Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Young Justice.
A/N: Remember to vote if you haven't! I'll take the poll down a week after Shinobi on Board's next update and leave it up to let you all know what won then after a rotation of updates, to let the people who only read one story know as well, the Shinobi poll will go up for a rotation than the second next story poll since two stories are close to ending.
Also, there was a rumor the site was shutting down but also read they're revamping the site by Dec. so if you want to backup any stories you should as a person told me back in 2005 when they updated to Web 2.0 a bunch of stories got deleted due to their format not being supported anymore.
Beta: Chaos-PSD.
Chapter XLIV: Involuntary.
Last Time.
Ma'ayava'ana Ma'akk March 24, 22:04 UTC.
"You did great today, Baby!"
Beast Boy told the new ship "Totally had us covered. I'm happy you're part of our family now." Baby moved around happily before Beast Boy looked over at Bio-Ship. "But I'm gonna miss you, girl. I guess I'll just have to learn how to accept it. Not sure how Forager's gonna take it, though."
"Try not to be a stranger," Naruto said, patting Bio-Ship and having her beep. "You have a family on Earth too."
The Watchtower March 24, 18:05 EDT.
Superman's sitting in the forest of the tower, shoes off talking to Lois on his phone. "Conner's fine Lois. Just wedding jitters, he's nervous. Now, the Javelin will be here soon to take us to Mars to help and jet Naruto back faster so he's in time for the wedding… I miss you and Jonny, too. Looking down at you both right now, actually…"
"No, I am not on the Watchtower just to avoid diaper duty… I… Well, yeah, he's taking his time potty training. But Iris said that's perfectly normal. Especially for boys… Hmm? Heh! He escaped his diaper again? Ha-Ha! You found poop on the ceiling...? No, Kryptonian poop does not defy gravity. But if his powers are awakening, if he's learning to hover-! Wait, I heard crying. Is he crying? Is he cranky...? Lois, his eyes... Are they red?"
He then stood at that. "Glowing red? No? Did you say no?" He asked before he heard crackling. "Lois, you're breaking up. Lois? Lois! Can you hear me? Lois?" Superman then sped away at that to the front of the forest. "Cyborg, I need a boom tube. Now!"
Now.
Ma'aleca'andra March 25, 16:16 UTC.
"So this is goodbye."
Beast boy said to Bio-Ship who shined for a second as M'gann put her hand on Bio-Ship's hull. "I'm gonna miss you, girl." She said as Bio-Ship beeped. "I can't thank you enough for everything."
"You were as much a member of the team as any of us," Naruto said with a smile. "And more important, you're family."
"Craziest. Ride. Ever." Beast Boy said before dropping on Naruto's shoulder before Bio-Ship left and sniffed.
"Are you okay, Gar?"
"Yeah. I mean… I'm sad, but I want her to be happy." He replied as Naruto looked over at M'gann.
"Are you okay?"
"Not really. It's very hard to lose her, but I understand her decision and I'll be fine eventually." She lurched forward before looking back to see Baby behind her. "Yeah, that's right. Baby's taking care of our family now."
Meanwhile, at the palace, Ma'alefa'ak sneaks into the Royal Palace and plants the gene bomb underneath the throne room. He activates the timer and leaves unaware of another presence in the room, watching him.
Ma'alefa'ak then returns to his cavern to find M'gann waiting for him. "How did you find me?" He asked before sitting on his chair.
"You know I do this professionally, right?"
"So you're arresting me again?"
"I should. And someday, I might." M'gann replied before looking down. "I still can't forgive what you did to those two kids on New Genesis." She then looked up to stare at her brother. "But you're a Martian on Mars. I don't have the authority to arrest you here for crimes committed off-world."
"A rematch, then?"
"I didn't come to fight. I came to apologize."
Ma'alefa'ak blinked at that. "What?"
"When I went to Earth, I never should have left you behind. I'm truly sorry, M'comm."
"My name's not M'comm. It's Ma'alefa'ak." He bit back at her as M'gann closed her eyes.
"Even... Even if you can't forgive me, it's not too late to reconcile with our family."
"What family? Our siblings? Please! As for our parents, you can say goodbye to Mom and tell Dad I'm sorry."
She then phased through the ceiling at that, leaving her brother alone.
Ma'aleca'andra March 25, 16:36 UTC.
"This place is so crash!"
Beast Boy spoke as he floated beside Naruto and J'emm at the palace that was lighting up via blue crystals. "Your party's gonna crush it!"
"Apologies. I don't believe the psychic translation is working properly." J'emm said to Beast Boy in confusion.
"It's an Earth expression. It means your party's going to be the best. He also just wanted to thank you for inviting us to your birthday celebration." Naruto said with a smile as Beast Boy nodded.
"Yeah, that."
"My pleasure."
"I understand. I hate birthday fuss, too." Naruto said with a sigh putting his hands on his waist as Beast Boy landed on him.
"It hurts that I won't be able to share this day with my father." J'emm sighed before Beast Boy stood up.
"Don't worry. We'll bring the king's killer to justice."
"We promise… To do our best." Naruto interjected, glancing over.
"Thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I still have much to prepare before tonight." J'emm spoke up before leaving as Naruto looked to his right for a second before stepping to the entrance that was behind him.
Behind a rock, the three tees that have been watching them glanced over. "We have to go." Saturn Girl said before looking at the other two.
"But you psychically camouflaged us." Phantom Girl spoke as Saturn Girl looked back
"Miss Martian's coming. We can't risk her recognizing my psychic signature from the cave-in."
"I still don't understand how we're supposed to complete our mission if we can't stay close." Chameleon Boy spoke, having Saturn Girl sigh.
"I'm not sure. But what choice do we have? Come on." They left as M'gann floated down
"So, how did it go?" Beast Boy asked as she looked down.
"About as well as I thought it would."
"That bad, huh?" Naruto asked before taking her hand in his.
"How are things here?"
"We need to get on with the investigation. Gar promised J'emm we'd find answers for him." Naruto glanced over as Beast Boy seemed to shrink at that.
"And we still think the King's death is connected to the destruction of the Zeta-Tube in the M'arzz-Earth Communications Satellite?" She asked as Naruto nodded while Beast Boy spoke up.
"That's the theory."
"We should do an even more thorough review of the intel J'emm provided," Naruto explained before looking at his wife. "Where can we go to do that?"
"We don't have to go anywhere." She said before their eyes glowed.
(Mindscape.)
The three appeared in a void with Naruto in his costume, hood and mask pulled down.
Suddenly, circular windows appeared around them showing the info they got so far. "Here's what we know. The king's body was found in the Grand Hall of the Royal Palace. I found traces of a familiar residue. I've seen something like it before, but can't quite place it." Naruto said before Beast Boy looked at one window.
"I've tasted multiple individual Martian traces at the crime scene."
"Then let's find out who was in the palace that night," M'gann said before bringing up images of all the Martians who were in the palace.
After a few minutes, Naruto sighed as he 'scrolled' through the pictures. "Nothing's leaping out in the files for the M'hontrss or Consuls who were at the palace that day."
"Nothing on the nobles, priests, and priestesses either," M'gann spoke before Beast Boy focused on one of his pictures.
"Guys, guys, check it out. I found a discrepancy. According to this, seven servants entered the palace that day, but only six left. The numbers don't add up." He sent his pictures to M'gann who brought one White Martian in gray clothing up.
"This one." She then enlarged the picture. "She entered the palace, but there's no record of her leaving. At least not through any of the palace gates."
"Making her our lead suspect." Beast Boy said before M'gann sighed.
"I hate to admit it, but I was hoping the killer wouldn't turn out to be A'ashenn."
"Maybe the M'hontrr at the gate saw something when she entered," Naruto said before hearing the guard speak up.
"No one came in that night except a couple of A'ashenn servants. Honestly, I didn't pay much attention to them, but feel free to review my memories of the evening."
A window came up before M'gann spoke. "Got R'ohh K'arr's memory record right here." She stopped it on a male White Martian with a scar over his left eye.
"There. Another servant entered with our suspect." Naruto said before M'gann brought up his picture.
"His name is K'arr M'angg. Here's his interview."
The window turned to show K'arr's face. "I didn't see anything. Nothing at all."
"That's it?" Beast Boy asked, raising an eyebrow. "That's his whole interview?"
"We need to talk about this K'arr M'angg.
(Real World.)
Inside the palace, R'ess was talking to the queen who was sitting at a fountain. "Your Majesty, I must insist. We are better off without the Earthers."
"But my late husband was very much in favor of a M'arzz-Earth alliance." She replied looking over.
"Perhaps, but given recent events, it seemed clear that even the King would have changed his mind, were he still alive."
"Now you presume to understand how my father thinks?"
The two looked to see J'emm floating over. "You go too far, R'ess E'dda."
"These are adult concerns. I would not expect a child to understand." R'ess said having the prince narrow his eyes.
"I am Prince of the Realm. Do not tell me what I do and do not understand. And do not put words in the mind of my late father."
"Your Majesty, surely you will not allow this youth-"
"Your prince has spoken, R'ess," J'arlia said standing as he did the greeting and floated off.
Outside, the heroes walked in a poverty area that had White Martians in holes in the rocks. "Wow. Little cramped in here, huh?" Beast Boy asked as they walked down the narrow path.
"Not that the B'lahdenns or G'arrunns ever noticed," M'gann spoke before sighing. "Let's just find our Martian. According to his file, his home should be right over here." They came to a vertical oval door before she put a hand on a small circle near the top. The circle lit up before the door shifted open having K'arr walk to the opening. "K'arr M'angg, I am-!"
"I know who you are. The niece of J'onn J'onzz and the Justice League of Earth. The whole city's been speaking about you three."
"Flattering, I guess." Beast Boy spoke as he floated between the two.
"We've been looking into the King's murder," Naruto explained having the Martian look at him.
"I had nothing to do-!"
"You're not a suspect," M'gann spoke as he tried to go back inside. "We were wondering if you could tell us anything about the female A'ashenn servant that entered the palace with you that night."
"Oh, her. She wasn't A'ashenn." K'arr explained as the three looked at each other.
"She wasn't?"
"She was a G'arrunn posing as A'ashenn."
"But how did R'ohh K'arr not catch that?" M'gann asked in confusion. "You can't change color without others realizing. Believe me, I know."
"Please." K'arr scoffed at that. "It would never occur to a G'arrunn that another G'arrunn would ever pretend to be A'ashenn. R'ohh K'arr took no notice of her. He takes no notice of any of us. He hardly sees us as Martians."
"Why didn't you tell this to the M'hontrrs after the king's death?" Naruto asked the White Martian.
"My kind knows better than to trust M'hontrrs. That is why I keep this." K'arr pointed at his scar. "There's a reminder that if I tell the truth, I would only be making trouble for myself. G'arrunns would never believe a G'arrunn killed the king."
"Then why tell us now?" Beast Boy asked K'arr who put a hand on M'gann's shoulder.
"Because she is one of us."
Over at the palace, several priestesses were making a show by using magic to create gold Mars animals in an arena. They then brought them together in an explosion creating a male Martian with a crown.
"There's old king Ma'arrun!" One Martian spoke up before they created a female Red Martian.
"And Queen Sykara!"
"All of our great leaders! There's S'turnn!" Another said as S'turnn was created having the queen look down in sadness.
They then finished by creating J'emm. "Prince J'emm!"
"Best yet!"
"Come now, Jem," J'arlia spoke to her son as she turned. "This is a glorious day, one that would have made your father proud. Please try to dispel the dark cloud shadowing your face and mind."
"I'll try, Mother." J'emm sighed before glancing to see Naruto, M'gann, and Beast Boy walking into the room. "Excuse me." He floated over to speak to them. "You have news? I can tell."
"We have a new lead suspect," Naruto said as J'emm looked at him.
"Show me."
M'gann then showed the pictures of what they saw. "We've discovered that a G'arrunn female entered the palace that night posing as an A'ashenn servant."
"I see. Good work. Perhaps you could, um, give me a moment to absorb this." J'emm said before floating away before Naruto looked at the show and narrowed his eyes.
"Hello, Megan! It was right there the whole time."
"What?"
"Zatanna's spells always leave behind microscopic magical residue," Naruto explained, closing his eyes. "All magic users have their own. When Superman told me about that I had her put a spell on my contacts so I can track magic residue if I had a case that dealt with it."
"Residue? Gross." Beast Boy groaned, having M'gann look at him.
"Gar, focus."
"Each magic-users residue is like a signature so to speak. And Martian magic is a signature in a different language. That's why I didn't recognize it before. I'm sure of it now." Naruto finished as she sighed.
"Ma'al. Come on. We have to find J'emm. I'll explain on the way." They then ran/flew after the prince as M'gann explained. "I met a priestess the other day while looking for J'in. After J'emm went by, she told me that she and J'emm were together, before the fact that they were from different castes forced them apart. And that the king forbade it. I'll bet the king still believed B'lahdenns were superior to both A'ashenns and G'arrunns. so S'turnn wouldn't allow his son to marry a G'arrunn."
Up ahead, J'emm was looking around before seeing a priestess. "S'yraa."
"J'emm."
"My father always believed that the prejudices separating G'arrunn and A'ashenn were ridiculous. That there was no real difference between the two races. But... He felt the Royal Bloodline had to remain B'lahdenn and pure which is why you killed him." J'emm finished as the three heroes hid behind the wall as S'yraa had her power spark off her hands as she was nervous.
"J'emm, no, it's not true. You know, I'd never even been to the palace. You never brought me there." She said, grabbing a selfie before Beast Boy ran over and licked the air.
"Liar! I tasted her there."
"And we've got a match on her magic residue." Naruto sighed as he walked up.
"So it was you," J'emm said sadly as she raised her hands.
"No. No, no, no. No, I didn't mean to. I... I…" She started floating up in hysteria and glowed yellow with electric magic coming off of her.
"Everyone, get back!" Naruto said as one bolt broke a wall.
"We've got to stop this before she brings the whole place down." Beast Boy yelled after they jumped back.
"Prince J'emm, get clear!"
"J'emm, please, get out of the way!" S'yraa yelled holding her head.
"No, S'yraa, you must stop this." He said floating over.
"I can't!"
"You'll have to. Or you'll have to kill me."
"Please, I don't want to kill you. I never wanted to hurt you. I… I still love you." She finished before the magic stopped and she fell.
J'emm flew over and caught her. "I simply do not understand, S'yraa. No matter his failings, how could you murder my father?" He asked putting her down.
"I didn't mean to." She replied before showing them her talking to his father. "I only snuck into the palace to talk. I was sure if I opened my mind to him, and he read just how much I loved his son, he'd have a change of heart and give us his blessing. But he was so dismissive, so contemptuous. I was upset. And my power… I never felt I had a calling, but I did study with the Sorcerer-Priesthood to help me control my magic. But when I fell in love with you, I neglected my studies. And because of that, I couldn't control my magic that night."
"Thought become action, and before I had time to take it back…" They saw her bowing to the king as her magic went out of control and struck him. "Then I panicked and morphed, sneaking out through the plumbing. After that, I knew I could never be with you. Even though the main obstacle to our marriage was gone, I knew we could never be truly intimate again psychically. So I took the Y'ellonn, knowing that Sorcerer-Priests and Priestesses lead celibate, solitary lives. I am deeply, deeply sorry."
S'yraa finished floating back a couple of feet.
"She opened her mind to us fully. She was telling the truth. It was just an accident." M'gann explained having Naruto sigh.
"And the King's death had nothing to do with the destruction of the Zeta-Tube or the communication satellite."
"We're sorry it all turned out this way," M'gann said to J'emm who looked down.
"Not as sorry as I. If I had just been braver, if I had defied my father, he would still be alive and S'yraa and I would be together. And the M'hontrrs would not be taking the woman I love off to prison." He explained as they all heard mummers of the Martians talking about what just happened.
"If you can, don't give her too harsh of a punishment." Naruto looked over to speak. "It was an accident."
They then walked back to speak to R'ess who was trying to convince the others that only a White Martian could have killed their king. "No, it is true. We have an open mind confession of the crime from the Priestess who killed King S'turnn." One of the guards spoke before R'ess floated up and had his eyes glow to speak to the crowd.
"My fellow Martians. Clearly, this is shocking news. But there is a lesson to be learned here. Our king is dead because the G'arrunn wanted the life of a B'lahdenn. For just as there is much even G'arrunns cannot aspire to, there is much our A'ashenns should not aspire to. This is the reason our caste system exists, to preserve order. It is the Martian way."
Naruto heard mummers of those that agreed with R'ess before J'emm walked over and had his eyes glow. "Indeed! This has been the Martian way, but that does not make it the right way, does not mean it is the way things ought to be. Our caste system is responsible for all of M'arzz's problems. Just think, my people. How preposterous is it that among a race of shapeshifters, the color of one's skin defines one's worth?"
"It is long past time for institutionalized tribalism and scapegoating to be eradicated. The Martian way should be a path toward empathy, a path toward embracing full equality for all Martians. If we allow our society and our culture to hold on to old prejudices, then we are all to blame for my father's death. Together, we must all find a new way."
Naruto then heard mummers of all opinions on the matter before sighing.
On the other side, the three teens watched from the shadows before Chameleon Boy spoke. "Gotta give the Prince credit. The guy knows how to make a speech."
"Stay alert. Don't forget why we're here."
J'arlia then floated up to her son and had her eyes glow. "My eyes are opening to these words of common sense. This dialogue will continue. It must. But enough about death today. We're here to celebrate the birth of my son, your Prince J'emm, son of S'turnn."
At the port, Em'ree smiled before a silver Javelin landed. She turned as the hatch opened and had Superman and Martian Manhunter walk down before she floated to hug her uncle. "Naruto, M'gann and Gar?"
"I'll take you to them."
In the palace, Naruto smiled at M'gann before standing and looked down before turning on his vision and saw a person messing with a cylinder under a cloak. "There's someone below us." He said as she looked down and had her eyes glow.
"I'm picking up the same mind signature from the cave-in."
"Meaning?"
"Trouble," Naruto said before glowing gold and creating a black ball that he put on the floor and created a hole. Dispersing his cloak, Naruto dropped down with M'gann, Beast Boy, and J'emm before seeing the room empty. "I know I saw someone…" Naruto trailed off, having his eyes glow before seeing a shimmer in front of him. "Doing something with this."
He pulled the cloak off and revealed Ma'alefa'ak's bomb. "What is it?" J'emm asked as Naruto scanned it.
"It's definitely Apokoliptian tech. It's a bomb. I'm guessing we've only got minutes before it blows. Vision's picking up some kind of virus in it." Naruto explained looking at the bomb as Beast Boy got on it and licked the air.
"It tastes of M'comm." He said as M'gann remembered her brother's last words he said to her.
"M'comm! This was his plan. That's why he did what he did in New Genesis. Trading favors with Apokolips to get this viral bomb? My guess is it'll target and kill all the G'arrunns in the arena. Maybe the B'lahdenns as well or worse! We don't know the explosive yield or how far the virus will spread." M'gann spoke up before looking at Naruto.
"You three need to get out of here. You're all in danger." Naruto said, turning to the three.
"But I'm-!"
"You're biracial. We don't know how it will affect you or Gar. He has your blood in his veins. I'll get rid of it." Naruto explained before looking down. "Great. No scroll…" He then glanced down to turn on his vision and saw a river of lava. "I'll throw it in the cave underneath the lava, it should burn out the virus. Now, go! Clear the area just in case!" Naruto said, going into his gold cloak and creating another ball.
"Be careful, Naruto."
"Always," Naruto replied, making another hole before dropping down as M'gann flew up, eyes glowing.
"Attention, everyone. You must evacuate the arena, now!"
"J'emm?" J'arlia asked before J'emm looked at a guard.
"M'hontrr, get the Queen to safety!"
"At once, Prince J'emm."
They flew away just as they heard an explosion.
Boom!
And had a pillar of lava come up the hole before falling to create a larger one.
"AAH!"
Naruto fell before being thrown back to the wall. "Damn, that hurt." He sat up and revealed his suit was damaged on the right side.
Ma'aleca'andra March 26, 00:01 UTC.
"With my suit damaged, I should probably fly back with Superman."
Naruto in his regular clothes explained to M'gann as he sat in the javelin. "Then I'll-"
"Stay here to get used to working with Baby. J'onn will also stay to check on the zeta-tunnel." Naruto interrupted her. "Besides, you should stay to talk with your parents. I gotta get back for the wedding."
"I'm coming too!" Beast boy floated over before changing back to his human form. "I already missed the bachelor party. I'm not missing the wedding."
Naruto shrugged before grabbing M'gann and turned her to the ramp.
Smack!
And smacked her on the ass, having her jump towards it. She then walked out to see her sister looking confused. "Why'd he do that?"
"I-It's a sign of affection between lovers."
Themyscira March 29, 13:13 EEST.
"You're late."
Naruto sighed as he stared at a red-haired fair-skinned woman. "It's just the rehearsal, Artemis…"
"You show up on time for other stuff… Like that time you came to the baths when a bunch of us were there."
"For the last time, Diana told me she was the only one there!"
"Sure she did," Artemis replied before turning to walk to the city.
"(Sigh) Why do men want to come here again?" He said before walking after her.
And then came a yell. "Bomb!"
Naruto looked up before dashing to the city just in time to see an explosion just off of the island
Boom!
A green mist came off it as Superman flew past him. Naruto followed and saw Superman fall as he got to the mist, revealing its kryptonite. Naruto ran past and saw a rock that was destroyed. With a body imprint on it before his daughters dropped by him. "Conner?!"
Naruto glanced at the body before Meg and Donna saw it and took a step. Only for Naruto to grab them and hug them as they started to cry.
To Be Continued.
A/N: Thanks for reading and let me know of any mistakes.
Beta: Chaos-PSD.
Remember to vote if you haven't! I'll take the poll down a week after Shinobi on Board's next update and leave it up to let you all know what won then after a rotation of updates, to let the people who only read one story know as well, the Shinobi poll will go up for a rotation than the second next story poll since two stories are close to ending.
Also, there was a rumor the site was shutting down but also read they're revamping the site by Dec. so if you want to backup any stories you should as a person told me back in 2005 when they updated to Web 2.0 a bunch of stories got deleted due to their format not being supported anymore.
OK, my short review for this arc. I do think it's a solid start. Yes, sometimes it felt like the dialogue was directed at us instead of the characters, but thankfully it was mostly a minute at that time. Plus they did set this up in s1 with M'gann telling Conner in school that the Green Martians treat the White Martians badly and here they just expanded on it.
Though people have brought up how stupid it is due to them being shapeshifters though they do try to explain in several scenes that they can tell who's a White Martian and who's not even if they changed their color. Now I think there was a thing to fix most of that… Don't have Red Martians and have the Green be the Royal Family.
That way they could make it "Oh we Greens are the royal blood" and that would be a good if not great reason to have the Greens hate the Whites. Plus I think the Red Martians were created for just this show/continuity as everything I can find says this universe is their first appearance. I mean the Reds should be the ones who hate both the Green and White Martians and treat them the same so the Greens would hate the Reds instead.
But that's just me.
Next to be updated will be Ninja In The Web soon as that's being beta'd.
Nothing else to say.
Talk To You Later,
Lone Wolf Out.🐺