Disclaimer: We don't own Teen Titans, Naruto, or anything else that might make an appearance in this fic...
Naruto Ultimate 3: Red-X Rising...
Chapter 51: The Prophecy…
Normal Talking
Normal Thinking
Radio in use
Demon Talking
Demon Thinking
Jutsu in use
Inner Self-Talking
(Jump-City…)
In Titans-Tower, a screen shows a replay of the Titans last battle with the newly resurrected Slade. It shows Raven running up a flight of stairs, the familiar area caught ablaze by Slade's new powers, as a large cylinder falls to the ground. "It has begun." Slade's voice drones out in a dull-monotone, the S shaped rune on his forehead blazing a brilliant crimson color…
"Freeze!" Nightwing orders while looking to the screen, arms crossed over his chest and an intent look on his face, BB sighing as he does so with a bored look on his face. "Rewind." Nightwing then orders while Beast-Boy tiredly does so, still very clearly bored with what he's being ordered to do for the former Boy-Wonder…
"Dude we've been looking at this thing all day. I'm telling you there's nothing else there." BB notes while turning around to Nightwing while planting his right fist against his cheek.
"There has to be, play it again." Nightwing orders and a tired BB sighed once more while playing the scene yet again, for what felt like the millionth time.
"Dude, would this have anything to do with the fact the JLU are helping us that's got you so bent out of shape?" BB asked of the former-boy-wonder, thus gained an annoyed glare from his leader.
"Shut up and play it again." Nightwing ordered with a slight twitch of his brow and BB rolled his eyes while turning back to the TV.
"Slade kicks butt, take three hundred and four…" BB muttered as he did as ordered, languidly sitting on the Sofa as Nightwing watched the screen like a hawk. Meanwhile, Jason Blood and Cyborg walked into the room, Jason holding a book while Cyborg frowned slightly.
"Cyborg, anything?" Nightwing questioned without turning around and Cy let out a slight sigh while walking over to his leader.
"Sort of, I cross-referenced that symbol with every data-base on the planet…" Cyborg replied and Nightwing narrowed his eyes even as Jason blood walked to the side and started work on a computer terminal.
"And?" Nightwing questioned and Cyborg clicked his tongue.
"Well… I couldn't find anything. No matches, no mentions, it was as if it didn't exist… Jason here on the other hand." Cyborg admitted while motioning over to the scarlet haired man as he brought a large version of the symbol on the screen, Nightwing frowning as he did so.
"The Symbol belongs to the Order of Scath, a cult of worshipers whose only goal is to break open a portal to allow their master entrance into our world." Jason replied while Cyborg and Nightwing grimaced visibly.
"Dude, what's a freaky demonic cult want with Raven?" BB wondered aloud and Cyborg looked to Nightwing who frowned as they both had a few ideas on that matter…
"New powers, cryptic threats, targeting Raven, and working with a demonic cult, Slades playing a whole new game now." Nightwing noted to himself as he walked closer to the screen and glared at the vision of Slade. "Mr. Blood, do you have anymore information on the cult or its master we can use?" Nightwing questioned and Jason frowned for a few moments, deciding it was Raven's place to tell them her involvement to the master of the cult, not his…
"Yes. The Order of Scath has a sister group known as the "Church of Blood" lead by a man you've had encounters with in the past…" Jason replied while lacing his fingers together and a scowl crossed Cyborgs face.
"Brother Blood!" The Titanium Teen growled out and Jason nodded his head silently while staring intently at the screen of the terminal he was using.
"Correct. Brother-Blood's mind-control powers are common among the leaders of the Church of Blood, but given how he hasn't been aiding Slade I believe he felt his powers were all he needed and wished to try to take control of the world on his own." Jason replied and Cyborg frowned, Nightwing merely narrowing his eyes as he looked towards the still of Slade.
"Dude this is like so out of our league, we are supposed to take on whack-jobs in costumes, not psycho cultists!" BB exclaimed while throwing his arms into the air and Cyborg gave the green furred Jester a look.
"Yeah well unfortunately this fell into our lap, like it or not Slade's our bad-guy, and not to mention the fact Raven's the one in danger this time around…" Cyborg reminded the green teen and he slowly nodded his head in agreement with his metal friend while Jason narrowed his eyes.
"Something wrong Mr. Blood?" Nightwing asked the crimson haired man and watched as he closed his eyes and concentrated intently. Contrary to popular belief, Night was actually glad to have Jason around right about now. It was only Batman he couldn't stand to work with anymore. He knew Jason because he was an ally of Batman's in Gotham, thus they would work together at times.
"Yes… I sense that Raven is most distressed by something… I need to get to work on some wards around your tower." Jason replied before getting up and making his way out of OPS just as Starfire, Donna, and Kid-Flash walked in. Kid-Flash got his cast off a few days earlier, thanks mostly to Raven using her healing spells, but also with an herbal potion or two Donna was able to make.
"Hello friends, have you found any news on Slade or his recent activities?" Starfire asked as she flew into the room, Kid-Flash zipping over to the sofa and sitting down with his arms behind his neck.
"Yeah, like what Slade wants?" KF questioned and Donna shook her head while sitting next to the red haired teen.
"Not really. Whatever he wants has to do with a cult known as the Order of Scath. I'm going to try and look them up on the Internet, and maybe I'll find out what their master wants with Raven…" Nightwing replied before walking out of the room, leaving the others behind while BB suddenly frowned in thought before snapping his fingers.
"Hey dudes, you guys know how Raven can teleport and use magic spells and such?" BB asked and got nods from his friends. "Well, what if this cult wants Raven to like open up a portal for that Skath thing to come through or something?" BB offered the others, only for Cyborg to frown in thought before nodding his head.
"Yeah… that does make some sense… and I don't suppose running the idea by Mr. Blood wouldn't hurt anything." Cyborg admitted and a grin crossed BB's face at the compliment. "But, I do have one question." Cy then continued and BB blinked for a moment as the Titanium teen pointed at him accusingly. "Who the hell are you and what have you done with Beast-Boy!" He demanded, getting laughs from Kid-Flash while the girls snickered, BB grumbling under his breath…
(Tartarus HQ…)
"Seriously Gizmo, why do you keep making new suits for me?" Naruto asked flatly while sitting in Gizmo's workshop, a pair of sunglasses covering his new eyes.
"Maybe because this is the final model I'll be making for years to come!" Gizmo replied with a deep frown on his face and Naruto couldn't help but doubt that even as Gizmo cleared his throat. However before the tiny-terror could continue, Duela popped her head into the doorway, dressed in her "Joker's Daughter" outfit once more.
"Hey! What are you guys doing?" Duela asked from the doorway, causing Naruto and Gizmo both to grimace when she does so.
"Nothing that involves you Duela." Gizmo shouted at the girl while Naruto rolled his eyes as the clown girl grinned cheekily.
"Oh really? I beg to differ!" Duela stated while sashaying into the room, Gizmo groaning while holding his face in his hands. Moving around Naruto, Duela then sat down on the table next to Gizmo with a twinkle in her violet eyes. "So then, what's going on that's so important pip-squeak?" Duela asked the bald midget while leaning over next to him, Naruto frowning as his Rinnegan eyes spotted a green blob hovering above them.
"Dani get down from there…" Naruto ordered flatly, causing both Duela and Gizmo to look at him before the Ghostling girl appeared with a pout. Dani is currently in her "Hybrid" form, as apparently her full-human half no longer existed, her original human form had adopted some of her Ghostly features into itself.
Her long black hair is held back by a blue band and has a small white streak in it, her eyes were odd, one being blue the other a dark green color, her skin is the fair color of her human form, and her eyes have dark rings forming around them. She is wearing a red beanie, a black midriff bearing Tank-top with a blue swirl on the front, a pair of red shorts, a blue zip-up hoodie that she's left open, a pair of fingerless black gloves, black socks and blue hi-top sneakers…
"How do you keep spotting me? I can't even turn invisible to sneak up on you anymore!" Dani complained while crossing her arms over her chest, Naruto rolling his eyes as he smirked towards his apprentice.
"My eyes see more now, than you'd ever expect…" The blond haired teen replied while Dani grumbled under her breath and Gizmo scowled deeply.
"Whatever! Now then I want you both to get out of here!" Gizmo ordered only for Duela and Dani to look to one another, then to Gizmo, before both began to shake their heads. Grumbling under his breath, Gizmo slapped his face while Naruto scratched his chin and looked at the Tiny-Terror.
"C'mon Giz, it's not like it has to be a secret from the others… it's not like they won't find out about it eventually." Naruto reminds and both Duela and Dani grin as the Tiny-Terror twitched and then muttered something under his breath.
"Fine, the bitches can stay…" Gizmo finally aloud, both Duela and Dani glaring at him for what he called them. Walking over to the side, Gizmo then stopped before something similar to a locker, only with two doors on it and clearly his throat. "Now then, Ladies and Gentleman. Without further ado, I give you the Omega X-Suit!" Gizmo then stated while pressing a button at the side of the locker, causing a pair of doors to slide open and reveal the new suit at last.
"What the…" Naruto mumbled while leaning forward, one eyebrow raised when he saw this newest version of his suit.
This suit was unlike the others, because at the moment it was totally black, the eyes a dull grey color, down the length of the spine and attached to the back of the helmet was a series of ash-grey spinal plates, along the length of either forearm were three separated metal plates, obviously replacing his old gauntlets, with metal plates on the backs of the fists, and white segmented plates on the fingers. The legs of the suit were also black, only with three separated grey plates along the shins replacing greaves, metal lining the soles of the feet, and of course the ash-grey belt that seemed to be made up of numerous plates as well, each separate from one another with a circular buckle.
"Um… if he's supposed to be "Red-X" where are the X's… or the red for that matter?" Duela asked and Gizmo twitched before reaching over and pressed two buttons on the buckle, activating the suit. Instantly, a red X appeared on the mask the two lower arms curving down over the eyes of the suit, the jagged and fanged teeth of the invisible skull silhouetted by red, another red X appearing on the chest, one on either palm of the suit, and the final two plates appearing over the tops of the feet, the crimson glow from them was noticeably dull, Naruto noticing that they didn't even seem to give off any kind of light…
"Cool!" Dani said with a grin on her face while Gizmo smirked at the surprised look on Duela's face.
"As you can see, I did a radical overhaul on the suits overall design, though kept it similar to the original. I call it an Omega-X-Suit because Omega represents "The End", and I'm hoping I'll never have to make another of these suits for you." Gizmo said before crossing his arms over his chest with a smirk still across his face. Blinking for a moment, Naruto got up and walked over to the suit, looking around it with a slim frown across his lips when he couldn't see any seams on it…
"Okay… then how do I put it on? I don't see any seams on this one." Naruto questioned of Gizmo and the bald midget twitched for a moment before muttering under his breath. Sighing for a moment, Gizmo pushed Naruto out of the way before he twisted the circular buckle of the suit, causing several latches to open while he pressed on the front of the buckle, opening the belt as the suit's metal plates started coming apart to reveal the inside. The Helmet / mask of the suit also came undone, and the plates that made up the front of the mask / helmet slid back…
"Whoa, that's new." Naruto said aloud and Gizmo smirked towards the leader of Tartarus.
"Yeah, now then, the inner portion of the suit is made up of metal plates. They are as durable as Titanium, yet three times lighter." Gizmo explained while tapping on the metal plates inside of the suit.
"Hey, what happened to the moving Jaw it used to have?" Dani suddenly asked and Gizmo twitched while glaring at the girl for a moment, and then decided not to ask how she knew about that.
"Technically, it was never supposed to have a movable jaw, that was actually a malfunction with the locking mechanisms and Vocal-Synthesizer causing vibrations that made it look like it was moving on its own. But anyways I did manage to fix that little problem yesterday." Gizmo replied flatly and Dani blinked before slowly nodding her head as Gizmo then pointed back to the suit. "Now then, the outer portion of the suit is comprised of Synthetic Nano-Fibers I developed. They not only offer some extra protection, but also repair themselves by using your Chakra." Gizmo then added with a smirk as Naruto whistled lightly while looking at the suit for a moment.
"Wait, how is it so thin if it's made of both Metal and Synthetic Fibers?" Duela asked while Dani floated over to the suit and felt how thin it was, being about as thick as Blackfire's own armor, which was only about as thick as normal cloth.
"Because I used the same Alien metal Blackfire's new suit is made out of. Therefore the armor's metal is not only thin as freaking paper, but also malleable, and as such it's extremely flexible while also retaining the overall durability of a metal. Unlike Temp however, Blackie wanted her armor to look the same as her usual armor, so I didn't have to overhaul the design for her suit." Gizmo replied while Naruto finished looking over the suit, pulling his head back and rubbing his chin for a moment.
"Not bad, you've actually managed to outdo yourself this time Giz. Anything else I should know about this thing, before I take it out for a test-run?" Naruto asked and Gizmo took a thoughtful expression for a moment before nodding his head.
"Yeah, this puppy is also designed with a built in self-defense system. If anyone tries to put it on but you, they're going to be in for one hell of a surprise. The Suit has my newest invention, a "Chakra-Converter" equipped into the belt, which basically molds your Chakra into electricity that can shock anyone trying to use it. And it also functions when someone tries to take off your mask. Oh, and its got an internal temperature control, no matter where you go, you'll be fine up until the extremes, like a volcano or even outer space." Gizmo replied while crossing his arms over his chest as Naruto looked over the inside of the suit for a moment, lingering on the back.
"What're these things along the back of the suit, Giz?" The blond asked of his tiny-friend and Gizmo mentally grumbled about making an instruction manual for future suits or devices he made for Naruto.
"Those are scanners that monitor your brain activity and also allow the use of the Neural Controller. It not only increases response time, but the suit will no longer need you to twitch or move your fingers to use its various gadgets and weapons. Or for the short version, all you have to do is think it and it'll happen." Gizmo explained to the blond haired teen as he continued to look over the all black / ash-grey suit. "Now if your done asking questions, put it on so you can give this baby a test run!" Gizmo ordered and Naruto grinned as he grabbed the suit, momentarily surprised by just how light it was considering it was armored this time, and then rushed into a nearby room…
(Titans Tower…)
It is night-time at Titans-Tower, yet none of the Titans are able to find sleep, though her friends are looking to discover meanings in a video, the Dark Titan herself rests within her room. Raven sits cross legged while floating in the air among a great deal of books in her room, and four of them floating around her, while a familiar glowing S shaped rune over the gemstone at her forehead. A light sweat coats the girl's brow as she tries to calm herself, a nightmare from Slade having completely shot any composure she might have had. "It's my destiny, there has to be a way to change it. I know there is." Raven states to herself while waving a hand, black energy forming over two of the books and causing them to flip rapidly.
"I just need a little help finding it…" Raven admitted to herself as she looked at each book only to linger on the familiar book showing the Kyuubi. 'From what Naruto told me, Kyuubi is at only half it's original power because his father sealed the other half inside himself with help from the "Shinigami"… my father is a High-A class demon, and Kyuubi is a Demon Lord, thus an S-Class demon, but with the missing portion of his power he'd only measure to be about a B to mid A class demon at best… not only that but Kyuubi is still only a Mid-level S-Class at its strongest. The "Juubi" being a High S-Class and almost on par with The Strongest Demon-Lord, Agni of Hellfire himself.' Raven noted to herself silently while biting her lip and crossing her arms over her chest.
'Kyuubi is still at the very least on par with my father even with the drain. Maybe Naruto and I could convince it to help us destroy him…' Raven thought to herself before frowning as she thought of the numerous ways that would backfire. 'Namely it demanding its freedom and killing Naruto…' She thought to herself with a frown, even with the Uzumaki Life-Span, she doubted that Naruto could survive without the Kyuubi's Chakra, it'd been inside of him since birth, tearing it out of him would obviously put a strain on the "Chakra-Coils" he had inside of him.
Flipping a few pages away from the Fifth lord of hell she stopped at a picture of the Shinigami and raised a brow. While this book was from Azarath, it was clear to her that they had had encounters with Naruto's people as it detailed all of the different beasts in their lands quite well. However, from his stories, Raven gained further knowledge that all but the Nine Bijuu and the Zero-Tailed Beast or as Naruto called it the "Reibi no Menhiru" had been destroyed by the Rikudo-Sennin nearly a thousand years ago… at least according to legend that is.
Shaking her head, Raven flipped the four books around, replacing the two behind her with the two in front of her. She then pointed at the two books in front of her and made them flip through several pages before her eyes widened as they stopped at a familiar S shaped rune and gasped. "No!" She said to herself before taking hold of the book, the other three books falling to the ground as she did. "This has to be wrong." She told herself disbelievingly before looking to her door when she heard someone knocking. Closing the book and holding it to her chest Raven awaited someone to speak and mentally sighed in relief when she heard Nightwing's voice.
"Uh, any luck finding the symbol?" The former Boy Wonder questioned and Raven quickly used her powers to slip the book under her bed. Taking a quick calming breath the violet-haired girl then pulled her hood up to shadow her face and hide the symbol on her brow while walking over to her door.
"No. It's not in any of my books." Raven says shakily as she moves over to the door and mentally twitches when Nightwing opens it and looks at her worriedly. 'I thought we had a discussion about opening my door without my permission after Beast-Boy caught me after I'd just taken a shower…' Raven thought to herself with a slight twitch of her brow, wondering if she'd have to do to Nightwing what she did to Beast-Boy, which was let him spend a day in a Nightmare world of infinite horror…
"Are you okay Raven? You look a little… well… paler." Nightwing noticed and Raven mentally sighed, though given her earlier nightmare she could understand why she might look paler than normal… didn't mean she liked the thought.
"It's nothing, I just haven't been able to meditate lately that's all." The violet-eyed sorceress replied while placing a hand on the edge of her door.
"Look, I know Slade scared you, but we'll find out why he was after you." Nightwing told the girl seriously and Raven looked straight at the Boy Wonder for a brief moment before answering.
"Slade doesn't concern me." She stated only to look up as the Titans-Alarm went off and Starfire's voice echoed across the COM system.
"Friends, come quickly." The alien princess beckoned and Nightwing instantly ran off, Raven staying at her doorway for only a moment before following after her masked leader silently…
(JLU Watchtower…)
Batman sits at a computer with a deep frown, Green Lantern and Dr. Fate sitting to either side of the Dark-Knight. Batman had decided to move up to the watchtower because of Slade's unwanted presence in the Batcave earlier. "Why would Slade willingly give you a Ring of Azar? He must know that we are going to attempt to stop Trigon's assent to power." Dr. Fate wondered aloud while looking at the ring, making sure it wasn't cursed or trapped in some way…
"Maybe he knows that, and it's why he gave it to me." Batman replied flatly while looking over his compiled information.
"So he's planning on double-crossing Trigon? Doesn't sound like Deathstroke to put his neck on the line for others…" John Steward noted with a frown on his face and Batman narrowed his eyes on the screen.
"No he's not. But this isn't just others, not only is he in danger, but so is his son and daughter should Trigon succeed." Batman reminds, causing Dr. Fate to shake his head and chuckle lightly in his throat.
"Ah, so he can be a father after all…" Dr. Fate mused while crossing his arms as Batman continued to compile information, and then stopped. As he did, John narrowed his eyes and looked over what they had managed to compile with a frown.
"Alright, what we know so far is that Trigon has resurrected Deathstroke to do his dirty work on earth until he's finally free. Most likely old Red-Butt will then do away with Deathstroke completely, feeling he's useless to him by that point." John started to say while pointing to a still of Slade with an S shaped rune on his forehead.
"Trigon also plans on using Raven as the portal to enter our world." Batman continued for the Green-Lantern, Dr. Fate nodding his head before continuing where the Dark-Knight left off while showing a still of Raven with numerous crimson runes adorning the majority of her body.
"Add onto that, the cultists from the Order of Scath prepared for, and quite possibly intended to die in order to power the portal that would bridge the gap between our world and Trigon's prison." Dr. Fate supplied while Batman brought up pictures of the numerous Runes he and Jason Blood had found in the tunnels underneath Jump-City.
"Also The Ravager murdered the numerous members of The Order of Scath and took their rings of Azar for a still unknown reason." John reminds pointedly and both Batman and Dr. Fate nod their heads.
"Don't forget that a Demonic-Barrier was also set up by an unknown Eastern-Demon at the old Jump-City Library. The Demon also appears to be aiding Trigon in his attempt to break into our world. Most likely it's a partnership, with the Eastern Demon seeking entrance into our world as well, or possibly something else of equal value to it…" Batman added while Dr. Fate nodded his head with a frown across his face, hidden beneath his golden helmet.
"And finally, from what Jason managed to explain to me, a strange aura of some kind that attempted to either constrain or outright destroy anything demonic appeared in the Jump-City forest very recently. And, from what I could see, it was being generated by a strange wolf like beast…" Dr. Fate added to the list of facts while leaving out whom he believed the beast might've really been.
"All these happenings lead only to one conclusion…" Batman noted while lacing his fingers together and staring at the screen silently.
"And that is?" The Green Lantern questioned with a raised brow and Batman turned to the man with a deep frown.
"We're running out of time." Batman replied and Green Lantern nodded his head in agreement with the Dark-Knight while Dr. Fate rubbed his chin.
"Indeed, and we have still yet to learn anything useful about Trigon's mysterious compatriot. Should it be a Demon of above average strength, not only will we not be able to prepare, but I fear we may meet our end against the both of them together." Dr. Fate added and Batman nodded his head with a deep frown on his face, going over the vast list of different things that needed to be done.
"All we know for a fact is it's a fire demon, even it being an eastern demon is up for debate. While western demons aren't as known for it, they still must have the ability to use a Demonic-Barrier." Batman reminds and Dr. Fate agreed with the Dark-Knight, while not known for it, he was aware of at least a few western-demons who could use demonic barriers and the like…
"You know, we've been talking about solutions all night but forgot one thing." John noted and both Batman and Dr. Fate turned to the Green-Lantern as he leaned forward with his arms still crossed over his chest. "That Naruto kid Raven's dating, far as I'm concerned, he's connected to this situation as much as anyone." Green-Lantern reminded the two and Batman frowned deeply while quickly bringing up a surprisingly short file on the mentioned blond.
As of now, all they knew was he was trained in some form of Ninjutsu and was classified as a Shinobi, he was a "Sage" of some kind where he was from, he also had wind / lightning based elemental attacks, had several attacks that were made of pure energy, could increase his strength speed durability or even his agility at will, wielded the Legendary Kusanagi no Tsurugi itself, has an ongoing relationship with Raven of the Teen Titans, and seemed to currently be some kind of Mercenary.
"I must admit he did prove capable enough in fighting Slade and protecting Raven for a short while." Dr. Fate replied and Batman frowned once more while looking to the information he had on the boy.
"Perhaps… but he's also a wild-card. He only gets himself involved when he feels its absolutely necessary." Batman reminds the two while gazing coolly at the file and Dr. Fate frowned in thought for a moment.
"True, but he's also shown himself to almost always come to Raven's aid when she needs it. I highly doubt he'd refuse to aid her in this kind of situation." Dr. Fate reminds the dark-knight and Batman grudgingly agrees with him before closing his eyes as he considers his options…
"He would be useful if we actually have to outright fight Trigon and his new buddy. Hell, if nothing else he might just least level the playing field a little." Green-Lantern noted and Batman let out a slight sigh before rising up from his seat.
"Agreed." Batman finally relented while turning around with a swish of his cake to face the two men. "However we don't know where to find him. Nor do the Titans. Whenever he makes an appearance, he always does so of his own accord." Batman reminds the other heroes flatly and both nodded their heads slowly. Before the conversation could continue further, Wonder Woman suddenly burst into the room and rushed over to the three.
"Jump-City is under attack, and Deathstroke has been spotted in the area." Wonder-Woman stated and Batman narrowed his eyes before looking to John, the man nodding his head before all three looked over to Dr. Fate.
"You three go on, I'm going to look into a few things here…" Dr. Fate replied and Batman silently nodded his head before he, John and Diana made their way to the transport room. Rubbing his chin in thought, Dr. Fate then sat down at the seat Batman had been in prior and began to look into some Japanese Mythology. Not only to find their rogue demon, but also to confirm a growing theory he had on the truth behind the many "Shinobi" of Naruto's world…
(Tartarus HQ…)
Naruto stood in the New "Omega-X-Suit" a pair of straps attached to his twin Ninjatou added onto it. 'Man, this thing feels weird…' Naruto noted to himself while flexing his fingers in the suit, then stretched out his limbs. Finished with that, the blond haired teen then crossed his arms and looked upwards. "Alright Giz, start up the simulation so I can try this baby out already." Naruto ordered and smirked at the odd dark sounding voice the new Vocal-Synthesizer made.
"Alright alright, keep your panties on. First I should mention this baby has a HUD like the last few. The HUD not only monitors your current location, but also your energy levels, physical health, and mental state all in real time." Gizmo shouted over a COM and Naruto twitched at the crack as the Tiny-Terror activated the room. As he did, Naruto found himself standing in a vast forest, a city appearing in the distance. "Also, you really don't need your Ninjatou for this…" Gizmo stated and Naruto frowned before crossing his arms over his chest.
"Hey, I like using the Kusanagi as much as the next guy, but I am not summoning it when it has to tear its way through my hand, which is covered by armor for the moment." Naruto retorted and Gizmo muttered something under his breath before then clearing his throat.
"Not what I meant but whatever… Now then, the first feature I need to mention is that this suit has three different modes. Basic, Stealth, and Assault." Gizmo started to explain over the intercom, Naruto raising a brow as he does so.
"Three modes? And why would I even need an assault mode in the first place, why not just make an all around mode?" Naruto asked the tiny-terror and Gizmo slapped his face before grumbling under his breath about annoying blonds.
"First of all, with all the hell you've put yourself through recently I felt a heavy-armored setting was prudent. Also Temp, its one damn suit, it's still all-purpose, but it has three settings because the armor hardens or softens based on whichever setting your using. If you turn on Assault, more energy is pumped into the armor, hardening it, if its on Stealth, less is to make it more flexible, with the Basic setting being in between those two." Gizmo explained with a frown on his face and Naruto blinked before thinking back to the past few fights he'd had in the X-Suit. A Plant-invasion that had managed to span the entire city, heading to Gotham, fighting an armor of The Ravager's killer robots…
"Uh, yeah, I guess I could always use more armor…" Naruto admitted while rubbing the back of his neck as Gizmo nodded his head.
"Now then, Temp, look down to your belt-buckle." Gizmo ordered and Naruto frowned before doing as told, noting it had an Ash-grey button on the top and bottom, and the entire front of it was the button that would release the clasps of his suit. "Alright, unlike your weapons, your suits settings will only change if you press the buttons on your belt-buckle. Just like how the locking mechanism is integrated into the buckle, the suits setting will shift based on which button you use. The top button activates the Stealth setting, which your currently in. The lower one activates Assault. And pressing them both activates Basic." Gizmo explained to the blond haired teen and then cleared his throat as Naruto looked to the mentioned buttons.
"Alright Temp, activate the Stealth feature first." Gizmo then ordered and Naruto rolled his eyes before pressing the required switch, and then blinked as the ash-grey plates that covered his arms and shins slipped under the black Nano-Fibers. Blinking for a moment, Naruto then pulled out one of his swords and looked at his mask, raising a brow when he saw his mask and suit were now completely black. Looking over his form, Naruto then realized this version was solid black, save only for the belt buckle at the center of his waist.
"Now as you can see, Stealth mode turns the suit black and the Armored Plates of Basic-Mode fold down into the Underlay of the suit, this mode also has a sound-dampening feature, making all your footsteps completely silent. It also has a Stealth Camouflage feature that will completely conceal you from vision. However, only the Nano-Fiber overlay will actually become invisible, any of your normal armor will remain completely visible, hence this mode is to optimize the stealth features of your suit." Gizmo explained while Naruto sheathed his Ninjatou and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Now try the Assault mode." Gizmo ordered and Naruto pressed the button, blinking as even more plates of metal folded out from his suit, completely covering his forearms and shins / calves in ash-grey metal, another plate forming over his heel and the front of his toes. Afterwards, several plates that resembled a rib cage folded up over his chest, covering most of the Red-X that had been on his chest, and a metal plate folded out over each of his upper-arms, three forming over the sides of his thighs. Several plates also folded out of the spinal-plates of his suit to cover more of his back, and even more formed into the classic jaw-less Skull with an X cut out of it over his face.
Blinking for a moment, Naruto then pulled one of his Ninjatou from his back and looked at himself. 'This actually looks sort of like my mutated form when I managed to take control of it.' The blond realized as the metal plates took on the same basic shape and formation over his body as the bone armor that had when he first mutated almost a month earlier. "Is there a reason it looks like my mutated form?" Naruto asked while noticing the red X's of the suit had also reformed when he turned on this setting.
"Yeah, I thought it looked cool for one thing, and it vaguely resembled the X-suit for another, albeit a demonic one." The Tiny-Terror replied while Naruto then flexed his arms and legs with the suit in this setting, making sure he lost no mobility. "Also, this setting completely loses the sound-dampening field and Stealth-Camouflage feature seeing as you'll obviously not need it if you get into a fight and need to use this setting. However as a trade off it's three times tougher than your Basic armor, and it also increases your overall strength at least two fold." The Tiny-Terror added while Naruto crouched down and then flipped back before landing in a crouch, humming lightly as the armor was rigid, yet still allowed for him to move about as he normally would…
Switching back to the "Basic" setting, Naruto watched as the numerous plates that had been added to the suit by the Assault setting started to shift and move, folding back under the black Nano-Fibers that made up the top portion of the suit and leaving only the light amount of armor he'd started off with, leaving his mask black with a Red X and a red silhouette of the skull's teeth. "And now for the Basic or Default setting. This one has elements of both the Assault and Stealth mode. However obviously they are less effective during this setting because it wasn't built specifically around them." Gizmo explained and Naruto nodded his head as he moved around in the Default version.
"Now for weapons, these don't change in any of the suits various settings. The first and foremost is your X-Shuriken, all you have to do is think of what Shuriken you want and it'll form in your hand." Gizmo explained and Naruto narrowed his eyes, forming a normal X-Shuriken into his hand.
"Wow it actually works…" Naruto mumbled while looking at the non-descript X-shuriken for a moment before throwing it at a tree. Thinking of an explosive-X, Naruto then threw that Shuriken as well, and then watched as it exploded upon impact with the tree. Nodding his head slowly, Naruto then formed a Static-X into his hand and threw the weapon towards the same tree, the weapon exploding in a shower of sparks upon impact with the holographic tree.
"Good. Also, you also have retractable claws in this suit since I know how often you use them for that one "Glass-Cutting" thing you do like Cat-woman. All you have to do is just think of them extending and they will." Gizmo added suddenly, Naruto looking to his hands before thinking about the claws extending, causing the white-segmented armor on his fingers slid forward to reveal sharp claws. "Okay, next up is your Thermal-Blasters, they are positioned at the frontal plates on your arms." Gizmo then stated and Naruto held his arms forward, narrowing his eyes before smirking as the two black cylinders that made up the front of the Thermal Blasters folded out of the plates.
"Nice." Naruto said with a grin before twisting around and firing one of the blasters, tearing a chunk out of the dirt below him. "What else does this puppy got in it Gizmo?" Naruto questioned while flexing his fingers for a moment, only to blink when he heard an alarm go off somewhere. "What the hell just happened Gizmo?" Naruto demanded and heard the Tiny-Terror curse somewhere deep inside of the base before finally replying.
"Shit! Temp, Slade's just been spotted setting the abandoned section of Jump-City on fire!" Gizmo replied loudly and Naruto's eyes briefly blazed red before narrowing dangerously as he looked upwards.
"Gizmo, how does the new teleportation feature in this thing work?" Naruto asked flatly and the Tiny-Terror was silent for only a moment before finally replying.
"Just think of the place you want to go, if it's within a one-hundred mile radius you should be able to make it. However the thing is still a little glitchy when it comes to long-range transports so I'll just preprogram the coordinates for you…" Gizmo replied and Naruto muttered an of course under his breath before blinking as he was teleported out of the room in a flash of red…
(Jump-City…)
Naruto landed on a rooftop in the city and stood up with his arms crossed over his chest. 'Now I just need to find candy-corn face…' The blond haired teen thought to himself before an idea came to mind. 'Well, THAT Jutsu could help me find him, and it'd at least help with his damn fire based powers…' The blond haired Ex-Shinobi mused before taking a deep breath and forming several Hand seals. 'Bird. Rat. Ox. Monkey. Rat. Snake.' Naruto thought as he finished the seals and then raised his hands up into the air. "Ukojizai no Jutsu! (Rain Tiger at Will Technique!)" The Blond exclaimed as Chakra rose off of his body and into the air.
Instantly, a hail of rain began to fall down onto the village, a smirk crossing Naruto's lips even as it did so. 'Alright Candy-Corn Face, lets see you get away from me now…' Naruto thought to himself before his eyes widened beneath his mask, feeling the presence of every single living thing out and about in the massive city. 'H-holy shit… is this what Pein felt whenever he used this Jutsu? And does Kara-Chan feel like this in a crowded room?' Naruto wondered to himself before feeling a dark-presence to the south of his current position. Frowning deeply, Naruto made his way across the roof before jumping to the next one over and landed in a low crouch.
Looking to either side, the blond then blinked as a small explosion of fire go off to the side. 'I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's over there…' Naruto thought to himself before lunging forward, jumping from roof to roof and landing on a building. Narrowing his eyes at a small explosion of fire, Naruto made his way to the edge of the building and looked down from it to see Slade calmly walking out of a wall of fire. The Rain seemed to be putting out the small fires, however that from Slade himself was clearly too hot for even the heavy rain to put out.
"I do love my job." Slade mused to himself in a dull monotone as he formed a ball of fire into his right hand. Turning to throw it, Slade grunted as a Sonic-Blast from the side knocked the fireball out of his hand.
"Vandalism? I'd say you've hit an all new low, Slade." Nightwing noted while standing before his team, Slade merely narrowing his sole eye on the group.
"The Teen Titans. How nice of you to drop by." Slade noted coldly, Raven shivering as he then gave a mocking bow. "But as you can see I'm right in the middle of something. I'll deal with you in a few minutes." Slade told the teens curtly while slowly leaning back Naruto narrowing his eyes on the man and considering his options. 'Attacking right now wouldn't be the best option, not enough room around here for me to go all out normally… and with my new suit and abilities I'd cause way too much damage.' The blond mused inwardly, mentally cursing even as he did so.
"No. We'll deal with you now." Nightwing stated as BB changed forms and Starfire powered up her Starbolts. Raising a brow under his mask, Slade merely held his hands to the sides, causing a pair of fireballs to form in his hands.
"You can't always have what you want, Nightwing." Slade mused aloud, then quickly threw his hands towards the ground, producing a jet of flames which he rode straight passed Nightwing and the Titans.
"Titans, split up and take him down!" Nightwing ordered before the team rushed after the masked villain, unaware of Naruto following closely behind them. Jumping from roof to roof, the blond kept an eye on Slade as he fought with the Titans even while evading them and then waited for his moment to strike. Seeing Slade's back to him at last, the blond quickly jumped from the roof he was positioned on and lunged towards the masked-madman. Gripping his hands together, Naruto then slammed them down into Slade's head, slamming the man into the ground and creating a small crater.
Landing in a roll, which he quickly came out of, Naruto twisted on his heel and tossed an Explosive-X-Shuriken directly towards Slade. The weapon exploded on impact and Naruto narrowed his eyes dangerously as he watched the man to get back up. A crackle of lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, making Naruto wonder if he caused it for only a second before watching as Slade slowly rose to his feet, only to stumble for a moment. Off to the side, the Titans looked at the black-clad thief in no small amount of surprise, BB being the only one to voice this.
"Dude! Like what's X doing here?" BB demanded while the black clad thief moved like a bolt of lightning, grabbing hold of Slade by his throat and slamming a fist into the side of his face. The force of the blow sent the man flying to the side, skidding across the ground before impacting with the side of a building. Seconds before Slade could reorient himself, Naruto rammed his shoulder into the man, ramming him through the building at high speeds.
"Off hand, I'd say he's doing our job for us." Kid-Flash offered with a shrug of his shoulders before quickly rushing passed the others to find the two. On the other side of the building, Naruto continued forward, ramming Slade through the next Building, and then the next after that before finally stopping, sending Slade skidding across the ground to land in a ditch.
"My my my, I didn't expect to see you here… at least not so soon." Slade noted calmly even as he pushed himself back to his feet, standing with his back noticeably hunched. "Ah, Red-X, and I see you have a new suit…" Slade noted while pushing himself to stand up straight, then tilted his head slightly while gazing at the blond. "Impressive, but I must ask, who's your tailor?" Slade quipped dryly and Naruto silently held up his right arm and aimed his thermal blaster at the man.
"Would you just shut up…" The blond growled out darkly while firing the weapon, ripping out a chunk of Slade's torso as it tore through the man. Frowning when Slade merely braced himself before standing up once more, Slade calmly brushed off his arms as the hole in his chest healed up.
"Charming. However, the dismemberment tactic didn't work the last time my friend… do you honestly think it'll work now?" Slade questioned aloud and Naruto blinked before growling low in his throat when he realized what the man meant.
"How did you figure it out?" Naruto demanded and Slade calmly crossed his arms over his chest, his single eye gazing towards the blond coolly.
"Let's just say my daughter has more than a healthy interest in you and leave it at that…" Slade replied and Naruto briefly wondered if he was starting to get Fan-Girls before shaking that thought off.
"Well shouldn't daddy disapprove of his daughter doing such a thing?" Naruto asked even as he started to circle Slade from a distance, the masked-madman folded his arms behind his back as he did the same, each keeping their eyes glued onto the other.
"Actually I find it rather cute. Besides, her obsession has proved itself to be of benefit to me…" Slade replied coldly and a guttural growl echoed from Naruto's throat as he glared at the masked madman.
"So what, are even your children pawns in your games, Slade?" Naruto asked while coming to a stop and spitting out the man's name as if it were poison. In response, Slade chuckled lightly while keeping his sole eye locked onto the blond and coming to a stop as well.
"Of course. Everyone is but a simple Pawn to someone in some way… though… I suppose your more of a Rook or a Knight than a mere Pawn… perhaps your even a King of sorts." Slade replied and Naruto twitched at the analogy before hitting the switch on his belt-buckle, changing his suit to Assault mode. "My, my, someone really has gone all out this time." Slade noted while Naruto merely through his arms to his sides, a pair of obsidian black blades shooting out from his wrists and causing him to pause momentarily.
'So that's why Giz said I wouldn't need my Ninjatou…' The blond realized before quickly shaking that off and lunged at the masked madman, dragging the tips of the blades along the ground and causing sparks to fly. Roaring out as he neared Slade, Naruto swung one of the blades at the man, the masked-madman merely moving back to evade. Twisting on his heel, Naruto swung at the man once more, Slade blocking with the armor on his left forearm. Growling lightly, Naruto swung his other arm and cut Slade's head from his shoulders before twisting into a kick, knocking the man's body back.
Watching as Slade's head fell to the ground, Naruto picked it up and glared at the man, only for his eyes to widen as Slade's eye turned bright red. "Really now, you're going to have to do better than that…" A demonic version of Slade's cold monotone echoed out before Slade's body rammed into Naruto while grabbing hold of its head. Quickly putting its head to its neck a brief flash of red was all that alerted Naruto that he was back to normal. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto flipped into a kick to Slade's chin, causing him to stumble back while Naruto landed in a crouch.
Disengaging the wrist blades, Naruto then lunged forward, slamming his fist into Slade's gut. The one-eyed madman grunted and buckled forward, Naruto twisting on his heel and throwing him into the air. Jumping up, the blond then brought his foot down on Slade, plowing him into the ground and not paying attention to a shocked Kid-Flash as he watched on silently. Reaching down, Naruto grabbed Slade by his throat and lifted him up into the air, a sly smirk hidden under his mask. Throwing him into the air once more, Naruto then grabbed one of his legs and slammed him into the ground.
Groaning, Slade kicked out at Naruto, a jet of fired pushing Naruto back. Sliding back for a short distance, the blond then grunted as he impacted with a wall. 'I need to thank Giz for the assault mode later.' Naruto thought to himself while watching on as Slade twisted into a spin and landed on the ground, eyes narrowed onto the blond.
"This little game we seem to be playing is beginning to grate on even my nerves my friend…" Slade stated while glaring at the blond and Naruto merely rolled his eyes before lunging forward once more. Growling lightly, Slade fired two jets of fire towards the blond, only for him to flip to the side and run along a wall before twisting into a kick to the side of his head. Grunting, Slade stumbled to the side before cracking his neck back into place. Grunting the man then held out a hand, forming a ball of fire in it and narrowing his eyes as numerous tendrils lashed out from the ball and reached for the masked-thief.
Cursing lightly, Naruto flipped out of the way of several of the tendrils before activating one of his wrist blades to slice another, then narrowed his eyes. The blond then quickly formed a Rasengan into his hand and lunged at Slade, slamming it into the man's chest where the attack ground and shredded it's way straight through him. Twitching as he noticed Slade was still standing even with his arm in the man's chest, Naruto turned on his heel throwing Slade to the side, where the madman landed in a heap. "Remind me… not to fight you… when I'm not immortal…" Slade managed to get out as he pulled himself to his feet a deep frown on Naruto's features before he looked up to the sky and narrowed his eyes.
'Oi, I really wish I'd learned a few Suiton techniques… with my ability to create rain it'd be real useful right about now.' Naruto thought to himself while Slade shook his head and then glanced to the side as The Titans, sans a gaping Kid-Flash, finally showed up. However, Naruto noticed no sign of Raven, causing a thin frown to cross his features as he wondered where she went. Among the teens, Beast-Boy shook his head with a frown, even as his furry features grew more and more matted down.
"Dude, like what is up with all this rain? The weather man said it was going to be sunny all week!" BB demanded while Nightwing narrowed his eyes on Slade, then glanced over to Naruto and raised a brow. 'X is back now, and he's got another new suit… this one looks more armored, but a minute ago it was less armored.' Nightwing noted silently while narrowing his eyes on the two as they glared at one another.
"Bart report." Nightwing ordered and Kid-Flash shook his head for a moment before answering.
"Report what? The beating X just gave Slade? Or how Slade got up after having his head cut off!" Bart demanded of his leader and Nightwing blinked before frowning at that tidbit, though had seen Slade diced into more pieces by Naruto.
"What are you planning, Slade?" Nightwing demanded of the man from his point and Slade turned his eye over to the former Boy Wonder.
"I'm not planning anything…" Slade replied before forming an S shaped run in midair and then a fireball around it. "I'm merely providing a needed public service…" Slade replied while taking hold of the ball of flames and holding it over his head. "Illumination!" He exclaimed while hurling the ball of fire towards the Titans, Naruto cursing lightly as he moved to intercept the ball of fire, his forearms raised to shield his face. His new suit easily took care of both the force of the blast and the heat, allowing Naruto to lower his arms only to growl as he saw Slade was getting away.
"Dammit! Get back here!" Naruto shouted while lunging after Slade, closely followed by the Titans. Naruto then jumped upwards, landing on a building's roof and disengaging his Assault mode, his suit shifting back to its basic mode. Lunging forward, Naruto leaped from roof to roof and spotted Slade landing in front of a building up ahead. Jumping down, Naruto landed behind Slade just as Raven appeared from her Soul-Self and floated down to land on the stairs to the building with a frown.
"What do you want, Slade?" She questioned and the man backed up slightly while keeping his eye on her.
"Only what every messenger wants… for his message to be heard." Slade replied coolly and then watched as Raven landed on the ground, Naruto raising a brow, wondering what they were talking about. "It's time your friends learned the truth. And if you don't tell them… I will." Slade stated darkly and Raven narrowed her eyes on the masked madman.
"Leave them out of this." Raven ordered while Naruto turned to see if the Titans had caught up and caught Kid-Flash by the back of his suit.
"Wait, something's going on here…" Naruto stated and placed a hand over Kid-Flash's mouth to keep him from speaking.
"I didn't bring them into this." Slade stated while holding his hands out and then pointed an accusing finger towards Raven. "You did. The day you came into their lives." Slade reminded simply and then backed up while keeping his eye glued to the girl. "Tick Tock, Raven. Time is running out…" Slade stated while raising his arms, a swirl of fire forming and rising up around him, Raven quickly making a shield to block it while Kid-Flash's eyes widening while Naruto's narrowed as the man vanished into a swirl of fire…
"Eh, I've seen it before…" Naruto muttered while releasing an incredulous Kid-Flash while walking over to Raven. Only to brace himself as the ground began to shake and rock, Kid-Flash cursing as he ran over to the two.
Elsewhere Nightwing grit his teeth and quickly pulled out his communicator while looking around. "Titans, do you read me?" The former Boy Wonder demanded and Cyborg braced himself while BB stood at his side in the shape of a bloodhound.
"I read you but I don't see you…" The Titanium Teen replied while in the sky, Donna and Starfire looked down at the city in shock.
"I see you all… and something else." Starfire replied while she and the Amazonian looked down at the city, the rain doing little to douse the roaring flames that had been spread over the city in the shape of a familiar S shaped rune…
Back with Naruto, the blond shook his head before walking over to Raven and helping her up to her feet. "You okay?" He asked and Raven raised a brow upon seeing Naruto, more confused by the fact he was in an X-Suit than anything else.
"Yeah, but what are you doing here X?" She asked while looking over to Kid-Flase and Naruto chuckled slightly while crossing his arms over his chest.
"Lets just say an old pal of mine sent me to keep an eye on you." The blond replied with a sly smirk across his face, only to grunt when he felt several more people walk up behind him. 'Crap, the kid and his team are here…' Naruto thought to himself while turning around and sighed for a moment. "Oi, kid what took you so long to get here? Candy-Corn face already made his big dramatic getaway without you…" Naruto noted while Nightwing frowned as he glared at the masked thief.
"Here's a better questions. What are you doing here X? Are you working with Slade?" Nightwing demanded of the masked youth and Naruto twitched before giving the dark haired teen a flat look.
"Oh yeah, I'm totally working with the guy whose head I just cut off not even five minutes ago…" Naruto replied sarcastically and Nightwing narrowed his eyes onto the thief. "Jeez kid, Naruto asked me to look after Raven for him while he's working on mastering a few new techniques to take down that zombie freak." The blond replied and saw a frown cross Nightwing's lips for a moment. "Is that alright with you, or are you going to throw me in jail for doing my job?" Naruto then questioned flippantly and Raven mentally sighed before looking to the thief with a frown.
"Is Slade still in the city?" She asked and Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, then growled lightly.
"No… I can't even feel a trace of that nasty energy he was putting off either…" The blond replied and the Titans exchanged looks before all of them turned to the building Slade had stopped at.
"Dude, since when can you sense things like that?" BB asked while looking to Naruto, Nightwing listening in as well, and he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Trade secret, green bean." The blond replied while looking to the library and narrowing his eyes on the building. "Yo, Kara-Chan you sensing the same bad vibes from this place as me or what?" Naruto asked in his head and Raven blinked for a second before mentally sighing.
"Unfortunately, yes." She replied while Nightwing walked towards the building, BB moving over to its side, and Cyborg opening his wrist-top computer.
"Everything in a three block radius has been destroyed, accept this… Slade left it standing for a reason." Nightwing noted with a frown while looking to a large building with the word "Library" on the front of it. Cyborg made to check something on his computer, however Naruto turned around, causing the Titans to follow his gaze.
"Yes he did." Batman stated as he, Green-Lantern, and Wonder-Woman walked towards the Titans, Nightwing growling in his throat as they did so. "This was originally the Jump-City town Library, it was closed down after a group of cultists broke in and a young girl was raped inside during a ritual." The Dark-Knight stated, noticing the slight wince of Raven and then snapped his eyes onto Naruto, the blond tilting his head.
"Oi, Guano-man's here now, why is it so many people from Gotham are paying me a visit so much recently?" Naruto wondered aloud, an amused smirk crossing Night's lips at the crack and Batman merely rolled his eyes.
"We're here to help." Dianna offered while Naruto gave the Amazonian warrior an annoyed look.
"In case you haven't noticed, you're just a wee bit late for that babe." Naruto told the Amazon with an annoyed tone and John sighed for a moment before holding up his hands in a placating manner.
"In any case this isn't the time to be fighting amongst ourselves or arguing with each other. We have more important matters to deal with." John reminded the others while looking to the two groups, Cyborg nodding his head in agreement with him.
"Yeah, I'm with GL on this one, we can use all the help we can get." Cy said while nudging towards the man, BB nodding his head in agreement from where he stood off to the side.
"Yeah, especially if we have to search this place, it's a total dump." BB noted while kicking a column, causing it to fall down. Yelping, BB quickly moved out of the way as the entire front of the building collapsed, revealing a familiar bright red S shaped rune below where the original sign had been hanging.
"The Mark of Scath…" Nightwing said with a frown and saw a look of shock on Raven's face. "Mister Blood mentioned it earlier." Night said in explanation, though it clearly did little to ease the girl's frazzled nerves while Naruto closed his eyes and tried something else.
"How you holding up Kara-Chan?" Naruto asked in Raven's mind, the violet haired girl blinking before releasing a sigh in her mind.
"Not good, my nerves are more or less shot thanks to all this…" Raven replied inwardly, while Batman walked towards the building, Nightwing moving to follow him inside and making her eyes wide. "Wait!" She called out, drawing the attention of not only Batman and Nightwing, but the other's as well. "We shouldn't go in, it might be a trap." Raven tried to explain and a thin frown crossed Batman's lips for a moment.
"It's not trapped as far as the main room, any deeper is left for debate, me and Jason found this library a few days ago, the only reason we didn't search it completely was due to some kind of barrier in our way." Batman explained simply and Nightwing frowned for a moment before mentally relenting.
"It's also our only lead." Nightwing reminded before looking to Starfire and Donna, both girls nodding as they walked to the doors and pushed them open, illuminating the building in a pale glow while Batman pulled a flashlight from his belt. Frowning at the low amount of light, John used his ring for some extra light and Cyborg activated a flashlight on his shoulder as the group walked inside.
"Dudes, even without the creepy librarians, I'm not digging this place." Beast Boy mumbled as they made their way into the building, Naruto turning on his Ultra-Violet vision setting, causing the eyes of his mask to turn Violet as he does so.
"There's some kind of Demonic Barrier up ahead, when Jason and I tried to enter we were burned by it." Batman stated while pointing his flashlight towards a wall, a scarlet colored field of energy completely covering it.
"Wait… something like that is all that's keeping you guys out?" Naruto asked with a noticeable amount of humor in his tone and got looks from the gathered heroes. "Tch, you guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back on my world…" Naruto mused while shaking his head, then walked ahead of them and started looking around, arms crossed over his chest as he did so.
"Umm, what are you looking for?" Donna asked the teen and he narrowed his eyes, following the Demonic essence that made up the barrier and finally found its source on a wall to the side.
"That's simple. All barriers in my world require a medium to keep them running, in this case, a seal. You see, unless it is constantly maintained by the physical presence of its creator, a Barrier would only last a couple minutes before burning out." Naruto explained as he walked over to a wall and wiped away some dust, chuckling when he found several Kanji written on the wall. "People can get around this by creating a seal to maintain it for them, thus allowing them to protect something like treasure or a family heirloom indefinitely…" Naruto finished explaining while still looking around and BB looked at the masked youth, clearly confusion.
"Uh, so, what does all that mean, Dude?" Beast Boy questioned while scratching his head and Batman grunted while crossing his arms.
"It means if you destroy the seal keeping the barrier maintained, you also destroy the barrier itself." Batman replied and Naruto nodded his head, smirking as he did so.
"Correct Guano-Man, nice to know you have a brain in that pointy eared cowl of yours." Naruto quipped, Nightwing smirking at the annoyed look on Batman's features. Ignoring that, Naruto then held up his hand, a purple seal appearing on it as he slammed his palm onto the wall. "KAI!" He exclaimed, destroying the seal and causing the Barrier to fade away instantly. "Also, since that the seal was outside of this barrier, that generally means that someone wanted this thing to be broken at some point." Naruto added more as an afterthought than anything else, a frown across his lips as he did.
"Meaning it could still be a trap." John realized and Naruto nodded his head silently, turning only when he heard Raven sigh.
"It's still a dead end…" Raven reminded and Naruto muttered something under his breath before looking around for something else. Mentally sighing for a moment, Raven frowned before feeling a familiar S-shaped rune appear at her brow. When she did the same S shaped rune appeared on the wall where the barrier had been and a stone door slid down into the ground. Looking to the new passageway, the group saw a long dark path of stairs leading down into the depths…
"Uh… cool, secret passage." Kid Flash mumbled while looking at the newly opened doorway and then zipped over to Naruto and pushed him towards it. "You go first!" Kid-Flash insisted and got an annoyed glare from the blond before he muttered something under his breath and walked into the passageway, soon followed by Batman and the others. Making their way down, Naruto soon walked out into a large circular room and switched his vision setting to Night-Vision, his mask's eyes turning green as he does, raising a brow at what he saw.
The room is large and circular with large seals and runes carved into the stone, several arches over doorways, and numerous evil looking statues, each one dressed in a hooded robe with a skull like face. 'Ugh, whose the decorator, the same guy who designed Dracula's castle?' Naruto wondered to himself while looking around, Starfire shivering slightly as she saw one of the statues when Cyborg's light passed over it.
"I did not realize your Libraries housed such unpleasant sculptures." Starfire noted aloud and Batman narrowed his eyes while looking around.
"They don't." The Dark Knight stated while Cyborg opened up his wrist computer and narrowed his eyes.
"This part of the building is old… I mean OLD old, as in before the city was even built." Cyborg stated and Batman nodded his head while walking forward and looking around with his flashlight.
"The Order of Scath built this around the same time this area was first settled. The Cultists came here to perform rituals and rites in an attempt to summon their master to this world in hopes that he would grant them power." Batman explained as he looked around, Dianna shaking her head as she heard that.
"How can people believe such beings would ever help them?" She wondered aloud and Naruto shrugged his shoulders while looking around.
"People are idiots… I should know, I met my unfair share of them back on my world." Naruto replied simply and got looks from some of the others, Raven slowly walking into the room, before stopping as the rune appeared at the center of her brow again. 'Oh no…' She thought while her eyes widened as the numerous seals and runes around the room began to glow a bright burning red. The glowing seals and runes spread around the room, ending on the opposite side of the room and causing the eyes of the many statues around the room to start glowing. Cyborg hit a record switch on his arm as it did so and looked on as something started to happen.
"The Gem was born of evils fire." A plethora of voices echoed out as ghosts seemed to float out of the statues, Naruto shivering as they did so. "The Gem shall be his portal." The ghosts echoing voices continued while hovering around the room and looking down at those gathered below them. "He comes to claim, he comes to sire, the end of all things mortal." The spirits finished while floating back down into the statues, while Raven's body began to glow, the numerous seals and runes that Slade had put on her body glowing fire red once more. Noticing it, Raven gasped and quickly closed her cloak, Naruto blinking when he heard her…
"Raven?" He asked and the girl quickly turned and ran back up the stairs, Naruto cursing as he ran after her, soon followed closely by Nightwing. The other Titans, Batman, John, and Dianna stayed back however, the Dark Knight taking pictures of the seals and runes around the room with a deep frown. Meanwhile Raven ran up the length of the stairs, only for Naruto to reach her and place a hand on her shoulder. "Kara-Chan!" Naruto said, instantly drawing the girl's attention and looked at her in concern. "What's wrong?" The blond asked with worry clear in his tone and the girl looked down.
"It's this place… it's… I shouldn't be here… it's all wrong." She replied vaguely and Naruto would've said something only to be shoved out of the way by Nightwing. 'Er kid, I swear I'm going to pound you into the ground someday…' Naruto thought darkly while Nightwing walked towards Raven.
"What's going on Raven, what aren't you telling me?" Night questioned while walking towards his Violet haired teammate and she slowly backed away from him.
"I can't explain, I just need to leave, I can't go back in there…" Raven replied while changing into a black silhouette and flowing up into the roof.
"Wait!" The former Boy Wonder cried only for the girl to vanish without a trace, leaving Nightwing confused while Naruto frowned towards him.
"Leave her be Wonder Bread, she's probably got a reason for not going back in there, and if she's freaking out like this, I don't want to know what it is." Naruto states while turning around and walking back down the length of stairs, back into the room where Batman is studying the many runes and seals. 'That was the prophesy of Kara-Chan's birth… this is so not good.' Naruto couldn't help but think to himself while walking into the large room, where Cyborg was replaying what the apparitions had said.
"It appears to be some form of… prophecy." Donna noted as she watched a recording of the ghostly apparitions Cyborg had made.
"Whatever it is, it doesn't sound good." Cyborg noted with a frown while BB looked from the seals and runes on the walls to his friends.
"This is some serious evil, even for Slade." Beast Boy noted and Naruto scoffed while walking over to them.
"This sure as hell isn't Candy-Corn Face's work kid. I'm thinking this is from whoever it is that's pulling his strings." Naruto noted aloud and BB looked from him to Nightwing as he walked back into the room as well.
"As much as I hate to admit it, I think X might be right. And we all already know who he's working for." Nightwing reminds while walking over to his friends and Starfire nods her head.
"Scath." She says lowly, and then looked over to where Batamn and the other two JLU members where standing. "Please, Mister Man of Bat, you know much of this do you not? Would you please enlighten us with what you know?" Starfire asked the man and The Dark Knight turned while stowing away his camera with a frown.
"All I know currently is that Scath is coming, and this Prophecy speaks of a ritual already conducted by the cultists who caused this building to be abandoned eighteen years ago. One to create the Gem which shall bring Scath into our world, allowing him to reign over it for the rest of eternity." Batman replied and Nightwing grit his teeth before twisting into a kick, knocking down a wall where the S shaped rune was. "Dianna, I want you and John to head to Titans Tower and get Jason, have him look over these runes while the rest of us continue to look around." Batman ordered the Amazonian and she looked to the Titans for a moment before nodding her head.
"We'll be back as soon as we can." Dianna replied while flying off, John frowning as he looked to Batman, the Dark-Knight merely glaring at him. Understanding what the man wanted, John sighed before flying after Dianna, leaving Batman with both X and the Titans.
"Wait a second, where's Raven?" Kid-Flash suddenly asked while looking around and Night clenched his fists before answering.
"She's not coming…" He stated and then ran into the darkness of the cavern, Naruto following after him at a sedated pace, with the rest of the group following their lead, Batman at the head of them. Walking through the darkness for a long while, the large group soon came to a downwards-leading spiral staircase; Naruto whistling when he saw how far down it seemed to go.
"Man, just when I didn't think this place could get any weirder…" Naruto noted as BB knelt down and looked into the deep pit, Cyborg frowning as he looked down from behind the green teen.
"So, how far down do you think it goes?" The Titanium Teen questioned and Naruto produced a basic X-Shuriken before letting it fall down into the pit. Listening for it to make a sound, it was a full ten seconds before they heard a light clatter, Cyborg's eyes widening as he realized how far down it had to be. "That's far…" He stated and Naruto had to bight back a sarcastic remark when Batman walked passed him and down the flight of stairs.
"We all probably shouldn't go down, our combined weight might be too much for these old stairs." Naruto noted and Nightwing nodded his head in agreement with the black clad thief. Turning around he walked over to Donna and Bart and pulled them to the side while Naruto walked over to Batman, the Dark-Knight looking around with a scanner of some kind clutched in one hand. "So, do you have a better idea of what's going on than the kids or is it just me?" Naruto questioned while looking around and Batman nodded his head silently while putting the device away.
"Alright, I'm having Donna and Bart hang back and guard the entrance in case the rest of us need to make a quick exit." Night explained while Naruto rolled his eyes, and Batman let his cape drape around his form and started down the staircase.
"Then we better get started." Batman stated simply while draping his cape around his arms like a cloak, BB scratching his head from behind the man.
"So do you think that Gem thing is down there?" The Green jester questioned of the Caped Crusader and Batman seemed to ignore him completely. "Uh, right, forget I asked…" Beast Boy replied while sighing and Nightwing walked beside of his old mentor with a frown across his face.
"Do you have some idea of what we'll find down here?" Nightwing questioned and Batman narrowed his eyes before finally replying.
"Yes." He admitted flatly, causing the frown already on Night's face to deepen even more than before.
"Then are you going to share your idea?" Nightwing questioned, yet Batman remained silent this time, causing the former Boy Wonder to mutter something under his breath while Naruto walked behind them.
"You know, I think those two have several major issues that they really need to resolve…" Naruto noted aloud, Donna, Cyborg, and Kid-Flash all agreeing with him as they followed behind the two former partners. Moving further down the spiral staircase, Nightwing soon stopped when a strange sound reached them from below.
"Sounds like we've got company." The Former Boy Wonder noted aloud and Naruto had to bite back another sarcastic remark as he looked into the pit with a frown. Looking down into the Darkness, Naruto whistled upon seeing numerous Apparitions rising up from below, both Starfire and Beast Boy screaming as they saw them. Turning around as the apparitions rose up, Naruto raised a brow. They were all a pale blue, with four crimson eyes, wore tattered robes, a scythe clutched in thin gnarled hands, a long beak like face, and skeletal wings coming off of their backs.
'This is new…' Naruto mused to himself while the Apparitions started to swing at them, Nightwing flipping forward to evade before taking a swing at the creatures, his fist passing through it harmlessly. "I can't hit them!" The masked teen exclaimed while rolling out of the way of another swing from the astral scyther, Batman twisting and turning around them with a frown while Cyborg was knocked to the ground by one of the strange specters.
"But they can hit us!" Cy stated loudly as the same specter tore a chunk out of the ground with its scythe only for the Titanium teen to move out of the way. Flying into the air, the creature did a full U-turn to slam back into Cy, knocking him back into a wall and passing through both him and the wall. Grunting as he fell to the ground, Cyborg then unlocked his Sonic-Cannon and moved over to BB and Star before firing at a specter, only for it to reform after he hit it. Powering up her Starbolts, Starfire fired a constant stream out towards the specters, while BB turned into a Kangaroo and tried to kick them.
The Green Jester nearly fell instead as he passed through the specters, then quickly turned into a bird and flew back up to join his friends. Watching all this even as he evaded the apparitions that came at him, Naruto mentally groaned. 'Ghosts… we're fighting ghosts… ugh, I really wish I had Dani here about now.' Naruto couldn't help but think to himself before remembering one of the many abilities his Rinnegan allowed him to use, only to shiver as he did so. 'Well, it would help, but I don't know if it'd work on all these ghosts…' Naruto couldn't help but think while Batman and Nightwing moved up towards the rest of the Titans.
Nightwing quickly swung his Bo-Staff at the apparitions to disperse them temporarily, while Batman reached into his belt and turned around, swinging his cape and slamming it into the apparitions as a weapon of some kind and causing Naruto to twitch. 'Does he have anything on him he can't use as a weapon?' Naruto wondered to himself before deciding not to question it while twisting into a kick to one of the strange apparitions, then grunted as they started coming out of the floor, Cy screaming as they nearly dragged him down. Roaring out loudly, the Titanium Teen then fired a spray of his Sonic-Cannon while Batman and Nightwing ducked behind him.
However, while Cyborg successfully dissipated the apparitions for the moment, he also tore a sizable chunk of the stairs out with them. "Nice work Stone-Head…" Naruto grunted out while Cy winced slightly and Batman merely frowned before jumping off of the stairs and falling down the long shoot. Not one to be outdone, Nightwing moved to do the same before turning to his team.
"Follow me." He ordered while jumping down into the shoot, Starifre and BB following while Cy slapped his face.
"Uh, maybe you didn't get the memo, Night, but you and me can't fly!" The Titanium Teen shouted loudly, Naruto grunting as he saw several apparitions heading straight towards them.
"Well you better learn quick." Naruto stated as the apparitions surrounded them, Cy groaning as he took a deep breath before jumping into the pit, Naruto following after him and unsheathing his twin Ninjatou. 'I'm really starting to wish I knew how to do that damn Iwagakure Flying Jutsu!' Naruto couldn't help but think to himself as he rolled in midair to evade an apparition, then sliced one with his swords. Spotting the Titans below himself, Naruto watched as Batman and Nightwing both fired a grapple to the side. Turning in the air, a smirk crossed Naruto's features when he saw a stone with the familiar S shaped rune on it.
'Nice.' He thought while activating his teleport feature and landed next to the stone while Batman and Nightwing zipped over. In the shoot, Starfire gasped as Cyborg continued to fall downwards, then moved quickly and grabbed the teen before hefting him up just before more of the ghostly apparitions would've gotten hold of them. Beast Boy then landed next to Batman and Nightwing as they pulled on their cords at the same time, yanking down the stone and revealing a new passageway.
"Another passage, this way!" Night ordered while ducking inside with Beast Boy hot on his heels, Batman and Naruto watching for Starfire and Cyborg. Seeing them coming, Batman ducked into the passage as well, Naruto waiting on as Starfire tossed Cyborg inside then ducked in while Naruto fired his thermal-blasters into an oncoming stream of apparitions before moving into the passageway as well. Noticing the apparitions following them, Naruto then formed an explosive-X in one hand before twisting around and throwing the object towards the apparitions.
Turning and making his way from them as it exploded, a smirk crossed Naruto's features as he entered into a circular room with numerous arched doorways. "Uh, which way is the gem?" BB asked while looking around and Batman narrowed his eyes before spotting the S shaped rune on one of the arches.
"There! Follow the mark!" He ordered and then ran into the doorway, followed by the other Titans while Naruto looked around and then threw another explosive X into each of the doorways, just in case, and then ran into the doorway the other's had gone down as the X's exploded. Spotting a staircase down the passageway, Naruto mentally groaned when he heard the apparitions were still coming. 'Don't these things ever just give up and die?' The blond haired teen wondered to himself while spinning around and slicing into the apparitions, only to grunt as two slammed into him.
"Dude, there's no mark here!" BB exclaimed while Naruto landed on the ground and growled while kicking the apparitions off of himself.
"Just shut the hell up and pick one of them already!" The teen exclaimed while flipping to his feet and charging at the apparitions, slicing them apart while BB started looking at the doors with wide eyes as the other Titans and Batman prepared for combat. BB looked at the doors, noticing different shapes were on each of them, albeit each was also very distorted.
"Ummm… eeny…" BB said while pointing to the door with a distorted human face carved into its keystone. "Meeny…" He said while pointing to one that had a dragon on the front of it. "Miney…" He continued while pointing to one with what looked like a Wolf carved into it. "Moe!" He then exclaimed while pointing to one that had an eagles head carved into it and ran inside while the Titans held back and Naruto flipped back to them and groaned lightly as the apparitions continued coming at them. As they prepared to fight, the group heard BB scream and turned in time to see him running from an even larger amount of Apparitions hot on his tail.
"NOT MOE! NOT MOE!" The green teen exclaimed as he jumped forward, the apparitions that had been behind him joining with the others as Cyborg and Starfire fired a volley of blasts into them. Twitching for a moment Naruto grunted before looking back at the doorways and then narrowed his eyes on a keystone with a wolf on it. 'Well, that is my lucky animal as of late…' Naruto thought before looking to the one with a Dragon and narrowed his eyes. 'But a Dragon is always connected to the demonic in some way…' He realized while also noting that the Dragon was curled in an S like shape.
"This way!" He cried while ducking into the passageway, soon followed by Batman and the Titans while a stone slab fell down and sealed off the exit, leaving them all trapped in darkness. Frowning, Batman, Nightwing, and Cyborg all turned on their lights, Starfire growling as she pressed on the stone slab, only to exhale when she was unable to move the stone slab.
"It appears that we cannot get out." Starfire noted aloud as she pushed on the stone slab for a moment, Cyborg scratching his head as he looked around for more of the apparitions that had been chasing them.
"Yeah, but at least those things didn't follow us in." Cyborg reminded and the girl nodded her head even as Batman, Night, and BB stood over to the side.
"Uh guys, you kinda need to see this…" BB cried while looking out of the passageway and Naruto made his way over, sheathing his Ninjatou on his back as he did. Coming out of the passage, Naruto whistled upon seeing a large alter in the shape of a clawed hand with its fingers splayed, large arched shapes are arranged along the walls around the room, and a shaft of light flying from the center of its palm and into the air.
"I'm getting a serious de'ja' vu vibe here." Cyborg noted as he looked around and BB frowned as he looked over the room.
"Not only that, but something about this place seems really familiar." The Green Titan noted while looking around, causing Naruto to slap his face and wonder if he was ever that stupid, then muttered under his breath. Meanwhile, Starfire flew up to one of the arches and her eyes widened upon seeing it resembled Raven's raised hood, a faceless head set within them…
"Yes. It looks like… Raven." She said aloud and Naruto narrowed his eyes before teleporting to the palm of the large alter, followed by Batman who used his cape to glide Over. Night followed suit with his own glider wings, BB flew down in the form of a Raven and Starfire carried Cyborg down last.
"The Gem!" Night cried while looking to the hand, a scowl crossing his features when he saw nothing was there. "It's gone!" Nightwing cried out and Naruto's eyes widened when he sensed a familiar presence, his eyes shooting upwards.
"You must be disappointed." The calm cold monotone voice of Slade echoed out, Naruto groaning when he saw the man standing atop one of the hand's fingers. 'Ugh, talk about De'ja' vu… I thought I'd seen enough of that crap…' Naruto couldn't help but think to himself as he remembered the Akatsuki commonly stood atop the fingers of the King of Hell statue…
"Where's the gem!" Nightwing demanded of the masked madman and Slade tilted his head to one side.
"Not here." He replied simply, and then jumped from his finger to land before the group, a frown crossing Batman's features. "But, much closer to you than you think." Slade noted while walking forward, his body noticeably slouched down and hunched forward, arms hanging at his sides. Growling, Night made to attack the immortal madman but Batman held out an arm and glared towards Slade.
"Exactly what do you get out of helping Scath, Deathstroke?" Batman demanded of the man and a smirk crossed Slade's hidden features.
"Wouldn't you like to know… though sadly, you wouldn't be around long enough to find out." Slade replied before holding up both of his hands and sending a stream of fire towards the group. Crying out, Cyborg and the other Titans quickly jumped out of the way while Slade managed to tear a chunk of the alter with his flames. Upon landing on the ground, Night and Star turned to see Cyborg with BB over his shoulder, Batman looking to the side where Naruto stood up as Slade came down at them. "Now, Titans, you're just delaying the inevitable." Slade mused aloud and Nightwing lunged at the man, swinging into a kick towards him.
"We're not leaving without that gem!" Night growled towards the Man and Slade narrowed his eye while throwing the teen to the side.
"You don't understand. You're not leaving at all." Slade replies darkly, only for Starfire to come at him trying for a headlock but only managing to throw him into a large statue to the side. Focusing her eyebeams, Starfire then cut the statue in half, causing it to fall on top of the man. Quickly flying over to the statue, Starfire looked around for the masked madman, only for the girl to gasp when she saw him crouched on top of the overturned statue. One of Slade's hands then began to glow bright red before a beam of heat slammed into Starfire, smashing her down into the ground.
Jumping down to the ground, Slade held up a hand and formed another ball of fire around his outstretched limb, aiming for the disorientated alien princess, however Cyborg quickly fired his Sonic-Cannon into Slade, knocking him back. Slowly getting up, Slade narrowed his eyes and marched towards a shocked Cyborg, the Titanium Teen gritting his teeth as he fired several more blasts towards the masked madman. However, with speed that defied logic, Slade evaded the many blasts before dodging several punches from Slade, only for the undead madman to grab him by his arm and then slam him into a wall to the side and sent him flying back.
Turning around, Slade watched as Beast-Boy came charging at him in the form of a triceratops and narrowed his eyes. Forming a fireball in either hand he then fired a stream from both, slamming them into Beast-Boy and sending him flying back into Cyborg, knocking the Titanium Teen to the ground as well. Blinking for a moment, Slade then rolled out of the way as Starfire began hurling Starbolts at him and flipped back as Batman lashed out with a quick punch. Scoffing mentally, Slade then rammed into The Dark-Knight and slammed his fist into his stomach.
Batman slid back from the attack and fell to one knee, a frown on his face while Slade then twisted around. Swinging his arm, the masked-madman created a crescent of fire that flowed towards Starfire. Gasping, Starfire quickly flew out of the way, landing next to a groaning Nightwing while Slade frowned. "Is that all?" He questioned and then looked to the side as Naruto quickly pulled his Ninjatou from his back and marched towards the masked-madman silently. "Ahh… so we meet again my young friend." Slade noted while tilting his head over to the side and Naruto scoffed lightly and then leaned one of his swords along his shoulder.
"So, I guess this means its time for round two, eh Candy-Corn face?" Naruto quipped while looking to the downed Titans and walking towards Slade, the masked Madman chuckling lightly as he held up a flaming hand.
"Indeed it does. However, you simply must allow me to take care of the peanut gallery before we begin our… rematch." Slade replied before slamming his fist into the ground, causing a wall of fire to form around him and Naruto, then spread out to separate them from the Titans. Cracking his neck, Slade then stood straight and crossed his arms over his chest while Naruto lowered his arms, a Ninjatou grasped in either hand. "Now, let us begin." Slade offered and Naruto lunged forward with lightning quick speed, swinging one of the blades at the masked madman…
Dodging the attack, Slade slammed his fist into Naruto's side, only to narrow his eye as the masked blond chuckled lightly. Twisting around, Naruto kicked Slade back and then swung his Ninjatou, creating a massive blade of wind that flew straight towards the masked madman. Rolling out of the way, Slade slammed his hands into the ground, causing two hands of fire to rise up and reach out for Naruto. Raising a brow, Naruto merely twisted around, forming a shell of wind-Chakra around his body, which the hands of fire were unable to penetrate.
Coming to a stop soon after, Naruto blinked when he saw Slade had vanished then narrowed his eyes as he went over what he'd been able to find out about Slade in his head. 'He's an expert in hand to hand combat, not to mention most types of firearms and melee weapons, he's got enhanced strength and physical abilities, mentally he's more advanced than almost anyone in the mercenary business, and if I remember correctly he also likes to play mind games…' Naruto thought to himself while looking around and frowned when he couldn't even spot a shadow.
'Got to give him one thing, he really knows his stealth…' The blond admitted if only to himself and then frowned when he finally heard something. "It's amazing really, so many things you can learn about someone from his many enemies trapped in hell…" Slade noted to himself from seemingly everywhere, Naruto's eyes narrowing as he looked for the masked-madman. "The little things that have built him up to be the man he is today…" Slade mused aloud and Naruto turned around, frowning when Slade didn't appear to be anywhere, not on the giant alter, not behind the crimson flames, nowhere!
"Ah yes, your mother was murdered right in front of you when you were still only eight years old… wasn't she?" Slade asked and Naruto's eyes twitched, a deep growl echoing from his throat as he looked around once more. "Then, you ran away, scared out of your mind and were nearly killed yourself… until the assassin cornered you and in a fit of rage, you ripped him apart limb from limb. And years later a boy named Haku, that you befriended sacrificed himself to save his master, and of course his Master also died." Slade continued, the growl growing as the old memories started to come to the surface.
"Would you shut the hell up and show yourself!" Naruto demanded angrily and Slade chuckled from seemingly everywhere at once.
"Oh, but then years later, the man you considered a grandfather was murdered by his own student, that Orochimaru fellow I believe…" Slade mused aloud and Naruto twitched once more, his eyes darting all around in search of the man. "Not even a few months later, your best friend betrayed your home-village, and nearly killed you by shoving his hand straight through your chest, dangerously close to your heart I might add." Slade continued and Naruto put a hand to his head, his left eye twitching rapidly as he tried to calm himself down.
"Seriously Candy-Corn face, shut the hell up before you really piss me off!" Naruto warned loudly while looking all around, only for Slade to continue, clearly unconcerned, and given his immortality, Naruto knew why.
"After that, the Sensei of your good friend was murdered by men hunting you down, leaving his lover and unborn child without him…" Slade continued and Naruto bit his lip as he remembered Asuma… "Of course after that your own Sensei was murdered in cold blood, by one of his former apprentices." Slade continued as Naruto remembered Jiraiya. "And after all that, a man with power beyond imagining came and destroyed your entire village in a single day, leaving nearly no one left, and even murdered a girl who proclaimed her love for you and drove you mad with rage…" Slade continued and Naruto clenched his fists at his sides, his eyes twitching violently.
"That same man would later die to revive the fallen dead, because of a few mere words you spoke to him." Slade continued and Naruto remembered Nagato as he died with that strange smile on his face. "And finally, the woman, the man's "Angel" she died defending both his body, and because she wished to protect you… to think her noble sacrifice was worthless in the end." Slade noted darkly while still remaining hidden and Naruto twitched violently as he briefly remembered Konan, and then grit his teeth.
"Is there a point to any of this Candy-Corn face? Besides bringing up a lot of memories from my time as a fucking hero that I'd really rather forget!" Naruto demanded loudly, teeth gritted in anger and looking all around for the man.
"Simple, from what I can tell, you bring nothing but misery and death wherever you go… Your mother, your friend and his master, your "Grandfather", your other friend's sensei, your own sensei, both a powerful man who sought peace through destruction and his friend, and then your own father… all of them died and were connected to you in some way. But I must wonder, is it all merely just a simple coincidence that they all knew you in some way?" Slade quipped from the shadows and Naruto took several deep breaths before closing his eyes.
"Candy-Corn face…" Naruto started to say before opening his Rennigan eyes and clenching his fists at his sides. "Don't say I didn't fucking warn you!" The blond growled out, his tone becoming Demonic at the end as he twisted on his heel and held out his hands. "You want destruction, I'll give you destruction! SHINRA TENSEI!" The furious blond roared out while spinning around and causing a mass wave of gravity to press down in a wide circle that soon encompassed the entire room. Slade fell to his knees as the blond did so and then looked up to see him walking straight towards him, the eyes of his mask glowing a furious red even without the thermal setting…
"DUDE! What is this? I can barely move!" BB exclaimed as his body was pressed down into the ground, Cyborg growling as he barely managed to kneel before using an arm to hold himself up, his teeth gritted as his body struggled with the enhanced gravity.
"I think X somehow increased the gravity around us!" Cy gritted out while Nightwing and Batman both tried and failed to rise up from the floor. Starfire however managed to stand with a slouch, only to yelp and fall to her knees while looking passed the flames to see Naruto, red eyed and marching towards Slade.
"When did the Red-X acquire the power of gravity?" Starfire questioned of her friends while BB turned into a gorilla and grit his teeth as he tried to stand up.
"Who knows? X shows a new power every time we see him! For all we know he could always do this!" Night shouted in reply while he and Batman both used some nearby rubble to push themselves up.
"I'm more interested in what Slade was saying… and if what he's saying about his past is the truth." Batman said and Nightwing only mentally agreed with his former Mentor as he watched the masked thief march towards Slade.
"Judging by his damn Reaction to the shit Slade was spouting, then yeah I'd say it's the fucking truth!" The Titanium Teen managed to grit out, Batman agreeing with him fully as the reaction clearly stated that what Slade had said about the masked thief was true. However at that moment, Naruto snapped his fingers, causing the weight of gravity to lift off of them and BB let out a relieved sigh.
"Dudes, I mean seriously, if I ever piss off X or Nar, shoot me first… it'll be a lot less painful that way!" The green teen mumbled while rubbing his head, Cy half agreeing with him as Naruto swung both of his Ninjatou. A blast of Chakra flowing from either blade and then cutting into Slade, slicing off his arms and making him fall to his knee once more. Looking up with a wide eye even as his arms started to reform, Slade gasped as Naruto lunged forward and shoved a Ninjatou straight through the middle of his head before lifting him up by it. Sheathing his other sword onto his back, Naruto then narrowed his eyes onto Slade's face furiously.
"I warned you candy-corn face!" Naruto growled out furiously towards the man's masked face before forming a Rasengan into his left hand and slamming both it, and Slade into the ground at the same time. Ripping out his Ninjatou as he did so, the Rasengan easily ripped it way through Slade's masked face and then his head before leaving nothing but a pulverized mass of mush and gore. However, Naruto then flipped back as Slade's head started to reform, the blond throwing his arms forward and creating a thick casing of bone-like armor over his right arm.
"FUUTON: RASENSHURIKEN! (Wind Release: Swirling Shuriken!)" The blond roared as a swirling sphere shaped like a Shuriken formed into his right hand. Quickly lunging forward Naruto slammed the attack into Slade's chest, the attack exploding outwards and shredding everything in its path down to their very molecules. Gritting his teeth, Naruto constantly shifted his Chakra to his right arm to repair the bone armor, making it denser and denser while hoping to keep the damage to his arm to the bare minimum.
Flipping back only when he was certain he'd not only hit Slade but hopefully ripped apart any possible part of him that could reform, Naruto panted lightly while looking down to his right arm. The Bone armor seemed like it was steaming from heat, however it also looked warped, as if it had been twisted around and then melted down, given numerous molecules had probably been destroyed by what he just did, he considered himself lucky it hadn't failed entirely. Breaking down the armor into a fine mist, Naruto then reabsorbed it's chakra and looked to the massive gaping hole that had once been the wall behind Slade…
"DUDE!" BB shouted and got nods of agreement from the Titans while Batman frowned for a moment.
"That won't stop Slade." He stated flatly and Nightwing turned on his creator with an incredulous expression.
"In case you didn't just notice but that attack has taken out the entire far wall and some of the roof with it!" Nightwing shouted at his mentor and Batman frowned deeply while Naruto shook his arm, trying to get feeling back into the limb.
"Slade was resurrected when his body was melted down by molten lava, if he can reform from that, this will be no different." Batman replied and then narrowed his eyes, as a tiny speck of crimson light appeared where Slade had been only a moment before. Soon the red light expanded, a skeleton slowly forming where the speck of light was hovering only to give out a deep groan / moan. Growling low in his throat, Naruto closed his eyes and began to pull Nature-Chakra into himself while the skeleton finished forming itself. The skeleton then threw its arms to the side, causing two jets of fire to flow from its arms as a familiar costume and mask slowly formed over its body, Slade falling to his knees as he tried to regain his breath.
"You can cut me apart…" Slade said in a low demonic growl while glaring at the blond haired teen. "Grind me to dust…" The masked madman continued to growl before rising up to his feet shakily and then glared towards Naruto. "Burn me alive…" He continued while cracking his neck and then glaring at Naruto. "Or even destroy my body completely…" Slade continued in the same demonic growl and then chuckled lightly while folding his arms behind his back. "No matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, you just can't kill me." Slade finished, his voice returning back to normal as Naruto opened his eyes and glared at the masked madman.
"Oh really? Well let's just see about that, shall we!" Naruto replied while chuckling as six Bone-like Magatama beads formed around his neck. "Senjutsu: Sennin Modo!" The masked thief stated darkly, several orange marks appearing on his suit, Slade grimacing slightly as he knew what that meant. However, Naruto then held his hand out and narrowed his eyes dangerously as he glared towards Slade. "Bansho Ten'in!" Naruto growled out while twisting around on his heel, causing the entire room's gravity to decrease. Widening his eyes, Slade grunted as he floated off of the ground, the Titans doing so as well, only Starfire unaffected by the loss of Gravity.
"Dude! I'd really like to know when X picked up all these Gravity abilities!" BB exclaimed while trying to right himself as he floated upside down, Batman and Nightwing firing a grapple to the ground as a sort of tether. Batman then grabbed hold of Cyborg to keep him from flying away, Nightwing grabbing Beast Boy for the same reason.
"Whenever he picked them up doesn't matter, right now he needs to stop using them on such a grand fucking scale! I can't take being pressed into the ground or thrown into the air like this much more today!" Cyborg complained loudly while Starfire merely giggled as she watched her friends struggle with the loss of gravity for a moment, before turning to where Naruto was marching towards Slade as he also clearly had trouble with the loss of gravity as well. Reaching the masked madman, Naruto then yanked Slade over to face him and gripped him by his throat, gravity returning in the room as Naruto ended the technique, a furious look in the glowing blood red eyes of his mask.
"What now? Are you going to break me in half? Crush me again? Or would you prefer more useless dismemberment?" Slade quipped dryly and Naruto narrowed his eyes onto the man before glaring at the S shaped rune on his forehead. 'Master, you still have THAT ability…' Kusanagi suddenly reminded in the blond haired boy's mind, and a nearly evil grin passed Naruto's lips, as he looked at Slade dangerously, the man noticing the change in his demeanor almost instantly.
"Oh no, nothing so simple for you, this time… I have a special technique reserved just for you!" Naruto replied in the same almost demonic tone his voice had become before placing his hand onto the man's head. "Calm down Slade, don't even bother struggling… besides this won't hurt a bit." Naruto hissed darkly then pulled his arm back, gripping onto something as he did so, Slade's eye widening as a transparent blue essence started to flow from his body. "Now your soul is mine!" Naruto hissed out darkly, Slade's eye widening as he then looked down to see his feet crumbling to dust as Naruto pulled the strange blue essence from his body, his legs quickly following suit.
However, before Naruto could finish ripping out Slade's very soul from his being, Raven formed out of a portal to the side, crimson runes covering her skin and body. Looking around for a moment, she gasped seeing Naruto and then flew straight at him, ramming into him from the side and causing the blond to release Slade's soul. 'Naruto!' Raven cried in his mind and the blond struggled to get up, Raven quickly using her powers to hold him down. 'Naruto it's me! Naruto, please, you have to calm down!' Raven told the blond as she grabbed his shoulders and Naruto blinked upon seeing her and then groaned while clutching his head.
"Oh man my head seriously hurts… Oh, and please remind me to get some anger management in the future…" Naruto muttered quietly and Raven released a relieved sigh before turning to look at Slade, the man groaning from the ground.
"I thought I told you to leave my friends out of this!" Raven growled out towards Slade and he sat up, placing a hand to his head and giving the violet haired girl a look.
"This?" He asked while motioning around to the destruction around the room. "You honestly think I caused any of this myself?" Slade questioned dryly even as he climbed up to his feet and steadied himself, making a note to never let Naruto grab his head again for the foreseeable future. "Well I'm sorry to report I didn't cause this, or at least not ALL of it… the majority of this was caused by him." Slade Stated while pointing to Naruto as he stood up and glared at him angrily. "It's just as I told him, he brings nothing but death and destruction to all those around him…" Slade stated simply and Raven narrowed her eyes onto the man as he then started to back away.
"So long as he's here, there will only be destruction, all he can hope to cause is death or destruction. It's all his power is good for, and all he's capable of bringing… but then again, you're the same way… aren't you Raven." Slade mused aloud, a furious growl leaving Naruto's throat only for Raven to hold him back. "Got him on a short leash I see. Good, he needs someone to reign in his temper." Slade mused aloud and Raven had to turn and push Naruto back at the crack.
"I'll show you a temper, Candy-Corn face!" Naruto shouted at the man and Slade chuckled lightly while looking at the masked thief.
"I rest my case…" The one eyed man replied flatly and Raven mentally sighed, though wondered what Slade did or more likely said to rile up the blond so much… "Now if you all will please excuse me, I really must be going. But I'll be sure to give him your fond regards." Slade then told the girl while slowly flowing into the ground, Raven narrowing her eyes as he tried to get away.
"I'm not finished yet." Raven stated while placing a black-coated hand to the ground and lifting it up, causing Slade to rise up with it. Coming back to his feet, Slade narrowed his eyes onto the girl and formed a pair of fireballs into his hands.
"You really don't want to do this…" Slade warned darkly and Raven scoffed before marching forward.
"Well? What are you waiting for?" Raven demanded while Naruto blinked as she walked closer to the masked-madman. "Aren't you going to attack? Reduce me to ashes?" Raven demanded while walking to stand in front of the man. "Or did your master forbid you from hurting me?" Raven questioned and Slade remained silent, gazing down at the girl coldly. "Did he order you to keep his precious gem safe?" Raven continued to question, loud enough for the Titans to hear her and Cyborg scratched his head.
"So wait, Raven has the gem?" Cyborg asked and a frown crossed Nightwing's lips as he realized what Slade's words, and the numerous scarlet runes littering Raven's body meant.
"No. Raven is the gem." Nightwing stated while Slade released his fireballs and glared down at Raven with a frown.
"What do you want?" Slade questioned coldly and Raven held up her hand, encasing Slade in black energy and lifting him from the ground.
"This time I have a message for you." Raven replied before throwing Slade back, slamming him into a wall and then twisted around, throwing him to the other side while Naruto blinked. "You tell him he'll have to destroy me before I'll help him!" Raven stated while floating passed her surprised friends, Naruto whistling as he saw her unleash her own temper for once.
"You can tell him yourself… the hour is near…" Slade replied while looking up at the violet-eyed girl, only to mentally groan as she slammed a large stone slab down on top of him. The girl then grunted as she threw her arms to the side, throwing Slade out of the rubble and into the ceiling, grunting once more she threw Slade down into the ground. Raven then quickly raised Slade to hover in midair before slamming several boulders into him from all sides and allowing him to tumble to the ground in a heap. Though Slade inwardly admitted to himself that this was actually by far less painful than what Naruto had done to him earlier.
Looking up towards Raven, Slade mentally groaned as she then formed her Soul-Self before hurtling it towards him. 'This just isn't my day…' Slade noted inwardly as the massive Raven slammed into him and exploded on impact, kicking up dust and debris all around. Slowly standing back up and cracking his neck back into place, Slade watched as Raven hovered towards him silently. "I'm not afraid of you anymore!" Raven declared and Slade silently looked over her shoulder before narrowing his eye onto the girl.
"You might not be afraid of me, but look who's afraid of you…" Slade uttered darkly, Raven turning around to face her friends and the masked Madman quickly made his escape. 'If I never fight her and the boy together, it'll be too soon…' Slade inwardly admitted to himself with a shiver as he vanished without a trace soon after…
(Tartarus HQ…)
It had been an emotional evening for Raven, after freaking out her friends; she'd finally explained the truth to them about her family, and her destiny. Surprisingly however, they didn't seem to care and took it in stride, and while she wouldn't say it, she was grateful to them all for sticking by her. However now she was going to visit Naruto to see how he was holding up from his freak out on Slade. As such Raven appeared in Tartarus HQ and sighed while walking through the living room.
"Hey Raven…" Dani said while holding up a hand as if it were the most common thing in the world to see her. 'I really do visit too often to be healthy.' Raven couldn't help but think to herself as she entered the many hallways around the base, passing by Kid-Wykkyd who looked more pale than normal. 'Didn't he go visit a relative in Silent Hill? Wonder if it's someone related to Aunt Alessa…' Raven mused to herself while remembering one of the few things she knew about her family on earth.
Shaking her head and deciding it wasn't worth over thinking about, the violet haired girl made her way to Naruto's room. Blinking as she approached, Raven sighed when she saw Jinx sitting outside of Naruto's door with a worried frown on her face. "You know… you're really starting to seem like a stray puppy…" Raven noted aloud while looking at the girl with a shake of her head and Jinx glared at her rival angrily.
"Yeah well Temp hasn't come out of his room all day and I'm getting worried!" Jinx replied while pointing at Raven accusingly, the violet-haired sorceress frowning lightly as she walked forward and opened the door. "Hey! You can't just…" Jinx started to protest before blinking when she noticed no one was inside. "Wait… when did he leave? No, better yet, HOW did he leave?" Jinx questioned aloud and Raven looked around the room before shaking her head.
"With him, it's impossible to tell…" She replied before closing her eyes and feeling out for the blond haired teen. Not feeling him inside of the base, though made a note that Duela felt weird, she did notice something on the roof and mentally sighed. 'He always goes to the highest place he can to think…' She mused to herself while Jinx crossed her arms and gave the girl a flat look.
"Find him?" She asked and Raven breathed out a sigh before flowing into her Soul-Self and rising up through the ceiling. "Hey!" Jinx complained before huffing and crossing her arms over her chest.
"You really need a new hobby…" Duela noted from nearby, sitting on the floor and eating a cup of ramen… Staring at the red haired girl for a moment, Jinx huffed while crossing her arms and walking away from her.
"Who asked you?" Jinx shouted while walking away, more because she still had a bit of a thing with clowns and Duela smirked as she left.
"Is it just me readers, or is she seriously too serious to be good for her health?" Duela asked the "Readers" with a grin and then ate some more of her Ramen before continuing. "I mean seriously, how serious can one chick be before its unhealthy? Oh, and I need to say hello yet again! Nice to be back and talking to you guys! Did you miss me? C'mon did you miss me?" Duela suddenly asked while leaning forward with a wide grin and looked towards the "Readers"…
Meanwhile Raven found herself on top of Tartarus HQ, then saw Naruto sitting at the highest point possible, his eyes locked on Jump-City. Seeing the intent look on her boyfriends face, Raven shook her head for a moment before walking over to stand before him, though he was still above her. "Look too intently and you won't see what's right in front of you." Raven noted aloud and caused Naruto's eyes to shift down to her for only a moment before returning to the city.
"Yeah well, sometimes I just feel like staring into nothingness…" Naruto replied while gazing forward intently, his eyes briefly creeping out Raven. Shaking her head of that, the girl flew up and sat down next to him, looking out to the city for a moment before sighing. "Something wrong?" Naruto asked while continuing to look out at the city as if there was something interesting out there.
"I finally told my friends about Trigon and the prophecy…" Raven admitted and Naruto turned his eyes to his girlfriend with a worried look.
"And?" He asked and a smile crossed Raven's lips.
"Actually, they took it pretty well." She replied and a smile crossed Naruto's features even as he looked back to the city.
"Yeah, true friends will always look passed stuff like that…" Naruto replied and Raven leaned to the side, her head landing against his shoulder while he raised an arm over her shoulders. "Scared?" Naruto asked while looking to her again and Raven raised a brow while looking to the blond.
"What makes you think I'm scared?" She asked him and the blond smirked.
"You leaned into me, you don't normally do that on your own." Naruto replied and watched as a small smile crossed Raven's lips.
"When did you start knowing me so well?" Raven asked and Naruto took a thoughtful expression for a moment.
"Hard to tell actually." He replied with a smirk, Raven letting out a tired sigh while she closed her eyes. "Still, you haven't answered my question." Naruto reminded and Raven kept her eyes closed even as she answered him.
"Just stop asking questions…" She whispered and Naruto blinked before pulling her further into his side while looking back out to Jump-City with a frown. 'And so the end finally comes… and I have to wonder, are we ready for this?' Naruto wondered to himself before looking to the sky and letting out a deep breath as he nearly ripped out Slade's Soul… 'And I have to wonder, just what am I becoming?' Naruto wondered to himself before leaning his head down on top of Raven's silently…
(Unknown…)
Deep below the earth's crust, Slade kneels down before a stone with a familiar S shaped rune emblazoned upon it. "The prophecy has been revealed…" Slade says while looking up and narrows his eyes. "The portal has accepted her fate. And the boy remains in the dark to the truth of his own." Slade continues while four glowing crimson red eyes open up above him, followed by Kyuubi's eyes opening up behind him.
"You serve us well Slade." Trigon's deep voice suddenly echoed out across the underground cavern. "Continue to please us, and we shall honor our deal. I shall return what you have lost." Trigon continued while narrowing his eyes onto the masked man, Slade looking to one of his hands silently as he did so.
"I am depending on it…" Slade replies even as the Mark of Scath upon his brow glows brightly…
TBC…
