"Yeah, yeah, I know."
"Once we adopt the mindset of killing, we become no better than the criminals we are fighting," Dick said, standing up. "I was just saying… anyways, I'm heading out. Want some pizza?"
"No."
"More for me then," he said, walking out, leaving Bruce alone, who sighed.
It had been years now since he had taken Dick in, yet the boy still hadn't truly let go of the death of his parents. At some point, he had wanted the person responsible for their deaths terminated—and Bruce knew exactly how that felt, having seen his own parents murdered in that alley. He knew Dick hadn't truly meant what he was saying, but it was hard to trust a justice system that often let convicts slip through the cracks. Even so, their presence made a difference. Even if only temporarily locked away, criminals were kept from harming others.
Because, really, could you even imagine how Gotham would be if someone like Joker ran rampant every day of the week.
-----
Max stepped into the cave, his eyes glowing faintly in the darkness. He descended a series of natural stone stairs for several minutes until he reached the deepest part of the cavern, where it opened into a vast chamber.
While returning from the desert, he had spotted this mountain and noticed the cave's entrance. That night, he returned, assigning clones to excavate deeper into the rock and reinforce it with wooden pillars using Wood Release. After a week of painstaking work, the chamber was finally prepared.
He approached one of the walls and infused it with his Chakra. A small seal formed and absorbed the energy, and one by one, lanterns along the walls ignited, illuminating the space.
While Madara was not a master of sealing, he had extensive knowledge of barrier seals and sealing scrolls. Max utilized this understanding to craft a fully functional lightning system within the cave, powered entirely by his Chakra, ensuring both illumination and security for his hidden lair.
He had also learned the backlash of using too many clones at once or leaving them active for too long. Receiving too many shared memories at once had given him a splitting migraine, so he had limited his Shadow Clone usage to five for the Rasenshuriken and five for the Chidori and its variants. Even with this restriction, he had made significant progress: he could now form the Rasenshuriken—though not yet throw it—and had successfully recreated the Chidori along with some of its variations. Kirin, for now, was still off the table.
Max then went through a sequence of hand seals and slammed his hand onto the ground. With a poof, the Gedo Mazō appeared in the center of the chamber.
Now, you might be wondering why he didn't just put it in his infinite storage space. The truth is that while the space was infinite in mass and quantity, it had limits on the size of the objects it could store. Which is reasonable—otherwise, what would stop him from going into space and just snatching the moon?
He hadn't tested it with living beings yet, so he isn't sure if he could store a living creature inside. If he can, the infinite storage would effectively be broken: anyone placed inside can only be released at his discretion. That would make it an unstoppable tool—or a terrifying trap. Max made a mental note to experiment with that possibility sometime.
Now, the annoying part will be to the travel from his starlight city to this place—a daunting task, given how far apart the locations are. Flying isn't much of a problem in itself, but he has to do it covertly to keep the location of his base a secret. The Flying Thunder God Technique would be perfect for this, if he knows it, but recreating it Is near impossible with its absurd requirements—and that is without even considering the effort needed just to replicate it. Sometimes he wondered why he hadn't been given Obito's template instead of Madara's; things would be a lot simpler.
Looking at the Gedo Mazō before him and the base itself, it really does resemble the Akatsuki underground base from the anime. The only thing missing is a roster of powerful metas—then he would have a complete organization. But recruitment isn't necessary. Bringing others in would create loose ends, and that was the last thing he needed.
Max then retraced his path to the cave entrance and walked straight through what appeared to be solid rock—actually just an illusion. At the mouth of the cave, he summoned his chameleon and jumped inside it's mouth as it then turned invisible and scurried away.
Sometime later
Max was flying atop his bird, deep in thought, because something really seemed off. When he had just left LexCorp after the meeting concluded, the heroes suddenly popped up to "see him." He knew exactly they weren't there just to check on him—after all, if that was the case, why wouldn't they simply show up at his apartment since they already knew where he lived? After some deliberation, he came to a conclusion: Batman had been testing him, watching to see how he would deal with Luthor. Max didn't know if the other heroes were in on the test or if they had simply been asked by Batman to keep an eye on things, but the intent was clear. Batman had expected him to kill, or at least seriously harm, Luthor and Waller—and the heroes had been stationed nearby, ready to stop him. He may be wrong, but it was far too much of a coincidence to ignore.
Though they still trusted him to some extent, as they had even invited him to a meeting to discuss the creation of the "Super Eight." He had no interest in being a part of it, but to be polite, he would attend.
Luthor Estate
"Are you sure you want to hand over Tobi's DNA samples and discoveries to the government?" Mercy asked, raising an eyebrow at Luthor, who was lying on a massage table with a robot working his back.
"Yes, I am. It's not like we're handing them everything," Luthor replied casually. "I'm only offering them a piece of it."
"I thought you wanted to be the only one to create a superweapon from his DNA along with Superman's," Mercy pressed.
"Yes, that was the intention. But from what I've observed, Tobi's DNA—while impressive to a degree—is far behind Superman's. Most of his power comes from his training, from what seems to be years of it. His DNA isn't worth much without the knowledge behind it. Unlike Superman, who won the species lottery and grows stronger simply by basking in the sun… like a lizard."
"Even if we managed to clone him, I doubt he'd be willing to come and train his clone for us. In fact, I might just be taking my last breath," Luthor said with a dry chuckle.
"Do you think they'll be able to successfully clone him?" Mercy asked.
"Well, considering we failed with some of the best scientists at our disposal, I doubt it. Tobi's DNA is invasive. We tried combining it with Superman's, only for Superman's DNA to be devoured—turning the whole thing into an abomination: a wriggling, white mass of flesh. Cloning him directly only created white, lifeless, deformed husks. And the one that actually lived killed four of our scientists before security had to put it down."
"So… you're shelving the idea?"
"Yes—for now. Besides, getting on the government's good graces isn't a bad thing. It's what's allowed me to get away with so much already." Luthor waved the robot off, climbed off the table, and poured himself a drink. He gulped it down before continuing, "This even presents an opportunity, since you know who will be utilizing that DNA."
"Waller, I guess," Mercy said flatly.
"Bingo," Luthor smirked.
"So you're going to give them his DNA… then sell them out later?" Mercy asked with a knowing smile.
"You make me sound like a bad person when you put it that way. I prefer to call it business—nothing personal."
End of chapter