was asked of him and marked it on his holo-gauntlet and Artemis marked the targets with her arrows.
"Don't worry about the Team. I'll protect them from the heat. Just get that volcano back to a stable condition," Itachi stated. He then reinforced his Susanoo by activating its Armor mode, "It's all up to you now Tornado."
Red Tornado used his power and vented the pressure out of the volcano and into the atmosphere. Once it was done, the volcano was no longer at risk of eruption. Tornado landed in a heap and the Team rushed to his aid. They decided to bring Tornado back to his base to repair the damages he suffered.
Wally repaired his voice box first so that he could finally speak again. Aqualad commented on how brave it was that Tornado was willing to sacrifice himself in order to save the planet. To which he corrected that he did it to save humanity, not the planet. Tornado also admitted that he wasn't the true hero, that it was his brother and sister that saved the day.
"Itachi was right. You were never the mole or a traitor." Aqualad admitted.
"I left to protect you from further attack and to find my creator, Morrow. Once the Crow arrived, I knew that I could depend on him to keep you safe. It seems I was correct in that assumption." Tornado noted.
Everyone looked back at Itachi who was off to himself so that they could have their reunion with their teacher. Aqualad agreed with Tornado in his assumption. Wally broke the solemnness when he made a comment about a souvenir he found in a broken down hand. Robin commented on how they would rebuild him even better than he was before, to which Tornado openly questioned if he should even be repaired.
"Why did you volunteer to become our den mother in the first place?" Conner asked.
"I was the pragmatic choice. I do not require sleep. I have no secret identity or second life to live." He answered.
"But you do have advanced A.I. programming designed to learn, adapt, and evolve." Wally added starting to catch on. Tornado wanted to become more human and since he wasn't going to do it with stiffs in the League, the next best option was the Team. Robin joked how Tornado wasn't going to learn emotion from Batman, or Itachi for that matter. Everyone laughed but Itachi who showed no outward reaction other than walking away.
Robin was about to go after him to apologize, but Artemis advised him to leave Itachi alone. She knew he had a lot on his mind.
Itachi was touched by how they accepted Red Tornado regardless of his flaws and apparent transgressions, but he wasn't so sure he'd get the same treatment should they find out the truth about him. Itachi knew that he actually was a traitor, a murderer. He wiped out an entire group of people; his people. Because of that fact, he's always careful not to get too attached to them, it just takes one mistake for him to lose it all again.
They flew home in the bioship and everyone was festive and happy, except for Itachi who was acting like someone kicked his puppy as Artemis says. Robin went to him and apologized for his crude joke, but Itachi smiled and assured him that he did nothing wrong. Almost everyone accepted that answer. Only two people had serious doubts: Artemis who has known him the longest, and M'gann who could feel the emotional conflict within her friend which worried her.
Zatanna had fun with the Team on her first mission, but doubted she'd ever be allowed to go on another because her father would be furious. They all decided to worry about that when they came to it and stay in their mostly positive mood.
Elsewhere, Argus was also in a very positive mood. The week deadline has passed and standing before James, Amanda Waller, and Ivo was none other than their fully operational clone of the Crow. There have been no signs of side effects or cellular defection. He was currently floating in a stasis tube, being fed surveillance footage, injury reports, memory adaptations, and emotional stimuli to provoke and harness the hatred in the clone.
It was being supplemented with only the best performance enhancement drugs and human growth hormones to produce peak performance in the field. When he is ready, the clone will be combat tested to see how much of the original it retained. And when he passed all of those tests, he will fight and capture the original Crow so that he can be studied further.
"I never thought we'd see it. There he is…just waiting to be unleashed. Can he hear us?" James wondered.
"Every word. All he can do is hear us though. His mind is too busy processing all of the information we had funneled into his cerebral cortex. My only concern is what is stopping the clone from turning into a Doomsday remake." Ivo voiced.
"I took care of that." A new person spoke.
"And here comes our mutual ally. You provided the blood sample, the blueprint to unlocking his sharingan along with its secrets, and most importantly a crash course of chakra network and how it works. You made our job a lot easier and this clone would not be possible if it weren't for you."
"Yes, I'm curious to know how you knew so much about him despite Crow being from a different universe." Ivo asked.
The person stepped out of the shadows to the reveal of the Masked Stranger, "Well, you'll just have to keep wondering for now. I only wish to fulfil my ultimate goal. You helped me achieve that by making this clone so it was an obvious choice to make."
"We take out the Crow for you; you leave his body with us." Amanda reminded.
"That was the deal. I don't need his body so I might as well leave it with you." The Stranger stated.
"How do your coconspirators feel about you dealing with us? Must be a serious betrayal." James taunted. The Masked Stranger responded by holding him up by his throat menacingly, "Make no mistake about it, my partners know about this. We are using you, not the other way around. How's the saying go…the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Itachi Uchiha is a mutual enemy that needs to be handled. I've been in the shadows setting this grand plan of mine for over a lifetime. Do you honestly think I'd leave something so important to you without a guarantee of me getting something out of it? I've already won; you just haven't figured it out yet. Now be a good grunt and do the one small thing I have entrusted you to do."
The Stranger dropped James who was fearfully gasping for air. His face had turned purple and he could feel his life being taken from him. Before fading into the darkness the Masked Stranger left James with a grave threat, "You mess this up for us and we will make sure your sister Carson finds out just what you do in your spare time James. And then we will kill her…slowly and in the most painful way imaginable. Think about every bad thing that has ever happened to the both of you so far in your wretched lives, then think about what hasn't happened to the both of you, now think about everything that could still happen to the both of you, James. I'll leave you to it then."
With that the figure disappeared. James looked up at Waller who looked down at him in return, "As soon as the Crow in eliminated, we will sick our clone on them and burn them all to the ground."
James smirked as he got up and eyed the clone, "You better not fail your mission. My sister's life depends on it."
They all left the room and only the clone was let in the darkness. It heard every word of the exchange, but for some reason it wasn't until his template was mentioned that he cared. He knew why he was created; to kill. He was vengeance, he was true justice, and he was the real Crow. And just like that his eyes opened to reveal eyes that had the sharingan activated. They had one tomoe in each eye and sclera that were pitch black. The only thoughts that ran through his mind were of him killing Itachi Uchiha, which made him smile.
That's the end of this one. The wheels are starting to turn and the plot is about to thicken. I know a lot of people are pushing back on a clone, but trust me when I say that the least important thing that this clone will do in the story is fight Itachi. Now, to the dilemma I face. I enlisted into the Navy, which means I will soon have to go to boot camp starting January the 4th. When I leave, I won't be abandoning the story, but I won't be able to upload another chapter until March at the earliest. I'd like your feedback on what I should do. I am definitely gonna upload another chapter by the end of the month…I'm just trying to decide whether or not to upload 2 chapters by the end of the month.
If you want me to upload 2 of them, let me know in the reviews/personal messages. The only thing with that is that it might not be my best work since I'd be rushing it out a little quickly and the next two chapters are really important to the story so I'd like them to get rave reviews. Or, I could just upload one and put my very best into it. Let me know what you all want me to do. Thanks for all of the support so far. I appreciate every favs, follow, and review and read all of them. I hope you all enjoy the chapter. Till next time peeps!