Chapter XXXII: What Makes A Hero

'Letting me get this close to you was the biggest mistake you've ever made, Clark,' Itachi ate the only green pill he had on him and pulled out two kunai. He stabbed into the shoulder of Superman's right arm and into his spinal cord in his neck. Superman's grip instantly got loose, he tried to grab Itachi again with his left arm, but Itachi went under it and stabbed the kunai into his wrist and ran it down all the way to his armpit, spilling a gallon of blood. Superman tried to shoot a heat blast, but then Itachi stabbed his fingers into both of his eyes. When Superman screamed in pain, Itachi used a chakta string to pull his tounge out of his mouth. He then grabbed the top of Superman's head and kneed him in his jaw, making him bite his own tongue off.

Superman was hardly able to fight back anymore and Itachi pulled off a spinning side kick which sent him into the sun. Itachi looked back at Earth and started flying back there as fast as he could.

Back on Earth, Manhunter was starting to go on the defensive against Doomsday, and Zatanna started to have an advantage over Raven.

Starfire shot an onslaught of blast at Cyborg that forced him on the defensive, "Cyborg, we fought together for years. Have you really forgotten who your friends are?"

Cyborg faltered for a second and ended up getting hit by the onslaught of blast. He groaned, "I.... I don't know."

Wondergirl tried to kick Ares, but Ares grabbed her leg and threw her into Superboy who caught her. "This isn't working."

Wondergirl looked up at him, "Wait. Why don't we use what Itachi taught us to do?"

"We've only been practicing it for a couple days, I doubt we could do it in a real fight yet."

"Yes... normally. But Manhunter linked all our minds, remember?"

Superboy paused for a moment as he came to a sudden realization, "Oh yeah! It'll be much easier now."

Starfire, Superboy, and Wondergirl shared a quick glance and then Superboy went for a haymaker. Ares fell for the feint and started to back step, but then Wondergirl jumped over Superboy and side kicked him to the face. While she did that, Superboy swept his legs from below. While he was in the air Superboy grabbed Wondergirl's arm and threw her at Cyborg who was caught off guard and received a drop kick to the chest while Starfire hit Ares with a full blast from above.

While Ares was on the ground, Superboy axe kicked him in the head while Starfire started assaulting him with more blasts. Eventually Ares stopped moving, and he was defeated.

After Cyborg got drop kicked, Wondergirl grabbed his fully robotic arm and ripped it off while kicking him in the chest again. Right after that both Starfire and Superboy joined her and they all charged Cyborg at once who became helpless to the rain of blows he started receiving from the three of them at the same time. There was no opening. He was receiving two hits at the same time at any given time. He'd get punched on his left and then his head would get kicked on his right while also getting punched in the gut. Eventually he fell to the ground unconscious.

They all looked down at him with solemn expressions. Starfire said, "Maybe once this is all over. We'll get a clear answer from you."

They were all about to start helping Manhunter fight Doomsday, but then helicopters with the Regimes insignia started to fly in. Causing the news copters to have to fly farther away. The doors on them opened and more soldiers started dropping off while some got in miniguns and started shooting down at the battlefield below, killing some Atlanteans.

While they fought the air support, Bizarro was getting overwhelmed. Although none of their attacks were doing enough damage to put him down for good. Batman came up with another plan and mentally shared it with Arthur who nodded. Batman charged at Bizarro and glanced at Weather Wizard who instantly knew his role. When Bizarro tried his freeze breath, Weather Wizard countered the wind trajectory of his breath. Aquaman said, "Golden Glider. I need your intangibility."

She ran up to him, "What's the plan?"

Bizarro's eyes started to glow red and Aquaman picked her up and threw her at Bizarro, "This is the plan."

"A heads up first would have been nice!" She grabbed onto Bizarro who shot a laser beam through her and at Batman. But the beam went right through Batman since Bizarro was intangible himself. Batman finally got either striking distance and started to lay it into Bizarro. He front kicked him in the gut which made him hunch over and then he uppercut him. He followed it with two hooks and then lastly he did a meia lua de compasso which hit Bizarro with enough force to send him flying back, unconscious.

Itachi finally landed back on Earth and the crowd that was watching the fight started cheering as if they were watching a boxing match. Although he could only catch his breath for a few seconds, because he could see a red and blue blur about to crash right into the battlefield. "Damn it. After having a dip in the Sun he's going to be even more powerful than he already was."

Superman crashed into the battlefield almost like a nuke which sent everyone on their feet. Even the people watching the fight from far away. Itachi started to fight more on the defensive, but he was still able to keep up with Superman. 'I thought that being inside the sun would destroy the ring, but they must be a lot more durable than I thought they were.'

Itachi tried to sweep his legs but Superman jumped above it and tried to hit Itachi with an overhand which was barely dodged. Itachi backed away on his hands and flipped back on his feet and tried a fire ball jutsu which didn't phase Superman in the slightest. He threw a couple of huge shuriken which Superman swatted away with a yellow energy hand. Itachi tried to pull them back so they could stab him from behind, but Superman saw the metal cord that was attached to one and sliced it. The second one was attached to a string made out of Chakra, but Superman heard the blade slicing through the wind and destroyed it.

Superman gritted his teeth in anger, "I'm done with all of your tricks Itachi, I'm ending this now. Cyborg, send it."

Cyborg, who was barely clinging to consciousness, complied with Superman's order and sent something. Itschi had a scrunched brow, "Send it? What did he send?"

Inside the crowds people started looking down at their phones which all turned on on their own. Many of them started to have faces contorted in distraught or fear after watching what was sent to their phones. "When I'm done with your resistance, Itachi. I'm absolving all of the world governments. All the countries of the world will begin to answer to me and me alone. And my first step as the Supreme ruler will be to instill fear in them so that they won't think of starting another silly rebellion like you."

It suddenly clicked in Itachi's head that the video all of the people of Earth suddenly saw was the clip of him killing hundreds of people in a warehouse. Superman's ring started glowing a vibrant sickly yellow. "Oh no"- Before he could finish his sentence, Superman blitzed him and punched him in his gut, nearly destroying his Susanoo armor and sending him skidding across the ground.

"You can't beat me anymore, Itachi. Just give up and I'll make sure that it's quick," Superman started to glance around the battlefield until he saw Zatanna. "Hey, that combo you did earlier with Zatanna on Tim. Was that something special to make sure he didn't die?" Itachi didn't respond and he continued, "She seems quite fond of you. If I kill her first then would you finally give up?"

Itachi caught his breath and stood up, 'I can no longer beat him in a normal fight. The clmbined power of a sun dipped Superman and a ring powered by the fear of the whole planet is way too much..... but that's fine.' Itachi showed no emotion on his face and steeled his expression, "Clark. A few years ago when you first started this Regime. You still had a heroic look in your eyes. Like you were just taking responsibility for your previous failures by making the world safer. But now..... you're nothing but trash. And trash never ends up winning in the end."

Superman started to walk towards him. A piece of a helicopter blade fell near his left and he stepped over a piece of a statue's head. "The only trash that I see here is the rebel in front of me."

Itachi did something that made Superman stop in his tracks. He reached out his hand to Superman, "Superman, it's not too late for you. Accept the reality of the evil of your actions and we can all go home."

Superman gritted his teeth and charged at Itachi. Superman tried to punch him but he ducked under it and jumped away. While jumping away he tried a huge Water Dragon Jutsu which Superman destroyed with a heat blast. He also tried to use Amaterasu on Superman again, but he just blocked it with a yellow shield. Superman decided to go at full speed and destroyed Itachi's armor and drove a fist straight through his torso.

Itachi started to cough up blood and Superman ripped his hand out of him. Although when he did, Itachi turned into a log and appeared a few meters away from him. Superman grunted, "Another trick."

Itachi reached out a hand to him, "If you accept the reality of the evil of your actions, then we can all go home, Clark."

Superman's brow tensed, "It's not going to happen!"

A piece of a helicopter blade landed near him and he stepped onto a piece of a statue head, but he ignored it and attacked Itachi again. Itachi ducked under his punch and used a water dragon on him that got destroyed by Superman's heat blast. "You're using the same attacks again? You must be getting desperate."

Itachi tried Amaterasu again but Superman blocked it with his ring and gutted Itachi again."

But he disappeared and appeared a few meters away from him, reaching out his hand to him, "Accept the reality of the evil of your actions, and we'll all go home, Clark."

Superman stopped moving for a second, "What the hell?" A piece of a helicopter blade landed near him and he backed away in shock. He accidentally stepped onto a piece of a broken statue head and let out a small yelp of shock and started flying. Itachi was still reaching out his hand and Superman's face contorted in anger, "What the hell did you do?!?"

Itachi only said, "Accept the reality of"-"ARRGGH" Superman charged at him in anger and tried to hit him at full speed, but Itachi ducked and Superman caught himself mid flight and destroyed the water dragon. "This isn't right..." He was almost caught by the Amaterasu that he quickly swatted away. Itachi charged at him and tried to land a few blows that Superman blocked and responded too with another gutting. But he just appeared near him again.

Superman just looked at him with wide eyes and started to breathe heavier. Itachi repeated the same words again and Superman started to have a cold sweat.

Outside of Superman's mind, Zatanna maintained an advantage over Raven who started getting agitated. "Raven, you were a member of the Titans. How come"-"Shut up and fight!"

Zatanna dodged a blast by Raven and responded with another, "This is a serious question though. Why are you with the Regime? Your old teammates are right here and you aren't even going to talk to them?"

"They're dead to me."

"I doubt that, you're telling me that you can just forget all those years you spent together? All the good times and the bad?"

For a second it seemed like the real Raven was looking back at Zatanna, who took full advantage of what looked like emotional instability, "Enim dnal." An explosion hit Raven head on while she was off guard and took her out instantly. Zatanna looked around the battlefield and saw that Doomsday was defeated along with Wonder Woman and almost all of the Super Soldiers. She also noticed that Itachi was just standing in front of Superman and walked over to him curiously, "Did he give up?"

Itachi looked back at her and she gasped in shock when she saw that he was blind in his right eye. "He hasn't given up yet, but that doesn't matter anymore."

She held the right side of his face and got a closer look, "What happened to your eye?!"

He lowered her hand and gave her a reassuring smile, "This is Izanami. It was the sacrifice needed to ensure our victory." He took his yellow ring off of his finger and crushed it.

More of the Resistance came over and shared the same looks of concern. Batman asked, "Itachi, what is Izanami?"

Itachi stared at him for a moment in thought, 'I guess it's alright to tell everyone now. We've won and there's no counter for it anyways,' "It's the ability to warp reality into an infinite time loop for my target until they accept reality. Superman will only come back when he accepts that his actions during the past five years have been evil with no excuses. The sacrifice required to use this ability is permanent blindness in one eye."

There was a collective shock that everyone there shared for a minute. Catwoman scratched the back of her head, "I'm glad he's on our side."

Zatanna's mouth tensed and she bit her lip while looking at the ground, "It can't be permanent. There's gotta be a way to bring your eye back."

"Well the Sage who sent me here restored my eyesight, but I doubt anything else could do it."

"That means that it's possible," She grabbed his hand with both hands and squeezed it tightly, "I'll find a way, alright?"

Itachi remained speechless for a minute at her concern. "..... Alright."

Manhunter said, "Shouldn't we bring back Tim Drake now?"

Zatanna's and Itachi's heads perked up, "That's right." Itachi manifested the gourd of the Susanoo and pulled Tim's body out of it. After a few seconds the body started to move. As the clouds parted and the sun shined down. Tim weakly lifted a hand to cover his eyes as they slowly opened and he sat up.

Tim looked around at everyone who stood above him. "Did we win?" Batman kneeled down in front of him and hugged him, "We did, son." Tim returned the hug. All of the Titans also joined in on the hug. "We missed you man!"

"Make sure you don't get captured again!"

After the hug was over he looked at Itachi, "What happened to the eye?"

"I'll tell you later."

"Oh.... well you could have warned me that you were going to stab me you know. That hurt like hell!"

"Sorry, I didn't want to risk Raven reading your mind or anything like that." Black Adam glanced at the crowd that still watched them after the fighting had already ended, "Itachi, you should show them that you have won."

"Show them?"

"Yes, after today you'll be everyone's hero, so show your people that you're their champion."

"Oh..... alright. Thank you, Black Adam."

Black Adam waved a dismissive hand and turned away with his arms crossed, "Do not misunderstand. We are not friends..... although because of you my kingdom will be independent again. And for that I will no longer give any of you heroes trouble."

Wondergirl's mouth dropped slightly, "Really?"

"Yes, I am a man of my word."

She smiled, "You really aren't that bad of an old dude."

A tick was on his forehead, "Right... Well, I'm going back to Khandaq now."

Itachi manifested his full Susanoo. 'Show them that I won...' He lifted his left fist in the air to symbolize his victory and the crowd erupted in cheers. 'A hero....' Itachi thought back to when the forces of Apokolips invaded Earth and how Batman responded to how Superman dealt with it, 'Could I really be called a hero after all the people I've killed though?' Itachi stared down at Superman who stood in place still in the Izanami. 'Maybe you'll be able to tell me, Clark.'

It's been a week since then. In that week everything seemed to go back to some level of normalcy. Every country regained their independence, heroes came back out of hiding, and many other things happened.

Many of the heroes that were in the Resistance gained a lot of popularity, and Itachi in particular became almost like an icon. To a lot of people the defeat of Superman signified Itachi becoming the new symbol of heroism.

Luther eventually returned back to health and finished his procedures on the villians that Itachi sent him. Two Face became a normal One Face and his alter ego seemingly disappeared, Killer Croc was cured of his skin condition and looked like a human, and Mr.Freeze's wife was able to survive outside of cryostasis now so Freeze spent all of his time with her. Similar stories happened for the rest of the surviving villains of Earth.

Zatanna was working tirelessly trying to figure out how she could restore Itachi's eye sight and he spent a lot of time around her to help her do so. Although whether or not they'll succeed is a mystery.

Despite the fact that their team was no longer necessary, Itachi maintained close ties with Manhunter, Aquaman, the Titans, and even Black Adam to a very small degree.

The Bat family would never be the same again after three of their members died and another betrayed them. The most that they could do at the moment was try to talk to Damian.

Raven was broken out of the control that Trigon had over her and she reconciled with the Titans.

Cyborg lost all hope and fell into despair after he thought all the Titans died, although realizing they were alive seemed to have messed with his head. His mental recovery is questionable, but the Titans want to give him a chance once he's done serving for his crimes.

Wonder Woman was going to initially receive a worse sentence, but Tim defended her for being the only reason he wasn't killed by Superman. Which gave her a lighter sentence and she was temporarily banished to Themyscira.

Because of the fact that no one could really kill Doomsday. He was mostly left alone and he eventually disappeared along with the controls for him.

No one really knew what to do with Ares. Although when he was given the option of going back to Apokolips or not causing trouble he chose the obvious answer.

Hal Jordan was given to the Green Lanterns who decided they would give him another chance, although his path towards redemption would be very long and hard.

Shazam or Billy Batson was let off easier than most of the Regime due to the fact that he was a child.

Hawkgirl more than likely won't return to Earth for a very long time since she's helping her husband fight a war on Thanagar now.

Flash and all of the soldiers of the Regime were imprisoned.

Itachi himself was currently surveying a government building he was about to break into. He Shunshined to a vent and shrunk himself by turning into a crowd as he flew through the vents. After flying for a few minutes he stopped and looked down out of the vent and saw Doomsday inside of a cell with the pad for his controls. He turned on his comms and contacted Luthor, "I found Doomsday and the controls."

He dropped down and picked up the tablet, "Were you seen?"

Itachi heard a gun clambering behind him, "I'll call you back--Waller."

"Itachi, how about you put the Tablet down?"

Itachi turned towards her, "No. Sorry, but I don't want Doomsday to be a part of your shadow operations."

Her eyes narrowed, "I'm afraid that that isn't your choice, Itachi. And if you don't comply, do you know what we could do to you?"

Itachi sighed and walked towards her and slapped the gun out of her hand, "I'll keep this brief. You know that I can kill without hesitation if I have to. And there's no one close to me that you would be able to take advantage of either. There's nothing that you can do to me."

Waller glared at him and he order Doomsday to follow him, "And one more thing," his eye flashed red, "If you try to put any of the remaining villians back onto your suicide squad, then I'll be back." Later the next day. Doomsday was safely in Lex's hands

Superman stayed in Izanami for an entire day, but eventually he accepted reality and was released from the time loop. When he came to the realization of everything that he had done, from killing his friends to making the world that previously loved him fear him. He broke down and was safely escorted to a red sun prison cell designed specifically for him. The reanimation of Lois Lane stayed with Superman for a few days until he had found some small piece, and her reanimation was un done.

"There's only one thing left to do." Itachi walked into Superman's cell and Clark looked up at him.

"How is it out there without me?"

"Pretty good. Although there is still a lot of lingering fear from your Regime. Things more than likely won't be fully back to normal for years.... hopefully within that time you'll be able to become a hero again."

Clark smirked and shook his head while it hung low, "Sorry, Itachi. But I can't just become a hero again after everything that happened. I'd love to, but they'll all just look at me like I'm still the dictator that I was."

Itachi put a hand on his shoulder, "You can't give up like that, Clark. Because now you have someone that's going to rely on you."

Clark's brow scrunched and Itachi continued, "Black Adam found a ship in orbit. When he brought it down he contacted me because it had the symbol of the House of El on it, after I opened it. I met a girl named Kara. She's your cousin."

Clark's jaw hung open and his eyes stayed wide. "I have a cousin?"

"Yes, Clark. I'm telling you this because this is a second chance for you to go out there and help people again. Your cousin will need your guidance."

Clark started pacing back and forth with his hand on his chin for a while. He would occasionally pause in place then start walking again. Eventually he approached Itachi, "Alright. I'll try. What are you going to do now though?"

Itachi put a hand on his chin and looked down, "He didn't say it, but I'm assuming that the Sage wanted me to help with the war that we had. Since I've completed the mission. I should probably go back to my original home."

Clark had a small frown on his face, but Itachi continued, "Although... I've done everything I need to on that planet though. I'll visit, but I'll come back here right after," he looked up at Clark, "Wouldn't you feel the same if Krypton came back?"

Clark closed his eyes and smiled, "Yeah.... I would."

"Before I go, I need you to tell me something, Clark... lately a lot of people have been calling me a hero, but based on what I learned from watching you and Bruce, I don't really think I am, and since you used to be the symbol of heroism I think you'd know better than anyone. So tell me, what makes a hero, a hero?"

Clark put a hand on his chin and looked up at the ceiling. After a minute he answered, "I know that a lot of what I've done in the past five years has been wrong, but it's still given me some perspective... Itachi, you've always been a great hero. The fact that you've killed doesn't make any difference. You've sacrificed love, your family, and any chance of a peaceful life to protect everyone. Instead of being blinded by idealism you ran head first into my prison and killed the ones who would never change to save any potential future victim, knowing full well that it could have destroyed your relationship with any hero. And you managed to save the world while bringing us back to the light at the same time," he put a hand on his shoulder, "Itachi, if you don't have in you what makes a hero. Then I don't know who does."

Itachi smiled, "You're right. Although I don't think It fits for me to be the guy in the spotlight everyone looks up to, so hopefully you'll be able to take up that spot again."

Clark chuckled, "I'll try, it'll take a long time though."

Itachi started to walk out of the cell, "Right. Well then, I'll have to bring your cousin here first. Not everyone has complete trust in my Izanami changing you."

Clark lost his smile and winced at the mention of Izanami, "I'm sorry about your eye, Itachi. That wouldn't have happened if I hadn't snapped.

Itachi stopped at the doorway and looked back at him, "You lost almost everyone, your best friend didn't console you, and Sinestro and Wonder Woman pressured you into becoming something worse."

"Even still...."

Itachi gave him a reassuring smile and an uncharacteristic thumbs up and spoke to him with the first words of broken English he ever told him, "Is fine."

It clicked in Clark's head and he just smiled back. "You're a true hero, Itachi."

Itachi left the prison and thought about the words the Sage told him. About living a life where he didn't suffer from the same unfortunate circumstances that made him have to live life as a liar. "Well, mission accomplished."

End: Year Five

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Well that's the end. Thank you to everyone that read this all the way through. This is the first fanfic that I completed, and that I can say that I liked doing(since all the other ones were cringe or edgy when I was 14 and younger.) I never really planned on a relationship subplot, but some people liked the interactions so I went ahead with it and hopefully it wasn't bad, although it started way too late in the story for a fully fleshed out relationship.

Give any ratings, praises or criticisms you can. And ask any questions you may have about the story or my writing.

I probably won't write another story for a while. The next one I might do will more than likely be one of Sasuke being born in the MHA universe when the main story finishes. Although if any of you have ideas of another fic than I'm all ears.

Once again, thank you, and I'll see you all next time.