AN: Naruto will not be paired with Poison Ivy.
Captain Cold and Heatwave will be based from the Legends of Tomorrow TV series because I loved their characters in it.
Enjoy.
xXx
( Watch Tower - Infirmary )
The infirmary for the Watch Tower currently has a new patient living among the white sheets and white walls. Said patient being none other than Superman who rarely makes any trips to the infirmary, if only to visit the patients.
Now, he is lying on a clean white bed with no shirt on, giving everyone a perfect view of the bandages wrapped around his muscled torso. Sitting beside him is his girlfriend, Diana who comforts him by holding his hand, if only to ease the pain a little.
This does little to ease the Man of Steel's emotions as he stares up at the white ceiling with a blank expression on his face. In his head, he's thinking about how he would always come out of fights unscathed unless he is fighting Luthor with his stockpile of Kryptonite weaponry or Darkseid. Yet, the government now have an abundance of Kryptonite to use against him and Kara and now, something new and different was able to catch him by surprise and injure him, gravely.
Yet, all he can do now is rest and wait for Doctor Fate to finish his research on the black rod that caused him to be in the infirmary in the first place.
"Clark" whispered Diana, noticing her boyfriend's expression change from blank to solemnity.
"I never thought of myself as invincible. No matter what everyone says, I was never invulnerable. I can bruise, I can bleed and I can die. Yesterday has shown me just how much I'm right."
"Clark..."
"I could have died" said Clark, turning his head to face the love of his life. "If that rod had hit somewhere vital, I would have died and nobody would have been able to do a thing about it."
"Don't say that! You're alive and well so don't talk like that!" scowled the Amazon, her voice on the verge of shouting.
Before Clark can reply, the slide door of the infirmary opens to show Doctor Fate walking in. "Good, you're awake. Is Bruce around?"
Diana shakes her head. "He and J'onn are going to interrogate the prisoner. They should be back soon."
"What did you find out about the rod?" Clark asked the sorcerer, wanting to know the properties which gave the rod the ability to pierce his skin. Magic is his best bet since it doesn't have the familiar green glow of Kryptonite.
Doctor Fate stops in front of the Kryptonian's bed and looks upon the couple. "I have learned little about the origins of the rod but yet, I've learned so much more about myself."
Diana raises a brow, feeling confused over the odd answer. "What do you mean by that?"
Doctor Fate raises a hand which glows to show a magical projection of the black rod which injured Superman. "Whatever metal it's made out of, it isn't found on earth, that I am certain. What I'm not certain about is the energy within the metal."
"Energy? Is it not Magic?" questioned Clark since Kryptonite and Magic are the only known things that can injure him.
"Incorrect" answered Fate. "While the closest energy source I can compare it to is Magic, it's something different altogether. "
"What do you mean?"
Doctor Fate disperses the projection. "I'm saying that whatever energy is contained in the metal of the black rod, it's thicker than magical energy. It contains the same properties as Magic but there are also physical aspects which I'm still trying to get around."
Silence permeates the room as Superman and Wonder Woman think about the consequences of an unknown power that can injure Kryptonians. It's Diana who interrupts the silence. "What of the ring which we found on Mammoth?"
Doctor Fate shakes his head. "I've been so concentrated on the rod that I've had little time on studying it. Oliver has it while he's keeping watch of the prisoner. Once I get a look at it, I might just be able to figure out how they are used to teleport and with a bit of work, rewire it to teleport ourselves to their hideout."
xXx
In the space station which makes up the headquarters for the Justice League, Mammoth can be found in one of the most secured rooms in the tower.
The room is large and cylinder in shape with a lot of space but only a small platform in the middle of the room acts as any floor support. Around the platform is just empty space with no means of escape unless someone activates the ramp from the control room. All around the walls of the wide, cylinder room are dozens of cameras which are all locked onto Mammoth from different angles. On a higher level, there's a wide window which allows ones to look down at the prisoner from the control room.
The prisoner is currently strapped into a diagonal table with his arms and legs spread out and cuffed into the metal table. Not only that but there are two needles at both sides of his neck, ready to pierce his skin and inject him with a neutralizing toxin if he gets a bit too active. From witnessing his fight with Bane, Batman has made sure to supply the needles with enough toxin to knock out a dozen elephants.
Mammoth isn't alone on the platform either because for the last hour, the Question has been interrogating him with no actual results. From playing good cop, bad cop with himself to offering the Metahuman a deal. Knowing better, Mammoth has yet to sing about any information on the Akatsuki. Instead, he is looking down at the faceless hero with an ever-growing smirk on his face.
"Wipe that smirk off your face, right now" ordered Question, punching Mammoth across the jaw. All it did was hurt his face and make Mammoth's smirk grow even bigger, seeing as the punch did no harm at all. It didn't even make his face budge.
Mammoth from a year ago would have sang like a canary if he found himself under the watch of the Justice League. Back then, he was nothing more but a thug doing small time crimes for petty cash.
But now, he is apart of something much bigger than himself or H.I.V.E . It's even bigger than the Justice League! Having witnessed Sage's power first hand and having been granted a mere percent of his power, Mammoth understands that Sage is the man who will change the world, forcefully if he has to.
For the better or worst, he isn't sure but for now, he's going along with the ride to see where he ends up. That and the pay is so much better than anything he got from working for H.I.V.E .
There's also the important fact about loyalty in the Akatsuki, hence why he won't even think about giving out any information on Sage. While he isn't the smartest person out there, he can understand subtle hints here and there and Sage has been throwing them around for the past year. Hints which claim that if any should betray him or give out any important information on the Akatsuki, he will personally deal with the perpetrator. And he said it all with a smile!
Besides, he's scary in a oddly calm and quiet way.
Reminds him an awful like Slade.
"Want to get outta there, Q?" Green Arrow's voice speaks out of the speakers in the room. He has been monitoring Question's progress for the last hour and it doesn't take a genius to see that his interrogation methods aren't working. It's a first but Oliver can't be too surprised, seeing as the person he's interrogating is over twice his size, made of pure muscle and has gone toe-to-toe with Bane of all people. Question's punches probably just tickle him at this point.
Sitting on the control console beside Green Arrow is Mammoth's Akatsuki ring, laying there for Doctor Fate to retrieve later. While paying attention to the prisoner, the archer doesn't notice the ring glow a light shade of blue.
"Not yet. I got him where I want him" told Question, believing in his own words. Mammoth on the other hands looks down at the hero with skepticism all over his face. Question notices and punches him in the stomach, causing the Metahuman to laugh.
Oliver shakes his head from within the control room. He turns when he hears the door open and sees Batman and Martian Manhunter with two completely opposite expressions on their face. Batman with his usual stoic and calm endeavor while J'onn looks conflicted. He can make a good guess on why that is. Forcefully reading somebody's mind without their permission is technically a form of rape and J'onn is the unlucky soul who has to do it.
"You know what to do" said Batman, moving beside Green Arrow so he can watch the proceedings take place.
J'onn doesn't answer, simply looking at the wall before nodding and phasing through the floor.
When the Martian Manhunter leaves, Green Arrow folds his arms and looks at the Dark Knight. "You know, there's a word out there called please. Try it sometime."
Batman ignores him.
xXx
Mammoth laughs when Question shakes his hand to ease the pain from punching him in the stomach. However, his enjoyment on the matter soon vanishes when he notices a green-skinned man in a blue cape float down to the platform from the control room. A sinking feeling grows in his stomach when he realizes that it's the Martian Manhunter, seeing as the green skin and blue cape are the obvious signs for the alien. Starting to struggle in his binds, he feels the prickling of the needles in his neck and stops his struggling, although, he grits his teeth as he sees the Martian takes a few steps closer.
"I warmed him up for ya" said Question, shaking his probably broken fist and taking a few steps back.
Martian doesn't reply, simply taking a step forward to the clearly uncomfortable Metahuman. "I apologize for what I'm about to do." Raising his hands, he places them on Mammoth's temples and closes his eyes so he can concentrate.
Mammoth roars as he feels his mind be forced open and read without his consent.
xXx
"God I can't watch" muttered Green Arrow as he turns around, feeling a great discomfort in what they're doing.
Batman remains, watching the scene play out with his usual blank and uncaring expression. However, he turns his head to the left when he sees the ring glow a bright blue light. "What is that?"
Before he can think more about it, a rip in the dimension opens up behind Batman and Green Arrow with the archer seeing it first since he's facing the direction of it. Batman spins around with a batarang on hand and Green Arrow already has an arrow pulled back.
Who steps out isn't who either of the Heroes expect.
"Luthor?" exclaimed Green Arrow with surprise all over his face.
Batman is the same since he quite recently remembers the billionaire's death on television by the hands of his former apprentice, Jason Todd. It takes a few seconds for the Dark Knight to shake himself out of his stupor to recognize the differences of Lex Luthor.
The businessman is still in the suit he died in, although it has been restored to perfect order. The major differences about him are the three black piercings in the bridge of the man's nose and the two in his ears. The second big change are his eyes which are now purple with rings surrounding the pupil.
Lex and the two vigilantes stare at each other in a moment of awkward tension, neither side deciding to speak as one side is still contemplating the situation and the other is allowing them.
Finally, it's the revived Lex who speaks. "Gentlemen." He raises his right hand at the pair and to the surprise of the Heroes, his hand collapses on itself to show a hollow metal arm. "Please get out of my way" he said in a odd monotone voice that is only matched with the blank expression on his face. The gap in Luthor's metal arm glows a bright blue light, signifying the worse for the Heroes.
xXx
Martian Manhunter has just gotten through the memories of Mammoth and his sister being thrown out of their home by their own parents, due to their fear of their childrens powers. He would have looked through more if it isn't for the explosion behind him, breaking his concentration. A loud alarm starts blaring in everyone's ears, making sure that everyone in the Watch Tower hears it.
Mammoth uses this time to take a breather from feeling some serious mental exhaustion over his mind getting forced open.
Turning around, J'onn looks to see a large hole in where the control room use to be situated. He also sees a 'supposed' dead man staring down at him from the hole with those odd purple eyes.
"Luthor."
Said man shakes his head, his blank expression never changing. "Didn't you see the announcement? Luthor is no more. Just testing his body for a joyride and I got to say..." A hole opens up in his back and a jet pack appears in its place. "I'm enjoying it." The jetpack springs to life and shoots flames, allowing Luthor to fly towards the platform at high speeds.
Martian Manhunter flies up to clash against the 'supposed' dead man. A swing of his fist throws Luthor to the side and into the wall but immediately, Luthor jumps off and collides with the Martian into the wall on the other side of the room. J'onn gasps out at the feeling of Luthor's metallic fists pressing against his chest while his back is against the metal wall.
Luthor uses the jetpack to fly off him and aims a hand at him. The arm stretches out with metallic gaps between the skin of his arm and his hand grasps the Martian by the face. J'onn grabs onto the metallic limb but Luthor throws his arm upwards, forcing the Martian to skid upwards through the wall of metal and circuitry. Giving the Martian Manhunter no time to recover, he swings his hand downwards and with it, J'onn. The Martian flies past the platform in a blur and disappears into the darkness below. With the threat gone for now, Luthor slowly glides down to said platform.
When he lands, Question charges at the undead man and lands several punches across Luthor's face, each having no effect on Luthor, other then tilting his head to the sides. Question notices the lack of effect his punches are doing as Luthor stares at him, blankly without so much as a cut in his lips.
Luthor grabs the Question by his skull and slams it down against the platform with enough strength to dent the metal floor but not enough to kill him. Standing up and stepping over the unconscious man, Luthor looks up at the Metahuman who looks a tad confused.
"The Justice League don't seem to treat their prisoners well. What a shame. I had a good opinion of them" said Luthor, eying the restraints on the Metahuman.
Mammoth blinks as he is still feeling the effects of the Martian Manhunter invading his mind. "Sage?"
"If you want to get technical" remarked Luthor as he stretches out his right finger. The tip opens up and he aims the finger at Mammoth's right arm restraint, carefully. A red laser shoots out of the finger and starts cutting through the metal. After a few moments, the restraint is completely cut off, allowing Luthor to start cutting through the one on his right foot while Mammoth uses his now free arm to break his left arm out of its own restraint. Mammoth grabs the syringes in his neck and throws them away, happy to be rid of them.
"I think it's about time we return" said Naruto from Luthor's body, having sensed incoming Heroes from all over the tower.
"Gladly" replied Mammoth before he lands on his knee and grasps his head.
"Are you alright?" asked Luthor with concern in his tone.
Mammoth shakes his head to rid of the headache that's pulsing in his skull. "I'm fine. Just a headache."
Luthor frowns but nods. With a wave of his hand, Luthor opens a portal to Naruto'a dimension and Mammoth walks in with Luthor following behind.
In the hole overlooking the platform, Batman stumbles his way to the edge and sees the pair leave through the portal. Bruce aims his left gauntlet at Luthor and fires a miniature tracking chip at him.
Unfortunately, Luthor's hand blurs and he looks up at the Dark Knight with a blank expression while holding onto the miniature tracking chip. Crushing it between his fingers, Luthor walks through the portal and closes it behind him.
Bruce grits his teeth as he falls to his knees. "Damn it!" he sweared while punching the floor.
"Well... you don't see that everyday" said Green Arrow from his position of sitting against the wall. Himself and Bruce we just about able to jump tot he sides to avoid Luthor's blast but the force still forced them to hit into the wall. Even now, he can feel his back which is aching.
"There has been a breach in the lab!"
"Ugh, what next?" groaned Green Arrow, watching as Batman gets up and limp out of the destroyed room. Makes sense since the lab isn't too far from they are. Shrugging, he gets up himself and follows the Dark Knight.
( Watch Tower - Lab )
Ignoring the two unconscious Heroes lying in the floor, the lone figure walks up to the side of the lab and picks up the black rod he has been after. Before he can leave, the door opens to show Batman and Green Arrow limping in.
What they see catches both men off guard.
Standing in the lab of the Watch Tower is none other than the Joker, living and breathing with the same sick grin on his face. Although, he has followed Luthor's example and has replaced his usual mad eyes with a pair of those odd purple ones with rings in them. As well as that, he is adorning a set of black piercings all over his face.
"Joker" stated Batman, pulling out a pair of batarangs in each hand.
"Wrong. Try again" remarked Joker with a sense of calm that doesn't match up with his smiling expression.
Batman doesn't reply and throws his weapons at the Joker. With skill that Bruce doesn't remember him having, Joker uses the Chakra Rod to deflect the batarangs with ease. Just like with Luthor, a portal opens up behind him and causes the pair to panic over the chance of losing the Joker.
Before any can charge, a bolt of lightning passes overhead the pair and towards the back of the Joker. Said reincarnated Joker turns around with his hand out and to the shock of everyone in the room, the lightning gets absorbed into his hand.
When the lightning disperses, Joker acknowledges the new arrival. "Zatanna Zatara. It's a pleasure."
Said Magician glares at the Joker with narrowed eyes. "Who are you?"
If it's somehow possible, everyone swears that Joker's wide grin only got wider. "What do you mean? I'm sure you recognize me?"
"You're not Joker. It's his body but you're just controlling his body with Magic or rather..." Zatanna uses her Magic to sense the walking corpse even deeper. "Something similar to Magic. I can sense it all over the body. That and the fact that he couldn't absorb Spells the last time I checked."
"The changes are obvious, aren't they?" he said, looking down at himself like as if the purple suit is the problem. "No matter. I was just checking the capabilities of this technique and I'm quite impressed with the results."
"You still didn't answer my question" told Zatanna with a glare.
Joker shrugs. "You're right. I didn't." With a step back, Joker walks into the portal and as it closes, he waves his hand to the trio of Heroes.
Silence fills the lab as Green Arrow, Batman and Zatanna stare at the empty space in which the now controlled corpse of the Joker once stood. Surprisingly, it's Oliver who disturbs the silence with a solemn tone in his voice.
"This is much worst than we thought."
( Star City )
In the hideout of a notorious pair of criminals, the door slams open and swings to the wall as Mick Rory and Leonard Snart walk in with a knapsack over their shoulders.
"I told you we should have taken Brook Street!" yelled Mick as he throws the knapsack onto the scratched up table. The contents of the sack spills to show that it's full of jewelry, courtesy of the Jewellery store he recently robbed.
Leonard sighs as he closes the door behind him. "And I keep telling you, if we did that then we wouldn't be here. We'd be getting ourselves comfy in a prison cell since a police department is in the same direction!"
Mick shrugs, losing his interest of the conversation very quickly. "Whatever, I need a beer" he said, heading towards the fridge.
Leonard sighs and drops his own sack onto the table. His partner can be so stubborn at times. At least they're not in Central City anymore. That's an upside. He'd prefer facing a guy in a green hoodie with a bow and arrow than one who can run faster than he can shoot.
Leonard heads over to their cut-up couch to hopefully read something interesting in one of the magazines he got but stops when he notices something amiss. The pile of magazines he has by the foot of the couch has been toppled over. Now, most people wouldn't see that as a problem since Leonard isn't one to pile the magazines neatly and along with the help of gravity, it's an excellent conclusion for the fated mystery.
However, being in his line of work, one must have sharp eyes, a sharp mind and a sharper sense of paranoia. With those three factors, he pulls out his Freeze Gun and calmly eyes the messy hideout. "Mick."
"I know" replied Mick while chugging down a beer. He had noticed something was wrong the moment he found out that his six pack of beers in the fridge is now a simple four pack. He walks to his partner's side and throws the empty bottle over his shoulder while keeping his finger on the trigger of his Heat Gun.
"You can come out now. We know you're here" called out Snart with his Freeze Gun out and ready. Seeing as he and Mick didn't notice a single disguised police officer or vehicle in the area, he doubts that it's the police. They would have stormed their hideout the moment they arrived. Whoever is in the building with them, they have a different agenda. It's because of this fact that he won't straight out kill them.
Doesn't mean that he won't turn them into popsicles the moment something goes wrong.
"Boo~, and here I thought we could surprise you" muttered Harley as she walks around a wardrobe with her hammer over her shoulder.
Mick ignores the infamously dangerous Villain and looks over to the right where he can see a door slightly cracked open. He is ninety-five percent sure that door was closed before they left. "And you, behind the door. Get out here."
The door to the other room opens to show a nonchalant Red Hood with his hands in his jacket pockets. "Not bad. You guys got sharp eyes."
Snart smirks. "In our profession, it's mandatory."
"So which one of you owes me two beers?" asked Mick, glancing over to the insane woman with the hammer and the vigilante in the red mask. Neither thieves seem too effected over the dangerous occupants in their hideout.
"That would be me. They were crap by the way. Although, I think I have a better offer for the two of you which will make up for the beer" replied Red Hood who pulls a seat from the nearby table and sits on it while placing his feet on the table, making himself quite a home.
Snart doesn't look too amused by the former Boy Wonder. "If it's about that little band of rogues you advertised on TV, count me out. That's too much heat for us and we don't need that" he said, leaning against a drawer with his arms folded. The Freeze Gun remains in his hand, showing the two Akatsuki members that he still sees them as a threat.
"Although, too much heat isn't such a bad thing nowadays" said Mick while he leans against a workbench. Snart shakes his head to his partners constant love for innuendoes about anything relatable to fire.
"At least you guys know why we're here" shrugged Red Hood while balancing the back legs of his chair.
"You won't know what you're missing out on~" sang Harley with a cheshire grin.
Snart smirks towards the former partner of the Joker. "Still, we'll pass."
Red Hood shrugs his shoulders. "Oh well. Can't say that we didn't try" he said, getting up and stretching his spine. The vigilante walks towards the door with Harley following him but not before bumping her hip into Mick, earning a glare from the pyromaniac while she smirks back at him.
Red Hood grabs the door handle but before he leaves, turns to address the two thieves. "I only got one question to ask before I head off. Why did you two become thieves?"
Without missing a beat, it's Mick who replies back. "Because we hate working and we love money" he said in his deep, almost threatening voice.
Jason smirks underneath his mask. "If it's money you want, Akatsuki can offer plenty of that." This catches the thieves attention as Mick glances over at their direction while Snart looks over his shoulder to stare at the Akatsuki members.
Money has always been the drug that thieves are addicted to and the two in the room are now different.
"How much money are we talking about?" asked Snart, doing his best to keep his voice neutral. He can't have them know he's too interested or the game will side over to them.
"Enough to set you up for ten lives."
Snart and Mick share a look and to Jason and Harley, it seems like they are somehow communicating with each other, mentally. Snart pushes himself off of the drawer and turns around. "I guess we can... check you guys out. We're not making any promises."
Red Hood nods. "That's all we're asking."
( Naruto's Dimension )
Naruto sighs in content as he rests in his usual spot in his personal dimension. Recent events has left him feeling a bit tired and the gentle stream of the river and the cool touch of the grass helps to relax his stressed mind.
Controlling two bodies at the same time is quite an odd experience, even for him. To look through two different set of eyes and to hear what they hear can get annoying overtime but he's positive that it will go away, eventually. After all, if his memory is correct, he once battled a man who can control all Six Paths of Pain at the same time, with great efficiency if he might add.
Who would he be if he didn't match that?
"The Six Paths of Pain is quite a useful technique" said Naruto as a portal opens behind him and the Joker walks through it with his Chakra Rod on hand. Out of all his Six Paths of Pain, it's the Joker who has given him to most difficulty. He has full control over the corpse, true but for some reason that he can't fathom, he can't control the man's facial muscles which are now locked in a permanent grin. Creepy but for now, there's nothing he can do about it.
He wills the walking corpse to drop the Chakra Rod into his own hand before he summons the King of Hell to devour it. No point having the corpse around, only to freak everyone out with its mad grin.
Naruto turns to look over at the distance where he can see Mammoth and Gizmo talking away with one another. From his body language, it's obvious to see that the genius is too embarrassed and proud to admit that he was worried about his friend. Of course, Mammoth has years of experience with knowing Gizmo and so, he brings in the small genius into a hug when he figures out what he wants to actually say. Naruto chuckles at the sight of the giant Metahuman almost crushing his friend in a hug. Quite heartwarming if someone asks him.
Naruto turns back so he doesn't disturb the little moment they're having. While they lack experience, unlike everyone else, they have a strong and loyal friendship which Naruto can respect. He can understand that the betrayel of Jinx must have hurt them deeply, seeing as she was with the pair from the very beginning. After they have spent years cultivating a friendship, Jinx happily spat on that and betrayed them with a smile.
He knows this because he has witnessed the battle between the Brotherhood of Evil and Titans. With everyone fighting each other, nobody once questioned the few flies and ants with Rinnegan eyes, harmlessly watching the battles. From the start where Beast Boy led the remaining forces of the Titans against the overwhelming numbers of Villains to the end which Brain was defeated, he saw it all. Including Jinx and Kid Flash arriving late and Jinx happily betraying her own allies.
While they may try to hide it, Naruto can see how deeply her betrayel hurt but can do nothing for them. All he can do is wait for them to handle the pain themselves. The upside is that the betrayel has improved Mammoth's and Gizmo's own friendship even more. After all, they are all they've got left.
The thought of Jinx brings another flash of memories, causing him to wince to the pain of a headache. He sees the same man who helped him defeat the Godlike threat from his own time although, he also sees moments where they are fighting each other. He can see destruction, lightning, flames, Bijū and their Avatars clashing. In these memories, a name comes to surface. "Sasuke..." For some reason, speaking his name leaves a very bad taste in his mouth.
Before he can think more about the recent memories, another portal opens up and out it walks Red Hood, Harley Quinn and he's hopeful two new recruits who are gazing around the new landscape in interest. Red Hood guides the pair to Sage while Harley runs off to greet her hyenas who look happy to see their owner again.
"I'll admit, this is a cool~ hangout" remarked Snart as he looks around the cavern and its natural beauty. "Where are we?"
"Who knows? I still haven't figured it out and I gave up after the third try" shrugged Red Hood as he leads the pair to Sage. Snart raises a brow from the response but doesn't say anything about it.
Unlike his partner who can't appreciate the beauty of the world, Mick grunts and meets his eyes with the blue ones of Naruto. "Who the hell is he?"
Red Hood walks past Mick. "Our boss."
"Boss? I thought you were the boss?" said Mick, feeling unsure about the whole matter.
Snart smirks as he looks Sage up and down before looking at the back of Red Hood. "He's the scapegoat."
Red Hood looks over his shoulder and lightly glares at the smirking thief. "Watch it" he warned but his warning only seems to make Snart's smirk grow.
Naruto gets up from his spot and turns to face the incoming group. "Welcome. I hope Jason and Harley have been polite."
"He stole my beers."
"Forget your beers. They tasted like piss anyway. I couldn't even finish the second one so I threw it out."
Mick glares at the masked vigilante and his hand twitches to grab his Heat Gun. Red Hood feels the same as his own itchy trigger finger twitches to pull out one of his pistols. Naruto hides his annoyance under a calm and welcoming expression.
"Mick, clam down" ordered Snart, sending a glare towards his partner. "We're guests here. Besides, I want to hear this proposal. Something about money that can last us ten lives, wasn't it?"
Naruto nods while easily recognizing Snart/Captain Cold as the smart one between the two. Mick may have the muscle but Snart possesses the brains and enough brain can always defeat brawn.
"As you can tell, I am looking for potential recruits for the Akatsuki and I believe your skills may prove useful for the organization."
"And of we refused to join?" asked Snart.
If Sage didn't like his response, he doesn't show it. "Then I'll simply erase your memories of this meeting and drop you off without a scratch. You wouldn't even know we had this conservation in the first place."
"Erase our memories? You can do that?" Snart asked with a hint of caution. Even Red Hood and Harley are caught off guard with the knowledge of such abilities. Over their year of training, they've witnessed several of Sage's abilities but with his mentioning of manipulating memories, they are starting to realise that they might not be close to seeing the peak of their leader's power.
"I don't like that people in my head. Touch my head and you'll fry" threatened Mick before he grasps his Heat Gun. Red Hood reaches for his twin pistols as Harley strokes the fur of her two growling hyenas with a smirk.
Naruto raises a brow at Mick's behaviour. "If you accept my offer on joining the Akatsuki, I won't need a reason to be in your head."
Snart steps forward to address Sage and to keep his partner from doing something he might regret. While Mick might not see it, Snart can tell from a glance that this guy is dangerous. The first thing he noticed off about the Sage character was how he did not once make a sound when walking on the field of grass on his bare feet. A trick that only the most skilled of assassins learn, meaning that the man in front of him has gone through some serious training and has most likely killed.
There's also Harley and Red Hood to think about as the pair aren't the... easiest to handle. If he can order around the lone wolf and former girlfriend of the Joker, then he must have some serious skills. "We haven't decided yet. I want to hear about our payment."
Naruto smiles and activates his Rinne-Sharingan. "Of course." With those words, he and the pair of thieves vanish from the dimension.
Harley looks over at Red Hood while rubbing her babies. "You think they're gonna join up?"
Jason puts his hands in his pockets and walks away. "Do you have to ask?"
Harley shrugs. "Guess not." Harley laughs as her babies start licking her face. "That's right! We have new toys to play with."
( New York - North Salem )
In the middle of the night, darkness looms over the town of North Salem and fills the air with a cold wind that bites into the skin. While many would be safe and warm inside their homes, the same thing cannot be said to several Mutants who are spread out all over the town. "Kurt!" Scott called out in the streets of North Salem. He tightens the scarf around his neck to help with the losing fight against the cold.
The reason for Cyclops walking throughout the streets in the middle of the night is because Kurt or rather, Nightcrawler has yet to return to Xavier Mansion after a trip to the town. While this wouldn't usually be a problem as the blue-skinned Mutant can simply teleport into the manor in a second, he has never stayed out this late before. Their worries only got worse when he none of their calls can reach him.
Walking down the pavement and ignoring the flickering light of the lamp post, he looks around for any sign of his friend. While searching, he never once notices the shadow on the rooftop, looming overhead, nor the sound of a trench coat flapping in the wind until said shadow jumps off the rooftop and towards Scott. Scott spins around in the last second but it's too late as the predator has got him where he wants him.
( Five Minutes Later )
"Scott, have you found him yet?" Kitty as she walks around the corner, looking for her partner who moved on ahead. The Mutant looks around for her friend but doesn't see him. Instead, she notices a glint under the light of a lamp post. Walking under the light, she picks up the source of the glint and brings it eye level.
"Scott?" she whispered as she holds up his sunglasses.
( Naruto's Dimension )
Naruto hums to himself as he scans the floating orbs in front of himself, watching events take place from all over the planet. However, Naruto is paying more attention to a certain orb which is showing him a life feed of events taking place in New Mexico. For the past half hour, he has been watching the events taking place between S.H.I.E.L.D., a giant suit of armour and supposedly, Gods. Not too long ago, the supposed 'God of Thunder' and his friends left in a beaming pillar of light so all he's really watching is the aftermath of the battle as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents start to clean up the damage from the battle.
With a flick of the wrist, the orbs vanish so Naruto can go back to his thoughts, more so on his latest pair of recruits. It only took a quick glance of the mountains of gold for Leonard Snart and Mick Rory to accept his invitation to join the Akatsuki. While their agreement to join is solely based on their greed, it will have to do for now. Their loyalty isn't permenant but there is always ways to change that, either through sentiment like with Poison Ivy or through intimidation, just like what he did to Deadshot.
For now, he needs to find at least one more member to complete the Akatsuki to even the numbers. One who can hold their own in a fight, without the need of a teammate. With Ghost Rider on his own, it leaves an odd number to be filled by somebody. However, that leaves only a few potential candidants with such skill and potential. There would be more if it isn't for their... 'questionable' activities.
Before he can decide on who to choose, his eyes widen in surprise when he feels a disturbance in the dimension. He can sense something powerful, forcefully ripping open space itself and before Naruto can use his Chakra to close it, it's already too late as the dimensional portal opens. What's worse is that the portal just so happens to be a few feet behind him.
Naruto stands and turns around to see a hole rip open with shadows and stars decorating the inside of it like moving wallpaper. Before he can forcefully close it, something falls out of the hole and crashes into the floor, throwing dirt, dust and rubble in all directions and forcing Naruto to cover his face with his arm to not get any in his eyes. When the dirt, dust and rubble subsides, Naruto looks to see the dimensional portal gone and a crater underneath where it use to be.
And in that crater is a man that Naruto, while he hasn't met him before, recognizes to be quite handsome. His attire is albeit, strange as it consists of a dark shirt and pants underneath a gold chest plate, braces, shoulder guards and even gold armour covering only his knees. Sprayed out underneath the unconscious man is a green cape that looks to be made from the finest silk, ruined by the cuts and dirt decorating it.
While the attire is strange, Naruto's attention is mostly fixed on the overwhelming power within the man. A power that he recognizes to be more powerful than Ghost Rider. If there's a word for him to describe it, it would be "World Shattering". In other words, he recognizes the man as a danger to the planet and everyone living in it.
"Father..."
With his sharp ears, Naruto easily hears the unconscious man's whisper and notices the desperation in his tone of voice. Pain, anger and sadness, all in the shape of one whisper. The whisper causes Naruto to tense up as he easily recognizes the tone as familiar.
If his memories are correct, he once used it all the time as a child. Flashes of his childhood flash before his eyes, showing images of people glaring at him, spitting out curses of hatred and throwing garbage at him. He sees himself getting thrown out of buildings, getting bullied and pushed around by other children and sometimes, attacked by mobs that left him beaten and broken.
Yet, no matter how much he cried and begged, they would all glare at him like as if he's a parasite. All because of the decision made by someone else when he was just born a few minutes into the world.
As he thinks about what to do next, a golden horned helmet rolls down the hill of the crater and rests beside its owner, shining with the rays of the sun from the hole above the cavern.
xXx
Akatsuki Members: Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Red Hood, Poison Ivy, Mammoth, Gizmo, Ghost Rider, Captain Cold, Heatwave, ?
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