The situation was dire. A spaceship had flown past the Earth's moon and was quickly heading towards the planet. Being the Lanterns of this planet, Hal Jordan and John Stewart decided to intercept it before it reached orbit and warn it to turn around. Batman tailed behind so that just in case it actually was an invasion, he could signal for back from the rest of the League.
Batman bore witness as his comrades were disintegrated by the alien spaceship. In retaliation he sent the signal for backup which consisted of Superman, Captain Atom, Martian Manhunter, and Captain Marvel. It proved to be of no consequence though because not long after deployment, all of the heavy-hitters got disintegrated too. Batman tried to escape, but a scout ship caught up to him and finally wiped him out and killed the last of them.
The entire Team witnessed the massacre. Red Tornado and Zatara knew that the celestial defenses were gone and that the ground division was the planet's only hope. Red Tornado turned to address the Team before going off to help the others.
"I must join the League. We will protect the planet at all costs. But should we fail, the responsibility falls to you." Tornado warned.
"We stand ready." Aqualad responded.
Red Tornado zeta-tubed away in order to join the fight soon afterwards. Everyone could only helplessly watch as the world was being ravished by the alien invaders. From Central City to Gotham and from Taipei to Metropolis, they watched as the Leaguers died and the cities fell. One by one Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, The Flash, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Icon, Atom, Aquaman, and more died. The last transmission the Team received was from Red Tornado. It was a message saying that he was the last of the League, but ultimately he too was killed by the invaders.
Itachi watched all of the carnage transpire with sadness. It reminded him of what the Third Great Ninja War and everything that transpired there too. He saw a live newsfeed of Gotham and witnessed as his adopted city burned. The specific area being focused on was Chinatown where he and Carson worked. Itachi felt so much rage at what was happening there. It was crystalized when he witness the mask shop he worked at be disintegrated right on screen.
'The mission falls on us now. We must remain vigilante for the people of Earth.' Itachi thought with conviction. He looked up with his mangekyo sharingan activated and a will end this madness. Artemis saw the scene transpire too and shook her head at him. He remembered that when impossible situations like this occur, it was important to lean on the Team for support.
Doing this all alone would be the easy way out. It would only be him serving his own selfish cause. If he really wanted to honor the fallen, he'd seek justice instead. Not just for the Leaguers, but for the entire planet. He deactivated his sharingan and decided to wait for the Team to formulate a plan. They would do this together. Artemis nodded at her friend to show her approval at his choice.
"We are Earth's heroes now." Aqualad announced.
"So what are we waiting for then? A theme song?" Conner questioned.
"We need a strategy. We just witnessed Earth's mightiest heroes get wiped out with little effort. The same will happen to us if we go in blinded by our emotions. Earth's weapons are ineffective and it has been made abundantly clear that a direct assault on them won't succeed in anything other than our deaths." Itachi answered.
Robin pulled up satellite feed on the location of all of the aliens. Most of the ships were busy bombarding the major cities of the world. One, though, was off by itself over by Superman's Fortress of Solitude. Robin hypothesized that its power source must have been strong enough to attract the aliens' attention.
Conner was more hurt about Superman hiding something like this from him than concerned about planning, "I guess there's a lot about Superman that I'll never know now."
"I'm sorry." M'gann said.
"Stay focused on the mission Conner. We can mourn our loss later. I know this is difficult especially at a time like this, but we need to stay on task with the mission. For this to be a success, and all of us make it out of here alive, we need you." Itachi said trying to keep his teammates' mind where they needed to be.
"You're right. I'll try to stay focused." Conner offered. He and M'gann were shook by how cold Itachi sounded, but they knew he probably didn't mean for it to sound like that.
"We will target this lone ship." Aqualad announced.
"Yeah, break it down, build more, and hit those ugly aliens with their own mojo," Artemis hit Wally before he could say anything else stupid. She made sure to inform him of his blatant prejudice as the two resident aliens gave Wally a cold look, "Martian and Kryptonian in the house."
"Not that all aliens are automatically ugly." He said while trying his hardest to get the foot that he had surgically sewn into his mouth out.
The Team snuck into flanking position as one of the alien ships was standing guard of the entrance. Once in position, Miss Martian took out the ship's communication and propulsion systems while Artemis sealed the extraterrestrials using one of her clay arrows. Aqualad then emerged out of the water below and hopped onto the hull of the ship. It was about to blast him, but Superboy and Wolf saved him just in time. Itachi used his skeletal Susanoo to hold it in place with the help of Conner so that Robin was able to analyze and identify the weapons structural stress points and links to the ship. Once Identified, Itachi and Conner worked to remove the weapon. As the process unfolded though, the weapon charged up an attack that was aimed at Conner. Wolf noticed it and sacrificed itself in time to save its friend.
"There was no indication of feedback. I'm sorry." Robin expressed.
"Can't do anything for him now. Let's go." Conner responded. He and Itachi finished pulling the weapon out of the ship. Once it was removed, Miss Martian was able to reroute her ship so that it could integrate the alien weapon and use it. The only drawback with that was that they would be out in the open because the camouflage would have to be deactivated.
"We don't have time. Reinforcements just arrived." Itachi announced as he got his Susanoo ready.
"Miss Martian, open fire now!" Aqualad ordered.
"I can't. Weapons systems are off-line to incorporate the new cannon. And that's not fully integrated yet either." She responded.
"I got you covered. Get inside I'm almost there. Crow, you're with me!" Artemis said as she shot arrows at the reinforcements.
"Got it." Itachi upgraded his Susanoo to the half-bodied humanoid stage. As she shot her arrows, Itachi used the Yasaka Magatama to shoot them out of the sky. They both were able to take out two ships before having to retreat. While Artemis was running one of the ships activated its cannon and aimed it at Artemis.
"Artemis! Behind you!" Itachi warned but it was too late. He could only watch as his friend was killed in front of him. Miss Martian screamed her name as Artemis went up in smoke. Itachi responded by using the Yasaka Magatama in retaliation, but the ship's cannon blasted right through the attack and before he knew it, the shot made direct contact with his Susanoo. The others watched in horror as the orange giant disintegrated before them. M'gann was horrified.
"Artemis! Itachi!" She screamed.
"Artemis!" Kid Flash yelled as he saw his teammates go up in smoke.
"Get inside! All of you!" Aqualad ordered. Aqualad then used his powers to levitate the alien ship. The biggest fireball the Team had ever seen then obliterated the ship out of the sky. They all turned to see Itachi standing on top of a hill of snow. At the last second he had left his Susanoo before being disintegrated. He couldn't save Artemis though, which made him angry. But despite all of his anger, Itachi knew that the mission had to be finished so he needed to cast his feeling aside and be steady for the sake of the others. This was the first time any of them had lost a comrade in battle.
Everyone was either happy to see him or still mourning the loss of Artemis. Itachi wasted no time in proceeding forward. He could feel the rage radiating from Wally as he passed by him to head for the bioship. He heard the speedster declare that he'd kill every single alien if it was the last thing he ever did as everyone else looked on in grief.
"M'gann, stop crying. We still have a mission and must remain vigilant. Wally stop thrashing about. Artemis is gone. Get over it and focus on the mission. The world is still depending on us." Itachi scolded.
"Get over it? Get over it?! How dare you?! She was our friend and we just watched her die. You don't just get over something like that!" Wally yelled.
"The world is still at stake. Do you think Artemis would want you to mourn her or save her world? We all need clear heads in order to do that. I get it…you've never seen a friend die before, but a lot more people will die if we don't stop this threat. So get over it." Itachi replied calmly.
"How can you be so calm about this? Wasn't she the first person to befriend you out of all of us?" M'gann asked through tears.
"Yes she was, but I know that crying or thrashing won't do anything; planning and executing will. Until this mission is done I can't let my mind wander about what I could have done differently. I need to be ready at all times and so do all of you. She made a mistake and paid dearly for it. We can't repeat that or we'll all die." Itachi explained.
"Made a mistake?! She was murdered!" Wally yelled. He was in so much pain from seeing Artemis die.
"She turned her back on the enemy. Rule number one of combat is to always have your eyes on the opponent. It's such a simple mistake to make and it cost Artemis her life. We can't afford for you and M'gann to be so wrapped up in your hurt feelings that you make mistakes that could get yourselves killed. We've lost enough people today…" Itachi replied showing a crack in his steel demeanor.
"Itachi is right. There will be time to mourn later. We have a job to do now. We will defend the Earth and ensure that Artemis' sacrifice was not in vain." Aqualad announced.
They decided to go to the Hall of Justice to let the surviving humans know that there are still heroes that are defending them and that hope was not lost. They arrived in D.C. not long afterwards and were greeted by the site of a squadron of soldiers being attacked by three of the alien spaceships. Superboy and Crow leapt out of the bay doors of the bioship to neutralize the opposition. Superboy landed with power and ripped one of the ships apart, Crow launched a fireball jutsu at and incinerated the other, and Miss Martian's bioship blasted the final ship out of the sky. She also had the ship catch Itachi once he had taken out his target.
The Team landed in front of the group of soldiers and was met with cheers for being saved. The ranking general confused Conner for Superman at first, but Conner quickly denied the claim. The general responded how it didn't matter to any of them because Conner wore the 'S' on his shirt and got the job done which boosted Conner confidence. Aqualad relayed the plan to the general of salvaging as many alien cannons as possible before launching a counterattack.
They went into the Hall of Justice soon after to regroup and reflect on everything that has happened. They stared at the broken statues of the Justice League and felt somber about the depth of their losses.
"They're really gone…" Robin noted. M'gann floated to a statue of her uncle J'onn and started to break down in tears. In the middle of her crying she felt a familiar presence underneath the statue remains and lifted it up to reveal her uncle unharmed. She was about to rush to him when Itachi stopped her.
"M'gann, check his mind. Make sure he is who he appears to be. We can't afford any more mistakes." Itachi advised. It's not that he wasn't glad; he just didn't want to be caught off guard. Since they still had no idea about the abilities of their adversaries, he would make sure to be extra careful. Plus, something felt wrong to him and it has ever since they lost Artemis.
After checking through his mind M'gann confirmed that it was indeed her uncle. Conner still had his doubts though.
"But we saw you get disintegrated. You and Superman…and everyone!" He said while trying to get to the bottom of this.
"Yes I remember, but I cannot remember how I survived. Or how I arrived here." J'onn explained.
"Maybe you were density shifting and the beam passed right through you." M'gann offered. She didn't care how it happened, she was just glad he was alive at all. Robin agreed with her theory and added that the beam probably messed with his head while in mid phase.
"My mind is clouded. I feel certain that I had something important to tell you." J'onn said while pondering what it was that he was supposed to tell them. Itachi found this story to be troubling. It did nothing to wipe the feeling that something big was seriously wrong, it only made things feel worse, 'People just don't come back from the dead on a fluke. J'onn should be dead…I saw it myself. So why is he standing before me now and what did he have to say?'
Wally had an idea based off of this revelation and had Robin scan the alien cannon. Robin found out that the cannon was giving off zeta-tubes meaning that no one was disintegrated; they were all teleported somewhere. He shared the same thought as some of the others of being hopeful that Artemis and the others were still alive.
"That must have been what you wanted to tell us." M'gann figured as she was elated from the news. Itachi still had his doubts because if that were true, why was J'onn the only one sent here and why can't they sense anyone else that was hit?
Reinforcements had arrived and started to blast outside of the Hall of Justice. M'gann and J'onn tried to shield the bioship, but the blasts sent them backwards because of the psychic link to the ship when it was hit. Conner ran to check on her and saw that she had tears in her eyes because the hit the ship took did not feel like a zeta-tube to her; it felt like dying.
The Team and the soldiers had to fall back deeper into the Hall. They were all currently holed up in the Hall's library. Aqualad came up with a plan to zeta-tube back to the Cave, but because of lack of clearance, J'onn could only send one person at a time. The general refused because he knew that the Team was the world only hope of survival. He was willing to sacrifice himself and his men for them.
J'onn quickly sent M'gann and Robin in first. He opened and was about to send Wally next when the aliens breached the Halls and began attacking. Itachi and Conner started buying time for their teammates. Wally was about to join then, but never got the chance because Aqualad threw him into the zeta-tube to save him.
Conner went and saved a soldier that was trapped under debris while Itachi laid covering fire down with his Phoenix Flower Jutsu. Conner made sure that the soldier was transported to the Cave next since he was injured. Aqualad ordered that Conner followed soon after which left only him, J'onn, and Itachi left. Itachi couldn't use his Susanoo as a defense because it would cause a cave-in and trap the survivors. It didn't take long for the aliens to eradicate each of the soldiers one by one. The heroes were on borrowed time.
"Itachi, take J'onn to the other side. They need you more than they need me!" Kaldur ordered. Itachi threw J'onn in the zeta-tube, but didn't go in after and abandon Aqualad.
"Aqualad this is no time to play hero. We need-" He didn't get to finish because Aqualad was blasted by the alien and killed. The impact from the blast sent Itachi into the zeta-tube against his will. Itachi had once again failed in saving a friend.
Once what was left of the Team had gotten back to the Cave, they quickly went to discuss the next course of action. Itachi and Robin assumed joint leadership and came up with the best plan all circumstances considering. Itachi lost the fight on not wasting time trying to find dead people to the others.
"Our next mission is clear. If we believe the aliens have been teleporting victims-"
"We do." Wally interjected.
"Then the only reasonable detention facility is here. Their mothership that is currently on top of what used to be Smallville. Ring any bells?" Robin finished.
"No, I'm sorry." J'onn answered.
"Superboy, you'll create a distraction for us while we infiltrate the mothership." Itachi said while going over the details of the plan.
"No! They're offering you up as a sacrifice. Aqualad would never do that!" M'gann argued.
"What Aqualad has done is left us compromised." Robin replied firmly. She was about to respond when Itachi interceded on Robin's behalf.
"Aqualad is dead. He's dead because he made the mistake of valuing being the hero over being the leader. Now we have no leader. Superboy and myself are the most likely to be perceived as a threat. We can't be in the same place at once. It'll motivate the aliens to deploy at our location and slaughter all of us. It's time to grow up and make some tough decisions. The needs of the world outweigh the needs of the individual members of the Team." Itachi rebutted.
"The worst case is that he's teleported inside. We will set him free along with Artemis…and Aqualad and the others." Wally reasoned.
"The worst case is that Conner dies. I know you're all hoping for a happy ending but you need to be prepared for the fact that this mission may not go the way you hope it will. This is what the real world looks like." Itachi warned. Wally did not like that statement one bit from Itachi.
"What's your problem?! I'm just trying to have some hope here. We don't know that Artemis is dead and we don't know that Conner will die either for that matter, but you just seem so eager to read her obituary." Wally shouted.
"I've been doing this a lot longer than you have. I've already accepted how this may turn out; good or bad. How are you going to solve this problem when you won't even acknowledge that there is a problem to solve?" Itachi asked.
"Saving Artemis is the problem!" Wally yelled.
"What happens when you find out that she can't be saved? That you were wrong and your mistake could get the rest of us killed too. Are you that selfish, or is it arrogance?" Itachi wondered.
"The only selfish person I see is you! You're only thinking of yourself! Why is saving Artemis and the others so stupid to you? Oh I have an idea, why don't you cause the distraction since you're so strong and seem to know everything? You make the sacrifice then! You won't though because you don't care! You may be on the Team, but you are no Aqualad! You're no hero!" Wally shouted passionately.
"Yes, because Aqualad was so heroic that he wound up dead. I have to be ready to pick up the pieces when this plan fails…when you fail." Itachi responded both calmly and coldly. Itachi then shook his head and walked away. He had no time to deal with children that were wrapped in their feelings. All he could do was prepare and try to finish the mission with or without help.
Robin, M'gann, and Conner were all shocked by the huge blow up. It was mostly Wally yelling, but Itachi's cold words hurt more than any insult Wally hurled at him. They all had the same question; if he cared about his friends, why won't he even attempt to try and save them. Seeing this infighting within the Team caused J'onn sadness and made him wish he knew what message he had to deliver.
Conner made sure to let M'gann know that he was okay with the plan because it would be what Superman would do, Wally went off by himself to cool off, and Robin went over the plan in his head again. This was mostly his plan and he refused to let his teammates die because of it. After he was done, Robin decided to talk to Itachi to try and smooth things over between him and Wally.
Itachi's troubles about this whole situation have only grown now. Itachi knew he was cold to Wally and that he should be hoping to find his friends alive, but in a battle where the loser of this dies; he couldn't afford to concern himself with their feelings or false hope. Perhaps one day, if they make it out of this, he'll tell them why he's like this and why finishing the mission is the only option left. His experiences in life have taught him to plan for the best, but expect the worse. He didn't expect to find anyone alive at all. The aliens have made no demands, only destruction. Itachi expects to find a war and he will be ready to use any option available in order to end this war. War doesn't leave prisoners, it leaves only corpses.
The Team relayed a joint message for keeping hope to the Earth. They assured that even if just one of them were left fighting, that that alone was enough to keep hope alive. They swore that the people of Earth would survive, rebuild, and thrive once more. They promised that heroes would rise up to replace the fallen ones and that the Earth would never surrender. Itachi was the only one missing from the joint message. He had no interest in inspiring hope in people; he wanted to get to the bottom of his bad feeling and more importantly, reign down fear on the aliens who invaded his planet and killed his friends.
'I need to protect my friends. I'll do whatever it takes.' Itachi thought while blood dripped down his face as his mangekyo sharingan activated. Robin came in the room to go over the plan with Itachi. He showed the schematics to Itachi so that he knew the ins and outs of it. Itachi was shocked by the details of it. Robin had a gloom look on his face from what the plan was. Itachi assured him that he would follow through with it no matter what.
They were close to the mothership in Smallville. The Team used the cover of the night to sneak close and scout the ship. Pretty soon they would attack and try to save anyone that was captured. This was, on the surface, a search and rescue mission.
"Stay close to J'onn. He's still iffy," Robin whispered to M'gann. She nodded as confirmation. The Team decided that it would be best if Robin led the mission since it was mostly his plan, "First team deploy!"
M'gann and J'onn flew up and used invisibility to sneak pass the motherships defenses. They infiltrated the mothership and waited for the next phase. Superboy then proceeded with the next phase and started attacking the exterior of the mothership. He got control of one of the cannons and started blasting all of the other weapons so that Robin, Kid Flash, and Crow could make it in safely. Once all of the alien ships deployed to attack Superboy, the others sprinted into the hatch bays where the alien ships were launched.
Once inside, the three of them traversed the mothership, being extra careful not to be spotted by the enemy. Itachi made sure to give Robin a nod of confirmation of what they had theorized back at the Cave in private, at which Robin replied with a nod also. That nod meant that there was horrible news to deliver. An alien was about to spot them when Miss Martian quickly destroyed it and saved their cover.
Outside Conner was being overwhelmed. After giving a last ditch effort to distract the aliens, he was disarmed of his cannon and ultimately killed by an alien blast. M'gann immediately felt the results of Conner's death and collapsed in grief.
"No, he's gone." She said sadly.
"It's alright. We'll find him with Artemis, I know it." Wally consoled. Itachi felt that bad feeling getting worse again and was beginning to form a hypothesis based off of a pattern he noticed. He wasn't 100% sure he was right. If he was wrong about his theory, it would cost everyone their lives.
"No, my mind is clear now. The disintegration beam is exactly that. There is no detention facility. No prisoners to rescue. Our mission holds no purpose." J'onn revealed.
Itachi took that as confirmation for part of his theory. Itachi kept his theory to himself because he didn't want to give false hope to the others in case he was wrong and for the next part to be confirmed, something terrible would have to happen. Itachi weaved the hand signs needed for the jutsu that would either save or doom everyone. Itachi just hoped that he was right about this feeling as he felt is chakra drastically drop to dangerous lows.
"No, you're wrong! The zeta radiation proves she's alive," Wally argued. Robin got a hold of his friend to lay down the terrible truth, "Stop it KF! I've been scanning for League and Team signals since we got inside. I even had Crow scan for chakra signatures even beforehand. Neither of us got any type of signal. They're not here…Artemis is gone."
"I'm sorry Wally. I really hoped that you were right about Artemis and the others. But our mission still has purpose. We must destroy this mothership at all costs." Itachi offered.
He and Robin walked away to proceed with the plan. M'gann conveyed her sadness for and with Wally by putting a hand on his shoulder. But in the end, she too knew that they had to follow through with the plan.
They made it to the room that was holding the power core. The plan was to blow it and the mothership sky high. As they moved to get into better position to the core, Wally and Robin were magnetically pulled against their wills. Robin thought fast and used his grapple gun to latch onto a surface before they were pulled all the way in. An alien scout saw them and was about to attack, but was stopped when Itachi and his Phoenix Flower Jutsu incinerated it.
M'gann then used her telekinetic powers to lower Robin and Kid Flash safely down onto a platform. Robin then started prepping for the final stage of the plan as M'gann, Itachi, and J'onn stood watch. Wally realized something as the final stages were coming to a close.
"You knew, both you and Itachi. You knew from the very beginning why you were really here. You never thought that she could be alive. You sided with Itachi." Wally said accusingly as the hurt and disappointment showed.
"We have four minutes. Let's go." Robin answered as he was focused on the mission. There was no side to take. There was right and there was wrong. This mission proved that Itachi was right and Wally was wrong, and that's the end of the discussion. The extra gear he packed with him was detonation charges.
They all made a move to the door but it was sealed shut. Alien scouts also arrived to prevent the heroes from escaping. Everyone had to get into cover as the aliens shot at them. They only had a limited amount of time before the charges blew which meant hard choices had to be made.
"Sixteen seconds and counting. Crow, you have to escort Manhunter and Miss Martian out of here safely." Robin ordered.
Itachi nodded as he sprinted to the other side to join with the Martians. M'gann refused to abandon them, but Itachi reminded her that he was the leader and that she should follow his orders. M'gann gave a final sigh of sadness and phased her teammate and uncle out of the ship.
They emerged safely just in time to see the ship, and her friends, blow up in a blazing inferno. Itachi went over to console her, but she turned away from him. M'gann didn't want to hear it.
"Don't…don't tell me that the mission was a success. The price was too high," She rebutted feeling the grief for her friend washing over her, "Why? Why didn't you use your Susanoo to protect them? You could have saved them."
Itachi knew that his theory was indeed correct after the destruction of the mothership. That meant that there was only one road left to take. Just then a second mothership had arrived and Itachi knew that it was now or never, "Because if I had it wouldn't have saved them. I had already used up too much chakra and I needed the last of it to do this. I'm sorry."
"Sorry for wha-," She was cut off when a giant orange sword had impaled her chest. She turned and saw that Itachi had used his Susanoo on her. She also noticed that one of his eyes looked like it had lost its vision. M'gann shed tears as she felt her life begin to fade. As her life began to fade and the world went black, the last thing M'gann heard was her uncle J'onn asking Itachi how he knew and Itachi replying that everything just felt wrong again.
M'gann woke up suddenly back inside of the Cave. She saw that Conner, Wolf and all of the others were with her and safe.
"You're all alive!" She exclaimed.
Itachi was checking his left eye and saw that everything was indeed fine. He was exhausted and could barely stand, but everything was back to the way it was. Batman checked on J'onn and asked what happened in there, to which he replied that the exercise went wrong.
Everyone on the Team but Itachi was shocked hear that it was just an exercise. Batman explained that it was indeed a training exercise. It turns out that Manhunter psychically linked their minds into an artificial reality and that they all knew this going in. It was concealed from everyone that it was a train for failure exercise. That means that no matter what they accomplished, the reality would shift on design and grow worse. But they were supposed to be aware that none of it was real, including the deaths of the higher Justice League.
"It's why none of us grieved after witnessing their deaths. Not even when Wolf was disintegrated before our very eyes. But it all changed when Artemis died. I didn't recognize it immediately, but after her death the exercise stopped feeling like an exercise; it felt like our reality. M'gann made it so." Itachi elaborated.
Itachi felt bad because it sounded like he was blaming her, but he really wasn't. Manhunter further elaborated, "Though consciously she knew it wasn't real, M'gann's subconscious mind could not tell the difference. She had forgotten that it was only an exercise. When that happened her subconscious took control and made all of you forget too because you were all linked telepathically."
"I-I'm…I'm s-so sorry." She apologized. Conner defended her and said that it wasn't her fault. He then turned towards J'onn and asked why he didn't turn the exercise off.
"We tried, but M'gann had a death-grip on the scenario. Even Artemis, who should have awakened upon her death, was so convinced she had passed that she slipped into a coma. I realized that I would have to wrest control of Miss Martian's subconscious from within. But upon entering the reality, I was overwhelmed with your collective emotion. There was too much noise to think clearly…to remember why I was there. The deaths of Aqualad and Conner helped, but it wasn't until the mothership exploded, and Robin and Kid Flash was silenced, that my mind cleared enough to remember my original purpose; to shock M'gann out of the exercise until your comas became permanent. When I was about to make my move, Itachi had already impaled M'gann. He figured out what was really transpiring and ended the exercise."
"But how did you figure it out?" Batman asked.
"I had my doubts all the way back when Artemis died. I felt a seismic shift and started to get a feeling, like something was wrong besides seeing my friend die. As the mission continued, and more of the Team perished, the feeling got worse. When we discovered J'onn, but not anyone else, I knew something was wrong. If people were really just being teleported, why was Manhunter the only one we could sense? I had the opposite effect as Manhunter; his mind got clearer with each death, but my mind got cloudier. I got the same feeling when Conner and Aqualad died that I did when Artemis passed and hypothesized that something must have warped reality. I couldn't be sure until it happened again though. So I took a gamble and used a forbidden technique called the Izanagi. For the loss of eyesight in one of my eyes I am allowed to distort reality around me. In short, if there was anything warped about the reality around me I could shift it so that everything was back to how I wanted it to be. Once I did that, the bad feeling I had went away. I remembered that it was just an exercise, but I couldn't tell you all. You were all too wrapped inside the reality and I still needed to be sure that it was M'gann who was causing it. When the mothership blew and M'gann was wrapped in grief over the loss of Wally and Robin, I started to forget that it was just an exercise again. After that I confirmed that she indeed was changing reality and that I needed to stop her. I figured there no bigger shock than dying so with the last of my chakra, I killed her. It's why I apologized." Itachi explained.
"Why did you get the feeling though and not us?" Robin asked.
"I know what it feels like to have reality around me feel distorted. It felt like being inside of an elaborate genjutsu. It's why my eyesight returned. Nothing that happened in that world was real or held any weight at all." Itachi answered.
"Yeah now that I think about it, being in that world did feel like when you put me in that genjutsu." Conner agreed.
"My apologies. I had no idea a training exercise could be so dangerous…so damaging." J'onn said. He noted to the other Leaguers that it wasn't his nieces fault. He claimed that all of this was their fault. Batman agreed and noted how they gravely underestimated her. J'onn revealed that in terms of telepathic power, M'gann's mind is the strongest he has ever encountered. He said that it was by far stronger than his.
M'gann left the room in shock and decided that she wanted to be alone. Everyone was reluctant to console her, but Itachi still got up and tried anyways. He would never abandon a friend in need.
Itachi saw M'gann on a balcony crying alone. He knew that she took the training exercise hard since she felt responsible for all of the chaos that happened while inside the exercise. No one blamed her at all; it was just a teachable moment. Itachi didn't care about the state of her powers though. He only cared about the state of her emotions.
He walked up to her slowly as she sobbed. She felt Itachi presence and turned to address him, "Go away. I just want to be alone. I can't hurt anyone that way."
"No, I'm not going anywhere." Itachi replied.
"I said go away!" She railed on him. She turned back around and went back to crying. Itachi kept persisting and sat next to her on the balcony as they stared at the sunset. She looked at him and felt so much guilt, "I'm so sorry. I ruin everything."
"You didn't ruin anything. You did nothing wrong. It was the League's fault for letting it get that far and putting you in that position. I should be the one apologizing." Itachi said honestly.
"For what? I don't blame you for killing me. If you hadn't, I could have killed Artemis for real." She argued.
"I'm not sorry for impaling you. It was needed to be done for both your sake and our friends'. I'm sorry for how insensitive I was towards your feelings. You were hurt about Artemis, but I disregarded them for the mission so easily. That was wrong of me." Itachi admitted.
"I don't blame you. You were right about everything. I should have stayed focused on the mission. If I had, none of that would have happened. How do you do it? How do you stay so calm during missions in the face of so much adversity?" She asked.
"I wish I could tell you something extravagant, but it's really just time and experience. My clan starts teaching children how to control their powers and react to real world situations at a young age. You'll get better with time, I promise. " Itachi said while smiling at her.
"I don't know. How are the others ever supposed to trust me again?" She asked nervously.
"They won't. Not until you learn to trust yourself. How can you focus on completely controlling your powers when your focus is split 50/50 between controlling your powers and controlling your looks?" Itachi asked knowingly.
"W-What do you mean," She asked nervously. Itachi pointed out towards the sky ahead of them, "You haven't noticed that those same three birds have flown by for the past five minutes the exact same way at least ten times yet? We've been in a genjutsu ever since you turned to look at me; for privacy of course. No one will hear any of this, especially Conner."
"You know about us?" She asked now embarrassed. He nodded at her.
"You both need to practice on your stealth." Itachi said trying to lighten her mood. He could still tell she was down.
"I guess you're right." M'gann admitted.
"I don't know what you really look like, and I don't really care. You're my friend no matter what. I just want you to be comfortable with who you are. If that means looking like this, then so be it. But if you are to get full control of your powers, you need to accept yourself for who you are. Both the good and the bad." He advised.
"But how do I do that when the bad looks like such an ugly monster?" She asked.
"By remembering that the good looks so beautiful. You look beautiful. Your kindness, your spirit…everything. That's how you accept it. That's what dealing with my clan has taught me at least." Itachi answered in the best way he could. M'gann hugged him for his kind words.
"Thank you. I'll try to remember that. What's this clan that you keep bringing up?" She asked curiously. Itachi sighed before answering. This is a pivotal moment that could change everything.
"My clan is my family basically. Where I come from, groups of people are divided into villages, which are made up of several family clans." He explained.
"I don't think I get it." She said.
"Think of the village as one big circle of life, and in that circle are a bunch of smaller squares. That is what a village is; a bunch of smaller squares that are molded together to make one big circle. There are positives and negatives to that formula. One of the negatives is that the squares towards the edge of the circle have to be cut off at a point, or the circle will be uneven and left vulnerable. My clan was unfortunately one of those squares." Itachi explained.
"What do you mean by cut off? What happened to your clan?" She asked. Itachi looked down in shame. He didn't know if telling her was for the best, but if there was anyone on the Team who would be his first choice, that person would definitely be M'gann. She seems like the most likely to understand how complicated a situation he was put under because of her compassion. He found his resolve and decided to tell her…everything.
"This is something I can't just put into words. I have to show you. But before I do, promise me that you won't tell the others. This is something I wish to do on my own." He stated.
"I promise. You make it sound like this is something big. It's not going to change you and I being friends Itachi." She told him as she grabbed his hand in support.
"You say that now, but wait until you see everything. I'm the real monster here." Itachi said sadly.
"What are you talking about? You've done nothing but save me and the others since we've met. You're more of a hero than any of us." She reasoned.
"I'm no hero at all..." Before she could respond Itachi changed the environment of the genjutsu. It changed to when he was a four year old child walking through a land filed with corpses with his father. M'gann then witnessed one terrible atrocity committed after another as she watched Itachi's life unfold. She saw everything; every sin, every lie, every reason, and every death. Before she knew it, tears yet again filled her eyes. By the time the genjutsu was over, and she was greeted by the site of two brothers saying goodbye and witnessing her friend fade away in a golden light. After that she collapsed to her knees in sadness and sorrow.
She looked up at Itachi who stared forward with sorrow, "You went through all of that? Itachi, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. Everything happens for a reason. Despite all of that, I still found joy and purpose in my life." He replied.
She hugged him again. She saw horrible things in Itachi's past. It explains why he is the way he is now, "You're not a monster. That world you grew up in is the real monster. I wish you had been born to this one."
"Me too." He replied as he ended the genjutsu they were in. He ended the hug but still kept smiling at his friend, "Keep your head up M'gann. Things get better, I know it."
"I will. You've been through so much, and yet you still smile. You truly amaze me Itachi. And don't worry about the others; your secret is safe with me." Itachi nodded before leaving her.
Just as he left, her uncle J'onn was about to come up to talk to her about her powers. He was about to say something when something powerful entered his mind. Against her will, J'onn had seen everything that M'gann had, including the truth about Itachi's origin and past. M'gann had it at the forefront of her mind so much that J'onn only had to be near her to see what she was thinking about.
He left immediately with haste and went straight to Batman to relay what he had just seen in his niece's mind. Batman growled before giving his response, "Call all Justice League members. We'll give the Team a week to move past what just happened, but after that we will call everyone in and discuss what to do about Itachi. He must explain himself or there will be consequences."
A week has passed since the training exercise gone wrong and most of the Team was still reeling from it. Conner felt guilty because of how the reality made him finally feel like Superman. Even when his friends died, he still kept enjoying the thrill of it all which confused him.
Robin felt discouraged from the experience. Though he always wanted to be leader, when the opportunity came he felt unprepared to make the sacrifices needed in order to do that and which to no longer be a leader of anyone.
Wally was in denial about how Artemis's death really impacted him.
Artemis felt reluctant after the experience. She had no desire to reveal secrets that she is keeping from the others because she didn't know how they'd react, especially Wally. She was confused why she cared about his opinion above everyone else's.
M'gann still felt guilt for the whole experience, even after Itachi talked to her. She did take his advice about not fighting against herself, but that was going to be a very slow process. All in all what really concerned her was the looks her uncle was giving both her and Itachi. In fact, the whole League got silent whenever Itachi was around.
Itachi didn't really have a strong reaction to it. It just served as confirmation to him that the Team still had a ways to go, but when he showed M'gann his past and she didn't reject him, he felt something that he hadn't in a long time; hope towards a better tomorrow.
Aqualad felt disappointed in himself. He talked to Batman and expressed interest in passing the role of leader to someone else. The reason for that was because of how he acted during the simulation. In his eyes he acted more like a soldier than a leader. The only problem was picking a suitable replacement. Artemis is too raw and untrusting, Kid Flash is too rash and impulsive, Miss Martian is too eager to please and incapable of making hard choices under pressure, Superboy is blinded by his anger too often, and Robin is too young. Itachi was his choice of succession in the end. He is experienced, skilled, respected, calm under pressure, and a natural born leader. But when Kaldur went to Batman for his approval, he denied it and told him that the Team was to meet with the League to discuss something important.
He realized that it must have been of the up most importance because the entire Justice League was in the room. He and his Team were all confused as to why this meeting was taking place. Batman took the lead and explained everything.
"This meeting is transpiring because we came across damning information about a member of the Team. Being fair, we will allow this person to defend themselves, but if we don't find the answer to be satisfactory, it will result in the immediate termination of membership here." He started.
This caught everyone's attention. They all assumed that they found out who the mole was, so when Manhunter stepped up and pointed towards Itachi it took everyone for surprise.
"You have been keeping something very important from us. Would you care to explain why when I read my niece's mind that all I saw were images of you slaughtering people left and right? Who are you, and I want the whole truth." J'onn demanded.
Everyone on the Team turned towards Itachi as the Justice League glared ahead at the vigilante. M'gann started to cry and proclaim that she had no idea her uncle read her mind. Itachi put her worries at ease and told her he didn't blame her. He knew this day would come, he just wished that it didn't happen like this.
'If they want the truth, I'll give them the truth. No more concealing who I am and why I'm here. This is my life and my choice.' He thought with conviction.
That's it for this chapter! I hope you all like it. Thanks for all of the faves, follows, and reviews. It was split pretty much down the middle between stick with one or go for two. I'll try to write and finish the second chapter before I leave. If I don't finish, or I'm not satisfied with its quality, I'll just upload an author's note letting you all know to wait until March. I promise that I will continue this story. I hope you all like this chapter and thanks again for the support! Till next time peeps!