Max walked into the room, his eyes drifting over the luxurious portraits of Lex Luthor in heroic poses, alongside expensive paintings that adorned the walls. At the sleek triangular table sat two figures—Luthor and Amanda Waller—leaving one seat unoccupied.
"I'm glad you accepted my request," Max said smoothly, "it saved me the annoying task of visiting each of you individually."
"Well, who wouldn't want to meet the famous Tobi in person?" Luthor replied, rising slightly. "I should say I'm honored. Besides, as a businessman, I know first impressions matter—especially good ones."
"Indeed," Max added, his gaze flicking toward Waller, "unlike someone in particular."
Waller interrupted sharply. "Let's get this over with. Some of us have more pressing matters to attend to."
Max narrowed his eyes, then sat down and removed his mask, placing it deliberately on the table. "I guess wearing this mask in front of both of you serves no purpose," he said. "Which is one of the reasons I wanted to meet you."
"Can you clarify what you mean?" Luthor asked, feigning ignorance.
Max paused for a moment. "I'm aware that both of you are in possession of sensitive footage showing me without my mask."
"And what about it?" Waller asked, her arms crossed.
"I'd like it erased—and forgotten," Max replied, a faint smile on his face.
"Oh, you mean that footage," Luthor said, clasping his hands together. "Its erasure can be arranged… depending on how far you're willing to go for it to be forgotten."
"I'm willing to go very far, Mr. Luthor. Far enough to ensure anyone who has seen it ceases to exist," Max said, his tone now deadly serious.
The smile vanished from Luthor's face, and the atmosphere tensed.
"Is that a threat, Mr. Tobi?" Waller asked, her voice sharp.
"Simply stating a fact," Max replied coolly. "Interpret it how you like, but after the stunt you recently pulled, it's safest to take it as such."
"Well, that footage holds no importance to me—I've already seen it, so there's no reason to keep it," Luthor said.
"Good. So, Miss Waller," Max prompted.
Waller's eyes narrowed. "Threatening me is tantamount to threatening the government. If you think your power lets you get away with coercion, you're mistaken. You may be strong, but you are not unbeatable. You haven't yet met your match. The footage will be erased—but remember this, you will regret testing me."
She stood to leave, but suddenly, a projectile whistled past her face and embedded itself in the distant wall with a sharp bang. She turned to see a black rod, and Max's calm voice followed.
"I'm not done yet."
Her fists clenched, but she remained seated, silently gritting her teeth.
"Well, easy now, Mr. Tobi," Luthor said smoothly, pouring himself a glass of whiskey. "Wasn't this supposed to be a meeting?"
"I had to remind her," Max replied, "it's bad manners to walk away during a meeting until it's adjourned."
Luthor raised an eyebrow. "Well, then, what else do you want to make clear?"
Max leaned back slightly, his expression unreadable. "I'm glad you asked. You may plot against the heroes, or act against them, as you please. I will not interfere unless they explicitly request my aid—and that isn't cheap. You can even plot against me, as long as it doesn't affect me directly it's fine."
He paused, pointing at Waller. "Yesterday, I returned to my apartment to an unpleasant surprise courtesy of Miss Waller here. I hope it doesn't happen again, because I have no problem ensuring key positions belonging to the ones giving you orders in the government—or anyone involved—become vacant if necessary. And the same applies to you, Luthor and it would be a shame since you don't have an heir."
"However," Max continued, standing up and putting on his mask, "at the moment, I have no reason to have any form of malicious intent towards you Luthor and I hope it remains as such and it also leaves room for business and transactions—it depends on how you play your cards."
Luthor smirked. "Well, I'm looking forward to it."
"For your own sakes," Max said, his voice low and dangerous, "heed my words. I have a lot of patience but it has limits. You've been warned."
With that, Max disappeared in a blur. Luthor turned toward Waller
"Well, he really isn't fond of you," Luthor remarked casually.
Waller's glare could have burned through steel. "I'm leaving. And if he requests another meeting… don't bother calling me." She strode out, leaving Luthor alone.
He walked to the window, looking down at the city below. "I'm curious how far you're willing to go, Pietro," he murmured to himself. "But my reasoning is preventing me from satiating that curiosity even then ,my pride won't allow me to take such a blatant threat lying down."
-------------
Max appeared in an alleyway, then leapt away, hopping across rooftops at high speed. He glanced to his left and saw Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern flying toward him. Max landed atop a tall building and waited as they touched down around him.
Green Lantern was the first to speak.
"Samurai guy! My man, glad to see you're fine."
"I wish the feeling was mutual," Max muttered.
"And there he goes… dude, I was trying to be polite," Green Lantern said.
"Why are you even here?" Max asked flatly.
"Well, Batman told us you had fully recovered and left," Superman explained. "So we came to see you."
"And to thank you for helping us defeat Darkseid," Wonder Woman added.
"Don't sweat it. After all, it was either that or fleeing the planet," Max replied casually.
"Right. Anyway, there's a question that's been bugging me lately—are you an alien?" Green Lantern asked.
"Well… kind of. I'll tell you some other time. Or just ask Batman," Max said.
"Yeah, I'll just wait for you to tell me," Green Lantern shrugged.
Suddenly, an explosion echoed in the distance. Superman turned his head toward the sound.
"Well, that's my cue. I'm glad to see you're okay," he said before flying off.
"You know, you could've come to my apartment instead of ambushing me out of nowhere," Max remarked.
"Well, this was Green Lantern's idea," Wonder Woman replied.
"Not surprising. I could smell the idiocy," Max said.
"Hey! I have a tight schedule these days. I should've been enjoying my day off, but nooo—I chose to come see you," Green Lantern shot back.
"Well, the gesture is appreciated. It was nice seeing you," Max said, before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
"And he's gone…" Green Lantern muttered.
"Was that even the real him?" Wonder Woman asked.
Green Lantern just shrugged before flying off.
---
Meanwhile
Max sat atop his massive bird, soaring high in the sky as he looked at the endless desert stretching out before him. He had created a clone the moment he spotted the heroes approaching—he wasn't interested in talking to them.
The bird dove, and Max jumped off before it reached the ground, landing with a heavy bang that scattered sand in all directions. He formed a single hand sign, and with multiple poofs, twenty shadow clones appeared before him. They nodded, then split into two groups and ran off in separate directions—one to train in mastering the Rasenshuriken, the other to attempt recreating the Chidori.
Max was left alone. An idea sparked in his mind. Last time, he couldn't summon the Gedo Mazo for some reason. He wanted to see if that had changed.
He slammed his hand against the ground. A sealing array spread across the sand, the desert trembling before exploding upward. A massive hand emerged, followed by another, as the Gedo Mazo rose with a deafening roar, Max standing atop its head.
He looked at its sealed eyes and pondered.
Since there are no tailed beasts or chakra in this world, what could I try as a substitute?
In this world, only magic existed.
Maybe demons… after all, they're the closest thing to tailed beasts other than magical creatures.
Max summoned his system panel and checked it.
73%.
"Not bad," he muttered. He estimated that right now, he could open the gates up to the Sixth Gate. Combined with Madara's physical prowess, that wasn't bad at all. But he knew he still had to keep training—because the next template could very well end up being some weakass guy.
End of Chapter