He hadn't planned on killing them all,but after what he saw from Superwoman's memories, he might as well have done the world a favor. From her memories, and the names he'd learned, he was certain,this was Earth-3. The entire League,well, most of them,were tyrants ruling the world, eliminating anyone who resisted them.
He already knew from the films that they were bad,but seeing the exact details of how they came to power was disgusting. They had wiped out entire cities to assert dominance. They had obliterated 80% of Atlantis, because it had been a leading force in the resistance. And those were the mildest of the atrocities they'd committed.
By eliminating them, he had done this world a favor,and given it a fighting chance. The leaders were gone, yes, but their superpowered lackeys would rise, taking their places. He had no time to deal with them. It might even take the remaining world leaders a while to realize their masters were dead.
Max briefly wondered what it would be like to encounter an opposite variant of himself. Kind? Ha. Not a chance,well, outside of those close to him, perhaps. That was as far as he could stretch the definition of "kind."
He imagined such a variant: probably ruling all the Earths where they existed,and not stopping there. They would wander into other Earths just to clash with other versions of themselves for the fun of it. Perhaps even maintain a harem of love interests… maybe.
All in all, it was both good and bad that no other versions of him existed. Good, because they'd wreck every universe they touched. Bad, because if there were, they might have united against the Anti-Monitor,and with how many Earths there were, the Anti-Monitor wouldn't have stood a chance.
It was also good because it served as a kind of ego booster,he was the only one who knew the full plot, unique across all universes. Overall, he was special. But, alas, he digressed.
Max then created two shadow clones, each bowing once in acknowledgment before shooting off in different directions. On second thought, he had some time to kill while his clones went on a search-and-destroy mission.
With that in mind, Max shot off toward the White House. From there, the intelligence available,or what remained of it,would point him exactly where he needed to go.
------
The house was eerily quiet when Nina and Thena stepped through the front door after parting ways with Diana.
"Terra? Dad? We're back!" Thena shouted as she ran through their rooms before returning to the living room. "Where are they?" she asked.
Nina had a thoughtful expression. "I might have an idea," she said, stroking her chin.
"Could you teleport us to them? I'm dying to see them," Thena said.
"Well, I marked Terra so I could teleport to her,the same with Max, but he keeps removing my marks," Nina replied.
"Wait… do you also have me marked?" Thena asked.
"Of course. I marked you since day one we met," Nina said.
"Why though?"
"For this very reason, and for your safety. Now hang on," Nina said as she placed a hand on Thena's shoulder. In the next moment, they vanished.
Meanwhile in Gotham
Pain sat on a mat, opposite Ra's, playing chess with him. Terra sat nearby, reading a book and eating cookies with milk in silence. The only sounds were the chess pieces hitting the board when Pain or Ra's moved them, the rustle of turning pages from Terra, and the ticking of the clock on the wall.
The silence was broken by Max emerging from the ground.
"How did it go?" Pain asked.
"As planned. If Luthor is smart enough, he will do as instructed,or I shall rectify my mistake if sparring him, once all this is over," Max said.
"Good," Pain replied.
Max then turned to Terra. "Why aren't you training?"
"Nice try Zetsu, but I know it's you. Dad sure as hell isn't taking orders from anyone. Might have fooled Thena, maybe," Terra said.
"Hehehe, I expected no less from one of Max's little monsters," Zetsu said, changing back into his original appearance before glaring at Pain.
"Thank you very much for ruining it," he added.
"How was I supposed to know?" Pain asked.
"Why else would I come here as Max? I knew you'd figure it out the moment I showed up—you just like messing with me all the time," Zetsu said.
"No offense, Zetsu, but that was a crappy performance. Even if Pain hadn't said anything, I would have seen through it," Terra said.
"Where did I go wrong?" Zetsu asked.
"It's kinda too edgy. Dad is edgy, but in a cool way… you overdid it," Terra replied.
"Hmmm… I see," Zetsu said, putting on a thoughtful expression.
Suddenly, Thena and Nina appeared in the room.
A wash of relief swept over Thena as her eyes landed on Terra.
"Terra!" she shouted, running toward her and gave her a firm hug.
Thena held her tightly while laughing softly, teasing, "You've been eating a lot of cookies lately, huh? I can tell you've gained a little."
Terra pulled back and grinned. "I can say the same about you,your grandma wasn't playing around."
"You have no idea," Thena said with a chuckle.
"Poor Terra, must have been dying of boredom," Nina added, shaking her head with a smile.
"I was actually having fun while you were gone," Terra said, her eyes lighting up. "Went on a few little adventures with Dad, and with Zetsu around, there's never a dull moment. Believe me on that."
"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment… or a great offense." Zetsu said
Pain smirked. "I'd say it's a mix of both."
"You're also in on this?"
"Because now I'm starting to take it as an offense."Zetsu said.
Thena leaned closer to Terra, whispering, "That's cool and all, but… who are these guys? Why does he have the Rinnegan? What even is this place? And… where's Dad?"
Terra glanced around before giving a small, conspiratorial smile. "It seems we have a lot of catching up to do. Let me show you around the place while I fill you in."
She led Thena toward the door, glancing back to make sure Nina was following, then gently closed it behind them, leaving Zetsu,Ra's, Nina and Pain in the quiet of the room.
"So, what happened while we were absent?" Nina asked.
"Not much. Just crazed monstrosities attacking the cities and almost killing the Blue Boy Scout. Had Max not intervened, the whole League might have… well, gotten shitted on," Zetsu said.
"I see," Nina replied. "Were they called Doomsday?"
"Yes, that's what they were called. Max then told me to go tell Luthor to create kryptonite weapons, because there could be more of those monstrosities out there," Zetsu explained.
"He's also got the Time Ring now, and thus departed to find… you know who," Pain said.
"About time, I guess," Nina muttered.
There was a knock at the door.
"Enter," Pain said.
Lady Shiva entered, bowing before Pain and glancing at Nina as if asking permission to relay sensitive information in her presence.
"You may speak," Pain said.
"We may have located the one known as Reverse Flash, whom you asked our shadows to keep an eye out for," Shiva said.
End of Chapter
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