Paladin of Young Justice

A Naruto/Young Justice crossover

Summary: Reacting to a fire alarm from the Cadmus Research Laboratory, the gathered sidekicks never expected to find a disturbing secret hidden beneath the building.

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"Hey guys, look here." Kid Flash yelled out. He, along with his fellow sidekicks Robin and Aqualad, were investigating a fire at the Cadmus facility in Washington DC. What they found was surprising. It was an elevator, heading down. On the bottom floor of a two-story building.

There were dozens of levels below ground overall, and now they were at the fifty-second, with the Boy Wonder hacking away at the mainframe. Aqualad was in the hallway, scanning for unwanted personnel, and Kid Flash was in the room across from Robin's.

"Look at what?" Aqualad walked in, freezing at the sight. "What?"

"Hey guys, I found… whoa." Robin was the last one to enter, standing just next to his two fellow sidekicks.

It was a large black tube hanging in the air, filled with pale green liquid. Floating inside was a teenaged boy, looking just a year or two older than them, wearing an oxygen mask hooked up to the ceiling. On his shoulder was a small grey goblin of some kind.

"It's a genomorph." Robin muttered. "Feeding him information."

"About?"

"The world, us… Who knows?" The Boy Wonder stepped to the small computer screen next to the tube. "Let's see here… Project Paladin… Supposed to be a warrior of Light… made from genetic material acquired from… Wonder Woman?"

"What?" Kid Flash stared at the teen. "They've got…"

"Wonder Woman's son, yeah."

"Should we release him?" Aqualad asked nobody in particular.

"Already on it." Robin's fingers ghosted on the keyboard and, with a low his, the door opened. The pale green liquid drained out and the oxygen mask detached from his face, allowing him to fall on the floor.

Now that he was out of the liquid they could see him more clearly. His hair was blonde and shaggy, coming down to his shoulders. He was dressed in white bottoms and a sleeveless tank top. As he slowly raised his head they noticed blue eyes, the same shade as his supposed mother, narrowing at them.

He stood up slowly, arms to his side and muscles tense.

"Uh… hey there." Kid Flash smiled wearily. "I'm Kid Flash, but you can call me just KF. Or just K. And these are Robin and Aqualad." The icy eyes just stared at him. "So what's your name?"

"I am Paladin."

"That's not a name." Aqualad commented.

"Neither is yours."

"Well, yes, I suppose that's true." The blonde frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"Why are you here?"

"Well, there was that fire, and…" There was a flash of white light erupted from Paladin's right hand and a black flail impacted Aqualad's chest, knocking him into the back wall and into unconsciousness. A huge tower shield, almost as large as the blonde himself, appeared on his left hand and was slammed into Robin. Before he could even react, a black armored foot slammed into Kid Flash. The last thing the yellow-clad speedster saw before everything went black was two more large figures behind Paladin.

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"Why did you do that?" The three sidekicks were now locked up, along with the blonde genomorph, in some kind of cell.

"Orders." The blonde shrugged.

"Orders? From who?"

"The doctor."

"Ok, seriously, who the hell are you?" Kid Flash stared at the blonde with a bemused expression.

"A genetically modified clone of Wonder Woman made to kill her or any other hero if they were ever to turn from the light."

"That's a morbid thought." Robin tilted his head. "I'm just unclear about one thing. Why are you male?"

"Because I have the necessary requirements to be one."

"I mean, you are aware that Wonder Woman is an Amazon?" The blonde nodded. "And that the Amazons are all female. So why aren't you?"

"Because Wonder Woman didn't want to get too attached. Hence 'genetically modified'."

"Look, pal, I'd hate to break this to you, but Wonder Woman doesn't even know you exist."

"W-what?" For the first time since they met him the teen looked more vulnerable then he'd likely admit. "How can you be sure?"

"Because we've met her." Aqualad explained cautiously. "We know that she would never approve of something like this."

"Never?" The blonde looked up, deep in thought. "That's a word I've not yet learned."

"It's probably not the only thing you haven't learned. Have you ever seen the moon?"

"The moon? The gnomes have shown me pictures. Big, round, hangs in the sky, yes?"

"Yeah, that thing. The gnomes showed you?"

"In my head."

"Yeah, but you never actually saw it." Robin pointed out. "Never saw the starts, or the sunrise, or a million other things out there."

"Help us." Aqualad pleaded. "Help us escape and we'll show you the moon. We'll even introduce you to Wonder Woman."

"Introduce me? Yes, I think I'd like that." The blonde's lips quirked up. "Very well." In a flash of white light he was dressed in abyssal-black armor, with spikes on his shoulders, knees, elbows and helmet. A white cloth ran down his front and back, with a black star on it. With a groan the chains that were holding him back gave way, and three quick tugs later the three sidekicks were freed. "This way." The blonde kicked the door open and pointed left.

"You know the way up?"

"No, but the way down is that way." He pointed behind him. "So that way it is."

"I don't think that's how things work."

"I can always just blow up the ceiling." The blonde shrugged. "That is the direction we're going. More or less."

"I'll take that." Robin grinned. A large spiked ball appeared in Paladin's hands that was, not a moment later, launched into the ceiling.

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They managed to get above ground by just smashing in the general 'upwards' direction, where they were greeted by Doctor Desmond, the leader of the Cadmus Project.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"Out." The blonde pointed behind the doctor.

"No, I don't think so." The man smirked. "Not just yet. You see, you're not complete yet. We aren't done with you."

"What the hell is he talking about?" Kid Flash whispered to Robin.

"Brainwashing." The Boy Wonder muttered, staring at the doctor.

"You lied to me, Desmond." The blonde glared at him behind the helmet. "Wonder Woman does not know about me, does she?"

"Of course not." Desmond scoffed. "Those goody-goody heroes would never be able to stomach what we're doing here. What we have to do. You are necessary. The protector of light."

"Not your choice to make. It's my life."

"You're not alive." The doctor scoffed. "You're just a clone of a stubborn woman."

"Perhaps." He shrugged. "But you gave me a mind, Desmond. And now it's working against you."

"Heh, just like your mother." The doctor brought a vial from his pocket to his lips. "And now I'm taking you down."

The transformation was painful, and instantaneous. The doctor's skin turned gray and he grew in size, dwarfing the teens. His hair mostly receded and his mouth lengthened into a snarl.

"Is that all?" The flail in the blonde's hand turned into a large mace as he stared down the monster. "I've got this." He motioned to the other young heroes to get behind him. "Come at me, Desmond."

"I am BLOCKBUSTER!" The creature yelled out, charging at Paladin like a bull. The warrior raised his large shield to intercept the fist sent at him, and with a low grunt hit Blockbuster in the chest with his mace, sending him through the wall and into another building across the street.

"Nice hit." Robin commented as the black armor dissolved.

"Thanks." The blonde grinned.

"See, what did we tell you?" Aqualad pointed to the full moon visible through the hole in the wall. "The moon."

"And Wonder Woman." Kid Flash grinned, noticing the descending heroes. "Are we good or what?"

The three sidekicks were called by their mentors and promptly chewed out for going out on their own. Meanwhile, the black-haired Amazon was looking at her male clone, who was off to the side, looking apprehensively around him, making an effort to avoid her gaze. She walked to him slowly, his shoulders tensing more with her each step.

"Hello." She spoke calmly with a neutral expression on her face. "I am Diana."

"I know who you are, Wonder Woman." The blonde muttered. "I am a clone created from your DNA to replace you."

"A clone? Are you sure."

"Yes."

"Well…" The female warrior bit her lip. "Do you like being called that?"

"…No."

"Did they give you a name?"

"Yes. Naruto."

"Asian?"

"Japanese. Meaning 'maelstrom'. To distance me from your heritage. I think."

"I like it." The woman smiled. "Naruto Prince. My son."

"I…"

"Come." She opened her arms with a small, sad smile. "Give your mother a hug."

"M-mother." In a flash Naruto was in her arms, trying to hide his tears as he hugged his mother for the first time.

Diana looked at the boy in her arms with an odd mixture of happiness and sadness. I admit, it's not exactly how I imagined it. She looked up at the other group. They were still talking among themselves, but the Bat sent a glance her way. She could've sworn his lips quirked up just a bit. But I can't say I'm all that upset. Gods of Olympus, please watch over my son.

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Something I thought up a long while ago, that's been sitting on my hard-drive. Naruto replaces Superboy, obviously. I'm kinda iffy on continuing, we'll see if I change my mind. It's been known to happen.