Chapter X: Kill A Barista

Superman has slammed Kalibak into the ground, "Call off your attack."

One side of Kalibak's mouth raised, "Or what?"

Superman just glared at him and he smiled, "You haven't really changed, "He smiled ear to ear, "You will not save this planet. Your pathetic moral code will see Earth burn," he pressed a button and another boomtube opened as Parademons started swarming Superman. "If you're not prepared to take a life," he grabbed Superman's throat and slammed him into the ground, "Then you can't possibly fight a war!" He leaned in, "Can you hear the people? Can you see them? You can? Can't you? You can see all over the world."

Words of people worldwide in all their languages flooded into Superman's ears as he heard their cries and he gritted his teeth. "You're weak, Kryptonian. Too weak to do what needs to be done. You'd rather spare the lives of your enemies than save the lives of your people."

"No," his eyes started to glow red."

"They're dying, you're failing them."

"Not again," the pile of hundreds of parademons on top of him lit up, "NAAAARGH," he yelled as he incinerated all of them besides Kalibak.

He started walking towards Kalibak with clenched fists. Kalibak tries getting back up, "I didn't think you were capable...."

Superman grabbed him by his beard, "Stand up. Face me."

"No. You win, Kryptonian. I yield."

Superman lifted him off of the ground, "No, you don't get to yield."

Kalibak put his hands up in defense, "I'm beaten."

Superman punched him and yelled, "FIGHT ME!"

Kalibak uppercut him with both hands, but it did nothing and Superman looked down on him. "You still stand?"

Superman clenched his fist and the veins started popping, "You think you can come to my world, slaughter innocent people and not answer for your crimes?"

Kalibaks eyes widened and his jaw was loose, "Darkseid will"-"No. Daddy isn't here for you to hide behind, Kalibak.

Kalibak yelled and tried to throw a punch but it was caught by one hand. Superman gritted his teeth, "You hurt my world."

"Hnng!" His knuckles started being crushed by Superman's grip.

"I've let creatures like you live before. No more," he grabbed his throat, "No more mercy for cancers posing as men."

"You can't.... hnng kill me. I'm immortal. I'm a GOD!"

Superman started pounding him into the ground after each word, "I. Don't. CARE!" With his final punch he crushed Kalibaks head.

Right after that he flew to Flash and started talking to him at a speed so fast that everything around them was frozen. His jaw was tense and he looked at the ground, "Barry. I need to talk."

"You can't wait until after the planet wide invasion?"

"No. And thousands will die in the time it takes to talk to anyone else," he looked to the side at the frozen scene of a parademon about to rip a woman's face off, "Kalibak said something to me. He said I'd rather spare the lives of my enemies than save the lives of my people."

"Well, let's not put too much stock in what Kalibak says."

"I think Kalibak was right in his own sick way. This needs to change."

"What are you suggesting?"

Superman pointed at the parademon next to them, "I'm suggesting we don't hold back. I'm suggesting we don't let Innocent people die while we handle these invaders with kid gloves."

"You want to kill them?"

"No. But nor do I want to worry about their lives more than those they're killing. All around the world. Every second. They're slaughtering people. Every second we spend trying to incapacitate or restrain these murderers more people will die."

Flash made strong eye contact, "I think you've already made up your mind. You didn't come to me to talk. You came to me for permission to kill. I'm sorry, Superman. I can't give it to you."

Superman's jaw went loose and he scrunched his brow with wide eyes, "You can think faster than anyone else on Earth. Can you think of any other way that will save as many lives?"

They both looked up at the frozen sky above them killed with parademons coming down to kill more people. Flash looked down at the ground, "No."

Superman flew up into space and took a moment to look at Earth, before flying back down and killing every single Parademon left on Earth.

Batman looked up at the sky as small pieces of Parademon dust fell, "Clark. No."

Clark flew down to Lex who said, "Incredible."

He grabbed Superman's hand and raised it in front of the crowd who cheered for him.

Itachi wiped the sweat off of his forehead, 'I was wondering when Superman would do that. I'm glad the world is safe now....' Itachi sighed and shook his head, 'This is the last time we'll ever be united against a threat again, isn't it?'

A beam of light surrounded Itachi for a second before he was teleported back to the Watchtower. Superman walked up to Itachi and put an arm on his shoulder, "You did great Itachi. You did what I should have been doing from the start."

Itachi gave him a reassuring smirk, "I'm just doing my job, and I'm glad you started so soon or else even more lives would be lost."

Wonderwoman walked over, "Superman, they're celebrating."

Itachi took this as his opportunity to leave, "Cyborg, can you send me to New Jersey?"

"Sure thing," Cyborg prepped the teleporter and Itachi stepped on it. Before pressing the button Cyborg said, "Be careful of Batman, he might try to kidnap you like he did Hawkgirl. You know you could start living anywhere else, you're a bit too close to Gotham."

"It's alright, I have memories in my current home I want to keep close to me," Cyborg understood and sent him down.

'Now then, I'm sure that Batman is gonna have a meeting tonight.'

Later that night Itachi snuck to Batman's hideout and sat at the table where all the other heros already were.

Batman put both of his hands together, "There's no coming back from this for him."

Itachi scrunched his brow at this, he was gonna speak up but Huntress beat him to it, "No coming back from what? It was a war. Admittedly thanks to Superman, it was a very short war. 0eople die in wars. He saved lives."

Batman narrowed his eyes, "He slaughtered thousands."

Itachi leaned in, "Batman you can't be serious, they're parademons. Mindless creatures that have had any form of sentience stripped from them. You aren't seriously so naive as to think even they deserve to be spared. Just like Huntress said, he saved lives."

"By taking dozens of thousands of others."

Huntress put her hands on the table, "He's a hero in the eyes of almost everyone around the world," she stood up, "But not in your eyes. Even after he saved the lives of your friends," she pointed at Green Arrow and Black Canary, "Go on. Tell Green Arrow and Black Canary why their being alive offends you."

Green Arrow put his hands up in defense, "Please don't bring me into this."

Itachi glared at him and stood up, "You know, Superman told me that Kalibak told him something. How he'd rather spare the lives of his enemies rather than save the lives of his people. That is EXACTLY what you do.

Batman crossed his arms, "You think I haven't wanted to kill the Joker before? I have....every time I saw his face, but I'd be no better than him if I did."

Itachi blinked rapidly until his eyes tensed, ".... What? That would make you worse, huh? No," Itachi pointed at him, "You're probably even worse than him, making up these selfish self fulfilling excuses about how that somehow makes you morally right," Itachi's eyes darted to some of the other heros in the room, "And It isn't just you..... always arresting maniacs knowing full and well that they'll break out and kill more people in a never ending cycle instead of just killing them so everyone can sleep soundly. Would killing the Joker have caused hundreds of families suffering? Or would it have saved the lives of millions?" Itachi pinched his nose and shook his head, "Is being a "hero" just a thrill? You let them live just to fight them over and over and over again, convincing yourself that your..." Itachi took a deep breath, "what does crossing the line even mean? It becomes easier after the first? Do you think after killing a mass murderer that you'll accidentally kill a Barista for getting your coffee wrong?..... Wonderwoman said a year ago, that whoever the Joker killed from there on out would be your fault, do you feel any responsibility at all for what Joker did?"

After Itachi finished his rant he was itching to say everyone in the room caught their breaths, not realizing they were holding it in. Batman looked down at the ground, "Every day..... but," Batman had a tensed brow, "That doesn't change"-Huntress gritted her teeth, "Being sanctimonious and arrogant doesn't make you right, Bruce, "Batman looked glared right at her and her eyes went slightly wide before going back to normal, "There are people in this room who don't know your secret identity, aren't there?"

As more chatter went on, the audio faded into the background of Itachi's head as he sported a blank expression, 'I think I finally understand Batman. I always thought he just had an iron will, but in reality. He's just as crazy as everyone else he locks away, probably more crazy. To be that stubbornly dedicated to such a foolish cause is nothing short of pure insanity. His logic works against normal criminals, but we're talking about wars and psychopaths that will never be able to change no matter what. To treat these as if they're the exact same thing shows just how black and white he views everything... unless he truly is aware of it all, and chooses to stay this way anyways. Just out of pure pride. Either way, it isn't good. Maybe he should be put away for a while after everything with Superman is done.'

Itachi caught back up with the conversation when Batman took his mask off. Captain Atom squinted, "Bruce Wayne?"

Green Arrow went wide eyed, "Holy crap."

Batwoman yelled, "On screen! We've got trouble!"

Batman looked over raised shoulder, "Damn it. The Cultist!

Catwoman asked, "Who?"

He put his mask back on, "I'll explain on the way. Move! Captain Atom. You'll beat the rest of us there. Try to disperse the mob. Itachi, stay here, you can't risk being seen working with us out in the open."

Everyone started leaving, but Huntress stayed behind and looked at Itachi, "Thanks for having my back."

"Of course, I was keeping that in me for over a year now," Itachi stroked his chin for a second before leaning into her ear, "Listen. My end goal might end up being slightly different from Batman's, when the time comes...."-"Sure, I'll have your back."

"Great."

Huntress ran off with the rest of the heros.

Sometime later while they were fighting zealots in Superman cloaks, Superman, Green Lantern, and Wonderwoman showed up. Superman crossed his arms, "Stop the fighting! Return to your homes."

Green Arrow narrowed his eyes, "We were handling this."

Wonderwoman flies in front of him, "No. You weren't. You're not needed here. Leave."

Both Superman and Batman hold their chins up while looking at each other, Catwoman interrupts and puts a hand on Batman's chest, "Not here. Come on. It's time to go."

Some days later Itachi was at the Fortress Of Solitude with Superman, he was examining the many Kryptonian artifacts when his eyes started focusing on a strange portal, "Superman, what is that?"

"That's the Phantom Zone, think of it as a timeless prison parallel to our universe. You don't wanna end up there, I'll just say that."

"This is true."

Flash walked towards Superman in the Fortress Of Solitude. "You and Luthor are creating some sort of Super Soldier drug? Seriously? This is what we do now?"

Superman looked at him, "Lex was already close to creating it before Metropolis, and he had a lot of thinking time in that bunker. I've just provided more Kryptonian technology. I know it seems extreme"-"Extreme? It's mad scientist territory!"

Superman turned towards him fully, "Barry, do you play Chess?"

Barry's expression lightened up, "I.... wasn't expecting that."

"Do you?"

"Um... I played a couple of times when I was a kid. But, no, I guess I've never slowed down long enough to learn."

"How quickly could you learn?"

Flash ran to the Watchtower computer, "Watchtower. Access Justice League Library. Subject: Chess. Display at Flash speed. I'm done."

They both sat down at a table. Flash had his arms crossed while Superman had one hand on the table and one on his chin. "How fast can you think?"

"There's no way of knowing that."

"No."

"...Fast, very fast."

They started their Chess game at Super speed. Superman started the conversation, "I want to discuss some ideas with you."

"What ideas?"

"I want to get rid of guns," Flash froze for a second and Superman continued, "Checkmate," They started another game, "We could do it, you and I, couldn't we? In what? A day? Two?"

"We could never get rid of all guns."

"No, but most. We could do it."

"Yes."

"Checkmate."

Barry looks up at Clark for a moment, "But just because we can do it doesn't mean we should. Unless they give up their guns willingly, they will resent us."

"Yes, but they will be alive to resent us."

"I know. They will rise against us."

"Maybe. And let them come at us with sticks."

"You start with guns? Then what?"

"You're a forensic scientist. How many lives have you witnessed ruined by gun death?"

"Smoking."

"What?"

"Cigarettes. They kill far more people than guns. People keep smoking even when they know it's killing them. They keep smoking and looking into the eyes of their families and they die."

"And?"

"And tomorrow we get rid of cigarettes. Checkmate. You want to save lives? That's how we do it. Then we imprison anyone who speeds in a car. Checkmate. Then we lock up anyone who leaves a dangerous dog unchained. Checkmate. Then we kill anyone who doesn't recycle. Checkmate. Checkmate. Checkmate. Checkmate."