Naruto: Son of the Demon
Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Batman or Teen Titans
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This chapter took a long time because I scrapped about a third of it and had to rewrite it. Here is Chapter 2. Enjoy!
[ ] designates hand signs.
{ } designates a foreign language.
Last Time….
Titan's Tower, Jump City
Naruto was looking out one of the windows of the Titan Tower towards Jump City and pondering his situation. The Titans were celebrating their victory and seemed like ordinary friends off duty. The only people he'd known as true friends in his life were his girlfriend Barbara and his Sensei Jiraiya. 'I was trained to hunt humans since birth. I just don't know about this superhero business. My Father…Bruce Wayne is a vigilante with an absolute conviction not to kill. Ra's al Ghul is an eco-terrorist that wants to save the Earth by wiping out most of humanity. I guess I'll have to forge my own path somewhere in between…'
….
Chapter 2
Titan's Tower, Jump City, California, United States
Barbara was having a good time with the Teen Titans celebrating. She knew that Naruto had little interest in partying though. He could fake it well enough but was a bit of a hermit by nature. It wasn't really a matter of him being unfriendly per say; he just was awkward in certain social situations…like parties. The Titans had their own resident hermit though. Raven preferred to meditate in her room and after making a token appearance at the festivities; she quickly sequestered herself way away referring privacy.
"Friend Barbara; how did you and Naruto meet?" asked Starfire. The friendly Tameranean girl was very curious about her new friends.
Commissioner Gordon's daughter laughed. "It's a very long story. I wouldn't was to boor you."
"I'd be very interested in hearing about it myself." said Robin pointedly.
'He's still suspicious of Naruto…' thought Barbara. 'I guess I'd better tell them or Dick will hound me all night for information.' The redheaded crimefighter cleared her throat and said, "Well, if you insist… It all started about a year ago when I saw him at in one of my Criminal Justice classes…"
…
Flashback…
Burnside College, Gotham City, Criminal Justice 400 with Professor Russet
In the early part of the semester; the brown haired, mustached Professor Russet was lecturing on the actions of various vigilantes (whom he wasn't fond of) and Batman (who he liked even less). The Professor was a strong proponent of rehabilitation rather than imprisoning criminals. The instructor saw Naruto sitting in the back row with his eyes closed. With proverbial steam coming out of his ears; Russet said, "Mister Uzumaki; I do hate to interrupt your nap time but would you care to comment on the recent expansion of Arkham Asylum and what it means to Gotham?"
Several people snickered. Naruto Uzumaki was known to either sleep in class or have his head in a book reading. No one thought he paid any attention. Barbara thought he was easy on the eyes but she and the blonde hadn't ever engaged in a conversation. Now the Professor was making an example of the Naruto in order to embarrass him…
Naruto's blue eyes clicked open and he pinned Professor Russet with a glare so fearsome that Barbara gasped. She saw the image of her mentor Bruce Wayne in his Batman persona when he was interrogating someone. 'His eyes look hard and fierce just like Bruce's do…'
The Professor squirmed under the glare and Naruto said authoritatively; "The expansion of Arkham Asylum and its self proclaimed mission to rehabilitate mass murderers, rapists, drug dealers, sex offenders and the so called supervillians that stage breakouts from the asylum on a regular basis is nothing but a total waste of taxpayer's money." Russet and half the class gasped and had their eyes big as saucers at that comment. "Humanitarians such as yourself Professor are only feeding this parasitic organism feeding on our society. These criminals regularly get sentenced fifty years to life in prison only to be paroled within three years so they can wreak havoc again." Then the blonde added scathingly, "What a beautiful system! America; home of the free!"
Russet had turned a bull loose in a china shop. The Professor's carefully constructed argument that supervillians were misunderstood victims of circumstance and that the vigilantes were the real criminals was being systematically ground into dust. Several tense minutes later; the blonde concluded his rhetoric by saying scornfully; "We wouldn't need vigilantes if the criminal justice system could actually do its job and deal with these supercriminals in a permanent fashion. Your naive, simpering views that these people should be given a second chance after second chance and still go on committing crimes are absolutely in opposition of the justice system! You sir; are a fool who supports criminals more than justice. Have you no shame at all?!"
Professor Russet looked as if he was going to collapse after Naruto's verbal beat down. The instructor felt like he'd lost a fight against a junkyard dog. He was absolutely speechless…
Then the blonde growled, "Are there any other subjects you'd like me to comment on?"
Russet gulped and replied weakly, "N-no Mister Uzumaki. T-thank you for sharing your insights with the c-class and I."
Naruto nodded, leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes again…
…
Cafeteria
Barbara was in the lunch room having a meal with several other girls from class that were discussing Naruto's comment. "Never poke a sleeping dragon in the eye…" said one girl. "You'll get burned."
The beautiful redheaded, green eyed girl quietly listened as others weighed in their opinions. Some felt Naruto was absolutely right but others were sympathetic to Professor Russet.
"I mean; did Uzumaki have to totally destroy the Prof?" asked a tall girl. "Russet looked like he was going to keel over and die when he dismissed us."
A pretty brunette girl said, "Professor Russet did ask for it. He opened the flood gates and got the flood…"
"I thought it was cool the way Uzumaki presented his argument." interjected a blonde. "Imagine that kind of a presence in a courtroom! He would be a damn good attorney."
Soon most of the discussion was taken over by the girls who were more interested in Naruto as a future prospect. Barbara had completely tuned them out by then.
"…Hey Barbara; you are the Commissioner's daughter." said an acquaintance who was giggling. "What do you think of Naruto? I think he's hot."
Barbara thought for a moment and replied, "He's a brutal debater; that's for sure. To be honest I don't know him at all so it's hard to give an opinion."
"You have to agree that he's really something with those fiery blue eyes and blond hair though…" said a raven haired girl dreamily.
"He is rather handsome." agreed the redhead. The chatter went on for some time afterwards…
…
Burnside Train Depot
At the end of the semester, Barbara was boarding the train back to the Gotham City proper. It was cold and the region was hit with an early winter snow. The gorgeous redhead was headed home to her Father and was talking to him on her cell phone. "Dad, it's just a two hour train trip with no stops. I do not need a Police escort even if I am your daughter. Just relax okay…? Look; I'm getting on the train. I'll see you at Gotham Central Station in a couple of hours."
Shaking her head as she ended the call; the undercover crimefighter thought to herself, 'You'd think that the Joker was after me. I guess I shouldn't complain. Dad is overprotective because he loves me…'
As Barbara put her carryon bags on the train; she saw a man with blonde hair and a black long coat board the train car behind her and a lithe woman in green getting on the one ahead of hers. The redhead thought it was odd that no one else was getting on the train car she was until she got inside. Two Gotham City Police Officers were guarding the doors at either end of the car and not allowing anyone access to the car but her. Barbara sagged and asked; "Let me guess; am I the only one allowed to ride in this train car?"
"It was the Commissioner's orders Miss Gordon." said one of the Officers with a salute. He was a small, physically fit man with hair graying at the temples. "Please understand there are dangerous criminals who might try to harm you for who you are…and who you're related to."
The green eyed girl wanted to tear her hair out. 'This is ridiculous! I'm Batgirl damn it!' she thought. "Fine; I get that you guys are just following orders but Dad's going to get an earful for this!"
The Officer said with relief in his voice, "Thank you for understanding Miss Gordon. I'm Officer Murphy and this is Officer Shaw." She looked towards the front of the car where a huge, hulking man nodded at her. He looked very annoyed and Barbara figured the man resented being on babysitting duty…
The redhead sighed and said, "It's nice to meet you both. I'll just sit here and read on my phone." The train's horn blew and it slowly started to accelerate down the tracks as she read. Barbara looked at the blustery snow outside through the window of the train and listened to the clickity-clack of the train as its speed evened out. 'It's going to be a long trip…' she thought.
Officer Murphy thought to himself, 'Thank god the Commissioner's daughter is well behaved. I was afraid she'd throw a temper tantrum at first.'
For his part, Shaw was thinking mutinous thoughts. 'It's my daughter's birthday and I'm stuck watching Commissioner Gordon's daughter! Damn it; what else is going wrong today?!'
He shouldn't have asked…
…
In the train car ahead of Barbara's was a young woman of part Vietnamese decent that was a professional assassin. Her name Jade Nguyen but she was more known by the moniker Cheshire because she wore a smiling cat mask while she worked. The mask completely concealed her face and was white in contrast to her raven tresses and green assassin's gear she preferred. She was incredibly dangerous as it was but her real specialty was poisons which she coated her clawed gloves and bladed weapons with. Even something as shallow as a graze or paper cut could be potentially lethal depending on which poison Jade used.
Cheshire had a special mission tonight…no killing; just paralysis. The Joker had hired her to make sure everyone in Barbara's train car was alive and awake. Jade was to shoot Barbara Gordon in the base of the spine and paralyze the girl for the rest of her life. Then the assassin was to rip the girl's clothes off and take pictures -lots of pictures. It was part of some elaborate scheme but Cheshire didn't know all the details.*① Truthfully; she thought the whole camera business was kind of gross but the Joker was calling the shots and paying a fortune to Jade upon completion so it didn't matter. It was risky though. Even the League of Assassins had told Cheshire to not work with the Joker but at the end of this job; Jade would be rich. Putting on her facemask, Cheshire thought, 'You are one sick puppy Mister Joker…Time to get to work.'
…
Officer Shaw was standing with his back to the door in the front of Barbara's train car. He was following orders to watch Miss Gordon even though his mind was elsewhere. The big man heard a clicking noise behind him and slid open the door to investigate. No one was there and Shaw looked around the passage with a flashlight before heading back towards his post. He felt a tiny prick like a bug bite on his hand and slapped the spot thinking it was a spider or something. Feeling irritated that he was bitten; Shaw went to close the door and found he couldn't move an inch. He gasped (or tried to) when a lithe woman with a smiling cat mask appeared out of the darkness of the passage.
The cat masked woman whispered, "Quiet now, I need you alive so you can see everything and report it." she tapped his chest and the big Officer fell over with a thud that echoed through the train car.
Murphy saw his partner go down and went for his pistol. The older officer saw the glint of a throwing blade and dived to the floor to avoid it. It only nicked his cheek and Murphy drew his gun only to find he couldn't move. The veteran Police Officer could only stare in silent horror as the green clad assassin glided down the aisle like a ghost towards Miss Gordon. He saw Barbara tense up and get ready to move as Cheshire drew what looked like a toy gun the Joker would use…
Barbara moved like lightning and avoided Cheshire's first and second shots that were strangely aimed at the redhead's abdomen. The third shot went over Barbara's head and Cheshire hissed, "Stay still you privileged little bitch! The Joker wants you alive!" Commissioner Gordon's daughter froze for a split second and Jade said with a smile in her voice, "Pretty as a picture."
That's when Naruto appeared from under the hiding camouflage technique on the ceiling and dropped down between the two young women. He growled, "I've been looking for you Jade Nguyen."
Jade laughed and asked, "Who are you; some kind of a hero? Drop dead!" Cheshire fired the gun at Naruto's center of mass and the blonde drew his katana so fast that sparks flew along the edge of his blade. Two halves of the cat masked woman's bullet clattered to the floor and Jade felt real fear for the first time in a long while. 'He cut my bullet in half!' she thought.
The blonde raised his hand in front of him and thought, 'Wind style: Great breakthrough!' A virtual wall of wind smashed into Cheshire point blank and hit her hard enough to break several ribs. The pressure was so great that the windows of the train car blew out sending glass everywhere outside. Even the train car's doors and the bulbs in the car's ceiling were blown out.
Jade was in tremendous pain and could barely crawl when Naruto ruthlessly kicked her in the head and shattered her mask in the darkness. Now she was concussed as well and too dizzy to stand up. Cheshire felt the blonde man's hand grip her neck like a steel vise and he whispered in Arabic, {"You have displeased the League of Assassins Jade Nguyen; consider this your punishment."} Then Naruto whispered in English, "Have some pain." as he threw her out of the train car's broken doors.
Cheshire let out a scream of terror before she hit the ground at nearly 60 miles per hour. It would take her several months to recover…
…
Flashback end…
…
"Then I found out Naruto was a private detective and he started helping me as Batgirl." explained Barbara. "We became friends and then started dating the next semester. He's been my boyfriend for months now."
"Wow, that's some story." commented Beast Boy. "I guess I'll just have to start sweeping damsels off their feet by rescuing them."
Starfire smiled happily. "Indeed. It is wonderful how you two met friend Barbara."
"So what about his powers?" asked Robin.
Barbara smiled and said, "Ancient ninja secret." with her index finger over her lips. "He does heal really fast though. Why don't you ask him?"
Dick frowned and said, "Like I could actually do that."
Raven appeared from nowhere and said. "We're all entitled to our secrets Robin."
The Boy Wonder finally relented and said. "I guess you are right."
…
Raven went over to Naruto who was looking out at Jump City while sitting in the lotus position. That was when the purple haired girl noticed he was asleep…maybe? 'How could anyone sleep sitting like that? Perhaps he's meditating.' Raven reached out telepathically to see if Naruto was indeed asleep and felt something unusual from the blonde. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos…" she chanted.*②
Raven sensed an ocean of calmness. 'It's so vast and tranquil. I feel so peaceful here that I want to just curl up there and go to sleep without a care in the world.' Her dark eyes widened as she reached out with her senses. Below the sea of serenity was dark, roiling emotions much like her own. 'Love, hate, passion, anger…They are all boiling right under the surface. I wish I had this kind of emotional control.' thought Trigon's daughter. 'I'd best withdraw.'
When Raven opened her eyes she saw Naruto was looking at her…yet she sensed he was still asleep.
Naruto blinked and said, "Can I help you Miss Raven?"
The tele-empathic girl blushed. "I'm sorry; I couldn't figure out if you were sleeping or meditating. I…didn't mean to disturb you."
"You didn't disturb me." replied the blonde. "I was doing both. I was using Theta Wave*③ meditation. It is a method that allows you to be awake and alert yet at the same time you get all the benefits of deep REM sleep."
Raven perked up. "Where did you learn this method of meditation?" she asked. "It sounds very useful."
"Ancient ninja secret." he replied with his index finger over his lips.
'That's exactly what Batgirl said.' thought Raven with a sweat drop.
Naruto smiled softly at the purple haired girl's nonplussed look and said, "I have a book on the subject in Gotham City. It took me about a year to master it. Perhaps you'd like to borrow it?"
Raven's whole face lit up. "That would be excellent!" she replied.
"We'll make some arrangements later then." said Naruto with a grin…
…
Jump City, California
A few days later, Mara al Ghul and her followers of the Demon's Fist were spying on Titan's Tower watching for signs of their former teammate, Naruto al Ghul. Their members were Mara, Plague, Stone, Blank, Nightstorm, Toxin and Smelter*④. There were other prospective members of the Demon's Fist but Mara handpicked this group for their loyalty to her. She said to her team; "Our target is Naruto. We must kill him at all costs…As for the Teen Titans; consider them expendable. Move out!"
…
Jump City Plaza
Beast Boy and Cyborg were with Robin at the time eating at their favorite pizza parlor. They had no idea it was about to become a battleground. The three Titans were spotted by Mara who pulled Toxin, Smelter and Stone in to help her. Stone struck first with a colossal punch that caused the pizza place to collapse. Smelter set the area afire while Toxin and Mara waited for any stragglers to come crawling out of the wreckage…
Toxin grinned; "That was too easy." he said. "Let's start hunting for the others."
Mara shook her head. "Until we see the bodies keep your guard up."
"Do you think there will be any bodies left?" asked Smelter with a superior smirk on her face. "Between Stone and I there's nothing left standing." she added while pointing at the inferno.
That was when a massive shadow loomed over them. The tail a green Tyrannosaurus otherwise known as Beast Boy came smashing down and sent the four assassins flying.
Stone weathered the brutal hit well enough but the others were dizzied by the impact.
Cyborg and Robin came out from behind the flames and Robin charged in like lightning and engaged Mara with his bo staff. The Boy Wonder growled, "I don't know who you are but you'll regret attacking the Teen Titans!"
"You haven't earned the right to know my name yet moron!" Mara hissed as she drew two short swords.
"Hey Mara! Who do you want me to go after?" asked Toxin as he failed his whip around.
Mara sweat dropped at her identity being revealed. "Go after Beast Boy with Stone you idiot! Isn't it obvious?!"
As Toxin ran off after Beast Boy, Robin smirked. "So your name is Mara…"
She growled, "I'm Mara al Ghul and I'm going to send you to hell!" Sparks were soon flying as the two combatants engaged each other at incredible speed…
…
Downtown
Naruto saw the pillar of smoke coming up from the location of the pizza place he was heading towards. 'Shit! What could have happened?' thought the blonde. He was about to take off running when he caught a certain scent on the wind… Narato saw an attractive young woman jogging by and noticed she wasn't paying any attention to the smoke in the distance but was giving him a flirtatious smile instead. Narrowing his eyes, the sword wielder lashed out with a vicious throat jab that caused her to crash into a street lamp post.
She cried out and shape shifted into a male wrapped entirely in bandages. "H-how?" asked the now revealed male who was coughing up a storm. He was gripping his throat in pain.
"Hello Blank. I thought I smelled you." said Naruto conversationally. "You know my nose is every bit as good as my cousin's. Tell me; is Mara here?"
"Why should I tell you anything?" asked the still stunned Blank.
The blonde grabbed Blank by the collar and smashed the shape shifter's face into the lamp post with a loud clang. "Feel like talking now?" asked Naruto.
Blank's nose was broken and he said in a nasally tone, "…Mara's here…with the rest. There are seven including me…"
Naruto knocked Blank senseless by hitting his head on the street lamp again. "Thanks for the information Blank. For that I'll let you live." said the swordsman as he walked away towards the burning pizza parlor.
"Just…like…Mara…" muttered Blank as he slumped over and passed out…
…
Back at the wreckage of Jump City Plaza…
In the meantime, Beast Boy had shifted into a massive gorilla form and was trading some truly thunderous blows with Stone. With neither gaining a significant advantage; both fighters jumped back when a beam of white hot fire shot between them courtesy of Smelter. Stone was grazed and his shirt set aflame so he dropped to the ground and rolled to put it out.
Beast Boy was able to completely avoid Smelter's random attack and landed lightly in a cheetah form. 'That was too close.' thought Garfield warily. Then he felt Toxin's bullwhip strike him and yowled in pain…
Toxin laughed in triumph and said, "I always wanted to be a lion tamer!"
The shape shifting Teen Titan was back in his human form and said "I was a cheetah dumbass; not a lion. Try this!" Beast Boy turned into a rhino and Toxin nimbly avoided him while whipping Garfield. Though it did little damage to his rhinoceros hide; Beast Boy noticed a numb, tingly feeling coming from the points of impact.
"You'll have to do better that that!" crowed Toxin…
…
The now shirtless Stone was back on his feet and accessing the situation. 'Mara has Robin occupied and will be pissed if I intervene.' thought the heavy hitter. 'Toxin has Beast boy under control.' Then Stone saw Cyborg trading shots with Smelter. It was obvious the cybernetic Teen Titan's sonic cannon was both longer ranged and more accurate than the assassin's pyro projection. Smelter was now pinned down by a tractor trailer that clearly was marked with Texaco Oil on the side. Stone's yellow eyes widened. 'She wouldn't…!"
Cyborg had Smelter pinned and said, "Alright Blondie; give it up. You're stuck hiding under that trailer and I'm outside your range. Surrender and-"
"I'm not surrendering to anybody!" she yelled. Then she unleashed a torrent of flame at Cyborg while laughing hysterically."Hahaha! Burn tin man!"
Cyborg whispered, "Oh shit…!" as he dived for cover.
The oil truck blew up like a bomb and both Cyborg and Stone were sent flying in opposite directions. Stone crashed to a halt and stared in disbelief at the pillar of flames. Smelter had blown herself to hades. Stone always thought that Smelter was bat shit insane but he was still in disbelief that she was dead. Nursing his wounds; the yellow eyed assassin got on his radio. "This is Stone. Smelter is dead and I'm injured. I'm pulling out…"
…
Cyborg came rolling to a stop near the faltering Beast Boy and Toxin who was laughing with sadistic glee. "You guys are just too much fun!" chortled Toxin. "Making Beast boy paralyzed was easy. You're next Cyborg!"
Naruto appeared out of nowhere in a body flicker and he laughed. "Toxin, is that you? Bwahaha! Don't tell me…Mara sent you after me as well didn't she…? Are you stupid enough to fight me alone? Or are you going to run away as usual?"
The black and red clad member of the Demon's Fist growled. "You bastard! Mara will love me if I kill you!"
The blonde's eyes lit up with chakra and he smiled showing his elongated canine teeth. "You don't actually believe that do you…?" Seeing Toxin nod uneasily; Naruto said in a tone cold as death, "Lovesick fool…I'll send you to your grave…"
Toxin trembled for a second before steeling himself. He cracked his whip and said, "You're dead Naruto! Dead!"
Bruce Wayne's son made a 'come at me' motion with his hand and said, "You're nothing but an expendable pet to Mara. Do your worst."
The Demon's Fist Member cracked his whip and charged. To Ra's al Ghul's grandson; Toxin was just a slow moving idiot that needed to be put down. Toxin was nimble but not very smart. Naruto drew his katana like lightning and blurred out of existence a millisecond before Toxin's whip struck him. The Demon's Fist mwmber spun in his whip above him in a defensive posture. Then the blonde appeared in front of Toxin just inside the dark haired whip wielder's guard and cut the assassin's right arm off at the elbow. Toxin's right arm flew off still gripping the whip tightly and spraying blood liberally all over the place. The one armed assassin screamed bloody murder as Naruto prepared to finish the job by taking Toxin's head.
Cyborg screamed, "DON'T! He's already defeated!"
Naruto stopped his katana a hairsbreadth from Toxin's neck. It took all the willpower the blonde had to not finish the job. His blue eyes flashed as he flicked the blood off his katana and sheathed it. Then he said to the broken Toxin, "This is your lucky day." He quickly knocked Toxin unconscious with a brutal spin kick to the back of assassin's head that made an awful crunch.
The blonde sword wielder quickly rolled Toxin over and took the young assassin's utility belt off of him. Cyborg was up but Beast Boy was still down. Naruto pulled a green vial out of Toxin's belt and handed it to Cyborg. At Cyborg's questioning look; the blonde said, "Antidote. Give it to Beast Boy orally and he'll be fine."
The ambulances arrived shortly thereafter…
…
Nearby…
Mara al Ghul realized she was at a disadvantage and decided to withdraw. She and Robin were several blocks down but the Demon's Fist leader had already lost touch with half of her team. She was starting to get tired. Hearing Toxin's hellacious scream made her realize that the Teen Titans weren't the pushovers she expected. 'I never even found a sign of Naruto damn it.' She got on her radio and commanded, "This is Mara; all members of the Demon's Fist withdraw. Everyone rendezvous with me at point C."
…
Titan's Tower
Hours later; the banged up Titans regrouped at their home base. Robin said to the group, "It seems that the Demon's Fist withdrew after Toxin lost his arm and Blank had a major skull fracture. They are both in critical condition. As for Smelter…I guess that was her own fault… There wasn't really anything left to identify…"
"Can you tell us exactly who the Demon's Fist is Naruto?" asked Beast Boy who had fully recovered from the toxins in his system.
"The Demon's Fist is an elite strike Team within the League of Assassins." explained Naruto. "They are led by Mara al Ghul who is Ra's al Ghul's granddaughter. Mara hates me but I have no idea why they came after the Teen Titans. You all may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Robin said to Naruto, "Obviously you've dealt with them before. How do you know them so well?"
"I trained with them for some time…They wanted me to be a member of the Demon's Fist so I'm familiar with them." replied the blonde.
"Did they throw you out?" asked Raven.
Naruto smiled. "No, I left on my own accord because I didn't trust them as teammates. Mara resented me and the others were divided in their loyalties."
"Not to dig too deep into your personal space but why would this Mara girl hate you so much?" asked Cyborg.
Starfire added, "I too have this question."
The blonde gave a humorless chuckle. "Mara al Ghul was the designated leader of the Demon's Fist until I came along. Then they gave the title of leader to me; a total outsider and made her second in command. Mara hates me with a passion."
"Then no doubt they'll return eventually." said Batgirl.
"No doubt." agreed Robin…
…
Demon's Fist Rendezvous Point C
Mara al Ghul was sitting in grim silence with Stone as Plague and Nightstorm arrived at Point C outside of Jump City. Mara was roughed up but Stone looked like hell. Plague asked, "Where is everybody ? Nightstorm and I were staking out Titan's Tower the whole time and never saw a sign of Naruto."
Nightstorm added, "We saw Raven, Starfire and Batgirl but they were just entering the Titan's Tower when we arrived. They weren't our primary targets so we waited in ambush for Naruto and he didn't show up. The Tower is pretty well defended. Do you think he was hiding from us?"
Mara hissed, "Naruto al Ghul doesn't hide from anybody. Blank got his head cracked open on a light pole and is in critical condition at the hospital. That has my cousin's name written all over it."
"My brother is in the hospital?!" shrieked Plague. "Why I'll-"
"You'll do nothing Minamoto." ordered Mara angrily. "Our agents will extract him once he's healed up. The same goes for Toxin."
Nightstorm asked in alarm, "What happened to Toxin? Where's Smelter for all that matter?"
"Toxin got his whip arm cut off." explained Stone. "I saw it on the news…As for Smelter; she's dead."
"DEAD?!" asked Plague. "What happened?!"
Stone said, "The crazy bitch blew herself up. She used her powers full blast while standing beside a tanker truck full of oil."
"Shit! This was a disaster!" said Plague. "I ought to-"
"You ought to shut up before I silence you forever." said Mara irritably. "We leave at first light in the morning. That is all…"
…
POSTSCRIPT:
*①: This is my variation on the story Batman: The Killing Joke which left Barbara crippled and led to her becoming Oracle. I may have her still organize the Birds of Prey later but it will be as Batgirl rather than Oracle.
*②: Azarath Metrion Zinthos: This is a phrase from the Teen Titan's Cartoon. Raven often chants the incantation Azarath Metrion Zinthos to focus her abilities, allowing her to perform much greater feats. She also uses this phrase as a mantra while meditating.
*③: Theta Waves: Theta brain waves occur when one is sleeping or dreaming. The idea behind Naruto's method of meditation was in Batman: Year One with Bruce Wayne utilizing it (if I recall correctly).
*④: Demon's Fist members:
1-Mara al Ghul: Her expertise lies in swordsmanship, stealth, throwing and the martial arts. She is of Egyptian descent. She does not use an alias. She has green eyes and black hair with red bangs. She is a first cousin of Naruto.
2-Plague: Her power is corrosive touch which can decay skin and rust metal. She is of Japanese descent. Her actual name is Minamoto. She has pink eyes and white hair. Plague is the sister of Blank.
3-Stone: His power is superhuman strength. He is of Egyptain descent. His actual name is unknown. He has yellow eyes and gray hair.
4-Blank: His power is terrestrial metamorphosis which allows him to shape shift into any kind of person or animal. He is also of Japanese descent. His actual name is unknown. He has pink eyes and white hair but wears bandages so his face and hands aren't visible. Blank is the brother of Plague.
5-Nightstorm: His power is weather manipulation. He controls air (which allows him to fly) and can generate electricity. He is of unknown descent. His actual name is unknown. He has red eyes and brown hair.
6-Toxin: (OC) His power is neurotoxin. He exudes a toxin similar to a jellyfish. Small amounts numb and large amounts can kill. He focuses his powers through a bullwhip. He is of Spanish descent. His actual name is unknown. He has brown eyes and black hair.
7-Smelter: (OC) Her power is pyro projection. She generates fire from her hands and can project it like a flamethrower. She is of American descent. His actual name is unknown. He has orange eyes and blonde hair.
It was originally my intention for Plague and Nightstorm to battle Batgirl, Raven and Starfire but crisscrossing between three battles proved to be too confusing to read and write. The battle was also a mismatch for Plague in particular so I dropped it. The stakeout angle wrapped things up much more neatly anyway. I've pretty much decided that Naruto's alignment is going to be an anti-hero because he sees many (not all) criminals as irredeemable and figures that dropping the hammer is sometimes necessary. As far as some sort of vigilante name or outfit; I really haven't decided. The obvious choice would be fox or bat themed but I'm not too sure at this point.
I've had a lot of questions on pairings. The whole Bruce Wayne/Talia al Ghul angle is interesting for instance. People have also suggested a harem for Naruto but I'm undecided. We'll just have to see how things go as the story develops. See you next time. Blue out. 5/11/21