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{SmallBasilisk28 here! -Jumps up hearing a noise from somewhere outside my room- Stories coming along great but I have to do a disclaimer again! I own nothing except the OC things I think up.}
Chapter 3
[Fawcett City, June 29, 2010]
"SHAZAM!" A few seconds after a strange bolt of lightning struck down in a darkened alley the small form of a young teen slipped out glad to finally be back near his stomping grounds after everything that happened earlier today. He was around four-nine with grim covered black hair with light blue eyes that held a fire behind them wearing clothes that were ripped and torn in more places than he could count. The teen was also missing his right shoe and looked like he needed a good meal or three but he still held a gentle soul no matter what the world threw at him.
His name was Billy Batson a teenager that was beaten, abused and neglected after losing his parents when he was younger and Uncle Dudley six years ago after the car crash. Billy was granted the power to go blow for blow with some of the strongest metas five years ago when the teen ran into the Wizard while adjusting to his new life on the streets. He was also the youngest member inducted into the Justice League at age twelve and was also being expelled after his real age along with his full name were exposed to every hero at the emergency meeting held only a few hours ago. 'Not like it mattered when all I'm good for is monitor duty or crowd control when they don't want me in the way.' It wasn't that hard to figure out who was on his side when only Batman and the Flash voted for him to stay. Just like it was easy enough to figure out the Man of Steel exposed him when he walked into the room to see almost all of the League against him before the meeting even started. "They never saw past the cape before so why start now just because Superman says so. At least I'm one of the few people who can say they gave the Man of Steel a black eye." Billy muttered under his breath laughing slightly at the reminder of the sucker punch he got in after they voted him out of the Justice League.
Looking around at some of the changes happening to his city the teen was slowly grinning a small grin happy for the people living here. He was thankful because Fawcett City had been killed all those years ago during the recession. Businesses closed almost weekly, families weren't able to pay back the loans they borrowed forcing them onto the streets and dozens of buildings were condemned when the money to keep them maintained vanished. That was one of the few lessons a fourteen year old Billy Batson learned the hard way growing up on the streets after Ebenezer a man claiming to be his uncle tried stealing the money his parents left him.
The teenager wasn't stupid enough to think the man was keeping him around because they were supposedly family after the first couple of minutes spent driving to his new home. It took a few tries to sneak off without getting caught and dragged back to Ebenezer by the police but he endured it all refusing to obey some crazy old man who just wanted his money. Dealing with Ebenezer striking him every time he refused to sign away his inheritance or finish some random chore was painful but after two months of planning Billy was able to vanish into the streets after transferring his parents money into an account only he could touch. Thinking back on it, in a way he really should thank his supposed uncle since it was the last blow that convinced him to run allowing Billy to meet the Wizard who granted him his super powers.
Feeling a slight pain in his stomach thanks to going without food for two days now Billy started walking towards the nearby soup kitchen a few blocks away thankful for Otsutsuki Pharmaceuticals bringing Fawcett City back from the dead the way they did. Kurama O. Uzumaki the man who built his company from the ground up and was somehow lucky enough it was driving a few other companies crazy didn't have to build a branch office in America. He didn't even have to set up one of his skyscrapers in Fawcett City since there were other cities the man could have chosen but he did and everyone living here couldn't help but praise Kurama as a saint for his actions.
It didn't stop there though because after the bombing in Serajevo that took the life of a family friend his adopted children came to America with him bringing Asura who poured Kurama's money into helping different charities. With a tired sigh looked up at the night sky for a few seconds before Billy's gaze traveled to the skyscraper erected in the very heart of the city. Seeing the city's symbol for rebirth he couldn't help but wonder what his life would have turned out like if his parents lived.
Billy was brought out of his thoughts when a black Camaro came to a stop a few feet in front of him and a girl a couple of years older than him got out with a blank look on her face. She looked about seventeen with her dark purple streaks running through her brown hair that was cut short and black colored eyes. The older girl had on a light blue hoodie zipped up about half way to show her impressive cleavage along with a necklace that held a strange glowing stone and was paired with tight denim shorts, thick knee-high socks and a pair of brown boots.
"Are you okay Billy Batson?" The older girl asked causing Billy to tense ready to bolt the second she moved a single step closer.
"How do you know my name?" He was looking around to see if anyone was hiding nearby ready to jump him but the older teen only smiled slightly.
"Sorry my codename is Mazu." The now named Mazu said tossing Billy an apple when she heard his stomach growling. "As for your question my boss knows everything about you Captain Marvel. He wants to meet." Seeing Billy's eyes go wide and the way he was close to shouting out Shazam Mazu quickly raised her hands to show she wasn't here for a fight. "Please just meet with him and will help you deal with your Ebenezer problem."
It was a few tense seconds where they did nothing but stare each other down. Billy desperately searching for any signs this wasn't some kind of trap before nodding slightly still double checking his surroundings before walking towards her. "As long as we're just talking." After saying his piece Billy got into the passenger seat letting Mazu take him to whoever her boss was.
"We know all about you and have been watching you along with a few other metas from the shadows for a few months now. I'm with a small organization called the Outsiders, heard of it?" Billy remembered members of the Justice League talking about someone dealing with most of the crimes they couldn't get to in time before they fired him. A few didn't know what to think about the person or group dealing with their crimes while the original seven were having almost weekly meetings trying to find any clues they could about them.
"You're with the people who dealt with the mass breakout at Stryker's Island a few weeks ago when Superman was off world." When she nodded Billy recalled only Batman didn't seem surprised to find a good majority of the prisoners already back behind bars by the time the response team arrived. It was a quick twenty-minute ride where they sat in silence until Mazu turned down an alley parking beside a row of dumpsters.
"This is where one of our doors are located." Mazu explained seeing Billy's guarded stance. Walking over to the tagging of a smirking fox on a nearby wall she pressed her hand on a darker brick inches above it causing the paintings eyes to glow crimson seconds before a sealing formula covered the ground around them. And before Billy could utter a single word or move out-of-the-way they vanished in a burst of crimson light.
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[?, June 29, 2010]
"Welcome to our base." Looking around when he was able to regain his bearings Billy saw they were in a simple room with two doors on either side of him. "I can't tell you our exact location in case you don't agree with my boss's offer but we are secure against most intruders that might come looking." As they left the room through the western door he noticed the strange carvings from before covering almost every inch of the walls around them.
"Right now we're on the third floor of the den above the training rooms, archives and generator room but below the main living areas." Billy heard everything she could explain to him but his eyes kept peeking into a few of the nearby rooms they passed catching glimpses of an infirmary, a few rooms marked storage or evidence but for everything he saw the place still felt homey for some reason. Entering the elevator at the end of the hall Mazu pressed the button for the second floor when two figures slipped in through the doors seconds before it closed.
"Do I even want to know what you two did?" Mazu asked with a small twitch of her lip while Billy looked over the two pre-teens that were sharing matching looks of worry.
"It was an accident, right Kansho?" The one on the left spoke up pulling back his hood to look up at Mazu. From what he could see the pre-teen had short cut blond hair with green streaks with his eyes hidden behind a black domino mask that had a worried look to them when a loud thud came from the floor below them. Looking at his cloths Billy could see he was wearing a long-sleeved grey shirt with a hood underneath a grey vest paired with grey pants and running shoes.
"Bakuya is right we were just about to meet up with Orange Beetle and Brainy when I ran into Fenris on accident as she was stepping out of her ice mirror." The one known as Kansho copied Bakuya's actions pulling back his own hood showing he had purple hair that was pulled back into a small ponytail. If Kansho hadn't of pulled his hood down Billy would have thought they were twins since he had on grey domino mask hiding his eyes and was wearing a black version of Bakuya's clothes.
"I'll talk with her later boys." With her right hand Mazu gestured to Billy who was leaning against the side of the elevator looking completely lost. "This is Billy one of the heroes big boss wanted me to extend our help to." As soon as those words left her mouth Billy had both of them shaking his hands at the same time giving off matching smiles.
"Hey there! How you doing!?" Kansho asked trying to be polite after seeing the way he looked. "Are you really one of the new Outsiders grandfather was thinking of recruiting!?"
"Don't be stupid it was probably Brainy who found all of them and gramps is just taking the credit again to make himself look omnipotent like Batman." Bakuya cut in. "It's good we might be getting a few new people so Fenris can have somebody else to spar with during her down time besides us." Billy didn't have a clue what was going on and didn't have much time to think about things when the elevator doors slid open.
"Come on Billy let's go see gramps before dinner then we can give you a tour of the place!" Grabbing his hands the pair drug Billy down the hall towards the conference room where they knew Kurama was doing his daily stack of paperwork. Billy stumbled forward and tripped a few times as they passed a few more rooms but neither one of them bothered slowing down.
"Right now we're on the second floor where the recreational pool, kitchens, and a few other rooms we just turned into lounging areas are located." Mazu explained walking a few steps behind them pointing a few things out to Billy while he was being drug around. "The garden over there connects to the upper floor where the living quarters, Brainy's personal labs, and the library are." Calling it simply a garden was insulting to the gardener when Billy saw the world's largest sakura tree shading a red-head who was using a green-skinned meta's lap as a pillow. That along with all the strange and exotic looking plants were all he was able to see before they arrived at the doors leading to the conference room.
"We can't go inside with you." Bakuya bluntly pointed out to Billy when he glanced back at them wondering why they stopped dragging him so suddenly.
"Grandfather only wants the person he's giving the offer to in the room so they could make up their mind without anyone pressuring them." Kansho added still smiling before the pair shoved Billy through the doors letting the hero come face to face with the billionaire Kurama O. Uzumaki taking a lighter to a stack of paper. A man most of the poor working class viewed as a blessed saint of the people more than most heroes because of his company's achievements over the last five years was currently laughing like a super villain while standing over the burning stacks of paper.
He invented new forms of environment friendly energy and medicine that helped save more lives each day making him a saint in the eyes of the people even if the high-class despised ever breath Kurama took. Otsutsuki Pharmaceuticals were even branching off into almost every field of research in applied science, biomedical, medical, aerospace and a dozen more subjects bringing new inventions out almost every month making him more enemies when his company bought an airline LexCorp was days away from acquiring through their attempted hostile takeover.
Kurama was a man on everyone's lips whether good or bad since the world only knew the bare minimum about him or any of his children leaving Billy shocked to find out he sponsored a team of superheroes. "I'm glad you accepted the offer to talk with me Billy." With a snap of his fingers that echoed throughout the conference room the world around them shattered like glass causing Billy to tense slightly. It was only an instant before everything pieced itself back together but Billy found himself almost in tears standing in his old home after so many years spent living on the streets.
"M-mom, dad?" Billy took a single hesitant step forward seeing the ghost like forms of his parents who were smiling at him from across the room. A deep chuckle forced Billy to look away from his parents towards Kurama who was sitting on the nearby couch. "W-what, who are you?
"An Old God child wanting to help my children out, nothing more than that." Looking around the living room they were in Kurama had a soft gaze in his demonic looking eyes with each picture he saw hanging on the wall. "Just like my kit you only dream of simple things. I could deal with your problems and try finding a way to bring the human Dudley out of his coma."
Billy was crying now when the world around them shattered again because this time they were in the hospital room where Dudley was hooked up to the different machines keeping him alive since the crash all those years ago. "Your uncle was a kind man who tried his best to raise you right. Working double sometimes triple shifts to keep you in school and happy like your parents would have wanted. Never once asking about your inheritance even when money was tight and the bills were pilling up." Billy tried reaching out for Dudley's hand only to slip through the illusion like water. "He didn't deserve what happened to him and I can help bring your uncle back to you child." Kurama rested his right hand on Billy's shoulder watching the emotions flashing through the teen's eyes.
"What do you want me to do?" Billy's voice was barely a whisper when he turned to look up at the Old God that was offering the one thing he longed for more almost as badly as his parents.
"The League doesn't want you anymore since you're a child fighting in a man's body but my children do Billy." Kurama held out his free hand when he made an offer that would change things for years to come. "If you still want to do the right thing and help people join my children. Take my name and protect the world with a clan at your back whenever you need us there."
'Today's new friend is tomorrow's family.' It was something Uncle Dudley always told him when Billy didn't want to go to school because of the bullies teasing him. Slowly reaching his hand out Billy stared into the crimson eyes of an Old God not knowing how to respond when given such an offer.
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Outside in the gardens Asura yawned stretching slight but made no move to get up feeling Querl playing with his hair. "I've almost located the hacker that tried getting into our servers a couple of days ago but they're pretty good at hiding from me."
"This is our break time B don't make me lock you out of your labs again." Asura mumbled glancing up at Querl to see the faint blush adorning his cheeks over forgetting their little rule. No talking about work or training while they were relaxing. Right now between school, being a hero and everything else that was happening they would take moments like these whenever they could. Besides Querl only complained a few times when Asura drug him out of one of the labs Kurama put together for him. Just like Asura only sulked for a few seconds when Querl forced him away from the training room.
"Brainy!" Their moment was over now when they heard Inari yelling for them. Seeing him sprinting their way dressed in the black version of Green Arrow's gear with his hood down Asura groaned not wanting to get up yet. "Asura you need to see this!" Following behind him was Haku wearing a set of Anbu armour reinforced with better metals and her wolf mask firmly in place. Haku's fingers ghosted over Kubikiribocho's handle just to reassure herself it was still there before tossing Querl the tablet she had with her.
'And in stunning news earlier today the super villain known as Poison Ivy who vanished three years ago was granted a full pardon by the President when new evidence came to light concerning her case. The shocking evidence confirmed that during her stay before and after the Joker's take over of Arkham that numerous attacks were made on the female inmates along with a few members of the staff.' A small screen appeared in the corner showed them live footage of a small group of men being lead into Gotham's police station wearing handcuffs. 'As you can see these men were responsible for numerous crimes ranging from withholding needed medication to leaving a few lesser inmates to starve if they did even the slightest thing to upset them. The super villain Poison Ivy however was left to die in her cell from the Titan formula injected into her system by the Joker on the grounds that they couldn't punish the clown or his accomplices at the time.'
"All that plus your father making a few charitable donations to his re-election campaign helped push my pardon through." Looking up they all saw a cured Pamela Lillian Isley walking gracefully across the garden a peaceful smile on her face seeing the way they looked at her. They were all her children now, her orphans just looking for a family, never looking at Pamela like she was a monster that belonged caged with Gotham's other animals.
The younger ones looked up to her as their mother even if Inari still wouldn't admit it openly. Asura embraced Pamela without any hesitation when she got along with Katsuyu and the rest of the slug clan after a long debate over the different types of medical plants they could use in the infirmary. Querl kept an eye on her from time to time but she didn't mind since even he was slowly coming around to her being here. "I can just imagine the looks on a few people back in Gotham when the hear I'm out of the game for good." When Yukimaru and Ranmaru came running from the nearby hallway to give her of all people a hug Pamela couldn't help but smile before giving them the good news. "Your father has a mission coming up soon to investigate a group from Cadmus after their repeated attempts to force his company to help them with some type of project they're running."
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[Washington, D.C., July 04, 2010]
Another loud explosion rocked Cadmus as dozens of Genomorphs rushed to the nearby blast door looking ready for war. "Someone tell me whats happening out there!" Desmond yelled trying not to let the fear in his voice show seeing the doors ment to hold back Project Kr bending under the intruders blows.
'What is going on that has them so worried?' Robin thought from their hiding spot briefly glancing over towards Aqualad and Kid Flash who were with him when the alarms went off seconds ago. The metal of the blast doors caved in slightly from another powerful blow. They exchanged hopeful glances thinking it might be a member of the Justice League coming to help them only to throw that thought out the window when a pair of dark red armoured hands pried apart the metal doors like they were paper. 'Fuck.' That was the only thought running through their minds seeing the armored giant of a man stepping through what used to be a blast door with a large crimson glowing cat a few steps behind him.
"Is this it?" His voice was low from what they could guess was misuse but none of that mattered when a G-Troll attacked him only to pause when the blow barely turned his head to the side. "Move." With that single word he back-handed the Genomorph sending it crashing through multiple walls with little effort. 'I almost feel embarrassed doing this even if the kids needed a distraction.' Atlas thought wondering when he went from playing teacher to meat shield.
Author's Notes -
Hope everyone likes the story so far.
I like the name Outsiders so I ran with it and they set up points in certain areas to jump to where they're needed. They just have to find the grinning fox to find their way home.
I really tried to explain a few things so I really hope I got it right but here's a few short notes in case I missed anything or it wasn't added to this chapter. 1-Kurama has been on Earth and visiting other worlds for five years just screwing with people or stealing things. 2-He started his own company from the ground up using his powers and the knowledge stolen from Brainy. 3-Asura wanted a mother so he picked Pamela after seeing the damage she could do and the way she acts around children. She's cured for now so Poison Ivy won't be joining In-Justice but like I said in chapter seven a few of the villans from their home planet are showing up along with the Sinestro Corps. You'll get the full details of their contract when Batman goes black ops on anything and everything carrying an O. 4-Batman has them on his radar for a while now but didn't bother telling anyone else because he knew how a few members would react when faced with some of the Outsider's members. 5-The next chapter is where both teams meet and Brainy learns this dimension's Man of Steel is nothing like the Boy Scout back home.
Here is a list of their ages and powers so you'll have a clue what I'm thinking. The O in their names is just Kurama's way of staking his claim on them while not changing their names around. I used the voice actor's last name for a few that didn't have names so please let me know if they're misspelled but the three youngest got Uzumaki since Kurama had to adopt them instead of just making them his wards.
Asura O. Uzumaki {Orange Beetle} age 16 [You already know his powers and I can see him rotating between who he teams up with.]
Querl O. Dox {Brainiac 5} age 16 [Same with Brainy you already know everything he can do.]
Yukimaru O. Uzumaki {Kansho} age 11 [I gave the both of them their names and suits based off their powers. With Yukimaru having Isobu inside of him and the fog the Biju can use his powers can play off Ranmaru's Kekkei Genkai.]
Ranmaru O. Uzumaki {Bakuya} age 11 [Same reasoning but only with him being a more close range fighter since he has the Kiba Blades.]
Inari O. Uzumaki {Black Arrow} age 12 [He used a crossbow during the bridge scene and I had the thought of him keeping with the theme using a bow that belonged to his dead step-father who taught him how to shoot. He still has the Sharingan Rinnegan combo going but that's for later fights when a bow just won't cut it and Inari needs to break out his ace in the hole. Kind of like Itachi who doesn't rely only on his Sharingan.]
Kimimaro O. Kaguya {Renegade} age 17 [You know his powers but this is here to let my readers know he'll be pulling a Wolverine showing up whenever they call the team together. Most of the time however he'll be spending it trying to purge the trash from the world before he succumbs to his illness.]
Sora O. Nemoto {Blue Lantern} age 15
Haku O. Momochi {Fenris} age 16 [Cryokinesis, Anbu/Hunter training, and first aid skills.]
Isaribi O. Aida {Mazu} age 17 [Aquakinesis, limited shape changing when submerged in water to pass herself off as an Atlantean.]
Tora {Red Lantern}
Han Yasumoto {Atlas} age 48 [Super Strength along with the powers being a Jinchuriki grant. He's built like a tank has a Biju to fix any lasting damage and provide the power for everything needed so he'll get used like a tank. Han won't be doing much except training the younger heroes right now but his true role will come up later.]
Response - (Thanks for your reviews.)
