Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor Marvel… MEINOS SMASH.
Alrighty! It's-a me, Meinos! Ok, Mario channelling out of the way, seems like this story is well liked. I'm happy! Well, here you go. Second chapter. Enjoy!
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Chapter2: Adventures in New York
"So, you took care of it."
"Indeed, Tony. I took care of it." Doctor Strange isn't a normal superhuman. The main difference is that his powers are not fruit of a mutation or incidents. No. They're mystical. Powers that come from years of study and meditation. Also, his being a superhuman. He's the sorcerer supreme, and his job is not to go around the world fighting, but to continuously train and scan the world, waiting for traces of problems that can be solved by him only. But his friends and allies know that he's always open to give help and advice when it comes to problems involving supernatural matters.
The point was, he rarely left the peace of his Sanctorum. And that was what Tony found strange. He had received the report of the incident at the Xavier institute. It clearly said that a creature had attacked the sentinels on guard and then proceeded to destroy them. It then engaged battle with the X-Men. The whereabouts of the creature were unknown though. The S.H.I.E.L.D. was about to send a team to investigate, when Stephen appeared right in front of Tony, telling him that he had personally taken care of the creature.
"How, exactly? Care to tell me the details?" Tony knew that Stephen was hiding something, though. He just had that feeling. He was one who had hid a lot of secrets, after all. Something he wasn't willing to tell. But while he trusted Stephen, he needed details to report something more than just 'Dr Strange took care of it' to the S.H.I.E.L.D..
"… To put it in simple words, it was a demon. The most powerful of the world it came from, apparently." Details that could also be source of further concern. "As a Sorcerer Supreme, you know that is my duty to take care of all these kinds of menaces."
"How exactly did you take care of it?"
"The demon had almost escaped the prison where it had been sealed." Tony would never get used to talking with the blue image of a man sitting cross-legged at midair. "I simply sealed him better than how it had been done before."
"You couldn't destroy it?" Tony needed to know the full power of the being that Stephen had supposedly face. And Stephen paused his speech for a brief second. An almost unnoticeable pause that made Tony understand that Stephen had to think about his words, in that moment.
"It's not that I couldn't, Tony… But I preferred not to mingle with something that wasn't in my direct control." Stark kept on observing the stoic face of the Sorcerer Supreme. "If it had been sealed somewhere… There was a reason. I preferred to not interfere with it."
"… I understand." Tony de-crossed his armour-covered arms. "Then… You assure me it will be safe?"
"I assure you the demon will not bother our reality anytime soon, Tony."
--
"Try not to finish him with the first shot, Julian. I want a piece of him too!"
"I know, I know…"
"!!" First round, first move. Naruto jumped out of the way to dodge two aquamarine-coloured rays projected by the hovering boy. And good thing that he dodged, since the two rays made some pretty deep furrows in the ground. He reacted immediately and took out two kunais from his right weapon pouch. "Let's see how hard you are!" And he threw at Santo before he even landed on the ground. Useless move. The two weapons just bounced off the mutant like ping pong balls.
"Hey, watch out with those things!" Santo brought both his arms forward, hands closed in two punches. "They itch! Ahahahah!" He did it again. He shot his arms forward. Naruto this time just did a quick side-jump.
"Nice trick! But if they only… !!" Naruto was about to say 'They can only move in a straight line'. Then, how the hell did one of the arms suddenly hit him in his back, making him flying forward? He landed on his hands and landed on one knee, holding his back with one hand. "What the hell…"
"You see, Telekinesis means basically one thing: moving objects with your mind." And Julian was demonstrating by holding Santo's two arms at his height. Both objects were enveloped by aquamarine light. "Every kind of object. Oh, and of course, blasts of telekinetic force. The ones you dodged before." Julian made the two arms hover back towards their rightful owner. They reattached immediately to the rest of the body. "One more time, Santo?"
"Claro! One at the time, now!" He said so and so he did. This time he shot forward just his right arm. Naruto dodged it by moving slightly to the left, but like before, Julian directed it back towards him. He took out a kunai and deviated it by pushing against it with it.
"Hmm… He deviated the blow with physical strength only? Guess I need to stop playing. Santo!"
"Left arm! Go!"
"Without talking like a mecha pilot, please." Whatever. The arm still shot forward. And when Naruto dodged, Julian moved forward the one he was still telekinetically holding. Faster than before, with added rotation.
"Oh, sh…" Naruto couldn't dodge this one at all. It hit him square in the chest, sending him rotating and flying for a few meters.
"He's down for the count, it… !" Julian noticed just barely something. Or better, a few somethings. A lot of somethings. Around ten shurikens that were flying towards him. He turned one of his eyes towards Naruto, and he found that even if he still hadn't landed on the ground, he was grinning. He returned his attention to the sharp objects. When did he… I didn't even see him!
Julian almost forgot that he was a telekinetic. He shot his hands forward and stopped the weapons… Well, except for one. He stopped it just after it had slashed him across his right cheek, drawing blood. He slowly moved down his gaze, and he noticed that… He had shrugged off his last attack as well, even if it had him straight in the chest.
"Nice trick, but…" Naruto cracked his neck. "You'll have to hit me a lot harder than that." Who am I kidding? It was as strong as one of the punches I took from Sasuke three years ago… Naruto brought a hand to his chest.
"… Hey, loser."
"What?" Naruto grinned while looking back at the flying boy. He noticed that he was moving the shurikens he had thrown at him along with the two kunais from before.
"These are yours, I believe!"
"…" Julian threw the weapons back at Naruto making the sharp objects first hover towards the ground, then shot forwards towards Naruto at high speed. Naruto paled. "What the hell are you doing!" Naruto took out two kunais and then… Didn't move? Julian raised an eyebrow. He was expecting him to at least run, not stand his ground… And what happened right after shocked him even more.
Naruto used the kunai to deflect some of the kunais, using all his strength to counter the force of Julian's telekinesis. And then… He opened his arms… And he let the rest of the Shuriken hit him. "Argh!"
--
"What the…" Emma really didn't expect that. She had had a half idea of stopping the fight ever since the sharp weapons came into play… But what had just happened was plain being nuts. She quickly descended to the lower floor and ran into the courtyard.
--
"H-Hey! Are you okay?!" Julian and Santo had stopped using his powers and ran to the injured boy's sides.
"Been better… Ack!" Julian cringed when he saw the boy pull the weapons out of his body with deadly seriousness, and the things had sunk almost completely in his arms. He then shook his head.
"W-Why the hell didn't you move?! I wanted to give you a lesson, not… Kill you!"
"Because you need some time before you make the objects you control change direction. At that speed it means a few meters of space. Ngh." Another Shuriken out, and then he pointed behind him with his right thumb… At the crowd. "If I had moved out of the way… You would have hit them, idiot!"
"… I… I don't…" Julian looked behind the blonde boy and then realized… That he was right. He would have hit the other students. He placed a palm on his forehead. He had almost…
"Make way!" Emma had arrived just in time to hear that conversation. But even if that made her think, she acted unfazed. The priority was the boy's safety. She moved Julian out of the way and kneed. "Someone get Elixir!"
"Who? I need a medic, not… Eh?" Naruto noticed something strange… He was healing fast. The problem was… Too fast. He was healing so fast that… The Shuriken were being literally pushed out of his body by the reforming bones, muscles and layers of skin. In a few seconds… It was like he had never been cut. "…"
"…" Emma took a hold of his arm. Nothing. Not even a scratch anymore. She sighed. "If you had a healing factor, you could have just said so."
"B-But… I've never healed this fast."
"Eh? … What, you mean…" Emma helped the boy get back on his feet, staring at him like he had just grown a second head. "That at the moment you were convinced that you could have hurt yourself that much but you still didn't move out of the way?"
"Hey." Naruto frowned. It took that comment almost like an insult. "What was I supposed to do? Let the rain of metal from death hit other people? And after all, I'm the one who first decided to use them…"
"…" Emma shook her head. She couldn't choose a good adjective for the boy in front of her. "It's better if you go to the infirmary. But it seems that you've already forgotten the way there."
"I did?" Naruto tried to think about it… The woman was right. He sweatdropped. Mind-reading thing. "I did."
"I'll…" Julian was about to offer his help, but Emma raised a hand.
"Not you, Hellion. You've helped enough, today."
"Hey, guys. What happened here?"
"Perfect timing, miss Kincaid." Said girl stopped in mid step. Emma turned towards her. "I'd like if you brought mister Uzumaki to the infirmary. He doesn't remember the road."
"Mister who?" Cessily was confused. Then she looked at who Miss Frost was pointing with her right arm… The boy of the other night. "Ah! Yes, of course!"
"Good. Santo, Julian. We have to talk." While her two team-mates prepared for the scolding of their lives, Mercury waved a little to Naruto who just walked towards her still frowning a little. The girl observed him… And found herself confused.
"Why do you need to go to the infirmary? I don't see any injuries."
"… Long story."
--
"Boy, it's the first time someone comes to the infirmary two times in a day. And it's also the first time someone comes to see me while being perfectly fine."
"That's the problem! I don't know why! I always healed fast, but overnight! I never healed wounds like those in seconds!" Except for that time, against Sasuke… But I was under the furball's influence! Naruto's arm was released by the blue furry's hands. Naruto yucked when he noticed that the T-shirt and jeans he was wearing had been dirtied by the blood he had lost. He would need another change. Good thing there were already some in the room Logan had showed him.
"Hmmm… Maybe it's another power coming from your mutation."
"Ehm, no, doc." Naruto shook his head and held his left arm with his right hand. "The source is… Another thing. But, the thing is, it's never been this… Efficient, apart in some cases."
"…" Hank observed the boy in front of him. He was probably referring to what had possessed him that night. He would have to ask Emma for more details. "Alright. Well, however, you're perfectly fine. You can go."
"Ah… Thanks, doc. I'll see you later…" Naruto stopped to think about it. "Scratch that. I hope to not ever see you again. At least not in here. See ya!" The Beast chuckled while the boy exited the room. Really a nice fellow.
--
"Ah, you were still waiting?" The first thing that Naruto noticed once out of the room was Cessily leaning with her back against the wall to the right of the infirmary's door. She immediately turned to him and started checking his figure out, startling the blonde a bit. "W-What is it?"
"You really don't have a scratch…" Mercury pulled her head back, a little sceptical. "And you really got hit with all those Shuriken? Wow. You must heal as fast as mister Logan." Then she frowned. "Good, sometimes Julian can be… What was he thinking? Or was he thinking at all?"
"Ehm, come on. It's not all his fault. I shouldn't have pulled out those weapons in the first place… His only fault was not paying attention."
"Still… He was the one who started it, right?"
"Ehm…" This is awkward. Why the hell am I defending that guy? Option number one. Change the subject of the conversation. What interested him the most, those days around? Of course, mutants and powers. He observed the girl. Silver body. "Hey, how come you're all silver?"
"Ah… I mean… It's my mutant power." Cessily lowered her head and kicked the ground a bit with her left foot. "I'm made of… Mercury. Liquid metal."
"Liquid metal?" Naruto scratched his right cheek… And then poked her. Cessily was startled by the sudden gesture. "You're pretty smooth… But you look like pretty normal to me, colour apart. What good it is?"
"Eh? Normal?" That stranged her out. She looked pretty normal to him? What gives? She was a freaking walking thermometer, in a few words. "Well, it's because I choose to keep it solid. Normally, when people try to hit me, I shapeshift and turn… Liquid."
"Shapeshift?" Naruto blinked. Mercury just sighed. She then held out her right hand… And startled Naruto by suddenly morphing her right hand in a blade. She proved her accuracy by opening a little cut in his T-Shirt. She then morphed it again in a hand. Naruto was staring. Mercury felt a little sad, as usual. Even among mutants, she was a weirdo.
"That was what I…"
"THAT WAS SO COOL!"
"Eh?!" If Naruto had startled her before, now she had gotten downright scared. The boy had shouted so loud that she almost made her face lose cohesion. He had grabbed her right hand and started looking at it from every angle. "H-Hey! Stop! What are you doing?!"
"So cool! You can do it with every part of your body?!" Naruto tried to pull on one of the fingers to see if they lengthened, but the girl just snatched away her hand and turned around.
"You… Weirdo…" If it wasn't because she was of mercury, Cessily was pretty sure she would be blushing out of embarrassment. "What's so great about my body?"
"I just like it. You have a pretty cool power." For Naruto it was the first time he used his infamous grin in that place. But the effect was pretty much the same. Cessily observed him like he had lost his mind… Then she smiled. "You're really a bunch of interesting guys. Even the rock-head and the bakanetik are cool!" Cessily chuckled at the two nicknames the blonde had found for her two team-mates. Then, she saw him leaning his head to her ear. "Ehm… Don't tell them I've told you so…"
"My lips are sealed. But by the way, I don't think that a fight counts as an introduction, hn?" Naruto's face became quizzical again. The silver girl chuckled some more. "I mean, I can introduce you to the others, if you want. Like, this evening at dinner?"
"Well, that would be nice. Thanks… Ehm…" Naruto scratched the back of his head, grinning like an idiot. "I didn't catch your name."
"Cessily Kincaid. Friends call me Cess. My mutant name is Mercury." She held out her hand. Naruto shook it eagerly.
"Naruto! Nice to meetcha!"
--
"So, introductions… You already know Julian and Santo."
"We've been at thrown weapons' range, yes." Said two mutants frowned. Miss Frost's punishment was still fresh in their mind. You don't want to know what he made them see. Naruto's gaze then shifted to the other occupants of the table. A girl… All dressed in black? The only thing he could see of her were the eyes. Mercury noticed this.
"She's Sooraya, alias Dust. She's a Muslim, that's why she's dressed like that."
"Honoured to make your acquaintance." The girl bowed her head slightly, while Naruto's brain took the information about Muslims from what Emma had 'imprinted' in his mind… Got that. Muslims, praise Allah, woman can't show anything. Point taken.
"My pleasure!" Then, finally… A boy whose skin was completely golden. "And you are?"
"… Josh. Elixir." Naruto blinked. The guy didn't seem so lively. Mercury pulled on Naruto's arm to say something in his right ear. Naruto talked to her first.
"What's up with him?" He asked.
"He's pretty worried about his girlfriend. She got hurt, recently. And while he's a healer, he still hasn't been able to cure her injury."
"… Understood." Naruto straightened his back. Mercury just shapeshifted back in place, earning a groan of envy from Naruto. That is so cool… I'm the only one who can't do cool stuff, here.
"Well, there's more. I still have to introduce to you to Brian, Jay, Sophia, Laurie, David and Noriko… Well, they'll come around eventually."
"Just hope you can introduce him to the others before they go away, Cess." Hellion paused from his food long enough to voice that retort. Naruto expected him to bear another one of those sarcastic smirks, but, instead… He seemed angry? And he noticed that the others around the table had suddenly started sharing Josh's mood. He scratched the top of his head.
"… And… They're going away… Why?"
"… Mister Logan has told you about M-Day, right? The day when most mutants went back to being simple humans?" Naruto nodded. Cessily sighed. "This school is for mutants only. Most of the students are going back home… Or god knows where in a while."
"…" Naruto blinked a bit, processing the girl's words in her mind… And he found himself frowning. "That hardly seems fair."
"It isn't. But the headmistress says so. Even some of the teachers were asked to go away." That were the first words pronounced by Josh ever since Naruto had learned his name.
"I say she's right. This is no place for them anymore."
"You're fortunate I have a tray in my hands, or I would smack the hell out of you for that comment, bastard." Naruto turned around… And suddenly noticed that he knew a lot of girls with unusual hair-colour or some other particular feature or role. This one had electric blue hair, and her forearms and elbows were completely covered by two metallic gauntlets. She sat beside him, putting the tray she was holding on the table with a bit more force than needed.
"Ehm…" Naruto tried to remember two of the names Cessily had pronounced. "You must be Noriko or Laurie, right?"
"The first one. Surge. And…" Noriko turned to him and immediately recognized him by the whiskers. "You're the thing that I blasted a few nights ago. Do you have a name?"
"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. Hey, you're the first person who has a name like mine, here."
"Well, duh. If you're Japanese…" Then, Noriko stopped talking and moving the spoon to her mouth. She thought about it a few moments. "You're not Japanese, are you?"
"I don't even know what that means." Honesty. One of Naruto's flaws or good points. Depends on the point of view.
"Alright. Taking in account all the things that the X-Men have come across, you at least come from an alternate future or something like that. So?" Naruto felt like he had just become the new hot topic of the school… And he hated knowing what that meant even if he had never heard it before. How much exactly did that woman put in his mind?
"Ehm… To tell the truth… They told me I come from another planet or dimension." He replied, scratching the back of his head. Everyone stared at him in their own way, but apart Sooraya, they all said 'What the hell are you saying?'. Santo voiced their thoughts.
"Man, you either win the Academy Award for bullshitting or for having had the worst Monday in history." The rockman then added one of his snorting laughs. Julian had taken it a bit more seriously.
"And what exactly did you do, in this… Other planet? You seem to be able to hold your own in a fight… Or at least, you didn't get knocked out by our attacks so easily."
"I'm a Ninja." Naruto replied, grinning and point at himself with one thumb. Cessily found this curious.
"For real? As in, trained assassins?" Naruto frowned.
"Mhhh… That's the basics of the work. But I don't like it very much. I haven't killed anyone yet." Naruto couldn't help but notice that some of them seemed pretty relieved from the fact. Julian in particular. Ninjas were famous for being able to kill you in your sleep, no? "But I've been on a lot of fun missions! I kicked so much ass that I lost count!"
"Like when?" Asked Noriko, a bit interested in the newcomer's words.
"Hmmm…" Maybe I can tell them about Zabuza? "This was my first serious mission I took with my team! We were hired to…"
--
"And so, imagine my surprise when they… Uh?" Naruto was about to tell them about his surprise when he visited the Wave country during his training trip and found out that the bridge had been named after him, when he noticed a couple of things. First, that the crowd around the table had somewhat increased. Like, a lot of people. And then, some behaviours. Santo was holding something in front of his face. Looked like a paperbag. Other people had similar disgusted faces. And there was a guy with black skin and glasses who had wrote down some things on a block. He tried to focus on a matter at the time. "Ehm… What's wrong with the rock-boy?"
"He's been like this ever since your pretty graphical descriptions of needles going through your body and your teacher sticking his entire arm trough an ambiguous boy's chest." Replied Julian. And Santo's 'Bleeeeeeeeeurgh!' signalled to him that he had just lost his dinner. Julian patted him on the back. "He isn't used to these things, since he's mostly, you know, invulnerable."
"I guess…" Second matter. The guy writing things down. "And what did you write there?"
"Some interesting points. Like, the list of the body's vital points." Naruto sweatdropped. Seems like Zabuza could have been a good teacher. "Ah, my name is David, by the way."
"While I suppose that the brat's stories are pretty interesting, him coming from another world and all, I think it's way past bed time for most if not all of you."
"…" Naruto gulped and slowly, slowly turned his head around. He witnessed the figure of Logan, made almost spectral and even more frightening by the fact that the lights had been turned off. He didn't even notice that? And… One of the youngest mutants had the gut to say something.
"But Mister Logan! We want to…"
"… I said…" Snikt. Naruto swallowed. "Bedtime."
"EVERYONE RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" That was Naruto. And surprisingly most of the people in the room did as told, him included. Or at least tried to, since Logan blocked him with his arm. A still Lariat. "ACK!"
"Eheheheh, I love this kid." He then tightened the grip around him with said arm. Naruto was crying silently. "Well, gonna take him to bed. Tomorrow we have to wake up early. Got a couple of things to do together. We're gonna have so much fun. Right, kiddo?"
"Help me…" A whine.
"See? He's tired as well. Night."
"…" Most of the people in the room left were the members of the younger X-Men teams, and observed the still Naruto being carried away by Logan. A still slightly sick Rockslide raised his face with a hint of a smirk.
"Urk… Ten bucks he thinks mister Logan wants to rape him in the…"
"Santo. Do not finish that sentence."
--
"This… This is… I mean, I've never…"
"It's just New York, kid. Just New York. Not stop turning around! It's been ten times already that you've risked to unbalance the bike!" Naruto shivered at the sound of Logan's admonishment. That motorbike ride had been really freaky. First, because Logan rode the thing like a crazy man. Crazy, Naruto says. That what had freaked him out at first. But he got used to it after a bit, and started looking around himself.
But what had really got his attention were the surroundings. The country road had been interesting enough, but when they got into New York… Things went to hell in his head. Skycrapers, autos, traffic, McDonalds… Everything new, some things even dangerous to his mind. And then he knew that Emma frost was a sadistic… She didn't bother putting in his head what a cheeseburger was, but he knew what you could find at Victoria's Secret. On Logan's motorcycle it was all proceeding too fast for his own good… Fortunately, they had already left that part of the city.
"Hey! Where are we going, by the way?!" Asked the ninja, raising his voice to let himself be heard over the city's and the motorbike's noises.
"We're almost there, kiddo… No, here we are." Logan began to slow down the motorbike till they came to a halt in front of what seemed a still in construction building. "Here we are. 177A Bleecker Street."
"Ehm…" Naruto read the sign. And he thought that riding motorcycles was somehow dangerous to Logan's mind. "And what exactly are we doing at the construction site of a Starbucks? What exactly is a Starbucks, by the way?"
"Appearances can be deceiving, as cliché as that can sound, boy. Get off the steed." Naruto got off his helmet and handed it back to Logan before getting off the 'steed' like the X-Man said. While he took care of the motorcycle, the blonde just kept on staring at the building. He just couldn't understand why they had made that trip there. He stared so much that Logan had to push him to make him move. Naruto instinctively opened the door and walked inside. It was all dirty, full of graffiti and such. Logan closed the door behind them. "Now to wait a few seconds."
"A few seconds for… What… The…" Naruto couldn't finish the sentence because the thing they had waited for had already happened. In front of his eyes the scenery, what he was looking upon… It changed. No longer were they in the dirty building. They were in what looked like a mansion. "What…"
"Welcome, Logan. Young Naruto."
"Always now how to make your entrance, Strange." Naruto shot his head up so fast that he almost broke his neck. A set of stairs. Upon which were descending a man dressed strangely, with a mantle dropping from his shoulders, and another man, shorter, bald, holding a tray in his hands. The first one gave away an air of… He didn't know… Grace. Power. Wisdom. How could anyone ooze wisdom? "As in, already knowing that your visitors are about to come."
"You were expected. Let's leave it at that. And I do know that the poor boy didn't eat much, this morning. So, I asked Wong to prepare something."
"Just some tea and a couple of sweets." Wong descended the stairs and presented the tray to Naruto, whose face immediately lightened.
"Waaaaaaaah! I love these! Thanks!" He dove in, taking the tray from Wong's hand. Logan groaned.
"And here I thought that he would show some manners, from the way he was gawking at you, Strange." Stephen just smiled knowingly as a reply.
"The needs of the body are difficult to overcome, Logan. I know that very well myself." Stephen turned his attention to the boy. "How are you doing, Naruto? Has your 'guest' given you any further troubles?"
"No. I mupht phay, he…" Then, he halted. The man was referring to the Kyuubi, but… It was the first time he ever met him in his life. He swallowed what he had in his mouth. "Wait a minute! How do you know about the Kyuubi?!"
"Let's say that I took the liberty to take some precautions after your arrival, Naruto. Did you like your new armband?" Naruto blinked and then shifted his gaze to said object. It was so comfortable that he had almost forgotten about it, but it was still there. And the blonde understood. He turned to Stephen about to ask, when he found the man's hand in front of his face. "Let's talk about this when we're more comfortable, shall we?"
--
There he was. Drinking tea with complete strangers like nothing had happened… And what was unnerving him the most was that the guy still hadn't talked about his problems yet. He was dieing to ask and know, but every time, Logan just sent him a stare that plainly meant 'Not yet'. After the second cup, Strange finally decided to talk again.
"So… I suppose you want to know what's that bracelet and why I applied it to your arm, Naruto." Naruto just nodded. The man had finally decided to talk. No way he was going to interrupt him now. "You see Naruto… I am the Sorcerer Supreme of this reality. That means, I must take care of every intrusion that relates some way to a mystic power. That includes demons, of course."
"Alright… So, how exactly… Did you take care of me?" Naruto held out his arm. "And how does this bracelet come into play?"
"Basically, that bracelet is a more efficient way of controlling the beast that resides inside you. He will now not be able to force his power upon you because of your emotions."
"Eh? For real?!" Strange nodded. He then took Naruto's arm.
"Each one of the bracelets that make out your bracelet controls a fraction of the beast power. If you turn them around…" Strange turned a full 180° the first of the bracelets. And Naruto gasped. He suddenly felt like his body had become suddenly sturdier, stronger… He felt a lot more of energy, and it felt hot. Nothing visible on the outside, though. "Each bracelet releases a fraction of the demon's power directly in your body, adding to your own energy and strengthening your body."
"Wow…" Naruto flexed his bicep… A fraction…. He understood. He felt just like when he went into One-Tail mode. The bracelets were nine, so, math… Then, another matter came to his mind. "Hey. Does this thing have to do with how fast I heal now? I mean, I've never healed this fast, before!"
"… Indeed. The bracelet also constantly channels a certain amount of the fox's chakra to permit fast regeneration. But…" Naruto blinked. Strange's tone had suddenly become solemn. "These past days I've done some further researches… And I think it should be better if I removed it."
"Eh?! Why?! It's so cool!"
"…" Strange slowly closed and reopened his eyes. "Naruto, from what I could see from your mind, people around you believed that these accelerated processes of healing would shorten your life. What do you think about it?"
"Hmmm…" Naruto let pass that reading his mind had started to look like the latest trend around superhumans, and focused on the matter. He remembered Tsunade saying something like that, but… "Frankly, I think it doesn't make sense." He squinted his eyes even further. "I mean, the fox would be pretty idiotic, if that was the case. If I die, she dies as well. That's what she told me the first time I met her. So…"
"Indeed. It would be foolish and stupid. But I can assure you, the demon in your belly is neither."
"Then, what… I mean, what does happen when I regenerate?"
"…" Stephen moved his hands in the air. Above them appeared two blue lights. "Let's say that these lights are a normal human's cells, Naruto." The cells slowly started to split and grow in number, lightening the room. "When one around gets damaged, they split and create other ones. But the number of each cell's regeneration is decided at birth. When they can regenerate no more…" The lights suddenly began to fight… Till they were no more. "The human dies."
"Ok…"
"Now, instead…" Stephen lightened another light. This one was… Bright red. Like a certain fox's chakra. "These are… Let's say the cells that usually form extremely powerful demons. Demonic cells, for lack of a better term. Unlike a normal human's cells…" The light began to split. Again. Again. And again, and again, and again. The red light was blinding him, by now. "The number of times they can regenerate is… Infinite. Also, they make the body stronger, more resistant to harm of any kind… But also, more affine with demonical energies."
"…" Naruto scratched the top of his head. "So?"
"Basically, when you regenerate, the human cells of your body are replaced by Demonic cells." He replied, dismissing the now bothersome red lights. Naruto scratched harder.
"… Don't follow."
"…" Stephen massaged his temples while Logan snickered. Really dense, the boy. He would have to work on that. "Basically, if you keep on using the fox's chakra to regenerate, the parts regenerated will become demonic. Like, if your entire body got to be made out entirely of demonic cells, you would become immortal."
"EH?! REALLY?!" That had been understood. Clearly. Naruto was shocked to say the least. Him? Immortal? Just like that?! "Immortal… Me? The fox is trying to make me immortal?"
"…" He kept on staring at the sorcerer's face, who had become deadly serious. "More than that… The demon is trying to create the perfect body to take control of."
"Eh?"
"Stephen just said that those Demonic cells are more affine to Demonic energy. Its energy." Naruto turned his head to Logan. "So, basically, kiddo… The more parts of your body get modified like that, the more easy will become for the guy to take over your body."
"That's why I believe it's better if we remove that ability from the bracelet."
"…" Naruto observed the arm that the armband now covered. He was reflecting on the matter… And then shook his head, grinning. "Nah. I'll keep it."
"…" Stephen go back on his feet, still deadly serious. He was starting to believe the boy to be really stupid. "Do you understand the implications of your choice?"
"Yes, of course. But you've just said that this thing blocks him from trying that, right?" Naruto replied, tapping the metallic artefact. Strange blinked.
"Yes, but… If you release the full power of the beast, it will no longer…"
"No big deal, then! I'll just have to remember to not turn nine bracelets! Come on, I'm not that dense!" Replied Naruto, crossing his arms behind his head. Stephen found himself, like rarely before, speechless… For a couple of seconds. He shook his head.
"But… There are enemies in this reality that could force you to do so."
"Then I'll run if I see one. Or…" Naruto gave him a thumbs up. "I'll just be sure to not fight them alone! And if it comes down to that, be sure that I will not let that furry take control of nothing of my body! It's a promise!"
"…" Stephen strange had taken many decisions in his life. Few had been hazardous or risky from the day he became the Sorcerer Supreme. But still… There was something about the boy that was alluring, tempting him to tempt fate. He smiled. "I just hope I'm doing the right thing…"
"Alright! Thanks, old man!" And at the same time, there was something really, really annoying about the boy from time to time.
--
"So, he's like… One of the most powerful beings on earth?"
"You don't know the half of it, kiddo. When I say that he can bend reality, I'm not joking." Logan had introduced Naruto to one of the Japanese restaurants he liked the most. But it seems that he liked to talk when he ate, and as much as Logan frowned, the boy just didn't show signs of stopping. Well, maybe it was the subject. Strange had said to Naruto that he would search for a way to send him back home, but first, he had to find out exactly where he came from. It was difficult because the residual trace of his passage had already disappeared. And that made Naruto curious about what exactly were the powers of the guy.
Logan had just finished explaining enough to his ears. So he just focused on his food and the place. It was nice. And he couldn't help but notice that most of the girls around there were all over him. Beast magnetism? "So… How come you know New York so much, Logan?"
"Been here lots of times. And recently, more than the usual. Joined a local super-Team."
"Eh?" Naruto ate another piece of Sushi before voicing his doubt. "But… Munch… Weren't you with the X-Men?"
"Swallow before you talk. And I'm with the X-Men too, yes. But I'm with the Avengers as well. The head said something about needing someone like me in the team."
"Nah, he just needed someone who could bake cookies better than Jarvis."
"Naruto, meet Peter Parker, one of the best or worst jokers in New York, other than one of the most brilliant mind of the same dump." Naruto raised his head to find himself face to face with the amazing Spiderman. Well, he still didn't know that, to tell the truth. He just saw a brown haired man waving at him from behind Logan.
"Hi. New student at the Xavier's? A pleasure." Peter extended his hand and Naruto shook it. And the man sure had a nice grip. He then sat beside Logan. "Haven't seen you around much, lately. How come?"
"Cap should have told ya. The whole thing in South Corea."
"Ah, right. The thing with your son and Winter Soldier. I suppose it was slightly traumatizing…" He then turned to Naruto. "And what brings you here in New York? Imagine my surprise when I saw my favourite baker eating sushi with a complete stranger. Tony could become jealous."
"Just a tour around New York. The kid has never been around here, and since I had some things to do, he asked if he could come along."
"Ehm… Yes! That's it!" Logan mentally frowned. Another thing he would have to teach him. Playing dumb when needed. Peter just smiled. He had noticed Logan going into Strange's place while he was on patrol. It probably had something to do with the boy.
"Oh, well. I'll leave you to your sushi. Enjoy your first time in New York, boy… On second thought, run for your life. See ya." Exit's line. Spiderman away. Naruto just followed him with his gaze. The first comment was…
"Who was the guy?"
"What I said stands still."Logan was sure that if he told the guy that Peter was the freaking Spiderman, half of the school would know it in less than two seconds. "Well, hurry up. We have another place where to be, before going back to school."
"Alrighty! Uzumaki Secret Jutsu! Tactical food diving!"
"…" Logan found himself palming his own face. He would have to kick that out of his brain too. Literally, maybe.
--
"Mutant town?"
"Yeah. Once, it was a mutant only neighbourhood. But after M-Day, it's just another piece of the big apple." Another parking, another stop for the strange duo. Naruto looked around. It was a pretty different neighbourhood from what he had seen of New York till that moment. Not excessively dirty like Strange's fake place, but not shiny either. Just below average, one could say. "Alright. He should come around…"
"Help! Burglar!" Logan didn't finish his sentence that he heard someone scream for help, and he then saw a man ran past him with a purse in his right hand. Naruto scratched the top of his nose.
"Hmmm… Burglar, so, he's a thief?" Logan just nodded. Naruto stopped scratching. "Should I?" Logan shrugged his shoulders. Naruto grinned and then sprinted forward.
When you're a burglar in New York, you have to expect anything, since most of USA's heroes reside there. The most common thing that you expect to happen is to be pinned to the ground by web. Spiderman, do whatever a spider can. But what really this particular burglar wasn't expecting was to find himself pinned to the wall by knives. Strange looking knives that hit those part of his clothing that were vacant but close enough to his body to become uncomfortable. And while struggling to get free, he certainly didn't expect three blonde twins to land in front of him in unison. One took the purse from his hands, another one was grinning to him and said… "Goodnight." Ouch. The punch was the last thing he saw. The third one proceeded to remove the kunais and put them back in the weapons' pouch.
"And the prize for today's good deed goes to Uzumaki Naruto, ladies and gentlemen."
"And I must have been really, really drunk to not remember a night with a blonde fifteen, sixteen years ago." Naruto blinked and turned around… And found himself face to face with another ninja. Yes, otherwise, he just couldn't explain how the hell he was looking at four identical man at the same time.
"Maybe it was a dupe, brotha."
"He would have remembered it."
"Maybe the dupe was drunk as well…"
"Jamie, I told you on the phone to not do that on the boy." The men snorted, and then, one after another, three of them rejoined the body of the fourth one, who turned to Logan.
"Sorry, couldn't resist making that joke. But he has not enough charm to be my boy. You'll have to look for the father somewhere else." Naruto's head was fuming. What the hell was going on there? Logan walked to him while shaking his head.
"Naruto, meet Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man, leader of the X-Factor detective agency."
"… Dupes? You call them dupes?"
--
Meeting X-Factor was probably the strangest thing ever happened to Naruto. Mostly because of its members. Jamie was strange enough, but the big guy was even more surprising. There were plenty of mutants, it seemed. What was strange about Jamie was the fact that each one of his 'dupes' had a different personality. Naruto began to think what would happen if the same happened to his own copies. Two thousand Naruto each doing whatever the heck they wanted? Poor world.
Then, there was… The girl. Layla Miller. Her introduction had been somewhat comical. She held out her hand to him.
"I'm Layla. I know stuff. Ah, and it will not hurt for much."
"What do you… OW!" Right after, he had kicked the last step of the stairs leading to the place. And the girl didn't even smile. She just was like 'Told ya' without even saying it. After that, Naruto tried to focus on what was making him curious the most. Jamie's dupes.
"So, your limit is forty?"
"Once. It could have changed, by now. But unlike yours, from what you've told me, they are a bit more resilient." Naruto frowned. It was true. They needed just a single hit to disappear. And on top of that, Jamie had told him that he didn't spend any energy to duplicate, since it was a reaction to kinetic energy. He just needed to, like, snap his fingers or stomp his foot. "And, whatever skill and memory they learned gets passed to me whenever they disappear or I absorb them."
"Eh? Really?" Madrox nodded. Naruto whistled. "Cool. I don't know about mine…"
"Why don't you try?" Naruto nodded and then crossed his fingers, creating a single copy, who began to look around.
"Well… What I should do?" Jamie thought about it for a while and then an idea came to his mind. He pointed to a door behind them.
"See the door there? Go inside, close the door behind you and then search the bed." He simply replied. The clone nodded. It walked to the door, opened it and closed it behind him. Now, to wait… Naruto then noticed that Logan was snickering and the big guy was rolling his eyes. Layla was just keeping her cool… Suddenly, a loud noise and what seemed like a roar made themselves heard from the room. Naruto suddenly screamed.
"WOAH!" He blushed and got terrified at the same time. It was the first time he heard Logan laughing that hard, and Guido laughed as well. Jamie just snickered.
"I take it worked? What did you do?"
"Ehm… I… She… I mean, in the bed…" Naruto jumped when the door slammed and revealed a pretty redhead that was looking at him and Jamie with killing intent. Naruto immediately pointed at the older man. "IT WAS HIM! HE MADE ME DO IT!"
"Jamie, I dunnow how, but I know this is your fault!" She then turned to him, making Naruto shiver. "And you! I mean, how could you possibly not notice a girl sleeping in a bed?!"
"Ehm… It was pretty dark?" He tried to explain. The girl just pinched the bridge of her nose and growled. Naruto was almost shivering. His clone had been clawed. He didn't know how, but he had been clawed.
"Just… Shut up. It seems that I'm doomed to be around blonde teens trying to get in my pants." Replied the red-head, turning around. Now, there's a law about Naruto. He just doesn't know when to shut up. Especially when he should. Even if he has the best intentions. Like right at that moment.
"Ehm… Come on! You can't be that much older than me! Three years, top!"
"…" Rahne turned around again, observing him with a raised eyebrow. "And… How can you tell that?"
"Ehm…" Naruto stared at his right hand… And just had to blurt it out, didn't he? "It was pretty firm?"
"…" You could hear a pin drop. And the other males in the room trying to restrain their laughter. Layla gave him the best advice in the world. Like she says, half the stuff she knows, just comes from paying attention. And Rahne transforming into her lycantropic form was something difficult to not pay attention to.
"You better run. Rahne has a short temper." Naruto was out of the window in three seconds with Rahne on his tail. Let the chase begin.
Continue…
In the next chapter…
Time to go back to school. But before that, a chase and a new meeting. Of the sexy but still deadly kind. Can Naruto survive? Stay tuned!