Kent Nelson was sitting at a table reading a newspaper with a cup of tea in front of him, the place around him looking like a dining room worthy of a castle. The old man was already turning the page in the newspaper before smiling and looking at one of the doors.

"I see you woke up, did you have a good night's sleep?" Asks the magician to those who were approaching.

After a few steps, the figure entered the light of the room revealing to be the omega project that was now without the bloodstains on its body, in addition to wearing a simple white shirt with jeans with simple sneakers. The clone gave Kent a look before giving a small nod and sitting in the chair and stood there facing the man.

"I imagine you want to know where we are, yesterday I noticed that you were more focused on just lying down, we are in the tower of destiny, it is..." Kent begins making the redhead narrow his eyes, clenching his fists.

"I don't care where I am, what I want to know is where is my brother?" Asks the clone making Kent look at him surprised before laughing softly.

"Sorry, I should have guessed that, your brother is currently staying in the hall of justice while the league arranges a place for their entire team to perform." Reveals Kent getting a surprised look from the omega project who blinks a few times trying to make sense of the information.

This man knew information, probably confidential justice league information, and he knew where his brother was. The omega project abandoned its surprise and adopted a more cautious look as it looked at the old man.

"I want to see him." Asks the clone receiving a wave from Kent who raises his hand to the side and moves his arm in a circle making a kind of portal that showed the hall of justice on the other side.

Seeing this the redhead looked with narrowed eyes at the portal and then at the old man before looking at his own hand, making Kent watch him with curiosity and attention. At that moment, the boy got up from his chair and turned around, still looking at his hand when he suddenly raised his arm and made the same movement as the old man.

What happened next surprised the old man a lot, a small portal appeared, but this one was different from the one he made, it was unstable, the image flickered, before the portal disappeared. The clone frowned before a hand landed on his shoulder causing him to widen his eyes and turn to see Kent staring at him with a strange expression for the redhead.

"I must admit boy, it has been many years since I have seen someone with as much aptitude and talent for magic as you, you almost made a stable portal on your first try, that is an amazing feat in itself" Praises the old man doing the redhead blink surprised.

"...Thanks?"

At that moment, the old man looked at his own portal and closed it with a snap of his fingers, after which he walked away from the clone that faced him as if he were an enigma. Kent walked over to an adjacent piece of furniture before pulling out a necklace with a silver chain and a navy blue stone on it, the man then held out the jewel to the clone.

The redhead stared at him blankly before slowly picking up the necklace, looking at the jewel, analyzing it.

"What is it? I do not recognize the material well beyond the silver chain." Asks the curious clone, which made Kent smile at the boy.

"This my young man is made of a small splinter that came from a very powerful magic weapon that was used to fight the chaos lords, consider this a gift for you and also a small pass to enter the tower of fate whenever you want." The old man declares causing the redhead to look at him with even more surprise.

"W-what? Do you want me to come back? Why?" Asks the clone making Kent look at him with a small sad smile.

"Because everyone deserves a chance to be what they want, even clones created to be weapons, besides I'm a homo magis, and you have the aptitude and talent to be one, it would be a crime for my kind if I deny you the right to learn magic." Reveals Kent with a wave; however, the clone was impassive staring at him.

"You told me the truth, but not the whole truth."

This line made Kent smile proudly at the clone, which made him feel awkward again; he had never received any such smiles before, not even when he passed the simulations with 100% success.

At that moment, the old man turned his head, a gesture that the clone imitated, to a photo that was on top of a fireplace. The photo showed a slightly tanned woman who had short, shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes; she wore a simple antique pink dress with a pearl necklace around her neck.

"That was my wife Inza, she lived here with me for many years, but time did not want us to continue together as we would like." Explains the old man making the clone stare at him for a few moments. "It may seem strange to you young man, but your short stay here and small talk was enough to cheer this old man up."

"…Not that this isn't exciting and all, but why are you telling me this?" Questions the clone again with a frown facing the old man who just sighs with distrust.

"It is not good to start a friendship with lies, so I'm being completely honest with you, besides from the little I've seen, you have a talent with magic and I plan to help improve your skills." Reveals Kent before reopening the portal to the hall of justice. "Now I suppose you'd better go, your brother seems to need to talk to you."

Hearing this, the redhead waves to the old man before going through the portal, making the same close after that. A silence settles over the place before Kent sits back in his chair and reads the newspaper; he stays like that for a few moments before blinking realizing something.

"I never asked the boy's name..."

(In the hall of justice.)

The omega project looked in surprise at the place where he stopped before starting to float away and went looking for his brother, it took a while but the clone finally found him in a room alone watching the static from a TV. The redhead was about to approach when he noticed something in Superboy, he was angry, sad, in a bad mood, all his body language screamed it, gave a twinge of guilt at the omega project remembering his abrupt departure, if he had stayed there would this still happen?

This time the Darkseid clone flew in front of Superboy, surprising the boy.

"Brother..." Starts the omega project looking at Superboy who was surprised. "I..."

At that moment Superboy got up and hugged his brother, surprising him before returning the hug, the two stayed like that for a while before separating and sitting on the couch.

"... Are you better?" Asks Superboy with a worried frown making the omega project blink and adopt a thoughtful expression.

"It's a work in progress and I'm sorry I left like that, I... I just needed some breathing room." declares the omega project with a sigh as he picks up his necklace. "And what about you? What happened after I left?"

At this, Superboy just growled and clenched his fists, clearly annoyed about something. "Superman, he's not what we expected him to be, he hates me, I could see it in his eyes, the disgust, the revulsion, he didn't see me as..."

"So he's an idiot." Interrupts the omega project by standing up and crossing his arms. "Don't forget brother that you were the one who saved the three companions, the one who brought freedom to the genomorphs was you, the real hero in Cadmus was you and that already makes you a hero."

Hearing this, Superboy's expression softens as the boy clearly nods more calmly and gives his brother a look before averting his eyes. "So… about the punch I gave you, I'm sorry, I'm just not used to having a brother personally, I mean, we had our telepathic conversations in Cadmus, but here it's different."

"Yes, everything here is different, but we will face it together, as brothers." Declares the omega project putting his hand on Superboy's shoulder receiving a wave from him, without their knowledge the camera in the room was facing them and zoomed in on both of them.

[…]

The omega project was holding a barbell with various weights lifting it in the underground gym of the hall of justice. It was still strange for him to be there surrounded by heroes he could defeat any time he wanted.

In addition, his head went back to Kent Nelson's invitation and he would be lying if he said he was not interested, magic seemed something impressive and fascinating to the young clone, and his brother was vulnerable to magic so he must have known something about it if necessary.

While this, a heartbeat caught the clone's attention, making it stop its training, which now seemed more like a hobby, and turned towards the door of the gym where he saw Batman staring at him. Figuring the hero wanted to talk to him; the clone quickly put away the bar and floated up to Batman.

"Batman." Greets the Omega project only for the hero's eyes to narrow.

"You left before we could properly talk about the rules." Reprimands the hero making the clone blink confused.

"What?"

In response Batman just started to walk away making the clone follow him.

"You will be placed in a team with other juvenile heroes on the 8th of July; I hope you all gathered at the coordinates that I will inform you, until then do not leave the hall of justice, make contact with anyone else. Besides that killing is prohibited if I find out you have killed again there will be consequences, am I clear?" Declares Batman stopping to face the omega project that stares at him in surprise.

"Yes?"

The answer made Batman narrow his eyes at the clone. "Let me be clear, I don't trust you and neither does the league, at the moment we are still deciding if you can really join the team or not, so if you still want to join, you can't kill anymore, I was clear?"

"...Yes." The omega project responds by taking a wide-eyed step back making Batman stare at him before leaving.

The dark knight stopped in the doorway giving the paralyzed clone one last look before disappearing from sight.

The omega project stood still as it heard Batman's footsteps moving away, at which point he quickly began to float before exiting to the opposite side.

[…]

The omega project was in his messed up room, he should not be afraid, not from someone he had defeated before in his simulations, Batman would not be able to scare him that easily, something was wrong. It was at this moment that the clone felt the necklace around his neck and touched the stone before remembering the man who had given him the necklace, he needed some guidance, anything and so far, the only one who has been completely honest with him besides his brother was the magician.

With that in mind the clone raised his hand to the wall and closed his eyes in deep concentration, he remembered the tower of fate, the smells he smelled the entire design of the place, the decor, the energy. He started to turn his hand around, still with his eyes closed feeling something inside him, it was warm, something comfortable, and it felt like he was guiding a river with his hands.

"I must admit that I am surprised at your rate of growth in practical learning of magic." Kent's voice declares making the clone open its eyes and look at the old man staring at him from inside the portal. "A stable portal in less than 24 hours since you met the spell; you must be a magic prodigy."

"Mr. Nelson." Greets the clone with a wave making the man frown before entering the room.

"Don't call me Mr. Nelson it makes me feel like an old man…more than I already am." Kent comments with a small grimace at the end earning a laugh from the clone, causing the man to stare at the boy in surprise.

"What? It was funny." The redhead defends himself by turning his head to the side, slightly embarrassed.

"Sorry, it's just that it's been a long time since anyone actually laughed at my jokes, Nabu isn't the most emotionally open to laughs and the rest of the league doesn't show up if it's not to ask for help in magical matters." Answers the old man making the redhead frown with the answer.

"I understand."

With that, the two fell silent with Kent looking around the room being surprised at how empty it looked before turning back to the boy.

"Would you rather come to the tower? I just made some cookies and tea." Offers the man causing the clone to give a small smile.

(Some time later.)

"...And these machines called televisions are very strange, seriously I can see people reduced in them, and drawings moving, besides my brother took a liking to watch the static screen, he could spend hours watching it." Reports the Omega project eating a cookie while Kent laughed helping himself to a cup of tea.

"It must all be very strange for you, it is all very new, but with time you will be able to settle in." Guarantees the man making the clone's expression waver.

"…Let me guess, did Batman do that with fear gas?" Asks the old man suddenly making the boy look at him surprised.

"Fear gas?"

Hearing the boy's question, Kent sighed before snapping his fingers. At that moment, the clone's head snapped up and some orange smoke came out of its mouth and nose before dispersing into the air.

"Yes, this is something any league veteran already knows, but a few years ago, Batman started testing any hero with a diluted version of fear gas to see if it might be useful in containing them." Hearing this, the clone widens its eyes, apparently shocked by what it heard.

The two were silent after that, the clone looking in disbelief that a hero would do that while Kent just watched the worried boy.

"Why? Why do something like this?"

"Batman has always been a paranoid person, but that has increased since Robin died." Kent replies letting out a sigh lost in memory.

"Robin? But he's alive, he even 'free' me."

"Oh, not this Robin, the other one, the first one, the one who died in a Black ops league mission..." Reveals Kent making the clone stare at him surprised by the information. "You and your new friends aren't the first Justice League Black ops team, the first didn't end very well with only one of the members still alive, I believe the league is likely to reactivate this team now to keep an eye on you, but I'm still not sure."

The two were soon silent as they continued eating the cookies and drinking the tea, it was sometime during this that Kent noticed the downcast and worried look of the young man in front of him, he seemed to been affected by what the man said.

"So it came to my attention that I never asked your name properly, even though I already introduced myself, so I wanted to know what your name is young man?" Asks the old man calmly making the boy face him.

"Omega project."

After that, an uncomfortable silence appeared in the room as the two stared at each other for a few moments before the man blinked in surprise.

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

Again, a silence enveloped the two before the man sighed as he leaned back in his chair and shook his head.

"No, that will not do, you deserve to have a name." The man declares making the boy blink.

"Why? I mean everyone knows I am the omega project and I know who I am, that is just a way of identifying myself." Questions the confused boy making the man shake his head slightly amused.

"True, but are you the 'omega project'? The weapon created to destroy and replace the justice league? Or, are you something different?" Asks the old man making the boy blink.

"I am not a weapon, I ran away to be with my brother." Answers the confused boy causing Kent to nod his head.

"Exactly, you are a brother, the brother of Superboy, who had to choose between being the Kr project or the Superboy, and just like him, you deserve both options, do you want to be the Omega project or someone else?" Asks the man causing the redhead to lower his head with a thoughtful expression before lifting his head and facing him.

"What can my name be? I never thought about it and I do not know which one to choose..." The boy comments before looking at the man in front of him expectantly, which made him widen his eyes in surprise.

"Do you… do you want me to choose your name?" Asks the man making the boy wave to him.

With that, Kent stands up walking with his cane tapping the floor before disappearing through a door leaving the omega project alone in the room. The boy looked around scanning the room until his eyes stopped on Inza's painting, having known Kent Nelson a little, he could only imagine what she would be like.

The boy soon got up and took the last cookie walking towards the board staring at him, he took a while looking before eating, suddenly he heard a heartbeat causing the clone to turn to see Kent staring at him with his eyes wide-eyed and a book in hand.

The omega project stared at the man before turning to the cookie in his hands and then back to the board, after which his gaze returned to the man.

"So… This is not that what it looks like. Whatever you think this is." The clone comments before the man approaches him laughing.

"You didn't do anything wrong young man, you just reminded me of her…" Assured the man making the clone blink in confusion, which Kent soon clarified. "Inza was a witty person, just like you, she was always a strong and decisive woman, besides having a talent with magic that even I was jealous, you remind me of her."

The clone stood still, nodding in confusion before facing the old man with a raised eyebrow.

"So…are you telling me that my name must be Inza?"

"Oh god, no." The man denies it a little too quickly before giving the clone a book.

The omega project took the book, looked at the title, and immediately noticed the Japanese kanji in it, which read: 'The Legend of the Whirlwind'. Curious the clone opened the book and flipped through some pages seeing several words along with some images on the pages.

"I see you liked the book; this was my wife's favorite." Reveals the man with a nostalgic smile seeing the sparkle of curiosity and animation in the clone's eyes reading the book. "It is the story of a boy who had a monster sealed inside him, being hated for it, until at one point the boy found a place to call his own and a family that loved him as such, with him and his monster becoming protectors of the world."

The clone stopped at the image of a square with a kneeling person extending his hands to various plants and trees while on the other side of him was a monstrous figure with sharp teeth extending his hands upwards while several animals watched him as if they were bowing.

"What was his name?"

"The name that Inza and I wanted to give our child Naruto." Reveals Kent with a sad smile as the omega project looks at the book one more time and gives the man a smile.

"Naruto...Naruto... I like it, that is my name now, thank you." Announces the omega project now known as Naruto, what made Kent smile at the boy.

"I am glad you liked it and it is a pleasure officially meet you, Naruto." Greets Kent extending his hand to the clone that grabs it and shakes it.

"I say the same Kent Nelson."

After that, the two fell silent before Naruto sighed.

"Did that sound weird to you too?" Asks the redhead causing Kent to sigh also nodding his head.

"Yes, but it was better than Mr. Nelson."

[…]

"You are clearly happy today." Superboy comments, leaning against the door of Naruto's room, seeing his brother reading a book with his eyes almost glazed over.

In response, the redhead just nodded while his brother just stared at him.

"Okay… where did you find a book here? I still have not found the library." Asks the Superboy making Naruto stop reading and stare at him.

"Ah well this is a secret so don't tell Batman, ok?" Asks the redhead softly, making Superboy raise his eyebrow before huffing and shaking his head.

"No, don't tell me, if it gets you in trouble you'd better keep it to yourself, as long as you can get me a book too." Declares the clone of Superman smiling.

Soon the two began to laugh quietly before Naruto tucked his book under the bed before heading out into the hallway heading towards the living room. As they walked, the redhead frowned remembering Batman and what he had done to him.

"Hey brother, did Batman talk to you by any chance? Asks Naruto getting a confused look from Superboy.

"The Batman? He never even showed up here, not that I know of at least." Reveals the Kryptonian half-making Naruto nod with narrowed eyes. "Why?"

"Nothing, I was just curious." Answers the redhead as he continued walking, however his brother stopped and looked at him with narrowed eyes before returning to follow him.

(The next day.)

Kent Nelson smiled proudly seeing how Naruto was flying around the library while reading one of the countless books there, it was strangely gratifying for the old man to see someone so young totally fascinated by his vast collection of magical knowledge.

However, something was bothering him, it had been a few hours since he realized that since Naruto arrived at the tower earlier that he was not touching the ground anymore, he just flew and that, although it did not bother him much, brought his attention to the tension in the boy's shoulders.

"Naruto, could you come here for a moment?" Asks the wizard making the boy wave before slowly floating towards him, still reading the book titled: 'The lords of chaos and order.'

"I see you found Nabu's favorite book, it was always a relief when he started to mumble about putting order at the end and not in front of chaos." Commented the man laughing to himself, remembering the memory, which made Naruto, let out a small laugh.

"It must have been funny." Declares the redhead between his laughs, before looking nervous, something that did not match what Kent saw in the boy so far.

"Can I… can I see him?" The redhead's unexpected request had the most expected reaction possible; Kent widened his eyes letting his mouth drop open as the cane dropped.

(Some minutes later.)

"Are you sure about this Naruto?" Asks Kent seriously while looking at the redhead who was hugging the book.

"Y-yes, it's just a few questions, I swear." Nods the boy, cursing his stutter, he was made to win the league and he could do it, he was not someone who stuttered nervously.

With that the man hit the ground with his cane before the two disappeared and reappeared at the top of the tower, where there was floating the helmet of destiny, which contained the soul of the powerful lord of the order Nabu.

Slowly Naruto approached the helmet with an admiring look before touching the side of it.

"Wow... the metal is neither cold nor hot; I imagine it's some magical property you made when you created it right?" Asks Naruto before removing his hand from the helmet and crossing his legs while he floats sitting.

"It is a great honor to meet you Nabu, my name is Naruto, and I just wanted to talk... I have been reading some books and some say that one of the best forms of therapy is talking to someone... I apologize if I bother you, but you are someone wise who must have a lot of advice for me." The redhead comments before continuing his conversation with the helmet.

A few steps away Kent was watching intrigued what was happening, never in all his years had he seen anyone going to the Helm of Fate to simply talk, he didn't even know if Nabu could hear him or not.

At that moment, a feeling of guilt swelled in Kent's chest, thinking of the loneliness that Nabu must have felt, since he abandoned his helmet up here under several layers of illusions.

Naruto's laughter brought Kent's attention back to the boy talking to the helmet, looking like he was laughing at some joke he had just told.

"I really appreciate that Nabu, I needed to talk to someone, and you are really a good listener." Naruto declares before floating to Kent, stopping in front of the man.

"Thanks for that, we can go now."

Instead of answering, Kent looked up to the sky and smiled, coming up with a plan to cheer up the boy in front of him.

"It is a beautiful night today, the stars and the sky are beautiful, don't you think?" Asks the man making the boy raise his head and observe the sky.

"Yes, very beautiful."

"Why don't you take a closer look?" Offers Kent making the boy widen his eyes and turn to face him.

"Serious? I... can I fly freely around?" Asks the surprised boy making the man laugh and wave.

"But of course you can, if you have the ability to fly, stopping you would be like clipping a bird's wings, just don't stray too far from the tower." Confirms Kent summoning a chair before sitting in it.

With that, Naruto grinned brightly handing his book to the man before shooting into the sky. Kent watched as the boy soared into the skies until he disappeared into the clouds.

Meanwhile Naruto was smiling brightly as he stopped and started to fall; the boy looked down accelerating until he raised his angle up again into the clouds. The redhead let out a laugh as he drifted in and out of the clouds as dolphins did when they swam.

That is when he started to descend again flying so fast that he could be mistaken for a rocket, the boy arrived at the tower and circled it a few times before getting up again and landing on top of the tower with his fist hitting the ground. The redhead gave a small laugh before standing up dusting off his clothes with a few slaps.

Kent who watched the boy's joy could not help but smile amused at the situation, all this happening with the helmet of fate there almost as if looking directly at the two of them.

(A while later.)

Naruto had just opened a portal to his room in the hall of justice and was about to jump into it when Kent entered the room.

"Oh, Naruto, wait a minute." Calls the man making the boy stop and turn to face him.

"Okay? What is it?" Asks the boy before Kent extends his hand to him.

"Could you give me your necklace for a few moments; I promise I will return it to you." Asks the man making the redhead raise his eyebrow, but he gives the necklace to Kent.

With that, Kent narrows his eyes at the necklace and mutters something under his breath making the stone glow before a few silver designs appear on it. After that the man returns the necklace to Naruto who just stared at the new drawings curiously.

"You charmed my necklace." Naruto declares making Kent wave smiling.

"Yes, you learned fast, what I did was give you a little extra protection in your adventures as a member of the justice league, it's a suit made especially for you and before I forget, here." The man declares before taking a ring out of his pocket, it was silver with some ornaments around a bright red stone on it, however, like the necklace, it had some enchantment on it.

Naruto took the ring and inspected it for a few moments before putting it on, to the redhead's surprise, his once gray skin changed to a Caucasian with a little tan, which made the boy widen his eyes and look at Kent.

"I figured you would want to look like everyone else on the planet at times without having to have everyone staring at you, so I took the liberty of making an illusory ring that will disguise you while you're at school or on the street." Explains Kent before the boy looks at him with a grateful look and a smiling face.

"Thank you, this… this means a lot to me." Thanks the redhead making Kent shake his head.

"No Naruto, I should thank you, thank you for keeping this old man company during these last few days, now I just want to tell you two things. - The man declares making Naruto wave at him.

"The first is that your necklace and ring allow you to enter the tower of fate whenever you need; I just ask that you do not bring anyone who wants to use magic for nefarious purposes." Informs Kent making Naruto wave, smiling, he liked the tower a lot anyway.

"The second is more of a request..." Kent continues making Naruto look at him intrigued. "Never lose your smile, heroes can save people physically most of the time, but they can't always save their souls and that's where the smile comes in, if you choose to be a hero I want you to protect that, the smile of people with yours."

Naruto's eyes widened at the request, lowering his eyes in conflict before facing Kent and smiling weakly.

"I do not guarantee anything, but I promise I'll try." Assured Naruto before being surprised with Kent hugging him gently.

"That's all I ask, now be careful out there and good luck." Naruto stood still for a few moments before hugging the man back.

[…]

Naruto stood beside his brother along with Aqualad, Kid Flash and Robin, in their civilian clothes looking around an underground base that had some League members carrying things from one place to another.

"This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League and we are reactivating that place." Declares Batman walking in front of the five juvenile heroes while each team member's mentors were there except Superman, plus the red tornado, Black Canary, Hawkman and Shazam.

"Since the five of you have decided to band together to fight the good fight, you will do so on league terms." Completes the man before tilting his head towards the Red Tornado and the Black Canary. "Red Tornado has applied to live here and be your supervisor, Black Canary will do your training and I will distribute the missions."

"Real missions?" Robin asks making Batman face him.

"Yes, but in disguise." Clarifies Batman.

"The league will continue to take care of the obvious things, there is a reason we have those symbols on our chests." Comments Flash pointing to his own symbol, the lightning bolt.

"But Cadmus proves that villains are getting smarter, Batman needs a team that works undercover."

"The six of you will be that team." Declares Batman making the Naruto blink in confusion.

"Six?" Asks the confused redhead before concentrating his hearing and listening to two more different heartbeats and turning around only to widen his eyes as his own heart raced.

Superboy next to his brother noticed his change and raised an eyebrow at him before looking at the new arrival, the first obvious one being the martian manhunter. The second however was a girl of their age with green skin with red hair who wore a blue skirt with a red belt on it along with a white shirt with the older martian's red "X", in addition she had a cape with boots and blue gloves.

"This is the niece of the Martian manhunter, Miss Martian." announces Batman making the girl raise one of her arms and wave at them.

"Hi"

"Hello." Answers Naruto immediately starting to float a little, something that made his brother look at him strangely.

"... Anyway, I'm Kid flash, that's Robin and that's Aqualad, but it's ok to forget their names." Announces Kid flash pointing to himself and the other friends, which made Naruto narrow his eyes.

"And I'm Naruto and this is my brother Superboy." Presents Naruto with a small frown directed at the speedster who blinks in surprise.

"It is an honor to be included in the team." With that, the martian girl looks at the Superboy and changes the color of his shirt to black while the cape disappears. "I liked your shirt."

[…]

In a darkened room, several screens were on as they watched a video that showed the change of direction in Cadmus.

"Will the light be able to leave the guardian in charge of the genomorphs?" Asks one of the screens with the altered voice.

"We have more subtle means of controlling them, what worries me are the children, especially the omega project, we already know that the league intends to reactivate their Black-ops operations team again to do their dirty work." Comments another voice with a touch of irritation in the voice.

"Yes, that is true, but it's something we can use to our advantage, even the loss of the omega project can be useful for us, after all, everyone will see the light." Declares another voice with finality.