Chapter VI: Nuclear Tragedy

It's been one year since the Joker was defeated at the Hall Of Justice. Since then Itachi has fought many battles alongside the League, and they have all grown to trust him as a valued member overtime despite his past. He's also become well assimilated with this Earth and has a full understanding of how it works. He often wonders if he should have killed Joker that day, but he chose the trust of the League over that.

He wore black sweatpants and a Grey t-shirt, along with sandals, a hat, and a facemask. Itachi walks through a Torii(Red Shrine gate) and lifted an arm to block the sun while he read the sign that read, "Kyoto." He looks at the Minka style homes that surround him and the traditionally dressed people that walk by, 'I suppose that this is the closest I'll get to home on this planet.'

He lifted his face mask over his nose. After the show he put on with his Susanoo at the Hall Of Justice when they fought Joker his popularity rose very fast, especially back in Japan considering how his style seemed to represent the country in the League. Recently after signing some kind of contract some places have even started making merchandise of him and his Susanno.

Some people stop on the road and look at him, squinting their eyes. Itachi tilts his hat down and speed walks, 'I'm starting to wish I had my own secret identity. Although having to hide my identity in public also reminds me of home, not the good memories though.'

He stopped walking when he saw a Ramen shop. He sighed and smirked before walking in " for the first time in a long time he could say he felt truly relaxed.

"Batcomputer, Security Level Zeta, Password 10-3-2002, file name Pinwheel. Itachi Uchiha. Currently the youngest member of the League yet the most dangerous out of all of us, strong, fast, versatile, natural genius, experienced in warfare, and capable of killing with no hesitation," Batman leaned back in his chair and out a hand under his chin, "He's capable of using elemental attacks including Fire, Water, and Wind, with fire being his strongest. These are usually activated with hand signs, although some are not, this is likely decided based on the strength of the technique. This could be countered with either some sort of oxygen deprivation, or immobilization of the hands. Next he had a hereditary ability called the sharingan capable of casting powerful illusions that have yet to be broken, and grant precognition. In hand to hand combat he is a master, relative to Nightwing, but he hasn't beaten him yet. Although it should be noted that he has never fought Nightwing with the Sharingan, which would boost his combat skills significantly. His eyes also seem to summon an avatar made of orange energy with a shield. Taking out his eyes with something like flashbacks or tear gas is a must. Although if someone can't then they must avoid eye contact, which would be extremely hard in a fight. Maybe using an alternate form of vision like detective mode or thermal vision would help. He can also use indistinguishable black flames, although these flames have to travel a distance before hitting their target. The only known way to defend against this is to avoid it," Batman frowned, "Lastly everything he uses seems to come from his Chakra which is his stamina. He is still human and would eventually burn out. Maybe the use of chemical blockers to stop him from properly accessing his energy stores, or even taking away his energy should be considered. Further investigation is needed."

In Metropolis moon light shone through the window of Clark's apartment as he was sound asleep. Although he was woken up by the sound of a second heartbeat coming from one person, and he smiled. Lois woke up and looked up at him, "Clark? What is it? Smallville...?"

He stood up and put one hand behind his back and another under his chin as he walked back and forth, "We need to get everything checked thoroughly. I'll contact Star Labs. There are people there I trust to be discreet."

"Clark."

He looked down, "There shouldn't be any danger in the first trimester, but I'm not leaving it to chance. We'll need a bigger place, obviously."

"Clark!"

"Maybe we should consider moving away from Metropolis. Smallville would be a much safer and more private place to raise a child with powers. Although I'd prefer Metropolis High to"- he was cut off by a book thrown at his head.

He looked back at her, "Did you just throw a book at me?"

She crossed her arms, "You're invulnerable, I should be able to throw satisfyingly hard. objects at you sometimes," She walked up to him and poked his forehead, "I'm glad our fetus has a high school already, but I need you to slow down that Super speed brain. Let's just enjoy this moment," her phone started to vibrate and she picked it up, "It's the planet. An anonymous tip. Councilman Ives is taking a pay off at the docks tonight."

She started to get dressed and Clark crossed his arms, "I should come with you."

"Oh, should you? I don't remember you being so protective before you found out I was pregnant. Maybe you only care about the baby," she tilted her head playfully, "Ah ha! Your plan is finally apparent, alien. You have come to this planet only to breed! And you have chosen Earth's most beautiful woman for your nefarious schemes," she picked up her bag, "Clark, I'm not spending nine months sitting on the couch getting fat while you go out and fight death rays. That's not how I operate."

"I'll worry."

"I know. If only there was some way you could keep an eye on me at all times. If only you had some sort of incredible x-ray vision combined with telescopic vision and... wait a minute."

He looked out the window. "Is it trouble?"

"I'm not sure, maybe."

"We both have somewhere to be. Don't worry. Jimmy will be with me. I need a photo of the handover," She kissed him and said, "Go. Save the world."

He flew down to an alley in Metropolis where Batman was fighting some goons, "What are you doing in Metropolis?"

"I'm on my way to Star Labs. Something sensitive was taken."

"You could have called," he started flying up, "Meet me up top when you're done."

A few minutes later Batman was perched up on a building and Superman flew by, "I have news."

"Lois is pregnant."

His jaw dropped a little, "How did you...?"

"You're sweating, your pupils are dilated and your left hand is shaking. You don't usually show any signs of stress or fear. The last time I saw you this afraid, you were facing Doomsday. And I doubt it's Doomsday.... you're grinning like an idiot."

"We want you to be the Godfather."

His posture changed barely, but enough for Superman to notice. "Hey, look at that, 'The World's greatest Detective' is surprised," he looked out at the city, "I heard it's heartbeat, Bruce."

Batman finally cracked a smile.

While they talked on a building a gunshot went off at the docks. A broken camera and a ginger boy laid down on the ground. Joker adjusted his hat, "Ew, I got some Jimmy on my shoe," he threw the hat off and stood over Lois, "Hi, Lois!"

The morning sun shone over Metropolis as Superman flew down to the docks. His brows were furrowed as his Jaw dropped in distraught. "Jimmy."

Batman was currently in Star Labs interrogating a scientist, "No one leaves this facility until"- he was cut off by Superman entering the room.

"I can't see her. I can't see Lois!"

"We're not alone, Superman. Maybe you should--?"

Superman handed him a bloody Joker card and Batman frowned. Superman put a hand on his shoulder, "He has her. Please. Help me. Find her."

Batman put two fingers up to his ear and made a call, "This is a priority call to all Justice League members and reserve members. I need as many eyes, ears, and minds as we can spare in Metropolis. A woman is missing."

Green Arrow asked, "You want the whole Justice League on a missing person case?"

"Absolutely. We believe she was taken by The Joker."

Cyborg asked, "Who is this woman, Batman?"

"She's one of us. That's all you need to know for now. Her name is Lois Lane."

Wonderwoman said, "Lois..."

"Wonder Woman, Miss Lane was last seen at the Metropolis docks. Head there and find out if anyone saw her or the Joker."

"I'm on my way."

Unfortunately at this time Itachi's communication device was in his bag, and he was asleep.

Superman found the Submarine and put it on a beach before ripping into it. He saw Harley and Joker working on her. "LOIS!" He ripped the straps off of her, "What did they do to"- suddenly green gas entered the room.

Joker had a manic look, "Something wrong, Supes?"

Harley said, "Yeah, for a man of steel, you look kinda wobbly."

"Suupahmaan."

Superman looked up to see Doomsday. "DOOMSDAY! No... Lois. The baby."

He grabbed Doomsday and went up into space."

Joker took off his mask, "Time to go."

Harley looked at him, "We're just going to leave? But this is the first Submarine I've ever owned."

"We'll get you another one!"

"I can't just get another one! I've named this one! You can't abandon something once it has a name. Everyone knows that."

He grabbed her arm, "Harley, any minute now, angry do gooders are going to realize what we're up Tom if we're still here when they arrive they will hit us over and over again, say goodbye to your Submarine."

"Goodbye Gunther!"

A green hand of energy pressed them into the sand. "Gunther is a terrible name for a Submarine.

Wonderwoman also arrived along with Flash and Batman. "Wait a minute. Did Flash carry you here? Ha! Putting fear in the hearts of criminals... while his bright red friend carries him through the night!"

Batman ignored him and went into the ship with a mask because of the fear toxin, and saw that there was no one inside. He jumped back out and asked him, "Where is she, Joker?"

Wonderwoman pulled out her lasso, "My lasso of Truth will"-"No. Not on him. I'm not sure what would spew out of that mind, but it wouldn't be the truth."

Joker put his bloody hands together, "Come on, Batsy. Use that pointy eared head of yours. You can see the truth. You just don't want to look at it too hard."

"What did you do to her?"

"You know what I did. I operated on her. She's the trigger."

Batman looked at Flash, "Flash. The missile on the Submarine, check to see if the warhead is still there."

"Don't bother checking. It isn't. When her heart stops, every heart in Metropolis stops, too."

He looked back at Joker, "Why would her....?" He looked down, "The kryptonite. Scarecrow added it to his fear toxin, so it could enter Superman's bloodstream through his lungs. And then...." he finally realized what was going on and put two fingers on his ear, "SUPERMAN! Superman! Can you hear me?"

Superman yelled at Doomsday, "You won't take them away from me!"

"Superman. STOP! Whatever you're seeing, It isn't real!"

Joker put a finger on his lip. "Did you know she was pregnant?"

In response Batman punched him and continued, "It's lois!"

And then the two heartbeats coming from one person, stopped beating. And with it came an explosion that leveled all of Metropolis.

Despite being on the other side of the planet Itachi woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. 'Something feels very wrong.'

Green Lantern landed a crowd of people onto the ground and asked, "Is that the last of them?"

Flash brought more people with him, "Yep, all the outlying areas have now been evacuated to outside the fallout zone."

"Superman?"

"I think he's still in Metropolis."

They both looked on at ash and smoke clouds that used to be Metropolis. "Have you tried to talk to him?"

"His communicator stopped working as soon as he entered the blast zone, and with that much radiation, Superman's the only guy who can stand at ground zero. No one else can."

A buzz came in on Flash's communicator and he picked it up, "Flash, what's going on over there?"

Flash fell silent for a moment. Green Lantern raised a brow, "Who is it?"

"It's Itachi, he's still supposed to be on a vacation."

Green Lantern looked at the ground, "That's not gonna be good."

Flash responded, "Itachi..... Metropolis..... it's gone, it's all gone. Superman had a pregnant wife, Lois. He hallucinated and killed her which set off a nuke that destroyed Metropolis."

Itachi blinked a few times, he almost asked him to repeat himself to make sure he heard right, ".... My vacation is over, come pick me up as soon as you can."

"Alright."

Itachi sat in his apartment in silence with a hand on his forehead. He hadn't felt such genuine anger since he was accused of killing Shisui. 'I was wrong to have valued gaining their trust over ending his life........ 11 million people, gone. As soon as I find him I'm killing him on the spot."

Itachi promised himself this, but he's gonna be beaten to it. In Gotham Prison Batman was interrogating Joker. "Someone took it all away from you once too, didn't they, Bats? And look what you became, an all punching all kicking little ball of angst. What do you think Superman will become? He's a God who has deluded himself into believing he's a man. What will he turn into?"

"There are some thing even you can't corrupt, Joker."

Joker's brows raised, "Ha! Oh, Batsy. You're so cute. You honestly think your friend will still be fun to play with?"

"He will grieve. But he will stay one of the best men I know."

"No. I think it's going to be a whole lot funnier than that."

Superman broke through the wall and lifted Joker with one hand, before sticking a hand through his torso, with Batman standing nearby with wide open eyes and a dropped jaw.