[Caterpillar] Chapter 26 - Superman's decision (Patreon)

AN: As someone has noticed, the previous chapter's events were inspired by the cartoon Galactik Football. It has 3 seasons and you can find the full episodes on YouTube to watch them for free if you are interested. I, for one, loved it and, because my fic's story is not restricted to Earth but has the whole universe as the stage, it leaves the door open to many possibilities. It looked like the perfect chance for me to pay homage to one of the cartoons I grew up with.

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Chapter 26 - Superman's decision

"Aaaah, I don't wanna go back!" Diana whined and rolled in the bed inside Naruto's bedroom in his spaceship. If her fellows from the Justice League saw her actions at that moment they would think someone else was impersonating her. It was difficult to believe that a several thousand-year-old warrior princess was throwing a tantrum like a bratty kid, much to Naruto's amusement. And, as it had become a habit for him over the past week, he activated the tiny camera hidden in one of the buttons of his clothes to record the entire scene.

'I can't wait to look at her face once she sees the videos of herself!'

He was giggling to himself just at the mental image of how embarrassed she was going to be.

"You know my stance on this. I don't want you to go back to Earth either," Naruto said but then he started chuckling again when she buried her face into the pillows and let out a muffled yell. Then, she rolled on her back and looked at the ceiling with her arms and legs spread eagle on the bed.

"Oof!"

It was the sound she made as all air left her lungs when Naruto unexpectedly threw himself on top of her. Then, she started to squirm with all her strength to escape when his fingers started tickling her sides.

"No tickling! AHhHh! Let me go!" she screamed and laughed at the same time but Naruto was merciless.

"Kurama! Kurama! Help!" she yelled.

"SHUT UP!" the fox barked from the living room of the ship's personal quarters. "I swear no one can sleep anymore in this house these days! What are you, little kids?!"

But his words fell on deaf ears as the two of them continued to laugh and giggle while wrestling and rolling in the bed, trying to defeat the other. But when the spaceship suddenly shook, they stopped. Breathing a bit heavily, Naruto pressed his lips on hers in a quick kiss and then he jumped out of the bed.

"5 to 3 in my favour," he said and rushed out of the bedroom.

"It's 4 to 3! Not 5! This morning didn't count! And you said you would stop keeping the score!" she yelled after him but his only response was to laugh.

She smiled as she stood up from the bed and followed him out of the bedroom. The shaking of the ship signified that they had finally exited the space warp. Now, the Earth was only 15-20 minutes of space flight away. When she entered the control room, she saw him sitting in the pilot's seat, inserting commands to set the course of the ship to Earth.

She came behind the pilot's chair and leaned with her elbows on the backrest, putting her chin on top of his head. After 1 week spent in the space city of Genesis Stadium together with Naruto, she felt very reluctant at the thought of going back to Earth and dealing with all the problems that were waiting for her.

"You really don't need to go back to Earth. The Justice League has grown much stronger than before, hasn't it? You said so yourself, you have more than 100 members by now," Naruto said.

Wonder Woman nuzzled her face into his spiky hair.

"Your hair smells so nice today. You're finally using the shampoo I bought for you," she said, not giving him an answer right away.

Previously, Naruto had had only 1 bottle of shower gel for hands, head, face, and the rest of the body; one for everything. Even Kyuubi used the same thing too when he took a bath. But Diana had found it inconceivable. Now, there were over 5 types of shampoo bottles and other bottles with body lotion and oils too in the ship's bathroom.

"You know, I like fighting crime. I love protecting the innocent and beating the living daylights out of criminals." Diana said after a while of nuzzling his hair, making Naruto laugh. "But what I don't like" she continued, "is dealing with those like Lex Luthor and other politicians that are scheming in the dark, behind the scenes. Those who manipulate public opinion into hating the Justice League and creating an anti-metahumans movement. I hate it when they can do whatever they want by taking advantage of loopholes, knowing that we can't touch them as long as they don't break the law. And even if they break the law, they can buy their way out of jail with bribes and good lawyers."

She sighed in annoyance.

"Things were simpler before when the Justice League was smaller. Yes, there was much more workload on our hands because there were only 7 of us but at least it wasn't like this. We didn't have to deal with politics. We didn't have to deal every day with mass media nor did we have to meet up with various world leaders almost every week at 'peace summits'. Now it's like the whole world is out to get us, just looking for any reason, no matter how small, to criticise whatever we do."

Wonder Woman sat up and moved around the chair, in front of him. She sat down in his lap with the back of her knees over the armrest of the pilot's seat and put her head on his shoulder. She had spent one week together with Naruto, just relaxing, visiting new places and having fun, something that she had not done in years. It had helped a great deal in relieving her stress and improving her mental state. However, for some unexplainable reason, the closer to Earth she got, the more irritated and tired she became.

"I'm serious, Diana. I mean since we're already in the Sol System, we can go back for you to say your goodbyes and spend some time with your friends. But we don't need to stay for a long time. It's not like the Justice League needs you specifically any longer," Naruto said.

"It's too early to leave now. The League did grow much stronger than before but things are still fresh and rather uncertain. There's a lot of attention on us at the moment too, from the entire world. The League needs me. I am, after all, one of the key, founding members of the Justice League and one of the strongest too."

Hearing her answer, Naruto did not continue to insist. He knew that Wonder Woman truly wanted to be together with him but she could not simply throw away her sense of responsibility either. Wonder Woman cared about Earth and its people, about preserving the peace and protecting the innocent. Although she was not happy at having to tackle the other problems that came with it, she did not want to just run away from them.

"Well, I won't leave right away. I promised you we'd spend Christmas together and there are still about 2-3 weeks until then if I'm not mistaken."

"Not just the Christmas, stay for the New Year too," Diana muttered.

When he saw the hopeful look on her face, he found himself smiling.

"Okay, New Year too," he said and pecked her on the forehead. He could not refuse her anything. She snuggled with her face into the crook of his neck and he caressed the back of her head gently, inwardly marvelling at how soft and silky her hair felt to the touch. She made a hum of comfort at the way he was massaging her scalp.

While the two of them were cuddling in the pilot's seat, a nine-tailed fox cub suddenly hopped on Diana's thigh and said:

"Naruto, I'm hungry."

Naruto laughed helplessly. Nothing else mattered for the bijuu once he got hungry.

"Good grief," he said but he smiled fondly at the fox. He brought his hand in front of Kyuubi and a blue sphere of energy a bit bigger than a tennis ball took shape in his palm. "Well then, what's it gonna be this time?"

Kyuubi felt his mouth water at the sight of the blue Rasengan.

"Leave it as it is. Vanilla is good too once in a while."

Both Naruto and Diana chuckled at Kyuubi's words while he started to feast on the sphere of chakra.

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"Darkseid is dead? The hell, how did that happen?"

Few things could surprise Naruto that much nowadays but what he had just heard certainly was one of them.

Kyuubi's large ears were not just for show. Though he and Naruto were in a completely different part of the Watchtower, the fox could hear perfectly what the Justice League's core members were discussing in the conference room if he concentrated his senses on it.

"Apparently, Darkseid requested their help against some superintelligent robot named Brainiac who had attacked Apokolips, not knowing that in fact, Darkseid had been in cohorts with Brainiac to capture Superman. But, in the end, Darkseid backstabbed both Brainiac and the Justice League. However, he underestimated the new and much larger Justice League. He ended up dying in the explosion of an asteroid base after a big battle against the Justice League. Or at least that's what they're saying." Kyuubi relayed.

At the fox's words, Naruto made a serious-looking face. Darkseid was someone that even he was wary of, hence why he had refused Orion's bounty to assassinate Darkseid, thinking that he would not hold an advantage in a fight against the God of Evil on the planet Apokolips where he could not use his Six Path Sage Mode.

'To think that they've grown strong enough to even kill someone like Darkseid... Have I underestimated the Justice League? When I fought against the Justice Lords, their counterparts from the other dimension, they didn't strike me as powerful enough to defeat someone like Darkseid, let alone kill him...'

He was finding it hard to believe that Darkseid died in that manner or that he died at all.

'No way that someone who conquered an entire dwarf galaxy died in such a lame way. I wouldn't trust something like this unless I saw his dead body myself.'

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"I'm on vacation for a week and that's when all the exciting things happen!" Wonder Woman joked lightly.

Superman looked at her weirdly. Since when did Wonder Woman start telling jokes?

"Is Darkseid really dead though? How did you kill him? Did you see his dead body?" she asked. Coincidentally, Diana's thought process was identical to that of Naruto.

"We didn't kill him," Flash answered. "He died in an explosion."

"So you didn't see his corpse," she concluded.

"Brainiac's base was an asteroid no smaller than the moon. No one could have survived an explosion like that. Not you, not even Superman," Batman said and Superman supported his words:

"Darkseid really is finished for good. One of our most dangerous enemies is no more. By the way, what have you been up to for the past week? Kara told me you spent some time with your lover?"

"Ever since I joined the Justice League almost 2 years ago, I've always been tense and ready to fight. No time to rest, no breaks, always on the lookout even during Christmas or the New Year... this one-week-long holiday has been a long-overdue break," Wonder Woman said and smiled slightly when she thought about her time together with Naruto.

"It's good to have you back, Diana," Martian Manhunter said with a smile. "I assume things are going well between you and Mr Uzumaki?"

"How did you figure that out?"

"Are you kidding? When have we ever seen you cracking jokes? Or smiling like that?" Flash said, making the princess look to the side in slight embarrassment, avoiding eye contact.

"Other than the incident with Darkseid, has anything noteworthy happened over the past week?" she asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. But I'm concerned with the ever-growing unrest amidst the general population. There was even a protest in the streets against the Justice League a few days ago. Nothing large, but the fact that it happened is worrisome," Martian Manhunter said and he used a remote control to play a video on one of the screens in the conference room.

Almost 300 people could be seen in front of Daily Planet, in Metropolis City.

"As you see, it's a very small protest but because they gathered in front of Daily Planet, it appeared all over the media and it escalated greatly from there. Social media platforms are all over it now," Martian Manhunter said.

"Superman, you work at Daily Planet as Clark Kent. Couldn't you-" Wonder Woman began to say only for Superman to shake his head and reply:

"I couldn't do anything. I'm just an editor. I have little say in this, I can't control what my coworkers do. Besides, it is within people's rights to protest and express their opinions. Free speech is a right given by the First Amendment of the Constitution."

Wonder Woman rubbed at her forehead. She could feel the beginning of a headache. That was what she hated; she was a warrior. She wanted just to fight crime and protect people. She did not want to have to deal with politics, polemics, and mass media.

"Superman and Lois Lane fought 2 days ago. They're still not talking to each other," Flash brought a hand to his mouth and whispered to Wonder Woman conspiratorily.

The Kryptonian pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You do realize that I can hear you, right? Super hearing and all that."

"Oops!" Flash said but he was clearly unrepentant if the grin on his face was anything to go by.

Ever since they revealed their identities to each other, the core members of the Justice League have grown closer than before. Superman's thorny relationship with Lois Lane was a running joke among them, similar to how Flash constantly tried (and failed) to get a date.

When their meeting was over, Martian Manhunter asked:

"When are you ready to resume your duties?"

"Mm, in 2 days, starting with the next week, on Monday," Diana answered.

The Martian looked on his tablet at a long and complex table that contained the shifts of all the members of the new Justice League. There were almost 150 heroes already and the number was steadily growing with every passing week. Creating a schedule to accommodate the needs of all of them was becoming increasingly difficult because most of the members also had families or jobs in their civilian identities. But Martian Manhunter was the brain of the Justice League, the one that coordinated everyone and assigned them tasks and zones to patrol so he knew better than anyone which zone of the planet lacked manpower.

"We'll need you 4 days next week, for 8 to 12 hours every day. Monday and Tuesday on the African continent, in Nigeria. There is a new armed force of rebels who are planning to overthrow the government to install a totalitarian regime. We need to put a stop to it before they actually do it."

Then, after a few seconds of double-checking the schedule for open spots, he added:

"Friday and Saturday you'll be needed in Asia. Our satellites detected suspicious levels of radiation on the territory of North Korea. We have to investigate it and see the exact cause. It could be that they're trying to develop a new type of nuclear weapon, or it could be that there was a nuclear accident and they are trying to cover it up regardless of the human casualties suffered in the process. We have to investigate the situation and deal with it accordingly. Friday and Saturday could probably take as little as 4-5 hours, or it could be a 48-hour-long shift. It depends on what the situation will be. Is that okay with you?"

Wonder Woman noted down the details of her assignments for the next week on a piece of paper.

"It is fine with me. I have to go now. But if anything urgent comes up, don't hesitate to call me," she said and smiled as she waved good-bye at them.

Once Wonder Woman left the conference room, Flash said:

"She's happier than I've ever seen her before. And we've known her for years. Naruto really is treating her well, huh? She's head over heels for him."

"It looks like Mr Uzumaki is a very good influence on her," Martian Manhunter agreed.

"I wish things were as good between Lois and me as they seem to be between the two of them," Superman said wistfully.

Batman raised an eyebrow at him.

"Let me guess, your latest fight was not just about the protest, was it?"

"Ever since I revealed to her that I'm Superman, things have not been the same," Superman said. He paused, his face looking as though he greatly disliked what he was about to say but he needed to get it off his chest. "I feel like all along, she has been attracted only to Superman. Finding out that Superman was also Clark Kent, the 'country bumpkin' from Kansas, must've disillusioned her. We've been to a few dates before but we always end up getting in an argument for one reason or another."

Flash had never been in a serious relationship with someone before so he did not know how to answer to that. Martian Manhunter was from a different planet altogether and he was not exactly sure of the dynamics between men and women on Earth and Batman simply did not want to get involved in other people's love lives. Especially considering that he had also dated Lois Lane as Bruce Wayne a few years in the past, before the Justice League's creation, much to Superman's jealousy back then. As for John Stewart, he was not on Earth at that moment, he was away on Green Lantern business.

"I think me and Lois are just...not working."

The Kryptonian looked at the door through which Wonder Woman had left a few minutes before with a peculiar look in his eyes.

"Don't try to do something stupid," Batman said in warning.

While Superman's peculiar look towards Wonder Woman when she left had escaped Flash's and Martian Manhunter's notice, the ever-perceptive Batman had caught it right away. Gotham's Dark Knight was not nicknamed the 'world's greatest detective' for no reason.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Superman said but, inwardly, he was spooked by Batman's keen senses and on-spot intuition. He had worked together with Batman for years and he had gotten used to seeing his brilliance on a daily basis but there were still moments when he was genuinely startled by him, an ordinary man with no superpowers.

Batman shrugged his shoulders.

"Do whatever you want. But remember to not drag others into your mess."

After he said that, Batman left the conference room, leaving behind a confused-looking Flash and Martian Manhunter and a vexed Superman. The meaning of Batman's last words was not lost to him: if Superman did something bad, it would inevitably paint the entire Justice League in a bad light because he was one of the leading and most iconic figures of the Justice League.

The Man of Steel was frustrated.

'It's too late anyway. Flash is right, Diana looks like she's head over heels for Naruto, even I can see that. I only have myself to blame that I pinned for the wrong woman for so long. It's might fault I didn't try to get closer to Diana when I had the chance.'

The moment he realized that he was contemplating a relationship with a woman different than Lois Lane, guilt bit at his heart. But it also cemented the feeling that his relationship with Lois Lane was not going to work out.

'I think I should end it sooner than later. No point in dragging it out. It will be better for us both if we end it quickly and cleanly.'

The only thing he was afraid of was that Lois Lane might make his identity public. But he shook his head and denied that thought.

'Lois is a good woman. She would never do something like that.'

Just because their relationship was not working that did not mean that his opinion of her as a person had suddenly become bad. They could continue to be friends and get along well at their jobs like before.

Seeing that he was now alone in the conference room (Martian Manhunter and Flash had gone back to their duties) Superman took out his cell phone and started scrolling through his contacts. Then, he selected one and dialled it. After a few seconds, a bright voice answered his call.

"Clark is that you?! You haven't called me in ages! How are you?"

A smile appeared on Superman's face when he heard the happiness in her voice.

"Yes, it's me, Lana. I just wanted to see how are you these days. Haven't heard from you in a while."

"The famous and extremely busy Superman took some time of his day to call lil' old me?"

The Man of Steel's smile widened at her teasing.

"Not exactly little anymore. Your clothing line has become quite famous in Paris, hasn't it? Now you're even extending to Milan too."

"How did you know? Ha! So you do keep an eye on me! Should I be scared or happy that you're stalking me?"

He chuckled at her words.

"It's not stalking. It's my duty to look over my friends."

A short silence followed after that.

"Say, Lana, would you like to meet and catch up over dinner today?"

"I don't know, Clark. This is too sudden. There's a fashion show in Milan today that I have to attend and I will be exhausted after wearing heels the whole evening. Besides, weren't you and that reporter, Lois Lane, a thing?"

Superman let out a sigh.

"We haven't spoken in two days. And we argue all the time. It's not working for us. She was always in love with Superman. The country boy Clark Kent was never good enough for her," he said bitterly.

"I see," Lana Lang replied.

Lana Lang and Clark Kent had grown together since they were kids. They were childhood friends. Lana Lang was one of the few people who knew his identity as Superman too because she had witnessed him growing into his powers from the beginning. She had always wanted something more than just friendship from Clark Kent but he had turned down her affections, friend-zoning her. Later on, she left the USA for Europe where she became a fashion designer. They had grown more distant over the years and stopped keeping in touch frequently like they used to.

'I didn't make a move on Diana when I had the chance. Now that train is gone and won't come back. But I won't make the same mistake again,' Superman decided.

After his experience with Lois Lane, Superman realised that the only woman who has ever truly accepted him, both as Clark Kent and as Superman, was Lana Lang. She was the 'girl-next-door' that he had been blind enough to think of as just a friend when they were younger. But his view of her had completely changed 3 years ago when Lana Lang returned to the USA. In the meantime, she had become a very attractive woman, a successful fashion designer, and she managed to start a relationship with a billionaire, Lex Luthor.

'She has even betrayed Lex Luthor for my sake, exposing his deals with the terrorists.'

Remembering what she had done for him, Superman realised that Lana Lang still cared for him even after the passing of so many years.

"So, where exactly in Milan is your fashion show taking place? I can be there in a few minutes."

Twinkling laughter came from the other side of the phone.

"As Clark Kent or as Superman?"

"I'll come as Clark Kent. I can even write an article about your fashion show and your career if you want."

"What if I wanted you to come as Superman?"

"I wouldn't do that. I don't want to steal your thunder. Who would care about your fashion show anymore if they saw me?" Superman said teasingly and grinned.

"You prat!" she said and they laughed together.

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AN: Pretty much everything about Lana Lang in this chapter is canon in the Superman Animated Series. Superman did friendzone her when they were kids despite her interest in him and whenever Superman needed help, it was Lana Lang whom he called, not Lois Lane. Lana Lang also betrayed Lex Luthor for the sake of Superman, informing him of his deals with the terrorists, despite that she was in a relationship with the baldie at that time. In the Superman animated series, Lana Lang was great, much better than Lois.

PS: Superman's relationship in this chapter is not just filler. It's connected to what is about to come next.