Chapter XVIII: My Existence

"Mother?"

"So good to see you finally awake... your body healed months ago. However, when you didn't wake up, we suspected there was magic at work."

Ares looked down at Diana, "By "suspected" she means that I told her there was... she and the others finally came to their senses and allowed me to call upon Hera."

Diana sat up, "Of all the Gods... Hera?!"

Hippolyta said, "Relax, child... we did what needed to be done."

"She wouldn't have helped you out of the kindness of her dark heart.... what price did you pay, mother?"

She looked down at the ground silent before leaving, "It's so good to see you awake."

When she left, Diana held Ares against a wall, "If something happens to my mother... you will pay the price."

He smiled, "I look forward to the day you come to collect."

Continuing to glare at him she asked, "Where is Superman?"

"Much has happened since you fell into slumber."

After Ares' explanation of what happened, they both went to the Hall Of Justice and the first hero they saw was Hal. "Diana!"

"Hal... what are you Yellow? And where is.... Clark?" She saw Clark on a hospital bed with Sinestro next to him.

"Diana, listen to me... a lot has happened.... Batman did something to him and he won't wake up."

Sinestro followed up, "Some kind of magic spell."

"She knows. It was the same magic that afflicted her. Magic that I have the means to dispel."

Diana was looking Clark's body up and down and noticed the Yellow ring on his finger. Her eyes went wide, "That ring..." she grabbed Sinestro by the throat, "What did you do to Superman?!"

Hal yelled, "Diana, stop! You're killing him."

"You may have aligned yourself with Sinestro... but I'm here and his influence on Clark stops now!"

Hal raised his hand, "You don't understand..." but Ares backhanded him into a wall, "This is not your fight, Lantern."

Diana took one hand from Sinestro's throat and pointed it at Ares, "And this is NOT yours, Ares. I don't need your help."

Sinestro took the opportunity to blast her away, "That's the last time you lay hands on me, Amazon."

They proceeded to battle, but it wasn't much of a battle as Diana bulldozed through everything Sinestro threw at her. Eventually he was back on the ground and she was punching him to death, but she was stopped when Superman caught her fist. "Enough."

"Let go of me, Clark."

"Leave Sinestro alone. He's with me."

"Is he? Because from my view. You're wearing his ring."

"You have it wrong, Diana. A lot has"-"Happened while I was away!? Everyone keeps telling me that." She reached out a hand, "But nothing justifies you wearing a power ring fueled by fear. That's not who we are... or why we do this. Give it to me, Clark."

He contemplated it for a minute and she stared at him the whole time. Eventually he complied, "Here. Fly with me Diana." She crushed the ring and flew after him. "It's good to have you back."

She crossed her arms and turned slightly away from him, "I'm in no mood for chitchat, Clark. What is it?"

"While I was asleep I had this dream. It felt more like a dream. It was so vivid... so real... Lois was alive. But it was more than that. None of this happened. No Joker bomb.... no war...." his forehead scrunched and he closed his eyes, "We lived together, raised a family.... and grew old together. Everything was the way it was supposed to be," he opened his eyes and his whole face contorted into a sinister glare as his eyes flew red and he clenched his fist, "And then I wake up and she's gone. Taken from me all over again. And it hurts so much worse now because I know what I missed."

"We all dream, Clark... but this is our reality. Get used to it."

The Spectre appeared, "Superman. Flash, Robin, and Cyborg.... I have found them. They're being held captive in the Tower Of Fate, outside of this plane of reality. I can't go into the Tower.... but I can get you there."

"Is that where Batman is hiding?"

"Yes. When do you want to go?"

"Right now."

In the Phantom Zone both Starfire and Wonder Girl rushed Zod at the same time and landed a few hits before being slapped away. 

Itachi summoned the full Susanoo and put his hands together. When they separated a whole line of Yasaka beads appeared. He hurled them at Zodd who tried to slap them away, but instead they exploded on contact, knocking him away. He snarled and blasted the other beads with Heat vision. He blitzed the Susanoo, but Itachi raised his shield in time to block the blow. He started punching the shield over and over but to no avail. Itachi manifested the Totsuka Blade on the other hand while grabbing Zodd with the third. He tried to stab him with the blade but Zodd uses Super breath and froze Itachi's Susanoo.

He smirked and was about to destroy it, but before he could Starfire shot him with a powerful beam in the back. It dazed him for a second and Wonder girl and Starfire started an assault of melee blows. Itachi's left eye started to bleed. "Starfire, Wondergirl, get away from him. Amaterasu!" He set aflame his own frozen Susanoo and Zodd. Lately he had also been training his Amaterasu, and its heat reached the temperature of the surface of the sun.

Zodd started screaming in pain and tried to freeze himself, but it didn't do anything. Starfire asked, "What kind of power is that?"

"The black flames of Amaterasu. They won't extinguish until they've destroyed their target."

Both of the girls looked back at him. Wonder Girl stated, "We don't want to kill him!"

Itachi waved a dismissive hand, "Don't worry. I'll stop it before it gets to that point."

All the ice on his Susanoo melted away, 'Now for the finishing blow.' He was ready to stop the Totsuka Blade into Zodd, but when it touched him it didn't pierce him. He winced and his Blade disappeared. 'Although I've been using it conservatively, I've still been using the Susanoo for almost..... a day now. I believe I'm almost out of Chakra. I'm not strong enough to pierce him now... now that I think about it..... there's no way so much has happened out there in only a day. Time must be flowing differently here in some places.'

Zodd became enraged and lashed out at Itachi. This time he went right behind him and punched the Susanoo in the back which is its weak spot. The Susanoo was destroyed. Zodd started trying to punch Itachi but he was able to dodge everything. Zodd got mad again and tried to freeze him. Itachi did one hand sign, 'Fire Style: Great FireBall Jutsu.'

His flame clashed with the freeze breath and covered everything around them in fog. Itachi took the opportunity to undo the seal on his body. 'Last one. But this will only give me about half my normal Chakra storage.'

He made a Shadow clone that appeared behind Zodd in the fog and kicked him to Itachi. The clone and Itachi started juggling Zodd back and forth before Zodd destroyed the clone, causing it to blow up in his face. His wounds started to show that he was starting to bleed all over, but he just shook it off and destroyed the rock they were standing on, sending them all falling down dozens of levels before landing on another floating rock.

Zodd starting punching at Itachi and he undid the Amaterasu. He started dodging his blows again, but this time he starting following up with counterpunches using the Susanoo arms. Every hook, haymaker, straight, and other punches were dodged and countered with a Susanoo punch until he landed an uppercut on Zodd's chin. It made him do a flip and it seemed like he felt real pain from that hit, but he got right back up.

'It's like he's too angry to go down,' "Starfire, Wonder Girl, I need you two to restrain him. Tsukiyomi!"

Zodd became frozen in place and both of them grabbed his arms. Starfire asked, "Is he down?"

Itachi shook his head, "No. I'm only stretching out the time passing in real life compared to how long he's in the dream. It can be as short as a picosecond or as long as minutes for now."

"So what are we going to do then? We're not strong enough to take him on our own."

"Just hold him still. I'll take care of it."

Itachi manifested half of the Susanoo and wielded the Totsuka Blade. 'I don't have enough Chakra to pierce his skin normally right now, but judging by how similar Kryptonians are to humans, I'm sure that the insides are a lot softer than the outsides.'

He undid the Tsukiyomi and as soon as Zodd woke up he started gasping for breath after waking up from whatever torturous experience he just had. And in that split second his mouth was open. Itachi pierced the blade straight through his mouth and out the back of his neck. Effectively sealing his soul in the pot.

Both Starfire and Wonder Girl's mouths dropped and they released Zodd's lifeless body and backed away. Wonder Girl's brow scrunched, "Y... you tricked us."

"Yes, you wouldn't have agreed otherwise. Both Superboy and Tim came back to the rock they stood on. Superboy grabbed him by the collar and gritted his teeth, "Superman and now you? Why are you all killing now?!"

Itachi looked at Tim, "Tim, Batman said that you're a genius and a Detective on par with him. I can only use one arm effectively, Superboy is near death, and you couldn't hurt Zodd. Leaving only a weakened version of me and Wonder Girl and Starfire who aren't even half as strong as Zodd. Tell me, do you think that there was any other possible way to non lethally take him down without one of having to be a sacrifice?"

Tim really did try to think, but he looked down at the ground, "No...."

Superboy clenched a fist, "Even still! We're heroes. We find a way no matter what!"

Itachi did nothing to resist and remained stone faced, "Guy Gardner, Black Canary, John Stewart," They all looked at him with tensed brows, but he continued, "Oliver Queen, the Green Lantern Corps, Bullock, Jason Blood, Rory Regan, Deadman, Captain Atom, Kyle Rainer, Jim Gordon, and Dick Grayson."

Tim asked, "Why did you just name off a bunch of guys we know?"

"Those are all of the heroes that Superman and his Regime have killed in the past three years. That logic of always finding a way to save everyone without deaths.... is nothing but a fantasy."

All their eyes went wide simultaneously and Superboy released him, "No.... there's no way Superman would let that happen, you have to be lying!"

Itachi opened a rift, "See for yourself."

He opened a rift that showed the Regime fighting Batman and his resistance in a strange 3D maze-like dimension. They saw Hal bearing a Yellow Lantern ring, and how Sinestro fought alongside them. They also saw Sinestro kill Klarion by shooting him in the back.

Itachi closed off the rift and his eyes narrowed, 'As I feared. Batman leaving Superman on the ground ended up with another failed plan, and now Wonder Woman is back too.' Superboy fell to his knees crying and Tim grabbed his head, "Dick...." and Starfire covered her mouth and looked down. 

"I'll tell you what would have happened if I wasn't here to kill Zodd. First he would have killed Tim right off the bat like he almost did. Then he'd eventually kill Superboy who is already too weak to fight. And while you two girls can hold your own in a fight, Zodd is too strong and would have eventually killed you both. Since he wouldn't have died in that case do you think that would have been a better outcome?"

None of them said anything and he continued, "Superman gutted The Joker and people loved him more than ever for it. If you four are going to survive out there you'll have to understand that sometimes a sacrifice is needed for the best outcome. Because the world is very different from what you remember it being. Superman has used Imperialist tactics to effectively take over the world. It's only a matter of time before he decides to take full control. Since then a lot of heroes have ended up killing or have stopped caring about their friends' killing. Batman has been leading a Resistance against Superman and has stayed true to his code, but all of his plans have done nothing but fall apart one way or another. Eventually Yes I believe he might be able to stop Superman for good, but too many good people will be dead by then. I got off lucky compared to Green Arrow or Black Canary for believing in Batman's plan."

Wonder Girl sat down, "I'm starting to not want to go back."

"It isn't all hopeless," Itachi activated his Sharingan and they all looked into his eyes. "I can end the Regime. Although I'd like you four to ally yourselves with me. I won't ask you to kill for me, but you have to prioritize my mission over Batman's if I ask for help." 'I'm going to have to plant a suggestion in them in case they reveal this secret to anyone.'

Superboy narrowed his eyes, "If you think we'll help you kill Super"-"I would never. I have faith in Superman being able to change."

Tim scoffed, "If Batman hasn't been able to end the Regime in 3 years then what makes you think you can?"

"I'll reveal that plan in the future, but just in case that doesn't work, I have this," he closes one eye only revealing one sharingan, "Izanami. The ability to decide fate, if all other plans fail then this is my last resort. I'll trap Superman in an infinite loop that he won't possibly be able to escape until he has a change of heart. So if all else fails my victory is assured as long as I have these eyes. The Regime's true weakness--is my existence!" They all fell silent at that and Itachi continued, "Also, I had to kill Zodd for his energy. It's the only known way we could get out of this place. Although once we get out I'm on a timer. Damian revealed Batman's contingency plan for Superman, I'll start slowly dying again unless Batman has an antidote for it hopefully." He looked at Tim.

"Uh... Itachi. What exactly is it that's killing you? I might know how to take care of it."

"It's a chemical in my body destroying my ATP, fat cells, carbs, etc. Draining me of all my stamina and everything else that let's me except energy."

Tim put a hand on his chin, "I know about that, it was part of an incomplete plan for dealing with you. If I had a lab I'd be able to make a cure for it."

"Good, I just came back from a place with a lab," he stared at all of them and saw the sadness in their faces. "I understand that you're all hurting right now, but right now they're fighting out there and more of them might die. We can save the mourning for after the fight." Itachi put a hand on Superboy's shoulder, "But first, lay down so I can heal you." Superboy complied. 'Healing him won't leave me with much Chakra left, although if I'm not able to maintain Susanoo then I'll just have one of them fly me. I hope that Manhunter and Huntress are alright.'