Welp, I'm back ladies and gentlemen, and so are the major plot points. Glad everyone enjoyed our little detour from the main plotline in the last chapter of the Red Fox, but now focus must be returned to our regularly scheduled program. This chapter will have some character development for Stephanie, cover Waller's pitch to the League, and feature some interactions between Naruto and Kurama. Should be fun, right? It'll be a little slower, but these are some major issues being brought up, so it's rather inevitable. Well, I'm gonna go watch the Oscars now, because I'm an obsessive film buff. Anyone else rooting for Ennio Morricone? Thanks for reading and please reveiw!

Chapter Soundtrack-Ennio Morricone: L'ultima diligenza di Red Rock [Versione Integrale]

The view of Earth from the Watchtower was one of the greatest things that any human could ever experience. From space it seemed so much smaller, making the stars around it seem like a canvas God himself had painted the planet on. It was a sight that Bruce never grew tired of. He and his beautiful wife Mei stood next to one another, taking the sight in as they waited for Waller to arrive, "You know, I think this is second most gorgeous sight I've ever laid my eyes on. Right behind you, of course."

"I'm married to you and I'm having your child Bruce, there's no need to use those corny lines on me," Mei replied, giving him a small kiss on the cheek, "Though I'd be lying if I said I didn't love hearing it."

Dinah (Black Canary) watched the two with a small smile on her face, thinking about her lover Green Arrow, "You know, of the people I figured would manage to find love like that, Bruce would've been at the bottom of the list. Yet, there he stands, about to be the first core League Member with a kid of his own. Kind of adorable, don't ya think Oliver?"

The famous archer put his arm around his longtime lover, whispering to her, "To be fair, I've been trying to get you to have kids for awhile now. You keep shooting me down, remember?"

"What can I say? 'Justice doesn't take maternity leave'" Dinah fired back in her best Batman impression, making them both chuckle, "I promise baby, someday soon, we'll have a couple little birdies of our own. I love you Ollie."

"I love you too, my little songbird," Oliver said, the two meeting for a gentle kiss. Once he looked up, the man noticed two more women entering the room, "Amanda Waller and Selina Kyle. Two of our greatest enemies turned two of our most useful allies. Glad you guys could make it."

Both women smiled as they walked into the open end of the horseshoe shaped table as the League members all sat down. Selina used her felina like abilities to jumped over the table and sit down next to Bruce and Mei, "Well hello you two. Glad to see both of you are still alive and kicking. What about the baby? She kicking too?"

Mei leaned over and gave her friend a tight hug, which Selina returned, before responding, "Oh, she's kicking alright. Kicking my bladder all night long just to keep me awake. What about you? How've you been?"

"Alright I guess. Haven't been having much fun lately, since you people won't let me steal from museums and rich pricks anymore," Selina responded, putting her feet up on the table and arching her back in a little stretch, "I do get to steal from other thieves though, which is more of challenge, so I get my kicks somewhere."

Yes, the great Catwoman had given up her thieving ways in order to help her friends in the League. It was a major sacrifice by Selina's standards, but not one that Bruce didn't appreciate, "It's the only way we could have work with us and keep up appearances with Gotham's underworld. I'm not sure I can count the number of times that's saved our asses. Believe me Selina, we're all grateful to you for it."

Waller's plan was actually counting on the very relationship Catwoman had with the villains in her home town. Once everyone was sat down and focused on her, Waller began to explain why, "Hello everyone, glad I could get all of you here for this little sit down. I'm sure you're all wondering why I invited Selina Kyle here with us. That would be because I needed her to put many of your minds at ease. You see, I knew that all of you already have reservations about Slade Wilson's influence on Naruto during the time he'd spend undercover with him. No matter what points I brought up here, that is what all of you would come back to in the end. My proposal to counteract that point is to have Ms. Kyle here act as Naruto's handler, keeping an eye on while pretending to be a close associate of Naruto's identity. I trust that puts some of your minds at ease, does it not?"

"There are only a handful of individuals I would trust with my son's life. Selina Kyle is in fact lucky enough to be one of those people," Bruce admittedly, making Selina send him a small smirk, "If she's there to watch Naruto, that puts a couple of my worries to rest. Not all of them, but some of them."

Most everyone else nodded in agreement, though a few heroes still had their reservations about the ex-villain. Waller moved on to her next point, "Next, allow me to tell you all how I plan to have Naruto gain Deathstroke's attention. I'm sure all of you have heard of a little experiment we tried last year known as the Suicide Squad. Seven criminals were assembled and placed on a team together to take on missions I considered too dangerous to send my soldiers out to do. Harley Quinn, Deadshot, and Captain Boomerang were a few members that come to mind. It, admittedly, failed miserably. Even with explosive chips implanted in their skulls, we were unable to control them. After that disaster, we vowed that we need try something like that again. Recently, I believe I found a reason to revive the program, if you catch my meaning."

Clark Kent caught the meaning, and was ready to tear it down in no time at all, "You want us to have Naruto go undercover with a team full of super villains? What in the hell have you been smoking woman?"

"I expected a reaction like this, so let me explain a bit further," Waller continued, making sure she wasn't shut down before she even got to begin, "There will only be two, maybe three actual villains on the team, ones that I personally trust. The rest of the team I intend to make up with ninjas from the Great Ninja Nations. Using their jutsus, we'll pass them off as super villains with very specific sets of powers. As long as there's a few people the real criminals can recognize on the team, they won't question the rest. We have them go out for a couple of mission, get Deathstroke's attention, and then disband it once he's gotten in on the villainous operation. Simple as that. Any questions?"

Of course Bruce was the first one to respond, "What ninjas did you have in mind? Are the people we know or someone new?"

Waller saw that coming as well, "I've got a list of possible candidates made up, ready for your approval at any time. I believe you know all of them, but there I prepared files for each one just in case."

"That's something I'm sure both of us will love reviewing," Mei said, being sure she got Waller's attention, "What villains were planning on joining the squad?"

Yet another question Amanda had seen coming, "Catwoman of course, possibly Killer Croc, as he's always willing to work with us in exchange for making sure the research to fix his condition to continues, and I'm not certain on any others just yet. Mr. Freeze perhaps. I believe you trust him, do you not?"

Bruce trusted him to a certain extent, though maybe not enough to put his son's life in his hands, "I'll keep the idea of him being there in mind. Honestly, I don't think there's any criminal I want near my son for that long, so I might just have to settle for one that's good enough. At the moment I don't have any major objections to this plan."

"Actually, I think we both have some major objections to this plan, but we're putting them aside because we know most of them stem from nothing more than Naruto being our son," Mei admitted, taking Bruce's hand in hers and squeezing it, "What about the other League members? Is there anything big enough to make you unwilling to at least spend a few days considering Amanda's proposal?"

After racking their brains for a bit, nothing came to anyone's mind. Clark could see that the issue, at least for the time being, had been solved, "I'll take that as a no. Okay, we'll reconvene in one week to vote on whether to move forward with the plan or not. Now that all of that's settled, what do you all say we have a little fun? I've got a deck of cards here, and I wanna see if any of us can finally beat Bruce at a game of Texas Hold Em'."

A collective, 'Helly yes' rung out around the room. They'd been playing these card games for years, and no one had been able to read Bruce's poker face, making him virtually impossible to beat. To make things even worse, he was a master of understanding body language, so bluffing him was nothing more than a pipe dream. He always gave the money he won from them back, as Bruce had no need for any more cash, but that wasn't really the point. One of the Justice League members needed to beat him for principals sake. This time, no one planned on leaving until Bruce got taken down...it was going to be a long night.

"You stupid little...ugh! I can't even think of a word for what you are right now," Barbara screamed at the top of her lungs, her rage directed at Stephanie as she stood in the center of the Batcave, "You turned off your communicator? Your only line of communication, and you just switch it off! If I hadn't been able to get ahold Temari, who knows what could've happened! Even worse, you turned of Tim's communicator without even telling him! Actually, I can think of a word for what you are right now, but it's a word I promised I'd never call another woman!"

Stephanie knew what that word was, (We all know what the word is, I just don't like using it) and she was tempted to use it herself, "Oh boohoo, I decided to go off the leash for a bit! Who the fuck cares? Me and Tim wanted to have a little fun. It's not like you and Nightwing didn't fool around sometimes."

"Not while we were on a mission," Barbara screamed back, her rage growing, "You were supposed to be looking into the Red Hood! Did you at least get anything while you were out patrolling? Something that'll make me wanna strangle you less?"

The teen responded proudly, "Oh, we got something alright, but not on the Red Hood! We went after the Penguin, the guy who killed Tim's father, because none of you lazy asses would!"

Barbara grabbed the girl by the shirt, growling to her, "Are you kidding me? We've been spending all that time trying to get him to forget about revenge, and you're fueling that fire? We've taken down the Penguin before, we'll do it again! Just because we refuse to kill him doesn't mean we don't care about Tim!"

"Ugh, you asshats are impossible to talk to," Stephanie said, throwing her hands up in the air, "Sure, you care about him, but you're too stupid to know what's best for him! Eventually, one of you is gonna have to sack up and admit some people deserve to die!"

That brought Barbara back to something Bruce had told her many a time, "That's one way to look at it. Another is that if you kill a murder, the number of murders in the world stays the same."

Stephanie couldn't take any more of this conversation. She turned around and walked up the stairs, screaming as she left, "That's only true if stop at one!"

"Well isn't that some solid logic," Barbara screamed back in the most ironic tone she had. She turned the intercom button the Batcomputer and slammed on it, "Tim, get down here, now!"

Rather than talk to both of them at the same time and likely start a threeway argument in which no one really got a chance to be heard, Barbara decided to talk them individually. Unfortunately, this meant Stephanie had her seething as Tim walked down the stairs to greet her, " Barb, I know you're probably not too happy with me right now,"

"Not to happy does not begin to describe how I feel about you right now," Barbara snapped, "You left Naruto in a terrible situation because you wanted to feel up your girlfriend? I understand that you're a young, hormonal, and occasionally stupid teenager, but how do you let her get ahold of your communicator like that?"

Tim shuffled his feet as he admitted, "I was focused on something else. Stephanie was, you know…"

No, Barbara didn't know, and she really didn't want to, "Don't give me any more details, I feel like I know too much already. Honestly Tim, I don't know what you see in that girl. She would've made Jason Todd look calm," she exclaimed, counting after a brief pause, "You don't buy all that stuff she's saying about the Penguin, do you? After all the time you spent getting past your anger at the Penguin, I don't wanna see you go backwards."

"Come on Barb, you know I wouldn't be stupid enough to go after Cobblepot myself," Tim responded, adding in almost as an afterthought, "I just can't help but think about it sometimes, what he did to my father. One stupid mistake, one messed up gun trade, that was all it took for the Penguin to put a bullet in my dad's head the throw him out onto the street. No fancy body disposal, no big cover up, just toss him out on the street. No cop's gonna bother to look into the murder of Jack Drake, right? Kinda hard to defend a city when it seems like it doesn't even care."

Barbara put a gentle hand on the boy's cheek, noticing his eyes had begun to water. She pulled him in for a hug, whispering to him, "Gotham's a city that can chew you up and spit you out, but it has good people in it Tim. You're dad just ended up with the wrong people. That's why we're so careful with you. You've got so much good in you, all you need is a push in the right direction and we know that you'll be something great. I get that you care about Stephanie, and that you just wanna help her like we helped you, but please, when you're out there patrolling the streets, take it seriously. We lost enough people in this family as it is."

After hearing all this, the boy couldn't help but feel twinge of guilt. He hugged the girl back, grateful to have been found people like these. Tim was still a work in progress, and he knew that, but at least his new family made him feel like all that work was going to be worth it in the end.

The landscape of Naruto's mind had changed a great deal over the years, and it had changed to reflect his changing view of the gigantic beast the dwelled within him. Kurama was something the young man had once viewed as his greatest burden in this world, the thing that had destroyed any chance he could've had at a normal life. Yet, after living with him for just shy of 16 years, Naruto found himself realizing what the Fox actually was to him. Kurama was both a guardian and mentor to him, keeping him alive and showing him how to grow even stronger. At first, Naruto had simply believed he did this out of self preservation. After all, if the container died, it's contents went with it. That was an argument that no longer made sense to Naruto, as Kurama, like all tailed beasts, was made up of too much chakra to merely die. Over the course of several years, enough of his chakra would find it's way to the place where he'd been born and would reform him in the same state that he had been before. Essicantly, Kurama was free to let Naruto die and then be free himself, granted after an extended period of time. True, he would be hunted down and likely sealed away again, but it seemed to Naruto that the time spent on the outside world would've been worth it to him. Once he realized this, Naruto began to wonder if freedom was what Kurama wanted at all. Perhaps what he'd really wanted over all these years was for a someone to reach out and make a real connection. It seemed to Naruto that, after centuries in isolation, Kurama desired nothing more than an honest to goodness friend. Of course the Fox feared that humans would only befriend him for his power, as it was tantalizing proposition, so Naruto had to earn his trust before they could think of another as more than mere partners. Three years later, after spending countless hours inside his own head talking with Kurama, the young man was starting to believe that could be a reality.

"This place is really starting to shape up, isn't it?" Naruto asked, looking around at the forest that had taken the place of sewer the Kyuubi's confinement had once been. The forest wasn't the most lush one he'd ever seen, but it was certainly better than a damp prison of cement and steel. Rather than metal bars, Kurama was now held back by a cage of intertwined roots. It was quite the transformation, "Took us a few years, but we got here. Anything else I can start trying to make for you when I meditate?"

Kurama laid inside the cage, mumbling in response, "Eh, not really. Just make it greener and I'll be good."

The boy nodded, noticing how short the reply had been, "You okay? If you're tired, I can leave, give you some time to rest or something."

"Nah, nothing like that kit," Kurama said, rather liking having the company. There was something else on his mind, "I've been watching you try to court those women of yours, and it's brought up some interesting thoughts. Humans are part of the less than five percent of creatures on this earth that commit to a mate for life. It baffles me, seeing you do something like that. You find yourself strongly attracted to three different females, so why not mate with them all? Why restrict yourself to one? Why do they only want the one mate as well? It doesn't seem logical to me. You humans are such strange creatures."

Naruto chuckled at the observation, "I get why you might think that, but humans have this little thing called jealousy. Try as we might, we end up finding a person a we like so much that we don't want to see them with anyone else. If both humans feel that way, they end up agreeing to stay with one another for life. You've been watching humans for a long time, how does it still confuse you?"

The mechanics weren't what threw Kurama for a loop, "I understand that, but the jealousy is foolish to me. If you love something, wouldn't you want it to have as much pleasure as possible? Take your potential lovers for instance. If you could have all three of them without any objections, wouldn't you take that chance?"

"What? No, that'd be wrong," Naruto said, blushing a bit, "Sure, it'd be fun and all, but I couldn't do it without hurting one of them. I'd end up loving one more than the others, no matter how hard I tried not to. If I loved them, I wouldn't want to put them through something like that. You've got emotions, you must have had a mate that you cared about like that."

Kurama gave a small 'hmph' before replying, "A mate would require another member of my species, which I don't have. I can't mate with the other tailed beasts, because we aren't the same kind of animals, and I can't really mate with a regular fox either. They're too small, both in body and mind."

That was something that Naruto had never considered, "Wait, so that means that you can't have a wife and kids? Couldn't you transform your shape or something? I heard you can do that based on a bunch old legends. Maybe you could find a human you cared for?"

"Sure, if I ever got free, that might work in theory," Kurama started, raising Naruto's hopes a bit, "But we couldn't' be a genetic match for children, and I'm an immortal, meaning I'd outlive her. I don't like the idea of falling in love with something only to know I have to go one without it one day."

Naruto could understand that, even sympathize with it. He didn't know if he wanted to find a lover because of the kind of danger he would put her in. However, he didn't want to live life alone, and he didn't want Kurama to have to either. So he suggested, "What about one of the female tailed beasts? If you two transformed into the same thing, then could you maybe have a family?"

The first response Kurama wanted to give was to tell Naruto how stupid he was. After thinking about it for a moment however, a sudden realization hit him, "I've never considered that. I mean, we're made of the same immortal chakra, it's only the reproductive systems that differ. Though I don't know what kind of children we'd have, and there's only three female tailed beasts for me to choose from…"

"Hey, it's not for certain, but who knows? Maybe this could all work out for you?" Naruto offered, continuing for good measure, "If you guys can't have kids, considering you can become anything you want, it'd still sure be fun trying!"

A burst of laughter left Kurama's throat, "Haha, well you've got me there. Perhaps it's something I'll have to try. You know, if I was to be truly free, and didn't have to worry about someone trying to captured me for the rest of my life."

Both Naruto and Kurama's faces turned more somber at that last remark. The teen looked his larger friend in the eye, saying with absolute sincerity, "I promise you, if the day ever comes where I feel I can safely let you free, I will. I'll let you have the life you've been denied almost since you were born. I don't blame you if you don't believe me, but, you still have my word...and I never break my word."

"Heh, you really are something else kid," Kurama said, a small smile on his face, "Now get the hell out of here. I've had enough philosophical talk for one day. Besides, your weak ass needs to get training."

Naruto nodded, glad to see Kurama hadn't lost he need to give him shit. This conversation had been one of their best ones yet. If things kept up like this, maybe the Fox's mind could be changed in regards to all humans. It was a longshot, but hey, Naruto had a way of making these things happen.

The boy's eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the dimly lit living room more quickly than he expected. Naruto gave a small yawn and uncrossed his legs, stretching a bit as he stood up. Wayne Manor was silent as he listened to see if his father or one of his friends was present. This started to worry the boy, so he called out, "Hello? Anyone home? Come on, I know wasn't meditating for that long."

"Look at you...making friend with that monster," Growled the voice of a woman Naruto didn't recognize. As if from thin air, said woman appeared in front of him, with red hair and face that reminded him of his own. It hit him that it was Kushina Uzumaki, his biological mother, as she continued her rant against him, "We're dead because of that thing, and so are hundreds of other people! Yet you're trying to help it? What kind of son are you?"

Naruto began to back away, his heart racing ever faster, "Mom? What's going? How are you here right now?"

He bumped into another person behind him. Naruto turned to find his biological father, Minato Namikaze, staring into his deep blue eyes, "I sacrificed myself to save the village from that monster. Your burden was to protect him Naruto, not to act as though that creature has feelings or emotions like you and I do!"

"This can't be happening, you both died almost 16 years ago," Naruto said, watching as bloody holes appeared in both of their torsos, "I'm dreaming! I woke in a fucking nightmare!"

The next thing the boy knew, another figure appeared on the couch. It was the purple clad clown prince of crime, the Joker, and he was having the time of his life, "Hahaha! This is priceless! It's like the best tv show ever! Watching you squirm, with your sins crawling down your back! Oh, I could do this for hours! Who's next in this little party?"

Naruto didn't know, and he didn't plan on staying to find out, "Forget that! I'm waking up before I have to put up with any more of this."

"Oh go ahead, try to wake yourself up," The Joker said nonchalantly, "You'll get no resistance from me."

When the Joker planned on letting you do whatever it was you wanted, that was typically a sign he knew exactly what was going to happen next. Still, Naruto didn't want to stay here any longer, so he brought his hand up to his mouth and bit down as hard as he possibly could. He expected the pain to wake up, but instead his teeth pierce through the skin and made the boy bleed. Naruto yelped in pain, looking up at the Joker, "Ah, son of a bitch that hurt! Why can't I wake up? What'd you do to me you sick clown?"

The Joker cackled, throwing his hand over his mouth as though he was trying to control himself, "Haha, don't you get it boy? You're not asleep! Just like with me, those two ghosts you saw were all in your head! Look around, you'll see I sent them back to the twisted little corners of your mind."

"There's no way," Naruto began, but saw the clown was right before he could finish. The visions of his mother and his father were gone now, "What the hell? I bumped into him. That dad was real, I felt him!"

Now the villain had his chance to explain, "They were real, but they were only real to you. I, using my beautiful artistic vision, made them. That's right brat, I'm officially the maestro of your mind! The Joker's getting closer and closer to being behind the wheel! From this point forward, I can create things in your head that you actually perceive as reality! Just think of all the fun that you and I are going to have from now on! What should I conjure up next?"

Naruto didn't respond. He'd gone pale, his mind going mad at the thought of this new threat. The Joker had been bad enough when he was just talking to Naruto, now he could actually make alter things as well? This was more than just bad, it was possibly the worst thing the clown could've figured out how to do. Water began to fill the boy's eyes as he plead in a bitter voice, "Please, don't do this. After everything I've been through, and every last person I've had to prove wrong to get here, don't destroy what I've built. Just crawl back into whatever dark, endless chasm you climbed out of and stay there. For once in your miserable life, make a decision that doesn't ruin someone else's future!"

"He...hehe," The Joker began to laugh, letting it build up slowly before his chuckle became more demented, "Haha, you know something boy? Hehehe, you, ha, you sound just like your father! Hahaha! That really is rich! Hehehehe! Hahaha! Oh...oh man...I'm going to enjoy beating that out of you."

And just like that, there it was. The gauntlet had been thrown down. Naruto had no plans on giving his body away to this monster and the Joker had no intentions of going away quietly. This meant things could only end one of the two ways. Either the Joker was destroyed once and for all, or he would gain the power of beast so strong nations had warred over it. If events turned to the latter...then God help Gotham.

Edward Nygma had never pictured himself as lapdog for anybody. In fact, he thought Gotham should've been smart enough to figure out he was best suited to be the man in charge years ago. To him, being the top dog seemed inevitable. However, after hearing the Scarecrow's plan to take the city back so they could return it to the people it belonged to, the criminals, he had to concede that it was the best possible course for Gotham. More importantly though, it was the best possible course for the Riddler. If the Scarecrow's plan came to fruition, which it likely would by Nygma's calculations, it would be best to stay on the man's good side. Being his strategic adviser and one of the few people who knew the full plan was most certainly the Scarecrow's good side.

"Oh come on you brutes, speed it up, will you?" The Riddler called as he watched the strongest men his boss had to spare try to move 4 long metal crates, "I don't want to stay in this city any longer than I have to. Honestly, who names their home 'Jump City?' What does this place even have to do with jumping? I'm in possession of one of the highest IQ's in the world, and I can't even wager a guess as to what that's supposed to be about."

Standing next to Riddler on the loading dock was Deathstroke, who cared little about the origins of the city's name, "This city may call itself whatever it likes, so long as I get to pick its bones clean. Please send Scarecrow's friend my regards. What did you say his name was? Orochi-something?"

"Orochimaru," The Riddler corrected him, pronouncing the name as best he could, "His experiments are twisted, even by my standards, but they yield some impressive results. If you don't mind my asking, why do you need these four anyways?"

Before he could answer, Deathstroke heard five sets of footsteps landing behind him. He turned around to find Nightwing standing before him with the rest of the Teen Titans. It was the only thing this picture had been missing, "Ah, Nightwing, so glad you could join us. I hope you don't mind that I invited an old friend of yours from Gotham to come visit."

Nightwing scowled at the Riddler, who smirked back at him, "Long time no see Nygma. Haven't heard your condescending voice in a long time. You have another puzzle you wanna send my way?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. As long as Slade here is okay with it that is," Riddler fired back, glancing over at Deathstroke for confirmation. The man nodded, so Nygma began, "Riddle me this! 'The man who made it, doesn't need it. The man who bought it, doesn't want it. The man who needs it, doesn't know it.' What is it, my ex-boy wonder?"

He never gave a riddle without a reason, so Nightwing did his best to figure it out. Being as smart as he was, it wasn't long before he said, "A coffin. The answer's a coffin. Are you saying that's what we're going to be needing tonight?"

The Riddler laughed, reaching up on his cane for a small button just below the top, "You will be needing a coffin tonight in all likelihood, but that's not the reason why I bring it up. Men, you may put down your cargo. It's time to show these foolish little heroes to see what we've got for them in these metal coffins."

"So I get see them in action," Deathstroke said to himself a the men dropped their metallic crates, or coffins as they apparently were, and Nygma pressed his switch. The coffin's shot open, "Excellent, I was hoping for a chance like this!"

Instantly the team got into a fighting formation. Nightwing was at the head to asses the situation, Beast Boy and Cyborg were on the side to defend against possible oncoming attacks, Raven was in rear to scan for any hidden threats, and Starfire hovered in the air to protect them from possible aerial attacks. The first of the metal coffins began to shake until something shot out of it like a missile, a trail of flame behind it. It was a man, heavily burned, with various mechanisms connected to his flesh. Two wing like devices came were strapped to his back, acting as jetbacks of sort. His face was covered with a metal helmet that had two orange eye holes, and lastly he held a flamethrower in his hand. A raspy voice emanated from his scorched throat, "Like moths to the FLAME! AHHAHAHAHA!"

Nightwing had heard that voice before, and it belonged to a dead man, "Firefly? You died after Two-Face blew up your fuel tank! How are you still alive?"

"I shouldn't be the one you're worrying about pretty boy," Firefly spat back, pointing his flamethrower at Starfire, "You should be worried about your cute little friend there! Let see how firey this redhead is!"

The girl's eye went wide as she flew out of the way of a jet of the flame that shot from the barrel of the villain's gun. She tried to fire one of her energy bolts in retaliation, but Firefly dogged it in a flash. Starfire began to worry, "Friends, this previously dead man seems to have reflexes that are better than the living. He may prove troublesome for me."

Cyborg got out his sonic cannon and prepared to fire at this new foe, "Don't worry Starfire! I got yaAHHHHHHHHH!"

"You aren't gonna have anyone metal ass," Came an electronic voice from behind the hero as electricity shot into his system, "Cause the Electrocutioner is back, and better than ever!"

Beast Boy turned just in time to see his best friend being shocked to near unconsciousness. He'd heard of the villain before, but he looked different from the descriptions Beast Boy had heard, along with being alive when he supposedly killed years ago. The Electrocutioner was now covered in conductive plates of all different kinds, and he had mask on that appeared to be a respirator of some sort. Before the criminal had only been able to run electricity directly through his hands, but just now he'd shot it several feet across the air. It was apparent this undead foe had gotten a power boost as well, not that it stopped Beast Boy from charging at him, "No one does that to my buddy! Get ready to get owned sparky!"

After a brief metamorphosis, the boy turned himself into a hulking gorilla and charged at the Electrocutioner. He never got the chance to reach the villain, as thin metal chain wrapped around his neck, yanking him backwards. Flying several feet in the air, he landed in human form directly in front of a woman whose skin was covered in snake like scales. Their color tone was almost like that of a hispanic person, but there was a noticeable tint of orange to them. Based on the tattoos, it was definitely Copperhead, who had once been one of the greatest female assassins in world before meeting her demise at the hands of Kakuzu. Her changes looked to have been more on the genetic side, with her newfound powers having made her physically stronger and even more flexible. It was likely her poisons were now even more effective as well. Copperhead beamed at getting the chance to show off her newfound abilities, "And I thought I was dangerous before! All you idiotas are about to be in a world of pain!"

"Well this could be going better," Raven deadpanned as she prepared an attack of her own, "Guess I'd better take things up a notch if we wanna get through this. Azarath metrion zinthos!"

One of the metal coffins began to glow with a black aura from Raven's magic and flew off from the ground, headed directly towards Copperhead. Just as it was about to reach her, a woman jumped in front of it, slashing it in half with a larger than average katana. Once Raven got a good look at her, she discovered who the final member of the undead quartet was. It was Lady Shiva, the last person Kakuzu had murdered that night with Black Mask. Yet, the look on her face, it wasn't like the others. She didn't seem pleased to be here, quite the opposite actually. Lady Shiva looked downright pissed, "Oh lovely, I'm about to have a brawl with the last daughter of Azarath. Being woken up from my eternal sleep is bad enough, but now I have to take orders from an ex member of the League of Assassins and narcissistic fool as well. What a lovely existence this will be."

Raven had been able to gather a large amount of information from those few sentences. Lady Shiva, who was more muscular than before and had visible stitches in the gaps of her armor, was here against her will and was being controlled by Deathstroke and the Riddler. This meant these people's action weren't entirely their own, but their personalities could shine through. The picture was starting to become much more clear to the heroin, "Whoever Orochimaru is, he's found a way to reanimate the dead and give them enhanced versions of their previous powers while also retaining complete control over them. He must be using some sort of forbidden magic that even I wasn't aware of to pull this off."

"I don't care how he did it, all I wanna know is how we can stop it," Nightwing called back, noticing the Riddler was attempting to escape with his men, "Hey, get back here you little weasel!"

Lunging to stop the villain, Nightwing came to an abrupt halt when something caught him hard in the chest. It was Deathstroke, who smacked his bo staff into the hero's chest, using it to send him skidding back several feet. Slade Wilson was far from done with him, "Now Nightwing, I can't let you leave so soon. I need to make certain you watch your friends perish first. Once I've gotten to watch your worthless hero's heart crack in two, then you're free to chase after the Riddler. Come on, try and stop me so you can save your weakling comrades!"

Nightwing realized then and there what Deathstroke's plan was. He'd revived these villains so that they could kill his teammates, leaving the hero vulnerable to his mind games. It was getting to the point where Deathstroke didn't even seem to care if he survived or not, just so long as he made Nightwing turn over to the other side. The Dark Knight's proteges were getting an eerie habit of following in his footsteps in the worst ways. Now the only question was; could Nightwing follow the example set by his teacher?