Well, it seems it's time for yet another chapter of Uzumaki Rider! We were glad to see so many people enjoyed the previous chapter (and a little surprised to see how quickly some of you guys managed to pick up what's going on with Laura). This chapter will be jumping right into some good old fashion action with M.O.D.O.K. and A.I.M. and we hope you all enjoy it! It's sort of the end of what we consider the 'Opening Arc,' after which we'll move more into the Mephisto and Dark Dimension storylines, along with some other things. Seeing how much you guys seem to be enjoying this story makes every word worth it. Now, without further ado, thank you all so much for reading and be sure to review!

Chapter Soundtrack - John Legend: Who Did That to You? (Django Unchained Soundtrack)


It seemed there was no end the number of the people the group of shinobi could manage to piss off. Admittedly though, an organization as large as A.I.M. just may have been their greatest feat yet.

"You've got three on your left," Kiba screamed to her brother as she swatted away yet another group of yellow-clad agents trying to subdue them. Both she and Akamaru had switched into their wolf forms, and so far hadn't had much trouble handling the various assholes. That didn't mean they wanted to get cocky though. "Make sure you swipe their guns!"

"I know the drill!" Akamaru screamed back. He'd managed to snatch all three of the automatic rifles pointed at him in one swing, something that sent the A.I.M. agents flying back words, and dropped them on the ground to stomped into nothing but a pile of scrap metal. "Tch, I almost thought this was gonna be hard at first!"

You'd think by now the boy would know better than to say something like that. A new voice, a strange, high pitched and mechanical one, entered the fray, "Don't get the cart ahead of the horse, my canine friend!"

Akamaru saw who the voice belonged to, the color draining from his face when he did, "What the fuck is that?"

"I am the great and mighty M.O.D.O.K., or Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing," The voice called back. "I'm the one you stole from!"

True though that may have been, it wasn't the headline as far as Akamaru was concerned. That honor belonged to M.O.D.O.K.'s appearance. It looked like a five-foot high floating head encased in a yellow mechanical shell with small, purple robot arms sticking out and some sort of red light in middle of its forehead. Oh, and there was a device on the bottom of the shell that let him float in the air like Onoki from the Hidden Rock village. Akamaru was fairly certain the image would be haunting his nightmares for weeks to come, "What the fuck? It looks like someone ripped off the top of a bobble head and tried to make it into a real boy who wanted to kill everyone! Fucking hell!"

"First, your pop culture references are getting better," Kiba complimented. They'd been trying to dive into the culture of their new home, and it seemed Akamaru was taking to it like a fish to water. "Second, if it freaks you out so much, then you've got a good reason to kick the shit out of it!"

Akamaru got down onto all fours and started sprinting towards the mysterious leader of A.I.M. "I'm gonna rip you apart and bury the pieces a hundred feet deep just so I don't have to look at you ever again."

Those sorts of threats meant nothing to a being like M.O.D.O.K. "You believe your brute strength is a match for my intellect? Prepare for a lesson in overconfidence!"

"Oh would you shut up?" Akamaru asked as he pounced at M.O.D.O.K. The red light on his foe's head began to grow brighter before a beam of pure energy shot from it and struck Akamaru dead in the chest. It burned through his fur and seared his flesh. "Aaaggghhh!"

Akamaru hit the ground like a ton of bricks before his attack could land. M.O.D.O.K. hovered over him with a victorious grin, "How did you like your lesson, fool? I'll gladly teach you another if it'd please you! HAHA!"

"When it comes to lessons, I prefer to the do the teaching myself." Came a familiar growl. Naruto had arrived, and he had two other Riders right along with him. The identity of their mysterious new friend would have to be revealed later. There was far too much destruction going on for that. "Well if isn't the literal head of A.I.M.? How've you been, M.O.D.O.K.? Still got an ego bigger than your noggin?"

"Well-well! I see you Riders no longer travel alone! No matter; I'll still introduce you to an incalculable amount of pain!"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Some things never change I guess. Light em' up, guys!"

Now there was something they were all happy to do. Hinata opened up with a ball of purple flame that she hurled towards a group of half a dozen men, frying them instantly. Johnny was next, whipping his chain in the straight line in front of him the skewered several A.I.M. agents right through their chests. Naruto, deciding to focus on the root of the problem, leapt at M.O.D.O.K.

"Fool! You're little friend has already tried that," M.O.D.O.K. cackled, preparing the same beam he'd used on Akamaru for Naruto. "But I'll gladly teach you as well!"

As it did with Akamaru, the beam struck Naruto dead center before he landed face first on the ground. M.O.D.O.K. had expected as much. What he hadn't expect was the smile on Naruto's face, "You might wanna rethink calling me a fool, bud."

M.O.D.O.K. wouldn't have time to rethink it. Kiba saw her opening, and used Naruto's distraction to properly pounce on the mechanical menace. She tackled M.O.D.O.K. to the ground and proceeded to flip his face towards her so she could pound it into a bloody pulp. With each punch, Kiba cried, "NOBODY! HURTS! MY! BROTHER! BUT! ME!"

"Get off me," M.O.D.O.K. screamed. Each blow hurt him more than the next. "I'm to kill every last one of you and reanimate you just so you can feel it when I dissect you!"

Using a taser built into one of his hands, M.O.D.O.K. stunned Kiba and forced her to jump off from him. He then got reoriented and ejected two machine guns from the side of his mechanical shell, both pointed directly at Kiba. She had to admit, this wasn't the best situation, "Huh… guess we're about to test out the new armor."

"Or not," Akamaru called out, rushing towards M.O.D.O.K. "Naruto, Hinata, get ready!"

"Would you brutes just let me kill one of you at a time?" M.O.D.O.K. asked in dismay.

It would seem not. Akamaru grabbed M.O.D.O.K. by his helmet and threw him in between Hinata and Naruto. Their team working in perfect unison, the two Riders each let loose of a stream of flame at M.O.D.O.K., trapping in middle of a hellish blaze. By the time the duo decided he'd had enough and let him loose, he was covered in enough ash to fill a fireplace. Hinata giggled at the sight of his giant face covered in soot. "God, I wish I could take a picture of this!"

"There's about a hundred people around us with camera phones, I'm sure one'll end up online," Kiba remarked.

M.O.D.O.K. was having some trouble seeing the humour, "Do you think this is some kind of joke? I will send down the full force of A.I.M.'s wrath upon you!"

Didn't seem like much of threat to Naruto, "Look around, you buddy. How much A.I.M. do you think is left?"

"My man aren't so easily destroyed, you fools!" M.O.D.O.K. cried. He'd regret those words when he took a glance around and realized virtually all of his men were either dead or had run like the cowards they were. It was just him now. "Why do I bother to pay those useless dolts? This isn't over! I will return, and you'll see magic can never trump the power of science!"

Johnny, who'd been staying mostly silent during the whole encounter, decided now was a good time to cut in, "Who said we were letting you go anywhere? It's time to end your bullshit once and for all!"

No action hero line was going to stop M.O.D.O.K. from making his escape. The red light on his head turned purple and immadated a wave invisible to human eye. Anyone within a one block radius immediately found themselves with the most painful headache they'd ever experienced, and that included Naruto and his allies. His distraction now in effect, M.O.D.O.K. receded most of his body into his mechanical shell and activate his travel mode, turning himself into a more condensed pod that would have no trouble escaping the group. By the time his attack had worn off, M.O.D.O.K. was too far gone for any of them to catch.

"Dammit, the asshole got away," Kiba grumbled. She looked over at her two lovers, deciding to shift to her focus to figuring out who the hell the new Rider was. "You gonna tell us where you picked him up?"

Hinata took that one, "It's a long story, but he promised to buy me and Naruto drinks. I'm sure he won't mind adding you to that list so he can fill all of us in at once."

She didn't have to look behind her to know Johnny was rolling his eyes. "You bastards are lucky I'm rich…"


"So let me see if I got all this. Your father was a famous stuntman who had an inoperable form of cancer. In order to cure that in cancer, you offered your soul to Mephisto. Mephisto agreed, but then said crue made your father think he was invincible and he did an insanely dangerous stunt that got him killed. That didn't change the fact that your soul belonged to Mephisto though, so you worked with him for a long ass time before escaping and using your powers to fight off all of his bullshit. That about cover it?"

Johnny took in Naruto's explanation and replied with a shrug, "You forgot the part where I became a famous stuntman too before Mephisto called in my debt, but otherwise, that's right."

After another shot of whiskey, Naruto replied, "Okay, on the origin scale, I'd give you about a 7. Dead parent thing is kinda cliche, but the selling your soul to a demon lord and stunt man stuff gives you an edge."

"And what would you give yourself?"

"About the same. I mean mine's unique, but it's over the top and convoluted as all hell, so it loses some points there."

The group chuckled. Only Naruto could say something like that and not get punched directly in the face. Kiba took a shot of her own, tequila in her case, and addressed the table. "Okay, everybody knows everybody's origin. What we don't know is why Johnny's decided to go and throw yet another complication into our lives, so, if you'd be so kind sir."

"Don't call me sir, first of all. Second, the reason I came here was real simple; I needed to scope out Mephisto's new talent. Course at the time I didn't know you'd already stopped working for him, but still, it was worth the trip. Good to know Mephisto's traveling outside this dimension for his Riders now."

Johnny take a big gulp of his bottled beer, one of roughly a dozen he'd downed since they arrived, and leaned back in his chair. There was nothing else for him to say. Hinata, however, had plenty, "But why? I mean, I know we're powerful, but what've we got to offer that someone in this dimension doesn't?"

That question had bothering Naruto for years, "I asked Mephisto that once. He said it was just circumstance; no one in his realm fit the bill at that moment so he went looking somewhere else. I've got my own theories though."

"Such as?" Asked Akamaru.

"Well, you guys only came here because Mephisto was looking for someone close to me to watch my back, so it must've been something with me and not you. Now, what particular gift did I have that might do Mephisto a whole lot of good if he could get it over to this dimension?"

Hinata whispered the answer, "The Kyuubi…"

That name meant nothing to Johnny, "I don't suppose the Kyuubi is just some fancy kinda sushi at a japanese place."

"No, she's a demon with near endless amounts of power that was sealed inside of me when I was a child," Naruto answered. He poured himself another shot before he went any further into his explanation. "We don't have time to go into everything about it, but long story short, she was separated from me when I crossed over and Mephisto promised he'd find her for me. Only now I'm not so sure he was doing it for me."

"Mephisto never does anything for anybody but himself. Takes a special kinda person to see a kid whose dad just got cancer and think 'hey, there's an opportunity.'"

Everyone nodded in agreement. There was a long silence, a particular question hanging in the air that no one wanted to be the one to ask. Ever the blunt one, Kiba decided to break the silence, "Mephisto's a dick, we all agree on that… but what do we do about it? Hell, what do we do in general? I don't know any of us thought to plan ahead this far."

Johnny had a little something, "I've been working on ways to take down that old bastard for years. If you guys are up for it, I wouldn't mind having you a little help in the war against the forces of Hell."

"War against the forces of Hell? Somebody wanna go ahead and explain what I just walked into?"

And there was that voice again, the voice of the best damn private investigator in New York. Naruto turned to great her, "Come on, Jessica. If a sentence like that throws you off, you haven't been spending enough time around us."

Jessica stole one of bottles on the table, not so much as bothering to look at the label, and took a drink. Her own version of Russian Roulette, "Tequila? Not a bad choice, but not why I'm here. I've got a little something for guys."

"Didn't think you were much of a gift giver," Hinata said. Jessica pulled out a card, one with basic black and white lettering, and handed it to Hinata. She read it aloud, "'You are formally invited to the wedding of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones.' I didn't know you had a fiancee."

"She didn't the last time I talked to her," Naruto piped in. "Well-well, you're finally tying the knot. That's great, Jessica. Couldn't be happier for you and Luke. If you've got an invitation, I'm guessing you've got a date."

As much as she hated herself for it, Jessica couldn't hold back a smile, "A month from today. Me and Luke didn't have a whole lotta people we needed to invite and one of my clients is a priest who owed me a favor. Don't ask."

"Wasn't planning on it. What made you decide it was time to take the plunge?"

Jessica pointed directly at Hinata, "Her. Thanks to you your new friend here, Killgrave is gone for good. I thought, once he was gone, I'd be ready to put the ring on and that'd be it. I wasn't. If anything, I was more scared because I didn't have an excuse to fall back on anymore. Once I realized that, it hit me that I was always gonna be afraid and that I need to buck the fuck up and just go for it. All this self-reflection bullshit is thanks to you guys."

The group was more than happy to drink to that. Naruto raised his glass and said, "Glad to be of assistance. Best wishes to you, Luke, and your beautiful little girl."

"Thank you guys, for everything. All we need to do now is get all this crap with Cottonmouth sorted out and we might actually start to feel normal."

That named peeked Johnny's interest, even if he didn't know this girl, "Cottonmouth? That little pissant's still alive?"

Naruto glanced over at Johnny with narrowed eyes, "You know Cottonmouth?"

"My job was to collect the souls of the wicked. You think I never came across that asshole? He was never quite at the top of my list, but he got close a couple a' times. Figured somebody would've popped him by now. Luck seems to favor the worst kinda people sometimes."

"Preaching to the choir," Jessica told him. She gave the group one last wave before making her exit. "Hopefully I'll see you guys at the wedding. Stay safe."

The group nodded and told her to do the same. From there, they drained their respective bottles, told a few more stories, and decided it was time to head for the hotel and call it a night. Johnny ended up staying at that same hotel, if for no other reason than he hadn't thought ahead far enough to set up other accommodations. So, they went to bed without much of a concrete answer as to what came next for them. Nonetheless, they slept peacefully.


"We're not trying to ruffle your feathers, man. We're just saying this might not be the best time to be going after Luke, that's all."

Cottonmouth's night wasn't nearly as pleasant as one his rivals were having. He had two of his most irritating gang bangers standing right in front of him, trying to talk him out of something he knew had to be done. He sat his desk, his picture of Biggie-Smalls hanging on his blood-red walls, listening to the punks as they talked at him. He wasn't a fan of what they had to say. "Tyrese… did you just call me 'man.'"

Poor Tyrese stuttered out his response, "I-I… I meant sir, Cornell. Just eh, old habits. You f-feel me?"

"You'd best break those old habits before I start breaking them for you. Something else you'll stop doing is telling me how to run my empire. Cage's friends already got that British motherfucker to crawl out from under his rock so they could kill him. How long before they get to us? We end this shit tomorrow."

That may have been their only option, but Mikey, Cottonmouth's other grunt in the office, still didn't think that made it a good one, "You're talking about fucking with some pretty serious people, boss. I don't know if we've got the kinda fire power to handle these guys."

"Maybe yesterday we didn't, but tonight we got ourselves in a shipment of Judases, loaded and ready to go. Serious or not, these boys are in for one hell of a surprise."

"We got Judas ammo? Shit, boss! That's all you gotta say!"

Cottonmouth had a feeling that might change their tune. Judas was a street name for a black market bullet that was outlawed in just about every country thanks to how dangerous it was. There was almost nothing on Earth it couldn't tear through, which makes sense when you considered it was made from off-world Chitauri metal. They exploded not long after being fired, and whatever was on the receiving end could expect some serious damage. It was exactly what Cottonmouth needed. "That's what I thought. You boys round up whoever you need to and be at the garage first thing tomorrow morning. I'm ready to put this shit to rest."


Speaking of rest, after Naruto and his friends had the chance to rest up and get their heads on straight, their path forward actually became pretty clear. First, there was no real reason for them to leave New York at the moment, seeing as Akamaru had just started his new semester and the city was large enough for everyone to easy keep out of Mephisto reach without too much trouble. What would the rest of them do while Akamaru was off expanding his mind? They'd being doing the exact same thing, only with Johnny as their teacher giving them all sort of tips for dealing with Mephisto. Naruto also liked the idea of staying in New York because it meant he'd be close to Laura, someone that he still needed to have one hell of a conversation with. Granted, this wasn't MUCH of a plan, but it was still a plan, one they were discussing in the parking lot long after they'd checked out of their hotel.

"So are we just gonna stay in a hotel for however long we're here, or are we actually gonna look into getting an apartment?" Naruto asked while running his fingers through his bed-head. "The money Akamaru swiped might be able to get a place for awhile, but we'll need some kind of cash flow now that we aren't on Mephisto's bank roll."

Johnny had already thought of that, "I've got a place in the city you guys can stay at until you figure out some permanent arrangements. Would've stayed there last night if I wasn't so tired… and, you know, wasted. Five cases of beer might be a new record for me."

Sounded reasonable enough to Hinata. The living arrangements that was, not the beer. "Thanks, Johnny. We won't be there for long though. I think I've already thought of a way we can get by just fine."

"And that would be?" Kiba asked. Her wife leaned over and whispered the plan into her ear, making Kiba laugh immediately, "Yeah, that's one way to do it."

Everyone looked to the two women for an explanation, but all they did was keep on laughing. Akamaru decided to move the conversation forward, "Johnny, can you lead the way back to your place so we can get all settled in?"

Johnny nodded and headed straight for his motorcycle, "Sure thing. I drive pretty fast, but seeing as the Rider's are driving, you should be able to-"

Before the next words could leave Johnny's lips, something tore passed him, tearing a hole in the side of his coat and just missing him by hair. It instead hit his motorcycle, which exploded in a ball of flame large enough to send the entire group flying back. Trying to hear over the ringing in his ears, Naruto screamed, "What the fuck was that?"

"I don't know, but I can promise ya it wasn't some ordinary bullet," Kiba yelled back.

"Any of you motherfuckers read the Bible?" A new voice asked as it walked towards them, "Cause you're about to get introduced to Judas!"

That introduction would have to wait. Naruto had turned into his Rider form the second he hit the ground and he'd already thought up about a dozen different ways to fuck up the asshole who'd attacked them. The man didn't look like much when he finally came into view, just an ordinary gang banger with an oversized gun, but he was going to look like even less when Naruto was through with him. Before anyone could get another shot off, Naruto whipped his chain at his opponents ankles, first wrapping it around and then pulling it tight. Not only did this sever the gang banger's foot from the rest of his leg, it also cauterized the wound. Blood loss wasn't going to relieved him of his pain anytime soon.

The poor bastard hit the ground like a rock, screaming in pain. Naruto couldn't have given a damn. "You wanna keep screaming and referencing a book I doubt you've read, or do wanna tell us who sent you so we can put you out of your misery?"

"I ain't telling you shit!"

"Have it your way," Johnny said, also in Ghost Rider form. He kneeled down beside the gang banger, ready to 'talk' some sense into him. "I'm gonna warn you right now, I've got all kinds a' ways of making you see reason. I've been around the block once or twice. Me skillset-"

Once again, Johnny found himself cut off. Only this time the bullet heading for him didn't miss its mark. It hit dead center, right in his flaming chest. Johnny was throwback, hit the pavement where his motorcycle had once been, and promptly found the bullet lodge in his body wasn't done with him. This one exploded just as the previous one had, and even a Ghost Rider felt what it was capable of, "Motherfucker! Ah… fuck me, that hurt!"

Hinata called out to the him, "Johnny, are you alright!"

"I'll live… I think. Just figure out who shot me!"

That wouldn't be too hard. The group could see a man across the street holding a gun exactly like the one the first gang banger had used. Akamaru decided he was going to handle this guy himself. It wouldn't be fair for Naruto to have ALL the fun. Going into full wolf-mode, Akamaru leapt over the car they'd been hiding behind and made a beeline for the shooter.

As hard as the shooter had tried to remain calm, it all went right out the window when he saw the giant monster who looked ready to rip his head clean off. He got his gun in firing position and was almost ready when Akamaru struck. The massive teeth of the one time dog-nin tore through the gang banger's flesh and ripped the gun from his hand, tossing it onto sidewalk beside him. Akamaru growled at him, "That's what you get, asshole, for trying to mess with-" A loud ringing interrupted Akamaru's train of thought. It was coming from the discarded gun, "What the fuck is that?"

"It's gonna blow! We gotta get the fuck outta here, man!"

Akamaru didn't have much of a choice. They were probably gonna need this guy alive to figure what was going on, and that gun looked volatile. One of Akamaru's massive paws latched onto to gang banger as he leaped as far away from the ticking time bomb as he could get. The gun exploded into a cloud of God only knew what kind of flames and chemicals, and that wasn't even the worst of it. Shrapnel flew everywhere, some of which hit Akamaru in the back. Nothing too horrible, but it hurt like hell, "Shit! Something tells me those are gonna feel just a bad being pulled outta me!"

It was worth it though, because Akamaru landed beside his friends with the gang banger untouched. That meant they had two people alive who were about to get asked all kinds of questions. Hinata took a look at the scene, Akamaru bleeding, Johnny still on his back, and the two scared as hell minions, and let out a long sigh, "Well, this turned out about as well as I thought. I'll talk to our two guests while one of you pulls out shrapnel and the other sees how effective those bullets are against a Rider. Sound good?"

"As long you're gentle, yeah," Akamaru replied, setting the second gang banger down by the first, "And I'm talking about me, not these assholes."

Everyone nodded and headed off to handle their obligations, Kiba handling Akamaru and Naruto handling Johnny, while Hinata leaned down towards the two fools who'd attacked them. She was still in her Rider form, so they were both shaking as they looked into her flaming eyes. Hinata smiled at them. "You boys already know what I going to ask, right?"

"We ain't telling you shit about who sent us!"

"I don't need you to. Cottonmouth was bound to come after us soon or later. After everything we've done to his associates, that sick fuck Killgrave especially, he'd be stupid not to. Between that, the way you're dressed, and the fact that we're in his neighborhood, well… it doesn't take a genius."

No, it didn't. The gang banger with the missing foot looked at his cohort, then back to Hinata, "We can't tell you where he's at either. He'd kill us."

Hinata leaned in closer, still smiling, "Is this the part where I need to tell you there are things far worse than death? Or have you two seen enough movies to already know that?"

Neither man spoke. They just looked at Hinata, unsure if she was serious… she was.

"You guys wanna do this the hard way, huh? Alright, but I should warn you that what people say about torture, how it doesn't really work, is mostly true. I know this because where I'm from, we've perfected the artform. Around here, people torture somebody until they give them an answer. Now that's just stupid. All you'll get from that is a bunch of lies that'll stop the torture until everyone figures out the victim is full of shit. What WE did was torture people UNTIL we got what we wanted. If someone gave us a location, the torture didn't stop until we made sure the location was what it was supposed to be. Pretty smart, right? You could say I learned from the best. Want me to show you?"

Smart? Yeah, that was one word for it. The two gang bangers glanced at each other, then back at Hinata. The one who still had two feet asked, "If we tell you what you wanna know, ya gonna kill Cottonmouth?"

"He won't be able to come after you two, if that's what you're asking."

They spilled their guts quicker than a drunk girl at a frat party.


Laura had never thrown up first thing in the morning before. She'd never gotten a rough hang over or tried some sketchy gas station sushi. Yet, here she was, her head in a porcelain throne, vomiting up her midnight snack. It was an experience she didn't find herself particularly fond of either, "Yeah, that's the last time I'm gonna have banana cream pie for awhile."

"A pity. Hank makes such wonderful pastries," Came the telepathic voice of Professor X. He'd wheeled himself outside Laura's bathroom after he heard her puking from the hall. "Speaking of Hank, perhaps you'd like to have him look you over. You could have something rather nasty."

Hank, known to most as Beast, was the blue, furry medical expert of the X-Men. A nice, and ironically refined, person, but not someone Laura wanted to see at the moment. She replied to Xavier her mind, "No, that's alright. I think it's just a bug. Thank you though."

"Of course. My apologies for disturbing you. Just for future reference, was this less awkward than coming in person?"

"Uh… yeah, I guess."

Xavier nodded, not that Laura could see it, "Splendid. Just let me or your father know if things get any worse."

With the conversation seemingly over and her stomach feeling better, Laura stood up and wiped her mouth. She expect to hear Xavier's wheelchair squeak away, but there was nothing. "Professor, are you still out there?"

"Yes. Could come out for a moment, Laura?"

Uh-oh.

Laura didn't like it, but she left bathroom and went out to face Xavier. He looked like the wheels in his head had started turning, but that wasn't uncommon for him. "Forgive my bluntness, but… have you gained any weight recently? Noticed your stomach bloating out?"

"I don't weigh myself often enough to tell you."

"Mh-hm. And getting sick in the morning, is that common for you?"

"Not really."

"Then on to the most awkward question of the all. Have you had your 'time of the month' recently?"

That question nearly floored Laura. "Really starting to wonder if any of this is your business, Professor."

Xavier had his answer, "Do you see where I'm going with this, Laura?"

"I think so… and for the record, I'm only a couple days late!"

"Be that as it may, I felt the presence, Laura. It's young, but it's there."

"You're wrong. Since we're getting personal, let me put it to you like this. I only recently popped my cherry, and there's no way I'd be showing signs already. I might not know much, but I know it hasn't been long enough."

"You were with the young Uzumaki, correct? You're a mutant and he's a unique biology of his own. It's not unreasonable to assume this pregnancy won't follow the usual rules."

Pregnancy. Now someone had said the actual word, and it made Laura shiver.

Xavier could feel her fear. He smiled at her and said, "It'll be alright. Let's go see Jean and make sure I'm right."

"What if you are?"

"Then we'll handle it, you, me and your father, not to mention Uzumaki."

Naruto? Who-boy… hopefully things had slowed down for him enough to process all this.


They hadn't. Naruto, along with his entire group of friends, were standing outside Cottonmouth's club, waiting to find out if they were gonna be let in or if they'd have to force their way in the door. Naruto stood outside the now quiet building, wondering if the information Hinata had gotten was true. He was about to find out. After a few knocks the massive wooden doors in front him, it was answered by another of Cottonmouth's men, one who didn't exactly seem to be a conversationalist.

"Boss ain't here." The man said before promptly trying to slam the door in their face.

Naruto put his foot in the way before it could latch shut, "You might wanna reconsider your answer. Don't get me wrong; telling your men to spread the word that he's hiding out somewhere while he's still sitting in his fucking office isn't the worst idea, but someone was bound to piece it together eventually."

The Rider spoke so fast that Cottonmouth's man could barely keep up with him. Once he processed it all, he wasn't any more chatty, "Then he's busy. Don't bother with an appointment either, cause he ain't got time for your ass."

"Let's cut the shit already, huh?" Johnny asked, kicking in the door and sending the doorman flying. He hit the ground with a groan and found Johnny standing over him seconds later, the stuntman's boot pressed into his chest, "Now, me and my friends are going to have a word with your boss, and by have a word, I mean we're going to kill him. You and any of your friends who happen to have a brain in their heads can get the fuck out of here before that happens or you can stay here and die with him. Your call."

That seemed more funny than threatening, "Kill him? You motherfuckers won't be able to touch him! You've two dozen men to get through and a steel door six inches thick!"

Kiba pushed her way inside, kicking Cottonmouth's doorman in the head on the way in. It was enough to knock him out cold. "And here I was hoping this was gonna give me some kinda workout. Let's try to have fun, eh guys."

"Hold on, Kiba," Hinata commanded. "They could have those Judas bullets. The Riders seem able to survive it, but it'll still knock the wind out of us for a while. A few of them might do even more than that. We need to be smart about this."

"We could always blind em' first," Johnny suggested. "Our two furry friends should be able to whip a roar that'll get their ears ringing so bad they wouldn't hear a monster truck comin' too. They won't know what him em'."

Everyone looked at Johnny and asked the exact same question at the exact same time, "We can do that?"

Johnny wore a wicked smile on his face, "Oh, I've got so much to teach you kids. Follow my lead."

"But we still don't know what you're doing," Kiba cried, chasing after Johnny as he ran down the hallway, going full Rider as he did. This was getting ridiculous. "This old fuck is gonna get us killed!"

Everyone else went into their supernatural forms as well, hoping they could keep up with Johnny. He got through the entry and to the door to the main lobby easily enough. Johnny brought his foot up to the door, looking back at the group before he did. "Naruto and Hinata, I'll show you how to do this trick later; Kiba and Akamaru, all you need to do is roar from the deepest depths of your bellies. Given that your life depends on it, I think you've got the proper motivation. Time for some fun!"

"Wait, you crazy-" Naruto screamed, but it was all in vain. Johnny kicked the door in to find the 24 men Cottonmouth had in the club waiting for them.

When the oldest of the Rider's had claimed he could blind everyone in the room if need be, his allies had been skeptical to say the least. After what they were about to see, they'd never doubt him again.

Johnny sauntered into the room and jetted out his arms in a 'T' shape, the flames on his body instantly growing larger the instant he did. Light flooded the room, more than anyone present ever thought possible. Thanks to sharing the same Hell-born set of powers, the group was immune to Johnny's attack, but everyone else in the room went blind as a bat. It was time to make them deaf as well, "Hey, where's the fucking roar I was promised?"

"We didn't promise you shit," Kiba screamed back. "But here goes nothing!"

The Inuzuka siblings reached deep down into their stomachs just as they'd been told, took a deep breath, and tried to feel for something that would make this epic roar Johnny was so certain they could pull off possible. They both took hold of that same energy they felt when they transformed into their cannien selves and let it spread through their bodies and up into their throats. Like a tsunami, Kiba and Akamaru found themselves unable to hold back something Earth shattering.

"GGGGGRRRRRAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"

This roar shook the entire room and broke just about every glass object in the place. Once again, Naruto and others were unaffected by this attack, but Cottonmouth's men were left with shattered eardrums. They were blind, deaf, and utterly reeling, each and every one of them. In other words, they were easy pickings for Naruto and the gang. Naruto couldn't pretend he didn't enjoy this, "I gotta give it to you, Johnny, that was pretty awesome. Care to take the first shot?"

"My pleasure," Johnny replied, a fireball in his hand and a his eyes locked on the bar in the center of the room with all the broken bottle of booze. "Now that's just an accident waiting to happen."

"You are one demented Rider, Johnny," said Hinata. "I love it. Let's have some fun!"


Up in his office, Cottonmouth was busy watching the whole thing through his now broken window. He'd gotten lucky in regards to the attack. He'd been away from the window when the light blinded everyone, and while it had filled the room, Cottonmouth had been able to cover his eyes before it hit. The noise Kiba and Akamaru had created was loud alright, but he'd just installed windows that'd take a damn rocket launcher to bust through. Sure, there was some cracks, but Cornell's hearing was left mostly intact. Both of those things could also be said for the man who'd been there to visit him, a mountain of the man in a burgundy suit who went by the name Diamondback, but whose real name was Willis Stryker.

His ears ringing and his vision fuzzy, Cottonmouth crawled his way up to the window to see what was happening. What he saw was five super-powered individuals tearing his men apart. One of the Ghost Riders (Uzumaki, not that Cottonmouth knew that), was slicing various appendages off and slicing in the half the guns of his men with a Hellfire soaked chain. Another, (Johnny), was throwing people into the flaming pit that had once been the Cottonmouth's bar. The last one, (Hinata), was taking the Judas weapons and damaging them enough to make them self-destructed, essentially turning them into grandes. A giant wolf-man looking creature was grabbing people in his jaws and tossing them aside like scraps of raw meat while another, more feminine looking wolf-creature slashed and smashed everyone in sight with her massive paws.

"It's a fucking bloodbath out there," Cottonmouth muttered, whipping his head over to Diamondback. "Time for us to leave."

"No shit, sherlock," Diamondback growled back in his deep, raspy voice. "I sold you those Judas bullets to make a point to Luke Cage, not get our asses killed. We make it outta here, you're the first one I'm putting one of em' in!"

"You can threaten me later. Need to keep our wits about us unless we wanna end up-"

Something crashed through the weakened window and interrupted Cottonmouth. So much for his six-inch steel doors. It was Naruto's chain, and it took all of half a second for it too wrap around crime lord's neck. There was no doubt, not even from Cottonmouth, that this was where he was going to die.

The chain yanked back and detached Cottonmouth's head from his body. It rolled clean off from his shoulders before the rest of his body hit the ground. Diamondback was almost impressed, "Hmph… should've said 'keep our heads', eh Cottonmouth?" Silence followed the joke. Apparently the scuffle was over, making it simple enough for Diamond back to walk to window and look down at the bloody, flaming mess that had been left behind. He saw the group of vigilantes responsible and called out to them, "That's some decent handywork. Must have left you guys awful tired. How about I leave and save you all any more trouble?"

"You got any plans to move against us or Luke Cage?" Naruto called back.

"You, no. Luke Cage… now that's a differen't story."

Wrong answer. No sooner than the words had left his mouth, Diamondback felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down to find a Judas bullet buried in his chest. Hinata, with the speed and accuracy of a gunslinger, had grabbed one of still intact bullets from the ground and flung it from her hand, once again protecting Jessica and her family. The heat and speed she created easily matched what a gun could put out, and that was bad news for Diamondback. A second later the bullet exploded, turning his chest into hamburger meat. Diamondback was dead, and the establishment was all but empty.

The group of five stood in that burning club, surrounded by the all carnage they'd created, and looked at one another. Did they feel guilty for that they'd done? Well, not exactly, but they didn't feel good about it either. It was just what had to be done. Was it going to be a hell of a mess to clean up? Maybe, but leaving messes what they did. No fighting that. Would there be some loved ones mourning these lost souls? Probably, but these mens death would lead to happy lives for countless others. It balanced out in the end, or at least everyone hoped it would.

Walking past rivers of blood and a mountain of dead bodies, the Riders and Wolves left, satisfied that they and those they cared about would have some peace. Anyone who tried to threaten that peace would be met with the same Hellfire and bloodshed they'd left behind here. You could count on that…


"It seems most of our New York operatives have been put to rest by the supernatural vigilantes," Said the women at the head of the Hand's table. The Five Fingers of the Hand didn't meet often, but it felt necessary for all of them to gather in the top floor the Midland Circle. It was only building in America where they knew they could talk 100% freely. "I am telling you this not because I think we need to retaliate, but because I didn't want you to think that me not doing anything about it was an act of ignorance."

"Then what do you call it?" A man with a thick Japanese accent asked. "Other than, perhaps, cowardice?"

Another woman, an older one of Chinese descent, answered that, "Picking your battles. They're killing the individuals we've hired, not interrogated them. It seems to me they want to be left alone, and we're finished in New York for the time being as it is. We let them win this battle with the knowledge that we can guarantee ourselves the war in only a matter of months."

One of the other men at the table, whose accent was thick African, muttered, "I don't like the image of us running from a fight, even if it is bullshit."

"Perhaps, but the image of us losing will be even worse," A South-American gentleman cut in, "I say waiting is the right call, which makes it at least 3 to 2. We're waiting."

The woman at the head of the table stood up, happy to see her allies had listened to reason, "Good, then we're done here. Everyone try and stay out of trouble until the time is right. We'll be back in New York soon enough, and when we are… the Riders, the traitors, and their friends will pay. Until then, ado."