Well… It took some time, but, here we are! Last chapter of this fic! Only thing left after this is the epilogue! Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! So, I hope, enjoy!
No Reading
Chapter 25: The only thing I can do
"… It's done."
"For real?!" Naruto had helped Forge the first two days with building its device, but the last day he had been left with nothing to do at all while Forge applied the 'last touches'. He got up with a jump from his seat and flashed to the mutant's side, observing the object… In his hands. "Uh? Wasn't it like… One hundred times bigger?"
"I can build everything I think of and you don't think I've ever thought of building something able to resize excessively big things?" Forge raised an eyebrow in amusement, to which Naruto replied with an embarrassed laugh. "Alright. Now, listen to me. Even if I reduced its size, the fact doesn't change that most of the volume of this thing is made up by its energy factory. The amount of energy it will need to function is the same as well, and to power something like this… It's no small amount."
"And… So?" The blonde asked with his arms crossed.
"So… Someone with sophisticated enough equipment could locate this device and destroy it. So, I suggest you hide it the best you can to deter them, since the technology needed to build a cloaking device still doesn't exist. Even I have limitations, sadly. To tell the truth, I doubt you will be able to use it for more than five minutes… Ten, at most." Forge said, handing the cube shaped metallic device, now no bigger than a small speaker. Naruto noticed how Forge had integrated in the project the fact that the device would be reduced, since the buttons were now finger sized, while before they probably were… Headbutt sized.
"… They will suffice." Naruto said, nodding. "Thanks, Forge… And I'm sorry."
"For what? Ah…" Forge suddenly felt a sudden cold on his head, that began to spread all over his body. "Ahhh… Good old memory erasing. I guess… Thanks for not wanting me to get implied in case your plan goes bad."
"Yeah… You've done enough, I don't want you to take responsibility." Naruto said with a sad smile. "Ehm… It was the girls' idea, by the way."
"Hmm… I think I will just lay down, alright?" Forge said, getting drowsy. In a few seconds, he was completely out of it, snoring in his peaceful sleep.
"… Damn, I feel dirty for doing this… Hey! Promise that if the plan goes well, you'll give him his memories back!"
"Promise. Now you must hurry. Today is the big day, isn't it?"
"… Yes." Naruto said, swallowing and staring at the metallic device in his hands. "Yes, it is." I need to make a phone call, now.
--
"It seems you've got all your bases covered, Tony. I'm sure I will not be that big loss."
"You must be joking, Janet. You're a founding Avengers, for god's sake." Janet said, sighing heavily as she was telling Tony that she would not take part in that evening's final battle because she had to host her show. "Seriously, Janet. All we've done, this whole war hangs on this battle. Just give me one good reason that makes an episode of your talk show more important than it."
"My guest is Militia, alright?" She said, raising her voice, and she could swear she had heard Tony gasp. The silence that followed on the other end of the phone signalled that he was waiting for further explanations. "He contacted me a week ago asking to be a guest in my talkshow."
"And you didn't tell me about it… Why?"
"Because he says that he still believes in the SHRA, but I didn't want to take the chance of him changing his mind. After all, he did run away from you, right? What would have you done? Come and taken him in? He's a teenager and he hasn't done anything wrong if not disagreeing with some details of your plan. That's what he wants to talk about. He wants to be heard, and I think he should be given that occasion… Also, I've been spawning commercials about this episode for the last three days, Tony. Where have you been?" Janet continued, and Tony still kept his silence for a few more seconds.
"… Nevermind. You have to keep him there, out of the fight, Janet. Things are probably going to get brutal. Even more than last time… We can't have him lose anymore faith in our heroes."
"… You expect many things from the boy, don't you?" Janet shook her head, an amused smile on her lips. "Well… Good luck. Godspeed, Tony."
"Godspeed, Janet." She closed the call and turned around only to have Naruto appear in front of her. She almost let out a small shriek.
"Whoops. Sorry. I'm trying to work on my stealth again…" Janet playfully punched him on top of his head and then put a hand over her heart to calm it down.
"Work it on me, will you?" She shook her head and then observed him. "Hmm… That will not do."
"What?"
"Your clothes." She observed Naruto's choice of attire, that consisted of a jeans jacket, jeans trousers, sneakers and a blue and orange striped t-shirt. "Fortunately I had foreseen this. Antoinette." Janet snapped her fingers and immediately a smiling lady appeared and latched onto Naruto. "Wardrobe for the kid."
"H-Hey! I'm not a kid! And… Woah! Where are you taking me?!"
--
"How long since you have eaten now, Stephen Strange?"
"Just a little water since the Civil War begun, Uatu." Stephen replied, kneeling in meditation in the middle of a pentacle, his mind wandering in search of something. Something that could complete the information the Watcher had given him about Naruto's parents. He guessed that it would be a nice gift for the kid.
"Are you not tempted to simply end it?" Uatu pressed on. "With your great power, you could stop this quarrel with a gesture or a whisper."
"Precisely why I must remain above the fray." Stephen replied, his eyes still closed. "There is no right or wrong in this debate. It is simply a matter of perspective, and it is not my place to influence the evolution of the superhuman role."
"As a Watcher, I am more than familiar with such dilemmas." So many races he had seen fall, and how many times had he been tempted to do something, to give a helping hand. The only one who had moved his hand at all had been the proud human race. "But tell me: why are you fasting if you favour no side? What outcome are you meditating for?"
"Whichever victory is best for all mankind, my friend… And spills the least amount of blood tonight…" Stephen said, then a smile came to his face. "Because of that, I'm partial to the young Naruto's solution."
--
Guarding the negative zone end of the portal that lead to the massive prison for rogue superhumans was kind of boring, the guards thought. No one could escape from the complex, nor could anyone enter it from the other side unless they were authorized. There were just so many protections, and Ryker's architecture itself had been rearranged to form a maze. That's why it came as a surprise as air struck them. Or better, not air, but something invisible Susan Storm's invisible fields. Surgical precision, instant unconsciousness.
"Thank you, Susan. I think it's safe to make us visible again now that we're through." Captain America said, and the female member of the Fantastic Four complied, dispelling the field that rendered their whole group of heroes undetectable by sight and a couple other things. "Panther, what's the situation with prison security?"
"Neutralized from top to bottom, captain… Though I hate to think how long it would have taken if we hadn't had Mister Fantastic's blueprints." The wakandese superhero said.
"Thanks again for coming through like this, T'Challa." The Falcon said, hovering above the group's head. "We know it's in Wakanda's best interests to stay neutral, but…"
"Forget about it." T'Challa cut off the superhero immediately. "Our friend Goliath would still be alive if my wife and I had taken a stand when you first asked for help." Having the Black Panther and Storm of the X-Men on your side is a major boost to your potential, both for intelligence and for battle.
The group of superhumans were proceeding steadily through the prison's 'courtyard', judging by its size, when suddenly Spider-Man, walking in front of everyone else, abruptly stopped walking. "What's wrong?"
"My spider-sense is going off the scale!" Peter replied, and who had fought by his side knew what that meant. "Seriously, this is defcon one!" That was when the door in front of them opened, and half a hundred superhumans ran into the room. All members of the pro side of the registration… And a few faces who were better off behind cells, not out of them. Iron-Man standing in front of all of them, leading.
"I'm not surprised." Tony said, serious. "You've just walked into another trap, captain: earth's mightiest heroes plus earth's mightiest villains." He said, making cap observe the people around him. Many familiar faces: Taskmaster, Venom, Bullseye, and so on. "We've had a mole on your side for over a week and you're outnumbered ten to one. Would now be a good time to talk about surrender?"
"I don't think so." Cap replied, defiant. "If you're talking about Tigra, we knew all about her, Iron-Man."
"What?" The feline super-heroine exclaimed, surprised as much as everyone else in the room that wasn't on Cap's side.
"You're not the only one with a spy in your team." The shield-bearing meta continued, to which Tony replied with denial.
"Impossible." He narrowed his eyes at Cap. "The only people who knew about Tigra were myself, Hank and Reed."
"I'm sorry, Tony." Yellowjacket suddenly removed his hood while muttering those words, as Tony and Reed turned to him, shock clear in their eyes.
"Hank?! What are you doing?!" Tony continued, incredulity for once clearly readable in his voice, usually composed. "You believed in this more than any of us…"
"Oh, but I'm not Hank." 'Hank' said, as suddenly, his facial features and his very clothes started to chance shape, colour, everything. "Doctor Pym's been drugged and unconscious ever since I knocked him out and replaced him back in Arizona this morning." Tony and Reed's eyes were widening more and more by the second. "I'm Hulkling, the Young Avengers' resident shape-changer."
"Oh, dear god." Reed said, realization of just what the implications of that fact were on their situation in a instant. "If he could mimic Hank's voice and retinal pattern he's had full authority to do whatever we can…"
"The cells…" Tony said, and he didn't need to turn around to understand who the approaching footsteps belonged to.
"I believe this evens the odds a little…" Cap said, before turning back to stare at Tony, and the Iron-Man stared back, and it seemed that as their respective troops gathered around them, they decided to copy their attitude, stalemating in a stare-down, waiting for their leader's order to attack.
Some were waiting for this with glee, eager to get some payback. Most of these were villains.
Some were grimacing inside at the thought of having to fight friends. One blatant example was Stature.
Some others were just focusing and thinking about the incoming fight, knowing that this was the final one. It ended that night. The Civil War ended with that last battle.
"Now close your eyes, gentlemen." Captain America said, his teeth bared and gritted together. "This might hurt."
--
"On air in thirty seconds."
"Alright. You ready, Naruto?"
"Yes, I am…" Naruto replied, swallowing and pulling on the sleeve of his shirt. He had been changed completely. He was now wearing evening attire: black pants, black blazer, worn open, a white shirt under it. A golden chain wore around his neck. The wardrobe woman wanted to put earrings on him too, but the injury healed too soon, thankfully. He didn't feel Shikamaru enough for that. Polish black shoes too, by the way. They were currently sitting in Janet's study, as the cameraman counted down with his fingers the time that separated him from being broadcast live for the whole nation to see. Alright. Breathe, you can do this… Damn. Why didn't I go the bathroom?!
"And… We're on." The cameraman said, and the transmission's theme started playing, much to Naruto's grieve. He swallowed even more. If he dieted on air, he would be full, by now. Just as the music ended, Janet turned to the camera and smiled widely. "Good evening, and welcome to another…"
Must not throw up, must not throw up, must not throw up… Naruto chanted in his mind, trying his best to keep a smiling face as Janet introduced the transmission… And the crowd. Goddamnit he had almost forgotten about the crowd, which was half made up by young women and teenage girls.
"Today we have a very important guest. Maybe the youngest member ever of the Avengers. We have Naruto Uzumaki, alias Militia." The squeals and roars of applauses coming from the crowd almost made him cringe, but he managed to keep it together. He grinned and waved with his hands at the crowd and the camera.
"Good evening. I know it's a damn cliché, but it's wonderful to be here." A few more squeals. He was starting to understand why Sasuke feared his fangirls so much. There was just something in their eyes that unsettled him to no end. "You look wonderful tonight, Janet."
"You charmer. Though, remember that you're still underage." Janet replied, earning a laugh from the crowd.
--
"And you better remember it too, you s…"
"Ceeeeessyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy… Language." Laurie said, physically admonishing the girl with a rolled up newspaper. She just pouted.
"… I wonder what he has been doing in the last two weeks." Laura voiced everyone's concern in the room. Naruto would have had to supposedly come back to the school for the weekend, but he didn't. Then the school got a call asking about his whereabouts, and now there he was, live on television like nothing had happened.
--
"Wow, nice clothes! I wonder where he got them…" Molly inquired, mumbling the last part under her breath.
"Karolina, where the hell is Nico?" The alien girl shook her head.
"I don't know… She went to the bathroom and she still has to appear… She's going to miss the start of the program, like this."
--
"Mary, isn't that…"
"… Yes, mom." The little girl's mind kept on going back to the strange e-mail she had received from the superhero after weeks that he hadn't heard from him. A few passages were stuck in her mind, particularly. The part where he told her to not miss the show, and the part where he said that 'I will end everything tonight, Mary. Wish me luck, though. I will need it…'. What did he mean? And why did he want her to see what he wanted to do, among everyone?
--
"So… I suppose we should start with some questions."
"Please, do. I'm pretty good with answers myself." Small laughs again. She had to ask him who wrote the text for him.
"Let's see… First question. You've stated that you're a mutant from another plane of existence, and that in your world you have a system that highly resembles the SHRA. Is that correct?" Janet asked, and Naruto was thankful for the question, since it gave him a reason to start talking.
"Well… Not exactly. In the past weeks, I have been doing a bit of research… First thing, I'm not a mutant. I don't possess the 'X-Gene'. I share some similarities with mutants… But it seems I'm another thing altogether. Also, I don't necessarily have to be from another dimension. There's the chance that I could just be from another planet. Just a 'simple' alien." Naruto said with a smile. Then, his eyes dropped to the right side. "For the… System in my homeworld… Well…"
"Yes?" Janet pushed him on. Naruto closed his eyes for a few seconds before talking again.
"My ignorance… My lack of knowledge made me make that statement." He looked straight at the camera. "I've been doing a lot of thinking these days, and I realized that while the system in my world shares the similarities of registering and controlling the people who have 'superhuman powers'… There are big, big differences. The first being that everyone in my world, given enough training and guidance, can learn to use ninja techniques. Sometimes even without them."
"Everyone? Every single living person on your planet?" Naruto nodded.
"Yes. Then… There's the second difference, and it's the one that makes my world completely different from yours." The blonde paused and crossed his hands in front of the lower half of his face. "… You. A question."
"Eh? M-Me?" Naruto had chosen a random person among the people from the crowd sitting on the first row of seats. A men in his early thirties from the looks of it, in a business suit.
"Yes. When someone mentions the word 'superhuman' to you, what do you think of?" Naruto asked as one of the cameras rotated to take in the visage of the man.
"Well… Superheroes or supervillains."
"Correct. Because that's what most of this world's superhumans are, if not all. In my world, on the other hand…" Naruto shook his head as the cameras focused back on him. "Ask everyone in my world, and at the world 'ninja', they will think of these three definitions: assassin, warrior… And mercenary."
--
"Avengers assemble!" Captain America shouted as the brawl started, much to Bishop's surprise as he finished blasting the Vision.
"What's he talking about? I thought our side was the Avengers." That was when Cap landed the sole of his left boot on the back of his head, slamming his face into the floor.
--
"C'mon, hurry up!"
"I'm finished! It's done!" The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in charge of the portal back to earth now had something to worry about. "The gateway back to Ryker's locks in t-minus five seconds…"
That was when Dagger blasted them into unconsciousness. The Black Panther immediately seized the computer. "Are we too late?"
"No such thing, Dagger. Ryker's was the 'official' doorway from the negative zone, but there's still one more if I can remember that sixty-nine digit code…"
--
"… Mercenaries?" Janet said, raising an eyebrows.
"Mercenaries. I think that an explanation about how my world is set up is in order… At least the continent on which I live." Naruto said, uncrossing his fingers and leaning back in his chair a little, trying to put in order everything he remembered from his academy lessons. "In my world, ninjas are organized in 'villages'. Most of the countries have a ninja village, who are that nation's army but at the same time, they are an independent military force who will basically do anything that is asked of us to do. Babysitting, surveillance, spying, stealing… Assassinations. For the right price, everything."
"… That's… Disputable." Janet said. She remembered talking with Naruto about them being trained from a young ages to be killers, but mercenaries… He had missed that small detail.
"Each village has a different policies regarding which jobs to take, but I know that even mine, considered the most powerful and peaceful of the Five Great Hidden Villages, basically runs on the same terms: do things for money. Even there, they teach the basics that ninjas must not think of themselves as human but tools for the village. Must never show emotions. I personally loathe that teaching… But that's what they tell us when we're barely more than toddlers. From six years old up." Naruto narrowed his eyes, remembering a sword used as a tombstone, and he could hear the mumbling and the look of shock on the faces of the crowd in front of him.
--
"… Damn, that's… Darn, that's sick." Julian commented as Naruto kept on talking. Everyone in the room shared the same expression, apart Laura. Naruto had never told anyone about something like that, before.
--
"… Layla, you're not coming to watch?"
"… I already know what he's going to say." But after that… Oh, god. Naruto, you really are crazy.
--
"… You've grown up in such an environment… And yet, you don't seem to have that mentality at all." Janet commented, hoping to bring back the discussion on a less serious topic.
"Probably because I slept through most of the ethics classes." He chuckled a little. "But the point is… The system works. Making ninja villages an organization that runs on money from outer sources, the countries make sure that they don't go on a conquest rampage like the single ninja clans in the old days did, otherwise they would erase their own source of income. And yet… There have been so far, three great ninja wars in my continent."
"Three… Wars." Janet repeated. She should probably try to tone the conversation down, but she just didn't feel like actually doing it.
"Yes. Three wars. All about territory, wanting to gain more power to add to the villages and consequently, more missions requests from the 'outer sources'. In short… All about money and 'survival of the strongest', to impose their presence and show their strength, to put other villages into place." Naruto said, and he could see a few of the older people in the crowd starting to talk among themselves. He smirked. "I bet that a few of the adult spectators have noticed a few disturbing similarities with some of your own historical facts."
--
"… Mom, like what?"
"Ehm… Later, Mary."
--
"I guess that visit to the museum has done him a lot of good…"
"Nico, did you die inside the bathroom?!"
--
"Black Panther's overriding our system, commander Hill!" In another room of the holding facility, Hill was gritting her teeth. "Program says he's rerouting their bridge to the Baxter Building!"
"CLOSE IT DOWN! NOW! THEY ESCAPE AND IT'S YOUR HEAD, DUBLONSKY!"
--
"They're onto us!" It seemed like Hill's incentive to Dublonsky was effective, much to T'Challa's chagrin. "They're closing Reed Portal! We've got ten seconds and counting!"
"Cloak, it's me." Dagger activated her intercom, channelling her speech to her partner. "We need the biggest teleport you've ever pulled. T'Chall is sending you the coordinates."
--
"I can't. It's too dangerous." The black superhero floated above the battlefield, observing and everything and realizing that indeed, it would be the biggest teleport he would have ever pulled. "There must be a hundred people here…"
"You either pull it off or we're stuck in here forever, Tyrone! Do it!" Dagger cut him off with a scream. Cloak gnashed his teeth, closed his eyes and focused.
"I will try…" He willed the darkforce, his power, his cloak, to expand all over the courtyard, to suck in everyone in there.
"What the hell?" Johnny said, cutting in the mess of battle, he himself surprised at what was about to transpire.
"Oh, god. Tell me that isn't Cloak!" Not as much as Tony Stark, apparently.
--
"But the point is… We're not always at war. I asked myself, why is that? It's not like we have stopped working on money… Then, what is it?" Naruto said, but Janet understood that he wanted to give the answer himself. "It's very simple, actually. The villages have leaders, called Kages. They're the one pulling the strings, we could say. They retire once they decide to do so or when they die. The point is… They change."
"Yeah… Most people do have a limited lifespan, sadly." Naruto nodded.
"Exactly. What happens is that somehow, somewhen, they make leader someone who suddenly decides that he wants more power or more money, and he starts a war. The village complies because they are led to believe that they can win but mostly out of blind sense of duty, because ninjas are basically soldiers. That's why wars happen in my world…" Naruto paused, mustering the courage to voice that thought that would be downright destroying, and he mentally said sorry to Janet. "And that's also why registration as it is now is a big error."
Janet's eyes widened at those words, but before she could interrupt him he started talking again. "We do need registration because it's the safest way to keep in check superhumans, but the way it is now, it will turn all the superhumans from heroes to soldiers. Giving someone knowledge about your true name, your life, the things you hold dear… Is giving that someone total control over yourself. Now I understand that having a government of any kind administer the SHRA is a big error. What happens if by bad luck people unknowingly elect a new Nixon… Or a new Hitler?"
"Naruto!" On that she had to interrupt him. That was a mined camp.
--
"Holy shit, he actually came out and said that on live television?!" Santo said, falling from the couch.
"He came outright and said that the American people would be so stupid… So 'human' to actually do something like that…" Laurie said and then grinned. "Way to go, Naruto!"
--
"No, more like, how come they didn't interrupt the transmission yet?!"
"NICO! I'M BREAKING DOWN THE DOOR!"
--
"It has happened in Germany, why can't it happen anywhere else in the world? The problem is that America would possess something far more dangerous and powerful than atomic bombs." Naruto suddenly got up from his seat, his hands in his pockets. "Power corrupts… And absolute power corrupts in an absolute way'. Don't remember who said it, but it's fitting…"
"Naruto…" Janet was surprised that they hadn't interrupted the transmission yet, but she decided to just roll with it. "So, your opinion is that registration is needed, but not like this, right?"
"Exactly." Naruto nodded.
"Then… You have an alternate solution to propose? How to make the SHRA better?"
"…" Naruto grinned and faced the camera. "I don't. But I know two people who could give it to us, if they worked together."
--
"All the flyers, grab a friend! Now!" The captain ordered, and his soldiers obeyed as Cloak dropped them off in the sky above the streets surrounding the Baxter building.
--
"But the point is, they are so wrapped up in fighting each other that they won't listen to anyone, much less each other…"
--
"Iron-Man to all points: evacuate the area and contain the fight to midtown! I want no civilian casualties! You hear me? No civilian casualties!" The Iron-Man issued orders, and the forces of order obeyed as the battle raged again, this time in the middle of New York city.
--
"It's time, Naruto."
"So… To give you a solution…" Naruto said, turning away from the camera and starting to walk towards the glass window behind his seat. "To make sure that everyone, both normal people and superhumans alike will be able to sleep soundly… To make sure that children never ask again 'Why' again without someone being able to give them a reply…"
--
"… Mr Militia…"
--
"I will do the only thing I can do…" Said that, Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind his clothes, much to the shock of the whole studio.
"Naruto?!"
"Janet! Something's happening in front of the Baxter Building! We need to cut for live feed!" Janet's eyes widened. She suddenly understood.
--
"Nico?" Xavin had broken down the bathroom's door, only to find the room empty. No Nico.
--
"N-Naruto?!" Cessily exclaimed, worriedly.
"We interrupt the program to give you live feed from New York city. It seems like the two sides of the superhero Civil War…"
"… Please, don't…" Laura instinctively brought her hand to clench around Naruto's necklace.
--
"Layla…"
"… Jamie… Don't talk."
--
"Are you sure about this, Naruto?" Nico Minoru had been asked of Naruto to do something in the past few days. A spell, a single spell that would prepare him to fight a battle.
"Yes, Nico. And thanks in advance."
"…" The witch sighed. She had a really bad feeling about it. "How many?"
"Two hundred."
--
"Spider-Man, watch… Uh?!"
"Hey! What's this…!"
"For the love of…"
Suddenly, it was like everything had come to a stop. The battle, the fury, the single blows. Everyone on both sides of the battle stopped whatever they were doing the moment something appeared in their line of sight. Something pink.
"… Tony, is this another one of your tricks?" Captain America shouted out loud, as he observed the pink dome of energy that had encircled their battle zone and a few hundred meters more all around them, in all directions. He didn't even bother to touch it, since it was probably supposed to keep them in.
"No." Tony immediately activated his scanners to analyze the dome, which he had touched with his armour, only to get a nasty electrical discharge in return. "Whatever it is, it's not my techno…"
"It's an energy dome specifically designed to keep superhumans trapped." Suddenly a voice boomed, and the people hearing it noticed that even if the voice was just one, it was like it came from many people at the same time, and all from above. All the superhumans trapped under the dome tilted their heads upward. "It extends in all possible directions. It has no effect whatsoever on normal humans, but whatever superhuman that gets inside, cannot get out again. The same goes for people wearing fairly advanced technological devices."
"… The boy?"
"Naruto?"
"It's been a while!" Two hundred blondes thundered together, all of them wearing different clothes from everything that Naruto had ever been seen wearing in all the time he has been a guest on that planet: it was a copy of his original shinobi clothes, black and dark orange, complete with forehead protector tied around his forehead and shinobi sandals. All of them standing on the buildings surrounding the Baxter building and the dome of energy. "It seems like you're still going at it? Fighting, I mean… Well, I give you some flash news: it ends tonight!"
"… He wouldn't…"
"Naruto, don't!" Both Cap and Iron-Man were leaders, and they immediately understood what trapping an 'enemy' contingent and such a relay of forces meant.
--
"Nico!" The night witch had appeared back in her headquarters again, scaring the hell out of her friends. "Where have you been?! Naruto is…"
"... I know." Nico said, biting her lower lip and raising her head to look at the screen.
--
"I tried to talk with both of your 'sides'! But you're so caught up in your fight that you don't even try and listen to me! Well…" The night-sky flashed red, as two hundred human shapes suddenly flashed with red light. At first just a fiddle light, then the light grew more and more brighter as more of their bodies got surrounded by a cloak of chakra, their features became more feral, and the chakra acquired the shape of claws, long ears and a number of tails. One… Two… Three… Four. "I came up with this solution, then!"
"… Four tails…" Ms Marvel's eyes widened, remembering what had transpired with that number of tails, before.
"Sweet fox hunting season…" Spider-Man cursed in his own way as the two hundred human shapes crouched in a four-legged position, ready to pounce onto their prey.
"I will kick your ass so hard that you will be able to do nothing but listen!" They jumped from the roof, towards the dome, letting out a roaring battle-cry as one man. The heroes prepared.
"Incoming!!!" Tony charged his blasters.
"Be ready!" Cap readied his shield.
--
"… So it begins." Uatu the watcher observed everything from one of his favourite positions on that planet. The top of the Baxter building. The two hundred shapes landed. The ground shook.
--
"… He didn't really do that, did he?"
"He did, Julian. He just declared war on both sides of the Civil War…"
"PORCO! AND HE DIDN'T INVITE US?!"
"Santo, shut up! For the love of god…" Cessily had basically crawled in front of the television as the image had been filled with dust raised by the impact of the two hundred figures all falling to the ground at the same time… Or so everyone thought.
--
"… Why am I not a pancake?" Peter slowly opened his eyes and by doing so found out why. Something had stopped the two hundred Naruto dead in their tracks. A rectangular barrier of invisible energy…
"Hgk…" No. An invisible force field. The invisible woman fell to her knees as the force field, currently holding two hundred red-clad figures a couple of meters over everybody's heads, started to slowly dissipate.
"Sue!" Her brother was immediately by her side, having noticed the bit of blood dripping from her nose.
"I-I'm fine, Johnny… Just… Give me a moment…" She replied, holding the side of her head as the force field disappeared and the fall of the Naruto began again.
"Don't use lethal force! We don't know which one is the real one!" Iron-Man used the full power of his auditory systems so that everyone could hear him, while locking on one of the two hundred red-clad ninjas. "The copies disappear after a single strong blow! Don't lose your head…" Tony ducked out of the way of a red-shaped energy claw. "And hit with precision!"
Using a mid-powered punch from his suit, Tony hit the Naruto in front of him straight in the middle of the chest. The blonde staggered back, but the red cloak of energy managed to keep him on his feet, his head and back thrown back… He then shot back up with a mischievous grin plastered on his face and mimicked the attack sending the Iron-Man flying against Doc Samson.
"… So you're the real one?" Tony observed his target, who just smirked even more. That was when another Naruto was thrown on his own one and both were sent flying for a few meters on the ground. Tony turned around and noticed that he had just been punched by Luke Cage. He turned to the two Naruto… And none had disappeared. "What?!"
"What? You thought that you were the only one able to plan ahead, Tony?" Yet another Naruto declared as he jumped through the air and tried to land, claw raised on top of Tony, just for the Iron-Man to start hovering in the air as well, just to be tackled through air by yet another Naruto. "So… Why my clones don't disappear with just one hit anymore? Why didn't I go black, bad and crazy like last time? Will you be able to solve this mystery Tony? Before I wipe out everyone in here?"
"… Naruto, you…"
--
Battle 1: NarutoVSHuman Torch
"Damn, last time I got surrounded by all these blondes at the same time was back in college…"
"Joke around when I'm trying to get a hold of you, will ya?" A Naruto clone grumbled as Johnny escaped his 'flying pounce', then another and another from two other clones. One of the advantages of the barrier was that it severely limited the mobility of the various superheroes around, but it seemed that some were pretty used to this. Johnny was managing to fly out of harm's way and dodge Naruto's attacks all the same.
"Heh, better people than you have tried and failed. Also, how will you get a hold…" Johnny dodged another Naruto and then burst a flame right in his face. "Of someone who's on fire?"
"Well…" This one came as a surprise, if the voice behind his back of a presence he hadn't noticed was any indication. "Like this, actually."
"Wh… Ohhh, shit." It was like Terminator all over again, or it had the feel of it. A giant red hand appeared in front of him and literally slapped him out of thin air, slamming him into the ground back first, much to Johnny's chagrin.
"You're gonna need a much hotter flame to get through my chakra cloak."
"… A much hotter flame, hn?" The fall hadn't been that hard, his flame literally melting the asphalt the moment he came in contact with it. "What about…" Another Naruto clone pounced on him. "This!"
This one was indeed, much hotter than the one before. The flame spurted away the red chakra cloak and heavily burned the Naruto clone, who winced and screamed in anguish. A mostly blackened arm, burns of extreme degree covering it all, was now in sight… Then, the burned up skin began to break down and fall almost immediately as the chakra cloak was repaired and new skin appeared under the damaged one. "Heh… Yeah, that was better… But we have another problem, as you see. I heal reaaaaaaaal fast, as you can see."
"Hmmm… That's actually good for me, you know?" The torch immediately got covered in flames all over his body again. "That means you can take a beating!" He shot his hands forward and a wave of fire erupted, heading towards the same Naruto clone, who crossed his arms in front of his face and took the brunt hit. The torch stopped and the flame disappeared, leaving place to a black, smoking, mostly naked Naruto. Johnny raised an eyebrow. "Damn. What kind of life have you had? The pain should have made you pass out."
"Well… I've already had all my skin burned out twice, actually. It hurts like a bitch indeed…" The Naruto slowly lowered his hands, showing a severely damaged face, maybe more horrifying than the rest of the body since this one wasn't completely blackened. Then, he grinned. "But I got better, you know."
"You got better." Johnny stated, a bit ticked off.
"I got better."
"Can't say the same about you, I guess…" Johnny turned around just in time to dodge another Naruto, and he got the impression that they weren't just two hundred anymore. He blasted this one with fire, and it disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Bit confusing, hn?"
"And the best thing is…" Another. This one didn't disappear, but left enough time for someone to grab onto him in the air.
"With all the people around…" Another one jumped at him and kicked him in the gut, much to his chagrin.
"You can't risk going Nova."
"Can you?" One by one, Naruto after Naruto, Johnny was more and more pulled to the ground. Some disappeared, but the most stayed on him. Once he got to the ground, they piled on him. Johnny cursed. It was the second time it happened in less than two months.
--
Battle 2: NarutoVSPowerMan
"Woah!" Naruto lowered his head on instinct, not really sure if he could take a full powered punch from Luke Cage even with four tails of chakra powering him up.
"Eh… Seems like you get a rematch, hn?" Cage says as Naruto dodges his right straight, but manages to catch him with his left hook right after, sending him flying through the air as another one comes at him from behind. "Alright! Let's do this!"
Cage turns around and backhands the incoming Naruto hardly while another one grabbed him around the waist, trying to push him onto the ground, but Luke resisted and just punched the blonde on top of his head. "OW! THAT HURT!"
"Happens when you fight." Without even turning around, Luke punched another Naruto with the back of his clenched hand. "So… What about getting serious?"
"… Tsk. Alright." The Naruto he had punched into the ground got back on his feet, and got into a pose that Luke remembered to have seen in a commercial of some kind of cartoon. "Ahhhh!"
Arms perpendicular to his side, whole body stretched. The red cloak of energy that protected him became thinner and thinner, and lost the tail-shape, becoming human. He noticed that in those few seconds, the overall muscular tone of the kid had heightened, along with his height and width. His eyes, now violet, fixed on Cage. "Now let's see just how strong I am!"
"Hmm… When did you learn to do that?" The black-skinned hero cracked his knuckles as Naruto chuckled.
"Actually, just a few days ago…"
--
"BOSSBOSSBOSS! LOOK!"
"Damn, be silent! We're trying to… Uh?"
"See?! Four tails, but I'm not that bulky and I can move faster too!"
"… You get ramen."
"YAHOOO!"
--
"A few days ago…" Cage shook his head, amused. "Well, let's try it for size!"
"Let's!" Both fighters pulled back a punch, Cage the left, Naruto the right, and threw them ahead. The two straights met each the jaw of the opponent, sending the heads of the fighters snapping to the side, the noise from the impact something incredibly loud. The two staggered back, the hit on the jaw disorienting them a little.
"W-Wow… That was…" Naruto held his jaw and his head both, feeling lots of bells ringing over and over in his head.
"Damn, kid…" Cage shook his head to side to side to clear his sight. "Now, that was a slug!" Luke grinned. "Guess I better start getting serious with you!"
"Eh? What… Ahh!" Naruto brought his hands in front of his chest to parry a straight from Luke, but his knee found its way to his stomach nonetheless, much to his chagrin. "W-What!"
"Hen!" Luke then palmed the top of his head into the ground, and with the rebound kicked him up in the air again. That was when he administered another punch to Naruto's stomach, sending him flying against a number of superhumans and then the barrier.
"Ghh… Ghk… Cough!" The Naruto slowly got back on his feet, spitting blood. "What… What the hell…" Naruto had gone through Luke's files a lot of times, but nothing was said about him knowing martial arts.
"How many years have you been doing this, kid? The whole ninja jig." Luke approached the fallen Naruto one step at the time, as the blonde slowly got back on his feet. The blonde spat out another bit of blood.
"Five years… Two years of active service, three of training…" Luke made the 'tsk-tsk' noise as he approached Naruto. "What?"
"That's the problem. You've got guts, power and skills. But you know what you've lack that most of the people around have?" Cage emphasized the point by throwing his arms to the side, pointing to the whole crowd under the pink dome. "Experience. I'm talking about real life battle experience. I've been throwing it down with other people ever since I was a kid. I've been living in the streets and I've also done time in prison. You learn lots of things…"
"T-That doesn't explain how the hell you learned martial arts!" Naruto cut him off with his explosion of rage.
"Ah, that? Nothing much. Only…" Luke Cage suddenly dropped into the same stance as before and Naruto barely dodged the punch to his head. A few of the hair of his head, though, got ripped by the sharpness of the amount of air the movement propelled forward. "My best pal is probably the strongest martial artist living. Trained me a little."
"… Geez. Way to keep it hidden on your file…" Naruto got back on his feet, looking at the now shortened strand of hair. But he's right… They've got much, much more experience than me in every kind of fight other than their tremendous powers. How the hell do I compensate for it? And yet, the answer came to him almost immediately. After all, he had already done it. Defeating people with much more experience in fighting than him. How? "… Got to improvise."
"Stop talking to yourself, kid. You ain't Spiderman." Seriously. Peter is one of the few superheroes who can get away with talking continuously during a battle who aren't class 100 or over. Luke charged when Naruto did something that he didn't expect. He took a scrape of asphalt and threw it at him. Power Man just humoured him and let the piece of asphalt hit his abdomen. "Ehm… A piece of asphalt. How scary."
"Nah." Suddenly, the piece of asphalt disappeared. In its place, a blonde enveloped in red chakra, which he all gathered in his left leg in an instant. "It was just a setup."
"Wh…" Cage barely put up his hands in time, but he misunderstood Naruto's intentions. He believed that Naruto was aiming at his stomach, but the ninja's foot slammed against his chin, and he experimented first hand just what it meant to gather all that chakra in a single limb as he got rocketed high in the air and he suddenly found himself observing the crowd from above. I think I heard my jaw crack… "What the hell was that?"
"A bastardized version of a move of a friend of mine. He's a martial artist too." And immediately, he was above him, and that same leg that had thrown him through the air was now descending upon him, enveloped in chakra yet again. Cage held up his hands to parry, since in the air he had no way to dodge. "Uzumaki Naruto Rendan!"
Ridiculous name, but the effect was there. He had been hit worse, but that hit from Naruto hurt nonetheless, and the impact with the ground wasn't soft either, if the crated he dug was any indication. It wasn't over, though, as the same Naruto immediately feel upon him, knees first. The asphalt cracked and they were both sent below street's level.
"… I have to fight like a ninja. I need to do what they can't do." He repeated like a mantra another Naruto, before dispelling himself. He had to make sure the others got this information, after all.
--
Battle 3: NarutoVSMsMarvel
"… You seem in control, this time."
"Yes I am, ma'am." Naruto grinned at Carol's words. The woman on her part understood that Naruto was in control from the fact that he wasn't going crazy, he wasn't elongating and he wasn't using his full strength either. Otherwise, he would have just did that black ball to energy ray thing and wiped most of them off the face of earth.
"… Then why are you doing this?" Even if she said that, Carol rushed forward and tried to uppercut Naruto, who just dodged to the side.
"I thought it would have been clear enough." Naruto then jumped and landed hands first, and then sprung back, kicking the heroine in the face with both feet. "You don't listen to others. You don't even listen to yourselves anymore. So…"
"Gh!" The blow had caught her by surprise, but it didn't do much damage. "Gahk!" The punch in her stomach, on the other hand…
"I'm taking that task in my own hands." The two Naruto stood in a guard position right in front of the blonde haired woman, who was instinctively holding her stomach.
"… I understand…" She suddenly whispered, and then her head shot up. "Then the gloves come off."
"Wh…AHHHHHH!" Ms Marvel grabbed the two Naruto with her arms and then took to the sky. While she couldn't leave the dome, that didn't stop her to fly in circle gaining more and more momentum.
"I'm not as gentle as Tony, Naruto." Carol suddenly let go of the two clones, who got caught by the centrifugal force and shot out back to the ground. If the crash was any indication, that hurt like a bitch. "I'm a warrior! If you decided for this course of action, so be it! But…"
"Yeah, yeah. Don't expect any mercy." Carol was suddenly grabbed from behind and found her arms locked. She turned around to meet yet another smiling face. "Hey, there. I can't fly, but I can jump pretty high, you know."
"… Tony told me that your powers come from this energy which you cloak yourself into, if I'm not mistaken." Naruto blinked at that comment, but immediately understood as he felt his chakra going haywire and starting to disappear. "And what you know?! I can absorb any kind of energy!"
"Really…" Naruto swallowed, since he couldn't be certain if his plan would not backfire… But he had to take a chance. "Just how much can you take, then?!"
"Gh!" Carol almost lost her focus when he felt Naruto start pouring out as much energy as he could. A sick feeling started to course in her, like that energy had some mind of its own. She felt about to vomit, but she endured it. "As much… As needed!"
Naruto sweated, but a draw was better than nothing. As long as he kept on absorbing his energy and try to not let it out of control, she couldn't move.
Battle 4: NarutoVSTaskmaster
"Ohh… I didn't know that one." The skull-masked mercenary's comment was due to Naruto's usage of an acrobatic move that he hadn't seen and since, hadn't copied yet.
"So… What were your powers again?" Naruto tried a 'claw blow' at the head, but Taskmaster dodged by backflipping while at the same time raising his blade. "YEOW!" It missed Naruto's nose by a hair's breath.
"Photographic reflexes." Taskmaster landed a couple of meters away, on the back of another superhuman and then jumped back at Naruto, this time trying to cleave Naruto's head off by the neck. "As long as I can see someone make a certain move, I can copy it."
"Uhk!" Naruto was so focused on the sword that he didn't notice the right leg shooting up, only doing it when the heel connected with his jaw.
"I fight like Iron Fist…" Another Naruto came from behind, but he jumped and flipped in the air, landing on the back of that copy's head. "I dodge like Spider-Man…"
"You do not!" Shouted Peter as he threw another Naruto over his head behind him with a backflip, in perfect judo style.
"And…" The first Naruto he had been fighting tried to punch him, but Taskmaster pivoted on his left foot… And then stabbed him right through the heart, from behind. "I fence like the black knight."
"Ahk!" It was like the whole dome had stopped, turning to that single Naruto, the first who had been mortally wounded. Tony had commanded to not use lethal force. Everyone stared as he started to choke up blood. "Caff… That's…" So much blood that oozed out of his wound and his mouth, ending on the ground… That's when it disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"That's so much like an ability of a friend of mine that I almost feel happy doing this." This time, Taskmaster couldn't dodge. He turned around just to find a Naruto, his body devoid of red energy if not for his right arm, who seemed to have undergone gigantism, in the meanwhile. He got palmed in chest… And thrown through the crowd behind him until he slammed face first into the dome, hard. He then fell to the ground, unconscious.
--
"Tony, he…"
"I saw." As Tony repulsor-blasted a Naruto away, Steve kicked another one in the stomach. The two had been about to fight each other when Naruto pulled his assault. "It seems that these clones are different from his usual ones… They do not disappear after a single blow."
"You have to kill them to make them disappear… But how can we do that?" Cap shield-bashed another one.
"Kill two hundred teens on live television? With the risk of actually killing the real one in the process? Not a chance we can do that." The Iron-Man blasted yet another one away. Then, something came to his mind. "… Wait, maybe… Cap!" Cap turned around and saw that Tony was aiming his blasters at full charge at a charging Naruto, who got hit dead on… And stripped of his chakra cloak. Steve was quick to launch his shield, which hit Naruto square in the back of the head after bouncing off the ground. The Naruto fell to the ground, unconscious… And the disappeared. "It worked! We can make them fall unconscious too to make them disappear!"
"But that cloak of energy makes it hard to land a solid hit on them. It protects his body… How did you do it, Tony?"
"After the incident at the refinery, I started studying a countermeasure in case Naruto ever went berserk again. The process has an emotional base, but the process requires him to focus an enormous amount of energy inside and all over his body." Tony landed an uppercut under the chin of yet another Naruto. "Studying the readings, I developed a disruptor ray that disrupts the cohesion of that kind of energy, rendering him unable to undergo his transformation. It works just fine in this case as well."
"How much does the effect last?" Steve grabbed his shield out of thin air again after a successful rebound, as the two backed towards each other and found themselves back to back, facing different sides of the battle.
"Ten minutes at best…" Tony made the calculations in his head. "I can hit them all at once, but that will leave my armour's systems scrambled for three minutes."
"I got your back." Steve immediately said, his eyes unwavering and focused.
"… I know, Steve. I know." Tony activated the intercom of his armour. [U
]"To all S.H.I.E.L.D. units around the perimeter! Whatever is making up this energy field, it's bound to give off enormous energy readings! Find whatever it is and shut it down!" Then, he closed it and started rerouting all the energy of his armour and more to the repulsors all over his armour. "To all capes, be ready! Don't kill, but give it your all!"
The Iron-Man then hovered in the air, reaching in an instant the barycentre of the dome, his whole being glowing of yellow light… Then, light filled everyone's vision.
--
"… He's really done it." The real Naruto said as he felt the energy of his clones fade and a few of them disappearing right after, losing their power up in the middle of an exchange of blows, probably. He had suspected that Tony had been researching some way to stop him from using chakra. "… But it's alright. Now, I just need to wait some more…"
--
"And get… OFF!" Luke Cage had finally managed to shrug off and make disappear the two Naruto who had gone underground with him. He had ended up in a rather messy point of the sewers. "This is NASTY! I swear I'm going to send these clothes to the kid to make him wash them himself… Uh?"
Luke had an half idea of climbing back up immediately, but he was distracted by a strange noise that he heard coming from behind, from a side-road compared to the sewer path he was on. "… Maybe…" Instinct told him to go after the noise. He followed his instincts.
--
Battle5: NarutoVSMsMarvel(Continued)
"Hnn… Ah?" The dome got 'flashed' by Tony's new weapon, this lead to an interesting change in Carol's situation. First, Naruto's grip had lost almost all his strength. Second, she felt like her insides were on fire. "AHHHHHHHHHH!"
"H-Hey! What… Woooooooooah!" The Naruto grabbing onto Carol lost its grip and plummeted down to its 'death', disappearing in a cloud of smoke where he should have crushed each and every bone in his body.
"P-Pain… W-What's happening?!" The Kyuubi's chakra was already difficult to control for Carol, having never 'tasted' that kind of energy. Add Tony's ray's effect, and there you had a pretty troubled Ms Marvel. "I-I have to let it out… But how… Ghhhh!" The ground!
In a flash, Ms Marvel had landed on the ground and had planted both her fist into the concrete right under her feet, and with a fierce battle-cry had started to pour everything she had absorbed into the ground… Which proved to be too much for the poor ground. Geysers of red energy suddenly started sprouting all around the dome's perimeter, sending people flying and popping out a few Naruto clones.
"… That was… A lot more than what I had expected…" Carol slowly got back on her feet, still a bit shaken. That was when a few Naruto jumped on her, one shouting 'DOGPILE'. The blonde woman was surprised for a moment… Just a moment. "Are you serious?"
Focusing strength on her legs, she stood up. That was enough to send all the Naruto around her flying. As more came at her, she started popping one after another with one blow. Without the protection of the cloak of chakra, they were just normal teenagers with a heavily trained body. No match for her. "Naruto, just stop!"
"Gahk!" The last one she hit had ended up slamming face-first into the ground in front of her, without disappearing. As it slowly got back on his feet, spitting blood, Carol grimaced.
"I don't know what Tony did, but it took away your powers! Your weapons!" The Avenger continued, towering above her target. "What's a warrior without weapons?!"
"… What…" Carol couldn't tell, but the Naruto in front of her went through three faces: surprise, a smile and then manly tears of happiness. "… A WARRIOR STILL!" He turned around in a flash, surprising Carol with the shout and the tears, and managing to slam a pretty big piece of concrete in her face. The woman staggered, but didn't fall down. The Naruto kept on crying. "… If I wasn't sixteen, I could ask you to marry me, right now."
"… Just… Go… To sleep." He did. With one punch. But at least, he had gotten a once in a life-time opportunity. Somewhere else, Deadpool cried manly tears as well.
--
"Nothing yet?!"
"Negative, commander Hill! We just can't seem to get a track on the device!"
"Extend the range! In every direction!" Hill gritted her teeth, not believing that a whole battalion of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents was being put off its mark by a single teen. A teen, for god's sake! She slammed her right hand on the command console. "… Just where is he hiding that thing?"
--
--
Battle6: NarutoVSCaptain America, Iron-Man
"Tony!"
"Recharge at 55%."
"Take your time. Your weapon worked." Cap elbowed a nearby Naruto in the stomach and then slammed it face-first in the ground, knocking him out and making him disappear in a puff of smoke. "They are no longer a real threat."
"I can see that… But…" Tony had gotten a strange feeling ever since the start of the battle. About everything. While the reasoning behind the attack seemed to be in tone with Naruto's line of thinking, there was just no way the boy could believe of really being able to defeat all of them. The boy was headstrong, maybe naïve, but not THAT naïve.
"You noticed too?" Tony had counted 200 copies at the beginning of the battle, but the more the struggle progressed, especially after Tony's attack, the number became smaller and smaller, and Steve was getting that feeling too. "… I don't think the real one is among the ones fighting now."
"I agree. If I was him, I would be…"
--
"Sorry, Luke… But it's a bit too early for the cloaking device to go down."
"Zzzzz…"
--
"Guarding the device that keeps us trapped." The recharge was at 71%. "But what still eludes me is the sense of all this."
"… What are you aiming for, Naruto?" Cap said out loud as he threw to the side his shield, which rebounded between three Naruto before returning to him, making its targets explode in puffs of smoke.
"… Cap, did you have reinforcements planned?" Tony said as he got back on his feet and looked at the west.
--
"IMPERIUS REX!" A cloud of blue-skinned superhumans flying towards the dome wasn't easy to miss, after all.
--
"I hope you notified Namor of our situation. He isn't one for subtle examination of the field."
"Sue took care of it as soon as she recovered." Cap looked to the east, instead. "… Tony. Why?"
--
"Have at thee, vile traitors!"
"What he said." While the new heroes weren't that much of a source of worry, Thor, the Sentry and Captain Marvel were indeed.
--
"We needed firepower. We still didn't know if the Sentry would fight… Also, yes. That's Captain Marvel… We're still looking into it."
--
"… Damn. This is harder than what I thought." Naruto had received not only factual help by the cuckoos, but also suggestions. One of those was to meditate. It was an exercise that psychics performed in the early stages of trying to control their powers, since it allowed people to focus. In that instance, Naruto needed as much focus as possible, since he was trying to break his own limits. While he had learned to manipulate safely four tails of power, it seemed that with each tail he reached another threshold of difficulty. He couldn't lose his mind. Too much was at stake. Focus. Think about what you have to do… Your objective.
--
"Ahh!"
"Calm down, Thor! You'll just break your weapon!" Reed was trying to calm down the rampaging clone as he tried to break through the energy barrier. In the meanwhile.
"Oh, come on! Not fair!"
"THERE WERE TWO HUNDRED OF YOU ON US AND YOU CALL UNFAIR ON BEING OUTNUMBERED?!" Spider-Man shouted in outrage as he 'twipped' web in Naruto's face and then launched him up in the air, making him land on his back after drawing a perfect arc above everyone's head.
"… Ouch." Then, it disappeared. The last Naruto.
"… That was the last one." Cap declared, while Tony contacted Hill.
"… And the real one is still to be seen. Hill, have you found that energy source?"
"Negative, Stark. There seems to be… Wait a minute. What the…"
"What…" The dome's energy suddenly started to wave and flutter, like it was struggling to keep its shape. Then, in a few seconds, it disappeared. "… It's gone."
"Hill, what did you do?" Tony began a full scale analysis of the surroundings.
"Nothing! The thing shut down on its own, it seems… What… Stark, watch out! Below you!"
"Below… Ah!" Tony cursed himself for not having understood it sooner, while an enormous red hand shout out of the ground and wrapped itself around 'Clor 2.0', sending debris flying.
"What manner of sorcery…!" Another identical one shot out from behind Clor. The two appendages grabbed on opposite ends of the superhuman… And then pulled. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Oh my god, he's gonna…" Rip. It was a cyborg built with organic parts, sadly. That meant that the new recruits of Tony's said got showered in red gore and circuits as the two colossal hands snapped the clone in half and then discarded the two pieces in opposite directions and then disappeared back into the ground. "GROSS!"
"Everyone, watch out!" Cap advised everyone, since it wasn't over yet. "The real one is still around!"
"Steve, he's below us! He's been this whole time…!"
"What..!" The leaders of the two factions couldn't finish issuing orders as the two red hands of energy appeared again, fast enough to catch them by surprise and wrap around their bodies. Then, the ground began to crack as a figure began to appear from under it.
"I know, I know." While most of it was familiar to all those who had seen Naruto cloaked in chakra, there were two important differences. The first one was the number of tails. There were five of them. The second one was the skull wrapped around Naruto's head, the maw open but the main part obscuring his face, revealing just two shining red eyes. "I look like a freaking Cubone."
"So…" Cap tried to break free, but to no avail. How could energy have such a solid grip, he would never understand. It wasn't the first time it happened to him. "You were waiting for this."
"Your target has always been us… But why wait so much?" Tony asked, faring slightly better against Naruto's energy's grip.
"Hmm… So many questions." Naruto noticed that some of the other superhumans were beginning to move on him. "Why don't we take this upstairs!"
He crouched, the floor cracking once again, and then he jumped. Along with Captain America and Iron-Man, Naruto landed on the roof of the Baxter Building, with a smash.
--
Final Battle: Real NarutoVSIron-Man, Captain America
"That… That was… Wow." The impact left a good impression on the roof of the Baxter building and on Tony's mind, it seemed, as he shifted off a piece of concrete and moved it out of the way. "Steve! Are you alright?!"
"I'm fine, Tony…" Steve had managed to land on his feet, instead. We're talking about someone who launched himself out of helicopters without a parachute during World War II, after all. "But where's…"
"Right behind you." Steve turned around as quickly as he could, but it was just enough to put his shield between himself and Naruto's open palm. Nonetheless, he got thrown forward and into Tony, who grabbed him and steadied Cap's form. The two superheroes' eyes immediately fell upon Naruto's energy enshrouded form, and even if they couldn't see it they were aware that Naruto was grinning. "Now, look at yourself. Helping each other and collaborating. Back down there too. If the others saw you, they might start getting ideas…"
"Naruto, what's the sense of all this?" Steve said as he got back on his feet, asking that question finally face to face with the teen ninja.
"Your plan was impressive, I'll give you that, but what can it bring?" Naruto suddenly began to laugh out loud, just as the cameras from the helicopters and the Baxter Building's video feed focused on him.
"But why, Tony! This is what you and Cap both want! That's what I'm doing!" Naruto shot his arms forward, but Cap and Tony dodged and then Tony aimed his repulsor blasts at the ninja, who made his arm pull the rest of his body forward, dodging and closing in on Cap, trying to smash him in the ground with his tails. "I'm giving you what you long for!"
"This is…" Steve was already having an hunch of what Naruto wanted to do, as he thought about it as he dodged tail after tail and then threw his shield. Though, there was a missing piece of the puzzle. A piece that instead Tony was well aware of as he hit Naruto with both repulsors 'specially' charged. Though, this time, they only managed to lessen the amount of energy enveloping Naruto for a few seconds, because of the higher concentration brought along with the fifth tail. That piece being, Naruto's appearance on Janet's show.
"And what is it that we want, Naruto?" Tony dodged two of the tails forgetting about Cap and instead lashing out at him.
"A fight, of course!" Naruto turned so that the shield hit his back and then jumped in the air, and that was when he went crazy. Turning on himself over and over, he began to lash out all around him with hands, legs and tails, using those same things to keep on turning around. "That's what you've been doing all this time! Fight, fight, fight! You want to keep on fighting!"
"Boy, you're…" Steve didn't finish because he had to dodge yet another crater-leaving open palm.
"I'm giving you something to fight! Why aren't you happy?!" If Naruto's voice was mocking at first, it was becoming angrier by the second. "Why aren't you fighting me back?! Why aren't you beating me into the ground?!"
"Naruto, don't stupid! We don't want to do that!" Tony had already understood, by the moment. "We never wanted a fight! A war!"
"THEN WHY DID YOU ACT LIKE YOU DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE?!" Naruto landed down again, slamming all fours into the ground, even if he wanted to land on Cap, his voice the loudest he had been ever since. "YOU SAY YOU DIDN'T WANT THIS! THEN WHY DO YOU DO SO?!" Naruto lashed out with a tail at both Captain American and Iron Man, this time successfully wrapping around them, even if he had the sensation that Tony had let himself be ensnared. Naruto got back in a standing human position, and he forcefully removed the skull from around his head, even if it was already starting to grow back. "Tony! You fight for a good reason, but you've lost sight of some limits that shouldn't be crossed! Cap! You say you fight for peace, but you refused a chance for finding a way out of this peacefully, as forceful as that offer might have been!"
--
"You didn't trust your friends enough to allow them a chance to talk, to explain themselves! To find a solution to this! One person's death could have been avoided if you had just said 'Let's talk!"
"… This is being broadcasted live all over the nation, right?" Janet asked over the phone to her contact at the television, making sure that it was so.
--
"You've done nothing that shows me that you do not want to fight! So, I'm helping you! I'm not letting this end!" The tails suddenly retracted behind Naruto's back, both heroes still grasped… And then they suddenly shot forward, releasing the two, throwing them off the edge of building, much to the surprise of everyone watching. "SO FIGHT!"
Naruto then swallowed, hoping that the two had finally gotten the hint, hoping that Tony was quick enough… He was. His actions were rewarded with the sight of Iron-Man holding up Captain America by his shoulders. It was working. He had had the first hint when no one of the other heroes had interfered for the duration of the fight.
"… Very well." Cap said, and that's when Tony threw him. The full body weight of Cap impacted against Naruto, shield first, in his face, made even more heavy by the speed with which the armoured hero had thrown him. Even with the protection of the chakra, Naruto felt his nose and jaw crack as Cap somersaulted back.
"Y-Yes…" He said, as Tony was in front of him, the arm parts of his armour covered by that particular energy. As the Iron-Man, hit him, Naruto felt his chakra begin to disappear. A simple blast wasn't enough to have lasting effects, but adding the weight and pressure of a punch, it worked just nicely with wiping off the chakra nice and clean. "Hgk!"
That was when Cap struck again, punch first. The two had gotten into a steady rhythm, alternating their blows. Tony shaved off the chakra, Cap hit Naruto before it reformed, and so on. He had also noticed how they were hitting in places where they were sure to hurt him, badly. Such as his hip. He had just broke a hip. "AAAAH!" And it hurt like a bitch.
"… Let's finish this." Tony declared as he cleaned off the chakra off Naruto's chin, and Steve didn't waste time in landing a solid punch there, cracking the jaw even more and paralyzing Naruto for those few seconds that Iron-Man needed to charge his blasters. "… I'm really sorry about this."
There was also the option of hitting Naruto at zero distance with the blasters, to shave off the chakra. This, Tony did. He put almost all the charge of his suit into that blast. Naruto felt his chakra disappear in thin air and scramble his insides, but Tony didn't stop there. He kept on pushing, and Naruto ended up embedded in a wall when he was done with. "… That was…"
The finisher came again, with Captain American and a shoulder charge shield-first that pushed the blonde ninja even deeper in the wall, deepening and lengthening the cracks echoing from the point of impact.
--
"Ahhh!" Cessily and Laurie turned away from the screen, the first with tears falling out of her eyes. Laura just kept on staring, not daring to turn away, already knowing what Naruto was aiming for.
--
"Molly, you can't just go to New York and kick Captain America's ass!"
"THAT JERK'S GOT IT A LONG TIME COMING! EVER SINCE THE FIRST TIME!"
--
"Layla…"
"… It's over."
--
"… It's over." Cap declared as Naruto slowly fell to the ground from his position in the wall. Tony knew that he was also passing out. While his regenerative ability didn't depend from the chakra, he knew that the thing highly accelerated it. Naruto wasn't going to wake up anytime soon once he did.
"That blow must have broken a lot of bones in his body… Just go to sleep, Naruto." Tony said, not just waiting for the finisher. He knew that the cameras around were showing by now only Naruto's head, face first on the floor.
"… W-Was it… Was it so hard?" Weak words came from Naruto's mouth as he struggled to raise off the floor, but he only managed his head.
"… What?" Steve asked, having noticed the cameras and understanding too what everything had been all about.
"… Working together. Talking… Making plans together… To solve a situation. Was it so hard?" Naruto continued, his voice going lower and lower by the second under the gaze of the two superheroes. "Then… Why… Can't you do it in this war too?"
"Naruto! Please, stay down! Your injuries…" But the blonde paid's warning no attention as he slowly got back on his feet, with a fearsome determination, even if every pain receptor in his body was going numb by the amount of information they were sending to his brain.
"Why… Do we have to choose between… Law without humanity…" Naruto raised his head, showing blood and bruises, and a swollen face. "Or freedom without safety? Why… Can't you just… Hack!" Naruto grabbed his throat and spat a big amount of blood on the ground. Many people looking at the thing through live television grimaced. "… Cap… Tony… You're the heart and brain of… Of the superheroes community… You can't… You can't have one without the other… Not if you want to make things right… I-I'm not asking for… For a miracle, for an immediate solution… I have no idea… What should be done… To solve this…"
The two superheroes just kept on staring and listening, noticing how Naruto was ready to pass out. His eyelids were dropping, he was shaking and he was almost dropping back to the ground. "… I… Just… Just…" He closed his eyes and began to fall forward. "Just talk… Please…" He passed out. Both Steve and Tony grabbed him, not letting him fall to the ground, smearing their uniforms with blood. His blood. All of this under the gaze of an entire nation and the superhuman community. Tony had made sure that the people down had seen the whole affair too.
"… Tony." Cap slowly leaned Naruto's body on the ground, in a position so that he would let out the blood that he could vomit during unconsciousness. "… Let's talk."
"… Of course, Cap."
Continue…
In the next chapter…
The epilogue. How will everything end? Naruto has given the leaders of the two factions another chance to settle things peacefully, but will they be able to do so? And how will things end for Naruto? Stay tuned for the last chapter!