SakiOkami – Thank you for that. Reviews like this made me want to get back into it. You rock.
Andresskorskiruiz – Thanks for your continued support. It means a lot.
Keybladelight – After the final battle, Itachi and Sasuke will catch up and it will lead to a very touching and eye-opening moment for the brothers.
Anime hotty lover.18 – Yep he's here. Sorry it took a while. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next ones.
msmeow1968 – yeah this story can be hard to write at time because of how heavy it is, but it definitely is rewarding with reviews like yours. Thanks again.
MrShiki– Have you been reading the Boruto manga? That clan does not play around lol
Webzayne717 – My earlier work is definitely not my best, but I do believe that it gets better if you stick with it. And if you don't, I am glad that you gave it a try for as long as you did
AUfan62 – Trust me, he is gonna wreck shop during the final battle.
Godspeed2000 – Yes and no. Trust me; there will be a huge plot twist in the end with a choice to be made by Itachi.
Einstein's Mistakes – thanks for the review and awesome name by the way.
COBRIS DARKNISS – Sasuke is hands down my favorite Naruto character. My friends give me crap about him losing to Naruto all the time.
0verLrd71 – Yeah, I have to fix some plot holes from my earlier writing once I'm finished with the story. Please bear with me for now lol
Thomas the tank – Because of 'possible' future plot points, I can't really speak on this review but you aren't the first person to suggest this lol
Thomas and frien – I just don't know much about her character to write her in a main character manor. We didn't really get a lot of Izumi in the actual cannon so most of what I know is from the Itachi novelizations. I didn't have Itachi join immediately because it wouldn't be as meaningful as when he finally did after all the contemplating he did.
Ayumi was currently making headway towards Mexico's border to intercept the Justice League. Her goal was to capture Carson from their possession and completely wipe out any remnants that still exist within the League. Itachi was still with her as well. It was because of the curse mark put on him, his flow of chakra and movement were both restricted. But just because he couldn't oppose her physically didn't mean that he couldn't challenge her ideals.
"Ayumi, do you truly believe that resetting the world will change anything? It won't take away any of the pain that you suffered as a result of your life." He called out to her.
"I don't care about my pain. This isn't for me, my son. All of this is for you. To make up for the pain that you experienced in your life." She replied.
"But I chose to go down that path. To sacrifice my life and my happiness was a decision I made because I knew it was the right thing to do to achieve peace, no matter how short it was. If not for me, then for my younger brother." Itachi tried explaining to her.
"It should have never come to that. Life is nothing but a reflection of its creator which means since this world is evil, than so too is our creator. But with the reset that won't be the case anymore because you will be the new creator. You and Carson. I have faith that the two of you will create a world worth living in." She answered with conviction.
"Not if it comes at the cost of everyone else in life. Ayumi…mother, this path that you are on will only lead you to more despair. Stop this now or it will end by you dying by the hands of your child." Itachi threatened.
"If that is how my story was meant to end then so be it, but I won't stop. I'm just too stubborn to go back now, even if I know that I'm the evil threat in all of this. I just don't have faith in humanity anymore." She sadly said.
"I do. I have faith in life after death. That it all has to mean something. That our sacrifices actually do affect people. Our love for those that we hold most precious can make a difference. It's true, that some people are vile and rotten. It's also true that life created by The Sage of Six Paths is flawed and needs to be improved. But the sacrifices made by people like you and me aren't insignificant. Even if it's just in one person's decision to reconsider committing a horrible act, even at the cost of our life, then that makes the sacrifice worth it. As devastating as it is to take a life from someone, it is just as beautiful to save someone's life. And even the most twisted of people are capable of it. I've seen it." He told her.
"We're about to come upon your friends, son. I'll show you that all of your sacrifices and faith have been misguided, Itachi." She retorted to end the argument. Ayumi planned on cutting down all of Itachi's ideals one by one till only hers were left.
The Team, led by Aqualad, were all currently heading towards their destination. The heroes also had Carson and James with them as they headed towards the base. They all knew what the mission was: to draw out the Masked Stranger, distract her, and rescue Itachi. And if they couldn't do that, then they would hold out until Artemis and Miss Martian came back with backup.
"Robin, be honest with me. Do we have a chance against her?" Wally asked of his best friend. They all knew that even with the entire Justice League behind them that it would still be an uphill battle, "Not a very good one. But we still have to try."
"Remember that we do not have to defeat her to secure victory. We need only to retrieve Itachi and escape. That is our primary goal." Aqualad reminded them.
"That's a lot easier said than done. If she uses her Susanoo to its full potential, we will all be killed in an instant." Rocket commented.
"She won't use it like that. Not until she secures Carson. The Stranger won't risk killing her in the crossfire." Robin replied.
"There's a hole in her chest that the Masked Stranger put there. I think that's enough grounds to think that she would kill Carson if it came to it. I just don't feel comfortable risking all of our lives on the hunch of Carson being the one thing The Stranger isn't willing to kill." Zatanna argued.
"Well Batman is, so that means we will too. I know it's not a perfect plan but it's the best we've got. We need to focus on the upcoming battle." Robin knew that there was no time for doubt with the battle coming up soon.
"How are we going to get Itachi? Even without her Perfect Susanoo, The Masked Stranger is still a powerful enemy in her own right. She managed to maim the Justice League in the Watchtower and fought Superman at his full strength while managing to beat him." Rocket asked.
"Together, that's how. The League didn't know that Ayumi was the Stranger or that she wielded a Sharingan like Itachi, but we do now. We'll fight her just like how Itachi showed us during all of those training sessions. Itachi always said that there are two weaknesses of the Sharingan. One of them is useless to us since none of us happen to wield the Sharingan. But the other is an option for us. We have to overwhelm her by giving her more targets than she has time to focus on." Conner answered.
"Yeah, but what if she uses her Susanoo to negate all of that? Even a weakened form would be enough to beat us." Zatanna retorted.
"We fight harder. Losing isn't an option so get it out of your mind. The life of our friend depends on it. We have failed him every time he has needed us, only coming after the fact. That will not happen this time." Aqualad declared.
"There she is!" Wally shouted as Ayumi's Humanoid Susanoo was there waiting for the heroes in the deserted plain of land. It stood tall and let out a roar as its eyes locked onto the Javelin the heroes were riding in.
"Watch, my son, as your faith burns to ash! Fire Style! Solar Tsunami!" A wave of fire was unleashed from the body of Ayumi's Susanoo and headed straight towards the Javelin that the young heroes were riding in. It was so large that there would be no avoiding it and the blast is so hot that it would incinerate all that touched it.
Robin was debriefed on the technique from when the Stranger attacked the Justice League. Batman told him that the move was so hot that even Superman was affected by it. He knew that they needed to avoid the blast at all costs.
"Zatanna, use magic to shield us against that blast! It must not be allowed to touch the ship or we'll all die!" Robin ordered.
"Right! Emoc htrof, erehps fo eci!" Zatanna summoned ice to wrap around the ship as a means of protection against the blast. It also dropped the temperature to shield against overheating, but that wasn't their only defense, "Aqualad, use your hyrdokinesis to create a shield of water around the ice to help buffer our defenses."
Kaldur nodded before using his power to draw forth the moisture in the air and shape it into a wall of water that covered the ship. Despite this, Robin knew that they needed more and called out to Rocket, "Quick, use your kinetic force field to help Kaldur and Zatanna. We're gonna need all the help we can get!"
Rocket created the shield and with that the ship flew into the wave of destruction that was Ayumi's jutsu. Through some miracle the heroes were able to withstand the fire thanks to the defense Robin had mounted up against it. The same could not be said for the area around them.
"Oh no…the ground. It looks like scorched earth." Wally's assessment had been correct. Ayumi's jutsu was so devastating that the very Earth itself got scorched in the blast radius. There was nothing but wasteland and sand for miles thanks to the attack. Conner was just glad that it wasn't them that ended up scorched.
"That would have been all of us if that blast had hit the ship. Guys, you all okay?" He asked of the three heroes responsible for protecting the group. While exhausted, the three of them were more or less okay. Conner then turned his attention towards the precious cargo that they were carrying, "What about Carson and James?"
"They're safe," Wally said as he sprinted to check on them. After doing a full diagnostic check, he also knew that the live fire functions of the ship were still operational, "I say we hit her back now."
"Agreed, launch the missiles, Robin!" Aqualad ordered. Two missiles were launched as a response and headed straight for Ayumi's Susanoo. She was genuinely impressed that Itachi's friends had managed to survive the jutsu, "You have some impressive friends. Not too many can say that they have survived my jutsu."
"I know. It'll take a lot more than the likes of you to defeat them." Itachi replied. He was still paralyzed thanks to the curse so seeing his friends make it out of that situation alive made him relieved. But that relief was short lived after Ayumi's next few words, "I wonder…what they will do about the reflash?"
"Reflash?" Itachi asked. Ayumi smiled as she made the tiger hand sign. To Itachi's surprise and the Team's horror, a second wave of fire erupted from Ayumi's Susanoo. Because of how close in proximity they all were, there would be no defending against this one like before.
The second wave of fire incinerated the missiles before they could even touch Ayumi. After that, it kept spreading until it hit its intended target. There were only two aspects of saving grace that kept the heroes alive: one was the fact that this wave was a lot smaller than and not nearly as hot as the original. The second was Kaldur's quick thinking in bring up his water shield to take the brunt of the blast.
Despite those facts, the blast still managed to send the ship crashing down onto the ground. Conner went over to Carson and James to make sure they weren't hit by debris while Robin prepared the others for a crash landing, "Brace for impact!"
The ship smacked the ground hard. Rocket used her kinetic powers to lessen the bow, which was how everyone managed to escape with just scrapes and bruises. Robin kicked the door open as he led everyone out of the ship once the dust had settled. He couldn't believe that they got hit like how they did.
"Batman didn't mention anything about a second blast. We could've been killed." He lamented.
"No, if she had wanted to kill us, the very first blast would've done the trick. She just wanted to test our defenses and find a way to isolate Carson from the rest of us. She still is the main goal and wouldn't risk killing her. I bet the second blast was meant to cancel out the first one if we had proven to not capable enough to protect ourselves against it." Kid Flash hypothesized.
"Yeah, I think you're right. Is everyone alright?!" The others slowly but surely gave confirmation that they were indeed alright. It was a good news bad news sort of situation now. The good news was that they all were alive but the bad news was that they were now exposed in the open thanks to having their ship be brought down.
Ayumi shook her head at how hard it was to kill them. It reminded her of a cockroach. But then she got a look at her true goal, Carson. She eyed the brunette girl using her Sharingan and commanded her Susanoo to go charging after them. The teenagers looked on as the golden behemoth started its stride towards them.
"Just like how we trained, guys! Rocket, attack her legs." Robin ordered. The newest member of their team fired her kinetic blast at the Susanoo in an attempt to throw off its balance. Ayumi had her Susanoo summon a curved blade and deflected the attack into the desert sand. She was about to continue her advance when she found that her Susanoo was stuck in the sand beneath it and quickly sinking into the pit.
She looked down and realized that she found herself in quicksand but didn't know how since she was positive the ground beneath her was solid she started moving. Ayumi looked forward and soon found the culprit of this ploy was Aqualad. He had used his hydrokinetic powers to alter the genetic structure of the sand and make it into quicksand.
Kid Flash then started speeding around Ayumi and her Susanoo. He ran so fast that a vortex of wind started to form around her. She scoffed at such a rudimentary tactic and weaved hand signs for her next counter.
"Vaper Style! Steam Blast Jutsu!" A gust of steam emitted out of her Susanoo but the intended affect wasn't achieved. Instead of the steam bursting outward like how it usually does, this time the steam rotated with the vortex and was causing Ayumi pain. She snarled once she realized that the vortex around her wasn't just a means to keep her still, it was meant to deflect any attack. And because of how fast the speedster was running, the steam didn't fade away either, it just kept going because of the wind boost.
"Fine, I'll just crush you then!" The Susanoo reached down to smash Kid Flash. The Team had already prepared for this as the Susanoo's hand was zapped backwards by a shield that had formed around it. As Ayumi scanned it she saw that is was more in the shape of a funnel than that of a shield. It allowed an opening up top to let the air in and seated flush with the quicksand so that there would be no way of the steam slipping though to hurt Wally.
'But that doesn't make sense. Heat rises, not falls; so why is my steam crashing down and hurting me?' Her Susanoo roared in pain as the heat started to make its astral flesh boil.
"Pu si nwod dna nwod si pu!" Zatanna was casting a spell that reversed the field around Ayumi to keep the steam from rising. She was forced to bear the brunt of all of her own heat and the more she struggled, the quicker she sunk. Ayumi just planned on staying still until the Team got tired, but another wrinkle of their plan had revealed itself.
A powerful force began to puller harder and quicker into the quicksand. The force of its power almost made her Susanoo topple over. Ayumi looked down and saw that Superboy was the cause of this turmoil. It made sense that it was him. Because of his superior genetics, he was able to withstand the heat, even while underground, and muster enough strength to actually get traction with pulling her under.
'He must have dug underground while my attention was split between his friends. They plan on burying me alive. But what about Itachi? Oh, I see now. That's why they left an opening. They're expecting me to abandon my Susanoo and leave through the opening of the funnel. And I bet that once I do that, they'll have the rest of their team ready to either attack me or snatch my son away. It's a very good plan and I can tell Itachi's fingerprints are all over them. Too bad they didn't account for one thing.' She dangerously thought.
"Kid, keep going! You too, Superboy! Once she leaves the Susanoo, Red Arrow and I will attack and get Crow back!" Robin relayed to his friends. It was too bad for them that Ayumi had different plans, "Chakra Mode!"
Her Susanoo shifted colors from gold to red like her lightning chakra mode and brought on new problems for The Team. It roared with a ferocity that was so mighty that it blew literally everything nearby away. The funnel shield that was around her shattered, Kid Flash was sent airborne, and the steam that was hurting her Susanoo finally dissipated. It then punched down into the quicksand and grabbed Superboy from out of it. The monster glared him down before slamming him into the ground so hard that a crater formed and then used its free hand to punch him down even further.
Finally, it took care of the matter of the quicksand by emitting Ayumi's Red Lightning into the ground to stabilize it. Once that was done, the Susanoo stepped out of the pit it was waist deep in and released the chakra mode to return to its original golden color. The Team looked on in defeat as they saw Ayumi completely unaffected by their plan.
"She's charging us again and we're out of options." Red Arrow said in a panic.
"It's okay. We did our job. We slowed her down enough. The cavalry just arrived." Robin said in relief. Before Ayumi could get far, she found her Susanoo put of its back by a streak of blue and red. She knew that this fight had just gotten a lot more difficult that it should have been.
"Your friends were only stalling for time all along. I figured as much but with them holding Carson over me, I couldn't risk going all out to get her back. And now the rest of the Justice League has come to fight me." She surmised as her Susanoo got up.
"And that's a problem for you?" Itachi replied back.
"Yes, they brought everyone in the Justice League." She noted as legions of heroes followed Superman's lead. Ayumi smiled at them, "I guess I can't hold back anymore. I'm sorry son, but I'll have to kill a few of them to get Carson back."
"You won't win. The curse mark you have on me won't last forever." Itachi warned.
"You're right, but their lifespan will be even shorter! Masamune!" She summoned her ancient sword and got ready to unleash an onslaught. Superman came back around to follow up on his attack with heat vision but was stopped by the sound of screaming men as her black blade came hurtling towards him with great speed. It nullified the head vision and sent him crashing down to the ground.
"Your time is up you fiend!" Ayumi turned to see that Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel were both heading her way next. Just over the horizon a legion of heroes could be seen attempting to join the fight.
Captain Marvel shot lighting out of his fists and Wonder Woman followed behind it with her Sword of Athena. Ayumi used her sword's Fate Mode to absorb the lightning and discharge it into the sky. The clouds turned black as a result giving way to a new scenery.
"This is a more appropriate backdrop for the demise of the Justice League. I'll enjoy killing all of you one by one. I'll start by finishing what I started in our last fight. This time, Marvel, I won't stop at your neck. I'll decapitate your entire head!" Ayumi declared as her Susanoo got ready to slash at the demi-god.
Marvel didn't stop from fear like how he would have in the past. He knew Itachi and the entire world depended on his courage. Plus, he knew he had back up. He used all of the strength he could muster and stopped the blade before it could wound him. Wonder Woman then followed behind him and used her sword to carve up the left arm of Ayumi's Susanoo.
She then made a beeline for its shoulder since that's where Ayumi and Itachi were located. With Captain Marvel holding its blade in place and Itachi being too close to unleash a Steam Jutsu, Diana knew this was her best chance at landing a blow.
"Most people run away from death, not towards it!" Ayumi called out.
"I'm not most people, now taste my steel!" Diana charged the Mother of Uchiha with the intent of finishing this fight quickly. Ayumi went into her Chakra Mode and delivered a bone crushing punch to Diana that sent her flying. After that, she held her hand up to deflect the green energy blast that came from behind her. It was John Stewart that shot it, but he wasn't alone. From above she saw that the entire Green Lantern Corps had arrived to join the fight.
"Not even can stop the might of the Corps. Now face the light of the Green Lanterns!" John said as they all started shooting energy blasts. Ayumi knew that this would mean trouble for her. Marvel still held on to her Masamune with all his might so she couldn't deflect the attacks with Fate Mode. Her Susanoo was sturdy, but not enough to withstand all of the attacks.
'I guess I have to use that jutsu. It'll sap my chakra reserves, but they aren't giving me much of a choice. They plan on fighting me in waves with the goal of making my chakra run out due to fighting off their sheer amount of numbers. I'm going to have to take them all out quickly.' She surmised in her head.
Ayumi's Susanoo started to glow brighter and brighter. If Marvel wasn't a demi-god, he would have been blinded by the light because it was so bright. The heroes couldn't see it, but Ayumi had her Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan activated. Itachi felt was going on and immediately went to warn the others.
"Hurry and leave now! She's going to activate her Demonic Resurgence Jutsu!" The news took Captain Marvel out of his focus long enough for Ayumi to take advantage. She plunged her sword down into the ground and used it to pin Captain Marvel there by his cape. Ayumi smirked as fear started to come across Marvel's face.
The glow of her Susanoo kept getting brighter. At this point, none of the blasts from the Green Lantern Corps were having an effect. Nothing would stop what was about to happen. Billy didn't know how he'd get out of this mess. The Susanoo had him pinned both by ramming it's sword through his cape into the ground but also by planting its foot on him to hold him still. He was running out of options but lucky for him, he had powerful friends.
"Do not worry, I've got you." Martian Manhunter came up from underneath the ground and used his abilities to faze himself and Marvel into the ground for safety. Ayumi didn't care as much about that as she did about getting rid of the Corps before they could stop her. She already saw the barriers the other heroes put up to shield the children and noticed that the Corps were also starting to put up barriers.
"We're too close to the blast. If you do this, I could die too. I thought protecting me was the point of this." Itachi said to her.
"I'm using my Susanoo as a catalyst for the explosion. It is the physical manifestation of chakra so it should do quite some damage. As soon as this Susanoo explodes, I'll create another one to act as a shield. The second will most likely get blown away in the blast, but it will do it's job in protecting you. Pus, I'll still have enough chakra to create a third one and keep fighting. I may not be able to kill every Green Lantern, but I'll definitely make it so that they'll be out of play. Nothing can stop me." Ayumi declared as her Susanoo let out a savage roar.
The monster detonated just as Ayumi wished it and blew everything away thanks to the Demonic Resurgence Jutsu. The Green Lantern Corps put up a massive wall to try and protect themselves, but that wasn't enough as the wall got obliterated and the Lanterns all got hit with the explosion. Thanks to the combined efforts of Rocket, Icon, Fate, Zatanna, Aquaman, and Aqualad, the young heroes all were able to survive to blast.
The other heroes were far enough from the blast range to escape mostly unscathed. Ayumi did exactly as she said she would and created a second Susanoo just as the first once exploded to act as a shield. Both she and Itachi stood unharmed as her second Susanoo was blasted away as it served its purpose. Ayumi observed the landscape to admire the damage she caused.
"I guess there'll be no more Green Lantern's light that I have to fear." She said mockingly of their mantra. A green laser blast to the chest told her that her plan wasn't as successful as she thought it was, "Hal is dead because of you! Do you really think I'd let an explosion stop me! My rage is an explosion!"
John Stewart was battered and bleeding, but still conscious enough to put up a fight still. Ayumi looked on in rage from seeing him still alive. She was about to attack but another energy blast stopped her. This one missed as she jumped out of the way. She landed to see that Superman also was still standing.
"You end here, Masked Stranger. Surrender now!" Superman ordered her. J'onn and Marvel returned from out of the ground to reveal that they were unharmed as well. Wonder Woman joined her teammates, also having survived the blast thanks to her shield.
"Give us back Itachi. He doesn't belong with you." She said. Batman walked up beside Diana in his Mech Batsuit that he once used to fight Superman. With him was Aquaman, Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Icon, Fate, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Flash, Plastic Man, and The Atom. All of the Justice League had surrounded Ayumi in preparation for the final assault.
"As glad as I am to know that my son has made such loyal friends, I still can't allow any of you to take him from me. This is a dying world that needs to start over. Itachi will make life a better place for all of us. Even if that means all of us dying so that Itachi can become God and recreate everything in his image. The rebirth is was needs to happen." She declared.
"If you were more concerned about being a mother, instead of caring about what the world needs, you would think more about what Itachi wants! You don't deserve that boy!" Canary spat out.
"You wouldn't dare chastise my love for Itachi if you knew what the world cost me, no, cost us! I let it take my son away from me once, but not again. Both he and Carson will be the new Adam and Eve and rebuild this world to truly be good. There will be no need for you all to be heroes anymore because there will be no villains. Just peace and harmony." Ayumi revealed.
"Something like that could never exist. Especially if it costs the lives of innocent people that wanted no parts in your plan. You need to be stopped because it's clear that you have lost all sense of sanity." Batman coldly responded.
"Innocent people you say. A concept like that doesn't exist in this life. A seed can't be innocent if the tree it came from was rotten and evil. Why am I even arguing with you lot? Nobody can stop me now that my powers have returned to me and my disease has left me. So you can hand over Carson to me or you all can die screaming like how your friend Hal Jordan did." Ayumi warned.
"Over all of our dead bodies." Canary declared. Ayumi frowned at her answer as she knew Itachi had heard this entire conversation. She shed a tear for Itachi, "I'm sorry, son. You will have to hear more of your friends die again. But I swear this will be the last time this ever happens to you."
"No, don't do this-," Itachi started talking but was stopped by Ayumi's next move.
A pair of golden hand emerged from the ground and pulled Itachi down with them. Ayumi summoned her Susanoo underground to make sure that should this situation arise, that she wouldn't have to worry about them trying to take him. Now she had full peace of mind knowing he was safe. She then activated her Chakra Mode and got ready to attack.
"If this is the path you heroes choose to go on, then so be it. I, Ayumi Uchiha, will destroy you! Now come!"
Superman was the first to try his luck. He lunged ahead with a right punch that was ducked by Ayumi. She grabbed him by his cape and twirled him into the ground. She activated her Red Chidori to try and kill him quickly. Of course, it wouldn't be that easy as Flash came sprinting in to attack her before she finished off Superman. She leapt into the sky to get more space but a grapple hook by Batman kept her within range. Green Lantern shot an energy blast at Ayumi why was in freefall still.
Ayumi sent out a wave of lightning through the grapple hook to shock Batman, but the vigilante was unaffected by it. He had insulated his gun to fight against electrified attacks once he found out that that was her go to. It made Ayumi do the next best thing; pull Batman into the sky to use him as a shield from the blast.
Wonder Woman wasn't having it and cut the wire before Batman could reach her. Ayumi wound up using her Red Chidori to cut the beam in half before it reached her as a last resort. Superman had recovered and shot straight up into the sky and punched Ayumi. She got sent even further into the sky because of it. Superman went to do it again but stopped when a burst of green smoke got released from a smoke bomb Ayumi had activated.
"That's a Kryptonite smoke bomb, courtesy of Vandal Savage. Now, it's my turn!" She delivered a crushing two-handed hammerfist that sent Superman back to the ground. Ayumi flew back down before Captain Marvel could mount a counterattack against her. She landed and rolled right into a Fireball Jutsu aimed right at Martian Manhunter. He had no time to react as the blast came right for him. Aquaman stepped in front and used his trident to defend his friend. They both were blown away from the impact, but Manhunter was spared from the flames thanks to the King of Atlantis.
Marvel chased after her with reckless abandon. He didn't want to give her a chance to breathe and after what happened to him last time they fought, this was personal. He caught up to her and matched blows. Ayumi easily got the better of the exchange when she caught him with an overhead left hook that connected with his jaw. He was stumbled by it and brought down some more by a follow up knee to his head. Ayumi glared down as a death blow was ready end him.
"You lose again, boy."
"Not this time, witch!" Black Canary shouted as let out her Canary Cry. Ayumi stopped in her tracks and held her head in pain. After the cry was over with, Green Arrow shot out a pair of arrows that bound around Ayumi and began electrocuting her. The final part of the combination was Hawkman and Hawkwoman each using their weapons to pulverize Ayumi into the ground. And because her Susanoo was busy protecting Itachi underground, she had no safety blanket to protect her from the attacks.
"Take that!" Canary shouted. The ground shook as fire erupted and made the scenery look like they were all in literal Hell. Ayumi spat out blood as she looked at the group of heroes before her, "I did and if that's the best you got, then you're all in for a world of hurt."
"Melog fo enots dna cigam! Dnuob eht hctiw htiw lla ruoy tghim!" Fate conjured giant rock golems to combat Ayumi. She had to use her Red Chidori to destroy them one by one. But in doing so, she left herself open to energy attacks from Icon as he shot at her from the sky. Wonder Woman also took the time to try and cut Ayumi thanks to the distractions of the golems. Normally, Ayumi would have easily countered this, but Plastic Man used his anatomy to shield Diana from her electricity. The entire ordeal annoyed Ayumi to no end.
"I've had enough of this! Fire Style! Great Fire Destruction!" She aimed the giant fire blast towards the ground to ininerate all of the golems and Diana. Since this was a fire attack, Plastic Man would serve as no extra protection to Wonder Woman. Instead, he would now need to be protected.
Fate acted quickly and ordered his golems to absorb and shield Wonder Woman and Plastic Man from the heat wave while going airborne himself to assist Icon. The fire wave annihilated all of the golems and managed to burn the other two heroes, but thanks to Fate, the golems took most of the heat and kept the blast radius of the jutsu from spreading to the other heroes in the area. Unfortunately for Fate and Icon, this is what Ayumi wanted as she jumped towards the now exposed Fate with deadly intentions, "Die and take your broken prophecy with you!"
Ayumi aimed a Chakra Mode powered punch for Fate's only weak spot; his mask. She knew that if it were to be destroyed it would kill not only the spirit of Nabu, but also the body of the person Nabu currently was possessing. Icon saw what she was going for and went to intercept her, "Not while I'm here, Stranger."
"Oh don't worry, Icon. You're going to get it too. Impact!" Icon got to Fate and created and energy cheild for protection as Ayumi hit them both with a thunderous attack. It sent them both hurdling to the ground. Icon's shield protected both of them from death, but the hit still did major damage to to them.
Ayumi landed and turned her focus to the other Leaguers. She saw that Superman and the other heroes she fought had recovered. They all formed a circle around her to prevent her from escaping. This would be their last stand. Ayumi was not impressed though. Superman gave her one last warning before they swarmed her, "Surrender now and end this madness. You can't win against all of us. You're surrounded!"
"Or don't and get beat up like how you deserve. Either choice is good with us." Canary threatened.
"You're right, Superman. I am surrounded...I am surrounded by fear and dead heroes." The ground around Ayumi let out some black, ominous looking ooze as a dark sword began to rise from it. It was the same sword that her Susanoo frequently used during battle, The Masamune. The heroes knew that this fight had just gotten a whole lot harder. The Team told them all about how destructive it was.
The Masamune gave Ayumi basically unlimited power, but it came with a steep cost. Not just her chakra, but her actual life force will be drained. Which means that, even with Wrath's healing ability, Ayumi will be risking her life just by using the legendary sword. It's why she normally only uses it with her Susanoo to offset that drawback. But with the force of the entire league bearing down on her, Ayumi knew that she couldn't hold back against them.
The heroes tried to rush at Ayumi to end things before they got bad, but the Uchiha showed them just how much of a mistake that was with one swipe of her sword. A large energy beam that emitted from her Masamune blew all of the heroes away. Wonder Woman was the first to recover as she witnessed how powerful Ayumi's sword was. The terrain was marred with destruction.
"Submit." Ayumi ordered threateningly as Wonder Woman stood there. Diana drew her own legendary sword, Sword of Athena, as she got ready to attack. Ayumi was not amused by this, "You would be wise to surrender. I only want Carson. Just hand her over. No one else needs to die."
"You're wrong, witch. You still need to die!" Wonder Woman shouted as she charged forward. Ayumi had a look of sympathy as she parried Diana's sword away and delivered an elbow to her abdomen. Diana keeled over from the pain.
"Now, off with your head." Ayumi got ready to decapitate Diana and kill the demi-god. Just before Ayumi could swing her sword to deliver the blow, a thick wire cable wrapped around her wrist that led back to a beaten up Batman. He was pulling with all his might to save his friend. But in doing this, he now drew the attention of the Masked Stranger.
"Batman, I will make sure to kill you last. You will watch all your friends die." She told him. Batman ignored her as he kept pulling, "You will not win. Itachi is coming home with us."
"He belongs with me. You will all perish and in time, just as I have already, he will forget you ever existed. My son will create a new world that won't be in need of vigilantes, heroes, or villains. Why would you stop that?" She asked him.
"People deserve the chance to make mistakes. We shouldn't judge humanity on its very worst qualities. If we did, everyone, your son included, would be guilty. I don't know what happened to make you hate life as much as you do and at this point, I don't care anymore. All I do know is that Itachi gave his life to save the world that you want him to wipe out so badly. He may be your son, but he is more a child of the Justice League than he ever has been one of yours. He will be saved by his family one way or another; that I can assure you." Batman chastised.
"What gall you have, Batman. To dare call yourself his family while in my presence. I think I'll belay what I just said and impale you now." She said as she pulled him towards her. None of the other heroes had recovered from her earlier attack so Batman knew that this would be his end. All of them were either unconscious or in too much pain to moves. Even Superman was out of it because he still felt the affects of Ayumi's Kryponite smoke bomb. As Bruce was airborne he got ready for the final blow, but to his surprise it never came.
He was instead flung to the ground behind Ayumi as she suddenly lost interest in him. Ayumi's Susanoo then emerged from its hiding spot underground with Itachi in toe. Ayumi had a look of rage on her face as she glared at a spot in the sky, "No, how can you be here? I killed you!"
Her Susanoo transformed into its Perfect form. Ayumi had now disregarded the Justice League members to focus on what she was looking at in the sky. Batman crawled over to Wonder Woman to check on her.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yes, but the Stranger. Why did she stop?" Diana asked.
"His family is here to stop her." He answered. This confused Diana as she looked around and saw the other Leaguers still down, "But she's defeated us."
"We aren't his family." He replied.
Diana had a confused look as Ayumi's Susanoo roared with the same rage that the Uchiha felt. Everyone then saw exactly what she was looking at; another Perfect Susanoo. This one was purple and, though it was not the size of her Susanoo, was just as dangerous as Itachi's. She gave it no chance to attack as she launched gigantic fireball jutsu got unleashed from her Susanoo towards the sky.
It was easily large enough to wipeout entire continents but the purple Susanoo easily dispatched it with the same type of black flame that Itachi uses. Ayumi saw that it was the Amaterasu and went to secure Itachi immediately.
"I don't know how you're still alive ,grandfather, but you will not take my son again! Do you hear me?! Stay away from my son, Indra!" She threatened. Everyone was so used to her cool and calm demeanor in everything that didn't pertain to Itachi, so it jarred them to see her act to irrational over what she was looking at. Ayumi turned towards Itachi but when she looked over there he was replaced by a one armed shinobi that was glaring so deeply at her that it felt like he was looking into her very soul and judging her.
Before she knew it, that man impaled her chest with his sword before speaking to her, "I am not your grandfather nor is he your son. I am Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi's brother."
He teleported back to his Susanoo before Ayumi could mount a counter. Her body began healing her wound as rage started to bubble further and further in her stomach, 'No, not again. I will not let you take him away from me again!'
Sasuke returned to see Artemis and M'gann already tending to Itachi, "Move aside."
They did as Sasuke ordered as he placed his hand on his Itachi's shoulder. He sent out a wave of chakra and undid that curse mark that bounded Itachi's movement and chakra. It was similar to what Danzo once used on him years ago when they fought.
Itachi moved around for the first time in what felt like years and saw who his savior was. Though time made him look like the older adult that he was, nothing could change that fact that Itachi would always be able to recognize his younger brother. He was genuinely shocked, "Sasuke? But how are you here?"
"I'm here because you have good friends, brother. Are you alright?" Sasuke asked. He didn't wait for an answer as he had his Susanoo land near the proximity of the rest of his friends. Artemis and M'gann smiled at how confused Itachi looked at everything that was happening. They landed on the ground as the other members of the Team would make their way over to them.
"We went to your world to get help. Batman knew that the League wouldn't be enough to stop her. So he sent us to get someone who would help us. We were lucky to run into your brother first." Artemis explained.
"At first he didn't believe us. He thought we were enemies until we let him see our memories. He saw that we were friends and didn't ask any more questions. It took us a few tries to get here though. But we were able to give him a summary of what was happening while trying to get to this universe. We even taught him how to use our language since the whole language barrier thing wasn't working out too well." M'gann finished.
"Sasuke, you look so much older now. So much at peace. The village…what became of the village?" Itachi asked.
"It is alive and well. Your sacrifice was not in vain." Itachi felt so relieved hearing that. The rest of the Team gathered around them. They all expressed how glad they were that Itachi was alright. Itachi apologized for worrying them and promised them that he'd end this nightmare. Wally then ran to Artemis to embrace and kiss her with Conner doing the Same to M'gann. Itachi immediately asked for an update on his own special someone, Carson.
"Where is Carson? Is she safe?" Itachi asked. Robin pointed towards the downed Javelin, "Carson is safe, though not sound. She's still unconscious from her injuries from your earlier fight with Stranger. She's locked inside with James. The Masked Stranger hasn't gotten to her yet, but we need to end this now so that we can get her, and more importantly her brother, to a proper doctor."
"Then I'll end it." Itachi activated his Sharingan as he got ready for the final battle. Kaldur ran to him before he left, "Wait. Will you not wear your mask, Crow?"
"No, I want her to look at my face as I crush her aspirations. This isn't the Crow going against the Masked Stranger. It will be the final fight between Itachi and Ayumi Uchiha. Everyone, please stay back. I don't want you all to get swept up in the middle of this." Itachi requested.
"Sure thing. Take her to the cleaners, man." Wally replied. The others agreed with him. Artemis ran to her friend to give him a final hug before his fights, "Please, don't die on us. For our friends, me and Carson, please come back to us."
"I will end this so that we may all go home." Itachi then turned his gaze towards Ayumi who was glaring from her Susanoo. He took note of the fallen Leaguers as he approached her, "Miss Martian. Extract the Leaguers from the battlefield. I don't want them to get further injured as well."
"Already on it." M'gann said as she fazed through the ground.
As Itachi made his way over he noticed that he was being shadowed. He turned to see his brother walking alongside him towards the battlefield.
"You know you don't have to come along. This is my fight, brother." Itachi spoke.
"She dares to attack my brother and claim you as her own. This is my fight." Sasuke responded. Itachi smiled as he kept walking, "I see. I can tell that you have grown stronger since we last parted. Your Rinnegan and Perfect Susanoo are both proof of that."
"And so have you brother. They told me of your battles here. It seems you have unlocked the Rinnegan as well as your own Perfect Susanoo. Also, since when did you start dressing up and calling yourself Crow by the way? That doesn't seem much like the Itachi I know." Sasuke noted.
"I have changed since we last saw one another. And so have you by the looks of it. When I left you back in our world, Sasuke, you still had both of your arms and much confusion in your heart. But look at you now. Even with all of this chaos you just got roped into…I haven't seen you this much at peace since you were a baby. Before all of the darkness of our world touched you. But looking at you now with these eyes of mine, I know I no longer have to worry about you, little brother, if I can even still call you that. You're even taller than me now. I wonder how much time has passed in our world. Sasuke, how old are you?" Itachi asked.
"I am 32 years old. It's been well over a decade since your last day on our Earth, yet you look like you haven't aged a day since we last spoke in that cave. Time hasn't touched you at all. Brother, so much has happened in our world. Some bad, but much good. And from the looks of it, things have happened to you as well with the first being that you are somehow still alive and living in a new reality that is very different from ours. If only our parents could look at us now. We aren't the same boys that were walking back home together after I sprained my ankle because I was trying too hard to be just like you. But no matter how much have changed in both our lives, one thing has remained steadfast, and that is The Will of Fire that still burns strong to this day. It even burns in this world too. We will have much to catch up on, big brother." Sasuke said to his brother.
"I see. We can talk about it after we've won." Itachi said as he saw Ayumi approaching them. M'gann had just finished rescuing the last of the Leaguers. Sasuke unclasped his cloak as the fight was about to begin, "She really believes that she is your mother?"
"We can talk about it after we've won." Itachi said as a repeat answer. Sasuke smirked, "It's good to know that some things about you will never change."
"Itachi, please don't make us fight again. Why would you side with him after you saw what he did to me? To us?! He is a monster!" She said frantically.
"Why do you think that Sasuke is your grandfather?" Itachi asked. Ayumi glared at his brother, "Because he is Indra's reincarnation. I guess the old Sage wanted to give himself a second chance too. I can feel the perverseness of his chakra. He will not take you from me again."
"You are a threat to my village. I don't care if you are the Mother of Uchiha as you claim. I'll cut you down for the pain you've caused my brother. There will be no mercy." Sasuke threatened.
"And why do you think that you could beat me?" Ayumi asked arrogantly. Sasuke threw his cloak away as he stared at Ayumi, "Because now you will be fighting the Uchiha Brothers. We have never lost a fight and we won't start with an old hag like you who needs to hurry up and die."
"How dare you?! You disrespectful little…you are just like Indra! I hate you! I will make sure that you die screaming!" Ayumi said as she activated her Chakra Mode.
"Sasuke, it's been years since we last fought together. You sure you can keep up, old man?" Itachi said as he weaved their clan's most famous hand signs.
"I'm not that old. Besides, someone like her will be child's play for us. She lost the moment she decided to pick a fight with us." Sasuke answered as he weaved the same hand signs.
Ayumi sprinted at them in a fit of rage. But even with all of the power Ayumi possessed, not even she could withstand what was about to happen. Both the brothers finished the hand signs and unleashed a fireball that would be remembered for ages.
"Fire Style! Giant Fireball Jutsu!" She halted at the might of their combined jutsu and braced for the pain she knew would come. She screeched in pain when the blast hit her as Itachi and Sasuke looked at their work.
"Little brother, this won't take long at all."
Wow! I'm finally done with this chapter. First off, I am so so so sorry about how long it took to crank this out. For a while I lost motivation to write because of personal demons of mine. It just stopped being fun for me. Though I had no plans of abandoning the craft altogether, I knew I needed a break to recharge the batteries. But I got my rest so now I work. It's here. Ayumi has dispatched both The Team and The Justice League, but none of them are the might of Itachi and Sasuke. I believe I will finish this up in 2 or 3 more chapters, and then I will begin working on its sequel which will be based on Young Justice Season 2.
Like always, you guys are the very best. Let me know what you guys think of this chapter with a favorite, follow, review, or PM. Thanks again and I promise you that by the time this chapter gets released, the next one will already be started on. Thanks again and till next time guys and gals!